Chapter 24

It took several days to get back to Melromarc City, then ignore it completely. Instead we passed by it, went south to Riyute, said hello to anyone who cared, told the Old Hunter about what happened, then moved on towards Lerno.

In the week or so total it took to get to the small rock range that Lerno was on the other side of, my party and I did a lot of housekeeping.

These activities included... Ridiculous amounts of plant gathering. These plants were made into various medicines and 'adventuring tools' that we sold and traded everywhere we found people with money. We were getting quite the reputation too. Even Tetsu! They were calling her 'the Lucky Dragon'. It fed her vanity, but she only wanted more headpats for being such a noteworthy dragon. If anyone asked if they could 'pat the Dragon for luck', she would grab their wrist and show them where their attention would be most appreciated.

Kunshu also had a little bit of a 'rumour' going on about her. More of a name. 'The Silent Spear'. That's all. But when people mentioned that name, it was in the hushed tones of people who were describing the boogeyman. Kunshu herself was oblivious to the whispers, and was more like a flying cat than some kind of monster. She was getting really handy with that spear though, now if only I could teach her how to sharpen it properly before she had a nap.

Clive tried to learn Senjitsu. I wasn't sure if he could, but after a couple hours of trying to get some result, I told him I would try and teach him until he gave up. So now it was a daily thing for all of us (yes, the entire party, except Kunshu who did... flying cat things?) to meditate and try and focus their inner energy, not just their magic. It was on the sixth day that Clive managed to enchant one of the 'blank' bits of metal I'd bought or made for trinket making. It was a small icon of bronze that looked like the 'base' form of the Shield. And yes, it gave whomever wore it (I showed him how to shape it so you could string a lace or something through it for a pendant) exactly TWO PDEF. For his first success, it wasn't bad at all. This was given to Kunshu, since she wasn't really able to wear anything you might call armour.

Usa's use of lightning magic during the fight with the Zombie Dragon was amazing. I knew he could cast it, but that was the first time he'd done so in combat. However, this meant that we really needed to put in better hearing protection in his helmet. We depended on his ears to alert us of danger, and because of that, Clive and Raphtalia were usually able to thin the number of monsters we fought hand to hand.

Together, the six of us also started to 'upgrade' our wagon. Tetsu, with her rather frightening strength, and the rest of us working as an assembly line, we cut down a tree every day, and spent an hour making it into planks. Day by day, we were adding to the walls, the frame, better protection from the wind or rain, shelves... It was small, but it was becoming a home for us. I even showed everyone (even Usa, though someone had to hold the metal) how to make nails. The wagon had been used to haul loads of felled trees, so it was a wide and more importantly, sturdy contraption. Still, we would need an actual smithy and a proper furnace to upgrade things like the wheels... Maybe even add in leaf spring suspension... Raphtalia would like that I was sure.

Speaking of, the Big Sister of the party still had a bit of trouble with motion sickness. She didn't let it stop her from teaching us more letters, helping us with the magic book, or trying her hand at making her own magic items. And she did! A bunch of them actually. With her affinity for light and dark magic, and the previous success with making a 'magic lamp' with the little bit of Ko-steel, she made what amounted to 'magic LED'. They were currently lighting the interior of our wagon. If you knew how to push magic out of your body, even if you didn't know how to cast spells, you could turn them on. Sadly, she hadn't figured out how to turn them off, but it was no effort to cover them with a bit of cloth or leather, and they dimmed on their own slowly. Tetsu got jealous of the praise Raphtalia got for making, or replicating on her own, 'the magic lamp' you'd find in rich homes. But that was okay, since Raphtalia could still pat Tetsu's head while I pat Raphtalia's.

Then there was me...

The creation of that giant tree had done something to me. Aside from needing to 'touch' the cursed energy the Zombie Dragon had put into the area (and the party) and once again making my horns appear again (Kunshu liked brushing her antenna on them), it had made that mountaintop 'mine'. I could feel a very tiny 'pull' towards it. Almost like I had a compass in my head, and that tree was 'north' for me. This had other effects too, some good, some bad. My ability for Senjitsu had increased. Just like that, I'd gotten a bit of a power boost. It wasn't much, but enough to notice. I could make ice from water much colder with less effort. Or start to boil water, not just make it room temperature. I could smooth out small patches of hard packed dirt (useful when you have a heavy wagon on poor roads!). I could push the air around almost hard enough to knock Raphtalia over.

