Faubley, undisclosed location
In a large room made of black stone where a large glass window stood above illuminating the room with the light of the moon, with a large circular table that had six elegant chairs with each possessing a different color, five different doors opened across the room of which each leader of the most powerful countries in the world came out
The first to enter was a man most would find disgusting and ugly in all manners of the word, he was fat and despite wearing luxurious clothes they had stains and weren't properly on his person, he had a crown in his head along with a bowl cut grey hair and he wore some luxurious accessories along with the gold colar in his neck, but his most distinct feature was the god awful smell that came from him which most have describe as something along the lines of a bucket full of semen, this man was the king of Faubley that was usually called as the pig king by not just the other world leaders but everyone in the man's own country, his vile nature and over indulgence in his most basic of desires. The man that came next had a dark grey coat made of what seemed to be scales of some sort of monster and a holster where his two swords rested on, he wore a formal vest of black color with the shirt beneath being orange in tone, his most eye catching feature was the mask that completely covered his face as it seemed to be made with a monster skull from his last hunt before becoming the country leader of Zeltobe with only one of his eyes being visible, his birth name was Alexander Walker but that was only known by very few people as most referred to him by his adventurer name of Deathstrike. Two of the representatives of Siltvelt came in as Haito and Werner entered the room, the white tiger insisted to come and despite Werner denying both Hamlet and Tetsuya agreed to let him there, mostly because both didn't want to be in the same room as the king of Faubley especially because a demi humans sense of smell is better than that of a human no matter what species of demi human it is. The leader of Shieldfreeden came in, Juliet V. Ivy was a dragon woman with long dark green colored hair that reached to her waist and light blue scales, she wore a dark blue dress with white accents and some gold lines in the arms and bottom, she had a elegance that came from her but her golden eyes could send many into a panic as she also possess a underlining authority that was second to just one person that was also entering the room
And the final one was Queen Mirellia from Melromarc, she is seen as a beautiful queen by most people as she is a fair-skinned woman with purple hair tied in a bob with collarbone-length bangs, purple eyes, and pale purple lipstick that all tie together to make her look very attractive, she was in her intricately decorated royal gown, with what appears to be a bronze breastplate. She usually has a regal presence that commands the attention of everyone around her but in this meeting it didn't feel that way, she felt that thousands of knives were floating around Mirellia ready to stab through her body if she made a slip of the tongue, after all her country has made the most selfish move in the entire world by summoning the four cardinal heroes to itself and not allowing any of the other countries to have them. To say she was on dangerous waters was an understatement, a war could very well brew because of this decision of her idiotic husband but that wasn't the main problem here... it was the Shield hero.
"Glad that all of you have appeared on time" Mirellia cordially said as she felt the gaze of the other country leaders pierce her like she was inside a iron maiden
"Of course, this is a meeting to decide the fate of not only our nations but the entire world" the country leader of Zeltobe responded, they had to keep their countries in check to fight the wave and considering that the legendary heroes were the best way of fighting said waves, it was natural to discuss them with the other country leaders
"Not showing would be a declaration that our country is-"
"Can we speed this up? I have important matters of my kingdom to attend to" the pig king rudely cuts off the Shieldfreeden leader, he wanted to get this done with so that he could go back to his...'important business'
"We all know you just want to get this over with just so you can have more of your disgusting sex" Alexander said what every other country leader was thinking, they all knew very well the reputation and habits of the pig king, unfortunately...
"Gah! speaking of which you smell like you just had one before this reunion, do you ever shower?" Haito complained as he covered his nose, you didn't need enhanced senses to know that but it really made the whole smell be worse than it would be for a human, even Werner was trying his best to not smell such a thing
"I didn't have time to properly prepare, this was a last minute meeting" the pig king said in defense of himself but that response was not taken seriously
"We were all given 2 and a half hours to prepare ourselves for the meeting" Mirellia responded as they were always given that same amount of time when preparing for the world council meeting, it was regulation that was only broken when a desperate crisis was at hand like when they discovered the waves of calamity had hit their countries
"Well my sessions last at least three hours minimum, it's only reasonable to-"
"Can we go back to focus on the matter of this meeting!?" Haito exclaimed to get everyone's attention, he didn't want to hear anything about that disgusting pig's sex slaves and what he did with them
"We are here to discuss the matter of the cardinal heroes, as you are all well aware the four legendary heroes have been summoned to Melromarc and have stayed there ever since despite numerous attempts to send an envoy to bring at least one of them to each other's country's" Werner began the reunion and gave them the run down, already Mirellia was in dangerous waters as the bird demi human started the discussion by making her country look bad in the eyes of the others, the worst part was that he wasn't lying and she hated that fact. Aultcray was only making her life harder with every decision he made, the demented fool must think he was helping his country when in reality Aultcray was only creating a target on their back the size of the moon, it was the most selfish thing he could have done and it could be seen as Melromarc shoving the middle finger down the other countries faces, she would have to use all she had to stop a war from happening
"As far as I know my envoy was blocked from entering Melromarc due to an direct order by the King himself, I thought you had put someone more competent and less selfish in power Mirellia my dear" the somewhat sarcastic comment of Juliet was seen as smug by the queen of Melromarc but she just had to take it as she wasn't wrong, Mirellia had put someone she trusted in the position of power while she was gone but it didn't end well
"Unfortunately the lord I gave this position died in the first wave" Mirellia replied, Lord Seaetto was by far the only lord in Melromarc she could trust to manage the country while she was away from her throne as he was loyal and wouldn't try to stab her in the back once given enough power. Unfortunately he perished while fighting the first wave in Melromarc that just so happens to hit the demi human village of Lurolona she had build in a agreement with Siltvelt to try and take the first step into ending slavery in both of their countries, before she was properly revealed of his passing, her husband Aultcray used this to take the power to himself and rule the kingdom in her absence despite not having her permission. Mirellia considered the possibility that Aultcray let the village be attacked by the wave and in turn leave the demi humans villagers to fend for themselves, of course Aultcray wouldn't know that a wave would happen... but at the same time he hated demi humans with a burning passion, but he was also a star hero that had synchronize with the Melromarc hourglass in the past...
