Chapter Twenty-Five: Conversing with the Bow Hero
"Wahhhh, Filo wants your cooking Dadddddddy!"
"Filo, this isn't the time for your whining," Naofumi stated in a dry tone.
"Filo wants your cooking Daddddddddy!" Filo again whined.
"There's nothing wrong with it Filo. Just eat." Naofumi said, sounding a little more impatient.
"But this food doesn't taste like what Daddy cooks for Filooooo!"
"You damn… urgh!" Naofumi clasped his fist in frustration. This blonde child just wouldn't shut up!
He was currently sitting across from Raphtalia in a side booth of a tavern having dinner. Filo was sitting on the inside of the booth next to Raphtalia. The tavern was noisy from all the villagers drinking away a hard day's work.
It was twenty-four days or so before the next wave was supposed to hit Melromarc. They'd been able to continue to travel and do the tasks Naofumi had grown used to over the last month while on the road or wherever they visited.
There was still no sign of the Church's Shadows or any suspicion of him being the Shield Hero, but he had been seeing more wanted posters of him and Raphtalia up wherever they visited. He figured they'd been there since he'd left the Capital based on how worn the papers looked.
He'd still left rumors of the Shield Demon raping and pillaging his way northwest in the last couple of towns he'd visited. Just to be safe.
"Wahhhhhhhh!" The tavern was pretty noisy, but that didn't mean some people weren't starting to look over in confusion at the crying girl.
Naofumi pressed his head to the table. "Raphtalia, can you please calm your daughter down?"
Raphtalia set her utensils down by her plate. She'd normally agree and work her magic to calm Filo, however… "Um… Master Naofumi?"
"What is it Raphtalia?"
"Our daughter... has a point," Raphtalia whispered nervously under her hood. Looking down at her food which had hardly been touched either.
"What do you mean?"
"This… doesn't taste very good." Raphtalia admitted. "Whoever cooked it did a terrible job."
"..." He wasn't sure how to respond at first… had he been spoiling both of them with his cooking? His food tasted alright to him. It wasn't a bad meal they were eating either. They'd been given stuff on the more expensive side of the menu as thanks for all the people the Nocturnal Doctor had helped out with his medicines his spells.
He took a bite of Raphtalia's dish and-
HOLY HELL! That tasted disgusting! Naofumi's face screwed up before he spat it out on the side of his plate. "Okay, that has too much seasoning in it. I can see why it tastes bad." He told Raphtalia. Feeling bad for her, he pushed his plate over to her so she'd have something edible to eat.
"What about Filo?!" Filo complained.
"You're eating the same thing I was. I know it tastes alright." Naofumi replied.
"Boo! Filo wants Daddy's cooking now!" Filo cried.
"You know what, I'm not in the mood for arguing this," Naofumi said tiredly. "Eat up, or don't eat anything at all. I'm not cooking for you tonight no matter what you say."
"Awwww…" Raphtalia sadly looked down at the food Naofumi had given her. At least she didn't have to eat the other plate.
"Boo!" Filo pouted as she stared down at her food. At least she wasn't crying anymore. So the drunk people who'd been staring at them in confusion went back to their drunken activities without the loud noise distracting them.
There were a lot of other people drinking in the inn with it being so late in the night, so they weren't really grabbing any attention. There was music playing as well as a bard singing in one of the corners. Unlike the few other times they'd eaten at a tavern, these people were very lively. Quite a few were drunk after drinking away a hard day's work.
A person was passed out in the booth behind Raphtalia, and another man was singing drunkenly out of tune to the bard's song in the booth behind Naofumi. Somewhat adding to his irritation.
Naofumi noticed Raphtalia looking sad even as she ate what had been his dinner. "What? Does it really bother you that I don't want to cook anything tonight?" He asked.
"No…" His dinner honestly wasn't half bad… She quickly thought up a half-truth. "I'm just worried we'll be discovered here. That's all."
It was always a worry on her part whenever they stayed the night in town. She didn't want to admit the real reason she was sad was that she'd grown fond of Naofumi's cooking. To the point that even this food which had been prepared by a talented chef didn't compare.
"Hmmm…" Naofumi shrugged as he believed it. "Everyone here is too busy getting drunk or doing whatever to notice us. Besides, my Mask Shield keeps normal people from recognizing me, so we should be fine."
Perhaps the euphoria of being able to taste again had finally died. Cooking large meals for the child glutton and her mother every day had taken their toll. Now, he appreciated the break of having someone else cook for them.
Even if it didn't taste as good as his own food.
But if Filo whined again, he was sending her to their room. No questions asked.
She was only born a short while ago, but that was no excuse to not behave.
Oh, crap, now that he thought about it, it was like he was turning into his parents.
Well, that realization aside, did Filo really have to make such a racket about it?! What did Filo have to complain about!? Or was she really just a spoiled brat who thought of him as her butler?!
...
"Filo can't take this!" Filo said angrily as she pushed her plate away. "Filo wants your cooking daddy! Filo wants it now! Give it to Filo!" She yelled, childishly trying to boss him around as she pointed an angry finger at him.
...
If one observed, they'd see as Naofumi reached his boiling point. Steam flared from his ears, and his nose at the same time.
He'd promised he'd do it. And now, since Filo had refused to behave, he was following through with it. "If you won't eat, then you can go to your room without dinner!" He snapped before Raphtalia could say something to sooth Filo.
"Whaaaaa?!" Filo looked shocked at Naofumi's response. Had daddy said what she thought he said?
"If you want to complain about the food, then you can go to bed without it!" Naofumi said with finality. "I'm not cooking for you tonight! Either eat this, or go hungry, I don't care!"
Filo quickly realized that, yes, Daddy was sending her to bed without his cooking. Worse, she was being forced to go to bed hungry. Even though, in her mind, he could have easily made her something to eat. "Wahhhh! Why does Daddy have to be so mean?! Daddy doesn't love Filo the way Mommy does!" Filo cried as she crawled out under the table and ran for the exit that lead to the rooms.
"Wait, Filo-" Raphtalia tried to stop her. But Filo ducked her mother's outstretched arm and ran crying out the door.
A few drunk bystanders stared at this angel-like girl as she ran by before they shrugged it off and went back to partying. Raphtalia followed behind, but a few moments later, Naofumi heard a loud slam!, indicating Filo had managed to find their room just fine.
...
It was around a minute later Raphtalia reappeared. She did not look happy.
"... Naofumi." The half-raccoon girl glared at the Shield Hero with an intensity only a mother could pull off.
"No. You and I both know I wasn't at fault here." Naofumi growled in response. "Don't even try to blame me for this."
"Yes, she was misbehaving more than normal. That doesn't mean you had to make her run off hungry!" Raphtalia said angrily.
"What are you talking about? The brat's always hungry. I'm sure she'll live," Naofumi looked away so he could escape the intensity of Raphtalia's glare. "She can't expect me to cook every meal for her. She has to learn that I'm not always going to be there to be her stupid butler. The sooner she understands that, the better."
"You're no where close to being her butler. And even with that... ..." Something Naofumi had said caught up to her. "Wait, what do you mean, you won't always be there for her?"
Did... did Naofumi plan on going back to his world or something after the Waves were over?
Naofumi shrugged. "Well. we're fugitives, and at the same time we're dealing with the waves. I won't always be able to cook for her if it'd mean giving away our position. And besides that, I'd have no time to spend doing anything else if I had to cook for her every hour of the damn day."
… Raphtalia sighed to herself. She wanted to ask… but she was afraid of the answer she'd receive.
"I still want you to apologize to her after we head back to our room." She said defeatedly.
"Not until she apologizes to me for misbehaving." Naofumi replied with finality. Permanently closing off that topic for the night.
Raphtalia forced herself to take another bite of Naofumi's former meal.
She didn't mind the taste. But it tasted bland to Raphtalia.
They sat in heavy silence for a while even while the rest of the bar was loud and rowdy.
...
"So... we're finally alone for tonight." Naofumi eventually said.
Raphtalia nearly choked on her food at the realization. "Just, just the two of us?"
