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Guest: Just some rumors. I can't remember what they stemmed from and I don't know how true they are, but I'll keep posting on this site regardless.
TheOneBehindTheVeil: Funnily enough, I looked back in my notes after posting and saw I was going to do something about pineapple on pizza. I think it was about the benefits and drawbacks of cultural exchange or trading with neighboring countries: you get all these great ingredients to use for food, but sometimes fools put fruit on a pizza. Probably something like that, it was only a one sentence reminder.
Chapter 34 – Clearing the Heir
"So, about my arm—"
"I'm so terribly sorry, Lord Shield!"
Dante sat on the throne in Siltvelt's castle. In his immediate area were Sadeena, Dio, and JoJo. The others had gone off to rest after the wave, seeing as Dante was in good hands. Dio and JoJo stayed glued to his sides, just like every other time he sustained a serious looking injury. This time, however, they were more on his lap. Sadeena had been quite worried after seeing Dante lose his arm for a second time, but had since calmed down. Outwardly, at least.
Before him stood a pair of guards. They were on either side of the alligator therianthrope alchemist, the one who had made Dante's arm. The man himself was kneeling before Dante, head to the ground.
"Alright, enough of that." Dante said. It was bad enough he had to keep the knights from doing anything to the alchemist. He didn't want the alchemist to lower himself like that. Dante only wanted answers. "What can you tell me about the arm?"
The limb in question was on a small stand in front of the alchemist. Since returning to Siltvelt, the blotches on the arm had expanded past the shoulder area and reached halfway down the forearm. It wasn't immediate, as they had a few others things to do before returning.
"Yes, Lord Shield, of course!" The alchemist stood and began examining the arm.
He asked many questions about how it functioned until breaking, what Dante used it for, what attacks he took, and so on. While Dante answered, the alligator man took out some sort of monocle to examine the arm. He focused his sights around the shoulder.
"…And after the wave ended, I had one of my companions cut off the arm." Dante concluded. "The arm seemed pretty easy to cut off, too."
"I see." The alchemist placed the monocle back into his shirt pocket. "From what I can tell, these blotches on your arm are the residual effects of the curse you were afflicted with."
Dante sighed, resting his head in his hand. "Of course they are." It wasn't that he forgot he was cursed for over a month, he just hoped the alchemist had circumvented the problem. The curse that wasn't a curse was getting annoying.
"However, the damage I see here looks more physical." The alchemist pointed at the muscles in the shoulder. "These seemed to be quite strained, with only a little deterioration from what remains of the curse. How did you use this arm in combat?"
The answer to that was less than flattering. On multiple occasions, he grappled with a griffin, allowing someone in his party to deal the killing blow. It was entirely unnecessary. He had enough abilities to lock them down or gather them up. He just liked having an arm again, so he played around a little bit.
"Hm…" The alchemist stroked under his long mouth. "Griffins are strong monsters, and you grappled with them often? If you'll forgive my probing, what is your strength stat?"
"Yeah, sure, it's…" Dante looked over his status. The shields he upgraded varied in their stats, strength included, but that stat was mostly in the same general area when upgraded. Dante told the alchemist. His reaction went from intrigue to shock.
"Lord Shield, that arm wasn't meant to handle such a strain!" The alchemist shouted. "That is far beyond the limits of what I created!"
"I see. So, it's my fault." Dante concluded.
"N-No! I didn't mean that at all, Lord Shield!" The alchemist looked around in near panic.
"No, it is." Dante pinched the bridge of his nose. "You had no way of knowing my strength was that high, and I didn't think to mention it. I hadn't considered how much work actually went into alchemy."
Perhaps he simply had the wrong idea about these alchemists. They promised to make him an arm in what he thought was a pretty short time. However, the first one he received ended up breaking down on him. Alchemy was indeed a high skill profession. The way the three acted about making him a new arm just threw him off a bit, making it seem like it wouldn't be too difficult a task.
"In any case, I'm not here to punish you or anything like that." Dante said, calming the alchemist a bit. "If you wish to try again, please do so."
"At once, Lord Shield!" The alligator alchemist proclaimed.
"Good." Dante focused on the guards. "Please inform the other two alchemists that I'm looking to get my arm replaced again. Let them know what you heard here about the arm. I'll use whichever one is ready first."
The pair saluted and left the throne room, the alligator alchemist quickly moving past them with the arm. Dante was left alone with his three party members.
"So, what do you think?" He asked, turning to Sadeena.
"He seemed genuine." Sadeena told him.
