Sword Hero Who Dances in the Shadows chapter 10: Change in Atmosphere

Lyall the Werewolf: Now starts the Second Wave Arc. Let's see how this plays out, shall we?

(I don't own Senran Kagura or Shield Hero)


"So, that's what happened?" asked Queen Mirellia as she was finished getting dressed. It was morning, and she was receiving another report from one of her trusted Shadow agent.

"Yes. Thankfully, the enslavement failed." answered the Shadow, who kneeled beside the window outside of the Queen's guest room.

"I had a feeling they would do something underhanded in this sacred duel, but to think they really would try to brand the Sword Hero…" Mirellia groaned. She feared Malty would try to enslave Asuka for some petty reason, and Aultcray would allow it on account of his decreased intellect. It wasn't well known, but there was a law put in place that made it illegal to enslave a Hero, namely because it was blasphemous to even think of attempting such a thing. There was a rumor that it was attempted at some point in the past with another Hero, but it failed. Normally, Mirellia wouldn't take chances like this, but on the off chance that Aultcray and Malty did attempt to enslave one of the Cardinal Heroes… it would not be pleasant to say the least.

"So then, how are our Heroes holding up?"

"The Shield Hero purchased a slave recently, but mainly, it would seem the Sword Hero's presence has lightened him up somewhat."

"That's good to hear. At least he isn't alone, in addition to the Sword Hero being a positive influence." said Mirellia. Though particularly difficult, contacting the slave trader in Melromarc was well worth the effort, even if he presumably had his own agenda for agreeing to sell Naofumi a slave. "And how is the Sword Hero?"

"She was badly traumatized by the experience, but I expect she'll able recover in time for the Second Wave, thanks to the Shield Hero and their acquaintances."

"I see. Thank you for hard work."

"Your words are too kind for me, your Majesty." said the Shadow, "Forgive my impudence, but I must ask why you declared the duel a draw? Would it not be more beneficial to clear the Shield Hero's name right away by allowing the Sword Hero's victory, which by all counts is valid?"

"Yes it would, but not everyone will agree. Even if his so-called crimes were dropped, the people of Melromarc would still see him in a negative light, due to their heavy belief in the Three Heroes Church's toxic influence. I believe it would better for him to prove himself in the eyes of the people first before clearing his name. The same can be said of the Sword Hero, whose unprecedented support toward the Shield Hero and kindness to Demi-humans has ignited controversy in Melromarc."

"Speaking of… what is your reason for wanting confirmation on whether or not it was possible to enslave a Cardinal Hero? Even you should have known that the outcome of Princess Malty's attempt."

"Because, clearly, doing that would be the most detrimental to our cause." said Mirellia, "If the world knew that Melromarc had enslaved a Cardinal Hero, the possibility of war breaking out would surely be unavoidable. There have been previous Cardinal Heroes in the past, so naturally, protecting them from such things was necessary. Thus, there are laws put in place to prevent abusing the Heroes' power, mistreating them, such as framing them for a crime in the case of the Shield Hero, and most importantly, attempting to control them by way of enslavement, which is most severe."

"That… makes sense." said the Shadow.

"Indeed. That and using slavery is the last thing I want if I am to gain the Sword and Shield Heroes trust. Of course, I aware that would make it difficult for them to trust me… especially after everything my own f-family did to them while I'm currently absent f-from M-Melromarc…" Mirellia's voice began to crack and shake.

The Shadow watched her Queen silent. She could see through the calm veil the latter was giving off. There was boiling anger ready to explode at the thought of what her husband and eldest daughter had done to the two Heroes. No doubt, their stupidity had wrought less than pleasant feelings in the Queen.

The Shadow understood this completely. The audacity of King Aultcray and Princess Malty sneaking around her back doing as they pleased, including attempting to enslave a Cardinal Hero and going so far as to threaten the citizens who spoke out against such an action, went above and beyond forgiveness. The stress of dealing with the other nations and their semi-justified anger towards the summoning of the Heroes to Melromarc played a part in the Queen's instability as well.

Mirellia had even sent letters to the King, ordering him to treat the Heroes fairly, and to leave the Demi-human settlements alone. However, it had become clear that he was blatantly ignoring her commands, doing as he pleased, like taking his foolish grudge against the Demi-humans out on the current Shield Hero, Naofumi. And now, not only was he hindering Asuka's progression out of spite for rightfully calling out such injustice, but he was about to have the Sword Hero enslaved to Malty. No doubt, all of this was because that problem child of theirs egged him on.

"Excuse me… I need a moment to relieve some stress." Mirellia said, with barely contained fury.

"Shall I fetch a portrait of the King and First Princess, my Lady?"

"Please do."

It didn't take long for the Shadow to bring portraits of the Queen's traitorous family members. It especially didn't long for her to viciously rip those portraits to shreds and then burning them all to ash with her magic.

It would seem nothing else would satiate her rage.

"That's… better…" sighed Mirellia once the deed was done, "Still, it would seem neither Aultcray nor Malty understand what's at stake. I hate to reiterate, but summoning all Four Cardinal Heroes to Melromarc has stirred nothing short of a political fire among the other countries. And then, there's their deplorable treatment of the Shield Hero, and the act of attempting to enslave the Sword Hero, not to mention humiliating her publicly. These incidents will cause astronomical problems that we don't need. If word of twhat they have done get out, it will be a disaster the likes of which we cannot fix. That's why we mustn't let the other countries meddle in our affairs."

It would especially cause issues with the Demi-human nation Siltvelt, who worship the Shield Hero and was a rather extreme country. Melromarc and Siltvelt had been in conflict for many years, and as the current Queen, Mirellia made it her goal to mend the bad blood and extend peace to the Demi-human nation. One possibility would be to adapt the Shield Hero into Melromarc's royal family by marriage, similar to Aultcray in the past.

Malty would have been the first choice for the marriage, that way, she could become Queen of Melromarc, like she wanted. But, her father spoiled her rotten, and in an effort to straighten her out, Mirellia sent her to study abroad in Faubrey. The only thing that accomplished was Malty not being a virgin anymore and came back much worse than ever. It was doubtful at this point that the Shield Hero would consider marrying her after what she did to him. Therefore, Melty was the safest option. Provided, she grew up, of course.

And then, there was the Sword Hero. Mirellia had been hearing rumors about Demi-humans in Siltvelt beginning to start movements in the Sword Hero's name, something completely unheard of from this nation, given their worship of the Shield Hero. They must have heard from Siltvelt envoys about the Sword Hero speaking out against Demi-human slavery.

There might be ways to use this information to her advantage, but for now, putting an end to this political nightmare came first.

"What shall we do in the meantime?" asked the Shadow.

"Continue to monitor things at the capital." Mirellia ordered, "And if possible, please relay my sympathies to the Sword Hero for what happened."

"It shall be done."

"I'm counting on you."

Following this exchange, the Shadow vanished, leaving Mirellia be.

A moment later, Mirellia released yet another heavy sigh.

Things in Melromarc were getting more complicated then they needed. If only her most trusted friend hadn't perished during the First Wave, Aultcray wouldn't have had to take control of the country while she was away. Not only he was free to abuse his temporary power for his childish games of revenge, he would he allow Malty to get away with her destructive mischief, and let corrupt fester under his nose.

One report from the Shadows stated that a Demi-human fishing village in Melromarc was raided by his order, which was directly against her orders because that village was protected by Melromarc, and that very same village was where her close friend and confidant served as lord, and he devoted himself to caring for the Demi-humans under his watch. Had he not died, her plans to improve relations with Siltvelt would be smoother sailing. She hoped her second confidant was at least taking care of things on his end. Judging by what her Shadows have reported, he was doing just fine.

And then there was the treasury and national funds being used to extravagant effect by Malty. It really spoke volumes of her foolishness if she thought she could get away with abusing all that money for her selfish whims while her mother was away. Luckily, the Queen prepared a counter measure for her spoiled daughter in case she tried to take advantage of a village in trouble because of the Waves, and gave it to the Shadows for when that time comes.

KNOCK, KNOCK!

"Yes?"

"Mother, I've finished speaking with the representative of the Shusaku. They're ready to begin the meeting." said the young voice of Melty from behind the door.

"I see. I'll be on my way."

[-Melromarc: Callma Lake-]

Little did they know was that the Sword Hero had company in the form of a Demi-human and a Beastman in hoods, who were actually envoys from Siltvelt.

"You're envoys from Siltvelt?" Asuka asked the two strangers. She was initially surprised, to the point nearly drawing her sword on the two, thinking they were enemies of some kind. However, they immediately put their hands up as a sign of surrender and revealed themselves by dropping their hoods.

"Yes, and we mean you no harm, Sword Hero-sama." said the smaller Demi-human. He had cat-like features. "My name is Kayles, and my friend here is Ugo."

