Please read author notes at the end, as I have a poll there, thankyou.

Chapter 10

~ Shadow POV ~

As the shadow falls down through the eeiling and is puked up through the floor, she's certain of one thing and one thing only, the thought running through her mind, loud and clear.~ 'Scary! This hero is so scary, your majesty!'

"Aww... c'mon, I'm not Scary," ~ the Hero of the Bow coos softly while showing a kind smile.~ "I'm Sakura!"

'No, you're definitively scary, hero-sama!' ~ it took the shadow three heartbeats (which considering how fast her heart was beating at the time, could be argued to be nearly no time at all) to realise the Bow Hero's words aligned a bit too perfectly with her thoughts.~ "H-hero-sama, did you just... read my mind, degozaru?"

"What? No, I did not?" ~ the Bow Hero blinked owlishly, leaning down to offer a hand up.~ "That would be needlessly dangerous and potentially harmful. I just overheard your thoughts a little bit. Not the same thing at all?"

"Scary, degozaru!" ~ Shadow froze in the mifdle of reaching for the Bow Hero's hand.

"I'm not scary, I'm Sakura!" ~ the Bow Hero harrumphed and pressed her fists into her hips, looking indignant.

'Now you're just doing that on purpose, aren't you, Hero-sama?'

[Maybe a little bit.] ~ the Bow Hero's answered without moving her lips.

Shadow's eyes opened as large as saucers as she realised what just happened, and she immediately leapt off the ground and tried to escape the room by defenestrating herself, only for the shadows in the wall to cover the window and for her to reappear on the floor at the Bow Hero's feet, whom immediately seemed to switch gears as she moved her hands to hit her right palm with her left fist.

"You're a new one!" - the Bow Hero declared with a dangerously mischievous smile

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing. Go on, do your thing."

Shadow wasn't sure what this was about, but she immediately rolled to the side and dashed for the door, when suddenly there was no floor.~ "K-kyaah!?" ~ She fell into an unreasonable pit, and was again puked out of the floor at the Bow Hero's feet. Coiling herself like an spring, Shadow got ready to leap up and reach for the roof, using her climbing gear to hang from it so she could move towards the door without touching the strangely booby-trapped floor.

The result? Shadow leapt high, but instead of sinking the tips of her steel claws in the wooden roof, felt nothing but inky shadow, the liquid darkness offering no resistance or purchase whatsoever, causing Shadow to fall back down and... through the floor? Just to be spit out of the floor again in the exact same spot she felt through a moment ago, only now there was no pit there, just solid wood.

'T-this is a second floor! How could there be a pit here to begin with!?' - Shadow felt a shiver run up its spine while looking up at the amused expression of the Bow Hero, whom was looking down at her with gently glowing eyes not unlike those of a mischievous child looking down at a funny bug in a flask.

"Are you done yet?" - the Bow Hero asked gently.~ "If you aren't, please feel free to continue, but not so much that you hurt yourself, alright? I am going to set the tea kettle so we can have a drink once you're done fighting back."

~ Sakura's POV ~

I walked over to the small iron stove by the northern wall, then used the flint to ignite the tinder and wood until there was a healthy little flame inside it, and set the kettle atop it. Honestly, I may not be as gifted in 'regular' magecraft as nee-san, but I'm not as narrowly focused as hubby, either. Creating a bit of water is still well within my capabilities, which is good because I didn't feel like going downstairs for it.

I had the shadows on the roof and ground turn into portals and had the Shadow fall through the room on a loop for a couple of seconds before reversing the direction on the portal on the ground so she fell through the room about a dozen times in quick succession before being hurled up from the floor to arrest most of her motion and kinetic force before she landed back on the floor. Mean? Who, me? No, no, I'm not mean, I'm Sakura.