"Yeah. I don't think it was intentional." After all, if the arm was sabotaged, the alchemist likely would have gone into hiding before being brought in. Then again, Dante didn't really announce he would be fighting in Othil's wave all that much. He made mention of it to Werner, who seemed to want Dante to remain in Siltvelt for that wave, probably for political reasons. If the arm was meant to fail in Siltvelt's wave, the alchemist would have had a few days remaining.
Well, he had two more alchemists to provide him an arm and test that idea out. As a secondary point, he could use that as a way to see which alchemist was capable and trustworthy enough to modify the bioplant seeds. That was another thing he needed to get the ball rolling on.
After finishing up with the alchemist, Dante got everything squared away with Werner. He then teleported out of the castle with Sadeena, Dio, and JoJo. The latter two didn't want to leave his side.
They arrived in Zeltoble and made their way to the slave merchant's place. Dante pushed back his meeting with the sisters for the wave, not wanting something to somehow keep him from participating. JoJo and Dio stayed with him, each keeping a hand on a part of his dazzling Fire God Armor—not a name he would have chosen—since they still weren't comfortable at the slave merchant's place.
When they arrived at the cage, Atla was waiting for him, a wide smile on her unbandaged face as she stood there.
That's a really good sign. Those treatments seem to be working quite well. Wait, is she wagging her tail? Well, isn't that the cutest thing I've seen in a while.
"Mister Dante!" She greeted him. "Welcome back."
"Hey, Atla. You seem to be doing much better."
"I can't remember the last time I felt this good." Atla said, then pointed at Dante's left side. "It seems like your arm is doing better too."
Dante's kids stiffened at that remark, but Dante only laughed. "Yeah, I suppose not existing could count as being better."
"O-Oh…" Atla's tail stopped swaying. "I'm sorry, Mister Dante."
"Please." Dante shook his head. "I'll probably have a new one by the end of the day." It wasn't as if those alchemists were going to throw out partially grown arms made for their god. "Anyway, let's get you your medicine."
Dante stepped into the cage, the lock of which had long been disabled. He produced a vial of medicine from his shield and fed it to Atla, watching the effects in his status magic. There was improvement in her stats, as well as a visible glow, but Dante still couldn't get much more out of it. He still couldn't see exactly what her illness was, let alone how to cure it. From what he's learned how appraisal functions, he'd likely need to absorb a number of different medicines to determine what exactly was needed to cure Atla.
Or I need to absorb a bunch of dead sick people.
It wasn't impossible, given the world they were in. Compared to his other activities here, the ends certainly justified the means. Still, he wasn't about to seek out people who died of illness just to absorb their corpses.
"How's that feel?" Dante asked.
"Great, Mister Dante! Thank you!" Atla responded, giving him a hug.
"Aw, you're welcome, sweetie." Dante said, rubbing her head a bit.
"Hey, stop that!" Dante heard Fohl call out. He just noticed the girl had been sitting in the corner, glaring at him. She stood when she called out to him.
"Jealous?" Dante asked with a smirk. Fohl continued to glare at him. "I can give you a head pat too."
"W-Why would I want that?!" Fohl bellowed.
Dante shrugged. "Suit yourself. More head pats for Atla."
In the next instant, Fohl was standing next to Alta. It wasn't instantaneous by any stretch of the word, given Dante's heightened stats and perception now. She stood there, looking away with an annoyed, slight blush on her face.
With a small laugh, Dante moved his hand to Fohl's head. "You're a strange one, Fohl."
"You're a bit strange yourself, little Dante." Sadeena commented. "Do you enjoy teasing children so~?"
"Immensely." Dante said. "Besides, today I suplexed a dinosaur and had some necrotic flesh removed from me. I'm feeling pretty good."
The dinosaur in question, along with a hefty amount of XP, provided quite the shield reveal.
Dark Tyrannosaurus Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: lightning resistance (medium), defense bonus (small), skill "Titanic Charge"
equip effect: Gore, Shock, lightning resistance
Once the boss was killed and the remaining wave monsters were taken care of, Dante took the opportunity to test out his new shield. The skill allowed him to dash forward, pushing any enemies in his path along with him. He was easily able to knock down trees and most anything else in his way. That seemed to function well with the Gore effect, which kept enemies he attacked attached to his shield with the spikes protruding from it. It was like a soft grapple effect. Finally, Shock damaged any enemies in contact with his shield using electricity.
The stats were nothing to scoff at either. One in particular got his attention, being the attack value. It was the first shield he got that truly had a high one, relatively anyway. Of course, with his impressively low personal attack power, it meant little. He'd been increasing his attack with the Job Levels power up for a time, but the bonuses were incredibly small, and the monster material cost was getting too high. The Axe power up could increase his attack, but it too took a lot to benefit in any meaningful way. Being a shield from a wave boss and likely requiring a high level, it wasn't like he'd have been able to use this shield much earlier anyway. He might use it for a little while before changing to another shield.