Thanks to those words, her original thoughts were thrown out the window!? Had that been why he'd been so harsh to Filo!? Had he wanted it so it'd be just the two of them on a, on a, d-d-d-d-
The half-Tanuki girl suddenly felt extremely embarrassed and horrified. If this was a date, then the chances of kissing had just drastically gone up. They hadn't had any close calls since their room in the Hot Springs. But this could put them in dangerous territory again, and-
"Yeah. Now that Filo isn't yelling in our ears, we can finally eavesdrop on news and rumors." Naofumi said with a shrug.
...
Oh.
Raphtalia sat back in her seat, feeling oddly disappointed. Had part of her wished that this was a date? Besides all the loud and rowdy people, it would have been nice with it just being the two of them at their table. She sighed to herself as she crossed her arms.
What she'd give to figure out if Naofumi would ever love her in return.
"Can you listen to the people around the edge of the room?" Naofumi asked. "I'm listening to those around us, but I can't hear what's being said at the outer tables."
…
It took a moment, but Raphtalia eventually shook herself from her thoughts and looked around herself. She grimaced when she saw two guys get into a brawl with each other just a few tables over. There was also a drunken song being sung on the other side of the room, and the sound of the bartender loudly mixing drinks and clinging large mugs onto the counter for patrons.
"It's hard to sift through all this noise," Raphtalia told him.
"Try focusing on one part of the room at a time," Naofumi suggested. "Like when I've had you focus on my heartbeat. I'm sure there are more than a few people going over useful info in here right now," Naofumi said as he looked through the eye-slits of his mask while eating. "At least, I hope there are."
Drunk people weren't always the most reliable source of information.
Raphtalia breathed in and out calmly, doing her best to throw her raw disappointment about this not turning into a date away to focus. She could think over what she wanted and what her instincts were telling her later. She tuned out the merry singing and the brawl happening nearby. Then she tuned out the bartender and the flows of conversation around her. Her ears twitched under her hood as she tried to find someone to listen to behind her…
...
"... and the Lord of Donto was killed too. His manor was burnt down along with nobleman Zachir's."
"Ha, you mus be drinking again. You always wer one for beleving wil' rumors, Fenril."
Raphtalia turned her head and saw what looked like a very sober servant talking to a drunk noble in a corner booth. It was easy to tell since the nobleman was richly dressed while the servant's clothes, while ok, were worn from years of service. The noble wasn't too drunk, as his words weren't slurring too badly yet. But he definitely wasn't anywhere close to sober right now.
She almost missed it, but movement beneath the table caught her attention. Hiding in the shadows under the table was a chained, dejected-looking demi-child, looking down at the ground with hollow eyes.
Raphtalia had to hold back a gasp when she saw bruises on the poor girl's arms traveling up into the rags she wore underneath her chains.
"Sir, I'm serious." The servant said urgently. "The Lord of Donto was only the next town over from us. He's the fifth noble we've heard of that's died since the last wave. And Nobleman Zachir is the sixth! And these are only the ones we've heard about! There could be more deaths that we don't know about! The officials in the Capital are in an uproar over it!"
"Their jus wil' rumors, Fenril. Nuthin a powerful man like me can'd handle." The noble said before he took another hefty swig of his drink.
"But this time, the vigilante left a survivor who's passing on a message. He sounds serious!" The servant added fearfully.
"Really now, and wha did this fair messanger have to say?" The nobleman asked. He was pretending to sound curious, but the fact that he was drunk made it quite obvious that he didn't care what was said.
The servant gulped. "He said; nobles of Melromarc, those of you who enjoy abusing your slaves. Repent of your iniquities and free them, or else justice shall swiftly fall upon your heads. I'm coming for you."
…
"Ahahahaha!" The noble laughed boisterously. Raphtalia's eyes widened when he kicked the demi-human child out from underneath his table with his thick leather boot. The little girl whimpered and huddled in on herself. "As if I'd ever do that! Honestly, I don't know where you hear these crazy rumors!"
"But, but sir, he could be targeting you next!"
"As if!" The noble yelled.
"Damn you, Uncle! Idol Rabier and the others are starting to take this threat seriously! Why are you so stupid to not-"
"Take a hike, Fenril. I'm busy right now." The nobleman said. He took a hefty gulp of his drink before pulling harshly on the chain of his slave and glaring down at the little child. "Did I say you could show yourself in public you worthless piece of &^%$?!"
The slave girl whimpered and tried to huddle herself under the table again. However, the nobleman kicked her hard, launching her out from under the table again. He laughed as he cruelly repeated the process. Tugging the girl back, only to deliver another harsh kick to her ribs that sent her flying into view.
The people sitting nearby didn't seem to care, and a few of them laughed as they watched the spectacle being performed in front of them.
The servant, also nephew of the nobleman, opened his mouth, as if to say something more… but then he turned around and headed for the exit. An angry expression was on his face. Muttering something about the "Damn fool" under his breath as he exited.
Raphtalia ignored the servant, and saw red in her vision as she focused on the laughing noble. 'That vile man!'
That demi-girl was getting hurt worse by the second. One kick connected with her head, and the poor girl collapsed to the ground and started to cry. "M-Mama, Papa!" Some of the drunk bystanders laughed at her pain.
"I already killed your parents girlie! You're just a stupid orphan now! No one's coming to help you!" The noble laughed boisterously.
The little demi-girl continued to cry. The nobleman dragged her back and kicked her in the chest again.
Raphtalia moved to get up, one of her hands moving to her sword to deal swift justice herself. Not just to the noble, but all the drunk fools who found the situation funny. It was clear that all of these idiots had forfeited their right to live privileges!
A hand gripped hers before she could step out of the booth.
She looked up, and saw Naofumi had a similar look of anger on his face. His desire to get up and protect that girl was just as strong as hers. Maybe even stronger. However, he shook his head and sat her down.
"We'd only make it worse... for the girl, and for us." He whispered to her.
Damn it, he wanted to help too… but doing so would lead to a confrontation with the noble that could either end in the girl's death, revealing who they really were, or both...
It didn't make her feel better about it. But she sat back down, sword sheathed, and eyebrows angrily furrowed. None of the drunk patrons nearby had noticed them.
"Did you overhear anything important before that started happening?" Naofumi asked.
Raphtalia glared down angrily at her food. "I hope those rumors are true." She muttered to herself. Naofumi remained expressionless as she continued. "That noble was talking to a servant. The servant said that there have been several nobles killed recently. Whoever is doing it is demanding the rest to stop abusing their slaves and to free them."
Naofumi thought on it for a moment. "I wonder if that's Itsuki... if it is, then we finally found some news about the other heroes." He said. "It's great to hear that he took what you said seriously… but killing them? I didn't think he'd go that far…"
Raphtalia remained quiet. She could tune out some of the other people. But she couldn't tune out what was happening only a dozen feet behind her… she found herself hoping that Itsuki would appear to kill this noble. Otherwise, she was going to find a way to deal with the prick herself.
"I haven't overheard much." Naofumi continued. "All the idiots close to me are too drunk to speak coherently."
Raphtalia didn't cheer up at hearing his joke. The girl was still being beaten behind her. Around the two, conversation and merry singing was starting to die down, but she didn't notice.
She just wanted to help that girl before the noble killed her. Or maimed her irreparably. Or something just as bad. "I did overhear some crazy rumors about the King trying to make Motoyasu the Lord of Lute Village and a rebel group forming because of it. It doesn't sound... very reliable though…"
…
Raphtalia hadn't been aware that Naofumi had stopped speaking. However, she did recognize that the sound of the beating of the girl behind her stopped. Along with most of the other sounds in the room. She sighed and turned to look to see how the girl was.
"Unhand me this instant!"
A figure dressed as a knight had lifted the noble from his seat and put him in an arm lock. Two mages, a sword wielder, and a spear wielder flanked the knight. He had a look of anger on his face. "Do you know how despicable it is to beat little girls, you fat bastard?" The large knight asked venomously. "We found him!" He yelled at the door of the room.
Another figure walked inside. A cloaked individual with a bow and quiver slung on his back. The bewildered noble stared at him as he approached.
"There's no way…" Naofumi muttered to himself.
The rest of the room had gone eerily silent as if they'd realized something big was about to happen.