"I would feel sad for you if your husband wasn't such a bother to deal with" Werner said as he sent a smug look Mirellia's way but she didn't bother to respond even with a sigh
"That's my brother you're talking about" the pig king replied back at the demi human bird, Aultcray was once part of the royal family of Faubley and even if he gave up his birth name and established himself in Melromarc, there were still family bonds between them even if they didn't see eye to eye
"I guess being despicable runs in the family" the Shieldfreeden leader commented as she didn't have the best experience with either of them, from the few times where she actually interacted with Aultcray when she and Mirellia were discussing business in her country, he was always dismissive of her and treated Juliet like a lesser being while his brother... tried to make advances towards her and wanted to giver Juliet the 'honor' of becoming one of his 'wifes' which she immediately shut down, threatening to go on war against Faubley if he ever tried such thing ever again
'I wouldn't be surprised if being an idiot ran in their incest filled family line' Alexander thought to himself as the royal family of Faubley was known to... 'keeping the bloodline pure' as they say, in reality they were just trying to preserve the hero genes ruining in their family as it was the only thing keeping them in power. It was very common for Faubley to try hoarding star heroes or even legendary heroes for a certain amount of time, all to... 'replenish the strength' of the next generation of the royal family
"I assure you that once back in my country I will properly allow the heroes to be guided into your country so that they may synchronize with the hourglass of each nation" Queen Mirellia ensured as she would do her best to amend the situation but it was going to be difficult since the three heroes would be easy to give away, there was a slight fear of them being twisted and used against her country or in another conquering the world plot like in the past with Siltvelt but the real difficulty came from...him... the man who had made her job a living nightmare by simply being so god damn good on his job
"While that would be the bare minimum, this isn't the real matter here" Alexander said which served to confirm to Mirellia that the Zeltobe leader and most likely all the others were aware of the man who has swiped the world with his feats
"Yes... at the end of the day only the shield hero matters in this discussion" Haito said as he crossed his arms and sat back in his chair, the wave of pressure Mirellia felt seemed to have dissipated as she was not the main target anymore
"Yes, rumors about him have been circulating around and they all are so consistent that it is hard to disgrace them, I assume you all have heard some of these rumors going around in your countries as well?" Juliet asked the other country leaders that all nodded in agreement
"I don't see the problem then, he has been protecting all of your nations unbiasedly as far back as the first weeks since their summoning into the world, he has been doing his duty of a hero very diligently" Mirellia responded as to mellow the situation before it could get more heated, the shield hero was a double edged sword as on one hand he helped the other countries with their crisis but on the other his bare existence cause consequences to Melromarc, a man that powerful flying around the entire world without any explicit alliance meant that he could side with anyone and the ones he didn't side would be defenseless against him, Mirellia feared that would be the case of Melromarc as her country wasn't the kindest towards the shield hero.