Alright so maybe it was a little mean, but I was in a mean mood after learning about Raphtalia-chan's past. The Shadow is a government official, right? Which means it is -to some extent- her responsibility to stop this sort of tragedies, yet looking at Rishia and Raphtalia, I'd say they're all-too common. Besides, you can't call yourself 'Shadow' in my presence and not expect me to assert dominance over the title, you know?

Therefore, I had her fall through and out of floors, ceilings, windows, doors and from under the bed a couple of times before she (I am pretty sure its a she) laid exhausted on the floor, having finally given up on running away. Just in time for the water to boil, too, how very considerate of her!

"You know, I really appreciate how quiet you've been so far. Rishia-chan really needs her rest, you know? Thank you."

"N-no problem, degozaru..."

I prepared two cups of tea and placed them atop the nightstand before offering to help her up again. I was quite happy to see her reaching out to take my hand this time. By the way, even though I basically shook her from side to side and launched her through practically every surface on the room, I made sure not to hurt her, let alone injure her. She's just tired, its kind of cute.

[You Shadows are this country's spy network," ~ it was an statement, not a question. I had already read through enough of them to know that much.~ "so chances are you have already investigated everything about the heroes' companions.] ~ There's two reasons as to why I was using telepathy for this conversation. The first was so Rishia wouldn't hear voices talking right next to her, and the second was to remind Shadow that I was an unknown, scary person that could read her mind. In short, it was to prevent her from bothering with lies.~ [You don't need to actually say it outloud, I'll hear you anyway if you just think about it.]

'Yes, degozaru.' ~ she sat across from me on the floor.

[Good girl! So, who was Raphtalia-chan's previous master?] ~ I handed her tea cup to her. I'm rather proud of my tea, you know?

'W-what will you do with that information, degozaru?'

[I'll disappear the pig and his manor all the way to the garden door. When I'm done, there will be nothing left other than a perfectly smooth empty lot.] ~ I smiled while sipping on my tea.

'Scary!'

[Well, I am sure I could find out on my own by asking Raphtalia-chan and assuring her I'm going to go save her little friends, you know? I just don't want to bring the subject up with her, that's all. Look at the bright side, if you tell me, I'll owe you a favour. I am sure whoever you actually work for would like that, correct?]

'Her majesty would appreciate tha- oh.'

[Oh! So you work for the queen, and not the king?]

'T-the king is just the king consort. Melromarc is a matriarchal society, but the queen is currently out of the country due to international negotiations, degozaru.'

[Honestly, that is comforting to know. I'd hate to be indebted to that scheming king.]

'Her majesty is also very cunning, but she cares deeply for every citizen well-being, you know?'

[I am sure. So, the information?]

'I do not know. It wasn't deemed necessary for watching over you, degozaru. I can probably contact my superiors and have the information in a few minutes, degozaru.'

[Alright, do what you have to do. I assume that by now, you know that trying to run away is a truly meaningless thing to do, correct?]

'Yes, degozaru.'

'Hm~ what a rotten country. In a certain way, I guess the best that could be said about it is that anyone can become a victim. It doesn't really matters if you're a demihuman or even a nobleborn.' - looking down at Rishia's sleeping face, I can't help but let out a sigh as I refill Shadow's and my tea cups.

By the way, Shadow left the room, descended to the rear garden, and pulled out a little magic item. I can use my broken perspective spell to look out of every shadow within the inn, though hearing is impossible. Well, I can still hear her surface thoughts, so I get the gist of it.

The queen wants to reduce or eliminate the church's influence in the country, and 'Idol Rabler' is an staunch supporter of the church, which means that as far as the queen is concerned, giving me this information and having me take him out while indebting myself to her in the process is like killing two birds with one stone, and pushing a third bird into a butcher's home, unconscious and with its neck exposed. Well, I don't really need to wait for Shadow to come back and tell me these things, but it would be wasteful to let the rest of the tea go down the drain.

