Chapter 15: Attempted Mediation

"Alright, next group!"

"Gwweekk!"

"Fueh!"

The sight of the crying green haired noble girl hanging tightly onto the back of a griffin as it tore through hordes of monsters in a visceral display of blood and gore was not one that I had ever expected when I joined the Bow Hero's party.

In order to raise Rishia's level as quickly as possible for the upcoming Wave, Itsuki decided to take the party camping deep into monster territories to hunt as many monsters as we were able to find; to 'grind out levels' as he puts it.

At first, we would just leave most of the monsters on death's door and have Rishia finish them off for the bonus experience; but it took too long for her to run back and forth between us, and that was not including the times she tripped over nothing.

That was when Grif suggested that she should instead ride Talos as she rampaged against hordes of monsters; while it would not give her the bonus from the killing strike, the amount of experience gained more than makes up for it.

Never in my entire life had my vision been partially obscured by the flood of notifications received from the carnage it had wrought.

That led to the visceral scene in front of me, of us drawing in monsters towards them and letting Talos loose on them all the while poor Rishia was hanging on her back for dear life; that was what we ended up doing for the past few days.

"We should have done this a lot sooner." Trish stated.

"Yeah, this is way easier than we had done yesterday." I added, "At least I get to finally use that monster lure of mine."

"And Talos looked really happy about it." Eclair noted.

"She definitely is." Grif nodded, "Speaking of which, two on your right."

"I'm on it."

Eclair moved like lightning and killed the monsters with a few quick stabs with her sword; around the same time, one of the monsters managed to avoid Talos's claws and moved to attack Rishia on her back.

And it was instantly taken out before it could reach her with an arrow from Itsuki; the Bow Hero gave the noble girl a wave that got her blushing up a storm.

"…she's not going to be a hindrance to the party, is she?" I asked Trish.

"I'm sure she won't be." She replied, "At least, I hope not."

Romance between Adventurers was actually pretty common, high tensions had the tendency to sprout attraction after all.

But it was also touted as the main reason behind the dissolution of most if not all parties; whether it was infighting or mutual disagreement, it always ended up breaking up the group between the couple and their comrades.

Heck, there had been stories of girls stabbing the man they were pining for because he was interested in someone else, or killing each other over the same man.

Rishia did not appear to be the type to stab people over it, but love had been known to make people go crazy in unpredictable ways, so it was hard to say for certain if she wouldn't go either way with this.

"Of all the people to get a crush on, it has to be the Bow Hero…" Trish sighed.

"Well, he is the one that saved her." Eclair pointed out.

"As long as it won't get in the way of the party, I don't really care." I noted.

"FUEEHH!"

"But that cry of hers is little…"

When the sun reached its peak in the cloudless sky, Talos had come down from her violent high and was now hungrily pecking at the carcasses of the monsters she had slain moments prior.

Rishia came down from her back, her gait unsteady as Trish helped her walk away from the carnage while the rest of us got to dissecting the dead bodies. The more usable features were bagged or left to the Bow Hero to absorb into his weapon, while the less desirable parts like the offals were quickly buried in the soil.

"Alright, let us all break for lunch!" The Bow Hero told everyone.

As we all sat down and began taking out our rations, I made a quick mental inventory of all the monster parts we had gathered from Talos's little rampage for the past few days.

We had enough hide and claws to fill up a few dozen hunting requests at the Guild with plenty still left over for our own purposes.

"We should have done this from the start." I noted, "We could make gold with this strategy."

"So, is Lady Rishia's level raised enough?" Grif asked as he fed Talos a skinned leg, "Or do we need to do this again?"

"Fueh!? U-Um…!"

The noble girl let out a fearful squeak at the suggestion as she quickly checked, and then letting out a cry of joy and relief.

"I-I'm at the Level Cap!"

"Oh, that's great! I knew your hard work would finally paid off!" Itsuki noted with a smile.

