Had a couple of exams last week. Sorry for the delay. I hope you guys like the chapter. Review and critique.
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Date, I Spy, And Big Surprise
Naofumi groaned as he stretched his back out. "Really, what the hell were we thinking?"
"I'm sorry, I just didn't want us to move from our spot." Raphtalia smiled abashedly.
Naofumi's entire body felt stiff. He twisted his back, popping his muscles back into place. It relieved his tension somewhat, but not entirely. He was once again reminded of just how much he hated sleeping on the ground. "I wish my defense stat protected me from getting sore too."
Raphtalia giggled at Naofumi's complaint, holding onto one of his hands while stretching her other arm out. The two lovers were currently walking along one of the streets of Melromarc's Capital. And despite the early morning, Raphtalia was as happy as she could be.
The Queen had been satisfied that Naofumi had listened to her orders, and had consequently given him permission to leave the camp once again. She'd also been pleased about him speaking to her daughter and husband. She was even happier that he'd even gone out of his way to make Trash's favorite dinner dish. Apparently, it'd put him in a good mood before bed that night. Something that was rare for Mirellia to witness these days.
Naofumi had tried to ask her about Melty, but apparently, the Second Princess had already left very early in the morning to head back home.
That was unfortunate. He could have at least offered to portal her back. Then again, now that they'd talked, at last, it'd probably be better for Naofumi to give her some time and space so she could come to terms with what had happened.
As for Itsuki, Mirellia was keeping him around the camp for a while longer. Apparently, the young boy had trouble falling asleep the previous night.
And by trouble falling asleep, Itsuki had tried to sneak out of the camp… several times.
His stubbornness in wanting to find Ren was admirable, but the damn kid just didn't know when to give up against Mirellia's shadows. It ended up taking a sleeping potion and Rishia staying by his bedside for the blonde kid to finally stop trying. And because he hadn't obeyed, Mirellia was having him patrol around the camp for today.
Naofumi realized. The Queen had been more open lately about bossing them around than before… then again, now that Naofumi felt he was over most of the initial shock of Ren's kidnapping, her actions in doing so may have been valid. Stupid, panicked actions like what he and Itsuki had committed the previous few days wouldn't help anyone.
He wasn't pleased to be played like a fiddle, but the Queen was looking out for them. And Itsuki hadn't listened, so...
As for the rest of Naofumi's party, Filo was currently receiving some more training from Fitoria. Eclair was keeping watch over Wyndia with Tersia and Farrie instead of sparring. Dou-Lon had received a message from his hakuko friend, requesting to see him for some reason right before they'd left. That meant it was just Raphtalia with him for now.
And honestly, that was probably a good thing. Sometimes, it was better to just have Raphtalia to himself instead of having to share her attention with other people.
The two were initially headed towards Elhart's shop. But had taken a detour so they could spend more time together. Naofumi's Mask Shield sat comfortably over his face, and Raphtalia held his hand while smiling at passerby. She had illusion magic up that made her look like a normal human to them. His girlfriend's abilities continued to amaze Naofumi.
If she could find a way to disguise his shield and his face so nobody would recognize him as the Shield Hero, he would forever love her. Mostly because he'd had an incident shortly after they got there with somebody recognizing him as that famous cook from Cal Mira.
He also realized that it'd been a while since they'd gone out by themselves like this. They were always surrounded by Filo and their other friends. But for them to just walk the streets of Melromarc together without any other party members, heroes, or anyone else bothering them…
Damn. No offense to Filo, but he needed these kinds of dates with Raphtalia more often.
This was a date, right? Taking your girlfriend to the armor shop to make sure she was all decked out to kick some &^% would be considered a date, right?
It was probably a date by local standards at least.
"Ooh, look at that." At first, Naofumi thought Raphtalia had stopped him to smell some flowers on a stand that was on display. They did look pretty and smelled very nice.
But then, he realized that she was actually pointing at the accessory stand. There was a somewhat rough-looking spiked bracelet on display that would increase the user's attack and speed. "That'd help to make me stronger, right Naofumi?" Raphtalia asked excitedly.
…
"Naofumi, why do you look so disappointed?" The girl's enthusiasm dampened somewhat.
"It's nothing." Naofumi sighed as he approached the stall.
He sometimes wondered if it was his fault that Raphtalia no longer took an interest in girly things. Once the waves were over, he hoped that would change.
A few minutes after buying the bracelet, they finally reached Elhart's shop. Naofumi pushed open the door, ringing the bell overhead. "Just a minute!"
It came as no surprise when he found Elhart in the back of his store, working at the anvil on his latest project. Raphtalia and Naofumi waited as the blacksmith finished what he was doing. He took his Mask Shield off in the meantime.
"Alright." Elhart set his tools down after setting his project aside and stood up. "Welcome to my shop, what can I do for yo- ah, Shield brat!"
"Old man." Naofumi casually jabbed back as he held out his hand. "Everything going well since last time?"
"Of course! Even with half the city gone, I'm still as busy as ever!" The kind blacksmith energetically shook Naofumi's hand. "And the young miss is here too!?"
Raphtalia smiled brightly. "It's great to see you again Elhart!"
Elhart smiled widely at her, but then he started to waggle his eyebrows at the Shield Hero. "So. Are you finally here to make that request?"
"W… what request?" Naofumi's guard went up. He didn't like the look on the blacksmith's face one bit. He'd seen it way too often in the past to not know that Elhart was about to make him regret coming here today.
"You know, first comes love, then comes…" Elhart held up two silver bands that'd been lying on his counter.
His smirk became so big that Naofumi immediately wished that he could punch it off his face.
"Eh-hem!" Naofumi coughed into his arm.
"Now now, don't tell me you two skipped that part to make a baby already." Elhart continued to tease.
"!" Was it suddenly hotter in this room, or was it just Naofumi? Had the blacksmith guessed what they'd almost gotten themselves into the night before?
"U-Um, E-Elhart, w-we wanted to c-c-check and see if any of N-N-Naofumi's orders were r-ready yet!" Raphtalia stuttered uncharacteristically. Looking down, Naofumi found her face was just as red as he was.
"Ah come on bro! Do you mean you're not even remotely interested?! I mean, just look at how cute you two look right now!" Elhart looked to be trying very hard not to break down laughing.
"Uh…" Naofumi looked at Raphtalia again, but she was looking away now. That didn't hide the fact that her tail was wagging like crazy, and that her blushing was so prominent that it was visible on the sides of her neck.
...
Naofumi took a deep breath. When he was finished, he calmly glared at the smirking blacksmith. "Do you really have to tease us like that?" He asked in annoyance.
The kind blacksmith finally started laughing. "You and I both know that it's been a while since it was just the two of you that walked in here. So that has to mean something special is going on."
Naofumi smirked. "I mean, when is any moment alone with my girl not special?"
"Ack- Naofumi!" Raphtalia turned around, blushing even more furiously than before. Elhart actually looked surprised at the bold statement that'd left Naofumi's mouth. Naofumi simply laughed though as he hugged the half-tanuki girl close, nuzzling his face in her hair. "Come on Raphtalia, I'm just teasing him back. I know it's embarrassing, but put up with it for me."
"B-But why does it have to be at my expense!" She complained.
"That's what makes it fun though." His smile proved infectious and she started smiling at him in return before suddenly bopping him on the nose with a giggle.
