[AN: I updated my computer and briefly lost the power to use ~ lines, so I had to delay this chapter until I recovered it. I mean, can you imagine a chapter of Sakura x Shield without them? What, was I supossed to use – lines? Like a peasant!? Oh, and in this chapter, depictions of physical and sexual violence and cruelty against fictional characters, just a heads up.]
Chapter 11
~qO Naofumi POV Op~
[Requirement for White Ash Wood Shield has been released.]
[White Ash are a valuable and rapid-growing tree in the woodlots of Melromac. It is common throughout the kingdom, and is found up to an altitude of 2000 feet. It prefers to grow in rich moist woods, and is common on abandoned agricultural lands. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, and tough. Large quantities of it are used for agricultural implements, tool handles, oars, furniture, and sporting goods. In some locations, especially open edges and roadsides, branch dieback and tree mortality are common.]
Uh, the [Monster Encyclopedia] sure is thorough in an odd way. As for the reason for this sudden burst of botanical knowledge...
"Thank you." - I accept the little bit of tree bark Raphtalia hands to me and feed it into the shield.
[Requirement for White Ash Bark Shield has been released.]
[White Ash tree bark is dark grayish brown in color, deeply furrowed with narrow flat-topped firm ridges which on older trunks are somewhat scaly; ridges in some instances tend to run together, enclosing diamond-shaped fissures.]
And then I accept the twig.
[Requirement for White Ash Twig Shield has been released.]
[White Ash twigs are very stout, smooth, shining, grayish brown in color, brittle, flattened at leaf bases (nodes); leaf scar is notched.]
And then Lin comes over with a bunch of other tree bits...
"Thank you." - I accept their good will and just feed the stuff into the shield.
[Requirement for White Ash Leaves Shield has been released.]
[Requirement for White Ash Fruit Shield has been released.]
[Requirement for Bigtooth Aspen Wood Shield has been released.]
[Requirement for Bigtooth Aspen Bark Shield has been released.]
[Requirement for Bigtooth Aspen Twigs Shield has been released.]
[Requirement for Bigtooth Aspen Leaves Shield has been released.]
[Requirement for Bigtooth Aspen Fruits Shield has been released.]
[Requirement for Basswood Wood Shield has been released.]
[Requirement for Basswood Bark Shield has been released.]
[Requirement for Basswood Twig Shield has been released.]
[Requirement for Basswood Leaves Shield has been released.]
...etc
I know they meant good. And I know they're actually helping, I know that, but... well, my impression of Lin as an strong, cool, beautiful and dependable warrior princess is basically gone now. To think I used to have issues trying to hold back around her just because of the way she looks, how very immature of me. Truly, now I have no issue whatsoever looking at her and seeing an enthusiastic twelve-years old girl trying her best.
"Thank you." - I do my best to smile as she hands me a piece of wood.
[Requirement for Black Birch Wood Shield has been released.]
'Let's take a look.'
[Black birch yields a variety of useful products. In moist or dry, gravelly soils, this tree is well known to boys and girls for the wintergreen flavor of its twigs. The wood is heavy, strong, hard, close-grained, and dark brown in color with yellowish sapwood, and is used for fuel and furniture, especially as a substitute for cherry or mahogany. Oil of wintergreen, used medicinally and for flavoring, is distilled from the twigs. Birch tea is made from scrapings of inner bark of twigs steeped in hot water.]
'Wait, really?' - I look up at the twig Lin is offering me and feed it to the shield.
[Requirement for Black Birch Twig Shield has been released.]
[Black Birch Twigs - slender, smooth, light reddish brown in color, with numerous, short, spur-like lateral twigs; strong wintergreen flavor when chewed.]
"Uh. Please gather a bunch of these same tree's twigs." - I look at them, then quickly add.- "Not the literal same tree, poor thing. I meant of the same species, alright?"
""Yes, Naofumi-sama!""
Yup, there goes a 10y/o and a 12y/o to collect twigs for their caretaker. Now that I can't help but to see them both like this, I feel protective from the bottom of my heart. Yosh, let's try and see if the Legendary Shield can process these into something. Wait, maybe I can add them to the medicine to boost it up? Fumu, it really is a useful tree, isn't it?
[Medicine (Good) was modified. Quality (Good) → (High). An all-purpose medicine. It is a wonderful all-purpose medicine that falls short of resurrecting the dead.]
Once I'm done upgrading all our medicine, I'll get around to making some oil and food condiment. I just hope we have enough... twi-
It was at this moment that I looked up to see the girls walking back while carrying a mini-forest in their arms. Or should I say I saw two cabin-sized bundles of twigs waddling quickly in my direction? I kind of want to check if the trees are alright, but don't really have the balls for it. If there's nothing but a bunch of skinny naked trunks pointing up at the sky, I'm going to feel so guilty about it.