In the meantime, let's wake up Rishia-chan... sadly, I have never been to our newest destination, so I can't just [Shadow Jump] over to there, rescue Raphtalia-chan's friends, sink Idol into a pit of miasma and come back, no. We need to get there the old fashioned way. Well, sort of [Travel through Shadow] still makes travel times dozen of times faster, but I'm going to be sore by the time we get there, though I guess that just means Idol will have to deal with a me that is both tired and angry. Ah, I really want to tease her and have her go "Fueee!?" as she wakes up, but I am a hundred and one percent sure she wouldn't appreciate anything even remotely resembling sexual harassment this soon after her ordeal.

She's kind of adorable when she cries out but, well it'll be better if I slowly learn about the breadth and depth of her trauma before I teas- I mean, help her overcome it in a safe and steady way. But first, something that never gets old, justice!

As if. I'm not Shirou, I just happen to have a very big red button with a label that reads 'abused children,' and this country just keeps headbutting it as hard as it can. I am pretty sure that, at the core, I'm a rather selfish person. I'll just do what makes me happy, and burying child molesters six feet deep in miasma just happens to do so. Speaking of children in danger, Ren-kun will be alright if I skip on motheri- I mean, teasing him for a day, right? ...ah, that's what hubby calls 'a flag' isn't it? I guess I'll check real quick along the way.

"Hey, Rishia-chan~ " ~ Let's wake her up gently. Gently.

~ Rishia's POV ~

"Hm~" - As mother's hand shakes me gently, her warmth and scent push on against me. That's right, it was just a nightmare, wasn't it? Ah, but I will really miss lady Sakura. She made me feel safe despite her constant teasing and playing around...

Under the gentle light of the moon filtering through the closed windows, a shapely female figure trembles as if wrecked by immense emotion. No, there's no 'as if' here, that is exactly what is going on after a certain purple-haired heroine overheard the sleepy thoughts of the girl before her.

"I am incredibly sorry, Rishia-chan." ~ the figure says apologetically.~ "But I am not your mother. But if you want to... would you like to call me okasaan instead of onee-sama? No, more like, please do!"

"F-fuee!?" ~ Wha-who-why!? The hug is tight, soft, enveloping and warm, and it takes me a moment to get my bearings under what feels like an affection flood.- "S-sakura onee-sama!?"

"Please call me okasaan, Rishia-chan! Just the one time, please?"

"S-sakura onee-sama, p-please calm down! I don't even know what that means, but I'll do it, I'll do it, so calm down!"

"Hmm~ 'kay."

Even though she said so, she's not letting go. Why do I feel like this hug is just as meaningful for her as it is for me? And what was that she wanted me to call her...? I'm not really well versed in the hero's language.

"O-okasaan," ~ I say softly ~ "why are yo-"

"Yaaa!"

D-did she seriously just cry out from happiness? Uhm... next time we pass by a library, I am going to get a text on hero langiage. A comprehensive one. Honestly, Sakura onee-sama feels really warm and soft around me, but her level is so much higher than me that there's no way I can even think about breaking free from her. It's a little scary and a little comforting at the same time.

"If you are going to just keep squeezing me, I'm not calling you that again, Sakura onee-sama."

"Boo~ Rishia is so stingy."

I look out the window ~ "Its really dark outside, why are you waking me up, Sakura onee-sama?"

"Oh, right! Rishia, get up, we are going to kill- I mean, we are going to get you a little brother and sister, right now!"

"Eh?"

Honestly, I am starting to think Sakura onee-sama is the type that thinks things through, but doesn't bothers to explain her reasons. Like, there was once an ancient philosopher in jail, and every day through a crack in the wall, he could see a filolial past by. Then one day he shouted at his cellmate "The beak causes the tail, you see?" There's a whole lot of filolial in between, but that's being ignored in favour of its very end. Just like that, Sakura onee-sama has already gone through the entire thinking process, but we only get to see the results.

