Chapter 9

~ Naofumi's POV ~

I've stopped going out at night and switched back to a normal schedule. That's because children need their sleep, and that's specially so for the fast-growing Raphtalia. I'm still making elixirs and medicine while the girls sleep in the bed further away from the door, though.

Why are we in the same room? When I didn't know Lin-chan's age, I had her sleep in her own room, but knowing about the discrimination this country has for demihumans, I can't feel at ease unless both Raphtalia and Lin are close-by at night. Plus, Raphtalia-chan still has nightmares and night terrors when sleeping alone.

[Nutritional Supplement was created. Quality (Low) → (Normal). A medicine that relieves fatigue, and is also effective as a way to recover from malnourishment.]

[Medicine was created. Quality (Low) → (Normal). An all-purpose medicine, it is less effective against severe diseases.]

A grand total of six each. Well, since I managed to make better quality nutritional supplements and medicine, let's feed the low quality ones to the shield. By the way, these sell for quite a bit, but I'm keeping most of them for our party's use. Thanks to Lin-chan's countrymen, I can't complain about money anymore, but the materials we gather for these disappear so fast its not even funny.

[Calorie Shield has been unlocked. True power sealed. Equipment bonus: Small (+5%) Stamina bonus.]

[Energy Shield has been unlocked. True power sealed. Equipment bonus: Small (+5%) SP boost.]

[Energic Shield has been unlocked. True power sealed. Equipment bonus: Small (-5%) Stamina consumption.]

...I'm going to guess their true power would be a large (60%) bonus, right? And what is Stamina anyway, is it like physical fitness? I'll have to experiment to find out. For now, let's equip the Calorie Shield to add to its mastery bar. If Stamina really works as I think it does, I feel it is a good idea to raise this first in order to do more every day.

Just as I'm thinking that, I hear Raphtalia-chan begin to mumble and sure enough, I recognize that look of panic on her face. She's about to have a panic attack, so I quickly throw everything into the shield before moving to her.

'I can't do much about your dreams, so I hope this helps.'

I hold her princess style, and coo at her while walking around the room for a bit. Thankfully, it does indeed appears to help a bit, but the moment I return her to their bed, she immediately opened her mouth and prepares to scream, so I pick her up again.

'It was difficult, wasn't it? You survived a wave, saw your friends and family die, got taken as a slave.'

Furthermore, I wasn't her first 'master', which really makes me worried about what kind of treatment she received, but I just don't have the balls to ask her about it. If the little girl I've come to think of as family tells me she got raped, I may just go on some sort of rampage. So all I can do for now is climb into the bed with her and Lin to hold her for whoever long it takes until she calms down while using my free hand to pat her head. Heh, fluffy ears are fluffy.

"Naofumi-sama?" ~ Lin-chan wakes up, looks at me curled up around Raphtalia while patting her head, makes an 'I see'-like expression, turns around and goes back to sleep.

Oi, oi, what was that expression for!? Hey, Lin-chan, a grown man just climbed unto two girls bed, so please demand an explanation, don't just go back to sleep! ...somehow the fact that she looks like she'd be okay with whatever is pretty scary, you know?

And the cherry on top, I feel Raphtalia-chan lose control and wet my lower body with her holy water. It's okay, she's a child in the middle of a panic attack, don't mind it, me! If you mind it, you lose! ...I still feel like I lost something, though.

~ Rishia's POV ~

"S-sakura onee-sama?" ~ I can tell Lady Sakura is enjoying my embarrassment whenever I call out to her, but that's what she told me to do. Honestly, I wouldn't have minded except that after I agreed to it she explained it means something like 'respected older sister.'

"Yes, Rishia-chan? And don't forget to call me Onee-sama in your mind, too. I can hear thoughts so I'll know if you don't." - the way Sakura onee-sama she makes such an scary statement with a kind expression is scary. In many ways.

'Ah, the fact that La- I mean, Sakura Onee-sama can read thoughts is just unfair! Its unfair, so please stop!'