"You're correct on that but he isn't your normal legendary hero, he is truly something else from what was described in the ancient books and scrolls" Juliet said as she placed a hand in her chest as she remembered how far off the books were about the shield and it's power, none of them mentioned those abilities he had and neither did the historical records of previous heroes
"According to the rumors, he can fly, shoot flames out of his eyes, freeze things with his breath, lift an entire cargo ship over his head with no struggle, has senses more enhanced than that of a demi human and likely even more things we have yet to confirm" the dragon woman continued as she began to list down some of the feats described in the plentitude the rumors about his heroic deeds. While some could be from monsters he absorbed into the shield, the monsters in their world couldn't give all of those abilities neither could they reach such extent and the strongest feat of power ever recorded of a hero before was that of destroying a mountain, but even that was relying on the power of a guardian beast
"And as far as any Intel gathered tells us, these abilities aren't possessed by the other three heroes, as if they had access to some of them, they would be using them to do what the shield hero is doing" the leader of Zeltobe pointed out as if any of the other three heroes had even just some of these miraculous powers, Melromarc would be promoting that to its own people from left to right and would not even try to hide it as to boost their moral and religious beliefs
"Or being sent by that idiotic war crazed usurper you call a husband that summoned them to lay waste to us all and claim our lands like the despicable piece of crap he is" Haito sarcastically said as he looked at Mirellia with smug look and a frown, although everyone there knew he just said that to make the other country leaders hate Melromarc even more, all of them and even Mirellia agreed that what he said could have been a real possibility, as Mirellia knew that the church or perhaps even her husband if he truly has gone mad at this point, would try to convince the three heroes of commenting such a thing to most likely Siltvelt as a sort of power play against every other country
"Borderline is, he is stronger than all previously summoned heroes over the past centuries" Juliet said as she looked back at the other members across the table as every one were staring with sharp and skeptical eyes to each other
"It wouldn't be far fetched to call him a god, he is simply one of a kind in every way" Werner said as he wasn't even hiding his fanaticism over the individual but that was hardly new for the people there and it somewhat felt justifiable in this case
"Yes, he is the sort of resource that we have to explore as quickly as possible before it is too late, just imagine what his descendants could be capable of!" the pig king slammed his fist on the table as he said that, only really caring about the shield hero leaving descendents with this sort of power behind, that could guarantee that the royal family of Faubley would keep it's power and influence on the country for the next generations to come
"For all that is holy in the world, can you not think about that now!?" Alexander lashed out at the pig king, every single time they made a reunion like this the king of Faubley would bring up sex or reproduction efforts of the legendary heroes, he was honestly considering declaring war on Faubley just so he could erase this sex obsessed culture from the face of the planet, Faubley alone had a monopoly of sex slaves as it had a sex shop/strip club every corner of almost every street in all of the country's cities. he really wished he didn't have to sit right next to the most disgusting man alive, they were ten feet apart and yet the disgusting smell of the pig king was still strong as hell
"I am just speaking the truth, his sperm is likely the most valuable resource in the world currently" the pig king responded as to defend himself, although all the other country leaders could understand what he said was true, it was so wrong when it came out from his mouth in specific. the children of heroes were quite blessed as they always had quite the strong magical potential, better stats than average, and they were beautiful, and thus the descendants of heroes were some of the most important people in the world due to their lineage, but with this current shield hero being more powerful and impressive than every pass hero combined, it was quite the curious prospect of any of his descendants possibly inherit even just a fraction of his powers, but that was a subject that needed to be approached carefully since the shield hero was so powerful that Faubley's favorite strategy of "raping" the heroes after drugging them wouldn't work and that being to pushy on making him have sex with a spouse might get him offended as it did with some of the past heroes
"Ugh... moving on, the point is that he is powerful and so far he hasn't chosen a side or country to align himself with" the leader of Shieldfreeden said as she focused on the other members of this council and blocked the pig king from her view, the other members got more serious at what she was saying
'He has registered for our hourglass, in the holy land he is destined to protect. He has already chosen a side, he just doesn't know yet' Werner mentally said as he did his best to hide his smugness over the thought of revealing that fact to the other countries just for their reaction, Haito wanted to do the same
"So you want to discuss how we can... share him?" Mirellia asked as that was a hard thing to do as the shield hero was already doing this in a way, but it was more likely to be in a more orderly form as the shield hero was practically traveling to the countries at random
"More or less" the dragon woman said as in truth she didn't really want to share the shield hero with the likes of Melromarc and Faubley, but international relations and the fact that none of them had any sort of control over the shield hero meant that this had to be more of a group effort than anything
"Very well... if possible I will try to contact him and then we can discuss the details with him, but so far I don't see why we would try to restrict him in only one country since he can cover all of our countries and ensure their safety in such a manner" Mirellia said as she knew that the shield hero seemed to visit and monitor the small village of Lurolona that he had helped rebuild and rescue the citizens, she could have one of her shadows contact with Eclair so that she relays a message to the shield hero. When the queen learned of this she was happy at first but as more details about Lurolona village's state before the arrival of the shield hero were revealed, all she could do was muffle her screams on a pillow from how frustrated it was, not only was the village hit in the first wave but then knights of the capital came in to enslave the remaining citizens all the while her most trustworthy knight was sent to the dungeon for rightfully standing up against such thing, Mirellia was going to have those knights along with whoever planned that attack executive for almost ruining all her efforts to better demi human and human relationships. Although in a weird way she should be thankful as otherwise the shield hero wouldn't have established himself in Melromarc, Lurolona village seemed to be the only part of Melromarc that he visited often and that was certainly a good tool to keep in mind
"It's not about sharing him with us, it's about Melromarc not getting to have him!" Haito shouted as he hit the table with his fist and looked at the Queen of Melromarc ready to rip her tongue off, Werner had a hand in the white tigers chest as to stop him from jumping out of his seat and into Mirellia
"Calm down Haito, while we understand your point of view Queen Mirellia. I think we can all agree that Melromarc has to face some sort of punishment for trying to hoard the legendary heroes for its own sake" Alexander said as he looked at Mirellia with a cold gaze with his singular eye, still holding somewhat of a grudge against the royal family of Melromarc for what happened to his other eye because of her red haired daughter
"Your country already has three legendary heroes and a star hero watching over it so you don't require another one" Juliet threw her point to the conversation as it only felt natural that for what the queen's husband had done that she and her country suffered from breaking international laws
"you can have three weak heroes, one admittedly strong star hero, while we share the near omnipotent and omnipresent one, seems like a fair deal to me" Werner said smugly as he felt that the shield hero could easily wash the floor with anything inside Melromarc, the biggest contender would be Aultcray since he was the star hero of the staff for about thirty-something years at this point and he was very likely at level 80 or above, but no one had seen or heard of him using the magic of his staff ever since the great war, and if he was still as capable as he was in his prime then he wouldn't be needing the heroes to protect his country
"... that's an understandable point" Mirellia said in defeat as she couldn't argue with any of them about this without possibly causing trouble for her country, after the trouble her husband has made she was in no position to disagree with any punishment that she and her country received. Maybe she could argue that they were being petty or unfair? but after the mess her husband did, her country would probably be pointed at as the most petty and selfish one because of Aultcray's doings, still she wanted to argue something but it would likely make her come out as desperate or weak...
