Ambition of the Red Princess

by Qinlongfei

Malty S Melromarc, the selfish and scheming first princess of Melromarc suddenly finds herself at a loss when her father summoned all four Legendary Heroes. Following father and the Church's plan to frame the Shield Hero is easy and comfortable, but will it fulfill her life long ambition to become the next queen?

11. 10: Bowel

I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero

Biggest thanks to Comrade Broseph for being my often under credited Chief Editor.

Also thanks to Fluffball13 for reading my first draft and keep bouncing ideas with me. The lizard man using smell and a third eye to substitute his sight is her idea.

Big thanks for Pyromania101 for making a TV trope page for my fanfiction. Also, big thanks for both Lordvectorum84 (not sure if you have an FFN account) and Ace Triad for recommending my story on Rising's page.

Author's Note at the end for people who want to see me blabber more.

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The orange abomination squirms and shrieks as it tries to wriggle out of Naofumi's grasp. Almost as if it knows what's about to happen… No, there is no almost. The eldritch ball of calamity can clearly tell that it's vile plans - which the disguised princess is sure are above all else aimed at causing her torment - are about to come to a swift and premature end.

Indeed it lets out shrieking hiss that seems to resonate with anguish as the magical ink makes contact with its form.

All sweet music to her ears.

The demonic herald of pain howls louder as the magical ink begins to form into the shape of a seal on its body. It violently jerks and twists around in Naofumi's hands, making the undercover princess wonder if it'll end up inadvertently popping itself.

Unfortunately the answer is no. Throughout the process Naofumi holds his hands steadfast like a steel cage around the deceptively small and innocuous looking terror. He murmurs softly into the balloon's round body like he's trying to soothe a baby filorial.

"Shhhh. It'll only take a little while. I promise to feed you after. Maybe some rabbit meat? We still have some left… I suppose that I'll need to see if it's actually even good for eating by now." At these words the freshly sealed ball of doom calms somewhat. Yes, despite the act the unholy creature puts on it's clearly cognizant enough to understand when it's being offered sacrifi- …food.

On that note, the eyes of the newly purchased rabbit-man begin focus on the back of Naofumi's head. It's hard to tell if he is frightened or simply in deep thought about his new master's words due to his complete lack of facial expression. Still, it's obvious that Naofumi's words got his attention.

Judging by Naofumi's nonchalant ignorance to this reaction, Mein doubts the young hero realizes the unintended implication of what he just said. She isn't about to correct this misunderstanding either, as it's for the best that the demi-human thinks that all talk of freedom aside the Shield Hero is capable of feeding him to monsters should he prove himself to be a hindrance.

There is of course the magical seal to enforce subservience from slaves, but an obedient slave is always better than a rebellious one. After all, given a little mental gymnastics there are ways for a slave to get around the master's orders even with a magical seal. And with her Naofumi's lax attitude towards slaves due to his naiveté... Mein will have to be his eyes and ears to make sure those animals don't try anything funny to hurt the two of them.

Chapter 10: Bowel of a Profaned Capital

Meanwhile, just like the previous two times, the burning red monster seal settles into a dull black color. The abomination blinks its slanted triangular eyes a few times - those very eyes that screamed of ill intent that had been able to stare into the depth of her soul having now softened into two misty pale round beads...

As if!

Mein's not buying any of it! The thing is clearly still the epitome of evil! It's merely biding its time, the seal upon its body being a mere hindrance and delaying factor in the creature's inevitable and catastrophic release of blood thirst… Yes, it's only a matter of time until the sealed demon breaks free and sinks it's cruel fangs into her soft and tender flesh once more…

This realization provokes another spike of fear that manifests as a shudder along her back.

The temporarily contained wavespawn looks up at Naofumi and the other two balloons currently sitting perched on his shoulders with what could pass for a curious expression. Then it takes its tongue out and licks the young man's face. The other two spherical blights upon this world mimic it, showering Naofumi with an onslaught of slimy slobber.

Mein clutches her shoulders with her hands, another violent shudder coursing through her body. While she had realized that the seals would not permanently ensure her safety from the eldritch nightmares but rather merely delay the inevitable, she did not in her most dreaded nightmare imagine that they'd have so little effect…

Even now the despicable things were using their revolting slimy appendages to violate Naofumi in the most disgusting way imaginable, mere moments after the tragically naive Hero attempted to bind them to his will!

Worst of all, her Naofumi doesn't even seem to realize the unspeakable way in which the orange horrors are currently using his body! Perhaps his brain simply shut down due to being unable to deal with such a revolting and terrible reality, his mind completely and utterly broken, leaving behind only a soulless husk?

No… that can't be, for he smiles and relaxes his grasp, placing one palm on the head of the nightmare he was holding and…. giving it a series of headpats.

"Aw, you little ones are like puppies."

…Perhaps their slimy appendages secrete some sort of toxin that brainwashes their victims into enjoying the repulsive violations they suffer at the behest of the creatures?

Naofumi bends down and sets the three… Monsters… onto the rotted wooden floor. They immediately begin to roll around, nudging each other with their... heads? Bodies? It's hard to say since the eldritch creatures are practically shapeless besides the vaguely spherical outline, their bodies encompassing the form of Chaos itself...

Naofumi straightens back up and looks at something in front of him that only he seems able to see. Perhaps the events that transpired had just caught up with him? Had he realized that his body's sanctity was ruined by the perverse forms of the horrendous creatures currently frolicking on the ground in front of him?

"Balloon 1 to 3? Not exactly very personalized names…" No, apparently he was just checking their status… How brave of him to shoulder on and look towards practical matters despite the ordeal he was just forced to go through! Mein has to wipe away a stray tear of compassion and pity at such a display of character strength. "I will call you guys... Yuzuichi, Yuzuni, and Yuzisan."

The young man from another world in turn points a finger towards each of his three newly acquired greater daemons as he recites their True names. Just the sound of each one makes Mein whimper in abject terror.

What could those name even mean? Instead of something that'll easily roll off one's tongue such as Evangeline, Mirelia or even Melty, the complex twists of syllables her Naofumi pronounced seem to suggest something much older and much Much more eldritch than humanity itself.

But what could they mean? Shadow-Servant sounds fitting, same as Teeth-Consume. Eclipse-Shadow, or Flow of Radiate-Decay are equally suitable for such mind shattering horrors. For those are the only fitting meanings sh can ascribe to the daemons herself to truly encompass the horror of their being.

Or maybe she is overthinking it and the True names mean something much more simple if no less evil? Such as Envy-All, or Sin and Suffering?

…She steels the remainder of her nerves. No, she must focus! The meaning of their names is irrelevant next to the vile deeds committed by the creatures. Indeed, she has to be strong now! For her Naofumi that was so brutally abused and violated by alien life forms not of this world or dimension, she must provide a shoulder to cry upon!

"aaaaAAAAHHHHH!"

A sudden cry rings out through the dilapidated warehouse, distracting Mein from her thoughts and causing hers and everyone else's head to turn to the source.

