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The masked woman known as shadow quickly rummaged through her belt purse , pulling out a small orb which she put on the ground. It flickered with a cerulean glow as a holographic image formed inside of it belonging to a beautiful woman with purple hair and regal appearance which demanded the attention of everyone. She wore a golden crown with rubies.
His eyes travelled down from her face to her chest, where a small rosary having a sword, spear and bow, with a surprising edition of shield hung from a necklace of silver chain.
She quickly followed his gaze and smirked when she realized the object of his attention.
"It's uncouth for a man to stare at a woman's chest for so long. But if it's you, I don't mind." She purred, in a voice which clearly reminded him of the redhead he encountered in the morning, "So liked what you saw?"
Ben swallowed, the feeling of imminent doom returning tenfold to his mind. This woman might prove to be handful to deal with.
"My queen." Ben bowed his head in greeting, trying desperately to change the topic of discussion. "I see that you don't follow the state religion like your husband and many others."
"Very observant of you Sir Ben and please call me Mirelia~" The Queen praised him slightly giggling behind her fan, her expressions turning serious all of a sudden "The church of three heroes have some rather bad views about the demi-humans and beastfolk, They also paint the shield hero as the satan of their faith. A bunch of crap if you ask me, but unfortunately it's the national religion. I am not much of a believer, but if I'd be, I'd definitely be part of the four saint's faith, which is the best way to bridge the gap between humans and everyone else."
"You are the highest authority in this whole nation, what's stopping you from banning this cult altogether?" Ben raised an eyebrow.
"Only if I could." Mirelia let out a dejected sigh. "Alongside many residents of our nation, most if not all knights and majority of all nobles are faithful members of the church. And as you have already guessed by now that useless husband of mine is their biggest supporter."
And that's where all the power is for now. It sounds bad. REALLY REALLY BAD for Naofumi."
"Sir Ben, the church of three heroes superseded four saint's faith decades before her highness was even born. " The shadow interjected in a somber tone , crossing her arms. " They even dared to summon all four of you behind her majesty and all other nations back. Each major nation was supposed to summon only one hero the deal with the waves of calamity all over the world."
Another sigh escaped Ben's throat as he felt the need to sit down. He wanted to storm the castle and bitchslap Aultcray right there and then , but that wouldn't do him any good. He took a few deep breaths before staring back at the original ruler of this nation.
" I am gonna make an educated guess here, but it seems I am the only hero you have talked to."
Mirelia blinked and laughed, startled a bit.
"What gave it away?"
Ben half smirked in response.
"In one way or another my fellow heroes have been surrounded by followers of the church. And you don't seem like the type to take unnecessary risks. You are a politician after all."
"So you guessed?" Mirelia eyes sparkled with amusement
Ben held out his hands in a "what else you were expecting me to do" posture as he shrugged nonchalantly.
"So what do you want me to do now, Lady Mirelia?" Ben raised an eyebrow, his tone all businesslike.
The queen folded her hands and rest her chin atop of them, her curious gaze assessing the young man chosen by fate to protect this world.
"I believe that fool husband of mine was instigated by my daughter , whom you might know as Sir Iwatani's companion Myne Sophia. You need to be vary of her. I don't know for certain what her endgame is but from what I have heard from my shadows so far, she is certainly up to no good. "
"It seems there is some bad blood between you and the Princess" Ben slightly narrowed down his eyes.
The queen grimaced, unable to come up with a proper response as the masked woman replied in her stead.
"Princess Malty used to be the heir apparent few years ago but due to her nasty temper, selfish and greedy nature and wide abuse of authority my lady transferred most of her royal birth rights to her little sister Melty. We suspect she might be working alongside the church to suppress the Sir Naofumi in return for getting the throne."
At this bit of revelations, Ben's blood ran cold for a moment before boiling over in pure rage the next, he wanted to nothing more but to storm the inn and put an end to the bratty scheming princess and those lunatics working with the so called church, for once all , but that wouldn't do this nation any good. Besides his grandfather always taught him how it was a must for a hero to know when to unleash their anger and when to hold back. Patience could be a weapon if you knew how to use it and anger could make you stronger if you leaned how to control it. He took a few deep breaths before staring back at the mysterious woman asking in the calm and collected voice.
