Chapter 12 / Restraint
The villagers of Riyute were still resting up. They had a long way to go in rebuilding their village, but because of the number of people that were saved, manpower was the least of their concerns. They truly had the Shield Hero and his allies to thank for, as they attempted to stand back on whatever they could build back up.
Kojeel was making her rounds to help in protecting the villagers when she noticed Welst frantically running to her in the distance. It looked like he was trying to find her this entire time, being out of breath when he came up to her.
"K-Kojeel! We got bad news!"
"Are the monsters returning?"
"No, it's nothing like that! It's Sir Itsuki and Raphtalia!"
Kojeel widened her eyes. This was the first time she heard of this news, but she didn't look surprised as Welst continued.
"I can't find them anywhere! From what I could find from asking around, it also looked like they talked to one of the villagers and asked them to bring them to the capital. I think they're chasing after Sir Naofumi! We have to go after them and stop them from causing a ruckus!"
"I thought something like that might happen." Kojeel merely walked right past Welst. "Nevertheless, we'll keep watch over the villagers to make sure they can handle themselves from any possible monster attacks."
"Wait, you're calm about this!?" Welst stumbled, trying to follow her. "They're going after the knights back to the capital! After what happened with the manor incident at Rabier's territory, that's basically the same as saying that Sir Itsuki is heading into enemy territory!"
"There's nothing we can do about it now."
"Well, I'm sure if we can leave now, we can catch up—!"
"Leave them. Their emotions wouldn't be swayed enough for them to turn back on their decision. Our journey with the Bow Hero ends here, Welst."
"But—"
"We need to worry about ourselves, considering Mald's betrayal. After we're done in Riyute, it's best that we look to leave the country if we're not accompanying the Bow Hero anymore."
"Are you sure we should just leave them like that?"
"..."
The mage groaned in her silence, knowing that this was really their only option.
"We can head to Zeltoble after we're done here.."
"That sounds like a plan." Kojeel smiled. "One day, we'll come across Sir Itsuki again. Just believe in him for now."
"Right…"
-/IV/-
"Thanks for the ride."
"I should be thanking you and your friends for everything you did for Riyute. I hope you can settle things in the capital concerning the Shield Hero."
Itsuki and Raphtalia hopped off the carriage when it stopped. Arriving back to the capital, they made their departure early in the morning from Riyute. Itsuki knew Welst and Kojeel would try to stop them, so he said nothing to them and slipped out of their reach. He hoped that they would forgive him for what he was planning and they would meet back up again some day.
For now, their objective was to rescue Naofumi.
"To think, the world is trying to turn against the person that just tried to do his job as requested from us," the villager sighed. "What has this world come to?"
"We'll be sure to figure out a way to fix everything up here," Raphtalia responded.
"It would leave a sour taste for everyone else to discover that the hero that saved them had been persecuted for some nonsensical reason." The villager made one final salute to Itsuki and Raphtalia before leaving. "Good luck, you two. Hopefully, you won't need it."
Although the Melromarcian Knights weren't targeting Itsuki, that wasn't to say that information wouldn't spread over to the Church about his current presence. For the better, it would be best to keep their heads low while moving throughout the city. Itsuki threw on his hood while Raphtalia had a cloak with her that mostly tucked her demi-human features away. Although they didn't need attention, they still needed some place to stay.
Itsuki and Raphtalia could only think of one place. They entered one of the nearby stores with the familiar chimes ringing at the door.
"Welcome. What can do for you to—"
The blacksmith paused as he turned from the display, seeing that the two visitors put down their obscuring articles to let him see who they were.
"It's been a while, Erhart."
"Greetings, Mister Erhart. How are you doing?"
"Oh?" The eyes of the blacksmith had focused on Raphtalia, nodding a bit to himself. "Even though you're all grown up, I can still tell that you're that Shield Kid's slave. He's been treating you well. However, it doesn't seem like the Shield Kid could be around for our meeting here, does it?"
"That's because—"
"I know what happened. News about the Shield Hero, or rather the Shield Demon's, return to the capital had been circulating the entire morning. I heard he was captured and taken to the castle last night."
Erhart walked over to the store's door, flipping over the sign to close his business for a bit. They would get some uninterrupted time to themselves this way.
"It still isn't fair for Master Naofumi to be treated like this," Raphtalia winced. "He never told me about what happened in the capital, but I could figure out that the people here treated him like a criminal. They just never gave the time to know the Shield Hero! He's a good person!"
"It doesn't matter if Naofumi is a good person or not," Itsuki growled, more at the idea and less at Raphtalia. "As long as they're getting what they want, the Church, and all who are allied with them, don't care who gets hurt in their plans."
"What are you going to do about it? Your options are limited."
"If only Ren was here," Itsuki sighed, "our shot would be much greater, but he wasn't even at the wave. He should have been there, but that wasn't the case. You've seen him around, Erhart?"
"You're asking about the Sword Kid? The last time I came across him was when you two came by to buy equipment for your friend." Erhart scratched his head.
"You haven't even heard about his presence around the capital?"
"Nothing about the Sword Kid was mentioned throughout the week. Sorry."
