Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad helping me with SPAG edit. Also thanks to Angel Wraith for reading my rough draft and provide important feedbacks. Credit of the whole political marriage give Faubley backdoor to mess with Melromarc internal politics goes to Commissar Gaunt. Which serves as the main reason I went ahead with the retcon shown in this omake.

And of course, special thanks to my former Co-Writer Comrade Broseph for suggesting give Trash a wife and children before Queen Safespace who were killed by Siltvelt army during the war, which eventually morphed to his new backstory shown in this chapter's Omake. Press 'F' to show respect for Comrade Broseph.

More author note at the end for people who are interested to see me blabber some more.


The air around her feels sluggish and her body feels heavy, like a weight is tied to her feet and pulling her down, down, into an endless abyss like one of her childhood nightmares. She desperately wants to scream out, but her throat feels like it's sewn shut. She wants to find her way up, but her limbs feel like they are shackled in titanite.

After the chief god knows how long, her senses slowly become clear with a cough.

"Big sister Mein is waking!" It takes Mein's sleep-addled head a couple of breaths to realize the voice comes from Raphtalia.

The princess blinks her eyes open, it takes a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the surroundings. The room she's in is rather small, about three men standing shoulder to shoulder in width, and can probably only accommodate two if they are big as Farkas. She starts to notice the rich, almost golden yellow hue on the wooden wall when her eyes start to adjust for the light again.

Ancient holly, a tree with an even higher grade than the ironwood used for her Naofumi's wagon. It's practically wasteful if this is used to build some shake for a peasant judging by the size of the room she's in. Which leads to only one conclusion: She's currently resting in one of the wagons of the Spear Hero.

The bed feels much softer than the usual lounging affair she's used to by now: Silky smooth fabric, with soft and fluffy mattress probably filled with filorial feathers. The room is rather simple in its furnishing besides the bed: there's a dresser and a chair made with the same yellow hued ancient holly. A lunafly lamp hangs on the wall, giving a soft, gentle white light. Her traveling clothes are neatly folded on the dresser.

There's some noise right outside the door, it's hard for her to make out who those voices belong to until someone loudly slaps their hands together. The one who speaks afterward is clearly Zylden. "Okay, I think it's reasonable to say the doctor who knows what's going on should go in first. The rest of you can meet the lady of the hour after she recovered enough to come out."

Chapter 45: Duty of a Hero

"Shouldn't I be allowed to see my companion?" The only one who remotely try to object is Naofumi.

"Is the privacy of the patient not a thing in your world? Unless you are her next of kin, husband, or fiancé, I think it's reasonable for me to speak to your lady companion about her own condition first. In private."

"Oh." Comes the Shield Hero's eloquent answer. "Okay, that makes sense... we'll wait."

A silhouette the size of a child enters through and shuts the wooden door behind him. The imp slowly walks up to her and plants his behind onto the chair. "How are you feeling now, sleeping princess?"

"Hurt all over. Worse than that time Master Naofumi's damn bird kicked me into a food stall. I shouldn't have tried to cast a Forbidden spell before I hit level 40." The princess in disguise gives a disgruntled sigh as she slowly shifts herself, trying to find a more comfortable position to bush herself up. It takes another few beats for her to realize what Zylden called her. "Wait … what did you call me?"

A random sarcastic quip, or an indication her secret has come out of the bag?

"Come on, no need to be coy with me here. You are one of the princesses of this country, aren't you?" The imp sits his back against the wooden wall and starts counting his fingers. "You are obviously familiar enough with the heir of House Amelia and on roughly equal standing with how casually you addressed her. You have the knowledge of the Forbidden spell [Supernova] of fire element which not every common rabble does. And you had enough skill to actually cast it without having the spell explode in your face. You clearly aren't some common born adventurer."

Mein bites her lips at all the evidence Zylden pointed out. She made too many sloppy mistakes for her liking, even under the consideration that she had the threat of a newborn Outsider God on her hands at the time.

"Plus, you announced yourself having both Germania and Melromarc royal bloodline in your chant. Kind of a dead giveaway on who your parents are." Zylden claps his hands together and grins at the princess.

Oh.

Right...

DAMNATIONS! What'll she tell her Naofumi now that the imp knows her secret!? Does he know about her real identity now? Has anyone in Naofumi's party figured it out? Did Iris, or one of the other ladies from Spear Hero's party found out, or told the Shield Hero?

"Okay, lay back down and breathe. Nobody in the Shield Hero's party figured it out yet, so I think. And I didn't tell them yet, or plan to tell them anytime soon." The next thing she knows is the imp standing right besides her bed and pushing down on her shoulders to hold her still. "The Shield Hero, or anyone in his party isn't treating you like a royal princess, so I figured you had a reason to hide who you are. Honestly, I'm not interested to know why. Already had my share of idiocies involved with The Game in Faubley to last me more than one lifetime."

The princess takes a few deep breaths to calm herself. Now that her secret is known by the half-man, there's no way to take it back short of killing him. But of course, even assume she can kill him without anyone knowing, his disappearance will be more than suspicious. Say what one will about the gnome, he's a very hard man to ignore or forget.

While it's admittedly a relief he hasn't immediately spread the news, or asked something outrageous in exchange. The fact he's asking for 'Nothing' is very eyebrow raising. Especially considering the value of the blackmail material. "You aren't going to even ask for a favor?"

"I just told you, not interested in The Game. The damned thing is designed to maim, traumatize, or kill anyone who gets near it. I'm still not convinced the practice wasn't made to thin out the herd in the first place, so to speak." Zylden lets out a snort as he sits back down in the chair again and shrugs his shoulders. "Well... I wouldn't mind if you introduce me to some available young Melromarc ladies if you want to, so long as they don't look for a serious courtship. But I'm not going to tattle if you don't."

"In your dreams, imp." Mein turns her nose against the half-man as she sinks further inside her blanket again. She ponders over Zylden's words, as it definitely sounds like the man has his own share of a past he's not too keen to reveal to other people. "You were saying something about my condition... let's hear it. It's something to do with the [Supernova] I casted, wasn't it?"

In all honesty, despite her bravado and reassuring words to Iris at the time, she should have expected some long lasting condition for casting [Supernova] even in its highly incomplete form. There's a reason why a Forbidden Magic is supposed to have around a hundred mages over level 40 in the channeling process.

"You overexerted your bloodline, and hurt your heart." Zylden's finger points towards where Mein's chest should be underneath her sheets. His face grim, devoid of his usual levity. "Your ticker won't just stop if you go about your regular business. But you are going to experience chest pain, especially in a prolonged fight. And don't try to do something as reckless with your bloodline magic next time. Because you WILL die if you overexert yourself again."

The princess looks down at her sheet cover, she gives the imp a silent nod. She still lets out a muffled grumble in the end. "A lot of good that did in the end... Most of the damage was from detonating the portal to Endless Ether. It didn't even kill the plant in the end."

