Between the shattered earth and torn up trees, one might get the impression of a natural disaster.
Before them stood the wreckage of the battle, the broken remains of the mechanical spheres that belonged in a space museum were the largest and most noticeable. Then came the carcasses of the White Tiger Clones and the Chimera and the remaining pieces of equipment they had been armed with. Each corpse was big enough to carry an entire party on its back.
Nearby, the other Heroes were currently collecting what spoils they felt were the most immediately useful and did not need too much work to obtain. Ren and Itsuki still felt justified that the world was a game and were not intent on butchering the white tigers for their pelts when someone else could do that for them.
Larsazusa and her trusty Knight Dragon riding dog therianthrope followed behind him.
Naofumi turned to the two accompanying him and asked them a simple question. "The Sword Hero called this a drop pod, a device from his world that is used to essentially "drop" soldiers or monsters into a fight from far away. Does that ring any bells?"
"No, I am afraid not. Though I can see that it would be useful in combat." Larsa shook her head. There's something inherently ridiculous about walking to a sight where intense carnage occurred with an anthropomorphic panda. By human standards, Larsasuza came off as cute even with the armor she preferred to wear.
Naofumi nodded his head and then moved onto the next piece, the green armor which belonged to a certain tiger cub.
Said tiger cub immediately started to stir, restless as the Shield Hero approached the armor.
Naofumi stroked the nameless cub gently along the back, soothing him instantly as he neared.
"Was it wise bringing that… animal with us?" Larsa's right hand man questioned.
Larsa gave the Shield Hero an inquiring look. "I've been meaning to ask. That's a weird cat, almost like a Hakuko. Where'd you get it?"
Naofumi walked over to a discarded set of green armor, one meant for an exceedingly large tiger… that was now currently in his hands. "He wore this armor." He then pointed to the tiger carcasses the other Heroes were ripping the heads off. "It used to be like those things there and tried to kill us. When the Wave ended, he turned into this little guy and now it's… basically just a kitten."
Larsazusa and her second did a double take, switching between the armor and the tiger in the Shield Hero's hands.
Naofumi gave a brief rundown of the battle. How the tigers all came from out of the crack in the sky and proceeded to divide the Heroes and slowly broke them down. He then covered his own arrival and how having the Heroes ganging up on a tiger each allowed them to slowly kill them. Lastly, he covered the part of how the green armored tiger abruptly changed mid lunge the moment the Wave ended… and was now in his hands trying to bat away some string he held over it.
She went and murmured something to one of her subordinates. "So that's the thing that gave the Legendary Heroes all that trouble? Some people saw you come back from fighting the boss in a rough state."
"The armor gave them special powers. I know that some weapons and armor have magical abilities here, so I don't need to know that specifically." Naofumi informed as he bent down and did a search on the armor to see if there were any hints he missed. "This armor apparently gave it fast regenerative abilities and some sort of pain nullification."
Larsazusa gave the Shield Hero a concerned look. "It's…just a bit strange. You said it tried to kill you and now…it's docile?"
"Seems like it," Naofumi replied. "He's just been strangely affectionate."
Larsazusa frowned. " I can't say I know what it is, other than reminding me of a Hakuko, but I think I know what happened."
Naofumi nodded. "I'm listening."
"I believe this was a level reset." Larsa responded.
The other nodded. "You raised those girls of yours until they were grown. You know we demihumans and most monsters accelerate our growth with leveling," he said.
"But if for whatever reason you lose those levels, you lose that growth," Larsa said.
"So you think it lost all of its levels when the Wave ended?" Naofumi recalled the talk involving that former Three Heroes Church driver, about how leveling up determined the age of a young demihuman.
Larsa suggested a simple solution. "You can probably check its level when you can add it to your party, but that needs a monster seal. If it's level one we'll know that it had its levels reset."
"Are you speaking from experience?" Naofumi asked.
"It's kind of embarrassing, but we knew a mercenary who wanted to try something else with his life entirely even if it meant spending an excessive amount of time recovering those lost levels," one of the mercenaries said. "It was a bit of a surprise to the rest of us to learn he lied about his actual age."
