Review Responses:
setokayba2n: I think the shadows' speed depends on the source. In the LN/Manga, it's less than flying dragons and filolials, since the other heroes were able to lose the shadows tailing them on those mounts. Still pretty fast, I'm sure. In the WN, I don't want to say they can teleport, but maybe something like shadow walk (a spell from D&D 3.5), where they travel at something like 50mph between planes of existence. That one is more headcanon, but I don't have much else to go on. I think Naofumi asked a shadow how they traveled once and all they really said was it was a secret and that they couldn't bring Naofumi with them.
D3lph0xL0v3r: I haven't decided. That's much farther ahead than I have any plans laid out for.
Chapter 28 – Arrivals
Over the past few days, they had discussed what would be done with the two lumos in the carriage. While initially the idea of them going to Siltvelt with the Shield Hero sounded promising, Sadeena pointed out a problem. Neither one of them were particularly suited to combat. Dante remembered how Siltvelt had treated Naofumi when he initially went there, through multiple timelines too. While he had no doubt the majority of his party could handle themselves if an issue arose, the same couldn't said for Imiya and Tolly.
Another, smaller issue was that neither one could contribute much to the group. They were a dexterous people, but the work that would benefit Dante's group would require a more stationary workplace. Additionally, Dante was mistaken about Tolly's experience. While he did apprentice under the same master as Erhard, Tolly told him he had to leave to help care for his family.
Fortunately, Dante had an idea. One he should have considered before. He left a portal location in Reichnott's territory before the wave. That way, they could have quickly picked up the carriages if they weren't brought with them. He did discuss with Reichnott about leaving some of the village children there, if and when they found some, so adding a couple of lumos wasn't going to cause much of an issue. It was likely the safest place he could leave them.
Dante teleported the pair there, along with JoJo, and introduced them to Reichnott. The lord was more than happy to accept them, with one small condition. Since the death of Idol, bandit activity had increased. While the guards in his territory were enough to keep people relatively safe, venturing out was dangerous. Dante was happy to help out with that issue. He did cause it, after all, and he could always use more parts for the job level power up.
With Fiadia, the three of them were able to deal with a few small bandit gangs. Nothing big, just groups of six or seven that had camped out in the forests. The rabbit woman was a fairly good tracker, it turned out. While her level didn't seem that high, one of Dante's battle potions helped that. The dead bandits also provided her, Imiya, and Tolly some good XP gains, at least while the last two were in range.
With the mini-quest complete, Dante and JoJo set out. While Dante wouldn't get alerted if the two lumos were in danger, he had his status open often enough that he might see if they were injured. He also told them that he'd check with the slave trader if any more of their friends were found when he asked about the villagers. Dante likely wouldn't be back in Reichnott's land unless he found someone, or something urgent came up.
~The Wrong Hero~
"We're here." Dante said, sitting atop Dio with Sadeena behind him. His view was that of a sprawling city, bigger than that of Melromarc's capital. Of course, Melromarc didn't have nearly as many attractions as Zeltoble. Several coliseums were easily seen from where they stood.
One of the coliseums was their destination. They made their way through the lively city streets. So many of the people out there were armed and armored, Dante was pretty sure the adventurers and mercenaries outnumbered the average people. A number of shops did have shields on display. Dante had visited a few of them earlier.
At the coliseum, Dante followed the directions Beloukas gave them. There was a man guarding an entrance in the back, away from prying eyes. Dante showed the man the letter Beloukas wrote for them and they were allowed to enter. They walked inside for bit before coming to a set of stairs that led down under the coliseum.
A few more twists and guards later, they came to a large area that was filled with cages. Humans, demi-humans, and monsters were on display. A small room in the back had a few people speaking to one another. Dante, Sadeena, and Dio approached.
"Welcome, welcome!" The short, fat man said, turning from who Dante assumed was an assistant. The man was definitely a relative of Beloukas; he looked just like the slave trader, but with a slightly different outfit. It was pretty creepy. "How can I help you this fine day?"
