Review Responses:

LegacySpellsword: You're not nitpicky, it is a gag, and I've been milking it for all it's worth. Not really a spoiler, but it won't be here for much longer.

Chapter 51 – Downward Spiral

The heavy wind that had been blowing around him stopped. The smell of salt filled the air.

"Little Dante?" Sadeena called.

"What? Oh…" It hadn't really connected for Dante that they made it to the coast. While Korokan wasn't a coastal village, it wasn't too far away. Less than 20 minutes riding Dio or JoJo.

"Is everything alright?" She asked.

"It's nothing." Dante got off of JoJo.

After learning about that woman in Siltvelt, they all came back to the village. Dante figured Werner didn't really need him there, so he told him to handle the prisoners. After that, they needed to start earning XP.

"We need to start leveling again." He said. "I'll lower some of your levels back to one and—"

"You already said that." Keel told him.

"Oh…right." He'd forgotten he explained the plan to all of them in the village.

Dante used the Whip method to lower Dio, Raphtalia, and Sadeena. With him, JoJo, and Keel still high level, they shouldn't have any problems with the monsters in the ocean.

"You three, wear these." Dante pulled three Penguin Kigurumis from his shield and handed them to Dio, Raphtalia, and Keel.

"Do we have to?" Raphtalia asked, looking at the oversized suit.

"They give good stats and will let you stay underwater longer." Dante explained. "It's just in case you get separated from me while we're down there."

He had his Bubble Shield skill to provide air for everyone, but it was safer this way. The three of them put on the kigurumis. It was strange watching them shrink down to fit Keel and Dio better, who were in their therianthrope and human forms, respectively.

"It feels heavy." Keel commented. There must have been a level requirement for the equipment.

"Once you get enough levels, you'll be able to move around fine. The stats you got from all those sacrificed levels should help for now. Afterwards, you'll be able to do this safely without me."

"Little Dante, are you sure you're okay?" Sadeena asked, losing a bit of her joking tone. "You're repeating yourself again."

"…Yeah, it's nothing." Dante slowly nodded.

He didn't tell anyone what he heard in Siltvelt. The others agreed not to mention anything, though they were reluctant. Dante told them he wanted to get his thoughts sorted before talking about it.

"We'll level as much as we can before I need to head out." Dante had to get to the first towns tonight and save the locations for tomorrow's parade. He'd add a couple points to his portal skill so he wouldn't need to overwrite any saved locations. Even before that, he had to return to Faubrey for a bit.

"Boo! Then Mama will ride on a dragon!" Dio pouted, puffing up her cheeks.

"I don't want Mom to smell like a dragon!" JoJo shared her expression, though as a filolial king.

Dante smiled softly at the pair. "That's adorable."

"Boo!" It wasn't often that they were upset about something like this, and he couldn't recall if they ever made those sorts of faces. They might have at Gaelion's mountain before.

"It won't be so bad." Dante patted Dio on her head.

"But Mom, you're gonna hatch a dragon too!" JoJo protested.

"It's just something I have to do." Dante reasoned, scratching around JoJo's neck. Truthfully, he was going to hatch it anyway, but the public display was expected.

"I don't like it." Dio grumbled.

"Don't be like that." Dante lightly chided. "It's to help stop people from attacking the village. You don't want more bad people to show up, right?"

"We can beat them up!" JoJo flexed his wings.

"But you can't always be there." Dante pointed out. "It'll be safer this way. Don't you want it to be safer there for the other kids?"

"I guess…" Dio admitted.

"Good." Dante gave her head a few more pats before stopping. Instead, he dropped to one knee and wrapped her in a hug.

"Me too!" JoJo transformed and latched onto Dante's side, letting his arm wrap around JoJo too.

"Mama's extra hug-y today!" Dio happily hugged back.

One of the first things Dante did when he returned to the village was find his kids and hold them close. He wasn't exactly distant with physical contact, but he realized he could do that more.

"Thanks for being understanding. Once I'm done with all the parades, we'll do something fun." Dante promised.

"Hunting is fun, Mom." JoJo said, still stuck to Dante's side.

"Then, after I get back today, I'll cook up something tasty with the monsters we fight."

"Yay!" Dio and JoJo both cheered.

Breaking from the embrace, Dante stood up. "Let's get started." He cast Zweite Aura on everyone and prepared to enter the ocean.

"Little Dante." Sadeena whispered next to him. "Please tell me what's wrong."

Dante hesitated. "I will. Eventually."

He didn't want to think about it. He basically lied to the others. If he had any choice, Dante would continue ignoring the problem indefinitely. That wasn't a good solution by any stretch, but it was better than facing what could very well become reality.

