[AN: To those of you reading my Fate x Conan Exiles fanfic: The company that owns Conan Exiles announced a HUGE update where after 6 years they're finally making sorcery available to players so I'm pausing that story for a bit while I wait to see what's in that update. It tickles my funny bone that they're bringing player-built/owned teleport platform networks, since that was always something I was going to write into the story.]

Chapter 13

~qO Naofumi POV Op~

I successfully finished another set of batches of [Medicine (High)] and [Nutritional Supplement (High)], then stored them into my shield. Things I make by hand benefit from the shield's full array of correction effects, the number of which have already piled up sky-high thanks to the girl's efforts over the last few days.

The shield's automated crafting has improved quite a bit, too. Originally, anything it'd make was of [Normal] quality by default, but after I upgraded its [Compound] abilities all the way up to IV, it is now capable of making [Good] quality items in bulk at a rather impressive speed. [Good] quality, however, seems to be its quality limit, which means I'll need to find a way to learn about alchemy (or is it chemistry?) and stack even more bonuses if I want to be able to raise my own skills, which seems to be the only way to produce items of quality (High) or better.

Speaking about the effects of that very same (High) quality medicine and nutritional supplements, I am giving Raphtalia a green health card at last. She hasn't so much as sneezed for two days now, and the sight of her laughing as she chases after fleeing monsters with sword in hand is strangely wholesome... oh God what am I thinking? I'm dragging a little girl into life-or-death situations on a daily basis, here!

My perspective and sense of values are getting twisted in an strange direction because of these girls' enthusiasm. As a [Dire Porcupine] bursts out from the woods while running for dear life, it does its very best to make himself as small and fast as possible as its stubbly legs desperately flail and stomp unto the ground. Well, not like it has any chance to outrun Lin across open ground, though. It really should have stayed in the woods, because...

As the black-haired shusasku beauty breaks out of the trees, she grins like a cat that just found a little mice trying to steal food from its bowl. She unfurls the wings on her back, and promptly becomes a blue and black blur as she reappears in front of the [Dire Porcupine's] fresh corpse.

+148 exp

+48 exp

Ah, Raphtalia just killed another porcupine of her own, too. I am grateful to this world's lazy game mechanics for not compensating exp gain based on level, yet still sharing exp between 'nearby' party members.

Lin dashes back into the woods, spear held high, and Raphtalia starts bringing the bodies over so I can have the shield disassemble and store them. The author of Dragon Ball once said "Health is beauty", and I am forced to agree, as my fluffy raccoon(1) girl drags a body the size of a wagon while carrying another on her shoulders over the open grassland. Seeing her do so with little to no effort makes me smile. Yup, children should be energetic, happy, troublemaking bundles of joy running around on the grass, chasing bugs and butterflies with a stick in hand.

THOOOM!

Well, my child just casually dropped a 2-ton butterfly unto the ground a couple of feet away, though. Let us ignore the little things.

"Goshujin-sama, please take care of these." ~ she says as she gets ready to leave, but fails to spot any prey nearby.

"Yes, yes. Now please go fetch Lin-chan because I'm going to start preparing dinner now."

"Yes... Goshujin-sama, but you don't need to explain your instructions, you know?." ~ she replies in a somewhat subtle mood.~ "We're both happy and honoured to be yours."

"Yes, yes, you are both wonderful children, so do remember to wash your hand before coming back to eat, alright?"

"...yes, goshujin-sama."

Somehow, she looks like she just failed at something. I wonder what that could be?

~qO Ren POV Op~

'Perhaps I should do as Naofumi-san and Sakura-nee, and go out looking for my own companions...' - Ren sighed as his party members kept complaining about all the time they had wasted today, looking for healing herbs and medicinal plants instead of hunting monsters for exp.

He didn't see anything particularly wrong with them, but they were barely party members, and definitively not his friends. That is not to say he disliked them either, just that he saw them as barely more than people working towards a common goal. To be completely honest, Sakura may have successfully snapped him out of looking at this world like a game, but there was no denying that the world did have plenty of game-like elements to it, and his current party balance was skewed at best.

