Chapter 43 – Switching Up
"So, that's the general situation."
"Lord Shield…"
One of the first things Dante did when he got back was inform Werner of what happened. It wasn't something he particularly wanted to do, but it was best to inform someone that he was setting all these fires.
"I don't know what you can do, but try your best." Dante knew it wasn't really fair to lay these problems at Werner's feet, but he certainly wasn't going to try tackling such a political catastrophe.
Werner sighed. "Yes, Lord Shield."
Dante left Werner to do whatever was needed.
If it was any other hero, that would have turned out far differently. I'm sure I could have convinced Ren to let it go, either by paying whatever was being rewarded or by throwing what happened to Mirso in his face. Motoyasu might have been more difficult, though that would have been an opportunity to see what Malty's reaction would've been.
He would have been alone with his thoughts, but Reiko had been clinging to his side since before they arrived and had yet to stop. Nearly being cut down would do that to a kid.
"You doing okay there, Reiko?" Dante asked the boy. A silent nod was all the response he got.
They walked through the hall, heading towards the rooms Dante's party slept in. Atla and Keel went there after they returned, likely telling everyone what just happened. At least Dante wouldn't need to be the one to break the news.
"Like I told you before, you'll be staying with us now." Dante assured him. "We'll get you some levels and let you grow out a bit."
Again, a silent nod.
I shouldn't be surprised. Reiko said he was killed by a mugger in our world. Stabbed in the gut and left to bleed out. Not a good way to go, in my experience.
Still, Dante knew Reiko had it in him to bounce back. When they had him tied up, he was pretty animated, even with the potential for death looming over him. Given what he's seen of Reiko, he had a pretty good idea what to do.
"Say, what's the male version of a loli-baba?" Dante asked that incredibly important question.
"W-What?" That got Reiko to snap out of it.
"A male loli-baba. I was turned into one a couple days ago and I couldn't figure out the word for it." Dante explained.
"That's…you're not that old."
"Sure I…wait, did I never tell you? I'm 28 years old." Most of the people he's really talked to knew that, or have heard him claim it.
"Twenty…Damn. I thought I was older than you."
"Reiko, even if I was 17, I still would have been older in every way that matters. Spending more time with the mind of a child doesn't exactly grant you extra knowledge, let alone wisdom."
Reiko smirked. "Yeah, that's why I learned alchemy at a young age."
"Fair enough." The boy did have those journals he wrote, after all.
With the mood elevated, they arrived at the guest rooms his party stayed in. Eclair and Fohl were there, along with Atla and Keel. The others were either training in the courtyard or with Fiadia and the other villagers.
"Sir MacRory." Eclair approached as the two entered. "Please explain what's happening."
"Ah, well…" Dante did just that. He gave his version of events, leading up to the death of two of Itsuki's party members.
"Do you know what this means?" Eclair rubbed her eyes in exasperation.
"That I have a talent for causing trouble." Dante said.
"This is no joking matter, Sir MacRory!" Eclair exclaimed.
"I know, but there's nothing I can do about it right now." That was for Werner to work on.
"I'm sorry." Keel hung his head. "I shouldn't have done that."
"You did fine, Keel." Dante gave his head a quick pat. "You protected Reiko. Speaking of whom…"
With a slight push, Dante placed Reiko in front of him. He had a hand on the boy's shoulder as he spoke. "Reiko will be staying with us going forward. We'll figure out where he'll fit in later."
"H-Hello again, Miss Eclair." Reiko stammered out.
Eclair sighed. "Hello, Reiko." Her greeting was neutral, at least. "Tell me, what led the Bow Hero to your cave?"
"Itsuki mentioned knights had disappeared." Dante informed. "But that was a while ago, right?"
"Yeah, but…" Reiko swayed a bit. "There were some…adventurers who came around."
"You killed them?" Eclair's tone was sharp.
"T-They found my cave! I had to!" Reiko was quick to point out. Now that he mentioned it, Dante realized there were more monsters there than before.
"He's not wrong." Dante backed him up. "I'm willing to bet the majority of adventurers in Melromarc would be at least somewhat prejudiced against demi-humans. Besides, I don't really see much difference between adventurers, mercenaries, and bounty hunters."
