A Shield's Stand
SS 2: Forh The Motherland
"Aww c'mon General, don't be like that! We're just saying you deserve some time off, that's all!"
"I am not going and that is final!"
General Forh's conversation with his commanding troop would normally be summarized with the general cussing them out to build some amount of motivation in them for upcoming battles or the like. However, with the recent arrival of the Shield Hero and his band of admittedly pretty girls, the soldiers would not stop harping him about taking the rest of the day off and spending some time with the Hero of legend and, of course, trying to hook up the single man with a woman who wouldn't get fed up with him by the end of the week.
Only this time, they were being much more adamant considering this was a hero of legend they were talking about.
"With all due respect, General, you haven't taken a single day off since the start of the waves. Even the regular soldiers can tell you're getting a little wound up from the stress of it all. We all think it would be best if you just take some time off, even a single night, to unwind a little bit," one of his lieutenants, Jeremiah, said.
"Dammit, Lieutenant, I don't give a damn if the recruits can't handle a little bit of a hardass without going crying to their mothers, this is a time of need for the country, and I'll be damned if I stop working for even a second," Forh spat out in retaliation.
The Lieutenant rubbed his eyes tiredly, "General Forh, taking a single break isn't turning your back on your country, if it were, we would all be traitors and heretics. Besides, don't you think you would probably perform better for the country if you had a night of rest?"
General Forh crossed his arms, glaring down at the Lieutenant who, to his credit, didn't even flinch, "Are you implying I'm not at my best, Lieutenant? Why don't we test that theory in a spar."
The Lieutenant decided he'd have to pull his trump card out, it was for the General's own good. "General, if you don't take tonight to take a break, then I will inform every soldier under your command about how you failed to pick up even a single chick when we all went out for a party four years ago."
The General's glare deepened, "You wouldn't dare."
The Lieutenant smirked, "To be completely honest, I'm amazed a man of your standing managed to get slapped that many times in a single night."
General Forh was furious, "Lieutenant, that would destroy any credibility I have with the recruits. That would make them softer and would jeopardize the safety of the country from the waves!"
The Commander backed up Lieutenant Jeremiah, saying, "Then I guess you better start getting ready for tonight, sir."
A bright red and very thick vein was about to burst on the General's forehead, an excellent showcase of the demi-human's fury, not that the men trying to reason with the man cared too much.
"You all are terrible men and a disgrace to the country," the General grumbled.
"That's unfortunate for you, sir, considering you trained us all," another commander raised a point.
General Forh just flipped them off as he exited the room.
After getting ready for a 'fun night of relaxation', it didn't take long to find where the Shield Hero and his party were resting for the night. Ever since they had arrived, the town had been buzzing with gossip about the five and wherever they decided to stay each night. So after a quick ask and some subtle spying, Forh was off, headed to the Fully Rested Inn. Sure, he was supposed to be 'relaxing' but those damn traitors never said he couldn't figure out the kind of man their newest ally was while he did so.
Small victories, he supposed.
Arriving at the inn, the General waded through the small crowd that had formed outside the Inn's doors, each person curious to get a glimpse of the supposed savior of legend, but Forh wasn't one for believing in older texts. He much preferred to figure people out for himself, which is exactly how he managed to make such a fine General of the Shieldfreeden standing army.
Regardless, upon entering the Inn's waiting area and bar room, he couldn't really gather much from the man of legend. As of right now, they were sitting on their seats at the bar side, the two demihuman girls talking avidly to him and each other with the much larger human adding in every once in a while.
While Forh wasn't one to blindly believe in religion and their teachings on how humans are creatures of evil, he did believe they were monsters based on his experiences in the earlier wars with Melromarc as well as their disgusting treatment of his people in their country.
But, for the hero of legend, he could overlook simply having a human in his party. So Forh approached the four and greeted the legendary hero, "Shield Hero! I didn't take you for a drinking man when we first met."
Naofumi laughed a bit, scratching the back of his head as he did so, a nervous tick maybe? "Ah, I'm not really one for alcohol, but I do drink ever so often, even if it's just to get the taste since I can't really get drunk thanks to the Shield."