Too many vanguards, then a rearguard, and no dedicated support characters. That is to say, they had no healer of any type, and were thus restricted to using medicinal items bought in town. This limited their range of action and meant they had to return to town in order to restock, which may have been exactly the king's design in order to prevent them from wandering abroad, in hindsight.

He was a brawler type, which is to say, he gets in the monster's face and deals so much damage that he can't be ignored, forcing monsters to focus on him, which is advantageous to mid and long-range party members... of which he had none.

Thus, he'd like some mid-range people, perhaps a polearm user? Or maybe some kind of mage-fighter hybrid, capable of moving back and forth between the front line and the rearguard in order to deal damage or support party members as needed. Perhaps a fighter-healer of some kind. Yes, with him as vanguard #1, he'd feel better about having a party if there was at least a vanguard #2 to make sure the monster will stay focused on them while the rest of the party has freedom to act freely.

So two out of the six party slots would be melee types, with him already using one of said party slots. Right now, there's four other melee types, with Tersia being their sole caster, which means he still needs to replace three of them...

"Sword Hero-sama, are you listening to me?!" ~ Welt called out as Ren kept looking at nothing right past them. They had been out collecting medicinal plants and herbs all day for some kids they had never met, and most of them were quite unhappy about it.

"Yes, what is it?" ~ Ren looked at him, thinking that Welt came as close to a polearm user as he could get within his party, thanks to the man's greatsword affording him 'some' reach. Problem was, nothing prevented Ren himself from switching his own sword's shape into that of a greatsword and thus doing the job just as well.~ 'No, perhaps only Tersia should remain? I wonder if there's a quick and reliable way to get a polearm user to join my party? Unlike Naofumi's Shield, the Sword is basically worshipped as a God in this country, so I should be able to find someone who's at the very least, competent. Then again, I can see the usefulness of slave seals, even if I have no intentions of treating them as slaves. I mean, the ability to keep track of their health and location alone are already valuable, but being able to communicate instantly over long distances should be invaluable...'

"I was thinking... you all should get slave seals."

"""""What!?"""""

So he explained. He is going to remake the party into a better balanced one, but the very first filter was this: They had to agree to an slave seal. It wasn't about being his slaves, but simply about the convenient side of slave seals. He'd pick from those who agreed, and get started about replacing those who did not.

To his surprise, Tersia was the only one to agree, and that meant he suddenly had four party slots to fill. For now, he split their remaining funds, bought everyone a large meal and two rounds of drinks in order to part on amicable terms, and after checking the time, decided they had enough time to get Tersia a slave brand before meeting with Sakura later that night.

Besides, he may be able to acquire an slave or beast while at it.

~qO Motoyasu's POV Op~

Motoyasu Kitamura liked to think of himself as a rather calm and easy-going guy, with a deep dislike for injustice and violence. Then again, the last bit may have been more of a deep-seated trauma based on the way he died, stabbed over and over by his classmates Momiji and Ikuyo while they argued 'Shut up, I'll be the one to spend eternity with him!'.

Indeed, it was a truly idiotic situation. Ikuyo had pulled a knife on Momiji, and he had tried to jump in the middle of the girls, only to get stabbed by the always quiet and docile Momiji, who promptly proceeded to declare that she'd kill him and herself in order to spend eternity with him. Surprised and confused, he looked at Ikuyo while hoping for salvation, only to see her switch from surprise to determination and proceeding to stab at him, thus beginning a truly idiotic yandere contest with something as vague as 'Shut up, I'll be the one to kill him and myself!'.

If that wasn't the acme of idiocy, he didn't know what was.

As much as he hated to admit it to himself, this had given him a perfectly understandable trauma towards both bossy girls (like Ikuyo) and quiet girls (like Momiji). It wasn't that he felt a caveman's need to dominate his partner(s), or needed the ego-boosting of constant praise and admiration. It was that he was (understandably) scared of both bossy and quiet girls. And that's why he liked Malty so much.