Naofumi considered this information. Given the tiger's species was "White Tiger Clone", that implied that the creature was cloned. Furthermore, if the level reset theory proved to be correct, that meant it was forcibly aged. He already assumed that someone was making these monsters, but it sounded like the villain who belonged to a science fiction universe rather than fantasy. "We can assume it was rapidly and forcibly given large amounts of experience. How long would it take for someone without a Legendary Weapon to raise a monster to level one to forty?"
"Well, that depends on if the tiger is doing the fighting itself or is being raised by someone higher level than it. And that poses the question of how powerful they must be, or even if the owner was part of a group, and what they're fight against," Larsa explained, seemingly considering numbers in her head. "But we're looking at… three-to-six months for someone extremely motivated."
The small tiger brought his mouth over to the Shield Hero's hands and began to nibble. Even if he wasn't the Shield Hero, it did no damage to him. Between contemplating whether or not that required a disciplinary action or to instead a pat on the head, the Shield Hero decided to change tracks. "Enough about him then. What about the town?"
"Lute's roughly okay. We kept casualties down as best we could…" Larsa explained.
She and her right hand gave a brief overview of their side of the battle. How the defensive line they set up when backed by the Melromarc soldiers held out against a seemingly endless flood of the living dead. They had more or less used their presence to act as a rallying beacon for any civilians left behind and baited the enemy into focusing on them. Overall, due to the medicine Naofumi gave them, they only got away with bone fractures instead .
Just from the sound of it, and what he saw of Lute after the fight, the battle went far better than it did originally. There were less bodies under white sheets.
Naofumi nodded, accepting that his efforts had paid off.
Then as he contemplated that, he saw something he overlooked in the armor. He reached down and pulled an overly large animal collar, one so big he could have used it as a belt.
Naofumi wondered how he might have missed something like that, but given they had been fighting for his life and how the tigers were covered head to tail in armor, it made sense.
"That thing's clearly enchanted," the dog man said.. "No idea what it is beyond that."
"I might have some ideas." Setting the tiger cub down, Naofumi turned it in his hands. It was made of blackened reptilian leather inlaid with a number of odd but clearly magical symbols around it. Given that the tigers were being made, perhaps this was important to using them as weapons?
Larsa nodded. "Control collars are something that existed but fell out of fashion when binding seals to the skin and flesh became practical. You can probably confirm this by checking with a monster dealer."
"Just what I thought." Naofumi as he went to put the collar away into his pack, the Shield Hero noticed that the tiger cub… looked up at him with wide soulful eyes and trembling as though freezing. That was not a reaction he expected.
"You don't like it, do you?" he asked, showing the collar to the tiger.
The tiger cub reeled back, the collar the focus of its attention, as if it was a deadly weapon.
"Does level reset affect memory?" Naofumi found himself asking.
Larsa shook her head. "No, level reset doesn't affect anything except your stats. Though it might penalize skills." Grunting, she eyed the tiger. "At least, it shouldn't, as far as I know."
Shaking his head and deciding that he'd be better off learning more when he had the time, Naofumi simply picked up the cub and rocked him back and forth until he stopped trembling. It honestly reminded him of Raphtalia back when she was plagued by night terrors.
He turned towards Larsa and her companion. "What will you be doing now that the job's done?" Officially speaking, Naofumi did not actually hire Larsa and her troupe. Siltvelt paid for the original delivery and the Emissary, Moru, extended their payments to keep the mercenaries around for the Wave; Naofumi was wealthier than he had been originally, but Larsa's band was beyond his abilities to purchase when factoring in the needs of his party. Now that the Wave was over, he did not want to drain the Emissary's coffers when it wasn't needed; that would have been an abuse of the man's charity.
"We'll be heading to Zeltoble in the morning." Larsa answered. "Some business came up and my fighters want to spend their paychecks."
