Chapter 7 / Condemnation
Underneath the evening skies, Itsuki looked out from the carriage. It took them a few days to get to their destination, but the sights of a new city drew his attention. It was for the best to pay attention to any weapons shop that they pass in order to return to it whenever he got the chance, but he was content enough to watch the peaceful lives of its people.
He wished it could be just as peaceful inside the carriage.
"I told you already that you were in the way! How was I supposed to do anything like that!?"
"Don't be ridiculous! I can't depend on a worthless mage like you!"
"I can't do shit if you're constantly barricading my chances, asshole!"
"The opportunity would be wasted on you!"
Two of his party members ended up bickering with one another after what Itsuki thought was a successful monster encounter. Welst was the party's focused magic-user; he was their mage who tucked himself under his hood constantly and had a bang over his eye. On the other side, Mald was their main frontline, acting to soak up damage. He was endowed with silver armor and a large two-handed sword in order to block attacks more effectively. His grand shape made him something to be feared, but Itsuki couldn't take him too seriously because of his mustache.
Itsuki didn't know why they couldn't get along, but after a few pointless arguments, he surrendered himself to let them do what they wanted.
Kojeel, a spear-wielding adventurer, shared the same grievances as he did. He was rather thankful that someone like her was the third member of their team, being on the extreme opposite scale as the other two in being much more calm and collected.
"That's enough, you two."
Mald and Welst clicked their tongues to Kojeel's command. "We're approaching the manor of the governor that has requested the help," Kojeel reminded them, treating them like children. "Don't be acting like this before him."
Welst slumped into his seat. "Then tell Mald to buzz off! I'm clearly pulling my own weight here! Maybe it's because he's projecting himself onto me!"
Mald scoffed. "Please! Keep telling yourself that!"
"I said that's enough." Kojeel's voice was cold, silencing the bickering immediately with shivers. "I don't want to hear any arguments stir up when we're meeting the governor. Do you even remember why we've come to this territory to begin with?"
"It's just the normal monster elimination job, isn't it?" Welst grumbled. "A sudden outburst of a group of monsters appeared and the city doesn't have the proper manpower for handling them all."
"Correct, but that's not all. The guild request informed us that these monsters started to appear after the wave of destruction occurred. I think this will be a good opportunity for Sir Itsuki to gauge the enemies he's up against, if these truly are monsters from the wave."
"If not, then it'll still be good practice." Mald puffed his chest out. "Maybe a certain squirt will learn a thing or two about fighting."
"Bite me, bastard."
When they came to their destination, the carriage stopped for them to get off. Everyone got out and Itsuki was met with a large manor, glistening in its white-coloured glory. The main shape, judging from his position, had been formed in a curve, surrounding the roundabout pathway. Standing out, there was an odd monument standing tall with unreadable inscriptions. It was probably some type of noble decoration like gnomes in a garden, so he didn't pay much attention to it.
A butler arrived at the front door and bowed to them. "We've been expecting your arrival, adventurers. Please come in. The governor wishes to see you immediately."
As their carriage pulled away, they followed the butler into the fancy estate. The inside was just as well-kept as the exterior, built to be a display of wealth. The walls and columns had seemed like they were personally sculpted by an artist with how the skirting boards were formed, alongside the multiple arrays of paintings hung around the place.
They were led up to the third floor and brought down the hall to where a large set of doors were. Upon the butler's knock, a voice called from within for them to come in.
"Hmmph, so you're the adventurers that accepted the request, huh?"
Inside, there was a plump middle-aged man with a disheveled hairstyle, sitting behind a desk. His eyes were rather small, but he kept up the intimidating appearance regardless with his elegantly dressed clothing of black and purple and having white frills around his neck.
"You all look rather capable. Very well, this will do." The man stood up from his seat, emphasizing his round size, but Itsuki noticed the whip on his belt. "I trust that you all know who I am?"
Kojeel responded almost immediately. "Governor Idol Rabier."
The others bowed their heads for their own respects, leading Itsuki to follow suit.
"That's correct," he said, stroking his mustache; rather, it was a sorry excuse for a mustache. He walked up to see them for himself at a closer look. "Looks like adventurers can do their homework too. I can see that this assignment will go by very smoothly if this is what the guild sent to me."
They recovered their postures and Itsuki placed his hand on his chest for introductions. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Idol. My name is—"
"Excuse you, you refer to me as Lord or Governor," he pointed out, quite defiantly. "I should have you thrown in the dungeons for a night, merely for that disrespect."
Itsuki stiffened, but held his tongue back.
"Luckily for you, I am in a good mood." In particular, he glared at Itsuki as if trying to declare it to him, and only him. "I'll let it slide this time, but don't let it happen again. Don't bother introducing yourself, it's not needed anyways."
Itsuki didn't know what crawled up this governor's ass this morning, but if this was him being in a good mood, he didn't want to be seeing his attitude when he was in a bad one. The governor didn't show any signs of knowing that he was the Bow Hero and while he wanted to wipe that smirk off the governor's face by revealing himself, it wasn't worth the childish act. As the Bow Hero, he needed to hide his identity as much as possible to be able to properly defeat evil.
However, Itsuki was surprised that Rabier's expression straightened up without a prompt needed.
When Rabier sat back down, he searched through the files for the paperwork he had prepared for them. He tossed it out to the table, prompting Kojeel to come ahead to grab it. When she opened it, it apparently contained all of the information and documentation of the request that he was giving them.
"There are reports that I've collected from the people of my territory, both civilians and some of the patrol guards. I would suggest that you head over to the locations marked on the map. I had the patrol unit to mark it off, so that no one would accidentally find themselves in that range. You're free to make investigations however you want, just deal with the monsters in a timely manner and you'll be paid."
Itsuki felt obligated to look over Kojeel's shoulder and to his surprise, it had a lot of writing. He didn't understand a single thing about it, but it came with a map and multiple markings on it.