Sure, she could be a little forceful from time to time, but it was always for his benefit and that of the world, which only made sense to him. The way in which heroes would typically be asked 'Oh hero, please save the world!' and then constantly put through trouble after trouble along the way by greedy, short-sighted characters never made any sense to him.

What do you mean I need to pay you for the clue to solve the sphynx's riddle to get the legendary McGuffin to save the world? You live in the world too, so if I don't save the world, you'll die as well!

Malty was the kingdom's princess. This was clearly a huge boost to any hero's journey, as having the princess' authority attached to the hero's party would help open doors and grease cogs in order to get them whatever they happened to need while trying to save the world. It was a perfectly logical set up that made a truckload of sense. Not only that, she completely agreed with him: It was only logical for the people of the land to bend over backwards in order to help the hero save the world. It was their world in the first place, and it was in their best interest that the hero's party was as strong as possible to begin with.

Even more, she had taken this rather self-evident truth and made sure to hammer it down unto the heads of all of their party member's heads. Yes, they should make every effort to be as convenient as possible to him, both in and out of the battlefield. She had been the first to crawl into his bed, then convinced the others to do the same. Sure, she understood, but human nature is a confusing and complicated thing. Much to Motoyasu's frustration, the nobles and power-movers of the kingdom still hoped to make a profit out of the whole ordeal, and if it wasn't for Myne helping him navigate the kingdom's political arena by managing his invitations to balls and dinners, he would have long just told the lot of them to go fuck themselves while he walked into the wilderness to kill mobs for exp, which would have been a sub par solution at best, while this way he got the information and supplies he needed to hunt in the best dungeons and leveling spots.

Plus, she was incredibly enthusiastic in bed, and more than willing to try indulging his whims and wants, some of which he'd pulled straight out of porn and hentai.

That's why right now, Motoyasu Kitamura was downright confused to see his understanding, intelligent and agreeable Malty throw a hissy fit when he tried to go into a cheaper tavern that their usual fare in order to talk with a few demihuman adventurers and mercenaries to hopefully learn about their daily lives.

"They are dirty and violent." ~ she said.~ "Barely better than monsters. The only reason they are allowed to walk free is because of international treaties with demihuman-controlled nations. There's a good chance you'll catch fleas or ticks just by sitting with them, never mind if you happened to shake their hand!"

"Myne, have you ever actually talked to any of them?"

"Ugh, why would I?! Motoyasu-sama, they're barely sentient! They're disgusting and violent animals. There's a high chance you'll get robbed or killed, and every chance they'll rape and murder every single one of us!" ~ she said referring to the rest of his party, all of them good girls just like her.

"...has any of you tried talking with them?"

"""""Of course not, Motoyasu-sama!"""""

"I see."

Indeed, Motoyasu could see the problem, clear as day. Hate and racism born out of fear and the 'us vs. them' mentality so common to those who had heard their family and friends talking about 'them' yet had never actually interacted with 'them'. Hell, he wasn't hypocrite enough to pretend he came from an enlightened society that had moved past such times. Most Japanese people's idea of a foreigner or worse yet, a tourist, was that of a loud, dirty and rude person who was just as likely to steal the offerings at a shrine box as he was to enter a public bath without washing first. If there was anything good to say about such side of the Japanese mentality, it is that it applied to all foreigners alike.

For now, though, all he could do was sigh, offer an strained smile, and understand that the girls had all been raised like flowers in a greenhouse, pampered and exposed to no ideas other than those of their family and the friends they'd choose for them to interact with. If he wanted to try and interact with 'normal' people, he'd have to find a way to sneak out on them... somehow.

Uh. As he tried to think of a good time to do so and realised he was never actually by himself, he felt less supported and taken care of, and more watched over but... that couldn't be right. Right?