"Nope." ~ She replied with an smile.

'Sakura Onee-sama, you are really having fun teasing me, aren't you!?'

"Yup." ~ An even shinier smile just showed uu~up!

I give up, Sakura Onee-sama's affection is really smothering.- 'Wait, do I actually need to talk out loud for you to hear me, then? Isn't it fine if I just think whatever I want to say?'

"That's no good, because then we'd look kind of creepy, going about our day in complete silence, wouldn't we? Now, what was it you wanted to say?" ~ She explains gently.

"Are you sure it's alright to spend this much money on me? On my clothes and armour, I mean."

"It's fine, it's fine. This is that pig lord's money anyway, so just think of it as compensation money and spend all of it with a clear conscience, alright?"

'Compensation, is it? But Sakura Onee-sama, you killed him. I'm pretty sure he can't atone any more than that.'

"Oh, that was for kidnapping and stripping me, you know? As a chaste young wife, only hubby is allowed to do that, so I killed him. Since I got his life, you get his money." ~ is what she said.

Well, it certainly helps. I do have to question my new clothes' practicality in combat, though. I mean, most female adventurers wear pants or leggings, Sakura Onee-sama. If we take mobility into account, I'd even understand the miniskirt and thigh-high boots ig the boots didn't have high heels, you know? And the way this silk shirt holds my bust while the corset clings to me feels like we are definitively sacrificing practicality for looks, you know? And the fluttery skirt makes me think too much information will leak whenever I try to run or jump...

[It's fine because you have an slim and beautiful figure. Also, its called a battle skirt, and if it distracts the opponent for long enough you can stab them in the eye, all the better. Besides, these are just your street clothes. We are going to get you comfortable travel gear to wear under your armour, anyway, so don't worry about it.]

"Ah, seamstress-san? Good job on the shirt, she'll have six just like it, three extra skirts, and two more corsets. I'll be having three long dresses. Can we have them ready by this evening, if possible?"

"Y-yes, lady Sakura! I only need to adjust my stock some, so it won't be a problem if you come back later today."

"Great. Could you recommend me a good shoemaker(1)? And we'll both need at least two good coats each, so please give me such information as well."

"Yes!"

After that, Sakura Onee-sama did indeed get me a few pairs of thigh-high and ankle-high boots, ankle high shoes, and high-heel versions of everything, plus a thick and fluffy coat before using her [Legendary Weapon] to visit a shop in the capital to have me measured for an armour suit and letting me pick a weapon.

Her smile when I told her I was a mage and able to use all the elements was a little scary, but she took me to a magic shop and got me an staff to cast with, and a short sword as a tool and weapon of last resort.

Honestly, it was a very tiring day, but if I can be useful to lady S- I mean, Sakura Onee-sama, that's alright.

~ Sakura's POV ~

I'm keeping her busy so she has no choice but to accept herself. Plus, I finally get to be the older sister, you know? Ehehe~ I'm the older sister now! Well, she's fourteen and already pretty enough to accidentally trigger evil men's desire, so I'm sure she'll grow up into a Rider-class beauty soon That's why, I'll slowly get her used to light dresses and high heels. The first will get shorter and shorter, while the later will get longer and longer every time she needs a new set.

More importantly, she's an average one, so I can probably look forwards to having her act as our magical artillery while my elementals keep us safe. I'll also teach her archery, though mostly as meditation than anything else.

A medieval fantasy world sure is inconvenient when it comes to shopping for clothes, isn't it? There's no brand stores or malls keeping a convenient stock in many sizes, so we had to visit a seamstress and have her adjust whatever she had in stock. Well, I've been steadily rising my [Sewing] skills, so I'll be the one making all our clothes after today. This just happened to be an emergency case since we needed two full wardrobes on short notice.

I mean, I technically could just keep making shadow clothes for the both of us, same as I did as soon as we were out of the ruins of that man's house, but then I'd need to make everything over and over again every day.