"The difference is registration with the guild." Eclair pointed out. "Though, I suppose under the circumstances, you did what you had to in order to defend yourself." Thankfully, she was able to come to terms with the situation.
"Excellent!" Dante clapped his hands. "With that out of the way, proper introductions are in order. Reiko, this is Atla, and that is Fohl."
Atla had already met Reiko, though under strenuous circumstances. All that was left was Fohl. The tiger girl barely regarded the fox boy before she turned to glare at Dante. Actually, while he didn't pay it much mind, Fohl had been glaring at him the moment he walked into the room.
"Why did you take Atla with you?" She questioned.
"Nice to meet you too…" Reiko mumbled.
"Well, it was a choice between her and the kebab vendor." Dante shrugged. "I think I made the right choice."
When he thought about it, he could have literally asked anyone around him to join his party and go. They would have accepted in a heartbeat, combat experience or no.
"This isn't a joke!" Fohl yelled. "Atla could have been seriously hurt!"
"I know, and I'm sorry." Dante said, somewhat disarming Fohl. "I didn't have a lot of time to consider my options."
With what happened at Reichnott's still fresh in his mind, a delay simply wasn't possible.
"Sister, don't be mad at Mister Dante." Atla said, hands on her hips. "I asked him to take me."
"You shouldn't have had to go." Fohl argued. "I'm the one who's supposed to fight for him."
"You both are, but you do have more combat experience." Dante said. "If Atla hadn't been training already—"
"She what!?" Fohl glared up at him again. "You've been forcing Atla to train!?"
"Why does it feel like she isn't really listening?" Reiko asked.
"Because she isn't." Dante sighed.
"Fohl, it was your sister who asked me to train her." Eclair explained. "But I believe we have more pressing matters at the moment."
"The situation is not ideal, I know." Dante admitted.
"What are we going to do?" Keel asked.
"Let Werner deal with it." Dante said. "He's the politician and this is becoming a complex political problem. Ideally, the problem will go away on its own."
"Sir MacRory…"
"Failing that, I will listen to the advice of Werner and his colleagues, as well as all of you, and come to a decision."
A few decisions, like war with Melromarc, were already off the table. Assuming Aultcray demanded Dante's surrender…well, there wasn't much that could be done at the moment. Of course, Dante's control here wasn't absolute. If he pushed too hard for peace in the face of war, there'd be problems.
"For now, I want to forget about our problems. Griffin hunting in the mountains, anyone?" Dante proposed.
"I'll go!" Atla immediately raised her hand.
"Atla!" Fohl started to protest, but a quick jab from Atla squashed that.
Huh, so that's already started. She really does have good attacks.
"Sir MacRory, is now really the appropriate time for this?" Eclair asked.
"Of course not." Dante admitted. "It's a distraction. However, if Reiko is going to stay, he needs to gain a few levels, even if they aren't fully boosted."
While Siltvelt hadn't made any direct moves against any of them yet, there was still the possibility. Honestly speaking, Dante didn't think it was likely. Jaralis was the main concern for a while, but he's seemed content with his original proposal to Dante. Maybe gaining children of the Shield Hero and keeping him stationed in Siltvelt was all that was necessary, plus slowly worming his way into Dante's good graces.
"You can boost levels?" Reiko asked, catching that tidbit.
"If you have a slave seal, yes." Dante explained. "I doubt that's something you're open to."
"That's…" Reiko trailed off.
"Yeah, I figured." Dante nodded. "We can worry about that part later."
Part of him was worried what Reiko would be like after aging a bit. Really, even being a reincarnated, Reiko didn't show much sign of being absolutely terrible. Dante's original thought of the one who gave Reiko a second life just being an asshole sounded pretty plausible. It wasn't as if the books said only one person was capable of reincarnating people. Not to mention the fact that hints at the unknown from the books would be even less reliable than outright statements at this point.
"Hey, Dante?" Reiko perked up. "Before we do anything else, can I see Imiya?"
"Oh…" It occurred to him that Reiko had no knowledge of what happened to his friend. "I think we should sit down and talk."
~The Wrong Hero~
Reiko didn't take the news well. He was mad at Dante, at least for a short while, but hearing how they killed those responsible made him feel better. It did bring up Tolly in Dante's mind. The mole therianthrope was already out of range to be tracked with his basic slave seal. Dante could go out and try to find him, but he felt Tolly needed the space. Even out of tracking range, Dante could still see his HP.
