First off, I apologize to everyone with the debacle surrounding the Yggdrasil Drought Spear last chapter. Because Chazon got it early despite everything pointing towards it being an end-game item of sorts, I was trying to balance it without it becoming too overpowered. I think I found the solution that'll make most of you happy, but hopefully I won't end up doing something like this again for a long while.
"Are you sure you don't want to join Naofumi's party, Rifana?"
The parties of the two heroes had just packed up and were about to head their separate ways when Chazon sprung the question on Rifana. He knew that she still held some reverence for the shield hero, as well as the fact that she had just reunited with Raphtalia. Chazon figured he would at least ask before they left.
Rifana shook her head almost immediately. "I'm sure of it, Chazon-sama. I know I'll see Raphtalia-chan at the waves, perhaps even before then, and his party has no need for two defenders; Naofumi-sama may as well be two defenders in one. Plus… I'm still technically your slave."
"We do have the Drought to get rid of your crest if that's your reason for not joining them." Using Yggdrasil's Drought on a mere slave brand was pretty overkill for what it can do, but the option was there.
"Even still, I want to travel with you, Chazon-sama. I want to be proof alongside Kardia-chan that you're just as kind to us demi-humans as the shield hero." Rifana rests her hand on her heart. "Plus… I want to be with the one who saved my life."
Chazon let out a sigh and conceded defeat as he petted her head. "If that is your wish. Sorry, Naofumi, but you're not getting another party member today."
Naofumi snorted at that. "That's okay. I can tell your party cares deeply about you, so I'm not going to judge. Besides… I'm more about quality than quantity, Mr. I-have-a-harem." He suddenly gets a shit-eating grin on his face.
"THAT IS NOT- AIIIIYEH!" Chazon started blushing heavily much to everyone's amusement before saying, "One, it's not like I PLANNED it this way and two, my party members are quality and I don't care what you say!" Naofumi rolls his eyes at that as Raphtalia smacks him on the shoulder.
After the two parties parted company, Rino thought of something. "Chazon-kun, did you absorb pieces of the Porcupine King?"
Chazon gave her a bland look until it clicked and he facepalmed. "Thanks for the reminder… I was so caught up in our teamwork the other day that it slipped my mind." He put Kingly Needles into his spear.
Porcupine King Pike (Level 40 required for unlock)
Equip bonus: ATK bonus (medium), DEF bonus (medium), 'Piercing Thrust'
Equip bonus: ATK up (medium), DEF up (medium), AGI penalty (high), Counter-spike (medium)
An upgrade to my Needle Thrust and a defensive pike that focuses on physical attributes and a counter-spike at the cost of agility. Can't use it yet anyways, but good to have.
Kardia gave Chazon an odd look. "Have you been forgetting to absorb new materials into your spear lately?"
"Like I said, the excitement of us working as a team for the first time made it slip my mind. Besides, it's not like we were fighting new monsters while you guys were leveling. Outside of the Porcupine King, all the new monsters I've killed were in the ancient forest and I already unlocked their weapons."
"Whatever you say. Just don't skimp out on it in the future; you never know when it might be the difference between a skill that might save our lives or not." Chazon huffed at that.
It wasn't long until Castle Town came into view again. Chazon looked at it solemnly. This place is just rife with bad memories... for me, Rino, and Naofumi. I think I'll head east after our business is done here. Here's hoping it doesn't take too long.
Rifana and Kardia knew that they had to hide their identities as demi-humans once in town. Because nobody could stay behind with the wagon due to everyone needing something, they hid their tails and ears as best as they could while Obsidian and Amber did their best to hide their monster features. The demi-human girl's tails were easy enough to hide, but the best they could do was wear hoods that blended well with their ears.
Thankfully, nobody seemed to recognize that Chazon had demi-human and monster party members as they headed towards the magic shop first. Mahoya heard the large group enter her shop. "Welcome, I'll be right with you all- oh? This is a pleasant surprise, Chazon-sama."
"Long time no see, Mahoya. Glad to see you're in good health. I was told by Naofumi that you wanted to see me?"
"Ah, yes! One moment!" She retreats and, not long after, brings out a rather heavy book. "This grimoire contains Faust and Zweite level magic. I want you to have it."
Rino looked shocked as the 4 newest members looked at each other in confusion. "Wait, for free? This book must cost a lot!"