~qO Rishia's POV Op~

"Hello? Sakura onee-sama, are you here?" ~ after looking for her everywhere for the better part of an hour, Rishia finally found it in her to descend into that awful place.

The air was dry and cold. The girl surprised herself by thinking that 'snake-like' of all things, would be a good way to describe it as soon as she felt it slide down into her lungs. Before, the place was little more than a poor show of humanity's worst, but now it felt like the lair of a beast, one that was slithering around her and waiting for the perfect moment to lunge, bite, wrap and swallow.

"S-sakura onee-sama...?" ~ she frowned at how low she called out, then forced herself to do so again in a much clearer tone.~ "Sakura onee-sama, are you here?"

After all, the Hero of the Bow had saved her, had shown her kindness, and had asked for literally nothing in return. If Rishia had to walk into a beast's lair for her, she'd do so with her head held high an a smile on her lips.

She reached for the torch at the bottom of the stairs, and set it ablaze with a basic fire spell. The warm light washing over the shadows in an almost cuddling manner, tucking them in instead of melting them away. And then she saw her saviour, the Bow Hero(ine) laying peacefully on the floor, her long(2) lavender hair resting on the floor and on her side as if it was veins of sunset on a milky lake, her head resting on the lap of a woman wearing a simple, small black dress with purple trimming.

"Sakura onee-sama." ~ The green-haired girl called out, somewhere between curious and worried.~ "Who is...?"

The unknown woman finally looks up, having been focused solely on Sakura's face up until this point, and Rishia can't help but feel she is being stared down at by an enormous beast. Years from now, she'll look back unto this moment with fond memories and no small amount of pride, as this is the point she knew for sure she truly loved her onee-sama and was ready to brave any danger by her side.

"Rider, she's a friend... no, Rishia-chan is my newest little sister." ~ The Bow Hero(ine)(3) sounded equally chiding and amused, and Rishia could feel her heart calming down under its motherly touch.

"Is that so? I see." ~ the woman known as Rider looked back down at Rishia's hero with an expression so kind and caring that Rishia couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

"Sakura onee-sama, its about the time you set to meet the other heroes..."

"Hm. Alright." ~ The Bow Hero shifted her posture and sat up, her lavender hair cascading down unto the floor, pooling with Rider's own in a single layer of the gentlest colour.~ "Rider, this is Rishia, she's my student and my little sister. Rishia, this is Rider, she's my partner. I successfully summoned her from home."

"Hm. Given the materials in that circle, I am somewhat surprised by your success." ~ Rider commented with a gently playful tone.

Sakura stood up with graceful ease, the sight causing Rishia to turn away and blush, her lips itching softly at the sight. She walked over to her and past her and picked up her dress so she could begin to dress.

"How are Keel and Rifana?" ~ She asks while slipping her undergarments over her head and down her body before pulling her long silky hair free from it.

"Keel is... hm. Rifana is strong enough to talk and sit on her own, now." ~ Rishia seems to think about it for a couple of moments before continuing.~ "Keel is actually a girl."

"Hm? Well, at that age its still kind of hard to tell. Besides, they were little more than bones and dirt so it was an honest mistake. I'll remember to get her some proper clothes while I'm in the capital, an-"

"She, herself, thought she was a boy, though."

"E-eeeeeh!?"

Rishia couldn't hold back her smile. So, this is what a confused Sakura onee-sama sounded like! Well, she properly explained how she washed Rifana as gently as she could with a wet towel before taking Keel into the bath and finding out the truth.

"Apparently, her dad let her think she was a boy and run around with them as just one more of the gang..."

"If we ever find the man, I'm going to slap him on the back of the head. Just what kind of father... I mean, I've had worse, but still...!" ~ Sakura sighs and finishes strapping her gambeson in place, then causes the shadows in the room to coalesce upon her into the shape of an armoured archery suit in purple and black.~ "Well, I guess tomboys are cute too. Anyway..."

