Chapter 61 – What Lurks in the Shadows
Another day had come and gone. Another day closer to the next wave. Dante had spent the majority of yesterday riding on Lilith with Rifana.
Mirellia was likely somewhere west of Melromarc. Per Melty's previous communications with her, she knew Dante was headed to the east and would likely have gone to Siltvelt at some point. That just left the other direction to worry about countries raising arms against Melromarc. Dante still had Reichnott's territory saved in his portal locations and it was the closest to where Mirellia was probably headed. Rifana came just in case they needed to teleport back right away. That was for if Melromarc gave them any trouble, or if someone saw Dante leaving and decided it was a good time to start something.
They did not run into trouble the moment they appeared.
Lilith did not need to burn a few knights before they took off.
They were not attacked by soldiers either riding flying dragons of their own or grounded knights casting cooperative magic.
And, most certainly, a fort they passed by did not fire siege weapons at them.
On a completely unrelated note, ballista arrows were smaller than what Dante thought they'd be.
Once they returned to the village, Sadeena was passing by and saw them. It was hard to hide what happened from her. Not because she was good at deducing things from Rifana's expressions, given that she hid the truth poorly, but because Dante had an arrow stuck in the rear of his shoulder.
The three of them agreed not to bring any of this up to Melty. She had enough to be concerned about peace-wise without learning of more conflict between Dante and Melromarc. That was especially true since only elite knights had flying dragons for mounts. The only good news, aside from getting closer to Melromarc's western border, was that no one had died. Probably. A knight had fallen off his mount and Dante wasn't sure if another one caught him.
Rifana also got to spend a lot of time with Dante, and not all of it was in combat, so that was another good thing.
Other than that, nothing particularly exciting happened. Raphtalia went out to get more weapon forms with Sadeena. Dio and JoJo, though pouting about Dante riding on Lilith, played in the village with the children, including Melty. After resting a bit, Dante went back to Beloukas with Rifana to buy a few more children before returning quickly. He prioritized any sick ones, which thankfully there weren't many of.
While the village has been progressing nicely, there were still things he wanted to improve on. Food and trade were going well, thanks to the bioplant and Fiadia's management skills, but security was still lacking. A wall was the main thing. A wooden one was being constructed, since there was more than enough wood to be harvested from the nearby forest. Build points for his Territorial Reform skill were coming in slowly, but the cost to build a wall with it was ridiculously high.
Dante also went back to Siltvelt castle to fulfill his obligations, and suffer through Sadeena's torment. He also had another chat with Werner, one that they had been having more of recently. It was about selecting a wife, or wives, among the noble daughters presented to him about a month ago. Dante had been putting it off as much as he could, since he already had someone specific in mind to be his first wife, but Werner was beginning to stress the importance of it.
Finally, after returning to the village, it was time for another night of rest. Before he could, something popped up. He did offer to do this before, so he followed through on it, which led to the current day.
~The Wrong Hero~
Dante lay on his side in the bed, just as he had for the majority of the night. There was little he could do, outside of looking at shield forms in his status. He would reset this shield's Mastery level to use the energy on other shields later. While he could do it at any time, more energy was released the higher the Mastery level was. The additional value varied from shield to shield, so it wasn't always worth the wait, but Dante figured he might be using this shield more.
The reason he believed this was because he was serving as a body pillow at the moment.
The user of said body pillow had his arms wrapped around Dante's lower back. Two ears poked up in Dante's vision as the head they were attached to was pressed into Dante's chest, nestled in between the two present mounds.
A quick look out the window told Dante the sun was rising.
Well, as fun as this was, I have stuff to do.
Shieldfreeden's wave was tomorrow before noon, so they would need to go there today to make preparations. It was one of the locations lost in the Hammer when it went to Raphtalia. As such, they couldn't get there before.
"Time to wake up." Dante said, rocking the body next to him.
"Hrm…" With a groan, Keel looked up from his position. He looked into Dante's eyes, his own widening as a blush grew on his face.
"How is that your reaction?" Dante smirked at him.
"You promised you wouldn't make any jokes." Keel turned his head away.
"I'm not."
After they got back from the capital, Keel was waiting for them. He pulled Dante aside to ask for something privately. Given their current positions, it was obvious what the request was.
"So…I have questions." Dante leaned over the edge of the bed and grabbed their clothes.
"Do I have to answer them?" Keel asked quietly.
"Nah. Just curious." Dante handed Keel his.
Keel didn't say much the night before, aside from the request. Dante didn't ask questions then. He didn't even joke about it, as much as he wanted to.
With their legs still mostly entwined, the pair put their shirts on. They took turns with their lower parts, keeping in contact.
"I just…I'm trying to work out how I feel." Keel murmured.
"Did this help?" Dante slid over to the side while holding Keel's hand.
"I don't know…"
It wasn't hard to piece it all together. Aside from their growing friendship, Dante was the first person Keel had sex with. Forming an attachment was common, even if his body wasn't normally that of a woman's. Having sex a second time didn't help, and neither did being models for Ann.
"I'm not sure what you're expecting out of this, but I don't think you'll be satisfied." Dante stood from the bed, Keel standing taller next to him. "If it's just to take care of any urges, I'm fine with that. Surprisingly. But, if you want something more, something that normally comes from being with a woman, you know I can't give you that."
Keel's blush was back, but he simply nodded his head. It was too early to be seriously considering that for Keel, but at least he acknowledged it.
"Good. Let's get going then." Dante reached for the door, but Keel held him back.
"You're not going to start making jokes after we leave, are you?" Keel had his head turned down.
"I can resist the urge." Dante gave him a quick pat on the head. It wasn't as if he spent a good portion of the night thinking some up or anything.
He changed out his shield and reverted back before opening the door. The moment he did, two familiars floated into view. It was the same troublesome two that helped spy on the pair after the second time they were together.
