(Drained) had not worn off by the time we stopped, a few kilometers away, Naofumi slowly picking up speed. I did, however, finally let go of the Princess, figuring at this point that they wouldn't leave me behind, especially after I pointed out that the effect according to my status window was permanent…so long as Naofumi was 'close' to me…which I had no idea what that meant, but it seemed to be proximity, rather than relationship based, so they put up with me.
We stopped in a clearing, with me able to sit down and watch as Naofumi used one of his skills on the Manacle, which was proving less than amicable to leaving Filo's body. Luckily, I pointed out what I could see of it from my menu, and he soon pushed in on it in the way I suggested, causing it to open with a click, falling to the ground in a crash of metal, and leaving the five of us just kind of sitting in the moonlit forest in silence for a moment.
"So…what do we do with you?" he finally asked, and I had to think for a moment, before shrugging.
"If my SP recovers enough, I'm leaving immediately, after setting a return point, and then I'm bringing back whatever forces are close at hand. You'd have, at most, a few seconds head start, and we both know that what happened at the cliff was a fluke, and caused by no one but Myne and the knights attacking you," I told him, and he looked at me like I was crazy for admitting it, but I smirked.
"When my party gets to you, they will not hesitate again. This time you really DID kidnap the Princess, and me for that matter. Lucia is already not fond of Raphtalia, and I can see her making that displeasure known in some interesting ways," I explained, and that led to the others just staring at me slack jawed.
"I…you are very blunt, Sir Bard," said the Princess at last.
"I want to be honest with you. If you let me go, I will have no choice but to call in reinforcements, that is my duty as a Hero, to rescue the Princess who has been abducted by the Shield Hero, whether against her will or not, as her father wants to see her safe," I said, and that brought Melty up short, as she seemed shocked to hear that.
"Father is…worried?" she asked, and I nodded.
"I cannot say exactly how he reacted on hearing the story and seeing the edited recording of Naofumi protecting you, but by the time he talked with us, it was clear he had been crying, and I think that speaks volumes," I told her, and before she could ask anything, it was Naofumi who held up a hand.
"Wait, you KNEW the recording was altered?" he asked.
"The Pope himself confirmed it to me, as part of our new alliance. The First Princess came to the church, and when it was pointed out the guards with her were very much alive, she burned them to ash. As I said, he's currently on his way to Sanctuary, where he and the Guild will be waiting to hear from me," I explained calmly, and the look on Naofumi's face was just priceless, as he opened his mouth and closed it again, like a fish trying to breathe.
"Why didn't you tell the other heroes about this?!" demanded Raphtalia after a moment, raising her voice loud enough that it made an echo, even in the open forest, which was actually impressive.
"Because, Motoyasu wouldn't have believed it, and Ren would have acted the exact same way he did. Neither I, nor the Sword Hero, trust Myne's words now, and I was willing to bet he saw through it on his own, or just decided to come to you for confirmation of your actions…which to be fair, he got, given you ignored reasonable ideas, and instead decided to run away, AFTER trying to kill one or more of us," I pointed out, and that actually brought everyone up short, as I leaned back on the tree.
Before we could do much else, a rustling noise came from nearby, and a woman in a cloak wearing a mask descended from the trees. She was obviously shocked to see me standing there, and I smiled at her, as Princess Melty identified her as one of the 'Shadows' plain clothes agents under the direct command of the Queen. Naofumi, after she said something, also claimed she was the one to tell them to leave Melromarc at the palace, before I'd talked to him.
"I see…well then, can you deliver messages for us to the King? Tell him about how Malty attempted to kill the Second Princess, and the Hero of the Bow during a standoff?" I asked, and she shook her head.
"The King mistrusts us, feeling we hold too much sway over the Queen, and even now would be as like to throw us in the dungeon as to listen to our words, even if they come directly from his wife," she explained, making me groan. I hated politics, it was why I was kind of on the Pope's side. At least he was open about his evil to me, but subterfuge like this made it hard to trust you knew the nature of people.
"The Queen requests that you, Shield Hero, and I suppose the Bow as well, meet with her. She is already setting out from Faubury, and will be at the border in less than a week if her travels go well," she said, looking towards us.
