Replies to my Reviews
PSYCongroo: There's definitely a reason for that, even if it's not exactly a good one. Check on chapter 2 for her reply to how she knew that Naofumi would buy Raphtalia.
SwordOfTheGods: I recently got into playing Assassins' Creed for the first time ever and it influenced my story. Also, the previous Spear Hero was a Cid Kageno-style fan of the video game. As for the haki part, it's seems surprisingly easier to attain if you KNOW what to aim for. After years of constantly pushing himself to the limit, you'll see in the One Piece 3D2Y special that Luffy can already at least use Armament Hardening after just around a month of knowingly aiming for it. As Naofumi is more centered on Observation since he's confident in his Shield's defense, it's about the same.
"Hmm..." Raphtalia shifted as she slowly came awake, blinking blearily at the lap she'd been resting her head on before looking up to see her master's smiling face.
"Good morning, Raphtalia." Naofumi Iwatani greeted, the wind ruffling the duo's hair as they rested at a balcony overlooking the capital. "Do you feel better after last night?"
The smile Raphtalia gave wasn't particularly as happy her usual ones. "A little... Naofumi-sama, did you stay with me the whole night?"
"Of course, I did." Naofumi gently brushed away the stray strands of hair from her face. "I have no reason to leave you."
"It's just that- My behavior last night was-"
*grwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwlllllll*
Raphtalia choked on her words, her face burning scarlet.
"Right." Resisting the urge to chuckle, the Shield Hero reached into his Shield Storage before bringing out water and some food. "Let's eat."
Chapter 08: New Companions
"As a reward for your efforts during the Wave, I shall now proceed with granting the Heroes their rewards."
All four Heroes stood at attention before King Aultcray Melromarc in the throne room, their Parties and assorted nobles observing from the side while Myne a.k.a. Malty S. Melromarc stood by her father.
"Motoyasu-dono, for your participation with the Wave Boss as well as being the one to strike the killing blow, you shall receive 4,000 Silver Pieces. As for Itsuki-dono and Ren-don, you shall receive 3,800 Silver Pieces each."
The three mentioned Heroes received their money without much fanfare.
"As for the Shield, while you did not participate in the battle against the Wave Boss, the Vice Commander, along with some of my knights, gave a testimony that proved your indispensable assistance in defending the Village of Lute and saving many lives." It looked like it was physically hurting Aultcray to admit that. "As such, I shall grant you 2,000 Silver Pieces."
Naofumi and Raphtalia gave Aultcray their brightest smiles as the servant placed the bag of coins in the Shield Hero's hand, enjoying the king's grimace before he awkwardly jerked his hand from his instinctual habit and put it away in his clothes instead. 'Whoa, there. I nearly used my {Shield Storage} before all of them.'
Naofumi cautiously glanced at the surrounding nobles. 'My fellow Japanese are one thing, but these guys are another. Unless it's during an emergency, I can't show anything that's either too unique unless Ren does it too.'
"You have your money, so begone already!"
At that clear dismissal from Aultcray, Naofumi rolled his eyes before approaching Ren. "Hey, Ren? Give me your contact info."
Ren Amaki turned to Naofumi with a raised eyebrow. "Huh? Why?"
"What do you mean by that?" Itsuki asked. "How would you even use that here?"
Manifesting the {Phone Shield}, Naofumi held it towards Ren. "You did what I suggested, right? Let's exchange numbers."
"Oh, right." Ren raised up his Sword and transformed it as well.
When the light faded away, the {Phone Sword} resembled an android smartphone with the gem at the back of it. While they looked incredibly similar, Naofumi's {Phone Shield} had a green cover with the emerald gem and a miniature design of his Shield on the back while Ren's {Phone Sword} had a blue cover with the sapphire gem and a miniature design of his Sword on the back.
"Will this work?" Ren asked only for his {Phone Sword} to start ringing just as Naofumi called him while walking away. "Oh, nevermind, then. It's good that we have a secure way of contacting each other."
"Yup. See you at the next Wave. Maybe sooner if we get lucky." Naofumi waved back without looking at them as he and Raphtalia vacated the throne room. "Now, let's strut on our way out like we own this place."
"Yes, Naofumi-sama!"
Motoyasu and Itsuki looked at each other before ganging up on Ren. ""We can use our phones through our weapons?!""
"Naofumi-sama, why are we here?" Raphtalia frowned, her arms crossed over her bosom with her good cheer long gone.
"We'll need to be travelling soon." Naofumi assuaged her with a headpat. While her expression didn't change, her tail did start to wag. "And for that, we need something like a horse and a carriage. At the very least, this guy won't lie to me about where I can get some good ones."
And with that said, Naofumi entered into Beloukas's tent.
"Good sir!" Beloukas cheered with his arms spread apart, his smile as creepy as ever. "It's a pleasure to have you return to my humble place of work!"
"Beloukas!" Naofumi kept a less-than-healthy distance from the slave trader(for in his opinion, a truly healthy distance would require at least ten miles worth of distance), his smile sharper as his Kenbunshoku writhed from the atmosphere. "I wanna buy a horse from you. Or at least something that can pull carriages. The 3rd Wave is around 45 days and 14 hours from now. I need something that will allow me to travel far distances during that period."
"Of course, of course, I have just the perfect thing for your request." Beloukas waddled out of sight and soon returned with a box full of tattooed eggs. "This here is a monster egg lottery. Each costs 100 Silver Pieces and it's almost guaranteed you'll get a filorial!"