Itsuki kept his face and identity hidden in the shadow of his hood. He glared daggers at the noble who struggled in the knight's arm lock. "Unhand me this instant! Have you no idea who I am?!" The noble yelled angrily.
"Sir." One of the mages, a guy, said as he approached. "This is the noble of the area, Lelouch Onren."
"I said unhand me! I wasn't done with my drink and entertainment!" The noble said, still sounding drunk despite the predicament he was in. In his drunken rage, he tried tugging on the chain for his now unbound slave to beat her some more. Yet his brain, so consumed with rage and drink, didn't make the connection as to why he didn't feel something resist on the other end.
The little girl cowered behind the legs of the female mage. The knight, seeing the noble pulling on the chain, proceeded to snap the nobleman's wrist behind his back.
"AIEEEEEE!" The noble cried in pain, and the knight whispered darkly into his ear.
"Try pulling on your chain again. I dare you."
The patrons had gone oddly silent. Most watched what was happening with drunk interest. A few that were sober enough paled in horror. A couple fainted. Several tried to casually leave before they became witnesses to another gruesome murder.
"How guilty is this one, Rachel?" Itsuki asked emotionlessly even as the noble continued to cry from his broken wrist, which the knight still held in his painful arm lock. He was not drunk enough to be oblivious to that level of pain.
"He was a friend of the Lord of Donto. The two were well known to visit each other to see who could get their slaves to scream more. The winner often got to have his way with the slaves." The female mage, Rachel, replied, her voice weighed down from the horrors they'd witnessed up to this point.
The unchained girl hugged closer to her leg. Itsuki got down on one knee as he looked at her. She didn't look at him, however, as she stared with fear at her master.
"Where's my slavegirl! I need to take my pain out on her!" The noble shouted even as he cried. His mind still hadn't made the connection that his slave was no longer chained to him and that these individuals were responsible. "Answer me or I'll have your worthless heads for the way you've treated me!"
The girl squeaked in terror and moved to hide under Itsuki's cloak.
The knight squeezed the noble's broken wrist, making him cry out in pain again. The action made the little girl poke her head out of Itsuki's cloak.
"He's also well known for punishing his slaves, and sometimes his servants over the littlest things." Rachel added. "The worst punishment he's given was fifty lashings to a slave girl who failed to please him correctly."
"If I don't have my slave back, I'll kill you! I'll kill every last one of you, along with the girl- AH!" The knight squeezed harder. Blood leaked down onto the floor behind them.
"Maybe I'll dislocate your shoulder too. That should be fine." The knight looked to Itsuki for confirmation.
"Go ahead, Aksel." He said in a flat voice.
The knight, Aksel, proceeded to do so. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The nobleman screamed in pain.
More patrons fainted at the sight. Those who'd been waking up earlier heard the scream and fainted once again.
Itsuki continued to calmly stare as the man's scream died down into pained whimpering. However, even in his drunken pained state, his free hand weakly tugged on the chain for his former slave girl. "It's no wonder that Fenril guy was willing to help us. It's obvious to me that this man feels no shame for what he did." He lifted his bow off his back. The bow now looked to be dripping with malevolent aura. "Aksel, take him out back."
The knight lifted the crying, cursing noble up and dragged him painfully out the door. Itsuki and his party followed. The tavern stayed strangely silent, listening for what was about to happen.
"Wait, what are you doing!? Please, let me go!" The drunk noble pleaded.
"I need to tell my family that I-"
…
…
An eerie silence followed… a couple more of the people who'd paled earlier fainted in their seats...
...
Itsuki walked back into the tavern. Naofumi caught side of a fading aura coming from the bow that was on his back again. A tight expression was on his face as he pulled out a small bag of coins.
"Sorry for the trouble. A couple of rounds for everyone on me." He dropped the coins onto the counter next to the owner of the tavern, who had been staring in shock the whole time at what'd happened.
But his words and his gift finally elicited cheers from everyone in the tavern. Just like that, the atmosphere returned to normal. Drinks were passed out to the various attendees. Those who had fainted were moved to the sides where they could recover from their drunken stupors. Conversations sprung up again between groups. Merry songs of drunkenness were sung again. Including a triad done by the bard and the two former men who had been brawling earlier.
They'd made up and become good friends again after what they'd witnessed.
That... that was more brutal than Naofumi had ever seen from the Bow Hero or his party. Across from him, Raphtalia was thinking the same thing.
Itsuki's party members came into the bar to say something to him. The bow on his back looked normal again, but that aura Naofumi had sensed…
"It sounds like he's telling his party to head to the noble's manors to free the other slaves," Raphtalia informed Naofumi. "With him dead, they won't have to erase the slave crests off their chests." Itsuki then turned to another party member and spoke to her in hushed tones. "And he told her to make sure that his body is burned with the manor."
"Fue… Fuehhhhh!" The girl's whimper of surprise was loud enough for even Naofumi to hear. Itsuki looked annoyed by her response. The slave girl he'd saved was still hugging one of Itsuki's legs, staring between him and the knight who'd hurt the nobleman with awe and wonder.
"Well… at least that girl is safe now." Naofumi muttered.
Though he did wish the noble hadn't had to be killed in the process... he could still remember him saying he needed to see his family at the end.
"Right…" Raphtalia was still surprised. Her wish had actually come true. The Bow Hero had come and killed him.
She didn't know whether to feel happy that the girl had been freed or sad that any of this had even been allowed to happen in the first place…
After another moment, Itsuki's party moved along to fulfill their various orders. Itsuki walked in their direction since another exit was that way. The injured girl held his hand as she limped alongside him, but she kept glancing back at Aksel as he walked out behind Karn and the others.
Some of the people Itsuki passed whispered to themselves, wondering if this was the vigilante who'd taken it upon himself to punish the nobility. But none of them dared get in his way.
Especially after he'd been nice enough to order them several rounds of fresh drinks.
'Should I try and stop Itsuki to talk to him?...' Naofumi wasn't sure if that'd be a good idea or not. Itsuki had given him some of his reward money for helping out during the last wave… he'd also defended Naofumi after the Sacred Duel… but he didn't know if those two acts alone had been enough to build a relationship of trust between the two.
He was still pondering it when Itsuki stopped next to him. "So, is this where you chose to hide?" Itsuki asked lowly. "Can't say I'm much of a fan of this place."
Naofumi almost looked up in surprise, but he managed to keep calm. No one else had been staring at him oddly, so they didn't recognize who he was. He guessed the Bow Hero recognized him even with the Mask Shield on his face. It was either that or he'd recognized Raphtalia.
At least, he hoped that was what it was.
"No. I'm not hiding out here. I merely go around in a wagon, peddling valuable medicines and other wares from place to place as a Night Merchant." Naofumi answered.
"You wouldn't happen to be the new famous Nocturnal Doctor I've been hearing about?" Itsuki asked, fortunately recognizing the night merchant reference Naofumi had made. Dimension Wave had had a similar merchant in it who only appeared in random towns at night to peddle their valuable goods.
"Yes," Raphtalia said. "My master is the Nocturnal Doctor," Raphtalia said happily.
Naofumi gave Raphtalia a flat look at how easily she'd just given Itsuki that information.
"That's good to hear." He looked down at the hurt girl. "I'm out of medicine and potions from the last group I saved, and I haven't managed to learn any healing magic. I'd transport her somewhere to get her treated, but my skill's cooldown timer hasn't expired yet. Do you have something you could give to her Nocturnal Doctor?" Itsuki addressed Naofumi formerly.
Naofumi would have answered immediately, but he paused at what Itsuki had said. Did he have a skill to transport himself somewhere? Was that like portaling?! Why didn't he have something like that yet?!
"I have some Health potions that should help. But they're still in my wagon." Naofumi answered. "I do know a spell or two that could help her if you gave me a moment."
Itsuki looked around. The people were as drunk and lively as ever, but anyone could still be listening in... "How about we meet up somewhere else in ten minutes? We can talk there without anyone else overhearing." He suggested.
Naofumi still wasn't entirely sure if he should trust Itsuki or not. But then he figured, if Itsuki had really wanted to expose him, he could have told everyone who he was then and there.