~The Wrong Hero~

The monsters stood little chance against the three still leveled people. Even with their levels reduced, Raphtalia, Dio, and Sadeena were more than a match against anything they came across, especially with Dante's Aura spell up. Even though she wasn't as familiar with these waters, Sadeena was able to find plenty of monsters to fight. They didn't go too deep for any of the stronger ones. By the end of it, they had greater gains then the last time Sadeena fought in the ocean back in Melromarc, nearly two-thirds the way to a class up.

Once they returned to the village, Dante went to Rat for a checkup. She examined him and asked him questions, though they didn't really stick in his mind. She did seem to sense his mood and asked him about it, but he brushed her off. The conclusion was that the curse hadn't progressed any, just like Rat hypothesized. She gave him a potion to try, but it had no effect. Dante floated the idea of getting one of those Belts of Revelry Khana mentioned, but Rat was already familiar with it. While similar, the effect wasn't a curse in nature, so she wouldn't be able to use it. The potions wouldn't help for a similar reason, plus not having most of the hard-to-get ingredients.

Dante hadn't given much thought to how he'd use Rishia and Elvira. For now, he had Rishia stick with Eclair, if for no other reason than they were both nobles in Melromarc. Dante had forgotten that bit about Rishia before. As for Elvira, she stuck with Fiadia. The rabbit woman was more than experienced in governing, but Elvira's more current knowledge of Siltvelt's politics would help.

One thing Dante put on his list of things to do was take Fiadia and Rat out to level and get class ups eventually. Just in case anyone else decided to attack the village.

~The Wrong Hero~

Dante had to at least attend the opening ceremony of the celebration in Faubrey, and meet with some of the knights and adventurers. It was likely to last throughout this night too. He arrived a little earlier to meet with the king, along with the other heroes, to receive his reward.

Dante didn't pay much attention to what the others asked for or received. When it was his turn, the king actually waved him closer to the throne. He kept his voice down as he spoke to Dante.

"Maybe you'd like another taste of my niece before I have my fill, after you get cured that is. Or, we could have some fun with her together."

The words made Dante's skin crawl. It didn't help that the king licked his lips when he was done speaking. The disgust was almost a welcome distraction from his thoughts.

In the end, Dante declined the king's proposal. Instead, he asked the king to send out spies and investigators to find out any information about Takt, or whatever he was called here. Takt had some connection to the Dark Guild, that much Dante was aware of.

The party itself wasn't that noteworthy. It was mostly the same as yesterday's. Khana tried getting Dante to eat another rucolu fruit, but he wasn't having it. He made small talk with the people who came up to him, and that was about it. Lloyd seemed pretty out of his element, and Conrad left as soon as he could. He seemed to be in a bad mood, possibly still thinking about what Iaoth said to him.

~The Wrong Hero~

The last stop Dante had was back at Siltvelt's castle. He was to take one of their flying dragons to the sites of the parades for tomorrow so he could teleport in. A rider would take him there.

Before that, Werner spoke with him about the demi-humans that attacked the village. Less than half were from prestigious families, and most of those had donated slaves to the village. Dante would let Werner sort all that out.

However, there were two knights whose families weren't that high up, but Werner asked to have their sentences reduced. The reason he gave shook Dante.

"The emissaries sent to find you were members of their families. When their bodies were returned to us…"

Their corpses were mangled beyond almost all recognition. It was around the time Dante left for the North Ferret Forest. Werner had decided not to inform Dante about it, since he already had enough going on. Dante had to agree. If he was told, he might have gone to Melromarc and done something stupid.

Dante agreed to Werner's request and left the final punishments up to him. He didn't want to think about family any more than he already was. Dante left for the dragon stables and met with the rider, setting off for the first town.

~The Wrong Hero~

Even though it was over an hour long, the ride felt rather quick. The whole day passed by pretty fast. He met with the town governors and got the schedule for tomorrow before teleporting back to the village.

Night was approaching, but he had one last thing to do for the day. The monsters the party hunted earlier were prepared for him to cook. Using the manor's kitchen, Dante absentmindedly started cooking them. Sadeena came by to help out, but he didn't interact much beyond asking for ingredients to add. She tried once more asking what was wrong, but Dante didn't want to talk about it. She left it alone after that.

Dinner passed by quickly as well. Dante could barely follow along with the conversations that were happening. The only thing that really stuck out was the occasional noise from Rishia. She always cut herself off right after making it. Elvira mentioned again how it was an honor to serve him, which he blandly nodded to.

When he went to bed with Sadeena, she simply held onto him. Dio and JoJo had likely sensed his mood and joined them. It was a small comfort having them all close.