The lion-like Beastman bowed his head respectfully. She was actually her first time speaking with one face to face, so the Sword Hero was a little intimidated by the Beastman in front of her, but she didn't show it. She also couldn't but feel like this Ugo character was staring at her strangely.

"I see. So, what can I do for you?" Asuka asked.

"It is very simple. As envoys of Siltvelt, you would like for you to accompany us to our homeland." said Kayles, "There have been political tensions between our nations due to all of the Cardinal Heroes being summoned here to Melromarc, which is why envoys like us have been sent here to meet the Cardinal Heroes."

"Is that why the Queen has been out of the country?" Asuka remembered what Myne had told her before about Queen Mirellia having gone on a diplomatic mission. She said it wasn't a big deal, but with politics, no matter what world you live in, it was always a big deal. The fate of the world certainly meant something big for the major nations to come to together.

"We would be most honored if you were to visit Siltvelt with us." said Kayles.

"You want me to go with you guys to Siltvelt? Why?" Asuka asked.

"I'm not sure if you're aware, but the countries of the world have suffered as a result of the First Wave, including ours." Kayles answered.

"Is it really bad over in Siltvelt?" Asuka had a feeling the Waves of Catastrophe were spawning places besides Melromarc, but this confirmed it now.

"We managed to fend off the First Wave, but I would be lying if I said there weren't a few casualties."

"I see. I'm sorry." Asuka said sadly.

"T-There's no need to apologize, Sword Hero-sama! We are sturdy people." Kayles assured, "That being said, the Second Wave might be too much for us to handle."

"So, you want me to help out over there, right?"

"Yes, that's right! Please, Sword Hero-sama! Help us! We've already gone to the Spear and Bow Heroes, but they turned us down some time ago!"

"Huh? Why would they do that?" a surprised Asuka asked.

"Likely because of their associates, the ones who express hatred of our kind. A red haired woman in the Spear Hero's party was vexed by our mere presence. The same could be said of one of the Bow Hero's confidants to a lesser extent." explained Ugo, "It's just as the teachings of the Church of the Shield say, the Three Heroes have little love for Demi-humans and Beastmen like us."

"Church of the Shield Hero, huh?" Asuka remembered those mothers talking about Demi-humans worshiping the Shield Hero. Naturally, they would have a church for that, too.

"But then, we heard that you speak out against the enslavement of our kind, even at your own expense." Ugo added, with some amount elation in his deep stoic voice.

"Yeah. I never agreed with the whole slavery." said Asuka. She was unsurprised to hear about Myne and possibly someone from Itsuki's party turning these envoys away, purely for discriminatory reasons. "But, I haven't really done anything to help either. I really wish I could do something."

"It's not your fault. Our countries have been at odds for ages. Naturally, slavery would come about as a result of that animosity. Ending it is not so simple."

"I'm well aware…" Asuka said.

"And what about you? You and the Shield Hero are our last hope."

"I'm sorry, but I can't." said Asuka sadly, "Not for the reasons you might be thinking, but I can't leave Melromarc just yet. Not while the next Wave is fast approaching. Much as I hate being here, I can't just leave. Someday, I'll come to Siltvelt to help out in any way I can. It just can't happen right now."

Truthfully, she still wasn't 100% ready for adventuring after last night. She needed time to recover herself before anything else. Preparation for the Second Wave came next.

"I see. Thank you for being honest with us." Kayles bowed.

"Again, I'm really sorry." said Asuka, "By the way, I never thought to ask this, but when do the Waves of Catastrophe actually appear? There is a set time limit, right?"

"From what we know, the Waves appear rather sporadically. If legends are to be believed, I think they apart a month or two apart from one another."

"A month or two, huh...?" Asuka pondered. Several weeks have gone by since the First Wave and the summoning of the Four Cardinal Heroes. Just to be sure, it was probably a good idea to go see the Dragon Hourglasses at the Three Heroes Church.

"Do you happen to know where the Shield Hero is?" asked Ugo.

"I saw him early this morning, but I'm afraid I don't know. He could be in Castle-Town by now." Asuka replied. The two looked hesitant to go to the capital in search of the Shield Hero. Understandable, given that the capital seemed to be the epicenter of the relief in human supremacy, and Demi-humans were generally not treated well there. "Are you guys gonna be okay doing into the capital?"

"Thank you for your concern, but we have our duty to fulfill. Our feelings about this country can't weigh us down." Ugo answered.

"Ugo is right. It will be disappointing if the Shield Hero turns us down too, but at least we succeeded in meeting the Four Cardinal Heroes of legend. We're especially glad to have met you, Sword Hero-sama. Your kindness and honesty have touched us deeply."

"Just call me Asuka." Asuka smiled, "And it's no trouble at all."

"Again, I express our gratitude for your kindness, Sword- Asuka-sama. We'll be taking our leave now. Farewell." said Kayles as he and Ugo bow once last time and went on their way.

"Stay safe out there!" Asuka waved. Now that she had a moment to herself, she had to ponder what those envoys really wanted. If they came to Melromarc to meet the Four Cardinal Heroes, why were they being extra sneaky around her? Did they not want to disturb her from her nap? Despite their friendless, there was just something odd about them that the Sword Hero couldn't place. Kayles was polite and did most of the talking, while Ugo seemed to only say what was relevant. There might more to the duos mission then meets the eye.

Amidst her pondering, she decided it was around time to head back to Vento's Mansion.

"I should probably get back to the mansion. Rino-chan and Conan-kun might be worried."

That was when she finally noticed a familiar presence watching her from behind. She turned and saw a familiar black canine tail barely poking out from the bushes.

"Conan-kun?"

After a short flinch, Conan emerged from the bushes he was hiding in.

"Did you follow me out here on your own?"

"I… no…" Conan awkwardly answered. Clearly he was following her. Otherwise, why would be so close to her and waiting until those other Demi-humans were gone?

Instead of being upset, Asuka was a little impressed. He kept himself hidden this long without her knowing. Most of it could be attributed to her state of mind being in disarray, but his hiding skills were something to be admired. With training, he could become a skillful Shinobi. Asuka never actually thought of him as a potential party member before. While the majority of Demi-humans in Melromarc were slaves, she heard that some can be adventurers. Since he had nowhere to go and sooner or later, he would wind up becoming a slave, maybe taking him along with would be a good idea, as it would ensure his safety and she could teach how to defend himself, assuming he was okay with it, of course.

"It's okay. Let's go back together." Asuka smiled, gathering her sandals and tying up her hair back up.

Conan awkwardly nodded. After learning that she had gone out on her own, he felt he couldn't her alone, so he followed her from a distance to make something didn't happen. He wasn't expecting those Siltvelt envoys to show up. Maybe he could have gone with them to when the time came, he would go back to Siltvelt. But, wouldn't that mean leaving Asuka and the Shield Hero to deal with the people of this country? He didn't know for sure how things would play out if they were left here on their own.

Conan couldn't really understand why he was concerned about her. She could clearly defend herself as seen with that duel where she made the Spear Hero look like a fool. But, most importantly, she was human, and she couldn't truly be trusted, and whatever happened to her wasn't his business. He had been betrayed and mistreated by numerous humans during his time here, but Asuka didn't show any hatred for him. She was one of the Four Cardinal Heroes, and one of the Three Heroes who were worshipped by the people of this country who despise Demi-humans and Beastmen. Something about her kept him drawn to him and he could not figure out why.

Meanwhile, as the two Siltvelt envoys walk into the distance…

"At least she didn't seem like a fool like the Spear and Bow Heroes." said Ugo.

"Ugo!"

"It's the truth, Kayles. They may be chosen by the Legendary Weapons, but they're still humans. They won't accept us so easily." Ugo said with disdain, "Still, despite her short stature, she appears to have healthy body. Were she to mate with the strongest of our tribes, she could produce strong heirs and ensure the survival of our dying clan."

"Let's… not discuss that." said Kayles, apprehensive of his partner's desire to preserve their clan, "We came here with the intention of asking the Sword Hero to help us protect Siltvelt, not to force her to come back with us just for our clan's preservation."

"Disappointing…" Ugo replied in annoyance of his partner's cowardice, "And what should we do with the knowledge we acquired regarding how the Shield Hero has been treated in this country, not to mention that disgraceful duel between the Sword and Spear Heroes?"

"We'll withhold that for now. If we start a war now over the disgrace the Sword and Shield Heroes have gone through, the Second Wave could swoop over our heads and end us all amidst of the fighting."

"I see your point. Then after the Second Wave, we report to our superiors."

"Indeed. Even if they are not our objects of worship, the mistreatment of any the Cardinal Heroes is unforgivable. For now, let's observe a little more."

[-A Little Later-]

Asuka and Conan arrive back at Vento's Mansion.

"Welcome back, Sword Hero, Conan-kun." greeted Vento as they set foot in the door, "So, how was that walk? Did you enjoy yourself and clear your mind a bit?" he asked.

