Review Responses:
TheRealD3lph0xL0v3r: The dollar in a bank for 1000 years was a reference to Futurama. It's one of things that happens when math nerds make a TV show.
setokayba2n: Glass will be appearing, the others I'm on the fence about. It mostly depends on how I handle the first meeting.
Chapter 46 – (Re)payments
"Lord Shield? You're back early."
Dante opted to see Werner first before going to Rat or a healer. Aside from properly letting people know he was back, this was likely to be a more unpleasant experience.
It's amazing that potentially tearing off my arm and replacing it feels less troublesome than…well, anything. Do I just not want to talk to Werner about what happened, or am I just numb to losing an arm?
"How was your visit to the North Ferret Forest?" Werner asked, his eyes passing over the rest of Dante's party.
In response, Dante held up his left hand. "Funny that."
He told Werner about their time there, mostly sticking to the adventurers, mercenaries, and assassins trying to kill them.
"Outrageous!" Werner declared.
"Yeah, not something I want to go through again." Dante said, running a finger over his missing ones. "We also have a bit of an issue."
Werner nodded. "How did your assailants know you would be there at all?"
"Exactly."
The two most likely places were in Faubrey and here it Siltvelt. Dante didn't know how long ago the king planned on inviting him, so any number of people there could have found out. What's worse, someone in Siltvelt could be spying on him for Melromarc or the Three Heroes Church. Of course, the ones behind the waves could have done something, given how they seemed to have already influenced at least three cases.
"We'll petition Faubrey immediately to look into the matter." Werner announced.
"That won't be necessary." Dante shook his head. "After we rest for the night, I'll be going there personally. If anyone here knows where the Dark Guild is, I'd like to know. I'll be persuading the people there to tell me what I want to know."
"As you wish, Lord Shield."
Having the target in question walk into the Dark Guild would normally be dangerous, but Dante was confident things would be fine. In addition to his party's power and levels, the Dark Guild in Zeltoble had a no fighting policy while inside, oddly enough. He figured Faubrey would be the same.
"With that out of the way, I need to see Rat before anything else." Her assessment on his injury would determine what to do next.
"Oh, your alchemist is in the village with the rest of your party." Werner informed. "She needed her equipment brought to her the other day."
"I see." That wasn't a bad idea. With the use of the bioplant—and now a greater need for the camping plants—having her there full time would probably be necessary.
"On that note, I do have something for you, Lord Shield." Werner called over a servant. A few minutes later, she returned with a scroll. "This is the list of people who have done a service for you in your absence."
"Really?" Dante took hold of the scroll, figuring there might be a dozen-some names on it.
How many favors did I get? I wonder what was presented to Eclair. Was there really enough to have a whole scroll—oh god, this is much more than a dozen!
Dante watched as the scroll unfurled and fell to the floor. There were well over a hundred names on the list, along with which tribes they were from.
"Some of these nobles provided multiple favors, but I found it best to list them in chronological order." Werner explained as Dante read down the list of names.
"Werner, I was gone for five days! What happened?" Dante lowered the list to look at Werner. He was expecting accessories and equipment for his party, maybe a few donations for the growing village, but nothing like this.
Werner smiled. "Most of these favors are actually from a proposal Jaralis put forward."
Jaralis! What did you do!? And why did Eclair agree!?
"…And this proposal was…?"
"It was in regards to your activities in Melromarc recently." Werner explained, never losing his smile. "We did receive a message shortly after your departure, demanding Siltvelt turn you over to face judgement for your crimes. Part of our response was to remind Melromarc that they not only slandered our god's name, but summoned all four Cardinal Heroes without permission. Additionally, the Bow Hero was in the process of capturing a survivor of Ronota. We also explained how Othil, Faubrey, and Zeltoble had positive relations with you, so any action on Melromarc's part would incur their own responses. Not to mention the fact that Siltvelt has the Claw Hero, and you've already had good dealings with the Whip Hero and Hammer Hero."