"I've issued a warning statement for the people of my territory to not head outside the perimeter deemed safe for them. However, I could only reasonably promise them safety until the next week. People are getting restless. The sooner you deal with this, the safer it will be for my territory.."
As stuck up and obnoxious as Rabier's attitude had been initially, Itsuki was starting to see why someone like this was selected to be a governor of territory. Bad at his personality, but damn good at his job. Itsuki sighed in temporary defeat as he kept his eyes on the documents.
Kojeel closed the documents and nodded. "We'll figure out a plan concerning these things when we regroup outside at an inn."
"There is no need for that."
"Is there something wrong, Governor Rabier?"
"Even though you're adventurers," Rabier scoffed, like the word was a plague, "I'm permitting you folks the usage of some of my guest rooms. I don't expect this job to end within a day or two; I'm predicting about five days depending on your skill level, but I want a detailed report on your investigations, so I can forward them to my own team. This is my territory and I'd be damned if I'm going to let a few adventurers do whatever they want to do in my domain."
Was he trying to be nice, or was he trying to express how much he didn't trust them?
"We can discuss payment after the job is completed."
"Wait, but you're just going to charge us for the entirety of our payment for staying—!?"
"Did someone interrupt me?" Rabier snarled at Welst, causing him to be shut by Kojeel's hand.
"It must have been the wind, Governor Rabier."
"Is that right? Very well." Rabier cleared his throat. "Although I'm providing you with a roof, I may be paying you a bit extra for the work you're doing. The listing suggested a handful of mysterious monsters, but we recently found evidence that it's going to be more than that. All that information can be read on the fifth page."
Itsuki bounced his sight back to the file, realizing that there were more stuff inside of it. He had only noticed the one page, paired with the map and assumed that was it. He was frankly surprised when there were four more pages hiding underneath.
"We have evidence to conclude that there's a nest, but we can't figure out where it might be. We'll leave that in your hands, because that's a job for you, right?"
"Of course, Governor Rabier," Kojeel answered. "We'll be sure to read over this information for us to head out. We appreciate this organization."
"You should be. I'm a very busy man and speaking of which, head off already." He picked up some more files and handed it over to one of his attendants before walking out of the door. "I have another meeting I must attend, so my attendants will guide you to your rooms."
Rabier looked over his shoulder, almost ominously.
"I'm expecting results. Don't waste your time on frivolous things."
Another attendant came to show them to their rooms and they were eventually led to their rooms on the second floor. The two available rooms were split up accordingly, keeping Mald and Welst apart from each other for obvious reasons.
A few hours later, the sun was starting to cross the horizon.
Itsuki was walking through the halls with nothing else to do. Everyone else appeared to have fallen asleep, leaving only him and the few staff that passed by him. He stopped by an open window, feeling the refreshing evening gale against his skin. It reminded him of his childhood, the better part of it, so it was rather soothing.
"I wonder how everyone else is doing right now…"
As he leaned forwards against the windowsill, his eyes panned down to the ground, noticing some movement. It wasn't his jurisdiction to peek, but if another saw a carriage approach the place they were staying at, they would at least be curious.
Rabier was walking out from the front door. He must have been heading off somewhere in order to do business, so he shouldn't have given it a second glance. Despite that, his mistake was taking that second glance, only to see that besides the attendants, Idol Rabier was not alone.
In fact, he wasn't the one leaving.
Rabier was seeing someone off and once he noticed the familiar stout figure, his eyes shot open.
"There's no way…"
For beside him, it was none other than the slave trader.
"What the hell is he doing here…?"
A slave trader would only have one business to be meeting with another person like this. It was to sell his products and if he came all this way to meet Rabier, then Itsuki could assume that the governor was a customer of his. Itsuki's hand tightened into a fist as the realization sunk in.
There's no way that Itsuki would accept resting in the same building as a man that kept slaves. He was glad that he decided to mask his true identity, because now, Rabier won't know what was going to hit him. Instead of thinking of rest, he needed his next moments to be put into planning.
Last week, after he bought Raphtalia for Naofumi, he returned back to his party to ask them about the slavery problem in Melromarc. All of them saw it as normal. Even Mald was saying disgusting things as to how the demi-humans deserved to be in that position, but Kojeel managed to quell Itsuki's outrage before it got bad. At the very least, Welst held some sympathy for them, but not enough to push him into helping him into returning to the slave market and breaking them all out.
In fact, they told him to not do that, basically giving the same explanation as Naofumi did.
Although it might be better to have more than one hand on deck for the operation, Itsuki decided that this was something he was going to do by himself. Naofumi and his party members might have stopped him the previous times, but he'll do something about it here and now.
Down the hall, a figure had been watching Itsuki glaring out the window.
-/IV/-
Once night arrived, Itsuki started moving once he believed Welst was asleep. If the slaver trader had came here, then it would lead Itsuki to believe there might be a place where Rabier is keeping his slaves. All of the manor's attendants were humans, so he clearly wasn't keeping them in the main building.
What other reason would Rabier take in slaves?
If that whip on Rabier's belt gave him any guesses, Itsuki didn't want to answer that for himself.
He quietly snuck his way out of the room and found himself in the empty corridor, making his move as quickly as possible to avoid being spotted by anyone that might have the authority to call him out on his behavior. Who knows? Maybe the attendants and the guards were in on it as well.
His current destination was the basement. If he learned anything from Dimension Wave, all of an evil governor's secrets are either inside of their office or tucked away in the basement and truth be told, he wasn't exactly confident in finding slaves being pushed into the drawers.
Avoiding the guards, Itsuki made it to a first floor room and opened up a window to leap on through. Access to the basement could typically be found on the side of the manor, making things easier for Itsuki if things were the same here. He landed in the bushes below and waited for an opening between the patrols to start scouting the building's exterior perimeter.
As he predicted, there was an entrance through the side, but as he expected, it was locked up.