It took SP, something none of them seemed to have on their status screens. But this increase in power did not increase the amount of SP it took. Pulling water from a stream had more effect for the same cost.

Then there was that 'magic thread' crystal that I'd gotten my hands on. It was still kinda weird, and so far all I'd been able to do with its was (surprise!) make more thread with a contraption of my own. But... I felt I could do more with it. And in preparation for that, I had Kunshu (everyone really, but Kunshu especially) make a bunch of her own thread.

And that was basically all we did until we ran into an actual problem, on our way to Lerno, in a little rocky pass between the open fields past Riyute, and the place we were headed.

"Sir." Usa (who was currently 'driving') pulled my attention from attempting to make one of the 'magic thread' crystals into... anything else really.

Clive and I looked at him, and a quick glance to Raphtalia (who in an effort to keep from getting sick was our nearly permanent 'rear lookout') turned her head just a little so she could listen in.

"I hear people." He said, "Just a little further ahead. A small argument..." He turned to look forward, his good hand going up to pull his helmet off, "I don't hear any armour, like a knight patrol... They aren't moving..."

"Are these roads even patrolled?" I wondered out loud, "Usa? Switch with me. Clive, be ready."

I climbed out of the wagon bed, and onto the driver's seat, "Something wrong Boss?" Tetsu asked, not slowing, but looking a little over her shoulder. "Is is lunch time yet?"

"Maybe." I picked up the reins, though they were really just for show.

Two minutes later, after going through a bit of a bend in the road, the way ahead was blocked by a group of fifteen men. Some were sitting on the short cliff on either side of the pass, others were standing in the way, and a couple of them were playing dice on a tree stump. Wearing little to no armour, they had the look of bandits. Or Soma Familia before it cleaned up a bit.

"Well well! What do we have here?" The one in the lead asked. A bit on the shorter side, he had the confident swagger down at least. "Another merchant?"

"Fancy wagon you got there! Looking almost homey!" Another said, this one a huge bald man with wide shoulders, and exactly one piece of actual armour over his heart.

"Huh, looks like a pack of demi-humans... What do you think? Escaped slaves?" One asked, leering at me, then over my shoulder at Usa.

I looked down at them, then around at the three metre high cliffs edging the 'road', then back to the man in the lead, "I'm going to give you guys one chance to let us by and maybe rethink how you live your life." I hopped down from the wagon, making a point to turn my bracers out to the 'spiked' side.

"Oooo the horned freak is threatening us!" One called out, "Say... That one there is good looking, for a demi-human." Said another.

I sighed, but in the back of my mind I was itching for a good fight. "Tetsu, you can undo that." I said to her. Then over my shoulder I added, "Try not to kill too many of them."

"I wouldn't worry about us!" the leader said, "Hey! Get over here! Show them what a class-upgraded fighter can do!"

Standing up from his seat at the dice game was a sharp eyed man with a katana, yes, no doubt about that shape. He stepped towards us, and with an easy, almost smug smile, he gripped his sheath with one hand and the hilt in the other, ready for a quick draw. He even had his feet set properly for the technique.

Class-upgrade? Hmm... was there some kind of level cap?

"Sir?" I heard Raphtalia asked, "May I?

"Clear the cliffs with Clive first. Usa, protect them until they are done then come fight." I said before stepping forward. "Come on then!" I called out, hearing Kunshu's wings buzz for a moment, then a ruffle of fabric as she exited the back of the wagon. "I don't know if you'll remember when you wake up, but I did warn you."

"Bring him do-" There were a pair of 'thrums' as Clive and Raphtalia used their bows to shoot two of the ruffians who were starting to draw their own bows.

I charged forward, aiming for the well dressed swordsman. Beside me, matching my charge but veering off for the largest group was Tetsu. Front arms wide, she roared (not just said 'roar' but used her 'dragon voice') as she charged.

The swordsman seemed a little surprised I'd take him on bare handed, but he kept his cool and as I got into range, his two hands came apart, the sword and sheath separating...

Behind him, two of the bandits fell from the cliffs, and he looked at me in surprise as I blocked the strike with one arm, my free hand grabbing the front of his shirt.

"Ow... ow ow ow ow..." Tetsu pouted as Raphtalia applied some first aid. Out of all of us, Tetsu was the only one to get hurt. Raphtalia, after she had helped Clive clear the cliffs of any archers, had then cast her 'hide mirage' spell, the same one that made her vanish during the fight with the Zombie Dragon, and went through the ranks with the back of her blade smashing heads. Usa wouldn't let anyone get close to him, or the wagon. Clive remained in his sniper role. Kunshu stung anyone who wasn't paying attention. And I disarmed, then beat the crap out of the swordsman, as well as anyone else brave enough to get within arms reach of me.