Rishia almost jumped out of her skin as Rider casually walked past her and to Sakura's side. She hadn't heard or felt the woman walk, let alone stand up. The taller woman looked at Sakura, then glared at the bow...

'Funny.' ~ thought Rishia.~ 'I could swear I saw it flinch.'

"Rider, I'll be gone for a little bit. Please watch over Rishia and the children in the manor."

"Hm. Understood."

"You know," ~ Sakura almost whispered the words.~ "I felt rather silly when I realised I could have used the bow for jumping to the capital and back."

And with that, she was gone.

~qO Ren's POV Op~

'So this is what it is like, to genuinely dislike somebody.' ~ thought Ren as he had to reign in the desire to punch the rotund man before him.

Beloukas (for that was the slave trader's name) was probably trying to dress like a high-class business man, yet came across as a circus ringleader with an extra punchable face.

"You sold a demihuman child to the Shield Hero, didn't you? I thought it'd be a good idea to buy a few and give them a better life than whatever was in store for them otherwise." ~ inquired Ren

"Ah, the Shield Hero was... a special case." ~ explained the slaver.~ "I don't normally sell children, yes? That child was something I received along with specific instructions to sell to no one but the Shield Hero-sama."

"...is that so?" ~ Ren thought about warning Naofumi, but... from what he had heard about Raphtalia from Sakura and Naofumi, the girl had been more dead than alive to begin with, and basically thought of the Shield Hero as a living god. Not exactly spy material.

"Yes!" ~ the slaver offered with an smile.~ "You see, there's two types of slave markets in Melromarc, the legal and illegal types. I am a legal trader, yes? I only deal with criminals, beasts and mindless."

"Mindless?"

"Yes, when demihuman of different species have children together, it can lead to all sorts of complications. Sterility is the least of it. Breathing issues, deformity, heart issues, and even mental issues. You can't really expect the offspring of a dog and a fish to be the picture of health. The mindless are those who can barely function in society, literally no more than mindless killing machines, yes?"

"I see... you mentioned beasts?"

"Yes!" ~ the slaver seemed to light up.~ "We do have a gacha system of monster eggs, yes! You can get a gryphon, you can get a giant spider, you can get a filolial, its up to you, yes!"

"Wait, aren't filolials those large birds that pull carts around? Are they any good in battle?"

"Oh, yes! Filolials are actually peak predators, sir Hero! It is simply that because of some deep-ingrained instinct, they love pulling carts. A cart pulled by an strong filolial is one safe cart, yes!"

"That is... odd. Alright, how much is it for a try?"

"A hundred silver coins. There's two hundred and fifty eggs, including filolials, usapiru, and even a rideable dragon, yes!"

"You said a rideable dragon, implying there's only one."

"How astute, yes! There is one rideable dragon egg in there, yes!"

"I see, so its a one in two hundred and fifty chance. Well, I'll buy two. I always liked gacha anyway."

Honestly, Ren's dark past included spending enough money on gacha to get in trouble with his parents, even though he came from a rather wealthy family.

"In that case, please add a drop of your blood to the slave seal on the eggs you chose, yes!"

"Eh? You seem to be doing something interesting, Ren-kun."

"...!?" - The Sword Hero felt his heart leap out of his mouth as Sakura greeted him out of the blue, her voice coming from right next to him.

~qO Sakura's POV Op~

'If the man's thoughts hadn't confirmed his words, I'd have swallowed the entire tent...' ~ Furthermore, he was saying a white lie. He did trade children. More specifically, demihuman children, taking them to Shieldfreeden where they'd be auctioned to families who wished to adopt.

Of course, I got that much information after sneaking around in the shadows and listening at the thoughts of the employees. I wasn't going to trust information from a single source, even if they didn't know I was peeking into their thoughts.

"You should buy that one." ~ I pointed at the one that had the rideable dragon.~ "And that one." ~ the slaver had betrayed himself, thinking about the 'prize' egg when Ren-kun had been about to press a drop of his blood on the egg next to it. Sadly, he wasn't as aware of the other egg's contents, so I just pointed at whichever and called it a day.