If she was a merchant, she'd be the type to gather information about the weather in a neighbouring country over the last year, reason that since they had a serious drought they will have a food shortage and thus won't be exporting to our country this year, which would cause a raise in the price of flour, which would lead to a seller's market, and just hand you a sack of gold and tell you to buy all the flour without bothering to say why.

Either that or she's just really impulsive? I want to think that's not the case.

After a quick change of clothes, we walk outside the inn and Sakura onee-sama leans down to poke at a shadow on the ground while reciting an aria in hero language. Right then and there, an ornate door rises from the ground and opens up, showing... nothing special? Its just an open door.

"Ah!" ~ she says with a wide smile. Right, she can hear my thoughts.~ "You can't tell the difference because its night time, but this is actually a doorway into the demiplane of shadow!"

Yeah, I have no idea what that means, onee-sama. But instead of explaining, she just grabs me by the hand and walks forth, then tenses, shakes and falls to the floor.

"What do you mean heroes aren't allowed to leave this world!? I'm just going into a deeper layer, it's just a way to travel quickly by going through a path of less resistance! I'm not running away, you- you... slave bracelet!"

She's shouting at the legendary bow... I think? Then she grabs unto it with her other hand, and a whole bunch of blue and white arcs of lightning begin to fly out from under her hand, even as she herself begins to shake, but she clenches her teeth and keeps at it... honestly I'm starting to get scared, I mean, there's a hint of burning in the air.

"Hah!" ~ she declares triumphantly ~ "I just remembered, I can do this!" ~ she declares, and her armour changes. It grows some metal studs, and the red bits switch to blue.~ "There! Lightning immunity, take that!" (1)

Now the sparks are twice as bright and are beginning to arc and scorch the ground, but Sakura onee-sama looks like she doesn't feel a thing as she continues pouring lightning of her own into the legendary bow. Hm. I think the legendary bow looks a little pitiful right now, somehow.

"Hmph. Glad you've come to see it my way!" ~ she gets up, dusts herself off, and takes my hand again, then pulls us through the still-standing gate. I felt a shiver run down my spine as we walked through it and... its not going away? ~ "Listen Rishia, do not let go of my hand, do not talk to anyone other than me, and do not even acknowledge their presence until I say so, understood?"

"Y-yes?"

"I am extremely serious. Do not, alright?"

"If I ask why, would you give me an explanation?"

"It'll be a bit of a trip until we get there, so sure, I'll explain along the way."

~ Naofumi's POV ~

[Nutritional Supplement was created. Quality (Normal) → (Good). A medicine that relieves fatigue, boosts stamina, is highly effective as a way to recover from malnourishment, and has a minor boost effect on the immune system.]

[Medicine was created. Quality (Normal) → (Good). An all-purpose medicine. It cannot repair genetic illnesses.]

[Antidote was created. Quality (Poor) → (Normal). Effective against venom and toxins. Not so much aganst neurotoxins.]

Oh? Alright then, I'm feeling super pumped up, so let's make as many high quality nutritional supplements (yeah I'm just calling them Energy Drinks from now on) and medicine as I can! You can argue all you want about the dangers and unfairness of this world, but the fact that you can literally see when you get better at something is extremely motivating. I am sure that if students on Earth got a pop up whenever they went from (Poor) to (Normal) or (Good) at their lessons, studying would be a lot less of a hassle and more of a personal challenge, not to mention athletes literally seeing their attributes go up as a result of their hard work.

"Naofumi-sama, please store away your work for a minute." ~ Lin~chan is standing slightly behind me to my left, wearing her normal clothes and gambeson while carrying a plate with... is that breakfast? Eh? Looking at the window, its already bright outside. I guess I was too pumped up to notice just how long I was actually at it.

"T-thank you, Lin~chan." ~ I store everything inside the shield, and receive the plate from her hands. Its a rather large breakfast with white bread and both fruit juice and tea on the side as accessories.~ "I'm not really a tea person, Lin-chan, but thank you."

