Chapter Sixteen: The Start of the Nocturnal Doctor
"Whoa…"
"Master Naofumi…"
The past two days had seen Naofumi and Raphtalia continuing through the forest. They'd avoided being seen. Grinded out monster levels. Read the magic grimoire and medical recipe books together in the morning and evening. Had more study sessions with Melromarc's written language. Gathered herbs here and there... And watched Filo grow from the pink fledgling chick she'd been before to the tallest Filolial either of them had ever seen. And that was before this latest transformation, which had shrunk her height half a meter, but widened her out so that she looked like a large deadly owl.
Raphtalia and Naofumi were currently looking up at the two-and-a-half-meter tall, owl-shaped, white-feathered with pink tips Filolial named Filo. "Gwah!" She squealed happily.
Even her voice box had changed with the rest of her.
"No wonder why she's been eating so much," Naofumi muttered to himself. 'And to think she only hatched two days ago…'
Naofumi was very inclined to believe Raphtalia when she said that Filo's growth was definitely not normal.
"Gwah!" Filo looked around herself. She was currently at level 23.
"I guess we'll have to drop selling monster carcasses whenever we go to a village," Naofumi sighed.
"That's what you're worried about?!" Raphtalia frankly asked him, gesturing to the large white bird in front of them.
"Gwah?" Filo cocked her head curiously.
"She eats so much, and she grew so fast... why haven't I heard about a Filolial like this before? Not even the ones bred for meat are like this!" Raphtalia said.
Filo began to affectionately rub her head against Naofumi's hair, which annoyed him. He pushed her head away, and then Filo started to rub her head affectionately with Raphtalia, who cheered up very quickly. "At least her nature hasn't changed with her growth," She began petting Filo behind her ears.
"Gwah!"
"Yeah, I just hope she doesn't try to eat us," Naofumi dryly commented. With how much she ate, there was a possibility...
..
"Master Naofumi... don't even joke about that."
"Relax. It's only a chance that it'll happen," Naofumi rolled his eyes. Raphtalia pouted at him.
"Save that kind of joking around for when your daughter isn't around to hear you." She scolded him.
"Gwah?"
"I don't know, isn't Filo supposed to be your daughter?" Naofumi asked. While Filo was affectionate to both of them and was constantly seeking their attention when they weren't hunting or traveling, Naofumi still found it a little ridiculous that a monster would think of itself as his daughter. As for Raphtalia, well... if it made her happier being a mom, he wouldn't get in the way of that.
"Eep!" Raphtalia started blushing really hard and fully turned her face to push it into Filo's fluffy neck. 'Filo can't think of both of us as her parents! Then she might encourage us to be more affectionate with each other, and then Master Naofumi might kiss me, and then… and then I could end up getting pregnant and we'd really be parents!'
"Gwah?" Filo looked confusedly down at the Tanuki girl, and then up at Naofumi. He gave her a shrug. "Beats me. I don't know what her deal is half the time." He said. 'And the other half of the time, I just guess and hope I get something right.'
Although Filo couldn't speak or use body language, she seemed to understand Raphtalia and him well enough. "Gwah!" She squealed happily.
"Well, now that she's grown this big, we should see about having her pull the wagon," Naofumi suggested. While his shield made him stronger than the average person, he could only pull a wagon for so long before needing a break.
In a way, Filo's insane growth couldn't have come at a better time. Even if he didn't entirely understand why or what she was.
Stars appeared in Filo's eyes. Gwah!" She squealed happily. Her life's dream of two days was finally coming true! She'd get to pull her very own wagon!
Raphtalia finally pulled back from Filo. She was still slightly blushing, but she also looked a little nervous. "Maybe I could go and hunt for monsters again before we travel-"
"Oh no, I'm not having any of that," Naofumi said. "We're going to get as far from the Capital as we can today before we stop somewhere for supplies. Besides, I need to get you used to travel by cart since this is how we'll be living for a while."
"But, but-" Raphtalia tried to find an excuse not to ride along in the wagon.
"Come on. I promise it won't be that bad." Naofumi encouraged her.
Raphtalia looked nervously at the wagon. Filo's greatest gift... and her greatest bane.
"Well... As long as Filo takes it gently." She relented.
"Oh, oh Gods no-"
Raphtalia heaved over the side of the moving wagon again. 'Filo is not taking this gently. She is so not taking it gently.' Her stomach churned again and she put her head over the side.
Naofumi grimaced. This wasn't good. Raphtalia was already vomiting thirty minutes into the ride. Sure, maybe Filo was going a little fast, but it wasn't bad enough that he was unable to focus on reading the characters of Melromarc's alphabet over. As she heaved again, he hoped that he didn't have to clean off the side of the wagon.
"Filo, can you slow down a little more?" Naofumi asked.
"Guahh?!" Filo yelled back almost as if she was saying 'What?! Isn't Filo already going slow?!' Had she yelled that back at him actually? Maybe he was crazy and imagining things.
"Slow down! You're killing Raphtalia!" He said again.
