The calm of a sunny day overtook the Hero's room with golden rays dancing upon her eyes as if angels urging those still asleep to wake. She could not resist the call, and slowly she opened her eyes to a miniature Syrup sleep next to her pillow.
Maple rubbed her head a little, lethargy still aching throughout her entire a quick look at the active status queue, she saw that the [Anemic] debuff finally ended.A mmall smile grew upon her face as she reflected on her accomplishment yesterday.
She had for the most part worked past time when the sun set, using her passive buff to grow as many plants as she could. The Hero would tell you later she had only done a few acres of land, when in reality she did about 200 acres total. It was only during the last few hours where even though her HP was almost full, she had received a debuff that slowly made her sleepy and almost slept right where she stood.
Speaking of which, why was she in a room anyway?
Maple took a moment to look around, the bedroom looking quite simple. There was a dresser at one corner, along with another bed that was situated next to hers. There was no one in it, of course, but as the windows were open Maple assumed that the place was surely in use.
Well, then again she was resting in here so maybe it was not occupied. The Silly Maple knocked on her head to rid of such a silly thought.
"Kyu?" Woken from her stirring, Syrup slowly raised its heads to look at her. Maple couldn't hold back and opened her arms for the little Abomination to roam into her calming embrace.
"Oh you're so cute, Syrup!" She exclaimed while holding it tight, "Do you know where we are?"
"Kyu!" One of the heads responded before stretching itself into the air, "KYU KYU KYU!"
The small creature noise was like a bell was ringing in the room, causing sounds to erupt from the other side of the door. Soon enough the sound of footsteps could be heard running up what seemed to be a staircase and through a hallway. Within a moment, the door swung open to reveal a small girl with green hair and eyes stampeding into the room.
"Fyee! Is something happening!? Are there intruders!?" Soon though the girl looked at Maple, fright soon turning to realized calmness followed by a cheery smile, "You're awake! Thank goodness!"
"Uh, yeah I'm awake. Uh, where am I?"
"You are in the Ivyrd Manor!" She exclaimed with a great big smile, "You collapsed in the waterways between the Roice and Bugand fields, we were lucky that you're beast was able to carry you because of all your armor."
"Oh, is that so? Thank you for getting me over here." The Hero admitted while scratching the back of her head. Maple shifted slightly in the bed, finally noticing she was still equipped in said armor, "Uh, why did no one take my armor off?"
"Well we tried to take it off but…" the girl's eyes slowly shifted towards the Abomination, "Your beast would hiss whenever we tried."
"Is that so? Thank you for looking out for me Syrup!" Maple turned a smile to the beast. The three heads pridefully raised themselves into the air as if pumping out their chests towards her.
"Well, uh," the girl soon gained a small blush all about her face, "Would you like to have some breakfast with us! Its just now being served!"
"Sure! I guess we can head that way right now." Maple slid herself out of the bed, trying her best to not accidentally tear the sheets with her armor.
They exited the room, Maple quickly noticing a singular man standing outside the door. His features were older, attire that of a butler. There was no meat upon his older bones, and as he followed step behind them Maple noticed his step was slightly wobbly.
As Maple was guided through a variety of rooms, the place itself seemed to not have a proper hallway. From her own knowledge, such styles were similar to older japanese houses. A hallway was simply a waste of space so you would simply have to go through a great many rooms to get to your destination. All in all, Maple counted three.
The three descended the main stairs, which led them to a very large center room. Rishia made her way across the room and through a small side door with Maple quickly followed behind.
"Is everything alright Rishia?" a man sitting on a rather small table called out, "Oh, she's awake!"
The man quickly stood up with a soft spoken smile, though Maple quickly noticed something was slightly off about the man. He looked haggard, clothes were covered in tears and were warned down in other areas. Secondly, he looked to have missed quite a few days of sleep, dangerously in fact! Though with the amount of paperwork in front of him, Maple was starting to see the reason why.
"Come, take a seat at the table. Mr. Trace, can you serve an extra egg along with the loaf of bread?"
