There was something about a hot meal after a long day's work that warmed the soul.
While breakfast was the most important meal of the day, dinner was by far the most satisfying. You've already taken care of all the days worries and the only thing left to do is stuff yourself and relax in front of the setting sun, basking in the warm feeling of a full belly.
Today had been a tough one. With Rin and Shirou taking a back seat, Niko had to heal a lot more injuries than usual. While on a normal day she would only need to cast one or two [Cures] on small wounds that could have probably just been ignored or given a good piece of spit, on this occasion she had to use five [Cure] spells after the fight, two of the longer ranged [Heal] spells in order to assist in mid combat, as well as providing Aoi with a [Protection] blessing before the battle started. It was a work out, and she was looking forward to replenishing her energy reserves with food and rest.
Luckily, Shirou was more than willing to provide with a large spread of dishes made from all the different things that he gathered in the woods. Niko didn't know what half the stuff was, but she didn't care, it tasted great, and even with the newcomers around, there was still enough for everyone.
Niko would be willing to admit that she found Shirou a little scary at first, but then she realized that he was like a really big guard dog. He might be scary at first, and bite if you try to take his food, but as long as you respect each other's boundaries, there won't be a problem. Besides, no one who cooked the way he does could be a bad person.
Everything had been set up in a buffet style on the counter with everyone told to just get what they wanted, so Niko stacked her plate high with baked beans, fresh flat bread, and a roast made from the last of the Dragon Horse meat that had been seasoned with wild herbs. It was a pity it was all gone now. The taste of it was hard to describe, too dark to be like chicken but not like beef or pork either. It was good all the same, even if Shirou insisted that it could have used some salt.
"So, it's just the three of you working together?" Rin asked the new guests after they had a little time to eat. They must have been nearly as hungry as Niko herself, considering how they went at the food.
"Y… yes, that's right." The small girl said. Ayako was her name. She was small and thin but didn't have a young face. If it wasn't for her long hair and slight curve, she might have been mistaken for a little boy. Though she was shy, she seemed to be the one to speak for the group, since out of the three she was the last socially awkward. It was the blind leading the blind. She was too shy to even look at anyone.
"Hm, it's hard to have a balanced team with so few people." Rin said thoughtfully. "Some form of ranged support is important to controlling fights, and a scout helps prevent you from stumbling into something that is over your head. Without either of them, you are going to have trouble."
"We've noticed." The plump boy, Naonobu, mumbled around the fork he had resting in his mouth. "Bri said that groups were usually three to five people, so we thought we would be alright."
"Yeah, I suggest you never believe another word that man tells you." Rin said with a sigh. "Five people is what I would call the bare minimum a group can function with."
"We were all that was left once all the best people were picked." Naonobu admitted. "Ippei and I have been struggling through each fight, and Ayako has been exhausting herself trying to keep up with the amount of healing that we need."
"Your best bet would be to look for a free agent who would be willing to join your party. And if that doesn't work, you'll just have to survive long enough to be able to pick up some new recruits the next time the tower opens up in another eighteen days. Though you would need to wait for the newest rookies to be done with their basic training too, so that would be twenty-five days." Rin recommends to them.
"I'm not so sure that we can last twenty-five more days. We only have enough money for about three more days of food." Ayako said miserably. "We've already started skipping meals to stretch it out as long as we can."
Niko suppressed a shudder at the thought of having to miss meals. She remembered that first week when things were looking a little rough for their party. Even then, they had some extra money lying around and Shirou hunting wild animals to help ease the expenses, and then Rin and Shirou had brought back all that money front the bounty on the head of that one Orc with the funny name. After that, money hadn't been too much of a concern.
"We can help support you when it comes to food." Shirou said, his words were kind but his voice was still rather flat. "It wouldn't increase our own costs too much to support you for a while."
"You want to just support them?" Touma said, looking at Shirou with shock.
"Why not? It isn't wrong to help people and we have the money to put up three more mouths for a few days." Shirou said. "How many times did Kuro-senpai help us out during that first week?"
