Whoa, whoa. Please don't turn the review section of my story into a warzone, you guys!
To be honest, everything that all of you guys said has something right in it. However, there is something else I want to add, too. Inconsistencies and retconning are things that are virtually unavoidable in shounen and seinen manga, anime, or whatever. Take an example of one of the most famous shounen manga in history: Dragon Ball. It is chock full of inconsistencies and plot holes which are pointed out by fans all around the world, especially when it comes to power level, abilities and other things. And yet it is still considered one of the most successful franchises in the history of manga. And the point of writing a fanfic about a franchise is to build up your own story from the base of the franchise itself, and try to apply your own thought, opinion and interpretation of the events, the setting and the world building into your own story, hopefully fixing what you THINK is inconsistent in the process. Emphasizing at THINK. Remember guys, we are just the readers who are trying to interpret things that the authors wrote in their works; we are not them to understand what they were thinking when they created them.
Anyway, onward with the story.
Chapter 29: The Noble Swordswoman
"Are you fucking kidding me."
EMIYA stared at the scenario in front of him in amused disbelief.
Sure, he had expected they would try to do something to take Wyndia when he arrived at Melromarc. After all, after witnessing what Wyndia could do in Zeltoble, he could understand why the Church wanted to have the girl back so badly.
He just hadn't expected that they would set up a fucking martial court. It seemed that the Church's corruption in this country was even worse than the Queen had described to him.
Except for the court members and a few soldiers, there was no one else in the courtroom. They were, obviously, trying to hide this from the public eye. And EMIYA noted that the King wasn't there. It's possible that he didn't know about this, either.
Taking down everyone in this room wasn't too difficult for him and his team. After all, he had just been named the strongest person in this whole world, and they had just finished pushing back a Wave of Calamity. There's no way a few soldiers could compare to Captain Fargus, or the Hydra that he had just slain.
However, he didn't think fighting back was a wise idea. He couldn't just go berserk and murder all of them, especially in the middle of a courtroom like that. Only bloodthirsty fools who want to make the whole country be out for their blood would even think of doing that.
"Court is in session for the trial of Emiya Shirou, the Sword Hero," the one sitting at the middle seat of the high table, whom EMIYA assumed to be the judge, said in a haughty voice. "You are accused of the most horrible crime of kidnapping children from their own parents!"
"What are you saying?!" Farrie exclaimed in disbelief. "Sensei would never do something like that! When did he even have the time to do that, anyway?!"
The judge looked at the soldiers at the entrance. "Send her in."
The two soldiers bowed and exited the room. A few minutes later, the entrance to the chamber opened again, and everyone's ears were bombarded by a deafening shriek. A shadow engulfed Wyndia in a hug before anyone could do anything.
"My baby! Oh, my baby! I thought I lost you forever!"
Wyndia looked utterly terrified. She yelled while trying to push the person who was clinging to her away.
"Wha-!? Release me! Who the hell are you?!"
The aforementioned person shot a glare toward EMIYA while sniffling loudly. "Oh, that fiend even brainwashed you to forget about your own mother! But don't worry, when we're home you're going to remember me, I'm sure about that!"
EMIYA glared at the woman who had just thrown the accusation at him. She was, indeed, a dog demi-human just like Wyndia, and yes, her brown hair was very similar to the dog girl's long, flowy hair. However, maybe because he had been with the dog girl for quite some time, he could say for sure that she wasn't Wyndia's mother. Sure, Wyndia was kinda a jerk when they first met, but that was because of her distrust of humans. This woman… even though she had been wailing and sniffling loudly for a while, EMIYA couldn't feel any love coming from her toward Wyndia. If anything, the only thing he could hear in her voice was a clear terror.
However, he had to admit that her act was very convincing. To the people who were watching, it was enough for them to take her side.
And he knew for sure who was behind this. Just look at how those people in the judge council were glaring at Wyndia, Fohl and Atla. However, he hadn't had any concrete proof, and he also knew that throwing baseless accusations was just going to harm his case.
"This one," the judge looked at the woman on the ground who was glaring at EMIYA, "was brought to us three days ago, accusing you of attacking her family and kidnapping her only daughter," his eyes now turned to EMIYA. "We have expected you to be better than the Shield, and yet turned out you're no different!"
"How dare you bastards-!" Tersia started angrily, but EMIYA's sudden grip on her shoulder stopped the words from coming out of her mouth. The ex-Counter Guardian glanced at all of his companions; he didn't say anything, but his glare was more than enough for the youngsters to understand what he wanted.
Do not say anything. Let me handle this.
"We do have a recording of your evil deed provided by this woman here," a haughty fat chancellor stepped forward with a nasty smirk on his face. He showed the room a crystal sphere which looked very similar to the ice ball the Queen sent him a few weeks ago. The ball flare up to life, and a holographic image appeared in the air, showing what seemed to be a figure wielding a Small Sword and wearing a red coat breaking into a house and running out of there with a brown-haired child under his arm.
It's impressive how far they would go to pin the blame on him. They couldn't use force to kidnap Wyndia from him, so now they're resorting to exploiting the law to forcefully take her away from him.
That forged video was impressive, he had to admit that… if not for the case that the person shown in it, while having some resemblances, wasn't EMIYA at all. Sure, the man shown in the recording had spiky white hair and tanned skin, and it seemed they had somehow edited his face so that the face looked similar to his, but there were some features that they couldn't properly fake.
The Champion's Garb Erhard tailor-made for him was one of a kind. It wasn't just a masterpiece of armor making, but also very beautiful and difficult to replicate, especially the material, which had a very special look that could not be copied by any other type of leather, since it came from a boss monster which could not be found anywhere else. And whatever that imposter was wearing in the recording definitely wasn't it.
Not to mention, EMIYA's eyes had a very distinctive color. When he was still a teenager, he had golden-brown eyes, but then, thanks to the extensive usage of Projection Magecraft, his eyes were changed to the shade of gray they had right now. It was something that couldn't be replicated even with magic. That guy in the recording, even though they already tried to change his eye color, had a rather brown eye color rather than gray. That person in the recording was just like a rather meager cosplayer who was trying in vain to copy EMIYA's appearance, but failed to perfect it.
"You are a bunch of idiots!" Welt shouted angrily. "That guy isn't even sensei! Why don't you just open your eyes to look closely for a bit?!"
"Who asked you, insolent cur!" Another chancellor yelled back at him.
"Yeah! Of course you're going to take his side! You are his companion!"
"You-!"
"What in the world is going on here?"
Everyone turned toward the entrance of the courtroom, where the new voice had just come from. The judge's eyes widened, and he stuttered.
"Y-Your Majesty! How did you…?"
"I have never heard about a trial being held today in the Supreme Court, nonetheless a trial of the Sword Hero himself," King Aultcray walked into the room and said with a sharp, cold voice. "What is the meaning of this, Judge Gellert?"