"I'm looking for a few things." Dante told him. He held out the letter he showed the guards. "First, however…"
The slave merchant looked over the document. He had on what Dante would call a business smile before, what he saw every time he paid Beloukas a visit. After reading the letter, however, that smile grew further. It was even creepier.
"Ah, you must be the interesting customer I was expecting, yes sir." The slave merchant announced with the (apparently) family expression.
"I didn't realize I was expected." Dante said. He was under the impression that delivering letters to people in other countries wasn't happening that much since the start of the waves. At least, not for commoners. He supposed merchants could make it happen.
"My nephew sent a message through the guild, yes sir." The slave merchant informed him.
"Did he now?" Dante gave him a hard look.
"Oh, but there's nothing to worry about. He gave no details in the message, only saying I was likely to meet someone with a letter of his soon. And, of course, that we'd be doing business, yes sir."
"Good." That was much better than what Dante thought. He'd learned a bit more about this world's long range communication. Only certain approved places, like adventurer guilds, had access to the machines that could send messages. However, they could only really leave messages, not have conversations. That meant that someone could find out what message was left for someone else, if they had the means to do so. The church and the crown in Melromarc could easily do that. The crystal ball those emissaries used was like that, but it could only receive messages. It was apparently much cheaper to make those, but still an investment.
"I would love to hear what you're so secretive about, yes sir!" The slave merchant said, rubbing his hands together. Clearly, he was a man who could smell profit.
"We're looking for slaves." Dante said. "Very specific slaves, from Lurolona village in Melromarc."
Sadeena started giving the man the descriptions. That was the main reason she joined him this time. Dante had reached Zeltoble with Dio the last time they rested, letting them come here right away on the next break.
"I see." The slave merchant rubbed his chin. "And you think these slaves are in Zeltoble?"
"I don't know. We haven't had any luck in Melromarc, so we're expanding here." Dante said. He could still hardly believe that Beloukas couldn't find anyone, aside from Keel. The only other information he could gather was on Rifana and Raphtalia, and that was only because Dante knew where to look. He'd say that Beloukas was bad at searching, but he was able to find Tolly not too long after his capture.
There was one obvious answer to the where the villagers were, though Dante hardly entertained the thought. If there were more people like Idol in Melromarc…
"Just start a search." Dante told him. "I'll be able to check in on your progress every so often."
"Of course! I'll have some men looking into a few other merchants, yes sir." The fat man continued to smile. "Is there anything else I can interest you in?"
"As a matter of fact…"
The slave merchant led the way through the maze of cages. As they progressed, the people inside them seemed to get sicker and sicker. It got to the point where Dante had to focus solely on the slave merchant in front of them. Reminding her too much of Beloukas's tent, Dio stayed in that small area. She and JoJo never cared for being around the people in cages, not that Dante could blame them.
"Here we are." The slave merchant gestured to the cage in front of them. Inside, Dante could see a single person lying on a bed made of straw. Even without his knowledge, Dante could tell it was a child and a girl, despite her face being completely bandaged.
"And the older one?" Dante asked the slave merchant.
"Fighting in the coliseum today, yes sir." He replied. "Medicine for the younger one isn't cheap, after all."
"I can imagine." The slave merchant told him a bit about her condition, adding to his recollections. However, neither compared to what his appraisal revealed. He could see why the Yggdrasil Elixir was used to cure her.
"Hm…?" The girl slowly turned her head from where she lay, letting out a few coughs. "Is someone there?"
Her voice sounds so weak. It reminds me of Rifana.
"Yes, there is." Dante answered, before nodding to the slave merchant. "Well, I bought them. Let me in to see her."
"Of course, of course." The slave merchant chuckled, opening the cage.