"Honestly, no amount of money could ever express my gratitude for you saving Merlay from the wave, Rino. I wished to have given this to you earlier, but Naofumi-sama hadn't seen you in a while either, so I made sure to tell him to send you my way." She looks at Chazon's party members. "Quite the diverse party you got here at any rate."
"Yeah, a lot has happened since the wave." Chazon introduced everyone to Mahoya before beginning his questions. "One thing Kardia and I were wondering is if the length of a chant increases the spells power proportionally."
Mahoya hummed at that. "The answer is both yes and no. Typically titles that you believe are true, regardless of how long they are, will strengthen a spell if applied to the base chant. Nobody knows why, not even myself, but that's how it is."
Kardia nodded. "So calling myself "the Spear Hero's companion" would strengthen my spell as much as Chazon chanting "Spear Hero" at the start of his. Interesting... I suppose it becomes risk vs reward over if you want to extend your cast time and risk getting interrupted." Mahoya nods in affirmation.
Chazon nods as well. "My second question is Kardia's affinity. I'm sorry for drilling you like this but we'd like to do our business in Castle Town as fast as possible. She had it tested and her fire affinity seemed odd. Would you know anything about it?"
Mahoya frowns and has Kardia test her affinity again, showing the same result. "That is indeed strange. Sadly, I have no answer to that; I'm not well versed with kitsune affinities outside of fire being a common one for them." She looks at the two youngest party members. "Even so, I can test anyone who doesn't know their affinities yet."
Obsidian had wind affinity while Amber had both fire and light affinity, which everyone agreed was fitting for them. Chazon nods and proceeds to the last item on the list. "Can we make magic thread for transformation clothes? We're in desperate need of some and Lerno didn't have a way of making any."
"Why certainly. I think your humanoid monster youngins are the reason, correct? They just need to convert their magic into threads. Only their personal mana will do for the transformation magicks to work properly."
Rifana recoiled at that. "How could you tell they were monsters?"
"Well, the boy is very similar to the shield hero's filolial with his wings, while the young lady there exudes an aura not present in any human or demi-human I've ever met. Worry not, I'll keep it confidential."
Both Amber and Obsidian went through the process of making threads for their new outfits, though Rifana and Rino made sure they were given MP potions to make sure they could keep going. Once the threads were done and everyone said their thanks, they headed straight for the tailor shop.
Turns out the tailor was very eccentric and absolutely loved both Amber and Obsidian, asking if they were Chazon's kids, to which he sheepishly replied that she was pretty close, all things considered. Thanks to the funds Naofumi gave him, he was able to afford the 350 silver price of the clothes, though he was obstinate that Obsidian got male clothes. "For the last time, while he may LOOK somewhat feminine, he's a boy and should get male clothing!"
"Aww… he would have looked wonderful in a dress!" Rino made sure of what Obsidian wanted before stepping in. While he wasn't opposed to the dress, he did want a more masculine outfit much to the tailor's disappointment. Amber gave inspiration on how her outfit would look once she showed the tailor her moth wings.
After putting the order in, the group went to Erhard's place, who was shocked at the number of people entering. "What's going on?"
"Long time no see, Erhard." Chazon smiled at the blacksmith.
"Spear kid! Glad to see you're alright after what happened the other night. So unless you're here to show off your party members-"
"Why does everyone think I'm showing off?" Chazon grumbled before shaking his head. "No, I wanted to get new gear for Rifana, who's my defender. She's got magic iron medium-plate armor, but I'm wondering if you've got anything for her at the moment?"
Erhard looked at Rifana, who squeaked in embarrassment, before shaking his head. "Sadly, nothing that will properly fit her. I could make custom armor for her as well, but that would require you to come back tomorrow and I get the feeling you want to be out of town as soon as possible."
"Am I that obvious?" Chazon sighed. "You're right, but I'd rather make sure my party members are well protected. I do have 8 pieces of light metal left over from my mining trip to Lute. I can actually go back there for more since I need to check up on them due to information I've been given." Figures that cunt would try to defame me. I don't know what her end goal is, but it pisses me off that she's like this for seemingly no reason.
Erhard thought for a moment before nodding. "I still have light metal ore left over from the bunch you gave me. If you give me the rest, I'll have new light metal medium-plate armor done by tomorrow morning before I open the store. I can also repair your custom armor as well."
"I had completely forgotten about my armor being ripped open in the back, whoops. Yeah, that'll be great. How much?"