"Here, try these on." ~ I say after finishing a pair of [Good] quality side-tie panties and handing them to Rishia. They're green silk with soft cotton laces. That's because I am going to hard pass on this world's granny panties, thank you very much.

"What is this, Sakura Onee-sama?" ~ She is holding them up like she really doesn't know.

"Underwear, we're going without, right?" - After we escaped that man's dungeon, I had to create shadow-born clothes by technically creating armor for the both of us. Honestly, weaving shadow like this isn't that hard when its just for my own use, but handing a set to Rishia and maintaining it for this long is downright exhausting, so I had to settle for a floor-length dress for each of us. We didn't even had shoes because I didn't think about keeping spare clothes stored inside my weapon until now. Live and Learn, I guess.

"F-fuee~e!? I've had handkerchiefs with more cloth than this, Sakura Onee-sama!"

"I'm sure, and your point is? This is what's normal where I come from, and when hubby shows up, I refuse to be found in the granny underwear you have here. If it makes you feel any better, I promise these are just cute by my world's standards. The reason they are side tie is because we don't have any rubber to make elastic with, right?"

"Uhm? No, the fact I'd need to tie them in place is the only normal thing about these, Sakura Onee-sama..."

"You can also just call me Onee-sama, you know? Well, I don't mind if you want to go without, but I didn't think Rishia was such a daring girl..."

"I-i'll take them, thank you very much!"

"Alrght. Now let's first rent a room at an inn so we can have a bath. I think you'd look beautiful with a long ponytail, or do you prefer braids? Do you normally keep your hair loose?"

After that, I dragged her to a bath tub and used generous amounts of the shampoo and liquid soap I had Naofumi-san make for me. Her loose hair looks beautiful, but it was beautiful on a high ponytail too, though she seemed to hate it for some reason. Since she's very emotionally delicate right now and I have no way to know what would be an emotional landmine when dealing with her, I won't force her to keep her hair that way. It really looked beautiful, though. In the end, I worked her hair into an elegant-looking butterfly hairstyle, though.

I spent most of the evening making underwear, then picked up her new armour, and just teleported back to pick up our new clothes, shoes and jackets. I briefly wondered if I should let her rest tonight, but decided against it in the spirit of keeping her too busy to mope, so I dragged her out into the adjacent wilderness and spent the rest of the night getting her level up.

~ Naofumi's POV ~

When Raphtalia woke up in the morning, various emotions quickly flashed through her face. Surprise, thankfulness, then unbearable shame. It was difficult for Naofumi to comfort her once she noticed she had wet the bed, but the shield hero genuinely don't mind. A ten years old child had a panic attack in her sleep after suffering from traumatic events, so what? There's nothing to be ashamed of. Or that's how Naofumi felt, but...

Raphtalia is hiding her face while going through a full body blush and whimpering 'I'm sorry' over and over right now.

"Raphtalia-chan... it couldn't be helped, and its not like anyone got hurt." ~ I gently petted her fluffy ears. ~ "Your nightmares are not your fault, you know?"

"Uuu~uuh...!"

Well, it was a bit of a pain since even though I know she's still a child, she looks like a beautiful young girl in her early teens, so giving her a bath is a no-go, isn't it? So I had to stand outside in my soiled clothes while Lin-chan helped her wash, drawing quite a few looks from passing guests in what has to count as some sort of penalty game.

Once the girls were done, we switched places so I could wash myself before changing into fresh clothes. I stored the dirty sheets and clothes into the shield, bought the sheets from the innkeeper, and after leaving, had Raphtalia and Lin wash them in a nearby stream while I prepared breakfast. Of course, I added the Nutritional Supplement (Normal) into Raphtalia's portion, which reminded me to check I had indeed mastered the Calorie Shield overnight, so I replaced it with a different one.