"T-Thank you for your kind words, Sir Itsuki…" Rishia said with red cheeks.

"It really doesn't take much for her, huh…" Trish muttered under her breath.

"So, what's next?" Eclair asked, "Do we head back to the capital and get her a Class Up?"

"That's the plan." The Bow Hero nodded, "Also, I would like for everyone to get some new equipment for the next Wave."

That was not a bad idea. Our respective weapons had gone through a lot and were in dire need of maintenance or replacement in the case of my very chipped knife and Eclair's sword; and hopeful find something to replace that damn mask of hers.

Disguise or not, if I had to keep seeing her dashing about with that damn feathered mask of hers, I was going to break it myself!

"Then we will need to decide on her role in the party formations." I turned to Rishia, "Miss Ivyred, what are your combat abilities? Anything you can use to contribute to the fight?"

"U-Um… I'm decent with a sword, and really good with magic…"

"A magic user… so a rearguard perhaps?"

The party had no need for more vanguards with Grif and Eclair so another person to take up the rear would be great; and with her meek personality and clumsy nature, she wouldn't make for a good vanguard anyway.

If anything, there was a higher chance of her accidentally attacking us than the monsters; I couldn't remember how many times she nearly cut my head off when trying to swing her borrowed sword at the monster I was holding.

"Right, wasn't your magic affinity with every element?" Trish noted.

"Really? That's amazing!" Itsuki stated in awe.

"T-Thank you, but… I can only use up to the First tier of spells…" She meekly told him, "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be; being an all-arounder isn't a bad thing." He assured her, "And magic is always a boon, no matter how weak."

"Y-You're too kind, Sir Itsuki…"

"So, what kind of spells are you able to use?"

"Um… some offensive wind spells, and some support magic…"

"What kind of support spells?"

"Uh… I could boost your strength… and heal wounds…"

"Oh, you're a healer?"

"Ah, no! My healing spells aren't that strong…"

"Rishia, having weak healing spells is better than not having them." Trish told her, "You need to stop selling yourself short."

I nodded in agreement; healers were always a huge boon no matter how strong or weak their spells were, and it would cut down on the amount of healing potions I need to concoct for the party by a lot.

That would allow me to mix up other more combat oriented concoctions for my usage; I had been experimenting with a pellet that explodes into a sudden flash of light when thrown onto the ground.

"In that case, she should be at the rear as support." Grif noted.

"Agreed." Eclair nodded.

"Then it is settled then." Itsuki noted, "Rishia will act as our support alongside Liya."

"I-I'll be in your care!" Rishia bowed towards me which I returned with one of my own.

"So am I in yours." I ate the rest of my ration bar and stood up, "Well then, shall we get moving then? Even with Talos, it would take at least a day to reach the capital."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that." Itsuki noted with a grin, his bow shifting into a form adorned with an hourglass.

"Huh? What do you mean—"

"Portal Bow!"

A flash of light later, and the scenery around us changed from the grassy plains to the stone bricked roads of Castle Town; though thankfully not in the middle of a busy road.

"The Cardinal Heroes sure are something else…" I noted in awe.

"Heheh, surprised, aren't you?" Itsuki grinned widely, "I'd unlocked this amazing bow last month, but wasn't yet at the level required for it; until now, that is."

"This is… incredible, Lord Itsuki!" Rishia cried in utter reverence, "You really are amazing!"

"Hmhm, that is nothing."

"It is pretty impressive." Eclair noted, "This would definitely save us a lot of time traveling."

"Sorry, girl." Grif stroked Talos's feather as the griffin made a sound akin to a whine, "Maybe next time."

"While I am amazed by all of this, please remember that we have an agenda." Trish reminded us, "Like getting Rishia that Class Up?"

"R-Right! Ahem!" Itsuki let out a cough with red-tinted cheeks, "Onwards, to the Church!"

