Chapter 36 / Steadfast Hearts


The sound of wood clanked against each other as Itsuki and Ren sat themselves away from the action, watching from the sidelines to not get in their way of the two ladies from their training. Though, Itsuki had been slouching a bit, seeing that this wasn't as amusing as he had expected. There were only so many ways that their practice blades could intersect before he got bored.

"I can't imagine doing something like this over and over again," Itsuki muttered. "I don't think this kind of training is for me, even if I was allowed to swing a sword."

"What else is there to do here?" Ren asked. "If we're hiding out at the manor for an undetermined amount of time, we have to be doing something to occupy our time. And I don't think it's a good idea for our movements and reactions to rust while we wait around for the queen to contact us."

"Oh, please. My aim will be as good as the day I last used it."

"You always did have unnaturally good aim, especially in Brave Star Online. People always thought you were hacking the game, even when exploits don't hang around for long in that world, but that was then and this is now. Maybe do some movement practice if you're already confident in your shots?"

"You're acting rather positively to the notion of training now, aren't you?"

Ren shook his head. "A little bit of training doesn't hurt anyone, right? And besides, if we're not heading out to hunt monsters, training is the closest thing we'll get to maintaining our mindsets. I still feel hesitant about wielding my sword, but I can still get some exercise off."

"Did getting defeated by Eclair in your practice match have to do anything about it?"

"Sh-Shut up…"

Itsuki made an amused snicker as he leaned back on the bench, taking the victory there.

"It's just that from what happened so far," Ren continued, "I've discovered that I still have a lot to learn about everything. I'm not as strong as I believed myself to be, both physically and mentally, and in seeing things in hindsight, Eclair helped me realize that. I want to train with Eclair as soon as I can, but I have problems that I have to resolve for myself…"

"Don't worry, we have time to fix that. I don't think anyone is going anywhere anytime soon," Itsuki smirked. "If you keep relying on everyone else, I'm sure you'll come to your answers soon enough. You might be able to fight by yourself, but there's no point if you're already with a couple of friends that have your back."

"Yeah, I suppose so…"

The rhythm of the blades kept going on in the background as Ren still watched on. Since Itsuki wasn't really paying attention anymore, he nudged Ren on the arm.

"Are you picking up anything good from watching their session?"

"The closer I look at how the session goes, the more I realize how much Eclair is trying to guide Raphtalia along in the movements of a battle. Normally, you would want to avoid being strung along by your opponent because that puts you in a disadvantage, moving the way that they want you to move."

"However…?"

"It seems like Eclair is aware of that. She's trying to make sure that Raphtalia understands that as long as she can take some kind of advantage in playing along with the movements, as long as they can break out of an enemy's grasp at any moment, it's a fine tactic. I've done it a couple of times in Brave Star Online to lower my opponent's guard."

"Unfortunately…?"

"First of all, stop continuing my sentences," Ren pouted. "Second of all, it is as you thought I was going to say. Raphtalia isn't responding well to the training, nor does it look like she learned anything throughout this entire session. She's been, how can I say it…? Too aggressive? It feels like she's desperate to land a hit on Eclair for some reason, missing the entire point of the training session."

"So Raphtalia is basically playing along without a plan to break out from Eclair's control?"

"You can say that or…" Ren rubbed his chin. "Maybe it's better to say that Eclair can control her movements so easily because Raphtalia's offense is so aggressive, meaning it's predictable in what kinds of openings she would take if provided."

"I'm guessing that's not normal for Raphtalia. She doesn't seem to be such an aggressive fighter."

"And if we've noticed something like that, there's no way that Eclair hasn't either."

The blades slowly came to a halt as Eclair raised her hand to Raphtalia to stop her from continuing. There was an expression of disappointment written across her face, causing Raphtalia to flinch for a moment.

"What's wrong, Miss Eclair?"

"I should be the one asking that question." Eclair lowered her arm. "You've gotten worse since our last training sessions. It might have been a few days since then, but there shouldn't be a reason for your deterioration to happen this quickly."

"Worse? That can't be…"

"Your movements are fine, but your decision-making has taken a hit. You're fighting as if you're backed in a corner, rather than fighting on a battlefield. That is to say, there is an air of desperation in how you're moving." Raphtalia's blade faltered slowly to the ground as Eclair continued. "The vice-captain of the knights always said to me that you can feel the emotions of a swordsman through the way they swing their swords. While I still don't understand the full spectrum of it, this is something I am able to grasp."

Eclair sheathed her sword and walked up to Raphtalia, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Let me be the one to ask the question. What's wrong, Lady Raphtalia?"

There was hesitation lining up with Raphtalia's lips, but as she averted the gaze once, she sighed as the tension in the sword's grip loosened and it slipped through her fingers.

"I've been wondering what my role is here."

"Apologies, but I'm unsure as to what you mean by that."

"After we escaped from the capital, I dedicated myself to being Master Naofumi's sword because he couldn't deal damage because of his status as the Shield Hero. I wanted to repay him for how much he took care of me, saving me from what could have been death in a slave's cage, but…"

Raphtalia glanced over her shoulder at the spectators.

"With all the other Cardinal Heroes here, I wonder if I really need to be Master Naofumi's sword. After all, they've so much stronger than what I could possibly achieve. That's not to say I dislike Mister Ren, Mister Itsuki and Mister Motoyasu. They're great people, but I feel rather redundant in being here when they have enough power to overturn an army between themselves. Perhaps even individually."

She turned back, merely staring down to the ground as she held her own hand in a brief silence.

"Somewhere, I think I knew that, but I didn't understand it as my reality until we rushed into Riyute to rescue Mister Ren. When I woke up from my motion sickness, Mister Itsuki and Mister Motoyasu were already filling in for my job as Master Naofumi's offense. They were even in natural synchronization, despite not fighting together as long as Master Naofumi and I."

Eclair kept listening, letting Raphtalia vent out everything that she wanted to say first. Even if she wanted to interrupt her, it was difficult to shift the atmosphere to say a single word. Her hand had slipped off from Raphtalia's shoulder without her realizing it.

"Maybe these thoughts started to inlay themselves during the wave of destruction in Riyute? After all, Mister Itsuki rushed in with Master Naofumi to quickly dispatch the monsters and while it was a good idea to make sure that we could minimize casualties, I couldn't help myself to feel…"

Raphtalia bit her lips.

"As if I was supposed to be there, fighting with Master Naofumi? As if my role was taken and I was left with nothing to show for it…? I know it's a bad thought and I've been trying to suppress it for a while. It's not healthy to be thinking like that, but it's difficult to not to after seeing them fight off a large number of holy knights without breaking a sweat."

She crossed her arms, grabbing onto them tightly. Her arms started to shiver.

"I… I don't know what I'm here for. I thought I would be fighting as Master Naofumi's strength, but when there are people that can do that far better than I can, how can I—?"

"Stop. Let's pause there for a moment."

Eclair's firm voice was like a hard gavel to a sound block.

"To get this straight, the reason why you were fighting aggressively and so desperately in our training session is that you were feeling inadequate to the team and you thought you needed to prove yourself more by getting stronger."

Raphtalia casted a shy gaze to the side, but softly nodded.

