This chapter, and most of next chapter is thanks to my chief editor Ace-Triad. And of course, also in charge of fixing my SPAG problems
More author's note at the end for anyone interested to hear me blabber some more.
The heroes stayed true to their resolve, spending the remaining days before the third Wave gaining better masteries of themselves and how to use their respective Legendary Weapons rather than trying to gain more strength. They spend the day vigorously training with the young crusaders, and have sparring matches against the two veterans to test their progress and their team work. Right at this moment, the four heroes are going up against Captain Lotheringan.
The captain of the royal guards is a much more defensive fighter compared to Coach Zellus, and knows how to better pull his punches. At the same time, he is also someone with a much more steadfast build as a Dragon Disciple. A special Warrior Monk/Sorcerer hybrid class unlocked by entering into a covenant with a Dragon Lord. As a result, he's a much better training partner to let the heroes practice their teamwork on offense than Coach Zellus.
"Motoyasu, Ren, behind me!" Naofumi raises his shield in front of him, as he charges at the royal guard captain. The Spear and Sword Hero falls into his steps, while Bow Hero pelts Captain Lotheringan at long range.
Not Bow Hero's common air arrow, but one of his bow weapon art that is supposed to ignore DEF rating. It won't be enough to actually kill, or even badly injure Father's left fist obviously. But it would cause enough of a distraction to let the Shield Hero knock the much more experienced captain off balance with a [Shield Charge].
Despite the exercise being supposed to help the heroes become more skilled at handling their actual weapons as opposed to their weapon arts, Bow Hero is the one that's allowed to use his weapon arts as much as possible. Unlike a melee range weapon, there's only so many ways an archer can pull their bowstring, and let an arrow fly towards their opponent without weapon arts assisted trick shots. And the Bow Hero has even less options than a regular archer who uses traditional arrows, and would have to take gravity-induced trajectory (on how a falling arrow would carry slightly more force than a straight arrow) into consideration. It's not like he's skipping his regular shooting exercise with Duke Febail, or the young duke's cousin Lord Lester.
Captain Lotheringan would have never became known as the Wand Hero, and the Wise King's Left Fist if he was an incompetent, foolish fighter who doesn't do anything to defend himself and allows himself to be overwhelmed. The captain opens his fist up, forming his fingers into claws. A layer of dark energy coats his hand, making them look more like the limbs of a dragon and swipe the Bow Hero's. "[Dragon's Claw]."
Chapter 77: Last Preparation, Final Contingency
To the common people who aren't involved with actual fighting, or even a fighter without systemic training, the concept of defense piercing effect (attack that ignores DEF rating) can be confusing. As they are very effective against opponents wearing heavy armor in some instances, and completely ineffective at others. Of course, much like Coach Zellus' explanation on a person's stats screen, this is another case of misunderstanding how the effect works.
Defense piercing effects ignore DEF rating of passive protection, as in someone simply wears a thick layer of armor and then forgo defense stance all together, or simply holding a shield up. But the effect can be negated by active defenses, such as parrying an incoming attack with a weapon, or a shield.
Right now, Father's left fist is doing something a step even above simply knocking the Bow Hero's weapon art away. He's scooping the energy attack out of the sky with his hands, coated in partial Dragon Aspect spectral armor.
"I don't know if I'm fit for Master Itsuki's party." The muffled mewling of a vaguely familiar voice draws the Mein's attention away from the sparring match. She looks back, and sees the girl she first met with Raphtalia back in Father's 2nd Wave celebration banquet sitting close together with Count Seliph's wife, hands propping up her chin. "I help him manage his inventory, and I can do some cantrap thanks to the teaching of Mr. Welst and Miss Maron, but that's it. I'd be way out of my league in an actual Wave battle, only getting in everyone's way. Maybe I should leave his party… I can still do all the things I do to assist him, as a retinue follower. Let someone more fit for battle gain the benefit of EXP bonus from Master Itsuki."
"Bravery and heroism can be found in the most mundane places that bards overlook. That's what Lord Seliph told me, when he passed over Lady Grant, even other crusader's daughters like himself asked for my hand." The commoner countess smiles at the demoralized low rank noble girl. Coming from someone else, it could be taken as a way of condescension. But 'Lady' Murine's humble birth and upbringing, coupled with her sincere expression and voice makes it sounds like true understanding. Although the young countess did have a more mischievous smile on her face at the end. "Unless Lady Ivyred also believes I am a conniving line-stealer, unfit as Lord Seliph's wife and only got the role by washing his loincloth?"
"NO! I can never think of something like that, Lady Muirne!" The jumpy little lady from Stormwind clearly missed the mirth in Countess Chalphy's tone as she nearly leapt up to her feet. She only calms down after watching Lady Murine's face for a few moments, not finding any malice on it. "I… I suppose I'm worried for Master Itsuki. What if he gets badly hurt in the coming Wave, and I can only stand around like an useless doll when someone more fit for battle could have helped him? People don't think the 3rd Wave is very dangerous, but the 1st Wave killed Lord Seaetto and his Silver Hand knights. They were heroes, practically living legends from The Great War. And Master Itsuki's natural growth is on the more fragile side."
"If that is what you fear, I do have something that can help alleviate it." The Countess picks up the long staff sitting by her side, which she has been using almost like a walking staff and is now sitting beside her. A long, rough cut crystal in the shape of a diamond sits on top of it, while wave-like decorative metal forms two 'wings' around the tip. "The Staff of Mend will help you ensure the safety of Lord Bow Hero's party, Lady Ivyred."
Magical staff, an archaic enchanted tool from a bygone age. Unlike a wand which serves as a more compact catalyst for a mage's casting, or a magical tome which a wizard can use to prepare and store already charged spells, a magical staff has a single spell array waved into the crystal sitting on its crown, powered by the mana stored in the crystal itself. The device trades versatility for easy of use, and extra casting charges independent of a caster's own mana pool.
It's admittedly no longer as popular as more adaptable enchanted tools, thanks to proliferation and widespread establishment of magical institutions granting mages much better training than their ancestors ever received. But they are still used by some mages who either lack aptitude, or mana reserves for more advanced spells to bolster their arcane arsenal.
In other words, it's the perfect tool for someone like Rishia. A magic user who only started learning the craft and lacks a diverse spell collection, but obviously has enough mana reserve to activate the spells stored in the crystal.
"NO! I can't accept such a valuable gift like that! Lady Murine!" Rishia's face quickly shoots back up to the face of the commoner Countess. She tries to push the staff back. "Not when I haven't done anything to deserve it!"