"Come on, get over here." Dante gestured to himself. The orca and tiger familiars floated over, chirping out as they landed on Dante's hand. They transformed back into amulets and got stored behind his shield again.
The pair walked down the quiet halls of the manor. It didn't seem like anyone else in the party was up yet, giving Keel a small reprieve. Given Dante's more recent activities, Sadeena likely knew any jokes at Dante's expense would bear no fruit. That would make Keel the obvious target of attack. Against his budding instincts, Dante would try to mitigate any teasing directed at the dog boy.
They did eventually hear someone, though it wasn't a member of the party.
"Oh, Lord Dante. Good morning." Fiadia greeted them as they passed her open office.
"You're working early." Dante commented, seeing the papers spread out on her desk. "Or late."
"Early, Lord Dante." The rabbit woman confirmed. "Just going over progress reports for the village."
"Ah, good." He knew things were going well, so didn't ask anything more. "I'm about to start making breakfast, so be sure to get some later."
"I will, thank you." Fiadia gave him a nod, before perking up again. "Oh! Before I forget, Miss Rat came by last night after you retired for the evening."
"What for? It wasn't about one of the children, was it?" The resident alchemist-slash-doctor had been checking over them as they came in to see what additional treatment any of them would need.
Fiadia shook her head. "Nothing urgent, but she did seem a little off. She asked me to inform you the project you had her working on is complete."
"What project…oh~." A large smile grew on Dante's face.
"What did you do?" Keel tried taking a step back, but Dante's hold on his hand stayed strong.
"It's a surprise~." Dante sang out, leading Keel back down the hall. "Let's go there now!"
"I don't want to!" Keep pulled against Dante, but Dante's stats were far superior.
"Come on~." Dante dragged him all the way to the front door of the manor.
"Wait, wait! I don't want people to see us holding hands!" Keel begged.
"Hm." Dante paused. "Well, I guess I can see how that'd be embarrassing—for you."
Keel breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Alright, transform." Dante instructed him.
He did so immediately.
"So, here's the plan…" Dante leaned down to Keel, bringing up his hand to whisper. Keel tilted his head to the side.
In one swift motion, Dante scooped him up and held him under one arm.
"D-Dante!" Keel flapped around.
"See? Much less embarrassing." Dante pushed open the doors and began the walk to the lab.
Keel continued to struggle at first, but he soon stopped. Instead, he simply grumbled under his breath as he let his arms dangle.
If I had to weigh holding a man's hand and being carried under his arm, I would have chosen differently.
People had already gone out to start their days. Some waved and greeted Dante and Keel as they passed, but said little else. While not all of Dante's growing eccentricities have been shown off, there seemed be enough knowledge on the subject to not warrant a second glance.
Dante knocked on the lab's door when they arrived. After a moment, Rat opened it, large bags under her eyes.
"Lord." She gave a curt nod before allowing them in.
"Rough night?" Dante looked around, not seeing what he was hoping to.
"Just coming to terms with what is actually possible." Rat gestured for them to follow. "And, please, lower your voice."
"Why? Wait, are you hungover?"
"Mm." Rat led them through her lab.
Dante hadn't explored much inside the building, despite helping to make it with a camping plant. Even when Sadeena was injured, he didn't go very far inside. There were a few rooms similar to those in a doctor's office, cages in the back for monsters, even stairs leading to a basement. Since he didn't dig one out, he supposed someone with earth magic—or one of Reiko's monsters—did the work.
They came to one of the rooms in the back of the building. Reiko was inside, waking with a start when the door was opened. In front of the cluttered table, there was something covered with a sheet. It stood about four feet tall and two feet wide.
"Ugh…Morning, Dante…" The fox girl rubbed her face as she groggily greeted them.
Dante noticed the similar state Reiko was in and panned his view over to Rat. "I think we need to have a discussion about giving alcohol to children."
"I'm 23." Reiko grumbled out.
"You aren't going to win that argument." Dante set Keel down, but kept a hand on his paw. He held out his free hand to Reiko. "I think I'll be needing you in a moment."
"Right, right." Reiko walked over and took his hand.
"Are you going to tell me what you're planning?" Keel looked ready to bolt at a moment's notice.
Dante smiled down at him. "I told you I wanted to do something nice for you after the first night you helped me out. This is it. Rat?"
Rat walked over to the covered object and gripped the sheet. "Lord. I present the most asinine thing you've asked me to create." She pulled up and over, revealing her work.
"Is that…" Keel let his mouth hang open at what he saw.
"Yep. And it's all yours." Dante gave his head a pat.
Before them stood a potted plant. The pot took up about half the size of the whole thing. The plant itself was a highly modified version of the bioplant. It was about two feet tall and looked like a cross between a tree and a bush. There were about a dozen flower buds around it, but what they produced was not fruit. At least, not mostly.
"Is that a pancake tree!?" Keel shouted, drool already starting to form at his mouth.
"Yep. And it looks like they're filled with different fruits." Dante saw one that had what appeared to be blueberries and another that had mini-strawberries.
"This is…This is the best thing ever!" Keel gripped Dante's hand with both paws. "Thank you! I love it! I love you!"
Dante was about to comment on that, but Keel dashed forward and started circling the tree, running around on all fours. It was moments like these that reminded Dante of Keel's actual age, rather than what his body and mind matured into.
"This is really good work, Rat." Dante complimented the alchemist.
"I had some help from Reiko." She pointed at the fox girl beside him.
"Then I guess I should give her some sort of reward."
"Nah, that's okay." Reiko shook her head, seemingly unaware she was being pulled closer. "It was kind of fun, and I still get to make monsters. Besides, I didn't really…no, wait!"
But it was too late. Dante already had one hand on her head, running his fingers around her ears. His other arm wrapped around her, preventing escape.