"I'm sorry to put this bluntly, but you won't get stronger by trying to skip the steps. That's how you hurt yourself in overexertion and if you can't learn the tactics in favor of acting with your pure emotions, you won't get any further either."

Eclair sighed.

"Though, it's not as if any of us will be catching up to the Cardinal Heroes. If that were possible, there might have been no reason to call upon those from another world to fight against the waves. It is simply in their nature as a Cardinal Hero to be stronger than the average person."

"Do you really understand what I'm trying to say?"

"Of course. I experienced it firsthand in fighting Sir Ren seriously in Errnthon. If it weren't for Sir Naofumi, I would probably be defeated as soon as Sir Ren landed a heavy attack with a skill, but knowing such a thing shouldn't cause your mentality to be askew. It's normal."

"Normal? Do you not feel like there's no reason for you to be here?"

"Manpower is important, is it not? Even if the Cardinal Heroes are strong, they can only be at a single place at a single moment. It's never a bane to have more people to fight alongside with."

Raphtalia scratched her head, but that prompted Eclair to frown at herself.

"... It seems like I'm missing the mark here. I'll tell you what, Lady Raphtalia."

Eclair sheathed her sword.

"I'll end the training session here. There's no reason for us to proceed if you continue to fight the same as before. You won't learn anything worthwhile." She crouched down to pick up Raphtalia's sword and kept it for herself. "Use this time to speak with Sir Naofumi and see what he thinks about your thoughts. I believe that he might have the words that you need."

Eclair smiled gently. "This situation is about feeling useful as Sir Naofumi's sword, right? Then it should be best that you speak to the person in question."

"I…"

Raphtalia held her instinctive words. She knew that Naofumi was a kind individual, but there was something that made her scared about telling him about her turmoil. She wondered if Naofumi would have looked at her differently if he knew she held such feelings under her heart about his closest friends.

Though, she wouldn't get anywhere if she left those thoughts buried. If Eclair said that they were getting in the way of her training, this was something that had to be dealt with soon, so that she could fight by Naofumi's side at her absolute best—whatever that meant in the spectrum of the team's power.

"You're right. I'll do that, Miss Eclair. Thanks."

Raphtalia ran off back to the manor, passing Ren and Itsuki on the way. They both glanced at each other before walking over to Eclair.

"What was that all about?" Itsuki asked.

"Please mind it no worries," Eclair responded, repositioning Raphtalia's sword in order to hold it better. "This was a matter concerning Raphtalia and it's up to her to figure out how to progress with it."

"As long as she's fine," Ren said, "it doesn't really concern us enough to know the exact details. Though, I guess that means your training is cut off for today."

"Nonsense. That was Lady Raphtalia's training that was cut off. I can still do some mental practice against opponents of my own imagination. It's what I typically do when I had time to myself back when I was still serving as a knight. If I have free time, it's always dedicated to mastering my craft, no matter how many people are around me."

"That sounds a bit lonely."

"You're literally the last person that can say that, Ren."

"Shut up! What does that supposed to mean!?"

Eclair chuckled.

"You're free to watch if you want, but I would imagine that it wouldn't look very interesting from an outsider's perspective. Perhaps there is a better use of your time?"

"I was already getting bored of the training session between you and Raphtalia, no offense, so I think I'll take that invitation to leave. Though, what else is there to do here? Do you think someone like Reichnott has something like a music room? Ugh, I should have asked Reichnott beforehand."

"That would be on the second floor."

Reichnott's voice suddenly emerged from behind Ren and Itsuki. The former merely looked over his shoulder while the latter had a bigger reaction, jumping in his place and swore to himself. Standing right behind them, the presiding governor was with some of his attendants.

"Oh, my apologies. I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, I, uhm, you didn't, ah…"

"I didn't realize that the Bow Hero was a man who had an interest in the musical arts. As I said before, please treat my home as if it were your home, so the music room is available for your pleasure. It is soundproof, but for practice, I'd like to ask that you avoid using it at night."

Itsuki slumped down with low energy as Ren silently consoled his friend's act of surrendering.

"Thank you. Was there something you wanted, Reichnott?"

"Indeed. My current business is with Eclair."

"With me…?" Eclair frowned, but she did not turn away. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, no. It's not like that."

Reichnott gestured for one of his attendants to come over with a rectangular box. It looked like it was protecting its insides very well with how durable its surface was. He beckoned Eclair to come on closer as the attendants opened the box for her. Being curious, Ren and Itsuki looked over to her side, especially since they weren't told that this was a private matter.

"Huh? This is…?"

"It's a sword? What kind of sword is this?"

"It would be the rapier, the same kind Eclair uses currently. The blade is a little bit thicker than the traditional shape and the guard is a bit fancy, but there's no doubt that it should be treated as a rapier." Ren pressed his hand against his chin. "Why would Reichnott be handing Eclair this sword though?"

Eclair's eyes were already widened the moment she saw it. She immediately knew what it was and as such, she immediately knew the answer to Ren's question., but her thoughts left her speechless to answer. All she could do was stammer.

"Governor Reichnott…? How do you have this…?"

"You recognize it?" Itsuki asked.

"... It might be better to start from the beginning."

Reichnott recounted the days that followed in the first wave of destruction.

Since Eclair's father owned territory where the waves have spawned its monsters, he made a request for help for those who were able to spare any knights and soldiers in the name of protecting the villagers. Of course, they wouldn't be able to get there in time due to the distance they would have to travel, but it was a good idea to have people to assist in supporting the village in recovering.

Reichnott was one of the people who received such a message, but by the time that he received it, the wave was already finished. He was still willing to lend support to the surviving villagers and more importantly, he wanted to meet up with Seaetto in order to discuss what it is they could do to rebuild the territory back to a manageable state.

However, Reichnott's arrival was untimely. There hadn't been any villagers in sight to help out and the details on Seaetto had been lacking. The manor was empty and devoid of living people, not to mention most of the village, or what still stood of it. The damages were far greater than he could have expected it to be and there hadn't been much he could have done to save it.

It didn't change the fact that Reichnott ordered a sweep of the territory in order to find out if there was even a single survivor still out there. If there had been one, he would have considered the crossing distance to be worth it, but no matter how long his knights took, Reichnott ended up finding no one.

"A complete slaughter…" Ren muttered under his breath. "It's like Raphtalia's story when she experienced the wave of destruction, but at least a third of her village still survived from what I heard…"

"Didn't the remaining get ambushed by the knights that were supposed to be protecting them?" Itsuki quietly said. "Technically, that would leave no one left there."

"... There's no way, right?"

Ren tucked that little tidbit into his pocket.

"However," Reichnott continued, "we did end up finding your father and his final resting place."

Eclair's expression remained still, but her posture stiffened at his words.

"Your father had been slaying those monsters left to right, leaving a whole trail of bodies in his wake, but it proved too much for him. I can say without a doubt that Seaetto fell in battle valiantly. I would only have hoped that his efforts hadn't been in vain since the trail of monsters were leading away from the villages."

"Did you inform the capital of his death?"

"Yes, I was the one to do that, but I was expecting a proper funeral to be held, only for them to ignore the request. That might have been around the time where preparations to summon the heroes were being made. I ended up providing Seaetto with the rites and burying his body, along with others I've come across, on the territory. He was a great man, so I disliked having to have such a quiet ceremony for him. I tried to be in contact with you, but…"

"By that time," Eclair answered dully, "I might have already been imprisoned."