"Which I'm assuming to be the cheapest one present." Naofumi surmised. "So whatever I get, I'll have to raise it?"
"I have no doubt in your nurturing skills, Hero-sama." Beloukas shifted his gaze to Raphtalia who tried not to shudder from it. "After all, you went and turned that scrawny bag of bones and disease into this beauty here. If you're interested in selling her back, she'll fetch you a minimum of 20 Gold Pieces even if she isn't a virgin."
"I am a virgin!" Raphtalia shouted as her cheeks burned. "Naofumi-sama has yet to lay his lips on me!"
"And 20 Gold Pieces are too low anyway. Buff it up to 80 Gold Pieces and you've got a 1% chance of me giving it a thought." Naofumi snorted as he rubbed the raccoon girl's head. "She's that valuable to me."
"What a stingy man you are, good sir!" Beloukas gushed. "I just love that attitude!"
"Back to this box, what are my choices?" Naofumi gently rapped his knuckles against the monster eggs.
"There are three species in that box composed of filorials, griffins and dragons!" Beloukas explained. "If you choose wisely, you might get the super rare griffin egg!"
"What, it's like a gacha game?" Naofumi deadpanned.
"What's a gacha game?"
"An Otaku's worst nightmare, no matter what anybody claims." After answering Raphtalia's question, Naofumi picked an egg and prepared to leave, only to suddenly stop at the clang he heard just as he and Raphtalia exited the inner tent.
Turning his head, Naofumi found himself locking gazes with the wolf demihuman from before. "She's still here?"
"Indeed, she's shown no sign of recovery during the weeks you left." Beloukas answered as he followed Naofumi to stand before the cage. The wolf girl in question didn't snarl at them anymore, instead giving Raphtalia a lost and confused tilt of her head. "If you're interested in purchasing her this time, the price is still the same as before."
"20 Gold Pieces, huh?" Naofumi hummed, considering his choices as he brought up his {Money Shield}.
[Gold: 25, Silver: 340, Bronze: 185]
'It's already converted some of my silver into gold...' Naofumi noted. "Alright, then. I'll buy her. If she regains her senses under my care, I'll properly choose whether to recruit her or release her. Either way, she'll be helping us to level up faster in the meanwhile."
Naofumi crouched down and looked at her face to face. "You remember me, right? What's your name?"
The girl frowned before growling at him.
"Fine, then. I'll guess I'll name you after this girl I saw on anime." Naofumi muttered as he stood back up. "You already look like her a lot anyway."
A quick purchase later, Naofumi left Beloukas with 20 less Gold and one more slave added to his Party.
[PARTY SYSTEM]
[Title: Shield Hero]
[Name: Naofumi Iwatani]
[Level: 27]
[HP: 690]
[MP: 80]
[SP: 85]
[DEX: 30]
[DEF: 91]
[ATK: 16]
[Magic Class Affinity: Recovery, Support]
[Magic Element Affinity: Water]
.
[Title: Slave]
[Name: Raphtalia]
[Level: 25]
[HP: 328]
[MP: 40]
[SP: 100]
[DEX: 80]
[DEF: 30]
[ATK: 91]
[Magic Class Affinity: Illusion]
[Magic Element Affinity: Light, Shadow]
.
[Title: Slave]
[Name: Rei]
[Level: 80]
[HP: 795]
[MP: 984
[SP: 100]
[DEX: 350]
[DEF: 250]
[ATK: 1,200]
[Magic Class Affinity: Offensive]
[Magic Element Affinity: Fire]
Naofumi's eye twitched as he eyed the stats of his new companion. 'If she ever decides to harm Raphtalia or me anytime soon, I might actually need to use the Slave punishment as a deterrent.' "Welcome to the Party, 'Rei'."
It was a nice name, Naofumi believed. It represented how Rei would be restarting her life from zero in his Party.
If she just happened to bare a suspiciously strong resemblance to Magical Girl Sailor Mars, it was just a coincidence. Doubly so, considering her affinity.
"Welcome." The pharmacist greeted cheerfully as a familiar pair entered his shop, although the young man was missing his usual green cloak. "Got some new stock to sell, lad?"
"Yeah." Naofumi replied as he laid out the vials. "These ones here will cure severe cold and inflamed throats, along with having a regenerative property strong enough for inflamed organs."
The pharmacist whistled. "Consider them bought. Also..."
He reached behind him and pulled out a thick book. "I heard about what you did for Lute Village. Considering that I've got relatives there, this here is a symbol of my gratitude. This book has recipes for finer medicines you can make and bring to me. Use it as much as you want."
"Thanks." Naofumi grabbed the book and opened it eagerly, only to run into a familiar problem. 'I can't read this... Wait.'
"I own this now, right?" At the pharmacist's assuring nod, Naofumi placed the recipe book against his Shield. 'Please work, please work, please work.'
[Requirements met: Medical Shield Unlocked - Quality: Rare - ATK: 0 - MAG: +4 - DEF: +3 - DEX: 0 - Bonus Skill: {Scan (Active)}, {Brewing Mastery (Passive)}, Multilingual (Passive), {Restore (Active)}]
[Scan (Active): This allows you to observe a target and gain information off them. The higher your level, the more information you gain.]