Dante had spent no small amount for Tolly. However, that was just the silver he'd brought with him that day. He still had the rest of the silver he made from selling his medicine in Melromarc, plus his reward, plus half of Itsuki's reward. That didn't include all the weapons and armor they got from any bandits they hunted or got in their way, or the stat boosting potions he sold in the market when he first arrived on Dio. Some potions were like what he made before, but others were a bit more special. They could greatly increase one's stats for a time, but then lower them longer afterwards. He didn't work all the kinks out of it yet, so it had a few side effects. Namely, becoming somewhat berserk during the boost. Keel had tested one for him before. The bonuses were pretty impressive. It also seemed to be mildly addicting, but a quick use of his Sunflower Shield's detox fixed Keel right up.
When Dante stepped into the cage, he looked down at the girl, Atla.
"You are our new master?" Alta asked, her wrapped face gazing up at him.
"I am." Dante answered. "However, I won't be bringing you with me at the moment. There are sure to be some…complications." Siltvelt likely wouldn't be safe for the pair, especially Atla. "You also aren't fit for travel."
"No…I don't think I'll be able to…" Atla said with a hint of resignation. She obviously didn't believe she would be getting better.
"Not yet, anyway." Dante said, lowering himself to the ground. He allowed a potion to drop from his shield and gripped it. "This potion should be able to suppress a number of symptoms for a short while. I'll be making more specialized medicine for when I return."
The medicine he had was more of an all-purpose type. Based on the medicine book Simmond gave him, he'd be able to make decent specialized medicine with his shield. Of course, he knew he wouldn't come close to curing her. Not yet, anyway.
"You would do that?" Atla asked weakly.
"It wouldn't be a wise move to not maintain what I invested in, yeah?" Dante joked.
"Hm." It almost sounded like a laugh from Atla. "You're just like I thought you'd be."
"Oh?" Dante had almost forgotten. Atla could feel things others couldn't. It was a reason she would be so good at Hengen Muso after all, being able to more easily sense life force. "What did you think of me?"
Atla paused for a moment before she spoke. "I could feel kindness in your words, and strength." Dante nodded at her assessment. "But I also feel a deep pain. It's like…an old scar that was torn open."
"I see…" He hadn't thought of it in a while, but the deaths of Mary, Eddy, and Gloria certainly were like that. Another loss of family. Another loss that he…
"There's more…" Atla continued, but she trailed off. "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't say."
"Please, go ahead." Dante prodded.
"…I don't wish to upset you." Atla said softly.
Dante smiled. "I promise I won't be upset. Sadeena, would you come in and help prop her up?"
"Of course, little Dante." Sadeena walked over to Atla, gently lifting her head and back.
Dante uncorked the medicine bottle with is teeth and held it to Atla's lips, the bandages pulled back by Sadeena. He slowly poured it into her mouth, bit by bit so she wouldn't cough up any of it. A pleasing green glow enveloped Atla as she drank the medicine, before dimming again after she finished.
"How do you feel?" Dante asked as Sadeena let her back down again.
"Lighter." Atla sighed contently. "Thank you, Master."
"'Dante' is fine." He told her. "So? What else did you feel?"
Atla seemed to move her mouth under her re-bandaged mouth. "It's…more than just an open scar." She said. "You feel…damaged."
"Ah…" Well, she was right about that too. Both mentally and physically, he was indeed damaged. Regardless, Dante kept up his smile. "See? I told you I wouldn't be upset."
He stepped out of the cage with Sadeena, facing the slave merchant. "Is she well enough to place a slave seal on her?" He asked.
"I do believe so, yes sir." The slave merchant responded.
"Good. Register her to me, as well as Fohl. "
"About that, Sir Shield Hero." The slave merchant held up a finger. "If they are to remain here, I will need to keep the seal on the older one. For my own safety, you see."
"Hmmm. Yes, that's fine." Dante didn't think Fohl would try anything with his sister in this condition, but maybe he would. Dante didn't fully understand the siblings' situation, but he would soon enough. Really, he just wanted to make sure they weren't sold off to someone else. If the slave contract was terminated, he would know, and he was sure Beloukas's uncle understood that too.