"House Chalphy is admittedly not the most wealthy Melromarc great house, but I do still have a collection of magical staff. And I have other staff with healing properties." The kind smile doesn't leave the possible line-stealing countess' face. "I'm like you, Lady Ivyred. I have some magic talent, but nothing spectacular. Even now, I can only cast the most basic spells of each prime element, and the celestial elements will forever be above my reach. That's why I devoted myself to perfect using staffs, so I may in some way, assist Lord Seliph when he is called to war. Don't think of this as a gift. Think of it as me assisting the heroes in my own way. If donating a Staff of Mending can keep the Bow Hero safe, I consider it a worthy endeavor."
"But still… is it okay for me to take it? I'm no one special, and Master Itsuki has better mages in his party." The low rank noble girl's eyes dart between Murine's face and the magic staff in her hands, still unsure of her own worth.
"That would precisely make you the perfect candidate to hold this tool, Lady Ivyred." The countess pushes the Staff of Mending towards Rishia's chest, and closes her hand around the Stormwind noble. "The other mages who are more experienced in the craft would be expected to join the Bow Hero in offense, or provide more versatile support spell works. While you could concentrate on treating the Bow Hero's party for injuries, and keep them alive with the Staff of Mending. I think you will be the best candidate for this item, Lady Ivyred."
"If you truly think so, Lady Murine." Rishia's hands are clenching the shaft of her new magical staff with more force as Murine releases her hold. The green haired girl's expression is also more resolute this time. "I will not let you, or Master Itsuki, down."
So, the two talentless, and weak underdogs from both the crusader block, and the heroes' retinue ended up banding together, licking after each other's wounds. Not surprising, as weaklings are known to either blindly follow the strong, or congregate together. Well, they can try to make them look better, by smooching the strong and decorate themselves with trinkets. But at the end of the day, they won't change who they really are. Perhaps one day, the Bow Hero will regret keeping this Rishia in his party, just like the so-called 'Scion of Light' did.
The first princess turns her attention back to the spar with her losing any interest in what's happening between Countess Murine and Rishia. The Shield Hero, and his fellow heroes with melee range weapons are already right in Captain Lotheringan's face, exchanging blows with the captain while the Bow Hero pelts Captain Lotheringan with what seems like weapon art guided arrows.
All four heroes' movements are much more fluid than they started out. Days of intensive paired up training with the young crusaders who specialize in their respective weapons, and sparring against veteran fighters like Coach Zellus and Captain Lotheringan clearly did wonders for their own forms. Despite, or perhaps because of his Legendary 'weapon' being a shield, Master Naofumi is the one who initiates every round of offense the melee ranged heroes launch at the royal guard captain.
Makes sense, as his shield offers him best protection against possible retaliation, but also a heavy blunt weapon that specializes in disrupting his opponent's stance and movement rather than causing direct damage. He is followed up right after by fast, precise strikes from Ren's sword, and strong, relentless lunges or slams from Motoyasu's spear. All the while Itsuki continues to fire vacuum or energy arrows from his bow to both distract, and slip in damage to Captain Lotheringan. A less experienced, skilled, or self-composed opponent would surely be overwhelmed by their coordinated attack.
Yet, despite being outnumbered one to four, and strictly limiting himself to defense and an occasional counter, the seasoned Dragon Disciple is still maintaining complete composure under the heroes' assault. And he isn't even using the more strictly defensive abilities at his disposal!
The [Dragon's Claw] part of [Dragon's Aspect] is usually an offensive special ability in a Dragon Disciple's arsenal. The enchanted claw hand is sharp enough to rip through castle-forged steel, shred muscles and snap bones. Yet, in the hand of the royal guard captain, it's turned into the best tool to assist his blocks and parries: The elongated claw finger grants Captain Lotheringan extra range, and strength to his fingers that lets him knock away the heroes' weapons before they reach his body. The layer of magical energy works like a pair of extra gauntlets, protecting his hand from being damaged when grabbing the blade of the heroes' weapons.
The captain takes a half step back, out of both the range of Naofumi's [Shield Bash] and Ren's sword strike. He brushes the arrows away with his right hand, and reaches out with the left to grab onto Motoyasu's spear. It's not clear if Captain Lotheringan is at his limit and has to end their current round of sparring fast, or if he saw a good opportunity to end this fight due to overcommitment by the heroes. The result is the same, the higher-leveled, and skilled royal guard captain tosses the Spear Hero into both the Shield and Sword Hero, making the three of them fall onto the ground in a bundle of tangled limbs. "That's enough for this match."
"Well, another sparring session, another loss for us." The Spear Hero comments with self-deprecating sarcasm as he tries to pull out his right arm from the other two heroes. "At least it's not a real life or death duel, or that's the what… thirteenth time we would have died?"
Mein tosses a casual glance over at Iris, who is definitely having her eyes trailed on the Spear Hero. She wonders if the genius of House Amelia is experiencing a similar situation with Motoyasu like she is with Naofumi. Despite their different personalities, their genuine sincerity is something that's easy to grow on them when they are tired of all the scheming and backstabbing of the court life.
"Motoyasu, shut up." Being the most competitive of the four heroes, Ren clearly doesn't take his loss as gracefully as the dimwitted, yet also kind of lovable buffoon of a Spear Hero. He shoots an annoyed glare over at the sniggering Bow Hero in the distance. "Lucky for Itsuki, he is a range fighter. He doesn't get tossed around by the captain."
"I love how you don't mention I always get whacked first, and hardest when we go against Zellus." The Bow Hero narrows his eyes, clearly not appreciating the Sword Hero's remark.
"Hey, let's not fight against ourselves. At least we are getting better. I think. We are no longer tripping over ourselves." Naofumi slowly crawls backwards with his hands, pulling out of his legs that've been stuck between the other two heroes. He stands up on his feet again, and adopts a fighting stance. "Can we go another round? I know we are supposed to train without our weapon arts and practice our teamwork, but I just thought of something and I want to test it out before the actual wave. Let me go solo first, you guys jump in when the time's right."
The Shield Hero's last instruction was clearly meant for his fellow heroes. Although judging from their confused look, the other heroes don't seem to have a clue about what he's going to do, or what they are supposed to do. The Spear Hero is the one who asked first. "When do we know it's the 'right' time?"
"You'll know if my plan worked." Naofumi gives Motoyasu a coy looking smile rather than answering his question. He's either trying to hide his plan away from his opponent, or Coach Zellus' mischievousness has rubbed off on him. "If not… we'll get another loss before the next Wave. No big deal."