Dante nodded along. "Sounds like peace through superior strength to me. How does that tie in with the favors?"
"Jaralis proposed, as a way to shame Melromarc in their indifference to the demi-human settlements there, that the village Lord Shield is rebuilding could also house freed slaves. It would show that Lord Shield is indeed seeking peace during these dire times. Lady Eclair agreed as well."
Dante wanted to object, but it was a little late. Besides, he saw the look on Werner's face. It was a look that said "This is to help fix a problem you caused (respectful)." It was also probably a good thing that Jaralis and Eclair agreed on something like this.
"…That seems reasonable." Dante sagged as he spoke.
"I'm glad you agree, Lord Shield." Werner beamed.
"Just…hold off on any more of that for now."
"As you wish."
So, this is how I die. Never thought I'd go this way. I always figured I'd get shot…oh, wait.
To be fair, Dante was pretty fortunate he didn't receive that many favors before, so he didn't have to try and play catch up. It was just hitting all at once. The amount wasn't all that surprising to him either. Owning a slave held less prestige than having a child of the Shield Hero, after all.
"Now that that's done, I'll head to the church to get my hand looked at." Dante gestured with his missing fingers.
"I'll have a carriage prepared immediately." Werner sent off a servant.
Within minutes, the five members of Dante's party headed off to the church. Once there, Dante saw the head healer. Unfortunately, when she looked at his hand, she couldn't do anything for him. The entire arm was too strange and foreign to her, likely from being designed with a curse in mind. She would have been able to reattach his fingers, but not grow new ones.
After that, they were taken to the village. It was a slower ride than if Dio or JoJo pulled the carriage, but that was fine. It was still time Dante could spend going over his fire tome.
Or thinking of how to chew out Eclair.
It wasn't that freeing slaves was bad, or that the arrangement didn't hold merit. Dante had caused a few too many problems. It was the fact that she let it get this bad.
With more favors that are sure to be coming in, it'll take months to clear the books at my current rate. Just because I don't need as much sleep now doesn't mean I don't like to rest.
Once they arrived at the village, they were greeted by a sea of green. Numerous camping plants were arranged around the land. With evening already upon them, the village wasn't too hectic, even with the recent rebuilding. The biggest source of activity came running at them.
"Papa!" Dio called, a number of children riding on her back.
"Dad!" JoJo ran up with her, a similar number of children with him. "Big Bro!"
"Hey kids, and other kids." Dante waved as they approached. Looking them over, he saw both humans and demi-humans mixed together on each filolial. "I see you two are having fun."
"There are so many kids we get to play with!" JoJo enthused, with Dio nodding along.
"I'm glad to hear that." Dante smiled. The kids in question looked at Dante curiously, but there didn't seem to be much fear from the humans. There were more of them than demi-human kids, but with all the favors, that was expected.
"Papa, did you have fun in the forest?" Dio asked.
"It was certainly exciting." Dante answered. He kept his left hand hidden to not upset his kids, or the other children with them. "Say, do you know where Eclair is? I need to talk with her."
"Berry's been using that house." Dio pointed to one of the houses near the center with her wing. It was one next to a rather large camping plant, likely what would be the governor's manor by the look of it.
"Thanks. Now, run along and play. We can catch up later."
"Okay!" With a wave, Dio ran off.
"Bye Big Bro! Bye Big Sis!" JoJo joined her right after.
Well, I guess that's one concern taken care of. I was curious how the people of Reichnott's lands and former slaves would interact, but I guess it can't be too bad.
"How about you guys?" Dante turned to his current party. "Anyone want to go play too?"
"We aren't kids." Fohl crossed her arms and turned her head to the side.
"Three of you were until recently, Big Sis." Dante pointed out with a laugh. Fohl grumbled under her breath, but Dante could see the beginning of a smile on her face. "Anyway, go ahead and relax for a little. I'll go talk with Eclair and we can meet back up in a bit. We'll deal with my larger problem in the morning."