Or he could have just shot a skill at Naofumi while he'd been feeling safe in his disguise.
Itsuki was, at last, earning himself some trust points right now. "Fine by me. Just make sure you're not seen."
Naofumi whispered which room at the inn was his. Itsuki nodded before he left with the child. Naofumi grabbed Filo's plate, the food on it had hardly been touched.
"Come on Raphtalia. It looks like I have one more person to play doctor for tonight." Naofumi said with resignation.
Raphtalia set her fork back down. Her food had also barely been touched. But at least half of Naofumi's original meal was gone. "Right."
Naofumi gathered up the leftovers, and then the two of them left the tavern.
Naofumi pulled out a Health Potion from his pack, which he'd left in the back of the wagon. It was one of his better quality ones. "Here." He handed it to the little Raccoon Girl, who sniffed curiously at the contents.
Fortunately, Health Potions weren't like medicine, so it didn't smell bitter. The girl drank it down, and almost immediately color returned to her face. Some of the bruises on her body faded, and most of her cuts closed up.
"Decipher the laws of nature, and heal my target. Fast Heal." Green energy poured over the girl from Naofumi's hands, closing up the rest of her cuts and healing the rest of her scrapes. "How do you feel?"
"I... I feel a lot better now. Thank you, Sir Shield Hero." The little girl said happily, her big brown eyes shining with wonder.
Naofumi, now that they were in his room, had moved changed to his default shield and set it on his arm again. The girl glowed as one of Naofumi's Shield skills improved the potency of the Health Potion.
The world still amazed Naofumi at times. The girls horrible injuries were almost all healed over, though there were scars that remained. He pulled out some medicine from his pack and handed it to Itsuki. "This is the same stuff I used for the scars on Raphtalia's back. Apply it to the scarred tissue once a night every other night until they're healed over or you run out. If all her scars aren't healed over by then, try to find me and I'll give you more."
"Ok." Itsuki nodded his head.
The girl, meanwhile, looked amazed that she didn't feel pain coming from her arms anymore. Or any part of her body for that matter.
Naofumi took a plate that held the rest of his, Raphtalia, and Filo's meals off the nightstand and gave it to her. "Make sure you take it easy for a while. I'm not sure if my potions or my spell helped out your concussion or any of your internal injuries or not. Don't do anything too strenuous." He said with the calmness of a practiced doctor.
"O... Okay." The girl happily started eating. There was a lot of food on the plate, but she was quickly plowing it down.
"Careful, or you'll choke yourself-" Raphtalia tried to warn.
The girl stopped and started beating at her chest as she gagged. Similar to Raphtalia had as a kid when she'd eaten too quickly. Raphtalia was quick to give the girl a wooden cup filled with water.
"I tried to warn you." Raphtalia's hand rubbed the top of her head, and she helped the girl to slow down after that.
"Thanks again, Naofumi," Itsuki said, smiling a little in relief. He was sitting at the table in the corner of the room. "I didn't think to grab a meal for her on my way out."
"Don't thank me yet. The medicines and spells are worth 5 silvers together." Naofumi responded blandly. "That meal's another 2 silver."
Itsuki looked at him in shock. "But I thought you were helping me out?!"
"What? Making high quality Health potions isn't cheap. And MP takes a lot longer to recharge than SP." Naofumi said, shrugging in indifference towards Itsuki's plight. "It's your fault for not checking the details of the transaction first."
"Master Naofumi," Raphtalia glared from her chair. "Be nice to him."
"Relax. I was only kidding Raphtalia. Jeez." Naofumi said to her sarcastically. "Just the fact that he chose not to sell me out to the people here is enough for me not to charge him for this service."
"You know you shouldn't kid about that. How old are you, 11?" Raphtalia asked.
"Okay, I am definitely not 11." Naofumi said.
"Well you certainly acting like it," Raphtalia replied sarcastically.
"But you do too."
"I do not."
"Do too."
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"DO NOT!"
Itsuki almost chuckled at the way the two spun down in immaturity. It definitely didn't feel like he was witnessing an interaction between a master and his slave. Heck, they seemed closer since he last saw them.
...
After another moment of watching, he looked back down at the girl who'd stopped eating. She seemed a lot more tired, yet happy at the fact that she didn't have a horrible master looming over her anymore. Or chains holding her by the top of her arms. Or various cuts, scrapes, and bruises causing her endless pain and torment.
Since she'd had something nice and warm to eat, she looked on the verge of falling asleep. Possibly having her first peaceful rest for the first time in... years, most likely.
What Naofumi and Raphtalia had... was nothing like what that horrible noble had with this girl.
If he'd heard correctly, he heard the noble say he'd killed the girl's parents before he and his party confronted the vile man...
Even if she rested peacefully tonight. She was an orphan child. She had no where to return to after this...
…
Itsuki felt terrible about the way he'd judged Naofumi before. He'd judged Naofumi in part since he'd run away from his supposed crime against Myne. He'd also judged Naofumi based on the rumors he'd heard going around. How he was killing and raping innocents like he was a barbarian in Skyrim.
He'd wondered back then if anyone could be viler than Naofumi…
Yet, Ren had said to wait. They needed to find Naofumi and see if he really was a monster or not. And they'd both found that Naofumi wasn't a monster at all… and the way he'd pictured him had been nothing compared to a couple of the nobles he'd come face to face within their manors the last couple of weeks.
He shuddered, thinking about the second noble he'd visited, who'd been in the middle of raping one of his slaves when Itsuki had busted in. Or the third one… who had been… beating one of his slaves for getting pregnant with his child...
Naofumi having a childish argument with his companion was at least a hundred times better than what these nobles did to their slaves. No, a thousand times better. A million billion times better. 'In some ways... he's a better person than me or Ren.'
Itsuki had heard the Lord of Lute Village speaking about how Naofumi helped them during the wave. He'd also heard tales about the famous Nocturnal Doctor going around, healing the sick, helping the needy, charging low prices for his services, and things of that nature. And to now know that Nocturnal Doctor was actually Naofumi...
"Anyways," Naofumi finally cut off the immature argument between himself and Raphtalia. "You said you wanted to talk to me, Itsuki?"
Raphtalia's tail spiked indignantly and childishly at Naofumi cutting off their argument so abruptly. And it had been only because he'd realized he wasn't going to win it.
Itsuki was pulled out of his thoughts. "Yes. I wanted to ask how you've been doing. But I can already make a good guess since you're the famous Nocturnal Doctor I've been hearing about." Itsuki said awkwardly.
He realized this was probably the first time since they'd been summoned to this game world that he'd actually sat down to talk with Naofumi. "How have you been holding up using only a shield?" Itsuki asked.
"Well, other than the fact that I can't damage anything with my fists, I'm doing pretty good," Naofumi said honestly. "I leave the monster-slaying to Raphtalia and a monster we're raising so I can focus on learning other useful skills."
"A monster?" Itsuki asked curiously. "You tamed a monster? I thought that was impossible."
"Well, I didn't tame one, rather I raised one from an egg." He corrected. "It's supposed to be a very large Filolial. Yet somehow, she's capable of transforming herself to look like a little girl." Naofumi said blandly. "It's really annoying at times."
"Interesting…" Itsuki had never heard of such a monster before in his game. He wondered how Naofumi had come across something like that…
Then again, he'd never known about the story quest he was on existing before. There were other differences from this game and the original he was used to playing, so he guessed it was something else Naofumi had found out. Perhaps he should start considering that this game wasn't just his game but a mixture of others as well?
"Is your monster in the stables, or-?" Itsuki started to ask.
"No, she's in her room since she was a spoiled brat at dinner," Naofumi responded blandly.
"Boo!" Filo voiced her displeasure from the next room over.
"Go back to bed Filo!" Naofumi yelled.
"Daddy's so mean to Filo! Wahhhhhhhhh!"
...
"Anyways." Naofumi broke the awkward silence that'd formed. "I was in that tavern to see if I could learn anything about what was going on with the other heroes." He continued. "Since you're here, could you fill me in?"
"Sure. I can fill you in on some of what's happened." Itsuki then proceeded to fill in Naofumi on the activities of himself and the other heroes.
