Chapter Twenty-Nine: Facing the Spear Hero
It was eleven days before the next Wave was going to hit Melromarc.
Naofumi sat in the front seat of his wagon, holding the reins to his daughter Filo as she ran at a brisk pace down the road cut into the side of the cliff face. The slope on their right was steep and dotted with trees near the top. On their left was a steep drop that flattened out around 75 feet below.
The area... looked vaguely familiar to the Shield Hero.
Raphtalia was napping in the back of the wagon, having fallen asleep after a night of keeping watch and training. Filo was humming a tune to herself. Naofumi tuned the both of them out as he tried to remember why this area looked familiar.
...
It was when he looked above again that it finally clicked. He'd taken this exact route once before with Raphtalia back when they were first making their way towards Mirso Village.
'We kept to a path up above, but it allowed us to view if any knights were patrolling the road down here or not. It's funny how long ago that seems now with everything that's happened.'
He moved the Mask Shield to his arm before changing it to the Book Shield so he could look around at the familiar surroundings. It was the first time since Lute that he recognized a place he was traveling through. Being an outcast had forced him to flee all over the Kingdom over the last month.
As he was thinking about whether or not it'd be safe to travel this road, Filo started to hum a familiar tune in front of him. He couldn't place where it was from. But her humming brought his mind to the present reason why they were traveling by his and Raphtalia's old stomping grounds.
Filo had hit level 40 last night. And with the next Wave so close, it was now or never finding a country to get their class-ups done. If that wasn't an option with the amount of time they had though, the next best thing was to get his equipment up to date, and possibly see if Filo could get a weapon too.
She fought just fine in her large bird form. But if they could find something like Claws for her to wear that'd boost her attack power, it'd make his daughter more useful in fights, and lessen the chances of her hurting her feet against a tough enemy.
He pulled up his party HUD while he was thinking. He was at level 41 since he didn't have a level limit. Both Raphtalia and Filo were level 40 and had stars next to their names, indicating they'd need a class up before they could continue progressing. He then pulled up his help guide and looked up the information on class ups.
If worse really did come to worst and they couldn't reach another country's dragon hourglass in time, they could ask Jerry after they arrived in Mirso if he'd be willing to go to the Capital or another nearby city to get the gear they needed. Naofumi would even lend him his Barbarian Armor to see if old Elhart could improve on it while they hid in a nearby forest to prepare themselves for the next wave.
He planned out what he'd say to Jerry in his mind if that happened.
Heh, if they couldn't travel to another country and they did see Jerry, maybe he could ask if he had any shields in his shop that Naofumi could copy. He'd had a hard time finding shields in other shops wherever he went. And he'd recently learned it was because of the country's religion affiliating the shield with the devil.
Thus, many of the blacksmith's he'd visited in other villages hadn't had many, if any, shields for sale. Jerry would be his best bet for copying more shields.
Though, would the weird blacksmith have something in his shop he hadn't already copied from Elhart? He didn't sound all that good of a blacksmith since he had to smuggle Naofumi and Raphtalia into the capital before so Elhart could help them out.
Raphtalia lightly snored behind him. "Why are you insulting that nice man Master Naofumi?" She talked in her sleep.
Too bad the half-Tanuki girl was asleep. Her mind tricks didn't count if she couldn't remember it! He grinned evilly to himself.
"Daddy, are you thinking something mean?" Filo asked without looking back.
"... Of course not." Naofumi dryly said.
"But Daddy has an evil smile on his face. The one he normally gets when he's thinking about doing something rotten."
...
"You're imagining things Filo. Go back to humming." Naofumi said.
"Okay daddy." Filo went back to humming.
Now, back to Naofumi's original thought process...
By this point, through no lack of effort on Naofumi's part, the Shield Hero had managed to unlock the equip bonuses of many different shields. This meant the ones he had left to unlock didn't have equip bonuses he'd consider 'good' or 'important'. But if he wanted more shields to unlock, that meant he either had to hunt down new monsters, or copy shields he hadn't found yet. And copying shields would be a lot easier in the short term than hunting down new monsters.
And if it came down to him paying to do it, he had plenty of money now thanks to the Nocturnal Doctor.
He'd struck a gold mine in that regard.
Naofumi's mind wandered to another possibility with Jerry that appealed to him.
If there was another Dragon Hourglass within their eleven day timeframe, maybe the kind blacksmith would be able to smuggle them out of Melromarc like how he'd smuggled them into the Capital?
It would likely be much harder, but...
Well, there was one thing other than time that could ruin that plan… if the country east of Mirso was Siltvelt.
For obvious reasons, Naofumi refused to go there. And it wasn't just because the few demi-humans he'd met from there had wanted to kill Raphtalia.
So if that happened, this plan would depend on the distance to the eastern border, and the countries that were northeast, east, or southeast of Mirso, and if any of them had a Dragon Hourglass within eleven days.
Oh... he'd just realized. This also depended on if Jerry was still in Mirso or somewhere else on business like he'd been in Algade.
Crap! If he wasn't there then all of his ideas were shot! They might as well wander east for all the good it'd do them!
Naofumi was so lost in thought about the matter, he didn't hear Filo for a few seconds…
… "Daddy? Daddy?"
Naofumi finally shook himself from his thoughts. "What is it, Filo?" He asked with some annoyance in his voice.
"There's someone up ahead. He looks tired to Filo." Filo pointed with one of her wings.
Up ahead, there was a person slowly jogging in the middle of the road. He was dressed in normal clothes. He looked to be carrying a vial in one of his hands.
Naofumi changed his Book Shield to his Mask Shield and put the mask back over his face. "Slow down. Let's see what's going on with him."
Filo slowed down as she approached the jogging man. Then he stopped and collapsed in exhaustion as she was about to stop by him. "Hey, are you alright?" Naofumi jumped out of the wagon
The man couldn't answer. He looked very worn out. As if he'd run several marathons one after the other.
"Hey, are you okay? Do you need a hand?" Naofumi asked dryly as he shook the guy.
...
"Please, kind stranger... could you... could you give me a lift in your carriage?" The man said in a worn-out, pleading voice.
"First, I need you to tell me why you're running yourself so haggard," Naofumi said as he gave the man a container with water. Despite all his peddling, he'd had as of yet to transport someone from one village to another after the incident with the Accessory Merchant.
He swore, if this man had a group of bandits behind him, Naofumi would have Filo unleash her special move on all of their ^%$es for wasting his time.
The man took deep gulps of water in between ragged breaths. Then he took another moment to calm his breathing to a manageable rate. "I have to get this medicine to my village. The one just past the mountain. It's urgent, I beg you." The man said tiredly. He held up the clear vial of medicine he was holding.
Naofumi pulled out his map, ignoring the medicine for the moment. "Is this the village you're talking about?" He asked, pointing to an area north of where they were currently at.
"Yes, that's the one!"