The shield prevented inebriation? That wasn't something Forh expected the Shield to be capable of doing, but it does make sense now that he's thinking about it.
"Hey Forh! Haven't seen you in a bit! How've you been, man?" Rifana cheered from her seat, a light blush on her cheeks from the alcohol she was drinking.
Raphtalia swatted Rifana on the arm lightly, "Rifana, you can't speak that way to the General! He's a man of very high standing and we don't want to offend him." She scolded before turning to the wolf demi-human and apologizing with a sigh.
Forh just shook his head, "It's alright, I understand the effects alcohol can have on some people. Lord knows how many soldiers I've had to discipline for drinking too much and acting out." He glanced at the drinks in front of them all, "Although I don't believe you've had too much to drink so far, if the empty space in front of her is any proof."
Raphtalia went to answer but before she could, the human dared to cut her off and speak to him, "The weasel's a damn lightweight. Can't hold a drink for her life. Honestly, by now you'd think she could at least drink two without getting tipsy."
Rifana cried out in indignation, her fists lightly pounding on Elina's arm, but the girl just didn't really care, "I am not a lightweight!"
Elina guffawed, "Oh, so that one time where you had three cups of beer and threw up in the alleyway was you being a heavy drinker?"
Rifana grew bright red, and she hissed out, "Shut up, Elina!"
Forh scowled at the human trash that was drinking their alcohol in their inn in their goddamn country while trash talking one of their own. "I don't think it's fair to compare the drinking habits of a demi-human to trash, but I suppose if that is how your group is, then I can't say much on the matter."
Raphtalia, Rifana, and Naofumi tensed at the General's words. They knew there were a lot of demi-humans to really disliked humans in the country, and that was putting it lightly, but it didn't mean they had to enjoy one of their family getting talked down to in such a hostile way.
Elina side-eyed the general, "Alright, let's do this then." She called for the bartender to bring a few more rounds, which the man did so dutifully, placing the six fully filled mugs of alcohol in front of her. "Drinking contest, you and me. Let's see if you can handle some trash's drinks, that sound fair to you, general?"
General Forh scowled at the woman before him. To treat such a high ranking man with such condescendence was disgusting, especially since it was coming from human trash. "Very well, I'll take you on, you damn human." He marched forward and swiped a mug from the countertop, downing the whole thing in one go. He eyed down the human, "Your go."
Elina smiled, this would be fun.
A total of one hundred and sixty two glasses of beer and some other shots thrown in passed before General Forh had to reluctantly tap out, unless he wanted to collapse from alcohol poisoning.
"HAHAHAHA, I thought you could outdrink me… nice to know you're all talk, big man," Elina slurred from her own spot.
"Shut it, you… disgusting human trash! I'll… I'll… take you one in another contest! Let's go!" Forh drunkenly shouted at the woman.
Elina stumbled over to him, her face flushed with the ungodly amounts of alcohol she drank, "Oh? Another contest? HAHAHA, guess you got some fight in ya…" It would have been an intimidating sight had she not been leaning against the bar for support.
Raphtalia dropped her head in her hands, groaning in frustration. The two were absolutely wasted. Meanwhile, Rifana watched in absolute awe. Elina had never gotten drunk before, they just never managed to find her alcohol limit. Yet, a general of Shieldfreeden's standing army nearly managed to outdrink the goliath in a contest. Incredible.
Tonight was gonna be awesome.
The two drunkards stumbled over to an unused table, Elina slammed her arm on it, propping it up on her elbow. Forh met her hand with his own. His steely eyed and unfocused eyes glaring at Elina's own in pure competitive spirit. And a little bit of enjoyment, but you would never hear that from him.
Another of the bar's patrons put his hands over the two and counted down, releasing them at the number 0. The two titans of strength tensed, throwing all their drunken power into this single arm wrestling competition. Elina struggling to make the General's arm shift from the starting position. Though Forh wasn't faring much better. Even if he managed to overpower Elina, her massive hand dwarfed his own, ultimately making his grip weaker than hers by a longshot.
The two continued to strain, each one grunting and shouting with exertion. The crowd built up around them from their unbelievable drinking contest were cheering them on. Naofumi even saw some making bets on the two. Raphtalia pulled Rifana from the betting crowd by the ear, Rifana crying out as she lost about two silver from her betting.