"The Queen?" asked Naofumi, like he was confused by the concept…though I could see the glint in his eyes, he was actually stalling for time, thinking it over, as his interactions with the royals had obviously been less than thrilling so far, even if he'd done all this to protect the Second Princess.
"The corruption of this land runs deeper than we had thought, and would appreciate any help the Heroes could give to rooting it out at the source," she said, like the actual cause wasn't the First Princess, obviously…the Pope too, but I was willing to bet with his position assured thanks to me he'd be more willing to work with who I was willing to.
"This abduction of the Princess and another Hero sees you painted as a villain by those who find your accomplishments alarming…both of yours," she said, turning to me.
"You have slain monsters we thought would last for the whole of time, or at least until you were stronger than any around. That victory has made some…nervous about the future you might bring," she told me, staring at me, and making me scratch my chin.
"So, Myne's been trying to undermine me with her father too, then? Odd, I thought we got along well when I spoke to him," I said, and she shook her head.
"She is sending missives constantly back to the castle via royal means, telling him of all the 'insults' you throw at him behind his back, mocking the death of his sister. Sometimes even implying Lucia's position in your party is to do so, given she was named for his lost sister," she explained, and I actually had a moment, as he hadn't mentioned that fact to me at all…and I could see how surrounding someone named for a woman who was killed in a war with Demi-Humans and Beastmen with those same types would disturb him.
"Sounds like she's being a pain in the ass for more than just me, then. Still that seems to say we should avoid the Royal Family completely, and just leave the country. What do I…we get out of meeting with the Queen?" he asked.
"I have no doubt that you'll understand this situation better after you've met her," she said, bowing, and seemingly finishing the conversation. I turned to Naofumi, who turned to me, and then another rustle took our eyes back to where she had been standing, revealing a large pack of supplies left behind, as she had vanished.
"Bloody ninjas," I said, getting up and walking over to it. Untying the top revealed that the contents were mostly food, as I suspected they would be, but also a map that I handed to Naofumi, and we stood around him as he unrolled it. The thing had the route from here to the border with Faubery marked, some of it through backroads and small passes that weren't marked directly, but instead written in by the one doing the route for us.
"Faubery is the opposite direction of our original destination," he groused a bit, obviously considering it.
"And of course, it looks like hard terrain from here to there. Not the sort you want to take a Princess through, no offense, Melty," I pointed out, and she looked at me, not angry, but nodding.
"I have done worse, Sir Bowman, though that does beg the other question. It's not the sort of terrain to take a prisoner through either," she said, and that got the others looking at me, obviously wondering if I'd need to be kept an eye on for this whole journey, and I shrugged in response to their unasked question.
"To be fair, I don't know how far I have to be from Naofumi to lose the (Drained) effect, and all four of you are my superiors in combat right now. Faster, stronger, etc. I don't want to force you to do something drastic like tie me up to keep me from bolting, so I'm willing to follow you, to a point," I said, before looking straight towards Melty.
"But if anything they do endangers you, I would not hesitate to try and escape to provide you with what safety I can, so let's not put ourselves in too much additional peril, if we can help it?" I offered, and they seemed to accept that, with Naofumi pointing out that the closest border to Melromarc, and outside the King or Malty's clutches, would be Siltvelt, the border there being a two or three day on foot journey by road, probably four or five for us since we'd have to avoid that.
After a small moment of levity where Melty insisted Naofumi call her by her name, we began to rise, figuring none of us would be sleeping easily where we were, only to be stopped as Raphtalia smelled something in the air, and we turned towards the horizon, seeing an orange glow like a horrid false dawn in the west. A forest fire…and likely not a natural one, given how it seemed to be spreading with winds coming from nowhere.
In the end, it took us a bit to get off the mountain, with them carrying all the supplies, as it turned out even Melty could carry more weight than I could, and easier, making me rather annoyed still, as we marched off, the fire never even coming close to us, but slowly lighting up the whole of the mountain, and giving quite the start to my time as a prisoner of the Shield Hero and his party.