"Imprisoned, you say…?" Reichnott sighed. "I see. It would explain how you would be traveling freely with the Cardinal Heroes under such a circumstance that they're facing. It wouldn't matter if you were already seen as a criminal."

Reichnott dismissed his sorrow and guided his hand to the rapier. "Though, as you can see, we were able to recover the weapon he used in his final stand. I remember him showing this to me when we were younger and said that the sword was important to him, so I couldn't allow it to be left in the wild. I'm no swordsman myself, but I figured if there was a time that I would cross with his daughter once again, I should give his sword to her as a memento."

Eclair gulped, trying to get some sense of movement back into her as she lifted her arm.

"May I?"

"Of course. It is meant for you, after all. I'm sure your father would have wanted the same."

Her hand grasped onto the sword's grip as she lifted up to the afternoon sun. The steel glistened in its light, almost as if it was glowing a radiant energy from its edges.

"You sound like you personally knew Eclair's father," Ren commented.

"We go back to the time of the Siltvelt War. We were veterans that made it out of that battle with our heads raised up high that we were able to protect the country and the people that we loved. When we were assigned to be governors, we didn't have the chance to speak to another since we became so busy, but we knew we could help each other out if it was needed."

"Oh, so you were friends?" Itsuki asked. "Small world, huh?"

"It is difficult not to develop a friendship between people within the same squadron to which you would be fighting with death gazing against your cheeks every so often. I had two close friends that I would spend time with as we were awaiting orders on the frontlines. One of which was Seaetto and the other was Ra…"

Reichnott's words suddenly trailed off.

"And who…?" Itsuki raised his eyebrow.

"Ah. You wouldn't know them," Reichnott chuckled, waving it off. "It's been a long time since I met with that other person on good terms, so it would be unwise for me to talk about them. My mind was speaking automatically, acting as if you would have, so please don't mind me."

"Yeah, fair enough," Ren shrugged.

Reichnott looked back to Eclair. She was still admiring the shine on her father's sword or perhaps, what it was representing to her. "Is there an imperfection along its blade? It was in poor condition when we found it, so I did my best to find the best person I could to refine it back to its original state. It's not an exact restoration, but it is as close as the blacksmith could have it."

"No, it's… heavier than I expected it to be…"

"There shouldn't have been any additional weight put on it."

"That's not what I'm talking about…"

After taking a few deep breaths, Eclair stepped away from the group and unleashed a few quick slashes. The wind stirred up from her movements were even strong enough to brush the grass field beneath her feet. She returned back to an idle stance, keeping the rapier close to her bosom.

"Ah, I see what you mean…"

Even though Ren and Itsuki could only see Eclair performing some practice swings, Reichnott was deeply reminded of Seaetto's own movements during their time in the war. It wasn't heavy because of the weapon itself, but it was because Eclair believed that she needed to carry everything her father stood for with his personal sword in her hands now.

Eclair exhaled as she turned back to Reichnott.

"Thank you, Governor Reichnott. I don't know how I can repay you for this."

"I need not any form of repayment. If anything, I feel like I'm repaying your father by doing this for all the things he has done for me over the years."

"Then I'll accept this sword on my father's behalf."

After a deep bow, Eclair walked over to the fields. With a new sword in hand, she started attacking the empty space to get a better feeling of it. There was something of a refreshed energy looming around Eclair, as Reichnott left the group to continue their day as they pleased.

Itsuki nudged Ren as he turned to the manor.

"Let's head off to the music room. Maybe they've got something you can play. You still remember how to play the guitar? It's been about a few years since you last touched it."

"As if they have anything like a guitar in this world."

"You never know."

Ren sighed. "I'll go up with you a bit, but…"

He glanced over to Eclair.

"I think I'll stay here for a little longer."

"Alright, be my guest." As Itsuki went back to the manor, Ren sat back down onto the bench and watched Eclair practice with herself for a few more minutes.

-/IV/-

"I never thought there were so many potential substitutes for what I have at home in this world. Things are like soy sauce, things that imitate baking soda, even things that are indistinguishable from curry powder, but the people of this world have a different name for it…"

Naofumi never had the chance to talk with cooks to see how the proper cooking process really went in this world. He had only been doing guesswork until now, but having many of the equivalent ingredients of this world and his world, it wasn't difficult to suddenly have a huge reservoir of food ideas to pick from. The techniques themselves were one for one, but Naofumi simply needed to work on memorizing the new flavors that come with the exotic ingredients.

Though, that might have been perfect for another time. The chefs of the manor loved having Naofumi as their company, so he was basically welcomed to come in at any time, regardless if there was someone in there or not. They even gave him the key to the kitchen storehouse, a testament of their enthusiasm for the hero who was also a cooking genius (according to them).

And all he did was make curry rice for them to try. Naofumi didn't understand it, but if he didn't need to rely on his own ingredients to make food for the moment, he wasn't going to reject the offer.

For now, Naofumi was heading back to his room.

Once done with the cooking expedition, Naofumi knew he needed to get back onto crafting those accessories. He'd been trying to get better at it after learning from Hickwaal, but he hadn't made anything that he could really be proud of. He had been selling all of his work in the meanwhile, since it was more worthwhile for that investment. With a place over their heads for the time, Naofumi figured this was the place to make sure he could nail down an accessory that he could give to his friends.

The problem had been the fact that the accessory's quality rating would keep going down when he imbued it with magic. He couldn't get a good effect without concentration on that, but he did figure out that he could try to focus on keeping the quality of the accessory instead of focusing on the imbuement's effect. That obviously came with the downside that it would simply be an over-glorified accessory.

He couldn't hit the balance of magic imbuing and quality retainment.

It was far too difficult, but he felt like it was entirely possible to do it at most once per accessory. He thought he simply had to practice a bit more.

On the way, he noticed Raphtalia heading down towards him.

"Raphtalia? I thought you were training with Eclair. Did practice end earlier this time?"

"I suppose you could say that, but there's…" Raphtalia hesitated, biting her lower lips gently. "There's something I'd like to speak to you about, Master Naofumi."

"Really?" From the tone of her voice, it sounded serious. Regardless though, Naofumi wouldn't turn down a conversation if he had nothing important to attend to. "Alright, let's head back to our rooms to talk. That should give us a private place for you."

As Naofumi went on ahead, he noticed that Raphtalia had been trailing behind him rather than walking beside him. He would have said something, but he thought whatever she wanted to talk about, it was weighing on her mind enough that she hadn't been pulling in her habits.

Naofumi checked if Motoyasu and Sakura were back yet. Once he saw the room was empty, he made sure to put up a "do not disturb" sign on the knob and went in with Raphtalia. She sat down on the bed as Naofumi took a seat next to the side table nearby. His mind was still on the accessories, but he managed to pull himself back from taking out some of the items to imbue.

"... Did you want to do something?"

"Huh?" Naofumi flinched. "Wh-What do you mean?"

"You had that expression on your face that you were holding yourself back."

"No, it was nothing important. What did you want to talk about?"

