Chapter 13

The four of us walked down the street, the people getting thicker as we got closer and closer to the building with the clock tower. I recognized it too, as the one I decidedly didn't enter when I was looking for a place to sleep.

Before that twit framed me, and the King decided his dungeon was too good for me. To be fair, my double edged luck saw to it that I found exactly what I needed. A reliable party.

"Sir Kodori? Aren't you nervous?" Usa asked, all but hiding behind me, his ears twitching back and forth.

I looked over my shoulder, finally able to look him in the face without hurting my neck, "Confidence comes from experience. You hardly shake when you fight monsters now."

"I'm so-"

"Do not be ashamed of your weaknesses. Only be ashamed if you ignore it and do not try and improve." I was also tall enough to pat his shoulder "We all have our flaws. And in a good party, or family, the rest of us will cover for them."

Clive and Raphtalia gave Usa a nod, and the Rabbit managed a smile, "I'll do my best." He said finally.

"None of us will ask more than that." I said, "Huh... certainly getting busy..."

Now that it wasn't dark, and I cared to look, the building itself was rather nice. Like the Castle, it had a weird yet pleasing mix of square pillars, three tall spires, and Victorian windows. No stained glass, but the glass in the windows was good quality.

And set into the middle of the three spires was a clock. This was the place... Of course, aside from the mass of people gathering there, and the upcoming Wave hinting at why... Well I didn't know what to do past that. However...

"Seems people can just come and go as they please." Raphtalia commented as we got closer, "Should we just go in?"

I nodded, and the four of us just went through the nice double doors.


The inside was just as well kept and opulent as you'd expect from a church. Polished stone and marble, gold trim, blue (metal? Stone?) panelling, ornate metal fence work, small expertly crafted statuettes on small square daises...

Before we got very far past the threshold, I was greeted by another feature of the Church of Three. A nun. At least, she had the manner of a servant, yet was dressed in robes. White with gold bordering, with a pendant that combined a downward pointing sword, an upward pointed spear and a bow that divided the two, she glanced at us, went back to looking down with her hands overlapping in front of her.

"Your business here... adventurers?" She asked, glancing up, past my forehead and to my ears, then back down.

Oh, right, the Shield was stuck to my back. I reached behind me and 'unstuck' it from my back. I twisted one of my bracers a little to get the spikes out of the way, then stuck the shield to that forearm. "I am the Shield Hero." I said, drawing the eyes of others nearby.

"Follow me." She said.


This place seemed smaller on the outside. She led us further in, past another very nice set of double doors, down some steps, then into a large vaulted chamber. There, in the middle, was a titanic hourglass.

Seeming to float without supports, with gold framing the massive six or seven metre tall glass, with spinning golden flanges, red gems the size of my head, and a pair of roaring dragons taking flight supported at the base by spirals of golden metal...

"This is the dragon hourglass." The nun said without emotion.

The sand inside the multi layered bulbs of the hourglass was blood red, and had nearly run out. I was about to reply with something snarky, like 'what else would it be, looking like that'. But there was a high pitched chime, then a thin beam of light speared out of a gem at the top of the hourglass directly into the green gem of the Shield on my arm.

20:12

A little clock appeared just over the (currently closed) status window icon in my vision. "Huh, yet another weird thing that is far too convenient."

"Sir? Did the Shield do something again?" Usa asked.

"We're almost a day early." I said, "I now know that the next Wave will be twenty hours and... Eleven minutes from now."

"Less than a day! Oh... But we were expecting it today..." Usa started to panic, then realized his previous nervousness was for nothing.

"Just means we have a full day to practice." I said with a smile.

"Maybe catch up on the sleep you didn't get?" Raphtalia said, giving me a squint eyed glare that I'd gotten in four different worlds now.

And I was just as powerless to resist it. She was indeed Big Sister material.

"I suppose they'll let just about anyone in these days." I heard from behind me, the voice of a certain woman.