Tetsu on the other hand, well, she charged in, and just started mauling people. Her scales were tough, but apparently these bandits knew how to sharpen their swords, even if they didn't seem to know what soap was.

So now, we had twelve bandits, three dead (one was apparently allergic to bee stings, and two others had fallen badly from the cliffs after Clive and Raphtalia shot them). All of them had been disarmed, tied up, and given basic first aid.

"Next time you'll be more careful, right?" Raphtalia said, "Now hold still..."

"So... what to do with you." I mused, "Seeing as you're a large group, and well equipped, I'm guessing you're not only successful, but have a base someplace."

"We're not going to tell you anything!" The (less smug looking now that he was covered in bruises and missing most of his teeth) leader said.

"You know." I thought out loud, "So far, I haven't let my dragon here eat humans." Well, I told her not to eat anything she could hold a conversation with...

"Food?" The stinging bandages forgotten, Tetsu's big toothy face turned towards my conversation.

"We can find your hideout without you." I started, but was interrupted.

"The mountain pass is a maze if you leave the road! Unless you can fly, you'd..."

All the survivors turned to Kunshu as she hover/danced over to me, handing me her spear so I could sharpen it, then clinging to my back so she could nap. (Eh, it was progress...)

"Having to fly around makes her hungry too." I said, Kunshu's 'chin' resting on my shoulder and looking at the bandits with me. "One way or another, you're going to feed my friends."

Tetsu took a single, slow, stomping step towards them, and Kunshu's wings buzzed a little, her body warming up (again, like some kind of giant cat with wings).

They were right. There were a lot of paths off the 'road' between Riyute and Lerno, and it would have taken Kunshu to spot it from above to find it.

And to my surprise, these bandits were actually loaded... They had carpets, fabric, raw materials (wood and metal), food (pickles? This world had pickles? Woo-hoo!), money, more weapons, jewels... This was not a small amount of stuff.

Oh, and a single prisoner, and the biggest surprise of all? I knew him.

The hideout was a wide mouthed cave that had lots of scrubby trees around it. The inside, aside from smelling like poorly washed bandits and being an absolute storehouse of ill gotten goods, also contained several cages. All but one was empty.

"Ah! Shield Hero!" It was the same merchant who had smuggled is into Melromarc to get to Erhard. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you!" His formerly bright clothing looked not just slept in but covered in dirt, some blood, and had a few rips in it. He had lost a little weight too, but he was still a little portly.

Outside the cave, where I'd left all but Kunshu (who was still clinging to my back and trying to brush one of her antenna against my nearest horn) to guard the bandits... I heard someone mumble 'Shield Hero?' then a quiet, 'that was the Shield Hero?'

Then Raphtalia spoke up, "What do you think Tetsu? That one?"

Silence from outside of the cave.

"You seem to be in a bit of a fix." I said, stooping a little and looking at the primitive lock, "All this stuff can't be yours, can it?"

"Oh, no. Not all mine. They caught me about a week ago..." He sighed, his stomach grumbling, "I'd had heard there was a call for herbicide in Lerno, and after getting some together, as well as a few other things, well..."

I was about to reach into the Shield's inventory, but Kunshu was clinging to it. Not wanting to bother her, I looked around for a moment, "Aha." I spotted a wine bottle, "Well, I'm headed in that direction, and unless they sold it already, we can both make a profit."

The wine bottle was plugged not just with cork, but held in place with a thin bit of stiff metal wire. I was no expert on wine, but this had to be pretty good if they cared this much about keeping the bottle sealed. He watched me as I undid the wire, bent it in on itself several times to help give it more rigidity, then apply it to the lock. "I thought that accusation was false?" He mused.

"Oh, I do know how to pick simple locks. And this is such a cheap lock compared to what I'm used to." I smiled, the wire catching on the inner latch of the skeleton key styled lock, then pulling open as I twisted the wire around, "There."

I stepped aside as the cage opened, and shook his hand when he offered it to me, "I am eternally grateful for this." He said, smiling as we shook, "How can... oh my, I know I shouldn't say it, but how can I repay you?"

"Well, I can think of a few ways." I nodded, "But first, to your successful rescue." I offered him the bottle, "Now, what is the usual rule for clearing out a bandit mob?"