In the end, we got a long pole and tied the sheet and clothes to it so they would dry as we move around. I am sure we made for a very odd-looking group. We went to the dungeon (left the pole outside), and spent most of the morning grinding exp. You could say I'm placing the cart before the horse, but the lack of medicinal herbs made me feel like we weren't making the most of our time. I mean, I got used to Lin and Raphtalia killing the monsters while I gather medicinal herbs along the way, so we headed towards the mountains after lunch break (I again added Nutritional Supplement (Normal) to Raphtalia-chan's food), which was quite productive as most adventurers don't come this far away from town. Ergo, there was quite a number of exotic and rare medicinal herbs, as well as larger exp bags... I mean, monsters.

Well, I can't deny that exp-wise, it is slower than just grinding in the dungeon, but I think we're still keeping a good pace, and I still feel like we're making the most with our time. Mid afternoon, we had a tea-time break (yes, I properly added the Nutritional Supplement (Normal) into Raphtalia-chan's food) and had Raphtalia-chan drink her medicine. She's barely couching at all anymore. I think she should be acompletely alright by tomorrow or the day after. With lunch done, we resumed hunting and gathering until we got to the feet of the mountains, and our first proper animal showed up.

Yup, an animal rather than a monster. Its the first time.

As expected of our battle maiden, Lin-chan didn't hesitate, and loped off the bear's front paw the moment it stood on its rear legs, dodged under its rage-fueled counter-swipe, and finally sliced upwards from its groin to its neck, killing it with minimal fuss.

"Aaa-ah!" ~ I turned around, to see a trembling Raphtalia-chan ~ "B-blood!"

Indeed, the bear was an animal, not a monster. As such, it had proper organs and blood(2).

"Raphtalia-chan?" ~ Lin-chan turned around, and Raphtalia-chan stiffened, looking at her with wide-open eyes.

"Raphtalia." ~ I called out to her ~ "You said you want to stay with us, don't you? In that case, you'll need to get used to blood. We'll be fighting a lot of animals along the way, so we can't keep you around if you are going to hesitate or freeze... But if you don't want to, that's fine too. You know I didn't want to drag you along into combat to begin with, and the plan always was to send you to Siltvelt..."

"N-no! I will fight!" ~ She shifted her posture and called out with determination.

"Are you sure?" ~ I mean, I'm a grown ass man and I feel queasy about this myself. Sure, she looks like a fifteen-years old now, but she's a ten-years old inside.

"Yes! I want to be useful to Naofumi-sama! I want to stay with Naofumi-sama and Lin-chan!"

"Alright." ~ I patted her head gently. I can't get enough of the fluffy ears.

After that, we continued hunting and gathering herbs, and when an small horde of Usapiru rabbits attacked, we all fought together to take them down. Raphtalia-chan was incredibly gallant and motivated, taking down the large-fanged rabbits without flinching or hesitating. I hope its because she wants to stay with us, and not because she has woken up to some strange hobby.

By the way, after dismantling and feeding the bear parts to the shield, it now has a disassembling function, so thankfully we won't had to bleed out, skin and disassemble every corpses ourselves. Have to be grateful for the little things.

After dinner, we made it back into town and I sold half of our leftover medicine and nutritional supplements before went to a different inn to spend the night.

That night, both Lin and Raphtalia had a large bear pelt as coverall for their bed, so they had quite a warm experience. It may have been a little bit too warm, actually, since Raphtalia-chan kicked off the sheets in her sleep. Uh, I need to get her new pajamas, since she's about to burst out of the ones she's wearing right now. In various ways.

Speaking of things to be grateful for, the fact I'm able to see Raphtalia-chan's flushed and mostly naked form without any improper physical reactions is something I feel incredibly grateful for. Good job, me! And of course, it is that that Lin-chan rolls over to hug Raphtalia and pushes the sheets down just enough to show a bit of her naked shoulders, and I had to look away while pulling the sheets up on them.