"Duly noted, Naofumi-sama. Now please start eating. I fear you were all up night."

That reminds me of why I was up all night, so I turn around looking for Raphtalia, but since she's not in the room, I'll just leave her medicine and energy drink on the nightdrawer by the bed as soon as I'm done with breakfast.

"Where's Raphtalia?"

"She went downstairs to wash and will be back soon."

"Uhm... Lin-chan?"

"Yes, Naofumi-sama?"

"Would it be fair to assume that Raphtalia-chan will continue to grow up for a bit longer?"

"Yes, that is indeed the case, Naofumi-sama."

Indeed, I'm halfway through my scrambled eggs when Raphtalia-chan shows up. Did she go through another growth spurt? I guess it can't be helped, given her demihuman constitution, so we'll need to buy her clothes again. Uhmm she's already starting to push into her teens, so at this speed she'll catch up to Lin-chan in a couple of days? I guess it'll be better to buy her slightly oversized clothes and just fold her pants up for a few days.

I don't actually feel tired, but just in case lets have an energy drink. I can actually feel it having an effect, how novel.

"Naofumi-sama, good morning." - Raphtalia-chan greets me happily as she walks in. Ah, her complexion is looking a lot better already, I'm glad.

"Good morning. I left your medicine and nutritional supplement on the nightdrawer, so drink them right away. They're cherry and apple-flavoured, respectively."

"N-naofumi-sama, I-i'm not a little kid anymore! You don't need to hide the medicine's taste!"

"Eh..." ~ I mean, sure, she looks what, sixteen or so? But she's still just ten inside, so there's no way I won't count her as a child.

And then I look at Lin-chan, whom I know to be just thirteen and yet I can't quite feel calm around... I think I may be a bit of a hypocrite, but it probably comes from the fact that I saw Raphtalia as a little girl first, while the calm and mature-feeling Lin-chan has always been Lin-chan shaped to me, so its hard to think of her as a child.

"You are looking at me with warm eyes, Naofumi-sama. Its like you are saying 'yes yes' to a child." ~ Raphtalia pouts before picking up the medicine and the energy drink and downing them in one go each.

"Yes, yes~" ~ I reply in a good mood, then turn towards Lin-chan. "Uhm~ I think we've hit the point where the monsters around the castle do not offer a meaningul exp gain, and we're having to travel far enough every day where it has become impractical. Not to mention the castletown folks still believe I'm a rapist, so it would be a good idea to leave for greener pastures. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Then, Siltvelt!"

"I'm not sure why I expected anything else."

"I'm sorry..."

"No, I think it is very normal for you to miss your family and country. In fact, its reassuring." ~ I mean, it helps me think of her as a child her age.~ "But Raphtalia-chan and I are still too low-leveled to make such a long distance trip, so we should focus on leveling up for now."

"F-fumu..."

It is Raphtalia who comes up with the suggestion to visit one of the satellite towns around the capital. I think its a good compromise to see how much stronger the monsters get as we move away from the 'starter zone', so that's what we're doing. After selling my (Normal) quality medicine and energy drinks, and buying new clothes for her. Oh, and maybe a new weapon, too.

~qOp~

"And that's why we are here." ~ I explain to Oyaji as Raphtalia and Lin browse through his stock.~ "By the way, while they're doing that, could you let my shield eat some old tools and unused materials? It helps unlock new functions on it."

"Is that so? Alright, give me a couple of minutes..."

Lin is having Raphtalia try swinging different weapons and weapon combinations. She's had a proper warrior's upbringing and training so I'm perfectly fine with leaving her in charge of Raphtalia's weapon choice and training. I'm sure her real-life knowledge vastly exceeds whatever vague ideas about combat a japanese college student may have, gamer or not.