"Please… mercy…" Raphtalia said beggingly, holding a weak hand up from the back of the wagon.
Filo pouted, but she finally listened and slowed down from a light jog to a gentle trot for mommy's sake. Even though the incredibly slow speed bored her beyond belief.
Naofumi sighed. "Well, I guess the last thing we need is a speeding Filolial breaking through the gates of some town before I show them the trader's pass," Naofumi said back to Raphtalia in an attempt to cheer her up.
...
"Master Naofumi, I still don't feel so good." Her response eventually came back.
Naofumi looked back at her. Her face was an unnatural shade of green, and a dark look was under her eyes. She looked ready to hurl again despite the more comfortable slow speed.
He realized the slow speed wouldn't cut it. They needed to stop and take a break to help Raphtalia recover.
He sighed and pulled on the reins. "Filo, stop."
"Gwah!?" Filo looked shocked that they already had to stop. Her very first time pulling her new favorite wagon and it'd only lasted a few minutes!
However, after looking back to protest and seeing the sick look on mommy's face... and the hard look on daddy's, she decided a break wouldn't be such a bad thing.
As soon as the wagon stopped, Raphtalia put a hand to her mouth, jumped off the wagon, and disappeared into the bushes.
The sounds that came from those bushes would haunt Naofumi's nightmares in the years to come. Nearby monsters fled the area in terror, thinking some great beast had settled within their midst.
Come on Raphtalia, wasn't this being just a little bit overdramatic? Naofumi pinched the bridge of his nose. Maybe he should have taken her discomfort for carriage rides more seriously.
He then checked the side of the wagon and grimaced at what he saw. The remains of breakfast were splattered all over the wood. 'I really hope I can get her used to riding in the wagon quickly.'
As he began to clean the side of the wagon off, Filo appeared next to him and began to help. After a few minutes, he thought they were done, yet Filo continued cleaning with a determined glint in her eyes. It was like she was determined to make the wood so shiny that she'd see her reflection in it.
Filolials really loved their wagons, huh?
He looked back at the bushes. Raphtalia could still be heard dying back there.
"I reallllly hope Raphtalia gets used to riding around in a wagon soon." Naofumi sighed defeatedly. Since it was his fault, he pulled out a medicine flask from a pack in the back of the wagon. At least the sun was still rising in the morning sky. They only had till sunset to get further away from the Capital and find a town to set up a booth.
He just had to hope that Raphtalia would get used to riding around without medicine quickly. It'd be bad if she grew dependent on the stuff.
…
…
Sometime later, a pale-looking Raphtalia finally stumbled out of the bushes. Naofumi was sitting in the driver's seat waiting for her. Instead of sitting in the back, she sat down numbly next to Naofumi, waiting for the horrendous order for them to continue onward.
"Here, drink this," Naofumi gave her the medicine.
Raphtalia drank from the medicine flask, flinching again at the bitter taste of medicine going down her throat. "I wish... you could make these things taste better." Raphtalia weakly commented.
Naofumi genuinely laughed. The action helped to put a small smile back on Raphtalia's face since it was rare for her master to laugh so fully. "And risk you and Filo draining my medicine reserves as fast as my food reserves, no thank you." He looked back down at the rough translation pad in his hands, flicking his reins to signal Filo to start moving again.
…
"Are you calling me fat?" Raphtalia asked with a pout on her face.
"You already asked me before, and I gave you my answer," Naofumi didn't lookup.
"But you never answered me on whether you prefer your women stout or not," Raphtalia whined.
"I definitely prefer them not acting and whining like little kids," Naofumi said.
"I do not act like a little kid!" Raphtalia's tail bushed angrily behind her. The medicine was already working wonders on her, especially since the wagon wasn't moving yet. The game-like mechanics in this world really did come in handy. "Besides, it's not like you aren't guilty of acting like a kid from time to time!"
"Well, that's, urgh." Naofumi groaned defeatedly. "Come on. I want to make sure I can remember the Melromarc alphabet before we get to the village." He changed the subject.
Raphtalia, grinning in victory, gave way when the wagon went over a large bump and immediately cuddled into Naofumi's side. Her stomach trembled in terror at the rough bump. However, the medicine combined with Naofumi's steady heartbeat helped her to keep the rest of her nausea at bay. And together they started to go over the symbols of the Melromarc alphabet.
With both of them slightly blushing at the fact that they had to cuddle the rest of the trip.
That night
"Thank you so much, good sir!" An older gentleman said, bowing to the now hooded Naofumi.
"No problem," Naofumi deposited the silver coins into a pouch. "I hope it's good enough to help your wife."
Again, the man bowed to him before he turned away and walked into the night. Much like all the other customers before him that'd come shortly after setting up shop. It was currently night, and apparently, the people of this place knew the significance of a night merchant visiting town. He'd had plenty of customers to start despite how late it'd been. However, that line of customers had dwindled as the night grew longer.
'This idea is working out better than I expected. No one even recognizes me or Raphtalia because of how dark it is.'