After making ten more (Normal) quality Medicine and Nutritional Supplements, the quality I can make went up to (Good), so I'll be selling our left-over stock of (Normal) quality before we go back to the mountain. Furthermore, I made a wooden horse toy of (Bad) quality, though I'm not really sure on what exactly decides the quality of a little toy. I mean, it looks like a horse, so I guess its durability is low? I'll try making some of those dragon mounts since I have yet to see a horse anywhere in this world.

Let's aim for at least (Normal) quality woodcarving results before making a chess set.

Incidentally, bear meat is delicious, but you have to cook it thoroughly because it may have parasites. Well, that is true for all animals caught in the wild, though.

~ Sakura's POV ~

'Well, its about time to do a wellness check on everyone, so let's go in alphabetical order.' - I sip from my tea while sitting by Rishia's sleeping form.

Motoyasu... listening to his surface thoughts tells me he's having a lot of fun with his female party members. By the way, his party is all girls now. Well, at the very least he's not in danger so let's say it was a successful check.

'And now for Naofumi...' - I shift my attention towards the Shield Hero, and take a quick peek before devoting more of my attention to the link. To begin with, its not as if I enjoy peeping on people, and if he did lay his hands on either of his girls, I wouldn't want any part of that... - "Uh?" - I can't help but voice my confusion in a soft voice. Checking on Rishia by my side, she is still sleeping, so it was indeed just a whisper.

Its not that he's doing anything improper, its that he is oozing worry. Alright, let's try and focus on him a little more... I see, he's worried about Raphtalia-chan's recurring nightmares. He's a rather kind man.- 'I wonder if I should...?' - After thinking about it for a bit, I shift my focus unto Raphtalia-chan. Dreams are confusing and messy things. Most of the time, they're full of weird symbolism and situations that make no sense even to the person experiencing at the time, and yet can elicit powerful feelings all the same. This is all the more true for children, whose young mind are still in developme- wait what?

A cold, damp and dark cell. Basically a hole in the wall of a dungeon somewhere. Raphtalia is curled up into a corner, hugging her knees while the pain of fresh welts and wounds keeps her awake. Beyond the bars of her cell, there's a full assortment of downright cliché torture-oriented furniture and tools barely visible only thanks to the enhanced vision of demi humans. Raphtalia is trying her hardest to keep an smile while someone is coughing by her side, and the soft whimpering of a child can be heard coming from an adjoining cell.

Raphtalia looks to the side, where one of her friends is laying on the floor while coughing and in pain. She stretches a tiny hand and brushes through her friend's hair as gently as she can while telling him to be strong, and reminding him that the Shield Hero will certainly come and rescue them any time now. She's being brave for everyone's sake, because crying has never solved anything, so she's forcing an smile while pushing down her pain.

It is at that point that light begins to pour into the dungeon down an adjoining set of stairs, and Raphtaloa tenses up, knowing that light means pain is coming for her or someone else. Their master is a noble who hates demihumans, and enjoys preaching to them about the sin of their existance while 'cleansing them with pain'.

Sakura ends the link. She looks up but no matter how hard she looks at the wooden ceiling, cannot find even an ounce of patience or mercy on it.

'Raphtalia-chan's hope was that the Shield Hero would save her and her friends.' - she thinks about it for yet a few more moments.- 'Perhaps I should tell Naofumi about it and have him fulfil her expectations?'

She forces herself to consider every option. Naofumi is already kept under close surveillance by the church's shadows, and while she could easily wipe them out before sending Naofumi off to save Raphtalia's friends, it would only get him into yet more troubles with the church. Besides, she'd rather not have Raphtalia return to such a place. God knows she'd hate having to visit the Matou home.

Indeed, she only hesitates on Raphtalia's behalf, since she doesn't wants to question the girl and drag out what doubtlessly are extremely traulatic memories into the light, but the other options involve capturing one of the country's shadows, questioning it and hoping for the information she wants, or delving into Raphtalia's deeper thoughts, a dangerous proposition even at the best of times.