"Everyone seems to be going there," Naofumi idly mused, noting how the Heroes had gone there as fast as possible, how the slave merchant had family there, and how Raphtalia suspects a friend of hers might have been there. That could just have been his business connections or it could have been how some cities were seen as very important.
Larsa nodded. "It's a city of merchants and gladiators. Plus an entire class of craftsmen to keep everything running. It's a great place for money and experience."
The inklings of an idea formed in Naofumi's head. Now if only he had his camera. Maybe Larsa had a solution. "Larsa, if you're going there, maybe you can learn something from these pods."
The panda woman nodded.
"I'm thinking to myself, maybe we can learn a thing or two from them," Naofumi suggested. "Me and the other Heroes want to loot them for parts and materials, but maybe we can learn more about their mechanisms."
Larsa seemed to consider that. "Right."
"The boss and some of the others can do some really nice sketch work from sight or memory. We can look it over and record what we see before then." the dog man suggested.
"Try to have it done by tonight then. The villagers and soldiers want to move the carcasses and pods elsewhere." Naofumi informed them. "Try to see if you can learn about them or do something about the design. It might be helpful to know who or what we're dealing with."
"I understand," Larsa agreed. "I don't know exactly what's going on, but these things were obviously created by someone. Not sure if their intended plan was to throw armored tigers at you though."
Naofumi nodded. "But before you go, I'd like some last minute things," Naofumi requested. " I need someone to take me back to the Castle Town, by tonight." He pointed to the dog man riding his Knight Dragon.
The panda woman turned to her man.
He shrugged. "I can do that. It's only a few hours anyways."
"Good," Naofumi answered the dog therianthrope with the Knight Dragon. "I can get a wagon real quick." He then dug and took some scrap metal off from the dro pod and absorbed it into the Legendary Shield.
Scarlilite Shield 0/30 +0
[Locked]Skill: "Close Range Area Map", Spirit Attack Absorption(small)
[Locked]Special Equip Effect: Life Scan (level)
Life Scan (level): Grants user the ability to see individuals within an Area Map as dots. Higher level individuals have larger dots.
The resulting dark gray shield was round and bore a thin layer of rust reddish metal in some spots. The abilities on it seemed interesting. It sounded like it was some sort of detection or mapping shield.
Then, because he realized he might not have another chance to ask in any reasonable time frame, Naofumi turned to Larsa. "Actually one last thing, from you in particular. Do you mind giving me some of the bamboo you create with your magic?"
Larsa spoke a very short chant and caused a tall shaft of bamboo to shoot out from the dirt.
Naofumi promptly absorbed the bamboo.
Bamboo Shield 0/20 +0
[Locked] Equip Bonus: +5 Defense, Construction Skill Increase (major)
Bamboo Shield II 0/30 +0
[Locked] Equip Bonus: Increased Plant Growth Speed (minor), Skill: "Bamboo Barrier"
Bamboo Barrier: Makes a wall of bamboo grow from the ground. Has a Defense Bonus based on the caster's own Defense for 5 minutes. Afterwards it becomes regular bamboo.
His Legendary Shield became a slab of compressed bamboo held together by rope. In terms of stats, it was relatively weak, but the abilities seemed incredibly useful. Making a bamboo wall on demand seemed impressive as both more crowd control. As to the other bonuses, construction skill seemed like it'd be handy if he needed to build something big. And the plant growth speed increase will definitely be useful for whenever he deals with the Bio-Plant again. Hopefully, Motoyasu hadn't unleashed it already.
Larsa eyed him and then gave him a nod.
While leaving, Naofumi took the Chimera Viper Head, reclaiming one of his most used combat shields from the original timeline.
In her head, Raphtalia knew they had done better this time. There were fewer casualties and less property damage, yet it was hard to think that when looking at so much death and destruction. Between the bodies hidden under white sheets, the massive piles of monster remains, and the heaps of gathered rubble, it seemed almost identical to how it was before.
At the very least, looking at all the families huddled together against the descending sun, she could take solace on the fact that they avoided a worse fate. No one had come through the battle unscarred, but that was better than the alternatives.