"Well... There used to be a bounty system in place. Depending on the local lord. You catch the bandits, and bring them in. If the lord was generous, or drunk, they would give, or forget about, the stolen goods. As well as reward you for the bandits, who would likely end up executed."

I nodded. That made sense. "So who's the local lord? Not Altcray?"

"Ah, this close to Lerno? It would be Lord Idol Rabier." He paused, "Why are you glowing?"

"Best you don't know." I said, feeling a little bit of a thrill, "Well then." I took a deep breath to calm down, then coughed into my fist theatrically, "Good Merchant. I, the Shield Hero, require your aid to get all this crap here, out of this cave and into a market someplace, so that my party and I can continue to fight the Waves and protect the people of the world." I turned and made a wide gesture at all the loot, "As well, as payment for rescuing you from the bandits who have accumulated all this crap here, I would like some direction on enchanting items." I looked down at him and extended my hand, "Do you agree?"

He looked up at me, a grin spreading over his face as he accepted my hand, "Of course, Sir Hero." He looked past me, "Ah, we can also use my wagon. It's over there." He let my hand go again, and seemed to notice Kunshu for the first time, "Is that... That's not a fancy back pack, is it?"

"Buzz?"

"We've been busy. But after we sort this stuff." I walked out of the cave, where my party was standing guard around the clump of tied up bandits. "Look who I found." I smiled.

"Oh! It's the nice merchant!" Raphtalia said with a cheerful wave. The other two waved as well, while Tetsu just... drooled near the bandits, watching them while expecting a meal... "Ah, what are we doing with them?"

"Well, that's a good question." I said, "Back where I'm from, bandits had to repay what they stole, and that was either with money or service to the people they took from. Here, as our Merchant friend says, we would turn them in to the local Lord, and let them deal with it."

I noticed that ALL of the bandits did not like that idea at all.

"However, there is a LOT of nice stuff in there." I smiled, opening my mouth to continue but getting interrupted.

"Food? Is there food?" Tetsu asked.

"Yes, there is food."

"Yay!" Tetsu took two stomping steps towards the cave, then looked to the merchant, "Do you know where the food is?"

"Go with her. She's a good girl, just has a very high food drive." I assured the merchant, but making it clear this was also a dismissal so I could talk with my party.

"Ah right... A talking dragon? A giant bee? Such a strange day I've had..."

"So, my plan is to take all the stuff. Including their weapons. And letting them all go." I made a point to look at the bandits, as if checking to see if any more 'lessons' needed to be given.

"Do you plan on returning the stolen belongings?" Usa asked.

"I'm sure we'll find some things that we can't sell in good conscience. And we'll set those aside. Otherwise? No."

"Won't the local Lord be upset though? I thought you wanted to avoid the bad reputation?" Raphtalia warmed up her 'big sister' voice.

"The local Lord is Idol Rabier." I said, "I only plan on visiting him once, and it isn't to return his lost property."

We were all in that cave when Raphtalia told that story, so we all nodded, "I understand Sir. But..."

"Yes, we have a job to do first." I smiled, glad that Raphtalia still had her priorities in place. "Now... Let's line these nice gentlemen up, so they can watch us load all their stuff into wagons, and leave with it."

The bandits were all crying by the time we'd stripped their hideout of everything but some bedding (that we had no intention of taking... eww...) a few torches, and various other bits of garbage. The Shield was put to good use here, helping store things when the wagons were full, or the delicate things we didn't trust to survive a bumpy road.

Like several crates of herbicide bottles. Or the fancy wine bottles. Or even the not to fancy wine bottles... Really just anything made of glass, or small objects that might get lost. We were all quite thankful for having such a big wagon, as well as our Merchant friend's wagon.

Oh, and the crying bandits? They started bawling when Raphtalia cheerfully tossed in a torch to incinerate what was left in the hideout.

"Now. I'm going to put this dagger here, just out of reach on this tree." I took one of the daggers we salvaged from them, and put it as high as I could in the crux of a tree. "You can use it to untie yourselves once we're out of sight." I turned to face them, summoning a little puff of foxfire, "If you run away and I never see you again? Good. Even better if you take up an honest life. But if you chase us, or we catch you doing this again. You're dead."

I didn't sugar coat it, I didn't smile. I made the statement as if I were listing out things I needed to make dinner.

"Now, please, just in case we look back and see you again... Wait until we're out of sight before moving." I returned to smiling, "Tetsu? Sorry but you're going to have to pull both wagons for a little while."