"Hey, you still get the killing EXP if you push a monster off a cliff with an environmental kill. The important thing is we killed a demi-god in the end, and you did more than two heroes combined. Even if you hurt your heart in the end." Zylden shrugs his shoulders.

Mein can see the point the imp made. It almost reminded her how her own mentor, uncle Aldrecht got his name 'The Calamity' back during the Great War.

The story goes that during the battle to reclaim Melromarc Castle, the stronghold of Mother's main force, that Prince Joseph and General Anderson put the city under siege. But a second Siltvelt army was already marching south to reinforce the occupying army, and if they reached Melromarc Castle before the capital was retaken, they would have been able surround Mother's troops stationed there and either force her to retreat back to Golden Coast, or face a massacre when they have their escape route cut off.

Yet in the end, the second army never came to the foot of Melromarc Castle. Father, leading a small group of resistance fighters who are familiar with the terrain of the Silver Pass, ambushed them before they entered the Crownlands. During the fight, Uncle Aldrecht casted earth element Forbidden spell [Quake], and buried the Siltvelt reinforcement alive at the edge of Silver Pass.

The morale of the Siltvelt troop defending Melromarc Castle was shattered with the news of their reinforcements dead, and one of the Melromarc Battle Mage being able to cast a Forbidden spell by himself. Mother, Prince Joseph, and General Anderson easily took the capital back, destroying the defending army in the process.

Of course, the real story is much more mundane. She still remembers the mischievous wink on Uncle Aldrecht's face when he recounted how he really caused the Silver Pass earthquake. He already knew where the terrain was unstable with years of living, and researching in the province. With father's freedom fighters leading the Siltvelt army into a trap, he caused the same effect as [Quake] with a few well placed lower level earth spells.

"Remember, my disciple. A wizard's real power is only as good as his knowledge and control."

The princess shakes her head around to leave the distant memory of a much simpler time. "You could have stopped me... or help me channel the spell like Iris did, you know?"

"Yes, I could have stopped you. But as much as you no doubt consider yourself indispensable, the life of one princess is rather insignificant compared to a newborn Outsider God in our realm." Mein can't help but chuckle with the imp at the comparison, despite the morbid thought of her own death. "As for joining you in the ritual ... Well, I can't if I want to. Not even a bit of affinity with any magic element."

"What! How can that be... *cough*!" Mein's outburst is stopped with a sharp stinging in her chest, and a series of bad coughs.

"Yeah, that's what I was talking about. Try not to get too excited, if you can help it." Zylden patiently looks at her and waits for her coughing fit to finish.

The princess takes a few sharp breaths again, feeling the pain in her chest subside for now. "How can you have no affinity with magic? Aren't you from one of the Sacred 26, one of the ancient Faubley families who only marry other hero bloodlines? And why do you research magic if you can't even use it!?"

"Who knows. All that inbreeding can't be good for anyone. No matter what my Lord Father and his colleagues insist. And for your information, just because I can't cast magic doesn't mean I can't study it." The imp shrugs his shoulder again, looking rather unfazed at his inability to cast magic. He points his stubby index finger at his forehead. "What's important is what I have in here, not what I can do with a snap of my fingers. And I can use my knowledge to make machines that'll cast spells for me. That technomancy inventor working for Riddle and Son company, Lord Earldom Vomit, had the right idea."

Ah, of course. With how jovial Zylden acts it's easy to forget he's still someone from Faubley, but he apparently inherited his fellow countrymen's love for over engineered contraptions. Trying to create some oversized, over complicated machine to replace the effect of a well-crafted wand and a little wrist motion is what they do best.

"So that's why you go around the world learning everything you can about magic. You can't cast spells yourself, and you want to find other ways to do it to show how wrong those old school Faubley lords are for looking down on you." While the imp's effort is more than a little misguided, Mein can't help but understand the ridiculous man a little better... and respect him a bit more. Despite his lecherous nature, his situation isn't so different from hers. Even if they took the opposite approach to live their lives. "I can respect that."

The imp stays still and quiet, looking almost pensive for a moment. "Yes... it would be nice to show my Lord Father isn't always right on everything. Even if he will never admit it. But hey, don't forget about summoning nubile women directly into my bedroom. That's a reward in and of itself."

"But of course." Mein rolls her eyes at the half-man's antics. She lets her head sink further into the soft pillow. Her head isn't ringing like when she first came to, but her whole body still feels drained. Probably the after effect of pushing her bloodline magic to the breaking point with a [Supernova]... and then completely exhausting it with the last [Mana Burn] spell she casted.

"It's not my place to question why you didn't just tell the Shield Hero who you are. But shouldn't you tell him at some point? You know you can't keep this act forever."

If Mein doesn't know better, it almost sounds like the Imp is a little bit concerned for her. "Does my ears deceive me, Imp? It almost sounds like you are worried for me."

"Hey, you know me. The greatest heartbreak on this continent I may be, but I'm always a sucker for a pretty face and a smoking hot body." Zylden shrugs his shoulders.

"Some pretty face I have with this cursed wound on my face." The princess rolls her head towards the wall of the carriage, blocking her scar from the imp's view.

"And pray tell. Does the Shield Hero treat you any differently with that cursed scar? I think not." Zylden's words make the princess in disguise think back on the Shield Hero. No, he doesn't treat her any different with a hideous wound on the side of her face. Sure, he has his share of flaws, but he really is a hero who came out in one of her romance novels. "He probably won't care about your real identity either."

Still, she can't escape one simple fact. The first companion of Naofumi Iwatani, the Shield Hero considers his equal as a partner isn't a pampered princess who grows up in a life of luxury and keeps wanting more. 'Mein of Samphor' is a simple but sincere and helpful peasant girl of common birth from the equally humble town of Samphor. Someone who she very much isn't. "I'm not really the person who Master Naofumi trusts. He'll not accept me for who I really am."

"Eh... the one time I met a lady of noble birth who knows what she really is like." There's some muffled sound coming from Mein's back. It sounds like the Imp is furiously ruffling his own golden curls. "Look, princess. I'm not going to say you are some kind of saint. Chances are, you are a pretty pampered and craven person if you are still playing The Game. But I grew up in Faubley. My father is Duke Charles Dance Balveproven, Lord of Casterly Rock, Shepherd of Westland. I know what a completely selfish noble lady is like, and you very much aren't one."

The princess blinks her eyes, not expecting the imp to speak for her considering she hasn't exactly been kind to him on the trip.

"My dear sister Lena... she would have run the first chance she's facing against the spawn of an Outsider God. By the love of the lady, she'd have run from a bonedog puppy if it's not on a leash. You on the other hand." Mein feels a finger poking at her shoulder. "You helped bring down that undead beak thing thrall. You almost killed yourself casting a Forbidden spell above your level range to close the portal that plant abomination opened to the Void between Worlds. You even used the last of your reserves to kill the abomination for good. Those are all done by you, not your fake identity. Maybe the Shield Hero won't hate your real self as much as you fear."