Master Naofumi traded in wealth and used fame to achieve this goal and the results spoke for themselves, but only when one tried to be objective about it.
Rifana grabbed onto Raphtalia's hand, pointing towards the ruined, but saved town. "We did that, didn't we?"
Raphtalia nodded.
Rifana stared at the sight, her eyes drinking in every detail.
"Remember how I said I had dreams of you saying you were jealous of being able to travel with Master Naofumi?" Raphtalia began. "I sometimes wondered what you'd think of being with us, fighting the Waves side by side."
"I'll say it right now. It is very terrifying and none of the storybooks ever told me what it was actually like. They always paint such a rosy picture and leave out the parts where you have to carry buckets of frogs or get a rash from having herbal powder land on your skin." Rifana put on a smile despite hurting on the inside. "They gloss over the important bits like how hard your heart pounds as soon as you get hit, how much an injury could cost you if you make a careless mistake. But it's worth it. The training, the practice, the labors, there was a reason for it."
It would have been worth it if it meant saving one child from having to bury their parents. Raphtalia knew she shared that belief with Rifana. Their own parents were gone, that didn't mean others had to suffer the same fate.
The tanuki gave her friend a smile.
"So, there's a feast today, isn't there?" Rifana asked coyly, an obvious attempt to change the conversation to something less dour. "Something about the King wanting to reward the Four Heroes for saving the village?"
"There might be," Raphtalia gave her a smug expression. At the moment, that announcement hadn't been made yet, but if her future knowledge held true, King Aultcray would be eager to shower praise on the Heroes. And that meant being invited to the feast meant to show off the Heroes and their triumph.
"Are you going to do anything with Sir Naofumi?" Rifana muse out loud.
"He might enjoy tonight," Raphtalia admitted. Despite having kissed Master Naofumi days ago, the fact of the matter was that there was no time to build upon that event, not when lives were at stake and so close to the Wave. Now, the nearest crisis was weeks away. Plus, Master's sense of taste and his mood were far better than last time. In fact, so much was different that the tanuki girl was having a hard time imagining what they would do tonight!
Rifana pursed her lips, mulling it over. "Well, aside from not needing to cook food, maybe he'd like to fraternize? Could you dance with him?" she paused. "It's a royal feast, so it'd have to be a fancy dance… Do you know any fancy dances?"
Raphtalia shook her head. She hadn't considered learning dance. "I don't think it was that kind of feast, or at least, it wasn't because of Sir Motoyasu, Thankfully, Itsuki already settled that, so there might be more time to enjoy ourselves." Raphtalia admitted before frowning. "Now if only I knew what to do…."
Rifana gave her friend a playful smirk. "Oh, don't tell me you've been so focused on trying to court Sir Naofumi that you never stopped to consider what to do if he reciprocated?"
Raphtalia stood up defensive. "Well, both of us thought kissing was the end of it before marriage! I don't know what steps come in between that."
"...The books glossed over this too," Rifana admitted.
"GAAH!" Keel shouted.
Both young women turned their attention to Keel cursing at a box of empty potion bottles that landed on her foot. It was not hard to imagine what happened.
With a sigh, Raphtalia went over to her friend. "Keel, did you hurt yourself again?"
"I'm fine!" Keel spat out. Taking the box back into her grip. Thankfully, the bottles were made from a robust material since they were expected to be employed in a combat situation. "I just… slipped is all."
Rifana gave her friend a frown. "Keel, I told you to be more careful! That could be serious!"
"I was careful!" Keel defended. "I just… was not expecting to be distracted."
"Is something on your mind?" Raphtalia asked, still concerned. Then she recalled earlier that Keel had seemed like something was on her mind for much of the past few days. "I… noticed you've been in a foul mood lately."
Keel gave her an annoyed expression. She seemed to contemplate something before answering. "I just think I was worried about the fighting is all," she sounded odd saying that, like she was… just saying it to say it. "And I think I'm just tired. I used First Speed over a dozen times today! And a lot of that was using the group version."