"I didn't forget what you tried to pull before with my kids' names." Dante whispered into her pointed ear as he scratched the other one.
"This is weird!" Reiko cried out. "Don't do this to a kid!"
"You're 23, remember? And physically matured."
"You don't get to change your mind to suit your weird habits!"
"Whatever you do, just don't make a mess of my lab." Rat chimed in.
"No problem." Dante turned to Rat. Reiko's legs kicked out in a vain attempt to escape. "Anything Keel needs to know about the tree?"
"First, while I did promise to serve you forever, please don't ask me to make something like this again." Rat said. Dante had a feeling completing this project was the reason for her hungover state, and not because she was celebrating. "Second, there are a few things to watch over, but nothing catastrophic in nature."
Rat explained a few of the specifics of the tree. Keel paid close attention and hung off of every word. Aside from the caretaking aspects, there were a few neat features of the pancake tree. One was that each flower bud produced a different fruit-filled pancake, all of which were a little bigger than Dante's palm. Another was that the flowers would begin producing another pancake after one was picked. But, the longer a pancake stayed on the tree, the sweeter it would be. A sort of buttery-syrupy coating would spread out from the flower to cover the entire pancake. Fantasy-like world or not, it was really impressive.
Once the explanation was over, Reiko begrudgingly walked Dante back to the manor while Keel carried the potted tree in his demi-human form. It would need to be planted within a few days to keep producing pancakes like it was. By the time they got back to the manor, the party already had breakfast. It was mostly bioplant fruits, plus some bread and heated soup.
Reiko, finally being free of Dante's attack with Sadeena's help, ran back to the lab. Dante was confident she wouldn't speak of his kids' names again.
With the silliness out of the way, Dante had one last thing to do before they went to Shieldfreeden. They had a few hours until the portal location was available for the 24-hour window, so he was going to take Rifana and Lilith back to Melromarc to continue their journey.
Of course, two bird children had something to say about that.
"Papa, take me instead!" Dio complained.
"We can run faster than the dumb dragon!" JoJo added.
"Just play with Melty until I come back." Dante didn't need Sadeena to keep holding his hand as they walked over to Lilith. Each child was standing on each of Dante's feet, clinging to his pants.
Whether or not the two filolials could run faster than Lilith could fly was up for debate. They couldn't do so forever. Lilith could glide through the air, giving herself some rest. She also didn't need to worry about terrain, or the people in metal armor that would be found on said terrain.
"Oh my~. Come along, you two. Let little Dante go~." Sadeena wrapped an arm around each child as Dante reached Lilith.
"I won't be long, just a few hours." Dante promised them.
"Gau!" Lilith held her head up proudly as Dante climbed on behind Rifana.
"Boo!" Both kids puffed up their cheeks at her while in Sadeena's grasp.
"Fly safely!" Sadeena called out. "And little Rifana. Don't have too much fun with little Dante~."
"Don't be jealous just because it's not safe for you yet." Dante teased.
"M-Mister Dante!" Rifana covered her face, clearly not comfortable with the suggestion.
Dante gave them a wave and activated his portal skill.
…
…
…
They reappeared barely ten seconds later, closer to the village's center, where Rifana set her portal location.
"Little Dante!" Sadeena didn't need to look at them to know the problem. She set Dio and JoJo down as they all ran over.
"Damn knights!" Dante angrily yelled as he jumped from Lilith's back, running to her front.
"Gau…" Lilith whined, lowering her head to the ground.
In the brief moment they were gone, Lilith got peppered with arrows, both short and long. Over two dozen were embedded in her hide.
"It's okay, Lily, it's okay! You're okay!" Dante carefully pulled an arrow from her, transferring a bit of HP as he moved on to the next one. With his curse, it wasn't as efficient, but it was quicker than casting a spell.
Lilith didn't go through as much leveling as the others. It was mitigated by the fact that she was, indeed, a dragon. Her base stats and growth were higher, even more than the filolials. That helped with her defense, but not enough to shrug off attacks by high level knights with high grade weapons.
"They knew you were coming?" Sadeena came up and started helping with the arrows.
"They knew exactly where we'd be." Dante pulled out another arrow. "We must have been seen teleporting away, and they figured that's where I set the portal location. Looks like they got some good information on the skill."
Dante, Sadeena, and Rifana continued pulling arrows out of Lilith, with Dante transferring HP to her all the while. It wasn't as if she'd never taken damage before, but it was usually pretty clear when they were going into combat. This was more of a shock than anything.
A longer arrow was removed, held in Dante's hands. "They set up damn ballistae, too! Six of them got shots in, from all the arrows I see here!" It was lucky some of their aims were off and others didn't have time to adjust their angles.
"Gau!" Lilith happily licked Dante's face, now that all the arrows had been removed.
"Drifa Heal V!" Rifana finished casting her spell on Dante and looked up to him. "What now, Mister Dante?
"Searching for the queen will be on hold for the day. Even if I cast my Aura spell before we leave, Lilith wouldn't be able to take off right away. I don't think I can get Shooting Star Shield up before we get attacked." If he could, Dante would use the skill beforehand. He activated it before they came back, but skills were automatically stopped after someone used a portal skill. He turned to look at Sadeena. "How bad would it be if I went by myself later and burned all those knights to death?"
"If you have to ask~…" Sadeena didn't need to elaborate.
Dante nodded. "I'll try giving them a few days and see if they stay there."
He didn't really think they'd give up. If anything, it would probably give them time to make a small fort around the area. They wouldn't let Dante fly off without a fight, and trying to knock out that many knights without killing them would be difficult, or very time consuming if he had to chase them all down himself. It seemed like finding the queen would have to wait for a while.
~The Wrong Hero~
A few hours later, they made their way to the Shieldfreeden hourglass. It was a pretty light group, consisting of Dante, Sadeena, Raphtalia, and Lilith. They were mostly there to meet with the leadership and see how things were being prepared. Dante didn't register a portal location there before, since Khana was supposed to bring him before the wave to copy shields and make acquaintances.