It's the little raccoon-girl. After the sealing ritual she was handed off to one of their other purchased slaves to take care of while Naofumi finishes up his business. Seems as if the medicine she was forced to swallow earlier is working, as she is starting to regain a semblance of conciseness. Unfortunately she does so while panicking and violently thrashing about in the rabbit-man's one good arm as he does his best not to drop her.

"Mama, papa…!? Where… Rifana is... Why are you hurting us…Stop!… why are… where am… I…!?" Her face is twisted in fear and confusion while her eyes are dilated and are darting about everywhere, while her breathing is going into hyperventilation, all clear indicators of a panic attack.

Eventually the cub's elbow hits the rabbit-man in the chin causing him to recoil back while releasing his feeble hold on her. He stumbles back while holding his bleeding lower lip. The little raccoon-girl hits the rotten wood floor with a loud thud. For half a second Mein hopes that the fall knocker her out, but that hope is dispelled as the cub immediately begins thrashing about and screaming once again.

Naofumi quickly drops his balloons to run to her side and holds her still with both of his hands on her shoulders, holding her in semi-reclined position.

"Calm down! No one is going to hurt you anymore! You are in safe hands now." He reprimands with a loud, yet somehow soft sounding voice.

The panicking child ignores him completely.

"The Shield Hero is here to rescue you, Raphtalia." The rabbit-man Kyubey says, as he recovers from his momentary daze. He quickly kneels down to enunciate into the raccoon girl's animalesque ear with his usual deadpan delivery, while using his good hand to indicate Naofumi beside him as the individual he's referring to, trying to get the girl to settle down. The lack of any emotion in his voice probably undermines his effort by a huge margin.

However the meaning behind the bland delivery still manages to get to the hysterical little cub. Her pupils begin to slowly come back to focus, her breathing starts to slow and she stops her pointless struggle. She slowly looks from the rabbit man to Naofumi, who still has his hands on her shoulders lifting her up a few inches from the ground.

The now named Raphtalia blinks once, then twice, her eyes starting to glisten as they rapidly fill to the brim and start overflowing into the tired dark bags beneath, rivers of tears streaming down her dirty hollow cheeks.

She keeps blinking but it only accelerates the flow. A chocked sob makes its way out of her mouth. Raphtalia slowly puts her own arms onto Naofumi's as he keeps holding her and grasps them tightly.

The Shield Hero takes this is a gesture of someone seeking comfort and attempts to close the distance and embrace the child in a hug, yet surprise flashes on his face as the little cub uses her weak hold on him to push him away with all of her strength instead.

"No…no…nooo, Noooo, NOOOO!" Raphtalia screeches once again, her voice weak and wheezing from both sickness and disuse.

"What's wrong with her?" Naofumi looks around frantically trying to search for an answer. His suspicious gaze moves from Kyubey to Lautrec and finally settles on the plump slave trader.

"Oh my. It is rare for her to act this way when she's lucid. She usually shuts down into her own little world." Beloukas moves closer to the raccoon cub. He adjusts his thick lenses, as if the act itself can help him see directly into the truth.

Meanwhile Raphtalia is still trying to get out of Naofumi's hold. Her crying face is twisted in… hatred and disgust!? That brat…! How dare she!? First she spits out the medicine generously handed to her for free and now she dares to look down on her rescuers!?

"No… Why… If you're here then it's too late… Why me… too late to… not supposed to be me…"

Is the raccoon cub actually complaining about the Shield Hero being late in coming to her rescue?! The nerve of this dirty little animal! She should feel grateful that the Shield Hero is gracious enough to even spare her a glance when she has nothing to offer him, as her presence will only hinder his quest of helping the first princess claim her rightful throne... and saving the world too if he can, but only in that order.

"I didn't know Raphtalia too well before, but I know that when she was captured they took her somewhere together with her friend." A look of understanding seems to shine through beneath Kyubey's typical blank expression as he looks between the Shield Hero to the silently crying little girl. "She was moved here from wherever she was taken only a day ago. Just her alone."

Ah. Survivor's guilt after a friend's death then.

A sudden pang of empathy strikes at the First Princess' heart, bringing forth unpleasant memories of her own childhood…

She ruthlessly squashes them. It's beneath her to be compared to a demihuman child, even if it's only in her own head. She is a royal princess, even if she's currently pretending otherwise, and there are lines that royalty does not cross even in thought! And besides, who even cares about some filthy animal losing her equally filthy friend! It's well known that all of them form some kind of pack instinct driven bond with other animals born at the same time.

It's not the kind of connection one forms with someone through a long period of bonding over shared interests and spending time together. Not the same at all... Not anything worth her sympathy…

…Even if the little raccoon girl looks so very small and lost…

Naofumi's shoulders seem to stiffen for a moment as he looks at the rabbit-man. A moment later his eyes soften when he looks at Raphtalia once again. Despite her ongoing feeble struggling and attempts at pushing him away he slowly lifts the little girl up to embrace her with his arms.

Tch. She should have seen this coming, what with all the stories of the infamous infidelity of the previous Heroes… Of course Naofumi would find a reason to get handsy with some girl other than HER… And out of everyone it was this small sickly thing…

Whatever. Even if it did grate on her a LOT, for her objective it didn't matter if he was into little girls as long as Malty was still the one he had an emotional bond with at the end. There was a vast difference between the physical needs of a young male body and deep psychological attachment after all.

"I'm so sorry. I should have came to you sooner." Luckily for the ungrateful raccoon cub, the eldritch abominations disguised as common orange balloons are currently frolicking around on the other side of the warehouse.

Raphtalia persists in her continued struggle for a few more seconds, before eventually giving in and breaking down completely in Naofumi's embrace.

"Ha… ha… ha, hah…" Although as she sobs into his chest it sounds almost as if she is laughing rather than crying? "No…should not be me… It's Rifana that always prayed for the Shield Lord's help… she was always so good, so much better than me… and she believed… while I'm just a coward… so why me? Why not her!?"

The undercover princess gives another look at the raccoon girl. Her head bobs up and down on Naofumi's shoulder, her large tired, puffy and red eyes still attempting to spew forth veritable waterfalls, yet unable to do so for how there doesn't seem to be enough liquid in the dehydrated girl's body, her lips cracked and chaffed and her skin sickly pale where it is not bruised and covered in filth. No better picture comes to mind to describe the word pitiful.

Bah! She'll leave the little animal alone... for now. But the filthy cub better not mistaken her Naofumi's compassion for affection! Whatever indignity their temporary circumstances may require, the Shield Hero still belongs not to a collection of savage tribals, but to the throne of glorious Melromarc in general and to her in particular.

Anyway, Naofumi continued to comfort the weeping child for what Mein estimated to be close to a quarter of an hour, while both those who were followers of the Shield Hero and those that weren't waited dutifully for the scene to play out.

While Mein suspected that not many actually cared too deeply for the feelings of some demihuman child and her dead friend, no one here actually wanted to get on Naofumi's bad side, for interests of business or otherwise, hence the display of patience on his behalf. Once the raccoon girl had finally calmed somewhat and recovered her emotional state enough that she was no longer bawling her eyes out into Naofumi's shoulder, he set her down on her own feet while getting up from his kneeling position.

