A few days later
After rendezvousing up with Filo and Freckles, they returned back to Lute, passing the insane guard who was cradling himself by the entrance of the gate and picking up the pass. Once they got to the village, Caboose took Freckles back to the inn while Naofumi went to check on Raphtalia and told her their day in the castle's town and their medicine run. The following morning, the active party went to check-out Raphtalia from the village doctor before getting breakfast at the diner.
They headed out to a different village to begin their daily sell and trade market in various locations, including sudden stops due to the demi-human's motion sickness. However, that didn't stop them from earning currency or other items from their various supply of medicines, fruits, and vegetables they sold. As well as having a couple of medicine runs, or helping transport someone to a different location. Not a single day passed by without earning a few cash or resources for the party.
At times, they'll encounter a situation of a wagon without or damaged wheels. Caboose, being the strong fellow he is, would simply lift it and wait for the owner of the wagon to fix the wheel, or, depending on the situation, look for the wheel that popped off from the axel.
At the villages, there would be times when the loggers of the settlement would have a hard time trying to cut down trees to have a fire at their home. Caboose, out of the goodness of his heart, would ask Naofumi if he could help them cut down the trees for them, which the Shield Hero would say yes, just to keep the spartan from asking the question multiple times nonstop. From there, he'll meet up with the loggers, and punch the tree; however, he'll check if there are any squirrels or bird's nest before doing so. If he found such life on the tree, he'd immediately hug the tree, pat it, and rub it before moving to the next one, which got him questionable looks from the loggers who watch from a distance.
Such feats made by the party, aided in their name of "The Savior of the Heavenly Fowl and The Blue Moving Mountain" to rise around the villages they visited around the countryside. Within a few days, they were well known amongst the civilians of each settlement they visited.
When selling their merchandise at a settlement, Naofumi would keep watch while Raphtalia stayed sitting behind the items and food products as the merchant, and Caboose and Filo stayed watching from the sidelines. At times though, the civilians would stop by to take a look at Filo for being adorable, but most especially, they would take a look at Caboose and be left shocked that a soldier such as him existed.
The night when Caboose arrived, the news spread like a wildfire around the whole castle's town, reaching neighboring villages that were close by; however, most villages hadn't received the news about the armored blue soldier that when first looked upon the eye, they thought they were witnessing an illusion. At first they all thought it was a magic spell made to deceive the human eye or that it was just an animated object made of stone and painted upon into the soldier they see standing in front of them. Which is why when Caboose removed his helmet to show his face, they were shocked to see a human under such unknown armor.
Huge crowds would be around the party, wanting to witness the spartan in all his glory. He became popular with the children not just for his armor, but because of his childish behavior as well. Every child that saw him, would ask to wear his helmet, which he gladly removed and handed towards the child. He would also pick them up, give them piggy back rides (to the parents' frustration wanting to calm their child down not wanting to embarasses themselves), and he'll do a little show on how many push ups he could do.
This was an actual idea that came from the Shield Hero himself, remembering during one of their travels to a village Caboose mentioned how he could go on doing push ups til someone told him to stop. Wanting to see it in action, at one of the villages he asked Caboose to do push ups till he told him to stop. And to his utter surprise, Caboose kept on going for a whole hour without stopping or slowing down, but no one was keeping count. However, they were certain it was over 33 push ups due to the spartan repeating the same number several times. Which brings us to our current crowd surrounding the party, witnessing Caboose's strength and endurance.
"Amazing, how is he able to keep going?" a male civilian asked.
"Especially at that pace, what training had he gone through?" an elderly man asked.
"Nor has he stopped, this is incredible. I would've never believed that such a soldier could have existed." a woman added in.
"Why is he stuck on 33?" a child asked, who paid attention to the important detail about the push ups.
'Don't ask kid, just don't.' Naofumi thought with a deadpan face looking at Caboose. He was surprised that he has shown no sense of tiredness yet, but was disappointed that he couldn't know the exact number of push ups he had done. 'Did they even teached him the numbers at all?'
"You are so amazing Caboose! How could you even put up with all these push ups?" Filo exclaimed in pure awe.
"33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33! 33!" Caboose counted, not hearing Filo.
'Is he deaf!?' Oh god, what if I can't make him stop when I ask him to." Naofumi internally thought with a slight ting of fear.
"Ok, Caboose I think that's enough for today." the Shield Hero said walking over to said soldier, but he didn't stop. 'Oh god.'
"Request accepted, Captain Caboose you may stop your push up regimen." Freckles announced, hearing Naofumi.
"Oh ok." Caboose said stopping his movement, and standing up without hesitation.