"Wow, you two are acting so lovey-dovey with each other today that I might actually vomit." Elhart shook his head. The happy couple didn't comment though and instead held their foreheads together while looking in each other's eyes lovingly.
"Bro?... Bro?" Elhart tried grabbing Naofumi's attention with little success. Had they just tuned him out even after his A grade teasing? Elhart looked closely at the two. That was unusual for the brat, but not in the way it was before.
"Hey!" Elhart finally grabbed their attention again. The two looked surprised at the more solemn expression he had now. "I just wanted to say… you really do seem like you're doing a lot better than before, kid."
"... Yeah." Naofumi turned towards Elhart again. "I mean, it still feels like everything's going to hell in the world…"
"You got that right." The blacksmith sighed.
"But… it's a lot better now." Naofumi looked down at the girl in his arms. She smiled at him, and he swore he could get lost in that smile for hours.
It was definitely better in several regards.
"Heh." Elhart chuckled. "I miss young love."
"Because you're too old to experience it?" Naofumi quipped, drawing away from the half-tanuki girl.
"Hey, I'm not that old," Elhart complained.
"Yeah, and I'm not wearing a shield on my arm." Naofumi pointed at said shield.
"Well, at least I can wield a sword, brat!" Elhart countered.
"Try swinging one at me, I'd be good for a laugh seeing you break your hard work!" Naofumi smirked.
The playful banter continued between the two for a couple of minutes. Raphtalia sat back and watched, her blush slowly fading from her features. She smiled as fond memories came to mind.
This felt nice. Much nicer than the previous few weeks. It reminded her of the times she first got to know Elhart.
They didn't get to spend much time with him back then in retrospect. But the bald man had clearly made a positive impact on Naofumi's life. And that was part of the reason why he still came back to see him now and again even with the blacksmith they had in their village. In Naofumi's mind, no one could ever replace Elhart as the best blacksmith in the world.
She paid careful attention to her boyfriend though. She didn't want to think that he was faking it again just so she would feel better like before…
It was hard to tell. Naofumi had a readable face, but after last time, she had her doubts that he was okay. But… it did seem like, right now, Naofumi the Shield Hero was genuinely happy.
She wished it could always be like this...
"So, any of my orders ready yet?" Naofumi finally asked.
"Bro, you have me busy with all sorts of projects on top of everything else that I need to do, who do you think I am?" The old man demanded.
"The best blacksmith in Melromarc," Naofumi replied in a bored tone.
"And don't you ever forget it!" Elhart pounded his chest proudly. "Still, you can't expect me to just make an entirely new armor set for your level amongst everything else that I've been trying to work on in less than a week! I still need more time to get it finished!"
"I don't remember you taking this long to work on the Barbarian Armor!" Naofumi complained.
"Hey, if you'd had me remake it, I possibly could have had it done by now." Elhart jibed.
"Are you that motivated to make me look like a bandit king?!" Naofumi asked incredulously.
"You certainly got the face of one!" Elhart started laughing again.
"I don't care what you think, I want something that won't make me look like a villain to people." Naofumi scowled.
"Oh? Is that so? Maybe I should offer you a nice full-face helmet then? Something to hide that mean-spirited visage of yours?." Elhart smirked.
Naofumi scowled, but Raphtalia rested a hand on his shoulder. "Well, I'd rather my boyfriend wear something that makes him stronger rather than something that'd make him look cool," Raphtalia said.
"See, thank you Raphtalia-" Naofumi suddenly paused as he comprehended her choice of words, and Raphtalia giggled as she kissed him on the cheek.
"You did look pretty cool in that Barbarian Armor, Naofumi." She didn't back down from her statement either.
Naofumi frowned. He'd lost this round of banter. Was this her way of getting back at him for embarrassing her earlier?
"So what do you say?" Elhart asked, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously.
"Whatever. Continue working on that damn armor old man." Naofumi glared.
"Alright bro, you're the one paying for my services after all." Elhart's smirk turned into a grin. "Quite a lot too. How's that wallet of yours holding up lately?"
Naofumi answered by flipping the blacksmith off, which made Elhart burst out into laughter again.
Some things never change, do they?
"How about a temporary set at least? Raphtalia would feel a lot better if I had somewhat decent armor to wear in the meantime." Naofumi remarked. Strangely, without his old armor, he felt oddly vulnerable even with his high defense stat.
"Oh, funny that you mentioned that. I was thinking the same thing." Elhart smirked. "Behold!"
In one quick movement, he unveiled something he'd had covered on the counter, and…
"What is this?" Naofumi asked skeptically.
"Siderite Armor!" The blacksmith stated proudly.
Siderite Armor: Defense Up (Medium), Shock Resistance (Large), Flame Resistance (Medium), Hp Recovery (Small), [Autonomous Repair]
This set had a full chest plate that included shoulder pads. It had sleeves, but they were chain-link instead of full Siderite to allow for flexible arm movement. That same style also extended down over his gut before going back to solid Siderite thigh pads on his legs. It looked like it was designed to both protect the individual while still allowing for mobility. Naofumi wasn't sure if he'd be very comfortable wearing this though.
It had decent stats at least. It was just a bit weaker than the old Barbarian Armor 2.0 he'd been wearing before. It also wouldn't make him look like a bandit king. However…
"Does it have to be all blue?" Naofumi deadpanned.
"Hey, you have no idea what strings I had to pull to acquire this!" Elhart said angrily. "There wasn't much else out there I could find thanks to the uproar the Spirit Tortoise caused in the world! The least you could do is be grateful, brat!"
"Naofumi, you do need armor." Raphtalia pointed out.
"But, urgh…" Naofumi groaned. He wished he'd gotten some better armor drops from the monsters on Cal Mira besides the stupid Penguin suits. If Elhart had managed to grab this even with the world being in chaos thanks to the Guardian Beast's awakening... "Fine, how much?"
Elhart's grin turned into a smile. "Since you already paid me a lot for the new armor, consider this a free rental."
"Really?" Naofumi asked in surprise.
"Yep. Think of it as something to wear until your new armor is done. Just remember punk, you break it." His face turned serious. "You buy it."
"Of… of course." Naofumi sweatdropped. Did the blacksmith really think he was going to turn this armor into hot molten garbage just like his previous armor set?
He could still recall that experience. Hell, there was still an indent from where the blacksmith had slammed his fist into the counter from before. He'd rather not have another dumb repeat of that.
Otherwise, he really would go broke.
A few minutes later, Naofumi walked out of the dressing room. He pulled uncomfortably at the new chest plate and thigh pads he was wearing. The shoulder pads definitely didn't feel right to him at all. He was only grateful he was still able to wear a set of clothing underneath all this.
"Well… how do I look, Raphtalia?" He asked.
"Hmmm…" The half-Tanuki girl looked the Shield Hero over. After a moment, she sighed and shook her head. "It'll have to do. You'll have Naofumi's new armor ready soon, right Elhart?"
"Of course, miss!" Elhart saluted. "I'll make sure your boyfriend is nice and well protected by the time it's done!"
Naofumi began blushing again, but Raphtalia smiled as she held his hand. "Thank you so much."
"It's nothing, really. Now, while you're here, is that sword of yours still holding up?" Elhart asked.