[Brewing Mastery (Passive): This grants you an intuitive mastery of all associated brewing skills and techniques. Note: This basically involves anything that is required to be brewed in a container over a flame, such as food, medicine, poison and potion.]
[Multilingual (Passive): You are now capable of reading, speaking and writing multiple languages. Japanese (Expert), English (Expert), Quartlish (Beginner)]
[Restore (Active): This allows you to heal a target to it's prime condition in exchange for their stamina. Warning: This works only for ailments and cannot be used for external injuries.]
'Oh my god, the recipe book was broken.' Naofumi's jaw dropped. "I am both awed and terrified of the Shield stuck to my body."
[Good. That means that the chances of the Legendary Shield being underestimated by it's owner have been significantly lessened.]
'Obnoxious little thing, aren't you?' Naofumi sighed before addressing the pharmacist. "Thanks for the gift. I really appreciate it."
"And the recipes?"
Naofumi smiled as he tapped his forehead, suddenly being able to think up several recipes he hadn't known half a minute ago. "All up here."
"Good, good, that's convenient." The pharmacist chuckled before perking up. "Speaking of convenient, the lady from the magic store also wanted to have some words with you. She told me that you helped out her grandkid in Lute."
'It looks like word of Naofumi-sama's heroism is finally spreading around.' Raphtalia's ears perked up while her chest puffed up in happiness.
"You have an affinity for healing and support magic, Shield Hero-sama."
'Yeah, that tracks.'
The magic shop, ran by a plump lady in witch garb, was almost like a library. The smell of old books was calming as they reminded Naofumi of the library back home. There were many trinkets and layabouts over the place, but the majority of the shelves were filled with books and scrolls about magic, or so Naofumi thought.
"And the young lady has light and dark magic affinity." The witch finished after checking Raphtalia. She's half raccoon after all, so I recommend that she learns some illusion magic and the like."
The witch moved with a surprisingly fast step, darting from place to place as she built up a small stack of books and returned to them. "These are beginner-level grimoires, packet full of simple spells. It's a bit harder to learn magic using grimoires, but the efficiency is much higher than simply learning one single spell from a spell orb."
"We can't afford these, unfortunately." Naofumi sheepishly stated. "Even with a discount-"
"Discount? This is all free as thanks for helping my grandkid." The witch waved away their troubles easily. "I actually would've preferred to give you a spell orb since I've heard enough rumors about you Heroes' troubles with our language."
"Actually, I no longer have that problem." Naofumi mentally pumped his fist. "So I appreciate the grimoires."
"Good, good. Learning magic from a grimoire is hard, but if you keep at it, you can learn as many spells as you want!" The witch pumped her own fists with some excitement. "Keep doing your best, Shield Hero!"
"Thank you, ma'am." Naofumi packed the grimoires into his backpack. "Let's go, Raphtalia. We don't want to keep Rei waiting."
"What a fine lad~!" The witch commented as she rearranged her wares. "If only I were a couple of years younger, I would've tried to join his party with that cutie."
"She looks so pretty in them, Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia gushed as she and Naofumi observed a cleaner and better dressed Rei, who had needed a different type of effort to become presentable compared to Raphtalia.
With her long bluish black hair now tied into a ponytail, Rei was dressed in a red dress with a black trim around a deep neckline that exposed a large amount of her ample cleavage with some midriff above a pair of black pants. Along with a belt with a yellow ribbon being tied around her waist, she had the same thigh high boots as Raphtalia, but black instead of brown.
"Yeah... Really pretty." Naofumi murmured as he gently fondled his hand when it ached. When he'd seen her ears flickering earlier, it had been instinctual to try and pet them like he usually did to Raphtalia.
*CHOMP!*
Unfortunately, Rei hadn't been as receptive and with her far more superior stats, had nearly bitten his hand off in one bite before the slave crest kicked in.
Only a hasty use of five HP potions in one go saved Naofumi from losing his brutalized hand. In retaliation, Raphtalia had tried to attack Rei only to instantly lose and get slammed facefirst into the ground. After tackling Rei off Raphtalia before the raccoon girl could get her throat ripped out, Naofumi had panicked and pushed out as much Haoshoku as he could.
The effect was that Raphtalia (along with every single monster and animal in the vicinity) had instantly keeled over, never having experienced his Conqueror's Haki to that much degree.
Rei herself had stumbled, but glared at Naofumi intensely, sending shivers down his spine with every heavy and slow footstep she took towards him until she was right before him, their faces barely an inch away until she spoke her first since they'd met.
"Alpha..."
Then she fainted too.
Then Naofumi nearly joined them into unconsciousness because his Conqueror's Haki had clearly never been pushed to that extent before.
When they'd all woken up later, there was a collective silent agreement to cooperate with each other better.
With Rei properly suited up, Naofumi and co. arrived at Lute Village and instantly got to work.
Literally.
Apparently the villagers had somehow been expecting him and had dragged the corpse of the Wave Boss into an area close to the gates. All of it's three heads had been taken off already by the other Heroes but still had it's snake tail intact.
Casting a cursory glance around, Naofumi grimaced at how many corpses of the Wave monsters were still left. 'Well, it's only been a day...'
Directing Raphtalia to help cut the chimera into manageable sizes, Naofumi went around to deal with the other corpses, his Shield granting a convenient use of it's bottomless appetite.
Grateful for the help, the villagers had offered free room and food which Naofumi had instantly accepted. They were low on funds after all.