~The Wrong Hero~

Dante's night was anything but restful. His thoughts didn't leave him, even when he did manage to fall asleep. Dreams of his unborn children fighting one another plagued him throughout the night.

There were only a couple tasks in the early morning before teleporting out. Namely, making breakfast for his party and getting checked out by Rat. He made breakfast for them before seeing her, skipping it himself. Her analysis was the same as yesterday, as was her cure attempt. She asked about how he was doing again, likely seeing his worn out expression. He said he was fine and dropped the topic.

One other thing he asked her about was the trumpet they collected from the dead angel. To her, the stats on it were mostly incomprehensible. She thought there were a couple things she could gleam from it, but magic items were outsider her expertise. Dante would have to bring it to someone who dealt with accessories or equipment. If he couldn't find someone in Siltvelt, he'd try Erhard, eventually. With that, he left the lab, the dragon egg secured to his back.

"Alright, I'm heading out." He told his party, them having finished eating. "I don't expect to be back until tonight." They already knew what they needed to do, so Dante didn't say any more. He was trying not to repeat himself, lest they worry.

"Shouldn't someone go with you?" Rifana raised her paw as she spoke. "Otherwise, you'll be by yourself during the parade."

"That's alright." Dante shook his head. "It's more important that everyone is prepared. We don't know what will happen in the next wave."

He was speaking about the wave after Melromarc's. Dante was pretty sure Glass would show up there, since Melromarc's last wave was the same as he remembered. While he couldn't remember exactly how powerful she was—or guess at how powerful she'd be in comparison to them—he was confident he could talk things out at the very least.

"But keeping you safe is important, too." Atla added. "I'd be more than happy to be with you."

"You and your sister definitely shouldn't go." The point of the parade was to ease tensions. He could easily see taking a hakuko having the opposite effect, especially since they were a more warrior-like race.

"What about me?" Keel asked. "I already have all the power ups, and my level is pretty high."

"That…hm." Dante had to admit, Keel had point. He was able to raise his level a good amount from both the wave and from their hunting yesterday. And, honestly, Dante did want someone to help distract him. "Alright, you can come."

"Yes!" Keel pumped a fist.

"Oh my~. Keep a close eye on little Dante, little Keel~." Sadeena said.

"Will do!" Keel barked out before standing next to Dante.

~The Wrong Hero~

The event was less of a parade and more of a glorified tour of the town. People were lined up on the sides of the streets, watching as Dante passed. They came in from the nearby villages for the day to see him. He rode on something like a carriage with a seat on top of the hood. The seat itself didn't have a back or armrests, allowing Dante to be viewed at all angles.

His job was simple: smile and wave. The waving was easy, but he had to force himself to smile for most of it. The dragon egg was set in his lap with a band around it to help keep it secured to him. He looked every bit like a warrior woman carrying her child.

He hated every moment of it.

He hoped the parade would help distract him, but it felt more like a constant reminder. Even knowing the theme of the parade, he hoped this.

Keel wasn't able to distract him too much either. He wasn't allowed to sit next to Dante, but he was allowed next to the driver of the carriage-float. Decked out in his armor and twin swords, he looked the part of a bodyguard. Not that it was really necessary, since any attack against Dante would fail. Plenty of knights walked alongside them.

Of course, that didn't mean people didn't attempt something. When a group did, Dante pointed out where any arrows or spells came from and Keel rushed off to take care of them. The few dumb enough to attack on foot were easily stopped by the knights.

Once the parade was over, Dante again met with the officials of the town. It was mostly an exchange of pleasantries and voices of admiration. Nobles also came to greet him, and the townsfolk could be close enough when he walked around the town square. A few couples asked for his blessing, either for a baby they carried in their arms, or ones still in the womb. Dante had to hold back a grimace when that happened.

The two of them teleported to the next town to repeat the process.

"Apologies, Lord Shield, but there has been a delay." The governor of this town told him. "Please wait while we correct this."

Thankful, Dante took a seat on a couch in the governor's home. Maids brought snacks and refreshments before leaving them to relax.

"How're you doing?" Keel asked, sitting next to him.

"Exhausted." Dante slumped over, the egg to his other side. "And there's still another parade after this one."

The next few days were booked. After that, the large settlements were far enough away that there'd be only one parade per day. Until then, it would be hell.

"Hey, uh…" Keel fidgeted in his seat. "I don't always know what's going on, but I have a pretty good idea. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I really don't." Dante sighed.

There was nothing to gain from it. He knew he wouldn't feel any better from it.

"Okay." Keel nodded before turning silent.

Dante sat there for a moment. "…You can talk."