They got directions from the church and made their way to the senate building.
"How do you think this meeting will go?" Raphtalia asked.
"Well, Khana said she was good friends with the chancellor here." Dante said. "Given her personality, Khana is somewhere between an annoyance she put up with and a person she's slept with."
"That's…not a very comforting answer." Raphtalia sighed.
"I'm not really looking forward to this either." Dante agreed.
The chancellor of Shieldfreeden was an aotatsu named Nelshen. Dante didn't know too much about her from the books, aside from being part of Takt's harem. She is the current leader of the aotatsu tribe, whereas the one Dante met in Siltvelt—Noaroa—was a smaller clan head. She supposedly also had a dragon transformation. Werner's diplomatic answer to Dante's questions about her didn't help either.
In truth, they might not even meet with Nelshen. A meeting with heroes could very well be delegated to another official. It didn't matter to Dante either way.
Once they reached the senate, they were directed to a conference room. Thanks to this nation housing large therianthropes, Lilith was able to stay with them. It didn't hurt having her there, since carrying her egg during the parades was supposed to be a big selling point in Shieldfreeden, especially among the leadership.
"Nervous, little Dante~?" Sadeena gave him a smirk.
"Hardly. Raphtalia has her portal skill, and mine is almost off cooldown already." If shit went down, they were more than capable of fighting their way out too.
Dante really didn't know what to expect. Khana was killed over a week ago, and news of her death had surely reached Shieldfreeden by now. Since she was killed as part of a plan to kill Dante, this meeting could really go in any direction.
The doors to the room slammed open. Dante quickly stood with the others. In the doorway stood a woman with blue scales on her forearms. The rest of her arms and upper body were covered by fancy blue robes, extending part way down her legs. If not for the sleek, black pants she wore, it would have given off a more Roman vibe. A blue dragon tail also took away from that.
The woman scanned the room, her eyes settling on Dante's shield. "You're him?"
Dante glanced to the others. "I am."
"Where are they?" She walked forward, three guards on both sides.
"Who?" Dante made sure he was in front of his party. He didn't feel that threatened yet, so he kept a hand on Sadeena.
"The Hammer Hero!" The woman yelled. "Faubrey said a new one was already chosen. They're part of your group, right? Show me the Hammer Hero!"
"Ah." Dante was starting to think Khana actually meant she was friends with Nelshen. This was probably her. "Raphtalia?"
With a look, Raphtalia understood what Dante wanted. She reached behind her, prompting the guards to grab their swords. Slowly, Raphtalia pulled her hammer from her back and showed the gem to the aotatsu.
The aotatsu woman stared at the gem. Her eyes shifted to Raphtalia's. "You? The Seven Star Hammer chose you? Someone so small and weak looking replaced Khana?"
It was a bit strange to hear the aotatsu say that, seeing as she was barely taller than Raphtalia.
"Oh my~! Little Raphtalia might be short, but she's still very strong~." Sadeena pointed out.
"This is some sort of joke to mock Khana!" The aotatsu yelled.
Dante sighed. "Raphtalia? Show her."
Raphtalia let out a sigh of her own. In a puff of smoke, she transformed into her therianthrope form.
The guards behind Nelshen drew their swords. Dante held up his shield. It wasn't as if Raphtalia would need any help, but he wasn't going to do nothing.
The aotatsu looked up at the towering form of Raphtalia. She blink a few times, her expression starting to look painful.
"Leave us." She told her guards, glancing over her shoulder.
"Chancellor?" One near the front looked ready to object, but Nelshen just waved her hand at him.
The guards looked between themselves before sheathing their weapons. They slowly walked out of the room, the last two closing the doors behind them.
The aotatsu looked back up at Raphtalia. "You…really are the Hammer Hero."
"Yes." Raphtalia replaced the hammer on her back and transformed. "Were you close with Khana?"
The aotatsu nodded. "She was a good friend, and…" She sighed deeply. "Forgive me. I heard of her death, but I haven't been able to pay my respects to her properly."
"That's okay." Raphtalia gave her a soft smile. "It was a shock when we learned about it, too."
"Do you know how it happened?" The aotatsu took a step forward. "All I heard was the Projectile and Axe Heroes killed her and the Whip Hero."
"We know a little more, but…" Raphtalia looked over at Dante.
"It's fine." Dante didn't think there was too much to worry about giving her this information. "But, we are here to prepare for the wave."
"Of course. I know of all of you, but I haven't introduced myself. I am Nelshen, leader of the aotatsu tribe."
Well, she seems polite enough. A little distraught, but who wouldn't be after hearing their friend died?
"As for the wave, we have a posting at the adventurers' guild, in addition to a number of knights willing to go with a hero. Preparations have already been made."
"That's good." Dante said. "I should meet with these people to see who we'll be working with."
"I can have one of my aides take you to the guildhall. But, if you can spare the time, I would like to speak with Raphtalia—with the Hammer Hero more."
"Oh my~!" Before Raphtalia could respond, Sadeena wrapped her arms around the smaller woman, leaving Dante to grab Lilith. "I need to keep little Raphtalia close by~."
"Sadeena, I'll be fine." Raphtalia tried arguing.
Dante felt a little bad for her. Sure, Raphtalia had time to herself—and with Eclair—but either he or Sadeena were always within earshot. She'd probably gotten tired of it.
"I can check out the fighters with Lilith." Dante offered. Unfortunately for Raphtalia, she wasn't going to get a break.
"Then it's settled!" Sadeena happily called out.
Raphtalia gave Dante a pleading look, but he simply mirrored Sadeena's expression. She'd get no help from him.