'EHHHHHHHHH?! He only heard Freckles? Did he mute his helmet or something?' Naofumi internally thought.
"So how many did I do, Freckles?" Caboose said, turning his head to look at the butt of his rifle.
"Over an hour and 2 minutes had passed, over 260 push ups were done." Freckles said, getting the attention of the crowd and Naofumi.
'Well at least someone kept count.' the Shield Hero thought.
"Master Naofumi, it would seem that we are about to run out of today's stock, it's best if we start clearing up our spot." Raphtalia announced quietly to the Shield Hero, while everyone around them congratulated Caboose on his feat.
"Well that's it for today's sells, we'll camp right outside east of the village for the night. We'll head out tomorrow to replenish our supplies and gather resources to sell. Is that alright with you? I could get you a room at the inn here if you want." Naofumi said as he helped Raphtalia up.
"That's very generous of you master, but I'm alright with camping outside the village with you all, there's no need for that. I don't want to become a burden just because I'm injured" she answered, picking up a small empty crate.
"Don't push yourself too hard, we may have checked you out from the Lute's village nurse a few days ago, but that doesn't mean you're up and well yet. Take it easy if you have to, Caboose can cover for you as you heal up." he said, gently taking the crate from her, and nodding towards the blue soldier, who was getting praise from the crowd.
"Yes, thank you. I drink milk. Yes, milk from a cow. Water as well. Did you know milk is white water?" Caboose was saying as he moved his head left and right as the crowd gathered around him, getting chuckles from the demi-human.
"I guess you're right, but I won't slow you down. Day by day, I'll try to come back to my original health." she stated with a small smile, taking a smaller crate.
"If you say so, but take it slow, I don't want you to get hurt as you gain back your strength." the Shield Hero said with a small smile before turning to Caboose and Filo. "Hey you two, we're heading out, help carry some of the crates back. That's double for you, Big Blue."
"Ok!" they both yelled out before making their way back from the crowd. Filo took two empty crates while Caboose took nine crates, three on each arm and three on his head.
"Alright then, is that everything?" Naofumi asked looking around to make sure nothing was left behind.
"Yes, I made sure we had everything with us. Right, Freckles?" the spartan asked, but had no response from his assault rifle. "Freckles where are you?"
"Caboose, you left Freckles back at the wagon." Naofumi said with a sigh.
"Oh…right. Did I forget to mention I left him at the wagon." the spartan said with a hop, still balancing the crates on his head.
"No, you didn't. You just forgot to remember that." Naofumi answered with a roll of his eyes. 'Is there a way to build on his intelligence?'
"Well next time I'll remember, Nefu." Caboose remarked as he began walking towards the exit of the village.
"It's not Nefu, it's Naofumi." Naofumi corrected, following the blue soldier behind him as the rest of the party followed behind them. 'It's been almost 2 weeks and he still hasn't learned my name.
"Master, I'm hungry. When will we eat?" Filo asked.
"Now Filo, you can't just ask every time we are finished with selling when we'll eat. We must be patient and think about the amount of currency we have. We'll eat after Naofumi counts how much we made today." the Raphtalia said.
"We'll probably eat at the diner for today, depending on how much we made at today's sales, but we'll camp outside for the night. I wanna leave at a good time tomorrow to reach the next village." the Shield Hero stated.
"Oh, does that mean we could have story time tonight?" Caboose asked.
"What did I just say? That we are gonna camp out for tonight so we could leave at a good time. Only cause we are camping out doesn't mean we're gonna have story time. Besides, story time is only when we are free, it doesn't seem like we are relaxing any time soon either." Naofumi said looking towards the blue soldier.
"Ok. What about tomorrow?" Caboose asked.
"Caboose, just don't." Naofumi answered with a sigh.
At the village diner
After leaving the crates and any other objects used for the day's sale, the party, including Freckles, left for the village diner for a meal. As they passed houses, the families insides would wave at them as they passed by. The Shield Hero wouldn't wave back, but the rest waved back, Caboose waved back with both of his hands.
When they entered the diner, it was filled with men sharing a laugh, waiters and waitresses happily serving the customers, and small families enjoying their meals. Naofumi told his party to look for a table as he notified a waiter of their arrival before making his way to the table.
When the waitress arrived, Naofumi ordered all the same plate he was gonna get, and water. Once the order was taken, Caboose asked if in this world they served chocolate milk, which confused both Raphtalia and Filo. The Shield Hero just facepalmed and told the spartan that the fluid has yet to be produced.
"What do you mean there's no chocolate milk? It's just chocolate and milk put together, how is that hard to make?" Caboose asked.
