Motoyasu wasn't nervous as he fitted on his armor… Well, not about the fight at least.
He found the fact that Rozemyne had apparently been stalking him a bit disturbing.
He didn't understand why people were making such a big deal about him spending a bit of money. Considering he had made 200 gold coins fighting in an early Wave, it couldn't have been that much, and the Kingdom did say it would financially support him. Besides, most of it had been Malty's spendings, and shouldn't the crowned princess be able to use the country's money a bit?
And why did she have to bring up the prostitutes? He'd only done that twice and it had only been 1 gold coin total. It was embarrassing to be called out on it in front of Itsuki and Ren, despite sex workers being legal in this world.
Motoyasu had the contract read out to him thoroughly, to make sure that he wasn't walking into some kind of trap when Rozemyne would own his life, but no, it really was just a contract about paying off the money. If Rozemyne was secretly a yandere, she was playing the long con for it.
"Man, what is taking so long?" Motoyasu wondered as he tapped his foot in the waiting room. "Is she putting on makeup or something?"
He wasn't normally one to rush a girl who was preparing for a date, but seriously, they didn't have all day.
Motoyasu's head rose as he heard the door to the prep room open, but not the one that led into the fighting arena. Instead, the King walked in with a grave look on his face.
"Your Majesty? What are you doing here?" Motoyasu asked him with mild surprise.
"I am here to give you a leg up in this competition." The King said, pulling out a few small potion vials. "These will buff your stats by 30%. I will also be casting some support magic of my own to assist you."
"Wait, hold on a second! Isn't that cheating!?" Motoyasu said, unable to believe that he was being told to rig the fight.
"Don't be naive. There is too much at risk here to worry about fair play." The King scolded him. "Things are already getting out of control. We cannot allow the Demon of the Shield to gain any more momentum."
"Demon of the Shield?" Motoyasu said, confused, as he had never heard the term before.
"...It is something we were going to tell you when we had more hard evidence on her. In the stories, the Shield isn't like the others. It is said to possess the power to brainwash others into doing its bidding in an attempt to take control of the world." The King said bitterly. "First she used this power to turn the Sword Hero into her minion. Now she has used it on my own wife and daughter. If she is allowed to continue to gather strength through her city, then it may reach the point where we won't be able to stop her at all."
Motoyasu was stunned, having never heard anything like this before. …It sounded a little far-fetched to him. Yeah, Ren had acted a little pussy-whipped, but Rozemyne was admittedly pretty damn attractive, occupying the traditional beauty end of the spectrum which was popular with a lot of guys.
But… he had to admit that things were a little weird, and that Rozemyne wasn't like the rest of them, being both not from any version of Japan and having magic spells that no one else had. Then there was the way that the little Princess was acting and how the guards were so ready to turn against their King.
Could this really be brainwashing?
"...Your Majesty, if Rozemyne really is up to no good, then I will stop her. But I will do it on my own terms." Motoyasu said as he displayed a Hero's smile. "After all, a Hero doesn't cheat."
"...You damned fool." The King growled at him. "You are gambling the future of our world and are worried about not cheating? Fool."
But no matter what he said, Motoyasu wouldn't budge, and soon enough, the trumpet was blown, signaling the start of the match. Bidding the King adieu, Motoyasu marched out into the arena in order to face Rozemyne.
The stands were not exactly crowded, since not just anyone would be at the castle, but there were still a good three hundred people there to witness the duel, despite how sudden it was. Motoyasu smiled and waved to them as he walked out, though if he was expecting a lively crowd, he was in the wrong place.
These were calculating nobles, who wouldn't show such a display. So other than his girls, none openly cheered for him. The awkwardness of that caused him to stop and face forward, kind of wanting to get this over with, when he saw Rozemyne approaching from the other side.