[Requirements met: Locust Shield Unlocked - Quality: Legendary - ATK: +1 - MAG: 0 - DEF: +6 - DEX: +2]
[Requirements met: Bee Shield Unlocked - Quality: Legendary - ATK: +1 - MAG: 4 - DEF: +1 - DEX: +6 - Bonus Skill: {Bee Needle (Active)}]
[{Bee Needle (Active)}: This allows you to project stingers off the surface of any Shield you create, inducing paralysis in your victims.]
[Requirements met: Zombie Shield Unlocked - Quality: Legendary - ATK: +2 - MAG: +1 - DEF: +5 - DEX: 0 - Bonus Skill: {Rot Resistance (Passive)}]
[{Rot Resistance (Passive)}: This renders you and any item you create resistant against the effects of decay and rot.]
[Requirements met: Chimera Viper Shield Unlocked - Quality: Unique - ATK: +7 - MAG: +10 - DEF: +26 - DEX: +12 - Bonus Skill: {Shadow Resistance (Passive)} + {Poison Resistance (Passive)} + {Venomous Hookfang (Active)}]
[{Shadow Resistance (Passive)}: This grants you resistance against shadow magic and attacks.]
[{Poison Resistance (Passive)}: This has boosted your already strong resistance to poison.]
[{Venomous Hookfang (Active)}: This invokes the venomous serpents to retaliate with bites filled with fatal poison whenever struck with an attack. Antidote is a poison clearing potion with your blood added to it.]
[Requirements met: Mirror Shield Unlocked - Quality: Rare - ATK: 0 - MAG: +5 - DEF: +6 - DEX: +2 - Bonus Skill: {Counter (Active)}]
[{Counter (Active)}: This allows you to reflect or deflect any magical attack that is launched at you.]
While he unlocked a few more Shields, Naofumi also took the time to learn from the grimoires with Raphtalia. Having no interest in their studying, Rei would usually either choose to sleep on the floor (no matter how much both Naofumi and Raphtalia offered her space on the latter's bed) or go hunting alone.
Apparently Rei was already very skilled at fire magic without needing any incantations. All it took was for a small growl to manifest a bow and arrow of fire before she obliterated that small hill.
(The resemblance to Sailor Mars was getting more and more apparent.)
So while Rei didn't really need to level up, the three of them still trained together as much as they could, with the rare addition of Akafusen from time to time as they dabbled in battle formations and tactics for hunting. Just like Raphtalia, Rei had loved 'Ballie', often glomping the spherical monster whenever she could.
It was quite the productive week for Naofumi and his Party.
*poke*
Naofumi twitched in his sleep and instinctively spread out his Kenbunshoku. No enemies or threats, just Raphtalia and Rei at his sides. 'Back to sleep, then.'
*poke*
*poke*
Naofumi grumbled slightly as he pressed his face deeper into his pillow. Weirdly, his pillow hugged him back, but Naofumi didn't currently possess enough mental energy to decipher that anomaly.
*poke*
*poke*
*poke*
*bite*
*lick*
Now, Naofumi's eyes snapped open when something gently bit on his ear and sucked on it, causing him to jerk about in Raphtalia's voluptuous embrace...
"You snuck into my bed again?" Naofumi grumbled as he sat up. Ever since he'd found finally somebody to give Raphtalia the Talk, she'd actually been embarrassed to share a bed with him as she usually did... until that cold night when even Rei had snuggled up to Naofumi in his bed, leaving the raccoon swordswoman unwilling to be left out.
Now it was almost a regular occurrence to wake up with his face hugged to her chest.
"What's... What's the problem, Rei?" Naofumi yawned as he idly rubbed his ear, turning to the wolf girl, who in turn directed his attention to the incubating monster egg.
*crack!*
Correction: The hatching monster egg.
"Raphtalia, wake up! The egg's hatching!" Naofumi hissed as he came close to observe.
Cracks spread over the egg, a tiny pinkish white wing popping out of one of the cracks. More and more the cracks spread, and soon enough, Naofumi could hear a chirping sound being emitted from the egg. Soon enough, all of the eggshell broke away and revealed a pinkish white excited chick. It chirped and skipped in place before easily jumping up to nestle in Naofumi's messy hair.
"It's so cute, Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia gushed.
"Hm?" Rei tilted her head curiously.
"It's using my hair as a nest." Naofumi mildly grumbled as the filorial chick kept chirping excitedly. "Did it just imprint on me?"
"You should name it, then." Raphtalia suggested.
"Good names aren't something that one can just think of..."
The next two days continued almost as normally as usual. For starters, when Akafusen had met their latest addition, they'd tried to kill each other.
That had been a mess that required serious intervention, along with several bribes in the form of food for the two monsters. While it was probably a territorial thing, they at least seemed mollified when Naofumi gave them both equal amounts of attention.
The second problem was the growth rate. While having both Raphtalia and Akafusen had dulled the experience a bit, it was still rather alarming to see something that had literally been born two days ago quickly grow into a form that would logically take years to achieve.
"Either this world's biology and ecology is severely fucked up from my perspective..." Naofumi muttered as he looked at the now adult filorial in the stables. "Or my Shield is one hell of a cheat."
[Both options are valid and acceptable.]
"Gueeh!" The filorial cried loudly, bringing her long neck closer to Naofumi, to receive headpats.