"Caboose, there used to be a time, where we are from, that chocolate and milk were separate things." Naofumi answered. "Do you know how to make chocolate milk, Caboose?"
"Yes, you get the chocolate, melt it, pour it, and then you mix it. Or unless you had Nesquik, you just mix it." the blue soldier answered while making hand gestures of the process.
"Oh dear god." the Shield Hero said under his breath while covering his face in disbelief.
"I have heard of chocolate and had milk myself, but I never heard of this chocolate milk before. Is there really such a thing to exist like that?" Raphtalia asked.
"Yup, and it is delicious. Including cookies." Caboose answered.
"Wow, your world must be very advanced if you are able to produce such a drink. It's a drink right?" she said.
"Yes, and I had drank gasoline before as well. It tasted funny." Caboose stated.
"Shut u…. Wait what?" the Shield Hero was about to say before realization hit him.
"Here is the food you ordered Mister Hero. Enjoy" the waitress said, coming back with the meal.
"Thank you." Filo and Caboose thanked before grabbing their plate.
"Your welcome." the waitress answered with a smile before walking away.
"Master Naofumi, are you alright?" the demi human asked as she looked at the deadpan stare the Shield Hero gave the blue spartan.
"Oh yes, just processing something." Naofumi answered as his left eyebrow began to twitch.
"Well don't think for too long, your food will get cold." Raphtalia said as she grabbed her plate.
'Is that how he got this strong? FOR DRINKING FUCKING GASOLINE!' Naofumi thought before grabbing his plate and starting on his meal.
A minute passed as they enjoyed their meal. Filo asked for seconds, which Caboose offered his plate to her, still remembering the promise he made her during the race at Lute. Which she was happy to accept, being the plate was from him.
"Excuse me, Sir Shield Hero, may I have a word with you?" a man behind Naofumi asked.
They all turned their heads to look at the man. He was short, chubby, had light brown eyes, dark brown hair, a small goatee, and white skin. He wore a white long sleeve blouse with a red collar vest, white pants with a piece of red cloth falling above his knees, what would seem a red sleeping cap, and brown leather boots.
"Look, if the king sent for me, tell him to fuck off. The next Wave isn't gonna hit yet. So if you'll kindly leave, I still have a meal to finish." Naofumi quickly told him, not wanting to deal with the king.
"Well, Sir Hero, we both can agree on that; however, I am no messenger from the king. I am Hickwaal, an accessory merchant. I would like to ask you a favor?" the merchant stated.
"And what would a merchant want with me?" the Shield Hero asked.
"I was hoping maybe you can give me a ride to the next village from here. I have been traveling from foot before taking a wagon to this village. Unfortunately, the man that gave me a ride to this village had left earlier today. And seeing you have just arrived today to sell, I could tell that you were a traveling merchant as well." Hickwaal explained.
"Ok. Question. Which village are you going to because there are 2 more from here? If we have the same location, I'll give you a ride. But if it isn't, find someone else to do it." Naofumi said.
"Of course, my destination is the settlement west from here." Hickwaal answered.
"Well, you're in luck, that's also where I am heading tomorrow. Wait for me outside, we'll discuss more about it when we're finished with our meal." the Shield Hero said before turning back around to finish his meal.
"Of course, I'll be by the entrance." the merchant said before taking his leave.
The next day
After finishing their meal, Naofumi asked the others to go back to the wagon to sleep while he spoke with Hickwaal about the trip to the settlement and payment. When Naofumi got back to the others, he found Raphtalia sleeping inside the wagon, and Filo was with Caboose by a tree. The child was hugging the spartan's left arm while he murmured about Tucker's black armour. Freckles was propped up by one of the wheels of the wagon, scanning for enemies or wild animals. The Shield Hero gave a small smile to his party members before sitting by another tree and drifting off to sleep.
In the morning, Naofumi was awoken to the sounds of Filo trying to take Caboose's helmet off while he slept. However, it would seem that the helmet would only come off if it was by the spartan's hands themselves because it wouldn't move a single inch from his head. To Filo's dismay, she stopped trying to remove the helmet once the Shield Hero told her to stop. From there he then woke up the rest of the party.
They met up with the merchant by the village's inn, where they double checked that they had everything before leaving the settlement. The merchant and Naofumi sat at the back of the wagon, letting Raphtalia stir it while Filo, in her filolial form, pulled it. Caboose could be seen jogging by it keeping pace with their speed, which astounded Hickwaal.
"It truly is an amazing feeling traveling with Our Savior of the Heavenly Fowl and to see the strength of the Blue Moving Mountain." the merchant said with enthusiasm.
"Our Savior of the Heavenly Fowl and Blue Moving Mountain?" the Shield Hero asked with a confused look.