"We get our asses handed to us when we fight together. What can you do on your own?" The young Sword Hero raises an eyebrow, clearly skeptical of what Naofumi can accomplish.
"You know how you can do ability combos? I want to try something similar." Naofumi's reply to Ren gives off a bit more information. Not exactly revealing to Captain Lotheringan on how he'll proceed, but highlighted the possibility of using weapon arts. "I hope you don't mind?"
"Gaining real aptitude for your weapon through hard work is always important. But it's also helpful to save a trick or few up your sleeves." The Shield Hero and the royal guard captain stand face to face from a short distance away, each lowering their body and getting into a fighting stance. "Come at me when ready, Lord Shield Hero."
"You are doing this wrong, Shield Boy." Zellus beats his wooden training sword against Balafon's wooden palisade he's leaning on, he blows some loud whistle with his mouth. "Everyone knows the best way to practice your killer move is to use them on your friends!"
"What? That can't be right?" Naofumi nearly trips over nothing, as his attention is completely drawn away from the opponent he should be facing.
"This is why I did NOT want him to be here influencing your training, Lord Heroes. I didn't want Zellus' bad attitude and habit to rub off on you." For his part, the royal guard captain is a much better sport than Coach Zellus as he didn't exploit Naofumi's momentary lapse of judgment. He simply maintains his battle stance, with eyes trained on the Shield Hero's body. "Try to ignore his… exuberant nature. Use this as an opportunity to practice your battle concentration. Real battlefield will have just as much distraction as my second in command, if not more."
"Really, Loth? After all these years of serving together, you are just going to tell the heroes to ignore me?" The vice captain tosses his practice sword away to hold his chest with both hands in a show of faked pain. "I'm hurt, deeply hurt!"
"Right, ignore the distraction. Got it, I think…" Despite the captain's warning, Naofumi still can't help but throw a few wary glances towards Zellus even as he resumes his fighting stance. After a few moments of what seem to be hesitation, he hides behind his shield and charges at the waiting royal guard captain. "Here I come!"
"Don't get cocky!" Without his fellow heroes pressuring Captain Lotheringan, the veteran fighter didn't even take a full defensive stance. He takes a step to the side to get out of Naofumi's [Shield Charge], and gives the Shield Hero a push on the shoulder to make him stumble on his feet. Looks like this second round would end even faster than the first.
"[Meteor Sword/Spear/Arrow]!" In the split second that would have decided the match, Naofumi's teammate came through for him. Despite being instructed to stay back, all three heroes fired projectile weapon arts at Captain Lotheringan, forcing the royal guard captain to defend himself rather than finishing his match with the Shield Hero.
As Captain Lotheringan turns to block the series of explosions around him, Naofumi recovers on his feet. Much faster than a young fighter around his age and experience can manage. That seems to be an advantage of him, he's much harder to disorient in a battle, or at least recover from it quicker than usual. He charges forward, getting into the captain right in the face and slams his shield forward. "[Shield Bash]!"
As the Shield Hero got into a full melee scramble with the captain, his fellow heroes switched to long range skills with more direct pinpoint effect to assist him without distracting him. Naofumi's shield, and an occasional fist collide with Captain Lotheringan's clawed hand. Judging with how the Shield Hero sways more on his feet than his opponent, it's clear he is at a disadvantage and would eventually lose. Despite him having long range support, and the captain still withholding most of his true power. It makes Mein wonder what Naofumi's plan is, he has to have better aspiration to simply last longer then when going up against the captain with two of his fellow heroes. Shouldn't he?
Between the colliding fists and shield, Naofumi suddenly jumps backward to avoid a strike from the captain and activates another one of his punches. The emerald colored shield of light shimmers into existence like so many times. "[Air Strike Shield]."
It wouldn't last long against the captain's assault. Especially if he decides to pack more power behind his punches now he no longer has to worry about harming one of the heroes by accident. But the princess in disguise still awaits with baited breath. Naofumi did mention he wanted to try something similar to Ren's ability combo. So naturally, with him back dashing away from a melee scuffle and activating one of his most recognized shield weapon art should be the start of something.
To her surprise, the Shield Hero didn't activate more weapon arts even as his barrier started to crack from the captain's punch. Orbs of brilliant white light gather in both of his hands as he pushes them out. That's the Miracles he was first taught by a preacher from the Three Heroes Church cathedral when they got her holy water, and later refined through the teaching from Jaune and his group. And the Shield Hero didn't stop at one… or two miracles. He fired them out rapidly one after another as his [Air Strike Shield] began to come apart. "[Force], [Force], [Force], [Force], [FORCE]!"
Did… did Master Naofumi almost stack five [Force] Miracles together instantly? That kind of talent, not to mention the focus and will power needed to pull of a feat like this with Miracle would be rare, even amongst the best Battle Priests of the Church.
This feat kind of helped explain Yatsuhashi's previous observation on the Shield Hero's lack of aptitude at fighting, even though he attended the Hero Academy of his world to prepare for his eventual summoning: It's clear that he was trained as some kind of a priest. One who is focused on casting Miracles behind frontline fighters. But with him being summoned as the Shield Hero, Master Naofumi needs to adjust his ability to become a cleric knight instead.
The five stacked together [Force] miracles on top of each other as the barrier finally collapses from the pressure of both sides.
Captain Lotheringan tries to jump back, either to dodge away from the tidal wave of concussive force entirely, or give him slightly more time to put on a guard. He wasn't able to do either, when half a dozen glowing swords of light appeared around him, stopping his motion all together despite none of them physically touching him.
"[Sword of Revealing Light]!"
The enormous build up of concussive… well, force, completely overwhelms, and obliterates the Sword Hero's weapon art, blowing Captain Lotheringan backwards off his feet in the process. As Captain Lotheringan skidded through the ground on his back, the heroes clearly realized this is the chance they are supposed to jump right in. Both the Spear and Sword Hero leap forward, sinking the blade of their respective weapons into the ground catching the neck of the now disoriented royal guard captain in between like a pair of scissor blades ready to cut through a thread.
"AND… THAT'S THE GAME, FOLKS!" Zellus pushes him off the wall and loudly claps his hands. Even some of the spectating guards and Balafon villagers joined in with their cheers. "Congratulations on getting your first victory from us, heroes!"
"WOOHOO! VICTORY FOR US! FINALLY!" Motoyasu jumps on his feet, swinging his fist into the air like an excited child despite being the oldest hero.