I turned, feeling my tail fluff with a moment of nearly pure anger. But in the span of a breath, I had my emotions under control, and decided to reply with an insult of my own.

"I know that voice." I said, my eyes focusing on her nose, "It's the voice of someone who still has debts to pay." She wasn't worth much attention past that, so I looked away from her before she even started to get angry, and to the man next to her. "Motoyasu. I told you so."

Motoyasu stood there a moment, his mouth hanging open in surprise. The idiot look on his face hadn't changed much, but his equipment had certainly improved. He wore polished metal half plate armour over a crimson tabard. Very fancy, yet still covering enough to qualify it as proper armour. Whomever had made it knew their stuff. The spear had changed a little as well, but he was just leaning on it like a walking staff and not treating it like a proper weapon.

"Wa... but... huh? That you kid?" He recovered after a moment, "Huh, still wearing just that?" He gave me a good up and down look, "Stylish at least, but still cheap."

I gave him a lazy look, "Well, no matter how inept the King and his Court are, I'm still doing my job." I smiled as Myne started to grind her teeth together, "I mean, he couldn't even keep me locked up for more than a single day."

Motoyasu frowned, seemingly oblivious to the sound of molars sliding across one another behind him, "That was a dirty thing you did, burning that nice woman's home down."

"And if you think I actually did it, you're just as stupid as the one who tried to frame me for it." I shrugged.

"Sir? Who's this?" Usa asked, drawing my gaze away from Motoyasu.

"This is Motoyasu, the Spear Hero." I set aside my verbal assault and half turned to get out of the way, "Motosuya. This is Clive (Gr.), Usa (shy wave), and Raphtalia (polite nod of the head). They're my party members."

"Huh, so even with the trouble you've caused, you got an actual party huh?" Motoyasu recovered from my insult and remembered his own manners, "Hmm..." He started to walk forward, and I could see that look in his eyes. "Huh?"

I put my arm straight out, and in his way to stop him from walking towards Raphtalia. "We don't have time to flirt."

He looked at me, but backed up a half step when I gave him my best 'your nose is a good target' look. He realized an instant later that I'd just intimidated him, but I didn't give him a chance to talk back. That didn't stop Myne however.

"Don't you dare disrespect the great Spe-"

"He was about to start flirting with another woman, and I stopped him. Do you have so little pride that you don't care? Or are you still trying to undermine me when you know you're outclassed in every way now that I'm taller than you?" I talked over her, and again looked away, dismissing her as I looked at my party, "We've got a day of training ahead of us, and we can pick up something special for dinner on the way."

"Yes sir (Gr!)." They replied, falling into line behind me.

We were just starting to leave the chamber of the Dragon Hourglass when I spotted the vaguely familiar faces of Ren and Itsuki coming in from the way we'd entered. It took them both a moment to figure out who I was, considering I basically towered over them now. But after looking me up and down, then spotting the Shield, they figured it out.

They'd also brought their parties with them. And while the two of them had also upgraded their overall equipment, the others looked more or less the same as before. Some of them even seemed a bit overworked.

"Ren, Itsuki." I greeted, still intent on leaving, but not willing to be too impolite. Besides, with the Four Heroes, my party of four, then the... other twelve? It would be a bit of a crowd.

"Kodori." Itsuki greeted, not using an honorific.

Ren only nodded back at first, but when he saw my party lined up behind me he asked, "So you found a party?"

"I have." I nodded, "Seems I won't need to borrow any of yours, but thank you for the offer."

"He won't let me introduce myself to them." Motoyasu called from behind me, "I mean, sure, they look a bit odd, but what would a nice girl like that want with him?"

"Kodori is just serious about being a Hero!" Raphtalia said.

"You'd fight for him even though he's a criminal?" Itsuki asked, one hand tracing over the end of the Bow hanging on his back.

The three heroes and their party were giving the four of us 'the glare'. But that was nothing new to me. "What's criminal is the lack of sensibility this kingdom has. See you tomorrow, we don't have time to waste when the world might end tomorrow."