"Your party has been getting quite famous around here. Many of the people you have helped have the same thing to say about you. 'Traveling in a wagon drawn by the god of domesticated birds, Our Savior crosses the land to treat the sick with his special medicine!' Also about your companion running besides us. 'The man with the heart of an infant but strength of a mountain, fists that'll never bring pain but happiness to those in need.'" Hickwaal said, quoting what he has heard during his travels.
'Was there anything said about his intelligence? I think they forgot to mention that.' Naofumi thought with a deadpan look before sighing.
"Am I god?" Filo asked, turning her head to face both the males.
"Filo. Didn't Naofumi tell you not to talk when strangers are around?" Raphtalia told the filolial with her index finger close to her mouth.
"I'm sorry, I just got excited when I heard it." the filolial said before turning her head around.
"It's alright, anyone would have the same reaction as yours, but please do refrain from speaking for the time being." the demi human said.
"Amazing, she can talk as well. That's the god of domesticated birds for you." Hickwaal stated, amazed by Filo talking. "I'll take it she's the same child from the diner yesterday as well. Truly amazing."
"She's not a god or anything, just a filolial that for some reason enjoys pulling the wagon." Naofumi stated.
"HEAT SIGNATURES DETECTED, LEVELS OF HOSTILITY HIGH, COMBAT MODE ENGAGED!" Freckles announced at a loud volume, alerting Naofumi and Hickwaal.
"He's right Master Naofumi, there are people blocking the path." Raphtalia said.
Naofumi got up from his seat and moved next to Raphtalia. Ahead of them, there were 15 people with armour and weapons at their sides and back. Naofumi from the top already could tell they were bandits,
'I wonder how they knew we were coming through here and why they are here?' the Shield Hero said, staring at the group.
"Now stop your wagon right there, if you would please! No coming closer from where you are at!" a bandit with kleavers shouted out.
"Filo, stop right here." the demi human told the filolial, stopping in their tracks. Meters away from the group of bandits.
"For a traveling merchant, you got a strange bird for pulling the wagon. But we ain't here for a bird. We heard an accessory seller was traveling around these parts. So tell us if-" he was gonna continue before his partner in crime interrupted him.
"Hey, I don't think we'll need the merchant anymore. Look at the motherload we have in our hands." a bandit with a black hood said as he pointed at Caboose. "We take that armour and weapon he has in his back, and we'll be set for life."
'It'll seem they were here for Hickwaal, someone must of setted him up, but now I guess they are now here for Caboose. Heh, like that'll happen.' Naofumi thought, still keeping his eyes on the bandits.
"You know what we want. Quietly hand him over, and we'll spare your lives. It'll be a win-win. You get to live and continue your lives and we'll have something that'll set us for life. How about it?" a bandit with blond hair said.
"Like I'll give a member of my party away just to live. Besides, if I was an actual fucking dick, you'll still take everything but our lives. Am I not right?" the Shield Hero said before jumping off the wagon.
"A sharp one you are lad, but can you really take all of us." a bandit from behind said, preparing his axe for a fight.
"Naofumi, may I cut him down?" Raphtalia asked as she was about to get up.
"If it weren't for you being injured, I would allow it. Stay where you are, I don't want you to get hurt. Me, Caboose, and Filo will fight them off. Right Filo?" Naofumi said as he unleashed the filolial from the reins.
"I'll protect you Raphtalia, I'll keep any dirty bandit away from you!" Filo said, getting in a fighting stance.
"Do protect the demi human, we don't wanna hurt our new toy for the night." a bandit from the front said before laughing.
"Don't bother we have a class-upgraded bodyguard. We are counting on you to deal with the big ones." the blond bandit said before, moving out the way. Revealing a man in a black robe, black hair, holding a katana in his left hand. Smirking at Naofumi as he stared at him.
'Class-upgraded? Yet another unfamiliar term. For sure he won't be easy to take on.' the Shield Hero thought before getting in a defensive stance.
"BE ADVISED THERE 5 ENEMIES MOVING FROM OUR LEFT AND RIGHT!" Freckles advised before Caboose moved forward with the rest.
'WHAT!?' Naofumi thought, now alarmed of the new information Freckles now said.
"That weapon will definitely be useful once we get our hands on it."the blond bandit said before getting his sword out from its sheath.
"Can we play cat and mice? Please." Caboose said excitedly.
'What is he planning?' Naofumi thought before turning an eye to look at the spartan.
"You really think this is a game boy?" the blond bandit smiled thinking they already had the advantage.
"Yes. I'll be the cat-" Caboose said before, disappearing for a split second.