Naofumi glanced at the small ball of light Raphtalia had summoned to help light up their stall area. She had toned down the brightness so it looked like a floating lantern instead of the freaking sun. It turned out that the people here thought that the Shield Demon was supposed to act like a demon. He passed completely under their radar for one, acting like a civilized human merchant, and two, having one of the most kind-hearted people in the world assisting him.
"The people here are really nice," Raphtalia commented happily in the back of the wagon as she pulled out another crate of medicine. She had Naofumi's old hooded cloak wrapped around her to disguise her face and to hide her tail and ears. The dark night and the soft light helped make her look surprisingly... human.
… Naofumi grimaced. Not because of anything demi-human related. But rather at the fact that, to his chagrin, Raphtalia had sold much more of their stock of medicine than he had. He no longer had the loli-loving people excuse to blame for it either. His time spent completely hiding away had allowed Raphtalia the opportunity to handle all of their transactions and to truly flourish as his liaison with merchants wherever they'd traveled before the first wave.
He made a promise to himself to improve again in that regard.
"Seems like it. We've had no troublemakers so far." Naofumi looked at the night sky. He guessed it was somewhere between midnight and one in the morning. 'Maybe I should have sent Raphtalia off to get supplies earlier... oh well, we can keep the place open for a little longer before we leave to camp somewhere away from town.' No one had recognized them because of the darkness, but he couldn't be too careful.
With Filo dozing off in the stables next to them, it'd be hard for them to make a quick escape. Even if the town's guard hadn't realized he was the Shield Hero due to the variety of measures he'd taken to hide his identity, from hiding his shield under his robes and taking off the breastplate part of the armor so he could pass himself off as a normal merchant; he had to play it safe in this unfamiliar part of Melromarc.
At least until he was sure he wouldn't be recognized.
"I just wish we'd see one adult demi-human," Naofumi muttered quietly.
He'd seen some of the villagers that leaned towards the nobility side that had a couple of demi-human kid slaves. But he had as of yet to find an adult demi-human like Raphtalia.
"Well... older Demi-humans are rare to find so close to the Capital due to all the persecution we receive, Master Naofumi." Raphtalia pointed out. "I'm sure as we get further away, we'll be able to find older demi-humans."
Naofumi was about to ask her more about it when he saw another villager come running out of the darkness. The man looked like he was in a hurry. "Sir! I just received word! Are you the night merchant that entered our town today?!" He asked frantically.
"Yes, I am," Naofumi said dryly.
"Please, my child, she's very sick! I have no idea what's wrong with her! The town Elders don't know either!" The man continued frantically.
Naofumi looked caught off guard at the man's begging. "Slow down. I merely make my medicines, I'm no doctor-" Naofumi tried to say.
"Please!" The man got down on his knees and held his hands up imploringly. "I've already lost my wife to the waves. I can't lose my daughter too. She's the only family I have left. I'm begging you!"
…
"Where did your wife die?" Naofumi asked, his voice filled with dread. If she'd been one of the few people he'd failed to save at Lute...
The man looked down at the ground. "She died a brave adventurer, helping out her people in the region of Seaetto to the west." He said sadly.
Raphtalia gasped, and Naofumi looked to her. It wasn't Lute... but it was an important place to Raphtalia regardless. "Alright, take me to your daughter."
The man looked up in surprise. "Y-You'll help?"
"I'll do the best I can. No promises." Naofumi clarified.
Tears filled the man's eyes, and he quickly bowed to Naofumi again. "Thank you! Thank you so much! I'll make sure to pay you for your services!"
"We'll talk about payment after I see her," Naofumi said blandly. He threw the pouch of silver coins to Raphtalia. "Raphtalia, see if you can find anyone that's still awake. Gather supplies while I'm gone. I should be back in a bit." He said, gathering several different types of medicines and potions from the stand that he had on display.
"Right." Raphtalia obeyed.
Once Naofumi was sure he had everything, he approached the man. "Let's move. Your daughter doesn't have all night." Naofumi said a little irritably. Yeah, he definitely had to work on being more nice and approachable. Until then, he'd be doomed to be outsold by his nice, beautiful, female Tanuki companion.
"Yes, thank you, right this way!" He said, quickly running up the road for the town square.
Naofumi ran off, leaving Raphtalia at the wagon behind him. He held his cloak close to himself to keep his hood from flying off and the shield hiding on his back from showing. 'I hope this isn't a trap set by the Capital or the Three Heroes Church. But if it isn't, and if his wife did die while defending Raphtalia from the waves, then I have to see if I can help his daughter out or not.'
…
After a couple of minutes, he and the man entered what Naofumi guessed to be his home. He noticed it was close to the center of town and was a little bigger than the rest. As he walked in, he saw a couple of old men who were conversing quietly to themselves at the table. 'I'm guessing these are the town Elders.'
"How is she? How is my beautiful Petal?" The man asked.
The elders stopped talking and looked at the man with sad eyes. "We still can't identify what it is she has. Even if we could, we fear it's too late."