"Don't get so excited yourself." Itsuki snorts from his nose as he walks up to his fellow heroes. "Naofumi did most of the work. We just spammed our abilities like we always do."
"Oh, yeah. GO! NAOFUMI!" The Spear Hero turns around, and raises his spear in honor of the Shield Hero. Naofumi looks away, with a shade of pink on his face. "Did you do a non-lethal version of [Great Breakthrough] combining your shield ability, and that magic of yours?"
"Guess I did." Naofumi looks over at the slowly standing up royal guard captain, and scratches his head. "Technically, it's a miracle. Not magic. The kind of magic priests and clerics use."
"That wasn't my ability combo though." Even in victory, the Sword Hero is maintaining his almost perpetual frown that makes him such a delightful personality. Or maybe the super competitive boy is annoyed that he didn't manage to clench a win from one of the two royal guard captains first.
"No, I couldn't do what you did. I don't have a clue what's a primer, and what's a detonator. For all I know, that's again something you invented because of how your game works." The Shield Hero shrugs his shoulders. "But I thought maybe I can somehow combine the effects of my different abilities and magic together? That's why I want to try it in a spar where it's safer."
"A good initiative to take, Lord Shield Hero. Congratulations, the victory is yours because you decided to be proactive." Captain Lotheringan walks up to Naofumi and graciously bows his head, accepting his defeat. "The most successful past heroes have been those who are more creative at handling their legendary weapons. The ones that explore new ideas in spite of what's commonly accepted as limits by us."
"So, I don't have to give up what I'm good at entirely." The Sword Hero clenches his fist tight, possibly without him even realizing it. "I need to bring up my swordplay to a level where I won't be easily defeated by any trained fighters. But I don't need to give up on the skills I practiced in Brave Star Online."
"You got it." Coach Zellus smirks from the side, clearly pleased at the heroes' progress. "You summoned hero types can do a lot of things us normal fighters can't do, thanks to your legendary weapons. That's why I said there isn't one perfect way to grow stronger to make you the strongest. It's all about how to best adapt to what you are good at, while covering your weaknesses either by training it to an adequate level, overshadowing it with your strength, or working with someone else to cover it for you. Can't wait for the day where you finally master your own fighting style, and we can get a proper one on one."
"You'll have to wait in line. I already made a promise with a Siltvelt warrior." Ren turns his head at the vice-captain.
"Ah, you must be talking about good old Benhart Stormcloak." Zellus grins wider at the Sword Hero's mention. "Met him a couple of times on my traveling days, even fought with him. Shame he doesn't really hone his skill like an art, and more in it to challenge and grow his own power. But I can respect his work ethic."
While the heroes continue to chat with each other and their many different training partners, Mein notices a group approaching them from the side from her peripheral vision. She turns around, and sees it's her bratty little sister, riding back with both Mother's favorite thug Palmer, and the many birds raised by the Spear Hero. Although amongst the many monarch filorials is a single common filorial, its rider has a pair of gigantic bust that defies gravity. The one force of nature that'll kill anything, no matter how strong they grow.
It's the forge smith from Trumpet, the one who she commissioned a sword with. She remembers the courier she sent with the supply wagon three days ago, returning with the news that the sword is near its final stage of completion. The busty monster (possibly a bovine demi-human despite lacking visible animal features) must have finally finished her sword!
The weaponsmith climbs down from her steed, and helps out a young boy previously obstructed by her much larger frame when riding behind her. Her son, perhaps? Mein can't find any animal-like features on the young boy like her mother, but that doesn't mean as much as it should. It's not the most common practice, but there is rumor about demi-human parents amputating the animal features from their children in an attempt to hide their true nature and have them grow up without the fear of enslavement over their heads. Nothing is confirmed, per say. And it could have simply been a myth spawned from how the Siltvelt invaders are known to cut off the ears or tails of their offspring resulting from rape as a symbolic denial for family connection with the children. But where there's smoke, there is usually fire.
"I have finished your sword, before the third Wave, Miss Mein." The weaponsmith pulls the unsheathed blade from her waist, which at this point clipped around her like a belt. Exactly like the concealed weapon ordered by the princess in disguise. "I named it ZiWei, the 'Hidden Violet', after the star of the monarch from Siltveltian culture, since you wanted it done in their style. I hope you are pleased with the results."
Well… she can definitely use it without the Siltveltian style name. It's not like she admires the uncouth culture of those savage animals, and she only wanted the style of their soft sword because it would serve as a good hidden weapon in addition to a normal blade. Still, she can't really fault the weaponsmith for making such assumptions.
She takes over the sword, and holds it close to her face for inspection. The guard, and the hilt is more utilitarian in design, rather than decorated with intricate carvings as per an usual Siltveltian treasure sword. Mein gives a quick glance over at the Cattleya's large… hands. Yeah, those are not the hands of an artistic sculpture.
The princess looks back at her sword, this time at the blade itself. It has a deep purple shade that looks almost dull under the sunlight. She walks a few steps away, and gives it a few test swings. The sword wobbles a little, in between an epee and a whip. But it easily cuts through blades of grass in her low swings. It'll take her a bit more practice to get into, but it's done under her specification.
She closes her eyes and focuses on her magic next. And sure enough, she can easily run her mana through her new weapon through the spine of the blade, feeling it being amplified inside. She suppose that's the effect of the Star Marrow Cattleya supposedly used as the sword's core, making it into a true sword wand.
"It's perfect." Not really, as there is always room for improvement for any enchanted weapon, unless it's reached Relic level. But it is done under her specification. At any rate, the weaponsmith smiles at the compliment.
"YES!" The exclamation of her little sister draws the princess' attention over to where Melty was standing. "My friends are finally taking their human… forms?"
The reason for Melty's sudden hesitation at the end is clear to the first princess of Melromarc. Instead of the naked bodies of five children, the five filorials Motoyasu raised for her turned into four naked women, and one naked man. They still look on the younger side, but most definitely fully developed in all the ways. Palmer quickly covers Melty's eyes before she can get a full look, while the heroes take off their cloaks and throw them over the birds. Naofumi tossed out an extra large blanket out of his shield since there is one bird more than the heroes.
"Wait, you guys don't look like children, like Kuro and Yuki?" The Spear Hero looks over to his first batch of filorials in human form. Clearly confused at the second group turning into 'adults'. "You birdy angels can also look like adults?"