"Didn't think that you of all people cared enough to tell me." The princess pulls her sheet closer as she ponders over Zylden's words.

"Didn't I just tell you? Always had a bleeding heart for a girl with a smoking body." The imp lets out a loud laughter more fitting to his usual goofy self. His voice turns distant once again. "Plus, you kind of remind me of my nephew. A sick little shit, that one is. But a sick little shit that makes me worry for him, and not because I missed slapping him when he's being an idiot. He... stayed behind to play The Game, not sure if he wanted to make his own father, or my Lord Father more proud. Completely misguided, should have gotten out like I did. But I suppose the head on his shoulders isn't as good as mine."

Mein feels Zylden's hands tightening around her shoulder, as the half-man tries to pull her up from the comfortable bed. "Come on, up you go before I start slapping you like my nephew. Too much lying down isn't good for your health either, and I think you had enough rest for the past three days."

She's already been out for three days? In this case, she really does need to get up as soon as possible. The expedition party of the Three Heroes' Church may just be behind their heels. The princess flips around the bed and gives the imp a light slap on his shoulder. "Out with you. Doctor or not, don't think about peeping while I change into my traveling clothes. I still have enough fight in me to skewer you on a sword."

"Well, can't say I didn't try. But I know how to pick my battles." The imp gives her a wide grin as he turns around to walk out of the room. He takes two steps before stopping on the spot and looks back with an intentionally muffled voice. "Look, I don't know what game other than The Game you are playing. But at least think about coming clean with the Shield Hero. It'll be better if he hears it from your mouth than from someone else."

"Says the half-man who keeps running away from his past." Mein grits her teeth and scowls at Zylden. Grateful for the talk or not, she's not going to have the gnome talk down to her.

"Touché." The imp shrugs his shoulders again as he leaves the carriage.

Mein starts changing into her traveling clothes as fast as she can, her limbs and fingers still feeling sluggish from the rest and possible severe mana deprivation. She just about to have stripped out of her dirty undergarments, and put on a new set when Raphtalia comes in. "Ah, Raphtalia. If you just give me a second while I put on my armor and cloak."

"Let me help you, big sister Mein." Raphtalia quickly skids her way in front of the dresser, picks up the dragon scale lined leather armor and holds it up for Mein. "Mr. Zylden said you got hurt really badly fighting the giant plant. That's the least I can do."

The princess turned adventurer is about to open her mouth and object. Then, she remembers how she used to have her maids do the dressing for her. It's roughly a month since she started to travel with the Shield Hero, yet something that should have been second nature to her practically feels like another lifetime ago. "That would be helpful... thank you, Raphtalia."

Raphtalia's attempt at help is rough, compared to the precise movement of the professional maids back in the palace. She nearly fell face down onto the edge of the bed when she pulled the sleeve on Mein's traveling cloak too hard. It's clear despite the girl being a demi-human, she didn't live a life of servitude before the 1st Wave decimated her home. She practically attaches herself at Mein's hip after helping the princess in disguise dressed up, and supports Mein as they slowly make their way out of the Spear Hero's carriage.

The Shield Hero, his sworn shield, Éclair and Kyubey are waiting for them outside. The young hero quickly steps forward, yet his eyes keep wandering away from Mein's eyes. "How are you feeling, Mein? Zylden... Zylden made it sound pretty bad."

"I..." The princess briefly considers not telling Naofumi the whole thing, knowing the Shield Hero will blame himself for it again. But judging by Zylden's words, she won't be able to hide her injury in the long run. "I overexerted myself and hurt my heart. I'll die, if I try to do it again."

Just as she predicted, Naofumi's face immediately falls and he looks down at his feet. "It's my fault. If I agreed with Irileth about destroying the seed, none of this would have happened."

"No, don't blame yourself, Master Naofumi." Mein immediately takes a larger step forward, nearly tripping over Raphtalia in the process due to her shorter legs. "You weren't the only one who suggested keeping the seed, and you didn't suggest we plant it right here. I was the one who overestimated my abilities in the fight."

"Maybe we should abort the quest to retrieve the Artifact, if Lady Mein is badly hurt." Éclair looks between them both, her feet shuffling on the grassy land. "The rough trip can't be good for her heart. Maybe the situation isn't as bad as Master Aldrecht feared. Maybe Pope Balmus will use the artifact responsibly. He is one of the triumvirates from the Great War, and a very pious man after all."

His piety is precisely the problem here. Especially for her Naofumi and herself, considering what kind of figure the Shield Hero serves in the Faith of Three.

"No, we have to press ahead even disregard the Three Heroes' Church. The Silver Keep is now infested with undead monsters, and it's too close to Fort Wolf's Mouth. It'll be disaster for everyone in Melromarc if General Anderson's garrison is attacked on both side by the undead, and a Siltvelt army pressing the border." Mein shakes her head at Éclair's suggestion. "Do not worry about my condition, it's not as bad as it sounds. Zylden only told me not to over exert my own magic, and my stamina won't be as good as before. But I won't randomly drop dead."

"I don't know about that, Mein. We took Raphtalia into the laboratory... and that didn't end well." Naofumi's head rises back up, but he is still clearly biting his lips. "Maybe I should ask Motoyasu and his party to retrieve the artifact and take care of the undead?"

That is... admittedly a good suggestion. Too bad it defeats the purpose of them beginning this quest to begin with: earning more prestige for the Shield Hero, and possibly retrieve a strong artifact as a deterrent to have the Three Heroes' Church leave them alone.

"What do you think, Éclair? I want to finish what I started, but I don't want to put my companion's life at risk." Naofumi turns to face the dishonored Seatto knight, but his eyes have a hard time staying on Éclair's face just like how he couldn't face Mein's a moment ago.

"It'll be... difficult to try and work with a new team I'm not familiar with. Especially with Sir Spear Hero's team mostly being highborn ladies." Éclair's head slowly turns to look at the Shield Hero. "But it's best for Lady Mein's health. She's been through enough."

It's admittedly a nice change to work together with someone who puts her well being first. Shame, both the Shield Hero and the Seatto knight are undermining her very goal for being too considerate.

"No, Master Naofumi is still the best hero for this quest." Mein shakes her head and starts to hold her fingers up. "Master Naofumi has been practicing Miracles since before the 1st Wave, and they work best against undead monsters. Plus we have a heavy hitter who had his class up in Farkas. Our team still has the best chance to deal with the current crisis at Silver Keep."

"But what if you get hurt on the quest... or worse?" Naofumi's head spins around, voice rising higher till it's almost a desperate sob at the end. "I almost saw you get crushed when fighting that Life Root, twice. I, how can I go on, if ... if I fail to protect you?!"