The rest of the shields he got gave various medium stat bonuses, resistances, and skill bonuses, with the Dark Triceratops Shield giving a sort of combination lesser Gore and charge effect. He'd switched to unlocking the boss's shield, the other wave monsters, then back to the rest. He still had quite the backlog to go through, most of which were the different color variations of the shields he copied in various shops. They were all stat boosts, but every bit counted.
"How long are you going to pet me?!" Fohl barked at him, swatting his hand away.
"It wasn't that long." Dante said, patting Atla on the shoulder. She slowly removed her arms off and backed up.
"Anyway, how much longer are you going to keep us here?" Fohl asked.
Dante hummed in thought. "Well, Atla's condition has greatly improved." That earned a beaming smile from the young tiger girl. "Siltvelt hasn't really shown any major problems. Maybe sometime after their wave will be good." Dante wanted to make sure the alchemists weren't actually trying to sabotage him, as unlikely as that felt.
"When will that be?" Fohl asked.
"Their wave is three days away." Dante informed her.
"So we have to spend at least three more days in this cage?" Fohl snipped.
"Sister! Be nice." Atla chided.
"She does have a point." Dante said. "However, this place comes with security. Zeltoble isn't exactly a friendly place."
"I'll protect Atla with my life!" Fohl proclaimed.
"I know you will. With that in mind, let's all go leveling. We can discuss living arrangements again afterwards." Dante said.
With all the bonuses he could offer for his companions' growth, they'd soon be able to take on anyone that came their way. Sure, there likely were a few classed up people here that might start trouble, but he doubted the pair would go looking for it.
They got outside the slave market and got on Dio and JoJo. Fohl tried to protest Atla riding with Dante, but had a similar problem joining him herself. Dante wasn't going to have both sisters riding the same filolial, no matter how strong his kids were. In the end, with his defense taken into consideration, Fohl reluctantly let Atla go with Dante while she went with Sadeena. The group went out to hunt, with Dante having no pressing matters in Siltvelt for the time being.
Unlike her sister, who was used to being sickly, Fohl quickly learned the pain of riding a fast filolial.
~The Wrong Hero~
"Are you sure about this?" Sadeena asked.
"It'll be fine." Dante responded.
"What are you even going to talk to her about?"
"Don't know, only told her I would. It'll probably end up being about making peace with her father, maybe something her mother or sister."
The pair walked down the streets of Melromarc, making their way to the castle. Dante had decided, after yesterday's wave, it was a good time to meet with the second princess. Or, simply 'princess', as he was learning. Some people still viewed Malty as a princess, while other didn't. It depended on which noble was asked. Lloyd still called her a princess, and so did a number of Siltvelt nobles, while others there didn't.
They dropped by Beloukas's tent before heading to the castle. While the man didn't find any villagers, one of his men was chasing up a lead in a town to the east, near the country border leading to Zeltoble. That could only be a good thing, since Dante now had Beloukas's uncle in on the search.
Once they arrived at the gatehouse, they were stopped by a guard.
"Halt! The king has instructed us not to permit you, Shield." The man stated.
"I'm not here for the king, I'm here to meet with Princess Melty." Dante said, ignoring his new title.
"As I said, you are not to be permitted." The guard reiterated.
"And what will you do when the princess hears about this?" Dante inquired. "I doubt she'll be pleased."
"I won't repeat myself a third time!" The guard grabbed the hilt of his sword, his partner doing the same. Out of the corner of his eye, Dante spotted a few other knights leaning over the battlements, bows at the ready.
"I see…" Dante said, nodding. He turned around and began walking away, Sadeena right behind him. He shifted his shield to the Voice Gengar Shield he got a while back. Spinning on his heel, he lifted the shield to his mouth, and…
"I, DANTE MACRORY, WILL BE IN THE MAIN MARKET STREET TO BROWSE THE AVAILABE WARES!" His voice rang out loudly, causing a number of knights to hold their ears.
"You…" The knight that was about to draw on him tried to speak, but he seemed to be busy getting the ringing sound out of his ears.
Not wanting to stick around any longer, the two of them left for the market.
"Do you think she heard that?" Sadeena asked.
"Maybe. If not, one of her mother's knights might have." Dante said.
When they arrived in the market, it was about what Dante expected. None of the vendors looked their way. The people walking around also avoided them as much as they could. Most seemed afraid of him, with a few being brave enough to sneer at him.