Chains surrounded the handles, making it difficult to get through, locked up with a deadbolt variation. Rabier didn't intend for people to go in and out easily, but he didn't also intend for intruders to have a holy bow available at their arm to break it with sheer force. Loading his bow, Itsuki aimed an arrow to shatter the lock into pieces before a sudden voice called out to him.
"What are you doing, Sir Itsuki?"
His instinct caused Itsuki to turn his arrow on the unexpected onlooker, causing them to raise their hand in surrender. Even if it was dark out, he could tell from the robely shape that it was Welst. He lowered his bow and unloaded his arrow, sighing heavily.
"I could ask you the same thing, Welst. Shouldn't you be asleep?"
"Not when my roommate mysteriously walks out of the room like that." Welst crossed his arms, glazing over at the locked door. "You know, it's kind of bad manners to be snooping around like this."
"I could say the same about a certain governor keeping slaves around."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You'll figure it out once we get through this door."
Itsuki pulled back his bow, continuing right off where he left it and broke the lock off. He leaned forwards to unravel the chains to open up access to the basement, pulling them into his inventory for safe keeping. Before he could take a step down the stairs, Welst raised his arm out to stop him.
"I've got a good feeling as to what might be down there, as well as a bad feeling that things aren't going to go the way that you want them to. If you're looking to stir trouble, my best advice is to leave this matter alone."
"You think that slaves are down there?"
"Probably. Rabier doesn't seem to be the pleasant type of guy, after all."
Itsuki pushed Welst's arm out of the way. "Then explain to me why you're trying to stop me. I'm going to go save these slaves from their suffering, one way or another. Don't you have any sympathy for them? Or are you going to shrug them off like Mald did?"
"Low blow, trying to compare me to that bastard, but…" Welst lowered his arms, clicking his tongue. "Having sympathy and having the ability to do something about it are two different things."
Welst gazed down at the staircase. "Of course, I think it's terrible that demi-humans are discriminated at first sight and made into slaves in Melromarc whenever possible, but I hail from Zeltoble, so my cultural understandings are slightly different. If the people of Melromarc seeing this type of demi-human as normal, then you'll be the criminal in their eyes—"
Itsuki grabbed Welst's robes and pulled him closer with force. "How could I be the criminal here!? It's the people that cause suffering onto others that should be incriminated!?"
"I-I don't make the rules, but it makes sense! You break a law and you become a criminal! It's not a complicated justice system! As far as Melromarc is concerned, demi-human slavery doesn't break any laws!" Welst tried to shake Itsuki's grip off of him. "Hey, Sir Itsuki! Stop that! You're creasing the robe! I don't want to be repairing this because of something so trivial!"
"Then you better be quiet. I don't want to hear anymore from you."
Itsuki pushed Welst to the side, causing him to stumble backwards onto the grass. As he was groaning, Itsuki started walking down the staircase with his bow, ready in one hand.
"Wait! Sir Itsuki! Hold on!"
Despite Welst's pleas, Itsuki ignored him and slowly made his way down.
With the increase of a dreary atmosphere, Itsuki's chest became tighter. A silent stench filled the air, causing his mind to race from the possible implications of what origins it had. He already knew it was going to be disgusting to witness, but that thought never slowed his steps down.
When he reached the bottom, he could already tell that this was ten times worse than the slave trader's tent. Being laid out like a prison, there was no evidence to show that the governor was looking to have a decent upkeep on this place. He slowly walked through the basement as coughs and noises of these slaves started to become clearer to his ears.
The smell started to get stronger until he finally got to see them. Malnourished, bruised, filled up with despair. An intensity similar to Raphtalia's eyes. They all looked up to the mysterious newcomer before they glanced away from instinctive fear.
"I told you to wait, Sir Itsuki!"
Welst came stumbling down the hall behind the Bow Hero, gasping for air. The putrid smell struck Welst all at once, causing him to gag a few times before holding his vomit in his mouth. He covered his nose and tried to breath through his mouth, but even that wasn't helping him.
"Now that you're here, are you satisfied with what you found?"
"How could I be satisfied? I'd rather not have found any slaves underneath the building I was offered to sleep in. This is putting a terrible taste in my mouth."
"W-well, that makes two of us," Welst coughed, choking on the odor. "You have to realize that if you free them here, they're still going to be bound by Rabier, right? They probaby all have the slave crest painted onto them and it act like a kill command if Rabier discovered that they escaped. And then, he's probably not even going to think twice about replacing them."
Welst reached out for Itsuki, trying to reel him back in. "You're on the losing side if you continue this. As much as you might not want to believe, I don't think justice is truly equal. There's always going to be inequality somewhere in the line and in this instance, the demi-humans are the ones one that end."
"I told you to be quiet." Itsuki knocked Welst's arm away.
The two stood quietly for what seemed to be a minute.
"I can't leave them like this."
Welst continued to stay silent, listening to Itsuki's somber voice.
"It's because the world is unfair that people like them are waiting for someone to come save them" Itsuki's voice quivered as he grabbed his own hanging arm. "I know what it's like to wait for justice to come, but losing hope ever so slowly until you want the suffering to end by any means necessary. Though, I don't even think these slaves have the choice to even do that."
Seeing how empty the hero's eyes had become, Welst flinched a bit. Itsuki's expression almost replicated the terror that was written across the imprisoned slaves.
"Even if it's only one, I'm going to save them. And if I can save one, I'll save another. No one should be suffering at the hands of another so unjustly like this."
And at the turn of his foot, Itsuki started walking down the hallway, deeper into the basement.
No matter how much Welst tried to call out for him, it was no good. It was as if Itsuki was in a trance. Everything about this seemed bad, given Welst couldn't use his words to convince the Bow Hero that everything that he was planning on doing was a bad idea.
Eventually, they came across a door that was already opened up. It seemed like whoever entered the cell didn't bother to close it behind them, unlike all the other empty ones that were all kept closed. Chills ran down Itsuki's spine as he slowly looked through the bars. The pungent scent of rot was scattering through the air and once Itsuki saw what was inside, his hand couldn't stop shaking.