After that, Reiko wasn't much in the mood for hunting monsters, and Dante couldn't blame him. Keel offered to show him around the castle a little, which Reiko accepted. That worked out well for Dante, who had been in his room with Reiko until then. There was still time before he had something to do, but there was something else that had come up.
"Shadow." Dante said, prompting the familiar rat therianthrope shadow to appear.
"Lord Shield." He bowed before rising again. "I have completed my investigations."
"That was quick." Dante leaned forward on the bed. "What did you learn?"
"From what I gathered, the commander—as well as a number of the volunteer knights—belonged to the faction of demi-human supremacists. None seemed to be hardliners."
"Yeah, that's what I got from Werner." It was one of the first things Dante was told about those families when he asked. "What else?"
"None of the families seemed to have any knowledge of any plans for the village. A cursory check revealed a few had connections to the lord of the village, and a couple of those were in a position to make a fair amount of coin in trade."
"Hmm." Fanatics weren't too concerned with gaining wealth in the face of doing God's will, but that wasn't sounding to be the case. "Anything else?"
The shadow hesitated. "I'm not sure if Lord Shield would find this information of use, but I leave that to your discretion. In the days leading up to the wave, the commander was heard in bars claiming to know how to aid Lord Shield."
"Shadow, that sounds like exactly what I want to hear about." Why wouldn't he find this useful?
"The reason, Lord Shield, is because the commander claimed to have received a divine vision."
"A vision…" That sounded familiar.
"He was drunk when he spoke of it, but he claimed the essence of the Divine Shield spoke to him and asked for his help. He never spoke aloud what was said to him, only that it was his duty to aid Lord Shield when the time came. That it was providence."
Memories of that night his first week in the world came rushing back to him. A fat noble in his manor, brandishing a whip and claiming insight from God.
Idol said something similar. He was ready for us that night. Is someone feeding these people information? This is the second…no, the third time this has happened. Didn't a rumor about us get started in Ronota with no clear source?
There was a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" Dante called.
"It's Atla, Mister Dante." He heard the girl's voice.
Dante looked back at the shadow. "I want you to look into anyone else claiming to have visions. I'm sure there'll be a lot of dead ends, but it's important."
"At once, Lord Shield." The shadow bowed and disappeared from sight.
One vision led to my missing arm and had a snowball effect, one led to the destruction of a whole village and my curse, and one was a failed attempt on our lives that led us to saving Eclair. It's a bit mixed. Unfortunately, I know of one organization that has a god, or gods. If the people behind the waves can influence people like this, there's no telling what could happen down the line.
"Come in." Dante called to Atla.
The girl opened the door and entered, closing it behind her.
"What's up?" Dante asked as she approached.
Atla stood before the bed, hands folded in front of her. "I wanted to know if I did the right thing when we fought the Bow Hero."
"You fought well." Dante told her. "It seems you learned a lot from Eclair."
"Thank you, Mister Dante." Atla had on a bright smile. "But, I meant when I had that woman on the ground."
"The one that Armor, uh, Mald killed?" Dante asked. "What about her?"
"He was able to kill her because of me." Atla said. "Was I wrong to pin her before?"
"Not at all." Dante shook his head. "You had no way of knowing that guy would do something like that. Hell, it was pretty crazy for me to see that."
When he thought about it, it was possible—indeed, probable—that Mald had something against that woman already. Rushing in like that probably held little consequence to him. That, or Mald was just psychotic. Given what Dante remembered of him from the books—as little as they were worth now—it was pretty likely.
Atla, however, didn't look convinced. "But because of that, won't you be wanted in Melromarc? What about finding the villagers from Lurolona?"
Dante gave a slight laugh. "You really got a lot out of Keel, didn't you?"
"Miss Eclair, too." Atla nodded. "They told me you wanted to buy the people from the village that were enslaved."
"That's been painfully slow-going as it is." Dante sighed. "However, I'll be fixing that pretty soon. I'm going to hire out a shadow from Zeltoble."