The latest rumors about him certainly took hold in the country's capital. Combined with the knights causing problems without consequence, it was no wonder the people were nervous. Of course, it might also have something to do with the fact that he and Sadeena beat two other heroes in a battle—if that news spread, of course. That was when Dante was missing an arm, too. At that moment, he was sporting the arm crafted by the rabbit alchemist, which was grafted to him after they returned to Siltvelt yesterday. It seemed the owl alchemist had the arm she made ready as well, but the rabbit man got to Dante just a little bit faster.
So far, the arm functioned the same as the one made by the alligator therianthrope, except he didn't feel like the arm didn't belong. When he visited Atla that morning to give her medicine, she hadn't noticed anything wrong with it. If nothing else, this alchemist was at least able to do that much.
"Oh my~. Look at that, little Dante." Sadeena said, wrapping her arms around his unarmored one. He thought it best to switch back to his Chimera Armor while in Melromarc.
"Wow. That does look nice." Dante said, loosely looking at the accessory Sadeena pointed at. He cast a glance around, trying to spot whoever was trying not to be seen. In a crowd of people that were pointedly trying to avoid eye contact, it wasn't easy.
"How much for this?" She asked the vendor.
"It's not for sale." The man replied, a worried look on his face.
"Aw, not even for me~?" She asked, batting her eyes at the man.
"No." He said, looking away slightly.
Yeah, things are still pretty bad here.
"Oh well." Dante gave a shrug. "We'll just have to find it elsewhere."
The pair walked down the street, with the crowd of people parting as they approached. Dante didn't notice anyone trying to act inconspicuous, so whoever it was must have been behind them. If not before, then certainly after a minute of walking.
Once they were just outside of the market area, they went down an alleyway. They traveled down that for a bit before rounding a corner. From there, it didn't take long at all.
"Say, little Dante?" Sadeena said.
"Yes?"
"What do say we have a bit of fun~?" She trailed her hand across his neck.
"What, out here?" He asked. "Anyone could just walk by."
"Doesn't that just make it more exciting~?" She brought her face closer to his, nipping at his ear.
"Maybe just a bit…" He brought his hand up to her face, brushing her hair aside. He pulled her closer, pressing his lips against hers.
Sadeena pulled at his armor, trying to bring it down. A bit more of his neck became exposed. She trailed her lips across his skin, planting soft kisses as she went. Once she came back up to the side of his head—
"Shield Prison V!"
Dante called out his skill, summoning the ball of chained shields down the alleyway they came from.
"Took you long enough." Dante said as he rounded the corner. "I thought she might actually start stripping me."
"Don't worry, little Dante." Sadeena said, licking her lips. "Your fears are true."
With a short chuckle, Dante approached the prison. Dismissing it, he reached forward and grabbed hold of something invisible. He pinned it to the wall, feeling what he believed to be a shoulder in his grip.
"Reveal yourself or become a bloody mess on the wall." He threatened.
In that instance, a black garbed individual appeared where his hand was.
"I bring word from Princess Melty." The person, undoubtedly a shadow, quickly said.
"Well, that's about the smartest thing you could have said." Dante replied, releasing his grip. "What is it?"
"Princess Melty wishes to meet with you. In secret." The shadow emphasized.
"Gee, I wonder why." Between her father and what the knights have been doing, it was pretty obvious. "So, when and where? The sooner, the better."
"Right this way." The shadow said, leading them towards the exit of the alley.
"By the way," Dante said before they reached the end, "if this is some sort of trap, and not a meeting with the princess, I have no problem killing our way out of it."
"Of course, Sir Shield Hero." The shadow responded.
Once out of the alley, they continued to follow the shadow. Of course, that wasn't how it appeared. In the shadow's place was an average looking man, wearing average looking clothes. It was the kind of appearance that anyone would overlook at a glance.
That's a pretty neat trick.
The three of them went down a number of different streets before arriving at a house. It was a ways away from any of the more populated areas, so no one was around. Sadeena and Dante didn't sense anyone either. Even if it was some sort of trap, more than enough time passed to bring his portal skill off of cooldown.
The shadow knocked twice on the door. It was cracked open, revealing the face of a man in armor. He opened the door the rest of the way, allowing all three to enter. The shadow continued to lead them, the knight staying at his post near the door. Five other knights were in the room as well, all standing guard. In the next room, Melty sat with another shadow standing beside her, discussing something.
"Sir Shield Hero." Melty looked up at their approach. "Thank you for coming. I'm glad you called for me."
"Ah, yeah…" Dante laughed, looking off to the side. "If that's what you call what I did."
"It drew attention, but it was effective." Melty gestured to the free chairs. Dante and Sadeena took their seats while their guide stood behind Melty, already looking like a shadow again. "Did you…bring your filolials?" She hesitantly asked.