Niko remembered that. Kuro-senpai had been really kind to them the first week. He bought them all lunch when they lost theirs to the horde of goblins and invited Shirou and Rin along for a big mission to help get control of the money situation.
"We would have gotten back on our feet, even without the raid." Riku insisted.
"But we wouldn't be in nearly as good of a position as we are now." Rin said with a sharp nod. "Shirou is right, there is no harm in helping them, and then they in turn can help the people left behind in the next group."
Riku glared a little at being contradicted by Rin. Niko noticed the problems with team chemistry, but she didn't really understand it. Wasn't the entire reason why they had joined the Crimson Moon Reserves in the first place for food money? Why was there so much tension when there was so much food? She didn't understand what the appeal was in fighting stronger monsters when they could just as easily make a living killing goblins. Maybe once they had hunted all of them then there would be a reason to move on, but something made Niko doubt they would ever manage to do that. Not a single goblin they had ever killed had been female, since all of the baby makers were held up in the less ruined part of the city with the goblins' higher class, and the monsters breed like rabbits. The only real cap on their population was the amount of food readily available to them, since they didn't mind living in their own poop. A good reason to never go to the Goblin capital. Eew.
"The real question is, what are you going to do in the meantime? Continuing as you are is dangerous, but it would be a waste of time to just sit on your hands and wait till next month." Rin asked the trio.
The three exchanged looks. "I'm not sure what we are going to do." Ayako admitted weakly.
"We could mitigate the danger a bit if we got them some new equipment. With better covering armor and sharper weapons, they could get through more of their fights without injury and save the girl's magical energy." Shirou suggested.
"So now you want to give them armor?" Touma said, his eye widening. "Feeding them I can understand, but armor is expensive. Even just getting our stuff resized cost more than a gold for each of us."
"Not necessary." Shirou said calmly. "I didn't carry that anvil for four miles for no reason. I can perform the changes to the armor sets I've been hoarding myself."
"You can forge armor?" Megumin asked Shirou, her eyes wide with excitement.
"Yes and no. I know how to forge armor, but to do so would take a real furnace and some good iron, and it would take about a week just to make one set. But I can do refittings and small repairs using just that anvil I brought back and the fire pit outside." Shirou explained.
"The Blacksmith's Guild will not be happy about this." Rin said with a sigh. "How long would it take you to adjust two full armor sets?"
Shirou looked at the two boys, sizing them up. "I could probably finish the helmets, gauntlets and tassets by tomorrow if I pulled an all-nighter, since the chainmail is functional enough for the main body at the moment. Greaves, bevors and breastplates would take another night or two." Shirou finally said.
"Onii-chan, can I help?" Megumin asked.
"Sure. You can help by tending to the fire while I shape the individual pieces." Shirou told the girl. Touma flinched at the mention of fire. "Though you will have to go to sleep eventual. Growing children need their rest."
"Okay!" Megumin shouted happily. That girl really did love fire.
"Well, the armor would certainly help lessen the danger, but it would still be pretty dangerous." Rin admitted.
"I've got a suggestion." Itsuki said, drawing attention. "You were talking before 'bout how you didn't want to bring people who couldn't handle themselves to fight the bigger monsters. So how about we drop the dead weight onto these three while the rest of us move on with our lives?"
Almost everyone scowled at the bald boy, but Rin seemed to think about his suggestion. "As poorly worded as his suggestion is, it does have a little bit of merit. We did pick out positions within the party based on the possibility of splitting off into separate groups later on. It would give some of us some more practice without people like Itsuki around who just want to hog the whole battle to themselves and cause trouble."
"Hey!" The boy shouted indignantly.
"We can all rest on it tonight. If anyone feels like assisting Ayako's party for a few days, then they can do so, otherwise we can figure out some sort of rotation. For now, Shirou will fix up the armor and the rest of us will get some rest. You three look dead tired." Rin said glancing to the newest rookies.
"W…we… we are." Ippei said nervously. "A…are you really… really going to help us?"