"It's…" Raphtalia prefaced the topic with a heavy exhale. She knew it was better to get it over with than to let it burn slowly. "Master Naofumi? Do you need me?"

Naofumi tilted his head at the strange question. He didn't understand what brought it up.

"Of course. You're an important member to the team. It wouldn't be the full team if there was somebody missing from the group."

"No, I don't mean it like that." Raphtalia casted her eyes downwards to her feet. "Back then, I made a promise that I would be your sword, but as time goes on, I'm wondering if I'm able to perform properly when there are better people suited for that role. Mister Ren, Mister Motoyasu, Mister Itsuki… They've all been exceptional partners for you to work with throughout this entire time."

Her hands grasped together, having her shiver a bit. "I feel rather redundant, unable to fulfill my role as your sword when there are better options for you. It's the one job that I pride myself on being, but I can't even do it as well as the others. And if that's the case, I've been wondering what it is I'm supposed to be doing here. Am I only here because it's the only place I can be…?"

She bit down on her lips.

"Something about that… doesn't seem right to me…"

Naofumi had to wonder how long she was feeling like this, but if this was the first time he heard of her problems, he could hope to assume that she had simply realized these emotions recently.

"Hey, I stand by what I said. You're important to the team. On a trivial level, there are abilities that only you're capable of, like your magic. If you weren't around to ambush Ren with your invisibility back in Errnthon, I wouldn't have been able to get past him."

"Mister Itsuki still managed to kill the governor though, so my efforts didn't change anything."

"Then the effort that Eclair and I made didn't mean anything either. That was the entire objective of our arrival there and while we were close to stopping Itsuki, being close doesn't change anything if it wasn't a full success. Sometimes, I do wonder what would have happened if I was actually on Ren's level in terms of fighting capabilities and I was strong enough to make sure Itsuki hadn't done anything."

"Master Naofumi…"

"You shouldn't forget that I'm still technically the weakest hero out of the bunch. If I have to be honest, my shields are really there for everyone else other than the Cardinal Heroes. You remember how Itsuki took that governor's explosion straight-on and he had no signs of injuries to show for it? There wouldn't have been a significant difference if I was there to protect Itsuki from that attack, other than the fact that Itsuki would be a little less annoyed."

Naofumi held onto his shield, as if showing it to Raphtalia.

That was the symbol of his status as a hero, but he knew it shouldn't be forgotten what kind of hero he was. He might have been able to protect people, but when the people he wanted to protect the most, his closest friends, were able to take care of themselves just fine, it makes the current situation against the Church less relevant to him, despite being at the center of it.

"So the feelings you have right now are definitely something that I've thought about already. Though, I'd be lying to say that they went anything further than a passing thought."

"Only a passing thought? I don't understand how you could merely see it as that. I myself am still trying to come to terms with my own weakness."

"Well, that's not what's important here. It's like what was said back when we recently escaped from the castle. Friends stick together, no matter what. It doesn't matter if you're weak or strong, you're part of the team, Raphtalia. And really, there's honestly no one else I'd like to be my sword."

His hand tightened up softly.

"No, not my sword. My partner."

The phrasing of Naofumi's words caused Raphtalia to be flustered.

Not noticing her reaction though, Naofumi stood up from his chair and sat next to her. It surprised Raphtalia when the sudden weight on the bed caused her to bounce a little.

"When everything is all said and done concerning whatever conflict we have against the country and the Three Heroes Church, we'll be going our separate ways as the original journey intended. I don't think it's about the power level at this point, but the fact that heroes need to help out as many people as they can, but they can't do that if they're constantly sticking together."

"The future after we clear your names…? That's right, I've almost forgotten about that. I've taken the presence of the others for granted that I forgot the Cardinal Heroes aren't supposed to stay together as a group. That would go outside of the people's expectations of saving the world."

Naofumi nodded. "When that day comes, I'll be saying my goodbyes to Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki for the time being. Perhaps even Eclair, who might return to the knights, Sakura, who would certainly go along with Motoyasu, and Rishia, who joined us because of Itsuki's influence. However, I can trust that no matter what happens, you'll still be there, right by my side as my partner, right?"

"There's no way I would leave your side, Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia held her hands onto her heart. "It still feels like I haven't repaid you for saving my life and taking good care of me yet. And even then, I would keep fighting for you and with you because you're someone I truly believe in."

"And I think that's what makes it important to me. As it stands now, it's great that I can have more allies by my side that I can trust in, but that isn't going to last forever. I know we're going to make it through this mess together, so that's why I have to mentally prepare for the days afterwards to come."

Naofumi made a soft smile after seeing some energy return to Raphtalia.

"You know, I've been wondering."

"Wondering about what?"

"What if I didn't have Motoyasu, Ren, or Itsuki by my side to rely on from the beginning? What if that day when Myne accused me of rape, the other Cardinal Heroes didn't believe in me in the slightest? I was lucky I had friends to help me out here, one way or another, but I might have not been so lucky if it were a different set of circumstances in my summoning."

Naofumi smiled wryly.

"I think I would have been so broken up about it that I would still end up getting a slave for myself and by myself. If that were to be the case and I do end up coming across you as that slave, I believe that you would stand by my side through the thicket of this mess, regardless of what I was facing. That's what I can rely on as my partner. Not the power behind them, but a person that will always be there for me to fight by my side."

His ramblings ended with a sheepish laugh.

"That's a lot of assumptions though, right? Who is the say that in such a timeline, I even come across the slave trader or if I would even discover you underneath that tarp the trader was trying to hide?"

"If you needed someone to be your partner, but you were all alone against the world," Raphtalia answered, "I'd still make that promise if you had bought me. I know that your heart is kind, Master Naofumi. No matter what you could go through, I don't think you can ever abandon that core of yours."

Naofumi chuckled. Hearing her say that was making him a little embarrassed too. "That's why there's no one else I would rather have fighting by my side. Trust is probably the most important factor to me, rather than sheer strength. If I had to choose one person to do so, it would have to be you."

All of Naofumi's compliments were making Raphtalia burn up a bit, causing her to avert eye contact to hide her slight embarrassment. She didn't expect Naofumi to come at her like that without holding back, actual intentions behind his words set aside.

"I'm graced by the fact that there are more than a single person fighting by my side. currently I don't need to know about who's strong and who's weak. I have people I can depend and that is what counts."

Naofumi then reached out for Raphtalia. A head pat made its way onto her. Her ears twitched as her tail wagged. It felt like a while since Naofumi did this, but as embarrassing as it might have been for him to do it, it looked like it was calming Raphtalia down.

"Feeling better now?"

"Yeah. I appreciate it, Master Naofumi. Eclair was right in saying that you would be able to cheer me up. She noticed my change in mood during training and that's why we stopped early."

"Ah, so that's what happened."

"Though, she must be already doing something now. It leaves me with nothing else to do."

"Hmm…"

Naofumi didn't forget what his original intentions were before crossing with Raphtalia. He grabbed a bracelet out from his inventory. All this talk with Raphtalia being his partner caused him to wonder if he was approaching the enchantments the wrong way.

"I wonder…"

He was trying it by himself, after all.

"Raphtalia? Want to help me out with my magic imbuement? I've still been trying to get the accessories enhanced to where I feel comfortable giving it out to everyone, rather than selling them. So far, I keep hitting marks below my desired expectations…"

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I could help you with that."