"...thank you." - let's just smile and accept their efforts. They just want to help, they just want to help.
It is important so I told it to myself twice.
I have to keep reminding myself as we go through unlocking every single shield in the [Cricket], [Ant], [Butterfly], [Wasp] (didn't really feel that guilty about that one, though) etc shields along the way. If nothing else, the sheer number of different passives I'm going to stockpile from mastering all of these is starting to look rather scary.
Well, I guess its something to do along the road, and surprisingly similar to a game of 'eye spy', just with a show and tell side to it. Or is it closer to a natural world bingo card?
~oq Rishia's POV po~
According to what Sakura onee-sama explained to me along the way, the proper term for different worlds is 'plane'. So she comes from a different plane. There are countless different planes, and right now we were travelling through the 'demi-plane' of Shadow, which is both a part of every, and no plane at the same time. Kind of like how an ocean touches many shores but isn't really a part of any land.
Apparently, the Legendary Bow freaked out a little because 'technically' she could escape our world (plane, I guess) and go back to her own through the demi plane of Shadow, but Sakura onee-sama says that would be like throwing a grain of salt at the sea, then trying to hit that same grain of salt with a throwing dart. Just because you know its 'somewhere around there' doesn't means you are remotely guaranteed to landing where you want to go, so she's going to wait for her family to come pick her up, or until her Legendary Bow sends her back after she stops the waves.
As for the demiplane of shadow... its best described as 'uncomfortable'. Its not deathly cold, but it is uncomfortably cold, the colors are there, but uncomfortably faded, the structures are there, but uncomfortably twisted in strange shapes that Sakura onee-sama calls 'non-euclidian geometry'. She has strongly suggested I do not try talking to anyone, as people here are basically twisted reflections of their counterparts in the real world, though that doesn't automatically means they're evil, just different.
The idea that there's a 'me' around here somewhere that is not me in the least is more than a little uncomfortable, but the idea that bad people may actually be living decent lives here is, to say the least, intriguing. Furthermore, there's a chance that places that have been destroyed in my world still exist here, as well as places that never existed to begin with, since the natives to the demiplane have their own lives, so it isn't beyond the realm of possibility for one to found a city that has no 'real' counterpart.
Like I said, this place is uncomfortable in pretty much every possible way. Also, I have zero intentions of trying the local food.
"Are you alright, Rishia-chan? We are almost there, you know?" - Sakura onee-sama looks me up and down with a kind expression as she squeezes my fingers with her own.
"Isn't our destination several days away?"
"That's why we are travelling through shadows. Its much faster this way, since even distances are only partly real here."
"F-fuee!? How does that work, Sakura onee-sama!?"
"Everything here is only a third of what it is back home. Everything includes distance. Easy, see?"
"...that makes no sense whatsoever, Sakura onee-sama." - I sigh, but at least it means we are finally about to leave this place.
"Well, you know my armour is made from shadowstuff, right? That means it is still a third real. Its not just illusion, but its not actual projection, either. Anyway, I wonder how to go about this...?"
She gestures and creates an exit gate through which we walk back into our- well, my home world, popping out of the trees' shadows right in front of an small town. We can see a large obelisk in the distant hills across town, and a manor right behind it.
"I wonder if I should just swallow the whole thing, then spit out the children..."
"Sakura onee-sama, please don't say such scary things." - it takes me a moment to realize she's not joking. Not the least bit.- "There may be innocent people working in the manor, and there's a good chance most if not all of the guards are ignorant of their lord's twisted hobbies."
She gives me a gentle look, then shakes her head slowly.- "Rishia-chan, if you think there's any chance for servants and guards to miss the sight of children being dragged into their master's dungeon never to be seen again, or worse yet, fail to associate the sight with the sound of screaming children coming out from said dungeon, you are going to make me worry, you know? You won't get tricked and lured away by some random uncle offering you food, will you?"
"As if there was anyone dumb enough to fall for such a thing!"(1)
Onee-sama, why are you looking at me with worried eyes? I'm fourteen, there's no way I'd fail for such a thing, you know!?
"Really?"
'Please stop reading my mind, Sakura onee-sama!'
"I'm not reading your mind, I'm just overhearing your thoughts. I've told you, it's completely different, Rishia-chan."
I have no idea how it would be different, but I trust Sakura onee-sama, so I'll just assume it is.