One of Nelshen's aides escorted Dante to the wave volunteers. There was nothing remarkable about them. That wasn't to say they looked weak or disorganized. The same could be said for the people who participated in Faubrey's wave. It was just that, this time, there were no additional heroes bringing their parties.
One more hero would be there, aside from Rifana. The Claw Hero, Warbaldt, hadn't shown up yet, but Dante had a feeling he was more of a "late arrival" kind of guy. Outside of giving him more of the power up methods, Warbaldt didn't interact much with Dante.
While he waited for the meeting to finish, Dante walked around to copy shields. Only the ones on display from street vendors could be copied, since he couldn't bring Lilith into most stores. Unless there were shields hidden in backrooms, there weren't that many Dante didn't already have. None of the ones he copied were particularly noteworthy either.
Dante did turn a few heads as he went around. He was still the Shield Hero in a mostly demi-human nation. Riding on the back of a dragon didn't hurt any. While it did help with his image, seeing as Lilith was a gift from a dragon emperor, it was mostly to make Lilith happy. He didn't spend as much time with her as he could.
Eventually, they met back up with Sadeena and Raphtalia near the adventurers' guild.
"Wow. That really took a while." Dante noted over two hours went by, though it wasn't exactly a short walk from the senate building. "What all did you guys talk about?"
Raphtalia shifted from foot to foot. "Mostly about how Khana was before she died."
"Nelshen seem okay?" The question was more political, seeing as Shieldfreeden was a potential ally against Melromarc. Dante just didn't want to be blamed for Khana's death.
"She was…" Raphtalia looked away.
"Is there a problem?"
Raphtalia shook her head, but Sadeena had a grin on her face as she spoke. "It seems there were some rumors she was curious about~."
"Look, I'm all for Twenty Questions, but…"
Raphtalia rubbed her hands together. "Chancellor Nelshen was…curious about your relationship with Khana. About what happened in Faubrey."
"Ah." Dante knew exactly what she was referring to.
"She wasn't mad." Raphtalia quickly added. "If anything, she seemed…interested in you."
"What, like making a public declaration or something? I feel like you're trying to lead me somewhere."
Sadeena chuckled. "Little Dante, little Khana was sleeping with her."
Dante stared down at the pair from atop Lilith. He raised his hand up. "I swear I was joking when I said that."
It wasn't impossible, seeing how Khana was. It just didn't seem that likely for her to be sleeping with a high member of government. Then again, Khana did sleep with Siltvelt's god.
I think I'm actually impressed with Khana here. On paper, someone like her wouldn't be able to have sex with a ruler and a god. Going by my previous assumptions about the reincarnated…well, I don't actually think she was one, all things considered. If she was, she was bad at her job, but she had the whole 'harem' thing down pretty good.
"Don't worry~. We explained how you were a woman at the time." Sadeena winked at him.
"Oh, good. That was my first concern." Dante dryly remarked.
Sadeena held her hand to her cheek. "In fact, since you have that shield…"
Dante didn't need her to finish that sentence. Raphtalia covering her face was more than enough. There were several implications and Dante didn't feel like entertaining any of them at the moment.
"Can we go home?" Raphtalia's muffled voice was barely heard.
Governments are full of perverts. I'm not excluding myself from that. I mean, there's some historical precedence for uniting the world by fucking, but this isn't what I imagined.
~The Wrong Hero~
It was the day of Shieldfreeden's wave. All the preparations that needed to be made were. Those that were going were ready.
"I wish you luck, Lord Dante." Fiadia held out her hand.
"Yeah, same to you." Dante shook it, but he was looking elsewhere.
"It'll only be for a few hours." The smile on her face did little to set him at ease.
"Yeah, I know…"
There were more knights in the village than normal. Werner was insistent about security, but Dante didn't care. Instead, it was Fiadia and his party that convinced him to allow more Siltvelt knights in. Since things tended to go awry when Dante left to fight in waves—thus, being unable to return—Fiadia wanted more bodies present.
"If there's any trouble—"
"We can handle it." Fiadia assured him. "You did get me a class upgrade, Lord Dante."
While her level wasn't as high as his party's, let alone having her stats boosted with as many levels sacrificed, Fiadia did benefit from the filolial class up. She wasn't the only one here Dante trusted.
"Just remember, you are allowed—"
"Heads on spikes." Fiadia placed her other arm on Dante's shoulder. "You told us already."
"Oh my~. So violent~." Sadeena gave a light laugh while holding Dante's other hand.
Deep down, Dante knew he was being paranoid. Dante had his shadow make sure the knights that came were part of the faction aiming for peace with Melromarc. That was in addition to the knights being from several tribes, so a mass collusion was less likely. It was also pretty well known what happened to the last group of knights that sacked this village. Many of the knights that tried attacking it during Faubrey's wave ended up as slaves. Incidentally, that led to a significant increase in the village's revenue.
"Alright, I'll stop." Dante stepped back. "We'll hurry back if there's an issue."
"I look forward to your return, Lord Dante."
In the matter of who was going, most of the party would be with Dante. For Melty's personal protection, Atla, Fohl, and Eclair would stay behind. Raphtalia was fine being separated from Eclair, since it meant protecting people from the waves. That led to a heartfelt goodbye for the pair.
"Stay safe out there." Eclair told Raphtalia.
"You too." Raphtalia smiled at her.
"I'm not the one about to plunge into danger." Eclair gave her a smirk. "We have more than enough strength to handle anyone that tries to attack a hero's territory."
"If Dante can be worried, then so can I."
At least, it was supposed to be heartfelt. There was still time to get serious for the wave, and Dante had a teasing itch.
"What are you two doing?" He called out to them as he approached.
"What?" Raphtalia cocked her head to the side.
Dante just gestured between them. "Give your lover a goodbye kiss."
The response was what he wanted. Raphtalia blushed deeply while Eclair turned her head away and sighed. He wanted more of a blush on Eclair, but he'd take that reaction.