Raphtalia gives a little hiccup as she rubs at her eyes with the back of her hand, but at least she's no longer hysterical. She doesn't even briefly apologize for her earlier outburst, but honestly Mein would rather the demihuman child be quiet than make any more noise, so she'll let it slide.

"Alright. Now let's get everyone partied up." Naofumi pats the girl's head as he says this, his hand lingering for a second on one of her ears, feeling it's length up and down.

Mein blinks her eyes at the Shield Hero's surprisingly uncharacteristically assertive behavior. It is a well known fact that the ears of demi-humans are very sensitive to the touch. So for them, ear touching would be an intimate act between spouses or maybe lovers.

In demihuman society when someone who is clearly in a position of power fondles the ear of someone below them in status without asking for permission or doing it in privacy, it is interpreted as a clear act of showcasing one's dominance.

The girl gives a surprised squeak and she flattens her ears by bringing them close to her head. Then her eyes suddenly widen in fear before closing once again. She leans back into the touch.

"S-s-sorry!" Of all the things to apologize for…

Naofumi for his part also looks quite startled by the reaction but he does continue to keep hold of her animalesque appendage for a few more seconds, rubbing it between index finger and thumb, before awkwardly letting go.

Well, if this Raphtalia girl so eagerly accepted herself as the property of the Shield Hero - and by extension also of his most trusted companion and future queen - then that's at least one loyalty issue solved. And anyway, judging by his reaction it's not like Naofumi knows what any of this even means to the cub. Mein can only assume he acted out of some instinct inherent to all Shield Heroes, one that is intended in helping them subjugate and bend beastmen and demi-humans to their will.

On that note, judging by the reactions of the lizard man and the rabbit-man they clearly saw things the same way as the raccoon cub.

The lizard man... Lautrec? He is nodding his head along, his lipless reptilian mouth parts way into what can be seen as a smirk. Is he satisfied in the Shield Hero taking a more aggressive step that matches his own intimidating presence? Or maybe the simple act of someone stronger dominating someone weaker turns the lizard on?

She'll have to keep an eye on this one, just as she does on the orange horrors of pain and doom.

The rabbit man with the hard to pronounce name on the other hand... his eyes grew slightly larger, and one of the brows is slightly raised higher that the other. It's a very subtle change, and if the red princess hadn't gotten into the habit of observing how nobles behave in court she'd have likely missed it. It's clear he feels something about his new master's inconsistent behavior, but his lack of facial expression make reading him very difficult. Nope, definitely not playing any card game with the one having the perfect bland face in the future.

She'll have to keep an eye on... DAMNATIONS!

Why can't they get some normal slaves who just hang their heads low and do their work. Now, she's going to have to keep her eyes on all of them for different reasons, not to mention those brainwashing and world devouring abominations hiding in the form of the most common monster.

Through her brooding Mein notices that Beloukas along with his guards and helpers is still pointedly feigning ignorance to everything going on in his facility, even if Mein thought she noticed him slightly raise his eyebrows in surprise before quickly collecting himself once, only slightly more expressive than Kyubey. Seems like he really didn't want to cause any sort of issue that could impede whatever bizarre deal he'd struck with her Naofumi.

Meanwhile the pair of Siltvelt rats exchanged a look with each other followed by another nod. Mein was starting to suspect it was some sort of code the two used to communicate messages in public…

…Feels like someone else should be here… but the thought leaves Mein's head as soon as it enters. Of course there shouldn't be… Everyone in their impromptu group is already assembled, along with the servants of the merchant whose establishment they are frequenting… Still, the feeling gnaws on her and she actually starts to feel an almost physical pain in her head as she lets out a quiet groan and rubs her forehead…

The appearance of a big notification box causes Mein's attention to swing back to what's right in front of her. She's still not quite used to those since they are a byproduct of being partied up with a Cardinal Hero. It's actually even a little annoying how in stride Naofumi seems to take them.

She quickly reads the message. In short it's informing everyone in the party of an EXP gain penalty due to the party's size exceeding six individuals.

"Oh, there's a party size limit?" Naofumi seems to groan out the question. "I thought it's supposed to be just some arbitrary balancing mechanic in video games... but I guess this makes sense if my Shield is increasing everyone's EXP gain."

Finding a surprisingly lacking amount of, well, surprise, within herself at the news. Mein concludes that as the first princess of glorious Melromarc she was probably lectured on something along those lines at one point in her life, but likely didn't really pay much attention and let the knowledge slip out of one ear while it was being fed into her other.

…Still, this reminder gives her a real golden opportunity to prevent a great disaster in the making!

"Master Naofumi, we should probably not reduce our own EXP gain for the sake of your... monster pets." Mein gives another quick glimpse towards the jovially bouncing amalgamations of Armageddon. They quickly turn their deceptively cute visages in her direction, having clearly used some evil sixth sense to realize that she was talking about them.

No! You abominable eldritch wavespawn are not fooling me no matter how much you try to act cute! I know your true form! All of you just want me to drop my guard like that one unspeakable time, so that you may dish out your vile torment upon me once again! I will not let you get ahead of me in level no matter what it takes!

"You are right, guess I'll have to rotate them into the sixth spot in my party one by one to level them." Damn it all! Why did her Naofumi always have to be so clever!? He could seriously stand to take a page out of the Legendary Spear Fool's book in this instance!

"Master Shield Hero, there is a way to get around the problem." Both Mein and Naofumi whip their heads to look at the female rat. She gives a faint sideway glance towards the undercover princess, apparently doing a poor job trying to hide the smugness she's no doubt feeling for having one over her before continuing. "If you use the 'Battle Formation' ability of your Holy Shield, you may create secondary parties that also receive a significant increase in EXP gain, though not one as large as those of your companions."

"'Battle Formation', you say? Kinda sounds like a raid group from some mmo, but it'd also be really convenient if it was anything like the different formations from Romancing SaGa... Rapid Stream Formation from the second game is just too overpowered to not consider if it could be replicated here... Of course, you'll need the [Time Stop] spell to maximize it.." Naofumi mumbles as he rubs his chin in thought.

"As expected from our rightful king, Master Shield Hero's knowledge and wisdom truly have no bounds if he already knows of a high tier Formation like Rapid Stream, the one that grants everyone in the Formation the preemptive strike ability. Sadly the formation itself is said to only become unlocked at level one hundred. " Though he tries not to show it Naofumi's cheeks turn slightly pink at the praise. It's clear that despite his earlier domineering act, Naofumi is still easily embarrassed when a woman compliments him. "But even so, when a Hero invites other adventuring parties into their Battle Formation, they can freely control how much of the total EXP each party gains when anyone in the Battle Formation slays an opponent. This makes it easy to very quickly level up new party members through the work of experienced warriors in the same Formation as them. Of course the Hero may also choose to simply direct all of the EXP towards himself.

"Seriously? That sounds super exploitable. If this were a game you'd just be able to skip the entire leveling progression and go to endgame content immediately if you just got one group already capped at max to boost you in an endgame area, while you hang back with a bunch of other low level players... But I guess it kinda makes sense that something like that would exist here if there aren't any devs in charge of making this world balanced like there would be in an actual mmorpg."