"It was fine. The lake was really pretty, and I felt some relief. Also, nothing out of the ordinary happened." Asuka said. She decided not to tell Vento about the Demi-humans she just met, thinking it was better not to let anyone know there were envoys from Siltvelt, given the animosity between the two countries.

Conan didn't say a word either.

"I see. It's a good thing you didn't stay too long out there. At night, things tend to get rough with the creatures skulking about around. I'm sure Conan-kun made a good bodyguard." Vento said, to Conan's annoyance.

"I appreciate his concern, but I'm pretty sure I can handle myself." Asuka smiled at Conan, who blushed a little and turned away.

"In the state you're currently in?"

Asuka didn't answer right away, but only with an awkward smile.

"I thought not." Vento shrugged, "You don't have to rush the recovery process. Take all the time you need. My doors are open."

"Thank you, Vento-san. But, I can't keep stay out of commission forever. And I don't want to impose on you forever like this."

"Well, luckily for you, we can get started on that house right away. I already have the crew, equipment, and building materials on hand, ready and waiting."

"That quickly? I mean, it's only been a few days since we've met!"

"When you're a wealthy and successful merchant like myself, things tend to go by smoothly and much quicker than they normally would." Vento grinned, "Now then, you must be feeling tired from your walk. Why not rest up a bit? We can discuss the finer details of your living arrangements in my study once you're ready."

"Sure." Asuka nodded.

After that, Vento went on his way to his private study, Rino was next to approach the two.

"Hey, Asuka! Welcome back!" Rino said.

"I'm back, Rino-chan!" Asuka said cheerfully.

"I guess that private walk did you some good. That's great to hear." Rino smiled. She was a little surprised to see Conan with her. "Conan went with you?"

"No, he followed to make sure I was okay. At least that's what I'm assuming."

"N-No I wasn't!"

"Haha! That's cute." Rino chuckled, "So anyway, I bet that fresh lake air gave you some peace, didn't it?"

"Yeah. I cleared my mind a little bit, but I'm not sure when I'll a hundred present just yet. Especially with the Second Wave coming up. That means I might to pay a visit to the Three Heroes Church. Plus, I need to get my armor fixed."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, you don't want to run into Motoyasu and his party, do you?" Rino had some venom in her tone as she asked this question.

Conan's face hardened after hearing 'Spear Hero'. After what that man did to Asuka, the wolf boy came to dislike him a lot.

"Of course I don't. There's no telling what could happen if I run into them. But, I can't just sit here and hope to get better by the time the Wave hits. I need to get back into my A-game as quick as possible. So, I need to see the Dragon Hourglass and see how much time we have before the next Wave."

If there was one thing abundantly clear, it was that every Cardinal Hero needed to be at their best for the Waves of Catastrophe. Clearly, the King and his witch of a daughter do not understand that, which led to Naofumi being handicapped on the first day of this whole mess, not to mention the trial crippling his reputation. And Motoyasu was clearly not been taking this as seriously as he should. His fighting style told her all she needed to know, in that he probably won't be of much use during the Second Wave, assuming the monsters weren't too difficult to deal with. Itsuki was debatable, since she hasn't seen him fight yet. Given his current personality, it was probably best to assume he was the same as Motoyasu. In any case, this meant that she would have to be the one to put an end to this Wave of Catastrophe and the ones following after as quickly as humanly possible, and for that to happen, she needed to recover her strength, fix her current equipment, train hard, and level as quickly as possible.

"I see your point. As amazing as you were in the duel, you're going to need more strength in hopes of fighting during the Wave. But, since it's starting to get late, why don't you call it a day and go to the church tomorrow?"

"Sounds good." Asuka nodded, "Will you come with me? I'm a little scared to go by myself."

Naturally, this was largely because she didn't want to bump into Motoyasu or Myne on her way there alone. As she said, there was no telling what could happen.

"Yeah, of course I will. There's no way I'd leave you alone in town!"

"Thanks." Asuka smiled in relief and turned to Conan, "By the way, Conan-kun, do you wanna come along?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, you're usually hulled up in your room, so going to see Castle-Town together might be fun."

Conan couldn't formulate an answer for the sudden request.

"You know, it still weirds me out that you decided to come with me and Lord Vento to see Asuka's duel. Castle-Town is pretty much where Demi-humans get the most heat, and has the most slaves. Ah!" Rino placed a hand over her mouth after realizing what she just said, "Sorry. You must have been really uncomfortable then because of that."

"I know about the capital… and I know about the bad blood between our races. The enslavement of Demi-humans isn't a big deal to me." Conan said, surprisingly maturely, "That being said, I don't want to go there and get sold off at any time."

The boy walked off to his room. He couldn't really place why he wanted to watch Asuka fight, but it was admittedly amazing. He wasn't going to say that in front of her, though. He just wanted to avoid being betrayed.

"Hey, we wouldn't do that! Come back!" Rino called out to him, but he ignored her.

"It's okay, let him be."

"But-"

"It looks he doesn't fully trust anyone yet. I should have known he wouldn't want to go with us." Asuka said sadly.

"That's not surprising. I can only imagine the kind of torment he went through. I mean, people were giving him dirty looks as we made our way to the coliseum, but he didn't say a word." said Rino.

"Damn those people…" Asuka muttered in contempt.

"You know, it never really made sense to me as to why we should hate Demi-humans. Sure, we've been at war with Siltvelt a few times, but that's all in the past, right? Can't we just burry the hatchet and get along?"

"Some people don't see it that way. I heard that King Aultcray really hates Demi-humans because of something that happened in his past. Not that it justifies anything he's doing in the present."

"Yeah and because of that trial and what happened after the duel, fighting off the Waves might tougher than ever now that the Cardinal Heroes hate each other. All because of the Witch of a Princess."

Asuka downcast, feeling a pit in her stomach after hearing the word "Princess".

"I don't know if calling her a Princess is appropriate when she's clearly the furthest thing from it…"

She always thought that princesses were kind, lovable, and pretty. Princess Malty was the exact opposite of kind and lovable, and the only thing considerably good about her were her looks. She had people murdered for her own amusement, she framed Naofumi for sexual assault, sold Rino into slavery, spread lies, interfered with a sacred one on one duel, and on top of taking advantage of her weakened state to cop a feel, tried to enslave Asuka just to further amuse herself.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, Asuka would greatly enjoy seeing that pretty face damaged in one way or another.

"She'll pay for what she did. I promise I'll make her pay for everything." Rino swore after seeing Asuka's solemn face.

The Sword Hero didn't know who had the deeper hatred for the vile Princess, herself or Rino. Either way, it wouldn't do any good for them to keep festering these kinds of emotions.

"That's… enough of that." said Asuka, "Why don't we turn in early for our errand tomorrow?"

"Okay. See you in the morning." Rino said. The two part ways and retire to their respective rooms this time.

[-The Next Day: Adventurer's Guild-]

"So, Asuka-chan really isn't coming back here?" Motoyasu asked Evelyn at the reception desk. He remembered that Asuka went to her for most of her quests and they seemed like they were friends, so he thought she might know something about how Asuka was doing.

"That's correct. The restriction is still in place, so there isn't anything she can do at this guild, and there isn't anything we at the guild can do about it." Evelyn answered, in a very testy, but civil manner to the Spear Hero. It honestly surprised her that he had enough nerve to act as though he was truly concerned about her, despite last night presenting evidence to the contrary.

Motoyasu had been in a bit of slump after the outcome of the duel two days ago. Had it not been for Myne and his party perking him up with their cheerful reassurance, he would have stayed home and not done anything at all yesterday. The first thing the Spear Hero decided to do this morning was to start looking for Asuka. The first place he thought was the adventurer's guild, but he had forgotten about the restriction on her, so she wouldn't have any reason to return to the guild.

Along the way, he thought he imagined some of the folks in Castle-Town giving him scornful stink eyes. This cute receptionist lady seemed to be scornful of him too. That wasn't important right now. Asuka took presentence over all, and he wanted to make sure she was okay. He hoped she didn't take her lose too personally. She was also last seen with Naofumi after all that drama, and who knew what that bastard had done to her alone. If not using a drug, he must be using some kind of brainwashing ability no one knows about.

"I see… well then, if you hear anything from her, tell her that… I'm sorry for how things… got out of hand…"

"That's an understatement if I ever heard one, but I will make sure to pass along your message. I'm sure it'll make her happy." Evelyn lied, knowing that it wouldn't make the Sword Hero happy in her presumed state of mind.

"Great, thanks!" Motoyasu smiled.

"Motoyasu-sama, we should really go on another quest." said Myne as she stood behind him.

"Yes, please do and be gone. Both of you…" Evelyn thought.

"Oh right. Need something with a huge pay, so I can get Asuka-chan a get-well gift. What kind of things does she like? Come to think of it, she never told me. But hey, it's me! I'm sure she'll love what I'll get her! All cute girls love my gifts!"

"R-Right…" Myne smiled wryly. Telling Motoyasu that the Sword Bimbo would look at him differently if he impressed her with his heroics was all it took to snap him out of his funk. Now he was back to obsessing over that brat. Actually, it was probably more annoying than ever.

