Author's Note: Nothing to say right now. Read, Review, Favourite and Enjoy!
Chapter 9: The Bow's Investigation
The wooden shutters of the abandoned mansion were thrown open while a man dressed from head to toe in scrubs, noticeably a cloth wrapped around his face and another around his hair, used the ensuing air pressure to air out the room. Eli Von Eisenberg had always been what was commonly referred to as a neat-freak, optimal performance demands a clean work environment and clean equipment. Upon his group taking up residence in the abandoned mansion he immediately set to work chasing out the weeks of neglect it had gone through. Tanya could have worst for a recruit, he didn't mind getting his hands dirty and she wouldn't have to worry about bloodstains in the armour with him around.
"Don't forget that this is meant to be an abandoned mansion Eli." Tanya stated bluntly. "That's one of the chief reasons why we are here let me remind you."
"There's a hole in the roof from one of the monsters crashing into the mansion, and water damage besides, am I to allow it to fester?" Course on the other hand it wasn't like Eli was unjustified in his obsession.
"Get Aranaya to help you." Eli nodded his head and left to fetch the spider woman and her species wide expertise. "Ake what are the records like?"
Ake had been sent to tear through Lord Seatto's office to find all relevant documents there in.
"There was some damage from the wave but." Population survey, correspondence with the crown, important information when trying to find the survivors of Seatto and retrieve them. "Good. Let's have a look outside." Vicktoria and Otto had collected as many bodies from the battle with the wave as they could, which wasn't many. The dogs ate everything they killed leaving behind only bones riddled with teeth marks. The more intact corpses came from the soldiers blades, those that resisted when the slavers came presumably, though two weeks worth of decay would make conducting a proper autopsy quite impossible. "Are these all of them?" Tanya asked looking at the bodies in question.
"Yes. When the dogs attacked they were more spread out. The ones that were inside at the time died first, either from one of the monsters landing on them or after they broke into it." Otto directed the group's attention to the ocean. "The smart ones gambled on the dogs not being able to swim." Smart gamble, according to Otto it worked, he even found a few bloated dog corpses from the ones that tried to follow and failed. "After they pulled their soaked hides out of the water they gathered together in the village near the entrance over there, most likely to greet the Kingdom's soldiers who they likely thought had come to provide relief." Which made it stupidly easy to capture and or kill all of them. "The fight was short, the villagers were unarmed, soaked and badly exhausted by the wave." Tanya nodded her head as she turned to Ake.
"This is a long shot, but how hard is it to determine who was captured and who was killed?" Tanya questioned looking at Ake.
"I don't see the bodies of any children among those slain by the kingdom." Ake stated looking at the bodies. "The villagers should consist of Wanui, Tanuki and Selwea Demi-humans along with what humans are under the command of the former lord of Seatto as well as one Sakamata."
"The Sakamata is still alive." Otto stated prompting Tanya to give him a suspicious glare.
"Explain." Tanya ordered simply.
"Sakamata are rated as being ninth out of top ten strongest Demi-humans known, but that's only if we're talking about land based combat power." Otto again indicated the ocean. "In the sea they're without peer."
"The dogs were many and fearsome." Tanya stated not having any idea what a Sakamata is, if it was Japanese then she would conclude that she was some sort of killer whale demi-human.
"And that might've been true. But Sakamata are rare, I recall reports of only one who was living inside of Melromarc. Right proper terror during the war with Siltvelt if memory serves." Otto's tone had hints of admiration.
"To clarify she fought against Siltvelt right?" Tanya asked and Otto nodded his head.
"Siltvelt has a expedition treaty with her homeland of Q'ten Lo. Melromarc doesn't. If memory serves me the sheer body count she racked up during that time managed to push her all the way into the nineties." Rare ultra high spec combat oriented species approaching the hundred level limit against a horde of mangy mutts their one and only gimmick a extra mouth to bite with. Tanya agreed with Otto's assessment, provided his information was accurate, the Sakamata was still alive.
"Where is she then?" Tanya asked cocking a suspicious brow.
"Doing the same thing we are and being a lot further ahead then we are I assume." Vicktoria stated putting her own knowledge of court room politics to work.