Naofumi inwardly grimaced. It was off the path they were taking to get to Mirso. They wouldn't get to Mirso until late that night or early the next morning if they did this. "Tell me. How urgent is it?" Naofumi calmly asked.
The man looked up at Naofumi as if he was his last hope. "It's… it's my mother." He admitted.
"Her health has been going downhill ever since the last wave. I got the right medicine the first time, but I accidentally dropped it on my way back. I've had to make this trip several times since then trying to find the right medicine for her. The last time I left, she was… she was..." Tears started forcing their way from the man's eyes. "This is my last chance to help her out. Please! I beg you!" He pleaded as he bowed, almost slamming the medicine bottle in his hand against the ground.
"Careful, you're going to break that!" Naofumi shouted.
The man quickly stood, and the medicine nearly fumbled from his tired, sweaty hands. "Here, let me hold that!" Naofumi took the vial from the guy before he could do something stupid like drop it.
Its item description showed up on his HUD, and Naofumi did a double take as its name appeared over the bottle.
'YGGDRASIL ELIXIR?!'
His medical grimoire had mentioned it in a footnote as being one of the most powerful medicines in this world. And the hardest to make. He stood no chance of making it at his current skill level. The book mentioned only those with years upon years of experience would ever attempt to gather its ingredients and try to make it.
How the hell had this guy's mother even managed to afford this?! And twice?!
Either it was cheaper than the book let on... or she must have been one important person.
"Please, can you help me?" The man begged again. His eyes shining with tears at the thought of losing his mom.
Whatever the case, there was no chance in hell a group of bandits would trust someone like this with something this important. Not unless they were completely stupid and had a few screws loose in their heads.
"Fine, we'll help you get to your mom." Naofumi said.
The man beamed with happiness on the ground. "Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!"
Naofumi climbed onto the wagon. "Raphtalia. Wake up." He shook her sleeping form with one hand to wake her. "Filo, how quickly can you get us past that mountain at full speed?" He asked.
"Not too long. Maybe an hour. Filo could probably get Daddy there in fifteen minutes if Filo left the carriage behind." Filo said optimistically.
Raphtalia let out a yawn that sounded cute to Naofumi. "Is something going on?" The girl blinked tiredly as she transitioned back to the land of the living.
"We have a man here who needs help getting to his village. I need to leave the wagon behind. Can you safeguard our possessions while I'm gone?" Naofumi asked.
"Thank you! Thank you again for doing this!" The man continued to thank Naofumi.
"Don't thank me yet. We'll have to see if we get to your mother in time." Naofumi said dryly back to the man.
Raphtalia was blinking in surprise, now trying to comprehend the situation she had just woken up to. "What do you mean Master Naofumi-" She tried to say.
"Don't worry. I'll be back as soon as I can." Naofumi said in an attempt to ease her worries.
Raphtalia was still worried. She still didn't fully understand what was going on, but she quickly realized whatever it was had to be important. "Right. I'll make sure nobody tries to steal our supplies." She said.
"Thank you." He gave her a quick hug and a peck to the forehead. "I'll let you drive Filo with me once we get back."
"O-Ok!" Raphtalia was blushing at the hug and peck, but smiling widely in happiness. Naofumi rubbed her head, just as an extra to express his gratitude to the girl.
Filo pushed the wagon to the side of the road and then moved away from the wagon. Naofumi climbed onto her back, holding onto the reins with one hand as he pulled the guy up to sit behind him. "Is this safe?" The man asked.
"Yeah, just make sure you hold on tight," Naofumi said dryly. "Filo, let's go!"
"Righteo," Filo said happily before she burst forward along the road in a blaze of speed.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" The man behind Naofumi screamed in surprise as they hit speeds no human in this world had ever experienced before. Leaving a dust trail in their wake behind them as they disappeared down the road.
Raphtalia watched them leave from the front seat of the wagon. She was still a little surprised to have been left behind the way she had. But the tiredness was fleeing from her mind, and she was still very happy from the affection Naofumi had expressed to her.
"Hopefully they'll get back from treating that patient soon." She said to herself.
Raphtalia jumped off the wagon, pulled her sword out, and started to go through sword forms on her own.
"Mother. I got you the medicine."
The man Naofumi had picked up earlier stood at the foot of his mother's bed. Holding the vial of Yggdrasil's Elixir unsurely. His mother stirred and weakly opened her eyes to look at her son. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then she started coughing.
"Oh, I really hope I bought the right medicine this time." The man said sadly to himself. "I've never had a good appraisal stat for examining items." His mom looked like she was on death's door. But the son still felt her burning 'Don't be a wimp' gaze striking into him. And as weird as it was for this man to admit it, he'd give anything if it meant his mom would have the energy to berate him herself again.
Naofumi saw how nervous this man looked and sighed to himself. "Listen, go boil some water. I can give the medicine to your mother."
The man looked at him in surprise. "But, but I-"
"Relax. I'm doing this part for free." Naofumi calmly, easing the man's worries. "Bringing you here was free too since I'm betting you already paid a lot for that medicine."
The man looked down at the vial. Then he sighed, already knowing it'd be better for this man to give the medicine to his mom.
Knowing himself, he'd probably find some way to accidentally mess it up. Just like he had the first time.
At least it'd be hard for him to mess up boiling water. That was something he could reasonably do. The thought made him sad, and his regret for not doing much with his life before this only increased.
He gave the vial to Naofumi and then left the room.
...
Naofumi took a few seconds to examine the medicine in his hands.
As he thought, he couldn't identify a single ingredient. All he could get was the name. It was so high class that only a master apothecarian could have made it.
Which made him wonder again how this woman in front of him could afford it.
The old lady in bed rolled over and started coughing again. Naofumi threw the thought away and focused on his patient. "I just need a moment," Naofumi said as he examined the woman to identify her ailment.
After a second, his HUD showed the lady's almost empty health bar. Besides that, he didn't get any other information.
Either this woman had an illness he was unfamiliar with, or her level was way above his. It'd happened from time to time when he was treating nobility. Their levels were normally a lot higher than the common folk he did most of his work with.
He considered sending her a party invite to get info on her that way when she coughed loudly again, and her health bar dropped a little more.
Naofumi pushed the thoughts from his mind. He had no time for collecting info. This lady was dying. He had to help her.
Yes, he didn't like going into these situations blind, and he'd prefer knowing what her sickness was in case he came across it in the future. But then, he figured that since he was currently holding the most powerful medicine in the world that he'd be fine not knowing what it was.
After all, if this didn't help her, then it was likely nothing would. "Okay. I need you to lie on your back for me now," Naofumi said.
The old granny complied and rolled on her back. "Good. Now all you have to do is drink this." Naofumi said as he raised the vial to her lips.
She gave him a weak nod, and then he lifted the vial. Slowly allowing the contents to go down her throat.