The party members of Motoyasu felt the same way. When not flirting with them, or fighting monsters for them, the Spear Hero often wished Asuka was there with them, or talk about how cute she was and how he wanted to protect her from the Shield Hero. It got well past annoying very quickly, and after last night's stunt, they would have abandoned him shortly after, but for most of them, the fear of being sold off like Rino, and the amount of money Motoyasu made were motivating factors for them to stay on and try to put up with his antics a little bit longer. As best they reasonably could.

Elena was one such person who wished she could express her contempt for him, but Myne wouldn't like it if she knew she was intelligent, so she had to keep the brainless beauty act up for convenience sake.

"Ahem!" coughed up a familiar voice. Motoyasu and Myne looked behind and found an annoyed Itsuki waiting for them to finish their business. "If you're done, I would like to select a quest too."

"Oh, hey Itsuki. What's up? You look kinda pissed." said Motoyasu.

"I wouldn't be cross with you if you didn't stand there with that happy-go-lucky attitude. Now please, move aside." Itsuki pushed ahead of Motoyasu to the reception desk.

"Okay, wow! What is your deal?" Motoyasu asked with an annoyed glare.

"I would like to take on another job request." Itsuki said to Evelyn, ignoring the Spear Hero.

"A-Ah, yes! Right away!" Evelyn rushed to back to kind the specific job requests for the Bow Hero.

"Itsuki, don't ignore me!" Motoyasu yelled.

The Bow sighed with annoyance at his fellow Hero.

"It honestly surprises me how you can casually pretend nothing's wrong. You keep acting as if everything is normal, but haven't you noticed how people look at you now?" Itsuki asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean, after last night's duel, where you had to cheat in order to win and almost let Asuka-san get branded with a slave crest!"

"O-Oh… that was… Wait, I won the duel! W-Well, that is until before it was declared a draw, but you get the idea!" Motoyasu retorted.

"Only because Myne-san interfered, remember?" Itsuki, "But, that's beside the point, isn't it? Not that you had as much to begin with, but thanks to last night, you don't have many fans. The people see you in a worse light than before."

"What?" Motoyasu gasped. He wasn't imagining the cold stares?

"You must be mistaken, Itsuki-sama. Excluding the Shield Hero and that troublesome Sword Bimbo, everyone loves the Cardinal Heroes."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Myne-san." Itsuki said, turning to the redhead, "I've heard lots of negative talk about how the King and Princess trying to enslave a Cardinal Hero while Motoyasu-san just stood by and watched was unthinkable and unforgivable, and it really has painted you in a bad light in their eyes. Meanwhile, the people have started to show sympathy for Asuka-san."

To that, Myne's eyebrow twitched. They were sympathizing with that little whelp? After all the rumors they spread because of her refusal to be the Cardinal Sword Hero they wanted? That was way too sudden.

"Wait! Myne said it was for the good of the country! I know enslaving Asuka-chan was extreme, but-"

"But what? No seriously! What exactly was going through that empty head of yours at the time? You realize you could have wound up worse than Naofumi-san if the enslavement was a success, don't you? Were you that desperate to get your hands on her that you were willing to let her become a slave so she wouldn't resist?" Itsuki asked in disgust.

"D-Don't compare me to Naofumi!" Motoyasu snapped, "And of course I wasn't okay with Asuka-chan becoming a slave! I just…"

"Just what?" Itsuki glared at Motoyasu. Seeing as the Spear Hero didn't come up with an answer, Itsuki turned his hostile gaze to Myne, "Also, Myne-san, what was your true reason for wanting to enslave Asuka-san?"

"P-Papa and I explained it, didn't we? That we wanted to ensure Melromarc's safety and peace-"

"By forcing a Hero to stay? Or was it about settling a personal vendetta like Asuka-san suggested?" asked Itsuki, "Asuka-san's loss should have been enough, even if you had to cheat for it, but outright molesting her in front of an entire audience just to prove a point goes beyond excessive."

Myne could do nothing but contort face in annoyance.

"EXCUSE ME!" Evelyn shouted above the two Heroes, having returned with a job request for the Bow Hero. "I would appreciate it if you took this discussion elsewhere. This is an adventurer's guild, after all. This is a place of business, not stirring up a mini-drama."

"How dare you say that to me, you commoner?!" Myne hissed.

"No, I believe she's right." said Itsuki, taking the sheet, "I apologize for causing a scene. I'll be back soon."

The Bow Hero turned on his boot heel and strode over to his party.

"Hey, Itsuki!"

"If you want the people of Melromarc to see you in a better light, I suggest you shape up, Motoyasu-san." with those parting words, Itsuki and his party left.

"Dammit!" Motoyasu growled. He thought Itsuki was getting too big for little britches. It was bad enough he tried to call his win a lose and sided with the Queen's Shadow making it a draw, but now he thought he could talk down to him?

"Pay him no mind, Motoyasu-sama. You are the greatest of the Cardinal Heroes. He'll see that clearly once you clear the next Wave." said Myne as she hugged his arm.

"Right… He'll see. And so will Asuka-chan. Not only am I the greatest and most charming Hero, I'm also the only one qualified to protect her and all the cute girls!"

"Yes, exactly!"

"Do you want to take on a quest, or don't you?" asked Evelyn in a disgusted tone. She wasn't the only one, as all the female receptionists groaned and sneered at the Spear Hero's declaration. A portion of the receptionists truly liked Asuka for her hardworking and humble personality, who didn't even mind taking on low paying jobs. After the restriction on her was placed, and after what the Spear Hero, First Princess, and the King put her through, there was barely any respect for them left.

Even some of the other adventurers showed little more than contempt for the Spear Hero after his stunt in the duel and allowing his fellow Hero to be potentially enslaved. They couldn't believe he was still allowed to take quests after his stupidity nearly led to the Sword Hero being enslaved.

"O-Oh, yeah, hang on a second!" said the oblivious Motoyasu. He still didn't seem to notice the glares and not so subtle whispers being sent his way. Or, maybe he did and just tried to block them out.

Meanwhile, Myne did notice how these commoners were acting, and did not appreciate it. If they think they could get away with talking behind her back, they were sorely mistaken.

Meanwhile, as Itsuki and his party travel the streets of Melromarc…

"Itsuki-sama, you needn't trouble yourself with that Spear Hero riffraff." said Mald, walking behind his party leader.

"I know, but he's really starting to irritate me now." Itsuki grumbled.

"Yes, being the royal favorite grants him more privileges I imagine." Mald could see the envious side of Itsuki, knowing that Princess Malty chose that Spear Buffoon specifically to be her protector, and thus the King would be more often than not willing to praise him for his deeds.

"It's not just that… his ignorance is just painful and annoying." Itsuki scowled. He could not believe how Motoyasu was playing this game. Was he so corrupt that he'd be willing to forgo any true sense of chivalry over one girl?

"I see your point. Clearly, the Spear Hero is not picture of Heroism. Either is the worthless Shield Hero, nor is that weak willed Sword Hero. Only you can shine as the perfect example of a Hero!" Mald declared. The Shield Hero was a weakling worshiped by worthless filthy Demi-humans, plain and simple. The Spear Hero was a buffoon of the highest order, so getting past him would no trouble, even with Princess Malty backing his corner. And then there was the Sword Hero. Her surprisingly exceptional fighting prowess might have lit a competitive fire in the Bow Hero, in which case, it was clear they needed to ensure he would surpass her as well, not just the other Heroes. Personally, Mald found some satisfaction in that wench's humiliating defeat and near enslavement for how she embarrassed him and his friend, the Captain.

Itsuki listened to Mald. As much as he would disagree with his right hand man disparaging his fellow Heroes, even if some might deserve it, he knew he was right. He had to be the one to show this world what true Heroism was, and he would do that with his own brand of justice.

At the same time, he couldn't help but wonder what Asuka was doing, now that she was probably out of commission for a while. She might not even feel well enough to fight the next Wave. Whatever she decided to do was her choice.

Speaking of whom, he was surprised to see her face to face as they were making their way to the main gate.

Still wearing her new civilian, Asuka and Rino were out on the errand they arranged in Castle-Town, in hopes of repairing her damaged armor and checking the Dragon Hourglass. One hurdle though… getting through these gates, and wondering into Royal Trash territory.

"Asuka-san…?"

"Itsuki-kun…"

It got awkwardly quickly between the two Cardinal Heroes, who stare silently at each other.

"W-What a surprise. Running into each other so soon…" Asuka mumbled.

"I'm more surprised that you're wandering the streets so soon after what happened." Itsuki said.

"Trust me, I don't want to be here any more than I have to. But, I can't stay on the sidelines. Not while the Second Wave is drawing closer."

"Is that why you're in town today?" asked Itsuki.

"Yeah. I want to get my armor fixed up, so I'm visiting the regular blacksmith." Asuka replied.