"Yes. I think we are." Rin said and they all started to clean up the table. Shirou went with Megumin to gather wood and select which of his stockpiled pieces of armor he was going to modify.
Niko just went to her favorite spot, a little area on the top of a hill with a bridge and a tiny spring. Cats from around the area tended to gather there, and Niko enjoyed listening to them meowing as she watched the sunset.
She wondered about what Rin had said about volunteers for helping the newer party out. While she didn't think she would mind it so much, she still preferred to remain with Shirou's group. Better odds of getting good food that way.
It was hard to keep track of time whenever the sun was gone. Shirou had been working for hours, tirelessly pounding the armor into the correct shape. Knowledge of thousands of blacksmiths performing the same task tens of thousands of times granted him the skill he needed to get the job done. The five-pound one handed battle hammer he had taken from an orc's corpse last week served as a forge hammer, though the more rounded surface made it less than ideal for the job.
He had finished both helms first, as head wounds were the most dangerous and hardest to heal. After that he did the gauntlets, which would protect the arms while the Warriors were reaching out with their attacks. He was just starting the tassets, the metal plates which protected the fighter's thighs, when Rin came out of the barracks to check on him and take Megumin back to bed. The little girl had fallen asleep in front of the pit fire that Shirou was using to heat the metal and make it malleable.
He had to be careful not to overdo it. Forged metals were often given finishes that would help to harden them but would also become brittle if heated too hot and cooled again. One mistake and the armor would have to be repaired, instead of just refitted. Luckily, Shirou didn't make mistakes when it came to steel.
His back and arms hurt from carrying the anvil. Reinforcement itself caused lingering pain, even though he had only used it sparingly to help pick up the anvil, relying mostly on his own muscles and on physics for the carrying of the extra two hundred pounds. He would be hating himself tomorrow, if tomorrow hadn't already come without him noticing, but right now he had a job to do.
"You really do know what you are doing, don't you." Rin commented as she saw him working away at the sheets of metal.
"There are only two things in this world that I know for certain. My name, and steel." Shirou joked as he returned one tasset to the fire and started on the other one. "Why are you still up? Were you working on more research?"
"Yes and no. I was looking through the runic alphabet of this world and comparing it to the old one, but I was only doing it because I can't sleep." Rin said with a sigh, sitting down on the bench where Megumin slept, putting a hand on the small girl's head. "Archer, I made a mistake."
Shirou blinked. "You made a mistake?" He said, unsure if he had heard her right. "Sorry, you lost me there. What exactly did you do wrong?"
"I offered them a choice in this world where all choices are an illusion." Rin said. "I gave them time to think about whether or not they wanted to join the group. I felt like I was letting them decide for themselves. I… I forgot what kind of world this was. Either that, or the World itself put those words into my mouth. I don't even know anymore."
At first Shirou didn't get it, but then understanding sank in. People were going to feel compelled to leave the party. Those who were the weakest would feel like they were doing the right thing by leaving their party and joining this struggling one, leaving Shirou and Rin's team to progress and fight more powerful monsters and further Grimgar's goal. And there would be no way for Rin to know if it was really their free will, or if the Counter Force had once again pulled the strings.
She even suspected that the Counter Force or some other kind of fate was involved in choosing which classes people ended up in. Many thieves had a unique skill that could not be taught called [Gleaming Line]. The question was, did they gain the skill because they were thieves, or did they join the Thief's Guild because they possessed the characteristic that would grow into such a skill. Rin had often asked this question, saying it was key to understanding how the World decided who it would summon.
In a World where choice was an illusion and you had no memories, what in the world were you supposed to believe in?
"And the truth is, when Itsuki first suggested it, I felt so relieved." Rin admitted, laughing softly at her own shame. All of the constant stress and paranoia was starting to get to her. The things she had to bottle up while others were around, and now that it was just her and Shirou, the floodgates were starting to break. "I couldn't wait to get rid of some of these annoying bastards who are always causing me such a headache. Is that really me? Was that just a moment of weakness caused by stress, am I just a bad person, or was that the Counter Force trying to make the option seem more appealing? Was the suggestion even Itsuki's? It seemed like something he would say, but he isn't exactly known for having ideas. And now, if I retract my offer for volunteers, it will look like I am forcing my will on everyone again and cause even more problems. But if I don't do anything, could people die because of my actions? Because of a choice that I don't even know if it was mine or not?"