"You… don't have to call it out, you know…"


Unlike the group Class-Ups of the previous months, it did not take long for the ritual circle to be set up and Rishia to be brought onto the platform before the Dragon Hourglass, while one of the nuns stationed around it directed her through the process.

"So, I-I just stand here?"

"Yes, Miss. Now place your hand on the hourglass and focus on your mind."

"Like this? F-Fueh!?"

The hourglass and ritual circle glowed brightly as she let out her odd cry from surprise; it eventually faded moments later.

"Oh, so this is the Class Up ritual… then I just… Fueh!"

"Seriously though, why does she keep making that sound?" I asked Trish.

"Just think of it as a quirk of hers." She told me, "You'll get used to it soon enough."

The ritual was finished pretty quickly so after checking with Rishia about her choice, we left the Church and made towards the armor shop.

"Perhaps we should get Lady Rishia some new gear as well?" Grif asked, "Because that cuirass does not fit at all."

"Yeah, it is way too big for her." Trish nodded in agreement.

Said cuirass was the only armor the noble girl was currently wearing, one given to her by the Bow Hero when she initially joined; a spare 'drop item' he told us when we asked of its origins, whatever that meant.

The armor was clearly not made for people of her size, with it covering nearly her entire upper body up to her neck and the bottom half of her face, making her look like a tortoise and moving like one by how stiff she was walking with it.

It was quite amazing that she could still hold onto the back of a rampaging Talos while wearing that.

If she was going to act as the party's support, having something that allow more maneuvability would be more preferable; something like Trish's armor set or a simple cloak and chestplate combination.

"Whoa, what in the…!?"

When we turned into the city square, we were greeted with a scene of mayhem and chaos; several stalls were smashed right through as their owners stood far away from the source of all this destruction.

In the middle of it were two people currently locked in battle in front of us; though only one person was the real cause of all of that considering the other couldn't actually do damage to anything.

"Release that angel, Naofumi!"

"What is your damage!?"

In a crude reenactment of their duel in the streets, the Spear Hero charged at the Shield Hero with reckless abandon with the latter either dodging and blocking his strikes.

And each time a strike was evaded, it struck the ground or smashed into a poor man's stall; with the blonde otherworlder not caring about the destruction he was spreading with his wild uncontrolled strikes.

"Seriously!? In the middle of the fucking streets!?" I screamed.

"I take it that's the Spear Hero?" Grif asked.

"F-Fueh…!? B-But why is he attacking the Shield Hero?" Rishia asked.

"More importantly, where are the guards!?" Eclair cried, "Why is nobody stopping this!?"

"I get garter a guess, but I bet it was her doing."

Following Trish's line of sight, we saw the Spear Hero usual entourage of ladies in less than modest armor sets, all led by the ever-smirking Princess Malty; in her hand was a parchment adorned with a unique sigil.

"T-That's the seal of the Royal Family!" Eclair cried.

"No doubt a blatant abuse of her authority for this street fight, calling a 'duel'." Trish stated, "Bet it pretty much made it illegal stop this."

"Well, I'm putting a stop to this!" Itsuki shouted, "Trish, bind up Motoyasu!"

"Already planning to! I am the source of all powers–"

"Please stop this, Spear Hero!"

Before Trish could chant the rest of her spell, several soldiers came rushing out from behind us and stood in front of Naofumi as they stare in defiance at the Spear Hero.

"This area is heavily trafficked by our citizens! We cannot permit you to duel here!"

"Yes, we can." The princess presented out the parchment for all to see, "This is a duel between Heroes; interference from mere soldiers will not be tolerated."

"Even still, it is my duty as a soldier of my country to defend it and its people. If the personal affairs of anyone threatened the peace, regardless of their status, I must put a stop to it! As such…"

The soldier drew his sword, "In the place of the Shield Hero who can't fight, I'll be his sword."

"As will I."

"Me too!"

One by one, his fellow soldiers drew their respective weapons and took a step forward towards the Spear Hero; the blonde man was no doubt caught off-guard by their actions.