"Why don't you just get new armor to replace it? There are better blacksmiths around."

"No. I trust the one I'm visiting on a regular basis." Asuka said, "And I'm hoping to see the Dragon Hourglass too, just to check the time for the next Wave."

"I see." Itsuki frowned a little, seeing how the Sword Hero was dead set on fighting the Wave of Catastrophe even in her state of mind.

Preferably, he rather Asuka did not participate at all, because of her superior fighting capabilities obviously outclassing him, Motoyasu, and most certainly Naofumi. How could he prove his heroics if he couldn't match up to someone superior to him in physical combat? He had a measly psychic ability that made things easier to see and let him use long distance weapons, but she had superhuman speed and strength, and if the lectures she gave Motoyasu were of any indication, actual training on how to use those assets. This all meant that she had a clear advantage over all of them. Just what kind of game did she play that allowed her to do all that? It was downright unfair.

But then, another thought occurred to Itsuki. Where would the challenge be if she didn't fight during the next Wave? One way you look at it, the Cardinal Heroes were competing to see who the best and most heroic of them were. Naofumi was out, since he could hardly be classified as a Hero or even be useful in battle, barring defense. Motoyasu had next to no true aspirations of being Hero as far Itsuki could tell. And Asuka, while naïve, seemed to be trying to do what she thought was heroic, but ultimately failed, which resulted in the negative rumors and gossip about her circulating, having her quest privileges restricted, and being cheated out of her victory. Not to mention the attempted slavery, which thankfully didn't work thanks to the Legendary Weapons protecting them.

In any case, if anyone had to be the real, praiseworthy Hero of this world, it had to be Itsuki. That was what he told himself, and he would prove it during the Waves.

"If that's how you feel, then see you when the next Wave hits." the Bow Hero said as he and party walked past Asuka and Rino.

"Wait, Itsuki-kun!"

"What is it?" asked Itsuki as he turned back to Asuka.

"Do you… do you miss home?" Asuka asked, to the Bow Hero's confusion.

"What?"

"I mean, your original world… do you miss it?"

"I'm not sure what you mean?"

"Have you ever thought about returning home, even once while you were here? Surely, you have something worth coming back to, if you really wanted to go home."

"What's there to go back to?" Itsuki smirked, "This world is everything I need. Life back in my old world wasn't nearly as great."

"So, you don't wanna go back?"

"No, because honestly it's not worth it to leave the people in this world who revere us. Most importantly, we're the Cardinal Heroes, and we have a duty to protect and save them." said the Bow Hero, "Unfortunately, you and Naofumi-san don't seem to care about that duty. You particularly want to keep making things harder for yourself by defying the King and rejecting the people's adoration. Not to mention, you almost got enslaved because of your selfishness."

Asuka quickly got offended, "These people are the ones who are selfish! They only worship us because they see us in such a warped light, and they get upset if we don't act in accordance to their twisted beliefs! I don't want that!"

"Hey, Itsuki-sama has spoken!" Mald yelled, stepping between Itsuki and Asuka, "Instead of whining, why don't you be thankful that he went out of his way to stop you from being enslaved?"

"Huh?" Asuka was surprised at this man stepping in between her and Itsuki. This really had nothing to do with him, so why bother to stick his nose into this? It certainly didn't warrant him being so rude.

Rino wore a similarly unimpressed expression to Asuka as the man stood arrogantly.

"Mald-san, there's no need for that." Itsuki scolded, "Despite not doing much of anything, I still voluntarily went down to stop the enslavement because I found it appalling. She doesn't have anything to be thankful for."

"Actually… I do appreciate that you came to my defense, no matter how small it was. And I do appreciate how honest you were about answering my question just now. If that's how you truly feel, I won't say another word."

"As long as you understand. By for now, Asuka-san. I hope your recovery goes well." said Itsuki.

He and party took off soon after. However, Mald remained behind just for a bit, because he had some parting advice he wanted to share with the Sword Hero.

"Hey, Sword Wench." he said to Asuka, "Do yourself a favor and keep your little pity party away from Itsuki-sama. He's going to clean house at the next Wave and the following ones after, and last thing he needs is you slowing him down with your childish girlish feelings!"

While Asuka was stoic in the face of the older man's insults, Rino was quick to get upset, "What the hell was that?! Take back what you just said you bucket-headed asshole!"

"Why should I?"

"I know for a fact that Asuka's better than the Bow Hero! She saved me from bandits alone, and she mopped the floor with moronic Spear Hero the other day! I don't see a snowball's chance of the Bow Hero one upping her!"

"The Spear Hero's an idiot, obviously! He's no match for Itsuki-sama! And this Sword Wench just got lucky, because she was fighting weaklings! I'm actually thankful she disbanded her party on the first day! I wouldn't be able to stand looking her in the eye for standing up for the pathetic Shield Hero and mangy Demi-humans. Honestly, little girls like you shouldn't even be doing a man's job!"

That was when Asuka remembered him. He was the tall man in armor when they first formed parties. Asuka disbanded her own party because she didn't want rumors to guide their choice in Hero, most of all, feeling that Naofumi getting no party members based on those unreliable rumors was unfair. Now she was really glad she disbanded her party, because of how unpleasant this man was, and it was very unlikely she would get along with him, due to his rudeness and apparent sexism.

"Mald-san!" a young man called out to the armored nobleman. He had orange hair and green eyes, and he wore light armor. Asuka also recognized him as one of her would be party members prior to her disbanding it.

"What now, Welt?" Mald glared at the young man. He was lucky Mald even bothered to remember his name, if not for his contribution to the party.

"Itsuki-sama is waiting on you."

"Hmph! Fine. I don't have any more time to waste on a sniveling little girl." Mald sneered and walked away to join with Itsuki, leaving Rino seething with annoyance and Asuka sighing in relief that they wouldn't have to deal with him anymore.

"I'm sorry about that. I promise the rest of us aren't like him." said Welt to Asuka.

"O-Oh, no! Not a problem." replied Asuka, "By the way, you and… that guy were going to be in my party before we began adventuring, right?"

"You remember me and Mald-san?" asked Welt.

"Yeah, vaguely. I guess me disbanding the party before you got any chances to prove yourselves must have touched a nerve for all of you, huh?" said Asuka, with a slight guilty expression.

"No, you were right to call us out on singling out the Shield Hero because of some dumb rumors. I think Mald-san just took it more personally then he should have." said Welt, "That being said, I hope I get the chance to apologize to the Shield Hero."

"Apologize to Naofumi-kun?"

"Yes, regarding that trial… I don't have as much faith in the Shield Hero as anyone, but… after seeing you fight so hard to defend him, and how King Aultcray and Princess Malty treated you after your duel with Spear Hero, it made some of us have second thoughts. If we had known what was going to happen, we would have sided with the Shield Hero immediately and this whole mess wouldn't have spiraled out of control."

"I-I see…" this came as a surprise for the Sword Hero. She didn't have any time to get to know her would-be party members before the disbandment, and since most of them went to Itsuki's party, she never talked to any of them personally before now. It was easy to assume that with Itsuki's increasing arrogance, and given how Mald didn't have a muzzle on him, everyone in Itsuki's party were nearly as insufferable, but Welt seemed like a pleasant individual in comparison to his rude comrade. "But, none of this is your fault. The King and his daughter were the ones responsible."

"Still, I also need to apologize for the King and Princess trying to enslave you!" Welt bowed his head to Asuka, much to her and Rino's surprise, "Everything about how the duel ended and the aftermath… It was just wrong in so many ways. I'm honestly surprised they'd go that far. Please, as hard as it must be to do otherwise, don't think everyone in this country is like them!" Welt wore a pained and guilt-written expression as he spoke.

Asuka couldn't find the words answer him with. Seeing him being this sincere made her self-conscious, in addition to the unpleasant memories of that night making her even more uneasy. Part of her knew that Aultcray, Myne, and most others like the nobility she had dealt with during her time here did not make up the majority of Melromarc's people, or this world, but one bad experience after another made it difficult to swallow. She felt conflicted about how to truly feel at this point.

"I… should get going." Welt said after seeing the somewhat distraught face of the Sword Hero, "Please, take care, Sword Hero-sama!"

Welt left and joined with his party, so they could finally go on their latest quest.

"Are you okay, Asuka?" asked a concerned Rino.

"Yeah. Just a little surprised. I didn't know anyone in Itsuki-kun's party would be that nice."

"I'm pretty surprised, too. At least he wasn't like that tin plated jackass."

"That's for sure!" Asuka giggled, "I hope Welt-kun and his friends will be okay out there." Asuka said with a smile.

With that done, Asuka and Rino made their way through Castle-Town to get to Erhard's shop, that being on their to-do list first.

Along the way, unfortunately, Asuka felt a strange atmosphere surrounding her. The people in Castle-Town were silent, barely even whispering. They went about their business as best they could, and avoided eye contact.