" Even if Melromarc's faith cause them to favour the three remaining heroes, for the crown to conspire to sabotage one of the four supposed saviours of this whole world, is nothing but suicidal malice. If the royalty is willing to jeopardize the world's safety like that out of spite for demihumans, what other questionable calls might they make later down the road? And let's not get me started on abhorrent policies like slavery, right now any place on this planet seems barely worth backing, but I also can't turn a blind eye to the plight of your world . However, let me warn you first, if I were to take matters in my own hands, I might have to take some actions which may seem very very unpleasant to your beloved husband and elder daughter."
"I don't mind as long as you make them scream . " The queen giggled with sadistic glint in her eyes which even sent shivers running through his spine, "Unfortunately, thanks to the actions of that idiot pigheaded husband of mine I will be hard pressed to try and stop a war from breaking out , which means I won't be able to return to my nation and help you out. I know you are quite capable individual but make sure to not let your guard down in there. Royal palace is filled with traitors. If the church feels they can't get you under their thumb, they will try their best to sabotage you in every way possible . " She explained in an alarming tone
"Ha, Don't fret Lady Mirelia! I will dismantle the fanatics and flush out your court from all sort of filth. I have dealt with far worse scum in the past, they got nothing on me." Ben chuckled as the Queen sent him a grateful smile.
The holographic image of the queen then walked towards him before she suddenly bent over, letting him see a healthy portion of her cleavage, "Very well, in that case, I shall make sure to reward you with anything you want, and I mean an-ny-thing~" She trailed off in a teasing manner.
"Sorry to remind you Lady Mirelia, you do have a husband." Ben deadpanned, leaning back against a tree.
"Oh, I thought you already knew at this point. Polygamy is allowed in this nation and many others." The ruler of Melromarc retorted in a playful manner "I am sure this info will be useful to you in the future. Well until we meet next time in person Tennyson-dono, I must get back to the conference for now! Make sure not to die out there, you are my favorite afterall." She concluded by sending him a flying kiss before her image dispersed.
"No wonder that redhead menace is her daughter." Ben shook his head with a sigh.
"Her highness must have taken a liking towards you. She isn't like that with everyone." The shadow remarked in her usual monotonous tone, but Ben could tell that even she was quite amused.
"I bet she did." Ben responded with a humorless laugh , his voice heavily filled with sarcasm as he turned to the masked woman, "What are you waiting for, don't you have some errands to run for your mistress?"
"My mistress asked me to serve as your guide in these unfamiliar lands and help you level up quickly." The masked woman bowed to him, "Please allow me to join your party and fight for the sake of my home."
Ben blinked in confusion before slightly narrowing down his eyes.
" I appreciate the offer, but how can I trust you? Especially after hearing what is going on within this nation."
The masked lady sighed as she sat down on the ground, after putting the orb back in her belt purse she took out a small knife and a bottle of ink, producing a small dish alongside that.
"This bottle contains special type of ink, if you were to mix it with your blood and draw a specific rune on my bare skin, I wound never be able to betray you and follow your every command even if you decide to betray her highness, My lord."
Ben's eyes widened upon hearing that, She was willing to go that far to obtain his trust, Interesting.
"And your mistress will be okay with that?" His eyebrows rose as he asked the question.
"She suggested this in the first place. We know that unlike your fellow heroes, you don't give your trust easily." She responded with a small laughter of her own.
"Just how far did she plan all this?" Ben eyed her, giving her an intense look.
"Everything she could possibly think of at this point." She pursed her lips before answering.
Ben rubbed the back of his head and sighed, "Fine but remember no one is forcing you to do this."
The masked woman smiled ruefully as she motioned him to come over
"Shall we continue, My lord?"