"Idol Rabier for instance was a horrific example of a human being with a strike zone between the ages of nine and twelve. He was also the nearest lord and thus the one most likely to have responded to the wave." Vicktoria paused, presumably for dramatic effect. "He died a week ago, killed by a dragon that had been released into his territory. Witnesses compare it to a monster the legendary Heroes had sealed away in the area."
"Of all the irresponsible..." Tanya's opinion of her preceding legendary heroes sharply dropped. "Is the dragon dead?"
"Unknown. It's believed that one of Rabier's slaves got loose during the commotion and used illusion magic to trick it into killing itself." Vicktoria stated prompting Tanya to glare suspiciously. "However the body seems to have disappeared."
"The current manager of the Rabier estate?" Tanya ask brow cocked suspiciously.
"Van Reichnott, a well known and respected pro Demi-human nobleman." Vicktoria stated bluntly.
"So he'll uncover any church connection if it comes to pass?" Tanya asked and her court informant nodded her head.
"Between that training exercise you pulled off and the rumours of miss Kuro's entrance into Siltvelt most of the dogs should be dead already." Tanya nodded her head in satisfaction, putting the bodies into her bow until they can find Seatto's survivors to identify and bury the remains.
"Most efficient place to level grind until the next wave hits?" Tanya asked questioningly.
"Right over there." Otto stated indicating the ocean. "The harvest of XP is now and always will be much richer in the water than it is on dry land."
"Problematic." Tanya nodded her head in understanding, but with the exception of Otto they don't really have anyone who can fight underwater. "How can we improve our combat ability in the water?"
"We probably could do something if we had Kigurumi's." Otto stated prompting a glare from Tanya.
"And what would Pajama's due for us?" Tanya asked glaring at Otto like he just said something incredibly stupid.
"I do not know what that means to you, but for us Demi-humans a Kigurumi is a set of armour that can dramatically increase our combat potential." That got Tanya's attention.
"Explain." Tanya ordered in clear and certain terms.
"A Kigurumi is a suit, usually made out of animal skin but which can also be made using feathers and hair, that allows a therianthrope, a transforming demi-human, to assume the form another species. Using the aforementioned war with Siltvelt as a example again suits made in the likeness of Hakuko, Shukaku and my own lot the Kushtaka were mass produced allowing for land, air and sea assaults in mass." There was a pause before Otto continued. "Also, they make for highly effective sleeping bags and thus Siltvelt was able to cut costs for cots dramatically."
Tanya smacked herself in her face unable to believe this guy was making a joke of all things right now.
"Right then. It would seem like we are going out to sea then. What will my bow need to make a Kushtaka Kigurumi?" Cue Otto being put through a cycle of being shaved bald, and then being subjected to healing magic to regrow his fur. The fur was then bound together via Aranaya's magic thread to create five magical stuffed animals that grew to match the size of who ever picks it up.
"Disgusting." Eli stated holding his suit away from him like it was something toxic. "Otto, we're giving you a bath when we get back to shore."
"Someone trade with Eli." Once Eli got a suit that didn't wreak of Otto's sweat the six of them dived into the water. Tanya got the idea to have Aranaya cobble together a spear gun from some wood and web and then copy it, then she did so again four more times until everyone was equipped to hunt below the waves of the ocean. "Do not let yourselves be separated." Not that the length of spider web rope that tied them all together would make that easy. "We aim to return to dry land before the sun has set." Tanya stated prompting nods from the others.
They didn't return to the mainland, but only because they had made their way out to a island they found mention off when searching Seatto's documents.
"Someone was living here." Tanya concluded looking at the tables, chairs and stash of alcohol someone had left here along with a sizeable amount of gold and what looked like entire ship wrecks someone had dragged out from the bottom of the ocean.
"Not since the wave hit." Eli stated assessing the thickness of the dust on the table.
"Chances that the church can find us out here?" Tanya asked looking at her party members/advisers.
"You mean the chances that they can follow us here and not be seen?" Vicktoria asked cocking a suspicious brow.
Tanya had all the information she needed and so took chalk out of her bow and drew on the cave wall.
"Who killed Kaede Honjou suggestions?" Tanya asked looking as the others took to the furniture and the alcohol that was being kept here.
"The church of the Three Heroes are the most obvious suspects." Eli admitted prompting the others to nod in agreement.
"What of contracted killers, assassins and the like?" Tanya questioned brow cocked in a calculating manner.