He didn't cover much about himself since Naofumi had already seen how he was doing in the tavern. And the Shield Hero would be better off not knowing some of the horrors Itsuki had been forced to witness.
Itsuki had met with Ren a couple of days ago in a tavern in another town. Ren had killed the dragon from his game like he said he would... however, it'd turned out to be a ploy by the Three Heroes Church to capture the daughter of two slaves the Pope had owned. The girl was now traveling as a member of Ren's party. He'd been on his way to a town called Leruno to fix the major mess Motoyasu had left behind when Itsuki ran into him.
That led to another discussion. Apparently Motoyasu had been busy… busy being a complete and utter idiot thanks to Myne.
She'd made Motoyasu the Lord of Lute Village using a royal decree and had tried to tax the town for 1 gold coin a day to help with repairs. Needless to say, some of the villagers rebelled, and the former Lord was restored during the conflict. Motoyasu and his party, including the First Princess, had been banned by the Lord from entering his domain ever again.
Itsuki wasn't sure about what'd happened to the villagers who'd chosen to rebel. Though the rumor that they'd escaped and formed a rebel group seemed likely.
After that, Motoyasu had gone Southwest to some ruins to unseal a 'Miracle' Seed to give to an area suffering from famine.
The seed got rid of the famine. But then it mutated, and the plants overgrew everything. The people had to abandon their town since the plants forced them out. Itsuki hadn't as of yet heard how Ren was faring there.
Honestly, the more Naofumi heard, the more his already low opinion of the Spear Hero and the Bitch dropped. But it turned out that the King hadn't been very pleased with Motoyasu either, as he had him called in so he could berate him himself for causing so many problems. At least it did show that he cared about his subjects.
Last Itsuki had heard, Motoyasu had disappeared without his party members knowing where he'd gone.
"And here I was thinking Motoyasu was the King's favorite." Naofumi said sarcastically.
"He was," Itsuki said. "But I don't think the King liked that Motoyasu has been causing him a lot of problems lately. Not that I haven't been causing my fair share either. Going around and killing the nobles who support him left and right."
"Jeez, I wonder how that wouldn't cause that piece of trash any problems," Naofumi said sarcastically.
Itsuki grinned. It was weird, but he agreed with Naofumi about calling the King trash. "Who would have thought that all the nobles in the country who supported slavery would also support that Trash?" Itsuki also said sarcastically. The two shared a laugh over that. "I hope he doesn't appoint more people who support slavery to those lands. Otherwise, I'll have more work on my hands."
At this point, Raphtalia was holding the smaller sleeping Raccoon girl in her lap and was rocking her gently while listening to the two heroes. She smiled, seeing the two Cardinal Heroes getting along with each other. Unlike the first time when she'd seen them interact like enemies in the street before the Last Wave.
"So no one really knows where Motoyasu went?" Naofumi asked.
"I'm not sure, honestly. I got all that information from Ren." Itsuki admitted.
"But could that mean Motoyasu doesn't trust Bitch anymore or something?" Naofumi asked. He sounded surprised that Motoyasu might actually listen to the brain in his head instead of the brain in his lower half.
"No, I'm not sure it's that. Ren didn't get the chance to speak with Motoyasu. He only learned about what happened when the guild approached him with the emergency request. As far as we know, he might be in another part of Melromarc leveling up."
"Hmmm." It sounded like the blonde fool had made a large enough mess already. If he was in his shoes, he'd want to extract himself for a while and do something else.
"Still, I wouldn't recommend trying to find him anytime soon. It sounds like he still doesn't like you." Itsuki warned.
"Noted. Anything else I've been missing out on?" Naofumi asked.
"Nope. You already saw what I'm doing. That's everything I know about." Itsuki finished.
"... Thanks Itsuki. It's actually kind of good to know what's been happening while I've been trying to hide around." Naofumi said gratefully.
"Well I didn't have 5 silver on me since I gave all the silver coins I had on hand downstairs to those people. So I figured the information would be worth that much to you." Itsuki said, laughing a little at the end.
'Of course. You were just finding a way to cheat me out of a health potion you little piece of &^%$.' Naofumi frowned. However, he could tell that Raphtalia was glaring daggers in the back of his head at the moment, so he didn't dare say it out loud. "Well, I'm glad you and Ren are doing alright."
"Sure you are Naofumi," Itsuki said sarcastically.
"No, I'm serious," Naofumi continued. "The silver you two gave me helped me out tremendously. I'm really glad you two weren't punished for helping me."
"Well, like I said before, you deserved a reward for what you did during the wave. To be honest, after we talked to the village Lord, we wondered if we should have given you more. It sounded like you'd really put yourself on the line to help those people. All we did was fight one boss monster…." Itsuki said, sounding more sad at the end. "I know this world isn't the same as the game I played, having watched what you went through in that arena… and more so now, having seen the way some of Melromarc's slave owners treat their slaves. The NPC's here… some of what they're programmed to do Naofumi, it's... it's horrible..."
… Naofumi remained silent. Unsure of what he could say that would help Itsuki to feel better. He hadn't realized that Itsuki was still looking at this all as a game.
"I've been struggling trying to fulfill the quest Raphtalia gave me." He admitted. His eyes looked haunted. "Sometimes, I can't help but wonder if I'm not strong enough to be a hero… I've failed so many times..."
Naofumi suddenly felt frustrated with Itsuki. Why did he still have to be trapped in the game mentality?! That was going to destroy him when he realized this was all real!
However, Itsuki also looked unusually despondent in that moment. He'd never thought the Bow Hero could look like this before...
"Sir Itsuki," Raphtalia said, grabbing their attention. The girl in her lap was awake, and finished whispering something to Raphtalia. "Little Maya here has something she wants to say to you."
"Maya?" Itsuki cocked his head to the side.
Raphtalia set the Raccoon girl, Maya, back on the floor. She ran up to Itsuki and grabbed his hands. A happy smile came onto her face as she looked him in the eyes. "Itsuki-Kun." She said happily. "Thank you for saving me today. I'm so grateful that I won't be beaten by my master anymore!"
…
Like the time on the wall when Raphtalia thanked him, Itsuki was once again floored to hear words of praise from this little girl. Better yet, that this little girl was calling him her close friend. The little girl continued to smile happily for him.
"B… But…" Itsuki tried to say.
"If it helps, I found out that the demi-humans here really enjoy their headpats," Naofumi whispered to Itsuki. He got a glare from Raphtalia at that, along with a fierce blush.
It was true, after all. Demi-humans really did love it. 10/10 would recommend.
"Well… I guess I saw that in some of the anime I watched in my world… but are you sure-" Itsuki tried to ask.
"Go on, try it."
Itsuki still looked uncertain, but then he raised his hand and started to rub the little Maya's black hair between her raccoon ears. Her face lit up, and her bushy black tail started wagging happily behind her.
"Whoaaaaa…" Itsuki said in awe. "It feels so soft…"
'Careful. Keep that up, and you might just turn into a lolicon, Itsuki.' Naofumi thought sarcastically to himself.
Raphtalia walked up beside him. "Were you thinking something rude there, Master Naofumi?" Raphtalia whispered in his ear so as not to draw Itsuki out from the bonding moment he was having with this little girl.
Naofumi had to force himself not to laugh as he rubbed the top of Raphtalia's head. A happy smile came onto her face, and her tail started to wag behind her. "No. Not at all." Naofumi said.
…
Raphtalia realized what was happening, and grabbed her tail angrily behind her to keep it from wagging. However, she didn't take Master Naofumi's hand from off her head.
It felt… sooooooooo gooooooood! And when he started to floof her ear too, she thought she'd melt from happiness!
…
A knock sounded on the door, and then it opened a crack, revealing the male mage from earlier. "Sir Itsuki, your orders have been carried out." He said.
Itsuki looked up at that and stopped rubbing Maya's hair. "Already Marx?" He asked.
"It's been two hours since we started." Marx informed him. "It'd be best if we left now before the Knights arrive."
Naofumi finally realized how late it was. 'Wow, we just spent all this time talking instead of arguing with each other...'
It made him feel kind of good actually. It felt nice to get along with another Hero for a change.
Itsuki frowned, looked down at the little girl, and then up at Marx. "Okay, thanks for letting me know. I'll be out front in a moment."