The omnitrix bearer briefly hesitated before taking a seat besides her, Shadow poured the ink base into the dish, it's color such a dark purple that it nearly seemed pitch black in the night. Taking the knife in his hand Ben pricked his own finger allowing several drops of his own blood to get mixed with the magical ink. The feeling of cutting himself would have hurt a lot but the enhanced endurance of his Loboan half and enhanced recovery of his Kineceleran half made it appear a lot less painful.
She lowered her robs, Ben was surprised to see that she already had the seal attached to her behind her neck, all he had to do was to trace over the intricate seal with the magical ink mixed with his blood. Once he began applying the seal, she winced a little as the ink burned into her skin but it hurt less and less as time went along and she barely felt anything towards the end.
"It's finished. I am completely yours now, My lord." Shadow said, smiling beneath her mask.
Bow hero has acquired a slave.
Alexia has been set as a party member.
Alexia?So that's her true name. And Lvl 36? That doesn't sound too bad.
Shaking his head with a sigh, he selected the settings window which opened in front of him and immediately turned off most of the "innovative" rule violation punishments. He didn't want to feel like some sadistic bastard after all!
"Can I have that ink?"
"Sure."
Ben took the vial from her outstretched hands before letting it be absorbed into the gem of his legendary bow.
[Slaver's Bow unlocked]
[Slaver Bow (0/20)Unlocked]
Base Stat: [Slave body correction- +5% to all stats] (Only available for slaves below Lvl 30)
Proficiency:[0%]
Mastery:[0%]
Equip Bonus: [Slave growth correction- +8% to all stats] (Unmastered)
Passive Attribute: +30% experience to both slave and owner ] (Only available upon hunting 100 monsters with your slave)
"So you are called Alexia, quite auspicious name I must say" Ben extended his hand, a small grin evident on his face, "From where I came from, it came from the root Alexander, which meant defender of the mankind."
Alexia stood up and gently shook his hand, brightening up a little bit upon realizing that Bow hero seemed much more friendlier than before, " I shall try my best to live up to that name, Sir Ben!"
"Look, I don't usually restrict people for attaching dumb titles to me if they really want to, but that's not really my style. If we are going to do this as a team, I will try my utmost best to treat you as my equal. So you can choose what you want to call me, Okay?"
The masked woman stared at him in amusement before smiling towards him once again, "I shall keep that in mind, My Lord. So what are my orders for the time being?"
"For starters let's get back to the town. I am quite famished so I gotta eat something. After that, keep an eye on the bratty princess . She is bound to show her true colors when no one is around."
"As you wish Sir Ben, I will be in the shadows if you ever require my assistance." She slightly chuckled , and just like that his masked party member disappeared with the gust of wind. As if she never existed in the first place.
Ben rolled his eyes as he started walking back towards the town.
"Show off!"
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Castle town seemed to be as lively in the night as it was during the daytime, adventurers going on and about through various shops and merchants conducting their business as per usual. Which might have been due to the fact that despite grinding for what it seemed like few hours of hunting in the outskirts, he barely spent no more than an hour and half out there. Cause he perceived time differently while using XLR8 in any form. Which was quite natural for beings whose bodies were built to live on a world of violent electrical storms. Everything on their homeworld Kinet was accelerated. Days were compressed into minutes and lifetimes were spread over weeks. And after spending nearly a decade working on this transformation he could understand why.
Appearance of waves could also be a major reason behind that. People from all over the world were trying to get as much stronger as they possibly could in order to survive.
He was dirty, his hair unkempt, his clothes stained with dirt and sweat . Heroes in fairy tales somehow managed to rescue maidens while looking like court dandies. Next time he went adventuring he'd remember to bring a comb and take a shower or two perhaps immediately afterwards.
Eventually he did manage to track down the place which was recommended by the bratty princess, it was quite wealthy establishment with 30 silver being the pay for one night with dinner and breakfast as complimentary. But that still feels too expensive compared to the other places he had heard about from the castle guards and blacksmith. Unfortunately all three heroes were present in the inn so he really didn't have much choice in that regards. The process of ordering wasn't much different from back home. Still he found it weird how quickly people seemed to recognize him, even though he didn't have his bow out. Thankfully, he was quite used to dealing with situations like that back home, being one of the most famous individuals in the whole galaxy nonetheless.