Raphtalia looks like she wants to throw herself into Naofumi's legs to comfort him. She gives a quick look up at Mein, and simply rests her hand on Naofumi's knee instead.

"I don't want to sound heartless, but let's look at things rationally. Even if we do stay in Balafon where it's safe, we'll face another Wave in a little over two weeks. As Master Shield Hero's companion, Lady Mein will have no choice but to fight a horde of some of the strongest monsters." Kyubey suddenly opens his mouth. "If Master Shield Hero wants to keep Lady Mein safe, it's best we continue and return her to her hometown Samphor. It's only a few days' ride north."

DAMNATIONS! She didn't expect her fake identity to come back and bite her this way!

The rabbit man doesn't know Mein's plight, and simply keeps going. "But even if we do return Lady Mein to her hometown, there's no guarantee a future Wave won't hit Samphor like it did to Port Harp, or Lute. And she'd simply be less prepared to survive on herself. House Ascart isn't well known for their martial prowess. Lord Ascart himself mainly served as the Queen's logistician back in the Great War, so it's unlikely they can repel a future Wave by themselves. While Master Shield Hero's concern is reasonable, it remains true no one is safe until the Wave of Catastrophe concludes."

She could give the rabbit man a kiss. But not in front of her Naofumi, of course.

"Yes, Kyubey is right. I think I'm safest standing besides Master Naofumi, raising my levels." The princess takes a short step forward to stand together with the Shield Hero with Raphtalia. "I'll just have to remember my own limits better, stick closer to Master Naofumi... and Master Naofumi has to protect me better next time."

"That's... okay." Naofumi looks like he still wants to say something, but he stops in the end and turns to look at Éclair again. "But I think you should make the final decision, Éclair. Do you want to stick with me, or do you want to continue north with Motoyasu? I don't want to leave you hanging, but if Mein's heart condition gets worse, I'll have to abort your quest midway."

"I understand, Master Shield Hero." The knight slowly nods her head with a solemn understanding. "A knight should always put the wellbeing of others over their own goal. And I think I'll take my chance with you. Nothing against the Spear Hero or his companions, but I'm simply more familiar with you and your team."

It's good to know she's not going to lose her chance to further convince Éclair to join her side, or lose the perks that comes with completing the quest.

"I might have something that'll help. It won't heal her heart like Yggdrasil medicine would, but it should help." The usually quiet sworn shield Yatsuhashi suddenly unfasten his crossed arms. "There's a meditation and breathing technique developed by my cla- my family."

He was going to say clan, wasn't he?

"The breathing technique is a way to help discipline one's body to regulate and conserve energy. An aggressive fighter can use the technique to keep on the offense longer and overwhelm their opponent, while a defensive fighter can outlast his assailant. If Lady Mein's danger mostly comes from overexerting herself, this technique should keep her safe longer." The tanned swordsman doesn't know what's going on in Mein's head, he continues to finish his explanation.

"That sounds very useful. Can you teach it to all of us?" Naofumi looks at his sworn shield with expectation, hopeful for the first time.

"I don't see why not. Not like there's anyone to stop me." Yatsuhashi gently scratches the side of his chin with his finger. "Although it's not something you learn overnight and immediately see the results. You need to condition your body slowly, till' the breathing technique becomes second nature."

Mein narrows her eyes at the way the giant worded his response. He didn't say it out loud, but it sounds like there's some kind of rule stopping him from passing this breathing technique out to other people. Yet he can do it simply because there's no one to enforce it. It's almost beyond a shadow of doubt now, that Yatsuhashi is a descendant of the Miyamoto Clan. And he's going to teach at least some of the techniques from his clan to everyone in Naofumi's party.

What an unexpected boon! It doesn't make up for her heart condition, of course. But learning the secret technique of the Miyamoto Clan should be a good consolation prize, even if it's better suited for martial arts than casting.

"That's settled then. We'll learn it together every night before we go to bed." Naofumi's head cocks sideways after his reply to Yatsuhashi. Mein follows his eyes, and sees a small cloud of dust approach them from the distance with a rumbling sound. He starts to walk towards the direction. "That has to be Motoyasu."

Mein wonders what idiocy the Spear Hero is getting into this time, so she follows her Naofumi and his bodyguard towards the half ruined palisade of Balafon. Now that she's no longer focused on talking with the Shield Hero, she realizes the huge change to the village.

The first, obvious new thing is the verdant grass below her feet. It's hard to imagine before her awakening, this village looks like it's in the middle of a severe drought. The countless sinkholes where the vines of Life Root burst out are also gone, probably courtesy of the accomplished Earth Mage Keith.

The second change is the structure of the village itself. Upon their first arrival, the village is mostly made of badly constructed shacks with old wood. Right now, there's a lot of tents made with monster leather as the temporary lodging for the Whiterun, Claes soldiers, and the villagers. But there's also a lot of foundations, or frames of newer houses made with newly cut lumber.

It can't compare to the masonry of the capital, or even the town of Trumpet. But not too shabby compared to Lute, the other village she's been to till this point. The village is already on its road to recovery.

As she exits the gate to the palisade, the princess notices a completely brand new field not too far away from the village proper. Crops already sprout on the ground while the villagers plow new fields to the side... is that Katarina and Bertia in working clothes with the Balafon villagers?

Mein squints her eyes at the two familiar figures, one slim and tall, the other short and pudgy. Yes, it is certainly the monkey and the pig from the spear idiot's party, working up a sweat underneath their straw hats.

She slowly turns her head around to look at the cloud of dust her Naofumi is waiting for. As it gets closer, she sees it's the Spear Hero running towards the gate of Balafon. His spear twirling around in his hands. However, unlike a defensive spear skill [Cartwheel] where the user spins it around in the front and blocks attacks like a shield, he's spinning it around to his side and digging a trench in the earth in the process.

[Stone Stab], one of the low level spear skills that's highly effective against earth aligned monsters, or heavy armored opponents. In theory, it should be useful to dig a trench in the ground itself. But the constant stamina drain would obviously be too heavy a toll for a normal spear using fighter, even if the technique itself is low level. Not a problem for the spear jester, apparently.

Behind the Spear Hero, Keith is waving his sword wand on top of a raptor. The earth in the trench hardens, as water begins filling down the newly created stream the two of them created.

"[Meteor Spear]." Motoyasu tosses his spear at a spot near the palisade, the shooting star shaped attack blows a crater on the ground. Keith waves his sword wound again, and the crater slowly reforms and hardens into a cistern where the water starts to collect near the newly created crops field.

"Alright! Go, Master Motoyasu, Keith!" Katarina pumps her fist at the Spear Hero and her brother.

Keith's face burns red hot as he quickly looks away. The Spear Hero waves his hand at Katarina first before turning towards Naofumi. "You got what I asked for?"

"Zylden had to help me out a little, but I got it, here." Naofumi takes something small out of his shield and passes it into Motoyasu's hand. Mein briefly wonders what they are being so hush about.