"Just be sure you don't slow us down." Ren said with a frown.

I half turned and gave him a five degree head tilt, "But the tank goes in front, so isn't it you who should keep up?" I turned away, then looked at one of his party members, the one who was wearing full armour. "Get the straps on your armour looked at, you've got some fraying." And my party and I left without another word.


On the way out, while we waded through people to get to the market street, I tried to look up exactly what that clock meant. The Shield, as usual, was helpful in its simplistic and almost puppy dog way, and supplied me with an answer.

When the sands of the Dragon Hourglass run out, the Four Heroes and their parties, will be teleported to the place of Destruction.

Huh... Well, at least we wouldn't have to guess where the worst of it was. Or be someplace else when it happened...

Raphtalia interrupted my thoughts, "Sir? You were kind of mean to them."

"I was." I admitted, "I already told you why I ended up in that box between the three of you. The one with the red hair is the one who hired the Ringmaster's help bringing me in." I did smile though, "No evil deed goes unpunished though, and now I have you three by my side when no one else in the city wanted anything to do with me."

"But... you had to buy us." Usa said.

"I'd never have thought of it, had I not been put there." I replied.

"Use what you find in the next encounter." Raphtalia quoted.

"Exactly." I smiled, giving in to temptation and applying a headpat. "Now, is it just me, or do you smell spices?"


With the impending Wave on a literal timetable, we spent the rest of the day training, eating a good meal, cleaning ourselves, and doing an equipment check. There was no point in travelling elsewhere to try and get another level. There was no point in wandering outside town to collect more medicinal herbs.

No. We needed focus, not panic. The four of us had grown a lot. The three of them had more than fully recovered from their time in the slave pens. Our equipment was as good as it would get with what we had, and all we lacked was time to get used to it.

My nearly zero 'hands on' experience with weapons limited me a little while teaching them. But I'd seen, and been on the other end of, a LOT of weapons. So I could at least tell them 'how I'd seen it done'. Usa was the one I was most worried about. Not because of his lame arm, but because none of us had any experience with a whip. Only one person I'd known in Orario used it, but he was a jerk, and very dead now.

However! If the three of them needed to practise, well, my PDEF was so high I could volunteer as a practise dummy. So I did. This helped me learn to use the Shield properly, and get used to my physical abilities in this new world. It also helped the three of them gain confidence. You could swing at a post, or shoot at a target all you wanted, but until that post, or target fought back, you'd never learn real combat reflexes...

And it was clear that monsters weren't the only monsters in this world that might attack us.


The next morning, after an enforced sleep (yes, Raphtalia had very strong Big Sister energy), we woke up refreshed, had a good breakfast of fruit and other light but high energy foods, made sure we all had our first aid supplies, double checked our equipment, and even made sure to do some warm up exercises. Erhard had been generous and allowed us to use his backyard to do it in too.

00:21

"Sir?" Usa started, his usual nervous energy much better than yesterday, "Do you think we are ready?"

"I hope so." I nodded, "Remember, no matter what, if you see something you do not understand, don't try and figure it out until you are safe to do so. If it attacks you, kill it. If it attacks someone else, kill it. Watch each others back, and do what you do best."

"With you protecting us, we'll be fine." Raphtalia said, "We will be your weapons, you will be our Shield."

"Gr." Clive nodded along with Usa and Raphtalia.

"Good." I felt a little pride, having gotten them into a firm mindset of their place in the formation.

00:10

"Sir... can you hear that?" Usa asked, suddenly pausing his arm and shoulder stretching.

I paused, my hearing no where near as sensitive as it had been before I came here. But it only took me a moment to hear it.

Tension, the rattle of weapons, marching feet... People were getting ready.

"Well, if the city gets hit, maybe the local knights can be useful?" I sighed, "Anyhow... Just under ten minutes. Anyone need to go to the bathroom? Drink water?"

Clive reached into a pouch and took out a little loaf of this morning's attempt at bread. He snapped it in half, put one half away, then started to nibble at the other half, shaving away bits of it at a time with his beaked mouth/lips.