"Yes, it's doing quite nicely." Raphtalia took the white sword out of her sheath to present to Elhart. "That blood rinse coating you put on it has made maintaining the blade a lot easier."
"That's great! It doesn't look like there are any scratches in the metal either!" Elhart picked up the high-leveled weapon and began to examine it closely. He gave it a few test swings, then began testing to make sure it was still as sharp as before.
As the blacksmith looked it over, Naofumi finally took a good look at the blade with his HUD.
Usuani Sword: quality: High: imbued effects: Agility Up, Magic Up, Swordsmanship Up, blood clean rinse
Huh, the negative qualities that'd been present on it before were gone. The curse it'd been under was also gone, and its stats were higher than before. It had a higher level requirement too. Elhart had really outdone himself with Raphtalia's blade.
Thinking about it, it was probably the same thing for Filo's claws too. They'd been white instead of black whenever he saw the little girl using them.
He was surprised though that the blacksmith was able to swing the sword around so naturally despite its high-level requirement. Then again, he'd never seen Elhart's stats before, so maybe the old man was just stronger than he looked?
Naofumi also hadn't heard of a blood-clean rinse enchantment before. Normally, Raphtalia's weapons from the blacksmith had a blood-coat rinse enchantment. Was blood clean a weaker form of blood coat? Perhaps Elhart had to use that since the sword had some pretty strong enchantments on it already.
Not that it really mattered to Naofumi anyway, since he'd never need such an enchantment for his weapon. 'That's right, I'm talking about you Shield.'
Unfortunately, Naofumi didn't get a response from the shield on his arm.
It was probably better that way. The moment his weapon talked back would be the moment he'd know he'd gone insane thanks to this strange world.
"Hmm, come to think of it… Naofumi, you had more of those swords from that boss monster, right?" Raphtalia asked, interrupting his thought process.
"Yeah, why?" Naofumi looked confused at suddenly being addressed.
"Well, Eclair has been forced to rely on replacement swords lately. So why don't you give one of those swords to Elhart here and see if he can make something for her?" She asked.
Naofumi scratched his chin and then looked at the blacksmith. "Would you be able to do that?"
"Sure, I still have plenty of materials that you gave me to upgrade the last sword and claws." He smiled. "I'll even do it for a discount of ten gold."
TEN GOLD-
Naofumi sighed as he pulled the coins out of his shield. His wallet was screaming at him about his lack of funding.
He really wished he could see L'Arc and Therese again so he could make another accessory that'd rake in a lot more gold. It'd be so easy too… even easier than making medicine and traveling around as the Nocturnal Doctor again…
He really had a lot to get back to after this mess was over, huh?
"Thank you for your business." Elhart whistled as he pocketed the ten coins. Naofumi grumbled as he pulled an extra Usauni Sword (cursed) from his shield and deposited it on the counter for the blacksmith.
Eclair better be damn appreciative of this blade. Especially if it ended up acquiring a Swordsmanship Up enchantment on it like Raphtalia's when it was done.
Then again, would that enchantment even make a difference for a monster like Eclair?
"Naofumi, we should probably head back now," Raphtalia suggested. In a way, it was like she was purposefully interrupting his rude thought process without pointing out that she was doing that. When he glared at her, she only smiled mischievously as she kissed him on the cheek.
Damn it. Why did she have to be so cute?
"Take care, you two!" Elhart yelled after them as they left the shop together.
Elhart began to whistle as he took the blade and walked over to the anvil, where all his many other projects laid to the side in various states of progress.
It was nice, really. He was happy to see the kid back to normal. Well, his version of normal at least. That dark look he'd noticed in his eyes before was gone now.
It made Elhart feel a lot better about the young Shield Hero… he just hoped that it would stay that way now.
…
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Naofumi suddenly poked his head back through the door. "Any new shields or gauntlets since last time-"
"GET OUT, BRAT!" Elhart threw his hammer at the door with all his strength. The Shield Hero laughed as it impacted against his face with a dull CLANG before he turned around and ran out.
Urgh! Elhart picked his badly bent hammer off the ground. The head had broken off the handle thanks to slamming into something that was much harder than a brick wall.
"I'm tired of you breaking and stealing my &^%$ you damn brat!" Was it any wonder that the Shield Hero looked like a bandit king to the old blacksmith!?
After getting back to the camp, Naofumi found Filo, Eclair, Dou-Lon, and Fitoria waiting for him and Raphtalia in front of his tent. A look of excitement was on the hakuko's face.
"What's going on?" He asked. Had something happened that he wasn't aware of?... or was this them being aware that he and Raphtalia had gone on a date, and now they wanted to pick at their business and try to gather the juicy details and-
"Sir Naofumi, I have great news! It's about the refugees that Chen saved last night!" Dou-Lon said.
Naofumi looked at Raphtalia in confusion. "Is that who those strangers in the back of the wagon were yesterday?" He asked.
"Oh, right, I probably should have told you about that." Raphtalia chuckled awkwardly. "Anyway, you were saying Dou-Lon?"
"My friend got to talk to them. And they told her that they'd seen the Spear Hero!" He said excitedly.
…
Naofumi's eyes widened. "What?!" He looked at everyone there again. Eclair wasn't showing it, but her body looked poised, as if ready to take off. Fitoria, though calm, had emotion sparkling in her eyes.
And Filo was… "Boo! Why did it have to be Spear Guy?!" … Being Filo.
At least they weren't there to tease him about his date.
"Filo, you should know how important it is to find the missing Heroes." Fitoria calmly told the younger girl.
"Filo knows it's important! But why did it have to be Spear Guy?! Why couldn't it have been Sword Guy?!" Filo complained again.
"Wow, that's… wow, that's actually good news," Naofumi said, unable to hide the surprise from his voice.
"I know, lucky break, huh!" Dou-Lon said excitedly.
Yeah, it was almost too lucky. With how long the world had been trying to screw him over, it almost seemed too coincidental that Raphtalia's search for the missing dog girl last night had led to this.
"Are you sure they actually saw Motoyasu?" Naofumi asked.
"Yes, according to them, it was around a week ago." Dou-Lon proceeded to detail how this group of people had been escaping from the Spirit Tortoise's path of destruction. How they'd witnessed the Spear Hero and his party trying all sorts of things to try and stall it. They didn't see the moment he was defeated, or what'd inevitably happened to him and his party members, however...
"They got his physical description correct and even described a couple of the attacks that they'd seen him use. Including one that filled the air around him with a bunch of flaming spears." When Dou-Lon said that, Naofumi was convinced that the info was factual.
That was one of Motoyasu's signature moves. Not many people would know a detail like that. "Where did they see him?" Naofumi asked.
"They believe they last saw him…" Dou-Lon pulled out a map of the eastern countries they'd been exploring. "Around… here." Dou-Lon pointed to an area close to where they'd paused their search the day before.
"…" Naofumi put a hand to his face. Were they really that close to the Spear Hero's last known location?!
"Unbelievable." Raphtalia sounded awed at the news. Not that he felt relief knowing they were close, it was just… couldn't they have gotten this info sooner?! Was that too much to ask for?! They could have immediately gone to this area instead of searching high and low everywhere else!
Though who would have helped with dealing with the remaining familiars, or finding out what areas needed assistance with rebuilding, or… fine, whatever world. Thanks for at least giving them this boon for once.