It was something he learned from the shadow here. Mercenary shadows could be hired out of Zeltoble with a magical contract to do a job. The problem was most only did work for members of the Dark Guild there. Outsiders needed a connection, and even then the price would be quite exorbitant. Thanks to his participation in their wave, Dante was able to obtain a low-ranking membership to the guild from one of the merchant leaders. He'd swung by on his way back from Mirso to set things up, and to sell more of his battle potions for the payment.
Within a couple hours, he'd go there with Sadeena, and Raphtalia, to set up the job. The shadow would search throughout Melromarc and beyond for the missing villagers. Locating them would be their only objective. Once they were found, Dante would work out a way to get them, either by buying them or, quite possibly, killing whoever owned them.
"Things have been pretty crazy, but I haven't forgotten my promise to find them."
Atla smiled. "Just as I thought. You really do care about the people in your party."
"They're like my family, faults and all." Dante smiled in turn. He wasn't completely sure how the other three heroes ran things, but he knew his party would call him out on any crap he tried to pull. At least, anything that wasn't necessary. Eclair and Sadeena held that role the most.
"Does that mean I'm part of your family now too?" Atla wagged her tail as she asked.
"Yes, you're part of that family too." Dante answered with a chuckle. "You and Fohl both, though I don't think she'd like to hear that."
"Sister is just really protective." Atla said, sitting on the bed next to Dante. "Even if she doesn't always act like it, she's very grateful for your medicine."
"I know. She and I are in a small group of maybe three people I know would do anything in the world to protect their family."
"Who's the third?" Atla asked.
Your uncle. Dante wouldn't let the words come out. It seemed unlikely, but Aultcray may not take kindly to Atla having his dead sister's face, and Dante didn't want to put her through that. He had confirmed her mother's identity, having the same illness as Atla. He had been surprised to learn—and remember—her name was Lucia, the same as the girl who looked like Mary.
"I want to keep that to myself for now." Dante answered with a chuckle, giving Atla's head a pat. The young woman accepted the answer easily enough.
All this happenstance and 'providence' going on, I wonder if it actually is the work of some god. If it is, they better be careful. If they aren't, the god of Siltvelt will have to do something about them.
~The Wrong Hero~
Setting up the magical contract was pretty simple. Dante vaguely remembered it from the web novel between Mirellia and Naofumi. Basically, the shadow was bound to search for the villagers until they were all found, or 50 days had passed. They would prepare weekly reports and have them sent to Dante through a monster messenger. The reports were encrypted, with only Dante having the code. It wasn't magical, the letters were just changed up through a mathematical cipher.
Since the shadow was magically bound to fulfill this task, they were paid upfront. For hiring a magical ninja, the cost wasn't as high as Dante had thought. The risk to the shadow wasn't substantial, so that likely reduced the cost from the long duration.
After finalizing the deal, they returned to Siltvelt for the night. Dante had a brief stint with a lion and two birds, and then was allowed to sleep.
Several hours later, he woke up. It was still long before the sun would rise, but he'd rested enough. Attached to one side was Sadeena, still sleeping peacefully. He carefully detached himself from her, only to pause. There was something on his other side. Moving the sheets around, he found Atla next to him.
Well, this was probably going to happen sooner or later.
Her current physical age aside, he'd need to explain to her why a hakuko shouldn't sleep with him, part human or not. Regardless, he was able to maneuver out of the bed and silently leave the room.
The halls of the castle were rather quiet, at least on this floor. Siltvelt had all manner of demi-humans here, so some part of the city was always active. Maybe he'd make an appearance there at some point, just so they wouldn't have to stay up to see him.
"Lord Shield, is something the matter?" One of the castle guards asked.
"Just taking a stroll. Carry on." Dante passed the saluting guard and continued on his path.
In a matter of minutes, Dante arrived at his destination. It was too early to start up the oven in the castle's kitchen, not to mention the time it would take. Instead, Dante opted for a sandwich. There were plenty of ingredients he could use, including some salted meats that were hung up.
With his meal prepared, Dante was about to dig in. A slight movement caught his attention, prompting him to turn.
"You're pretty sneaky." Dante spoke to the younger hakuko sister.
"Is something wrong, Mister Dante?" Atla asked.
Since she was in Dante's party—and not a threat—his Alert Shield ability wouldn't activate. All he had, then, were his own senses. While not on the same level as the shadow, it was still a bit hard to notice her.
"Just not tired, is all." Dante gestured to his meal, realizing right after the pointlessness. "Want some of my sandwich?"