"It's okay!" Tetsu danced from one clawed foot to the other, "They had all kinds of tasty food!"

The bandits groaned, since no, we didn't leave them any food, or wine, or even water.

"Everything secure?" I asked Raphtalia.

"Pretty sure!" She said, "Start pulling!"

The wagons got rolling, and the Merchant offered a hand down to help me into the driver's seat next to him, "You simply must tell me what you've been up to!"

"Sure. How long until Lerno?"

"We should reach the outer edges around sundown I think. Maybe a bit sooner... By the four, Tetsu?" I nodded, "Is incredible!"

"Heehee... Praise me more!"

"Well, should be enough time then." I said, "Usa? Stay in the back wagon with Clive, keep your ears on them a little while."

"Yes sir!"

Now that I wasn't an overly intelligent 'child', and shown him that yes, I (Raphtalia and Clive too!) could enchant things... Well, once I gave him the ten Valis story of what we'd been doing for the last while, the Merchant was practically beside himself trying to teach us (all of us) how to enchant.

There were a few things I didn't know. First, if you didn't have magic, you could not enchant. You could be the most skilled metal worker, or gem cutter in the world, but without the inner ability to use magic, you could not enchant.

He pointed out here, that it was lucky for all of us to be able to use magic.

Second, was that if you knew how, you could pull abilities from plants or animal parts, and transfer that to your work. I, and as far as I knew, Erhard, had been using things to 'bring out' their potential. Not transfer that potential to something else. Like the Nue fur's resistance to lightning. His example was to use a scrap of it I had stored in the Shield, to polish a cheap gem from the stash we'd gotten from the bandits. He admitted he didn't put much effort into it, and it showed, but it turned a normal bit of garnet hardly worth the gold it was set into, into something that gave a tiny bit of lightning resistance.

And third, was a list of gems and their affinities. Back in Orario, this wasn't really a thing. Most of the time, the gem in a magic user's staff was just for appearances. So long as it wasn't flawed, any gem could be used for any magic. Here however, there seemed to be a distinct difference between the various gems of the world.

"If you were to take her pendant." He motioned to Kunshu, who had been either napping, or listening with great interest while clinging to Usa's back, "And set a polished dome of iron in it, you would likely be able to increase the effect you've already put in it." He nodded, "Be careful however. Once you've left your work alone, you'll never be able to improve it. The small defensive enchantment you've placed in the bronze, can never be improved without modification, like with the addition of another piece."

"Hear that Clive? An excuse to keep practising." I smiled, rummaging around in a chest sized box that was filled with jewellery of all kinds. I had ideas forming in my head already, to go with all the other stuff I planned to create.

Clive nodded, looking towards Kunshu, but then reaching into the box of shiny stuff and picking out a perfectly cut, eight sided bit of quartz that had been framed in gold and hung on a thin silver chain. He paused as it came free from the rest as if realizing something, then focused both his eyes on me, "click?"

"Of course." I said, realizing a moment later it was because he was still a slave. "If we can sell it for money, great. If we can use it to improve? Even better."

"Speaking of money." The Merchant said with a bit of beard stroking, "You wouldn't happen to have a map with you?"

I had to remind myself that this wasn't Orario. Not in a literal sense. I knew it wasn't. But for the next half hour or so, he used a bit of charcoal to carefully mark my map of Melromarc. Why? He showed us his usual trade routes. If someone were to misuse this information, they could drive him out of business, or do as the bandits had done and capture him. He was willingly sharing his lifetime of success with us. He made no mention of working with us either.

He trusted us, trusted me, not to betray his trust, and deal with the people he considered his most valued customers. He gave me his 'name'. The most important thing to a merchant other than his life and merchandise.

I looked outside the wagon, seeing that it was almost sundown with no town in sight yet. "Tetsu? Pull the wagons to the side of the road. I feel like cooking."

"Yay!"

It wasn't pasta night, but I was sure to do my very best with what we had. Seeing how well we dealt with the Zombie Dragon, the bandits, rescuing the merchant, and the show of trust from him... I felt we all needed something special for the occasion.

After the little party, and cleaning up after ourselves, I spotted Raphtalia about to settle in for first watch. In her hands was the katana the 'Class-upgraded' bandit had been using, and she was very carefully running a sharpening stone down the length of the blade.

"What do you think?" I asked, sitting just within arm's reach of her so I could watch her work. "It's weird to think of, but my world has blades just like that as well."