When she finished, her body gave off a soft glow. She visibly sighed, and her pale skin started to regain color at a quick rate. Naofumi's stat screen showed that her health bar was already slowly starting to fill up again.
Naofumi sat back, sighing in relief. He had no idea what sickness she'd been suffering from, and he'd likely never know what it had been. But whatever it was hadn't stood a chance against the top tier medicine he'd used. His job was done…
'I'll watch until the son gets back from his task. Just in case.' He couldn't leave until he felt sure that this old lady was out of the danger zone.
"Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow!" The man dipped his burned hand into a bucket of cold water. The boiling water he'd prepared was all over the floor because he'd accidentally tripped while carrying it to his mother's room.
"How could I mess up boiling a pot of water?" He said depressedly. It was no wonder why he was still living in his mom's house.
He couldn't even accomplish this stupid simple task.
After a little bit, he gingerly grabbed the handle of the pot. It still had a little hot water in it, but not a lot. He dumped the remainder into a small cup. 'I hope the man treating my mom is better than me.'
What a joke. He couldn't even prepare a pot of boiling water without messing things up.
He walked into the room holding the cup, half expecting to be chewed out again-
"Thank you so much."
The man stopped in surprise. "Mother, the medicine… it's helping already?"
His mom was sitting up in her bed now. For the first time, her face was relaxed and not twisted in pain. "Yes, the pain went away in an instant." She responded. Sounding a little more energetic and relieved with each word she said.
"... Oh, thank the Gods." The man had to quickly set the cup of water on the stand next to him. Because he fell down on his knees right after doing that and started to bawl uncontrollably.
"Thank you, good sir… tell me, what is your name?" The old lady asked curiously, finally beginning to recognize that she didn't know the Masked Man who had given her the medicine.
"My real name is unimportant," Naofumi said calmly. "Nowadays, I go by my title. The Nocturnal Doctor."
"... Well whoever you are, you're a godsend." The lady said thankfully, before sitting back in the bed. "I'll be okay now, thanks to both of you."
Naofumi nodded his head. "That's good to hear. I still have as of yet to hear your name though."
The granny smirked. "My real name isn't important either, Nocturnal Doctor. If you wish, you may call me Granny."
"Hmmm, Granny? You sure about that? It makes you sound old." Naofumi smirked in response.
"I have lived long enough to earn that title." Granny's smirk turned into a smile. "I have no qualms with being old, as long as I can still move the way I want."
"I wouldn't recommend anything too strenuous until you've rested up. I have no idea how good Yggdrasil's Elixir is, but you can't be too careful at your age." Naofumi turned to walk towards the exit.
"Wait, Nocturnal Doctor!" Naofumi turned around. The man had managed to get back up off the floor. He then surprised Naofumi by giving him a respectful bow. "I don't have anything to give accept my utmost gratitude and respect. But please, if you stop by our town tonight, feel free to use my house as a place to rest from your journey." He said gratefully. "We'd be honored to have you!"
…
Naofumi studied the man behind his mask for a moment, gauging in his mind if he was being sincere or not. But he was quick to tell the man was being absolutely and honestly sincere.
A smile worked its way onto his face, and he turned to leave again. "If we come by this town, I'll keep that in mind." He said, waving a hand over his shoulder at the two of them.
The man said a silent prayer to the Gods. Thanking them for putting the Nocturnal Doctor in his path.
"And just who gave you permission to allow random strangers into my house?" Granny asked from her bed.
Her son immediately straightened. "Gah, um, I'm sorry mom! I didn't know what else to do to thank him-" He tried to say, thinking he had messed up again.
The old lady laughed, feeling delighted that it no longer hurt her to do so. "It's okay, my son. That Hero seems like a good man to me." Granny opened her eyes to softly smile at him. "I'm so proud of you, my boy. You finally managed to do something right."
...
The man's eyes widened. He couldn't remember the last time his mom had ever said such words to him. The way he'd been raised and all…
"Wait, he was a Hero-" He started to say as he realized what Granny had said.
"Go wipe that look off your face! Of course he is you dolt, couldn't you tell with the aura coming off him!? Now get cleaning! If we're going to have important guests in our house tonight, then I want to make sure this place is spotless!" She snapped at him. "Gods know how dusty you've left it wasting all that time trying to purchase the right medicine after you dropped the first one all over my floor! And did I hear you drop another pan while I was coming too!? If you dented the wood in my kitchen again, I'm going to make you sand it down with your bare hands!"
"Ah- Sorry, Granny! I'll get right on it!" The son said, bowing quickly to his mom.
"Don't just stand there blabbering you idiot! Get! Get!" Granny ordered.
The son quickly ran out of the room, heading for the cupboards with all the cleaning supplies. "And there's the mother I know and love." He said under his breath.
Yet he was still smiling as he said it.
He'd missed having Granny lecture him for his mistakes. His life felt oddly incomplete without that happening. Did he really take so much joy from being ordered around like this?!
He also couldn't help but wonder, which Hero was it that'd visited them. He hadn't seen any weapons on them at least...
Oh well! It was time to clean!
"Daddy, is everything okay?"
Naofumi pulled himself out of his train of thought to look up at Filo. She was still running down a mountain path back to the road their wagon was on. She had turned her head to look back at him.
"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" Naofumi asked curiously.
"Daddy hasn't said one word to Filo since leaving that weird guy's home. Did something happen inside that Filo isn't aware of?" She asked.
Naofumi chuckled a little bit and started ruffling her neck feathers. "No, nothing bad happened. In fact, they offered to let us stay the night. I've been wondering if I should take them up on their offer or not." Naofumi responded honestly.
"Were they nice?" Filo asked.
"Very nice. Nicer than other people I've met." Naofumi said, feeling more uplifted than he had before.
"Then let's go there after Filo picks up mommy!" She said happily.
"Well, the problem Filo is that we were planning on going somewhere else. And…" Naofumi stopped as he thought over what had happened to himself.
It still felt nice to help other people out. And it wasn't like that man and his mom were the only ones in that village. It was a lot closer than Mirso. They could get there just after sunset, do business as usual, and stay in the man's home for the night. Then they could arrive at Mirso by midday tomorrow and have time to talk to Jerry if he was there. "You know what, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea."
"Yayyyyy! Filo saw all sorts of fun places Filo could run around and explore in!" She said happily while running.
A free night would be more than enough in payment for helping out that man and his mom. And based on what he'd seen, he'd have a decent kitchen to cook breakfast before they left.
Yeah. Filo and Raphtalia would definitely appreciate him cooking for them.
Still, he was liking this idea more than just traveling straight to Mirso. He decided he'd ask Raphtalia about it when they reached her.
Almost on instinct, he checked the corner of his HUD for her. Though he couldn't see how Raphtalia was doing, he could see her Health and MP gauges. Seeing both of them full let him know nothing had happened at the wagon.