"Hmm… For now just drop 300 silver and your light metal ore for now. If I feel it's worth more, then I'll ask you for the rest."
After depositing his armor for repairs, Chazon's party decided to head outside of town for the rest of the day since they had a carriage that was useful for resting rather than sleeping in an inn.
A church Shadow spied the retreating party and recognized one of the girls as one of Idol Rabier's escaped slaves. "Why is the Spear Hero, one of our holy gods, fraternizing with one of those demons? If they have charmed him with their vile magicks, then the church needs to hear about this!" He retreated to inform the church officials, zealously praying that they won't be too late in saving the Spear Hero from his fate.
Once they traveled a distance from Castle Town and settled down for the night, Kardia began reading the grimoire for a bigger repertoire of spells, including more healing and support spells. Chazon was able to learn a few healing spells that he skipped out on before as well as a few new dark spells, while Rino learned a light spell called Hide Mirage; he commented that she'll be the perfect ninja before long thanks to that spell.
By the time they went to sleep with a night-watch, everyone knew spells regarding their affinity.
When the party returned for Obsidian's and Amber's transforming clothes, the tailor didn't disappoint at all. Obsidian's outfit looked like a gothic explorer with a purple scarf. "Since I couldn't do anything frilly, an idea struck me that I absolutely had to try. Doesn't he exude youthful energy?"
Kardia nodded in approval. "Our brave little explorer. How does it look in his other form?" Obsidian transformed and the purple scarf was apparent on him. "That will do very nicely."
"Do I look cool, Daddy?" Obsidian transformed back and struck a pose with an explorer's salute.
"You look amazing, Obsidian." Chazon smiled as his filolial cheered and gave him a hug, much to the tailor's delight.
Amber's outfit is a type of kimono that was mostly white with red and orange markings, clearly playing off the patterns on her moth wings. Chazon remembered how people made fan art of Okami Amaterasu as a human female and noted that Amber looked really close. Missed the opportunity to call her Ammy. Oh well…
Chazon nodded at the tailor… and noted the dark markings under her eyes. "Just how long did you stay up making our order?"
"All night! Just because I wanted to see your darling children in amazing outfits!" Despite her lack of sleep, she was doing her best to remain energetic, though her voice was growing hoarse like she was getting sick.
"Don't neglect your sleep! Here, open your mouth." Chazon had grabbed a random spoon laying on her desk and managed to fill it with one dose of Yggdrasil's Drought before feeding it to the tailor.
After a rainbow glow, she lost her dark areas and suddenly looked a lot more youthful. "What…? I feel so full of life again, like I can make a thousand more fancy dresses!" She shakes the spear hero's hands. "Thank you so much! In fact, I'll give you back ALL of the silver you gave me as payment! I can definitely make up the loss thanks to your medicine!"
When the party left the shop, Rino gave Chazon a puzzled look. "Why did you give her a dose of the Drought?"
"Admittedly, I felt kind of bad for making her stay up all night fulfilling our order. She sounded like she was getting sick, so I figured why not. I wasn't expecting her to give back all the money we spent, though…"
Amber smiled brightly. "Papa, you're so kind! I want to grow up just like you!" Chazon picked her up and rubbed her head with his with a smile which made her giggle. That didn't stop Kardia from giving him an earful about wasting precious resources.
Erhard's place was next and, as promised, he had finished repairing Chazon's custom armor as well as Rifana's light metal medium-plate armor. "With this, our lady defender will have much better defenses, if monsters get past her shield."
Rifana would have wagged her tail if she wasn't hiding it. "I feel so much lighter, yet tougher! I'll cherish this armor!"
"Just don't get reckless. No matter how much defense you have, you'll never be invincible, even if you have shield bro's defenses." Erhard motioned towards the rest of the party. "Does anyone else need a weapon?"
Rino tried out some of Erhard's new dual blades and found that he had magic light metal dual blades. While not as strong as her Dual Mutated Mauler Blades, Chazon noted that they had a good movement speed and attack speed bonus, which she likes over raw damage. It cost 350 silver, thanks to Erhard admitting that he's still yet to pay off Chazon for dumping all the light metal ore onto him a while ago.
Kardia inquired about wands or staves and Erhard confirmed that they have to be bought in specialized stores; not even general magic stores have them due to how fickle their creation process is.