Thankfully, the food was quite good. Especially the meat dish seemed like something out of the world. Which led him to order the same recipe twice in a row. He scanned his surroundings to see what the other heroes and especially the bratty princess were up to.
While Naofumi was nowhere to be found, Ren and Motoyasu were still there. As he initially expected Motoyasu was enjoying himself, partying and drinking with his all female party . While Ren sat in corner , giving off a don't come near me aura, which made him look more like a yakuza boss rather than a superhero. Some brave females went to him to attempt a conversation but quickly left his table within minutes, their smiles now replaced with frowns. Even his party members have given up on socializing with him and began chatting with other patrons of the Inn, seemingly lost in a world of their own.
The infamous princess he had been warned about was still drinking on her own, a pleasant smile present on her face and nothing really pointing to her true motives. He didn't had received training from Kevin Levin, an expert thief and one of the most keen and sharp investigators working with plumbers , she could have fooled him too.
So ingrained he was in his musings, that he didn't notice he had been staring until her eyes met his own , her smile growing a faction , and then she winked at him. Not knowing what else to do, Ben raised his own hand in greeting and smiled back
Thankfully, she didn't actually come forward and try to start a conversation with him. Not that he was scared or anything like that, just...it might have made things a little bit awkward.
Just what kind of rumors were there regarding the first princess? If Ben wanted to disentangle Naofumi from such a dangerous character, he would need more solid evidence rather then his conversation with the queen.
Thankfully, with Alexia keeping an eye on her, he didn't have to worry much in that regard.
He quickly went to manager to rent a room and off to bed. Quickly going off to bed himself so he could farm early tomorrow morning and think about how to take down the fanatic cult, also how to let people back home know that he was still alive.
As he was completely unaware of the trap that was being set for the shield hero
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Ben woke up to the sound of harsh knocks from behind his exit door, followed by someone shouting for him like as if the world was about to end. Rubbing his eyes he looked through the window, quite surprised to find the sun barely above the farthest building in the townscape. A little bit miffed, he made his way to the door. Anger present on every corner of his mind. The act of interrupting his beauty sleep was simply the best tried and tested method to piss him off unless the planet was about to be invaded. Heck, even Gwen didn't wake up that early and she was the most morning person he ever knew.
"What the hell do you idiots want with me? Don't you see I am trying to sleep here!" Ben snapped at the very moment he opened the door, sending the guard on the other side a vicious death glare which caused to him to freeze in his tracks.
"I am sorry to disturb you at this time , Sir Hero , but his highness called for an emergency meeting." The guard explained nervously, starting to sweat bullets.
Ben let out a groan, resisting the urge to tell the guard, that the king could go # $% himself, before taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He wouldn't lose his temper on guards who appeared to be merely doing their jobs.
"So what's this meeting about?" He raised an eyebrow
The guard looked nervously from one side, to the other, " The shield hero is being put to judgement for the worst crime in all of Melromarc, Sexual assault."
"That's just stupid." Ben deadpanned, "Naofumi has no offensive capabilities . Tell me how can he possibly force himself on pri...I mean his teammate who is not only much more experienced but much more higher leveled than him as well. Besides there is simply no way he would do that with his sole party member, His life practically depends on her , you know?"
"I don't know...what to believe hero-sama." The young knight replied, appearing rather confused upon hearing Ben's reasoning.
"It would have been a bit more believable if I was accused of doing such thing cause I have the power to pull off something like that, not that I ever would." Ben replied with a frown, "This trial is nothing but a display of sheer stupidity on the king's side. Now tell the king hero of the bow is too busy leveling up in preparation for the incoming wave to attend this mockery of a trial."
The Omnitrix bearer replied slamming the door on the faces of gaping knights, who had no idea how to convey Bow hero's words to the king.
"Seriously though, Princess or not, who would believe this shit? "
All of a sudden a momentary doubt entered his mind as he stared back at his own reflection in the mirror
"But what if...They do?
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