At that very moment, he appeared in front of the bandit that joked about Raphtalia's safety. The man didn't have the time to react, as the spartan's fist collided with his ribcage, breaking 4 rib bones. The bandit was sent flying towards the dirt wall right from them, creating a small crater on impact. When the smoke disappeared, the man could be seen knocked out, mouth opened, and little blood trickling from his mouth.
"And you all will be the mice." the spartan finished as the bandits stayed staring at their comrade. "Let the game begin."
"KILL THE FUCKER!" the blond bandit exclaimed and hell broke loose.
"Filo go take care of those bandits over that ledge, I'll take care of the ones on this side!" Naofumi quickly exclaimed side stepping to the right, avoiding a downward slash from a spearhead. "Keep Raphtalia and the merchant safe from that side! Dog Bite!"
The Cardinal Weapon transformed into a grey shield with the head of 2 black dogs with red eyes as it took a hold of the spear and began to wrestle it from the bandit's hands. Through the battle of strength, Naofumi rushed the bandit and reeled his fist back before sending it colliding into the face of his opponent. Leaving his opponent staggering from the blow, he summoned a shield and sent it darting towards the staggered foe at full speed, knocking him down for the count.
"Right!" Filo said as she went to the other side, and unleashed an attack to buy her time. "Fast tornado!"
The tornado was sent to impact the dirt wall to create a distraction as she made her way up the dirt wall. Reaching the floor level, she immediately charged into one of the 5 bandits Freckles mentioned, sending him colliding into the tree behind them. One of the individuals attempted to strike Filo with his sword, but to no avail. The filolial had caught it between her mouth before it made impact. From there she pulled the sword from his grips then used one of her talons to grab the bandit from his attire and sent him flying towards his other 2 companions to the right.
As Filo was about to charge the other bandit, he had pulled out his bow and arrow, taking aim before releasing the arrow. If the filolial hadn't turned a second earlier, she would have been struck; however, with her filolial speed she sidestepped the arrow before unleashing another small tornado on the individual. Caught in the magic spell, the bandit was sent up into the air before dropping back onto the ground with a loud thud. Turning to face her last 3 opponents that just got up, they all charged at each other to finish their fight.
Back with Naofumi, he was so far blocking the attacks from his opponents, which was a bit hard due to the fact that it was 4 of them at the same time sending stabs and slashes from different directions. The only reason he was able to keep up was because Raphtalia was his eyes where he couldn't see.
"Behind you!" the demi human exclaimed, helping the Shield Hero block another attack.
"Thanks!" Naofumi thanked before punching the bandit in the stomach.'Alright think how can I take them all if they are just gonna keep attacking me when I get distracted by the other. Well, If I can group 2-3 together, I'll be able to use Shield Prison on them, keeping them locked for a while as I take on the other ones. Wait I got it now!'
Rushing the bandit with a hatchet, he summoned Dog Bite again as the head of the 2 dogs immediately took a hold of the other 2 bandits weapons, dragging them along with him. WHen he got close to the bandit he charged at, he immediately put the shield in front of him as it made impact onto the bandit's gut, knocking the wind from him. Using the momentum to his advantage, he used the force to bring down the bandit to the ground before the dogs released their hold on the weapons with a powerful tug, making the bandits tumble onto the ground.
"SHIELD PRISON!" Naofumi shouted out as a circle of shields enclosed the 3 bandits inside before being held together by chains. "AIR STRIKE SHIELD!" creating a shield as it was sent darting towards the shield prison, sending the ball of shields into a tree from where the bandits hid.
"Now it's just you and me, dickhead." the Shield Hero said with a smirk on his face facing his only free opponent for the moment. "This is your punishment for trying to take away one of my party members". Bring out his rope shield having a plan in mind.
'Remember Caboose, just like Sister Carolina taught you, just imagine that these people took away your cookies and are bullying my friends because they are cute and adorable.' the spartan thought to himself as he grabbed a sword from the head before sending the palm of his hand onto the face of his opponent, sending him 10 meters away from the fight that was taking place.
Throughout this whole time, Caboose has been breaking weapons, dodging, tripping, and pushing himself away from the attacks from the bandits. The first attack he sent was because he saw an opening and because he didn't like the comment the bandit said towards Raphtalia. But now that he was in an all out fight, he didn't know what to do. Yes he could have used Freckles and mowed them all down, but he knew that would only put a bad name on Naofumi. As well as he couldn't go all out as well, which Freckles notified him before engaging. The man he sent flying into the dirt wall was unconscious; however, his injuries are severe and if not treated correctly, his life won't be the same.