"Can you portal us over there now, Fitoria?" Naofumi asked.
"I'm sorry, Fitoria and her flock were searching elsewhere. I don't have any locations saved near that part of the world." The bird queen said. She looked down at not being of immediate use, but Naofumi immediately began to pat the queen on the head, causing her eyes to widen from surprise.
"It's fine. You've already been working harder than us anyway. I can portal us all there once my timer is done. Then, you can work on getting the rest of your flock to our location to help us search." Naofumi told her.
"R… Right." Fitoria gave him a small smile. She perked up a little as Naofumi finished rubbing her head.
"As soon as my portal cooldown timer is done, we're leaving," Naofumi said in a firm voice to the others. "Everyone, get breakfast, and then prepare to head out."
Fitoria ran off to find the Filolials under her to inform them of the news.
Dou-Lon proudly saluted. "Did I do good, Sir Naofumi?"
"You did more than good. Thank you Dou-Lon." Naofumi rubbed the man's head, sending shivers down the hakuko's spine.
Turning his head, he found Raphtalia pouting at him. Her tail was also shaking from side to side. "What is it? Do you want a head pat too?"
"O-Of course not!" Raphtalia turned away and crossed her arms as she blushed.
Weird. It'd been a while since he'd last given her a head pat out in the open as he did for the others. Did she miss that?
On seeing Filo still pouting, Naofumi sighed. "Oi, Filo, if I cook some breakfast right now, will you do your best to help us find Motoyasu?"
"Huh!?" Filo perked up at the mention of food. But Daddy was using it to try and bribe her into finding Spear Guy! That wasn't fair!
For a moment, the little girl struggled to come to a decision. Did her love for food really outweigh her disgust for that blonde-haired simp?!
"Better answer quickly. We've got about thirty minutes, and I could always ask Fitoria or one of her Filolials to pull the carriage if you'd rather stay behind-"
"No! Nobody gets to pull Filo's carriage but Filo!" Filo dug her foot into the ground with finality.
"That's my girl." Naofumi rubbed Filo's head, making her smile brightly in response. What had she been complaining about again- oh, right, Spear Guy.
Boo!
"Sir Naofumi," Eclair finally spoke as Naofumi began to head towards the kitchens. Filo and Raphtalia were already ahead of him.
"Yes?" Naofumi asked. Did the swordswoman want in on the head pat parade or something? Actually, why was his mind stuck on headpats now?
That was strange.
Eclair looked at the tent that she was staying in. Then she looked back at Naofumi again. "No, it's nothing. I'll be with you in just a moment." She promised.
"Alright," Naofumi turned and followed everyone else. He was somewhat thankful she hadn't asked for a head pat. That would have been more than awkward. "Dou-Lon, can you help me adjust this? This backstrap on the new armor is making me itch."
"Wha- Sir Naofumi! You mustn't ask this lowly Hakuko for such help! I'm not worthy-" Dou-Lon began to protest.
"Just shut up and help! I need to make breakfast for all of us before we go!" Naofumi snapped the hakuko out of his religious reverie almost immediately.
"Y-Yes Sir Naofumi!"
Eclair sighed and turned around, heading into the large tent. Once she got inside, she was immediately greeted by one of the three people staying in it.
"Oh, Eclair? What is it?" Tersia asked.
The blonde-haired mage was sitting at her desk. She had bags under her eyes from a lack of sleep. Farrie sat in another chair, eyes focused intently on the grimoire in her hands.
"We found a lead on the Spear Hero's last known location. I'll be going with Sir Naofumi in a few minutes." Eclair told them.
Tersia smiled a little. "That's good. Maybe we'll finally get closer to figuring out who's targeting the Heroes..."
Eclair looked from the mages to the third girl in the tent. The one currently glaring daggers at them from the chair to which she was bound by her wrists. "Do you think you can handle watching Wyndia by yourselves?" Eclair asked.
"Mmph?! MMM!" Wyndia yelled through her gag at them as she struggled in her chair. The reason for said gag were the scorch marks on the ground around her from her attempt at using fire magic to escape after waking up in the middle of the night.
"We… we'll see," Tersia said in a depressed voice.
Eclair nodded, and finally looked at Wyndia. "Be good. I'll be back soon." She turned around and left the tent.
"Mmm!? MMMM! MMMMM MMM MMM MMMM MMMMMM!"
"Be good?! BE GOOD?! COME BACK HERE AND UNTIE ME AND I'LL SHOW YOU JUST HOW GOOD I AM!"
However, Eclair didn't come back into the tent. And around thirty minutes later, there was a loud crack outside as Naofumi and his party portaled back to where they'd been searching the day before.
Tersia stayed in her seat, not saying anything. Farrie remained silent too, eyes still focused on her spellbook.
Wyndia growled as she strained in her seat with her hands behind her back. If she could only get these damn knots undone.
It was utterly stupid. They didn't care about her! If they did care, then they wouldn't have knocked her out and tied her up like some lowly criminal!
"Wyndia, are you hungry?" Tersia asked hesitantly.
The dog girl glared daggers at the traitor. The brief bit of life Tersia had displayed melted away. "A… Alright." She muttered.
The tense silence continued for a long time. Yet, somehow, even with it, the other, younger mage in the tent hardly made a sound. Her eyes remained fixed on her grimoire. The only sound was of the pages turning, one, after another.
Flip.
Flip.
Flip.
Flip.
…
…
"Farrie, can you keep an eye on Wyndia?" Tersia suddenly asked.
Farrie looked up from her book to blankly stare at the older mage.
"I… I don't want her to starve…" Tersia said sadly.
...
Farrie still said nothing. However, she nodded her head, looking back down at her grimoire afterward.
Tersia thanked the younger nun before exiting the tent to find some food.
Another minute passed in silence. This time, with the dog girl glaring at the light green-haired mage while she worked on trying to free her bound hands.
…
"So, this is what it's come to, hasn't it?" Farrie finally spoke. Her voice held none of its playful banter. "A member of the legendary hero's party reduced to the role of babysitter."
"This world's just a cruel joke, isn't it?"
"Grrrr!" Wyndia growled through her gag.
Farrie set her book down on the desk, standing up as she turned towards Wyndia. "It's funny. Everyone here is sooooooo worried about you. Tersia, Raphtalia, Rishia," She listed off the names with each step. Wyndia continued to growl as Farrie continued speaking.
"Everyone went to your tent last night, you know. Cleaned it up from top to bottom. Really put their backs and their magic into it because they cared about you." The word fell from Farrie's lips with an odd tone.
"Mmmm! Mmmm!" Wyndia's gag got in the way again, but, thankfully, Farrie pulled it down. "You think I care what you all do for me?! Well, guess what? I don't! I couldn't care less about any of you after what you did to me!" Wyndia yelled in anger.
"What we did?" Farrie asked innocently.
"Look at me! Do you think I'll ever forgive you for this?! If you have any sense left in your skull, you will untie me right now, or so help me-"
Farrie cut Wyndia off by grabbing the top of the dog girl's head by the hair and yanking it up, forcing Wyndia to look into her eyes. They were aflame with anger.
"Listen here, Bitch." Farrie's tone was stone cold. "I said the others cared about you. I never said that I did."
Wyndia went silent. This was a side to the playful mage she'd never witnessed before.