"Give it a try. You might be able to do it since you were able to grasp magic without needing that ore that merchant lent us. I have plenty in my inventory, so a few mistakes won't set me back."

There hadn't been much else for Naofumi to do as the carriage went through the towns. It was tough to make them as a beginner already, but the added difficulty came in the moving environment, so it certainly took a large amount of his time to have his pile. He wasn't going to mention that part though, but Raphtalia seemed a bit suspicious of his white lie.

Nevertheless, Naofumi gave her the bracelet for her to make her attempt, but as Raphtalia accepted it, he didn't let go of the bracelet. Instead, he came a little closer, baffling the girl.

"M-Master Naofumi…? What are you doing?"

"I'm going to try and imbue my own magic into the bracelet at the same time as you. Since I'm the only piloting the entire process, just try and send a bit of your magic to it. That should make things easier for yourself."

"A-Alright…"

Raphtalia wanted to ask him if it was really necessary for him to get too close like that, but from the way he was focusing, it might have been rude to say it.

She tried to ignore it to the best of her abilities and started with the imbuing process.

They went along as Naofumi guided her, but there was only so much she could do when Naofumi needed a few days to understand it all. As time went by though, Naofumi started understanding more about the process through experimenting on the assortment of accessories that he had. She could almost feel Raphtalia magic through the accessory and it felt easier to move pre-existing magic while inserting a bit of his own, rather than doubling the output and multi-tasking the enhancements.

Naofumi had some potions if Raphtalia needed any to replenish her MP, but he wasn't going to constantly push her if she didn't want to be here anymore. Despite that, Raphtalia looked like she was concentrating more than him. He needed to remind her about her MP to the point where Naofumi thought it was easier to party back up, despite not heading out, simply to keep track of her MP for her.

Without a clock, time was certainly lost to them.

"All of these accessories are still in their original quality, save for a few at the start, but none of them really have any enhancements. We've simply over-glorified them. It's good enough to sell, but is it good enough to use…? If only I knew how to erase enhancements, if that's even possible…"

"Let's try one more time. I know you can do it, Master Naofumi."

"Alright. Let's do this."

Naofumi held up a bracelet to Raphtalia as she held onto it from the other side. As magic flowed into the bracelet, Naofumi started the now-familiar process one more time. Steadily focusing, the magic soon came to a stop, indicating that it was done.

He brought the bracelet to himself to check its properties.

"... Wait, I think we actually got it!"

He read the description once again to make sure. It was the [Jade Bracelet] that ended up being the lucky winner. It was of excellent quality at the start, so he figured it might have been something he picked off from Ren. At this point, it was likely safe to assume that.

To add onto that, the equip effect was exactly what he wanted for Raphtalia. It was important for Raphtalia to wave back and forth as he took attacks, so [Agility Up (Medium)] was one of the best equip effects he could ask for, but then there was another equip effect that was called [Light Magic Up (Medium) (Exclusive)] that he couldn't wrap his head around.

He supposed it didn't look bad, so it wasn't worth thinking too much about it.

"Still though, it is a bracelet made out of jade. Maybe I should have ended with a gem that looked a bit more fashionable for you."

"For me…? You aren't going to give it to the other heroes first?"

"Didn't I say you were my partner? I can only make one accessory at a time, so I needed to make my priorities. I chose you for the first one in line." Naofumi spun the bracelet along his finger before catching it in his hand. "Anyways, where was I? Oh, right. I should probably set this aside for now. You might want something that looked better—"

"No, I'll take it! We worked hard on it, so I'll put it to good use. You said that it was exactly the equip effects you wanted for me, right? We can't waste something like that!"

"Are you sure?"

"Don't worry." Raphtalia nodded. "I'll make sure I'll treasure it."

"If you say so, then this is for you."

Naofumi held up the bracelet, intending to put it onto Raphtalia's wrist, but caught himself a little too late as to what he was doing. He was about to lower his arms and give it to her like a normal person, but to his surprise, Raphtalia responded by lifting her dominant hand.

"C-Could you put it on for me?"

Naofumi's heart skipped a beat.

"... Sure."

As the bracelet slipped right onto her hand, Naofumi started to get a little self-conscious. Her hands were a bit softer than he remembered. Maybe they were the same though, his head was suddenly getting a little fuzzy. Naofumi kept telling himself to focus as he made sure the bracelet was on Raphtalia without having the chance of it falling off accidentally.

And then he looked up to Raphtalia.

Throughout the entire session, he had been putting all his attention onto the accessory, so he didn't notice how close he was getting to her, but without that distraction, Raphtalia's flustered expression was all he could think about. It was too cute, especially with her tail wagging.

How was it that the tail was wagging the same way as it did when he rubbed her head, but it was eliciting a different reaction inside of him?

It didn't make any sense!

He gave himself a mental slap in the face before trying to calm himself

"Th-There. Does it feel right, Raphtalia?"

"It's perfect." She held it up for Naofumi to see it at a different angle. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

"No, I have you to thank for that one too. Now that I know what to do for the accessories, all I need to do for the others is to have them—"

Naofumi glanced away to try and make sure he could finish his sentences, but he still wasn't able to, but for a different reason this time around. When his head turned over to the door, he noticed two heads, a tuft of black and a brush of light brown, sticking out from the hallway and when they made eye contact, the duo quickly rushed out of sight.

"... Would you excuse me for a moment, Raphtalia?"

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

Naofumi silently walked over and leaned against the door. He could hear whispers from behind.

"I told you that we were intruding, damn it! You wouldn't listen to me!"

"Don't blame me! You were as curious as I was as to how that would end!"

"Shut up, shut up! Okay, it doesn't matter whose fault it is! What the hell do we do!?"

"Maybe… Maybe Naofumi didn't see us! We'll just slowly sneak off from the door and pretend we weren't ever here! If Naofumi brings it up that he noticed something, deny, deny, and deny all of it!"

"You think Naofumi is a dumbass!? There's no way that he didn't see us! There was a good second of us being frozen there! He saw us for sure!"

"What else do we do!?"

Naofumi opened the door and stepped out to see Ren and Itsuki next to the door on each side.

"You could explain to me why you were eavesdropping on us like that."

Both Ren and Itsuki creakily turned to Naofumi. They were sweating.

"H-Hey, Naofumi… It's fancy seeing you here… What… brings you to this... part of the hallway…?"

"We were… just on our way out from the… music room…" Itsuki gulped. "H-Hey, did you know Reichnott has a music room!? It was amazing! I should play you a song one of these days for you to hear! He's got one of those large pianos I've always wanted to play…"

"..."

"..."

"... Itsuki?"

"Two of us, one of him?"

"... Yeah. Split! Every man for himself!"

"Nice try, but I got two arms."

Naofumi reached out and grabbed both of their collars before they could run off in different directions on Ren's command. They slammed onto the floor as Naofumi called out to Raphtalia. Their deadpanned expressions said everything about their efforts.

"Give me a moment, Raphtalia. I'll be back shortly."

He couldn't hear Raphtalia's reaction, but he was sure that she was likely as red as he was. Having their friends misunderstand was not what he wanted on this menu, so he was going to drag them into another room to make sure things were cleared up.