A few months back
"Caboose, there will be times when you don't have to kill your enemy, but put him into submission for either interrogating, which is when you need to ask him answers, or if you just don't want to kill them. However, with your strength, I would imagine if that fist made impact on anyone, at full speed, that body will be turned into a rag doll than be human at all." Carolina said as she stood in front of Caboose with her hands on her hips.
They were in a training facility in Armonia, east from the war room. The room was specifically made for a shooting range, but since it was Caboose, it'll work much better as a training facility for hand-to-hand combat. The only things getting touched will be the training dummies set up by Carolina.
"Which is why I am going to show you how to hold back and how to strike. And don't worry you're not going to hurt me, you're just gonna watch how I fight, I'll show you the movements, and we'll spar a little without needing to make physical contact. After this we could get you some cookies and orange juice. Got it?"
"Ok, Carolina! Should I record this during our class period?" Caboose asked.
"That could work, you can go back and watch the files when you have spare time, I'll have Church run a few training regimen for you as well. For now let's do the basics. Got that Church?" Carolina asked.
"Yeah I got it, I'm not fucking deaf, but why me? Can't you run it yourself?" Church appeared by Carolina's shoulder.
"I'll be making sure he doesn't destroy or kill someone by accident while you run the regimen and systematics for the training dummies I am going to help you set up." the former freelancer said before moving towards the blue team's child. "Ok, Caboose. Step 1, always fight to protect."
Present
'Oh. So that's how it's done.' the spartan said before getting a hold of a halberd that was coming from his left before getting a hold of an axe from his right.
"NOW!" a bandit shouted as two of their partners came rushing towards Caboose, swords prepared to stab.
Acting fast, the spartan jumped, still having a hold of both weapons, and caught the swords with the soles of his boots. For a couple of seconds, the bandits just stared in astonishment, having never seen an individual catch the attack using their feet.
"I'm really good at this." Caboose said with a joyful voice before using his strength to turn himself around, bringing the bandits with him. Using the momentum, he immediately kicked both the swords out from the soles of his boots, sending the opponents to the dirt wall. Now being able to feel the ground again, he threw his previous attackers towards the tree line.
"Splendid attack, Captain Caboose. Filo has just finished with her group of enemies, Naofumi still has 4 opponents to take care of, and we still need 9 opponents left." Freckles said from the spartan's back.
Caboose looked around quickly to see the area. He could see that Naofumi was dodging every attack from the attacker. Then he turned to look towards the ledge where he sees Filo holding 5 bandits from her beak, following her movements, he saw Raphtalia with a look of worry towards the Shield Hero. Then he saw the ball of shields wrapped with a chain. And just like that, an idea appeared, not knowing of the bandits that were captured there.
"Oh boy, this is gonna be fun." the spartan said before running towards it.
"GET HIM!" the bandit behind him ordered the others, following pursuit.
Naofumi hearing the footsteps of Caboose coming towards his way, he gave a quick glance. He saw the spartan approaching the shield prison he had summoned to keep the 3 bandits from attacking him. Which then realization hit him.
"Wait Caboose don't-!" the Shield Hero shouted but it was too late.
"I'm going to spike this ball like I spiked on Tucker's face that time." the blue soldier said before turning around to face his opponents who stopped in their tracks when they saw the ball in his hands.
'I think I'm gonna feel bad now.' Naofumi said, imagining the worse for those captured in the ball.
"Here we go!" Caboose shouted before throwing the ball up towards the sky, reeling his right arm back, and squatting down prepared to jump.
"Get him before he could ju-" the blond bandit was about to say before he was interrupted with a blue blur flying towards the ball.
In these small seconds, every bandit in the group was regretting their decision trying to go up against the blue soldier. All they saw was a green ball since Caboose was now behind it. Time didn't slow down, in fact, it sped up. They saw a ball before their vision went black in seconds. The ball made an impact on the group, taking everyone out and creating a creator where they all were standing on. A huge cloud of smoke covered the whole area, taking 25 seconds for it to clear up.
"Fuck this, I yeild." Naofumi's opponent said, seeing the damage that had just transpired.
The Shield Hero ignored him and began to walk towards where the creator was. As he got closer, he noticed that the ball of shields was gone, and that towards the left Caboose was standing with his right index finger towards the bottom of his helmet, as if pondering. Hearing Naofumi's footsteps he turned to look at him.
"Do you think I overdid it?" the spartan asked.
Naofumi stared at him before looking into the crater. What he saw made him feel horrible for thinking the bandits was a threat when in reality Caboose was the real threat to the bandits. In the crater, there were 3 bandits that had puke coming out from their mouths. Under them, were the rest of the bandits most of them were bleeding from their noses, missing teeths, bleeding from their head, tears falling from their eyes, and weapons broken. The Shield Hero slowly turned his head to look towards Caboose with wide eyes and sweat falling from his face.