'I could see her agreeing. And it'd be nice, getting time to relax in a house instead of a crowded inn or the back of a wagon-' Naofumi pondered the scenario in his mind, and almost missed it when it changed.
Raphtalia's Health gauge had lowered slightly. He leaned forward in the real world, focusing on Raphtalia's status bar.
He saw her MP gauge go down a little bit. But her Health gauge didn't go down again. Naofumi sighed. 'I guess she was just ambushed by a monster and now she's taking care of it-'
His eyes widened as he saw her Health gauge drop again, but by a larger increment than before. Her MP gauge also took a rapid plunge. Raphtalia never allowed a monster to get more than one hit on her. And for her to plow through MP that quickly meant the situation she was in had to be life or-
"Filo! We have to get back to Raphtalia now!" Naofumi yelled.
"Huah!"
Raphtalia deflected the sword of the Knight away and then kicked him hard in the stomach, causing him to keel over. She lithely backed away. Parrying the blade of another knight before quickly closing in again and headbutting the poor sap, dropping him to the ground.
"Hah!"
Raphtalia jumped far back, avoiding the spear that dug into the ground where she'd been standing. Motoyasu pulled his spear back out. He was dressed in the same armor as before. Now, however, his previously beat-up silver armor looked cleaned and polished, and his red worn out underrobe had been replaced with a fresh blue one.
"Mirage Sword!"
Raphtalia sliced the air in front of her and disappeared into her illusion magic.
"Chaos Spear!"
Motoyasu unleashed his skill in the area she had just been standing. Instead of just keeping it to that area though, he quickly spread his quick thrusts outwards around him. Turning his piercing attack into an AoE attack.
His strategy worked.
Raphtalia reappeared from her illusion to the side of him. She quickly backed away while gasping in pain. She held a hand to the new bleeding thigh wound she'd received from Motoyasu's skill. She had another bleeding gut wound to worry about too. She kept one hand gripping her sword, however, to defend herself.
"Why, why are you doing this Spear Hero!?" Raphtalia asked angrily.
The knights fighting with Motoyasu gathered behind him. There were several squads of men. Myne was nowhere to be seen. Behind them was the wagon she was supposed to protect. The Knights were ignoring it for now, but it cut her off from any of the supplies she needed to heal herself and restore her MP.
Motoyasu grimaced but held to his spear tightly. "I don't want to hurt you anymore Raphtalia. I just want to know where Naofumi is." He said in a calm voice.
"Why?! What did he ever do to you?!" Raphtalia asked angrily.
"Naofumi raped the royal princess!" Motoyasu said stubbornly. "He has to answer for his crimes-"
"How can you still believe that pig! After all the pain she's tried to cause to Naofumi!?" She yelled at him. He again clutched his spear tightly. "Please, Sir Spear Hero! A part of you has to know that the Princess has been lying to you! That she's been lying to everyone around her about Naofumi and-"
Motoyasu spun his spear. "Meteor Thrust!"
Raphtalia gasped in surprise and tried to jump back from the skill that came out of a portal above her. However, the wound in her leg impeded her jump, and she didn't jump out of the way in time.
Boom!
Raphtalia was caught on the edge of the explosion. It sent her flying back several dozen feet before she impacted hard against the rocky ground of the road. She coughed and felt blood in her mouth. She had bitten her tongue when she hit the ground. A small pool of blood was forming beneath her from her now screaming wounds.
Had that attack hit her head on, she realized she wouldn't have survived.
When the smoke cleared, it showed a large crater in the road. Along with one angry-looking Motoyasu. "I don't believe you!" Motoyasu yelled angrily. "My friends would never lie to me! There's no way that would happen! It's all Naofumi's fault!"
Raphtalia held her side and thigh, forcing down whimpers of pain that wanted to escape. She looked up again, only to gasp in surprise at the crazed look in Motoyasu's eyes.
They weren't the same as before. No, they were filled with some emotion. Was it envy, but that didn't feel right. Was it that he was in pain? Then she realized that it was a mixture of both.
It was like a part of him knew that Myne had lied to him. That the King had lied to him. That, even now, what he was saying was a lie.
Naofumi was the real hero and he was not. But believing a lie felt better than believing the truth. Because the truth would have meant that he had been the bad guy all this time. And because of that, he was jealous of Naofumi for having everything. For having people who respected him for being a hero despite being an outcast. For doing something heroic that saved the lives of many fair maidens in Lute. And for having a beautiful fair maiden, who, even now, was sacrificing her own life for his sake.
"Sir, Sir Spear Hero-" Raphtalia tried to say.
"I'll give you one last chance! Where, is, Naofumi!?" Motoyasu angrily demanded while pointing his spear threateningly at Raphtalia. He didn't care now. Raphtalia was in his way. He had to get Naofumi and make him pay for everything he'd done. "Tell me, or I'll end you right now!"
...
Raphtalia painfully stood up. Her body was wracked with pain. She felt like passing out, but her eyes glinted with determination as she raised her sword. She glared at the Spear Hero and the Knights behind him.
Her bad leg strained to hold her up, and the pain was almost overwhelming. But she stood, defiantly. "You will never have him." She said, each word sounding colder than ice. "I won't let you."
...
Motoyasu scowled. "Have it your way." He raised his spear to launch another skill.
"Air Strike Shield!"
Before Motoyasu could react, a green shield slammed into his stomach. Spittle flew from his mouth as the force of it sent him flying back between the knights. "Huh?" "What?" A few of them started to say in surprise.
"High Quick!"
Suddenly, a large, familiar owl-shaped bird started appearing and disappearing in the midst of the knights. Kicking out left and right, and swinging her wings in between each appearance. Filo sent one knight after the other flying.
"Raphtalia, are you okay?!"
Raphtalia quickly turned, collapsing on her bad leg as she did so, but Naofumi caught her under her shoulder before she fell. "Master Naofumi. You made it." She said, her eyes shining with happiness and pain.
"Of course I did," Naofumi said, flashing her a small smile. "I told you I watch your Health gauge when I'm not around."
"N-Naofumi," Motoyasu growled as he got back up.
"Hey Motoyasu, did you do this to Raphtalia?!" Naofumi angrily asked.
"Of course it was me!" Motoyasu said angrily. A large bird that had been busy beating up all the knights gasped when she heard that. "And now, I'm going to do the same thing to you for-"
"You were the one that hurt Filo's mommy!" Filo yelled as she appeared in front of Motoyasu, stopping him in his tracks.
"Yep, that's the Spear Hero for you Filo," Naofumi said sarcastically. "Always trying to find some way to hurt us."
"He's a bad guy. A very bad guy."
Motoyasu was momentarily confused by this large fat bird and the fact that this bird was saying he'd hurt her mommy. Quickly looking around showed there were no other birds like Filo anywhere nearby. He was so distracted he didn't notice what was coming until it was too late.
"Spear guy is a very bad guy for hurting Filo's mommy!"
Crack!