After leaving to exit Castle town, the party was walking back to the carriage when Kardia quickly got Chazon's attention and whispered, "I think we're being followed."
His blood froze at those words, but maintained his normal walking speed. "Do you know who it is?"
"Sadly no. Since we're already leaving, we'd best watch our step until we get out of town. Perhaps even more so once we're out since they might want to start a fight. Even then, we must be careful."
Rino also felt the unknown presence and it reminded her of when she was kidnapped and forcefully paralyzed by a figure that was garbed in black and a pink-haired girl with a rather malicious smile. She wanted to avoid talking to Chazon about it because she didn't want to lose him to the same hate he was succumbing to when he almost murdered the noble that had "bought" her that night.
The figure following them was one of the shadows that was informed of the Spear Hero's situation. He knew that starting a commotion in the middle of town, no matter how justified, would raise too many eyebrows. As such, he's waiting for the chance to strike when they leave town. That monster thinks she can defile one of our great gods like this and get away with it? We'll make her wish she never escaped!
As soon as they reached their carriage, Obsidian transformed out of sight and hooked up to it. They quickly vacated Castle Town as fast as possible, heading to Lute to check on the people there quickly before heading north.
"Rino-sama, I'd recommend using Hide Mirage on Chazon-sama and he'll keep an eye out for pursuers while on top of the carriage. If we have assailants, then we'll know when they attack."
Chazon nodded as Rino began chanting. she had modified her chant to include the fact that she was the spear hero's companion. "As the source of thy power I, the Spear Hero's companion, command thee. Decipher the laws of nature and hide my target from sight. Hide Mirage!"
Chazon vanished from sight and climbed onto the frame of the carriage. Not long after keeping watch, he noted some black-garbed assailants who were keeping up with the carriage, even with Obsidian's speed, which numbered 12 in total. They looked like they were waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. "12 individuals of unknown allegiance have somehow been keeping up with us."
Damn it! I don't want to go into Lute like this! If they deign to attack us even while inside the village, people will get caught in the cross-fire.
Rino, knowing what to do, pulled Obsidian's reins to the side. "Then let's head north for now! The best we can hope for is to lose them-" She yelped as a dagger embedded itself near where she was sitting.
Rifana was out by Rino immediately. "They're attacking!" She blocked a few more daggers and what appeared to be darts with her shield.
Chazon, still hidden from sight, saw some of them trying to board the carriage by jumping on. He hit them with his Mutated Mauler Fur Trident, which looked like a furry version of the Stone Golem Spear, and kept them off. He noted some rosaries glistening around their necks. "North it is! Everyone keep as low as possible to try and avoid their daggers and darts!"
Kardia quickly casted a support spell on everyone. "As the source of thy power I, the Spear Hero's companion, command thee. Decipher the laws of nature and protect my allies. Faust All Guard!" Everyone glowed blue for a moment which revealed Chazon's position, dropping his hiding buff and made him reappear.
Rifana was on point with guarding Rino, though a stray dart hit the red-head and she started feeling sleepy. "Chazon-sama! These darts are laced with a sleeping agent and Rino got hit by one!"
"Get her back under the carriage canopy and I'll take the reins! Amber, see if you can't scatter some of your flash scales and blind them!"
"Yes Papa!" Amber activated her flash scales and started alternating sending them into the treelines on either side. The bright flashes had blinded some of their assailants and cut their numbers down drastically, though some remained in pursuit. "I stopped most of the bad guys, but some are being persistent!"
"You did wonderful, Amber! If they keep chasing us without their comrades, we can deal with them if Obsidian has to stop!"
"I can keep going for a while, Daddy! This is nothing!" Obsidian couldn't help but feel the adrenaline from the situation and it made him determined to get his family away from the bad people trying to hurt them.
Thankfully, it seemed as though their pursuers had given up the chase after some time had passed. Chazon let out a sigh of relief. "How's Rino?"
"Sleepy, but still conscious." Kardia casted a status-clearing healing spell which removed Rino's drowsiness.
Rifana whimpered as her little ears drooped. "I let a dart get by me…"
"Rifana-chan, nobody is perfect. You did very well with your limitations and you kept me from getting seriously injured. Thank you for that." Rino smiles softly and pets Rifana on the head reassuringly.
Kardia looks behind them. "I have to wonder who they were, though. We weren't in town long enough to step on any toes."