"N… not bad for a tiny man," Elina taunted as she strained.
The general laughed, "You're size definitely fits… your strength… but it could never match up to my… my demi-human pride!" Forh shouted as he put another wave of power in his arm, actually making Elina's arm shift from their starting position.
The table underneath them began to groan as Elina tried to fight against Forh's push. The two continued to grunt in exertion, each one fighting for dominance as the crowd only got wilder. With a final shout Forh swung down their arms into the table, smashing it to pieces and standing up in drunken victory.
Raphtalia looked over to the bartender, "We're not going to have to pay for that, are we?"
The bartender shrugged, "Maybe, your friend did have her part in breaking it."
Raphtalia groaned as Naofumi opened his money pouch solemnly.
"Gahahaha! How'd ya like that, human?!" Forh taunted his opponent, laying on the ground since he couldn't manage to pick himself up yet from the table's corpse.
"Oi! That doesn't prove a damn thing! I still outdrank you're lightweight ass! Elina swayed to her feet.
Forh scoffed, "Fine then, its one to one, we'll keep going!"
The entire bar thought the two would tire themselves out pretty soon, considering just how much they drank and the sheer level of strength they put into the arm wrestling competition, but no. The two managed to go through a ridiculous amount of contests in the night.
Their pool battle ended in Elina's victory, the city girl winning over the general due to his lack of experience in the game due to his dedication to his military position.
After that, the two moved to a lifting contest. By the end of it, Elina successfully managed to lift two jugs of alcohol, ten bar stools, and a table with twelve people sitting on it before she had to tap out. General Forh only made it to seven people on the table before he collapsed under the weight. No one was hurt somehow. Weird video game mechanics if Naofumi had to guess.
Their race was held on the street in front of the bar, but speed was simply not Elina's strong suit. General Forh beat her handily, even managing to lap her completely in the race. By this point, they had forgotten what the score was and were just competing against each other for the fun of it. The General and Elina were laughing and joking with one another as they duked it out.
Wrestling against one another was interesting to watch. While Forh was more experienced in grappling techniques and other military drills, Elina's sheer size proved a challenge for the much smaller man to handle. It ended with a perfectly executed suplex on Forh, the General somehow not completely knocked out.
After Naofumi and Raphtalia's insistence, the two drunkards moved away from physical battle of strength and to another classic bar game, darts. The two were banned from holding any sharp objects for the rest of the night.
Of course, because the two are combat maniacs, they got involved in a punching contest. They would take turns, hitting each other at varying degrees of power until one of them had to tap out. Forh managed to land some good hits on Elina's midsection and chest, but the height difference made Elina's victory that much easier as all of her hits were focused on the General's head and upper body.
The eating contest they entered will not be mentioned. It was far too disturbing to see for all in the bar.
Their night of insanity came to a close when the two landed on a pickup contest. Elina waltzed over to one of the men in the bar and with a line that did not fit her general demeanor, managed to score a date for the night. When Forh drunkenly walked over to Rifana and asked her for "a fun session in the bed" Naofumi calmly put his hands on Forh's shoulders and led him away from the group.
"I think you've both had enough fun for the night," was all the Shield Hero said. General Forh had never experienced a wave of killing intent as strong as the one the Shield Hero of all people emitted.
So with his adventures at the inn completed, General Forh stumbled home, crashing into his bed and passing out.
The morning after was met with a serious hangover and a lot of self hating comments about getting friendly with a human.
Needless to say, the Lieutenant and Commander never let General Forh live that night down. They were part of the betting crowd after all, but General Forh didn't need to know that.
Notes:
Chapter 20 isn't even close to being done, so like I promised in chapter 19, here's a side story to fill in the time. This does go a while back, all the way to chapter 10, since I didn't want to write about Itsuki and his adventures being cursed quite yet. Though that might not be a side story if the story goes the way I had planned. I don't really know yet, so just be ready for anything in regards to him.
I'll respond to reviews in the next chapter, since this isn't really a full on chapter. So I'll see you all again next week.
I'm praying my midterms go well though so a lot of stuff is just up in the air right now, hahaha.
- RandomA99