"It's not like the people would miss him, after all they practice a religion centered around the three holy heroes and the 'Shield devil' so they didn't see him in good light ever since his summoning" Alexander said as it was very likely that the shield hero was exposed to a lot of unwarranted hatred on Melromarc ever since his summoning, a country with the sole religious belief that the shield hero is the cause of all problems and maker of monsters. It was likely, or rather certain that he suffered in the hands of those people right at his first day and left due to that, the fools of Melromarc were now paying the price for labeling a godly being such as this shield hero as the devil, now his almighty protection was unlikely to help them in times of crisis
"We just want what is best for our people and country, I am sure you understand" Juliet said as she sent a soft grin on to Mirellia that was not only smug but condescending, Melromarc was an enemy to Shieldfreeden in a ideology as one country treated humans and demi humans like equals, while the other promoted human supremacy against all other races. While Siltvelt was Melromarc's number one enemy, Shieldfreeden was a close second and Juliet knew that one day that would lead to war, she somewhat trusted Mirella but even she could see how little control the queen actually had in her country, especially during a world changing time like this. Aultcray was impulsive and borderline warmongering, he even made a law to stop any and all white tiger demi humans from entering the country with the threat of execution on sight! a man like that would declare a war with very little reason, it was best to have Melromarc be a arguably weaker country just so that demi humans would feel safe
"You got three legendary baby making machines with you, so you have no place to be mad at us. You can make many good adventurers with their sperm" the pig king said and everyone in the room sighs in annoyance as none of them could stand him, every time he spoke about helping his or the other countries it either began or ended in sex with a hero
"... why does every time you talk about something, it is always about sex?" Haito whispered under his breath as although he hated the queen of Melromarc so much, the person he wanted to kill in the moment was that vile thing that barely resembled a human
"For now the meeting is over, we can arrange another one if any new development is found" Alexander said as he lifted himself from his seat and the others did the same
"Very well, I will accept the punishment given to my country. But what if the shield hero decides to stay in Melromarc?" Mirellia puts the hypothetical question in the air as the other country leaders look at each other while Haito bursts into mad laughter
"I doubt he would choose to stay in a country that despises him over any other country that would be more than happy to salute him as the godlike being that he is" Werner said as he found Mirellia's suggestion to be a complete joke in every sense of the world, for her to think that the shield hero would want to stay at such a place instead of going to a place that would treat him infinitely better than Melromarc ever could was baffling to say the least
"Mirellia my dear, you really need to relax, the stress is getting to you so much you aren't making sense, you should have a spa day with me before your brain turns into a melted pile of grey matter" Juliet said as a cruel joke but Mirellia was honestly considering taking her up on that offer
"hahahaha, I didn't know you were a comedian, Ice Vixen" Haito said as he swiped a tear of laughter out of his eye, finding Mirellia's words hilarious in their absurdity
"..." Mirellia didn't respond as she took her leave, putting a hand on her forehead and using her ice magic to cool down from the migraine she was currently having
"How many houses in the village were destroyed during the wave?" a villager with a mustache asked a man to his sides as he looked at the street a bit flabbergasted, seeing the shield hero move a large stone pillar that he carved by himself without a single struggle, it was a show of strength that the villager never saw before
"About half of them" the other villager responded as he was equally in disbelief with what they were seeing being done, all thanks to the work of the shield hero
"And how many has he rebuilt even better than they were before?" the villager with a mustache asked the person to his side
"All of them, even improved houses with only superficial damage" the other villager responded as the houses looked way better than they used to, they didn't have a fancy design or anything like that but they all seemed sturdier than they were before, some houses had a extra floor to them and the few shops around the village were now busting with personality. The small Lute village was looking a lot like the capital city in terms of structure and design, only much smaller in scale which was all the people in here wanted
"He also improved our mine and made it more secure in case of another wave hitting" the other villager continued as the mine had received some additional work for it to be used as a shelter in the case of another incident of the scale of the waves, it now had a stone fence around the perimeter along with a much more safer structure within, it was shocking how easily the shield hero was able to fortify and improve that busted old mine as it now looked like a much more professional and safe environment to work on
"And how much money did he donate to us exactly?" the mustachio villager asked again since that was another unbelievable thing the shield hero had done considering his current situation in the country
"500 silver coins he got from fighting in the wave plus an additional 20 gold coins from his own pocket" the other villager responded as a part of him wondered where he got the gold since it was unlikely that anyone in Melromarc would give him that much coin for the crown's enemy but the villager didn't care about it much, they weren't going to refuse such a generous donation after the wave attack