With a nod, Atla came into the kitchen. Dante cut the sandwich in half and handed it to her.
"Do you normally sleep so little, Mister Dante?" Atla took a bite after asking.
"Just the past few days, aside from when I was a kid." Dante answered.
"Is it because…" Atla started to ask.
"Since Siltvelt's wave." Dante guessed at her question. "Since I got my curse."
While he physically didn't need to sleep as much, it was still a little jarring to be awake that much. Since most of his party would still be asleep when he awoke, he'd need to find something to do. He looked through his shield unlocks for a while yesterday while he waited for the sun to rise.
"I'm sorry that happened." Atla spoke softly.
"Me too." Dante nodded solemnly. It still stung, but reminding himself that they weren't his old family helped.
"If there's anything I can do to help, please tell me, Mister Dante." Atla spoke with a bit more conviction.
"There is one thing." Dante shifted to his Humming Shield. "Please don't sneak into my bed at night."
"But I want to sleep with you." Atla protested. "Sadeena gets to."
"Sadeena is an adult. You are not."
"Oh! Then, please don't lower my level for a while."
"I wasn't planning on it." Dante wanted to make sure the sisters were fully grown before he did that again.
"After that, we get to—"
"Not in the castle." Dante interrupted the obvious conclusion. "I'm still piecing together the politics here. Based on what I know, the four elite races have declined in power a bit. Showing favoritism to one of them will probably cause some conflict."
Dante had spoken a little with nobles when he had the chance and filled in the blanks here and there. He guessed that was why Werner, Ushan, and Noaroa—the aotatsu clan head present—hadn't done many favors for him yet. If some of the other tribes got in with Lord Shield first, it wouldn't look like the elite races were trying to reestablish themselves.
"But, you're the Shield Hero." Atla argued. "Siltvelt should be overjoyed to serve you. You shouldn't have to bend over to please them!"
Dante chuckled. "That's about what I expected out of you." He gave her another pat on her head, calming her. "Unfortunately for me, I still need to play politics a little, especially after my little journey to Melromarc yesterday."
"Mister Dante, again I'm sorry for my role in—"
"Hey." Dante stopped her, bringing his hand down to the side of her face with his other hand on the opposite side. "I'm the leader. I made the decision. I gave the instructions that you followed. You didn't kill that woman, Itsuki's fellow party member did. That same party member then attacked someone I chose to protect, so Keel killed him. Itsuki's party was at fault here, understand?"
He hoped what he said got through. Atla seemed more interested on his hands against her face, since she placed her own on top of them.
"Now that that's settled, head back to bed. Your bed." Dante emphasized, letting his arms drop, much to Atla's disappointment. "Growing kids need their sleep."
"Yes, Mister Dante!" Atla quickly scurried off, likely in hopes of growing quickly.
Dante laughed as he saw her leave, grabbing the discarded half of the sandwich.
Rifana could learn a thing or two from you, not that I'm in any hurry.
~The Wrong Hero~
Morning came and went. There were things to prepare before the North Ferret Forest. According to Werner, it was set to start tomorrow, and it would take about a day to travel there from Faubrey's capital.
"I believe this should do it, Lord." Rat placed a bioplant seed in the ground and backed up. Dante's extended party, which included Reiko and Fiadia, watched in anticipation. They were all outside the walls of Siltvelt for this test.
After a few seconds, a bulb sprouted from the ground. It quickly grew up and out, thick vine-like sheets of plant matter forming. Within a couple of minutes, the bioplant was finished growing. It had taken the shape of a small cottage, like what they would see in villages.
"It seems stable." Rat remarked as she looked around the outside of it.
"Third time's the charm." Dante approached the plant-house and opened the door. Stepping inside, he viewed the small living space. There was enough room for a couple beds and a fire pit, with more than enough room to walk around it all, plus store supplies.
Once fully inside, Dante patted the wall on the opposite side. He waited a moment, but nothing happened. He exited the building and informed Rat.
"I'd call this one a success." Rat smiled at her accomplishment.
"See what happens when I don't wear a shirt, Eclair?" Dante, in turn, smirked at the swordswoman.
"Sir MacRory…" For her part, Eclair was turned away with her hand over her eyes.