"No, sorry." Dante had already changed to his Humming Shield. "We needed a little space." In truth, they had been clinging to him a lot. They needed some time apart from him to get themselves together again. Being the strongest party member after Dante, Sadeena came to keep him safe and give the kids some peace of mind.
"Oh, I see…" Melty said, dejected.
"So, what would you like to discuss?" Dante started, trying to start the meeting before it stopped.
"Right. I suppose the first thing should be the rumors regarding you." Melty said, seemingly picking up on that sentiment.
"Yeah, about those—"
"I don't believe them." Melty announced, cutting off whatever Dante planned to say next. "I've looked into the claims and found that, while you did visit the places in question, you were selling medicine there."
Dante nodded at her words. "Your shadows aren't just for show."
Melty widened her eyes at that slightly. "You know about shadows?"
"I have what I'm currently calling a cursory understanding of them." The shadow in Siltvelt had told him a few things, some of which he thought he remembered about shadows. He did find it unlikely that the shadow would be lying about the same things he was basically able to verify from the books, so that was another point in his favor.
"My mother said summoned heroes would have knowledge of our world." Melty said. "I suppose this is part of that."
"You would be right." Dante acknowledged. "That said, I can't say I'm too impressed with their work."
"Why is that?" Melty asked.
"A number of reasons, one of which being that we haven't seen one in Melromarc before today. We did spot this one, after all." Dante explained, nodding to the shadow that acted as their guide. "From my understanding, I would have thought all the heroes would have one tailing them, watching over them and reporting what they found. Heroes are, if nothing else, powerful military pieces."
Melty sighed. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can talk about that."
"Say no more." Dante waved his hand. It was about state security, after all. There was still the possibility the man he killed before leaving Melromarc was a shadow, but now wasn't the time to mention that.
"I see you were able to restore your arm." Melty pointed to his recreated limb.
"Yeah…that one is a little in the air." Dante said.
"What do you mean?"
"This is the second one I had made. The first one…didn't last more than a few days. It wasn't configured properly, I suppose." He wasn't about to mention he had to cut if off after fighting in a wave. At least, not all of those details.
"In that case, why don't I show you to an alchemist?" Melty offered. "We have one on call in the castle who—"
"Do I need to explain why that's a bad idea?" Dante interjected. "I currently have a conflict with two of the four members of the royal family. Even if your father doesn't prevent the meeting, I don't want to give him the opportunity to interfere. He was pretty clear on his position about me last time."
Melty sighed again. "Then, I think it's time we discuss that as well."
That was a can of worms waiting to be opened. For her part, Melty seemed honest about her desire to make peace between himself and her father. Unfortunately, Dante didn't have a real way to do that. He could try to force the truth out of Malty with a slave seal, but Aultcray would call it a trick. Maybe Melty could act as her master, but that was still a big maybe, if any of that could happen at all. Alta might work, but…he wasn't about to risk her just to clear his name. Aultcray's actions in their last meeting didn't inspire confidence he could be civil in the presence of family, let alone a hakuko that had his sister's face.
Melty looked Dante in the eyes. "What are your plans for my sister?"
"…Huh?" That was not the question Dante expected.
"You mentioned you had unfinished business in Melromarc before. That has something to do with my sister, doesn't it?" Melty pressed on.
"That's…no, it has nothing to do with your sister." Dante answered. "It was for a separate matter." Dante didn't want Melty doing anything about the missing villagers. Besides Beloukas's man just now finding a lead, he remembered what happened the last time she got involved in something. He didn't want to risk anyone influential and dangerous learning about his goal.
Of course, there was the chance she already knew. Dante recalled how Beloukas had some ties to the queen from the books and show, though that might have only been circumstantial. Since Dante was already able to gain companions, maybe she never reached out to the slave trader.
"I hope you don't take offense if I say that's hard to believe." Melty said.
"I don't and that's fair." Dante said. "Malty was a concern for reasons I'm not in a position to discuss. However, now that I know those reasons are no longer relevant, your sister has dropped significantly as a concern and priority."
It was actually thanks to Lloyd that Dante was able to confirm that. After the wave, Lloyd took him to Faubrey and let him register at their hourglass. Dante was then able to help collect Lloyd's monsters faster. In the meantime, he was able to meet with Faubrey's king. It was…an unpleasant experience. Keel thought so as well, since that's who Dante brought with him. The king was about as repulsive as Dante thought him to be.
Dante was, however, able to verify that there was no Takt Faubrey. As far as the king new, that is. The pig-like king was confident he would have heard about a genius born in his extended family, and Dante believed him. There was a weirdly honest air about him. That also led him to question Dante about the rape accusation against his niece. He wasn't mad about it, he just had a question.
"How did it feel to sample something that would soon belong to me? I hope you did more than take her virginity. Did you have a little taste too?"