"Can't I come with you, Mister Dante?" Atla asked, stepping forward.
"Atla, you can't!" Fohl protested.
"Go get a feel of the village's layout. We'll probably be spending as much time here as the capital." Dante said.
"Understood." Atla proceeded to scout out the area, with Fohl tailing right behind her.
Likewise, Keel wanted to explore the new village. Reiko wanted to stay around at least one person from the party, so he joined him. That left Dante to confront Eclair.
As he walked down the path, he saw a few people outside of their homes. The humans waved to him with trepidation, seeming to know who he was. The demi-humans, on the other hand, were much happier to see him. He waved back to all of them.
Well, there doesn't seem to be any real separation of humans and demi-humans. Their homes seem to be placed without any care of that. I wonder if that was Eclair's idea, or if Fiadia was involved. I'll have to see how she's doing after I'm done here.
With a slam, Dante threw open the door. "Eclair, what the hell have you…been…"
What he saw was far removed from his expectations. Eclair was indeed in the house, but she wasn't alone. Raphtalia was inside with her, in her demi-human form. There wasn't much to the house, other than a single makeshift bed. In that bed is where he found the two women. Eclair's pink hair hung down, draping over Raphtalia as she held herself above the tanuki woman. A single sheet was all that separated most of them from Dante's view.
The pair stared at Dante, unable to speak. Dante blinked a couple times to make sure his vision was accurate.
"…You guys are busy. I'll come back later." Dante slowly closed the door as he left the house.
He took a few steps away from the camping plant, the sound of rushed movements growing fainter.
Hm. I suppose if enough assassins used poison on their weapons, even I might hallucinate after the fact. Or, more likely, those two are in a relationship.
"Oh, little Dante~." Sadeena called as she came near. "You're back so soon. Did you miss me that much~?"
"Sadeena." Dante looked over at the orca woman before turning to face the house again.
"Don't I get a welcome back kiss~?" She teased.
Chuckling, Dante turned back around and gave her just that. "Sorry. Just a little distracted."
"Hm?" Sadeena gazed where Dante was looking and her smile grew. "Oh my~. I guess you found out."
"Yeah…" Dante scratched the back of his head. "I was only gone a few days, right?"
"You were." Sadeena wrapped an arm around him. "But those two have been together for a while now."
"Really?" Dante found that hard to believe, but it wasn't as if he was really looking.
"I knew little Raphtalia was interested in girls before." Sadeena said. "She's had a crush on little Rifana for over a year."
"Ah." And now Rifana had a crush on him.
"Don't worry, little Dante." Sadeena said, sensing his next thought. "She and I talked about it. She had a childhood crush on her. Besides, when the Shield Hero sweeps in and saves their lives, it's hard to compete."
"A childhood crush." Dante repeated the phrase. Their 'childhood' only ended about two months ago. Still, he took her meaning.
What surprised him more was that not only was Eclair apparently gay, but she was interested in entering this kind of relationship. Knowledge from the books aside, she seemed far too focused on knightly duties to pursue something like this. In a way, it was kind of funny. Eclair had taken the place of Dante's moral compass before Raphtalia could even begin.
Romantic feelings aside, this had the additional benefit of discouraging action from Q'ten Lo. Raphtalia was with a woman and, thus, wouldn't be bearing any children with Lord Shield of Siltvelt. It didn't hurt that Eclair was basically a noble on the run with no lands at the moment. With a view like that, there was one less problem to worry about for the foreseeable future.
Dante felt his left arm get lifted. Sadeena held his hand between them, giving him a stern look. Stern for Sadeena, at any rate.
"Little Dante." She said in a serious voice.
"I'll explain what happened when I see Rat." He responded to her unsaid question. "First, I need to…well, I was going to chew out Eclair, but now I think I'm going to have a little fun."