"Her breaths are far too weak to continue supporting her, and her coughing fits aren't helping her. It's only a matter of time before her lungs succumb to the sickness completely." Another of them said defeatedly.
"We're afraid that she won't survive the night." The last Elder said depressedly. "All we can do is try to make her last hours as comfortable as possible…"
…
Tears started falling down the man's face. "No, please, not my beautiful Petal…" He buried his face in his hands. "I can't lose her too…"
…
"Where's her room?" Naofumi finally asked in a dry tone.
The Elders took notice of Naofumi. He pulled his hood further over his face to hide it in shadow. "I'm here to help if I can," Naofumi added.
"But, but the patient could be contagious. Without proper preparations, we're afraid even a human could-" One of the Elders was trying to say.
"I said it earlier, I'll say it again. Tell me where she is, and I'll do what I can." Naofumi said, his voice harder than before. "Or would you prefer for this girl to die?"
…
"Do you really think you can help?" The head Elder asked.
"I have to see her first to determine that," Naofumi replied. He was no doctor, but he had medicine, the skills needed to boost their effects, and a very handy shield. It was also an obligation for him to help anyone connected to Seaetto. So maybe he could do something to help.
…
The Elders moved to the side, revealing the door that had been behind them. "She's back there."
"Please, help her." One of the more humble of the three asked pleadingly. "For our Lord's sake." He added, pointing to the Father.
Naofumi silently noted the Father as being the Lord of the Town and walked past them to enter the room. Thinking about it, the house, for a Lord's house, was rather plain. Wood floors, wood furniture, almost a complete lack of decorations in general. He had to be among the poorer set of Lords in the country.
He closed the door behind him, and finally looked inside.
He mentally gasped at the sight.
It was a closed-off room, but with more color than the rest of the house. The walls were painted to look like a meadow in the middle of the forest. A small carving of what looked like a fairy resting on a nightstand held a lantern in its grip. The light from the lantern illuminated the small bed in the room. Lying in it was what looked like a little eight-year-old girl. Her skin was pale and covered in sweat. Her chest weakly moved up and down under her thin blanket as she breathed. Her arms, resting above the blanket, were small, almost delicate. She had long black unkempt hair spread out like a blanket on her pillow. Hair that didn't hide the familiar Raccoon ears on top of her head.
'A... a demi-human… but he said his wife…'
Naofumi made the connection based on what was said earlier. 'His wife was a demi-human.' He looked down at the girl, looking baffled. 'So her parents…'
The little girl coughed weakly and turned her head to blearily look at her guest. Naofumi approached and got on one knee next to the bed to examine the little girl. The girl weakly opened her eyes to look at him. Her pupils were green, dulled from the pain of her sickness. She looked too weak to speak.
"Petal, is it?" He asked in an odd, gentle tone. He decided to throw his developing thoughts about what he'd discovered out the window and felt the girl's forehead. She coughed again but weakly nodded her head in response. He used an appraisal skill he'd gotten from one of the shields he'd unlocked by absorbing his old compounding set to check her status.
'Her forehead is hot… and her coughs…' The name of the sickness appeared on his HUD alongside her health bar, which was dangerously low. He might have not seen the title for Raphtalia's ailment when he first got her... but he got the distinct feeling that what he was seeing now were the advanced stages of the same illness she'd had.
Thank goodness.
"You're going to be okay Petal. I promise." Naofumi said quietly, taking out a flask of medicine and an HP potion from his inventory. He poured the HP Potion into the same medicine he'd used to cure Raphtalia long ago, hoping that it would provide the boost needed to help this little girl overcome her advanced illness. The medicine fizzled in his flask, but he quickly received a notification saying the combination had been a success. The quality went up from Very Good to Exceptional. It was an expensive way to do it, but oh well, no holds barred for things like this. "I just need you to trust me. Will you drink this for me Petal?"
…
Slowly, the little girl nodded her head and opened her mouth to drink the medicine.
A few minutes later
The Father, the Lord of the Village, was pacing in front of the door expectantly. The town Elders sat at a table. Two of them were looking at the door sadly. The last one looked like he was praying…
…
The door finally slid open. Naofumi stepped out. The Father immediately stopped his pacing and stared at Naofumi expectantly. "Is she… were you able to…" His throat closed up. He looked close to sobbing. Whether from grief or relief, the man didn't know. "Will... will she be..."
"Daddy?"
Naofumi didn't speak, instead, a little girl in blue pajamas, holding a familiar stuffed version of the Legendary Shield, appeared beside Naofumi. Though her skin still looked pale, color was gradually returning to it. She rubbed tiredly at her eyes, her Raccoon ears sticking out from her disheveled hair. Her tail trailed tiredly on the floor behind her. "What's going on?" She asked before yawning.
The Elders all stood up from their chairs at the same time.
"He did it."
"He brought her back from the brink of death."
"It's a miracle..."
The Father's relieved sobs overran all of what they said as he quickly got down on one knee to hug his precious daughter to his chest. "Oh Petal! My sweet beautiful little girl!" He cried happily.