"We can't bring back the lives lost defending Balafon, Lady Irileth. But hopefully, you'll take our effort to rebuild Balafon as a sign of goodwill from my family." On the other side, Katarina's younger brother is talking with Count Balgruuf's bodyguard.

"This is acceptable." The dour rabbit woman nods her head. She turns around to look at Iris and her maid who are slowly approaching the field as well. "All we are waiting for is the seed of the other crops from House Amelia, before we try this 'crop rotation' method suggested by the Shield Hero."

The undercover princess blinks her eyes. It seems like she missed a lot of things during the time she's unconscious.

"Father's caravan is already on the way. It shouldn't take them longer than two weeks." The Amelia heiress has a veil covering her face, probably in an effort to hide the new scar that sits right across the center of her face. "And we'll do a step better. House Amelia will also start investing in Lord Balgruuf's land."

The rabbit demi-human lets out a grunt as a reply. It's hard to tell if she's pleased or annoyed.

"Iris, there you are!" The Spear Hero quickly jogs his way over to stand besides the heiress. He's practically bouncing with excitement, like a baby filorial.

"Yes. How may I help you, Master Motoyasu?" Iris slowly turns around to face the excited birdie.

"Eh... I'm not very good at this." The Spear Hero looks all over as he runs one hand through his now dust covered hair. After a few moments of rapid breathing, he manages to calm himself and looks at Iris right in the face. "All I have done since I've been summoned to this world is mess up, and cause trouble for everyone. I couldn't even protect you from harm, but you never gave up on me, and helped pointing the right direction out for me. That's why... I'm going to make it official."

The Spear Hero suddenly falls to one knee, and holds something sitting in his palm up for Iris. Mein narrows her eyes to get a look, and realizes it's a ring curved out of the bark of Life Root with a diamond stone sitting on top of it.

No, wait. That childish idiot can't be doing what she thinks he's doing... can he? Does he even understand what the gesture means?

"I know we haven't even started a proper courtship yet. But Lady Iris Lana Amelia, will you marry me?" Despite his usual antiques, the Spear Hero is looking up at Iris with absolute sincerity in his eyes.

"Wha-? No, you didn't, Ma- Master MOTOYASU!" With Iris' response, it's hard to tell if she's more shocked at the Spear Hero actually being serious enough to propose to her, or feeling ashamed for having done it in front of so many people.

This is... this is worse than she thought! Even more corny than that hug he shared with his party after his farce of a duel with her Naofumi. Worse than the most trashy romance novel she ever read! But from how much her own cheeks are heating up, Mein gets the sense Iris isn't the only one who is blushing hotter than a fireball. On the other hand, both Katarina and Bertia are hugging themselves, while letting a string of 'aww...' sound.

"Did you know about this, Master Naofumi?" Mein turns to look at the Shield Hero.

"Well, kind of hard not to when Motoyasu asked me to enchant the ring for him." The Shield Hero simply shrugs his shoulders as he whispers back.

"That can't be his own idea. He probably needs a maid dressing him up every morning." The princess shakes her head at the scene playing out before them as Iris Lana Amelia, a genius often compared with the likes of Gerard Stuart and Cecil Glo Alphasta stammers to form a cohesive sentence to reply back to the spear jester.

"Yeah, I told Master Motoyasu what happened with Katarina back when she first visited our childhood friend Princess Malty." Bertia's words make Mein jump right on her feet. Her heart feels it's shaking with a dozen needles inside. How can someone overweight be this stealthy?!

"Oh, oh, OH! I remember it like yesterday! I hit and bloodied myself on my forehead when I fell down the crepe tree in the palace!" Katarina slaps at her own rather prominent forehead, for some reason looking proud instead of ashamed as a lady should be. "It wouldn't leave a scar like a curse wound, of course. But Mother said something about if my friend was born a prince, she'd have been forced to enter a betrothal with me."

Yes, she knew that very well. Thank you very much for bringing that sordid affair back again, Katarina! You damn MONKEY!

"Apologies, please excuse myself." Iris finally snatches the ring out of Motoyasu's hand and puts it on her finger. She quickly turns around, pulls her dress up and practically runs away from further embarrassment.

"I have also been working on this for you." Naofumi takes something else out of his shield and places it in Mein's hand. She brings it up to her eyes, and realizes it's a brooch with a silver base shaped like Naofumi's original shield with a polished ruby gem embedded in the middle.

The craftsmanship on the piece of jewelry is as rough as Raphtalia's attempt at helping her dress. Any random piece in her jewelry stash is worth more money than this amateur attempt at making an enchanted jewelry. Even with the enchantment sealed inside the ruby. But unlike the pieces in her stash, this was clearly made only for her in mind.

"Not the best to give it to you... but I've been practicing my jewelry craft and enchanting with Zylden. I want to show you how much I appreciated all your help since the beginning." The Shield Hero looks away from the princess as he scratches his messy hair.

"I love it. Thank you very much, Master Naofumi." Mein fasts the ruby brooch onto her traveling cloak and runs her hand through Naofumi's hair. She turns around to look at her two childhood friends in an attempt to change the subject to something a little less awkward. "Should you even remember the Spear Hero in the first place? Now he's going to marry Lady Amelia first."

"Why shouldn't I? Iris is a childhood friend, and she deserves her happiness just like us." Bertia looks back at the first princess of Melromarc, completely unaware of the true identity of the one underneath the hood and behind the cloth mask.

"YEAH! We made a promise to marry the same hero together back when we were young, like the old oath sisters!" Katarina throws herself onto Bertia's back and closes her arms around the fat girl's shoulders. Her laughing face becomes solemn suddenly. "It's a shame our Malty can't join us. She'd have loved Master Motoyasu, he's just like the heroes from the romance novels we read as children."

No she doesn't! Because her hero is better than the spear fool, and she doesn't have to share him with another fellow lady!

"Yeah, she's going to be forced to wed her Faubley uncle, for the good of the nation." There's practically tears twinkling in Bertia's eyes. "I heard King Egbert is a very bad and cruel man. He killed countless numbers of his mistresses and concubines."

No she isn't!

"I heard of political marriages... but I'm going to be sick." Naofumi starts dry gagging at Bertia's rather simplified description. "Maybe I'll have a word with the Queen, once she returns. Nobody deserves a fate like this."

Yes! You do that, Master Naofumi!

"Okay, that's enough sad talk! We'll have Master Motoyasu talk with the queen too! Maybe our friend Malty can finally join us in his party." Katarina jumps off Bertia's back and claps her hands together. Completely unaware of the very person she's talking about is standing next to her... and has no intention to join her party. The monkey girl waves at the Spear Hero once again. "Come with us, Master Motoyasu, there's still a lot of fields to plow!"