And besides, he was rather thankful for this interruption. His heart was already starting to burst back there, so this was the break he needed from that.

As Ren and Itsuki were dragged along the floor like they couldn't move a single limb, they sighed in resignation with small whispers to each other.

"... Hey, Ren? Do you think we ruined the moment?"

"Do you think we ruined the moment?" Ren quietly mocked. "That's what you sound like to me right now—of course we ruined the moment, dumbass."

"Then remind me to find a way to make it up to Raphtalia."

"Okay, but how? With something like that, we would have to refer to Motoyasu..."

Naofumi looked over his shoulder, almost condescendingly.

"What are you two whispering about…?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing at all."

"... Is that so? Well, I'll give you two something to whisper about in a few moments."

Ren and Itsuki both gulped.

Later, Ren and Itsuki were lectured about the importance of respecting the "do not disturb" sign after Naofumi went on with his speech about what was really happening in the room.

-/IV/-

The tour of the manor, followed by cleaning up the carriage with Sakura, took more time than Motoyasu anticipated, but he wasn't complaining about it. If it kept themselves preoccupied, then their little excursion from the group was well its worth. They spent so much energy that Sakura was starting to get tired once the carriage was spick and span, but Motoyasu knew it wasn't simply the things they did at the manor that tuckered her out.

After all, Sakura had been pulling the carriage for a while before arriving at the manor. While she faced the challenge with happiness and the self-indulgence of a cart-pulling lover, it would still put a strain on her energy, even if she wanted to pull it all day long. In other words, Sakura was getting some well-deserved rest, hanging off Motoyasu's back as he walked back to their rooms.

"Daddy…"

"Aaah… Even when she's asleep, she's adorable…!"

Sakura repositioned her head, slumping against Motoyasu's shoulder like it was a pillow. She looked right at home, smiling in her dreams. Her mumbling made it sound like in her head, Motoyasu was cooking up a storm for Sakura to eat.

Once she woke up, he was hoping it would be at dinner or breakfast. If not, he would have to ask Naofumi to quickly take him to the kitchen to prepare Sakura a quick meal.

"... But to be as free as a bird, caring without a doubt in the world."

He loved Sakura as his daughter, but that's why he had to make sure she didn't end up like him.

"How lucky."

She knew her priorities and she didn't think twice about it, unlike her father. If he could even have a fraction of confidence that Sakura had, maybe none of them would be in this situation. No matter what was said back in Lerno, Motoyasu's thoughts sometimes circled back to the original way of thinking. He couldn't simply drop those thoughts like a coin, but everytime they were brought up, he shook his head to get himself back together.

He had to keep moving forwards for the sake of his friend and for himself.

… So then, why was he stuck in this endless loop of thought? It was a hole kept opening up where he tried to plug it. It was useless to keep trying, but he couldn't figure out what the source had been. Was it that he couldn't move on? Why? Why was that the case?

Motoyasu had his question. Motoyasu knew where the answer should be.

And yet, he failed to see the path forwards, despite his continuation.

"... Hmm? Oh, it's the library again."

During the tour, Motoyasu saw Reichnott entering the library, so he assumed that he had some business there. He didn't want the governor to be disturbed, so he went away with Sakura into the other direction, planning to leave it for later, but once they got started on cleaning the carriage, the library was long forgotten by the two of them.

Sakura liked it when Motoyasu read some of the children's books for her. While it wasn't likely that Reichnott had those types of books in his library, it wasn't bad to take a look. He wouldn't know for sure until he saw it for himself.

"Reichnott should be finished there by now, right? It won't be too bad to check it out after I put Sakura in bed. Though, I'd wonder if she'll realize I'm gone for a bit."

When he entered back into the bedroom, he noticed Raphtalia sitting off to the side, looking down on her arm. She had a big smile on her face and as he looked closer, there was a bracelet made out of jade on her wrist. He didn't remember Raphtalia having such an accessory before, but Motoyasu didn't feel like asking about it right now.

Besides, he could likely take a guess by how Raphtalia looked mesmerized by the accessory as to who had given that to her. Unfortunately, he had to burst her bubble for a bit.

"Raphtalia?"

"O-Oh, Mister Motoyasu." Raphtalia immediately jumped from her chair. "I-I didn't notice you."

"Where are the others? Have they returned yet?"

"Master Naofumi was here a moment ago, but…" Raphtalia glanced at the door. "He suddenly stood up and headed outside to the hallway. I thought I heard Mister Ren and Mister Itsuki there…"

Motoyasu made a mental reminder to ask the two friends what they witnessed. That was juicy information that he couldn't go without. His only regret was not being there with them, but getting the sight through a secondhand lens is good enough for him, especially if it was about Naofumi.

"Could I ask you a favor to keep an eye on Sakura? I'm heading off to check something out and I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Of course."

Tucking Sakura into a bed, it took a few attempts for Motoyasu to slip away from Sakura's grasp. She kept grabbing onto his hand before he could leave and when he did escape, Sakura started groaning in her sleep like her dreams went for a bad turn. Raphtalia giggled for a bit, but a quick tap between their foreheads was enough for Sakura to calm down.

Leaving Sakura in Raphtalia's care, he closed the door behind him and headed back to the library where he came face-to-face with an array of countless books. Calling it a library was rather accurate, comparable to an actual public one back in his world. He was rather astounded that one person had this many books, but he could imagine that this would be a perfect place for Naofumi to hang out in.

Looking through some of the shelves, he couldn't find anything for children. It was all novels, textbooks, documents, and other assorted literature that a man of Reichnott's appearance would have on hand. The manor didn't have a presence of a wife or children around the place, so he could only assume that he had no need for anything else other than what interested him.

"What a shame. I wonder if I asked him, Reichnott would buy some children's books for Sakura…" Motoyasu scratched his head as he started to turn back. "That would be a little too much, but maybe if I gave him some of our money, he could fetch a staff member to do the chore for us."

Motoyasu nodded at his own idea.

"Yeah, that sounds pretty—Hmm?"

In the middle of the library, there was a table, but something was amiss about it. There were a large stack of books piled up like a mountain, clearly the work of someone going through books in an organized manner. And if he stood on his toes, he could just about see a patch of green hair over the wall.

"... Rishia?"

There was no response, so he walked over to see what she was doing. There was no way to talk to her from the front, so he approached from the back, but the playful spirit in Motoyasu became a little mischievous. She looked so concentrated on the contents, flipping through the books she got her hands on as if she was looking for something, so he figured a little prank might lighten the mood.

Quietly coming over to Rishia's back from her blind spot, he softly blew into her ear.

"FUEEE!?"

Rishia shrieked and stumbled in her seat, but Motoyasu reacted quickly to catch before she crashed into the books. Some of them did fall over to the ground from the impact of her legs hitting the table, but he was able to save most of them.

"I-I, uh… I-I'm… I, uh, I…"

Rishia's eyes were spinning, making Motoyasu wonder if the prank was a bad idea. Rishia always did look like she was on the verge of having a heart attack, especially in the middle of a simple monster skirmish. He helped Rishia calm down a bit by helping her take deep breaths in walking her through it.

"Sorry about that, Rishia. I thought it would be funny."