Dante's skin crawled every time he thought about it. Keel looked absolutely sick, even after they returned to Siltvelt. It certainly didn't help that the king made a pass at Keel, something Dante didn't think he'd try to both a man and a therianthrope. It basically negated the whole point of bringing Keel instead of one of the others.
Dante did a lot of terrible things in his time, but he never shipped a woman off to a man like that. If Malty was anything short of a manipulate psychopath that delighted in the pain and suffering of others, he'd have to reconsider any plans he might have had to hand her over.
"If anything, I'd do something about your father first, since he holds more power and influence." Dante rid himself of his thoughts about the pig king for now.
"That is precisely the kind of thing I want to avoid." Melty said, folding her hands together. "Now is not the time for conflict."
"I couldn't agree more, but that's something he needs to hear. I could do something about him anytime I wish, but I don't." Dante explained. "The reason I haven't taken action against your father is because I would have done worse if I was him. Then again, I never had the responsibility of leading a whole nation. What he did was incredibly stupid, likely bringing this country closer to war. Of course, if I find out he had something to do with what happened in Lurolona…"
Dante decided to test the waters and see what she knew. While he told Eclair he'd wait for Mirellia to return, it was entirely up to Aultcray whether or not a confrontation happened. After questioning all those knights, Dante still didn't know if Aultcray had any involvement. All he knew was that Davon Mallory organized them. He now being a stationed knight in the castle was not a good indicator for Aultcray. The killing of those emissaries was still up in the air. At the bare minimum, he took no action against the knights involved.
Part of the reason for coming back here, aside from talking with Melty, was to see if any wanted posters were up. If they were, Dante would have considered bringing his party over to handle things now. They'd be more than a match for anyone they came across, with the exception being the other heroes and possibly Aultcray and the Pope. Dante hadn't met the priest yet, so he didn't know his level. The king and church would have numbers, but that would be the only other thing. There wasn't a solid plan, more like the potential for one.
"You mean the wave?" Melty asked. Dante couldn't sense any political maneuvering in her voice, suggesting she really didn't know. Not hearing about it from Mirellia was one thing, since her spies may not have reached her in time. It was another to not hear anything since returning to Melromarc.
"Forget I mentioned it." If she didn't know, Dante doubted the information gathering skills of these shadows. Or, at the very least, what they're sent to find out. It seemed like Melty couldn't really be relied on here.
From there, the talks continued on. Dante ended up telling Melty they traveled to Zeltoble, since the border towards Faubrey was heavily guarded. Dante had done some traveling in that area during a few breaks on their way to Siltvelt. If going to Zeltoble would have been difficult with the knights there, getting to Faubrey would have been impossible.
Melty promised to find out what happened, but Dante told her not to look too deeply. The church was the likely culprit. While a few knights had the royal family's sigil, most didn't. It seemed that after the hero summoning, Mirellia warned Melty about the church as well, since they were likely the ones responsible for it. Dante had asked in Faubrey, but Mirellia had already left before he arrived. It seemed she was going around and putting out fires, trying to keep other countries from invading.
In the end, Dante actually ended up agreeing to wait for Mirellia to return before communicating with Aultcray again. Even Melty was aware how a single talk could spark a conflict. If the man tried to take his companions again, however, all bets were off. As for Malty, they simply agreed to disagree. From Melty's point of view, Dante raped her sister. From Dante's, she framed him for fun or political points. Neither side was particularly interested in seeing things from the other's perspective, so it was dropped.
One piece of information that Melty did give him, however, involved Melromarc's line of succession.
"My sister willingly gave up her claim to the throne." She told him.
Okay, I can understand if she merely told Melty this. That way, she could appear okay with it and not look like she's out to get Melty. Even if it was told in front of a bunch of witnesses, she could later try to claim her mother forced her to. I don't see as much benefit in that over getting removed from the line by Mirellia. Maybe it has something to do with Faubrey's king? Man, I really don't get these political maneuvers. If Eddy were here, he'd have figured this all out by know. "What do you mean, it's obvious! Malty is trying to—blah, blah, blah."
With nothing left to say, they agreed to meet again after Melromarc's next wave. Hopefully, enough time would have passed, and Dante's contributions in the wave would earn him some points with Aultcray. That was Melty's wish, in any case. Dante highly doubted it.
~The Wrong Hero~
After returning to Siltvelt, Dante and Sadeena found a maid waiting for them in his room. She bowed before she spoke.
"Lord Shield, a number of leaders wish to have an audience with you. May I inform them of your return?"
Dante cast a glance at Sadeena. "I suppose. What's this about?" He asked.
"My apologies, Lord Shield, but I was only told to inform you of their desires. I don't know what they wish to discuss." The maid said, bowing again.