"We assume the form we wish to take, Master Motoyasu. We choose these forms in particular, because you raised us as protectors of Lady Melty." The woman with long, flowing lavender hair answers bows down to the Spear Hero. "We believe we can better accomplish our task in this form, than the ones taken by our elder siblings."
"Well, I hope you aren't going to get too cocky just because you and your siblings look older than us, Miya." Yuki preens her heads up, carrying herself with pride despite being forced to look up to her younger siblings. "I, and my egg siblings, still have seniority over your batch, despite us looking physically younger."
"Of course, Big Sister Yuki." Miya, the apparent leader of the second generation filorials raised by the Spear Hero kneels down in front of what looks like a lavishly dressed noble child. Her fellow adult looking birds mimic her action. "My siblings, and myself submit both to your seniority, and superior strength."
"Still, I can't resist how cute you look, Big Brother Black Lightning." One of Miya's fellow filorials, this one with long black hair and a playful smirk on her face, pinches the cheek of Kuro.
"I know, right?" Another one of Miya's siblings, this one with short orange hair joins in on the black haired woman's rank, pinching at Kuro's other cheek. For Kuro's part, he simply giggles at the abuse he's suffering from his younger sisters. Seemingly appreciating the attention he's getting. "Your delicate face, immaculate skin and that adorable dress is just the cutest! You are adorable, Big Brother Black Lightning!"
"Please, cut your crap with Big Brother Black Lightning, Matsu, Kazahana. You are bothering him." The silver-haired male filorial crosses his arms. He's clearly too 'cool' for the shenanigans his sibling is currently involved in. Not unlike the Sword Hero.
"Only from you, Mutsu." The two female siblings of Mutsu clearly aren't admonished by his chastise.
The last filorial to have obtained her humanoid form isn't focused on the heroes, her elder siblings, or even her supposed charge Melty. She turns her head over to look at Coach Zellus. Or rather, the blades he carries around him. She walks over to the vice-captain, stopping just short before any part of their bodies touch together, and calmly asks, "Can I have one of your swords?"
"Ah, a fellow lover of the blade, huh?" Zellus' grin grows large enough to split his face. He pulls one behind his back, and places it into the hand of the woman with long silver hair tied into a ponytail. "Always happy to get another one of my own. What's your name, little birdie?"
"Karasuba, the Crow's Feather. As named by my 'father', the Spear Hero." The silver haired filorial woman pulls the blade halfway out of its sheath. Giving it a good inspection before returning it back. "I'm still new to this art of blades, but someday, I will become stronger. You'll make a fine prey then."
"I look forward to it."
By the love of Chief God, NO! Now there's TWO of them!
And judging by how the captain of the royal guard is palming his face, he feels much the same.
"Now that the flock of Alaya had their turn in the light." The voice of Gaelion makes all the filorial at present, monarch or not, staring into the sky in alarm. Despite still in his pygmy form, they are still not taking one of their sworn enemies lightly. As for Gaelion himself, he's already turning to look at the assembled four heroes. "And you heroes are properly training yourself. It is time for me to properly bestow my power to you."
"Yeah, you mentioned something like that when we met back then." Naofumi nods his head. "I honestly forgot, with everything else going on. Something that'll give us power similar to the Dragonborn, right?"
"Not exactly like a kin right away. I still have a long way to go, till I recover my last strength after my most recent reincarnation. But it helps you take the first step in unlocking the power of a Dovah." Gaelion flows over, further away from Balafon and lands on a patch of empty grass. With a loud roar and a puff of smoke, he retakes his full size, and slowly walks over to where the humans are gathered. Most of the villagers instinctively ran away from the castle sized dragon, although some braver souls, and a few curious children remain among the trained fighters.
Mein turns her head over to both Captain Lotheringan and the Friege children. She finds them all on their knees, bowing down to their patron lord in reverence.
"Come forth, world traveling heroes and place your WEAPON upon my claw. I shall unlock the Dovah series for you all. I deem you ready for its power." The four heroes give each other some unsure looks, before they step forward and places their respective legendary weapons on Gaelion's claw. With a flash of light, their legendary weapons all change form to take the shape of dragons.
"Come forth, my daughter. With you standing beside the heroes in the coming Wave of Catastrophe, it is time to bestow you the gift." Gaelion turns to his surrogate daughter next. Wyndia looks positively giddy, as she skips over to her father's side. But instead of doing whatever he is about to, Gaelion also turns to look at one of Sword Hero's companions. More specifically, the one who inherited the trait of an azure dragon's vassal from his father. "And you too, the slave of the lying serpent."
"Me?" The young sorcerer points his finger at himself, clearly looking unsure. "I haven't done anything to deserve the honor of a covenant with you, Lord Gaelion."
"You will take battle beside my daughter, I will not rest easy knowing she might have her life dependant on a slave of those world invading serpents! Come over and bend your knees, before I solve this problem in a different way." Now that the dragon lord made his threat clear, the male sorcerer quickly runs over and kneels down in submission and places his palm on Gaelion's claw much like Wyndia. The effect Gaelion had on them isn't any less dramatic compared to the heroes, when a pair of leather wings sprout out behind both of their backs, tearing apart the fabric. "It is done."
"I should get you manaweave fabrics, like Naofumi and Motoyasu's birds." The Sword Hero, despite his obvious awkwardness at actually interacting with his party members, is clearly putting an effort to be more involved with them.
"Well, let's not wait around then! I also need new manaweave for my new birdie angels." Motoyasu gives Ren a slight push on the shoulder, to which the younger hero angrily slaps away. "I'll make their new clothes before we go fight the Wave tomorrow!"
With two of the four heroes gone to the capital, they obviously can't get any more teamwork training done with the two veterans. Once again, the Shield Hero and Bow Hero pairs up with their individual training partners. Naofumi with some of the younger crusaders, practicing his defense and parries, while Itsuki go shoot more arrows with Duke Febail.
"I'm not sure I'm accomplishing anything, to be honest." The princess can hear the Bow Hero whining as he walks further away to the archer range. "All I do is pull my bow back and fire arrows at a target, knowing I'll hit it anyway even with my eyes closed. I'm not seeing any tangible improvement like the others."