"That's entirely possible that he was out on a guild request," Raphtalia thought aloud.
However, Itsuki shook his head. "He would have been back to register for the wave of destruction. I can absolutely promise that. At least, if he had the ability to get there, so I'm starting to get worried that something might have happened to him before reaching the Dragon's Hourglass."
"Where else could he have gone?" Raphtalia asked.
"I don't know, but if we're going to figure out a way to get to Naofumi, we need Ren in our team. That's how confident I am in his skills."
Erhart could see a determination that was unquenchable. Even if there were arguments to convince them of backing off because of the danger, Erhart wouldn't be able to say it. "If you're heading off to help the Shield Kid, you ought to do it with some type of plan. Do you have anything in mind?"
Itsuki couldn't answer. He had nothing to show for a plan, having zero information on the castle and how to access the place where Naofumi might be kept. They weren't even sure that Naofumi was at the castle until Erhart told them.
However, their stomachs both growled around the same time before they could think any further than that, breaking off the tension between them. Erhart glanced between the two and started to chuckle.
"Ah, so you two didn't even remember to eat breakfast? You really must be worried for the Shield Kid, but that's no excuse to head off on an empty stomach. I still have a store to run, so just head out the back to find some nearby restaurant. I'll leave it unlocked for you."
"Should we really be taking our time like this when Master Naofumi is in custody?"
"You can think of something while you're eating." Erhart walked back to the sign, preparing to flip it back to it being open. "And besides, it's the Shield Hero. They can't do anything crazy to him, as I would like to believe, so you still have some time on your hands to think."
That realization immediately hit Itsuki. "Right. If they really wanted to kill Naofumi, they would have done so as soon as possible at Riyute."
Despite Motoyasu's actions being uncertain, he was probably the piece on the board that kept Naofumi alive for now. As long as Motoyasu was there, they wouldn't be able to do anything substantial.
For now, Erhart was right. Some food might be in order.
"Hey, we'll need to borrow your kitchen for a bit."
"My kitchen? That's on the second floor. Be my guest, but don't make too much of a mess."
"I wouldn't do that, especially because you're lending us the space."
Itsuki and Raphtalia headed up as per the blacksmith's directions. It was almost impossible to miss it upon reaching the second floor and while the utility appliances were different from what he was used to, he was able to figure out the basics from Raphtalia's help.
"You know how to cook, Mister Itsuki?"
"I lived with Naofumi for a few years. He would always encourage us to try our hand in the kitchen, preparing for the days where he wouldn't be home to make us food like usual. He taught me a few things in the kitchen and while it's nowhere near the quality that Naofumi can whip up, I'd say it's good enough to get by."
There were a few ingredients Itsuki picked up for himself, so he popped the items out of his inventory and started cooking. He asked Raphtalia for help on a few things while he got everything sorted out. Their late breakfast was finished, leaving the rest of the time to fret over what could be done.
After a few hours, they had nothing to show any progress. The best plan they had was to rush in, find Naofumi, and then figure a way out when they got to that point. Needless to say, it was not the safest of plans, nor the quietest.
Itsuki glanced over, seeing how Raphtalia was laying herself out on his table in hersorrow. She didn't have the energy to move, much less think, anymore. Between two heads, they were pretty much drained. Before they realized it, they spent almost the entire day like this.
"Are we really going to find a way to help Master Naofumi?" Raphtalia sighed.
Busting down the doors, going gunablazing, looked like their only option here. In ninety-nine percent of those outcomes, they would end up getting captured or more likely, they would end up in a situation that made it easy to accuse them as criminals.
"What are they planning with Master Naofumi? He didn't do anything wrong and it wasn't as if Master Naofumi was troubling the knights. We were at Riyute the majority of the time, so it doesn't make sense why they would suddenly want to arrest him."
"I'm not sure about that either."
"Hey, Bow Kid." Erhart came up to the room, but Raphtalia's ears twitched, hearing that there was another person coming along with him. "You got a visitor."
Itsuki frowned as Erhart walked in. "No one should know that we're here."
A person walked up behind Erhart, lowering the hood from his cloak for them to see. He was hoping it might have been Ren, but that wasn't the case. It was someone else completely different to that, someone he didn't actually know. He glanced over to Raphtalia to see if Naofumi had encountered him since picking her up, but she provided the same curious expression.
"The Church figured it out already," the mysterious person suddenly announced. "They got eyes all over the place and they caught word that the Bow Hero was within the capital's perimeter."
Itsuki flinched as the man continued.
"The only reason that they haven't done anything as of yet is because they're waiting on an opportunity to strike you down. From the very beginning, they already knew that this set of heroes was going to give them some trouble, so the higher-ups started moving behind the shadows to make sure this wouldn't be the problem."
"Hold on!" Itsuki slammed his hand on the nearby table, straightening himself up. "What are you talking about!? You just randomly waltz in here and start to give us some exposition!? No introduction or anything here!?"
"You should have some manners," Erhart told the new guest. "If you come in like that, they're not going to respond well. They've been stressed for the entire day, so maybe take it easy on them."