Despite them being there for battle, Rozemyne was still dressed in cloth instead of armor. Though her dress now seemed to be more in the kimono style, with extra cloth hidden within folds and a ribbon tying it close around her waist. It was black, with golden cloud designs to match her black and gold cloak and was decorated with several magic stones. She looked much more like a spellcaster than a shielder, despite the large circular shield on her arm.
Motoyasu found himself staring at her.
Damn she was pretty. Not in the same way as Malty, who dressed in revealing armor in order to draw the eyes, but in a more innocent way. It was hard to believe she was a slave driver. It was even harder to believe she was just fourteen.
Unless there was padding in that outfit of hers, Rozemyne's breasts were as big as Malty's, though her cheeks were softer, like that of a child's.
"You know, it isn't too late to just back out. Just agree to free the slaves and we can end it here." Motoyasu said, trying to settle it peacefully.
Rozemyne smiled kindly at him, making him feel uncomfortable. "Lord Motoyasu, your heart is in the right place, but you are misguided and have been surrounded by bad influences." She said as she raised her shield. "I'm sorry that I am going to have to decline your offer, and I apologize in advance to you and everyone else for what I am about to do."
Motoyasu felt disappointed, but raised his spear.
"Are both fighters ready?" Melty called out, getting an affirmative from each of the Heroes. "Then begin!"
"Waschen." Rozemyne said as she whipped out her wand, pointing it at Motoyasu as he charged her, and before the Spear Hero could react, he found himself hit by a tidal wave of water.
He was as confused and shocked as the audience as the size of the spell was completely overkill, not just filling the arena, but flowing up into the stands as well, slapping everyone with water and knocking them off of their feet, many of them choking as they weren't prepared to suddenly become submerged in water.
But even as Motoyasu attempted to swim towards the surface, the water itself vanished into thin air, leaving no sign that it had ever been there at all. His clothes were even completely dry.
It was while he was trying to process this, his body unsure of if he was drowning or not, that Rozemyne closed the distance between them, grabbed him by the throat with one hand, lifted him up, and then slammed him into the ground with enough force to crack the stone plates.
*plink*
The sound effect indicating that no damage was taken rang out, as Motoyasu stared up at Rozemyne's face in confusion. …Confusion that quickly turned to panic as he realized she was squeezing his throat.
He tried to lift his arms to dislodge her, but the one holding his spear was being pinned to the ground, and he couldn't even budge her an inch with his other hand. She was just too strong. But why was she this strong?
"This world is strange, isn't it? By circulating a large amount of my mana, I can increase the strength of my muscles a hundred fold. But even if I use enough force to move a bolder, my attack power is still only 1, so I still do no damage. I'm glad though. It means I won't accidentally hurt you because of my lack of control." Rozemyne said, her words seeming oddly chilling to the panicking Motoyasu. "I'm sorry. But this is the only way I could think of to beat you without hurting you. Don't worry. You will pass out soon."
Motoyasu's struggling became more frantic, as the water had already convinced his body to cough up the air out of his lungs before Rozemyne put the squeeze on him. His vision was beginning to fade, when there was a bright flash of green light.
"Hm?" Rozemyne turned her head, curious as the wind spell was devoured by her Cloak of the God of Darkness.
She saw Princess Malty with her hands up, clearly having shot the spell at her, a look of surprise on her face.
Seriously? Were they going to interfere in such an obvious way?
…Oh deal, her magic charms were retaliating, one of the ones that was meant to protect her from spells fired off a blast of magic power that floored the Princess. This caused serious panic as they sent for mages to heal the girl.
Rozemyne wasn't going to be held responsible for that, right?
"That is enough!" Melty called out. "I believe it is obvious to everyone who the winner is! Lady Rozemyne, please release him!"
"Yes Your Highness." Rozemyne said, immediately doing as she was told, letting go of Motoyasu so that he could once again breathe. She knelt before Melty as Motoyasu slowly recovered.
"What… was that?" Motoyasu said, confused as everyone else, until it hit him. "I lost."