"Ah, uh…" the judge stuttered again, looking thoroughly disconcerted. "This… this is just – er - a small problem, and we - er - didn't think you – er - needed to know about it, so…"
The King's eyes narrowed. "A matter related to a Cardinal Hero and you didn't think I needed to know about it? I think you're not fit to be the judge of this court anymore, Judge Gellert."
The judge's eyes bugged out. "Your Majesty, you can't-!"
"Do I need to remind you that I'm the King of this country?" King Aultcray didn't let him finish that sentence. "You're hereby dismissed for not being able to fulfill even the smallest duty of a court judge. I'm going to take over this trial. Guards, take him away."
After the judge was taken away, screaming like a banshee on his way out, King Aultcray sat down in the empty seat the man left behind. He looked at the secretary of the court. "Summarize to me the trial so far," he ordered.
The secretary stood up and started reading out from the court record in his hand. "Ahem… The charges against the accused are as follows: That he did knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, break into the house of the Dorfmann family a week ago and kidnap their only daughter. This constitutes a criminal offense under Paragraph C, Article XXII of Melromarc's Criminal Law."
After the secretary finished, noises started filling the whole courtroom.
"Your Majesty! Please give back justice to this poor lady! We cannot let a Hero get away with something so evil!"
"Yes! Yes, Your Majesty! Give him proper punishments that a kidnapper like him deserves!"
"You bastards!" Fohl exclaimed angrily. He raised a fist towards the council of judges. "I haven't been with him for long, but I know Master is a righteous person! There's no way he could do something like that!"
The room got even noisier after the hakuko boy's exclamation.
"Master? So even the Sword Hero would stoop so low!"
"He even has a slave! What a bastard!"
"How dare you-!"
A light cough rose from Fohl's back. This time, it was Atla who spoke up; even though she couldn't speak very loudly, her melodic voice still somehow echoed around the courtroom.
"These people… I can feel a dark, evil aura coming from them… they're unlike you, Master. No matter what people say, I'm going to be on your side… until the end…"
EMIYA was touched by the words coming from the sick hakuko girl. He rubbed her silky white hair in an affectionate gesture. "Thank you, Atla. I appreciate that."
Then EMIYA noticed a strange reaction from Aultcray. When the hakuko siblings started raising their voices, the King's face suddenly twisted up in a strange expression… a mixture of shock, anger, pain, and… grief?
But that moment went away as quickly as it came. King Aultcray shook his head, then looked at EMIYA with careful and contemplating eyes.
"I would like to hear your own explanation first. Do you have anything to say, Sword Hero?"
EMIYA was surprised. He had thought that King Aultcray was an unreasonable bastard, due to what he did to Naofumi, but it seemed he could be fair sometimes. In contrast, the chancellors who had been accusing him since the beginning looked obviously disappointed and angry. The ex-Counter Guardian cleared his throat, and looked at the fat man who had provided the court with the holographic recording.
"So, I supposed you only have this… how should I say, recording?... as proof that I was the one who 'kidnapped' this woman's daughter, don't you?"
The fat man screeched. "That is already decisive enough! Who needs anything else when you are caught red-handed like this?"
EMIYA's sharp eyes bore into the bastard's face. "Then all I have to do is to prove that this is fake, isn't it?"
"What-?"
EMIYA turned toward the King. "Your Majesty. From what I heard, you are a prodigious wizard, the Seven Star Staff Hero. And this recording was made with magic. So I want to ask, is there any way to check when this recording was made?"
The King nodded. "Yes, there is. By calculating the amount of magical energy left in the crystal ball, you can estimate how long ago it was made. And the court record said it was made approximately six days ago," he looked at the secretary who was holding said record, and received a nod of confirmation.
EMIYA sighed with a smirk. "Seriously, anyone who sends you here should have thought about it more clearly before doing that. I had been in Zeltoble for the last month and have only returned this morning. I'm pretty sure the whole squad of border guards at the customs gate to Zeltoble could be my witnesses. They were forced to let me pass after the Royal Order of the Queen arrived. I believe you also knew that, didn't you, Your Majesty?"
King Aultcray nodded. "Yes. Absolutely."
The room suddenly became noisy from the whispers of the people in there. The chancellor from before raised his voice.
"But the Sword Hero has the ability to teleport back to Melromarc anytime he wants, doesn't he? He could have teleported back and taken her last week easily!"
EMIYA's glare turned toward the fat chancellor. "Since the beginning, I have felt that you are kinda too eager to blame this on me for some reason, aren't you, mister?"
The chancellor took a step back unconsciously. "Er… no, I just…"
"Frankly, I don't care about what I did to make you hate me like that, or whatever reason you have to do that," the ex-Counter Guardian snorted. "However, if you want to play that game, then I'm glad you asked. Because," his voice suddenly lowered dangerously, "I have a witness who can prove that I did not do something like that."
The fat bastard snorted. "Who, your companions? They're not counted, since they are your companions; you could have asked them to lie for your sake easily!"
And sweats suddenly broke out on his forehead when EMIYA answered him with a predatory smirk. "Wh-what?"
"Ah, of course I'm not talking about my companions. You see, in Zeltoble Harbor, this girl was nearly kidnapped by three strange people in the middle of the town. And guess who turned up to rescue her from them? Captain Fargus of Zeltoble."
The chancellor's eyes widened; sweat started pouring out from every pore on his face. "Captain Fargus?! You mean… the… the Seven Star Axe Hero?!"
"Yes," nodded EMIYA. "And do you know when that incident happened? Nine days ago. So, unless you're claiming that I can time travel, there's literally no way for me to go to this woman's house to kidnap her daughter six or seven days ago, then bring her back with me to Zeltoble two days before that to let her get kidnapped from my hand."
The fat bastard's face went paler than chalk. "Th-there's no way…!"
EMIYA shrugged. "If you want, I can go bring him here to provide the testimony that you want me to. If Your Majesty wants to go together with me to Zeltoble to fetch him, I would be honored to escort you. After all, you are also one of the Seven Star Heroes. And also…"
He pulled his coat open, revealing the belt he was wearing. "I believe some of you would be able to realize what this is. This is the belt of the Grand Champion of Zeltoble Grand Tournament, which has just finished five days ago. At the time you said I was 'kidnapping' this woman's daughter, I was fighting in the Grand Stadium of Zeltoble in the quarter-final and semi-final of the tournament, one of which was against this boy, no less," he pointed at Fohl, who nodded. "If you want to check, you can just contact Damian Kaur, the mayor of Zeltoble Harbor; he would be more than pleased to give you the information that you want."
The room was getting noisier than ever. EMIYA smirked. He knew that he had cornered them. All three of Wyndia's kidnappers had been killed, therefore he had bet his life on the chance that no one was able to report what had exactly happened at that moment back to whoever wanted to take her. And it seemed luck was on his side this time.