"Sir MacRory, please." Eclair fixed him with a hard look.
"Hey, you said it. We're about to fight dangerous monsters bent on killing everything around them. Give your girlfriend a morale boost."
"I don't think they have time for that, little Dante~." Sadeena's addition was greatly appreciated. Eclair looked much more indignant at the implication. Raphtalia wasn't fairing much better.
"We can wait." Dante turned to Sadeena, a stupid grin on his face. "I hear this sort of thing helps soldiers remember what they're fighting for."
Dante, in fact, heard no such thing.
"But what about the knights and adventurers in Shieldfreeden?" Sadeena went on. "The longer we stay here, the less time we have to get organized."
"I'm sure it'll be fine." Dante have his best reassuring smile. "It's important these two—"
"That's enough!" Eclair's yell got their attention.
Dante was prepared to listen to a lengthy rant about private affairs or modesty or something of that nature. Instead, he and Sadeena were quite surprised at the scene. Eclair took a very confused looking Raphtalia, held her head in her hands, and kissed her right on the lips.
"Oh my~!" Sadeena exclaimed. Dante shared her sentiments.
When the pair disconnected, Raphtalia stood in a daze. Eclair turned to face them.
"Happy now?" She asked, crossing her arms.
"Very." Dante simply gave her a smile, prompting her to walk over to Melty. The young princess seemed more confused at Dante's instigation than anything.
That only left one other potential victim, who Dante turned to. "Aren't you going to kiss your—"
A harsh glare from Keel silenced him, though he kept his increasingly dumber grin on his face. Instead, it was Fohl that overreacted, running up to Dante and grabbing his shirt.
"I told you, that was nothing!" She shouted.
"Sister, what are you getting mad at Mister Dante for?" Atla called her sister out.
"Nothing!"
"Are you sure it was nothing?" Dante kept pressing. "It looked like—"
Fohl's arms shifted from smooth skin to fur. Her hands became paws as her nails started digging into Dante's shirt. While her pants remained the same, Fohl's shirt became more like a wrap around her upper chest. Blue, slitted eyes glared down into his very soul.
"Nothing. It looked like nothing." A calm, angry voice told him.
If Dante's smile got any wider, the top of his head would pop off. "Training is nothing? Wasn't Keel showing you how he transformed? I was certain you were still having problems doing it."
The look on Fohl's face said she would do everything in her power to hurt him.
Through gritted teeth, Fohl spoke. "Yes. That's right. He helped me train."
"I thought you felt different, Sister. As expected of Keel." Atla spoke fondly. "He helped me learn more about Mister Dante before, he helped Mister Dante when I couldn't, and now he's helping you, too. He's a remarkable young man. Since he's been so helpful, you should sleep with him as thanks."
"Atla!" The sudden tone shift in Fohl was amazing.
Dante couldn't breathe. Everything was just so perfect.
They returned late afternoon yesterday from Shieldfreeden. Dante wanted to take a 'nap' for a little while, mostly just to take a quick break before going out to grind XP a little. When he and Sadeena arrived at his room in the manor, he didn't expect to see Fohl and Keel there. Even more unexpected, they were lying in his bed. They were also almost completely naked.
"Get out!"
"This isn't what it looks like!"
"He was just helping me!"
"She wanted to ask me something!"
"Get out!"
There was a flurry of explanations, excuses, and threats. What it actually boiled down to was Fohl wanting help with Dante. Somehow, she got it in her head that he would start doing things with Atla like he was with Sadeena. She also believed that Keel had some special charm to him that attracted Dante, despite the fact they were both men. Keel was to demonstrate his ability, despite telling her he didn't know what she was talking about. They weren't going to do anything too physical, thankfully. Joking aside, Dante didn't want them to do that over something so ridiculous. He couldn't really complain, seeing as Fohl transformed part way through her tirade at Dante for the first time.
The tragedy of it all was that Dante never would have known if they went to Keel's room instead. Fohl insisted she get a feel for what it would be like to go after Dante, so going to his room was a must.
While he still couldn't sleep that night, Dante was able to easily resist the call of the Axe thanks to that performance. He also realized he should tone down his teasing just a little bit. He was failing that so far.
"Alright *wheeze* alright." Dante tried to get his breathing in order. "You behave here, Fohl."
"I'm not the one who needs to behave!" Fohl nearly spat.
"Sure." Dante gave her a smile and a pat on her head.
Atla seemed to teleport next to her sister, waiting expectantly for a head pat of her own. She looked at him with her eyes, something she started doing more. Dante obliged.
~The Wrong Hero~
The party teleported to Shieldfreeden, awaiting the start of the wave. They were pretty well stacked, all things considered. One holy hero, two vassal heroes, two royal filolials, a dragon, someone as strong as a hero, a fairly strong therianthrope, and…Rishia. It wasn't her fault. She simply hadn't awakened her potential yet.
Dante noticed that Rishia was able to gain levels rather quickly, but it drastically slowed down as she neared level 70. That did sound familiar, so that might be the point where her power skyrockets. If they can get her above that level, of course. Or, she needed actual training in Hengen Muso first.
As for his own power, Dante's curse had reduced over the past few days. His total HP was already back up to about 80% of what is was before. He felt rather fortunate that his HP was the only thing his curses reduced, aside from the festered curses that hampered his HP regeneration. In a few more days, his HP would be back to normal.
And, of course, they didn't rely solely on levels. Everyone kept training, practicing, and sparring, be it with weapons or magic. Eclair handled most of the weapon training. Sadeena was just as proficient, but she was also the most capable with magic. Everyone that could use a therianthrope form was more than comfortable with it by this point.
"Warbaldt!" Dante called out when he spotted the werewolf in his therianthrope form.