Rather than risking injuring Raphtalia's fragile psyche, Sakura would rather deal with the shadows, even if it means that at best, she'd technically owe them (and their boss) a favour in exchange for the information, and at worst, expose a crime that would become a potential weakness. Of course, the fact that she's going to help, in itself, was never in question.

With a sigh, she focuses on herself, then begins stretching her senses through the shadows in the room, then the adjoining rooms, the hallway, the room under her own, and finally the roof.

'I don't know why I didn't begin with the roof in the first place.' - she chides herself, as that seems to be the shadows favourite spot. She creates a portal on the floor before her, connects it to one under the Shadow spying on her from the roof, and smiles at the surprised spy when she's spit out unto the floor at her feet.

"K-kyaa-a!" - the shadow lets out a rather cutesy cry as she pops into the room at Sakura's feet. Honestly, the young housewife has become a bit of a trauma for them already.

"Why, hello there. Having a good night?" - she asks as gently as she can.

~qOp~

Author Notes: I finally got to Shirou meeting with Rin and Luvia in my other fic, so I can resume working on this one with a clear conscience. God, it took a long time and way more chapters than I thought it would. Please remember to review on the review, and tell me if you spot any errors, its the only way I can get better.

1)Cobbler?

2) Eh... in the original WN, their first animal was a rabbit, but the point remains. Personally, I feel like the author may have made a mistake somewhere since I clearly remember monsters having different organs as Naofumi could absorb kidneys, claws, skin, horns, etc off a single monster from time to time, though it may just have been the author forgetting his own rules. This distinction between animals and monsters happens really early in the WN, so I wouldn't be surprised if he forgot 100 chapters down the line.

Jaralis – Ren's older brother. Would be extremely happy if Naofumi pushed his little sister down.

Gadget Boy: I was originally going to. I even had this little gem prepared for the beginning of the chapter, but in the end got cold feet because I don't want the story to get reported or something like that. Ie [Warning: This fanfic is rated M for mature. Furthermore, this chapter of Yet Another Fate x Shield Crossover contains gratuitous amounts of violence porn, and can be skipped just fine without losing track of the story so far or past this point. Contents include nudity, drinking', smokin', ass-kickin', law-breaking, running with sharp objects, strong language, chocking on food and drink (and therefore asphyxiation), as well as extreme graphic, physical, shadowy and magical violence, pretty much all of it directed against a power trippin', puppy-kicking and very rape-happy noble and his equally rapey and puppy-kicking associates. The author hopes this warning is explicit to the point nobody sensitive enough to get his/her/they feels triggered will read this chapter. Finally, all characters depicted are above the age of 21 (except the shadow shark). Thank you.]

If somebody explains to me what is and isn't protected under the "M" tag, I may do a flashback for the extra violent bits. God knows the original Raise of the Shield Bro WN was ridiculously violent at times. Seriously, some girls got strangled to death, and/or thrown into an acid bath and a blender at one point. I haven't read the LN, but I presume those bits got left out, much like how Arche in Overlord got turned into Shalltear's sex toy for a bit and eventually was allowed into Ainz' secret, experimental paradise-like village together with her little sisters in the original WN but instead she just got killed off in the LN and anime. I'm pretty sure that was the author's revenge at the censorship of his work.

Everyone: Can somebody explain to me why ch3 has 2864 readers, ch4 has 2792, and ch5 picks back up with 2858 readers? Why did some of you skip ch4? ...I thought it was funny (kicks can down the road).

reynard9234: There is no route in which Sakura retains her command seals, though she does keep the 'Original Command Mantra'. Plus she called Rider without a catalyst, which means she called 'the ideal servant for her', and has only grown closer with her ever since. I'm pretty sure than now that she has a bit of her hair, she'll be able to summon her without problems. Probably.

Saif Omar: No, but the legendary weapons do have their own personalities. At least in the WN, there's a point where all the legendary weapons are talking to each other and the bow, spear and sword all complain at the shield because "you always summon the best hero, you glorious bastard."

SentinalSlice: I'm pretty sure he would, no hesitation.