"I wanted to fight him." She said, "I know you want us to fight where we do best, but..." She brought the crosspiece up to her eye, and looked down the fine edge of the blade to check her work, "I wanted to test myself against another swordsman." She put the blade away in its sheath, and rested it over her lap.

"He would have beaten you." I said with as little emotion as I could, "He was faster, stronger, and more skilled. It would be close, but you would have lost."

"How-" She paused, taking a breath to calm down, "How can you be sure?"

"I train with you, and I beat him. I beat him because I have years of training against people better than him. Even if I am much weaker here..." I sighed, "This is why I have been pushing you all to learn skill. A foundation that you can put your increased ability with the levels you've earned on top of. I don't want you, or any of us, to end up just... throwing power around until you win."

She still looked grumpy, I could tell by her puffed up tail. "Like you beat the Spear?"

"I could have killed him a dozen times in that fight. Oh, he had levels, and stats, and all kinds of abilities far past what I had. Even had someone try and cheat to help him. But he had no real skill. But if I wasn't trying to prove a point, and make sure he was still around to do his job, I could have made him stab himself with the Spear." I reached up and rubbed my forehead carefully, the base of my little horns suddenly itchy, "But I'm not evil."

She seemed to have nothing to reply with, so I stood, gave her shoulder a pat... then stopped.

"Oh." I smiled, "Great work today. You'd get along great with my friends back home. Don't take a double watch. We train in the morning as always."

She gave my hand a pat, but didn't reply, so I left her and went to the wagon to sleep.

"So you do this every morning?" The Merchant asked as we wrapped up our training. "Individual training, exercise, sparring, and all right after breakfast?" He gave his belly a pat, "And after eating like that the night before?"

"We don't have the luxury of time." I said, helping Usa take his shirt off so I could rub a little of the muscle relaxant over his back. His 'good' side was getting overdeveloped, and since 'The Good Sleep' wasn't part of the Adventure benefit package in this world...

"You could use a little of this kind of work." Raphtalia said with a smile, her and Clive cooling down with some stretching.

He laughed, "Well, I'll admit, I'm not the most active, and I enjoy food a little much, but... I mean... Clive! That bow you use is thicker than anything I've seen before. And Usa, I've never seen someone cut fruit in half with a whip!"

"What about me?" Tetsu chimed in, "I'm really strong!"

"You are!" The Merchant agreed, "How are you able to pull two fully loaded wagons all day? Sir Kodori, you're party is amazing."

"We've worked hard to become so." I smiled, "Now, let's get on our way."

I was glad we'd stopped early last night.

Lerno, at least, this far outskirt of one of the biggest food producers in Melromarc, was overgrown with something... unnatural.

Usa was the first to notice, which was pretty alarming in of itself. "Sir! I... I don't know what I'm hearing, but it's..."

Then, as we crested the next ridge, Tetsu spoke up, "Oh wow! Look at all the plants!"

I poked my head through the canvas 'door' of the wagon, and looked over Usa's shoulder. "Aw crap..." I sighed, my tail flicking the back of my head, "Now I know why they wanted herbicide. Tetsu? Stop."

"Yes Boss." The wagons ground to a halt, "Oh..." She sniffed at something red growing off a vine near the road, then without ceremony chomped on it, "Ohhhhh it's so tasty!"

Tetsu started to sparkle, but I gave her rump a firm pat, "Hey, that could be dangerous."

"But... I sniffed it! It was okay!" She pouted.

"Sir Hero, why did we... Oh..." The Merchant stopped as he looked over the path ahead. "This is the outskirts of Lerno. It's a fairly big place, but... I've never seen this before!"

We all lined up at the top of the hill to observe. This was not just because it was a very weird sight to see, but because it was one of my Dungeon Rules. 'Figure out the best path, then act'. Or more commonly, 'look before you leap'.

The road we were on transitioned to actual cobblestone road a little distance ahead. Not only that, a large area to the right became progressively more populated with houses and nice stone buildings of various shapes and sizes. To the left, was farmland. And while it currently looked barren it was also covered in tents. In the middle, on the road, beside it, and even between houses, were people all busy with work. What work? Well, seeming to come from the town itself, was a wave of vegetation. Vines and bushes loaded with all kinds of fruit and vegetables were growing along every surface available to them. But not only were the people gathering the food, they had teams of people cutting at the vines in an attempt to stop then from getting over to the left side of the road towards the rows of tents.

It was clear to me exactly what what going on. "Who remembers what that scripture in the Alchemist's Cave said?" I asked.