"Patient, Lord Bow Hero." Duke Febail smiles at the young hero, and places a hand encouragingly on his shoulder. "They say to train a proper archer, you start with their grandfather. Well, that's definitely true for my family, so I'm told. But even I have dedicated most of my time to firing arrows. I'm definitely behind on my statecraft studies, my cousin Lana would probably make a better clan head than me. She's a priestess, she goes around helping the poor and sickly, knowing what their life and hardship is like while I spend most of my time on an archer range…"
After another day's grueling training, the heroes all took their respective party back to whatever little shack, or fancy carriage inside the safety of Balafon walls. Not that a layer of wood would give them that much extra protection if the beak-things around the town would decide to all gather and stampede out the farming town, but the extra defense is admittedly lighter on everyone's consciousness as they eat, and prepare to rest.
The extra guards, especially armed warriors from the crusader families, does make the first princess feel as safe as she can relatively be inside a rural farming village.
"We need to talk about the coming Wave." Mein looks up at Naofumi, as he puts down his now empty bowl with a sense of finality.
"I will say it out loud. Fighting on the frontline with your fellow heroes would be very risky to us, especially you. Master Naofumi." The princess in disguise mimics the Shield Hero's gesture, as she sits up with her back straight. "His eminess all but admitted his order's involvement with Lord Seatto's death. Who knows what'll they do to you, the rightful king of Siltvelt when they decided that a faithful Melromarc high lord needs to die for sentimental feeling towards demi-human? And sadly, we don't know who might be our allies and willing to defend you if it comes down to the Church and you. The crusaders are honorbound to assist the heroes, but they are Melromarc countrymen first."
"Believe me. I know. I know this country, at least a lot of people in power hate me. But…" Naofumi digs his hands into his legs as he glares down hard at his empty bowl. The princess wonders if one of his shields gives him the ability to see all the people who prosecuted him out of some empty container. Certainly won't be one of his most powerful, or bizarre hero powers. "There are more people, honest people who show me kindness, and depend on me for protection. I can't turn my back on them because I'm afraid of what might happen."
"Logically, the church would not move against you. Master Shield Hero." To Mein's surprise, Kyubey seems to be in favor of the Shield Hero fighting in the front, or at least not against it. She didn't expect a demi-human would be willing to risk the Shield Hero and by extension, himself to protect the people who are prejudiced against and prosecute his kind. "The Church of the Three Heroes is supposed to worship the three weapon wielding heroes. All of them are in good relationship with you, and respect you. It would pose too much threat to their own belief system, if your fellow heroes denounce them for hurting you."
"Never underestimate pride, or greed induced stupidity, grass muncher." Farkas growls under his breath. The werewolf is also glaring hard into his bowl, finding wisdom… or perhaps an old grudge in the empty little container. "The Shield Hero was revered as our god king. Didn't stop the Kingtaker from imprisoning the last one, and stealing power from him."
"Sad but true." Kyubey hangs his head low, even his ears droop down his face. Considering his lack of facial expression, his ears are pretty much the only good indication of his mood and emotions.
"Even with that in mind, it's probably the safest bet for me to stick close to my fellow heroes." Naofumi crosses his arms, his frown only thickens. "I'm going to be teleported to the Wave anyway no matter what I do. If I go on my own, defend a village or something. The church could have come to me anyway… maybe kill the whole village, leave no witness and then tell everyone else I got killed by the Wave monsters. And who's going to tell Motoyasu, Ren and Itsuki they did it? If I'm with the others, as long as they are alive and conscious, they'll know the church was trying to kill me, and that might deter them from actually doing it."
That's… admittedly a good point.
"You are already training together with your fellow heroes, my thane. Perhaps all of us should train together as a group. So we learn to cover each other by habit." The sworn shield puts down his own empty bowl and gives his suggestion. "You don't have your retinue yet. But four heroes together with their party members, especially with Spear Hero and Bow Hero's extra sized party? That's a small army by itself. It should deter all but the most zealous religious fanatics from throwing themselves at you."
"Good point. But there's still no telling what'll happen in the actual Wave. For all we know, the Wave boss has some special ability to separate us like forced teleportation, or knock us unconscious." The Shield Hero's hands are slightly more relaxed, but he is still drumming his finger on his folded knees. "That's why I need some kind of contingency plan, in case I'm harmed, captured, or worse. I haven't made connections with that many people, but there are some I can supposedly rely on outside of our party. Like Eclair, or the people Malfoy left behind that's supposed to help me… maybe. Not sure I'd trust him yet."
"Yes, Kyubey, or perhaps… Lady Raphtalia can contact them." While Kyubey remains stationary, Raphtalia clearly fidget uncomfortably at the suggestion of her not participating in the next Wave. It's not like she has a good point to counter Yatsuhashi's suggestion, since she is still the weakest member of their party despite her versatile arsenal.
"Haha." Firo laughs at Raphtalia. "You are going to be left behind, because you are weak."
"Be quiet, Firo. Adults are having a serious discussion here." This time, Naofumi didn't put up with the dumb bird's nonsense. He silences the bird with a glare, if only he acts this decisively with Firo all the time. "No, this country is very hostile to demi-humans. Kyubey and Raphtalia without my protection will be captured, sold back to slavery and nobody will bat an eye for it. Our best candidate to work behind the scenes is you."
The one he points his finger at is Yatsuhashi, his sworn shield that's tasked to protect him.
"WHAT!?" Mein screams out at the same time together with Yatsuhashi. The princess in disguise ignores the sputtering bodyguard and nearly jumps into the Shield Hero's face. "That's idiotic, borderline suicidal! You can't dismiss one of your strongest followers when you already know someone wishes to do you harm, Master Naofumi!"
"No, that makes Yatsuhashi the perfect candidate." Naofumi's face is devoid of any muse as he looks his bodyguard in the eyes. The Shield Hero has clearly put enough thoughts in his plan, despite how ill thought out it is. "You are a human, you are strong enough to survive on your own, and you are a man of Jarl Baalgruf before you became my housecarl, so you probably have enough connection of your own to rely on, if you need to go against the church."
"Could you not warn your fellow heroes right now about the Three Heroes' Church, in that case? Surely, it's better to warn them before something bad happened to you, than after?" Frustrated with the Shield Hero's neglect of his own well being, Mein tries to change tactics and rebuke his decision from a different angle.
"I could, but I don't know if his party members are trustworthy. What if one, or more of them are agents working for the church?" Naofumi's answer makes the princess immediately suspicious of a certain unknightly knight in the Bow Hero's party. "What if I tipped them off, and forced them to act? Maybe take the four of us out separately before the third Wave even begins?"
"You'd rather risk yourself, and everyone around you?!"
"I'm not expecting the church to make a move against me if I stick close to my fellow heroes. This is just insurance in case something unexpected DID happen."