Sadeena shook her head with a light laugh as the door to the camping plant opened. "Don't be too rough." She said, walking off.
Eclair and Raphtalia approached, both fully clothed now, and one of which looking more nervous than the other. Raphtalia seemed to fidget with her hands, while Eclair strode forward with purpose.
"Sir MacRory." Eclair stood in front of him, her face stoic.
"H-Hey, Dante." Raphtalia was behind Eclair, still in her demi-human form.
Dante nodded as he began. "I can see why I got so many favors. You realized how good sex was and wanted me to enjoy it more."
Raphtalia blushed at the statement, but Eclair merely closed her eyes.
"Or, you were so distracted by the act that you didn't pay attention to the number of favors coming in."
Raphtalia covered her ears, looking like she wished she could be anywhere else.
"Over 100 favors, Eclair. Seriously?"
Eclair took a breath before she responded. "In light of your recent actions in Melromarc, we thought this gesture would help keep the peace."
Dante pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, I heard the pitch from Werner. Still, you should—"
"Dante!" Raphtalia jumped out from behind Eclair. "Your hand!"
Dante looked down, realizing he used his left hand just then. "Don't change the subject." He said, pointing that same hand at them.
"Additionally," Eclair went on without acknowledging the distraction, "You yourself once mentioned not enjoying the practice of slavery. This act helps with both maintaining peace and moving toward your ideals. Or, would you rather they stayed as slaves?"
Dante smirked. "I can see someone's been practicing their political know-how." He looked around at the nearby humans, some of which were in earshot. "Obviously, freeing people from slavery is good. It's not like I'm going to try and put them back in chains or anything."
Eclair let out a breath. "Then this situation is acceptable?"
"Yeah, yeah." Dante sighed, rubbing his neck. "Just check with me before doing something like this again. We were prepared to start a village, not a town. Do we even have enough food and space for everyone?"
"That does require your attention." Eclair informed him. "Lady Fiadia decided to use what was supposed to be her manor as a temporary shelter for the large influx of freed slaves. Miss Rat was able to make more food bearing bioplants, but we've run out of the camping plants and she's having some difficulty making major adjustments to the seeds you left her."
"A problem I can easily handle. Good, I like those." Dante looked around. "I heard Rat was set up somewhere in the village. Take me to her and gather up the rest of the party. We'll see where we're all at then."
"Right this way, Sir MacRory." Eclair gestured, but Dante stopped her.
"You gather everyone. I want to have a quick word with Raphtalia."
"Eep!' Raphtalia made a noise at her mentioning.
Eclair gazed at her for a moment before turning back. "Of course, Sir MacRory." She gave Raphtalia a quick pat on her shoulder before heading off.
When the two of them were alone, the silence between them became louder. Probably for Raphtalia, at any rate. Dante simply stood there looking at her, the blush on her face growing by the second.
"Shall we?" Dante swept his hand forward.
"Y-Yes." Raphtalia began leading the way.
Dante kept pace with her, walking side by side. They were barely 10 steps away before Dante started in.
"I know I said to watch over her, but this isn't what I meant." He joked.
"Do you have to!?" Raphtalia shouted, her blush in full force.
"Well, I was going to lay into Eclair, but after seeing you two, I wanted to tease her instead. Since that didn't work out…" Dante shrugged. "Besides, I've gotten my fair share of teasing from you, haven't I?"
Raphtalia hung her head down as she walked. "Go ahead…"
"I see we both like older women. Of course, that's more relative for me. They're both handy with their weapons, so there's that. And their bodies too. I guess we both like fit, long-haired women. Just curious, has Eclair ever picked you up and carried you? Under the right circumstances, it can be either really romantic or really erotic."
"I changed my mind! Please stop!" Raphtalia covered her face with her hands. It had turned beet red in such a short amount of time.
"Hold on, I have a few more." Dante continued on all the way to Rat's lab.