It was one thing to know that slaves were suffering here.
This was a whole new experience, causing Itsuki to freeze on the spot. The sight hadn't registered in his head or rather, he didn't want it to be true. He knew if he did, he would have wanted to throw up on the spot. As he thought Rabier couldn't get any worse, his handiwork decided to prove Itsuki wrong.
On the ground, there was a small girl with ears in the shape of a weasel on her head. She was about Raphtalia's own age, but laying on the ground without any signs of moving. Her eyes were blank and her skin was cold, not to mention the shriveled surface and the old wounds.
"Why…? Why does this happen…?"
"Demi-humans are people with monster blood in them. It's up to the person to decide if they're a monster first or a human first." Welst slowly walked up to the girl inside of the cell and knelt down to close her eyes. There was no pretending that there was any chance to save a corpse. "And unfortunately, Melromarc's beliefs are of the former. Their sense of justice is different from yours, Sir Itsuki."
Despite what Welst was saying, Itsuki's hand curled up into a fist. If he was given the holy bow in order to save people, why was it that he wasn't allowed to save the very slaves in front of his eyes? Its nature was contradictory to Itsuki, but at some point, he stopped thinking about consequences. It was clear that it would only hinder the decision of what he should be doing.
"If we save all the slaves here, Rabier simply going to find more slaves to torture, right?"
"Didn't I just tell you—?"
As Welst turned around, he noticed that Itsuki was suddenly closing the prison door on him.
"Hey, wait! Sir Itsuki!"
He ran out, trying to stick his staff to block the closing gap, but he was too slow. The door shut on him, bouncing his staff away as Itsuki tied up the chains around the iron bars, effectively locking the mage inside. Welst grabbed the door, trying to force it open.
"What are you trying to do here!?"
"If that's the case," Itsuki continued, "wouldn't it be best to cut the problem at its source?"
Welst stiffened. "Don't tell me you're planning on killing Rabier!? I know he's a terrible person, but surely, you must know what will happen if you assassinate a governor!"
"I also know what will happen if he is left alive."
Itsuki started walking away. Welst's pleas for Itsuki to stop merely fell on deaf ears as the hero made his way out of the basement. No matter what Welst might say, it would be an injustice to allow Rabier to see the dew of the next morning, especially seeing all of his crimes before his own eyes.
He managed to escape the basement without any guards being nearby and he slowly backtracked his way into the manor, dipping around the corners whenever there were any patrols heading his way.
Itsuki hunted down the third floor, where all the bedrooms should have been and managed to find himself with a room with quite the extravagant doorway. For the type of person Rabier was, there was no doubting that this was his bedroom.
If he went in, there was no going back. He understood this much.
The weight of his bow felt heavy, but he persisted with a deep breath and pushed against the doors. Itsuki entered the room and saw Rabier's figure in the darkness, asleep on the bed. It was silent, all except the footsteps he took to walk over to an ideal place.
Pulling back his bow's string, he knew it'll probably take a handful of shots to kill Rabier, but he was prepared to fire however many it needed. His anger was fueled too much to simply stop at one. He still needed to take a deep breath before lodging these arrows to what he assumed was Rabier's backside.
"This is righteous," he whispered to himself. "This is justice."
And with that, Itsuki released his attack. The arrow stuck out and Itsuki fired a few more arrows to have them all be damning Rabier to hell, but he suddenly stopped. There was no noise.
Surely, Rabier would have screamed out in pain and torment. Although he didn't mind letting Rabier's death be quick and quiet, a part of him disliked how the governor essentially was getting away without suffering through the same pain as he did onto the slaves.
Itsuki ended up being suspicious after a few seconds passed in silence before he realized there was no blood staining the bedsheets. With a confused frown, he slowly walked up to the bed and reached out for the sheets, pulling them off to reveal that his arrows—
—were simply piercing pillows and sheets.
"What…?"
The lights immediately turned on, almost blinding Itsuki. The door opened up behind him and he turned on his toes, instinctively backing up when he saw Rabier standing there, chuckling quite ominously. Alongside the governor, the missing patrol had been on standby with their weapons drawn.
"We appear to have an unexpected visitor here," Rabier said. "Heh, I merely jest. I expected this turn of events at the moment."
"Rabier!" Itsuki pulled up his bow quickly, but the guards were fast, standing in as a shield for their governor. He growled, seeing his arrows were not strong enough to pierce through the armor.
Rabier merely stood behind his guards, stroking his mustache as if he had already won. "Oh? What could I have done to anger the Bow Hero? All I've been doing is the same old things for the past years as I've been managing these lands."
Itsuki flinched. He didn't know how Rabier already knew he was the Bow Hero, but the answer brought itself before him. Another person walked into the room, causing Itsuki to widen his eyes.
"And it looks like the Bow Hero is showing his true colors. What a pity! We could have used him far more if he knew not to snoop around like a little brat!"
"Mald!? What the hell are you doing!?"
"Doing what needs to be done," he scoffed. "We don't need a Bow Hero that believes that demi-humans should be freed from their rightful slavery. They're monsters in the first place. They don't deserve to stand in the same society as us. And if you share the same ideology as the Shield Demon, then it's obvious that you must suffer like them."
"The Shield Demon…?"
This entire time, Mald had been working for the Church of Three Heroes and if that was the case, all of his suspicious activities were being reported through that party member. If the princess had been the one to scheme behind their backs, there might have been the chance that there was a hand dealt in placing spies within all of their parties.
Itsuki immediately started worrying about Ren.
"I do appreciate that you've brought them here, Mald," Rabier applauded. "I'll be sure to nominate your name in the glorious fame of defeating the Demon Bow."
"Wait, then what about the request!?"
"All fabricated to lure you here. I have Mald and the Church to help me out on those details. We had to be dealing with your nefarious alliance with the Shield Demon as soon as possible."
"There's nothing nefarious about it!" Itsuki growled. "If anything, the way that you treat those slaves is another level of nefariousness!"