"There are two kinds we should concern ourselves with, Country associated and private." Eli stated two fingers in the air. "The Shadows are a elite unit carefully selected from the various orphanages of the country specifically looking for individuals with a high capacity for violence as well as stealth, sabotage and information gathering. They are then trained from early childhood until they reach adult hood and become the most trusted allies of that country." Eli explained bluntly.
"I've heard of them." Tanya stated recalling Kuro's wandering gaze and her tendency to lock onto certain locations at specific times. "In my world the orphanages were run by the church."
"There are country state run and church run, some are even privately owned by certain nobles with the initiative to do so." Eli admitted before continuing with his explanation. "The second are criminal organisations, murderers for higher. Most of them Zeltoble born and bred."
"Alright." Tanya nodded in the affirmative while she wrote down the information. "Next question. If the church used their in house assassins how do we find out?" Silence was Tanya's answer, before Vicktoria piped up if a only marginally unrelated topic.
"If this is part of the church's attempts to ruin the Shield's reputation, then the next step would be to run a smear campaign." The human woman stated causing the others to nod their heads.
"But if that was the case then they would want the Shield alive to frame for more crimes." Aranaya pointed out back spider leg tapping against the ceiling.
"Well not if they had to change their plans." Otto stated causing the others to look at him. "The heroes are worshipped the world over as protectors of the planet and saviours of it's people." Otto indicated Tanya with his paw leading to everyone to follow his line of sight before the light bulb of understanding went off, much to Tanya's annoyance.
"So what you're saying is..." Tanya's eye was visibly twitching now. "...because we were clearly so much less than what they were hoping for they had to change their plans to compensate." The others reluctantly nodded their heads. "Fine I'll humour you. What were they expecting. What have the Heroes of the past been like?"
"Most of the time. Male." Eli stated having taken to shooing out all the dust from the cave. "Occasionally female."
"Late teens to early twenties in age." Vicktoria stated glass of wine swishing around in her hand. "It wouldn't do if they lost the vigour of youth."
"Raging Nymphomaniacs." Everyone looked to Otto like he just flat out insulted Tanya. "What? We got at least three countries worth of nobles to thank them for. The last Shield Hero was famous as a serial rapist."
"That one." Tanya stated feeling like she got a lead on the situation at last. "It's the wound that's freshest in everyone's mind. Half of our court approved adventurers were female in a field I'm to understand is traditionally male." Everyone nodded conceding Tanya's point. "So then let's assume that one of them were meant as a honey trap for the shield hero."
"The adventurers guild." Ake, the son of a family of miners and thus has little business in all of this talk of court intrigue and politics finally got the chance to talk about something he actually knew about. "If all but one of the people the king brought in were adventurers then that means that we should get a list of names of the people that were hired by the kingdom from the guild."
"Finally a location where we can get some actual information." Tanya stated sounding relieved.
The next day Tanya and company arrived at the adventurers guild requesting to hire extra personnel to assist with Melromarc's wave, course it also gave them the chance to peruse the records in question.
"Less informative then I would have liked." Tanya stated from the confines of the private room she and her party rented.
Tanya's entire previous party wasn't even mentioned, only five people had been hired through the adventurers guild, most of them Kuro's party and one from Katarina's. Reviews for them had all been outstanding, with additional notes indicating that they didn't hold the usual racism against Demi-humans or the shield. Hell they might've been hired specifically because there was a good chance that they would team up with the shield. Then why didn't they? Because it was extremely likely that someone would take a swing at her and young, under level and weak as she was she couldn't protect them. The king was prepared to order someone to join her party but what kind of people other than hired mercenaries would he have the authority to control.
"The other three from Katarina's party, Mein, Lesty and Elena." Because Rino as it turned out also was a adventurer. "What do we know about them?" Tanya asked scratching her chin.
"Elena Haven comes from the Haven Knight family." Vicktoria stated bluntly.
"It's not her. If the kingdom did mean to use her as a assassin they would make sure there's nothing to tie her back to them." Tanya crossed out the first of three names. "The other two are Lesty and Mein."
"I don't recognise their names, so if they are nobles then they're using aliases." Vicktoria stated hand on her chin.
As the daughter of a noble herself if there was someone among the nobles among the twelve she could recognise them, if she saw them.