00:02

"Sir?" This time it was Raphtalia.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for giving us this chance." She said.

I looked at her, then the other two, "I couldn't live with myself if I hadn't. I have my own heroes to make proud of me, even if they aren't here to watch what I do."

00:01

"Do you plan on going back... to him?" Usa asked.

"If we find a place for the slaves there to live, and not get eaten by the first hungry ball of rubber that finds them?" I grinned.

00:00

My senses suddenly lurched sideways, just enough to feel like I'd sneezed really hard, but without actually sneezing...

And then the sky, the air, the atmosphere changed.

"Yes." I finished my sentence.

A red and purple haze filled the sky, shifting like a soap bubble, yet cracked randomly like a mirror. Looking away from the sky, I spotted the other heroes an easy stone's throw away. Then I realized I knew where we were.

"We're near Riyute village!" Raphtalia said as I realized it. "This is near the farms!"

I looked back up, and a little ways into the distance I saw a mass of... I activated the 'Vision up' ability from one of the Shield forms, "Monsters from the sky... from the land, from the sea..." I was about to start that way, along with the other three heroes and their parties, when I saw thinner clouds of monsters dropping around the main rush.

"This place is going to get hit!" I said, "They won't have had time to get ready!"

"Are we going to help them then?" Usa asked.

"We owe them." Raphtalia said, "For showing us kindness and giving us work!"

We nodded to each other, and instead of running in the direction of the main 'assault', we took a right turn and ran towards the village.


It wasn't far, but far enough that the fighting had already started when we got there. Dog sized spiders, house cat sized bees, zombies and skeletons, locusts the size of my head... it really was a swarm.

There were already a few knights here, along with what looked like every hunter I'd seen at the lodge, and even farmers with pitchforks. But with so many monsters against so few defenders, it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed. Already, pockets of defenders were being surrounded by monsters.

"We need to help them organize!" I said, "I'll head for the middle. Usa, help the hunters and evacuate people towards the Lodge. Clive! Go to that group of knights there and keep the air around them clear while they fight zombies! Raphtalia, hit that mob there, and have them retreat in my direction! Clive do the same when the pressure eases off!"

"Sir! (Gr!)" And we started running.

The first thing I did was switch to the Rope Shield. I didn't need to attack, but I needed to draw attention. But before I started flicking a silly little rope at monsters to bother them, I took a Light Metal weight Erhard and I made, and tied it to the end of the Shield's rope.

It still had no 'attack' power, but this world still obeyed the laws of physics. "TO ME!" I shouted, spinning the weighted rope over my head once, then heaving it low to the ground to trip a couple of zombies. (Though, the little 'grey' arrow over their heads said 'inter-dimensional Skeleton', it was still a zombie.)

I kept running towards a group of pitchfork wielding farmers, yelling and tripping monsters as I went, punching, kicking, blocking one of the group's flanks with an Air Strike Shield, and generally drawing aggro.

"It's the Shield Hero!" One of them called out.

"Be impressed later!" I yelled back, tackling a zombie, rolling off it, then kicking aside another before changing to the Black Dog Shield, the two heads coming alive instantly and snatching at locusts and giant bees. "I will slow them down for you to hit! Work in pairs! Knock things down then stab it! We are backing up towards the Hunter's lodge!"

It took a moment, some more yelling, and quick inventory access for healing salve to get a wounded man on his feet again, but we started to grind our way in the direction of the lodge. In the mean time, I could hear the distinct, almost thunderbolt snaps of Usa's whip, and the deep thrum of Clive's bow as we migrated.

Raphtalia got another small group of farmers to me, and I yelled at her to find another group and do it again. She'd outgrown her bad cough, and her stamina seemed endless now. She had no problem hacking her way towards another group of civilians, then back towards me as the thrum and snap of my party's weapons spoke over the clash of swords and buzz of insects.