Raphtalia looked at the blacksmith. "You know this person, Mister Erhart?"
"Not really. However, he properly introduced himself when he came into the store, asking if the Bow Hero was still here." He leered over as the guest walked into the living space. "The guy seemed pretty honest about himself, so I figured I'd give him a shot. I think you'll find some answers from him if you ask good questions."
Erhart started leaving the room. "If he gives you any trouble, just scream out. I'll make sure he won't be kicking anymore if my intuition was wrong, but if it had a habit of being so, I probably would have answered his question differently downstairs."
The blacksmith left the guest with Itsuki and Raphtalia. They both looked at each other with silence in the air, causing Itsuki to get his hand ready to grab his bow if needed. Seeing the placed suspicion on him, the man sighed and placed his two swords and a big bag he was carrying onto the table. He raised his hands up to show that he wasn't here to give any harm to them.
"Even if I tell someone that you're here," he said, "the church already knows your approximate position. It can't possibly get any worse from there. How do you think I found out?"
Itsuki narrowed his eyes. "You're with the Church?"
"Kinda, but not really. I've been hired by them against my will." The man lowered his arms, as Itsuki and Raphtalia lowered their weapons.
"Excuse me for interrupting," Raphtalia said, struggling to make sense of the man's sudden appearance here, "but you still haven't introduced yourself. Who exactly are you?"
"I suppose the lack of time on my end is making me speed up the conversation a bit." The man looked over to the window, seeing that the sun was starting to cast shadows into the building. "My name is Batka. I used to be part of Sir Ren's group of adventurers."
All in a single moment, Itsuki's suspicion flipped sides as he carelessly approached Batka with the first question that came bursting through his mind. He would have grabbed onto him if it weren't for his remaining sense of control, but his gaze was nevertheless powerful against the former teammate.
"Where's Ren? Where is he!?"
Batka found himself laughing a bit unintentionally.
"You guys really do care about each other, huh…?"
"What are you going on about? Just answer me already!"
However, it was Raphtalia that caught onto his initial phrasing.
"I think we should listen to him for a bit. If he used to be part of Mister Ren's group, then that would mean that it's not the case anymore, right? Did something happen?"
Batka glanced back at Itsuki, the hero that was struggling to stop himself from skipping the pretense for the immediate answer. "I know you're worried, so I'll try to make things brief because you need to understand the circumstances that you're facing."
"Make it quick."
"I have the answers that you're looking for, but it obviously is something you're not supposed to know. That's why I'm risking myself to come inform you, mostly because I certainly can't let things end like this." Itsuki stayed silent, intently listening to Batka's every word. "From the reports that I've dug up on my own time, it seems like you're already suspecting them. One of the agents belonging to the Church made an attempt to dispose of you early."
The sudden assumption popped into Itsuki's head. The fact that Batka worked for the Church, alongside the fact that Mald pretended to be one of his party members, allowed Itsuki to assume that Batka did the same to Ren as Mald did to Itsuki.
"You betrayed Ren, didn't you!?"
"Mister Itsuki! Please calm down!"
Raphtalia pounced, trying to keep Itsuki from harming anyone in the room, but Batka merely showed resentment in himself. "Yeah. I did."
"Bastard! You think showing yourself to someone like me was a good idea!?"
Raphtalia did her best to keep Itsuki's hands off from Batka. He was certainly more aggressive than Naofumi, but it wasn't as if she couldn't understand what he was feeling.
"It was to keep him safe. Sir Ren gave me no choice since he was moving out quicker than expected. Since you're his friend, let me ask you something. If Sir Ren figured out that the Church of Three Heroes was the source of the Shield Hero's predicament, what do you think he would do?"
"Obviously, he would sneak in there and—!"
Itsuki paused, realizing what he was about to say. Unconsciously or not, he realized that Ren would have made efforts to sneak into the church's building in order to search for evidence for Naofumi's innocence. However, if the Church already knew about it, then Ren was walking right into a trap.
"If he was going to be captured, I decided to be the person to do it. I wanted to make sure that Ren was merely captured, not killed. From there, he was merely arrested. He should be currently in the castle's dungeon as we speak."
"If Mister Ren was behind bars, wouldn't that mean he had a reason to not be present?"
"Yeah," Itsuki growled. "He wouldn't have been able to register at the Dragon's Hourglass like that."
"I was going to try and let things naturally play out by themselves, but when I heard about the Shield Hero's arrival to the capital, I knew it was nothing but bad news. The Church is starting to act. AsI'm a hired agent, I don't have all the information to provide about their plans, but now that the four heroes are back in the capital, even I can tell that it's not going to be anything good."
Batka's tone shifted to be more serious, as much as he could be.
"They know the heroes are friends before the summoning and the higher-ups aren't going to stand for it, having their three heroes be amicable with the Shield Hero. They're going to twist it in a way where the three heroes are being controlled or brainwashed by the Shield Demon. And since the other three are supposed to be within the castle perimeters, you're going to have to be the one to make a rescue plan."
"... So we're right back where we started."
Itsuki wanted to strike Batka for wasting his time, but it wasn't a complete waste. Now that he knew that Ren was in there as well, he would have to make one additional stop before reaching Naofumi and possibly, Motoyasu as well. However, Batka continued.