"About what?" Keel asked, looking up at him.

"Anything." Dante desperately needed a distraction.

He was thankful to Keel for coming. While they couldn't really talk during the parade, it was nice to have someone close. Everyone else had plenty of XP grinding to do.

"Alright. Um…" Keel thought of what to talk about. "How's your spell coming along?"

"Slowly." Dante answered.

Dante explained his problem. Figuring out how Drifa spells worked was something of an issue for him. Even after listening to Sadeena, Rifana, and a number of mages in Siltvelt, Dante still couldn't increase his spells' power. Specifically, Aura.

He wasn't entirely surprised by it. The basics of skills always came pretty easy to him. That's why he was able to learn Melromarc's language so quickly, and learn Faust Fire Shot in a more than reasonable time. He'd even gotten used to Siltvelt's writing. Of course, more advanced stuff was more difficult. The more technical or flowery parts of writing were more elusive, like the advanced spellbooks. It was always like that. With a few exceptions, he would always learn something new in school quickly, but he'd fall behind once it got more intricate.

On a whim, he and Eddy had tried out day trading once when they took a vacation from their regular thing. Dante took to it pretty easily, getting around half a day's pay at minimum wage. Eddy took longer, but he was able to make significantly more. Even after getting more experience, Dante wasn't able to earn much more than he already was. They both ended up dropping it, since there were better options for them.

In a similar vein, he had yet to cast cooperative magic, even with Sadeena. The puzzle that formed in his head to cast the spell seemed unsolvable. He wanted to blame it on his Curse of Wrath, but he couldn't do it even before reaching Siltvelt. Combo skills, on the other hand, were incredibly easy. That was likely because it was something like a built-in feature of his weapon.

Maybe I should try talking to Rishia about it. I don't know how much magic she already knows, but maybe having access to every attribute will give her some insight. Really, I need to figure out what I'm going to do with her. Elvira too.

They chatted for a bit before silence settled in again. Whatever the problem was, it was taking some time to fix. Slowly, Dante's thoughts began turning back to the issue in Siltvelt.

Before they could, he felt a weight on his lap. Keel sat there, having gone almost unnoticed by Dante.

"Keel?" Dante looked down at the dog boy.

"You can pet me." Keel said quietly.

"What?" Dante was sure he misheard him.

Keel looked over his shoulder, eyes somewhat down. "I know you want to. Go ahead."

"Are you sure?" Dante asked, his hand already subconsciously moving. "You told me you didn't want to be petted."

"I don't." Keel shook his head. "But, sometimes being a man means doing things you don't want to."

"Keel, that's not…" He obviously took Dante's words to heart, but it didn't feel right.

Keel went on. "Besides, you were looking better for a little bit, but then you looked sad again. I…want you to feel better, so…" He turned his face forward again.

"…Alright." Not about to reject Keel's resolve, Dante went ahead.

He placed his hand on the back of the dog boy's head. Keel shuddered for a moment before relaxing. Dante started scratching around his ear, feeling the fur in his hand.

"You doing okay?" Dante asked.

"…I'm fine." Keel responded. "It's…not as weird with you as a woman."

He didn't exactly sound fine, but Dante continued on. The act was really soothing to him, and he desperately needed it.

He went on for a few minutes, his mind wandering, but not to Siltvelt. This time it was about his party. Rifana was at the front.

I haven't really pet her all that much recently, except when I was a child. Really, she's been a bit more distant. Come to think of it, I think it was around the time she and the others had the sex talk with Sadeena that it started. Well, that was a lot to take in. It doesn't help that all this crazy crap has been going on. I'll have to check in on her soon, once I get myself sorted out. I should have sooner.

His thoughts returned to the moment, where he was still petting Keel. It was really nice of him to let Dante do that. He paused his petting and let his arm drift down. Leaning forward, he wrapped both arms around Keel.

"D-Dante!?" Keel shouted, alarmed.

"Sorry, it's just…thanks." Dante said to him.

"It's…fine." Keel relaxed in the embrace.

Dante held him there before speaking. "…I screwed up. I shouldn't have made that deal with Siltvelt. No, we shouldn't have gone to Siltvelt at all."

"But you were able to bring those people from that noble's lands there, and so many people are free now. Isn't that good?" Keel asked.

"Yeah, but…I guess I'm selfish like that." True, many slaves had their freedom now because Dante went to Siltvelt. It wasn't without cost. Weighing letting people stay in slavery against his unborn children potentially fighting and killing each other, well, it wasn't a hard choice to make. He knew the pragmatic choice, but he doubted any parent would choose what he did.