"…well, those are quite some soldiers." Eclair noted with pride in her tone.

"Indeed." Itsuki grinned, "Punishing evil and upholding justice; enforcing the law regardless of status, that is how it should be."

The First Princess, however, did not agree with their sentiments, "Imbecile fools… you would dare challenge me? Do you not understand what my position is?"

"Your position is irrelevant." The soldier told her, "We are only carrying out orders."

"I-Insolence! You think you can ignore the will of the Crown!?"

"And that's enough of that. Trish!"

"Bind those limbs and hold them in place! Zweite Shadow Bind!"

The last of her chant left her lips as Trish conjured her binding spell upon the Spear Hero; tendrils of darkness shot up from his shadow and wrapped around him, holding him in place.

"What in the…!?"

"Motoyasu, that's enough!"

With him bound up, Itsuki marched up to him with us following close behind with our weapons drawn at the ready; except for Rishia, who was naturally extremely flustered and confused over what was happening.

"I don't know what's your beef with Naofumi currently is, but you need stop this 'duel' of yours right now."

"You don't understand, Itsuki!" He shouted at him, "That bastard Naofumi had the gall to buy another slave; a young one at that!"

"Another slave?"

That got my eyebrow raised from confusion; the last time we saw the Shield Hero was a week ago, and I was pretty sure didn't see any other slaves with him aside from Raphtalia.

"Motoyasu, I ran into Naofumi quite recently, and I was sure the only new party member he currently gotten was some puffy filolial."

"No, it's true! I saw her! A blonde angel!"

"Even then, so what? That does not justify you destroying this entire square! Look at the damage you had already caused!"

"W-Well, that's just…"

"Sir Itsuki, this is a sanctioned duel blessed by the Crown." The princess told him, "Even if you are the Bow Hero, you have no authority to intervene."

"Then by my authority, I disallowed this duel and order it be discontinued immediately."

A soft voice called out from the spectating crowd that parted aside to allow a young girl in a purple noble dress to walk into the town square with a parchment signed with the same stamp as the one held by the princess, escorted by Raphtalia and a small blonde girl of similar age with white wings on her back.

Was she the angel the Spear Hero had been talking about? She definitely looked the part.

"You…! What are you doing back here!?"

"It has been a long time, Sister."

"Sister!?" I turned to my partner, "Trish, is that girl really…!?"

"Yes, she's Melty Q Melromarc." Trish nodded, "Crown Princess of Melromarc, and Malty's younger sister."

"Wait, that's the Crown Princess!? Not Malty?" Itsuki asked in surprise, "That young girl?"

"That's right. She is the future queen, not Malty."

It suddenly made sense why Trish always made sure to call Malty the First Princess; what could be more insulting to her than getting passed over by her younger sibling half her age?

As expected of the Crown Princess; the authority she possessed clearly exceeded that of the First Princess so she could easily overthrow any decision her sister ever made.

"My Dearest Sister, it appears that you have been a little too mischievous as of late." Melty told her sister, "I might have to report this matter to mother.

The princess flinched at the veiled threat before rebutting, "I was merely doing my duty in providing support to the Spear Hero."

"So, driving them to fight in the streets filled with our citizens is your duty?"

"Well, t-that's just how things turned out… Besides, this is only a single isolated event."

"Is it? Because what the Shadows had reported says otherwise."

"…You would turn on me? Your superior? Your elder sister?"

"I could ask the same, Elder Sister."

"Grgk…"

"I thank you for intervening, Sir Bow Hero." Melty curtsied to Itsuki as she thanked him, "But I now have this under control, so could you please free the Spear Hero?"

"A-Ah right, of course!" Itsuki nodded as he gestured to Trish.

With a snap of her fingers, the tendrils faded away into black particles.

"Oh shit!"

"GWAAKK!"

Grif quickly grabbed onto the reins and was nearly pulled off his feet when the griffin let out a loud cry as she leaped off the Spear Hero and lunged at the small blonde girl; he barely managed to hold her back before she could pounce on her.