"Don't worry. I can get you in quietly."
Itsuki and Raphtalia widened their eyes.
"If I didn't have a plan before coming here, I wouldn't have shown my face at all. How could I do so, coming to a trusted friend of Sir Ren? I had to gather information on my side and I'll be using it in order to get you two in, but from there, you'll be on your own to sneak back out."
"Alright, then assume we trust you. What's the plan?"
"There's something happening tonight outside of the public's knowledge. The nobles are being invited to witness an event that the king put together in such short notice, including the higher-ranked members of the Church themselves. At some point, it looked like the Spear Hero went to talk to them about something and this is the result of it. And we're going to use it to your advantage."
Itsuki and Raphtalia kept their silence as Batka picked up his weapons.
"There's going to be a ritual for whatever reason concerning the Shield Hero. I'm not sure what the exact details are, but it concerns an evil spirit."
Itsuki couldn't fathom why that could have been the case.
"More importantly, some staff members from the Church are enlisted to help out with detailed work." Batka grabbed the bag he had on the table and opened it up for Itsuki and Raphtalia to see for themselves. It looked exactly like uniforms for knights from the Church of Three Heroes.
"However, they're going to be too busy getting things ready for a proper identity check and they're going to take all the help they can receive because of the short notice without question. That means, you two are going to blend in as one of them to get the others out and once you find them, you'll sneak back out using the extra disguises here."
He was happy to be of service to the Sword Hero one last time and while this wasn't going to erase the sin he committed against the hero, he hoped for a better beginning for them. He never liked the job he was given to by the Church, but if they only threatened his own life, he wouldn't have cared much about it. However, he couldn't really run when they had also threatened his friends and family.
"By just coming here for myself, they're going to have eyes on me, just in case, so I won't be able to help any further than this." That's why this was the only way forward for him.. He had to believe that they would be able to do it, because it was the only way he could ever forgive himself for turning against Ren, though unwilling by his own actions.
"I'm trusting you two to find out for yourselves where the ritual is taking place and where Sir Ren is being held." Batka ended up smirking, a bit more peacefully than before. "Good enough, or what? Shall we get things started?"
-/IV/-
"It's probably going to get pretty rowdy quickly."
"But still, to get everything organized in such a short notice. The king really does think we're miracle workers, huh? I mean, the knights from the Church are helping out a bunch, but we're still lacking a few spots here and there. Hopefully, the king doesn't actually notice."
Two knights were walking down the castle's hallways as a part of their job. Their current orders were relatively given out of the blue in comparison to other formal events such as this. There was supposed to be a banquet to celebrate the defeat of the second wave, but all of that was postponed for a few days with the king inserting something else in its place.
They noticed two knights coming down from the opposite direction. It wasn't particularly an odd sight, but when one of them noticed their uniforms, he held his hand out to stop them. According to what he heard, the knights from the Church weren't supposed to be patrolling the castle.
"Hey, you two. What are you doing here?"
"Oh, perfect timing." The knight of the Church had a soft-spoken voice. The castle knight noticed that his weapon was the bow. "As embarrassing as it would appear, we're a bit lost."
"I guess you two must be new rookies to the Church," the knight nodded. "What role were you assigned with? I can show you the way if you want."
"It's a job directly from our commanding officer. The king wants the Sword Hero to be brought over to the event. It has to do something about the Shield… Demon." The knight of the Church seemed to have hesitated slightly at his words. "Thus, we were trying to find the dungeons."
"For what reason?"
"Our commanding officer didn't specify."
"Looks like someone pawned off their job to you. I thought it was weird that they would send rookies to collect the Sword Hero. Don't worry, I'll help you guys out."
The knight started walking down, beckoning for them to follow him, leaving his ally to continue the patrol. "I'm sure the prison guard knights haven't been informed of the decision yet. Given how messy the whole deal is behind-the-scenes..."
They weren't far from their destination. The knight guided them over to the staircase down towards the dungeon. The rookies were looking around, almost being curious about the place as they approached the person that was standing on the usual entrance duty.
The knight spoke with the guard for a bit, leaving the guard to sigh while grabbing the keys. He twirled it around his finger before catching it in his hand, glancing over to the rookies.
"I would have loved for there to be some kind of warning beforehand though, but there;s nothing much we can do about it. Did the ritual start yet?"
"Who knows at this point," the knight responded.
The guard was whistling a bit as he unlocked the entrance to the entire prison and led the way.
"Here we are."
After heading down the hallways, the rookies were brought to the prison cell, seeing the Sword Hero being chained up to the wall. He glanced over, noticing their presence before scoffing. With keys to detach him from the wall, but to still keep the chains and handcuffs on, he approached the prisoner while the patrolling knight got his weapon ready for any possible conflict.
"It's your lucky day. You'll see the light for a bit."
However, that was when he started laughing underneath his breath. The guard was confused, thinking that the prisoner had gone off the deep end. He tried to ignore it, holding the Sword Hero down for transportation.