"I'm pretty sure it's just your Shield's special power, Hero-sama." The stable owner spoke as he dropped fresh hay for the other animals inside. "You guys get all sorts of perks."
"Well, I can't argue with the results." Raphtalia nodded. "Ballie levelled up so fast when they started competing against each other."
"Well, Filo isn't going to let herself be left behind, after all?"
"Filo?" Raphtalia frowned. "As in 'filorial'? Don't you think that's a bit lazy compared to Rei-san?"
Naofumi shrugged. "There's a difference between naming Rei, who's a person, and what's obviously a monster/pet. Besides, it's not like you did any different with 'Ballie'."
"I-I was a child back then!" Raphtalia stammered.
"That was a month ago." Naofumi chuckled, enjoying how Raphtalia pouted and started weakly pounding her fist against his stomach.
"Hey, look."
"Why are the knights here?"
Raphtalia and Rei's heads snapped forward, the latter's ears twitching. "Grrrr."
"What's wrong, Rei...?" Naofumi stalled as he noticed the commotion himself, quickly leaving the stables to see the villagers gathering at the town's center. When he reached the group with Raphtalia and the others following him, he tapped the shoulder of one of the adventurers he'd saved before. "What's going on?"
The adventurer frowned, his annoyed glare focused at the knights. "Apparently, something's happened that requires all of those armed knights being here for some reason."
Naofumi noticed the similarly disgruntled people gathered as well, managing to spot the knights in question. All his good humor from the morning went down as he spotted a familiar blond man carrying a certain spear, accompanied by a certain red haired bitch.
"In light of his exploits during the last Wave, the Spear Hero Motoyasu-sama has been appointed the governor of this region."
Motoyasu, with his ever-present smirk as he sat atop a dragon-like creature, waved at the villagers, somehow missing how nobody smiled back. "Nice to meet you all."
"E-Excuse me, miss." The village mayor stepped forward. "I'm supposed to be the governor here. I haven't heard any word about a new appointment-"
"Well, you're hearing the word now, aren't you? Now then, to help with the rebuilding efforts, we've decided to levy a toll." Malty held up a signed scroll, displaying it to the crowd while guarded by the knights. "50 Silver Pieces to enter the village and 50 Silver Pieces to leave."
"100 Silver Pieces?!" The mayor looked a few seconds away from a heart attack.
"Huh?!" The adventurer choked. "That's a joke, right?!"
"Not a good one, if it is." A farmer next to him complained. "Who'd be able to pay that?"
"Do they believe that anybody other than a noble would be able to afford that?" The stable owner did some calculations with his hands. "I mean, I'd need at least a month's worth of work to pay something like that, and that's disregarding my usual expenses."
"Almost double that for me."
"About the same for me."
Many complaints like these spread light wildfire over dried grass among the crowd.
Malty scoffed and loudly spoke. "This is necessary for reconstructing your village, after all. Why are you all making such a fuss?"
"Because that's clearly highway robbery!" Naofumi shouted, his loud voice gaining everyone's attention. "What the hell are you thinking demanding a tax as high as that?!"
"Naofumi?!" Motoyasu exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing here?!"
"I've already been here helping with the rebuilding, but don't dodge the question! Motoyasu, what's the average currency rate of a resident here?!"
"Ah, u-uh..." Motoyasu awkwardly scratched his cheek.
"Let me put in perspective for you. Back in the capital, a night at an inn would cost around 20 Silver Pieces on average, with a few extra for food." Naofumi laid it out. "Here in Lute, it's just 1 Silver Piece with food included. You see the difference? These guys make and use their money at different rates for each areas. A toll like that might fly at the capital, but not here."
"Yeah, he's right!" The adventurer shouted in agreement.
"Besides, how were you the Hero that appointed as the governor?" Another citizen complained. "Other than being the one to defend our home during the Wave, the Shield Hero helped us bury our dead and has been helping in the rebuilding for the past week!"
Motoyasu gaped. "H-He has?!"
"I don't really care about this governor business." Naofumi pointed out. "Just drop your toll to something reasonable before you reenact the start of the French Revolution."
Motoyasu blinked before tilting his head in confusion. "'French Revolution'? The hell's that?"
"Don't bother about that, Motoyasu-sama." Malty scoffed as she raised her hand. "They've just received a royal decree from the Crown. You all know what it means to defy those orders, right?"
At her gesture, the surrounding knights lowered their halberds until they were pointed at the defenseless citizens.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" Naofumi shouted as he started to push through the crowd.
"All of you stop it!" Motoyasu surprisingly yelled at the same time.
Just as Malty was about to swing her hand down, five hooded figures, all dressed similarly Ninja Girl, dropped out of nowhere and surrounded the princess.
"That is enough."
Just like her father had on the day of Naofumi's 'trial', Malty's face turned nastily pale as one of them held up a scroll to her.
"We trust that you remember who we are, Malty-sama." The Shadow's calm voice seemed to cause the princess to start shaking. Either that or it was the very fancy scroll that had been handed to her. "This is for you, I daresay."
"I... I can't believe this!" Malty's shaking increased, a look of hatred and disbelief on her face as she read the scroll. "We can't just back down!"
"You have just received a royal decree from the Crown, Malty-sama." The Shadow blithely threw the princess's own words back at her. "You know what it means to defy those orders, right?"