"And how much could we sell the monster parts and gear from the wave creatures that he willingly donated to us without asking for anything else in return?" the man with the mustache asked as he looked back at a pile of armor and weapons from the wave monsters that were being distributed to the blacksmiths and newly formed guards in the village (that were composed of villagers from the Lute, who decided to prepare for the next wave)
"About... 1500 copper, 730 silver and 4 gold I think" the other villager responded as he thought over about the calculation that he and the other shop keepers made when the shield hero had gifted them those monsters bodies, in truth they didn't know the exact value but due to them being Wave monsters, it already upped the value by a good margin
"Not to mention the food, the guy planted an entire field of wheat and potatoes by himself" the other villager continued, the fields sustained some damage from the waves that would take a day or two to fix the soil and another three to replant everything, the shield hero had done that in four minutes
"all of that... in three days?" the mustachio villager said in disbelief as he still couldn't believe that amount of work was all done in a messily 72 hours
"Pretty much" the other villager responded as he seemed to be pretty chill about the whole thing but he was just as baffled as the man with a mustache
"... he isn't human, no human could do that, not even a fucking monster could do this" the villager with a mustache said as he put a hand to his forehead as the thought of a human doing all of this was impossible, he knew that the heroes weren't like normal humans but this was just insane to him
"I don't think even the three heroes could do half of this shit" the other villager said as they had been indoctrinated by the church of the three heroes that the shield hero was the weakest and most pathetic one, being cruel and greedier than a dragon, yet he was the one that showed the most kindness out of the four legendary heroes by coming to their aid during the wave and afterwards he helped rebuild the entire village, almost entirely by himself
"I always thought the people of Siltvelt were delusional fanatics that wished us pain, but I think I'm going to convert to their religion. I'm basically seeing it with my own eyes" the villager with a mustache said as it seemed that the church of the holy shield of Siltvelt might have been right on the money about their faith in the shield, seeing a man do all of this by himself would make anyone think he is the blessing of God
"Especially after that dumbass spear hero came to town, he asked for 100 silver in exchange for finishing the job. We had to give him all our silver and copper just to cover that demand, we only make 5 or 7 copper a day! sometimes we make 2 silver if we are extremely lucky!" the other villager responded angered just from remembering what had happened a few days before the Wave hit, the lack of funds had really hurt their economy, maybe they could have prepared for the wave better if they weren't in extreme poverty because of the spear hero
"Are you surprised? the first princess is in his party, she is clearly the one calling the shots while the spear just listens to all her commands, can he even think for himself?" the villager with a mustache said as he had heard the occasional rumor or two about how awful the first princess of the country was but it was made very clear to him and everyone of the village when she came in with the spear hero to kill a monster that was causing them trouble, not only did she made them practically give her all of the village's money and savings, but they also spent the night at the local lord residence after kicking him out from his house and made all the chefs in the village prepare for them the best meal they could, and even then she complained about the whole thing as it probably wasn't as luxurious as she wanted. And at no moment did the spear hero try to shut down the absurd demands she was making, for a person advertised as a 'hero of the people' and 'ally of the common folk' he seemed to care more about his harem being happy than anything else, he seemed like a good hearted person but his idiotic ignorance of his scummy party member was infuriating to say the least
"I'm gonna be real here, I don't think the shield hero raped the first princess" the other villager said as he brought in the rumor the first time around, then he thought about for a bit and was doubtful, and after the first princess had threaten them to give her all of their money but then the shield hero just came to their rescue and was currently leaving the village better than it was
"No doubt, I guess that whole trial was a crack pot. Looking back it makes sense, it isn't the first time that princess accused a guy of raping her, the only difference is that the shield hero wasn't executed" the villager with a mustache said as he did heard a few years back that the first princess accused at least two other men of raping her when she hadn't even hit eighteen years old
"As mad as I am for the destruction that the Wave caused, I have to be thankful for it. Otherwise the shield hero would have never come in and helped us" the mustachioed villager said as although the damage was bad and the wave was terrifying, it led to this miracle. They're small Lute village might very well grow beyond what they ever expected it to ever be, they finally had a chance to put their name on the map and finally leaving the shadow of the capital for once
"Can't believe those monsters caused so much destruction, I barely saw them but I can't imagine how a bunch of undead and giant bugs caused so much fire to leave all that damage" the villager with the mustache said as he still wondered how those things caused such a devastating fire to the village, maybe they had knocked down some lamp or a lit stove or perhaps it was the Wave Boss that unleashed such a inferno, it did have a dragon head if the talk of the town is true