The instant my cool downs for Shield Prison or Air Strike Shield were over, I used them again to protect a fleeing citizen or keep a sudden surge of monsters away from the slowly growing mob my party and I had pulled together of Riyute's inhabitants.

Yet still, the monsters kept coming. I was running out of tricks to get the monsters attention, and the people in the mob around me were poorly armed, not armoured at all, and only able to kill the zombies after a dozen stabs. The little monsters, like the bees and locusts, even the spiders, were easy enough to kill though, and once they'd figured that out, and my yelling at them, "Let me take on the bigger ones!" Things got more focused.

It hurt though. Even with my insane defence, where the stinging and biting insects only really weighed me down instead of hurting. Or most of the zombies attacking me just bounced off my shield or armour, if this kept up, I'd end up bruised to death. I'd kept the heavier looking weapons away, but more than once I'd suffered a teeth rattling strike, even through the Shield.

"Sir!" Usa called out, that cat-folk hunter from before standing next to him and protecting his weak side. "Almost everyone is in the Lodge!"

"Good!"

"Where are the other heroes?!" Someone yelled.

"Who cares! They aren't here!" Replied another.

"Good to see you lad!" I heard the voice of the Old Hunter, "But I think..."

At the same instant, I felt two things. And even though the steady thump of a massive armoured zombie's footsteps was shaking me up to my hips, I almost cried with joy.

There was a hand on my back. It was a feeling just under my skin, between my soul and my heart. "Hestia..." I said quietly.

The voices around me seemed to vanish, the buzz of insects, clash of weapons and snarl of monsters were reduced to background noise. And I heard a single sentence, whispered into my ear, spoken into my soul.

"Fight, and return home at the end of the day, my Beloved Kitsune."

Then the hand on my back seemed to give me a little push, before it vanished, leaving behind a tiny little something, even as the nearly imagined warmth faded.

"this is all I can do for you." And the connection to Her was gone again.

I charged towards the three metre tall, armoured, rotting, abomination of bone and metal. "WITH ME!" I called out, switching my Shield to the Bone Viper Shield, "Clive! Keep our flanks clear! Usa! Aim for a leg! Raphtalia! Wait for an opening!"

The huge Zombie was holding an appropriately sized double headed axe. Of course, that meant it was nearly two metres long. That was fine, it still had a ponderous methodical momentum behind it, all power, no skill.

Seeing me get close, yelling like a maniac, it turned and swung its huge axe, a wide, low to the ground sweep, bending his knees to lower himself just that much more to try and catch me. Instead of just standing and bracing like an idiot in oncoming traffic, I knelt, slammed the point of the Bone Viper Shield into the ground, and angled it just so, becoming a metal plated rock.

It still felt like every bone in my body rattled as there was a huge horrendous scraping of metal on metal, the axe head angling upwards sharply, the momentum still carrying the weapon along, but harmlessly above everyone's head. "Usa!" I yelled out.

"Sir!" There was a slithering metallic noise out of sight on the other side of the Shield, then a heavy whoosh and rattle of chain as Usa tried to tangle the Brute's leg. "I have it!"

From further behind, the Old Hunter called out, "Don't pull yet!"

There was a grinding, wet, rasping growl, and I saw the giant axe coming back around towards me. I waited until it had really started moving, put my shield in the way just in case, and summoned up the Air Strike Shield directly in the Axe's path.

With a hollow resounding CLANK the axe rebounded off the spectral Shield, the Giant's entire body recoiling as it fought to keep hold of its weapon. "NOW!" The Old Hunter yelled out.

I heard Usa grunt, and with a sudden tightening of the chain whip around the Zombie's ankle, its foot was pulled out from under it. With a roar, it started to go down to one knee. "I have it!" Raphtalia yelled out as the rotting helmet covered head came down, its chin raised as its weight carried it down. "YA!" She jumped, meeting the downward momentum of the beast, with the upward swing of her sword, the curved end of her falchion getting under the chin of the helmet and popping the monsters head clean off as the rest of it crashed into the ground.