"Hey, rookies. Come over here, I'll show you how to bring him over when you're—"
Someone fell down behind him.
The guard turned around to see that it was the castle knight that collapsed, knocked out from a strong attack. The rookies, on the other hand, had their weapons drawn. His surprise caused him to release his grip on the Sword Hero—
—letting Ren yank himself off from the guard and bodycheck him into the wall. Although that wasn't enough to take him down, the two disguised knights finished the job in knocking him out before he had a chance to scream for help. The Sword Hero picked up the dropped keys and found the one meant for the chains to unlock his Status Magic, thus his strength, back to his own hands.
"You sure took your time, Itsuki."
The two rookies removed their helmets to reveal themselves to the hero.
"Give me a break, Ren. How was I supposed to know that you got yourself arrested?"
With that resting frown of his, the Sword Hero appeared much scarier than Raphtalia had envisioned in her mind. He had a certain cold atmosphere around him that she couldn't exactly shake off upon his first words being heard, but Itsuki quickly made light work of it.
"I did start to assume that you might have gotten yourself into some crazy trouble when you didn't show up to the wave of destruction."
"Did that already occur?" Ren clicked his tongue. "Damn it, then I really did miss out. I'm guessing everyone else was there."
"It wasn't exactly a reunion like you're imagining."
Itsuki continued telling Ren about the conclusion of that wave, including the part where Motoyasu captured Naofumi and brought him back to the capital for whatever reason. He didn't show any reactions, so Raphtalia couldn't really read what type of person he was. All she was doing was letting her ears and tail stretch themselves out a bit because of the armor that she had to wear.
"And what about her? Who's she?"
Raphtalia jumped a bit when Ren pointed at her and out of common sense to respect the heroes, she made a slight bow to him. "M-my name is Raphtalia. I am Master Naofumi's slave—though, I'm sure that he would consider myself to be his partner instead."
"A slave?"
Ren was a bit silent for a bit, leering over to her like he was somewhat wary, but when she looked over to Itsuki to see if she did anything wrong, all he had was a smug smirk on his face.
"Don't be nervous! Introduce yourself already!" Itsuki slapped Ren in the back. "She's the one that Naofumi is still kicking. We all owe her a great amount."
The Sword Hero sighed, or rather, he took a deep breath.
"My name is… Ren Amaki. And, uh, for what you did for Naofumi, I'm grateful. If you've got Naofumi's trust and Itsuki's approval, I suppose… you'll be fine with me."
"He's just trying to say that it'll be a pleasure working with you," Itsuki smirked, completing his friend's scattered thoughts. "Normal interactions aren't his strong suit."
"Shut up."
Raphtalia chuckled, seeing that Ren wasn't as bad as she thought.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister Ren."
"Drop the honorifics. Aren't you older than me anyways?"
Even though she was taller, her mind was still functioning to call those around Itsuki's age as a Mister. It would also seem like the Sword Hero was unaware of the demi-human growth for him not to make an assumption as to the odd referral.
"Actually, don't answer that. We have better things to do than to make salutations here." Ren rolled his shoulders, needing the motion after being locked up for a while. "If Naofumi has been captured by Motoyasu, there has to be a reason for it. I'm suspecting that Myne might be the cause"
"What exactly is her problem?"
"I don't care what she wants. If she stands in our way, there's only one thing to do."
"You didn't need to remind me. I already know."
Raphtalia called out to them. "We need to head out immediately since we still don't know when this ritual is happening, nor do we know how it might involve Master Naofumi."
"Yeah, you're right."
Itsuki pulled out an extra uniform and handed it to Ren, telling him to wear it. However, Ren merely pulled it into his inventory and started walking out of the prison cell beforehand.
"Mister Ren? Where are you heading?" Raphtalia tilted his head. "We need the disguises if we are to move back up to the main floors, as the plan details."
"Give me a second. I need to meet someone."
Holding the keys in his hand and twirling it around like a toy, he went over to the prison cell next door and opened it up. During his time here, his neighbor was the only company that made waiting around more bearable and while he was here, he might as well confirm something
Ren entered into the prison cell, finally seeing who his neighbor had been. She stood out with strawberry-blonde hair while her clothes were ragged, being only the brown clothes she was likely given when thrown in here.
"You're Eclair?"
"I suppose you've finally gotten the last laugh. Despite your struggling, you've still managed to break out of those restraints of yours. Have you come here to gloat about your victory?"
Over the last few days, Eclair never really liked talking about herself.
However, there was a certain mannerism to her words that always made Ren suspicious that she wasn't supposed to be here in the first place. His narrowed eyes caused the prisoner to glare back, as if his sights were crawling against her skin.
"W-what are you staring at?"
"You never told me why you're here."
"I didn't take you for someone that was interested in other people's affairs."
"I'm merely curious. Isn't that the answer you used before?"
Both Itsuki and Raphtalia came into the prison cell, checking to see what Ren had been doing.
"You know the patrol patterns of the knights. You know when the knights come to give us our meals. Why would you care about details like that if you already gave up on escaping? Why would you keep track, if you can't use the rotations to figure out how long you've been in here?"
Eclair's words stayed reserved.