One could almost the sounds of Malty's teeth grinding until she suddenly turned to glare and point at Naofumi. "Shield Hero! Fight us for the right to rule this village!"
Naofumi's jaw dropped at that surprising challenge before suddenly shouting back. "I just said that I wasn't interesting in ruling anything! Why are you suddenly dragging me into this?!"
The Shadow that had given Malty the scroll leapt over the crowd to land before Naofumi and offered him a scroll as well. "This is a copy of the same scroll Malty-sama holds. A decree from this kingdom's highest authority, I daresay."
Accepting the scroll, Naofumi unrolled it and read it out loud for every one to hear. "By my authority, I have acknowledged Sir Naofumi Iwatani's efforts in defending and helping with the reconstruction of Lute Village from the Second Wave of Catastrophe, and hereby appoint him as Governor of the region. No authority beyond mine is permitted to revoke the Shield Hero of his reward, especially with the troubles he has faced with our country's religion. Signed, Queen of Melromarc, Mirelia Q. Melromarc. ...what the fuck?!"
"What the fuck?!" Motoyasu echoed.
"Congratulations, Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia gushed while a few of the villagers started to cheer. "The Queen herself recognized your efforts!"
"No, no, no! This is a bad thing!" Naofumi shook his head fiercely, surprising everyone. "How am I supposed to prepare for the next Wave if I'm too busy being a governor?! That's more of a job rather than a rank!" 'Plus, I can't ditch the kingdom in an emergency if I actually have a responsibility to be here- Wait, did she somehow figure out that I'd was planning on eventually leaving?!'
"Th-That is true..." Even Motoyasu was miraculously thinking it through, his previous excitement at the 'appointment' fading. "Even so, I want to challenge you, Naofumi!"
"Huh?!"
"My challenge from that night at the banquet!" Motoyasu got off his steed to approach Naofumi, the crowd clearing a path for him.
"Are you serious-"
"I know!" Motoyasu cut Naofumi off, slamming his Spear into the ground angrily. "I know... that Raphtalia-chan is better off with you. That she's... happier with you. But... But..."
Motoyasu bowed his head in frustration. "What am I supposed to do about this dissatisfaction, damnit?!"
"...fine, then." Naofumi sighed before turning to Malty. "I'll accept your challenge! Considering that this village is in the midst of rebuilding, a fight between us will set them back in their work from how destructive we would be. How else can we go at it other than fighting?"
"Then we'll make it a race between your steeds!" Malty instantly seized her chance. "Motoyasu-sama's dragon vs your... filorial!"
Motoyasu turned to regard the filorial next to Naofumi, eyeing the mix of white, yellow and pink feathers on it. "You're gonna race on this? If we're gonna do this, we can lend you one of the other dragons we came with, instead of this lame ostrich knockoff. It's not even purebred-"
*CLANG!*
"-GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Naofumi guffawed as Filo's powerful leg smashed into Motoyasu's crotch and sent him five meters up into the air until he luckily touched down in a stack of hay. "Hahahahahahaha!"
"N-Naofumi-sama, don't laugh!" Raphtalia chided ineffectually, her own lips twitching. Next to her, Rei simply gave off an amused smile.
"How can I not laugh?!" Naofumi quickly jumped on top of Filo, making her coo happily and nuzzle into him while the knights dragged Motoyasu over to his dragon mount. "Filo here just went and proved herself to be worth every coin I gave to Beloukas!"
Naofumi's good cheer suddenly dimmed. 'Ah... Now that I remember that all of my Party members, except Akafusen, are from him, I feel a bit dirty...'
"Naofumi-sama?" Raphtalia frowned as Naofumi suddenly clapped his cheeks before she approached Filo and rubbed her head. "Take care of him for me, okay?"
"Guaah!"
"The course will be three laps around the outskirts of the village." The mayor loudly declared at the front of the crowd as he addressed the racing Heroes. "Whoever reaches this gate first will be declared the winner."
"Motoyasu-sama!" Malty cheered from the side.
"Good luck, Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia cheered as well, only to suddenly note Rei's absence. "Where did Rei go?"
"On your marks..." The mayor raised his hands up... and swiftly dropped them. "GO!"
Their steeds instantly kicked off, with Filo swiftly taking the lead with her powerful legs. 'I already knew from how much she liked to carry me yesterday but...'
Naofumi resisted the urge to burst out cackling when Motoyasu started to choke from their dust. 'Filo's crazy fast!'
"Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia cheered along with some of the villagers.
"Wow! The Shield Hero's filorial is so fast!"
"He's already in the lead!"
"Damn that bird!" Motoyasu growled, his dragon incapable of following the explosive speed that the filorial had over him.
Malty clicked her tongue and shifted closer to a knight, whispering in his ears some words that had the both of them smirking at the end.
Naofumi, on his part, was focusing on better positioning himself as to get used to Filo's speed, unaware of the spectacle in the sidelines.
"As the source of thy power, I order thee; Decipher the laws of nature and-" The knight's incantation was suddenly cut off as Rei grabbed his head from behind him and slammed him face first into the ground before swiftly doing the same to the other knight that had acted as lookout.
"Huh?" Even as he kept his eyes on the road, Naofumi still wondered at why his Kenbunshoku noticed Rei's presence moving about in the sidelines.