A pause, then Raphtalia spoke, "um... To he who would break the seal of the seed. It is my desire that this seed never be released into the world..."

"You think this is that seed?" Usa asked, kneeling and poking at a vine that I could see growing along the ground. Slowly sure, but at a pace you could watch.

"Nothing else comes to mind." I sighed, "Well, let's go make ourselves known, and figure out what to do..."

One of the workers spotted us right away, ran off, and came back minutes later with someone who looked slightly better dressed than the rest of the workers. He wasn't much older, if at all, but he had more weathering on him than anyone else in sight.

"Ah, welcome back to our... well, at the moment, it's a refugee camp." He sighed, offering his hand to the Merchant, the two shaking, "You are late, but..." He looked past me to the wagons.

"It was thanks to my friends here, I was able to get here at all." He smiled, "And recover my cargo!"

"I also brought a lot of herbicide." I added, "Can you tell me exactly what happened?" I asked, one of my ears twitching as I heard Kunshu buzz-step-dance towards a huge green and yellow flower.

"Well..." He looked a little nervous, like the topic was a bit touchy. "We had been hit with a Famine after the first Wave. Our fields were trampled, and the season's harvest ruined." We all nodded, except Kunshu, who entire face had vanished into the big flower.

"The nearby villages had food for us, but the Spear Hero came along, and he had a special seed." He scratched his head, then noticed what Kunshu was doing, "Ah careful!"

The warning was just in time it seemed. Kunshu snapped her body away from the flower, then with a neat motion of her spear, cut it from the vine. I noticed, as the flower hit the ground, that the inside had a neat row of something similar to animal teeth. Our giant Bee poked it with her spear a couple times, then came back to stand next to Tetsu, who gave her a headpat.

"He planted it in the middle of town, using our fountain for its water source. It grew heaps of food! Enough food that we could survive the famine and sell the excess! But..." He motioned to the bleeding stump of the vine where the flower had been, "We can handle the overgrowth this far out, but the closer you get, the more it is like that, or worse."

I clapped my hand over my face, one of my horns poking one of my fingers painfully. "Stupid..." I sighed.

"Well!" The Merchant stepped in to rescue the moment (and profit while doing so), "We have lots of high quality herbicide to help you out."

"We've had people try and clear out the more... animated plants. But to no avail." The Mayor (or what ever his title was) motioned to part of the refugee camp, and I could see different coloured tents in a cluster. In front of some of the tents were adventurers. Armed, armoured, but not like the 'knights' of the castle. Some were even sporting bandages and the like.

I looked to my party, "I'm going to talk to them, figure out what we're dealing with closer to the town. You guys help out for a little bit. Tetsu, unhitch but guard the wagons. If any plants get close, eat the fruit if there is any, and stop them from tangling up the wheels."

"Yes boss! Ooo more fruit... come on... grow this way..."

"We'll help you unload the herbicide." Raphtalia said.

"I'll come with you Sir." Usa added.

I nodded, "Ah, don't sell all of ours." I said, "I have a feeling we'll need some for this."

They were a rough bunch. Not just because most of them were wounded, but all of them had 'well loved' equipment. Well worn weapon hilts, tough leather straps holding together dented armour plates, proper armour coverage (always important!) and, most importantly, that look of confidence that remained even after they'd all been beaten.

A woman, wearing a battle scarred suit of studded leather and a lot of bandages, caught sight of us, said something quietly to the only person (a man in a robe that looked similar to the Church's uniform) who wasn't hurt, then leaned on him while she stood up to greet us.

"No need to stand. Really." I motioned with a hand to try and get her to relax, "Kodori. This is Usa."

She shook my hand, then sat back down with a thankful grunt to the medic. "More mercenaries huh? I'd try and get territorial, but..." She glanced back to her fellows, "We got our collective ass handed to us by a bunch of plants!"

I reached behind my back, under the cape and pulled out a bottle of actual healing water from the Shield. "What are we dealing with?" I handed it to the medic, who went a little wide eyed at it a moment later, probably using an 'appraisal' skill on it. However, he also clued in that I was quietly telling him to go back to work.

"At first, it was just plants with teeth and sharp vines. Nothing we couldn't handle. We brought fire, made some herbicide... But then some of the things started spitting acid! And fire! Actual fire from plants!" She sighed, "We've be paid to fight weird things before, but this was something else."

One of the other mercenaries near her laughed a little painfully, "Food's good though. So long as you make sure it won't bite your leg off first."