"Y-You're t-telling me….that y-you d-don't-know if you went o-overboard?" the Shield Hero tried to process the amount of damage that was inflicted on the bandits.
"Yes." Caboose said with his usual tone, not feeling remorse with the damage he did.
"All bandits have been neutralized. All of them are unconscious" Freckles stated.
"DAFUQ YOU MEAN UNCONSCIOUS!! THEY LOOK DEAD TO ME!!" Naofumi exclaimed. "I AM NEVER GONNA PLAY VOLLEYBALL WITH YOU!!"
1 hour later
The remaining conscious bandit was asked to return back to his hideout to request for a crew to help take back their friends and heal them while Naofumi did his best to not scold Caboose. It took another couple of minutes before the bandit party arrived to carry their own back to their hideout. The bandits that fought Filo had awoken before they arrived, which also helped out carry the unconscious men back to the hideout. After they left, they gave it another minute before they took off as well. Naofumi being in charge of stirring Filo and Raphtalia sitting with the merchant. The wagon was going at a slow pace so Caboose was able to walk behind them, Freckles in hand.
"Psst, Raphy can I talk to you?" the spartan said quietly.
"What is it, Caboose?" Raphtalia asked.
"Is Naofumi mad at me?" Caboose asked a bit of a sad tone in his voice.
"I'll say from how he is very quiet, he probably is. But don't let that put you down, I think the both of you just need to talk it out. Master Naofumi has been through a lot before you arrived. When he was told that he would be receiving help from someone from another world he couldn't believe it. That night after your battle with Sir Motoyasu, at the village of Lute, he kept on telling me that he couldn't understand why someone would want to come and help him. That maybe the rumors would persuade you to change your mind. But instead of you walking away the following day, after you heard about the rumour, you calmed him down before he bursted into anger and told us your story. You showed him your trust and care that he hasn't experienced much since the rumour took place." the demi human said as she moved towards the end of the wagon to explain and ease Caboose.
"The damage you make in this world is partially your fault at all. Most of the time it does seem that it's common sense that no one should or could do such a thing. But you are from a different world, this realm wasn't built for someone of your strength. But most of the damage you have done is small, the severe damage you have done was for the safety of us. The bandits from earlier had it coming when going up against you, Caboose, a person that has strength like no other in this world. Also it is the way you fight, I'll say that you fight with a mindset of a game. We all have our style of fighting, and there is no reason for you to change that. It's a habitat we grow up with. Am I right?" she said.
"Carolina told me to think like I am part of a game, it helps me not think about...the bad things of a fight. It keeps me from getting distracted from thinking about the fights ending if it all comes to a bad end." Caboose answered, remembering what Carolina had taught him.
"Then continue to do that, if it helps you cope with the fighting taking place. Just remember to talk with Naofumi, it's better you two can work something out before we get into another battle with monsters or another person like us." she said before reaching out her hand to pat Caboose's helmet. "Now cheer up we are gonna be reaching the village soon, and there will be a group of children surrounding you for sure."
"Ok, thank you. Raphy" the spartan back in his cheerful tone but quietly.
"Your welcome, Caboose. But remember to talk with Master Naofumi." the demi human said before returning back to her seat.
The sun was beginning to near the horizon as the sky began to turn orange. The filolial hummed a tune as she pulled the wagon. Naofumi would just look around as they passed the forest. Hickwaal would look into his bag, making sure he had all his things with him, and Raphtalia kept looking behind them. Caboose had moved towards the side of the wagon, thinking about what he should say to the Shield Hero when he gets the chance.
It wasn't long before they saw the settlement not too far away when they exited the forest. Before entering the village, Naofumi showed the guards his traveler's pass at the entrance gate of the settlement. Going by the entrance gates, Naofumi told Filo to head west from the entrance, and parked the wagon half a mile away from the main settlement.
"We'll camp out here for the night, I'll take Hickwaal to the village inn. The rest of you set up camp for now on." the Shield Hero said before looking at Caboose. 'I need to set things straight between us before we get into another battle.' he thought as he gave out a tired sigh. "Caboose come with me."
Naofumi then looked towards the accessory merchant and nodded him towards the village before walking away. Caboose looked at Raphtalia who nodded at him to follow the Shield Hero. Before he left, he put Freckles at the wagon's back wheel and took off, following Naofumi and Hickwaal.
'I hope things work out between them.' the demi human thought as she went to open the back of the wagon.
"Thank you, Raphtalia." Freckles said, surprising her.
"Why the sudden thanks Sir Freckles?" Raphtalia asked before crouching down to look at Freckles.