"You don't know? it was the knights in the capital that destroyed the village with a magic attack" the other villager responded back and saw the face of the villager to his side become comical from how wide his eyes were and how low his jaw had dropped
"What?! Are you serious?" the mustachio villager asked loudly in disbelief with the fact that the knights of the kingdom would do such a thing
"Yeah, Susan's daughter was saved by the shield hero and she saw that the guards from the capital were the ones that caused that rain of fire, their captain was apparently pretty vocal on how it didn't matter if some people died if it at least killed some monsters as well" the other villager responded as he had a neutral expression but how hard he was clinching his fist showed how mad he was at that attitude, he had asked a friend in the guards for confirmation of this and it just shattered his trust on the guards of the capital as it was unbelievable to think their captain values killing monsters more than saving human lives
"Those... those bastards! how could they just do that?!" the mustachioed villager was in disbelief and angered by this revelation as it went against everything he thought of the guards, they were supposed to protect the people of all of Melromarc no matter how big or small they were, but to hear they were the ones to cause such destruction was pissing him off beyond his belief
"I guess we are such a small town they wouldn't mind erasing us from the map just to kill some monsters of the wave, thank God the shield hero evacuated us" the other villager said in more sober tone, he understood that in the grand scheme of things their village was almost nonexistent but knowing that it was a conscious decision made by the protectors of their country to just bomb them to ashes was very saddening as if it wasn't for the man their the country calls Devil, Lute village would have been gone forever
"... Well I better get going, those filolian eggs won't take care of themselves" the mustachio villager said as he decided to attend back to his ranch to get his mind out of the absurdity of everything that happened in this month to the village
"Myne! Myne!" Motoyasu called out his companion who was sleeping in his bedroom alongside him
"What is it Motoyasu-sama? It is too early..." Malty said as she put a hand over her face, as she wanted some more beauty sleep
"The egg! Is hatching!" Motoyasu excitedly says as he points to the hatching egg, running over to it to see what would emerge from it, Malty followed as well, wanting to see if it was worth a damn. They watched as the egg crack and a baby bird with lime green colored feathers began to chip and sing as it flapped it's wings happily
"Oh, it's a filolian... Great..." Motoyasu said, a hint of disappointment in his voice 'I shouldn't have expected to get the dragon in my first attempt' Motoyasu sighed as he fell to the gacha curse of believing in getting what you wanted in a single pull instead of many
"It is definitely something..." Malty said as she looked down at the baby bird while hiding her disgust 'Ugh! How I hate these things! Every time I look at its ugly face I'm reminded of my stupid mother and my bratty sister!' Malty mentally remarked, as she had grown a burning hatred for the creatures because of her family
"Piiiu" the bird chipped as it jumped on top of Motoyasu's head, resting on it and flapping it's wings happily as the bird imprinted on as it's parental figure
"Ohh... I think he likes me" Motoyasu said slightly awkwardly but found the creature's act to be cute in a way, it was kind of the opposite of the mother chicken resting on top of its egg for it to hatch
"Well unfortunately we didn't get a dragon, we better sell this bird off then" Malty said as she sent a disgusted side eye towards the little bird, annoyed with it's very existence
"We should probably get it to adulthood first, no reason to sell it while it's young and defenseless..." Motoyasu said as he took the bird out of his head and held him in front of his face, he couldn't just sell this newly hatched baby that looked so adorable, maybe when it hits adulthood and perhaps becomes more ugly it was better to sell him
"I guess so" Malty said as she agreed that the filolian would probably sell for a higher price as a adult, a adult filolian raised by the spear hero could probably go for a few gold in the market
"Well, I'm going out and leveling up this little fella, see you later" Motoyasu said as he put the bird on his shoulder and kissed Myne's cheek before running out of the room
Melromarc embassy in Faubley
"God damnit!" Mirellia mumbled under her breath as she kicked the side of the coffee table in her room, after the meeting with the other country leaders she was left in a very infuriated state, the whole thing was about the shield hero but it was also an underline on insulting Melromarc and her husband stupid decision, Mirellia had to admit that the agreed punishment of the shield hero not protecting Melromarc could be a big one if it truly happens, since the shield hero was seemly the same as if all the star weapon heroes and legendary heroes fused together into a sole hero
"Mother?" the second princess of Melromarc Melty opened the door to her mother's room with a look on her face of confusion at the same time worried for her mother, it was like she had something very important with her but she didn't know what to do with it
"Not now Melty, I have a lot to do and organize" Mirellia said as she wanted to dismiss Melty, knowing that the girl was probably worried for her
"It's just... someone really important wants to talk with you" Melty said as she completely opened the door to reveal that Superman was standing right behind her waiting, he waved a greeting to the queen who had her eyes wide as they could be, the look on Mirellia's face was something that Melty never saw her mother express before as it was so comical it didn't feel fit for a queen as serious as her mother. Mirellia herself was trying to comprehend this with her being scared and completely confused by his appearance in her room, she didn't have a plan nor did she have time to make one.