Then from off to the side, I heard "Fire!" But not the panicked call of someone about to lose their home or field, but the command from a soldier.

I looked towards the squad of knights I'd seen earlier, and one of them, an older looking man with a full beard visible under the visor of his helmet, was pointing his sword in my direction. Behind him, still in a 'casting a spell' pose, were three more soldiers with outstretched staves in their hands.

And overhead? Three arching fireballs that were headed towards the now headless giant zombie. "Duck and cover!" I yelled, running towards Usa while I slapped an Air Strike Shield in front of Raphtalia.

As we'd practised, Raphtalia ducked behind the spectral shield, weapon ready for the instant it went down, and Usa ran towards me, ducking behind me as I put my own shield in the way of the incoming threat.

Fire splashed into my two shields, the surrounding insects and a few of the still standing zombies burning up, while the corpse of the giant zombie caught fire as well. To me, the fire was hardly even hot, and Usa, now that I had a full sized body, was easily able to hide in my shadow, waiting for the go-ahead to counter attack.

"Friendly fire isn't!" I yelled at them, "If you had magic all along why haven't you been taking care of the insects around the civilians!?"

The one in front sneered at me as I went over to him, signalling Usa and Raphtalia to keep alert, "I don't take orders from you, Shield Hero."

Raphtalia and Usa turned towards him, weapons at the ready, but I shook my head, "I don't care what you think of me. But the time you're wasting fighting me, could be better spent doing your job!"

He spit on the ground at my feet, and the other knights behind him started to encircle Raphtalia Usa and I. "And what are you going to do about it?" They all drew their swords too, "We are knights of Melromarc, and you are just a criminal."

I felt something, deep in my chest start to burn, and my tail started to lash angrily. "Do you care so little about your people, that you would attack someone because you don't like them? Do the knights of your kingdom have such low standards that they would put their citizens in danger because of prejudice?"

"I don't like your tone, dog."

And I hit him.

I knew my limits on 'physical attack power'. So I didn't do something so crude as punch him. No. Instead, I took a half step forward, put my foot behind his, and pushed him over. The instant he was on his back, I kicked him under the metal cap of his codpiece.

While he groaned on the ground, I pointed at Usa, and an Air Strike Shield put itself in the way of the swords pointed at him, while Raphtalia and him stood side by side to face the swords pointed at her.

"LOOK THAT WAY!" I said to the other knights, "I'm going to take care of that. That's my job. And if I fail at my job, everyone here will probably die. Now take this sack of shit off the field to the only safe place that my party and I made in this village, and protect it!" My tail tried to ruin my attempt at seriousness and swatted me over the back of the head for swearing, but I remained firm with my finger pointing to the still growing danger.

They looked at me, then their commander (who was now foaming at the mouth) then the still swarming hoard of monsters. One of the younger knights, a clean shaven boy who might have been old enough to drink, took the hint.

"Head to the lodge! Mages keep the insects off us! Swords to the zombies! Run! Run!" And while young, he was strong enough to haul the fallen commander to his feet and keep up with the others as they made their way towards the lodge.


I won't bore you with the rest of the fighting. Standing in the middle of the town, in sight of the Lodge but far enough away so that only the occasional stray monster tried to attack it, Raphtalia, Usa and I essentially drew as much aggro towards us as we could.

The knights, now under the command of Sir Beardless (not his name, but I was too busy to get it), as well as the able bodied Hunters and Clive, were taking the opportunities I was making for them, and picking off small groups. Usa and Raphtalia would lead insect swarms into the widest place they could with as little burnable material available, and the mages would rain fire on them. Clive and the hunters would focus down straggling zombies one at a time, or pick giant wasps out of the air, calling shots so no one would waste any more arrows than they had to.

It still took almost two hours before it was over. Almost as suddenly as it had started, the sky lost that weird warped cracked look, and became blue again. All that was left was the wrecked buildings, the injured, and a lot of monster bodies.