And... there he goes off speaking that nonsense language once again… The terms he uses simply fail to register in her mind as the translation capability of his Legendary Shield does not seem to extent to the weird made up words he keeps saying! And it's seriously starting to rub Mein the wrong way!

It feels like all those times when Mother and Father were talking about marrying her off to Faubley behind her back... except worse, since she's right in front of the conversation but can't tell what is going on.

The female rat looks confused for a moment but then tilts her head in understanding and confirmation of Naofumi's words.

"Indeed. Our former king, Mikage the Great, in his infinite wisdom made great use of the Battle Formation ability this way, the glorious nation of Siltvelt being like a single blade that he'd wield in his hand along with the Holy Shield in his other."

Grrrr… That slut! Pretending that she knows what Naofumi is on about just to get closer to him…

Naofumi nods at this reply and is seemingly about to confirm the two demihuman freeloader's addition to his Battle Formation when he suddenly stills his hand. He turns his head up to look at the spies once again.

"I guess that I have to ask just in case and since the other guy before me used this method you'd probably know… Anyway, isn't there any penalty for exploiting the EXP gain like this? The people or monsters who benefit from the fast Level up don't just... drop dead, because they used up all their life force or something, right?"

The female rat looks like she isn't certain how to respond this time, so the male rat steps up besides his comrade to answer.

"We are grateful for Master Shield Hero's concern. However, there is no penalty for EXP sharing within a Formation. As Cervell said, our former king is well known for having assembled all of Siltvelt's armies within one formation at the Epic level of the ability. A single veteran regiment at the front lines was said to be able to raise the level of thousands of new recruits within a few short weeks. And all of the warriors whom served under his Majesty's glorious rule and lived through the war had long lives ahead of them. And there were plenty of such, still are even - for his Majesty in his gracious generosity barely even took the smallest sliver of EXP for himself and instead let the vast majority flow towards his loyal followers."

"You mean t'say that the damned King of Rape loved to make his incestuous battle harem of slaves do his job for him, while the craven fatass himself hid behind them when he should've been at the forefront of battle to SHIELD them." A voice interrupts from a surprising direction - the disfigured albino woman working for Beloukas having spoken up from where she was reclining on a wall in a corner. Her short and rotund employer gives her a disapproving look but doesn't reprimand her for butting in. The albino simply crosses her trunk-like arms in front of her chest and snorts at the rats.

"Why you-" The man-rat grinds his teeth in indignation and flares his nostrils, drilling the albino woman with a look of hatred.

"Rosat, no!" Seems like the male is about to go for his weapon again, but once more his comrade acts as a restraint on him. They both give the currently smug looking provocateur a wary look but don't opt for a violent response to the insult of their last ruler. Seems like they too are finally done with the idea of picking fights for the day.

Shame. Mein certainly wouldn't have objected to see them butchered by someone that's probably at least part white-tiger demihuman, a species inherently superior in almost all aspects to the measly rodents.

Unknowing of her disappointment the male rat simply turns his attention back to Naofumi.

"His majesty, Mikage the Great, could not allow himself to personally participate in every battle. It was for the best that he stay in the palace grounds, as he was preoccupied with stately matters, while letting his generals have free reign in warfare rather than micromanage everything... His blessed bloodline was a gift to the people and women were honored to bear him sons that would mature into fine warriors within the span of only a month, bringing glory to their mother's family on the field of war, as well as daughters that would form his most elite circle of royal guards, companions and… and become his future brides, ready to bear him more children of divine heritage… The slave seals on their bodies were for their own benefit, to be able to grant them swift and painless release should they end up captured by the king's enemies." The male rat says in a forcibly calm and controlled tone.

Naofumi just nods at this and if he's unable to fully suppress the expression of disgust showing from beneath his own mask he at least tries. Though even the rats have to see that rather than out of any genuine belief or agreement it's just because he consciously chooses to ignore the commotion and focuses on the subject at hand once again.

"Still, if in this world EXP is basically the equivalent of Execution Points, or even life force, then how would someone be able to generate it out of nothing? If the Formation ability establishes some sort of conduit it's possible to share EXP, but the life force itself would have to be taken from somewhere, wouldn't it?"

At this point Beloukas finally decides to get involved.

"Ah, that is one of the many mysteries the greatest minds of both the Adventurers Guild and the various royal courts are currently trying to solve. Which is to be expected given how much impact this ability caused on the world during the aftermath of last Wave of Catastrophe. For better or for worse, though if you don't mind me saying it was most often definitely for worse, it's something that touched the lives of millions." God bless the pudgy skin trader, for he seems to definitively be on her side when it comes to getting Naofumi disillusioned with Siltvelt.

"Ah, forgive my rambling, more to the point there are some theories so far, however they go without definitive proof. Some theorize that under normal circumstances, most life force is simply wasted when a creature is killed - meaning that the usage of a Legendary Weapon allows the Hero to absorb every single drop of a monster's life force. Others think when a Hero is summoned from another world, their blood is supercharged by the Aether between worlds and actually grants them power into which they may only tap through the use of their Weapon's abilities, ones like the Battle Formation."

He takes a short break, maybe the balloon like man is trying to catch his breath, or attempting to sound more dramatic. "There is also this new theory from a Faubley researcher, he proposes that the Legendary Weapons actually sap life force from the world itself, serving as both conduits and control levers for the flow of the world's own energy. They may even have the ability to cause great changes across half the world while the Hero in question stays on the other side... which is why teleportation only works for the Heroes despite the best efforts of countless mages to replicate the result throughout the millennia to no avail. Can't vouch for how credible this is, since the Faubley researcher in question also outlandishly stipulates that it should theoretically be possible for a Hero to level up without any fighting at all, simply by commanding the world to level him up through the legendary Weapon's interface and then absorbing magic particles from the very air as the world itself bends to his will!"

"Somehow that sounds both very ominous and too good to be true. Seriously, are you guys sure this is absolutely safe? The principle of equivalent exchange doesn't only apply to business. There have to be consequences to what could potentially be draining the world of its life force, right?"

Naofumi's questioning is met by shrugs all around. There seems to be a distinct lack of arcane researchers inside a slaver's underground warehouse that is located inside the dust district of the slums in Melromarc's capital. Who would have thought?

"Master Naofumi, maybe we should... just give up on raising up those balloons? Just to be on the safe side? If you want monster companions, we can get something better! Like a ground dragon, or even a filorial?" Mein slowly creeps her way behind Naofumi and whispers into his ear. "For the sake of the world of course!"

There's actually no lie there... It'd be rather pointless to sit on the throne of glorious Melromarc if everyone else got eaten by those deceptively harmless looking balloons.

"Sorry, I can't go back on my deal after I've made it. I'm probably overthinking it anyway. It's not like anything terrible will happen just because I level up these three, not when the guy before me did the same with an entire nation's military." Her Naofumi's reply smashes her hopes like a stormy wave would a boat against a stony cliff-side.

The three greater daemons seem to ominously leer at Mein as the space behind them is suddenly covered in shadow darker than the darkest night and a roll of thunder seems to echo throughout Mein's head while her vision flashes due to a chain of lightning bolts that just appeared out of nowhere and struck the ground behind the trio of abominable wavespawn.