"I can come back in a better time if you-"
"No! I can push anything back for now, please enter" Mirellia couldn't let this chance slip away at all costs, she had the chance of speaking with the shield hero privately without the other world leaders knowing of it, this was her only way of talking to him without someone trying to persuade the shield hero against Melromarc and she would be a god-damned fool if she let that pass.
"What is it that you want to discuss, hero of the shield?" Mirellia said as she sat down on the couch in the room, she offered for the man of steel to sit down but he just decided to keep standing up which Mirellia took that as typical power move in discussion of any matter
"I talked with your husband a couple days ago, about ending the slavery of demi humans in Melromarc, not immediately but with multiple smaller steps to achieve that goal" superman said and Mirellia face didn't change from it neutral expression but her eyes widened in fear
'Oh... oh no...' Mirellia was terrified of this revelation, her husband has likely destroyed their possible relationship with the shield hero to an unrepairable state, Aultcray hates the shield hero with a burning passion and she could only imagine the things he said to the legendary hero. Together with the tone of voice the shield hero was talking made her fear the worst, he was about to announce that Melromarc has become his number 1 enemy or that he would not help Melromarc against the waves, she had to fix things if it was still possible and to do that she would have to appeal to whatever he wanted
"He didn't respond very nicely to it I assume" she responded, a drop of sweat falling from her forehead and a more accelerated heart beat that superman could hear better than most, the queen was clearly distressed over this fact and although she could try to hide it over a well composed mask, internally she was screaming and cursing her husband for whatever he had said in that meeting with the shield
"Yes, he is going to shut down any attempt at ending or banning that system, that's why I came here to talk with you, since you are the true authority of the country" superman said as he looked at Mirellia, from his understanding of the politics of Melromarc, the king had zero control over the country if the queen was present, and Aultcray seemed to only hold the power he has now from the support from nobles that shared his vision and the church of the main religion of Melromarc. but from what Eclair explained about the Queen, not even the king as he was now had the same level of power and influence that the Mirellia had
"You are correct, he only has power while I'm outside the country, I can assure you that I will give all the support possible and necessary for the slavery of demi humans to be over" Mirellia said as she was going to give all the assistance she could in this matter, not only to amend the relationship between the shield hero and her country but also because that was a long time goal of her to end injustice against the Demi human population as to reinforce international relationship between the countries of Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden
"However there are problems that stop this from happening, otherwise I would have ended this system much sooner" Mirellia said as she had to be realistic and address the issues that prevented the situation to be more easily solved
"I know, it's not a very popular opinion amongst the nobles or the common folk, from what I gather the two primary reasons are money and religion" superman explained as he had seen exactly what were the reason for such horrible business to still be in practice for so long
"Indeed, the church of the three heroes has basically indoctrinated the citizens of my country to hate demi humans and only wish harm to them, while the nobles of Melromarc abuse the slavery system to keep power and profit, so of course they will be against ending it or turning it illegal" Mirellia said as the church and nobility were the biggest enemies to any attempt of the improvement of the living conditions for Demi humans in the country, the church was the bigger problem due to the influence over the normal citizens and even most nobles were loyal fanatics of the church
"The only way I can see for us to end slavery in Melromarc is by ending the church of the three heroes and removing its influence on the people, next we would need the other three heroes support since if all cardinal heroes want it to end such practice then the people would have very little to refuse since they are the most important and powerful people of the world in terms of sheer potential and capabilities, there's a reason you four are seen as gods by most. But the monetary benefits of slavery are too high for the nobles to want to outlaw it, I hate to admit it but the kingdom of Melromarc needs them" Mirellia explained the steps that would need to be taken for the end of slavery to even become visible in the horizon, the church was the primary obstacle, the nobles were the second and the opinion of the population of her country wasn't going to be a problem if the two other obstacles were to be removed
"the only way to make the nobles of my country to do it is by pressuring them which would only be possible if slavery became illegal across the globe which is a mighty task to take" Mirellia said as that was the big dilemma of this conversation, different from a country like Shieldfreeden that doesn't have slavery since it was outlawed from the beginning of the country and the nation was a nation of both humans and demi humans, Melromarc had been using slavery from the start and has always been hostile to demi humans so realistically speaking, the only way to convince all of Melromarc was if slavery became illegal in all the major countries in the world which wasn't impossible but it was sure to be difficult
"I had bigger challenges, most were physical rather than political but that won't mean I will give up" superman said as this was a situation much more complex than the usual problems that he was used to solve, but he was apparently very influential in many countries and was venerated as a god in Siltvelt, if he was capable to convince the leaders of the country Melromarc hates the most to end slavery, perhaps it would make the rest easier
"Neither will I" Mirellia said with eyes closed and a smile on her face, she was happy for the shield hero to be a ally to not just her people but also for the others in the world that suffer so much. She had to admit that this man had raised the bar to what meant to be a hero in this world