Shirou put down the hammer and took off the thick leather groves he had been wearing. He walked over to Rin and put his arms around her, enveloping her in a hug. The girl was surprised by it but didn't pull away. "Rin, we are doing everything we can. You can't let yourself be driven mad by this. You need your rest." Shirou said in as soothing a tone that he could manage. It was unusual to see Rin breaking down.
"Ar…Shirou." Rin mumbled, starting to tear up as she hugged him back. "There are so many things inside of the Magic Tattoo. The results of so many horrible experiments. The things that have been done to people in the name of research… It makes me afraid of the kind of person I was before I came to this world."
Shirou didn't know what to say at first. This was the first he had heard about it. He had noticed when Rin suddenly stopped sleeping at night, but he had thought it was because of her trying to fit in more research. "Rin, you aren't a bad person." Shirou assured her.
"And how would you now that?" Rin said quietly.
"Because I know you." Shirou said. "You aren't the kind of person who would hurt others for your own benefit. Maybe for petty vengeance, but definitely not for personal gain." Shirou joked.
Rin laughed a little bit at Shirou's attempt to cheer her up and held on a little harder to him. "Please… just give me a little while longer like this, then I'll be back to my old self and trying to take my petty vengeance upon you for seeing me like this." She said as she buried her head in his armpit. "You smell horrible."
"I've been busy." Shirou said in his defense.
"You've been around Kuro and his party too much. You're beginning to stink like them. That's the real reason why Rock will never get laid." She said, though she didn't remove her head from its resting spot. They were there like that for nearly a minute when another voice broke up the moment.
"Onii-chan…?" Megumin mumbled, pushed himself up and rubbing her eyes. She looked up at Shirou and Rin hugging as the two of them looked down at her. "…Weird dream." The child said before flopping back down and closing her eyes again.
A moment passed as Shirou and Rin stared at the sleeping girl before Rin gave an uncontrolled snort of laughter. "I'll take her inside." She said, untangling herself from Shirou and lifting the small child up in her arms with a little difficulty. Shirou himself went back to the anvil and grabbed a piece of metal from the flames with a large pair of tongs. "And Archer." Rin said, going back to the annoying nickname. She smiled back at him, her face made even more beautiful by the dancing flames and moisture in her aqua colored eyes. "Don't work yourself to death either. You are far too valuable to me for me to just let you die."
"Won't dream of it." Shirou said with a smile of his own. "Sleep tight." Rin left and Shirou returned to his work, now wondering what had possessed him to do what he had just done. Rin had promised vengeance, but would she actually take it?
When the morning came, Yukari, Aoi, and Touma all stepped forward to leave the party, saying that they thought it would be best for everyone if they left forever rather than just until Ayako's group could get new members. Rin only smiled at them with fake reassurance and told them that they could always ask for help if they needed it.
Volunteer.
What a hateful and misleading word.
Two quick things.
First it has been brought to my attention that Lumiaris is actually female. Oops. Sorry, everyone just referred to her as the GOD of light, rather than Goddess, so I made assumptions. I formally apologize to all the feminists, but I'm not going to rewrite the part because it is funnier to have a goddess show stumping on a presumptuous god rather than on another goddess.
Second, people keep insisting that Shirou and Rin should start up a clan. The problem is that you just don't have clans of noobs. The entire point of a clan is to have everyone gather together to take down larger targets. You don't do that with rookies who can't be counted on to hold their own and follow instructions. Being a clan made up of a bunch of rookie teams who never work together and have no common goal isn't a clan. It's just a tree house club.
Time for another time skip and the beginning of the end of the party and Rin's headaches... though not the guilt.