When people have money and power, they tend to think that they can get away with anything, even framing innocent people with crimes they don't even know exist. Even a bottle of simple cooking ingredients could become a weapon of mass destruction in their words, and the accused wouldn't be able to do anything, simply because they said so. Just like what Naofumi had to suffer since he was summoned to this world.
However, unfortunately for them, EMIYA wasn't Naofumi. He knew that he needed to keep constant vigilance against what people do, and even what he does himself. If these people thought that they could put him to death with that pathetic excuse of a trial, they were horribly, painfully wrong.
"Your Majesty, you can't believe his words!" the fat bastard shrieked in a desperate attempt to turn the situation around. "He's just trying to twist the facts to cover for himself!"
The King swept his eyes around the room with a calm expression. Then, he closed his eyes and said. "There is a much simpler method to check whether this is true or not. Guards! Summon the court wizard!"
Everyone was confused at the sudden command of the King. However, a thought suddenly appeared in EMIYA's head. Could it be…?
When the court wizard arrived in the chamber, King Aultcray suddenly gave an order which shocked everyone in the room.
"Mark that woman with the slave crest, immediately."
While everyone else was just surprised by the command, the faces of the members of the court council went chalk-white in an instant. The fat chancellor from before protested.
"Your Majesty! You cannot-!"
But a glare from the King made the words choke inside his throat. The King said in a sharp voice, much different from what EMIYA had heard from him since he was summoned to this world.
"With the slave crest on, she wouldn't be able to lie. And after I confirm that her words are the truth, I swear in the name of the Royal Family of Melromarc that I will release her from it."
And EMIYA was amused to see that those words seemed to make the chancellors even more panicked. It's clear that those people were behind this, and they didn't want the truth to be exposed. That woman was just their pawn; if she is forced to tell the truth by the slave crest, it is going to be the final hammer blow sealing their coffins.
The court wizard arrived in just a few minutes. When he brought the dish of slave crest ink toward the woman, she struggled wildly, to the point three soldiers needed to pin her down to keep her in place. And when her shirt was forced open…
"Your Majesty! This woman is a slave! Someone has already marked her with a slave crest!"
The King's eyes narrowed. "Then break it."
Wait a second…
And everything went downhill in that instant.
When the brush containing the erasing solution touched the skin of the woman, she let out a horrible scream of agony. And EMIYA realized immediately what was happening as high-voltage electricity exploded from the slave crest and spread all over her body. With a single leap, he pushed the wizard away before the electricity could spread to him, and in a flash of light, Rule Breaker appeared in his hand, this time without the punishment from the Legendary Sword. Carefully not to harm the woman, he nicked the skin of her chest, where the slave crest lay, with the tip of the blade. The seal imploded and disappeared almost immediately, and the woman slumped into the ground, unconscious.
"She's alive," EMIYA said after checking her pulse. Then he stood up and looked at the council of judges, who were sitting at the table with the same shocked expression on their faces.
"You see? Anyone who set this woman up on me definitely doesn't want her to tell the truth. If not, why did they need to rig that slave crest to kill her when someone tries to break it?"
The King stood up from his seat. "You have a point, Sword Hero. However, we need to wait for her to wake up to confirm whether you are right or not."
Then, he walked down from the table and stopped in front of the unconscious woman. He slammed the cane on the ground and chanted.
"As the source of your power, I, the Seven Star Staff Hero, command you, decipher the law of nature and bring life to the being before me! Dritte Rennervate!"
The reviving magic washed over the woman's body, and she woke up with a groan. She was pulled up immediately, and the court wizard started applying the slave crest on her chest. The crest glowed on her skin, and the woman let out a grunt of pain.
"Now that we're done with it, talk," the King said. "Is it true that the Sword Hero kidnapped your daughter?"
The woman stared at the King with eyes full of terror. She started opening her mouth…
And at that very same moment, a spear tip burst out of her chest. She fell over with a gasp, this time dead for real. The murder happened so quickly and suddenly no one, even EMIYA himself, who was standing in front of the woman, could move to stop the soldier standing behind her from thrusting his spear into her exposed back.
"NO!" Everyone exclaimed in anger at once, but EMIYA was the only one who acted. He leaped forward, and with a blinding fast movement, he twisted the arms of the assassin backward and locked him in a chokehold.
"Bastard," he snarled. "Why did you kill that woman? Who do you work for? Spill it!"
The assassin only answered him with a pained smirk. Then, he bit into something in his mouth, and it only took a single second for him to foam in his mouth and go slack in EMIYA's grip.
For a few seconds, no one was able to say anything. They were all too horrified and shocked by what had just happened in front of them to even open their mouths.
Finally, Aultcray was the first one to raise his voice. He walked back to his high chair, took a deep breath, then said.
"It seems there are still many mysteries in this case. And it is clear," his glare turned toward the members of the council, to their utter horror, "that you all have something related to this. So, guards, take away all members of the court council immediately for further questioning. And about the defendant, since all the evidence against you has been proven untrue, I declare you not guilty of all the charges, Sword Hero."
"So even you could be fair for once, huh? What a surprise."
Everyone turned to the entrance of the room once again. Naofumi was standing there, together with Raphtalia and five other girls EMIYA had never met before. There were three girls with colorful hair and small wings on their backs, whom EMIYA assumed were the three filolials-turned-humans Erhard had mentioned to him before; another dog demi-human girl with short, gray hair and navy blue eyes who looked about sixteen years old to EMIYA, the same as Wyndia after her leveling up during the Zeltoble Wave, and strangely, dressed up in a very boyish style which included only a simple shirt and a pair of trousers, with a sword strapped on her back; and finally, a ten-year-old girl whom EMIYA could only describe as… regal blue. That girl was the one who attracted EMIYA's attention the most; even though she was small, he could feel a regal aura of royalty coming from her… something similar to what he felt when talking to Queen Mirellia during his trip to Zeltoble.
The King's eyes narrowed upon realizing who the newcomers were. "Shield…" he growled.
The Shield Hero walked into the courtroom. He stopped next to EMIYA with a courteous smile.
"Shirou-san. How are you doing?"
"Considering the fact that I was brought to court immediately when I arrived here, not so good," EMIYA answered him with his usual snarky voice, and Naofumi smirked.
"Not something I wouldn't expect out of that 'King'. After all, if he could send his knight commander to murder someone who was trying their best to protect his country, there's nothing else I could imagine he wouldn't do anymore."
EMIYA looked at the Shield Hero in question. This time, Raphtalia was the one who answered him.
"Two weeks ago, when we were traveling across the eastern region of the country, that commander who tried to kill us during the last Wave appeared and tried to kill us again. He wasn't that skilled, but he was crazy, and he got a very powerful sword that shot out dark power with each swing. It even managed to get through Naofumi-sama's defense. Had it not been for Princess Melty here, we would have all died there."