The boy nodded. "Better hurry. Rishia's even more antsy since she burned the manor down. She won't stop whimpering about getting caught." He closed the door to stand watch outside.
"I... I guess it's time for us to head out." Itsuki said regretfully as he looked down at the little girl. Now he'd have to take little Maya to Van, and continue on finding other nobles abusing their slaves. Nobles he'd probably have to kill because of their desire to harm and kill others...
"Just remember you're doing a great thing out here, Itsuki," Naofumi said, nodding towards the little girl. "There's plenty like her that need help."
Naofumi could address the Bow Hero about this world not being a game later. Right now, he just needed to make sure Itsuki stayed on the right path… though that ominous aura he'd felt coming from Itsuki's bow earlier came to mind...
"Yeah… I know." Itsuki stood up, and he smiled happily for Naofumi. There was no hint of that ominous aura, so maybe he'd only been imagining it. "Thanks again for the help, Naofumi."
"Don't thank me. Otherwise I might think about charging you for this conversation." Naofumi said sarcastically.
"I already told you I don't have any money left."
"Then I'll make a tab just for you."
The both of them laughed. "Go out there and do some more good for this country. I'll see you at the next wave." Naofumi told him.
"You too, Naofumi. Take care." Itsuki said before he left, bringing little Maya with him. The little girl waved back to Raphtalia and Naofumi before she disappeared with Itsuki.
…
"Well. That was all unexpected." Naofumi said, sounding more upbeat than he had in awhile.
"But it was nice," Raphtalia said.
"Of course it was," Naofumi said. "We weren't at each other's throats the whole time. And for once, he's doing something useful. I'm actually a little proud of that Robin Hood."
'If he'd only learn to stop seeing everything as a game. Maybe that was why he was killing the nobles?
Oh well, the more chaos he caused, the less people would focus on him. He just hoped the Bow Hero wouldn't get himself killed. He'd hate it if that happened when they were finally becoming somewhat friends.
Raphtalia sat in the chair next to him. She suddenly seemed more nervous than before. "Master Naofumi… … …"
"Yes?" He asked when Raphtalia didn't say anything after that.
Raphtalia shook her head to clear it. "Never mind. It's getting late." She said as she got up, flashing him a small smile to show she was okay. "Good night. I love you." She said quietly, before heading for the bedroom.
"Hey, Raphtalia?" Raphtalia stopped, and looked back at Naofumi. "I'm going to be a bit. I still have some medicine I need to compound… but before you go to bed… thank you for helping out that little girl while me and Itsuki talked." He said.
...
Raphtalia continued to smile for him. And she walked into the bedroom to cuddle up next to the now sleeping Filo.
"... that really was nice of her. But..." Naofumi thought out loud. Raphtalia had left with a smile on her face, but it seemed like it was more forced than normal…
He sat back and crossed his arms. He thought he was getting better at understanding girls. Raphtalia in particular. Yet he still found himself clueless about what went through her mind sometimes. And Filo...
He lightly scowled. That girl was an enigma he'd never understand. He was still pissed about her behavior today. And she'd been making great strides in her behavior too.
Eventually, he yawned and decided to shrug it off. It really was getting late, and he didn't want to pull an all-nighter again. "Might as well get to compounding-"
His eyes widened drastically.
'&^%$! I forgot to ask Itsuki how he's able to teleport around!' Naofumi facepalmed himself hard. 'DAMN IT! I got so caught up in everything else! Learning how to teleport around would have seriously helped me out! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!'
…
Naofumi took out his compounding tools, an even bigger frown on his face compared to before. Before he started though, he saw the plate of food on his desk. Maya hadn't been able to eat all of it. "Ugh… seriously? Itsuki couldn't clean up after her?" He said in an annoyed voice.
The girl had eaten it messily, and there were crumbs all over the desk he'd been planning to use. Maybe he'd chew out Itsuki about this not being a game the next time he saw him. He really didn't want to think the kid who wouldn't look out of place on a piano would be such a snob.
He picked up the plate and looked around for a place to throw the rest of the food away. But now that he was sitting down he didn't want to get up. He could wipe the crumbs off onto the floor and blame it on Maya. But there was no trash bin in the room. He was in a conundrum!...
His eyes fell on his shield. 'Hmmm… this thing absorbs almost everything like a trash can...' He pressed the the plate of leftovers against his gemstone, and the gemstone glowed, much to his surprise. Could he actually get a new shield from this!?
He absorbed the dish, and then the crumbs from off the table into his shield.
Conditions Met!
Chef's Shield I and II Unlocked.
...
Naofumi changed to the newly unlocked shield. It looked a lot like a metal cover for a pan. The equip bonus wasn't defense… but...
His eyes widened when he saw the passive effect it gave him.
'COOKING SKILLS III and IV!'
Yet again, he'd found another shield to turn him into an excellent butler. Naofumi could already imagine Filo crying out for seconds and thirds the next time he cooked.
'DAMN YOU WORLD!'
He unequipped the shield and put on a different one. That was ONE equip bonus he'd refuse to unlock.
"I'm sorry we had to kill your uncle."
Fenril, the servant, let out a sigh. "It's alright Sir Bow Hero. My uncle's had issues ever since he got back from the war all those years ago. He's only been getting worse since the first wave hit... This was probably the best thing we could do for him."
"Yeah, well, just make sure whoever takes his place isn't abusive to anyone. I'd hate to have to come back to this place." Itsuki said calmly.
Fenril smiled, albeit a little nervously at Itsuki's words. "No worries. I'll make sure to advise the King that whoever replaces my uncle, he or she should be someone nice that won't abuse anyone."
"Good. Now go." Itsuki said blandly.
Fenril smirked confidently and turned around to walk away. As soon as he turned around, a scared look appeared on his face. 'OH MY GODS! That King better not appoint another person like my uncle here! That Hero is crazy scary! I thought I was gonna die! Wahhhhh!' He ran into the forest back to his home, where he'd hopefully be safe from the demons haunting this village tonight.
…
"S... Sir Itsuki?"
Itsuki looked down at little Maya. She'd been deep in thought ever since they'd left Naofumi's room to wait outside in the forest with Rachel and a nervous Rishia so the rest of the party could rendezvous with them. "Yes, Maya?" Itsuki asked.
"I… I…" The little girl looked up at him seriously. "I want to join your party."
"... Fehhhhh!" Rishia whimpered in surprise.
Itsuki blinked at that. "Wh-What do you mean? You're only just a kid-" He tried to say.
The little girl pouted up at him. Her black hair flew with the breeze beside her. "I know I'm only a kid Sir Bow Hero! But I want to help! I want to become strong like you!" She said seriously.
Itsuki continued to blink in surprise. This girl barely looked to be eleven. Yet it seemed like her experiences under her master had forced her to grow up faster than others her age. "But… I mean…" He tried to find a way to respond.
"Sir Itsuki. If I may interrupt." Rachel came forward and rested a hand on the little girl's shoulder. "The job we're doing is too much for us to handle. We've been lucky to have been able to have dealt with a handful of lower nobles and a single Lord without much retaliation. We won't be able to face those like Idol Rabier though without more help." Rachel reasoned with Itsuki.
Itsuki looked from Maya to Rachel, and then back down to Maya. It was true, he'd learned that leveling everyone up hadn't been enough. Everyone in the party except Rishia had been able to go to Zeltoble to get their class upgrades, but some of these nobles they were going to face also had class upgrades.
If they really wanted to make a difference, they'd need more help. Something that could help to turn the tide. "She's only a kid though." He said again.
"I don't know if you remember, Sir Itsuki. But there are reasons why Melromarc discriminates so harshly against demi-humans. One of them being they grow up differently than normal humans. If you allow me to train Maya for you, I could show you in a couple weeks time how much more grown-up she'd be." Rachel said seriously.
Maya smiled up at the nice lady mage above her. "You'd really do that for me?"
Rachel looked down and smiled back at the girl, causing little Maya to giggle as if they knew something that Itsuki didn't. Itsuki scratched his head in confusion.
"Do you know what they're talking about Rishia?" He asked his other party member.