"If it's just extra insurance, you should have said something to Gaston before he left and let him do it."
"Well, hindsight is always perfect. I'm just working with what I have now."
"Why not get one of the Balafon villagers in that case?"
"And get common, unprepared people having nothing to do with the mess involved with the church?! I don't want another innocent man to die like what happened back in Lute."
"So you'd rather risk Yourself and everyone who fights alongside you? People like Raphtalia who have already lost so much?!" The princess turns around and looks at Raphtalia. "Say something, Raphtalia! Tell Master Naofumi he's making a mistake here!"
"I… I don't want Master Naofumi to get hurt." Raphtalia's eyes instantly fall to the floor. "But… but I don't want innocent people to get hurt either. People like my parents… I don't know what's the right thing to do."
Of course, she forgot how young Raphtalia really is. The girl doesn't understand the concept of making hard choices, and sacrifices need to be made for the greater good.
"Firo doesn't care about anyone else. Firo only wants Master Naofumi to be safe."
"Be quiet, Firo! Grown ups are talking about serious matters here. I'm not going to tell you again." Naofumi instantly scolds Firo, making dumb bird hide behind Raphtalia once again. He turns back to focus his attention on her again. "We understand the risks we took. We chose to fight in the Wave of Catastrophe. The innocent people DIDN'T! It's only right that we are the ones taking the risks."
"Everyone already knows I am your housecarl, Master Naofumi! The church will be watching me closely, if I'm not protecting you during the third Wave!" The sworn shield stands up to his full height, towering even over Farkas now that the werewolf is sitting on the floor. His presence breaks the rapid fire argument Mein is having with Naofumi. "If you need a man to work behind the scenes, pick Miss Mein! Nobody would notice, or worry about a village girl missing from your party! I'm a warrior fighting personal confrontations, not a spy, or an assassin working in the shadows!"
After all the fuss she got between the church, and father, she could simply… get out? That's an option she didn't even think about till this point. But the idea of her staying safe, away from the danger of the Waves and highly probably backstabbing of the Three Heroes' Church while everyone, including little Raphtalia fight for their lives doesn't sit right by her at this point.
Naofumi's eyes settle on her for a few moments, he shakes his head in the end. "No. Mein was my first companion. She was instrumental at getting me exonerated during my trial. If the church was behind that scheme, they would not leave Mein alone. She'd be in much more danger than you, if she's going to be working by herself. And I don't need you to work in the shadows. I only need you safe, away from this coming wave. If something happens to me, I need you to warn my fellow heroes and Eclair, maybe see if Malfoy's men would actually help us."
While the Shield Hero's didn't guess the exact truth, his words still reminded Mein how she has no place to backpedal at this point. To the fanatical, she is a heretic who consorted with the enemy. To the opportunist, she is an obstacle on the road of their ambition that needs to be removed. She can only walk forward with the Shield Hero, with nothing but a bottomless pit behind her now.
"I am Master Naofumi's first companion. That means I am his sword." The princess turned adventurer crosses her arms, and speaks sternly despite the lack of emotion in her tone. "My role is by his side, till the bitter end."
"And I am his housecarl! I am supposed to be his shield, to die before him-" Yatsuhashi didn't finish his sentence, when he was loudly, and almost violently interrupted by the usually mild mannered Shield Hero.
"I DON'T NEED A SHIELD, I ALREADY HAVE A SHIELD!" The Shield Hero roars on top of his lungs. Making Yatsuhashi flinch, and causing Firo to hide behind Raphtalia. Naofumi settles his eyes on Mein herself next. "And don't call yourself my 'sword' either. Shield, sword… those are all unthinking tools, used and discarded. I don't want you to die for me. I need all of you to be people I can trust in, who will help me. But still think independently rather than blindly follow me."
Mein has a sneaking suspicion that Naofumi didn't pay any attention to Zellus, and Yatsuhashi's confrontation back in the catacomb. Because otherwise, he wouldn't have said something that's a cruel confirmation of Zellus' words. Beyond that, she is also stunned by the irony of Naofumi's request. He wants them to think independently rather than tools that blindly follow his command. Yet, he also wants everyone to default to his own judgment this time.
She can't help but fear what will happen now in the third Wave. The first princess of Melromarc isn't a very pious princess, but she can only pray to the Chief God to watch over them.
"If… that's what you truly need. My Thane." The giant sits down, doubt and pain clearly etched on his young looking face. "I do not like it, but I will help you in the best way I can."
Omake: Fear of the Devoted Maid
She remembers the day when she got the lasting burnt scar behind her back as if it happened yesterday. How could she not? It was the day when she was taken into the palace of the royal house with a group of other 'highborn' maids. Daughters of barons, or second and third daughter of viscounts and counts, for a chance to be chosen as the personal maid of the first princess of glorious Melromarc. Possibly even be elevated to the princess' lady in waiting as the princess grows up.
It would be a great honor to her house, possibly lift them up from a measly barony.
"Princess Malty can be fickle… possibly exuberant." She doesn't remember the name of the elderly maid that would lead them to the presence of the princess. She only remembers how the older woman was the princess' nanny. "You will do well to remain quiet, and obedient to Her Highness."
A diplomatic way to say the princess was spoiled, and expected to have her words followed without question. She can do both. That was how she grew up in her household, never fighting over anything with her parents, or her siblings. It was how she left her homestead, and became a maid for the royal family to begin with. She can survive this, even if the princess was a bit spoiled. That's what she naively thought at the time.
As she, and the rest of the hopeful maid candidates, walk through the corridor towards the inner palace, she can already hear a loud exchange of voices. She can't make out the exact words that are being traded with one another, but she can barely make out there are two people. One sounds high pitched, upset, and young. While the other is much deeper, and composed.
"No, I won't do it!" As they walk through a corner, the inner garden of the castle palace comes into full view. She sees a figure, purple of hair with a silver crown on her head, dressed in full regal court regalia. Opposite of her is a young child, hair as red as a raging inferno, body bent over the ground with her hands playing in the dirt. She wouldn't recognize this is the princess of their nation, if it wasn't for her dirt soiled, yet still lavishly embellished dress. "I can't kill it!"
Her nanny wasn't kidding. The princess is clearly spoiled, and lacking in good behavior.
Not too far from the two royal family members stands a female knight in full armor. She is currently holding a flailing rabbit pill in her arms.
"Your father's men spent a lot of time, and effort capturing live monsters for you to raise your level." The queen's voice is stern, her command unmoving like a rock. "It'll give you a chance to survive, if you encounter monsters without an escort again. It's for your own good."