"You're such a good girl, Rishia-chan!" - she jumps up to hug me, and rubs her face against mine as she squeezes me in her arms. Ah, it feels really safe and comfortable... n-no, I can't think such a thing or-! "Fufufu~ too late, Rishia-chan!" - Eeep, she's not letting go, she's not letting go at all! It feels good but its embarrasing, so please stop, Sakura onee-sama!
Well, she did let go after a couple of minutes. Uh, she's completely treating me like a child, isn't she? I give up, Sakura onee-sama is too strong, so I just give up and walk alongside her through town and towards the manor.
"Sakura onee-sama, what will you actually do?"
"Well, I will simply ask the guard 'Do you know what your lord does to children in his dungeon?' and overhear his thoughts. Then go from there. Will that be enough to sate your conscience, Rishia-chan?"
"Oh. I guess that'll work."
"Good." - she turns her head to look at the guard.- "You, sir. Did you know your lord is torturing children to death under the house?"
~qO Sakura's POV Op~
The guard's eyes grow as large as can go before shrinking back down into slits. He's about to question me, but his thoughts and those of his partner already sealed his fate. I am not in the custom of talking to the dead, so I don't bother to respond before swallowing them down. Uhm, the little girl holding my hand tensed up at the sight, but her only comment was to squeeze harder on my hand. What a good child.
"Yosh, since there's nobody at the door, I'll just excuse us into the house, then~ "
A repeat of me asking whoever we come across for the entrance into the dungeon and about their knowledge of their lord's actions leads to a grand total of three maids and one guard not knowing what I'm talking about. It is good to see that not everyone is a horrid excuse of a human being, really, as it means Rishia-chan gets to see me letting them go.
After all, I wouldn't want her to think I'm some kind of scary monster that will just eat innocent people for no reason at all.
The dungeon door was locked from the other side, so I call forth a shadow elemental and have it cut the wall around it, then push it down into the room. Yes, I could have just had it slip under the door, rise up on the other side and open the door for us, but when dealing with subhuman scum, I've found that it is better to make an impression from the get-go.
I honestly didn't expect there to be an staircase right on the other side, but when I think about it, grandfather's magic workshop was the same, with the door leading directly to a set of stairs. Ugh, I just remembered something awful, but at least now I'm in a proper mood for what I'm about to do.
The metallic door falls into the stone steps with a massive thumping noise, then slides down all the way to the floor and knocks down a tall, thin table covered in torture tools, the metallic clinking as those fall unto the door and the floor adding to the overall effect as two feminine figures can be seen at the very top of the stairs, their shapely silhouettes clearly outlined thanks to the lights in the office shining upon their backs.
"Fuee..." - Rishia-chan stiffens a little at the sight. Well, if she didn't reach, I'd be worried. Even though she was abused and raped up to just a couple of days ago, seeing it happen to children is a completely different reality. Sun squeezes my hand as tight as she can, and I see her lips tighten into a line. Good, she doesn't has doubts any more.
As the sharp and twisted things clang and clatter unto the ground and the door, causing the sweaty, round-shaped pig man to turn around as swiftly as he can on sweaty feet, looking down, then up at the figures atop the stairs, its hair a mess, its eyes unfocused and beady. It takes several seconds for something approaching self-awareness and humanity to replace the glazed look of animal joy in the thing's eyes, and twice as much for it to become human enough to bark at the figures as they walk down the stairs towards him.
"What is the meaning of this!? Guards! Guards!" - Just because it is making word-like sounds, it doesn't means I am willing to entertain it. That's right, after seeing its joyous expression while abusing a helpless child, there's no way I am willing to classify this pig as 'human'.- "Oink oink growl!?" - Much better. For a moment there, I almost thought it was a person.
I wish for it, and the elemental slides down the stairs towards it, suddenly rising from our shadow before the pig, and quietly slicing it in three. It is so broad, that its central slice holds most of its torso despite each of its outer slices having an arm and a leg on them. It falls to the ground and makes some uncouth noises for a couple moments before finally shutting up, and I have it disappear into the dark.
By the way, I spit it out of a shadow into the nearby woods. Maybe the local wildlife would like to eat this thing, but senpai would be apalled if he saw me eating trash. With that done, let's take care of that thing's victims now.
"Rishia, open the cells." ~ I point her to the key ring hanging off a hook at the bottom of the stairs. If you ask me, that's just lazy safety, though I guess the slavebrands actually make the cells redundant in the first place since the slaves could have simply been ordered to not try to escape, I think.
"Yes, Sakura onee-sama!"
Which leaves me with the pig's victim, a child that is literally hanging in front of me, held a foot off the floor by hooks and chains. I wish I could say she had been tied up with the chains, or that these had been connected to cuffs or something. But no, both chains end in sharpened hooks, and each hook has been pushed through the girl's palms to keep her body aloft in a forced Y-shaped posture.