"You're a former knight, aren't you?"
"... Yes, that is correct," she sighed. "I was arrested when I discovered my comrades trying to hunt demi-human to make them slaves for their own monetary benefits. I punished them unjustly, as the crime would read, and I was stripped from my title." Her eyes turned away. "It's pathetic, isn't it?"
"Even the knighthood is corrupt," Itsuki growled.
"Not all of the knights are bad," Eclair snapped back. "I would say most of them are good people, but the king overlooks the terrible actions they do against demi-humans."
"I do appreciate your effort to help those demi-humans out," Raphtalia said, "but I wouldn't wish for someone like you to end up like that."
Eclair chuckled a bit. "I was merely following my father's teachings, so please don't worry for my sake. I can only pray that I can stay alive until the queen returns. She has the power to overturn this, but I don't believe I'll be able to last that long."
"Then how about I break you out?"
Ren drew his sword, spinning it to position to launch a swiping motion at her chains. He was confident that his attack stat was more than enough to shatter the restraints off her arms. Eclair widened her eyes, only to see him changing the sword's form before her eyes.
"No way… You're… the Sword Hero…?"
"Yeah, it would appear so."
Ren lashed out at the chains, breaking Eclair out of her restraints. She could merely stay silent, trying to process her new-found information.
"What is the Sword Hero doing in a prison cell!?"
"I already told you. I was arrested because I was digging into a false claim of my friend's trial. To say it in more detail, I was investigating the Three Heroes Church and what accusations they casted against the Shield Hero."
"What…?" Eclair was left speechless, unable to communicate anything except her disbelief. "To have the Sword Hero captured…? What's going on in this world?"
"If she claims to be a knight," Itsuki interjected, "so wouldn't she know something about the princess too? I bet she, the king, and the Church are all working together. Maybe she can confirm it?"
Although Ren was almost certain of her identity, it was still just an assumption from putting together the pieces of what she had done so far, along with the description of the princess from the Records of the Holy Weapons. He decided to hold back for now.
"It's not something I would put past those two," Eclair mentioned. "A plan to take down the Shield Hero, lending their resources to the Church to make sure that none of this gets out. A decision to have the Shield Hero be disregarded as an enemy to the people, while supporting the other three heroes in their future. I can certainly imagine that unfolding."
Getting up on her feet while shaking off the initial nerves, her grim expressions flipped into a form of determination. "This is something where I can't be sitting down for. If the truth is being buried, I will see to it that it will come back to the light. I still have a duty, not just as a knight, but to my name. My departure from this cell will most certainly cost me a harsher punishment in the future, but I can't turn my back against a problem like this."
"You'll be fighting with us?" Itsuki said, stepping up. "The Shield Hero is being captured somewhere in the castle and that's our next stop."
"Until your names are cleared, I'll do my best to serve the heroes."
"That's good to hear. We don't have any change of clothes, but some armor might help out." Ren tossed the armor meant for him over to Eclair, along with a sword with the mark of the Church on its hilt. "I hope you don't mind."
"No, this is plentiful." She was already equipping it as it was natural. "As long as it protects the chest and vitals, it should be fine."
"Mister Ren?" Raphtalia stepped back into the room after an abundance of nothing coming down the halls. "We only have one more set of armor. The idea was to sneak back up to where they're keeping Master Naofumi and provide him with the last one, for us to sneak back out."
"Hmph. Then that might be a problem. None of us can easily navigate the castle grounds without a disguise on our hands." Ren thought for a moment. "Can't I just hijack the armor off of the guys you two knocked out?"
"... Yeah, I suppose that might work," Raphtalia answered.
Ren walked over to the original prison cell with the idea, but the problem was that Itsuki was scared he might take the opportunity for another looting spree. He tried catching up to his friend, but Ren was already doing what he was claiming to do. Without any hesitation or mercy, he started grabbing onto what he could get. All Itsuki could do was clap his hand on his forehead.
"Uhm, Mister Ren?" Raphtalia looked a bit surprised. "Don't we only need one extra set?"
"You're not winning this argument," Itsuki groaned. "Leave it alone."
Being as quick as possible, Ren stripped them. Not just their armor, but their swords and their valuables too. They were like treasure chests to him and he was looting them like treasure chests. He clearly wanted it all and he took everything he could take.
Eclair passed by and looked over to the two unconscious knights to silently apologize to them.
"Any hints as to where the Shield Hero might be held?"
"Probably one of these prison cells, right?"
"Maybe not," Raphtalia said, shaking her head at Ren's assumption. "I recall that the guard was asking us if the ritual had started yet. He wouldn't need to ask it if he knew that Master Naofumi was still in the prison cells, right?"
"You've got a point," Itsuki nodded.
"Then where else could they have kept him?" Ren said, rubbing his chin.
"We can figure it out along the way. If there's to be any large events within the castle grounds, I can only think of a few places where it would be held. There would be the throne room, the banquet hall, to name a few. However, there's one more that I suspect they might be bringing the Shield hero to, if they're trying to find a space appropriate for a ritual."
Ren, Itsuki and Raphtalia listened to what Eclair was deducing.