How nice for you, Ren-kun, you get to ride a dragon. Wait a minute, wouldn't Rider want a mount of her own? I'd rather not have her bleed herself each time we need transportation, and thanks to the dead pig, we have plenty of money right now.

"I will also buy an egg. Say, do you happen to have any winged horses?"

"Ah... what kind of creature would that be?" ~ Beloukas gave a confused look at the beautiful young woman.

"A horse, with wings." ~ Sakura shrugged. She's already gotten the equivalent of a 'no' from the man, so that was good enough.~ "What else would be considered a 'winner' in the pool?"

Beloukas blinked, and Sakura grinned as their eyes looked into each other, and then roamed to an specific egg on the upper right side of the box.

"You looked~ " ~ she sing-songed in a happy mood.

"Ah! It is this one blunder, yes!" ~ the slaver cried with an strangely happy undertone.

That's how Sakura got a gryphon egg.

"Now, what was that about a drop of blood?" ~ She asked

"Yes! You need to add a drop of blood into the seal. That way, the monster will respond to you, and you'll be able to keep track of its health and location, no matter what, yes!"

"Uhmm... Ren-kun."

"Y-yes, Sakura-nee?"

"Use this knife, but don't apply the blood just yet."

"Alright?"

Once Ren had done as instructed, Sakura cut the tip of her left thumb with the same knife, and mixed their blood together on the knife's blade.

"Let's try using this. That way we can keep track of each other's group and general well-being."

"I see! That sounds like a good idea, if it'll work."

At this point, both of them turned around to look at the slave merchant, who simply shrugged. ~ "I don't think I've ever heard of such a thing, but by the same token, I've never heard of it failing, either."

With that, they used their mixed blood to brand all three eggs. Sakura got a gryphon, while Ren got a dragon and a mystery egg. Once they were done with that, they picked up Tersia (who was sitting outside, resting and drinking some juice after having an slave brand imprinted on her) and talked for a bit before Ren transferred everything they had collected that day over to Sakura.

"Thank you, Ren-kun." ~ she brushed his hair away and smooched his forehead, then 'poofed' away in a cloud of shadow.

Next was Motoyasu, who was waiting for her in the tavern, and from what she could see, the princess was beginning to have some problems keeping a cloth over his eyes. Sakura smiled and used Flicker to jump in from the adjacent alley she had been watching from, appearing right behind Malty and greeting the not-as-oblivious Spear Hero with an smile.

"Sakura-chan, that's kind of mean to Malty-chan." ~ he chided with a little smile.

"Uhm? Wah th he-!?" ~ the red-headed princess nearly fell forth as she turned around and found Sakura standing there.

"Hm... but I don't really care, though?" ~ Sakura said after faking a moment of thought.

"Why, you..." ~ Malty was about to say something else when Sakura interrupted her.

"Hero-sama. You were about to say 'Why, you Hero-sama, such a pleasure to see you', weren't you, Mal-ty-chan?"

For some reason, Malty felt very small right then and there. Furthermore, she could have swore she felt a huge pressure emanating from the Bow Hero, an almost beast-like, monstrous presence.~ "R-right..."

"Motoyasu-san, you really should consider leaving such delicate girls behind, you know? For their own good." ~ Sakura gave him her best motherly smile.~ "I don't think they're made for the battlefield."

"Well, that is..."

"Motoyasu-sama!"

"Ah, well..."

"Mo-to-ya-su-san~ " ~ Sakura chirped, all too happy to add fuel unto the fire.~ "If you make room by tomorrow, I'll help you buy a rideable dragon for a hundred silver coins, you know?"

"Wait, really!?"

"Hn. I just helped Ren with it. That slave merchant seems to have an odd sense of honour, so he'll refill the prized egg slots tomorrow, I'm sure of it."

"What?"