"Alright." Dante looked to Sadeena. "I guess I'll meet back up with you at supper."
"Oh, your retainer is welcome to attend." The maid informed him.
"Oh my, how exciting!" Sadeena enthused.
"I'm sure it won't be." Dante said, fully expecting this meeting to be a bit of a pain.
They followed the maid from his room and to the throne room, not one of the conference rooms like Dante had thought. He sat on the throne with Sadeena standing next to him, while the maid left. After about 10 minutes or so, the doors to the throne room opened, revealing over three dozen nobles. It was quite the leap from 'a number'.
They lined up along the sides of the room, waiting for everyone to enter. He noticed a number of them right away. Werner, Jaralis, the old genmu, that clan head of the aotatsu, plus many of the leaders that were at the last big meeting.
Werner stood out from the lineup, standing before the throne. "Lord Shield, thank you for coming before us."
"It's no problem." Dante said. "What's this about?"
"Yes, Lord Shield. Before you stand many powerful tribe heads in Siltvelt. We have come with potential suitors for you." Werner said, bowing.
"I'm pretty sure we already covered this." Dante pointed out. "For every beneficial thing you give me—"
"Oh, no, Lord Shield." Werner quickly corrected Dante's thoughts. "The women we are bringing you are marriage partners."
"Oh my~." Sadeena sounded, echoing Dante's sentiments.
Before he could say anything, women started entering the room. Unlike the women from his first night here, however, they were calmer. There was a certain air of dignity about them. He was about to ask about it, but then he realized the reason. The women before probably weren't that important, at least relatively politically. Perhaps one of the better things they could have hoped for was carrying the Shield Hero's child. These women, on the other hand, were looking to make a formal alliance with him. They had to show that they were capable of being powerful political leaders.
Dante waved the shusaku closer to him to speak somewhat privately.
"Werner, what is this? Why do you think this is a good idea?" Dante asked the shusaku.
"We are simply looking to improve your ability to govern here, Lord Shield." Werner answer.
Dante didn't buy that for a second. It was pretty clear which side this was favoring.
"I'll manage on my own for now." Dante said. "With everything else going on in the world, marriage should be lower on the list."
"But Lord Shield, having an heir is important." Werner pointed out.
That actually did give Dante pause. From their point of view, their god was injured due to the last wave he participated in. If they lost him now, they'd have to wait until the next round of summons, and he wasn't even sure when that'd be. If he died, he had no idea what Fitoria would do, if anything.
"Still, I wouldn't be able to come to a decision for some time. And besides…" Dante was quickly noticing a pattern with the women arriving. "Werner, perhaps you weren't made aware how much I cared, but I don't plan on laying with children."
While a fair number looked like proper adults, there were more than enough that looked like teenagers. A couple of them looked like they might be younger than that, though they were also therianthropes, so it was bit hard to tell.
"Not at all, Lord Shield." Werner shook his head. "All the women here are adults, and not through leveling. Some, however, were also chosen to match Lord Shield's preferences."
"And what, exactly, is my preference?" Dante asked with a distinct edge in his tone.
"Forgive my tact, but…Lord Shield seems to prefer things that look cute."
"…What?" It wasn't what he was imagining.
"Many of us have heard of your fondness for monsters that look cute, such as your adoptive children." Werner went on. "Your familiar seems to fall into that category as well."
"That…yeah, okay." It was hard to dispute that. While he didn't design it, that small cacodemon was pretty adorable. Still, there was a line between liking cute things, and wanting to marry someone because they're cute.
"Besides," Werner continued, "if you are concerned about your harem, having a wife—or, more likely, multiple wives—wouldn't effect that. You would be able—no, encouraged—to continue. And, if this is a concern as well, your relationship with this woman could continue on." Werner gestured to Sadeena. Dante was about to speak out, when—
"Oh no, little Dante~! They found me out~!" Sadeena slid over to Dante and laid on his lap, draping herself over the throne's armrests. She immediately jumped into the new situation.
Dante sighed heavily and slid down into the seat, face in his hand. "Why do I bother hide anything? Is this what it feels like to be a politician? I really don't care for it." Had he known they'd figure it out anyway, he'd have just kept fluffing Dio and JoJo's wings and scratching Rifana's ears too. Well, he did help clean his kids' wings in the bath.
One by one, the tribe heads came forward with their selected suitor. Dante knew it would be a long meeting.
~The Wrong Hero~
After finishing several hours of introductions and short conversations, Dante was ready to be done. The only consolation was that he had Sadeena on him the entire time. It helped to take the edge off a bit.
He told those present he would consider all that they had to offer and would get back with them at a later date. He would try to put that off as long as he could, which seemed like it could indeed be a long while. One of the servants had taken notes for him to review later.