No one else shows any sort of indication of having noticed this. How are they orange terrors doing it!? They must be using illusions spells to hide the truth from everyone else but her! She must speak some sense into Naofumi before it's too late!

"Would they even be smart enough to accept your invitation, or follow your commands?" She could barely restrain herself from stuttering under the watchful gazes of the three nightmares.

Of course, her Naofumi could simply put the balloons into his party and ask his new slaves to join his Battle Formation. But Mein isn't saying that out loud! She simply refuses to be in a party of those eldritch monsters of doom! Marrying the pig king of Faubley would have been the more merciful outcome compared to this!

"Guess there is only one way to find out. Here goes nothing." Naofumi once again turns his head towards the interface screen floating in front of him and sends an invitation to the balloons.

To the disguised princesses' horror, the invitations are immediately accepted and Mein gets a notification of a new party called 'Monster Balloon Pack' being formed in the Battle Formation she is in. She suddenly feels like the whole world is somehow isolated from her consciousness, even as she is still aware of how her Naofumi proceeds to add the Siltvelt 'envoys' into his Battle Formation and then fiddles around the system, guided by whatever the rats' limited knowledge can provide.

The creatures all seem to project an intimidating aura at Mein as they all synchronously make a noise that could pass for dark laughter if one knew what to listen for.

…Why does she get the sinking feeling that Naofumi just inadvertently doomed her entire world?

There is still the extremely slim hope that the nightmares will eventually be popped by some monster out in the hunting grounds, but at this point knowing how devious the greater daemons truly are Mein isn't going to keep her fingers crossed for such an outcome.

The balls of congealed doom happily bounce on the floor and attach themselves to Naofumi, somehow scrambling back beneath his cloak. Their vile eyes seem to poke out of the folds in the shadow of the cloth garment as they direct their reprehensible intent along with the promise of violence at her.

"Alright. Well, thanks for your services, but I guess we're all done here for now." Naofumi nods at Beloukas who tips his hat and bows in response.

"It was my pleasure, Master Shield Hero! For the sake of our partnership I wish you all the very best in your future endeavors! May our paths cross frequently and may such crossings be fruitious and profitable!"

"Sure, right back at ya. Everyone ready to get going?" Nods ensue from the Siltvelt rats, the rabbit man and Mein herself. The lizard-man mumbles something about how he's been itching to leave for a while now and how his goddess is getting impatient, causing Naofumi's eye to twitch again.

The raccoon girl that was all along standing next to Naofumi and is now just slightly behind him opens her mouth and raises one hand as if about to ask something, while pulling on the young man's pants leg with her other, but quickly steps back and retreats back with a shy and fearful expression. While Naofumi doesn't seem to notice the rabbit-man does and he leans over to whisper something to her as she timidly looks up at everyone.

Oh, right. She wasn't even conscious throughout most of the talking. Probably thinks that the Shield Hero bought her to use the same way his predecessor used female slaves. The earlier ear groping couldn't have helped either. The rabbit-man, Kyubey, said he knew her back before they were taken and is probably catching her up on everything.

Whatever. So long as she does what she is told it doesn't even matter what she knows or doesn't know.

And that should be everyone… right? A phantom headache comes over Mein once again out of nowhere.

"Kristy, be a dear and escort Master Shield Hero and his venerable party members out of our abode, would you?" through her wave of deliriousness Mein can make out the voice as the one belonging to Beloukas.

It takes her a second to realize that Naofumi is already leading the way back to the entrance into the facility, while being followed be the rest of his retinue sans her...

"Don't worry about that, I remember the way. Alrightyo, follow me if you please then. I take it you still wanna get out of this place in one piece, yeah?"

…He's escorted by the green haired boy they hired to be their guide in the slums, Russell is his name from what she remembers…

…Where the hell did he come from? She could have sworn he wasn't there a second ago, yet…

Their guide is standing at the entrance to the passageway heading into the main facility above them while gesturing for Naofumi and others to pass along.

She starts moving her feet to catch up with everyone, yet as she walks right past the green haired boy she stops and gives him a hard look.

"That's an impressive mastery of [Vanish] for a supposed slum dwelling urchin." There is more than a little hostility in the accusation.

"And that's some very impressive situational awareness for a supposed novice adventurer. Not as impressive as that [Greater Fireball] you were about to set off earlier, but it's worth praisin' none the less. By the way, ain't it just funny how those are supposed to only be taught t'nobles?

She grits her teeth so hard it feels as if they are about to crack.

"Where did you slink off to you presumptuous ingrate? If you dare think you can back-stab us you may find your life expectancy quickly approaching its end." She hisses, loud enough to only be heard by this deceptive man in front of her.

"Why, I have no idea what you are talking about. I was in this lovely establishment all along-" His tone is almost mocking as he quietly whispers back at her as he begins walking behind the rest of the Shield Hero's group.

Malty S Melromarc steps behind him, while putting a hand on the boy's back. She starts to mentally prepare herself for casting that very same Greater Fireball spell that this… this… presumptuous deceiving bastard was so facetiously praising earlier, making the circulation of mana inside her body obvious enough that anyone familiar with magecraft would have been able to sense it within ten feet of her.

"-Although I may have quickly popped back out to the main establishment upstairs to purchase some medicine! My ma's sick you see!" The treacherous thief's voice briefly flashes with panic as he quickly and more loudly whispers at her this time, while he indicates a small package that somehow materialized in his hand.

Ah. He was merely stealing from the owner of this place. A stupid move for sure, but if he wasn't caught by that very same owner then it's just their loss, isn't it?

"C'mon already, Russell was it? You said you'd lead the way right? And Mein too, you coming?" Naofumi's voice reaches down from the top of the filthy and dusty passageway.

Malty retrieves her hand as she takes out the herb pouch Naofumi made for her in order to assist with her breathing problem in this filthy contaminated environment.

"Of course, Master Naofumi! Forgive my tardiness. I'm merely tired after such a long day." She casts one last look at the brazen thief as they make their way up and out of the slave trader's underground warehouse. He seems much more subdued after her implied threat and isn't making eye contact with her.

"Yeah, I can see that. We should find an inn and get some food and drink into everyone. Then find some real clothes for you three. Then there's also your equipment to consider…" Naofumi trails off, visibly suppressing a groan as he realizes that their day isn't nearly over yet. "Let's just get going."

"Course, right this way." The green haired thief mumbles. The pair of guards pull the flap open for them as they all head outside of the tent and back into the slums, the thief leading and Naofumi and Mein following behind, along with the rag tag band of misfits they've managed to assemble throughout the day.

…Though Mein sincerely wishes that a good half of them drop dead by the time the sun sets.

The newly formed Shield Hero Battle Group quickly begins to make its way through the winding corridors of the slum and its broken road.

To the princess in disguise, the slum of Melromarc Castles seems an even gloomier place now that their party concluded their business but is yet under real and constant harm still. The colors are more muted all around and the stink of decay and death seems to be stronger.