"That place would be—"
-/IV/-
Naofumi didn't really understand what was happening.
When he heard he was going to be kept at the castle for a bit, he was assuming that he was going to be thrown into the dungeon. Never did he expect to be laying down normally in a guest room, trying to get some rest. He was still locked inside until further notice and escape wasn't a good idea, considering that his options were guarded by knights.
Nevertheless, Motoyasu was still on his mind.
As long as his concerns remained unanswered, he wanted to see his friend again, but to do that, he thought he needed to stay put, especially considering their confrontation in Riyute. He was acting so distant and mysterious, talking as if Naofumi hadn't really been there.
"What exactly is he up to…?"
A knight suddenly came into the room with a tray. There was a meal on top of it. The knight left the tray on the table, declaring that he should be grateful that he was being provided with such things, before taking his abrupt departure.
Once the door clicked to be locked, Naofumi got off the bed and approached the table, sitting himself right next to it. The scent had been familiar, something Naofumi could immediately recogize.
It was in the manner in which Motoyasu usually prepared his meals for them.
(So I'm getting homesick, huh…?)
Even though it was so far away, it didn't feel like that when he knew his friends were still here with him. The more troubles that the world brought, the more that Naofumi just wanted to come back to the apartment. Back to his normal life with Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu.
Before he realized it, time seemingly skipped ahead and the tray in front of him was empty. He probably should have taken his time, mostly because there wasn't anything else to do here. Perhaps it was because there was nothing else to do that he finished so fast.
It didn't take much longer for the sun to start setting and for night to arrive, but as he thought this was the time to sleep, a few knights came into the room with some restraints.
"Get up." A knight unnecessarily grabbed Naofumi onto his feet, letting the others tie his hands up again. "We're moving you off."
Naofumi didn't fight against it, letting the knight hastily shove him out of the room. There were more than a few of them guiding his path, more than the amount that was used to arrest him the first time.
However, it didn't take long for him to realize that they weren't actually heading to the throne room. To where else it could have been, he wouldn't be able to guess. No matter how much he asked the knights, they wouldn't respond to him. He was then thrown into a seemingly random room, still without an explanation, as they closed the doors on him.
They were ignoring his words and left him here, but when he turned around to inspect the somewhat dim room, he was surprised to see that it was similar to an armory. There was another door on the other side of the room and when he approached it, it sounded like there was a crowd on the other side.
He had a bad feeling about what was on the other side, but when he pushed against the door softly, he was surprised to see that it wasn't locked. In fact, no one had been guarding the other side like the way he entered. There wasn't anything else left for him in this room, especially considering how all these weapons would shock him if he were to try and pick them up.
With a deep breath, he walked forwards to find himself…
… in an arena.
"What the…?"
There were nobles up above, watching the area below. They were the source of the noise, but when they noticed that the Shield Hero had arrived, their voices drastically changed. They were all suddenly judging him with sneerful glares and snidely mutters. He hadn't felt this amount of negative pressure on his shoulder since the week after his trial, but his eyes connected with a balcony, sectioned off from the normal crowd.
Inside the little area, King Aultcray sat down on a throne-like seat, leering down below while there was an unfamiliar face sitting down right next to him. As if drawn with an eternal smile, it was a man of white and holy garbs. His glasses made it difficult to see his eyes, but he was certain that the man was looking at him, sending shivers on his spine.
The entire arena had been littered with knights as well, drawing from the church and the castle. They stood firmly and kept their attention on him, but while he wondered why all of this was going on, he saw that the doors on the other side of the area were starting to open.
Naofumi's heart sank after realizing what's going to happen.
He tried backing up to get back into the room before, but it was locked. He couldn't escape backwards, not that he would have any options once he returned there. With his breaths being heavy from the anxiety, he looked over to see his friend once more.
"Motoyasu… Surely, this isn't…"
Motoyasu walked out from the opposite room, having his spear brought out.
"This is… going to be quick, Naofumi. Hang on for a bit."
"What are you going on about!? Motoyasu, explain this to me!"
The king stood up from his seat. Myne had been standing off to the side, watching the battle from the shadows. The Spear Hero has taken his position, as the Shield Hero was thrusted in. All the pieces were in play, as the king raised his hand to the crowd with the announcement.
"I'd like to welcome everyone for coming on such short notice. Today, we will witness something you have never seen before. We all know that the Shield Hero is a demon, capable of bringing on evil into our country. And yet, is it the person behind the shield that we must blame or perhaps the shield itself?"
Naofumi frowned, not understanding what they meant by that. The man in white garments took the king's place and started talking for him. They both stood side by side, as if partners in some deal.
"Today, our Spear Hero has opened our eyes to the potential truth and thus, we shall see for ourselves the answer. This will be the purification of the Shield Demon, led by the Spear Hero's will and spirit. He shall engage the Shield Demon in a duel in order to defeat the wicked spirit inside with his holy weapon and bring a new arc of the Shield Hero into existence!"
It was as he dreaded.