~The Wrong Hero~
Once Dante was done messing with Raphtalia, he got with Rat about his hand. She was less than pleased to see he couldn't go a week without damaging her work. The bad news was not only would replacing the fingers be more work than it was worth, but this wasn't a problem she could easily fix. To make the arms adaptable to Dante's curse, other aspects had to be forsaken. They wouldn't break down on their own under normal circumstances, but major damage like that couldn't be repaired, even with healing magic. It was an acceptable compromise for Dante, so he simply had her replace the entire arm. Reiko worked in a Full Metal Alchemist reference when he saw that.
On a lighter note, the village had been operating smoothly, despite the higher than expected resident count. Within a day, Fiadia had opted to accept being recognized as a noble. Running a village really appealed to her once she was in the middle of it. Where Dante had expected trouble with freed human slaves and demi-humans attacked in their last village, there was some tension to start with. Fiadia put Dio and JoJo in charge of helping cohesion. Meaning, she had them play with the children of both races together to show everyone things would be fine here. Without his knowing, Dio and JoJo had even started picking up Siltvelt's language.
As for the rifle user they came across in the North Ferret Forest, Dante relayed his concerns. If this was Takt, he might be looking to claim a holy or vassal weapon for himself. He was high leveled and had a good weapon, but there was no evidence yet of him having a harem of women to do his work for him. That rifle might be all he had, or he might have other weapons.
That led into what to do about the assassination attempts. The next morning, Dante went to Faubrey to deal with that. He brought along Raphtalia, Sadeena, Dio, and JoJo for the task. The directions he got from Siltvelt led them straight to Faubrey's branch of the Dark Guild.
They really took to the whole idea of it being an underground guild, as the base of operations was indeed underground. Dante was able to get his party in with his membership and met with one of the people responsible for posting jobs. Dante asked who paid for the job, but the clerk wasn't willing to divulge that information. That was where the party found themselves now.
"This can stop if you tell me what I want to know." Dante said, his foot on top of the guild clerk.
"Y-You'll be kicked out for this!" The clerk cried.
"Don't care." Dante pressed harder, eliciting another cry from him.
It wasn't as if the other members stood around and just let it happen. It was more that there wasn't anything they could do. Even before Dante asked about the job, the people in the guild were looking at him like he was made of pure gold. Needless to say, the moment Dante started trouble, they wanted to step in and claim the reward. Two things stopped them.
The first was that everyone in Dante's party transformed into their battle forms. Two large therianthropes and two royal filolials weren't people to attack recklessly. The second, more imposing problem was Dante himself. While this branch of the guild was underground, there was plenty of room all around. The ceiling was incredibly tall, large enough to fit a tall dragon there. Because of that, Dante decided to use a shield he only tested out once before.
With the Titanic Ogre Shield equipped, Dante grew to the largest size he could, standing nearly three times his normal height. His strength and attack saw a large increase, but his agility tanked dramatically. He wasn't too concerned about taking hits, so that was fine.
"Someone, either here or in Zeltoble, put out a hit on me, the Shield Hero." Dante leaned a little closer to the clerk. "I want to know who it was. If you don't tell me, I'll crush you and ask the next person in charge."
"Okay, okay, I'll talk!" The clerk gasped out.
"Good." Dante removed his oversized foot from the man.
With air more easily flowing into his lungs, the clerk had the other members back off. Dante's party transformed back as well.
"Follow me." He waved the party forward, leading them further back in the guild.
"Try anything funny and I'll crush your neck instead." Dante threatened.
"I-I got it!"
They were led to a well maintained room with bookshelves and a writing desk, as well as a table with a few chairs. A handsome looking man sat at the desk, writing away. He looked up at their entrance.
"This is Sir Shield Hero and his party." The clerk nervously said. "He wishes to discuss the bounty placed on him."