There had been a bit of outrage about Rozemyne casting a spell that involved those in the viewing audience, until people realized it wasn't an attack spell, but a cleaning spell.
The arena was scrubbed spotless and any and all annoying stains were removed from the clothes of those watching. Motoyasu's armor had never looked so shiny. But after they returned to the conference room once again, this time without the King or Malty, there were questions for Rozemyne.
"It wasn't the support magic you are used to. Instead it is a technique that increases the effectiveness of your muscles by circulating mana through them." Rozemyne explained. "Most Knights and high rank Adventurers actually know about it, but it isn't commonly practiced, because it is both very expensive, and doesn't have an effect on your stats."
"So that was the Body Enhancing technique?" One of the Royal Knights said, with wide eyes.
"You know of it?" Melty asked the man.
"Yes, Your Highness. All Royal Knights do. It is a common trick to help you get the leg up on someone with a burst of speed and strength, but as Lady Rozemyne said, it doesn't offer any more damage. But you only ever use it in small amounts so as to not drain your mana away. To use so much of it at once…"
"That's Rozemyne for you." Ren said with a snort.
"It was an underhanded method, and I hope that Lord Motoyasu can forgive me." Rozemyne said as she looked across the table at the shell shocked young man.
"I… Lost." He said, looking up towards Raphtalia. "I'm sorry. I failed you."
"...Lord Motoyasu, what are you talking about?" Raphtalia said, completely confused. "Lady Rozemyne removed our slave seals nearly a month ago."
"What?" Motoyasu said in complete shock. "But I thought… Then why did we…"
Rozemyne gave him a compassionate look that stunned him. "Motoyasu, your heart is in the right place, but you have surrounded yourself with bad influences. You have spent way too much of the country's money and you need to stop it."
"Was… Was all that really just about some money?" Motoyasu asked in disbelief.
"You idiot." Ren said with a dry snort. "You have no idea how much 3500 gold is, do you? You spent roughly 15 billion yen."
"15 billion!?" Motoyasu shouted in shock, his face paling. "That can't be right! 15 billion for just a few outfits!?"
"While you are shocked, your party members were fully aware of the kind of money they were spending. Which is why they were bound with that contract to pay back the money that they spent." Rozemyne said as she looked at the documents again.
"Her Majesty is willing to pardon the debt if you and your party fight the Waves of Calamity, but you will no longer be allowed to spend money as you please. Until the Waves are over and your debt cleared, the Kingdom will only pay for your equipment costs and daily needs, nothing more." Melty said. "An overseer will be joining your party to make sure that your party members are contributing. Otherwise, they will be branded as debt slaves until they work off what they owe."
"R…Right." Motoyasu said, not in a position to argue.
"On to the next topic of discussion, teaching the strengthening methods of the Legendary Holy Weapons." Melty said, glancing from Rozemyne to Ren. "As agreed, we will decide together who should and should not be taught."
"Excuse me!?" Itsuki shouted in wide-eyed shock, while Motoyasu just hung his jaw wide open.
"The power offered by mastering all the methods can't be understated. If that power is abused, few would be able to stand against it. As such, we need to carefully consider who is taught. Lord Ren, Princess Melty and I are in agreement when it comes to this." Rozemyne explained.
"That isn't fair!" Itsuki shouted like a bratty child, causing Ren to snort.
"Not fair? We say we won't teach people who would abuse the power, and you say that it isn't fair? Don't be stupid." Ren said with a twisted glare on his face, one that confused Rozemyne. Itsuki's face flushed with anger at the insult.
"So let us decide now. Should Lord Motoyasu be taught?" Melty asked, wanting to move things along.
"I believe so." Rozemyne said, surprising Motoyasu himself. "His party members have been taking advantage of him, but his heart has been in the right place. With someone dependable at his side to explain to him what is right and wrong, I don't think he would purposely use the power to hurt others."
"Lord Ren?" Melty said, turning to the Sword Hero.