"You know what's even funnier? You say it's stupid how everyone cares about you, how everyone here worries about you when your precious little Sword Hero is the one that's still alive."
Wyndia tried to glare at the mage, but the glare Farrie was delivering was so intense that Wyndia shrank back into her seat. Farrie's grip on her hair remained, keeping her unable to turn her head away. Acutely, the dog girl became aware of the slave master menu in the corner of her vision. Ren and his full health bar were shown in clear detail.
"It's all I've heard about since that day." Farrie spat out. "Oh, I hope Wyndia will feel better soon. Oh, Farrie, maybe you should try talking to her. Farrie, stop whatever you're doing and help me think up some ways to cheer Wyndia up." She said in a mocking tone of Tersia's voice.
"Do you know how tired I am of hearing all of that &^%$? Do you have any idea how sick I am of being told to worry about you?"
"W-What does that matter, I didn't ask-" Wyndia began to protest.
"BECAUSE BAKTA AND WELT ARE DEAD! THAT'S WHY IT MATTERS TO ME!" Farrie screamed. "YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE THAT'S BEEN HAVING IT ROUGH, HUH?! HUH!?"
…
The mage breathed in and out heavily, her shoulders rising up and down. She let go of Wyndia's hair at last. "These past few days… I've been struggling, silently, wishing someone would help me… anybody…"
"I might not have been as close to Bakta as you were with Ren… but you at least know that he's still alive… that you still have a chance after this is over to be in love together." Farrie glared at the dog girl once again. "But me? No, I no longer have that luxury. Bakta is dead. And there is nothing I can do to try and bring him back."
"But Tersia and the others, they don't care about that. After all, they're too busy to mourn their friends because they're too worried about you. The girl whose boyfriend is still alive. What I'd give to be in your shoes… to have my older sister helping me out instead of snapping at me for being unable to care about what you're going through..."
"You know what you are, Wyndia? You're a selfish bitch. You're so goddamn selfish that it makes me sick. I'd give anything to just be hugged right now, yet all of our friends would be willing to do that and more for you in a heartbeat!"
Tears entered Farrie's eyes, and the young girl scowled as she wiped them away. "You think it's stupid that they care about you? Well girl, I really wish that, for once, someone would care about me!
"And if you can't see how lucky you are to have that from everyone... then I have no idea why I ever considered you my friend before."
Wyndia stayed silent, staring as the seething mage glared down at her for a moment more. Then, at last, she turned around and began to stomp away.
Tersia entered the tent at that moment, a tray of food in her hands. "Farrie, did everything-"
The younger mage stormed past her, pushing into her and almost sending the food flying. "Huh- Farrie, watch where you're going-!" Tersia turned around to address the rude younger nun, but Farrie stomped outside out of view.
Tersia grimaced, but she'd already grabbed food, so she turned to face Wyndia again. "Wyndia, are you hungry?" She asked.
"... No…" Wyndia didn't turn her head to look at the former nun. She still sounded angry, but her tone was mixed with something else.
"Oh…" Tersia set the tray on the desk sadly. "Well, let me know when you are."
…
…
It took a moment for Tersia to realize that Wyndia's gag wasn't over her mouth anymore. However, the dog girl wasn't casting any magic. And… she felt bad even thinking about putting it back on. So the two said nothing more as they sat in the silence of the tent.
A silence that the dog girl now found oppressive without the sound of the green-haired girl silently flipping through the pages of her grimoire in the background.
"Urgh…"
"Don't worry, Itsuki. I'm sure her Majesty will have you back out soon enough. Right, Maya?" Aksel asked with a forced smile.
"Of course! You're the strongest hero, after all!" Maya said excitedly.
Itsuki remained glum as he and his party patrolled along the outskirts of the camp. The Bow Hero gazed at the corpse of the Spirit Tortoise in the distance longingly.
"At least her Majesty isn't confining you to the camp for today." Crystal pointed out.
"Yeah, but she's keeping me on a leash, unlike Naofumi." Itsuki finally spoke. "I can't go too far from the camp. I can't go near the Spirit Tortoise. I'm not even allowed to train with Granny today."
"Well, maybe it's because unlike someone the Shield Hero didn't try to sneak out of camp several times during the night or try to train until he passed out from exhaustion, hmm?" Karn asked in a mocking tone.
Itsuki began slouching more at that remark. The others in the group glared at the swordsman. "Hey, I'm just stating the obvious." Karn shrugged. "Her Majesty ordered the heroes to rest, and Itsuki here didn't do a very good job of it."
"Well, yes, but you don't have to throw it in his face like that." Crystal defended Itsuki.
"Itsuki also could have done better at not pushing his limits as Granny warned." Rachel reluctantly pointed out.
"See. Rachel gets it." Karn said.
"Still, I don't think we should-" Rachel tried to rebuke the swordsman.
"No, he's right." Itsuki sighed. "It's my fault for not listening to anybody."
Karn smirked in victory as Rachel went silent.
"Fue… I-I'm sure it's only because you thought you were doing the right thing, Itsuki." Rishia muttered.
The blonde kid didn't reply, and she sighed as she followed beside the Bow Hero.
She didn't like it when Itsuki got down on himself like this. He was always there for her whenever she felt depressed. What could she do to help him feel better now?
She was still stuck at level 68, but that didn't mean she couldn't do anything! He'd pushed her to work hard and train with Granny so she could become stronger, so now she had to push him out of his state of mind and-!
That's it!
"Let's play a game of I Spy!" Rishia suddenly suggested.
The other heads in the group turned to look at her at the sudden outburst… it took a few seconds, but then Rishia felt her face heat up at the sudden attention directed at her.
"I… Spy?" Rachel tilted her head curiously.
"Fu-" Rishia pushed the whimper down. "I-It's a game passed down by past heroes. I-I read about it in a book."
"Really? What does one do in this game?" Aksel asked, scratching at the back of his head.
Itsuki was looking at her as well now. Rishia wanted to whimper again, but she'd put the idea forth because she wanted to help him. So she was going to stand her ground and do just that!
"It's fairly straightforward. I just look for anything around us, like that dead tree over there." Rishia pointed the landmark out. "Then I say something like 'I spy something… black'."
"Then we guess what it is you're looking at." Rachel put her hand to her chin in thought as she understood the gist of it. Now that she thought about it, she recalled reading about it in one of the books provided by Mirellia's scholars.
If anything, it'd at least help to pass the time.
"Let's see, I spy something… blue," Rishia said, looking away from the group.
"Um, a lake?" Aksel asked.
"Dummy, it's supposed to be something she can see from here." Crystal chided him. "At least, I'm guessing that's a rule." She looked at Rishia for confirmation.
"Mmhmm." Rishia nodded happily, seeing the others slowly getting into it.
"Is it water?" Maya asked curiously.
Rishia shook her head, a small smile on her face.
"Is it some kind of monster?" Crystal asked.
Rishia shook her head again. Her smile was just a little bigger than before.
After a few more guesses from the others, Itsuki found himself looking up. "Is it the sky?"
"Yes!" Rishia replied happily.
The others looked up dumbfounded. "Are you kidding me?" Aksel facepalmed. It'd really been THAT obvious?!
"Nice thinking Rishia. We were so busy looking down we didn't think to look up." Rachel awarded the green-haired girl with a warm smile.