I stood there, just feeling the air enter and leave my lungs without the painful burn of overexertion. Raphtailia, Usa and Clive, as well Beardless and the Old Hunter, waited until I'd taken a few deep breaths, before I spoke.

"You three? Great work. Clean up first, while we're still awake enough to do so." My party members nodded, exhausted but smiling, before looking around and pulling out their skinning knives. I turned to the Old Hunter, "Any wounded? Have enough medicine?"

"We could use a little more, but we have everyone accounted for." He said with a smile peeking through his soot covered beard.

"Everyone? No casualties?" I asked, looking into my status and forcing myself to hide my amazement at how little medicine I had left. Sure, it wasn't the best quality, but every time we had even a little down time, I was handing it to people to make sure they could keep fighting. That said, I summoned a bit more from the Shield's inventory and handed it to him. "Do what you can for them."

Beardless was being a good soldier and waited until I looked at him to speak. When I did, he managed to snap his heels together at attention, ignore how silly he looked with bits of his armour missing (he had more than a few claw marks on his armour, and a bits of dried blood almost everywhere), but he hid his own exhaustion near perfectly.

"Sir! Thank you for helping us."

I had to remind myself that my treatment in this world wasn't all bad, so instead of yelling at him, or insulting him, or even being mildly snarky, I said, "They summoned me from another world to do a job. I'm a professional, just like you are." I smiled, "Be sure to be honest with your report though."

He looked a little nervous, but nodded, "I'll be sure to tell them why you attacked the Captain. And why he and the rest of the village of Riyute lived long enough to report it."

"Good. See to your men, use any medicine you need. I have business over there." I gave him a formal Fist in Palm bow, then turned towards where the Heroes had been fighting.


At a quick jog, it was about five minutes away from the village. Just far enough to keep what ever it was they were fighting away from the village, but close enough for the rest of the 'minions' to attack it. If nothing else, they did their job, and the evidence of that was laying on the ground in front of them and their parties.

It was a classic Chimera. With a Lion, Ram and Dragon head, a mixed up body of all three, and a snake tail. They'd done a number on it, and it was obvious they'd already cut bits of it up for themselves, the bus length body hacked apart, with most of the 'useful' materials ruined by their carelessness.

"Oh, finally made it?" Motoyasu quipped as I got closer. "Not that we needed you."

"It wasn't that hard." Itsuki said, hanging the Bow on his back.

"What were you doing all this time?" Ren asked, giving me a glare.

"Keeping Riyute safe." I shrugged, "Do you mind?" I asked, observing not just 'Adventurer' etiquette but 'game loot' as well.

"Like a vulture." Motoyasu mumbled to the other two.

Ignoring him, I continued, "While you kept this thing busy..." I took out my own skinning knife and did my best to salvage things like scale and fur patches, horns, teeth, claws... "I coordinated the village, got the civilians into shelter, the hunters and knights into ranks, and kept the damage to a minimum. The Elder of the Village said there wasn't a single death."

They watched me for a moment as the Shield 'ate' a bunch of different things. It was only when I took out a little hammer and chisel to get the tough horns off the dragon head, that Ren spoke up again.

"I suppose that is what your supposed to do."

As moody as he looked and acted, he seemed like the one with the most sense. "It is what we," I emphasized the word, "Are supposed to do." I considered the goat head of the Chimera, shrugged to myself, and started to cut it off.

"What are you going to do with that?" Itsuki asked, looking a bit horrified at my casual butchering.

"Back home, we have a saying. Use what you find, for the next encounter. Though, I was thinking of giving this to the Hunter Lodge here." I stood, holding the Ram's head by the hair on its head, "We," As much as I didn't like them, I wouldn't insult their efforts, "Protected the town, so they should have something to remember it by."

"Probably going to sell it to them." Motoyasu laughed, looking at the other two, seemingly anxious and waiting for them to laugh along.