Naofumi had to slow down what happened next in his brain so he could fully capture the kick Filo had just delivered to Motoyasu.
Filo had been in a ready stance, which meant she was able to use the full strength of her leg as she kicked. The kick itself first parted the bottom part of Motoyasu's robes as he was trying to figure out who this bird was talking about. His eyes began the process of widening as his brain rapidly ignited, letting the body know the danger it was in. But even with all those synapses firing off saying to jump the hell back, it was already too late.
The kick connected. Filo's foot looked to sink in as far up as Motoyasu's gut. And as Motoyasu flew up into the air, he came to understand in part the pain a woman in labor felt.
His insides contracted. Pain, unbelievable pain, lanced up his spine into his skull. His second brain felt like it had been crushed along with his crotch.
In short, Motoyasu was sent flying into the air from a kick to his crotch. And it was beyond glorious to behold.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" His screaming in extreme pain sounded on a pitch that would have sent dogs running and made opera singers envious.
Naofumi, as well as the rest of the knights, stared in shock. Then, the Shield Hero started to smile widely. 'Filo, that one kick made all the effort of raising you worth it.'
He finally understood what it meant to be proud of your kids for doing something great. 'Oh man, you're going to eat good tonight Filo. I'll see to that myself.'
"Are you thinking something rude Naofumi?" Raphtalia asked.
"Are you seriously asking me that in the middle of a battle?" Naofumi glared at Raphtalia for ruining his thought process.
Was it that bad for him to enjoy seeing the Spear Hero get his just deserts?
Filo set her foot back down and harrumphed. "Did Filo do good kicking the bad guy Daddy?" She asked.
"Filo, you did so good that you earned yourself an all you can eat buffet," Naofumi said proudly.
"Yayyyyy!" Filo cheered.
"Naofumi! You shouldn't be rewarding our daughter for kicking people!" Raphtalia argued. She was badly hurt, and the knights were watching them in stunned amazement.
Yet, she was still worried about Naofumi raising their daughter incorrectly.
Speaking of the knights, they finally seemed to come to their senses. "Grab him!" "Take down the Shield Demon!"
They charged at the three of them. Filo took a stance next to Naofumi. "Shall Filo deal with these bad men too Daddy?"
Naofumi was about to answer when Raphtalia's other leg gave out. She looked exhausted and pale. There was another small pool of blood gathering beneath her.
Damn it! He'd been so entranced with Filo kicking Motoyasu that he forgot to heal Raphtalia!
"Filo! Get Raphtalia to the wagon!" He threw Raphtalia onto her back and then held his shield up.
Both Filo and Raphtalia looked to Naofumi in surprise. "But, but what about you?" Raphtalia asked.
"I'll distract them while you get the wagon! Don't worry about me! Find my Health potions, and bandage up whatever they can't heal!" Naofumi's shield changed to the Chimera Viper Shield. "Now, Shield Prison!"
Several of the Knights in the middle of the charging group were suddenly surrounded in a ball of chains and plates. "Go!" Naofumi ordered.
Filo quickly secured Raphtalia on her back with her wings. Then she ran to the wall of the cliff face, latched onto it with her claws, and started to run sideways over some of the Knights. "Stop that bird!" One of the Squad Captains yelled.
"Fast Tornado!" A tornado of wind burst from Filo, kicking up dust and clearing some of the knights that charged for her out of the way.
"Air Strike Shield!"
Naofumi pointed, and three charging knights tripped over a shield that appeared in front of their legs, tumbling them to the ground. Naofumi then pointed at the Shield Prison as it was about to disappear. "Change Shield. Animal Needle Paralysis Shield!"
Screams of pain came from inside as porcupine needles suddenly lined the interior of the Shield Prison. Then the ball of plates and chains disappeared, dropping the paralyzed knights onto the ground.
"Oof!" A knight tried to tackle Naofumi from behind, but Naofumi's high defense stat made it feel like the Knight had just tried to tackle a brick wall.
Naofumi gripped the knight by the top of his chest plate and lifted him up. "Thanks for volunteering to be my balloon,"
Before the Knight could make sense of that, Naofumi turned and threw the knight with surprising force at the three knights who'd tripped over his shield. Instead of being hit by Naofumi's attack stat, the men were hit with the force of a flying knight in armor. The four went tumbling, almost rolling over the cliff face.
"Huahhhh!" Motoyasu finally came running in, screaming several octaves higher than normal as he used his spear to try and thrust at Naofumi. He, however, was still very much in pain from a hit that had almost nearly incapacitated him. And the attack didn't have as much strength behind it as it should have.
Naofumi blocked the spear with his Shield. "My name is Motoyasu Kitamura! And I'm not letting you get away this time Naofumi!"
Naofumi narrowed his eyes. After Filo's kick, he figured he could handle Motoyasu easily.
The shield's counter Snake Venom Fang (medium) activated, and a viper detached from Naofumi's shield and bit down on Motoyasu's arm in between his new armored greaves. "Ahhhhhh!" Motoyasu yelled angrily. "You think one bite is going to stop me!?"
Naofumi was surprised. Then a burst of energy came off of Motoyasu, sending Naofumi tumbling back.
Naofumi grimaced. He could have sworn the ability that had freaked Motoyasu out last time in their duel would hurt him more. And now Motoyasu looked really angry and was holding a new sinister looking spear. "I'm taking back everything you took from me!" He yelled angrily.
"What are you blabbering about now-" Naofumi was asking when Motoyasu jumped at Naofumi with such speed that Naofumi barely raised his Shield to defend himself in time.
The Legendary Spear slammed into the Shield with more force than anything else Naofumi had blocked before. A shockwave came out from the hit, sending rocks and nearby knights flying away from the force of the attack.
Holy hell! Hadn't he just been incapacitated thanks to Filo's kick!? Naofumi jumped back, avoiding another strike from the crazed Spear Hero. The strike made another crater in the ground. Seeing his health gauge, he found that even though he'd blocked that last attack with his shield, he'd still taken a little damage.
That was scary. What weapon form was Motoyasu using that could possibly damage him?!
"Ha!" Another knight tried to slash at Naofumi from behind. But the sword broke at the hilt when it hit against Naofumi's armor. Naofumi then jumped out of the way and watched as Motoyasu's Spear barely missed impaling the stunned knight.
"Get out of my way! Naofumi is mine!" Motoyasu then grabbed the knight by his collar and threw him at the cliff face so he could continue fighting Naofumi. The knight hit the rock wall so hard that an indent crater was left behind, and he collapsed unconscious.
Okay. Naofumi was actually fearing for his life now. He didn't like the look in Motoyasu's eyes, which seemed to have a swampy green aura emanating from them.
"Air Strike Javelin!" Motoyasu's spear glowed and released a familiar green javelin at Naofumi. He remembered what had happened last time he'd tried to block it with a skill and instead used his own shield to block the impact.