"I-It's fine. I-I should have heard you come in, but I didn't. The library is very quiet, after all."

"What's going on here?" Motoyasu nodded up towards the books. "Don't tell me you actually read through all of those in a single sitting."

"Oh, I wasn't reading. I was just scanning through it, so it wasn't as if I was actually absorbing. Though, there were a few books I got distracted by, so I had to stop myself after a few pages before needing to set them aside for later…"

"Scanning, huh? What were you looking for?"

"Oh, I was just looking for a—"

Rishia suddenly stopped in the middle of her words and started to sweat. Ren did mention not say a single word about the tortoise painting or his book towards the others, so she couldn't answer honestly.

"... Rishia?"

"I-It wasn't anything important! I swear!"

"I mean, if you say so."

She lucked out in the fact that Motoyasu was the one that came across her. He started picking up the fallen books and glanced back.

"If you want, I can start putting these books back."

"Th-That would be great! Thank y—!"

Rishia realized something.

"Motoyasu? Do you know where they go?"

"... Huh." He silently placed the books back on the table. "Looks like I can't put these books back. I have no clue where anything goes in this place, since I just got here."

"Th-That's fine. Keeping them on the table is fine. I'll put them back when I'm done."

"You can't be serious, right? This is easily a hundred books and you know where they all go?"

"I mean, they were in order."

"... Whoops. Sorry. Again."

" Fuee! I-I didn't mean to sound like I was blaming you!"

"Maybe I'll get out of your hair before I realize I've been doing more damage than good," Motoyasu laughed. "At the very least, when dinner happens, I know where to find you. Good luck on whatever you're trying to do."

"Th-Thank you…"

As Motoyasu left the library, all Rishia could feel was relief. She slumped into her chair, but while beforehand, her shoulders felt stiff from all the scanning and flipping, she felt oddly refreshed after a short conversation with Motoyasu. The feeling was still there in some regard, but maybe such a small break was needed. Ever since Reichnott gave her the green light to be here, she was looking through the books ever since, so she didn't know how long it had been.

If Motoyasu mentioned dinner, it must have been for a while.

"Maybe I'll start cleaning up with… Huh? Wait, what's this?"

Rishia picked up one of the books that looked a bit strange. She read the title.

"Behind the Paintings of the Guardian Beasts…? The… Guardian Beast?"

The image of the painting flickered in her mind again as she flipped through the pages. As she discovered, she soon came to a spot of the book where it depicted the exactly same picture as she was remembering from Ren's book.

"... Oh, is this it!?"

She might say it would have been because Ren's presence was scary in of itself, so she couldn't really think too much about the painting beforehand, but it was very obvious in retrospect what it was supposed to be. After setting that book aside to show Ren, she returned the rest of it and waited for a good time to talk to him alone again.

-/IV/-

After dinner, Rishia did just that. She called Ren out to the library for him to speak with her on the matters they discussed about the night that she first joined the group. She showed him the book.

"The painting is called…?"

"Well, it's both the name of the painting and the actual image that its trying to depict, but it's basically an artistic rendition of what the Spirit Tortoise looks like."

"The Spirit Tortoise? That's… an interesting name."

It reminded Ren of a legend in his world of a similar name, but he knew the creature best in gaming media, where they were adapted into the lore of those digital worlds. Though, they would be somewhat consistent with what they reflected in the real world.

There hadn't been simply the tortoise either; there were three other creatures that were commonly associated with each other, compared to the four symbolic animals that protected the cardinal directions. He could remember this clearly mainly because Brave Star Online was one of those games that incorporated these legends as raid bosses.

He wasn't intending on making the comparison, but something about that worries him.

Ren grabbed The Records of the Holy Weapon out from his inventory and flipped over to those last few pages of worth, seeing the painting one more time, but he noticed that there were suddenly extra pages in between the original part he saw before they were summoned and the Spirit Tortoise itself.

And they were just as unreadable as the others.

Just what exactly was this book…?

"What does it say about the Spirit Tortoise?"

"Oh, no, it doesn't say anything about the beast itself. It merely talks about the person who painted it and their inspirations for the artwork's style. This entire book is simply a compilation of the artist drawing the Guardian Beasts in different ways. Though, it manages to avoid saying who this painter was, so that's still a complete mystery. It's no one from this generation though."

"Do you know anything about Spirit Tortoise yourself?"

Somehow, the way he asked that sounded like an interrogation in Rishia's ears.

"I-I only, uh, know that it was sealed by the previous Cardinal Heroes a long time ago. If I get some time, I can probably get more research on it, so…"

"... No, it's fine."

Ren closed his book.

"I'll be honest. When I first saw this book, I thought it might have been a way for us to find a way out of this world. After all, there was a similar book that brought us here to begin with, but I feel like that's only running away from the problems I didn't want to face."

He tucked it into his inventory.

"It doesn't look like I'm going to get much out of it to begin with. I can't ever imagine coming across something like that yet or how it would even achieve my original intentions."

"Y-You wanted to leave this world?"

"Of course. Think about it. We're supposed to be heroes, but all that has happened to us is all of this mess. I was really thinking that if this world hated us so much, I could try and find a way for us to ditch this world, but… that's a childish move."

Ren chuckled as he turned around.

"I'm going to move forward with whatever Naofumi and the others decide to do now, but if any of them mentions that they want to leave at any point, I'll keep this book close to me. For now though, I don't think any research is going to do us any good, but, uh…"

Ren looked over his shoulder.

"Th-Thanks, Rishia. I appreciate the effort."

With that, he walked off, leaving Rishia unable to react to what had happened. With the way that Ren had acted, she must have been in a dream, right? He didn't seem very scary in the slightest.

"... Was that really Ren?"


[SKIT 135 : Previous Connections]

[Ren] : "Raphtalia. I have a quick question for you."
[Ren] : "Did you know who was the governor that presided over your village when it was still standing?"
[Raphtalia] : "... Yes, I do. It was a noble from Seaetto."
[Raphtalia] : "Most children wouldn't have known, but my father worked closely with him in order to take care of the demi-humans that lived on his territory. It was how most of the adults were able to trust the governor's position to be willing in helping them."
[Ren] : "This entire time, you knew who Eclair was?"
[Raphtalia] : "Not exactly. I didn't even know the governor had a daughter, so it was a surprise for me to hear Eclair's introduction. That's not to mention that I'm unsure as to how common is the name of Seaetto. I've only seen the governor of the territory a handful of times as well. It wasn't as if there was a chance for me to learn more about him, even if I wanted to."
[Ren] : "This really is such a crazy coincidence."
[Ren] : "You haven't mentioned this to Eclair herself yet? That you're a demi-human that came from the territory that her father watched over?"
[Raphtalia] : "... I thought about it when we first met, but given all of the events that chained together at the castle, it… slipped my mind after we pulled ourselves from the river. It hasn't really returned to me until now to mention it to Eclair, but I'm afraid it might make it awkward."
[Raphtalia] : "Not that I mean it would change anything, but it's almost as if… there's no point in telling her anymore? I think she's really focused on guiding the Cardinal Heroes to what lies in the future and making sure that nothing terrible happens under her watch. Suddenly telling her about this might be a little presumptuous of myself?"
[Ren] : "It's not my business, but I think she would appreciate knowing about it. To see that a survivor of her father's territory has not only lived, but is doing good herself… I think Eclair would be overjoyed."
[Ren] : (Knowing that her father's ultimate sacrifice hadn't been in vain, she most certainly would be.)
[Raphtalia] : "You think so? Alright, I'll bring it up when it's the most convenient then."