Naofumi pulled his hood farther over his head and turned away to hide his smile. 'Thank goodness I was right.' It'd taken longer than normal, and he almost thought the addition of the HP Potion did nothing to help, but it worked. The girl's status showed she was cured, and she was on the road to full health.
Again, it was a good thing this world had game-like mechanics to it.
"Daddy, I'm hungry." Petal tiredly complained to her father. Her stomach growled loudly in agreement at that moment. "And I want to get rid of the bitter taste of that stuff that weird man gave me." She complained.
'Even her reaction after recovering was the same as Raphtalia's.' Naofumi almost chuckled. Despite being weak, Petal had almost gagged and coughed up the valuable medicine right after taking it. The damn girl was about as spoiled as Raphtalia.
He didn't know why, but he could have sworn he heard Raphtalia next to him asking if he was thinking something rude.
"Here's the rest of what I gave her, in case the disease returns," Naofumi said, grabbing the man's attention. He gave the flask to the still crying man. "Make sure that her lungs stay clear, and that she stays active at least an hour a day. She'll have a better chance of fighting off the sickness again if she stays in good shape." Somehow, without being a doctor, he knew exactly what to say. He made a note to himself to look through those medical shields again. He might have overlooked something from them.
Then again, if he was right, then he would just be gaining another one of the skills needed to become a butler in the future. Butlers had extensive emergency medical knowledge, right?
The Father looked at the flask, then at his girl, and then back up at Naofumi. "Thank you. Thank you so much." He said, almost choking on his grateful sobs.
Naofumi continued to stare calmly down. He was beginning to think that maybe there'd be another benefit of being a traveling night merchant. If he did things like this enough, he could help to turn his reputation around. 'However, that would also mean me having to reveal my identity to people… and I don't trust others enough to reveal who I am.'
"It's nothing," Naofumi said blandly. "I'm still expecting to be paid."
"No, what you did here wasn't nothing. You have done something amazing today." One of the Town Elders said.
Naofumi grimaced under his hood. 'All three of them are wearing rosaries. I doubt they'd be saying that if they knew who I was. Besides, aren't they supposed to hate demi-humans?' Maybe the indoctrination that Firo had spouted out at Naofumi didn't cover every follower in Melromarc...
"How much is it that I owe you?" The Father asked.
"One silver was how much I was charging for this batch of medicine," Naofumi lied, undervaluing the medicine. "That's all I'll charge you for." 'Raphtalia would kill me if I tried overcharging him for helping his daughter.'
The Father stood back up and handed Naofumi a small pouch. Naofumi opened it up and was surprised to find two dozen silver coins instead of one. "Take them. As my thanks for what you did today." The man said gratefully. "My daughter is worth more to me than any money in the whole world."
Naofumi looked at the bag, and then up at the Father and the Elders. If he didn't have to hide his identity... he knew this Lord would be the kind of person he'd love to befriend. To value his daughter as much as he did, it was obvious he was a great parent to her.
He gave them a small nod, and then he walked out the front door out into the night without another word. He was afraid if he tried to speak again, he would have broken down from the amount of humanity they'd shown themselves to be capable of. After all the pressure he'd been under recently, it was a decent breath of fresh air to his soul.
'Thank you.' Naofumi thought gratefully in his mind.
...
"What a strange man." One of the Elders said.
"He seems a little rough around the edges if you ask me." Another Elder said.
"I could barely see what he looked like under that hood of his." The last Elder said ponderingly to himself. "Maybe he's trying to hide his face because he's ugly?..."
"I don't care who he is or what he looks like." The Father said, making the three town Elders look to him. He smiled down at his daughter who was still tiredly clinging to his leg. "He went out of his way and risked himself to this disease to save my daughter. As the Lord of this area, I will never forget the kindness this... Nocturnal Doctor gave me today. I'll be sure to send word of his exploits so others like me may seek his help when he arrives in their towns."
Naofumi took his time walking through the town in the dark. He wasn't afraid of anyone trying to mug him. Even if someone did try, their attack was bound to be far weaker than his defense. And besides that, Filo and Raphtalia's HP bars showed nothing was wrong on their end. He could be allowed a moment to ponder to himself while walking by himself.
'Damn. I didn't find a single grown demi-human while I was here… But I can't say that our time in this town was wasted.'
It had been almost surreal. He'd grown to picture most people frowning or spitting upon him for being the Shield Hero. He never thought outside of the small instance at Lute and a few other rare exceptions that people could be kind, much less grateful for having him around… granted he hadn't revealed to them who he was, but it still surprised him that the people of this town were happy and grateful that he'd come.
Even if most of them had bought from Raphtalia instead of him.
'Part of this world still sucks… but at least I'm finding that there are more good parts to it.' The smiling Lord and his demi-human daughter came to mind. And a smile slowly worked its way onto his face.
He needed to get more used to smiling.
…
He walked out of an alleyway and found himself next to the stables where the wagon was parked. Raphtalia was setting the last of their merchandise and the supplies she'd managed to purchase from a traveling merchant who'd entered the town and been on his way to the inn for the night. At Naofumi's approach, her ears flicked in his direction before she turned around. "How did it go?"