"Talos, no! Down, girl! Down!"

"Boo! Filo doesn't want to see you too, meanie!"

An extremely familiar voice came out of the young girl's mouth, one I know I had heard somewhere before; though it was definitely not from a young demi-human. And from the way Talos was acting towards her…

Wait, could that girl actually be…

"Itsuki! Get your comrade's stupid bird away from my angel!" The Spear Hero shouted angrily.

"Okay, what!? This is the one you are after!?" Itsuki cried out, "She has to be at least half your age!"

"Age is nothing but a number in the face of love!"

That got almost everyone to take a step away from the Spear Hero, all expressing various levels of disgust; to be a playboy was one thing, but to even go after young girls as well…?

What little respect I had left for him was gone now.

"Fueh… w-what a perverted individual…" Rishia stuttered in disgust.

"That's the Spear Hero?" Eclair noted with a grimace, "This lustful scum…?"

"My lady, may I ask for your name?"

Ignoring all the disgusted gaze he was receiving; the Spear Hero walked up to the blond girl and held her hand like he was courting a woman.

"…should we castrate him?" Trish suggested.

"W-Wait a minute! I-Isn't that too extreme…!?" Rishia cried.

"I think there's a medicine that could do that." I added, "If we get the ingredients, I can make it in no time at all."

"What do you need?" She asked me.

"Filo is Filo!" The girl happily told him with a smile.

"Little Filo, is Naofumi making you pull his carriages for him?"

"Yup! Filo loves pulling carriages!"

"Damn you, Naofumi…! To make such a cute girl pull your carriages like that fat bird of yours…!" He swung his spear at the Shield Hero, "I demand you release her at once!"

"Lower your weapon at once, Spear Hero!" Melty shouted at him, "This duel has been discontinued!"

"Step away from him, ladies!" The Spear Hero told them, "He is a dangerous man!"

"…Spear Guy called me fat again…"

"Huh? When did I say that?"

With a puff of smoke, the small girl transformed into the white fluffy filolial queen I saw accompanying the Shield Hero's party last time.

"Fueh!? D-Did that girl just turned into a filolial!?" Rishia cried.

"That would explain why Talos is so hostile towards her…" Grif noted.

"W-Wait… y-you're that fat–"

"Filo hates Spear Guy!"

"GUOOH!"

"S-Sir Motoyasu!"

With a swift kick to the crotch, the filolial sent the Spear Hero flying; his body spiralling through the air before crashing into the rubble of one of the destroyed stalls.

The surrounding crowd burst into a roaring applause over the defeat of that perverted Hero as Filo raised her wings up in a victorious pose.

"Nicely done!" Trish cheered, "Now slam down on him! Pop his balls!"

"T-Trish! Please!" Rishia cried out.

"Rishia, there are men that need to get their genitals removed as painfully as possible to protect the women of the world. The Spear Hero is one such person."

"E-Even so, he's still a Cardinal H-Hero…!"

"S-Someone, get Sir Motoyasu to the hospital! And you… You'll soon pay for this, Shield Hero!"

With those last words, the First Princess quickly sculling away with the Spear Hero and his entourage as they carried him away, most likely to find a doctor to heal his groin.

Hopefully Filo did remarkable damage to his manhood with that attack of hers.

"I swear, these Heroes…" Melty sighed, "I sure wish they'd stop causing such a fuss…"

"…pft! Ahahaha!"

Naofumi suddenly burst out laughing, a complete 180 over the sour expression he usually had on his face; though considering all the shit he had to deal with, it was good to see him at least smiling.

"You sure are happy, Naofumi." Itsuki noted.

"Seeing Motoyasu get his ass handed to him like that? Why wouldn't I be!?" He laughed, "Man, payback sure tastes sweet."

"I'm just glad this stupid fight ended… though I am surprised to see that girl turned into that filolial…"

"…I suppose I must thank you, Itsuki; for stepping in like you did."