The man at the desk sighed and set down his quill. "I just knew something like this was bound to happen. Please, take a seat."
The clerk quickly scurried off as Dante and his party sat down.
"I am the current leader of Faubrey's Dark Guild. As you are likely aware, the guild accepts many requests of this nature." The leader explained. "Targeting a hero has happened in the past, but only at the main branch in Zeltoble, and never one of the Cardinal Heroes."
"I'm not particularly interested in a history lesson right now." Dante said. "I want to know who paid to have me killed, and to have the job taken down."
"Of course." The leader nodded, opening a draw and rustling around a few papers. "Normally, I wouldn't entertain the idea of posting a job like this, but the rewards were too great."
"Rewards?" Dante asked.
"Yes." The leader pulled out several sheets of paper from the drawer before standing. "Three separate individuals placed a bounty on you."
Under the circumstances, it wasn't too surprising. He did make a few enemies in this world.
"Huh. Well, let's have them." Dante held out his hand and received the sheets. With one look, he passed them back. "I can't read that language."
The leader looked them over before starting. "While we didn't get any names, we did write down a description of who made the payments."
When the first person was described to Dante, nothing stood out about him. None of the others with Dante found him to be familiar either. He could very well have been a middleman for whoever actually wanted Dante dead. Given that this one was posted a few days after the wave in Lute, Dante had a decent idea who it was. It was even more obvious, since this was the only one that specified killing Dante's party before him.
That spiteful old man. If I do end up needing to kill Malty, I think I'll do it right in front of him.
"The second posting was from a beautiful woman with striking red hair." The leader said.
"That's…" Dante sighed when he heard the description.
"Far too obvious~." Sadeena laughed. Raphtalia nodded in agreement.
As if Malty herself would do something like that. I mean, maybe if she were dumber, but she seems too clever for something so stupid.
The three of them concluded it was someone posing as Malty, likely a shadow. Dante and Sadeena saw firsthand how easily they could change how they appeared. Since they went to the length of impersonating her, they must not have thought Dante would be killed.
"That one was posted over a week ago. This next one came in just a couple days later. He kept his face well hidden, but the clerk on duty saw a necklace with the symbol of the Three Heroes Church around his neck, as well as priest robes underneath his cloak."
Dante paused at hearing that. He looked at Sadeena and Raphtalia, who were similarly shocked.
If that…If the church is trying to frame Malty, then who…
There was an obvious answer, but it came with too many questions. Did Malty really have someone impersonate a Three Heroes Church member? Did she also think the assassination attempts would fail, and Dante would hunt down those responsible? Dante did tell Melty to warn Malty about the church, but that was the day after that wave. Why now? Could it really have taken so long?
He was blessed not to have to think about what everyone in Melromarc was planning, but it seemed things were rearing up again.
After that, Dante had the leader dissolve the request and spread the word that it was cancelled. He also made sure the leader understood, in no uncertain terms, he'd be back if they were put back up again.
With his threat made, Dante and his party left the guild and returned to the capital. Dante had agreed to see the first group of women on the list after he got things settled.
"Lord Shield!"
The instant they returned, a maid was waiting for them in Dante's room.
"I have a message from Lord Werner. Your presence is requested immediately."
"Is something the matter?" Dante asked her.
"There's…a guest waiting for you on top of the castle." She answered hesitantly.
"A guest?" Dante questioned.
"Yes, Lord Shield. Please, this way."
The maid led them out of the room and quickly down the hall, informing another servant to find Werner. Once they reached the door leading to the battlements, Dante could see a number of knights positioned along the side. After quickly climbing the stairs, Dante understood the issue.
A large, red dragon stood in the center of the castle's landing.
"Dragon!" JoJo called out, transforming at once.
"Stop!" Dante put his hand in front of his son, stopping him from charging forward.
"But Papa!" Dio complained, ready to rush forward as well.
"Stay put. I mean it." Dante walked forward, approaching the dragon.