EMIYA looked at the girl in blue. "So this one is…"
The girl smiled and curtsied. "Greetings, Sir Sword Hero. I believe this is the first time we meet. Please let me introduce myself. I am Melty Q. Melromarc, the second Princess of Melromarc's royal family, and the official heir to the position of the Queen of Melromarc."
EMIYA stared at the girl. He could see why the Queen would put such a high value on her. Even though she was younger, she seemed to be much more mature and understanding than her own sister. She also seemed to have a high moral ethic, too, and it was obvious that she had been groomed to become the next Queen since she was a little child. If she grows up to become the Queen, this country would benefit quite a lot from it.
But putting her own smallest child into such a situation... he could say for sure that the Queen was getting desperate. No matter how much she had learned, how mature she seemed to be, Melty was just a ten-year-old child. It's impossible to say what was going to happen from now; this girl was basically going to stand up against a whole religion which was corrupting the country from the inside. She's going to need a lot of help in that case.
"You are supposed to be with your mother on your way to Siltvelt, Melty," King Aultcray narrowed his eyes at his daughter. "Why are you here now, with the Shield?"
Melty closed her eyes. Even though she was just ten years old, she reminded EMIYA of her mother more than her sister had ever done. She said in a calm voice not befitting a little girl a little bit.
"Father, Mother was the one who sent me here. She was very displeased with how you handled the problems in the country when she was absent. And I'm here to deliver a message from Mother to you. Everyone, kneel."
She took out a familiar scroll from inside her sleeve, and everyone's eyes widened. All people in the room, except for EMIYA and Naofumi, hastily kneeled on the ground as Melty opened the scroll containing the Royal Order and read it out loud.
"By the power of the Crown Queen of the Kingdom of Melromarc, I, Queen Mirellia Q. Melromarc, hereby grant the Shield Hero, Sir Iwatani Naofumi, and his party the proper reward of 6000 silver coins corresponding to 60 gold coins, for their performance during the Second Wave of Calamity. The reward is extracted from the treasury of the royal family, and would be delivered to Sir Iwatani as soon as possible. Also, I hereby veto the arrest and declare the pardon and release of Lady Eclair of House Seatto. Lady Seatto is clear of all charges on her, and will join the Cardinal Heroes as their assistant in their effort to stop the Waves of Calamity. Princess Melty Q. Melromarc is going to be the representative of I when I am not in the country; any documentations at the rank of a royal decree and below made during this time period need to have her approval before they can be in effect. Anyone who acts against this Royal Order is going to be executed on the spot, no exception. This Royal Order is in effect starting from the moment it is announced."
The faces of everyone in the council turned purple with fury. House Seatto used to be the most fervent supporter of the demi-humans in Melromarc; after Lurolona Village, their turf, was destroyed, they had thought that by arresting the last member of the family, Lord Seatto's daughter Eclair, they could have pruned the source of this half-blood plague which were threatening their power. However, they didn't expect the Queen would go so far as to tell her own daughter to bring back a Royal Order, which was absolute, to force the release of that accursed woman. But now, the Order had arrived, and they had no choice but to obey. And with Princess Melty basically taking care of the domestic affair now…
Melty closed the scroll, and looking at the guards in the courtroom, she said in a voice full of authority.
"What are you waiting for? Release Lady Eclair Seatto from the prison, immediately!"
When the soldiers left for the prison, EMIYA looked at Aultcray. "So, Your Majesty, can you explain what Naofumi and Raphtalia have just said? Why did your knight commander go and try to murder them?"
The King answered coldly. "Is that something I need to care about? Whatever he did, he did that on his own will. I didn't have anything in it."
Naofumi glared at Aultcray. "He is your subordinate. And you're trying to say that you don't have any responsibility for whatever your subordinate does?"
King Aultcray turned his cold glare toward Naofumi. "I don't know if you have heard it or not, Shield, but Commander Rikert has been relieved of his position as the Commander of the Royal Knight for a long time. More than a month ago, right after the Wave, in fact. Everyone in this room can be a witness to that. Therefore, whatever he did during the last month wasn't the responsibility of the royal family."
EMIYA's eyes narrowed. What the King had just said was, technically, not wrong. However, it was very easy to manipulate the people whom you officially cut ties with to do dirty work for you. Either by scheming with those people behind the scene, or by manipulating their minds to goad them into doing the dirty work without even letting them know what you wanted them to do. That kind of tactic wasn't anything rare among politicians.
He decided to keep that thought to himself, though. He didn't have any proof of that, and he also didn't want to give Naofumi a reason to throw a fuss here. Not to mention that the Shield Hero seemed to have come to the same conclusion as him, but also didn't have any proof of that.
The entrance to the courtroom once again opened. Everyone turned toward the direction when the soldiers from before entered the room again, this time with another person.
This new person was a woman about twenty-five years old or so. Had she not been in prison for quite some time, she would have been a peerless beauty. Her face, even dirty and wounded from the time she was in prison, had a princely elegance and gracefulness which could rival even some of the most beautiful people that EMIYA had known in his life. However, he could see that prison life hadn't done her well. She used to be a soldier or a knight, EMIYA knew of that for sure, thanks to the muscles he could see on her arms, but it was obvious that a long time without training had noticeably diminished them. Her strawberry-blonde hair cascaded down her back, but it looked unkempt and messy. Her face and body showed clear signs of malnutrition. However, her blue eyes, even tired from all the torture inside her cell, shone a bright light full of determination, and when she saw the people standing in front of her now, they widened in surprise and a hint of hope.
So this is that Miss Seatto those four talked about…
Melty walked toward Eclair, and the young woman kneeled down in front of her.
"Princess Melty, thank you."
The princess smiled and reached out a hand to raise the kneeling woman up. "Please, don't thank me, Miss Eclair. That is just the apology of the royal family for the mistreatment you had to suffer during the time my Mother is absent. If you want to thank someone, please, thank Mother and Sir Shield Hero here. He was the one who escorted me back here to deliver this Royal Order, after all."
While the two girls were talking, Tersia nudged Raphtalia. "She doesn't act like a ten-year-old at all, eh Raphtalia-chan?"
The raccoon girl whispered back. "You wouldn't say that if you had seen her around something cute, especially filolials. When she's around them, she's just a kid."
King Aultcray stood up and walked out of the room, together with his guards without saying anything. EMIYA noticed that he threw a glance at the group before his back disappeared behind the wooden doors. However… that glance wasn't aimed at Eclair, Naofumi, Raphtalia, or anyone he thought the King hated. It was aimed at Fohl and Atla.
The King hated demi-humans, that's a fact everyone knew. However, that particular glance, just like before… it contained more emotions than just pure hatred. It was just like… their faces gave the old man pain in his heart. And regret, too. Just like the reaction he saw on his face when he first saw the two hakuko children.
What's the meaning of that?
Melty bowed at everyone. "I'm really sorry not being able to accompany you anymore. Mother has assigned me some tasks, so I need to go deal with them now. If you need anything, please come to the royal palace and ask to see me, I'll do my best to help you."