Naofumi was knocked back by the explosion. His health gauge went down again even though he'd managed to successfully block Motoyasu's skill.
"Master Naofumi!" Naofumi looked, seeing that Filo had managed to grab the wagon, and Raphtalia was waving for him to run.
Motoyasu charged forward again, yelling as he prepared to unleash another assault on Naofumi. It was then that Naofumi knew he wasn't seeing things.
Motoyasu was moving around faster than normal, and he'd definitely powered up. He couldn't face him in a head-on fight now without getting himself killed.
So Naofumi decided to play dirty.
Instead of moving to block the attack, Naofumi quickly changed to the Voice Gengar Shield and brought the megaphone attached to it up to his mouth.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The Shield Hero's scream echoed off the tops of all the nearby mountains, sending monsters running or flying into the air in their rush to get away from the scary sounding scream.
Motoyasu stopped in his tracks and covered his ears. Naofumi's voice was nowhere near as loud and shrill as Filo's when she yelled into it. But it amplified his battle cry many times over, causing the Spear Hero to cover his ears as it felt like needles were stabbing into his eardrums. Some of the still conscious knights fell to the ground, crying out in either pain or terror.
With Motoyasu not moving, Naofumi quickly put his last-ditch ploy into play.
"Air Strike Shield! Lasso!" Naofumi quickly shouted one after the other.
A green shield appeared behind Motoyasu, and then rope burst from it. In one quick move, Naofumi had Motoyasu wrapped to the skill, struggling to move his upper body. "Damn it! Stop it with your stupid tricks!" Motoyasu yelled angrily as he tried to free himself. His awkward position, however, made it hard for him to maneuver his spear to cut the rope.
Hopefully, this would hold him for long enough.
Naofumi ran away from the fight. Filo ran, using more wind spells to clear the knights out of her path that were dumb enough to think they could stop a few hundred-pound chicken pulling over a ton of weight behind her. She jumped the crater Motoyasu had made in the road earlier, and Raphtalia held on for dear life as the wagon jumped the crater with Filo.
"Master Naofumi!"
Filo was running past on his right. Raphtalia reached out from the back of the wagon to grab his outstretched hand.
Just as Naofumi's hand was about to grab hers. A loud shout came from behind.
"METEOR THRUST!"
Naofumi's eyes widened. Motoyasu had been tied to the Air Strike Shield, but he could still launch that skill from a portal by spinning his spear!
Sure enough, he saw a portal form in the air above and behind the wagon.
He knew from experience that his Shield Prison couldn't stand against the skill, even before Motoyasu had powered up. His Air Strike Shield was already in use. He was still a couple of levels off from being able to use Meteor Shield. And if Motoyasu could injure Filo and take down the wagon, with Raphtalia still hurt and unable to run…
Naofumi reacted instinctively, throwing away his self-preservation for the two people he most cared about in this world.
Instead of grabbing Raphtalia's hand. He jumped in front of the portal, right as the biggest, bluest blast of energy he'd ever seen came barreling out of it.
KABOOM!
What happened in the few seconds after that was a blur.
He could remember himself flying, longer than he'd ever flown before. His arm was numb from blocking the force of that blast. His right arm was covered in burns. His Health Bar had also dropped a good half from the power behind the hit.
It was a miracle he'd survived the attack. In his spinning and flailing when he couldn't tell what was up and what was down, he couldn't think straight.
"OOF!" Naofumi suddenly slammed into the hard ground. Like a car slamming into a brick wall. He'd just fallen seventy-five feet and flown a good distance from the road up above and landed on his pack. Liquids leaked out from it, showcasing the health potions and magic healing waters he'd stored inside had just been broken.
"Naofumi!"
Naofumi's eyes cleared a little, and he saw Raphtalia up above holding to the wagon. The back covering of the wagon had been burned away, but the rest of the wagon was still intact and being pulled by Filo. Both of them were looking down at him in horror.
"I'm fine! Get out of here before Motoyasu launches another skill!" Naofumi yelled up to them as he stood back up. His Health gauge had fallen another fourth from that fall. Much like long ago when he'd jumped from the second story of the inn onto the streets of the Capital. Leveling up his defense really had done wonders for him. But now he was at around 25% health. He began the chant for his healing spell.
"But-" Raphtalia tried to say.
"Now!" "Take down the Shield Hero while he's weak!"
A squad of five knights that had been hiding out down below just in case Naofumi tried to escape that way burst from their hiding places. All five tackled Naofumi back down to the ground before he could cast healing magic on himself. Raphtalia gasped in shock up above.
"Don't worry! I'll catch up! Get out of here before Motoyasu kills you both!" Naofumi yelled up at them from under the Capital Knights. A few of which were trying to hack at him with their swords. Had they been working together as those Church Knights had long ago in the arena, they could have combined their defense skills and outclassed his defense in a grapple move. They had worked together to tackle him down. But each was swiping one at a time, and they weren't even giving him a paper cut. Barely an itching feeling on his skin. And without all five working together, they were finding it very hard to force him into a grapple effect.
Growling, Naofumi raised his Chimera Viper Shield up and blocked one of the knight's strikes with it.
Snake Venom Fang activated once more, biting the man whose strike he'd blocked.
"AH!" The knight screamed as he fell back, gripping his arm and dropping his sword.
"Huah!" Naofumi deflected another Knight's sword at just the right moment, causing it to instead slash into the armor of one of his compatriots while simultaneously activating the counterattack again, causing another viper to bite the knight who's sword he'd deflected.
"Augh!" Both screamed in pain as they let go of his arms.
Up above, Filo was still running, but looking down below as the area where Naofumi was fighting disappeared from view. "Filo and Mommy have to help Daddy!" Filo yelled in worry.
Raphtalia was in the back of the wagon, trying to find where Naofumi had stored his various potions in the crates. She needed to use several Health Potions to recover now so she could help! But the explosion had made a mess in the back of the wagon. And looking back down the road, she saw Knights on horseback trying to pursue them. "Filo, run as fast as you can! Try to find the closest path down to Naofumi up ahead!" Raphtalia yelled to Filo.
"Okay! Filo believes that Filo saw one up ahead mommy!" She started running harder than ever, and the knights chasing them on horseback fell behind, and then out of sight.
Raphtalia kept on looking but glanced through the back of the wagon down at the forest below where Naofumi was fighting the Knights. 'Please, just fight for long enough so that we can find you.' Raphtalia thought in worry.
She finally found and grabbed a health potion from a crate that had been stuffed away in the bottom of the pile.
Health Potion
Quality: Below Average
Urgh, it'd been too long since it'd been made... Raphtalia uncorked it and began to drink it.
"Lasso!"
Naofumi thrust forward with a thing of rope at one of the remaining knights that tried to back away. Roping him around the chest. "Ah! Ahhhh!" The Knight screamed in terror.
With a mighty tug, Naofumi swung the Knight through the air into the last standing knight.