"It's how being a hero works." I said when the other two didn't join in. "Do great things, and have people tell the story of it. Of course, a good story needs props." I made sure to glance at Myne, who had enough sense not to interrupt the four of us, "And this will do nicely."

"But you are going to sell it to them, aren't you?" Itsuki accused.

"No. They'll need their coin to rebuild. That said, if they don't want it, I'll make a helmet or something out of it." I tapped a spot between its tightly curled horns, "Tough enough to stop the Sword, so it should do well to protect me from other stuff too."

There was a commotion from the other side of the Hero's parties, interrupting what ever Ren was about to say.

"I bring a message to the Four Heroes and their Parties!" It was another knight, though this one was riding a dragon and had a banner instead of a lance or spear. "The King wishes to hold a feast in honour of their success! And invites them to the Castle tonight!"

Since he didn't exclude me, I figured I was on the guest list as well. This was good, since I had a few things to tell him, and being in his face to do so would make sure he heard me. I hid my intentions behind a smile though, and looked to the other three, "See you there I suppose."

And with the Ram's head dangling from my hand, I walked back to the Lodge.


To my disappointment, my three party members reported that the monsters had nothing of value to salvage. The weapons and armour of the zombie/skeletons was rusted, and practically dissolving as we watched. The Bees and Locusts were quickly turning to powder and dust, and even the giant zombie was little more than a bad smelling heap of rust and bone dust.

But, the Shield still ate that dust, though nothing appeared in its inventory. The Chimera however, even with the other three hacking it apart after killing it, did leave things behind.

The Old Hunter accepted the Ram head, saying he'd mount it to a shield shaped plaque as soon as it was ready. But I reminded him that all four Heroes were needed here. He conceded the point, and said he'd put the Emblem of the Three under the head, but still mount it to a wooden Shield.

The rest of the villagers and hunters looked like they wanted to fall over themselves in thanks, but I looked at them, and they just said thank you. That's all. Though, to be fair, I had a really good 'go away I'm tired' look.

My party was just as exhausted as I was. But, I told them about the party later, and that they had to have a bath before going.


"I'm not sure I can stay awake until tonight..." Usa yawned, covering his mouth then looking like he was about to say sorry for being so tired.

"Gr." Clive however, though he still covered his mouth, also yawned, his mouth opening wide enough that I could almost feel the air pressure around me drop.

"Well, I..." Raphtalia sighed, "Yeah, I'm tired too." She had to admit, "But! There's still most of a day before the party, right?"

"Time enough for a little nap." I nodded, "Erhard has let us use the back of his house to clean up, and I'm sure he'll be glad to see us come back."


Inter-Dimensional Locust Shield Conditions met!

Inter-Dimensional Locust Shield: equip bonus: defence 6

Inter-Dimensional Lower Bee Shield Conditions met!

Inter-Dimensional Lower Bee Shield: equip bonus: agility 6

Inter-Dimensional Zombie Shield Conditions met!

Inter-Dimensional Zombie Shield: equip bonus: inventory rot resistance (small)

Bee Needle Shield Conditions Met!

Bee Needle Shield: equip bonus: attack 1: equip effect: needle shield (small) bee poison (paralysis)

Chimera Meat Shield Conditions met!

Chimera Meat Shield: equip bonus: cooking quality improvement

Chimera Bone Shield Conditions met!

Chimera Bone Shield: equip bonus: shadow resistance (medium)

Chimera Leather Shield Conditions met!

Chimera Leather Shield: equip bonus: defence 10

Chimera Viper Shield Conditions met!

Chimera Viper Shield: equip bonus: antidote compounding up, poison resistance (medium)

Skill: Change Shield

Special equip Effect: snake venom fang (medium), hook


NOTES!

Next update? A peek into Orario. We know Hestia did something to Kodori, but what else has been happening in the three or so weeks that Kodori's been missing?

Find out next time. :)

Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord!

aKAQg4bnYu for the discord!

And my actual book, Were Too? is on Inkitt.

And! I'm looking into getting some story themed merchandise made. Join the Discord to find out more!