The butler simply nodded, making his way towards a door that was to the right of the room. With permission given, Maple took a seat that was emptied. Though she could not help but notice that there was another chair simply empty of no one to sit in.
"Miss, I honestly do not know who you are but you have saved my town from starvation." Were the first words he announced sitting down in his chair, "I am Mayor Roland Ivyred, the one who oversees this city for his majesty directly."
"Well I'm Maple." She announced cheerfully with a smile, soon settling herself at the table.
Within only a few moments the butler came out with a pair of plates. As he was going towards the Mayor, Roland simply shook his head. As if understanding what he meant, the man placed an emptied plate in front of Maple.
"My apologies if I do not have much, but only a little while ago we barely had any food as is." Roland scratched the back of his head, "With what you have done, we can at least last for a few more weeks."
"Only a few weeks?" Maple felt her brow raised from the man's solemn face. She did not know much about feeding a population of people, but she tried her best to think of things to ask, "Uh, do you still need to worry about Winter?"
"Indeed, Winter will be a time of great turmoil. The food situation is not our only problem." His eyes shifted towards a window light shined in from, "We have been fighting Bandits for the past few weeks as well. Many decided to strike out on their own and pillage their fellow man."
"Thats horrible!"
"Indeed, though I would have thought the monsters would kill them all already." He quickly however grew a great smile, "Within a few weeks though we should be getting support from the King himself. I sent requests for some support right after the wave, so surely he will have some time to help us."
"Oh, well uh, thats me…" Maple answered while scratching the back of her head.
Quickly enough his eyes widened, "Just you!? What's happening in the capital?!"
"Well, uh, I couldn't really say." She answered while scratching the back of her head, "He seemed really stressed out last time I saw him."
"Well, I would have wanted more if I'm going to be honest. However, I thank you for coming over to help save my people. To send a person who performs miracles might be exactly what we need." The Lord lowered his head, though luckily not low enough to bash it against the table.
"You're welcome." Maple answered with a great smile upon herself, "Though I can't be here for that long, in about a week I need to return to the capital for something."
"A week? I might be asking for too much but surely you can stay longer." Worry seemed to consume the man's face, "If that's the case, we would not be able to make it through Winter!"
"It doesn't mean I can't come back!" Maple announced while raising her hands, "I can see about coming back after the Wave hits."
"There's going to be another Catastrophe! Miss Maple, while I may be happy for you to be here, but surely those who will be recently afflicted will take precedence over us."
Hearing his words, Maple thought to herself. While this is a task given to her, the king might order her to go somewhere when the same thing happens somewhere else.
"Well, lets see what happens." Was about all Maple could answer the man with.
With those words said, the butler came by and gave the man his breakfast. However, Maple noticed how it had even less food than even hers.
-{Page Break}-
The sun was high in the air as people started to bustle around. Large bushels of wheat were being carried from person to person like a fireman's water line. It had become a race to the grainery as the peastentry were trying their damndest to get food on the table by night's end.
For Maple, she was taking a slight break from the work to watch over things. The Anemic trait once again popped up on her Hud, and since the Hero did not want to collapse again she was taking the lunch break while petting Syrup.
"Fue, Miss Maple!" the voice caused the Shield Hero's head to turn her.
It was a figure completely wrapped in cloth, her identity concealed very well. However what got Maple's stomach to slightly ache was when her eyes laid on the lone loaf of bread resting in her arms.
"Oh, thank you Rishia!" Maple gave the other girl a smile before recieving the bread itself. A smile appeared on her face as she tore it three and handed one to her, "Here, since you brought it you should get some."
"A-are you sure? You're the one who is doing so much work."
"Yup! I'd collapse again if you didn't get this for me!"
Maple tossed the half loaf back forcing the girl to juggle it for a moment. Maple made sure to give the other part to Syrup, the abomination snatching it before allowing the three heads to all consume it whole.
So they ate, looking over the fields that looked to be a golden sea. It was definitely quite the sight, a small well of pride emerging from Maple's heart upon looking at it. The bread she ate was sweet, though she could not help but noticed it had an odd taste to it.