As nice as it was that they weren't talking behind her back this time, it didn't make Asuka feel any better.

"Why do I feel like they're showing me some poorly concealed pity…?"

Was it because of the aftermath of the duel? Where they tried to protest against her enslavement but fell silent under threat of death? Were they feeling some sense of guilt for doing nothing? It might not be entirely the case, since there were still some hostile glares thrown her way for her continued defiance of expectations, but those weren't nearly as prevalent.

Either way, it all made Asuka very uncomfortable. More so than she originally did when she put it out of her mind and focused on her training and leveling. Now that she was unable to tune them out because her mind was currently unbalanced, she began to feel more out of place than she did before, and it felt like the negativity just increased.

The Sword Hero and her partner quickened their pace to Erhard's shop.

It didn't take them long to reach the blacksmith's shop and enter. Asuka, in a slight panic, had slammed the door behind them in an effort to escape that oppressive atmosphere.

Breathing hard, Asuka felt that walking through town like this was harder than she thought.

"Asuka…" Rino uttered in worry.

"Well, looks like somebody's energetic. And not in a good way." the old guy's voice said.

Asuka turned and saw a concerned Erhard at the counter.

"Hey, Boss. Sorry, we didn't come at a bad time, did I?"

"Naw. You're always welcome, Lass." Erhard smiled, "Anyway, I'm guessing you're not very fond of how the folks here at looking at you now."

"I saw lots of mixed stares and feelings on my way here." Asuka answered as she approached the counter, "Though, some still seemed hostile, they mostly looked at me with pity, and it makes me so uncomfortable."

"Yeah. Getting restricted on quests is one thing, but a Cardinal Hero, especially one of the Three Heroes, suffering a defeat like that, and then almost getting branded a slave… that's gotta send off some sympathy bells for them."

"That's so weird, though. Why pity me when they hated how I stood for Naofumi-kun and showed kindness to Demi-humans?" asked a downcast Asuka.

"It probably won't last long. Don't let it bother you too much." said Erhard, "And you'll be happy to know that the King, First Princess, and the Spear Guy are getting flank for what happened."

"They rightfully should." Rino said with disgust. Asuka had an equally disgusted look on her face.

"If you two are thinkin' of carving payback on them for what happened… I think you should save your energy for the Second Wave."

"I know… and I wasn't planning to get payback…" Asuka replied, "Speaking of the Wave, I'm going to need my equipment ready to go for that, and my new job."

"New job?"

"She gonna start working as a mercenary pretty soon." Rino said.

"Really now?" Erhard smiled.

"Yeah!" Asuka said excitedly, "It'll help me make money and let me gain EXP for my training."

"Sounds like a good idea to me. I assume you want your armor fixed up for that then?"

"Yeah." Asuka reformed her keychain sized sword into its normal size and activated its inventory. She took out the damaged War Maiden's Armor, and handed it over to the blacksmith, piece by piece. She discovered the inventory feature as she was beginning her journey. She could fit just about anything in there, so long as it wasn't too big, and wasn't raw meat, which could go bad and contaminate anything she had inside.

After a few minutes of careful exanimation, Erhard smiled again, "This isn't too bad. I still have materials left over, so I can repair this in a day's work."

"That's a relief." Asuka sighed.

"Of course, it'll still cost you. Especially after the kid copied three of my shields yesterday." Erhard said with an annoyed tone.

"Eh?"

"Don't play innocent. You told him about that Weapon Copy thing your sword can do, didn't you?"

[-Flashback: Yesterday-]

Naofumi entered Erhard's shop after leaving Callma Village.

"Hey there, Kid. How's the Sword Lass doing?" asked Erhard.

"Just fine." Naofumi replied, before going over to the shields on display.

"What're you doing?" asked the old guy.

Naofumi quickly picked up one of the shields. Almost immediately, his Legendary Shield copied the other shield's appearance and unlocked a new Bonus Skill.

|Siderite Shield Copy Complete! Equip Bonus Skill Unlocked: Shooting Star Shield!|

"It worked!"

"'It worked' my ass!" Erhard yelled, "Did the Sword Lass tell you about that Weapon Copy bullshit?! You two keep this up and you're gonna run me out of business!"

"T-That was so cool!" Raphtalia chimed.

"No it's not! It's a crime!"

"Relax, old man. I got money, so I'll pay up. Just as soon as I find two more shields. That's about as much as I can afford."

"Hey!" Erhard couldn't do anything about his shields practically being stolen from him right in front of him.

[-Present Day-]

"I-I see… I told him to ask before taking them…" Asuka muttered in annoyance. She quickly spotted Erhard looking just as, if not more annoyed. "I'm sorry. I had good intentions in telling him about the Weapon Copy System." Asuka bowed, "He was in need of serious help if he was going to stand a chance against the upcoming Wave and beyond."

"Don't sweat. I know." Erhard smiled, "Nothing wrong with helping a friend out, yeah? Besides, he paid up after copying those shields, so you don't have to worry your pretty little head about it."

"Okay." Asuka smiled in relief, "So which ones did he take, anyway?"

"The Siderite Shield, the Moonlight Shield, and the Shadodite Shield. Those are pretty good, so I think he'll make good use of 'em." answered Erhard, "As for your armor… it's an easy fix, so how about 50 silver for it?"

"Sounds good." Asuka paid the money to Erhard, "I'll be back tomorrow to pick it up."

"You got it. See then, Lass. Oh, and more thing." Erhard said, "I'm glad you're doing okay, especially you had to go through that BS." Erhard's expression displayed clear sympathy for what happened, and guilt at not being able to do anything to stop it.

"Don't be. You're not to blame at all." Asuka smiled at the old blacksmith.

"Stay strong out there." Erhard smiled.

Soon after, Asuka and Rino made her exit from Erhard Weapon's Shop, and as hesitant as Asuka was, it was time to visit the Three Heroes Church.

[-Cathedral of the Three Heroes Church-]

A reluctant Asuka and Rino enter to the church. Once inside, she was immediately greeted by several nuns, lead by one who wore sunglasses and had a beauty mark near her lower lip.

"Welcome, Sword Hero-sama. Is there anything we can help you with?" the glasses wearing nun asked.

"I need to see the Dragon Hourglass." Asuka answered sternly, "I want to check for the time of the next Wave of Catastrophe."

"I see. Understand." the nun nodded.

Before they could get things underway, Pope Balmus came into the picture.

"Ahh, Sword Hero-sama. I see you came to us a visit." the Pope smiled, "It does my heart good to see that you are doing well after the misfortune you suffered.

Asuka didn't return to pleasant greeting, instead meeting him with a hostile gaze.

"That look upon your face suggests you're upset with me about the attempted enslavement." Balmus sighed, "Because you are one of our treasured Three Heroes, I was quite reluctant to allow it, but given how you were dead set on defying the King and not conforming to our beliefs, I saw no other recourse but to force you in line. I realize my error after seeing how badly the experience affected you, and for that, I humbly apologize."

The Pope bowed his head low as a sign of sincerity.

Asuka was taken aback by this. As pleasant as Balmus was, she couldn't help feeling weary of him and the other members of this church.

"W-Well, the enslavement failed in the end thanks to my weapon, so no harm done…" Asuka said with a conflicted expression. She didn't actually forgive him, but she thought would be better to remain civil with the Pope for now.

"You would forgive such a grievous sin against you? Your generosity overwhelms me, Lady Hero." said Balmus, "But, is your forgiveness extended to the King, First Princess, and the Spear Hero."

To this, Asuka gave a sharp glare at the Pope, so obviously not. There was no forgiving any of those three for the things they did that night. Motoyasu taking a cheap shot and paralyzing her, all while tearing her armor and exposing her breasts for the world to see. Then, there was Myne, for interfering, rubbing her "lose" in her face, gropes her for her own sick amusement, and trying to enslave her. And Aultcray, for letting the interference go unpunished, allowing his daughter to attempt branding her with a slave crest, while even threatening to execute his own people. What kind of King did these things?

"Oh, I see. That is understandable." said the unfazed Pope, "Their actions as of late haven't exactly been the wisest of decisions. Restricting your questing was a most confounding course of action in the wake of punishing you for your ill-thought decisions."

"If you're talking about my standing up for Naofumi-kun and opposing Demi-human enslavement and racism, I suggest you stop complain about it. I've really had enough to here with it." Asuka retorted.

"Yes, of course. I mean no disrespect. You, one of the Three Heroes, are a virtuous soul from a world entirely foreign to us. It is only naturally that you hold different views. But, these views are what lead to the recent surge of bad rumors about you, and the restrictions placed upon you. Not to mention the attempted enslavement after the King and Princess Malty's interference with the duel."

"What happened to apologizing? I hope you didn't come out here so you could complain about what an awful Hero Asuka has been after giving her a half-assed apology." Rino glared at the older man, who was still unfazed.