"Okay, I'm coming." The Spear Hero changes his weapon to something with a hook that roughly looks like a hoe... if one squints hard enough and looks at it from certain angles. He quickly goes over to the field with his two female companions.

"Not to question your wisdom, Lord Shield Hero. But I'm not so sure about this 'crop rotation' method." The elder of Balafon walks over to Naofumi, his eyes downcast despite things looking up for his village. The old man probably reached the limit of what he can take in such a short period. "We have been planting crops like sweet cabbages, potatoes, wheat and gourds since we first settled this land. We aren't sure about this new method."

"Zylden said something about the land will slowly lose its super charged fertility because there's no magical plant serving as an anchor, right?" Naofumi walks around the field with the elder, looking at the newly sprout crops left and right. "I think adopting crop rotation should slow the degradation down, since different crops grow on different nutrients, and pull the mineral up from different depths of the soil. You guys have to figure out what different crops work together at rotation in the end, since I don't know if your world's crop is the same as mine. But in theory, it should work like my world. It'll even help out future generations if you write them down. Just remember, don't raise a massive herd and overgraze, and let the soil recover its nutrients and you'll be fine."

"Wicked! Is this knowledge of summoned heroes I heard about?" The Shield Hero turns behind him, and comes face to face with stars twinkling in Katarina's eyes.

"Something like that. My own knowledge is rather limited since I only read a couple of books. My friend, Yugo, was the one who went to the agriculture school." Naofumi smiles at Katarina's enthusiasm.

"There's a school about being farmers too!? Your worlds sound totally wicked! I want to go to one!" The monkey girl is practically jumping on her feet by this point.

"Yo, Naofumi! You already got Mein in your party. Stop stealing mine." The Spear Hero calls out from the side with a smile and fake anger in his voice. The Shield Hero flips his middle finger back at him again.

"You really love farming, huh? Not what I expected from a noble lady." Naofumi turns back and smiles at Katarina.

"Yeah, my affinity is earth." Katarina opens her palm towards a grassy patch away from the field. A small, barely visible dirt mount pushes up with a 'pop' sound. "That's why my friend Malty suggested that I take up farming to hone my magic."

"Training earth magic... by farming? That's interesting..." Naofumi looks away while scratching his nose, not knowing Mein is sweating profusely beside him. "I feel like something's wrong with this picture..."

Yes, the 'something wrong' in the plan was her leading Katarina astray with the magic training to thin out competition.

"But anyways, I found I really like farming, even if I'm not good at it. All of the crops I tried to grow end up withering if not for Grandpa Tom. But he encourages me to keep at it." Katarina smiles at the memory as she heaves her hoe over her head, and starts to furiously plow the land in front of her again. "There's a simple joy at growing what you eat on your own."

"Your grandfather is named Tom, and he likes gardening too?" An eyebrow rises up into Naofumi's hairline. "Well, at least it's a productive hobby."

"Oh, chief god no! Grandpa Tom is our head gardener, and one of my grandfather's best friends." Katarina's smile becomes strained as the corner of her lips start to curve downward. "I was still young at the time. But grandfather... he didn't make it through the Wailing Death."

Ah, yes. The Plague of the Wailing Death... the indirect cause of the lowest point in her life. There are still different theories, and conspiracies about how this strain of Miracle resistant plague came into being. Some suspect it's an engineered magical plague released by Siltvelt as revenge against Melromarc. Others suspect it's a result of the Great War, either all the magic spells fired from different sides mutated some already existing plague, or the Chief God saw fit to deliver punishment for the foolish mortals for the bloodshed.

Regardless, it ravaged through even the upper echelon of Melromarc nobility, leading directly to the Three Heroes Church's healing branch reform spearheaded by Vicar Laurence. A project that finds alternative healing methods than simply rely on Miracles.

"Oh, Katarina." Bertia quickly wraps her arms around her friend, just like the Spear Hero. "I remember it too. Mother would have died, and my younger brother would never have been born if the Wise King didn't bring the cure back from Faubley."

"Yeah! He led the Wyvern Corps into Faubley, and flew the cure directly back to Melromarc."

Mein whips her head sharply onto Katarina for the comment. The princess always knew Father was the one who brought the cure back, but she never bothered to find out exactly how he did it. All her teachers conveniently skimmed that part through, and she was never diligent enough to read over the boring texts herself. Her privately assumed father wrote a letter to her adopted brother, or maybe directly to the young Lord Cecil, creator of the cure and had a caravan of filorials bringing it back to Melromarc through day and night.

But leading the Wyvern Corps, a specialized elite branch of the air cavalry directly onto Faubley soil? That's a definite act of aggression, and war has been declared for less offense than this. It's hard to imagine Faubley would let this slight go without barely a slap on the wrist, especially since Melromarc hadn't recovered from the Great War at the time. Unless there's some under the table dealings going on.

Dealings ... such as betrothal the only princess of the nation to the Faubley King, giving them a backdoor and inviting the Fau Pigs into the politics and governance of Melromarc herself. Even if said princess is demoted from being the first in line for Melromarc throne.

All this time... she assumed her unofficial betrothal to her uncle is due to Mother wanting to get rid of her. Could it be that it was Father's impulsive action that doomed her?

"There you have it. Our HEROES, ladies and gents. One of them is a green thumb, the other a hoe pusher." A smug mewling and resulting sniggers wakes Mein up before she has a chance to start questioning her life again. She spins around with the Shield Hero, and sure enough Siegmar Isaac Octavius Consevatie is sitting on top of a raptor clad in the same red triangle adorned silver armor as himself.

"Don't be so harsh on the esteemed heroes, Sieg. I think it's great the heroes are helping bring a village and her people back on their feet. Father always says it's lords like Baron Elric who works in the field with the farmers that help our people the most." Jaune, on the other hand, is much more supportive of the Heroes. He turns around to smile and nod at Naofumi and Motoyasu. "Thank you very much for your service, heroes. I'd stay and help out if I could. But we have an undead outbreak in Silver Pass we have to contain."

"Only sap like you would look up to a pretender like the old green thumb. Maybe you should leave the Knights Templar and go plow the fields yourself, if you admire them so much." Consevatie rolls his eyes, his comment elicit another round of giggling behind him.

A red haired woman riding besides Jaune looks like she wants to say something. But a much older paladin with graying hair and beard rides to them first. "What's the meaning of this stop? We are wasting time here! Charge with me! LEEEEEEROYYYYY ... JENNNNKINNNNNS!"

The old paladin waves his pointed, black titanite great hammer over his head, and his raptor practically disappears off the road in a cloud of dust. The rest of the Three Heroes' Church Knights Templar quickly follow after Paladin Leeroy onward north.

The expedition of Three Heroes' Church has finally caught up, and by now, have overtaken them.