[Genetic Manipulation detected: Poison and Disease Resistance already achieved.]
"Huh, that was weird."
"What's weird?" Rishia said with a tilting head at Maple.
"I… don't really know." Though as she finished answering that, a small hiss started to grow from Syrup, "Huh, did you see something?"
"F-Fue! Something is in the wheat!" Rishia cried out and pointed at a spot near the line of men working.
Sure enough, Maple could see a series of indentations in the grass, just as if something was walking through it. From here, she could see about ten of them!
"What could those be? Monsters?" Maple rose quickly from her spot, Syrup quickly enlarging itself in preparation for battle.
"I-I don't know! B-but we need to save the workers!"
"Perfect, hop on then!" Maple called out as she ran up and placed herself on Syrup's shell.
"I-I don't think that would be good! I'm not much of a fighter you- FUEE!" Rishia, for all her wits, did not expect the Syrup to quickly bite onto her, throwing the little girl onto its back. With all its passengers loaded, it made a bee-line for the stalking things.
"YEEPEE!" Maple cried as they were crossing what was a kilometer in only a minute, "Alright Rishia, I'm going to add you to the party! Be sure to click accept!"
"FUEEEEE!"
"Perfect, now do you want a dagger, hammer or maybe a sword! Oh! Do you want to cast spells! I got this awesome bow for that!"
"FUEEEEE!"
"Alright here's the bow! Just stay on Syrup's back until we take out all the monsters."
"FUEEEEE!"
In all of her cries Rishia was equipped with a bunch of stuff that just ended up in Maple's inventory. Since she was partied up with Syrup, whenever the beast went on hunts she would of course occasionally receive items that were related to its kills. So, she simply gave Rishia a [Balloon Poking Bow].
For the peasants working, the sight of a monster the size of a horse was enough to get them into running away. As the rout was occuring, these stalkers quickly tried to seize the opportunity and kill as many as possible.
Pandemonia was taking over, but as the monsters left the safety of their wheat grown cover a chill crept up their backs. Corrupted purple eyes turned to behind them, easily seeing the monster charging. It was not the monster itself that gave them pause, but the one who rode upon its back.
The One who Eats the Living.
Maple quickly saw a great many of them flee in opposing directions, a frown growing on her face, "Oh come on, how are we going to kill them if they run away?"
"R…. round… them up…. Fueee."
"Oh that's a perfect idea Rishia! Come on Syrup, lets round them all up!"
"KYA!" With a sharp chirp the abomination quickly ran about the field, creating a semi-circle indentation within the wheat. Without any choice, the monsters began to move to the right, which laid a ditch like water-way.
Soon they were flushed out of the wheat, many of them sent tumbling in the grassless ditch. Maple looked over them for about a moment, seeing they were some weird versions of boars and wolves for the most part. However, what struck her as odd was the purplish glow that they all seemed to emanate from their spots.
"Alright, here we go!" She cried out while throwing herself towards the small group, "[Ensnare]!"
With her cry, a group of three were completely wrapped up in a series of vines. The others tried to make a quick escape, but were quickly set upon by the Horse sized abomination who was getting quite sick of eating just bread.
Without anywhere to go, the monsters all turned towards their attacker. With a barbaric charge the boars and wolves threw themselves forward and at Maple.
"[Horned Rabbit Queen Shield]! [Bullrush]!" Maple happily cried out while pointing the weapon towards the onslaught. With a sudden glow, she was sent forward to crash into the attackers. With that simple move, her Shield ended two of their lives by being impaled, while the others quickly became injured.
For Rishia, well she had finally regained some sense of sanity. Though it only took her a moment to realize she was not where she was supposed to be. Things had quickly turned from a lax picnic to what she could only describe as a battlefield. She shakily raised the bow and pulled the string, the weapon somehow producing an arrow on its own. While confusion was paramount she decided to yell, "F-FIRE!"