"Great. I was able to cure his daughter's illness. He paid me for saving her too." He said, handing Raphtalia the pouch.
"That's great, I'm so… proud..." Raphtalia trailed off when she saw the two dozen silver coins in the pouch. "And did you overcharge him for your services?" She put a hand on her hip as she glared at Naofumi.
"Of course I didn't. I only requested one silver. He was the one who insisted on thanking me." Naofumi said. Raphtalia continued to glare at him. "Hey, I'm being honest!" It was the truth. Though he guessed he could have tried harder to say no.
Raphtalia's glare disappeared. "Alright. I believe you." Maybe it was a good thing that she could read him so well at times. "I just didn't want to think you were taking advantage of him." She added the coins to the pouch he'd given her earlier. He took his shield out, and she absorbed the pouch of coins into it.
"You know I wouldn't do something evil like that," Naofumi said before hiding his shield again.
"I like it that you can be kind. But sometimes, I can't help but worry that this world will take that kindness away from your heart. Then, you'll be taken far away from me." She said sadly. She thought back to the time in the duel arena when he had been lying on the ground. Crushed by the hate everyone there had projected onto him.
...
"You know as long as I have you here with me that I won't regress to that point again." She didn't respond to that. "Besides, the guy's daughter was a Raccoon. I couldn't find it in myself to charge the guy."
Raphtalia looked to him in surprise at that. He smiled a little bashfully. "Apparently, his wife was a Raccoon demi-human." He explained. "Hell, I was trying to undercharge him for helping out by saying the medicine was only one silver." He joked at the end. Combined with the HP Potion, the medicine had easily been worth around 8 Silver. Give or take a silver or two.
"Did you find out what the daughter's name was!?" Raphtalia quickly asked him.
"Um… Petal I think." Naofumi said, wondering why Raphtalia was suddenly so curious.
Tears entered her eyes, and she covered her face. Naofumi looked surprised as Raphtalia started to cry. "Is there something wrong?"
'One of my friends didn't go into slavery… I'm so happy.' Raphtalia thought to herself. Petal hadn't been as old as Keel, Rifana, and herself. But she and the other little kids had always been fun to play with at the village. To hear that even one of them was safe with her father filled Raphtalia with relief.
"Raphtalia, did you know this girl?" Naofumi asked.
Raphtalia wiped the last few tears from her eyes before finally smiling for him again. "Yes… Thank you, Naofumi." Even after hearing Melromarc's story about how her people had come into existence, she was happy that Naofumi had gone out of his way to help a demihuman.
He gave her a head pat and smiled as her tail started wagging happily behind her. "It's no problem. Now go wake up Filo. It's getting late, and I want to get a few miles out of town before we rest." Naofumi said.
"Okay, I'll be back in a bit," Raphtalia happily walked towards the stables to wake up Filo. She wanted to see her friend again. But that could wait until after she and Naofumi were no longer fugitives. Besides, she doubted Petal would recognize her now. She could be happy with the knowledge that she was okay.
'I wish I could stay at the inn here.' He stretched his back out. 'However, I don't think that'd be wise. Being a fugitive of the King and all that. I'll wait until I'm sure we aren't recognized around here before we stay in an inn.'
Naofumi leaned against the side of the wagon. 'To think the person I helped out was someone Raphtalia knew…'
He smiled at that thought. It was good to do something nice for Raphtalia after everything she'd done for him. 'Hell. With how much money we made today, we should be well on our way to getting enough supplies and equipment for the next wave… and you know what, maybe I'd be better suited for making personal house visits to help out sick people while Raphtalia runs the stand. It'll be for the best.' He could already tell his reputation as a night merchant was going to receive a major boost for some reason. All he had to do now was keep going and bring his work further away from prying eyes.
…
…
After a few minutes, he looked to the doors of the stables. 'What's taking her so long.' He had no idea what time it was at this point, but he was beginning to feel pretty tired, and he wanted to be in a secluded clearing out in the woods as soon as possible so he could rest in the back of the wagon. 'This is ridiculous. How could it be so hard to wake that freaking KFC farm up?'
He walked up to the open doors and peeked inside. "Hey, Raphtalia, what's taking so long?" He asked.
Raphtalia didn't look to him. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was open in disbelief. She stared at the stall Filo was supposed to be resting in. "Um, master… master Naofumi?" She asked nervously.
A confused look appeared on his face as he approached Raphtalia. "What is it? All I did was tell you to wake up Filo-"
He stopped speaking mid-sentence, most likely out of shock. Filo wasn't in the stall! Instead, there was a little naked blonde girl, curled up asleep in the hay!
'WHAT THE HELL!? WHERE DID FILO GO!? WHY THE HELL IS THERE A NAKED LOLI SLEEPING IN HER PLACE?! WHAT THE HELL!?' He'd already thought that last part in the beginning. But he was so shocked his mind was on repeat.