"What about the rest of the town? Everyone over there now?" I motioned towards the rows of tents on the abandoned farmer's field.

"Basically, yeah. Small group on the far side of town as well, we think. Not everyone is accounted for, and no one can really be spared to run wide around the town to go check." She shook her head, "Hopefully, they did the smart thing and ran."

Usa spoke up hesitantly, "Um... What of the local lord?"

She blinked at him in surprise, snorted, then started laughing. She had to stop suddenly, holding her ribs, "Ow, ow, ow... Ha! That perverted twit will only care when it's tax time."

"Up to us then." I nodded, "My party and I will see what we can do."

"Good luck. Just remember, if it's a plant, it's probably dangerous."

"Except for the fruit!" Said the same one from before.

Usa and I walked back towards the wagon, "Sir? Do you have any ideas?"

"A few, sure. Back home we had dangerous plants too. Mostly the teeth and acid kind, not the fire." I scratched an ear, "Go find the others, I'm going to do a little work with my alchemy lab. Don't come back without something over your nose and mouth, it's going to smell."

A couple of hours later, someplace around noon I'd guess, (stupid Shield... you can count to the second when the next Wave hits, but don't have a clock?) I had exactly six 'herbicide grenades'. Mixing then with some smoke agents, they were basically 'shake well and throw'.

That said, we had a dozen bottles of normal herbicide, but we lacked a way to...

"Sir?" Usa arrived with the others, all of them wearing the thick cloth we used up in Mirso, over their nose and mouth. "Why are you sighing this time?"

"I'm thinking like someone without magic again." I replied, looking back at them all and laughing, "Kunshu, you shouldn't nibble on that."

Kunshu stopped the constant motion of her 'mouth' that was trying to eat the bottom of her face mask.

"Did you suddenly come up with another plan?" Raphtalia asked.

"Yes. But we can add it to the current one. Here." I started handing out bottles. "When you shake these, then throw, they become herbicide smoke." Then the next set, "This is just plain liquid. Pour on plant, plant dies."

"Seeing how much of the town is covered..." Usa looked towards the town that looked to have been abandoned and covered by a hundred years of nature... except this was only a couple weeks by what we've been told.

I nodded, "Well, now we talk about 'targets'. The smoke will only help with stuff above ground, but by now, looking at how fast stuff is growing, the main plant has probably dropped seeds around. So the 'plan' is to use the smoke to get to any main stems, then pour a bottle onto the roots." I looked to Tetsu, "Still dunno if you breath fire?"

Tetsu hid her big dragon eyes behind her hands, "I've been trying! But all I've managed to do is leave my lunch on the road side a couple of times..."

I suspected that might be the case. And since I'd used my own mana to influence her in the egg, I might have given her a similar ability to my own, at least... maybe? Would further explain how she could pull a wagon all day without rest.

"Kunshu... I know you like flowers, but these are dangerous." She didn't reply, or move, but I could feel her attention on me. "When we start, I want you to fly up, and point out places that look like root clusters. We can avoid them, or destroy them as needed to get to the town centre." I looked to the party, "Raphtalia, you'll have to pull double time on this one. With Kunshu in the air scouting, you'll be the only one with the right weapon for the job."

"click?" Clive tilted his head at me, then to Kunshu.

"Raphtalia made a bunch of glow stones. Kunshu can drop those on targets. I want to limit the use of fire, since the buildings are mostly intact and people will need less time to rebuild. So you'll be keeping an eye up for her, and watching for the glowing stones." I looked to Usa, "Do-"

He turned his head away from me, "Ah, people coming." Then a shy turn of his head, "Sorry for interrupting..."

I gave him a pat on the shoulder to show no hard feelings, then turned. It was... well everyone I think. All the townspeople. Mercenaries too. Everyone was armed with some kind of plant cutting tool as well. Axes, sickles, a scythe or two...

"Shield Hero!" The Mayor(?) greeted me, a smile on his face, "We heard you were coming up with a plan. We've just been keeping the plants at bay, and your friend here said you were good at this kind of thing."

The Merchant looked up at me with a smile and a thumbs up. I couldn't bring myself to get upset at him outing me as the Shield Hero... Considering he'd just given me his life's work to help me along.

I looked at them, did a head count, thought for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. Here's what I got so far with what I had... Let's see if we can do better."

NOTES!

And so Kodori starts getting a little trust from 'the people', and this time, the torches and pitchforks aren't pointed at her.

Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord!

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