Raphtalia nodded her head, accepting that answer. They were all tired and Keel had the weakest magic attribute of the three of them; it would have been unreasonable to assume that she wouldn't have been fatigued and agitated from that. "Well the good news is that we'll be having a victory feast soon… assuming it's announced."
Keel, still tired looking, nodded his head. "Yeah, I could use some grub."
Rifana curtly added. "The only downside is that we'll be sharing it with the nobility. Most of which would not think fondly of us."
Arms crossed, Keel looked like she was considering the option. "Well, it's not really my choice, but if it was, I don't think I'd mind one bit. Besides, I don't have to talk with any of them and I don't think most nobles want to talk with me anyways!"
"And if someone tries to talk to you anyways?" Rifana asked.
"Then, I'll stuff my mouth!" Keel replied eagerly.
Raphtalia smiled. It seemed like one of her oldest friends was now able to relax once again. Maybe it was just the stress of an upcoming battle that was getting to her?
Raphtalia turned and saw Master Naofumi with that wolf demihuman Larsasuza had. They were both on a wagon drawn by the mercenary's Knight Dragon. The baby tiger lazed in Naofumi's arms.
"Hey ladies!" the mercenary shouted, waving a hand. "We're here to take you to the castle!"
Keel glowered at the mercenary, no doubt disliking being called a lady.
Raphtalia waved and gave Master a smile. "Master Naofumi, are we leaving already?"
"While we were hitching the wagon, a crier shouted about a feast," Master said with a frustrated expression. "Looks like the King wants to show off."
Rifana elbowed Raphtalia and flashed her a wink. On the other hand, Raphtalia could feel Keel staring intently at her, which bothered her since she did not know why.
Raphtalia frowned, remembering how poorly the previous attempt resulted in having Master Naofumi fight against Motoyasu. That probably wasn't happening anymore, but her mind still flashed back to it. "So, we're going to the King's feast tonight?"
"As much as I don't want to, I can't snub the King… right now," the Shield Hero stated. "Besides, I still need to get paid. And then we'll do some shopping, especially for this little guy."
The tiger in his hands yawned.
Master petted it with an expression that just… bothered her. Especially with how he basically cuddled the creature with one hand. "Do you think Filo will like him?" he mused.
"Filo?" asked the driver.
"He's already got the name for the filolial he wants," Raphtalia explained.
The dog therianthrope blinked. "Sounds kind of… basic if you ask me."
"Only the first part of the species name," Rifana agreed.
"So we're keeping it?" Raphtalia asked, eying the little sleeping monster in Naofumi's grip. She did not hate the monster, but not too long ago, it was a ravenous monster of a tiger. "... Are you planning on raising it?"
Much to Raphtalia's displeasure, Master Naofumi nodded his head. "Either it becomes useful as a tamed monster or it can give us some insight on what happened here today."
"So, you want to see the slave merchant tomorrow?" Raphtalia wanted to oppose her master on this point, on the grounds it might grow back up into a monster once it grows larger.
"I still want to buy that Filolial egg, but getting it now is not the best idea. Not only would I have to protect the egg while at the feast, I'm certain some noble might get ideas if they see me with one while we're there." Master Naofumi answered. "So, it's better to just avoid it for now."
Right, Filo might have been endangered if they brought her egg into a lion's den. One wrong slip up and she could have died before she was even born. "And the tiger?"
Master Naofumi continued, "I'll buy the highest tier Slave Crest I can. That'd ensure its obedience until I know more about it."
"Why not sell it?" Keel gloomily asked. "It might be worth quite a bit of gold."
"I could," Master Naofumi replied back, with what looked suspiciously like a smile on his face. "But look at how cute he is!"
The small tiger then yawned, its teeth showing as it did so.
Raphtalia blinked several times, an uneasy feeling in her chest. Master Naofumi was rarely so… excited. The last time he was like this was… with Filo before the filolial gained human form.