Omake: Grief of the Wise King AKA The Stains of Time

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my wayward lost brother." Egbert turns up his nose as he's accompanied by his usual cohort of colorful, murdering sycophants to the clearing of Alphasta House estate. The old pig doesn't look any happy to see him as he is to see the old pig. "I always knew you'd bring an army if you'd ever work up the courage to meet me face to face again, Alducray. Father would weep if he's alive to see how low you have fallen, after everything he's done for you and your sister."

"That name has no meaning to me anymore, and if I had my way, I wouldn't meet you face to face if you ordered three armies to take me." He scowls right back at his adopted brother. "I'm here for the cure of the Wailing Death, not wasting time arguing with you while my people lie dying. Either make yourself scarce, or make yourself useful and bring the Duchess of Tristan."

"Good to know you still think of your sister after disappearing for all those years. She'd have cried her eyes blind, thinking about you." Egbert spits on the ground, acting more like a common brute than the king of the most powerful nation in the world. "But you won't find her in Tristan if you turn the province upside down. The proper title of Lady Lucia Jasmine Faubley is the Duchess of Dunwall."

It takes precisely three seconds for Egbert's words to register in his mind, and three more for the uncontrollable rage to boil over. "Dunwall! DUNWALL! By right, she should be next in line for the throne of Tristan, the second biggest province of Faubley after Marianne and I left, and you give her an ISLAND!?"

"Get your facts straight before you bark at me like a rapid bonedog ready to be put down, you sentimental old fool!" The old pig gets on his toes and howls right back at him. "I was to make Jasmine into the Duchess of Tristan after you saw fit to forsake your duty and took cousin Marianne with you. She's the one who turned the title down, saving it for you and cousin Marianne because she thought you'd return one day. And pray tell, did you return in the end?"

His mouth feels bitter at having the truth thrown right back into his face, by the old pig no less. "I... I was much happier living as a simple commoner than a royalty. Lucia was no longer a girl when I left, and she had Henry to look after her."

"Ah, but of course. You ran away from your duties, and your responsibility as an elder brother. Like the sad, pathetic runner you truly are. I don't know what Father saw in you when he took you and Jasmine in, or what the majority of the House of the Lords saw in you, when they thought you'd make a better king than me." Egbert sneers at him as he walks around in front of him. "Poor, poor cousin Marianne. She never had an unrealistic, romanticized idea of being a 'free' commoner like you did. But she was always ever faithful, even following you away into a life among rags. Yet you turn around and marry a younger woman. Was her bone even cold when you took our cousin Mirellia as your second wife?"

His head falls down, eyes fixed on the stone patterns underneath his feet instead of facing his adopted brother. Failing to protect Marianne from those savage animals... and their daughter Henrietta will remain the biggest regret and shame of his life.

"Regardless, you won't find our dear sister Jasmine in Dunwall either. But there is someone here to meet you. Looks like they have arrived." Egbert turns his head to the way he comes.

He looks up as well, and sees an old blonde man with blue eyes walking into the clearing with a child around the age of his Henrietta, if she's still alive. "Henry? What, what happened to Lucia?"

"Emily, come and meet your Uncle Alducray... or do you go by Aultcray now, good-brother?" Henry guides the girl forward. Now with her closer, he can clearly see Lucia's eyes and brows in the child.

"Uncle Aultcray ... today I finally meet you. Mother talked about you all the time, when she was still with us." Tears begin to form around the corner of Emily and Henry's eyes. "Mother, Mother was taken by the Siltvelt savages back in the Great War."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Aultcray... you entrusted Lucia to me, and I failed her as her husband." Henry kneels down and wraps Emily in an embrace, not daring to look him in the eyes.

"Do not blame yourself, Henry. Our sister Jasmine, she was always too headstrong for her own good." Egbert closes his eyes and shakes his head. It's hard to tell if he's genuinely feeling sad for the little sister they both adored, or if he's simply crying beastman tears.

"How... How did this happen? Faubley was never invaded, she should have been safe in Dunwall."

"She hold a peace summit, trying to negotiate an armistice between Siltvelt Empire and Melromarc. No doubt for you and cousin Marianne. We don't know where exactly you two ran off to after saving Aldrecht from his Siltvelt captors, but the Unspeakable's last report shown you three went south to Melromarc." Egbert's eyes narrowed, glaring daggers at him. "She's betrayed by those craven animals and taken. We don't know if she's been taken as a concubine for a warlord, a slave, or worse... Her kidnapping was the reason I rallied both lords loyal to Lord Mudbelrode, and Lord Voldemort to mobilize our army and join in the war."

Lucia... She always loved and respected him for taking care of her when they were young, and before they were adopted as prince and princess of Faubley royal house. Yet in the end, it's she who helped him when he forsaken her for a friend, either in captivity... or death.

"Henry, Emily. Perhaps you two want to retire for now. There will be time to catch up with Aultcray... and get to know your niece and cousin Malty." The old pig's words ring alarms in his ears, even as Henry and Emily slowly retreat from his views. Egbert slowly strolls his way in front of his eyes, ever narrowed into a triangle, lips pursed.

"Congratulations, you old pig. You have thoroughly shamed me like you always wanted. What more do you want?"

"Oh, you think this is over? No, I have something a bit more thorough in my mind." Egbert smirks at him and the old pig points at his own head a little. "Father took you and Jasmine in when you two were living in squalor like commoners, and he even procured a vial of Yggdrasil's medicine to cure Jasmine's disease. All he wanted was for you to bring prosperity to Noble Faubley after he's gone. And you failed him, as a son when you ran away to live the life of a commoner again."

"The young lords of the order of the Shield, and many from the order of Bow, Spear, even Sword see you as a better candidate for future kingship than me. In failing them, you failed as a prince and a friend."

"Cousin Marianne was ever faithful to you as your wife, even giving up her life as the Duchess of Tristan. In unable to protect her... and then takes in another wife after her death, you failed as a husband."

"Jasmine always believed in you, thinking you would eventually come back to her. In failing to do so, not even knowing of her kidnapping by the Silvelt animals, you failed as a brother."

The old pig shakes his head and grins more like a predator than a pig. "And with how you brought an army into Faubley... oh, I don't know. This would be seen as an act of aggression that I'll be more than justified to declare war on the country. Cousin Millie is trying her best to build it back up after those savage animals burned it to the ground."

With this declaration from the old pig, he realizes too late the severity of the consequences in his attempt to save Douglas' wife.

"Don't worry, I won't. Wouldn't want to break dear cousin Millie's heart, even if she no longer belongs to me anymore." Egbert chuckles to himself as he looks down and kicks some pebbles away with his dragon skin boots. "But I know she had a daughter with you, and I think it's more than fair that I ask for her hand as a reward for my leniency. Don't worry, I won't treat her like one of my toys. I'll take good care of her for the rest of her life, more than you'll ever do."

"Congratulations, Aultcray. Or should I call you Luge? Now, you are also a failure of a father. This is what you are, an absolute and total failure. The 'True Prince of Noble Faubley' indeed."