"Some people's toes get stepped on just because you're there, Kardia. Especially in Castle Town." Chazon stated bitterly. "Especially if they belong to a devotee of the Church of Three Heroes."
That made the three older girls grimace as Rino said, "The religion that denounces demi-humans and the shield hero…"
"Yup. I guess your disguises weren't enough to fool someone and they informed the church about you two girls. Thankfully, we don't need to go back there for a while."
"That… might be awkward, Chazon-kun. Once we reach level 40 we stop gaining experience until we class up." Chazon looked back in surprise. "And as luck would have it… we need access to the Dragon Hourglass, which is in the Church of the Three Heroes, to class up."
"Wonderful… guess that's out of the question until they calm down, which might take a while." Chazon scoffed angrily. To think we're getting walled from getting stronger than this, all because they're racist to demi-humans. Naofumi will be in the same boat as us, meaning that the best I can do is grind for monster souls and possibly mine more ore for Refinement. Perhaps I could buy more accessories from him to give to everyone-
An idea struck him. "Once we wait a bit, we'll turn around and head back to Lute. I want to visit the mines for more light metal ore as well as to see if we can find any gemstones."
Rifana gave him a curious look as the wagon turned around. "How come you want gemstones, Chazon-sama?"
"Remember the accessory Naofumi gave me as a gift that's currently on Rino? It's enchanted with bonuses, meaning that it's a potential way to get stronger without class ups. I've already explained the Decoration system to you girls, so we'll be doing our best on that front too."
He got a bunch of nods as the wagon took the scenic route to Lute, hopeful that any improvements will allow them to better fight the waves.
"Papa, will you be alright?" Amber placed herself right beside Chazon with a worried look, wings still out.
He glances down at her and gives her a pat on the head. "I'll be alright, Amber. Once again, you did amazing today with what you were given." Amber giggled with joy as another thought struck Chazon. "Can you shed scales without them activating?"
"Huh? I can, but that would make them kind of useless, wouldn't they?"
"Not exactly. Scattering active scales mid-combat is useful, but I believe we can use inactive scales as a material of sorts." Chazon's gears were really turning now. If his idea could be successfully implemented, then it would increase his party's offensive viability by a lot. "We just need a skilled apothecary for my idea to work. Maybe I'll go with my original plan and head east after my mining trip in Lute…"
Kardia looked at Chazon in confusion. "What would you need an apothecary for? Don't they only make remedies?"
"Sure, but they are also great at processing materials and I'm wondering if Amber's inactive scales can be turned into special powders. If so, then I might have a brilliant idea." Concerned looks crossed everyone's faces at those words.
The atmosphere was cut short when Obsidian said, "Daddy, there's a lone knight in front of us!"
Chazon looked forward and leered at the knight. While he didn't hold any rosaries, he didn't like the looks in his eyes. "Guess we'll just have to see what his business with us is, as much as I don't want to with what has been happening lately."
The knight approached as Obsidian slowed down and walked up to Chazon. "Perchance, are you the Spear Hero?"
"Perhaps. What's it to you?" Chazon noted that he was around level 65, a class-up knight, which made him wary; he thought the knight would be closer to level 30 judging by the ones in the capital.
"We would like to ask you about a certain incident that happened a few weeks ago."
Chazon stiffened; he did not like where this was going. "You'll have to be more specific."
"If you so wish. I'm talking about a certain incident inside a brothel in Castle Town, where a noble was injured and had a possession of his stolen." Those very words put ice in Chazon's veins. There was a scream behind him and he looked back.
Only to see ALL of his party members with a sword to their throats by a group of what looked to be level 50 mercenaries. Quickly followed by a sword near his as well.
We can't do anything... Rino and Kardia have hardly any defenses and Rifana doesn't have the attack necessary to keep them off of us! Amber is also in no position to get us out of here as her flashing scales aren't bright enough.
Left with no other choice, he put his hands over his head as Obsidian whimpered, incapable doing anything while his family was at sword point.
"Raphtalia!"
The Shield Hero's party had arrived in an eastern village to investigate a plague that had started occurring in the area. Because of a rotting dragon corpse left by Ren's party, which was initially a boon for the village due to adventurers visiting it, everyone who stayed too long in the area slowly got sick from disease.
Naofumi had been able to cure a good number of villagers, but knew that unless the source of the problem was removed they'd be back to square one. As such, he took his party up the mountain to remove the corpse and clear the air.