Then she left together with her guards. Soon, there were only the members of the two Hero teams left in the courtroom.
Tersia grabbed Raphtalia's hand. "Let's go hang out, Raphtalia-chan! It's been a long time since we last saw each other! You gotta tell us what you guys did during the last month! Oh, and introduce these little cuties to us too!" she said cheerfully while looking at the three little filolial queens.
EMIYA looked at Raphtalia. The raccoon girl seemed to be much more cheerful and happy than she used to be a month ago. Even Naofumi looked calmer and more relaxed instead of the grumpy, vengeful person he was before. Good for them; like this he didn't have to worry about at least one of the Heroes going crazy and starting to haphazardly murder people.
He smiled at them. "That must be left until later, I'm afraid. After all, the introduction couldn't be made properly with a hungry stomach, could it?"
"You must be very hungry, Miss Seatto."
EMIYA looked at the noblewoman in amusement. She might be prim and elegant, but right now, she was devouring the food as if she were going to die if she didn't.
Right now, the two Heroes and their companions were sitting around the large table at Erhard's house. The blacksmith was very happy seeing them return, and EMIYA and Naofumi had requested to use his kitchen to cook a meal for all of them. EMIYA had to admit, Naofumi was a pretty good cook on his own; his skill in the kitchen might rival even some of the best chefs the ex-Counter Guardian knew in his life.
And naturally, a meal made by the two best cooks this world had ever had would definitely be something everyone would look forward to. However… seeing such a lady devouring the food on the table like a ravenous beast was just… a new experience.
Eclair's face turned a cherry red color. "I-I'm sorry…" she stuttered in embarrassment. "It's just… I've never eaten such good food before in my life… and after such a long time having to eat that gruesome food in the prison…"
Tersia grinned at her. "You'd better get used to that soon, Miss Eclair, if you're going to travel with us; there's nothing in this world which could compare to sensei's cooking! Ow!"
That last sound was because EMIYA had just bonked her on the head, as usual whenever she bragged to someone about him.
"You really should think of opening a restaurant here, you two," Erhard said while chewing on the drumstick he was biting on. "It's such a waste if this talent isn't known and appreciated by every person in this land."
"See! I already told you! Ouch!"
Everyone laughed when Tersia got bopped on her head again.
Finally, after everyone was fully stuffed, Eclair was the first one who started the introduction.
"As you all know, my name is Eclair Seatto. I am the only daughter of Lord Raphael Seatto, the Lord of Lurolona Village. I used to be the captain of the 26th Squadron of the Royal Knight before… well… what happened in Lurolona. After that, I was arrested and imprisoned by the King and the Church, until you arrived with the Royal Order to release me. Thank you very much, Sir Shield Hero."
Naofumi snorted. "Never mind that. It was the Queen's idea, not mine. I just happened to be there when the Princess came with the Order, after all. And please, stop it with the Sir thing. Just Naofumi is fine."
Eclair smiled. "As you wish, Sir Naofumi."
Naofumi groaned. "I already told you not to-. Whatever. Just call me whatever you like. I don't care anymore."
"I'm Raphtalia," Raphtalia raised her voice. "I'm serving under Naofumi-sama's care. And these three," she swept her hand toward the three filolial queens, "are the filolials we hatched a month ago. Sakura," - the demure one with sakura-colored hair smiled and nodded her head - "Konoha," - the seemingly hyperactive girl with green hair raised her arm and waved enthusiastically – "and Himawari," – the last one, a shy little girl with long blonde hair gave her a nervous smile.
At least he didn't name them Filo #1, Filo #2 and Filo #3, EMIYA thought in amusement.
"And finally, our newest member…"
"My name is Keel!" the tomboyish dog girl of Naofumi's team yelled while pumping her fist in the air. "Right now I'm the weakest of the team, but I will do my best to become stronger, to protect everyone!"
Farrie giggled. "She's so cute."
What no one was expecting was that Keel's face suddenly scrunched up into a pout. "I'm not cute! And I'm not a girl!" she yelled.
Everyone in Team EMIYA was confused. "But you are a girl," Tersia asked in confusion.
"I'm not!" the dog girl insisted stubbornly, still with the same adorable pout on her face.
"She's a friend of Raphtalia during her childhood," Naofumi sighed while rubbing his temples. "We rescued her from the hand of a corrupt noble last month, during our journey. And for some reason, she keeps insisting that she's not a girl. She said that her father told her she would grow up to be a great man, so she was a boy. Even Raphtalia didn't know that fact, until she leveled up and started growing. Seriously, what kind of parents was hers…"
For some reason, a hint of sadness and regret crossed the raccoon girl's face when Naofumi said those words.
"It's our turn!" Tersia, enthusiastic as always, raised her hand. "I'm Tersia Randell, daughter of Ike Randell! My dream is to become a great adventurer like my dad, and use this sword he left for me to defeat the Waves of Calamity once and for all!"
Eclair smiled. "Sir Ike Randell did a lot of favors to our village during the Wave. As a representative of Lurolona Village, I thank you and your father with all my heart."
Tersia beamed.
"I am Farrie Gainsborough," Farrie was the next one who raised her voice. "I am a nun-in-training at the Church… oh…" she looked pretty down when she said that. It felt just like she was ashamed of what happened to Eclair. And EMIYA understood; even though she didn't have any hand in that… incident, she still felt responsible because she was a member of the Church.
And Eclair's reaction didn't help. Hearing that Farrie was from the Church, her body immediately tensed up. Maybe it wasn't consciously, but that was more than enough for the poor priestess to lose all of her confidence.
The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward. Finally, EMIYA grabbed Farrie's shoulder.
"You don't have to worry about her, Miss Seatto. Farrie is one of the people I trust the most since I arrived in this world; even though she's with the Church, I can vouch for her that you can trust her. She's not going to stab you in the back, that's what I know."
Eclair looked at the young priestess for a few more seconds. Then finally, her muscles relaxed, and she smiled. "If Sir Sword Hero vouches for you, then I have no reason to doubt you. I'm… sorry for my reaction earlier."
Farrie smiled weakly.
It's Welt's turn to introduce himself. "I-I'm Welt. Welt Barton. I—"
He stopped midway and blushed heavily. EMIYA raised an eyebrow. He had thought the boy had regained his confidence after all the training and battles he took part in. And now he's regressing to a stuttering, nervous wreck again.
And of course, that reaction didn't escape Tersia's eyes. "Ooh, someone is having a crush~"
Welt's face turned a brilliant red shade. "I-I'm not!" he stuttered.
"Sure you don't, Welt-kun, sure you don't," the sword maiden said in a teasing tone, and Welt's face turned even redder. If anything, his head looked like a tomato now.