"Lord Shield." Warbaldt gave a quick salute as he approached. "It is good to see you."
"Same here." If nothing else, Dante was glad nothing happened to him in the short time since their last meeting.
"I have been putting the power up methods you showed me to good use." Warbaldt informed him.
"Good to hear." With four powered up heroes, this wave wouldn't be bad. "Oh, hey, just a heads up. You won't be getting any XP in this wave."
"Why not?" Warbaldt looked down at him.
"There are three Vassal Heroes here. You'd get XP with no more than two."
That was a small drawback, but Dante felt ending the wave more quickly was better than the XP they'd get. It would also save a little time collecting the remains, so they'd be able to go back to the village quicker.
"Three?" The werewolf looked at Dante's party. He already knew Raphtalia had the Seven Star Hammer. "Who is the other hero?"
Dante pointed down to the much smaller weasel woman behind him. Rifana held up her staff for Warbaldt to see.
"Is that…the Seven Star Staff?" Warbaldt asked, not seeming to believe what his eyes were telling him.
"Y-Yes." Rifana gazed up at the monstrously sized therianthrope.
The werewolf looked back to Dante. "Then, the king of Melromarc is dead? Are we at war?"
Dante shook his head. "No and not yet. I'll explain while we wait for the wave."
He told Warbaldt about their time in Melromarc, including the fight with Glass. Some of what he said needed context, such as Dante's previous interactions with nobles and the other heroes there. The Claw Hero seemed impressed with some parts, while looking rather disappointed with others. Mostly, he was more interested in the fights and less interested in any politics Dante involved himself in.
After speaking with Warbaldt, they made their plans for the wave with the assembled adventurers and knights. Unlike Zeltoble, Shieldfreeden was footing the bill for the adventurers, so more of the wave monsters would go to the heroes. Teams were made and strategies were laid out, mostly by those more experience in working with large groups. Aside from any initial issues, Dante's party and Warbaldt would go straight for the largest wave rift while everyone else worked to protect the people.
00:01
Spells were cast. Weapons were drawn. Transformations were undergone. This was the overall seventh wave Dante's party fought in, the sixth that was any country's third wave. If they were lucky, this would not be the fourth to have a Vassal Hero invader.
00:00
The scenery changed around them. The first issue had already presented itself. Instead of being dropped off in an open field or easily maneuverable terrain, they found themselves at the bottom of a valley. Lilith was the only one there able to fly, so it would take time to get around.
The second issue played off of the first. At one end of the valley was a somewhat large town. Thankfully, it was the only settlement in the area, according to the knights. The bad news was that the largest wave cracks were in the opposite direction. Plenty of monsters would come from the smaller cracks, but Dante's party would be in for a slog to get to the boss's location.
The third issue revolved around the monsters they saw coming from the cracks. The first ones spotted were large, insect-like monsters. They looked vaguely like dragonflies with rows of serrated teeth in their mouths. It was a small intimidation factor. The real problem was what popped up in Dante's status.
"Poison!" Dante called out. There was a mist being thrown around by the insects' beating wings.
"My agility went down!" Keel yelled. Similar sentiments were being expresses by the adventurers.
"We need to get out of this valley!" One of the knights called out.
"Go! We'll make our way to the boss!" Dante told them.
Reduced agility wasn't good, but there wasn't much that could be done about it. Rifana might have learned a spell by now to help, but potions worked better, and Dante didn't have enough. Even if he did, they would just get poisoned again. If they got rid of those dragonflies, more would descend. If their stats weren't going to drop any further, pushing forward was the way to go.
"Drifa Tornado!" Dio and JoJo let loose their spells at the flying monsters. Just because the poison effect was inevitable didn't mean those monsters got to just hang around.
"Monsters, Mister Dante!" Rifana brought Dante's attention back to the ground.
They were landing in bunches from the wave rifts. Groups of maybe 10 or so large ants, each the size of Rifana or Keel, started running at them.
"I see them." Dante started chanting out a spell. "Zweite Fire Squall!"
Dante didn't have spare points to put in the spell, but he didn't see the need to use a higher level one either. If these ants were anything like the monsters from Siltvelt's last wave, they wouldn't hold up.
Fire rained down on the approaching ants. They continued on, proving Dante wrong. As they got a little closer, their names appeared in his status.
"'Fire Ants'. That's cute. Shooting Star Shield X!" Dante wasn't amused.
With his barrier deployed, the ants swarmed around them, biting at the defensive skill. Getting a better look, Dante saw their mouths were actually filled with fire. At the very least, they didn't seem to have any sort of breath attack.
"Poke, poke! These little things aren't that tough!" Sadeena casually skewered a few on her harpoon.
"That, and you're monstrously strong." Dante pointed out.
"Oh you~."
"I'll start casting a water spell to cut them down." Rifana held out her staff.
"Please do. I don't mean to be an alarmist, but my skill won't hold out forever." Dante could already see and hear small cracks forming where the ants were biting. Despite his higher stats now than from Siltvelt's wave, there were many more enemies attacking at once.
"Zweite Aqua Slash IV!"
"Zweite Chain Lightning!"
"Zweite Aqua Slash!"
"Zweite Aqua Slash IV!"
Rifana was able to cast two spells in the time it took to cast one. The blades of water she sent out were able to cut down ants with ease. Sadeena's lightning took out just as many.
"Rishia." Dante looked at the third spellcaster in that attack.
"Fue! Y-Yes, Sir Dante?" She peaked her head out of the kigurumi's hood.
"Very nice. Keep up the good work."
"Y-Yes, Sir!" She nodded with conviction.
Rishia had picked up a number of spells, though they were mostly at lower levels. Rifana, however, was able to learn a few outside of her normal attributes, a perk of having the Seven Star Staff. She was able to learn those spells rather quickly.