"... I am terribly sorry for the trouble my family has been to you, I will give them the proper punishment once I'm back home" Mirellia said as a apology, from the reports of her shadows that were in Melromarc, it seemed that her husband and daughter did all they could to try to screw with this saint in red and blue. she was going to plan the best way to award the man of steel for the mistakes of her family
"On that topic, I have to ask if some of your daughter's victims and families will be recompensated for what they had to endure" Superman said as the victims of the first princess were in much more need of any sort of recompensation than he was
"I am sorry to say this, but you are going to have to be more specific, that demon child of mine has wronged too many people" Mirellia said and she dreaded the fact that her daughter had done so many wrongs to people that it was hard to determine one in specific from the top of her head
"She has been selling companions of the spear hero that didn't oblige to her plans to slavery, I have stopped many cargos of this human trafficking ring but I don't know how many she has sold and I worried about what happened to any of them that may I have missed while I helped around the world" Superman addressed to the queen the situation her daughter was causing, as Mirellia face once again turned white from shock
"She has been doing what?!" the queen screamed out in shock and anger as she was genuinely unaware of this, with all her attention focus on the church, her husband and the shield hero's escapades she didn't have many eyes on Malty's own shenanigans, and to consider that she would be committing human slavery inside Melromarc that was one of the few crimes that guarantee a death sentence no matter what reason or context behind it, the worst part was that Mirellia could totally see Malty doing this without much need for evidence
"God, even knowing what I did wrong with her, it shouldn't be possible for her to be this rotten..." Mirellia said under her breath as she rested her forehead on one of her hands while slightly waving her head side to side in disappointment at the failure of a daughter that was Malty
"...What is your view on Melromarc, shield hero?" Mirellia asked the question haunting her mind ever since she heard the rumors about his powers and what her husband and daughter did to him, and superman could understand the meaning behind that question and gave her the truth
"It's a flawed country but it has good people on it, that alone makes it worth fighting for, I don't have any animosity against it. You don't have to worry about me wanting to start a conflict with your nation, I know very well that no country is without its problems" superman said with a reassuring and honest smile, he had knew very well that no country, no matter how great and powerful could be without flaw, many times he had to solve issues caused by the negligence or greed of a government, but that didn't mean he was going to not help those in need or bring justice to light
"Thank heavens" Mirellia said in relief with a tired smile, she was truly glad that this meeting with the shield hero had turned out good, she had to be truly thankful for his comprehension
"Uh? I'm sorry but I have to go, someone fell from a cliff in Zeltobe and broke their leg. He is about to be attacked by a monster, we can chat again another time" Superman said as he walked towards the window and waved goodbye to the queen as he took off by the window in Mirellia's room and flew away
'either he can detect people in need of help or he has hearing capabilities that are above anything in this world... I am terrified of him being able to hear such things from so far away' Mirellia mentally noted as now she would ask for written reports of the shield hero instead of being told of them by voice just to be sure
[author's notes]
hope you liked the chapter, leave a comment as it really helps but don't spam stuff not related to the fanfic
what did you think of the meeting between the nation leaders? what are your thoughts on the Zeltobe and Shieldfreeden leaders? we never see them in the entire series so I had to come up with design and personality for them, made the Zeltobe leader be sort of a Deathstroke equivalent as it felt somewhat fitting
there isn't going to be a new chapter for a long while, the fanfic isn't going on hiatus but in the coming weeks I'll be unable to work on it consistently, hope everyone can understand that
to NexusPrime42: I intend on giving superman a party but that will have to wait a couple of chapters
to wolves567: kryptonite is not going to appear, also the heroes wouldn't try to attack him without a reason. Maybe in the devil of the shield arc but as the story is unfolding right now, that arc will flat out not exist
to Guest: I'm becoming the "DC and shield hero crossover" guy ain't I?
to GREAT CELESTIAL-DRAGON: Aultcray's argument is full of holes and flaws because it's born on his hatred and racism against demi humans, it is on purpose as Aultcray can't really think in a unbiased way when it comes to demi humans, he later on orders to execute the shield hero just because he brought Fohl and Atla to the Melromarc castle
to iamchaos: thanks! hope you liked this chapter as well
to Pikachu345: the idea of Ren (and maybe the other heroes) fighting failed super wave bosses is interesting and might bring something to the fanfic, I'll think about it.
to ZukahaniMultiColor: Superman's reputation will grow slowly but thanks to his help in rebuilding the destroyed Lute village (and Malty causing a terrible first impression about the spear hero) it is certain that Lute will stop believing the church's words
to shiitakesetachina: the noble that wanted to talk with superman... wasn't supposed to be there. It was part of a scrapped interaction between a noble and superman about Faubley, but I ended up scratching that part out
to XaralandoWyattWyatt: I'm going with Green, he is the more important one as he becomes the vassal axe hero later on and since I'm planning to give the claws to someone, it stops any over lap between them
to grasoya: yeah, that might appear as a joke or small comment
to 6113: I mean, I don't really have anything planned for them but if... I don't know, the entire royal family of Faubley gets killed by someone... the two could theoretically step in to claim their birth right, but what are the chances of that happening? *wink*
to Silver90: yeah basically
to Nyesh: he can simply expel all of his party members before the wave hits and then accept them back afterwards, I don't see that as out of character for Ren as he did make all of his party members grind individually instead of as a group, so if he just comes in and temporarily takes them out of the party for a "grinding session", they wouldn't find it to be suspicious in the slightest