Ah, puppy love, EMIYA thought in amusement. He had to admit that Eclair was a very attractive woman; most guys would fall in love with her at the first meeting. It's not a surprise if a boy who had just hit puberty like Welt would fall for her. The boy would need to work harder for that, though; EMIYA doubted that the young lady would reciprocate the feeling of a guy weaker than herself. He had met a lot of strong women who were like that.
Everyone's eyes turned toward the three last members of Team EMIYA.
"I'm Wyndia," the dog girl of Team EMIYA said curtly. She still wasn't used to having a lot of people around her, obviously. After saying her name, she sunk back into her chair, trying her best to avoid the eyes of the others.
Naofumi looked at EMIYA. He shook his head, I'll tell you later clear in his eyes.
Yuki shrank into her chair next to EMIYA when eyes started turning toward her. The poor little kitsune looked really scared at the sudden attention everyone was giving her.
"You must be Yuki-chan, right?" Raphtalia smiled at her, and the little girl smiled weakly at the familiar face.
"What's wrong with her?" Naofumi looked at EMIYA. The ex-Counter Guardian shook his head.
"Recently she's got some... problem. She's okay for now, but it would take some time for her to deal with it. Don't worry."
He deliberately avoided talking about what her problem was. After all, there's no need to remind Yuki herself about the trauma that was haunting her. The little kitsune had suffered enough. Naofumi didn't look that convinced, but he seemed to understand and didn't push any further.
Himawari, the smallest member of Team Naofumi, left her seat and walked toward Yuki with curious eyes. She stopped in front of the little kitsune, and her innocent amber eyes bore into the kitsune's blue eyes.
"Yuki-tan?"
Yuki looked back at the filolial girl in a mixture of fear and confusion. The two little girls kept staring at each other for a while. Then, Himawari beamed happily and grabbed the kitsune's hands.
"Don't be sad, Yuki-tan! Let's be friends!"
Yuki's fear seemed to disappear from her eyes with that single action. She smiled and took the other girl's hands in her own hands.
"Himawari-chan is always like this," Raphtalia looked at the two little girls with eyes full of adoration. "It's just like the first time she met Melty-chan. Befriending others seems to be her specialty."
EMIYA couldn't help but break out a soft smile. Having a friend is going to help Yuki a lot.
"I am Fohl, and this is Atla," finally, Fohl was the last one who raised his voice. "We're from Siltvelt, but then we moved to Zeltoble and… Master took us in. He bought us from the hand of the slave trader in Zeltoble."
Eclair's eyes narrowed. "You two are slaves?"
"Yes, but," the hakuko boy hastily added, "it's not like it's a bad thing! Master bought us from the slave trader, yes, but he didn't do anything bad to us or anything! Sure, sometimes he might be harsh to me in training, but he fed us really well, and he never did anything to hurt us! Well, too badly, I guess," he glanced at EMIYA, who deadpanned.
"You do realize that it would just make me look worse in her eyes, don't you Fohl?"
"Ergh, I… oops…"
"I believe Shirou-sama has a reason when he made those two his slaves, Eclair-san," Raphtalia butted in. "I am also Naofumi-sama's slave, but he treated me as if I were his family. I trust that Shirou-sama isn't someone who would mistreat anyone, even a slave."
"Sure thing," Erhard agreed. "If anything, I would say that she's basically his wife now. They even had a bunch of children together, did they?"
Raphtalia shrieked in embarrassment, her face was beet red. "Erhard-san!?"
Everyone laughed. Eclair's eyebrows relaxed, and she smiled. "I see. If you already said so, I guess I don't have anything to worry about."
Naofumi looked at EMIYA. "That girl… Atla, right? She looked pretty ill. Is she always like that?"
EMIYA nodded. "Yes. She has a hereditary illness I don't know anything about. I'm planning to take her to Doctor Alfred for a checkup tomorrow morning. Hopefully he would find out what it is and has a cure for it."
"Why not today?"
The ex-Counter Guardian's eyes darkened. "Because we're going to have to move soon. It's not safe for us to stay here in this town, at least until the Queen returns. You already saw what they would resort to to take Wyndia here away from us. We're still going to come here to prepare for the Wave, though."
Naofumi nodded in understanding. "I guess you have a point. So where are you going to stay at?"
"Lafan Village," EMIYA said. He looked at Eclair. "And I think you should come with us, too. There are some people I would like you to meet."
The young woman blinked. "Huh?"
In a flash of light, the two Heroes and their companions appeared at the entrance of Lafan Village.
"That's a very neat skill you have there," Naofumi grunted. "Where did you even get that?"
EMIYA looked at the Shield Hero. "You mean you don't have it? I got this skill when I let the Sword absorb some sand of the Dragon Hourglass."
Naofumi growled. "No wonder. There's no way those bastards of the Church would even let me get my hand on such a useful skill. You know that for sure, don't you?"
EMIYA winced mentally. "Right. So do you want me to get some sand for you later? At least they haven't hated me as much as they hate you yet."
The Shield Hero smiled. "Thanks, Shirou-san."
The group walked into the village. The village had changed quite a lot since the last time EMIYA was here; the streets of the village were now crowded with people going out to work, and their faces were decorated with smiles of happiness instead of the gloomy expression they had a month ago.
"Huh? Lord Sword Hero!"
EMIYA turned his head, and saw immediately the one he was looking for. Wotan, the leader of the four Lurolona bodyguards, was waving at him from afar. He was carrying a shovel on his shoulder; it was obvious that he was going out to work.
The tiger beastman grinned. "How was your meeting with Captain Fargus, my Lord? You said you were going to fight in the Grand Tournament, didn't you? How did you do?"
EMIYA chuckled. "Better than you would expect. The meeting went smoothly, I would say. The Seven Star Axe Hero is now a very powerful ally of us. And speaking about meeting," he looked around his shoulder, "there is someone here that I want you to meet."
Wotan followed the Sword Hero's eyes. And when he saw the person the man asked him to meet, his eyes widened. The shovel left his hand and fell on the cobbled road of the village with a loud "clang". Then without a word, he turned around and ran away like a storm. Before anyone could say anything, he had disappeared from their view.
"What's up with hi—?"
But before the question could leave Naofumi's mouth, the tiger beastman had returned with the three other demi-human bodyguards. They arrived in front of the group, and kneeled in front of the strawberry-blonde young woman.
"Miss Eclair! We lowly servants were so useless not being able to protect you and the village! Please punish us as much as you want to!"
Eclair smiled. She kneeled down and lifted the four men up. "Please, stand up, you four! You all had taken care of the village and protected my Father during the time I wasn't there; I couldn't thank you enough. How can I even think of punishing you?"
Wotan still refused to look up. "But because of us, our Lord was killed! We couldn't do anything back then! Had we been stronger, our Lord wouldn't have died, and you wouldn't have been imprisoned by those bastards! We have failed you, Miss Eclair!"