Mein keeps look all over the nooks and crannies of every corner, fearful of another ambush from either those Church of Three fanatics, or the demi-human gang coming back. For a second, the novice adventure feels like a thin shadow suddenly blanketed her face before the loud squawking of the bird makes her heart settle right back into her chest.

Get a hold of yourself! Think happy thoughts. Yes, sleeping in a warm bed, having a nice hot bath, eating some of her Naofumi's cooking...

Mein walks straight into a solid wall and stumbles back. She looks up and sees Naofumi standing right before her. The Thief in front has his right hand raised in a 'stop' gesture. The rabbit-man's ears twitch around and the lizard-man is audibly sniffing the air. So she wasn't imagining it! The really are in trouble then. She quickly adopts a fighting stance with her right hand on her sword's hilt.

Not a second later the thief quickly turns his heel and begins to frantically wave his hand. "Everyone back to Beloukas! Fanatics closing in!"

"Fanatics… You meant he Church of the Three…?" Naofumi freezes only for a second before he follows Russell's example. "Is there somewhere we can hide!?"

"Not for eight people! We are dead if we split up! Less talking, more running!" The green haired teen blows past the Shield Hero like a wind spell.

The young thief doesn't need to say it twice, as Mein immediately ignores the ache in her feet and turns tail, sprinting in the direction she just came from. A few moments later, shouting, the rumbling of steps and all sorts of other noise from a large group moving through clustered streets and narrow alleys can be heard behind and even around them. It sounds like a veritable flood crashing down toward their direction.

"THERE! I see the Shield DEMON!" Mein hears the shrieking coming from a narrow alleyway to their side. Sure enough, more and more screaming begins to echo around, as ragged men with rusty weapon torches and pitchforks, or even wooden clubs begin to pour towards them from all direction.

"Take Raphtalia!" Naofumi seems to realize there's no way to outrun the mob of fanatics. He thrusts the raccoon girl towards Kyubey and gives the rabbit man one long stare before slowing down. The legendary Shield on his arm changes into his strongest shield, strangely that rather silly looking big round rubber shield with red, white and blue color and an image reminiscent of an angry balloon face in the middle.

The Shield Hero stops and settles into a stance in front of a solid stone wall to make sure nobody can creep in from their back. He turns to face the coming mob, his face grim but determined. "Slip out if any of you have a chance, see if Beloukas will send help. I can't help his research if I'm dead!"

"Got it, hold onto me tight. Raphtalia." The long eared demi-human nods at Naofumi. He quickly wraps his one good arm around the raccoon girl's back. The little animal cub's face is more ashen than inside her cage. It seems she realizes what is about to happen. She quickly buries her head into Kyubey's chest and does her best to hold onto the rabbit man's body.

"Protect our king, Rosat!" The two demi-human rats pulls their short swords out with a loud clank, they walk up to stand beside Naofumi, flanking his sides to make sure the Shield Hero won't be overwhelmed.

"If you don't mind, my lord. I'll be borrowing this." Lautrec pulls out the dagger on Naofumi's waist with a smirk. His dull, blind eyes seems to glitter with maniac glee as the fanatics begin to swarm towards their position. He stand in line with Naofumi perhaps even in front of him a little, as if thirsty for blood.

The undercover princess herself closes her eyes for a quick second as she mutters a single prayer to the heroes of old and draws a triangle in front of her chest. It's rather strange to use the Church of Three prayer gesture when she's about to kill their faithful, but habits die hard. Even stranger still, she is facing down her fellow countrymen in a kill or be killed battle... with two Siltvelt rats as her allies no less.

She steps up into the impromptu shield wall on the opposite side of the Lizardman.

A phantom headache and the absence of the thief informs her that he must have used [Vanish] again. Well, it's not like she was counting on him anyway.

The first princess doesn't consider herself to be a pious person. Religious belief, much like reward and punishment is but another tool in a ruler's arsenal. But standing together with enemies of men while fighting the very people she should rule over suddenly makes her very aware of the weight of her decision to choose the Shield Hero over one of the other three.

"Death to the Traitor of MEN!" The cacophony of angry cries mixed with unpleasant body odor and spit is enough to make Mein push the more philosophic thoughts deep into the darkest corner of her mind just as the blocks the first coming blow from a crude woodcutters axe with her sword. No more time for internal debate, this is truly do or die. She begins to frantically wave her sword around in a series of jabs intended to keep the tide of the fanatical peasants away from rest of her group too begins to cross weapons with the mob of squalid fanatics.

The first squatter dies rather unceremoniously as her sword quickly swipes across his throat while his arm is still behind his body, working up an overextended chop towards Mein's head that'll never come. More people begin to take his place, shouting obscene remark at the Shield Hero, the demi-human, or herself.

The undercover princess feels her head go completely empty, but her focus seems stronger than ever as all the lessons of her fencing instructor become clear as yesterday. She doesn't consider herself to be a Fencer, since fire magic has always been more intuitive to her than swordplay. Yet her body begins to move seemingly on her own, into an almost rhythmic flow of dodge, parry, and counter attack as she tries desperately not to die under the continued assault from a wave of moving bodies.

Her concentration is broken momentarily, as a warning screen suddenly smacks her right in the face. The HP bar of Rosat is clearly flashing red, indicating his current bleeding out status. And if that's not enough, the piercing shriek of the female rat crying out her partner's name is equally hard to ignore.

Mein can't help but glimpse to the side. Naofumi is currently bashing back some bearded man's head with his balloon shield. Rosat is slumped against the wall with a very large and very red gash right across his chest, shocked face looking up. His female partner holding and shaking him.

Dumb bitch. She should be fighting lest she joins him any moment now… Not that Malty or even Mein will cry for her.

Someone rams into her shoulder. It feels like the impact of a runaway Filorial carriage. Her last glimpse towards the rest of party shows her Naofumi turning his back towards her to toss a vial of healing potion to the crying rats. He didn't see her get taken down.

The disguised princess skids across the cracked cobblestone street. Her sword flying out of her hand in the process. She rolls and tumbles across the street, barely manages to pick herself halfway up as another axe lands between her legs.

The princess screeches and kicks her feet out distinctly, hearing a loud crunching noise from the man's nose as he recoils back. She scurries back on her hands and feet, as the man with the broken nose shakes himself right out of his pain induced daze and snarls at her.

"DIE! Impure WHORE!" The haggard looking man blows a facefull of a putrid mixture of sweat, blood and snot down onto to the first princess. With the sword gone from her hand, her vision impaired and no time to pull out the dagger she can only attempt to scramble away while wiping at her face. Someone grabs her leg. As she blinks she can see the filthy haggard man raise a hatchet over his head.

Something feels broken inside of Mein as a ball of red hot plasma lights up in her hand. Without pause to think her action through, she tosses the bundle of fire and destruction right into the fanatic's face. He lets out a howl of distorted agony and fear, and crushes back on the broken road, no longer moving.

Just like the body of old Nan as her lifeless burning body hit the castle's training yard more than a decade ago.

"YOU WITCH WHORE!" A cry equally filled with fury and terror brings Mein quickly back to the present. Another fanatic of the Three quickly takes over the place of the dead burned man as he tries to skewer the disguised princess with a pitchfork. She has no time for another spell.