She wasn't uncomfortable seeing him in only pants, at least not how he thought. Dante had made sure that wasn't the case. It was more to do with him being the Shield Hero, appearances and all that.
"Am I wrong?" Dante joked. "The first camping plant drooled acid on me, and the second one tried to eat me. Both times, I wore a shirt, just like you wanted."
"That doesn't mean it was because you wore a shirt." Eclair argued, but it sounded like she knew it was pointless.
"Look, if it wasn't plant violence, it would have been fire." Dante shook his head, a smile never leaving his face. "If I wore a shirt inside this one, it would have gained the ability to shoot fire at me."
"Is that true?" Reiko asked.
"Could be." Dante answered.
"It wouldn't have shot fire at you, Lord." Rat shook her head, though it was with far less amusement than Dante.
In her defense, Reiko was pretty curious about the bioplant and asked about it. Of those numerous questions, one was whether or not Rat could make a plant to shoot peas at approaching monsters. It was possible, but there were more effective forms of attack. Dante was pretty sure Reiko was referencing something, but wasn't sure what.
"Okay, so that's both food and housing now." Dante already had Rat look over the seeds designated for food production and tweaked them appropriately.
"Yep, that should be everything~." Sadeena smiled sweetly at him.
"And we already verified the guards, right?" Dante asked.
"I've personally interviewed them." Eclair answered that one.
"And you talked with Werner, right?" Dante turned to Eclair. "While I'm gone—"
"I have final say on anything the tribes offer you."
"Right…maybe this isn't such a—"
"Little Dante, stop stalling~. I know you'll miss me, but it won't be that long. Besides, I've had my fill~." She gave him a wink to make her point.
"Okay…okay."
Werner had given Dante more details about the North Ferret Forest. Aside from its duration, he was told the level limit was 60. From all the wave fights and griffin hunting, almost everyone was already near that. Dante himself was much higher, not having reduced his level as much. This was, however, a good opportunity to use the Whip method on himself. It was also a good chance to see what dropping Keel to level one with it would do. If it was highly beneficial, he could do it with everyone else, either swapping out people or doing it at the next activation.
For the North Ferret Forest, there would be seven people going. It would be him, Keel, Reiko, the hakuko sisters, and the two vampire heads. To prepare for the potential conflict, Donavan and Nisha wished to increase their fighting power. Since Donavan has been helping Keel with beast magic, and Nisha was also a proficient fighter, Dante allowed it. That, of course, was provided their houses got along in their absence.
Dante was hesitant to separate from the rest of his party, but Sadeena had repeatedly assured him it would be fine. The people from Reichnott's lands needed somewhere to settle down, and preparations were already done. If she chose it, Fiadia would be recognized as a noble and given governorship of the new village. Dante was right about Jaralis pushing to approve it, and for seemingly all the same reasons.
"You know, maybe I don't really need to go to—"
"Little Dante." Sadeena crossed her arms under her chest. "Go have fun playing in the woods~. We'll be here when you get back."
"Yeah, Dad!" JoJo chimed in. "We'll have a cool village all ready."
If the timing of things weren't what they were, Dante would have been more personally involved with the rebuilding. As it was, he'd let his party handle it. Besides, even if they weren't grinding monsters, they could still train. Both physical training and combat exercises were things anyone could do.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop." Dante approached his kids and gave them a final hug, doing the same with Sadeena. "No taking damage. I'll consider it a problem and rush back as quickly as possible."
"We'll be fine~." Sadeena assured him.
Dante nodded and stepped back, waving over the two waiting vampires. With his party formed, they were ready to go.
"Portal Shield!"
Author's notes:
Someone had asked me what Dante's level was around the time of Duke Chance. I didn't have a concrete level in mind, somewhere in the ballpark of 70. He was around 50 at the time of Melromarc's wave, and he'd fought in 3 at the time of that fight, plus with griffin hunting on the side, so 70 sounded about right. I'm not making it official, since I don't want to lock myself in with any more numbers than I need to.
If the villagers didn't need a permanent place, Dante would have taken his whole party with him. Life happens, so alternate plans must get made. Besides, Cal Mira would be around a month or so from now (I think), so they could always do it there, and with a higher limit. That could be just the Whip eating their class upgrade, or after a level reset to min-max their growth, if they even consider doing that.