Noticing how Naofumi had kept the lead, another of the knights prepared to interfere as well. "As the source of thy power, I order thee; Decipher the laws of nature and slow my-"
Rei dropped down on the knight from above, her boot harshly crunching the knight's shoulder while her hand stifled his pained yells. After growling at him, Rei smashed his face into the ground as well, knocking him out and leaving his arm crushed.
This time as Naofumi passed by, he noticed Rei's handiwork and correctly deduced what she'd been preventing. "Looks like Rei's been helping us out! Let's not disappoint her!"
"Go for it, Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia cheered as he passed by, Motoyasu in tow.
"What are you all doing?!" Malty crossed her arms and bit on one of her nails, worry starting to show on her face as she glared at the knights. "He hasn't slowed down at all! Focus on Motoyasu-sama if you're too useless to impede the Shield!"
One of the bolder knights distanced himself and started chanting on the Spear Hero, more afraid of retaliation from the princess than the Shield Demon. "As the source of thy power, I order thee; Decipher the laws of nature and hasten my target: [Erst Speed!]"
"Woah!" Motoyasu startled as his dragon suddenly surged ahead, overtaking Naofumi and taking the chance to smack it's tail into Filo's face. "Whoops! Sorry, pretty dangerous back there, right?! You should've chosen a dragon instead of that stupid bird!"
"Get it together, Filo!" Naofumi roared in outrage. "Are we or are we not going to make him eat those words?!"
"GRRRRUUEEEE!" Filo roared in response, her eyes ablaze with spirit.
"There's the spirit!" Naofumi patted Filo on her sides. "Now let's crush them both!"
*THUMP!*
*THUMP!*
*THUMP!*
"What the...?" The elderly mayor gaped at the large plumes of dirt being kicked up from afar, something approaching the village at an insane pace. "What is causing that...?"
*THUMP!*
*THUMP!*
*THUMP!*
*THUMP!*
Raphtalia's ears perked up and smiled. Her ears perking up as well, Rei sat back to watch her master as he and his steed caught up with the Spear Hero.
Filo was like a train compressed into the form of a chocobo, her powerful steps shattering the earth beneath her and making many villagers cheer. Motoyasu was behind them, his dragon already showing signs of exhaustion.
The cheers as they approached the gate for the final time still seemed to galvanize the Spear Hero's steed into a final burst, though.
"Naofumi-sama!"
"Hang in there, Shield Hero-sama!"
"Faster, Motoyasu-sama!"
"Don't let him beat you! Keep at it!"
The filorial and the dragon roared along with their riders... until finally... Filo's beak hit the finish line first.
"Brilliantly done!" The mayor rejoiced as Naofumi approached him, the hero helped down by Raphtalia and Rei. "Now we can rest easy and focus on rebuilding the village under your care!"
"Yeah, no." Naofumi shook his head. "Come here... What's your name?"
"Albert, Shield Hero-sama."
"Albert, get over here." Naofumi put a hand on the mayor's shoulder and addressed the crowd. "As your new governor, my first order... will be to grant all of my governing rights back to Albert here. This decision is backed by the Queen so good luck trying to take it from him."
Naofumi called that last part towards Malty, starting to pat Filo's side. "Thanks to Filo right here-"
*PWOOF!*
"-everything's all... huh?" Naofumi's patting hand registered a sudden excess of feathers and looked to discover that Filo had instantly evolved on the spot, resembling more of a horse-sized owl than the chocobo she'd been seconds ago. "What the...?"
"Gruee!"
"Y-You cheated!" Malty called out. "You didn't tell us that your filolial was really this massive tub of lard!"
"Filo clearly just evolved right here and now!" Raphtalia complained. "Besides, you were the ones who kept cheating! Just because Rei stopped most of your knights can't make me ignore it!"
"Heh!" Malty flipped her hair. "What proof do you have of us cheating?"
"The Shield Hero's companion is right." The Shadows suddenly appeared before Malty again. "We found a few of your knights injured at several areas where nobody would have witnessed them casting any spells instead of staying at your side. Also, while the Spear Hero was unaware of the {Erst Speed} spell that was casted on him, such blatant intervention can't be ignored."
"You-"
"Fine, then." Motoyasu spoke up as he approached from behind Naofumi, his eyes uncertain as he gazed at the Shield Hero. "I acknowledge my loss, anyways."
"...thank you for your graceful humility, Spear Hero-sama." The Shadow tilted their head before they all vanished from everyone's sight.
"Naofumi, ignoring the fact that you went and got another one..." Motoyasu's eyes trailed towards Rei before snapping back to Naofumi. "You better treat them right! If I ever hear that they died under your care, I'll hunt you down and kill you myself!"
"Well, that's gonna be impossible." Naofumi shrugged and placed both arms over Raphtalia and Rei's shoulders. "Because the only way these two would die under my care was if I died first."
"...good!" Motoyasu nodded in sharp approval before wincing as he staggered away gingerly, his crotch probably still hurting from Filo's kick.
"Shield Hero-sama, again, thank you so much." Albert came and started thanking Naofumi for his help again, making the waterbender to sigh. "We don't know how to express our gratitu-"
"No need to thank me." Naofumi shrugged. "I think I actually ended this with Motoyasu and I being on better terms than before so it's not like I didn't gain something from this."
"But still, I wish there was something we could give you."
"Gueee!"
Everyone's attention was drawn to the sight of Filo pecking at a damaged carriage, with Rei approaching it to give it a few cursory taps on the wood.