A throwing knife to head quickly drops that plan.

Mein scrambles onto her feet, pulling out the dagger and stuck into her would-be assailants face before swiping it against the throat of the man behind him, even as he strikes her with his club on her shoulder. She ignores it as the damage was negligent due to an apparent deference in level that was in her favor.

Instead before another assailant has the time to target her in the narrow alley she gives a quick glimpse to the direction the throwing knife came from. The thief with the green mohawk is rolling and weaving his way through a deadly forest of weapons, all while moving in her direction. He kicks up a barrel right into one of the fanatics, stabs one in the eye, and knees a third in the groin as he quickly stand beside her.

The fanatical thugs are dropping by the dozens around him. They are going down faster than they can fill the places left behind by their comrades, allowing the supposed urchin thief to advance through them.

"I'm Lord Noches' man, your highness." Mein's eyes widen at the quiet whisper of the young 'thief' now revealed to be one of father's spooks. "Stay behind me, stay alive."

He returns to kicking and stabbing everyone who dares to raise their weapon up against the first princess.

With no time to prepare a proper chant, the red princess dives into herself and begins to draw out her strong fire affinity to light up her empty left hand. She starts to toss uncontrolled ember left and right, into whoever tries to rush her position. Not being able to see Naofumi over the crowd she chooses to believe in his insanely high defense stat holding out and for the moment assists the spook where she can with a well timed if not always accurate [Fireball] and once even a [Greater Fireball] that sets five thugs to flame all at once, blasting their burning bodies down the alleyway into their comrades… That's exactly why she proffered the latter even if it was far more taxing on her. Less aim needed.

The incognito princess was hoping to hide her magic ability since it might make Naofumi suspicious of how a low level country girl can use magic. But now the balloon is massively out of the bag, there's no hoping to put it back.

Not to mention she needs to focus on her survival first.

Uncle Aldrecht, her magic instructor would either be immensely proud of how quickly she adapted her casting to the current situation, or cringing his spine apart at how sloppy her aim turned out in real battle now that she's under deathly pressure.

"Mein! Hang on! I'm COMING!" The voice carries over the sound of battle and the screams of the dying. Naofumi must have finally realized that she was gone from his side. He stumbles into her field of view as he pushes his Shield forward against the torrent of the angry mob. His effort to break through this wave of fanatic squatters is slowed down by him still doing his best to shield the injured rat, and the raccoon girl.

Speaking of said girl... she is currently pouring potion down the mouth of the badly injured spy to get him back on his feet, while everyone else is busy fighting to stay alive. Even the one armed rabbit man is swiping away with the long sword Mein dropped mere moments ago, as the clump of fanatics crash and break on their little island of safety.

But even as her Naofumi and the rest of the group is standing steadfast, the supposed thief and Mein herself are being pushed by the mob further and further away from them. It seems Russel is also running low on mana as before her very eyes he is slowly transforming from a whirling tornado of death into a panting mess that can only swipe at the almost endless enemies while taking more and more damage. There must have been at least a hundred initially… It's not hard for Mein to imagine her almost immediate demise if the thief goes down.

"On your feet! Hold your breath!" Naofumi seems to also realize it. The young hero grits his teeth and shouts back to the male rat, who finally manages to stand right up. "[Bad Odor]!"

A thin cloud of yellow smog blows right out of his Shield. A wave of curses and yells soon turns into a cacophony of uncontrollable coughing as the stink from one of Naofumi's few active abilities is evidently too hard to bear even for the filthy slum dwellers. With the Shield Hero ramming forward behind his trusty Legendary Shield, the rag tag group manages to push apart the crying and cough mass of bodies and make their way towards Mein.

"Bite them in the legs, GO!" The three rubbery abominations fly out of his cloak before the squatters even realize what he's talking about. Those who aren't affected by the smokescreen of putrid smell begin to scream and fall down as they experiencing true toothy terror from the beyond.

But even as Naofumi closes the distance to her their efforts seem futile as more and MORE fanatics seem to be pouring into the alleyway. They renew their attack, some stumbling over the corpses of their fellows, yet getting back up and moving with true religious zeal. The two sides clash once again.

One of the fanatic manages to leave a deep gush on Russell's leg, causing the young man to trip over. Three more quickly step over him to charge at the undercover princess.

Mein tosses a fireball into the face of the first man, stabs the second right in the neck with her dagger, but she can only look as the third brandishes an old and rusty broadsword at her... to only slump to the ground as a blade bursts out of his chest. A second later it's pulled back out by the large figure standing behind.

Mein backs away from the last scene of carnage and finds herself up against the wall. She allows herself to relax and draws in a mouthful of rancid air into her burning lungs. The first thing she notices from the young man who saved her life is a pair of bull like horns.

It's the demi-human gang leader from earlier… of all people… Why is he here?…

The bovine demi-human turns his back on Mein and begins to kill the Church of Three squatters with even more deadly efficiency than Russell. Around them, the fanatics find themselves surrounded and butchered by demi-human gangsters.

"Stupid humans should have learned their place. This is OUR turf. This is what they get for forgetting that. For forgetting demi-humans are superior." The condescending sneer of the bull man should make Mein angry when he is killing her fellow countrymen with his demi-human gang. But at the moment, all Mein can feel is a sense of profound relief that she is not amongst the dead or dying on the floor.

Not a minute later the alley is a painted crimson from the ground to the walls, with near to two hundred corpses in various states of of having been butchered laying sprawled everywhere. Oh, some of them are actually still alive, at least judging by the cries and the attempts at crawling away. The demi-human gangsters are going around and slitting their throats however.

With a shaking hand she reaches into one of the pouches attached to her belt and takes out a health potion. She unstoppers it with her teeth and gulps it down, her health bar climbing up from being only half full. Huh. She must have missed several more hits without noticing.

"MEIN!" Naofumi finally runs in front of the shaken princess in disguise. He looks at Mein from head to toe, like he's trying to inspect her for any damage. "I... you are..."

Alive? Yes, she is still very much alive. Fine? Not so much, she is most definitely not fine with her close brush with death.

"You are a wizard." Mein blinks her eyes at Naofumi's words.

Technically she's been climbing the [Sorcerer] ability tree rather than that of a [Wizard]. But to someone unfamiliar with how the pre-class up ability trees actually work... yes, she can accept that Wizards would be more well known than Sorcerers.

Of course, the Shield Hero would choose to focus on her not being truthful to him, not how he failed his duty to protect her!

"Yeah, I am... aren't I?" Mein begins to chuckle to herself as she slowly slides down the wall till her bum hits the ground.

A loud chime goes off in the ear of the first princess like a war trumpet. She vaguely notices her experience bar climbed up enough to gain her another level.

Just like that afternoon where the sun shone down so happily, with but a few fluffy white clouds adorning the azure sky, and her nanny's lifeless body burning in the training yard within the palace's wall when she gained her third level… The guards, her instructor, and mother all looking down at the young princess with some combination of horror or barely contained disgust in their eyes...

Mein looks up, and sees the two Siltvelt rats and Lautrec picking through the aftermath of the battle, stabbing whoever hasn't yet breathed their last.