"No, no! I mean nothing of the sort. In fact, I believe Sword Hero-sama is doing remarkably well for someone so young. I was especially truly impressed by her fighting prowess in comparison to the Spear Hero. She looked as though she were gracefully dancing on the battle field." said the Pope.

"Thank you. I've had training prior to coming here."

"Is that so? Where precisely did you train and learn to fight?" the Pope asked Asuka.

"I'm under no obligation to tell you that." Asuka rebuffed.

"I see. Then please, disregard that last question." the Pope shrugged.

"Just like that? Is trying to rile me up on purpose or is he really that high up in the clouds?"

"Anyway, I've wasted enough time chatting with you. Good day." Asuka and Rino began making her way to the Dragon Hourglass chamber.

"You and your friend are currently staying at Lord Vento's residence in Callma Village, current?" asked the Pope.

Asuka turned her head to him, with clear annoyance and confusion featured on her face.

"How do you know that?" Rino asked.

"Let's chalk it up to rumors, shall we?" answered the Pope, his glasses glinting in the reflective light of the building.

Asuka and Rino couldn't help seeing something ominous in that statement. The Sword Hero began to wonder if the Pope had shadows of his own watching her move from a distance like the Queen did. Thanks to her Shinobi instincts, she had at times felt the presence of someone following her from a far. Sometimes, it felt like Lora, who was one of the Queen's Shadows, and other times, it was different. Because they didn't have any threatening intentions at present, she left them be and more often than not, gave a few of them the slip when she was in a hurry.

"I feel you won't listen to me, but I implore you to heed my advice. Do not trust Lord Vento too much. He is quite secretive as you no doubt have found out for yourself by now."

"I don't appreciate you giving me advice on who to trust. I'll be the one to determine who's untrustworthy or not."

"Of course. Your judgment is your own." Balmus nodded.

After that tense exchange, she entered the chamber where the Dragon Hourglasses was kept.

It was a massive structure, seven meters tall to be exact. It resembled two golden dragons coiling around the huge hourglass. It had red sand slowly pour downward.

Asuka held out her regular sized Legendary Sword and pointed the jewel toward the hourglass's center. A beam of blue light shot out of the jewel and hit the hourglass.

Her HUD received the time for next Wave of Catastrophe.

"Less than two weeks…" Asuka muttered.

"Wow, not gonna lie, that's a really short amount of time." said Rino, "But, it still gives us time to prepare, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. We can't waste too much time." said Asuka.

"God is always with you, Sword Hero-sama."

Asuka didn't bother replying and left the church with Rino in toe.

With their errands complete, they were walking through town to the main gate. But, a knight suddenly appeared as they nearly halfway to the gate.

"Sword Hero-sama!" said the knight as he cautiously walked up to her. Unlike the other knights Asuka had met, this one was rather young, possibly around her age, and he didn't seem to have the same air of indifference or arrogance about him as other knights do.

"Huh? You're one of the royal knights…"

"Yes, that's right. My fellow knights and I have been looking for you since the, um… sacred duel. We hoped you would come with us to castle and-"

"I'm not interested." Asuka interrupted, to the young knight's surprise, "I'm sorry, but my business in town is done, and I need to get going as quickly as possible so I can recover my strength and prepare for the next Wave."

Asuka was about to leave until the young knight stepped in front of her.

"P-Please, wait a moment! I can't let you leave just yet!"

"Let me through please." Asuka asked. This was getting awkward really fast. Usually, the knights just leave her be, but despite his meek demeanor, he was pretty stubborn.

Suddenly, the young knight kneeled before her like he was pleading.

It didn't take long for several people to notice how the knight was prostrating himself before the now nervous Sword Hero.

"Please forgive my rudeness, Lady Hero! I have strict orders from King Aultcray!" he revealed.

"The King?" Asuka's eyes narrowed at the mention of the King.

"Y-Yes. He wishes to speak to you in the throne room."

"What could the King possibly want with Asuka?" a suspicious Rino asked the knight.

"I-It's regarding the… aftermath of the sacred duel." the knight answered. Like Welt, he had a guilt-written expression on his face.

"Really? Well, now I'm even less interested." Asuka said, now more annoyed. So, the King seriously sent someone to escort her to the throne room, just for a chat? What could he want after that fiasco? She didn't know, and she didn't care. She just wanted to leave as fast as possible, especially to avoid the stares. Her annoyance would turn to outright shock when the young knight, in a bold and desperate move, grabbed and pulled at the Sword Hero's skirt. "H-Hey!"

"Please wait, Sword Hero-sama!"

"What're you doing?! Stop tugging on my skirt!" Asuka began wrestling with the knight pulling on her skirt, quite obviously worried that what he was doing was going to draw more attention, and worried that he could potentially pull her skirt off in his desperate attempts at cornering into going with him, neither scenario being desirable for her right now.

"Seriously?! What's wrong with you?!" Rino yelled.

"I understand how you feel at the moment, but please! I'm begging you, Lady Hero! Just give the King a moment of your time!"

More onlookers began noticing what was going on, and starting gathering.

"Doesn't it bother you that people are staring?! And you're still pulling on my skirt!"

"Y-Yes I know and I'm sorry, but I have my orders! I can't let you leave without speaking with the King!"

"Cut it out already!" Asuka shouted, having lost her patience and swiftly kicked the knight away.

Cheeks furiously red while patting her skirt down, Asuka breathed in and out heavily for the amount of energy she exerted, while feelings of guilt wash over her for what she just did.

"A-Asuka…" Rino muttered, worried that the Sword Hero might have made things worse.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that!" Asuka sputtered. She hadn't meant to kick the poor boy in the face, but all anyone could do in this kind of scenario was panic. Not helping were the whispers of the townspeople.

"What was that all about?"

"I don't know, but clearly the Sword Hero not in her right mind if she's just going to kick him to get him to let go."

"I know he's basically a grunt, but he's still a knight. How could she do that him?"

"She must be must afraid of getting touched by others after what happened in that duel."

"Trying to enslave her…? That's just not right. The King and First Princess have gone too far."

"The Queen will punish them for sure for making her this way."

None of them were being subtle at all.

This was one of the other reasons why she wanted to get out of Castle-Town as soon as she possibly could. More whispers and rumors, and they won't stop seeing her as a victim. Well, more legitimately than what happened in Naofumi's phony trial.

"These people are fickle to the extreme…"

First they were welcoming to the Cardinal Heroes sans Naofumi. Then after hearing she came to the Shield Hero's defense and spoke out against racism toward and enslavement of Demi-humans, they call her a Fake Hero. Now, they were quick to shoot looks of pity after she was cheated out of her victory and the enslavement failed. In any case, these swerves were insanely bad in her opinion.

She looked at the young knight with some pity in her eyes, as he sat up, with a guilty expression on his face. Seeing, she decided that if it was quick, she could hear what the King had to say.

"Alright, you win. I'll go see the King."

"O-Oh, thank you, Sword Hero-sama. And I apologize for this inconvenience." said the young knight.

"Are you sure about this? Given your history with the King, I can only assume it's not going to end well." said Rino.

"I know, but the sooner I get this over with, the better." Asuka replied, "You go on ahead. I'll catch up when I can."

"You want to go see him alone?"

"It's probably better that way."

"A-Alright. I'll see when you get home." Rino left for Callma Village after that, leaving Asuka alone with the knight.

"R-Right this way, Lady Hero. A-And again, I sincerely apologize for inconveniencing you like this." said the blushing knight. He truly embarrassed himself and the Sword Hero for his stunt. What happened in the sacred duel was already bad enough, but he couldn't think of any way else to convince her to go see King Aultcray.

"Stop apologizing. I agreed to see the King, didn't I?"

[-Castle: Throne Room-]

Asuka entered as requested by the young knight. She didn't show it, but behind the stoic expression she was wearing, the Sword Hero was feeling anxious. She really didn't want to come back here as a result of the sour experiences here. But, she soldiered forth and met the King, face to face.

"Asuka-dono, it does my heart good to see that you're recovering well." Aultcray said with a smile. One that Asuka was sure was fake.

"What do you want this time?" Asuka demanded, with next to no patience or respect for the King.

"Mind your manners, Fake Hero!" the captain of the knights called out from the row of knights' presence for the meeting with the King and Sword Hero.

"No. Her limited patience with me is to be expected. Therefore, I won't keep up your schedule any longer." said Aultcray, "The reason I called you here was to humbly and sincerely apologize for attempting to enslave you to Malty." the King bowed his head to Asuka, while still being perched on his throne.

"Apologize? He sent a soldier to get me so he could apologize?"

"It was an atrocious act on my part, one that no doubt left many scars in your mind. However, please be aware that I had no malicious intent behind my actions. It was simply to protect the royal family and peace of Melromarc."

"I understand." Asuka nodded, "As King, you have a duty to protect and serve the country. And you seem to strike me as a family man, willing to do whatever it took to protect them."

"Correct. It is my hope that you won't hold it against us, and that you'll continue to fight the Waves of Catastrophe despite these setbacks."