"I can't do it, I can't do it!"
"If you would rather throw a childish fit than do what's good for you, you are clearly unfit for the life of royalty." The queen turns around and begins to walk away, clearly done with her 'exuberant' child. "I will tell Aultcray to stop wasting time on you."
"NO!" It happened too fast for her to react. A fireball is launched at them from the princess, the other maid manages to dodge out of the way unscathed. She didn't.
As she rolls around with her back burning in agony, she barely registered a lump not far away from her burning motionlessly on the ground. Only later, she found out it was the nanny of the princess. Or rather, the witch that would rather disobey her mother and throw a tantrum to kill her own nanny than kill a monster.
Or perhaps that's the reason. A monster walking in human skin would rather kill a human, than one of their own.
"We found you a husband that's willing to take you, in spite of you being damaged goods. You have no chance for being the personal maid or lady in waiting for the princess now. Come home, and marry Viscount Raleigh Consevatie."
That was all the message from her family read. You'll have no use elevating our house status serving the royal family now. Come back, and become a concubine for the notorious child lover.
But would it even be worse than being one of the many that serves the nanny killer?
"Hey, Malty. My old friend, old pal. Can I ask you for a favor?" She was still thinking about handing in her resignation as her family instructed at the end of the shift, when the little lady friend of the witch she's serving started speaking.
"Do you want me to sneak some more pastry from our chef to you again?" Princess Malty snorts from her nose as she carelessly tosses a piece of macaron into her mouth. "I almost got a good lashing on my hand the last time I did it for you."
She didn't. In fact, she didn't even have to lift a single finger to fulfill the favor to her friend Lady Katarina. As all the princess had to do was to throw another fit at her father, demand some pastry be sent to her room to have the two knights wrapping those pastries up for her.
Then again, it wouldn't be the witch if she didn't try to twist the facts for her own benefits.
"No, no, no! I couldn't do that to you again!" The heiress of House Claes jumps up from her seat and waves her hand, then she turns to look at her. "Can I have… your maid? I'm sure you really need her, but she is doing such a good job attending me. I want her as my personal maid."
"Of course, losing An-" Princess Malty's eyes make contact with hers and her words freezes in her lips, clearly having a hard time recalling her name. "-ne will be a shame. But anything for my playmate."
"Oh, thank you, thank you! You are the bestest friend I can have!" Lady Katarina runs over, pulls the princess into a hug so tight, their cheeks rub together against each other. In her excitement, she clearly didn't notice how the princess' face morphed into one of annoyance. For a brief moment, she was afraid that the princess would unleash her magic on heiress Claes just like she did on her own nanny.
That's how Lady Katarina saved her from the nightmare of a life of servitude to two different monsters.
After all those years that feels like a blissful dream besides her lady, the nightmare is back. Despite the disguise and fake identity, she can recognize the monster dressed in human clothes. One that's more fitting to be born as a witch than a princess. The one that would rather kill her own nanny over a monster. And she's standing besides the Shield Hero.
Someone her lady will be fighting alongside with, during a Wave of Catastrophe.
She should tell the truth to her lady, about the real identity of 'Mein of Samphor'. Yet, the fear of the witch that's been ingratiate into her like her fear of fire stops her from uttering the exact words. "You should be careful around the follower of the Shield Hero, Lady Katarina. She uses fire magic."
"Oh, right. You are still afraid of fire magic, because of what happened to you." Lady Katarina immediately turns around and pulls her into a fierce hug. "I'm sorry, Anne. I didn't think what would happen to you if I brought you along for the Wave fights. There'll be a lot of mages, Miss Mein won't be the only one hurling fireballs. You can stay back where it's safe, if you want. I have Motoyasu, and Kou protecting me."
"No, I won't ever leave you, my lady." She tightens her arm around her lady's back in response. "I'll protect you, no matter what happens to me. To repay you for giving me a life. That's the least thing I can do for you."
Because she is still letting the fear of the witch rule over her.
End Note:
Hopefully, this update being fairly fast after the last one redeems me for making the last chapter flatline at the end. Jokes aside, most of you can probably guess the scene where Naofumi sent Yatsuhashi away was supposed to happen at the last chapter, where Yatsuhashi actually did something. But I just thought it makes more sense this scene happens at the end of the 'hero conference/training mini-arc' right before the Wave actually happens.
And yes, this is the last chapter of the training mini-arc, and we'll officially move into both the 3rd wave arc, and Act III of the Three Heroes Church Saga next chapter. Hope you'll enjoy what I planned for the culmination of this saga, which I consider the (relative) high point of canon.
Naofumi gets a technical win from one of the two veteran trainers of the heroes by being creative with his abilities (as some of his best canon character beats depict him being). And Motoyasu's second birdie squad gets their humanoid form right before the wave. Once again, I'm not happy with the mechanic Alenko did where birdies take specific humanoid form depends on which hero they are raised by. It feels like another pointless tertiary detail that entirely pointless, and the story would have been better if the author focused more on keeping their theme/narrative consistent. So I throw it out the window, and just made filorials raised by all heroes take whatever stage of a 'human' based on what they want.
And while I have always planned to have Motoyasu name his birb army after Sekirei (not to be confused with Sekirou), the first group obviously being the 1st Disciplinary Squad, I didn't think about a possible Jetstream Sam/Karasuba ship till I penned this chapter. But I think it really fits, consider both of them having somewhat cynical, almost nihilistic personality to focus solely on self betterment above all else in some way. So yeah, I ended up shippping cheap Chinese knock off Jetstream Sam and Karasuba.
:P
Time for another confession. The part where Malty kills her nanny in an accident, and this makes the queen mistaken her for a genuine psychopath, and give up on her was a scene originally planned out by Comrade Broseph, with the explicit purpose of actually somewhat excuse the queen giving up on Malty. Which after his disappearance, I originally planned to show in the queen's perspective in her first interlude. Which of course, me being the certifiable perfect idiot I am, I completely forgot to putting the scene in there. So when the scene was first mentioned, it ends up happening in Malty's POV, which of course unintentionally (at least compared to Comrade Broseph's original vision) made Malty look sympathetic, and the queen look like a complete sociopath instead.
So yeah... I'm so sorry, Comrade Broseph. I failed you.
Here in this chapter's ending omake, we gets to see certain events from another person's perspective, which shows Malty in a more negative light. Hopefully, this at least tangentially show why some people would see (justifiably) Malty as a bad person.