"Don't be ridiculous," Rabier laughed. "Those are my prized work."
"Prized!?" Itsuki's blood was boiling. "You take pride in that agony!?"
"According to the Church of Three Heroes, the demi-humans are lower than us, being the devil creatures that they are. Their suffering should have given our gods their joy in knowing that we hold their pains in their words."
Rabier paused, only to rub his chin in feigned contemplation. "Of course, you wouldn't know that. You're not the true Bow Hero. You would have taken pride in my work as well, but here you are, trying to berate me for it."
Mald smirked. "It only means that the Bow Hero that stands before us is a fake one. No Bow Hero would have been angered by this act, nor would he have allied himself with the Shield Demon!"
"All of you are insane!" He then pulled up his bow, drawing an arrow at them. "I'm going to kill all of you right where you stand!"
Mald placed a hand on his two-handed sword as he tried to push the guards to let him through. "He's at his wits' end, seeing how he was outsmarted by the person he was supposed to trust as his party member. May I do the honor of killing this trapped faker?"
"This is my territory." Rabier scoffed, having his guards stop Mald's movements. His hand picked up his whip, likely the same one he used against the slaves. "I want to play with him a little bit. I'll let you have some fun after I'm satisfied."
Itsuki tensed up and fired his arrow immediately, but the attack was knocked out of the air by one of the guards. Another one ran up, swinging their sword at him, forcing him to block it with the bow's frame. It was too strong for him to handle and Itsuki was consequently knocked down.
"You're making a mistake," Itsuki spat.
"As if I'd listen to the rambles of the Bow Demon." Rabier walked up to Itsuki's body and grabbed the hero by his hair, dragging him up to his feet. "By killing you, this will grant me a place in heaven. I look forward to seeing your despair."
Itsuki wanted to swing at him, but when he found the strength to, he was thrown against the wall and collapsed. Rabier pulled out his whip and lashed out a heavy wound onto Itsuki's arm. He resisted the urge to scream, even with the reddened bruises starting to form.
"Perhaps I'll imprison you first, just like the demon monsters I keep in the basement and take my time in torturing you as I did with them! You wished to be their hero instead of being one for humanity, correct!? Then you'll suffer just like them! I'll make an example out of you!"
Rabier's attacks were strong. Itsuki's health chipped away rapidly as the whip slapped against his body and the numbness building up in his arms made it impossible to retaliate with his bow. The guards simply stood behind their governor, chuckling and mocking the supposedly fake hero. Mald laughed at his suffering and their ringleader had the biggest smirk of them all.
"Oh? No sounds, huh? You're acting just like those children that tried to stay strong for a hopeless future! One broke and the other died, but I'm sure that you saw that in the basement already!"
No one was here to save him again, but he wasn't powerless this time.
"Shut up, bastard!"
Collecting up all his energy, he reached out and grabbed the whip as it slashed down on him, causing his palm to start bleeding. Rabier was a bit surprised, but he didn't expect Itsuki to use the whip to pull himself up, lunge forwards to punch the governor in the face. He stumbled backwards and toppled over, looking back at the Bow Hero in disbelief.
"You… You dare raise your hand against me!?"
Itsuki staggered as he got back up on his feet. Blood was dripping out from his wounds. "All that evil must be leaving no room for any brains up in there if you're that stupid to think I can't fight back."
"Hmmph!" Rabier backed up a bit, seeing that Itsuki was able to push off with resistance. "Never mind. The Bow Demon is all yours, Mald. Make sure his death is as painful as it could be."
As Rabier hid himself into the crowd, Mald walked up while drawing his sword. It slammed into the ground, leaving a small hole in it.
"Hey! Watch the carpet! It's expensive!" Rabier shouted.
"Yeah, I got it." Mald grinned as he rubbed his mouth against his hand briefly. "Small price to pay for what the Church will give us for the Bow Demon's head, right?"
"Damn it! Rabier, come back!"
With his target moving away, he tried to get through, but Mald's blunt swing of his sword sent him flying backwards into the wall. His spine felt like it cracked from its force.
"Grah!"
Mald rested his two-handed sword on his shoulder and nodded over to the guards from their turn. Following the order, they came up and started kicking him while he was down, making it hard for him to even cry out for help. The guards kept laughing as if beating up a teenager was fun for them, but he supposed they no longer saw him as a person.
Rabier managed to get away, leaving the room to the music of Itsuki's pain.
His consciousness was starting to falter. The few seconds that must have passed felt like minutes, giving him a looser sense of time. He really wanted to grab the guards and give them a taste of their own medicine, but his body kept trembling.
Itsuki remembered the last time he was beaten up like this. It was as unpleasant as he remembered and his memories told him to simply stay put, giving the assailants a reason to get bored. He was weak, being on the lowest of the social chain, so asking for help was impossible. No one would dare tarnish their hands for someone like that.
That was Itsuki's old reality. It was for that reason he yearned for justice, but to think that chasing after that same justice cycled him back to the beginning. He couldn't save anyone, even with this bow, only waiting for someone else to save him from his own darkness.
However, the attacks suddenly stopped.
"[All Zweite Fire Shot]!"
The enemies got spooked, moving out of the way to dodge the magic spell. Since Itsuki was already on the ground, the flames went over his head. His weakened gaze pulled upwards to see a figure standing at the doors, running to him and kneeling over.
It wouldn't have been the first time he was bailed out like this.
"R-Ren…? A-aah, sorry that I… caused you more problems, huh…?"
"Wait, who? What are you talking about!? Actually, never mind! Just get up already!"
"Huh!? Welst!?" His voice snapped Itsuki back to reality. "Is that you!? How did you—!?"
"To think I get to kill two nuisances within a single night!"
While the guards were dazed from the sudden flank, Mald recovered quickly and raised his sword. The attack aimed for Welst's back, but before Itsuki himself could realize what was going to happen, Welst reacted before him. He was already casting a spell preemptively underneath his breath as he aimed his staff to Welst.