Wait. Raphtalia recollected herself. Be calm! Master Naofumi kissed you and you did the same to him. Don't be jealous. "So, do you like small animals? You were like this before when-" she remembered the fact they were not alone. "When were you looking for animals to buy?"
Master Naofumi's eyes twitched upwards before returning down. "I might. I like having them around me. Now that I think about it, I don't think animals ever hurt me before coming to this world. And well, here, I convinced a Knight Dragon to betray its owner with a single touch."
"I wonder if that applies to demihumans," Rifana mused idly.
Raphtalia felt her jaw drop open.
Keel as well, turned a nervous glance to her. "That… that can't be right!"
"Why not?" Rifana asked. "Historically, the demihumans and therianthropes have always favored the Shield Hero. And the Shield Hero often reciprocated. Maybe being loved by all animals and people with animal traits is a requirement of being the Shield Hero?"
"Let's…not think about this!" Raphtalia flustered.
The dog demihuman controlling the Knight Dragon flashed them both an inquisitive look then turned away, perhaps deciding he did not want to be involved..
"Yeah. Let's get going." Naofumi agreed. "You think Filo will like Tama? Or Tamajiro? I'm still trying to decide on what to name him." Neither name seemed particularly good to her, but maybe that was just because they meant something in her Master's native tongue? But maybe it was an improvement over 'Filo'.
"Hm, I was thinking you'd name him Tiger or Haku," Raphtalia tried to maintain a straight face. The first name was basically what the monster was and the other was the first part of "Hakuko", a demihuman type within Siltvelt. They were the sort of names that she expected her Master to use.
Then, Master Naofumi brought a hand to his chin, as if seriously considering it. "That wouldn't be a bad idea, too…"
Raphtalia winced internally.
The ride back home was mostly uneventful. Naofumi busied himself tending to his newest charge. He took a waterskin and dumped its contents over the tiger cub. With one of the soap bars from Motoyasu, he lathered his fur and removed all of the dirt and grime he had accumulated during the fight. Thankfully, the little guy was very well behaved, not even struggling as he was cleaned.
Then after drying the little rascal with a towel, the Shield Hero brushed the tiger's hair, pulling off shed hairs and dumping it into the Legendary Shield.
White Tiger Fur Shield
[Locked] Equip Bonus: White Tiger Status Adjustment (Minor)
Strangely, the resulting shield did not seem to factor in that the tiger was originally cloned.
Now clean, the tiger sat on the Shield Hero's lap, purring contentedly on the towel.
"... And that was when I pummeled the zombie and saved that old guy!" Keel recounted as he spoke to the driver. He raised a fist in the air and pretended to punch something. "POW!"
"Not bad, kid. Not bad," the dog therianthrope commented. "You ever think of going mercenary? The pay is great!"
"... Once or twice, I guess?" Keel said, his eyes drifting til they were over Naofumi. Then he immediately turned away to hide his expression. "It's not like it matters right now anyways. The Waves are still around.
"Suit yourself, kid, suit yourself," the therianthrope reported.
It was not lost on Naofumi that there was something off with Keel. For the past few days, she hadn't been her more rambunctious self most of the time. At first, Naofumi thought it was just the coming battle bothering the dog girl, but now, he was sure it was something else.
Rifana let out a cough as she finished cleaning the metallic armor and weapons the group carried. She stashed a bottle of a cleaning solution she made in a bag. "It's all done. The armor has been cleaned."
"Good," Naofumi gave the group a simple order to clean up their equipment. Not only was this to make themselves presentable, it was also for the practical reason of ensuring there was no extra damage that Erhard needed to fix when they visited.
"So, all we need to do now is rush clean up and wear our fresh clothes," Raphtalia groaned. "There's just so little time to clean up."
"Ironically, the fact we don't have any fancy clothes is a good thing," Naofumi said dryly. "Your armor is clean already, so all you have to do is just wear it. It makes a solid point about our purpose, that we are here to defend the Kingdom."
"Yeah, fancy clothes are a pain. I'll take my armor over a dress shirt any day!" their driver commented.