"Things that belong to the past, let it stay in the past," the young woman said in determination. "We have failed to protect our village before, so now is the time for us to avenge it. We are going to protect the rest of the world together, along with the Cardinal Heroes. I'm going to join the Heroes in their quest, so consider this my final order for you, you four. Stay strong, protect this village with all your strength, and someday, when the time comes, we are going to gather again, to rebuild our village even stronger and better than in the past. Have you all heard me?"
The four bodyguards' eyes were full of tears. But they weren't the tears of anger, despair and powerlessness anymore. Now, they were the tears of gratitude and hope.
"We understand, Miss Eclair!"
"Yeah! We swear that we are going to do everything within our power to protect this village, and even other villages around here, too!"
"The Heroes can trust in us!"
EMIYA smirked. "I'm glad to hear that. Now, can I ask you to prepare some rooms for us in the village?"
That evening…
Team EMIYA was training in combat, as usual. However, this time, the members of Team Naofumi also joined the training session. Keel was enthusiastic, but what she said before was true; the power of her arms was still pretty weak, and her movements were clumsy and awkward. Raphtalia got some skills, indeed, but just like Fohl, her experience in real battle wasn't enough to give any difficulty to EMIYA. Right now, she was sparring with Tersia, and the Randell daughter was more than happy to have her as her opponent.
Naofumi was sparring against EMIYA himself. The Legendary Shield in the form of a wooden shield lashed out and blocked a strike coming from Torashinai, only for the sword to bounce off and twisted itself immediately to strike him in another part of his body. It didn't hurt, but it was annoying. He's a shielder; his duty is to defend himself and others from hits like that, damn it!
After fifteen minutes, Naofumi plopped down on the ground, breathing heavily. "Shirou-san really is skilled," he said between breaths. "This is what a Hero should be like, unlike those two idiots…"
"Sir Sword Hero."
The two Heroes turned, and saw Eclair walking toward them. "You are still recovering, aren't you? You should spend more time resting instead of coming out here, with a sword in your hand like that," EMIYA said, obviously noting the sword the young woman was holding in her right hand.
"That is exactly the reason I'm here, Sir Sword Hero," the noblewoman answered. "I heard from my four bodyguards that you are an incredibly skilled swordsman, and from what I've just seen, they weren't lying at all. So," she raised her sword up in front of her face, "would you please have a duel with me?"
The two swordfighters stood facing each other in the middle of the training ground.
Even though it was supposed to be just a light spar, Eclair and EMIYA's little duel had soon gathered a small audience. The members of the two Heroes' parties were there, as well as Eclair's four bodyguards and some members of the village's militia.
"Is she going to be fine?" Farrie looked at the rose-haired woman in worry. "I mean, she's still recovering from her imprisonment."
"Miss Eclair is one of the most skilled swordfighters in the whole country, and one of the strongest knights in the Royal Knight, too," Wotan assured her. "Fighting at a disadvantage isn't something she's not used to, you know."
"Yeah, but she's facing sensei here," Tersia looked at him. "You already knew how skilled he is, didn't you?"
The tiger beastman winced. "Yeah. I already told her that, too, but then she insisted on fighting him to know exactly how skilled he actually is. I shouldn't have said that…"
Naofumi, the one who volunteered to be the referee of the match, stepped forward. "The duel shall end when one of you has the opportunity to deliver a final blow. The opportunity for the final blow is the deciding factor, so do not make the final attack, and do not use more force than necessary. Also, since this is just a spar, do not use any skill or magic. Is that clear?"
The two fighters nodded.
"Are you sure you don't want to use another weapon, Sir Sword Hero?" Eclair looked at EMIYA, who was still holding Torashinai instead of a metal sword. "I might be more than what that sword is able to handle, you know."
The sword she was holding was something of a mix between a falchion and a rapier. It had the normal hilt and pommel of a normal Western sword, but a thin and flexible blade of a rapier that EMIYA usually saw warriors of Medieval France use, albeit a little bit broader. Looking at her reminded EMIYA of Chevalier D'eon, an incredibly skilled swordfighter hidden under a beautiful and elegant appearance.
"I don't want to accidentally harm a potential ally in a spar," the Sword Hero answered her. "Besides, if you underestimate this sword, you're going to be in for a world of pain, I assure you."
All of EMIYA's companions except for Atla shuddered at the exact same time. Warin, the fox beastman, looked at them curiously.
"Is he serious?"
"Yes," Welt shuddered again. "He's utterly, completely serious."
"So, are the two fighters ready?"
Naofumi's voice boomed across the training field again. The two fighters didn't answer him; their eyes were too busy fixing on each other's, and their faces bore the same serious expression.
"Then begin!"
Upon the announcement, Eclair dashed forward like a storm and thrust her sword at EMIYA's seemingly exposed torso. She was pretty fast for a normal human, even somewhat faster than Captain Fargus himself; if it was a normal person, that thrust was more than enough to take their life, or at least make a considerable wound on their stomach.
But her opponent was EMIYA, the Counter Guardian who had been through countless battles against opponents much, much stronger than her. The woman was much stronger than normal fighters in this land, but there was no way she could compare to even a middle-tier Heroic Spirit. He could see the attack coming from a mile away, and with a quick movement, he easily parried the attack and at the same time delivered a strike of his own on her shoulder.
To EMIYA's surprise, however, it seemed Eclair also saw the counterattack coming. With her feet still planted on the ground, she twisted out of the way and sent another strike at the Sword Hero, this time a slash aimed at his right leg. But EMIYA also saw that coming, and this time, he swung Torashinai downward and met the blade of the rosette in midair.
"?!"
It was obvious that Eclair didn't expect the Sword Hero to meet the strike of a very sharp metal blade with the wooden blade of the bamboo sword. It seemed that she had, in just a moment, forgotten that the weapons the Legendary Sword takes the form of were indestructible. The blade of the steel sword was bashed away, and Eclair stumbled back a bit, but she immediately regained balance and continued her assault with even more vigor.
The rose-haired woman kept sending attack after attack at the Sword Hero, each of which was faster and more vicious than the previous one. However, each of them was deflected with the same simplicity and calmness coming from the ex-Counter Guardian. They couldn't even make EMIYA move a single step. It was just like seeing a raging tornado trying to blow away a mountain standing in its way in vain.
After a particularly nasty clash, Eclair bounced back a few steps away from EMIYA. However, this time she didn't charge in again. She stood straight up and looked straight into the Sword Hero's eyes.
"Sir Sword Hero. Why are you still holding back?"
EMIYA narrowed his eyes. "Why do you think that?"
"Since the beginning of the duel, you haven't once tried to attack me actively," the rosette pointed out. "Besides, your movements with the sword were not as fluid as expected from someone who was a sword master. Is it possibly because… this isn't the style you are used to fighting with?"
She's incredibly sharp, indeed.
"Isn't it because you are still holding back yourself?" he retorted. "If you're not going all out, it's not polite of me to be using all of my capability, you know."