"He's an idiot, but whatever. As long as he agrees to shape up, I say we let Rozemyne teach him." Ren said with a small huff.
…No seriously, why was he acting so weird? Rozemyne gave him a look of concern, but he didn't meet her eyes.
"Given that he rejected my father's invitation to cheat during the duel, I am willing to agree." Melty said, surprising Motoyasu.
"Wait, so the King offering to buff me up before the match was some kind of test?"
"No. He was attempting to rig the fight, same as Malty. The both of them have been placed under house arrest until the end of these meetings." Melty said flatly, getting a wince from Motoyasu. "So then, the three of us are in agreement. Lord Motoyasu will be taught by Lady Rozemyne in exchange for agreeing to have an adviser to watch over him. Do you find that acceptable?"
"Yeah, sure." Motoyasu said, scratching the back of his head.
"Good. Now then, as for Lord Itsuki…"
"Not happening." Ren said before Melty could even finish.
"What!? You can't do that!?" Itsuki shouted.
"You show no regret after being told that you murdered the innocent father of a little girl to satisfy your ego."
"It was a dragon! Of course I killed it! That's what Heroes do!"
"Oh gods." Rozemyne said, finding out why Ren was in the worst mood she had ever seen him in. "I agree with Lord Ren."
"Not you too!"
"Even without Gaelion's death, I was against teaching you from the start." Rozemyne said with a shake of the head. "Your behavior, going around acting as judge, jury and execution, is unacceptable."
"What!? When have I ever done that!?"
"What do you think you were doing when you were going around inciting armed rebellion across the countryside?" Rozemyne said, signaling to Indigo to come forward, carrying a long contract sized sheet of paper to be presented to Itsuki.
"What is this?" He said as he took the sheet.
"It is a list of names of people who are dead because of the rebellions you caused. Either directly during the rebellion itself, or in the ensuing chaos caused by the fact that you deseated the only leader those people had during a time of instability and then abandoned them. Three entire villages were burned to the ground. And if you were behind Gaelion as well, then I suppose we should also count that village as well, considering that it had to be abandoned, the land no longer inhabitable."
"Holy shit." Motoyasu said as he stared at the paper with wide eyes.
He might not be able to read it, but there were at least two hundred names on that list.
"Are you going to claim that all those weren't people too?" Ren said, almost seeming to take pleasure in Itsuki's confusion.
"You… You're lying!" Itsuki shouted, violently tearing up the page. "Why are you trying to accuse me of such things! I helped people get out from under tyranny! I brought them justice! I didn't do anything wrong!"
"Itsuki. People died." Rozemyne said gently. "Laws and governors exist for a reason. A corrupt mayor may be bad, but total anarchy is worse. And many of those people weren't corrupt. They were merely people in a position of power during hard time, with them receiving the blame of the people."
"Normally, you would be arrested for inciting rebellion, but, like with Lord Motoyasu and his party, pardons will be given if…" Melty started but was cut off.
"Shut up! Stop lying!" Itsuki shouted again, standing up in his frustration. "I'm not the criminal! You're the criminals! Why are you all banding against me!"
"Dude, chill out." Motoyasu said.
"No! I don't have to stand here and take this!" Itsuki shouted once again, his bow transforming as his spoke. "If you all won't help me, then fine! I'll do it on my own!"
"Itsuki, wait!" Rozemyne shouted, trying to stop him, but it was too late. He was already teleporting away, taking his retainers with him.
"...Well, that didn't go well." Melty said, rubbing her eyes.
"That stupid brat." Ren growled. "What should we do about him?"
"...I'm sorry to say this, but if he continues to make trouble, we might have no choice but to arrest him." Melty said, glancing towards Rozemyne. "Do you… know of a way to accomplish such a thing?"
"If you are asking for barriers that can stop teleportation, then yes." Rozemyne admitted.
"I am sorry to ask you to, but please." Melty said, knowing that she was asking Rozemyne to create a tool that could be used against her. "What a mess."