"Oh!" Albert perked up in realization. "How about this, Iwatani-sama? With my authority, I can grant you a Merchant's Pass. It will allow you to sell your products and enter villages and cities with no need for tolls. After what I've seen of your superb medicines and interesting crafts, I have no doubt that you'll make good profit while travelling far and wide to expand your training experience."
"I see..." Naofumi crossed his arms in thought. "Instead of getting merchants to buy my wares, I should become the merchant myself..."
"Exactly." Albert nodded in agreement. "We shall even help you in providing a wagon of your preference, along with other necessities."
"Please, do then." Naofumi nodded before turning to Raphtalia and Rei a sudden thought occurred to him. "Come on, you two. We're going hunting."
"Eh? For what?"
"Balloon skins." Naofumi answered, his tone haunted as he remembered the first and only time he'd ever ridden in a carriage in the capital. "Lots and lots of Balloon skins for cushions and the wheels."
"Hurghh!"
Five villagers were gathered one side of a large wagon, all struggling to keep it off the ground while the customized wheels got fixed into place. On the other side, Rei showed no visible discomfort as she easily held it up alone from her side.
Filo watched impatiently on the sidelines, her eyes sparkling with the prospect of soon having her own wagon as she chirped to the men as if encouraging them. Standing by, Raphtalia was around to help in case Naofumi needed her help some more, but so far everything was fine.
"All done! You can lay it down now!" Naofumi exclaimed as he put away his {Hammer Shield} and admired his handiwork as Rei and the villagers slowly lowered the wagon down on it's padded wheels. "With the wheels modified, the journey should be smoother... Although I wish I could add some more shock absorption..."
"Is this all to your liking, Iwatani-sama?" Albert asked as he approached him with the Merchant's Pass in hand.
"Yeah." Naofumi accepted the token and pocketed it. "With the Balloon skins reinforcing the wheels, they're less likely to wear down and break on rough roads. Add in the cushions, and hopefully nobody will get carsi- I mean, carriagesick. So this is goodbye, then."
"Indeed, Iwatani-sama." Albert took Naofumi's hand into a strong grip while Raphtalia gathered their belongings into the wagon and tethered the eager Filo to it. "I wish you nothing but good fortune on your way."
"The same goes for you, Albert. Even if I can't stay, I'd still like to use this place as a base of operations. So keep a spot open for me, okay?"
"Of course!"
Travelling out from that very moment, the Shield Party started on their journey much to Filo's glee, the abnormal filorial allowing them to gain a lot of ground. It was hampered by the fact that Akafusen got released as well and was bouncing and rolling beside the carriage.
The Red Balloon had also grown monstrously, becoming just as large as the Red Balloon Monster King Naofumi had first seen and fought. The only exception was that unlike the Boss Monster which had possessed a white caricature of a crown around it's head, Akafusen's was a mix of green and gold.
"Ballie looks so strong..." Raphtalia gushed later that night around their dinner. While Naofumi nodded along, Rei paid no mind as she focused on messily devouring the large platter of cooked meat before her, easily fending off the filolial's hungry beak with a single leg.
Thank goodness monster meat could be made edible(although that was all thanks to Naofumi's {Brewing Mastery (Passive)}).
"Whew...! I'm beat!" Naofumi laid down, only to be suddenly swarmed by his monsters. "Seriously? You two..."
Rei stared at them before turning and leaping onto a nearby large boulder as she took the first watch. Naofumi had wanted them all to share the job as usual, but ever since Rei joined, she'd taken to it jealously.
While Raphtalia was confused, Naofumi was well aware due to her backstory that Rei was probably unable to sleep peacefully if there was nobody to guard her unaware body while doing so. So while she could sleep during the day (proving that she trusted them that much at least), Rei staunchly stayed wide awake during the night as she staunchly guarded her P̶a̶c̶k̶ Party.
Which meant she was the only one who actually saw the next evolution.
"Naofumi-sama...! Naofumi-sama...!"
Naofumi blinked awake at Raphtalia's shocked voice, looking at his companion's utterly shocked expression. "Hmm... Did something happen while I slept?"
"Um, yes?!" Raphtalia urged. "Where did these two come from?!"
"Huh?" Naofumi then noticed the lack of the monsters at his sides and instead noticed the small, naked girls sleeping on his lap.
Where Filo had been, there was now a young girl with long blonde hair that ended in cherry pink tips.
Where Akafusen had been, there was now a similarly aged girl with short red hair, with her own sleeping posture far more haphazardly as she drooled while exposing everything.
"W8*5L$19#?!" Naofumi screamed unintelligible words as he leapt away from that cursed spot.
"Th-Those girls..." Raphtalia stammered.
The two girls chose that moment to wake up simultaneously, rubbing the sleep from their eyes.
"Rei!" Naofumi shouted at their lookout, who looked a few seconds away from going to sleep. "Who are these girls and what happened to Akafusen and Filo?!"
Rei yawned before approaching the girls in question.
"Ball." She laid her right hand on the redhead's head.
"Bird." She laid her left hand on the blonde's head.
Then while she clambered into the wagon to go to sleep, Akafusen and Filo finally noticed each other...
*BAM!*
...and punched each other in the face hard enough to cause a small shockwave.
KingVessel: Hahahahahaha! Behold the most powerful Balloon Monster in existence! Next up, you've had Ren, now it's time for Motoyasu's perspective!