Eclair was surprised at the words of the Sword Hero. After a few seconds of silence, a smile started growing on her face. She lowered her body into a different stance from before, and her grip on her sword tightened up.
"I see. Then from now on, I'm going to use all my strength. Please show me the full extent of your power, Sir Sword Hero."
EMIYA smiled. "Naturally. Synch Blade."
The Torashinai in his hand duplicated itself into a second copy, which EMIYA switched to his left hand, and he stood straight upward into his trademarked dual-wielding stance. Blue eyes locked into gray eyes, and the Sword Hero muttered.
"Trace, on."
"As the source of your power, I, Eclair of the Seatto family, command you! Decipher the law of nature and give me the way to surpass my opponent! Erste Boost!"
And Eclair turned into a blur. Her speed, as impressive as it had already been, was multiplied even further by the power of the magic spell. The woman was now moving fast enough it seemed that she left an afterimage behind each step. She appeared in front of the ex-Counter Guardian, and her sword lashed out again at his stomach, not like an arrow anymore, but more like a bullet shot out from a gun. This time, EMIYA could barely see it coming, and even though he still managed to deflect it, another thrust arrived almost immediately following it, aiming at his chest this time. And again, and again, and again. Each strike was thrown with enough power and killing intent to take the life of the man in front of her. No one in the past, no matter how strong they were, was able to avoid being killed by this sure-kill technique…!
But the fighter in front of her wasn't any fighters she had fought in the past.
As long as an attack targets a certain point, there are many ways to counter it once the opponent sees it. And EMIYA, with the experience of a veteran archer who had been through countless battles, could see through all of the rosette's attacks. And now, he wasn't swinging his swords around as he did before with a single Torashinai anymore; each of his counterstrikes right now was firm, decisive and precise, without even a redundant movement.
Wherever the sword in Eclair's hand moved to, the bamboo swords in the Sword Hero's hands had already been there, ready for a counterstrike. It was just like the man could look into the future. She couldn't find any opening to exploit, simply because there was none. Powerful strikes and thrusts do not mean anything if their user cannot even land a hit in the first place.
No matter how many times she simulated the fight in her head, she couldn't imagine herself winning. At all.
To the two fighters, they were just moving like they normally did. However, to the audience, it was a completely different situation.
"Holy shit…" Keel exclaimed in awe.
"I couldn't even see them moving…" Raphtalia's eyes were as wide as two plates.
Even Naofumi had to agree. "I know that both of them are very skilled, but this… this is just inhuman. What kind of training did they even do to achieve this level?"
And of course, in a battle between a speedster and a stout defender like this, if the attacker cannot deal the final blow quickly, they are going to lose.
And soon enough, Eclair's movements began to slow down from fatigue. And with a decisive step forward, EMIYA switched from defending to attacking in a blink of an eye. The left Torashinai smashed away the attack coming from the rosette, and the right one smashed itself at the woman's wrist. She winced in pain; her grip on the sword's hilt loosened, and another vicious strike at the blade of the sword ripped it off her hand. The sword flew into the air in a brilliant arc and stabbed itself into the ground a few steps away.
Eclair sighed in defeat. She relaxed her body and smiled while standing straight up.
"You could have done that even earlier, couldn't you? I've never had a chance at all in the first place. And yet you decided to drag everything out for so long. You really are as skilled as people say, Sir Sword Hero."
EMIYA smiled and reached out a hand. "I need to know what you could do, remember? You are actually one of the most skilled fighters I've fought since I arrived here. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. And you don't need to keep calling me that. Just Shirou is fine."
Eclair grabbed EMIYA's hand with her own smile. "Then please call me Eclair, too. I would hope to be able to join you in the future, Sir Shirou."
The other members of Team EMIYA, as well as Team Naofumi had also arrived next to them. EMIYA pondered for a few seconds, then said.
"About that, I think it would be better if you join Naofumi instead. Even though he has quite a big team now already, what he's lacking is a professional hand. They need a lot of training in order to become stronger, and I believe with you joining them, they are going to become a powerful force against the Waves very quickly. And from what I have experienced with them, I can safely assure you that they are trustworthy."
Then he glanced at Naofumi, who looked completely flabbergasted by the sudden proposal of his fellow Hero. "Do you agree with that, Naofumi?"
The Shield Hero looked at the rose-haired woman warily for a while. Then, he shrugged.
"Well, whatever. Having more allies is better than enemies, I guess. If Shirou-san trusts her, I guess it's fine for me."
Eclair smiled. "If that's what Sir Shirou said, then I readily accept." She reached out a hand toward Naofumi. "It's my honor to work with you, Sir Naofumi."
Naofumi grabbed her hand, still with some wariness and hesitation. "If you try to do anything, I'm not going to hesitate to take your life, do you understand?"
The rosette nodded. "I understand completely."
The two released each other's hand, and the training ground went silent again. Then finally, after a few seconds, EMIYA raised his sword again and asked in a rather cheerful voice.
"So, who is the last one that still hasn't finished their session earlier?"
So, as some of you might have been able to guess already, the Church made another attempt to take Wyndia from EMIYA's hand, this time using the law. And as you can see, their method was basically using their power and connection within the court of Melromarc to brute force EMIYA into relinquishing Wyndia to them. And of course, they didn't do it very well. But that is something I think you can expect. Even in canon, followers of the Church are portrayed to be pretty stupid. They believe blindly in the religion, even to the point that when the Pope was literally OBLITERATED in front of them, they still believed that he would return if they prayed hard enough. Seriously.
Some of you might question me about how King Aultcray seemed to be way out of character in this chapter. And I have to say, that is my intention. In the previous chapters, I already made a note about how the character development of the Shield Hero canon doesn't make any sense. And Aultcray was one of the people with the worst character development in the whole story in my opinion. Sure, he has a tragic past, but that isn't an excuse to make him an utter idiot, especially since the author had already established that he used to be a very successful strategist with such a big brain he could singlehandedly defeat the army of one of the largest countries in the world who was planning to take over the world. People simply CANNOT be the smartest person in the world in one day, then suddenly turn into a stupid, senile person who didn't have anything in his mind except for REVENGE, and THEN turn back into the smartest person in the world in another day. And I've said before, in this story's setting I'm going to try to develop Aultcray's character in another way I think would make more sense. Remember, even in canon the only Hero he was outright hostile against was Naofumi; against the other Heroes, he was pretty decent, if taking away the fact that he seemed to favor Motoyasu the most simply because he stood up for Malty. Even though he wanted revenge, he's not a fool. Remember, he wanted the other Heroes to take his side instead of Naofumi's. And even though he seemed to take EMIYA's side this time, if you pay attention closely, you will see that there are signs showing that he still hates Naofumi and demi-humans in general.
And yeah, Keel appeared much earlier this time. How she happened to be there is your guess, but I can say that it happened in a way pretty different from what happened in canon.
Until next time.