They passed quickly through the Castle Town gates despite a seeming deluge of people eager to get out. It occurred to Naofumi then that many of the residents of the Castle Town did have family members in Lute; after all, the village was very close by to the Castle Town
He spotted the old witch that introduced his party to magic waving a cart to take her, an overstuffed bag under her arms. The old potion seller that Naofumi sold his herbs and medicine to loaded several pallets of medicine into a cart despite his age. Others the Shield Hero did not know the name of busied themselves, preparing to leave or aiding those who were going out. There were friends and family who needed help.
Passing through busy streets, the driver took them to a particular weapon store.
The Shield Hero and his party got off and walked inside, each person carrying their own gear.
Erhard greeted them immediately. "Well, if it isn't Shield Kid?" he laughed. "Looks like you got here all in one piece. Wasn't expecting you to return so soon ,with the King throwing a feast and the Wave being over. I take you Heroes are the guests of honor?"
"That's right." Naofumi gave the man a nod. "It was announced to the public?"
"It has to be. Town criers shouted about how the Wave had appeared on Lute and was soundly beaten back by the Heroes," Erhard explained, then rubbed the back of his head. "When the feast was announced, I figure it was an open invite to any nobles or other rich people that wanted to make an impression."
"Is there actually a point to the feast? Other than for prestige?" Naofumi questioned. Last time, he didn't actually bother on the reasons for the feast itself and was more focused on getting paid.
"Sure! There's always some backroom deals or power play going on at events like this," Erhard shrugged. "I take it you're going to attend? Because, honestly, Kid, I didn't think you'd be the type."
"It's more that we have to go. So we're going to clean up and get going."
Raphtalia raised a hand. "I'm going to talk to Beryl. Also, to let her know Sir Motoyasu might take her to the feast."
Naofumi remembered how both of the versions of Motoyasu he knew would act. He would have definitely wanted to bring one of his girls along if he could. "Fine. Tell her to get ready in case he shows up."
"She's in the back." Erhard replied.
Raphtalia nodded and walked through the back door.
Naofumi then raised the small tiger in his grip and showed him to the blacksmith.
Erhard eyed him. "What's that?"
"A monster I got from the Wave," Naofumi replied. "Do you mind watching after him while I'm at the feast?"
"Gee, are you trying to make that monster army rumor a reality?" Erhard questioned then sighed. "You know, I didn't run a daycare, but then I met you. I should start charging."
"How do you feel about rare metal samples from the other side of the Wave?" Naofumi questioned. "I got my hands on some artifacts during the wave, made of materials that might not be found anywhere else in this world. We can talk about the specifics later."
Erhard focused his eyes intently onto Naofumi. "Alright, you got my attention."
Naofumi put the slumbering tiger onto the counter top.
The tiger awoke wearily and looked up at Erhard. He then stumbled forward and sniffed the man's hand. Erhard reciprocated by patting the little tiger on the head.
"He's oddly affectionate," the man said.
"I know. He doesn't like the other Heroes, but he's fine with me and the others." He had no problems being close to Raphtalia, Rifana, or even Keel.
"Strange too since he tried his best to kill us." Keel muttered.
Erhard eyed him strangely.
"He was HUGE!" Keel raised his arms skyward. "Like, really big."
"Now he's adorable," Rifana laughed, gently rubbing the tiger's back. The little tiger rubbed against her hand in reply.
Naofumi couldn't help but feel a little glad that he wasn't the only one who liked the little guy. Raphatalia gave him the cold shoulder, but he had a feeling she'd warm up to him eventually, like with Filo.
Beryl came stumbling out with Raphtalia behind her. "Greetings, Sir Shield Hero," she managed to say. "I'm glad you've made it back… Is Master safe? Or what about Rino?" She made a face and then added, "...And the others?