Once they got into the rhythm of things, they were able to cut down monsters in quick succession. Lilith took to the air, burning any of the dragonflies she came across. Unlike the ants, they had no special resistance to fire. That freed up Dio and JoJo to direct their magic at the mounting number of ants.
It was indeed a slog to get through all the enemies. The uneven terrain slowed them down, while the insects didn't seem bothered by it. Mixed in with the ants where a few scorpions, though they were smaller than Dio and JoJo. Their stingers launched gobs of what Dante assumed was poison at them. If he didn't keep renewing his Shooting Star Shield, it might have been an issue. As it was, they fell nearly as easily as the ants.
One larger enemy was a beetle-like monster, just a little smaller than Lilith. It looked to be completely grounded, but it would charge at them with its massive horns. Dante was prepared to take it on his barrier, but Warbaldt had other plans. Likely tired of having so few enemies to fight with his shorter ranged weapon, he dashed from cover and met the beetle head on. His giant paws gripped the beetle's horns, halting its charge. They struggled for a moment, only for the far more powerful werewolf to throw the beetle to the ground, cutting into its softer belly with his claw.
Warbaldt returned to the barrier, a smirk on his face.
"I can do that too, you're not impressive." Dante was only slightly salty about it, since he was stuck on defense and the bulk of the enemies were resistant to his offensive spells.
They continued to slaughter every wave monster they came across. Once they reached the end of the valley, and near one of the largest wave cracks, Dante saw something rather counterintuitive, given the monsters they encountered so far.
"Huh. A giant spider…" Dante gazed at the eight-legged monster before them.
It sat against one of the walls of the valley, thick webs all around the ground and walls. From this distance, it looked to be around 20 feet tall. Dante was no expert on spider species, so he couldn't compare it to anything. The fur on its legs looked sharp, like it was covered in thousands of tiny hooks. Each leg also looked easily twice as long as its main body. The rear portion of the body looked twice as big as its center, but also seemed like it could be maneuvered around.
"Are you okay, little Dante?" Sadeena gave his shoulder a squeeze.
"Yeah, sure." It wasn't like he was thinking of every horror movie he ever saw as a kid involving giant spiders. It was a surprising amount, really, and he had Gloria to blame for them.
When he thought about it, giant spiders were never that powerful in any of the games he's played. The handful of times he ended up playing D&D, he remembered they weren't that strong. People-sized spiders were starter monsters, and even the largest and strongest ones weren't all that at higher levels. Seeing one in person made him feel otherwise.
This spider was also the wave boss, so it wasn't something to completely ignore. Still, if the last few wave bosses were any indication, this one wouldn't be a problem either.
"Alright, so, spread out. It might be able to shoot webs at us, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was venomous." Dante told everyone. "We'll start with fire to get rid of the webbing. Then use ranged attacks against it. I'll draw it in and keep it facing me. Take out the legs to prevent it from running or swiping at us, then go for the kill. Rifana, with me."
There weren't any obvious signs the spider had any fire resistance like the ants, so it seemed like a good a plan as any. It might not even survive two Drifa fire spells cast by heroes. If it did, the plan would go forward.
Just as they were about to start casting their spells…
Slave Deceased
Slave Deceased
Slave Deceased
"Wha…NO!" Dante screamed at the top of his lungs.
Three of the children he purchased from Zeltoble just died. After receiving the alerts, the familiars of everyone he left in the village started signaling him in his status.
"Little Dante, what's—"
"The village!" Dante answered Sadeena's partial question. "Korokan is being attacked! We need to hurry!"
Dante didn't think anyone was dumb enough to attack the village with so many knights there. He also thought those same knights were actually vetted enough to be trusted, at least for such a short time. It might have been Takt, though the timing was off. A little later and Dante would have been able to come back immediately.
Whoever it was, Dante swore he'd make them suffer a long, grueling death.
"As the source of your power, I command you. Let the—shit!"
"Drifa Firestorm V!"
Rifana's much faster casting from the Staff allowed her to complete her spell. Dante, however, had to stop. His Life Sense picked up dozens of signatures, all of which suddenly appeared behind them. He turned around and raised his shield, blocking a strike intended for Rifana. Another landed on his arm, leaving a large gash. A third slashed at his side, cutting deep into him. They had broken his Shooting Star Shield in an instant.
"Little Dante!" Sadeena called out, blocking a pair of attacks against her.
Attacks were happening all around them, involving his whole party, including Warbaldt.
The wave boss started moving, having survived Rifana's spell. The webbing, at least, started to burn, giving them a little time to deal with this threat.
Dante thrashed around, forcing his assailants to back off. The three around him had their weapons ready to strike again. They looked like shortswords, maybe even daggers, and they were surrounded by shimmering energy. Dante couldn't make out their faces well, as they were mostly covered in black cloth. He couldn't understand why this was happening or how they were even here, but he knew exactly who they were.
After all, their clothing didn't hide their animalistic features. There stood numerous orca and rabbit therianthropes in clothing similar to shadows.
"Daughter of the one who had forsaken the heavenly throne! Your intentions have been made clear! We will prevent you from claiming the mantle of Heavenly Emperor!"
Author's Notes:
So, I went back and realized Fiadia was supposed to be saying "Lord Dante" instead of "Lord Shield". She'll be doing that from now on, for those of you keeping track. I might go back eventually and fix it, but that's a lot of chapters/corrections and I post on 3 sites, so…Anyone who writes, keep a list of names characters use for each other, and actually LOOK at that list from time to time.
I went and did another goofy-to-serious maneuver here. It was partially to pave the way for next chapter's title without giving anything away, and partially to speed through a few jokes/situations that I wouldn't be able to do properly later. If parts seemed rush, I know.
As for the assassins, this was bound to happen sooner or later. Really, Siltvelt's god in his country having a potential political opponent in his party while sleeping with the former miko priestess, it was lucky it didn't happen sooner.