"[Faust Fire Shot]!"
"Ugh!?"
Mald managed to block the magic with his sword, being forced to back up. With Welst's other hand, he pulled Itsuki up to his feet. However, Mald recovered quicker than a spellcast and raised his blade again; Welst was in no position to counter this time.
"Stay still so that I can kill the both of you!"
"You'll have through the three of us."
From behind him, Kojeel leapt from the doors and thrusted their spear to Mald's back. A guard from the room got on their feet in time to block for the armored man, but the shout was able to throw Mald off his guard. It gave Welst enough time to cast another spell, encircling his body with a ring of fire.
"Get down, Sir Itsuki!"
He could see that the other guards were trying to close in on him, so he did as he was told. His knee and legs didn't appreciate the up and down motion, but his life surely did, feeling the heat from the flames blast outwards.
"[All Zweite Flame Burst]!"
The magic lashed outwards and knocked all of the guards off. While it didn't do a lot of damage, it placed pressure off them for the meantime. Kojeel, on the other side, used the guard as a shield against the spell and threw him to the side once she was finished. Mald was the only one that was able to guard against it, retaliating by slashing down on Kojeel as she bounced back.
"I take it that you're betraying our group?" Kojeel asked.
"I never saw that fake as the real Bow Hero anyways! You're the ones that's betraying Melromarc and its future! I'll kill the Bow Hero and be given the fame and honor for it!"
"I'll take that as a yes."
As much as Mald was an excellent frontliner, Kojeel's skill with a spear exceeded anything he was capable of. No matter the number of his attacks, Mald couldn't get close enough to abuse the spear's weakness for close-quarters combat, keeping him constantly at its strongest range. She spun the weapon off the clash, staggering the armored man forwards before she kicked him to his stumbling direction. He crashed onto the ground as she lunged forwards with a thrust.
Her strike broke through Mald's leg piece, causing him to scream in pain. He wouldn't be able to stand up to chase after them after a deep wound like that.
"Damn you!"
Kojeel paid no more attention to Mald, treating him like another one of the guards in the room and came over to Itsuki's side. She helped him onto his feet with Welst's help.
"We're heading out of here quickly."
"Kojeel? What are you doing here?"
"She actually followed us into the basement, but she kept her distance. Like me, she noticed that her roommate was missing, so she apparently decided to do some investigations herself. Luckily, she was there to break me out of that little cell you trapped me in."
"The information on the documents gave it away. At first glance, it would have looked like there was nothing wrong, but the details were marked incorrectly. A few inconsistencies made me suspicious if this was a legitimate job, but Mald was trying to turn my attention away when I was reading it."
"You two…!" Mald was laughing trying to stand back up on his feet, using the sword as his aide. Both Welst and Kojeel glanced over with unimpressed expressions. "Do you know what you're doing!? You're declaring yourselves to be allies with the demons!"
"Sorry," Welst spat, "but as much as I want to smash your face in, I've got better plans here. Sir Itsuki isn't someone to act like your so-called demon, so we're taking our leave here! If my options are to side with you, or to side with Sir Itsuki, I think we both know what my answer is."
"Unfortunately, the Church is receiving back-up as we speak," Kojeel responded, ignoring Mald's words. "We won't be able to leave through the stairs, especially with Sir Itsuki in this condition."
"What do we do?" Itsuki coughed.
A few guards recovered quicker than expected, so Kojeel left his side to keep them at bay. Even then, she was able to convey her thoughts without breaking a single sweat.
"We don't need to take the stairs."
Kojeel glanced over to the window after taking out another guard, worrying the mage as to what she might have been thinking. Welst looked over to Itsuki, seeing that his head was still spinning. When he returned his attention to the situation, Kojeel was already grabbing onto both of them.
"W-whoa, hold on a minute! I don't like where this is going!"
"We don't have time! They'll be here shortly!"
Itsuki didn't know what was going on, but when Kojeel carried them up by wrapping an arm around their waist, she started running towards the window. It took Itsuki a few seconds to first register that she was going to jump out and then another few seconds to realize that they were up on the third floor. The last second was reserved to forget that he was in pain, but he forgot to scream.
"Hold on tightly!"
Thankfully, Welst was here to compensate.
"H-hold on to wh—AAAAAAAAAT!?"
Welst's panic drowned the air as Kojeel used her feet to shatter the glass.
She landed cleanly down the three stories on her feet, leaving both Welt and Itsuki as pale as a ghost. They both needed a second to catch their breath, but Kojeel was already pushing them to move.
"Sir Itsuki," she ordered, "heal yourself up. We're going to have to find an escape path out of here, but the carriages shouldn't be far off."
Itsuki opened up his inventory and pulled out a few of the stronger potions to help regenerate his lost health. Gulping down the bitter taste, he could feel his bruises start to lighten up, but it would take some time for it to restore itself back to normal. Though, the metallic taste of blood started mixing in.
"Now, let's get out of here."
Welst managed to calm his nerves after a few deep breaths and started following Kojeel into going around the manor to the front, but Itsuki didn't move a step.
"What about the slaves!?" Itsuki exclaimed. "Are we leaving them there!?"
"The slaves are none of my concern."
Kojeel's voice was cold as ever, or perhaps it was because it was finally pointed towards him that he felt how cold her words truly were. She stopped moving and looked over her shoulder.
"I was only tasked with fighting alongside the Bow Hero, not freeing slaves. If the Bow Hero wants to do something that will put him into unnecessary danger, I won't be the one to allow it."
"How could you say something like that!?"
"Will saving the slaves have an impact on defeating the waves of destruction? Will it be able to bring peace to this land?" Itsuki didn't know how to answer that, choking on his words. "I'm fighting with the Cardinal Heroes to put an end to the waves of destruction. That's my objective."
"But…"
"Kojeel's right," Welst grunted. "We have to focus on what we're here to do. You still want to protect the world against the wave of destruction, so that's all the reason that I need to stick with you."