"Of course, since I'm keeping the two of them here for you…" The slave merchant trailed off, though he kept rubbing his hands together.
"Once Fohl returns, move them to a better cage. Clean, bedrolls, good food, what you'll find at a halfway decent inn. You will be compensated, of course." After the rather large amount spent on their purchase, the cost of housing them didn't compare.
Once they were finished and Dante had Atla registered to him, they set out. He did leave another two vials of medicine for Atla, plus some dried meat for Fohl, a taste of what to expect from Dante in the future. They collected Dio on the way and made their way up and out of the underground market. Dante was glad to be out of there. There were two main differences between Beloukas and his uncle. The first was the inclusion of human slaves for sale. The second was for the rather large number of children that were there, of all races. Beloukas didn't have that many, but Dante didn't really want to think about what that might imply either.
"Alright." Dante began, once they were clear of the coliseum. "Were done here for now."
"Oh~?" Sadeena hooked an arm around him. "I think we still have something to do here~."
"We do?" Dante already went by the hourglass before, which was a bit of a hassle. He had to bribe one of the officials in charge of it to register without anyone else around. So far, it seemed only that person and Beloukas's uncle (and workers) knew the Shield Hero came to Zeltoble.
"We do." Sadeena confirmed. She placed a hand on his head and brought it close to her, pulling him into a kiss. "It's been far too long since we had a bit of fun~."
"It…well, I guess so…" It had been about a week and a half since the banquet in Melromarc. Dante had been pretty engrossed in his studies, so he hadn't really noticed the time flying by. He did manage to learn one Zweite fire spell, so he was pleased with that. "But, I don't think we should be doing this now. Dio is here with…"
When he looked over, Dio wasn't there anymore. Sadeena laughed as she brought Dante closer.
"Don't worry," she said, "Dio is fine. She's just sightseeing for a little bit, maybe getting a little food from one of the vendors. I did give her a bit of silver."
"She's a little girl." Dante reminded her.
"She's a filolial queen." Sadeena reminded him.
"She can be both." Dante said with a sigh. "Anyway, are you really…" Dante trailed off as Sadeena brought her lips to the side of Dante's neck. A few kisses later and he nearly forgot what he was saying.
"It's not fair, you know~?" She said playfully, moving to his other side. "You don't want me to pounce when the others are around, you make me all jealous with petting Rifana, and now you don't want to have a bit of fun? So mean~."
"That's not…why I…pet her…" He breathed out. He placed his hand on her shoulder to slow her down. "Besides, is it even safe to do it now? I don't want to risk you getting pregnant."
Sadeena smiled. "Oh, no worries. It became safe again a few days ago."
"Wait, what?" Dante raised an eyebrow. "Then we couldn't have done anything before—"
He was cut off with a quick nip of his ear. Dante pushed her off him again, looking her in the eye. She smiled all the while.
"Okay, fine, I get it." He said, his face flush. "I want to do it too."
"Great!" Sadeena beamed, leading him away.
It didn't take long to find what was basically a love hotel. It didn't cost that much either. Once in their room, Sadeena made quick work of his armor. He still wore most of it while traveling, just in case. Especially in a place like Zeltoble.
"Hey, uh," Dante spoke before they got started, "does the petting really bother you?"
"Hm?" Sadeena slowly pulled off her own clothes. "You want to talk about another woman right now~?"
"I mean it." Dante pressed on. "If it does, I can stop."
Sadeena stopped stripping, with only her loincloth remaining. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "No, it doesn't bother me. I think we all know why you pet her."
"Er…" She had a point there. It's not like he didn't pet that baby indigo gator. And some of Gaelion's offspring. And Dio and JoJo in their filolial forms. And them in their angel forms, with their wings. He'd pet Keel and Raphtalia too if they were okay with it.