The Bow Hero puffed out his chest with pride, "Of course! As the Hero of Justice, it is my duty to make sure justice and order is upheld by everyone!"

That got the Shield Hero to groan from his antics, "Ugh, I forgot you are like this…"

"Master! Master! Did Filo do good?"

Naofumi patted the head of the queen filolial with a big grin, "Yup! Good job, Filo! Make sure to kick Motoyasu every time you see him!"

"Okay! Filo understands!"

"W-What are you teaching Filo, Sir Naofumi!?" Raphtalia cried out.

"What are you so angry about, Raphtalia? After all the trouble they had caused us, this much is deserved!"

"Even so…! To teach her such things is…"

"Raphtalia, just let him have this one." I told her, "And let's be real, the Spear Hero kind of had it coming."

"I… I guess so…" She sighed.

It was then I finally noticed the bandages around her head and peeking out from under her dress; not only that, her face was rather pale, and her movements felt very sluggish.

Her symptoms matched the ones in a book I'd read once before; one that described the effects of getting infected by a curse.

"Raphtalia… are you cursed?"

"Eh? U-Um… yeah, but it's okay. Sir Naofumi had already acquired holy water for it."

"That's… That's good."

Unlike most other forms of injuries, there was nothing I could do to cure curses; the only thing that could do so was Holy Water and the only people that could make those were the priests of the Church.

Though it was surprising that the Church had even given the Shield Hero a vial; probably charged him an arm and a leg for it, though.

Still, it made me wonder why kind of monster did the Shield Hero faced that got Raphtalia cursed in the first place?

"Saint of the Heavenly Fowl–No, Sir Shield Hero." The young princess walked up to Naofumi, "May I have a word with you?

"…sure, I have plenty of thing I wanted to ask you too." He told her, "But not here; follow me."

With a short glance back at us, and a wave from Raphtalia that I returned with mine own, the Shield Hero and his party left with the Crown Princess; the crowd dispersing soon afterwards.

"…Well, I was not expecting having to deal with a dispute between Cardinal Heroes." Grif pointed out with a sigh, "And definitely wasn't expecting to meet a transforming filolial."

"She must be a special breed if she could change forms like that." I noted, "Or maybe it is a special trait of the filolial queens?"

"The Shield Hero… he's not as bad as the rumors made him out to be…" Rishia noted.

"…indeed, he isn't." Itsuki nodded, "Hopefully, the rumors we spread about him is working to change that."

"…"

"…Trish?"

She turned to me when I patted her on the shoulder, "Is something the matter?"

"…it's about the Crown Princess." She stated, "I've heard she had left the kingdom with the queen a month ago; so why is she suddenly back in Melromarc?"

"Maybe she got tired and wanted to return home?"

"No; there has to be something more to this that it seemed…"

"…I do not believe we have to worry about it." Eclair told her, "I'm sure Princess Melty has her reasons for returning, but it probably has nothing to do with us. For now, I believe we should focus on fending off the next Wave."

"Eclair's right. No point in worrying about something that would not affect us." Ituski nodded, "Now then, onward towards the Weapon Shop!"

"Again, you don't have to call out our destination like that!"

At Trish's groan, we all shared a chuckle at our leader's antics before making our way towards our next destination for the day.

Not knowing our interaction and decisions today would have dire consequences in the far future.


To be continued…


Long time no see! It had been… a whole YEAR since the last chapter!? Damn, time really blew past me.

Well, it had been a year since Season 2 ended and with the first episode of Season 3 having officially dropped, I thought it would be a good time to post this chapter.

For those hardcore fans, yes Itsuki should not have encountered this event according to the canon timeline.

But this is anything but canon, so tough luck.

With that, I thank you all for reading this!

*Sup! So, this is the rewrite of my rewrite of my Shield Hero OC fic. This time, I'm going to make a few changes so that it would be more than just a Canon rehash.