Welst tapped him on the back. "C'mon, we need to get out of here."
If Itsuki stayed, he was only going to bring more trouble to his head.
Wasn't he supposed to be a hero of justice? Didn't they always win against evil?
"One step at a time," Welst comforted Itsuki. "One day, when you're strong enough, your feelings might be able to reach the people of Melromarc of how wrong slavery is. When that happens, maybe I'll be right there by your side, but we need to focus on seeing the next morning right now. We can't save others if we can't save ourselves first."
Itsuki's mouth opened up a little, breaking off into a bitter frown.
"I… I get it…"
"We need to move on immediately," Kojeel responded. "We've wasted enough time here."
"How the hell are we going to find a way out of here?" Welst asked. He and Itsuki started following Kojeel's brisk pace. "Isn't this place going to be swarmed by knights?"
"And if it's going to be swarmed by knights, it would make sense that they brought some transportation with them. We'll simply take one of those."
Itsuki glanced back towards the window that they fell from. From above, Mald had been glaring down at them, unable to follow because of the wound he suffered from Kojeel. However, his facial expression said everything that he wanted to say, trying to tell Itsuki that he wasn't escaping.
If what Welst said was right, then Mald should have been afraid for the future. Alongside with Rabier, he was going to have Mald dead by his feet whenever he finally had enough power for his justice.
"Just you wait, Mald…"
Itsuki ran off to catch up with Kojeel and Welst as they rounded the corner to see that another group of knights had gotten off their carriage. They waited until they ran into the manor until Itsuki heard that there was shouting from inside. It seemed like the news that they jumped out the window was getting sent down, so Kojeel immediately moved.
"Set the entrance on fire, Welst!"
"I am the source of my power! enclosed my enemies with flames! [Faust Fire Trap]!"
The mage fired off a fast projectile to the ground before the door, lighting the area up in an aura. The knights noticed Kojeel's approach from inside and started to run out to stop her, but his spell activated and bursted into flames, knocking them backwards.
A few knights managed to get through, ignoring the pain, but Kojeel quickly sent them flying back as she pointed at the other two in the party.
"Sir Itsuki! Get in the back!" she hollered. "Welst! Get to the front!"
"What? I don't know how to drive this!?"
"I didn't tell you to drive it!"
Welst lugged his robes and him over to the couch's seat after firing another spell to keep the knights at bay. Itsuki lent some help to Kojeel by hitting the knights with his arrows before jumping in.
After dealing with the guards and sweeping them off their feet, Kojeel leapt on beside Welst and grabbed the reins. With her whipping motion, the horses started to move rather quickly. They were much faster than the average horse, causing Welst to have difficulty hanging on.
Down the pathway, the gates were being closed once they noticed that something was wrong. No matter how quick the monsters were, they weren't going to make it, but Kojeel shouted over to Welst.
"Fire some magic! Now!"
"What!? Seriously!?"
"Your strongest one! Hurry up!"
Having one hand held onto a railing and the other holding his staff towards the gate, he started casting his unplanned spell. "I am the source of my power! Break through and burn down all in my way!"
"[Zweite Inferno Impact]!"
A fire, hotter and stronger than Welst's average spells, conformed into a narrow drill which rapidly soared through the air to the target and once it hit the gate, it exploded in a fiery smoke. He could feel the intense heat, being just right out of the effect of its affected area. There wasn't any time to see the aftermath, but when the horses dragged the carriage into the smoke, they were no longer hindered.
The spell smashed open the gates and sent anyone nearby flying out of the way, clearing an opening for them to escape. Kojeel flicked the reins once more and the passengers felt another burst of speed as they ran through the city underneath the night.
It didn't take long until they made it out of the city's perimeters and without anyone following them, it was safe to say that they were out. At least, for now.
Welst sighed, slumping into the seat. "So, now what? We're obviously targets for the Church now. I didn't think things would end up like this, after trying to avoid it."
"Trying to avoid it?" Itsuki asked.
"Didn't you wonder why no one decided to party up with the Shield Hero in the first place?" Welst groaned. "I don't think anyone actually knew about the rumors around the castle. I honestly didn't know what the hell the king was talking about."
"The reason as to why no one joined the Shield Hero," Kojeel continued, "was because they were scared of the put your life into danger if you were to ally yourself with the Shield Hero."
"I think it was inevitable, if that rat bastard Mald was spying on us for them. I knew he was a shitty person, but this takes it to a new low, even for him. Just as I was running out of reasons why I hate the man," Welst shrugged, "he gave him a sequel to that list."
"Never mind that for now, We should make our way to another village to reorganize ourselves," Kojeel said. "If you could provide me with directions, that would be optimal."
"If they're going to try and hunt us down, we probably shouldn't arrive at the closest one." Welst took out a map from his robes before glancing about the trees and the fields for barings and then he finally glanced up to the stars. After a moment of looking back and forth, he returned back to Kojeel.
"Alright, listen to my directions. We're going to a little mining town called Riyute. It should be far enough that Rabier, the Church, and their goons aren't going to check anytime soon."
"Alright, I'm counting on you."
Kojeel followed Welst's instructions as the carriage headed off into the night, leaving Itsuki alone in the back of the carriage. If he had to be honest with himself, this entire situation was putting a bitter taste in his mouth. To think that there were evils so ingrained that the criminals themselves couldn't even see what they were doing wrong.
… Making them pay clearly wasn't going to be enough.
Itsuki wanted them to understand their sins before he sent them to hell.
Underneath the stars of the night, something dark started growing inside of Itsuki's heart.
[SKIT 034 : Bickering]
[Welst] : "Ugh, get away from me! Your breath stinks!"
[Mald] : "Bold of you to assume I would want to be stuck with whatever contagious diseases you're carrying!"
[Itsuki] : "Oh, come on. Now, their bickering has devolved to blatant insults that has nothing to do with the situation."
[Kojeel] : "If you pretend they're not there, it's oddly soothing."