"Raphtalia, where's Filo?" Naofumi asked, trying to keep his voice calm. While also trying not to portray how much internally his mind was freaking out.
"I, um, I…" Raphtalia tried to find something to say. But what could be said here!? Their Filolial was missing?! And this child was naked! Also, was that angel wings on her back?
"Huaaaa!" The little girl yawned loudly and opened her eyes. They were a startling blue color, a very familiar blue.
Before either of them could make the connection, she sat up, her long blonde hair covering her chest. A happy innocent smile came onto her face. "Master! Master! Hi!" She said happily to both of them. Addressing them both as Master.
...
"W-What? W-Who are you!?" Naofumi yelled.
"Master Naofumi?! Why is she calling you Master?!" Raphtalia asked him angrily.
"How should I know?! She called you Master too!" He replied defensively.
The little girl tipped her head to the side confusedly as her two... masters? Parents? She wasn't sure what to label them, but her two closest people in the world were arguing with each other. "Don't you recognize Filo?"
…
Raphtalia and Naofumi stopped speaking, looking from her to each other. Their faces were equal mixtures of shock and confusion.
"There's no way," Naofumi muttered. 'Just what the hell kind of egg did that Slave Trader sell me?!'
"It's not possible," Raphtalia said back. The two looked back to the naked girl. "You're... you're Filo?!"
"Yep! Filo is Filo!" Filo cheered happily.
...
Filo tilted her head to the side at their long, extended pause. Were the two even breathing at this point? "Can Filo have something to eat?" She asked innocently.
…
Naofumi groaned inside his mind. 'Somehow, that tells me this is definitely our Filolial…'
His mind was abuzz with questions, and no answers for them whatsoever.
This was going to be a longer night than he'd thought.
Somewhere across the country
"Hah!"
The large boss frog monster screeched as the Legendary Sword cut off one of its six arms. Ren jumped back, avoiding another fist that slammed into the ground. He had a calm look on his face as he landed, and then lithely jumped out of the way of the tongue that followed up.
'This is definitely the boss. He's faster and stronger than all the other monsters in this forest.'
A purple arrow pointed down at the Large Frog Monster. It was level 45 and was at half health. Besides the cut-off arm, it also had gashes on two of its other arms, and a large gash on one of its two legs. It roared in frustration at Ren.
Ren ran diagonally, avoiding a spit attack. 'But it's not fast enough.'
He zigzagged, avoiding another spit attack, the tongue, and one of its fists as it tried to crush him. Ren then used the arm as a support to jump and slice out one of the frog monster's eyes as he flew over one of its hulking shoulders. It screeched again as half of its vision disappeared. It looked around frantically for the human that was killing it.
"Now, ThunderBolt Slash!"
From behind while still in the air, Ren slashed his sword, releasing the skill. The skill sliced into the monster's back. Its screeching immediately cut off as the electric attack shocked it, causing all of its muscles to clench up.
Ren landed on the ground, dug his heels into the soft dirt, and sped forward in a burst of speed. He leveled his sword at the monster's back while it was paralyzed. "Light Thrust!"
Ren's sword glowed white before forming a light sword twice its size in his grip. He sped forward with the sword and buried it to the hilt into the large frog monster's back. The tip of the Light Sword burst out of its chest. The other uninjured eye widened in shock and a dying screech came from the monster. Finally, after a moment, its remaining eye became like glass. The monster teetered to the side and fell with a great crash.
Ren breathed in and looked down at the frog monster with the same bored expression that was normally on his face. "Well, that was disappointing." An experience notification appeared next to Ren's head. His level went up from 49 to 50. Ren pulled his sword out of the dead monster and returned it to its sheath on his back. "Let's see if this boss had any good drops."
…
While Ren was checking the monster's carcass for drops, he could hear the sounds of fighting nearby. His party members, who were busy dealing with some of the lower leveled monsters, were busy grinding. This was normally how it worked. Ren would go after the stronger monsters in an area while his party members would grind using the lower leveled monsters.
For some reason, they had offered to help Ren with the frog boss. Ren, however, had done as he normally did and assigned them to fight the other low-leveled monsters in the area. Ones they were capable of fighting against at their levels. It was like how a guild leader would assign the weaker party members to fight in areas suited to them, but Ren didn't do it because of that. He did it because he preferred fighting alone. It was easier to fight by himself. He didn't have to worry about trying to look cool or anything.
But they'd looked disappointed this time when he told them where to level... oh well, Ren didn't pay it much mind. They needed to fight for themselves if they wanted to level up.
Ren worked the leveling system like he did when he'd played Brave Star Online. By setting the party settings so that party members didn't share experience unless they took down a monster together. Meaning they got no experience from the monsters Ren killed by himself. Nor did he get any experience from monsters they killed. Ren did this not to be selfish with his experience points. Rather he did it so that his NPC party members could get better at fighting instead of just relying on their levels. He'd seen too many gamers rely on parties in other games to power themselves up, only to lose easy battles since they had no actual experience in fighting. As a hero, he could rely more on leveling up since he acquired higher stats with each level up than his NPCs. But as NPC's, their programs needed to get more used to learning the various styles of combat.