Most of those in attendance began to leave the room. One, however, stayed behind.
"Lord Shield, may I have a word?" Jaralis asked, approaching the throne.
"Of course." Dante said. Talking with Jaralis was like working on a jigsaw puzzle he didn't know the end result of. He had an outline, but not a lot of the inner pieces. And, really, he could go for any sort of stimulation right about now.
"It's in regards to your visits to Korokan village."
"I see…" Dante felt more on guard with that addition.
"If you are concerned about taking that woman you meet as a concubine, you needn't worry. Only the most ardent of demi-human supremacists would object, and those ones are very much a minority. Further—"
"Stop!" Dante yelled. "What's with you all about this? I get that lineage is important to you all, but still!" Dante shook his head. "I'm not going there to have sex with anyone. I'm just…they remind me of my old family, is all."
It was becoming apparent that their surveillance of him extended beyond the use of shadows and hidden observers. It wasn't as if he hid the fact that he was going there, but that they knew he was seeing a particular person, or people, was troubling. Some of the guards there must have seen him leave the house and said something. That family hadn't mentioned any trouble, so Dante wasn't too concerned yet.
"That is a relief." Jaralis placed his paw over his chest.
"You are a demi-human supremacist, I take it?" Dante all but accused.
"It is self-evident that we are superior, Lord Shield. Is that not why you surround yourself with demi-humans?"
To be precise, four were demi-humans, two were monsters, and one was human. Even then, the human wasn't really sought out. If Eclair had been imprisoned in Melromarc's dungeon, Dante wasn't sure what he would have done. Seeing Melty there, he probably would have asked to free her. In fact, he could easily see himself taking her in to protect her. Aultcray, or possibly the church, wouldn't have been happy with her freedom.
"That's just how it ended up happening. It's the same with those same demi-humans having a therianthrope transformation." Dante told the lion therianthrope. "I was more surprised that no one had a problem with them having slave seals."
"We gathered that the seals weren't meant to keep them in line. Perhaps it's a means to have direct access to their status for growing stronger." Jaralis explained. "While it's frowned upon, it technically isn't illegal to own demi-humans as slaves here."
"Interesting." Dante pondered the implications. "I would have assumed it was, and I was an exception. Given what I know, I figured this place would be like a mirror of Melromarc, right down to lords torturing human slaves for fun."
"Why would we do that?" Jaralis asked without a shred of sarcasm, though there was an edge. "Demi-humans are already superior. Torturing humans like that would be lowering ourselves to their level. No self-respecting noble of Siltvelt would do such a thing."
Huh. Your racism is actually comforting, and I'm not okay with that. Then again, after learning what Idol has done, I suppose my bar for acceptable behavior has lowered a bit.
"That does bring up your own political knowledge." Jaralis continued on. "Given your lack of expertise in the area, I would be more than happy to help in that regard, provided you marry one of my daughters, of course. I will continue to do what I do best, and you will be able to focus solely on what your strengths are."
Dante could practically see the physical manifestation of the political maneuvering in his words. "I'll take that into consideration."
After saying his piece, Jaralis excused himself from the room. All that remained now were Dante and Sadeena. She still lay draped over him, not a care in the world.
"This world continues to surprise me." Dante said, patting Sadeena on her shoulder. The woman in question simply leaned up and wrapped her arms around Dante's neck. "Come on. Supper's ready to get served."
"But I'm so comfortable here~." Sadeena said with a silly grin.
"Yeah, yeah, we got a bit of good news tonight." The fact that they didn't seem to view Sadeena as a political threat was good. Since she didn't have a strong family here, they probably figured there was no chance he would marry her, let alone have her be his first wife.
"And we have some good news for later, too~." Sadeena said.
"What do you mean?" Dante asked.
"Did anyone do any big service for you today?" Sadeena asked with a wink. "I think I get you all to myself tonight~."
"Oh!" She was right. That was some good news. "Well, yes, I think you do. But, we have to take care of something else first."
"Oh~? What's that?" Sadeena asked, but then looked to at the movement to her right.
"I think this arm needs to go." Dante said, casting a glance at the exposed limb. It was faint, but he could already spot a few emerging blotches on his shoulder. He hadn't thought much of it earlier, given the long meeting, but he realized his arm had started going numb. If he had to take a guess, the curse aftereffect targeted the nerves of this arm first. Next was the owl woman's turn. Hopefully hers would work longer. As a small consolation, it seemed like it wasn't sabotage, for whatever relief that brought him.
Author's Notes:
I wrote over 80% of this chapter yesterday because I like to suffer. Next chapter will be Siltvelt's wave.