"Hmm. What we need is someone who was there." Kuro's party already chased her across the boarder, Katarina and what was left of her lot were heading towards Shieldfreeden to deal with their wave, so the only party still in Melromarc was... "Vicktoria, if I told you I need to find a large whiny man with a moustache and who prefers bulky heavy armour who is likely a overly spoiled nobleman where would you tell me to look?"
Mald had been taking to taverns since oh so unceremoniously being ejected from Tanya's party, getting drunk and being violent with prostitutes after disgracing himself as a hero's companion.
"UUURRRP!" After letting out a belch Mald took a look at his usual brothel and spotted one of the women outside it dressed in the usual skimpiness of a courtesan while holding a umbrella over her head. Well might as well.
"Hey good looking." Ah the broads were coming to him today, his fortune he guessed. "Want to come somewhere dark and quiet with me?" Aranaya asked having not removed the umbrella thus not exposing her eight spider eyes. A spider type Demi human with access to a drunkard's flask, poor bastard never stood a chance.
"Ugh..." Two hours later Mald was suffering through the worst hangovers of his life, and only half of it was all the alcohol he had been drinking.
"You're not still blacked out if that's what you're wondering." A child's voice familiar to Mald spoke, though young she spook with authority that he knew she did not deserve.
"You!" Mald struggled but a sack of some kind had been secured over his face and he was tightly bound via both his hands and his feet. "Release me at once your little demon!"
"Huu." The Bow hero sighed in a manner that showed she wasn't actually sighing, more like faking disappointment. "I'd hold my breath if I was you." Suddenly Mald experienced falling for a few seconds, then whatever sack his head had been shoved into dropped into the water where he stayed for ten seconds before he was pulled back out.
"Guu guuu!"
"Mald I am going to use very simple terminology for you, so I suggest taking everything in at a decent pace." Tanya's tone was ironically enough one used to speak to small children. "You are going to tell me who was responsible for killing the shield hero. You will be kept alive until I can confirm the veracity of your statement, I will find the people responsible for doing this and I will kill them. Then you will die." A massive chill ran through Mald's spine.
"Mein Sophia of Samphor AKA Princess Malty S Melromarc, Princess of the Kingdom of Melromarc." Tanya wrote the name across the cave wall in front of the rest of the group, including Mald though at some point in time he had passed out again and was now being used as couch by Otto. "Apparently in the original narrative proposed by the kingdom, she would claim that the Shield Hero raped her, get another one of us to cover for her, before casting him out stripped down to his gitch to be used as a political tool to destroy worship of the Shield and justify every atrocity the church has planned against Demi-human kind." A plan that hit the minor inconvenience of every one of them being not only female but also young children. "Failing that backing Maple into a corner until the point that she sprouts a cursed weapon and goes on a rampage in the middle of Melromarc's capital seems like a good substitute plan." A notion that was further supported by the fact that it was apparently a tactic Malty oft employed to dispose of people she didn't like.
"So we're going to off the princess then?" Otto mysteriously had a warm smile on his features at the notion.
"Not as easy as you make it out to be." Eli stated as he scrubbed Mald's vomit out of the whore's clothes Aranaya had slapped together a couple of hours ago. "Nor as wise in terms of promoting stability during the waves."
"Elaborate." Tanya asked cocking a brow in interest.
"Every nation is currently at the negotiation table for the waves." A table Katarina destroyed, but irrelevant. "Faubrey as a military is excessively powerful, in addition to access to two vassal heroes they also have the single strongest military in the world with a excessive number of max level soldiers and advance technology of the Heroes worlds." A combination that meant a massive force amplifier on the field of battle. If he has access to a decent air force then it doesn't matter if that country doesn't have a hero or not, could just fly to the wave and dump bombs on the boss until it dies.
"So they want compensation from Melromarc but they don't necessarily want us." Tanya stated tapping her finger in thought. "What do they want?"
"The same person we are discussing the murder of." Eli stated hanging Aranaya's laundry to dry. "The man has lusted after her for years."
"Hmm." Tanya started to tap her finger in thought before speaking again. "Someone tell me about the King of Faubrey."
"The elder brother of Melromarc's prince consort." Eli stated prompting a confused look from Tanya.
"The King dear." Aranaya stated clarifying the situation.