"Fuee…" Rishia whimpered as she shuffled awkwardly in embarrassment. Itsuki smiled a little upon witnessing his friends looking happy.
"Come on Itsuki, why don't you try." Crystal encouraged.
"I don't know, I-" Itsuki tried to say, but now the others were looking at him encouragingly. The kid gave in and looked around. "Let's see, I spy with my eyes in the sky, something… brown." Itsuki drawled.
"Huh- but there's a lot of brown around- did you say eyes in the sky!? Are you seriously using your bow skills to cheat right now?!" Aksel yelled.
"Maybe." Itsuki shrugged. A bit of a playful smirk rested on his face.
"Grrrr, is it the ground?!" Aksel angrily asked.
"Nope."
"That rock over there!"
"Nuh-uh."
"Those dead trees!"
"Sorry."
"Dead grass!"
"Nope."
"Is there brown rust on my armor or something!?"
"You have a little on your right shoulder. But no. It's not that."
"Wha-!" Aksel craned his neck to try and see where his armor was blemished. This caused many others in the group to laugh as they tried to find what Itsuki had seen.
Eventually, they did find it. Though it'd been by sheer luck. A small brown lizard curled up in a tiny den just fifty yards away from them.
"That's almost not fair." Rachel smiled wide on making the discovery and getting the Bow Hero's confirmation.
"Yeah, why can't you just play nice like the rest of us!?" Aksel whined as he crossed his arms and pouted.
"It's ok, you tried your best Aksel." Maya hugged him from the side, and Aksel uncomfortably turned his head away as red filled his face.
The game moved by quickly as others in the party had their turn. Karn skipped his turn though. Preferring to watch everyone else play the dumb game instead. He did eye Itsuki's bow though.
"Okay, your turn again, Rishia." Itsuki was smiling a little bit now as he faced the green-haired girl.
"Alright, let's see…" Rishia looked around to find something. But now that she'd gotten Itsuki to participate, she had to be extra sure on what to choose. He'd won the majority of the searches with the others thus far. So it had to be something that Itsuki wouldn't be able to see with any of his skills. Something he wouldn't…
"I spy with my little eye… something… yellow," Rishia said.
"Hah, I got it, it's obviously the sun-" Aksel began to say.
"No," Rishia shot his answer down.
"Urk!" The tank looked surprised that the obvious choice wasn't the right answer.
Itsuki began looking around. Weird, now that he thought about it, there wasn't really much yellow that could be seen around them. At least, something that was out in the open.
There were a couple of spots in the distance where yellow flashed. Like one of the banners for one of the nations in the coalition. Or a weird form of monster with a yellow spot on its side out that was burrowing for grubs nearby. But he wasn't sure if Rishia had picked these out or not.
"Is it that banner over there?" He asked, pointing in the general direction.
"Nope." Rishia shook her head.
"What banner?" Rachel asked curiously.
"It's nothing." Damn him and his good eyesight! He was really going to have to think hard about what Rishia had seen.
"Here's a hint. They're warm." Rishia added.
"... are you sure she isn't talking about the sun?" Aksel whispered to the dark-haired mage.
"She said they, not one," Rachel whispered back. She was starting to get an idea of what Rishia had spied on, and it definitely wasn't something from their surroundings.
However, she didn't voice it aloud. She simply watched the magic unfold before her with a knowing smile on her face.
"Is it my bow?" Itsuki asked, looking down at the yellow bow he currently had equipped. It was the only other bit of yellow he could see nearby.
Rishia smiled. Itsuki thought he'd gotten it, but then she spoke. "Sorry, guess again."
"Wha- Could you give me another hint?" Itsuki asked in surprise. If it wasn't his bow, what else could it possibly be?! There wasn't another bit of yellow he could see nearby that'd be reasonable to guess-
"They're warm, but not always." Rishia began speaking. "Sometimes, they're weighed down, other times, they're in pain. But always, they're full of life. They hold such care yet such sorrow that it's hard to watch sometimes."
...
Itsuki paused. He turned to look at Rishia and found the green-eyed girl looking back at him. Her smile became a little bigger. "Yes, there's sorrow in them even now. But that doesn't make them any less grand than before. Because they belong to the greatest hero in the world."
Itsuki slowly put a hand up to his eyes. Rishia stepped forward and hugged the Bow Hero. "At least, me and the others believe they belong to the greatest hero."
…
Itsuki stared over her shoulder, still stunned. It wasn't until Rishia had pulled away from him that he felt tears forming in the corners of his eyes.
"R-Rishia…"
She was blushing wildly, but she still kept a shy smile on her face. "So, can you guess what I spied now, Itsuki?"
He sniffled and wiped at the tears. "Y-Yeah. I think I can guess." He smiled back at her.
He'd nearly forgotten. His Bow wasn't the only thing he had that was yellow.
"So… was it the sun after all?" Aksel whispered to the smiling Crystal and Rachel next to him.
The silver-haired spearwoman elbowed the tank in the gut so hard that he was left reeling on the ground.
There, that was much better.
"That's not fair though. You can't just pick my eyes. That's what I see with." Itsuki finally said, frowning as the moment was broken.
"W-Well…" Rishia thought for a moment. "Is it fair for you to choose something none of us can see?"
"Is it my fault I can see stuff from fifty feet above me when I want?" Itsuki defended himself.
"That is kind of cheating when you think about it." Karn shrugged.
Rishia began smiling again, and it was hard for Itsuki to stay mad when she'd done this to cheer him up. And indeed, he did feel a lot better. Still, to think he'd missed something so obvious! She'd really pulled one over him and he had the best vision of them all!
"Fine, I'll show you guys. I won't even cheat with my skills this time and I'll win. I spy with my little eye…" Itsuki looked away from the group. Scanning the landscape around him for something they should be able to see at ground level, but something they'd never be able to guess.
"Something… something… … …" Itsuki trailed off.
"Something what?" Crystal asked. "Are we continuing the game or not?"
"Something…" Itsuki didn't finish as his eyes widened in disbelief.
Itsuki's allies jumped back in surprise as the Bow Hero suddenly rushed off ahead of everyone.
"W-Wait, Itsuki!" Rishia and the others took off after him.
At that point, Itsuki had forgotten about the game that they were playing completely.
But if he'd still been playing it, he would have probably said something along the lines of: 'I spy with my little eyes a group of three. One black. One light blue. And one red.
'And they are walking this way.'
"Ughhhhhh…" Naofumi groaned in frustration.
Just how hard was it to search an area?
"You got anything Filo?" Naofumi asked for what felt like the millionth time this week.
"Not yet Daddy." Filo shook her head.
"Dou-Lon?" Naofumi asked him next.
"Sorry, still no scent trails, Sir Naofumi." Dou-Lon was bounding alongside the carriage in his therianthrope form, tensely sniffing at the ground around them all the while.
After a whole day of searching, it was heading towards evening now. They probably had another hour or two before they had to go back.
"Damn it, was that information false after all?" Naofumi grit his teeth.
"We still have a couple of former villages in the area left, Sir Naofumi." Eclair held a map provided to them by Shadow in her hands. "There's still a chance, we just have to keep looking."
That was the problem. They knew roughly the part of the world they had to search now. Yet even with that, they'd still found nothing!
Why couldn't there have just been some big, grand marker that said "Spear Hero last seen here!" for them or something? At least then it would have been a lot easier to know where to finish following the lead they'd been given.