"Apology not accepted." Asuka said, to the surprise of everyone. "You've already done me wrong several times in the short span of time we've known each other, the duel's aftermath notwithstanding. You broke your promise to stop the fight if your daughter interfered, and then tried to enslave me to her for no justifiable reason. After that and everything else, what makes you think I'd forgive you so easily?"

It probably would have been better to be more civil with Aultcray, like she was with the Pope, but the King was a different story altogether. She saw no point in being civil with him anymore.

To Asuka, Aultcray's apology didn't seem sincere in the slightest. In comparison to Welt, who was absolutely sincere about his consolation, Aultcray was more paper-thin. It was clear that he was just trying to save face, as evident by Aultcray's eye twitching and frowning from Asuka's refusal. His attempts at enslaving her had no doubt damaged his already mediocre reputation among the people, like Welt and Erhard suggested. At least Pope Balmus was trying to look sincere, despite his mind games.

"Y-You're right, of course… I can't expect you to forgive me for my transgressions right away. But, we still need you to fight the Waves."

"I know. And I never said I would stop fighting the Waves." Asuka said, "But, if you want me to forgive you that badly, you're going to have to prove how sincere you are."

"W-Wha?!" Aultcray looked visibly angry for a moment, before calming down, "Fine… what would you have me do?"

"Lift the quest restriction you placed on me, drop the false charges on Naofumi-kun, and release all of the Demi-human and Beastmen slaves while banning Demi-human slavery from Melromarc in its entirety."

Pretty much everyone in the throne room dropped their jaws at the demands the Sword Hero just made. Aultcray looked visibly outraged.

"What's wrong? Those were simple requests. Just do all of those things, and maybe I'll consider forgiving you." Asuka wore a smug smirk, "While you're at it, you may well get on your hands and knees and plead for my forgiveness. People in my world do that when they make a mistake that angers someone of importance."

"Enough, you insolent brat!" Aultcray bellowed, which prompted the knights to surround her and draw their weapons on her.

"What? Are you going to try and imprison me? I can fight back, just so we're clear." Asuka said, unfazed by the guards formation around her. "I have fought groups of enemies before. I held back in my duel with Motoyasu-kun, but if I wanted to, I could have knocked him out almost immediately. I can do the same to all of the knights here without breaking a sweat."

"Y-You're bluffing!"

"I'm not." Asuka said, drawing her Legendary Sword from its keychain form. She looked around to the knights. "What do you say, boys? Wanna try your luck? Even at my lower level, it should be obvious who'd come out the winner."

The knights look at each other, understandably worried. Not even measly knights like them could take a single Cardinal Hero on, without potential casualties. She made her fight with Motoyasu look easy as she trounced him. Most of them there were trained well, and they could see she was holding back against the Spear Hero.

"You still need me to fight the Waves of Catastrophe, so I'd say putting me behind bars for my insults would be a dumb decision. The townspeople have formed a negative opinion of you after the duel. I don't think you want to make it worse by throwing me in jail."

"D-Damn you! How much longer must I tolerate your insolence, Sword!"

"You're quick to forget my name if I don't cooperate? Then, I guess I won't be going on quests any time soon. And, I won't be forgiving you for anything either. Not for treating Demi-humans poorly, not for framing Naofumi-kun for a crime he didn't commit, and especially not for trying to make me a slave." Asuka said with a frown. She already had a feeling that Aultcray would refuse her demands, but she also knew angering him with those requests would reveal his true colors. He really should have expected she treat him with so little respect at this point.

"Silence! The Shield Hero and the Demi-humans must suffer for what they've done! If I allow the Shield Hero or the Demi-humans to gain an inch of power, my family would surely once again… Ugh!" Aultcray hadn't to say any of that, but his anger allowed him little in the way of thought at the moment.

"Oh, I see. I heard you hated Demi-humans because of some incident with them in the past. Does it have anything to do with your family? Before marrying the Queen and becoming King?"

"That does not concern you!"

"I guess not. And I don't care at this point." Asuka turned around and was about to walk away, while the knights remain frozen.

"Where do you think you're going?! We're not finished!"

"You have my sympathies for whatever happened to your family in the past, but it doesn't give you an excuse to take it out on other people who have nothing to do with that incident. Because of this grudge, you've made things considerably harder for the Cardinal Heroes to work together to defend this country and the world at large. Because of you, we're standing more divided than before."

"Grr…" Aultcray gritted his teeth. She dared to lecture him again, after he put in an effort to apologize? It was bad enough that she stood up for the Shield Hero time and again, but now she was telling him how to run his country?

"You're supposed to be a King who protects his people, and a father who protects his family, but if you ask me, you're putting them all in danger for the sake of your petty games of revenge against the Shield Hero. I don't want to get mixed up in this stupid drama of yours, so don't call me for anything frivolous like this again." Asuka trotted away after those parting words.

"H-How dare you?! I'm the King! I refuse to let you disrespect me this way!" Aultcray yelled. In his mind, there was only way thing he could think of to keep her here and get her under control. "Oh, that's right! I neglected to mention this before, but if I'm not mistaken, you and Vento, the lord of Callma Village, are harboring a Demi-human boy."

Asuka stopped in her tracks, her back still facing Aultcray.

"Your noble intentions still shine through, but the Captain's report tells me that in addition to wiping out the bandits and saving the woman formally in Motoyasu-dono's party, you protected that Demi-human boy from being taken into custody. And I'm certain Vento is taking care of him at his mansion as we speak."

The Captain held an arrogant smirk after this reveal. This would no doubt teach this Fake Sword Hero respect. Next to him was the Vice-Captain, who quietly sighed in disappointment.

"I respect his business sense, but it would be a shame if his trading business was cut short because he chose to care for a Demi-human running wild on your behalf, wouldn't you agree? And let's not forget the boy. I can't allow him or any other Demi-human to roam freely in this country. He'll either be enslaved like he is supposed to, or he'll be put to death for evading capture. Now, if you truly value his life and Vento's, than you'd better-"

"Fufufu…" a soft laugh was heard from the silent Asuka, cutting off the foolish King. Slowly, she turned around and faced Aultcray, but instead of an angry face like she had numerous times before, she had a serene, gentle smile and calm eyes. It was unexpected and unsettling for those who saw it. This peaceful smiling face belayed a terrifying amount of bloodlust protruding from her aura.

"Really, your Majesty. Just how much more do you intend to dig yourself deeper? I'm already reaching a tipping point. I don't think either of us want to see that happen." she said in a polite manner.

"U-Uh…" Aultcray turned pale and began to break out in a cold sweat upon seeing this. The Sword Hero was obviously angered by the implied death threat he was giving, but this tranquil disposition she suddenly took… It might actually be more frightening then when his wife was angry at him.

The knights surrounding her backed away in fear of the Sword Hero.

"We both have hostility toward each other for recent events, but if you're going to drag innocent people into our feud… well, I'd be more upset then I am right now." Asuka shone with a sadistic light. She was serious.

Aultcray could do nothing, nor say anything. She was clearly more powerful than him, as she demonstrated in the duel, and long before when she threatened his life after the trial. If he were to utter another word, she may not hesitate to kill him. Her bloodlust was that intense, and judging by that sadistic gleam in her cheerful eyes, she would make him suffer first, before ending his life. The King could gather as much from just looking at her.

"Please, stay as far from me, Vento-san, Conan-kun, and anyone else I might know as you possibly can. Demi-human or not, I will protect them and anyone innocent from you, who even threaten to execute his own people. I trust you're smart enough to know what happens if you cross me again." Asuka kept that pleasant, but unsettling smile to the end.

Asuka politely bowed her head for a brief second, turned on her heel, and walked away calmly, while Aultcray became even more enraged, but was too hesitant to act on it.

All he could do was howl in frustration as she made her exist, "ACCURSED SWORD!"


Lyall the Werewolf: Well, that was a chilling way to end this beginning of a new arc. I'll admit, it was like how Trash called Naofumi over and ended with Naofumi clearly threatening to kill him if he tried anything to hurt Raphtalia and Filo. I didn't see any other way for it go down. At least Asuka tapped into her inner sadist like in EV. Then there's Mirellia, who is not happy with her husband and her daughter. Trash and Bitch will certainly be punished for their transgressions.

If anyone is aware, Welt was a member of Ren's party in canon. Here, he's in Itsuki party as a result of Asuka disbanding her party before they even got started. I thought it would be a nice touch to give him and possibly anyone else from Ren's party some time to shine.

Now, some of you have mentioned before that a war could break over what happened to Asuka, not just Naofumi. I think that could be worth exploring later. That's where Kayles and Ugo come in, and they'll be sticking around a while. But, we need to focus on the Second Wave coming in the next two weeks. Let's hope Asuka can stay out of trouble and focus until then.

That's all for now. Hopefully, I won't take as long on the next one, but only time will tell. See you next chapter.