He slumps on the ground as his adopted brother Egbert silently turns around and walks away, admitting everything the old pig said is true despite knowing how much he wants to deny it.

No... There is one thing Egbert is wrong. He failed as a father long before this day, when he couldn't even protect Henrietta from those savage animals invading his new home.

This is why he won't fail Malty like he did Henrietta, she will not be the wife of the Pig King of Faubley, even if he has to burn the whole world for it.


End Note

Well... WHAT A TWIST!

I been hyped to get to this point of my story, or more specifically this Omake for a while.

I would be lying through my teeth to say this flashback review on it was Trash's political blunder that doomed Malty's future was planned from the very beginning. Considering the meaning of that flashback scene from chapter 4 itself was changed as soon as I finished writing the original draft. Because I'm an idiot, and I forgot what an absolute monster the King of Faubley was in canon. Yeah, originally that scene was meant to be the Queen trying to find her daughter a good suitor to compensate her for not being the future queen, which obviously didn't survive the contact with the enemy.

:P

As my original plan for this story wasn't going full subvert canon, it was originally only meant to be a story where most characters still have similar alignment and disposition as their canonical counterpart, except Malty doesn't betray Naofumi from the start since I was still blindingly accepting canon's setup. The initial turning point was definitely chapter 4, and then I start to get progressively annoyed (to put things diplomatically) with what canon did as I keep thinking more and more on how I would write my own story. And eventually some point around the Chimera Wave, I went FXXK THIS! And went full [The Last Jedi], for better or worse.

Obviously, Trash begin his life in my story as his canonical dumb villain self. Because I was basically trying to recreate canon events... which requires at least one dumb villain to work. But I think this new backstory for him really explains why he pampers daughter, and went completely Crazy Steve in antagonizing Naofumi and trying to protect his daughter, who he believe to be kidnapped and brainwashed. Since he's the one who doomed her future to begin with.

And I just love the idea of Iris, someone who is always dignified in her own story gets totally flustered by a naive idiot like Motoyasu.

XDDD

Guest review time.

To Night:

Well... prologue of Reprisal of the Spear Hero actually shows what happened to him with his two female besties. I didn't feel like writing it for my story, since I really had no plan to change it or shown it in a different light. And yeah, it's clearly a nod to Makoto Itou's 'nice boat' ending, that's why I went with the original nice boater as the previous Spear Hero.

And yeah, your guess on what happened to him is pretty much spot on. Although I would like to say fat Bertia is still really cute, at least judging by the manga adaptation. She looks like a fancy doll I want to pinch her cheeks.

XD

To Guest(s):

It's a bit hard for me to tell Motoyasu's canon attitude towards the two girls who nice boat'ed him, since I read one of the earlier personal translation not any official translation. I went with he only see them as friend... possible substitute for family with my story because I want to have his characterization towards a less anime lecherous direction.

Malty will definitely be a much better caster than her canonical self.

Okay... I would like to admit while I definitely made Motoyasu more sympathetic and less annoying (and anime logic ridiculous), a lot of his characterization is still based on his canon self.

The part where his parents are never there and he's essentially been raised by strangers? Canon, at least judging by Reprisal's manga adaptation. Well, there's a mature next door neighbor single mother kind of took over his surrogate mother role is (to my knowledge) my own creation. Since I find canon implying (at least how I understand it) he's been raised by his girlfriends around same age to be... well, ridiculous.

Him blame himself for all the bad things? Sort of canon, at least in spirit. Reprisal did set up he thinks girl can do no wrong (probably because they took cared of him instead of his parents), so he blame himself for all the bad things. I just kind of extended this mindset to have him blame himself for all the bad things that happened while he's Spear Hero too.

So yeah, while I can definitely understand why people are annoyed with him (especially if they only watch the anime), there's a good reason why he's my favorite canon character.

:P

As for Motoyasu actually being from a Mirror Universe as Naofumi instead of a joke... OMG, that would be so funny!

Maybe in that timeline Nintendo doubled down on NES hard creative direction and created a 'Hardcore' elitist video gaming culture. Miyazaki got fed up with this culture, and he created and got praised for games that's easy to play and enjoy for everyone. And Dark Souls on Motoyasu's earth plays more like Miitopia... just with much better world lore. It's not like Dark Souls doesn't already have a mindset of cultivating community with the whole drop-in co-operation/PVP system.

XDDD

Thank you very much for the well wishes! It's honestly surprising for me that this story has go through 2 years... and I still haven't even got to the 3rd Wave yet on the timeline.

XDDD

To HeshGerlan:

On your own thought about industrial revolution, and globalization... I think I should bring up my point towards Geography Nerd again.

In RotSH's world, both magic in the tradition 'magical missile and fireball' sense, and especially status magic exist. So a nation's overall military power growth would be more measured by individual's ability in self-betterment because it would have shorter maturation cycle compared to advancing technology. Obviously, invention of guns and actual combat vehicles like tanks and bombers would help be a bit of equalizer to people who are high leveled. But considering how long time in our world it took for these weapons to develop to their current iteration... I think it's reasonable to considering most nations would consider pouring money and resources into developing better weapons would be a waste of time, considering they can probably train a high leveled army all had their class-up after a decade or two even without the hero EXP modification bonus.

This is why I sort of had people in Melromarc shown a bit of technophobe sentiment, like how Malty was looking down on the mechanical design of Weiss' sword.

Not too much thought on TTW as a whole franchise, since I only got the two warhammer games (still missing a bunch of DLCs). And maybe I'll get Three Kingdoms too since it's my country's setting. But I definitely need to get a new gaming rig first. My PC can't even run Age of Wonders: Planetfall. Still bought it because I enjoyed AoW3 and want to support the developer.

XD

No influence of Touhou project made into my story, since I basically have no knowledge of it just like Fate. The names I got for the girls in Motoyasu's interlude actually come from Variable Geo (well... their last names anyway). I would make some reference to other gal games, since he's obviously a reference to a harem manga/game protagonist as well as a traditional Shounen manga protagonist in the same vein as Goku or (sigh) Naruto. But I have no knowledge of those either since I don't like visual novel games. If I did, I would have written a crossover one-shot where Keima Katsuragi from 'The World God Only Knows' get summoned as Shield Hero instead of Naofumi... and he solves the problem by capturing all the major girls, including the F'ing Goddess in the end (somebody who actually DO play a lot of gal games and familiar with all the tropes, PLEASE WRITE IT!).

XDDD

On the serious side, a Japanese cultured country (or as I like to call it, 'BS cheat armor Japan') does exist in RotSH's world, at least in LN rewrite. Which is where all the natives with Japanese name came from.

Yukari is actually a reference to Yukari Sahashi from Sekirei (not to be mistaken for Sekiro: Shadow Die Twice!), and if you remember she has an older brother named Minato who led Naofumi and Motoyasu's team to the laboratory.