A bolt was sent flying from the arrow from nowhere slamming into one of the Boar. There was a soft popping sound, which later was found to be the sound of a skull being opened.
"Good job Rishia!" Maple announced while defending from the remaining three who were still attacking, "Once we are done, we can cook all of them!"
"C-cooked!?"
"Yup!" Maple answered with a smile while bashing into one of them again, "Oh I can already taste them!"
While Rishia was cowering in panic, the girl did not have much else to go on, so she kept firing, "F-FUEE!"
And another skull popped to the [Balloon Popping Bow].
"Great, let's take care of these guys now, [Shield Bash]!" Maple quickly slammed her shield into the monster's face, the spikes easily making direct impact. With that one taken care of, she moved the shield off to the side and swiftly ripped into the other's neck.
And just like that, the monsters were all dead. Those who had been ensnared and four others were eaten by Syrup who delighted in such a meal. Rishia could only gawk at the rate they had eliminated the menace.
"Yata! Meats back on the menu Syrup!" Maple announced while the abomination cued in joy.
"Y-you are going to eat the monsters!?" Maple turned to see a rather confused Rishia, almost a look on her face.
"Uh, am I not supposed to?" Maple simply tilted her head to the Noble.
"Are you not afraid of being infected with something? Th-they are glowing!"
Well Maple took a moment to look at the carcusses of the fallen boars and wolves, and just as Rishia said their blood was glowing something akin to radioactive purple, "Well, I kind of get what you mean but we can't just waste this."
Maple quickly took out the butcher's knife and gave a nice slice near the shoulder and quickly removed the skin. Such a kind gift from Erhard, a knife that can slice through flesh without dulling. Maple had to count herself lucky that said knife was not one of the things her Shield disallowed. She could only hope it was limited to weapons.
"Alright, now for some fire!" And with that she took out a small fire starter trinket and activated it. Rishia watched in wonder as Maple torched the slab of meat with ease, the smell of cooked meat already coming into the air.
After about five minutes of continuous magic the fire slowly dwindled away, leaving nothing but a patch of charred grass and boar shoulder. Maple happily walked over to the shoulder and lugged it over Rishia.
"Alright, this is on me! Give me a moment to get you a piece!" Maple removed the charred exterior, revealing a finely cooked interior. Rishia could not help but drool as Maple placed the meat into her hands.
Without even thinking she bit into it, and by the Gods above it was a taste she had never experienced before. It was somehow a cross between the savory meat of a fully fattened cow and the sweetness of candy. They were something that should not have been mixed together so well, but Rishia could not stop herself from devouring it.
As she was eating though others were attracted to the smell. Maybe it was the curiosity of man or the rumbling in their stomachs, but those who had quickly fled from the incoming monsters looked into the water way with licking lips.
"Oops, I guess everyone is hungry!" Maple's brows were raised as she quickly looked at her knife and then the many carcasses, "Uh, if everyone can help me clean this up I can make some lunch. How does that sound?"
"W-we will do anything we can for the Saint!" One of the men cheered while running over.
Soon enough the entire mob ( about twenty people total) were working on carving the meat from the monsters. Maple simply distributed her remaining fire starters to the masses, and quickly enough everyone was on their way to making an impromptu feast. Some people have even quickly ran over and acquired some extra bread and family members to join in the meals.
Once Rishia had finished eating her meat, she looked out to see everyone already gathered. Maple ranup to her with a gigantic smile on her face.
"Hey Rishia, how many more monsters are there?"
"M-monsters? The forest is infested with them."
"Great, I know what we are going to do now!" Maple quickly ran to the top of the ditch over everyone, "Hey everyone, once we are done eating who wants to go grind some monsters?!"
While the people would normally have been terrified of the prospect, the happiness and filled stomachs has driven a few young men and women to raise their hands.
"Perfect, some to me after you are done eating and we can set up a raiding party!"
And like that, Maple had started something that never happened in this world. At least, not at the scale she was approaching things from.
A/N: Thank you all for One Thousand Followers! At that point, I can mark this story as a resounding Success!