"Filo, has Fitoria found anything yet?" Naofumi asked.
"No, Fitoria-" Filo suddenly paused in her speech. "Wait, Fitoria is saying she might have found something."
"Wait, really?! Let's race over to her then!" Naofumi said a lot more happily.
Finally! It was about time that one of them found something! But as Filo began to turn the wagon, her head turned to the side curiously.
"Is something wrong, honey?" Naofumi asked, trying to spot whatever it was that she was looking at.
"Oh, no, it's just more of the big turtle's minions." Filo shrugged after a moment.
"Oh..." Naofumi's back sunk against the driver's bench in defeat. He kind of wished that Filo hadn't pointed them out. Now they would have to waste even more time cleaning those beasts out and then go see Fitoria.
"Wait, it looks like they're attacking some people!" Raphtalia suddenly pointed out.
Oh… wait, crap, they were attacking people?! Okay, that was actually serious then. "We'll come meet you after we're done dealing with this," Naofumi told Fitoria through Filo.
"Alright, Fitoria will keep looking around for anything else in the meantime." Filo relayed Fitoria's words back.
"Right, Filo, go!" Naofumi ordered.
"Got it!" Filo swerved the wagon. A few seconds later, Naofumi finally spotted what she'd seen up ahead.
A group of people was struggling against some bats flying overhead. They were out in the open, and the lack of cover didn't help them in the slightest.
When they finally got close enough, Naofumi raised a hand. "Air Strike Shield!" A man running from the familiars was protected from a heat beam right as he tripped to the ground. Soon after, Raphtalia jumped through the air, sword already in her hand as she slashed the familiar in two.
"Hate Reaction!" Naofumi's next skill drew the attention of the remaining familiars. As they flew towards him, Filo, Raphtalia, and Dou-Lon moved quickly in unison to dispatch them.
Eclair had stood up to fight, but the others had moved just a tad more quickly. The demon bats had already been annihilated before she could even draw her temporary weapon.
A few seconds after their arrival, the situation was already over.
"Well, that was a bit anticlimactic." The swordswoman sheathed her blade with a sigh as Raphtalia and the others moved to help the group of people.
"Good job everyone. That was the quickest I've seen you deal with them yet." Naofumi smiled as he complimented his party. The two girls and the hakuko smiled at him in response.
Eclair simply sighed and got out of the wagon. The least she could do was also help out these lost refugees.
"Urgh." The man who'd tripped sat up. He looked surprised to be uninjured.
Naofumi extended a hand to the man who'd tripped. "Are you alright?"
"Who, who are… …!" The stranger's eyes suddenly widened, and he backed away from Naofumi in fear. "Ack, i-it's you!"
"... huh?" Naofumi cocked his head to the side curiously. Did this man know him from somewhere? He couldn't recall…
"What's wrong, boss? Why are ya cowering in fear?" One of the other men there asked.
"Ack! Don't you realize who that is!?" The stranger screamed. "He may be in some different armor and might not be wearing that mask, but I'd recognize that beast anywhere! That's the Nocturnal Doctor! The devil merchant who comes at night to turn men into eunuchs or feed them to his mutant filolial!"
"Mutant… Filolial?" Filo cocked her head to the side curiously. Naofumi was just as confused as she was.
What was this idiot going on about? This didn't make any sense. Why was he staring in fear at Filo? And why were his hands covering his groin? Just like… some of the other men there…
…
Oh.
Now that Naofumi thought about it, the stranger did look vaguely familiar.
"Naofumi, do you remember him too?" Raphtalia asked in a deadpan voice.
"Yeah… it's that one bandit mid-boss from before," Naofumi said, his tone expressionless as well.
It'd certainly been a while. He'd been transporting an accessory merchant that'd turned out to be a very important individual in the merchant's guild when this guy and his friends had ambushed them on the road. Though calling it an ambush would have been a joke.
Raphtalia had taken care of most of them single-handedly. He'd also used that incident to teach Filo her patented ball crusher kick which she pulled out against Motoyasu every once in a while.
Ah, good times…
"So, what are you losers doing out here?" Naofumi rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"W-Why should I tell you?!" The man screamed in fear.
"Well, depending on your answer, I could have my 'mutant Filolial' here teach you another lesson." Naofumi crossed his arms, lightly glaring down at the man.
"Um, Miss Raphtalia, what is going on?" Dou-Lon asked in confusion.
"I'm confused too. How does Sir Naofumi know this man?" Eclair repeated the inquiry.
"Lesson? What lesson? What is this buffoon talking about-" Another unfamiliar bandit began to ask.
"No! Don't anger him or else he'll do it!" Several other bandits screamed in fear.
"Please, have mercy!" The first bandit screamed.
Wow. Had Naofumi really traumatized them that much by having Filo kick him in the groin? Then again, this bandit's voice did sound a little higher pitched than what he recalled from before.
Or maybe it was just his evil imagination playing tricks with his mind.
"Hey, Filo, want to give them the Spear Guy treatment?" Naofumi asked with an evil smile.
"Eh? Wait- Naofumi!" Raphtalia protested.
"Why? These guys aren't like Spear Guy." Filo looked at her Daddy in curiosity.
Damn it, Filo. He was trying to intimidate these bandits right now. At least try to play along with Daddy's game!
Fortunately, the Shield Hero was quick to think on his feet. "Well Filo, these are bad people. And what do we do with bad people?" Naofumi asked in a warm tone with a fatherly smile.
A light shined in the Filolial Queen's eyes. "Ah, Filo remembers!" She raised her foot back, preparing to deliver a series of kicks all around.
"NOOOOOOOOOO! We're here taking all the valuables left behind in the destroyed towns around here!" The bandit boss screamed.
"Boss, what the hell?! Why are you giving away what we're doing!?" The second bandit from before asked angrily.
"Naofumi, I swear…" Naofumi looked at his half-raccoon companion, who was very much fuming at what was going on.
"Do you want to encourage them to continue stealing from the dead with all of these familiars around?" He countered.
Raphtalia crossed her arms and turned around, still fuming but not saying anything else.
"Exactly. Now Filo, teach that guy why you're to be feared." Naofumi pointed nonchalantly at the second bandit.
"What- What are you trying to put-" The man tried to raise his battleax to attack.
However, the large bird appeared in his vision so quickly that his mouth didn't even have the time to open. "Helllllo Bad Guy!" Filo's raised foot shot forward.
Crack!
"Mmh hmm." Naofumi hummed happily at the sound of much-deserved karma.
"O… Oooohhhhhhhh…" The man, gripping his broken pelvis, fell sideways. Tears of pain fell down the sides of his face. "What… what is this pain…"
Dou-Lon and Eclair's eyes went wide with shock. They'd seen Filo's kicks before. But this was the first time they'd ever seen Naofumi use them as a form of intimidation against another group of people.
"Now. Anyone else here want to continue their career in grave robbery?" Naofumi blandly asked, looking over all the other bandits who were present.
Immediately, items they'd gathered from destroyed homes were tossed to the ground. Coins. Accessories. Jewelry. Anything that'd looked valuable and had been small enough for them to carry.
Naofumi sighed, seeing the size of the pile. "Really? Do you have that little respect for the dead? Filo, maybe you should-"
"Wait, we'll give up everything! We'll give you whatever's in our hideout too, even the stuff we didn't steal here, just please, don't unleash her on us!" The bandit leader pointed in fear at Filo.