"Faubrey's ruler is, in a word, a pig. In every sense of the word." Vicktoria stated letting out a shudder. "His military is little more than a blunt instrument that he wields for the purpose of collecting women to satisfy his sexual fetish."
"Which is?" Tanya asked brow in the air.
"Guro." The woman stated plain and simple.
"Alright, handing Malty over to the pig king is an acceptable method of killing her then." Tanya concluded scratching her chin. "Eli take the prisoner out for some fresh air." Eli proceeded to do so, mostly because Mald was starting to smell absolutely atrocious and so Eli decided to take a scrub brush to him. "Now than, as far as we know Maple currently has no interest in leaving the country, which also means she can't register at another Dragon Hourglass and is instead much more likely to wind up being summoned during the wave." For them this was a problem. "Luckily the wave also provides us an opportunity." One Isolation. "The shadows that have tried to follow us won't be able to follow us during the wave transportation if we do not allow them into our parties." Two chaos. "The huge horde of monsters coming down from the sky should give us opportunity to either disguise Maple so that no one realises who she is, or get her out of there before the kingdom's knights show up." Otto nodded his head in thought. "Depending on where the wave hits the response time of the knights should be pretty good, having her fight the wave and then get lost isn't going to be an option if they find her in the middle of it all." The others nodded their heads in the affirmative.
"The biggest issue of trying to disguise her is the shield." Otto stated hand on his chin as he looked at their makeshift chalk board. "No matter what we can make her look like the biggest give away here is going to be the shield."
The magic disguise accessories of the Shadows that allowed them to assume identities completely not their own was a not so well guarded secret among the upper echelons of nobility, with one Maple could theoretically go from cute little girl to giant burly man that looked as durable as she actually was, but that still left a issue wide open.
"No matter what she looks like, the fact that she's still using just a shield to fight is still going to be a dead give away." Vicktoria stated fully aware that if this was the sword, bow or spear heroes they were talking about then they wouldn't have this issue.
"What if the shield wasn't just a shield?" Ake asked hand raised in the air prompting the others to look at him as if demanding answers to the situation at hand.
Erhard awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he looked at the odd bunch that Tanya had brought into his store. "What happened to your other companions?" Erhard asked looking over the counter at Tanya.
"They proved themselves inadequate, repeatedly." Tanya stated as she non the less got down to business. "One of my companions is fond of the use of shields, I however am concerned about his offensive power lacking as a consequence. There fore I would like a shield that combines offensive and defensive power." Erhard looked at Tanya suspicious.
"What about this one?" Erhard pulled over a targe shield with a short metal spike coming out the middle.
"Impractical." Tanya thought about it for a moment. "Would it be possible to attach it to something like a sword?"
Erhard seemed to come to an understanding about something as Tanya spoke.
"To clarify. You want something that makes it look like you're swinging around a sword when in fact you're using a shield?" The blacksmith asked and Tanya nodded her head. "Okay I can do that easy." Erhard picked up a sword and a shield and took them into the back room as if he planned to combine them together. "When will you be picking them up?"
"Someone will be by soon." Tanya left the payment on the counter, after all she wouldn't be the one picking it up. "Otto, how hard would it be for you to find some homeless demi-humans?" Maple was still alive, someone was not only inclined to rescue her but also got out of the castle town without being seen. The implication she came to was that it was a group of ownerless Demi-humans who had done the deed.
"Not long." Otto stated simply.
"Tell them the weapon that's going to protect the Shield hero from the kingdom is being worked on by the black smith."
Review Section:
RonaldM40196867: Hard to say.
xerad: She been kidnapped from her world, separated from everyone and everything she ever cared about, told that the fate of another world is resting on her shoulders, within twenty four hours of said summoning a bunch of random mooks try to kill her only to end up being accidentally slaughtered, the next time she's able to have a proper conversation she's told that most of the world wants her dead for some imagined offences. If she isn't insane by now then she isn't human.
Captain Imaginat: Still in Melromarc.
drmcgraw186: Glad you think so. To be fair all four of them have some pretty good cheats on them. Anyone not willing or able to cheat to save the world has no business in the position. Sleep will come eventually, but emotional support is forever.
setokayba2n: In that Maple isn't going anywhere near the castle town and by extension it's dragon hourglass? No they won't be giving any trouble.