His body started shaking out of control, seeing how serious Motoyasu had been. However, he wasn't looking straight in his eyes. Naofumi figured that if there was any chance at some freedom, he could try and talk his friend out of this nonsensical mayhem. In his grimacing, Naofumi desperately called out to his friend, only for him to raise his spear, changing it to a silver lance.
There was some type of holy aura, as if it was a relic of some kind.
"Don't even try to trick me. Because I'm going to save Naofumi." His grip faltered slightly before straightening out again. "I'm… going to…"
"Motoyasu…?"
It was like the audience wasn't there anymore for Naofumi; as if they disappeared and Motoyasu was the only one left to his attention, his body still wasn't able to be silent in nervous movement. If anything, he was much more frightened than before, sweating from his forehead before the first move.
This was something he never wanted to do, much less imagine it in his head, when he came to this world. Although the scenario was never expected, he still didn't want to accept it. With a clenched fist and a tightened chest, he unknowingly took a step forwards. It was all he could do.
His job as a shield was to protect the people he cared about.
"Now, let us witness the duel between the Shield Hero and the Spear Hero!" the king shouted, as the white-robed man took his seat again, as if he was going to enjoy the show. "The ritual that shall save our future from the evil that awaits us otherwise!"
When the person facing him was someone he cared about as well—
"Let the duel begin, Spear Hero!"
—what was he supposed to do?
[SKIT 063 : Itsuki's Cooking]
[Raphtalia] : "Your cooking reminds me of Master Naofumi's."
[Itsuki] : "Except that it's not as good, but that's to be expected."
[Itsuki] : "Naofumi taught me how to cook for myself for whenever he wasn't around to make meals. Although it was difficult to wrap my head around it, I guess I ended up pretty decent, all things considering. I could at least enjoy my own food if Naofumi's menu isn't around."
[Raphtalia] : "Part of how Master Naofumi makes delicious food is the care and attention he puts into every step. I helped him out a few times, making food for ourselves and I could see that. He always asks me to taste as we go along and by the end of it, he makes something amazing. I wonder if he has another secret in his knowledge that he's using, but I suppose Master Naofumi is simply that skilled."
[Itsuki] : "If you already noticed that, you've gotten pretty close to Naofumi. I'm sure he was happy to make you the food as well. When he cooks for the people he cares about, that's when I think his cooking at at his best."
[Itsuki] : "Compared to his peak, I still have a long way to go for my own cooking skills."
[Raphtalia] : "P-pretty close to Master Naofumi...?"
[Itsuki] : "Raphtalia? Your face is red. Is something wrong?"
[Raphtalia] : "I-its nothing."
[SKIT 064 : Trojan Horse]
[Itsuki] : "No matter what, nothing comes to mind for any sort of plans."
[Raphtalia] : "I have an idea. Maybe we could sneak in through the front."
[Itsuki] : "Uh, how does one sneak in through the front...?"
[Raphtalia] : "We could have ourselves hide inside a present for the king, let Mister Erhart deliver the present and hopefully, they won't open it to check inside. Or maybe, to prevent them from checking, it could be a present that looks like a statue? Something that doesn't appear to be hollow, but really is."
[Itsuki] : "Where are we going to find this supposed statue in a short amount of time?"
[Raphtalia] : "I... I supposed you're right."
[Itsuki] : (Still, I suppose the Ancient Greeks would like a word or two about that idea...)
[SKIT 065 : Key or Sword]
[Itsuki] : "You had the keys to Eclair's chains, didn't you?"
[Ren] : "And?"
[Itsuki] : "You didn't have to be so dramatic, cutting her chains with your sword like that."
[Ren] : "Can't I vent out my frustrations somehow?"
[Itsuki] : "Be honest. We both know that you did it because it looked cooler."
[Ren] : "S-shut up..."
[Itsuki] : "Your secret is safe with me."
[SKIT 066 : Fair Introductions]
[Raphtalia] : "It's nice to meet you. My name is Raphtalia."
[Eclair] : "Likewise. My name is Eclair. I hope to be working well with everyone from point onwards."
[Ren] : "Quite the standard and vanilla introduction."
[Itsuki] : "Jealous that you can't pull that off?"
[Ren] : "I'm going to kick you."
[SKIT 067 : Crimes to the List]
[Ren] : "You know, considering how messy the organization of the knights are for this particular event, would it be a good strategy to use these keys and release all the other prisoners?"
[Raphtalia] : "That sounds terrible!"
[Itsuki] : "Why would you suggest that?"
[Ren] : "Having a prison break can reduce the number of knights that will be on patrol since they're going to have their hands filled with keeping the prisoners down. We can use the opportunity of their reduced numbers to have an easier escape with Naofumi."
[Eclair] : "As a former knight, I can't overlook this."
[Ren] : "What's another crime to our names? The Church and the king are already intent on making us look bad to the public, so it shouldn't be too bad."
[Itsuki] : "Have you considered the fact that we haven't done any of the terrible things that they're trying to incriminate us for?"
[Raphtalia] : "Mister Ren, I don't believe your thought process works out too well. We probably don't want to cause more problems to make our situation even worse."
[Eclair] : "Don't worry. He's not doing that under my supervision."
[Ren] : "... I'm starting to regret letting you out."