The knights looked ready to charge as well, but Dante told them to sheathe their weapons and stand down. They reluctantly did so, but still remained on guard. The dragon lowered its head slightly, bringing back its legs. Dante stopped and looked up at it.
The dragon's front claws dug into the stone floor and lunged forward. Dante fell on his back, the dragon standing over him. In one swift motion, it brought its head down on him…
And began to lick Dante's face.
"Aw, I missed you too!" Dante laughed, scratching around the dragon's neck.
"Gau!" The dragon continued its assault.
"Papa, no!" Dio cried out, falling to her knees.
Sadeena simply laughed at her antics, patting her on her head.
"Is that…one of the dragons from the mountain?" Raphtalia gazed over its length.
"You bet he his! Look at how much he's grown!" Dante held the dragon's large head in his hands. "Just what have you been eating?"
"Gau!" The dragon smiled at his praising.
"Lord Shield!" Werner had flown up the stairs and was looking down at the display before him.
"Hey, Werner." Dante patted the dragon, having him move back so Dante could stand. "I take it this is my guest?"
"Er, yes, Lord Shield." Werner landed next to him, looking between the two. "How do you know this…dragon?"
"He's one of Gaelion's children." Dante explained, continuing to pet the larger dragon. "He was also the best at finding parts for me to absorb into my shield while I was there. That means he got to eat the most food, doesn't it?"
"Gau!" The dragon puffed up his chest.
"Thank you for not attacking it on sight." Dante said.
"We would have, if it didn't have that shield over its chest." Werner explained. The shield in question looked just like Dante's original shield, the one used in the church and all the statues around the city. "It was circling the sky outside the city before going above the castle. One of our fliers noticed the shield on it and got it to land here."
Werner pulled a scroll from within his sleeve and presented it to Dante.
"Apologies, but I read the message that was intended for you." Werner said with a bow. "I had to be sure this wasn't some sort of trick."
"No problem." Dante unfurled the offered scroll. The writing was in Melromarc's language. Dante's expression turned grim. "Well, that's troubling."
"What is it?" Raphtalia asked as she approached.
"It seems someone took Wyndia and is forcing Gaelion into servitude." Dante explained.
"Oh my." Sadeena looked down at Dio and JoJo, who seemed to have realized what that meant.
"What are you going to do, Lord Shield?" Werner asked.
"Obviously, I'm going to kill the son of a bitch who thinks he can use someone's daughter as a hostage." He was angry, but not as much as he thought he'd be, especially given his curse and all the terrible things that seemed to keep happening around him. That this and other problems were so killable made for a great source of stress relief.
Werner looked like he was about to object, but Dante's views on family have clearly shown him that would be pointless. "What about the women who are waiting for you?"
"Hmm. I still need to wait for my cooldown to expire. Fine, I'll deal with them first. And at night, bring in two groups. I'll return then to start working down that list."
Werner bowed and left, taking the knights with him.
Dante turned to the others. "Go head back to the village. I'll teleport with this big boy here to Reichnott's estate when I can and fly from there. It should be much faster than flying from Siltvelt, and I doubt I'll see any trouble in destroyed lands before we get airborne."
"Be careful all the same, little Dante." Sadeena said.
"I always am." Dante replied with a slight smirk. "Once I drop a portal marker at Gaelion's place and get a better idea of the situation, I'll return to the village. It should only be a few days."
The travelling would likely be the longest and most troublesome part of this adventure. Dante doubted whoever was holding Wyndia would be too dangerous, despite the fact they stole from a dragon. If they were looking to get themselves killed, they picked the right people to piss off.
Author's Notes:
Eclair had fun with Dante's credit card. Next chapter has something stupid/funny. I've thought a long time about this, and now all of you must bear with it. If anyone's read any of Aneko's "other" works, you won't be too surprised.
Have a merry Christmas, or other nondenominational gift-giving holiday!