[SKIT 136 : Copying the Momento]

[Itsuki] : "A weapon that was passed down to her from her father…"
[Itsuki] : "[Weapon Copy] might provide you with something good in that case. The rarity value of a sword like that should be pretty high, don't you think?"
[Ren] : "Yeah, I don't have any doubts about that."
[Ren] : "That sword would provide me with a pretty good boost to my arsenal. It might probably be one of the highest rated swords if I min-max it properly. And I'm sure Eclair would allow me to copy it if I asked her. I might have to adapt a bit to a different stance, but it's nothing I can't manage."
[Itsuki] : "So why haven't you asked yet? It sounds like you already realized all of that when Reichnott was giving Eclair that sword."
[Ren] : "... Well, it's because it's her father's memento, right? Something that's meant for his daughter, not me. Even if I'm trying to get stronger, copying something like that, actually using it for myself would leave a bad taste in my mouth."
[Itsuki] : "I get it. Even if Eclair said she was fine with it, which I don't doubt she would say, it doesn't change the fact that you're using a weapon that was meant for her, replication or not."
[Ren] : "I'd rather avoid any of that complication to begin with, so I didn't bother bringing it up."
[Itsuki] : "Is that all there is to it?"
[Ren] : "... What? Is it wrong to be looking after my friends like that? Is that what you want me to say?"
[Itsuki] : "You don't exactly have to be all secretive about it, but I guess it wouldn't be Ren Amaki otherwise. You really do care, Ren. Aww."
[Ren] : "Shut up. Shut up already."

[SKIT 137 : Synchronized Enhancements Tutorial]

[Rishia] : "You look like you're in a good mood, Naofumi."
[Motoyasu] : "Did something happen?"
[Naofumi] : "Yeah! I finally figured out what I need to do in order to get accessories imbued with the outcome I wanted. At least, the ballpark range of it."
[Naofumi] : "All that I needed to do was have someone else imbue it at the same time while I focus on maintaining the quality. You wouldn't happen to know if that's a new technique or anything, right?"
[Rishia] : "I know a bit about the accessory imbuing process because it was in a book once, but I regret to inform you that it isn't a new technique. That idea has been around for many generations."
[Naofumi] : "Ah, I see…"
[Motoyasu] : "What is it? You wanted to claim copyrights on that technique?"
[Naofumi] : "No, it's nothing like that. I was only curious."
[Naofumi] : "I guess everyone's been doing it already before I figured it out by myself. It must have been inside an accessory imbuing instruction manual. I wonder why Hickwaal never told me about it. It makes things significantly easier, even if the other person doesn't have any experience in it."
[Rishia] : "Oh, it's because it's not used very often."
[Rishia] : "Or rather, it can't be done in many of the usual situations, such as selling it on the markets."
[Rishia] : "I read that synchronized enhancements, in which an article or item is imbued with magic by two parties, comes up on rare occasions. Of course, there isn't any downside to it, but the requirements are that both parties need to share a strong bond in order to have the magic balance out with each other.
[Rishia] : Not only that, it's more effective when it's worn by one of those two parties due to some kind of mixed magic density inside of the accessory, so merchants can't exactly sell them for anything outside of its appearances. It explains why when a single person imbues magic into it, anyone can use it as intended."
[Naofumi] : (Oh, so that's why it said [Light Magic Up] with the tag of "Exclusive"...)
[Rishia] : "And despite all of the requirements, a single expert imbuer can still beat products that synchronized enhancements provide. I remember reading that there was a point in time where they recently discovered this tactic, they thought it was going to revolutionize the scene, but it wasn't really doing much for people in comparison. There was a hard cap for synchronized enhancements at Medium."
[Rishia] : "You could say that synchronized enhancements are a bit of a specific case crutch for those of lower-skill levels. In other words, practically useless to the average imbuer."
[Motoyasu] : "You sure know a lot about this stuff."
[Rishia] : "... A-Apparently. Th-That's what the research papers and history texts in Faulbrey say."
[Motoyasu] : "Ah, so it's like the theory that goes into Sakura's clothing. Since it's her magic that created the clothes, only she can wear it to its full effectiveness."
[Rishia] : "It's, uh, something like that, but at the same time, I'm unsure about that comparison…"
[Naofumi] : "Then in a sense, I shouldn't be relying too much on this method. I'll get better at crafting accessories by myself eventually, but for now, I think this is a pretty good way to cheat out some high quality stuff for my personal intentions."
[Motoyasu] : "Say, how did you figure this out, Naofumi?"
[Naofumi] : "I was doing the enhancements with Raphtalia. We ended up with something that I could give to her, so that's why I'm in a good mood. I'll get to everyone else once I figure out what kind of accessories would be good for everyone since I've been mindlessly crafting on my own time for a while, just for practice. I don't have anything good I want to provide to everyone else, except for that one bracelet I made for Raphtalia."
[Motoyasu] : "A strong bond…? A bracelet…? With Raphtalia, nonetheless…?"
[Motoyasu] : "Ah, so that was what that was all about. Say no more, brother. I can certainly take a hint."
[Naofumi] : "...Huh?"
[Rishia] : "...Hmm?"
[Motoyasu] : "I'll leave that to your thoughts alone for whatever you're ready to tell us, Naofumi. I won't dig any deeper than the surface. Now, if you excuse me, I need to check up on Sakura for a bit."
[Naofumi] : "... Do you know what that was about?"
[Rishia] : "I-I was hoping you could tell me. Fue…"


[Author's Notes]

Two months again. I got distracted again.

I literally have no other explanation.

Two more things I want to talk about that I have to be real with.

The entire synchronized enhancement?

I completely forgot that I left Naofumi's "sidequest" of making accessories for his friends in the dust, so this was a way to tie up that loose end conveniently. Naofumi should have been good enough to make good accessories by himself at this point, but for my convenience, ignore that. I made it up, it's a fraud of a mechanic towards canon, and something that won't be explored any further than its surface which is why it's been delegated to the skits. It's also why I had Rishia try to downplay it extremely hard, because in a practical sense, it sucks, but in a narrative sense, it's… whatever happened there.

It is an explanation covered in tape and glue, but it's something. Unfortunately, that sidequest isn't done yet. Only Raphtalia received her accessory, after all. The "accessory sidequest" though won't be mentioned within the main story anymore, thank goodness, but only in the skits when it's convenient.

And you know, that book Ren has?

… I'm not sure where the past version of me wanted to go with that. It literally has no effect on the rest of this arc. I've been trying to figure it out, but I'm simply at a loss for thoughts, so I'm also killing off that plot line here for now, until it becomes relevant again. And considering the topic it was trying to cover, that's going to be a while.

Taking this time to end these things, so that the next part of the arc can take full attention without any sub-plots in the way.

Hopefully, the next *full* chapter won't take long. *wink*

No promises, no schedule though. Such is life.