"Fehhhh!?" Rishia whimpered when Itsuki addressed her.. "I, I think it involves the way in which demi-humans grow up much faster than us… I think." She answered nervously.
Itsuki still looked concerned. 'I don't know what Rachel's thinking… but none of my companions have led me astray yet.' Except for Mauld, but Itsuki didn't like talking about him.
Based on what Van had heard concerning the noble family Mauld was a part of, Itsuki was going to have to pay him a visit soon. "Okay. I'll allow you to train Maya, Rachel. But I'm not going to use a kid in any serious fights." Itsuki said.
"Don't worry Sir Itsuki. I'm sure within a couple of weeks she'll be big enough and strong enough to deal with any noble we come across." Rachel said. Both she and the Raccoon Girl started to smile mischievously.
"FEHHHHHHH!?" Rishia looked scared.
Before Itsuki could question Rachel as to how she could be so sure about it, or snap at Rishia for her whimpering, the rest of his party finally arrived. Leading a dozen other demi-human children with them, along with a couple of adult demi-humans, all women. 'I'll think about it later. For now, there's still much we have to do.' He thought as he pulled out his bow and checked his skill menu. Just as he'd thought, his cooldown for the Transport Bow skill had finally ended.
Before he used it, Maya rushed over to Aksel as he was helping a woman to walk, and hugged him around the leg. "Huh, what's this?" He asked in surprise.
"Thank you for stopping my former master earlier from beating me! I really appreciated having someone stand up for me!" Maya said happily.
"Oh, well, um." Aksel coughed into his arm. "It was nothing, really. Any of us would have done what I did if they'd gotten to him first."
Maya didn't let go of him though, and he continued to awkwardly cough as he looked at Itsuki. "So, are we going back now?"
Itsuki looked around again, and, briefly, he allowed himself to smile. For once, none of the slaves had died. They'd succeeded in saving every one of them.
Finally, they'd had success.
There had only been one death that night… the noble who had been abusing them all...
He double-checked his status screen to make sure everyone around him was in a party or sub-party, including little Maya. Then he chose the skill he needed and pointed his bow up to begin the first round of portaling for the night.
"Transport Bow!"
He released the string, and a dome of light formed over one group. A few seconds later, the dome faded. Everyone who'd been underneath disappeared.
And thus, the Bow Hero began the process of transporting everyone back to Van's estate.
Slash!
Ren's sword slashed through one last root, and the large plant monster called a Mandragora withered away as it gave one last screech of pain.
The Sword Hero wiped sweat and tears from his face as his sword stopped glowing. The familiar experience notification appeared next to his head. His SP gauge was almost empty, along with his MP gauge. His Health bar was close to half full. He was surrounded by the withered corpses of many plant monsters. As well as the demons haunting his mind.
They just... kept getting tougher. Even after several days of near nonstop fighting where he'd hardly ate and slept, he was barely making progress towards the center of town where Motoyasu had planted the Miracle Seed.
No amount of begging or pleading. No amount of tears or sorrow had gotten the main plant monster to appear. He had to keep on dealing with its underlings like a neverending tide.
The levels of the monsters started out low enough. But then, they progressively got higher and higher. And then they started using abilities that were hard for him to deal with. Like acid that dropped a target's defense. Or poison attacks that'd kill a normal man.
Each step forward, the monsters that appeared were stronger than the ones before. Each fight dragged on his mind and soul like nothing else. And yet, he pushed on. For the sake of his party, who was holding the line with the villagers outside town to keep the large plant monster from spreading any further.
He started to drink an Health potion. He wondered to himself why Motoyasu wasn't here to fix his stupid mess.
He knew based on details about the emergency quest from the guild that Motoyasu had unearthed an ancient alchemist's seed a couple of weeks ago and that he gave it to this region since it was suffering from famine. It'd worked at first, since it grew all sorts of food on its vines. Ren could see potatoes, various fruits, and other things growing off a vine on a house beside him at that moment that attested to that fact.
But then the plants started to rapidly grow and mutate, quickly overtaking the village. They'd eventually transformed into acidic and poisonous monsters that spawned like a neverending wave of death.
He thought Motoyasu might have come in to deal with this problem himself since he'd caused it, but no, Motoyasu had to disappear to another part of the country after being chewed out by the King for causing a mess. Now Ren had to take this assignment from a different representative of the guild, since the last one had disappeared in the forest outside Mirso alongside his friends, and he had to clean up Motoyasu's mess.
Why did that idiot have to rely on his game knowledge to cause him more problems?!
At the thought, Ren's face fell. Who was he to chew out Motoyasu when it'd only been recently he'd looked at everything from the perspective of a gamer too?
He still was, even now. The villagers were looking through the legends on the plant to try and find out how it was defeated in the past. But Ren was going forward, naturally assuming that this was like an event quest from his game, and that it'd only end when the big bad at the end of it was defeated.
His face became more downcast. Why did he have to be so stupid?...
A poison attack slammed into his gut, and Ren proceeded to defeat the plant monster that'd sprung up. The poison weakened him, but it didn't kill him because of a sword Ren had unlocked from Gaelion that gave him a massive poison resistance boost.
'I... I wish Naofumi was here...'
Naofumi might not do much damage as a shielder, but his defense and resistance to poison and acid attacks would have helped tremendously since he could have distracted all the monsters while Ren landed critical hits from behind.
And, based on what he'd said before, he knew this wasn't a game either. Perhaps Naofumi would have been able to help him with all the guilt and loss he was feeling right now. Out here by himself, where he didn't have to fake for anyone anymore.
But no, the Pope had reminded him that the Shield was a devil, and to side with the devil would make Ren an enemy. Shortly after that, a young nun had noticed as he was leaving that Wyndia was a demi-human, and had said, no, ordered him to get her out of his party as soon as possible. Her claim being that demi-human companions were weaker than humans, and thus she'd only slow him down.
He gripped his sword tightly. Like he'd listen to a word they told him anymore. He was growing sick of this world... just as he was growing sick of himself.
He'd reminded the nun that he was the Hero, not her before leaving the Church behind.
And now, this Hero was getting beat up by a bunch of stupid plants!
Slash!
Ren took care of another plant monster. A PlantRiwe. The dumb thing had been releasing enough poison pollen into the air that Ren had to cover his mouth with part of his blue scarf to breath properly.
The poison pollen cleared after a moment, and Ren started to step forward towards the center of town. He had to get to the main plant.
He had to keep going... for their sakes... He had to take this punishment upon himself and work to atone, and-
"Sir Ren. Me and the others have managed to hedge up the vines. They won't be growing any farther from the town."
Ren turned around in surprise.
Wyndia stood no more than a dozen feet behind him, surrounded by the corpses of monsters he'd killed. There were a few fresh ones as well. He hadn't even heard her approach...
She held a katana in one hand, and a ball of fire from a spell in the other. Again, he felt like she was glaring at him even though her face was calm. It pushed what little frustration he'd been feeling away, allowing his guilt to swamp him again. He had to fight to keep a wave of fresh tears from falling from his eyes.
"How did you manage-" Ren shook his head. Wyndia wasn't a frail little girl. She'd already shown on their way to this village that she knew how to fight monsters. Even Welt was impressed with the sword skills she'd developed in a short span of time. "Ok... Keep them from spreading out any farther, and use it as a chance to level up." Ren said in a quiet voice as he turned back around.
He wasn't meaning to do things the same way he normally did before the dragon. But the others had to stay back and keep the plants from spreading to other villages. Plus, now that he'd changed the experience distribution, whenever he killed a monster, his other party members benefited from it.
"The villagers received a supply of weed killer from the King. They can keep the plants from running amok without our help. Right now, it would be best to deal with this plant problem with everyone assisting you." Wyndia said, her tone still calm. It still felt like her dislike for him was in her voice.
Another Madoragora sprouted behind Ren and started to roar at him, acid dripping from its maw. Without missing a beat, Ren turned, slashing his sword in a rapid series of slashes. The plant monster's roots were all destroyed, and it crumbled away to dust. "No. Its not safe here. You and the others could get hurt or-" Ren tried to say.
A second one that he hadn't seen bit down on Ren's sword arm. Cutting off his words as he cried in pain.