"When it comes to Captain Caboose, I was programmed to protect him from sustaining any sort of injuries. However, a machine like me was not programmed to understand or handle emotions a human being creates. I protect him from getting harmed, but I can't protect him from his emotions."
With Naofumi and Caboose
Cabooser remained quiet the whole time as he followed behind them. Naofumi would throw a small glance at him, remembering what Santa told him. The Shield Hero wasn't as mad at Caboose as he was earlier; however, he still has to set things right between the both of them.
No child this time came to surround the spartan, nor did adults come to look at the armour. Night time has arrived over the settlement as the lights from the houses and lampposts luminated the streets of the village. Everyone was in their respective homes, having a meal as a family, a parent telling their child or children a story before they go to sleep, making their prayers for a better day, or already have fallen asleep. The village was partially quiet, the only noise that came to be heard was from the diner and a few village care takers working their shift.
Once they arrived at the village inn, Naofumi and Hickwaal discussed the payment, which the accessory merchant offered the Shield Hero his knowledge in his field and connections with other people he has. Hickwaal said that the involvement of the bandits was his fault to begin with, so he'll offer his full services to Naofumi to make up for it. After that they bid themselves goodbye, agreeing to meet together the following day.
Making their way back, it remained quiet even after dropping off Hickwaal at the village inn. As they exited the main village, Naofumi looked around for a good place to talk, which made him think about his actions because the whole area was the same.
"Over here Caboose, let's sit down for a while." Naofumi said before sitting down a few feet from the direction they came from.
"Ok." Caboose answered in his usual tone.
Sitting beside Naofumi, the spartan looked up towards the night sky. Stars illuminated the night sky, reflecting upon Caboose's visor with a light blue. Naofumi kept looking towards the stars, thinking of a way to start the conversation.
"You know… looking at the night sky makes me sleepy." the spartan said, breaking the silence.
"Does it really? For me, its boring lectures and dumb stories." Naofumi said.
"Was my story boring?" the blue soldier asked, turning to look at the Shield Hero.
"No. But… I did find it bizarre for a couple of soldiers to be caught up in a weird adventure." the Shield Hero answered back.
"Well, the unexpected always happens when you don't expect it. Like a UNO reverse card out of nowhere right when you were about to win the chess game." Caboose said, which confused Naofumi again.
'Where the fuck did you get a chess game with a UNO reverse card?' Naofumi thought before sighing to bring the reason why they are both sitting in a field, looking at the stars. "Caboose, I just want to let you know that...what happened today, I hope it doesn't happen again. And yes, I am pissed off about it. It's just a good thing that they didn't end up dead. You see, many bad people like them are after your armour and weapon. For sure, this won't be the last time it happens, which is why, I hope you can understand, but please don't do such a insane attack like that again, especially with human beings like us." he said as he turned his head to look at Caboose, who was looking at him as well.
"I know you did it to end the fight and get any of us away from harm's way. And I appreciate it, I really do. There's not many people out there that will do it for me or my party because of this rumour that is going around. But it would be a good idea to think about what to do in a fight, which won't cause too much harm to a person." the Shield Hero said, patting Caboose's shoulder.
"I understand, and I'm sorry for what I did. I didn't mean to cause harm to your reputation. I just wanted to help the party out by finishing things there. I didn't know there were people in the bal as well." Caboose apologized in a sad tone to his voice.
"It's not about my reputation, it's about yours. If that poor excuse of a king finds out that you killed someone even if it was out of self defense or to protect someone that couldn't fight, he'll use all of his power to take you away from the party, and I made a promise to Santa to take care of you while you are here in this world. Which is why, from now on, please refrain from fighting unless I tell you to jump into the fray. Do you understand Caboose?" Naofumi asked.
"If it means that I need to learn when I should fight. Then, yes. I understand Nefu." Caboose answered.
"It's not Nefu, It's Naofumi." the Shield Hero stated before getting up. "Now that we got this out of the way, let's head back to the others and get some sleep."
"Ok." Caboose said back to his joyful tone.
At the campsite
When they arrived, Raphtalia and Filo were already asleep, so quietly they both went to their spots they found comfortable and got themselves ready to sleep. Naofumi got into his sleeping bag, which Raphtalia took out for him, and Caboose went to lay down close to the wagon, inches from where Freckles was.
"Goodnight Nefu." Caboose whispered
"It's not Nefu, its Naofumi. And goodnight to you as well Caboose." Naofumi whispered back.
"happy thanksgiving."Caboose whispered.
"Did you say something Caboose?" the Shield Hero whispered.
"...No." Caboose whispered back.
To be continued