Hh, I may have... no, I definitively killed that thing too fast.
Now, I really want to take her down those hooks right away, but sadly this isn't the first time I've seen such a thing. She's basically crucified, whichs means that her entire weight has been on her arms for a while, forcing her lungs into eventual collapse, thus killing her by asphyxiation. Basically, the pig was killing her right as we came in, and taking her down will just hurry the process along by shocking her system, so... this is going to suck.
Looking around, I find an stool and drag it over, plaving it under the girl's feet. Well, she's clearly delirious so I can't ask her to support her weight just now, but if she doesn't comes down from that posture in slow steps, she'll die. That means I need to bring her back to consciousness, heal her enough she can hold her weight for a while without lowering her arms, and then free one arm at the time in order to let her system adjust without going into shock.
Or in short, I have to reverse-torture her an step at the time until she's free. I definitively killed the pig too fast.
~qO Naofumi's POV Op~
I'm throwing dirt unto the campfire when Sakura-san contacts me. I didn't think she could sound stressed while using telepathy, but there you go. She even managed to sound tired, somehow.
'Naofumi-san, do you happen to be at the capital?' ~ she didn't even bother to say 'hi'.
'No, I'm on the road to a place called Ryuuto. I guess I'm camping halfway there?'
'Shit. I could have used your supplies.' ~ was the last thing she said before just cutting the connection all of a sudden.
I had never heard the gentle-seeming Sakura-san cuss before. Now I'm worried.
~qO Motoyasu's POV Op~
'Kitamura-san, are you in the capital?' ~ I'll confess, if I wasn't peeing already, I would have peed myself when Sakura-chan's voice popped outta nowhere while I was in the bathroom. Of course, I looked around, but I was indeed alone.
"S-sakura-chan?"
'Its telepathy, Kitamura-san. I'm talking to you from close to Melromac's western border.'
"R-right..."
'Are you at the capital?'
"N-no, Myn... I mean, Malty had a guide show us to a good leveling spot by the shore, so we're a couple of days away from the capital right now." - I wait for a reply, but Sakura-chan stays quiet. I wait for a full minute before shaking my little soldier and tucking it back inside my pants. I hope she's alright.
~qO Ren's POV Op~
'Ren-kun, are you at the capital right now?' - I wake up to Sakura-nee's voice. She sounds... stressed.
'Yes, Sakura-nee. My party just came in to resupply, we're staying in that same tavern and inn we all stayed at on our first night outside the castle.'
'Yes! Did you resupply already?'
'Yes?'
'Meet me downstairs and bring down any medicine and nutritional supplements you have.'
'What?'
'I am waiting in the common room.'
'Wh- I'm coming!'
I have no idea what the problem is, but Sakura-nee sounded really serious. Thankfully I sleep in soft pants and a shirt, so I can just get out of bed and hurry downstairs. Plus, I learned from Naofumi getting mugged, so I keep pretty much everything inside the Legendary Sword, so I already have the medicine at hand when I spot Sakura-nee waiting for me.
"Sakura-nee, are you injured?"
"Its not for me. Please hand over any medicine and nutritional supplements you may happen to have on you."
"Alright? What's going on?"
I bring everything out and place it on a table while the innkeeper looks at us with an understandably confused expression on his face. Sakura-nee doesn't bother to explain anything as she just shoves everything into her Legendary Bow and disappears into the shadows on the floor.
'Thank you Ren-kun, you may have just saved a child's life. I'll tell you everything once its done with.'
'O-okay.'
I can feel the connection end. That was strange, I mean, it was Sakura-nee who insisted on keeping a surplus of medicine and antidote at all times, so how badly injured is whoever she's trying to help that she needed extras?
~qO Sakura's POV Op~
Bless Ren-kun's soul, he's gonna get extra cuddled when this is over with. Oh, I may even try and set him up with Rishia once she's over her trauma. Yup, I bet they'd be cute together!
I already managed to take the girl off the chains and lay her down on a table... well, its actually a rack but it does happen to have just the right inclination to keep her somewhat vertical while also being horizontal enough she can rest a little, so I'm not gonna complain too much about it. Regardless, now that she's off the hooks and chains, I need to keep her conscious long enough for her system to not go into shock when she finally goes to sleep.
I already used all of my supplies on this girl and other dire cases, so I am truly grateful to Ren-kun for his help. For now though, I'm spoon-feeding it to the girl since she doesn't really has the strength to swallow on her own. Instead, the medicine and supplements are sort of just... sliding down her throat. Its at times like this that I wish I knew healing magecraft of some type, but my origin and affinity make me pretty useless in that sense... I am definitively going to have Rishia learn healing magecraft as soon as possible.