"Shield Prison! Change Shield! Animal Needle Paralysis Shield!"
In quick succession, the last two knights were encased in the infamous ball of chains and shields, and Naofumi used almost the rest of his SP as he punctured the knights inside with porcupine needles dripping with paralysis venom.
The skill dissipated, and the two knights dropped to the ground. Unable to move.
Around Naofumi, the three other knights were either unconscious or trying to take anti-venom for their bite wounds.
It sucked that he couldn't attack directly. But at least he'd managed to deal with them by himself-
"Naofumi!"
Naofumi turned just as Motoyasu slid the rest of the way down the cliff face, digging his spear into the wall to slow him down enough that he took no fall damage when he hit the ground. He stood awkwardly and still spoke an octave higher than normal, but he still looked angry and willing to fight. His spear was also cloaked with a mysterious sinister miasma.
"It's time we end this!" He said, raising his spear at Naofumi before he charged forward again.
Naofumi grimaced and held up his shield in a defensive pose. He didn't have enough SP for any more skills. And after Motoyasu's last attack, another Meteor Thrust would very likely kill him.
"Damn it Motoyasu!? I haven't even done anything bad since our last duel-" Naofumi started to say.
"Shut your mouth Naofumi!" Motoyasu said angrily as he slammed his spear into Naofumi's shield again. Snake Venom Fang activated once more, but Motoyasu didn't even look phased as the viper bit into his arm.
Naofumi's already numb arm burned from the force behind the attack. "You've done plenty of bad things! You turned the people of Lute Village against me! You took the miracle I gave the town of Leruno and mutated it into a monster! You made me doubt my friends and live in exile for a long time! Everything is your fault!"
"What the hell are you talking about Motoyasu?! I wasn't even near Lute when all that crap went down. And I've never heard of a town named Leruno before-"
"Shut up!" Motoyasu slammed his spear into Naofumi's shield again, and Naofumi flew back into a tree. "The Shadows already told me you'd try to lie to me again so that you could brainwash me into letting you rape and pillage your way to Shieldfreeden! I won't allow it!"
'Shadows? Does he mean the Church's Shadows?' Despite the thought, Naofumi felt himself getting pissed. He'd imagined his next meet up with Motoyasu being somewhat better than this after his experiences with the other heroes.
"Are you trying to act like an idiot!?" Naofumi asked Motoyasu angrily. "I don't know how to mutate something into a monster! I haven't raped or pillaged from any towns! Hell, I've been traveling around as a freaking night merchant! Selling medicine to those who need it! If you had only looked in the back of my wagon you would have seen the truth-"
"STOP LYING TO ME!"
Naofumi was stunned by the force in Motoyasu's voice. He was clutching his spear angrily, and his eyes looked even more crazed.
"You're a monster! A horrible monster! You're brainwashing poor Raphtalia into loving you! You're the one who turned my friends against me! You're brainwashing everyone you meet to turn against me, and I'm going to stop you!" Motoyasu yelled with determination, taking on a fighting stance. "I'm going to turn you in and take everything you took away from me back! My friends, my honor, my status, my money, everything!"
Naofumi grimaced. This was different. Motoyasu had always seemed like more of an easy-going skirt chaser. But his tone, his stance, his eyes, everything was different. Everything about him screamed that he genuinely thought that Naofumi was a monster.
Why was he acting like this? Bitch wasn't around to control him or anything. So... why?
"... Motoyasu, do you really think that I'm a monster?" Naofumi asked seriously.
... Motoyasu looked a little confused by Naofumi's question. "What?" He asked.
"Think about it. If I'm raping and pillaging. If I'm going around killing everyone I meet... if I'm brainwashing Raphtalia... to love me…" He had to pause to say that last part, because of how cruel it sounded to him. Could Motoyasu really think he'd sink that low? "Then why did I protect her from that skill of yours? Why didn't I use it as an opportunity to escape? You can see how much that cost me. I have no SP, and I'm at low health. You won't give me enough time to cast magic on myself. So why? Why did I do it Motoyasu?! Is that the action of a monster?!"
...
Motoyasu looked unsure how to respond to that. In his opinion, Naofumi hadn't needed to use his own shield to block the skill. He could have let his two party members get hurt in the blast so he could escape.
And yet... he hadn't.
He lowered his spear, which lost some of its sinister miasma surrounding it. "No…"
"Then please, just listen to me for one moment-" Naofumi started to say. Maybe he could still somehow reason with him.
He felt something slightly prick his neck, causing him to gasp in surprise.
"Excellent work. Spear Hero." A familiar-looking nun came out of the underbrush. A pair of Church Shadows flanked her. "You distracted the Shield Devil perfectly."
"M-Motoyasu-" Naofumi's voice started to slur.
Motoyasu's thoughtful look was replaced with sadness. The aura around his spear disappeared entirely as it changed into a different weapon form. "I'm sorry Naofumi. It has to be this way." He said, sadly holding his spear to the side. "I can't fail again. I need what you have back."
Naofumi dizzily felt at his neck and pulled out a familiar-looking dart. A little drop of his blood was on the tip. It had barely pricked his skin because of his defense stat. But the concealed, high leveled Altara's attack stat had been enough.
It had pierced him, and it had delivered its contents into his system.
His eyesight started to dim, and Naofumi staggered to the ground. His hand reached into his pack to pull out a Sleep Resistance Potion, only for it to come back wet.
Right, the fall... everything he'd had on hand had broken in the fall.
"You bastard… I didn't do… anything wrong..." Naofumi drawled, feeling tiredness encroaching on him.
"You've done plenty wrong Shield Demon." Altara said accusingly. "And now, the time at last has come to make you pay."
Naofumi crawled forward, reaching for Motoyasu.
Motoyasu backed away, letting Naofumi fall flat to the ground. "I need to bring you in Naofumi. I need you to fall if I ever want to rise to what I was before."
Naofumi couldn't keep his eyes open. The tranquilizer quickly putting him to sleep. Motoyasu turned to speak with the most hateful nun Naofumi had ever met.
'Damn… I should have seen this coming... I'm sorry Raphtalia… Filo… I won't be… cooking that all you can eat buffet for you two… after all…'
Naofumi felt cuffs being placed on his wrists, and seconds later, he passed out.
A half hour went by.
The wheels of the wagon rattled against the rocks on the ground. The cliff face of the road passed high on their left. On their right, the trees of the forest reached out to the sky. Thunder boomed up above, and rain started to fall.
Raphtalia sat in the driver's seat despite the falling rain. She clung to Filo's reins like a lifeline. Her injuries had all been healed up thanks to Naofumi's potions, and her MP bar was almost full. Though, she still had a bad taste in her mouth from the potions that'd probably been past their expiration date.
At least they'd worked.
'Naofumi… please be okay…' She thought in worry.