That actually led to an awkward conversation a couple days back, after the embarrassing incident. Raphtalia had brought up Dante's somewhat excessive petting of Rifana. Dante mentioned how he liked animals and cute things, to which Raphtalia replied being glad he didn't find her cute.
"Well, your face is cute. And your fur. And your ears. And your tail. Now that I think about it a little, you're just pretty cute altogether."
Raphtalia actually tried to hide behind Eclair at that comment. She did stay in her therianthrope form, which Dante was proud of for her sticking with it. He did promise not to pet her unless she was fine with it, which she likely wouldn't ever be.
"That said," Sadeena continued, "I wouldn't mind a little petting myself~."
"That's a bit…" Dante wanted to say it was weird, but he supposed petting Rifana seemed a bit weird to everyone else and they barely said anything. "But you don't have ears and fur like her…"
"I have a tail." Sadeena said. "I've seen you looking at Rifana's tail before. Raphtalia and Keel's too."
"You have a tail while you're transformed."
Sadeena smirked at him. "I could always transform for you. I know you like this form more," she said, striking a pose, still mostly naked, "but I would like a little stroking."
"I'm pretty sure tail stroking is a bit more intimate than head patting." Dante said. He didn't really have much more than a feeling about that, but it seemed pretty intuitive.
"Oh my, I've been found out~!" Sadeena held her hands to her face, swaying side to side.
"Anyway," Dante gestured to the still unused bed, "I don't want to rush you, but the others will be expecting us. And, there's only so much Dio will be able to do in the city."
Without another word, Sadeena grabbed Dante and threw him to the bed. "So impatient~."
"Do I even need to point out the irony?" Dante asked, adjusting himself on the bed. As he was, a popping sound caught his attention. He looked over and saw Sadeena transformed. "Uh…"
"What's wrong?" She asked, getting closer. "Don't you want to have a bit of fun~?" The bed creaked slightly as she lowered herself onto it. She had one hand over his and the other against his face. "Or did you want me to transform back?"
"I don't really mind, but…" Dante gazed up at her.
"But~?" She cooed, kissing his cheek.
"With one arm, I'm going to be able to do even less than before." It was hard enough in her demi-human form at the castle.
"Oh my~." Sadeena positioned herself just right over him. "Well then, just let me handle everything this time~."
Dante did just that. He wasn't sure what he expected from the experience, but it was actually more pleasing in some ways than before, and less in others. Incidentally, his shield was still an aspiring comedian, since his back ached for the rest of the day and part way into the night.
~The Wrong Hero~
The next day, their main destination had just come into sight. The tiered capital of Siltvelt looked bigger than Melromarc's, and it was certainly taller too. Both were true about the castle itself as well, as far as Dante could see. They were still outside the city itself.
Before they entered, Eclair had some last minute advice for Dante: don't say anything stupid. She didn't say it quite like that, but Dante took her meaning. The Shield Hero was worshipped as a god here, and his word would be treated as such. If he wasn't careful, he might cause everyone a whole lot of problems.
"Additionally," Eclair continued with her advice, "you probably shouldn't act so…intimate with some of your party members." She didn't need to specify if she meant Rifana or Sadeena. It could be taken either way.
"Got it." Dante said. He just had to keep his hands to himself. It's not like he had Rifana close to him all the time every day. I'm a hired killer, I shouldn't need to sit next to a furry creature.
Of course, Dante had talked with Sadeena before about what Siltvelt would likely demand from him. That being, of course, to have as many children as possible with every noble daughter they brought to him. He actually was not looking forward to that. Practically, he would be exhausted. Romantically, he felt it would strain things with Sadeena. However, the orca woman assured him it was fine. After all, she was the one who told Rifana what a harem was. The girl in question was also okay with it, seeing it as something that was going to happen anyway.
Dante had some similar advice for everyone else. While their words wouldn't be taken as gospel, they shouldn't reveal anything important. Specifically, anything about the future. Dante already warned them about a few things he remembered from the books, namely the fanatical nature of some of the people here. Don't eat anything without Dante checking it first, don't go off alone (not that anyone did that anyway), that sort of thing.