"Plenty of demihumans don't use any weapon at all," ~ she explains.~ "relying on our teeth and claws, plus a shield, but that's more of a religious thing. Rather, since we have Naofumi-sama's protection in battle, I feel we can focus on a more aggressive style and use either two-handed weapons, or a weapon on each hand. Of course, there's nothing saying we can't take advantage of a larger weapon's reach or an off-hand weapon's ability to parry and deflect, so..." ~ yeah, I am not touching that conversation with a ten feet pole. I'll just show how unknowledgeable I am on the topic.

Now they're trying different weapons and swinging them together as Lin explains two or three basic techniques with each of them. They're still doing that when Oyaji comes back with an small wooden crate and lowers it unto the counter.

"Oh? That's a lot of stuff. How much for the whole box?"

"Well, I was going to throw most of it away, but there's a few tools I was still using mixed in, so let's say thirty silvers for the whole thing."

"Alright, thank you."

Requirements for rope, grindstone, wood, box, rock, pipe, metal plate, screw, cog, wire... etc Shields have been released.

"Eh? The box too?" ~ Oyaji looks with somewhat worried eyes at my gluttonous shield. Well, its a growing child, my little shield.

I shrug and call Raphtalia over so Oyaji can take her new measurements and get started on her new armour, then keep watching as she and Lin continue to try out every weapon and weapon combination in the shop. Sword and shield, javelin and shield, mace and shield... etc. Two swords, two javelins, two shortspears, two maces... etc. Sword and javelin, sword and mace, shortspear and sword... etc. Its honestly pretty fun to watch, and it makes me happy to notice that Raphtalia hasn't broke into fits of coughing at any point during all of it. I think she's almost ready to stop taking medicine every morning and every night.

I'm still going to keep her on [Nutritional Supplement]s, though. At the speed she's growing, I think those are just common sense.

They're still trying out weapon combinations (they're down to longsword and throwing axe) when Oyaji comes back to the storefront and looks at us funny. "Wait, you guys are back already?"

"Eh? We never left, though?"

He looks at me like I grew a second head.~ "Its evening already. I even left to get lunch at one point."

"It is? Uh..." ~ I call Lin and Raphtalia over and give them each an energy drink. Its definitively bad for them to skip on meals, so we're having a large dinner tonight. Once they've had their fill, they go back to trying out weapons. Is it me or is Lin actually a bad influence on Raphtalia? No... its me, isn't it? I'm the one endangering a child, damnit.

"I even finished the little lady's armour, you know?" ~ Oyaji comments as she brings out a package.

"Hm. Thank you for your hard work." ~ I call Raphtalia over and hand her the armour so she can equip it. It's a reinforced leather armour with metal studs at important spots. Also, it has plenty of straps and belts. I'd call it JRPG-edgy but with how fast she's growing, its probably a good idea for everything on it to be adjustable until she's done growing, so I'm rather thankful for Oyaji's foresight and consideration.

"Looking good, Raphtalia-chan." ~ she's a girl, so I'll try to praise her a little bit. Girls are delicate, after all.

"Does it, Naofumi-sama? It feels quite comfortable, and doesn't obstruct my movement in any way." ~ eh, I wonder if I'm raising her with too utilitarian a perspective? Well, we haven't been together for that long yet, so it can't be all my influence, right? Right, let's blame it on Lin-chan. Yup, its Lin-chan's fault.

"Did you pick a weapon, yet?"

"Hm. I'd like a long sword in preparation for a greatsword when I'm all grown up, so if it would be possible to buy a broadsword or a bastard sword as a training tool, that'd be ideal, I think." ~ Yup, I'm blaming Lin-chan for this.~ "Also, a set of throwing weapons, but I can't decide between knives or axes. Axes can deal more damage, but they're harder to aim and considerably heavier, so they may get in the way at first. Ah, but them being heavier is also a charm point since that'll count as training!"

Don't just nod along, Lin-chan, this is your fault, you know!?