"Aaah!" - the girl takes a big gulp of air and starts coughing
"Shh... calm down, you're going to be alright, just try and calm down..."
I am thankful she's strong enough to show that she's in pain, but I hate that she's in pain. Either way, at least she's strong enough to cough without busting a lung now. As soon as she calms down, I spoon-feed her some more medicine before she looks healthy enough I can leave her it up to Rishia to look over her while I talk to the other slaves, and listen to their plans for the future.
Obviously, they're all destitute right now, though that's not a big issue since the pig was pretty wealthy. I just swallow the pig's strongbox and rip it open, then hand over its contents to the former slaves. By the way, that's pretty much how I handed them the guard's weapons too.
Once everything is said and done, I'm left with two extra children as party members. One is the sleeping girl the pig was raping to death, the other a boy that is still in shock. I guess I don't get to tease Naofumi-san for having nothing but children on his party anymore. Well, I'm keeping the documents from the pig's strongbox, as I'm sure the queen will want to take a look at them. Also, we ended up taking over the pig's manor for his victim's convenience, though as soon as the morning came by, I had a lot of explaining to go through with the local guards.
It is at times like these that I'm actually grateful for the queen's Shadows, as the one here helped settle things in a peaceful manner. Yes, I could have taken care of the town guards, but I'd rather conscript them into gathering supplies and watching over the recently freed slaves on their way out of the country.
As for the children...
"Good morning." - I greet the boy as he gets up from the bundle of blankets and sheets I wrapped him in the previous night. Hm, he went straight towards the still sleeping girl, what a courageous child.
"Ah!" - he tensed up.
"You don't need to be scared, you know? I'm not scary at all!"
Yeah, the look he's giving me says he doesn't believes that. Not even a little bit. Well, my priority on dealing with the pig was speed and efficiency, though maybe I should have considered the impression of my actions upon the people I wanted to help...
"I'm Emiya Sakura. Family name Emiya, personal name Sakura. I'm the hero of the bow." - I introduce myself without rising from the chair I'm on. I'm dealing with a brutalized child, so its important that I look as non-threatening as possible, and suddenly growing 'taller' would be a bad idea right now.
"... Keel." - his voice is really soft, and I can tell he's all tense. Is he hesitating between fighting me and running away? I see, he's looking at the sleeping girl, which means he's hesitating because he's worried about her, what a gentle child.
"Keel-kun, how are you feeling?" - Rishia did give him some medicine last night, but I really need to acquire more as soon as possible.
"I-is Rifana going to be alright?"
Indeed, he's worried over the girl. Enough so to walk over to the scary shadow witch and ask about her, what a good child. Ah, let's send a telepathic message for Rishia to come into the room and help him calm down. She's closer in age to him, so she should have a soothing presence. Besides, she was the one to open the cells lastnight, which should have been a positive first impression.
"I see, her name is Rifana-chan, is it? Don't worry, I'll make sure she recover. I promise." - I explain, and caress Rifana-chan's forehead as gently as I can.
"R-really?"
"Of course." - I gesture for him to approach.- "Now, why don't you come over and help me watch over her?"
Ah, he's just staring at Rifana-chan and I in turns...
"Sakura onee-sama, you called." - Rishia opens the door gently and walks into the room. As I hoped for, Keel-kun relaxes a little bit thanks to her.
"Rishia, could you take over watching over Keel-kun and Rifana-chan? I'll prepare breakfast."
"Ah, yes!"
Yup, Keel-kun looks downright relieved. I regret having given him an scary impression, but I don't regret killing the pig. I do regret killing him that fast, though. Now, breakfast. As expected from a pig, his larder is stocked to a bursting point. Well, neither child could eat anything too heavy right now, so let's go for a thin and easily digested vegetable stew, then could move on to something richer for lunch, depending on their reactions to it.
Honestly, if it wasn't for the [Mystic Code]-like medicine of this world, I'd just give them sugar water for a couple of days until their bodies get used to having something inside their stomachs again, and- ah right, I should contact Ren, Motoyasu and Naofumi and explain what last night was all about...
~qO Author Notes Op~
Surprisingly little to say this time. I was really uncomfortable writing this chapter, that's the only excuse I can give as to why it took as long as it did. At one point, I had a completely different version with Sakura just seeing red until everything was said and done, and an Rishia POV in the author notes so whoever was interested could see Sakura going to town on Rabier.
1 – Didn't the Hunting Tool Hero(ine) get kidnapped like that once?
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.