"Well, let's get going." Dante said, sitting in the front. JoJo pulled the carriages towards the city gate.
Once they were near the entrance, one of the guards halted them. "What is your business here, human?" He asked.
"My business?" Dante asked with a smirk. "Do humans need any particular reason to be here?"
"Answer my question!" The guard barked. A fitting description, seeing as the man appeared to be a dog demi-human.
Dante merely raised up his shield arm, transforming the holy weapon into the Chimera Viper Shield. "Satisfied?"
The guard's mouth hung open as he stared up at Dante. The one standing opposite of him was in no better shape. "L-Lord Shield!" The man yelled, hastily kneeling. "Y-You're here! Your arm! You…"
"Yes to all of that." Dante said with a laugh, waving him off. "I'm a bit unannounced, I know, so I'm guessing someone should inform the people at the castle."
"At once, Lord Shield!" The second guard announced before he ran off in that direction.
"…I didn't mean one of the gate guards, but alright." Things were already looking to be exhausting. "Also, I have some business I'll need to do at the church, as well as the dragon hourglass. I assume both are at the same place?"
"Yes, Lord Shield!" The first guard said. "I shall guide you…I shall call for a guide to take you there!"
Well, that's progress, at least.
It wasn't even a minute before the guide showed up. Dante had the man climb onto the front of the carriage, much to his discomfort. Dante wasn't about to have the man literally guide them on foot while following in the carriages. His surprise overtook his anxiety, as Dante repeated the directions to JoJo and the filolial responded.
As they traveled, Dante tried to start up a conversation with the man, but the guide kept ending it quickly. Dante figured it was too nerve racking to start speaking with God in the flesh like that. Thankfully, they reached the church shortly. Everyone exited the carriages, though Dante noticed Raphtalia was back in her demi-human form.
"Sorry." She whispered. "It's just…there's so many people around…"
"I understand. We can pick that up again after we get you set up with some new clothes." Dante nodded. Sure, looking like a Greek/Amazon warrior in front of a few people was fine, but an entire city, plus nobility, was likely far too much. Of course, once she had proper clothing again, he expected her back in her therianthrope form nonstop.
"Right this way, Lord Shield." The guide said, showing them into the church. Dante gestured for the others to follow. He would be doing most of the speaking for the group, most likely. Sadeena knew the language, since it was apparently about the same language as in Q'ten Lo. Eclair knew enough to have a conversation, but nothing too in depth. Everyone else had no real experience with Siltvelt's language. Sadeena was able to teach them a few common phrases, but nothing too advanced. It wasn't as if they would be there all the time anyway.
They were brought before a dog therianthrope, probably a man, who looked to be a priest in long, flowing robes. He didn't look exactly pleased to see Dante, but once the guide explained who he was, that attitude shifted immediately.
"Before anything else," Dante said before the priest could begin, "I would like to have my allies class up. Is that alright?" The monsters and bandits that they dealt with had brought them up to level 40 a couple days ago.
"Of course, Lord Shield! Please, follow me." The priest took over for the guide, who would remain in the main area until they were finished.
They were brought before a large hourglass, similar looking to the one in the Three Heroes Church. Before they began, Dante held up his shield to the hourglass. A beam of light came from the top of the hourglass and into the shield, bringing up a new timer in Dante's vision.
8:22:48
Hmm. It's early evening now, so it looks like the wave will be in nine days in the afternoon. That's a bit close…
His hesitation came from the other two wave timers he picked up along the way. The country between Melromarc and Siltvelt, Othil, had a wave in six days, while Zeltoble had a wave in 11. He remembered having a holy hero present for a wave increased the time until the next wave, and that different hourglasses had different wave cycle times to begin with. Hopefully they'd be spread out a bit more once he fought in all three of them.