It'd taken them longer than she'd hoped to find a path down the cliff into the forest. It'd also taken them some time to find a route through the trees that their wagon could fit through. And with Filo pulling the wagon, the extra weight slowed her down. The mud forming from the rain would only make things worse if they didn't get to Naofumi soon.
'Please, please let him be okay.' Raphtalia prayed as she kept a lookout for Naofumi and for danger.
The trees thinned out into a small clearing, and Filo stopped. "Filo, what is it…"
...
...
"No…" Raphtalia whispered.
"Daddy…" Filo whimpered.
Damage had been done to the trees all around because of Naofumi's struggles with the knights and Motoyasu. There was a Naofumi shaped impact crater filling with rainwater. Bark and branches littered the ground alongside bits and pieces of armor.
Their owners were long gone. The area was empty. Except for the broken soldier's armor and weapons, and one other major thing.
"They… daddy…"
Raphtalia jumped out of the wagon and ran up to what was lying on the ground. "No, Gods please, NO! NO!" Left to rust and rot away in the weather was Naofumi's Barbarian Armor. His breastplate, his arm guards, his leg guards, all of it. Discarded by the people who had captured him.
The intent was obvious. Naofumi would no longer need them where they were taking him.
"No…"
Raphtalia picked up the breastplate, tears appearing in the corner of her eyes as she saw her own sad reflection staring back at her. The rain continued to fall against it, blurring her image with the small droplets of water. She hugged the breastplate close. "NAOFUMIIIIIIII!"
She'd failed him. The moment he'd needed her the most, she'd failed him.
If only she hadn't gotten herself hurt. If only she hadn't been taken by surprise when Motoyasu attacked. If only a million other things she could have done had happened, then maybe this scenario wouldn't have happened.
...
"Mommy…"
She'd failed him. She'd failed the man who saved her. The man she loved with all her heart.
Raphtalia cried, her tears mixing with the rain falling on her cheeks. If only, if only-
"Mom!"
Raphtalia looked up as Filo grabbed her shoulders with her wings. Filo was looking down at the ground. She sniffed, not having realized that she'd been crying the whole time. "What is it Filo?" She asked, wiping away rain and tears from her face.
"Mommy... We can't give up now! Daddy still needs Mommy and Filo!" Filo yelled. Her eyes looked at her mom's, and they went aflame with determination and indignation that Daddy had been taken away from their family.
"Daddy would never give up if Filo or Mommy were taken! Now Filo and Mommy can't give up on Daddy! Filo and Mommy have to go after Daddy!"
Raphtalia blinked in surprise at Filo. This Filolial, who thought of them as her parents…
Raphtalia's face hardened with her own determination. "You're right. We can't give up now!"
She grabbed Naofumi's armor and placed it in the wagon. She'd hand it back to Naofumi herself, even if it was the last thing she'd ever do. She then jumped into the driver's seat, and grabbed Filo's reins. "Filo! We're going to the Capital!" She ordered Filo.
"Okay!… …"
...
Filo didn't move.
…
...
...
"Um, mommy, where's the Capital?" She asked.
…
Raphtalia facepalmed. 'Filo's never been there before… and Master Naofumi held all the maps of Melromarc.'
She knew where they'd been before. She could remember the Capital being northwest of them. But she didn't know where since they had only gone there twice, and the first time was while they were smuggled away in the back of a wagon.
Looking down at the ground, the rain was washing away the tracks of their pursuers too. What a brilliant time for the weather to get in their freaking way.
"... let's head back to the town you and Naofumi visited to get directions." Raphtalia took the more logical approach. "Then, we'll go save Master Naofumi!" She said determinedly.
"Okay!" Filo yelled with more excitement. She turned the wagon around, and then booked it at high speed back the way they came.
Raphtalia held tightly to the reins. Despite the sense of loss she felt, she smiled. The reasons why being: one, she was glad that she wouldn't be impeded by motion sickness for the ride that was to come. And two, because she was determined not to give up on Naofumi.
She was going to break into the Capital, rescue him, return his armor, and, if she was forced too, she was going to fulfill the promise she made back in the duel arena after standing up for him.
'Those knights are dead.' If they'd inflicted any kind of harm to the Shield Hero…
Well, she'd repay them in kind. Tenfold.
Hero Clips!
My Name is Motoyasu Kitamura
"My name is Motoyasu Kitamura! And I'm not letting you get away this time Naofumi!"
Naofumi blocked Motoyasu's attack. "I don't know. Don't you think that introduction sounds a little too villainous for a hero?" Naofumi asked while blocking the Spear.
...
Motoyasu thought about it. "Yeah, you're right."
Their weapons fell to their sides, and the two took a step back from each other to think things over. "Now that you say it, that kind of introduction doesn't sound very heroic to me." Motoyasu said.
"Yeah, it seems to… what's the word? Edgy." Naofumi said.
"You're right. I need to think of something else to say… Wait, I got it!" He leveled his spear again. "My name is Motoyasu Kitamura, and I'm going to avenge my friends!"
"Have I been hurting your friends lately?" Naofumi asked curiously.
"Ugh, no, you're right. That isn't it either." Motoyasu said as he relaxed his stance and got back to thinking.
"Maybe drop saying your last name. It makes the introduction sound too long, and maybe it'll help make it easier to think of what to say next." Naofumi suggested.
"Alright, I'll give it a try!" Motoyasu readied his spear again. "My name is Motoyasu, and I'm the one that's going to take you down!"
"A little better. But I still think it needs some fine-tuning." Naofumi said blandly.
"Damn it!" Motoyasu repeated his pose. "My name is Motoyasu the Love Seeker, and I'm gonna-"
"Love Seeker?" Naofumi interrupted.
"Sorry. My spin-off got to me for a moment there." Motoyasu apologized.
"Try again."
"My name is Motoyasu! And… um… damn it! I can't think of something good to say after that!"
"Try thinking about this. What has been your greatest desire since coming to this world?" Naofumi suggested tiredly. How much longer was this going to go on for? Was it really that hard to come up with a nice introduction?
"My greatest desire… Alright! I've got it! This will blow everyone away!" Motoyasu took an offensive stance.
"My name is Motoyasu and I'm going to make love to this spear!"
...
...
...
...
…
Naofumi was stunned. Actually, scratch that. Human words wouldn't have sufficed the shock he felt at Motoyasu saying such a thing.
"Huh, don't you think that's like the best introduction ever?" Motoyasu asked. "Sometimes, I imagine my Spear being the embodiment of some cute angel waifu, and you know how much I'm into angels..." Motoyasu trailed off while dreamily looking at his Spear.
"... yeah… I'd like to order a mind wipe before the next chapter please Allen." Naofumi said while facepalming.
"You and me both..." A voice muttered from the sky.
Too bad it would be impossible for the author to wipe this from his memory. Or the memories of everyone else, for that matter.
Now, you get to suffer, just like me.
Till Next Time
Allen