[Welst] : "Better than being stuck with your stupidity!"
[Mald] : "Better than being useless all the time!"
[Itsuki] : "How do you pretend they're not there...?"
[Kojeel] : "..."
[Itsuki] : "And she's not listening anymore..."
[Itsuki] : "Kojeel's pretty amazing if she can deal with this nonsense..."
[SKIT 035 : Idol Rabier]
[Itsuki] : "Who the hell does Rabier think he is?"
[Welst] : "Rabier was a veteran of a war and from what I've heard, he was given the position of governor for his efforts contributed to it. However, there are rumors to discredit him by saying that he had connections that gave him the title of governor on a silver platter."
[Itsuki] : "I'm willing to believe the latter."
[Welst] : "Not that it matters since he looks like he does a good job at governing his land properly, whether or not he started off like that."
[Kojeel] : "I hear that the people of the Rabier territory accept him as their governor. After all, his taxes are lenient, and most of the tax money does indeed see a return to the community in the form of public services and protection. However, they all agree that he shouldn't be approached, since he widely known for having a bad attitude."
[Itsuki] : "No kidding."
[Kojeel] : "Just keep focus on what we're here to do and don't interact with Rabier if you do not need to. I can handle the interactions with him, if you two can't stand his presence. It's nothing off my quarter to act the part."
[Welst] : "Thanks for taking one for the team. We owe you one."
[Kojeel] : "I'd like to be treated to a delicious meal in that case."
[Itsuki] / [Welst] : (A-already with the request!?)
[Itsuki] : (Next time I see Naofumi, I'll pull in a favor...)
[SKIT 036 : Professional Response]
[Welst] : "Thanks for covering for us, Kojeel. I had a feeling that the meeting might have gone sideways if you weren't there."
[Kojeel] : "There's nothing much to it."
[Itsuki] : "Seriously, I had to bit down on my tongue multiple times during that meeting."
[Welst] : "It takes some godly patience to be dealing with someone like Rabier."
[Kojeel]: "Once you put down your own arrogance, it's simple to deal with simpletons like them."
[Welst] : "Ha! You have no idea how amused I am at hearing you call Rabier a simpleton behind his back!"
[Itsuki] : "I guess professional responses don't line up with how a person truly thinks."
[SKIT 037 : High Life Memories]
[Welst] : "This is a crazy guest suite..."
[Itsuki] : "It might be better than what I had back at the castle..."
[Welst] : "And Rabier has this, casually in his manor. Honestly, it reminds me of my old days as a kid."
[Itsuki] : "You were a noble before?"
[Welst] : "Kind of. I was an illegitimate child between my father and a maid that worked for him. Although I was raised as part of the family, my mother-in-law kicked me out of the house the moment that my father passed away from an illness. My real mother passed away in an accident beforehand, so I would have been left by myself if it wasn't for my step-siblings silently helping me out. They were the ones to provide me with this robe, my staff and some extra money, then suggested that I try to make a living as an adventurer, since they knew I had the best magic prowess out of the family."
[Welst] : "A few years later, here I am, working alongside the Bow Hero."
[Itsuki] : "S-sorry, I didn't realize that you were..."
[Welst] : "Nah, it doesn't bother me. It never actually did, because I was expecting that turn of events since I was a kid. I do miss living the high life as a noble, but if I let the waves of destruction do what they pleased, I wouldn't be able to keep my step-siblings safe. I think the effort is worth it at the end and I think they'll be happy to hear that their step-brother helped out in saving the world."
[Itsuki] : "You're stronger than you look, Welst."
[Welst] : "Thank you, I'm... Wait, what do you mean by that!?"
[SKIT 038 : Rabier's Dungeon]
[Itsuki] : "... I hate it."
[Itsuki] : "... I hate all of it."
[Itsuki] : "Does Rabier really think he can get away with this!?"
[Itsuki] : "I'm going to make him suffer ten times the amount he inflicted onto these slaves!"
[Itsuki] : "That's not a threat! It's going to be a promise!"
[Itsuki] : "Rabier! You're already a dead man in my eyes!"
[Itsuki] : "You better prepare yourself!"
[SKIT 039 : Mald's Betrayal]
[Welst] : "And so, Mald betrayed us. Honestly, it was only a matter of time. Better to get it out of the way earlier than later."
[Kojeel] : "To think that our movements were tracked, and that we were led into that trap to get Sir Itsuki's life claimed like that."
[Kojeel] : "He was the one to suggest the request back at the adventurer's guild."
[Itsuki] : "So the Church was already trying to do something to advance their plans back there."
[Itsuki] : (And here, I thought they were just going to give up after they failed with the assassination. They're persistent, I'll give them that, but not in the way that I'd like them to be. I need to grow stronger, so that I can defeat anything they send my way.)
[Welst] : "I'd still like to say that the timing was bad!"
[Welst] : "I wanted to at least punch that stupid mustache back into his nose before we escaped!"
[Welst] : "Do you know how badly I wanted to do that, ever since he first spoke to me!?"
[Welst] : "I had the perfect excuse and everything to do it! Damn it all!"
[Kojeel] : "Welst? I believe you're missing the point here."
[SKIT 040 : Meaning of Justice]
[Itsuki] : "Got a moment, Kojeel?"
[Kojeel] : "What is it?"
[Itsuki] : "What is justice to you? Welst told me that justice system isn't complicated. If you break a law predetermined by the country, then you're considered a criminal. I think it's more complicated than that."
[Kojeel] : "... In the strictest definition, that is what justice is."
[Kojeel] : "I think justice is different for every person though."
[Kojeel] : "As long as people have thought, there's going to be many variations of justice out there. There's no way to tell who is wrong and who is right with a simple ruling. Different people in different circumstances will produce different results."
[Kojeel] : "And if two justice clashes, then it is the stronger one that is the right one."
[Kojeel] : "That... is simply how it is."
[Itsuki] : "I... I see. Thanks, Kojeel."