Naofumi had never thought about how scary Filo could be to others before, especially those traumatized by past experiences with her. He should utilize her more often for intimidation purposes…
"Raphtalia, please stop glaring at me in disapproval, you're going to burn a hole through the back of my head." Naofumi suddenly said out loud without turning around. "You too Dou-Lon and Eclair."
"You told me only to not do it when you wouldn't act on your rude thoughts," Raphtalia answered, still glaring at him. Eclair was glaring too, and Dou-Lon looked somewhat conflicted about it, but he was giving the Shield Hero a look of disapproval as well.
"Again, would you rather they be motivated to stay here and continue robbing from the dead?" Naofumi repeated. "I'd rather it be this than ending their lives."
…
Raphtalia sighed, dropping the glare. "No, I suppose not." She conceded. The other two conceded as well.
The world wasn't always black and white. Sometimes, one had to dip into the grey area to solve problems.
"This pain's different… this... this is new… this is new pain…" The second bandit squeaked on the ground.
Several of the bandits under Dou-Lon and Eclair's supervision took the valuables they'd stolen back to the villages they'd stolen them from. The main bandit led Filo, Naofumi, and Raphtalia to the bandits' current hideout.
It was laughably easy to subjugate the rest upon arrival.
Everything they'd stolen from the area was taken out as well as everything they'd stolen from before they became grave robbers. Naofumi then had Filo run away with the items identified from the destroyed towns, hiding them back in the places the bandits had looted. She'd never be able to return them to where they'd been at exactly, but at least these idiots wouldn't profit off the dead.
As for the rest of the items, they could bring them back to the coalition and have them figure out how to best use the wealth and supplies the bandits had accumulated.
"Is that everything?" Naofumi asked.
"Um, well…" The main bandit crossed his fingers nervously.
"Raphtalia, maybe you'd like a turn-" Naofumi turned to the raccoon girl.
"If you finish that sentence, I'll be very angry with you." She told him flatly.
"Fair enough." Naofumi shrugged. "Filo's would probably hurt more anyway since her attack stat is higher-"
"Alright, they're not exactly from this area, but… we also have two girls with us." The bandit admitted.
"Why aren't they out here?" Naofumi asked. Based on the man's tone of voice, they sounded like they were prisoners.
"They're high level, so we thought they'd make good candidates in the Zeltoble arena but, well… one of them, in particular, has injured several of my classed up men. We debated making them slaves to keep them under control, but that's obviously out of the question now." The bandit admitted.
So they had two girls with them, and one of them was fairly powerful. Naofumi hadn't come here to save anyone else. But if they were holding them hostage… well, they could use the extra help.
"Free them," Naofumi demanded.
"B-But they'll kill us if we-" The bandit began to plead.
"And I'll have my 'mutant Filolial' make you wish they'd killed you if you don't," Naofumi replied threateningly.
The man began to sweat and then threw a key at Naofumi. "That's the key to their bindings! Go ahead and free them yourselves!" With that, he and the rest of his men fled from the cave. Looking outside, they saw them fleeing towards the mountains westward.
"Shouldn't we apprehend them and pass them over to the coalition army?" Raphtalia quirked an eyebrow.
"Eh, whatever. They didn't kill anyone and I'm sure we won't see them again in the immediate future." Naofumi groaned in annoyance. He and Raphtalia began going deeper into the cave.
When did cleaning up some familiars turn into a detour like this?
"Let's free whoever it is they're afraid of and meet up with Fitoria before it gets too dark." The time that it'd taken to deal with this matter was too much. And unless Fitoria had found something, they were going to go back, empty-handed, once again. And the thought pissed him off to no end.
That was the other reason he was letting them go. If he had to waste any more time on those idiots, then-
"You bastards! When I get out of here, I'm going to tear you a new one!"
Naofumi paused at the voice.
"Wait, isn't that…" Raphtalia sounded as surprised as he did.
"Rino, could you please stop screaming, I'm trying to sleep here." A lazy voice drawled in a bored tone.
"How can you sleep at a time like this?! We need to get out of here and-"
Naofumi opened the door. He and Raphtalia were still stunned, but it seemed, whatever Fitoria had found could wait after all.
In bindings, glaring at each other, were Motoyasu's two party members. Rino, and Elena.
Author's Notes:
Well. Not sure what to say here. There was certainly a lot to go over, and you can bet the next chapter is set up for even more.
Once again, the below omake does have some canon basis from the author. Aneko has certainly written some short, interesting what-ifs. This is something else I'd probably like to expand on in the future.
Hero Clips!
What If… Pekkul Kigimuri: Part One
"For… for the sake of our world… you must… you must..."
Naofumi frowned, staring across from him at the Scythe Hero standing on the other side of the whale. The redhead was struggling to keep an even face. And the reason why...
Naofumi was dressed in the ridiculous Penguin suit. Santa hat and all.
"You must… you must... Therese, help me out here!" L'Arc gripped his side, trying so hard not to laugh.
"I… I can't…" Therese held both her arms over her mouth in a vain attempt to try and hold it in. She was giggling at the sight of Master Craftsman in a deflated penguin suit wearing a Santa hat.
"Come on Naofumi, just make the sounds and this will be a literal cakewalk," Itsuki said behind the Shield Hero. He was also trying hard not to burst out laughing. "You can do it, buddy!"
"I refuse," Naofumi stated blandly.
"N-Naofumi, f-f-for the sake of our w-world." L'Arc tried again to point his shaking weapon at the ridiculously dressed penguin with the shield attached to its arm.
"Y-You m-m-must-"
Sigh.
"Wark. Wark." Naofumi made a poor imitation of a penguin call in a deadpan voice while tiredly waddling around in a circle on his webbed feet.
"Gwuhahahahaha!" L'Arc couldn't take it. He fell over, holding his sides as he began laughing uncontrollably. Therese fell next to him, giggling like a mad schoolgirl.
"Alright, they're down, now are you going to-" Naofumi looked back at everyone else, but they were all too busy laughing, just like L'Arc.
Naofumi frowned. Did he really have to do everything himself?
"Aha! Ahahahahaha!" L'Arc continued laughing even as Naofumi picked him up. The Scythe Hero weakly tried to swing his scythe, but upon seeing the penguin's deflated face close up his head fell back with even more laughter and he didn't even bother with attacking.
Naofumi jumped into the ocean with L'Arc in tow. Even after disappearing under the water, air bubbles from L'Arc's laughter continued for more than a few seconds before finally disappearing.
A minute later, Naofumi brought a nearly drowned, defeated L'Arc back to the surface. The Shield Hero had no attack stat, but everybody needed air. Even an idiot redhead like L'Arc. Thank goodness he could still use an environment like this to defeat powerful enemies.
"Alright, he's down."
However, everyone on the whale was still too busy laughing to try and help.
"Are you &^%$ing kidding me!? IT ISN'T THAT FUNNY!" Naofumi shouted at them.
However, their laughter only got worse as the pissed-off voice didn't match with the deflated Santa penguin.
Naofumi groaned.
This was why he hadn't wanted to wear the stupid penguin suit into battle.
I mean, who could take a deflated penguin in a Santa hat seriously?!
Till Next Time
Allen