Naofumi gave the girl a nod. She was specifically asking about her master, Motoyasu and Rino because they were closest to him; the rest were an afterthought. He contemplated on whether or not he should tell her about Rino's condition, especially since the two seemed close; however he decided that since Rino was fine and merely injured, there was no harm. "Everyone's fine. Beat up, but fine. Rino was injured, but she's expected to make a full recovery within a few days."
The girl shuddered before relaxing. She seemed apprehensive, but the reassurance that Rino was fine soothed her. "Okay. Thank you for telling me." Then she turned towards the tiger on the table.
"What's that?" she said abruptly. "It looks like a kitten."
The tiger yawned and laid on his back.
"You can ask the girls later. I can't bring him to the feast, so I'm leaving him here," Naofumi answered. "Did Raphtalia explain things to you?"
Beryl frowned. "Yes. Master Motoyasu will likely want me to accompany him. I don't know if I would fit in... It's going to be a party full of those scary nobles. And then I'd have to wear my fancy dress."
Naofumi nodded. Unlike Raphtalia and Rifana, Beryl did not have the excuse of having combat wear in place of formal wear. She was likely going to be stuck in a maid outfit if she came.
The Shield Hero shook his head. This was not something he had the experience or the justification to make a call on, especially since Beryl wasn't his. "I know you don't like that outfit," he began. "So, you really need to talk to Motoyasu about it eventually."
The girl frowned. "But what if he… gets mad at me if I ask."
"He won't." Raphtalia said from behind her. "Because he actually does care about what you want. You just have to tell him what you want to be clear about it."
Naofumi blinked as he heard Raphtalia's words, just as the others began to add their own commentary.
"Yeah, he does seem genuinely nice compared to the others," Rifana added.
"Especially Sword-Jerk," Keel confirmed.
It was always funny to think that Motoyasu ended up being the reasonable one this time around; he was attentive and willing to listen to other people's opinions, even if some of those people shouldn't be listened to at all.
Beryl nodded and slowly approached the tiger.
The cub looked at her intently.
The fox girl leaned in with a hand and brought it against the cub's cheek.
The tiger purred.
"So, how was the fighting?" Beryl asked as she coddled the tiger. "After our village was destroyed, I…" she shook her head.
The tone in the air shifted.
Rifana placed a hand on the girl. "It's okay, we're fine. We got through it."
Beryl looked up at the others, her face distorted in thought. "I don't know if I can be as brave as you guys."
"I wasn't as brave either," Raphtalia admitted. "No one starts brave. That's something you have to work towards."
Naofumi silently nodded, remembering how much Raphtalia had changed. She was a far cry from the girl who suffered night terrors.
"Yeah, it's something you gotta work for! I can show you how!" Keel flashed an awkward smile.
"Keel, we have to get dressed," Naofumi reminded her. "We don't have time to recount a whole story."
The dog girl gave him a stink eye, but shrugged and accepted.
Naofumi took a deep breath and mentally braced himself for the coming night. In comparison to the Wave with its obvious danger and blunt solution of beating everything up, the feast to celebrate their victory that battle had no overt dangers and its threats were not just something he could have Raphtalia cut down.
At the very least, he was glad Motoyasu was not completely deluded anymore. He wasn't going to do something stupid like giving the Shield Hero a challenge that he had no reason to accept, right? It was arguably Naofumi's lowest moment, when he realized just how badly everything was arrayed against him. The only silver lining was that it was there Raphtalia proved she would be by his side regardless of what the world thought of him.
Motoyasu was unlikely to repeat that incident, but thankfully anything would have been better than having a repeat of that.
An interesting fact my beta readers found is that you learn that the entire feast scenario is implausible without assuming that the feast takes place at 8 o'clock. This has to do with the timing of the Wave's end to the feast not leaving very much time at all to do anything but beeline towards it.
I assume instead of bathing, they just wiped off any grime and used lots of perfume to fix the smell. Unless you're canon Motoyasu and probably have a whole carriage to change in before presenting yourself in public.
This chapter was originally going to skip ahead to the feast, but there was plenty of material there. As a result this chapter is shorter than normal or rather only slightly shorter than what I originally intended to be the usual length.