In the end, we bought the armour, a long sword, a bastard sword, and six throwing axes as well as copious amounts of weapon oil. The funds provided to us by Lin-chan's countrymen are still going strong, thankfully, and more so after I sold all of our (normal) ranked medicines.

With all that out of the way, we said our farewell to Oyaji and get started towards Riyuuto village, picking up and dumpin- I mean, feeding all sorts of things the girls pick up unto the shield along the way.

Requirements for butterfly, fly, spider, lady bug. rhynoceros beetle, spiderweb, sweet grass, foxtail, corn, apple, bark... etc Shields have been released.

Good god, these girls are too strong. In a tomboyish way. I know that once they've been mastered they will all grow into permanent bonuses and sure, stack enough pebbles and you'll get a mountain, but... I'm blaming Lin-chan for this!

"Naofumi-sama, why are you looking at me like that?" ~ she asks while bringing over a frog she caught. Ah, Raphtalia is bringing over a tiny fish and a tadpole.

"...I wonder."

~qOp~

Author Notes: Well, it turns out that ffnet only ever, and in total allows for seven polls per account, which seems rather stupid to me but what can you do? I read Rise of the Cute Heroes, a really fun and silly xover, and saw an idea I really liked, so wanted to hear your opinion about it. In that fic, accumulating the blood of multiple heroes on the same slavery brand stacks the growth bonuses slaves and 'pets' get. I was thinking it would be interesting to stack Naofumi, Ren and Sakura's blood on Firo's slave brand and have her grow beyond being a rip off Flonne (from Disgaea. In the WN the author basically admits it as he has Motoyasu literally scream out how Filo looks exactly like 'that adorable little angel from Disgaea, Flonne-chan!').

So here are the options:

A – No! You cannot write filolial without loli-I mean canon is sacred!

B – Sure, sounds fun.

Now, I'm not making any claims of originality here. I mean, this is a fanfic, which means I am using somebody else's work as a base to begin with, simply because I think I can tell a fresh and funny story with it. I just liked it when I read it, and thought it was a good idea to deviate from the loli-heavy canon (heck, in the WN epilogue Naofumi goes full ero mode and has children with every unmarried female from his group, plus Melty), and I think it'll be funny to write Fitoria's reaction, and am already cooking several jokes for it.

Also, I got a review saying I got better at english. I wish to dispel this illusion. I just actually took the time to proofread and edit the previous chapter, rather than just going stream of consciousness, pouring every idea I had unto the paper, and publishing it right away so I could get started on the next chapter, which is what happened to this chapter. If anyone is interested in helping me proofread (and therefore technically get chapters at least a few hours ahead of time), let me know, please.

1 – Yup, I genuinely needed 6 months since the start of the fic and making Sakura's character sheet to remember that she can trade +bonuses in her equipment to add special abilities to them. So for example instead of making a +12 armour, she could make a +10 armour of immunity to electricity. In this example I'm using the Immunity to energy [insert type here] special ability, which has barely a "+2 bonus equivalent" cost, meaning that +12 armour of her would become a +10 armour of immunity to electricity. That being said, it can only be activated for a single minute every day, but she's not going to tell that to the legendary bow.

These are notes for my convenience because apparently I'm growing forgetful in my old age:

Keel → Goodest girl thinks she's a boy. Puppy, must get all the treats

Rifana → Weasel. Weasels have really really delicate digestive tracts, must be careful with her diet.

In the LN it is mentioned that only the demihumans from an specific region can grow into adults as they level up, but there's no such mention in the WN as far as I remember. Since I'm going with the WN and I think that's just MORE trying to make Raphtalia into a super special waifu, leveled-up demihumans are growing up to young adults regardless of their origin. No, seriously, in the WN she's just a village girl, but in the LN (and I assume the anime?) she's a hidden princess from a fantasy-sci fi demihuman secretive island kingdom or something. That change reeeeeeeks of editorial input to help sell Raphtalia merchandise. I'm not touching it with a 10ft pole.