'It's for their own good. They'd only get in my way if they never learned to fight like a real person.'
Shortly after that thought, a memory pushed into his mind.
"Hey, Ren!"
Ren was almost to the stairs leading back down from the wall when he turned around to look back at Naofumi. "Just remember that this isn't a game! If you or Itsuki die trying to help me and Raphtalia, I won't forgive you!"
Ren shook his head, clearing the memory away. 'I know Naofumi went through a lot in the last month, but he honestly can't believe that this world isn't a game, right?'
It was just like Brave Star Online to him. He could still see the status magic icon in the corner of his screen. He had just brought down a boss monster. He was picking up its scraps and absorbing them into his sword to see what drops he'd gotten. His current sword had gained weapon experience that he could use to upgrade his other swords. He was on his way to take down an end-game-style boss. This was too game-like to be real.
'Then again, Naofumi did activate a storyline I wasn't familiar with...' He also didn't personally know the hell Naofumi had gone through that first month. But if it was as bad as he imagined, he might be convinced that this wasn't a game. Games were meant to be fun. Not to break and crush your soul.
He could also remember how he'd responded to Naofumi's words.
"I'll keep that in mind Naofumi." He responded, walking away from the two while giving them a wave of goodbye. "Don't get yourself killed either. I'd rather we both got to live at the end of this whole mess."
Ren shook his head, having finished absorbing the monster. He didn't know at this point if they were incapable of being killed or not. Having not gone through a life or death situation as Naofumi probably had. But if Naofumi was worried about them being killed... 'It doesn't really matter. We're still three days away from Mirso Village. I said I'd look into what was going on with this world's plotline after I killed that dragon. I can worry about the rest later.'
Ren honestly wished they could teleport to Mirso Village and get it over with. He had the skill to teleport thanks to absorbing some sand from the Dragon Hourglass, courtesy of the Three Heroes Church. He'd finally hit level 50 too, meaning that skill had just unlocked for him. On top of all that, he remembered the dragon from his game had been an evil warmonger who wanted to bring destruction down upon the various nations. However, he was planning on including his NPC party members in this fight. So they had to fight and grind now if they wanted to be ready in about four days when they faced the dragon.
Ren sighed to himself and stood up. 'This reminds me a lot about my game… but the story is developing far differently.' The first princess falsely accusing Naofumi of rape. The State Religion trying to bring down one of the four heroes. The guild assigning him the quest instead of him hearing word about the evil dragon at the celebration after the wave. It just didn't add up. The NPCs hadn't been nearly so lifelike or tied to the inner plot of his game like these NPCs. It really was almost like they were… real…
Ren shook his head. 'I'm thinking too much into this. I already killed the boss monster here. I'll gather my party so we can continue on towards Mirso Village. Then, after I deal with the dragon, I'll look into the Three Heroes Church. As long as I don't get an emergency request from the guild.'
Ren walked off into the forest.
Hero Clips!
The Better Vendor
"Step right up!" Naofumi yelled, indicating the banner for his part of the stall. "Nocturnal Doctor medicine for sale! Only 4 Silvers a bottle! Get it while supplies last!"
No one approached his stall.
Naofumi coughed into his hand. "Step right up! Life-saving medicine from the Nocturnal Doctor himself! Only 4 Silvers a bottle! Get it while supplies last!" He yelled again.
Again, there was nothing but silence on his side.
"Literally damn medicine that can save your life for the cheap discount of 4 Silvers a bottle!" He yelled again.
...
A cricket chirped in the darkness.
Naofumi sighed. "Damn it all." He looked to the side. "I wonder if Raphtalia's having better luck-" His words cut off in astonishment when he saw what was happening on the other side of the wagon.
"Please, I need that medicine badly!"
"No, I need it from her more!"
"Hey, you two are holding up the crowd!"
Raphtalia smiled appeasingly to the growingly unrestful crowd of customers in front of her stall. "Please, there's enough medicine for all of you. As long as you pay five Silver per bottle." She said happily.
Stars appeared in the eyes of the crowd of dozens of people. "You've got yourself a deal, pretty lady!" The man up front shouted happily as he slammed eight Silvers on the table.
"You call that a tip!" The other man yelled as he slammed nine Silvers on the table.
"Ha, take that peasants!" A nobleman slammed a gold coin onto the table.
The crowd rushed forward, throwing their money at Raphtalia so they could get the medicine they needed for their families. Or maybe an autograph from the beautiful night merchant girl. It was hard to tell.
"Wha… whatttt…" On Naofumi's end, he started to grumble to himself as he leaned on his hand. His elbow resting against the hardwood of his stall. "Freaking country of lolicons." He muttered indignantly to himself while Raphtalia drowned in customers.
"I want to buy from her!"
"No, I want to!"
"Please, there's enough for everybody!" Raphtalia tried to yell.
"Can Filo have something to eat please?!" Filo appeared from out of nowhere.
She still hadn't been fed since the last omake.
Till Next Time
Allen