Wyndia chucked the fire spell in her hand at the monster, searing the side of its head and causing it to let go of Ren. "Huahhh!" Wyndia then charged forward and slashed the sharp end of her blade through it, splitting the monster in half.
The monster crumpled to dust. Ren's already battered armor corroded some more on his arm as he stared in shock at the dog girl.
She stood tall, and turned to face him. She'd hardly grown since the time she'd joined his party, even with all the levels she'd acquired. But... there was a different air around her compared to before. He thought when they first met that she might have been around ten, maybe twelve since she only came up to below his chin. But... her face, her amber eyes, looked older than that.
It was his first time truly getting a good look at the girl.
"Ren, me and the others might not be as strong as you. We might not be near as powerful. But we can still help." Her voice, which had sounded flat to him before, now barely contained held back emotion and frustration. Not frustration for him killing her Father, but frustration that he was going it alone and exhausting himself like this. "Do you really not care about protecting the lives of the people?" She asked, staring him dead in the eyes. "Do you... do you really not care about the rest of us?"
Ren blinked his eyes as if to clear them of some image only he could see. "But, some of these monsters also have poison and paralysis effects." Ren pointed out. "If you were to be hit by one of them-"
"And if you were hit by one Sir Ren, who'd be there to hold the monster off till you recovered?" Wyndia impatiently asked. "Who'd be able to fight the waves then? Who'd be able to make up for killing my Father?!"
"I have resistances to those attacks, I-" Ren started to argue, but then paused.
…
Ren smiled a little and shook his head in disbelief. "Is everyone else as sick of this place as I am?" He asked.
"... it's not just that." Wyndia said in a small voice after a short pause. "We all want to help you. Please, just let us help." Was it just him, or was Wyndia pleading with him?
But... didn't she hate him for what he'd done...
"But you could get hurt, and... I don't want any of you to get hurt because of me." Ren said sadly, guilt clear to see in his voice.
...
...
Wyndia sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "You dummy." She then slapped him hard across the face.
"Ow! What was that for?!" Ren asked in disbelief.
"I'm not going to repeat myself. I'm going back to gather our friends as well as some of the weed killer the villagers brought, and then we're going to come straight here to assist you. No ifs, ands, or buts about it!" Wyndia said, her amber eyes boring into him like steel drills.
"But, but you could get hurt-" Ren tried to say again.
Slap!
Wyndia slapped him once again. He rubbed the side of his face as he stared at her. "Do not go any further until we come back. It was hard enough getting to here as it is." She said, leaving no room for argument.
"I... ... okay." Ren admitted defeat with a sad voice.
"And... please, cheer up, Sir Ren." Wyndia added hesitantly. "Crying doesn't suit you."
"... okay." Ren wiped the tears from under his eyes, before facing her again. He still looked sad, but a small smile was tugging on the corners of his lips. "I'll set up a spot in that building over there. If we can fortify ourselves sufficiently from the plants then maybe we can use it as a resting point and continue towards the main plant without losing my progress.
"It'll get tougher as we go along, but with everyone's help, I believe we'll be able to get this done."
Wyndia briefly looked stunned at the smile. Then she tried unsuccessfully to look cold again, for her tail, which looked like a shiba inu's, was poking out from her blue cloak, and was wagging behind her in a pleased way. "We'll meet up with you as soon as we can, Sir Ren." She gave him a polite bow before she turned and ran back the way she'd come.
The remains of several burnt or slashed through plants withered away as she ran past them. Enemies Wyndia had dealt with on her way to Ren.
Proficient in learning to wield a blade, and more so in magic. She'd obviously used a decent chunk of her magic and energy working her way to where Ren had been… maybe it would be best to have her and the others help him out. But regardless, she'd made it to where he was struggling with no more than a few scratches on her arms.
Gaelion must have spent a lot of time training her before his death to defend herself. It could explain why she was so powerful without a class-up.
Ren sighed guiltily as he thought about the dragon. Despite his new resolve, he was still reluctant to work with his party. What if they were to get hurt by his careless loner tactics...
He wanted to keep them safe. Ren had seen how cruel parts of this world was. Itsuki had also told him of some of his exploits against the nobles. Ren knew he had as of yet to see the worst. He wanted to protect his party from that part of the world if he could.
He wanted to protect Wyndia from it even if she didn't want his protection.
He really wished they'd stay back so they'd remain safe. But then, he remembered what he'd heard from the Lord of Lute Village. About Naofumi and Raphtalia. How the two of them working in sync with each other had saved most everyone in the village.
It made him remember times from his VRMMO's back home. How he'd paired up with his best friend Shion, as well as some of her friends. How they'd been like an unstoppable force to whatever opponent; NPC or Player, that they were facing in any game.
And here he was, presented with an issue where loner tactics and sheer power wouldn't work. Pounding himself relentlessly against this problem out of... guilt?
He had to work with his team if he wanted to clear this raid boss out and save the homes of the villagers.
'I promised to work together more with my party members... maybe we could use this as a chance to not only help out this town but to learn to work together as a team.' Ren decided.
He had to remember. His party wasn't a group of NPCs trying to assist him in his quest anymore. They were real-life people who were fighting to protect their homes, their families, and their world from the monsters and the waves of Catastrophe. Like him, they had desires to grow stronger and to become the best they could be.
They trusted him with their lives.
Maybe he should start trusting his life in theirs?
...
Any further thoughts were cut off as three more Madoragora respawned around him at the same time. Deciding it'd be best to secure the building for them to rest in, he moved to deal with the monsters. He took the weapon experience he'd gotten from his current sword and switched to a sword he'd gotten from absorbing a part of Gaelion. The dragon who was now resting peacefully in the ground of his home.
He applied the weapon experience to it, and the sword glowed with power.
"Huahhh!"
Ren jumped into the midst of the plant monsters.
Hero Clips!
The Shield Butler
"You have got to be kidding me."
Naofumi's shield had changed just like his mask shield. Instead of only covering his face, he was now covered in a get up similar to the Slave Traders. Only less fancy and exotic and more practical. "Butler Shield? What would I even use this for-"
"Master Naofumi, Filo made a mess in the back of the wagon. Could you clean it up please?" Raphtalia asked.
Naofumi tuned out for a moment, and then he found himself having just finished cleaning and organizing the back of the wagon. "Wait, how did I just-"
"Daddy, Filo is hungry. Can Daddy make Filo dinner?"
Again, Naofumi found himself tuning out. Then the next thing he knew he was walking away from a happily sleeping Filo. He was carrying a large empty pot that looked to have been full of food.
"OKAY! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" He looked around, trying to find Raphtalia. Something strange was going on with this new shield, and he didn't like it!
"Raphtalia?!"
"There you are master Naofumi, we're running low on medicines? Could you compound some more please?"
"No, wait-" Naofumi tried to say.
Suddenly, he found himself finishing up a large batch of medicine in the back of the wagon. His worst fears had been realized. The new shield made him do everything his party members asked him to do as their butler.
"Raphtalia!" He yelled.
Raphtalia poked her head in. "Yes, Master Naofumi?"
"Stop asking me to do stuff!" He demanded. "I'm being forced to obey because of the shield I have equipped!" He said, pointing at his body.
Raphtalia... started to smile. "Ara Ara Naofumi-kun."
Naofumi paled. 'Oh no...'
"Now that you say that, could you massage my body with your nice, firm hands?" She asked, climbing into the wagon. "My shoulders in particular are aching lately. You know, because of the weight they have to support?" She gave him a sultry wink.
Naofumi started to tune out-
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Naofumi awoke screaming at the desk he'd been compounding at. The Chef's Shield from earlier was back on his arm.
'NOPE! NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE! NO! THAT DOES IT! I'M NOT GOING TO ABSORB ANYTHING ELSE INTO THIS SHIELD AGAIN!' Naofumi shook with terror.
"But Naofumi-Kun, my massage-" Even in the real world, part of his mind still wanted to fantasize about giving Raphtalia a massage.
'AHHHHHHHHH!' Maybe it'd be for the best if he didn't try to absorb anything that resembled a Butler's outfit in the future.
That'd probably be the smart thing to do.
Till Next Time
Allen