That was another thing. He noticed when he first registered at Othil a couple days ago. When the new timer appeared, it seemed more pronounced than Melromarc's. When he went back to traveling, it darkened slightly to a similar shade as Melromarc's. When he registered at Zeltoble, the same thing happened. When he returned to the city with Sadeena, the timer was brighter again. He had some ideas, but that could wait for now.
"I assume there's no charge for this?" Dante asked to be sure.
"Absolutely, Lord Shield!" The priest bobbed his head.
After that, he had everyone get their class ups. He warned them that the cowlicks from Dio and JoJo would likely interfere and choose for them, but that choice should double their stats. Anyone who didn't want that would need to wait until the end before getting their upgrade. It wasn't necessary, as everyone decided to take the special class up.
One by one, they each performed the class up ceremony. Dante declined to choose for them when a prompt came up, seeing as he was still technically their master, and the cowlicks interfered without fail. Seeing everyone's stats go up was truly something. However, he noticed two things.
First was that no one's stats doubled exactly. Judging by the amounts and what he remembered from his notes, it looked like the stats gained from the Whip power up weren't counted. Only the stats gained from leveling up seemed to count. The second was that Eclair and Keel didn't go up as much as the others. That also wasn't too surprising. Sadeena and Raphtalia had good lineage, and the royal filolials most definitely should gain the most from their own class ups. Rifana was somewhere in between the two groups. He'd have to check his notes to be sure, but it looked like the four most affected had their stats gained from their levels doubled, with everyone else around a 70 or 85% increase, depending on the specific stat.
"Well, that's a little disappointing, but still really good." Dante said. Then again, he supposed the purpose of the class up was more to allow further leveling. Having a way to greatly increase everyone's stats like that was just a bonus, albeit a rather large one.
"Is there anything else we can do for you, Lord Shield?" The priest asked, holding his hands together as if he were about to start praying.
"Yes, two things." Dante waved Eclair over to him. "As you have no doubt noticed, I am missing one of my arms." He gestured to the missing limb. "My companion here had the tendons in her wrists cut. I would like healing for the both of us."
"Yes, of course!" The priest quickly nodded. "Please, right this way."
Dante had everyone else wait in the main area with the guide while he and Eclair got themselves fixed up. Personally, he really couldn't wait. There were a bunch of things he wanted to do once he was healed. Some were as minor as cooking a proper meal himself instead of rotating skewers, while the more worthwhile ones were, well, a little embarrassing to say out loud. For a while, he wanted to be able to hold one of his kids in each arm. He wanted to pick up Sadeena and spin her like she did to him.
Not to mention, of course, making it more difficult for Raphtalia to pin him in their matches.
They met another priest, this one a female dog demi-human, who was the head healer in the church. With Dante's insistence—and a lot of it—the healer started with Eclair. He made sure they weren't going to treat her with any disrespect, human or not. Her armor prevented them from seeing her slave seal.
"Hmmm. There seems to be some repairs already made to your tendons." The healer noted. "What kind of healing have you had."
"Sir MacRory." Eclair answered, gesturing to Dante. "He made several potions that helped me regain some movement in my hands."
"Of course!" The healer exclaimed, startling both Dante and Eclair. "This could only be the work of Lord Shield!"
Coming to this country was probably our safest option, and I'm already wishing it wasn't. Maybe Zeltoble would be better. We could probably take care of any mercenaries the Three Heroes Church manages to hire, and I doubt anyone would blink if we started killing our assailants in the streets. Probably. Then again, that place is run by wealthy merchants. They're as likely to side with me as they are to sell me out.
"Are you able to heal her?" Dante asked, bringing the healer back from her near euphoria.
"Yes, Lord Shield." She bowed before turning around and rushing off. She returned shortly with a potion in hand. "I will cast healing magic over you first. Then, drink this potion over the next few hours. Your hands should regain their full mobility in about a day, provided you don't use them for much until then."