They were about to get started… only for the dragon to come back to life as the Zombie Dragon. Full of wrath as it tried to kill them, Filo proved to be a match for it… at first. A moment of distraction was all the dragon needed to chomp down on his filiolial. All of the memories of the time he spent raising and bonding with her flashed through his mind… until his shield asked if he hated everything.
Consumed by wrath he unlocked the Shield of Wrath in full despite its activation being halted by Raphtalia after the duel. Images of the people he wanted to burn flashed in his mind as the dragon was ignited by the cursed flames that came off his new shield.
Up until Raphtalia was able to bring him back out of his wrath at the cost of becoming covered with cursed burns. "As Shield Hero, source of thy power, I command thee! Decipher the laws of nature and heal my target! Faust Heal!"
The healing magic pulsed over Raphtalia… but it didn't recover her HP much. Out of desperation, he kept casting his healing spell over and over. Please… please wake up! I… I didn't want this! I didn't want to hurt you!
Naofumi noted the dragon moving to attack him and moved to block it, only for the arm to get severed. "Naofumi! Raphtalia!"
Naofumi recognized the voice. "Ren?!" He saw the sword hero run up to him and grimace at the sight. "Why are you here?"
"Rectifying a mistake I made… I was stupid to just leave this dragon's body to rot, but…" Ren clenched his free hand as the dragon stared at him with undying hatred.
"We all made the mistake, Ren-sama." A demi-human with dog ears and tail joined him. "Because father wished to leave for the dragon kingdom as soon as possible, everyone got caught up in his need for haste. You're no less to blame than the rest of us, as I've told you once already when we got to the village."
Naofumi widened his eyes in disbelief. Ren had actually realized his mistake and came back to fix it as best as he could. Perhaps… even if he's a bit stuck up… there's still hope for him yet to be an actual hero.
Ren looked at Naofumi. "Fall back to your carriage for now. I know not what happened to your shield and Raphtalia, but she needs to get away from the battle. Wyndia and I will take care of this." Naofumi nodded and picked up Raphtalia as best he could without burning her off his still ignited shield. Ren looked at the dragon. "Wyndia… are you prepared to do this?"
"Yes… even in death, my father's brother still suffers. I want to help end it." Wyndia had grown up thanks to all of the levels she gained from Ren's party being so high leveled. She wasn't quite at the rest of his party's level, still level 39, but she was a potent party member with a good sword arm.
Ren nodded at that. "Then let's find the source of your uncle's suffering and release him from it." They both attack the dragon. It tried to spit poison at them, but they moved out of the way quickly.
Wyndia moved to the rear after Ren gained its ire and began stabbing into the stomach… only to note that something was moving around inside of it. "Ren-sama! The corpse ate something alive and it's inside!"
"Then let's cut it loose, even if it's a hostile monster. Perhaps there is a core we can-" He stopped short when the dragon started freaking out… and then fell over, dead once again. "What… happened?"
Wyndia took the time to start cutting into the stomach more, only to hear someone with a little girl's voice inside say, "can you please help me get out of here? It kind of stinks…"
"Hang on, we'll get you out of there!" Wyndia put all her might into cutting the stomach open, with Ren joining her. Eventually, they cut the stomach open and a strange liquid flowed out with something flying out.
Filo landed a good distance away and looked at the two who helped her. "Thanks! It was kind of tough to dig through this dragon's stomach."
"You are… a talking filolial?" Ren questioned with uncertainty.
"Filo! You're alive!" Raphtalia had regained consciousness and was just as surprised as Naofumi when Filo emerged from the dragon alive. "But… there was all that blood when you were eaten, so how-"
"Oh… teehee, that might be because I threw up all my food. Perhaps I shouldn't eat so many Red BioFruits before battle again!" She put her wing on her head in a "silly me" gesture.
Ren looked back at the dragon corpse. "I'm guessing it was you who killed it from the inside, then. How did you manage it?"
"I found a big purple crystal inside of it! It was really shiny!"
Wyndia immediately knew what it was. "The Dragon Emperor's Core… that explains why he was able to come back to life. Where's the core now?" Filo belched and looked at her stomach, which glowed purple. "You… you ate it?!"
Ren facepalmed. "I guess that's one way to do it…"
Raphtalia laughed, only to start coughing harshly. Naofumi caught her before she fell back over. "Raphtalia! Let's get some medicine in you and head back to the village!"