"One more thing." Dante said as he released Keel. "I am sorry about taking my joke with you so far before."

"Your joke?" Keel looked back at him. In response, Dante pointed to his displayed breasts. "O-Oh! Well, uh, it's okay…"

"I admit I like teasing, but I know when I go too far." Dante admitted.

"No, really, it's okay!" Keel asserted, before turning his head down a little. "I mean, I…liked it." He spoke that last part quietly.

Dante continued looking at him. Then, his mouth curved up into a small smile.

"Want to touch them again? This curse won't last forever." Dante asked.

Keel blushed. "I-I…"

"I'm not making fun of you." Dante said plainly, just in case Keel misunderstood. "You can if you want to."

Keel shook his head nervously.

"Well, the offer stands. You've been more than helpful here."

A knock at the door startled them both. "Lord Shield, we're ready for you." A maid called out.

Keel quickly hopped off Dante's lap. With the egg re-strapped to Dante, he was ready for the next parade. His mood did drop at the thought of it, though, and he was already missing petting Keel. But, if the dog boy allowed it, he could make it to the next break between parades. It felt like that was his only solace.

~The Wrong Hero~

They repeated the process for the next two towns. Dante would sit on whatever was prepared for him and Keel would either sit with the driver or walk next to it. In between towns, they would take a short break and Keel let Dante pet him again as they absentmindedly chatted. Fortunately, there were no more attacks that day.

After that, Dante sent Keel back to the village and changed his clothes. The dragon rider was waiting to take him to the next set of towns to save before teleporting himself. That, too, left Dante alone with his persistent thoughts.

When he did return to the village, Dante didn't interact much with his party. Exhausted from the long day, he went to bed soon after arriving. The next day was similar to the first. After getting checked out by Rat, Dante used the Whip method on JoJo, Rifana, and Eclair. Then, he brought Dio, Raphtalia, and Sadeena to get there class upgrades in the capital. The three rode back to the village, leaving Dante and Keel to teleport to the next town.

From there, it was rinse and repeat. Dante would make it through the parade and relax with Keel in between. Even though they were the same length, the parades felt even longer. Every time a pregnant woman asked for his blessing, his heart ached more.

At one point, Keel acted a bit rudely with one of the people. Dante asked him about it, but Keel said they probably wouldn't understand what he was saying anyway. It occurred to Dante that most of the nobles he spoke with were probably speaking in Melromarc's language, at least in the capital when he had his party with him. It was pretty considerate. Here, he realized Keel couldn't even speak with most of the people around them. Keel was fine with it, saying he wasn't there for them.

As the day stretched on, Dante felt less and less aware of his surroundings. The cheering citizens became noise to his ears. The downtime felt insufficient. During the third parade, he was tempted to escape with his portal skill, but fought off the urge. He was even hoping another disgruntled group would try attacking him, but no one did.

By the third day, Dante basically let his body act on its own. He was vaguely aware of the people around him, but paid little attention to the goings-on. More than once, Keel had to nudge him to interact properly.

That was only for the first parade. The second parade seemed to pass much more quickly. It was almost as if Dante went through it all and forgot most of it. Even the break escaped his recollection.

The third was a blur of faces and scenery. Dante's head felt like it was spinning, but his body seemed to know what to do. Evening came before he knew it.

When he reached the dragon rider, his body moved weirdly. It was as if he was moving through water. He managed to get on the dragon and they took off.

The wind blew through his hair as he swayed on the dragon. Despite that, he remained in the seat. Even barely aware, he was sure he should have fallen off. That was when he noticed arms around his midsection. When he looked back, he realized Keel was still with him. He was in his demi-human form, holding Dante in his seat.

Something's wrong…

Dante could barely think straight. The thoughts seemed to take time to form, since they had already landed.

The two of them got off the dragon, but Dante couldn't walk straight. Keel was holding him up. He saw his mouth move, but the words were garbled.

Something's wrong…

The thought repeated in his mind.

What's he saying? I don't understand. The rider's saying something too, now. There's more people. They're saying something too. Keel's loud. He keeps smacking my shield. He's saying something. Is it…'home'?

Dante realized what he meant and activated his shield's skill.

They disappeared from sight and reappeared in the village. It was getting really dark, but the sun hadn't even reached the horizon yet. There weren't that many people around, either.

With one arm over something, Dante felt his body move. The smell of pine filled his nose. His body fell onto something soft. Then, there was coldness.

Where am I? What's happening?

He didn't know how long he felt lost.

His body didn't respond to him.

There was only darkness around him.

The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness…

There was a feeling of warmth against him.

It was the first time he felt truly calm in days.

Author's Notes:

Dante is not having a good time here.