So, Sakura proceeded to explain to Motoyasu about the egg gatcha, and about how she could simply peek into the merchant's mind to figure out the 'winners.'

"Of course, you know how dragons are about princesses, so if you happened to have one of those in stock, you'd have to get rid of her first..." ~ Sakura's smile was all teeth.

"Ha ha, Sakura-san, I'm sure that's just children's tales."

"Well, you should still think about it. I'm sure it'd be nice to have someone actually helping you fight..." ~ she said while looking at each girl around the table, a disapproving expression constantly in her face.

"...well..."

"On the other hand, human followers do have some clear advantages," ~ she seemed to concede.~ "for example, you can apply slave brands to them-"

The girls around the table all let out different sounds of outrage and disbelief, and it took a while for Motoyasu to calm them down so Sakura could explain about the multiple good points of an slave brand. She was mildly surprised to find that at least two of the girls seemed to agree with her, though the princess' head was the most interesting of the lot, both as she came up with excuses as to why it would be inappropriate, and on ways she'd abuse it if she managed to, say, get one on Sakura.

It gave the violet-haired Bow Hero all sorts of ideas. Ideas she planned to fully discuss with Motoyasu later that night. For now, though, the girls were so happy with sending her away, all the excuses and petty arguments they had planned to bring up in order to keep the spoils of Motoyasu's day of work just melted away into nothingness, a cheap sacrifice if it meant she'd be gone a moment sooner.

'Let's talk more about this tonight. And for God's sake 9/10, please have the decency to keep your child inside your pants while we talk?'

'...y-yes, Sakura-san.'

"Hm. I'll talk to you later, then."

'Now for the hard part.' ~ Sakura sighed. So far she had used the Portal Bow to go back to town, which saved her a huge amount of time and effort since she didn't need to Shadow Jump all over Melromarc to get there, but she had never been to Ryuuto village, so there was no way around getting there other than to walk.

At least she could use Passage into Shadow. so getting there should only take a couple of hours...

~qO Author Notes Op~

Another Thursday, another chapter. Am I the only one that has mixed feelings about the fact that Rishia Ivyred is not a redhead? I mean, its great that the author wasn't lazy enough to color-code his characters (yes, I am aware that red hair was seen as a symbol of sin in some places), but it still feels like a wasted opportunity.

On a more relevant note. I decided to switch out Ren's party members because they're never anything more than background characters in the original work (in any of its versions, anime, LN or WN). I could, by the same token, just give them the OC treatment without changing their names and nobody would have been able to complain, but if I want any hope to remember their names, I think I'll just go OC all the way and come up with something else. Plus I genuinely think all the heroes need to balance their parties better.

Results from the poll (Ignored 'guest' accounts to prevent double/triple voting):

Istarin 12 votes

Medusa Rider 13 votes

Medusa Lancer (Ana) 12 votes

Medusa Lancer (Alter) 4 votes

I voted for Ana, because cuddles. I wonder if I should have Ishtarin and Anna show up later, since the votes were so close...?

1 – I am aware she's a Tanuki, not a raccoon, but neither her nor Naofumi know that at this point in the story.

2 – Just my preference, but I thought that since Rin left her hair down and long, and we all know what Rider's hair is like, it'd make sense for Sakura to grow out her hair. It just never came up before but yeah, I think Sakura probably has really long hair by now. It matches her two beloved female role models, after all.

3 – By the way, I think I'll just drop the (ine) bit at the end from now on unless somebody wants it to stay?

'

And because I'm genuinely afraid I'd forget if I stop writing this at the bottom of every chapter:

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.

Naofumi lvl 36

Raphtalia lvl 31

Lin lvl 61

Naofumi's party → Lin, Raphtalia, Keel (at some point)

Ren's party → Tersia, ?, dragon.

Motoyasu's party → Bitch, whore/cheerleader squad

Sakura's party → Rishia, Rider, Keel and Rifana and a gryphon. Will probably keep Rifana and hand Keel over to Naofumi.