"N-no. We still need to take care of the corpse." She tried to feebly remind him.
"Let us do it. It was my party's responsibility after all…" Ren stated with a grimace as he turned back to the corpse. "Any further usable materials I find will be given to you as an apology for having you fix my mess."
"Our mess, Ren-sama. You don't need to carry the burden all by yourself." Wyndia put a comforting hand on Ren's shoulder. "You said your name is Filo, correct? Could you help us as Naofumi-sama takes Raphtalia to the carriage?"
"Will do!"
The scene put a small smile onto Raphtalia's face. Not just Chazon-sama, but even Ren-sama has a demi-human party member.
Turns out that Ren's party members had suddenly remembered that they didn't properly get rid of the dragon corpse when they left. As soon as Ren heard a plague started in the same area, he dropped everything and returned to the village. He had his party members distribute any medicine they had to the locals who were still sick.
While the locals did hold some contempt towards the Sword Hero, they admitted that it was a mistake anyone could have made and were willing to forgive. Their ultimatum to Ren was for him to do his best to cure those affected and help the Shield Hero clean up the corpse; Ren had rushed off when he heard that Naofumi was going to get rid of the corpse himself. Like he promised, he gave Naofumi the useful materials from the dismantling of the dragon corpse as an apology.
Naofumi found out that Ren was sent to the village a while back to kill a dragon, but had fact checked in the village before heading out. Turns out that the original dragon was peaceful and the corpse belonged to the resident dragon's wrathful brother. Naofumi found out that Ren did his background research because Chazon had advised him to.
Ren, I know you've got a long way to go… but as far as things are now, you're improving in my opinion. I'm glad you took Chazon's advice to heart, even if you were careless about one part.
"I'm sorry, Pope Balmus, but the demi-humans who hold sway over the Spear Hero have escaped with him when our agents were blinded by some sort of flashing material."
A shadow was bowing towards the leader of the entire Three Heroes faith in Melomarc. He had just given a report on the Spear Hero and about their attempts to free him from the clutches of the demi-humans.
Balmus sighed at that. "When did those half-breeds find the time to control the Spear Hero?"
"Pope Balmus, perhaps we should consider the fact that the Spear Hero… isn't the true Spear Hero." A nearby nun suggested. "If he willingly let those demi-humans into his party, then it would go against everything he stands for."
"A fake hero… a possibility indeed." Balmus' eyes narrowed as he looked out the nearby window. "While the Shield Demon is weak and will most likely fall in the next wave due to not having any support, the Spear Hero already has a following and actually has offensive viability without party members. Plus, if word gets out that this fake hero is fraternizing with demi-human filth, people will begin to question things."
The shadow bowed his head. "What are your new orders?"
Balmus considered his options. "If he is found, bring him to the castle and have the king question his loyalties. Regardless if Aultcray wants him dead or not, once he's arrested for treason against Melomarc, nobody will blink if he dies in the dungeons due to... an unfortunate accident. If he is cleared of charges, we'll bring him in and make sure to "reeducate" him about what is acceptable in this world."
"And his party members? We heard he has a human girl among his ranks as well."
"She is most likely impure as well and will need to be "purified" by god's grace." Balmus frowns; killing a fellow human was always a dirty job no matter how filthy they were. "The demi-humans will be executed on the spot as soon as they are brought in, unless Idol Rabier wants one of his toys back."
"Where should we try to capture him? He sprung the trap today prematurely when he tried to leave as soon as his business was done; he never went to the church for class ups."
"Perhaps he'll wait a bit before attempting to class up his impure party members and that's when we'll strike next. If he wises up, however, we'll have to subjugate him by tracing his footsteps. The village of Lerno would be a good place to start considering he is regarded as their savior there. Give him until after the third wave; he'll be less cautious then."
The nun let out a sigh. "Provided the First Princess doesn't get to him first. Didn't she have a plan in store for him involving a noble that was injured a few weeks ago?"
"Whatever her plan is, he'll face his judgement one way or another. If Princess Malty turns him into her "lap dog" like she wanted, then perhaps no action will be necessary from us." Or so I say, but the royals of Melomarc aren't proving too useful… or bright. Perhaps god's one true apostle will serve as a better leader than the dried up royals of this kingdom. It's just a matter of making sure we have the complete faith of the people, to the point where even the vixen of Melomarc will be powerless to stop us.