Eclair nodded at her explanation and the healer began casting her spell. "Drifa Heal!" A bright white glow enveloped Eclair's hands. Dante really liked the level of that spell; a very good sign. As the light faded, Eclair brought up her hands. Dante saw the brightest smile he'd seen from her then.
"This is…I can feel this. Truly feel this." Eclair hastily bowed to the healer. "Thank for restoring my hands, Miss." She turned and bowed again to Dante. "And to you, Sir MacRory. I wouldn't be here now if it weren't for your actions."
"Come on, we're past that already." Dante waved her off. "I told you I would get you healed."
"Nevertheless." Eclair brought herself back up. "I look forward to continue working with you."
"Same here." Despite their disagreements on a few issues, he did enjoy the lady knight's company. Plus, he looked forward to what her swordsmanship was like at its peak.
"Now then, Lord Shield." The healer gestured to his left shoulder.
"Ah, right." Dante nodded. "Should I remove my armor?"
"If you would, Lord Shield."
Dante had the therianthrope priest help him out of his upper armor. The dog man tried to refuse, saying something about not being worthy, but Dante squashed that nonsense in a hurry. He wasn't going to have Eclair help him out right after the healer told her not to use her hands. With his armor beside him, the healer took a look as his wound.
"Hmmm. This is rather extensive." The healer mused as she prodded his partial shoulder. "More bones seem to be missing or damaged than I thought. The wound looks like it was closed with fire before being healed, somewhat sloppily. Ah, forgive me, Lord Shield." She gave him a quick bow.
"No need for that. Please continue." It was a rather desperate situation they were in at the time, so a quick burning was all they could really swing.
"Let's see…" The healer held her chin in thought. "I do believe I can help with…hold on." She brought her face closer to his shoulder, right at his front. "This doesn't look right."
The healer pulled some sort of monocle from her chest pocket and looked through it.
"Oh my…" The look on her face was not a positive one. "Lord Shield, I'm sorry to say that I don't think I'll be able to help you. An alchemist will be needed for this, but I'm not sure how effective they'll be."
"Back up a second." Dante said. "What's the problem? I was under the assumption that large churches like these had the resources for this."
He was a bit surprised, but not completely. It almost seemed to fit with his situation. Dante did end up asking Reiko if he could regrow his arm for him, but the fox boy said he couldn't. That was very advanced alchemy, and while he had a talent for it, most of it came in the form of his power to create monsters. So of course, since Reiko wasn't able to, now the church couldn't either. Then again, maybe Simmond mentioned the church as a possibility, rather than a sure thing.
"Well, it is possible." The healer explained. "For something like this, cooperative magic would need to be cast with Drifa Heal as the base for it. Even then, since the wound already healed and your body has adapted, it would take some time for the spell to regrow your arm. The problem is this."
The healer tentatively placed her hand on his chest, just below his missing shoulder. "There is a curse in your body." She said. "It's rather mild, but it has festered, and for quite some time too. It seems to be mostly concentrated in your left shoulder, with a higher than average amount near your eyes." She brought her head up and looked at Dante with concern. "Tell me, Lord Shield, have you come into contact with any cursed items?"
Realization dawned on him. The reason no one could identify what was wrong with his eyes. It was why they improved when he slept next to Rifana and Sadeena as therianthropes.
The whip. The cursed whip Idol Rabier used. The whip that, according to Dante's recollection, gained its curse from killing countless demi-humans.
"…FUCK!" He really should have gotten his hands on some holy water.
Author's Notes:
Some crystal balls here can be used as pagers. Anyone remember those? Ya' know? Big Bob's Beepers? Or am I really that old now?
At first, I planned on ending this a bit later. I'm actually rereading the LN and I just got to the book with Siltvelt, so I wanted to finish that part before going much further. Then, I got here and saw the word count and thought, "wow, that works out great!" Sorry they didn't get into many shenanigans in Siltvelt yet. There's time enough for that later.