The undercover princess looks at the dark slum street littered with dead bodies. She doesn't care about any of these squatters. They may be her fellow countrymen by principle, but they are really the lowest of the low, even lower than the demi-human state slaves that serve nobility back in the castle. Instead of doing something useful with their lives they live as gutter rat would, dwelling in the slum and ready to attack unsuspected travelers, or even simply waste away.

…It still feels wrong how high her EXP bar ended up climbing for killing them. Shouldn't this only happen when you kill monsters outside the walls of the glorious Melromarc City? Yet irrefutable fact proves otherwise. She feels like vomiting.

She buries her face into her knees, her giggles slowly pick up volume till she starts to laugh like a deranged lunatic just like the raccoon cub after she wakes up in the Shield Hero's arms. Her life wasn't supposed to be this way, she is the first born daughter between the queen of glorious Melromarc and the Wise Sage King. Why did she have to wade through mud, filth, and blood, almost get killed herself just to reclaim her birthright?

And now it looks like it'll be all for naught. The Shield Hero already exploded once on those Siltvelt rats for keeping information from him. How will he respond to Mein for hiding something as important as the fact that she can do magic, especially now he has slaves to fight for him?

How did her life turn out so wrong?

Mein's laughter dies in her throat as she feels a constrain shooting up from her stomach to her mouth. She pukes whatever is still inside into a murky puddle right in front of her.

The undercover princess feels a pair of strong arms wraps around her into a warm embrace. On reflex she returns the gesture and belatedly realize Naofumi is hugging her like she's the only thing in the world. "Master Naofumi! I'm... I'm dirty all over. This is beneath you."

"I'm sorry, Mein... I'm so sorry..." The young Shield Hero does not seem to realize what Mein just said to him, or indeed just how dirty all over the undercover princess is after rolling across the bloody corpse littered slum street. He simply repeats the same apology over and over again like a mantra. "I promised I'd protect you. I was right here, but I wasn't here for you when you needed me. I am so, so sorry..."

…Damn right she should be… still, at least he doesn't seem angry over the whole magic thing.

The disguised princess wraps her left arm closer around Naofumi's neck, she ruffles the young man's hair with her right hand while whispering into him with a quiet voice. "It's okay, Master Naofumi. I'm alive, aren't I? I promised I'll always be with you. I'm not going to leave you, not unless you no longer need me."

"You are lucky the girl has a strong magic affinity and it unlocked when her life was threatened." Russell, the thief that turned out to be a spook from Lord Noches limps his way over to them.

Now that she has a moment to truly think the incognito princess feels cold sweat begin to run down her back and not just from her earlier exertion. Sure, the spook saved her life during the fight with those fanatic squatters, but if Lord Noches has eyes everywhere and their interests come to conflict... what's stopping him from having an agent put a dagger into heart?

"Yeah, I was lucky. And thank you too. Mein could have been hurt if it weren't for you..." Naofumi slowly pulls away from the undercover first princess. Mein lets her finger brush against his cheek for one second longer before finally letting go of the young man from another world as he stands and looks Russel over. "You are hurt."

"Don't fuss over a flesh wound. I'll just rub some dirt in it." Russell snorts his nose and shrugs his shoulder at Naofumi's concern. "I may be a rogue, but I live by a thief's honor. You don't let the one paying your bill die before you get paid."

"I have something better than dirt. Here, have this potion." Naofumi fishes out another vial of his health potion after digging a little through his pouch and hands it to the young thief.

Russell takes the vial over and raises it towards the sun. He lets out an appreciative whistle before popping the stopper and downing it in one go.

"Good vibrant color. Would have fetched decent price on the market."

"That's mighty generous of you, rewarding a thief after he leads you straight into an ambush, Shield Hero." The sneer of the bull demi-human draws everyone's attention to this insufferable gang leader once again. He is currently parading around with a rusty katana that's clearly seem better days instead of his hunting knife, likely a part of the spoil from one of the fanatics.

His gang of demi-humans are all still picking through the littered bodies in the alley for anything they can use. Their leader, the young bull takes a few steps forward to look at Naofumi with a condescending smirk.

"Perhaps you feel a little bit more generous now, Master Shield Hero? For a service rendered?" He holds his hand out towards Naofumi and gives it a meaningful shake.

"You are extorting me in return for your help..." Mein can faintly hear the young man from another world grit his teeth. His hand doesn't leave her shoulder.

"No, no. Nothing of such sort. We are always glad to put down these fanatic animals." The bull man kicks away the dead body of a squatter near his feet. The irony of a demi-human referring to any human as an animal doesn't escape Mein. "But me and my men, we have to eat. Especially after this workout."

"Master Shield Hero." The deadpan voice of Kyubey makes Mein turn her eyes in its direction together along with Naofumi. The rabbit man has his bad arm in front of Raphtalia's face to block the gruesome scene away from the girl. He gently guides the little raccoon girl by her shoulder. Two demi-human gang members escort them by their sides. "Raphtalia is okay."

As if to prove Kyubey's point, the raccoon girl's stomach suddenly begins to rumble. The little girl quickly presses both of her tiny hands onto her belly with a deep blush on her face.

Naofumi gives the rabbit man a nod. He grinds his teeth at the demi-human gang leader again, but tosses a small money bag at him. "Fine! Here's your money. Leave me and my companions alone!"

"Tisk, such impatience. And you people say good things come to those who wait." The bull man shakes his head as he snatches the purse out of the air. He gives it a dramatic spin and empties the contents of it into his other hand. The young demi-human leader grins at the shining silver coins. "Let's go, boys~! We eat good food tonight!"

"Thanks for your generosity, Shield Hero!" The ragged group gives a loud cheer as they disappear into the shadows of the alley like a receding wave for a second time.

The bull man turns around to give Naofumi one last wave before leaving. "Nice doing business with you, Shield Hero. Look us up next time you grace our neighborhood."

"We should also bid our farewell, Master Shield Hero." The two rats from Siltvelt walks to stand in front of the Shield Hero and each give him a deep bow. The male's face still ashen from his brush with death.

"That's probably for the best. You two need to go back home and make your report to stop a potential coming war." Naofumi nods his head to the two Siltvelt agents. "Will you two be alright? Rosat got hurt pretty bad back there."

"Thank you for your concern, Master Shield Hero." The vermin in question bows his head to the Shield Hero once again. "We had no trouble coming here, we'll be fine return to venerated Siltvelt."

"Well, if you say so then I wouldn't want to delay you. Good luck and don't get into trouble."

If Mein can have a saying in the matter... the two of them will be getting into big trouble indeed. Indeed Russel seems to have read her mind, or perhaps her facial expression, as he gives Mein a faint nod.

"Alright, the two of you come with me through the Rat's Way again. As for your party, Sir Hero. Go down the alley this way." The boy with the green Mohawk points his finger to one indistinct alley on the side. "You'll hit the main street of Melromarc Castle near the great bazaar. You'll probably be making your way to where ever you want to go afterwords."

"Master Shield Hero... we know your opinion on venerated Siltvelt is soured. But we still hope you will grace us with your presence in the future. Please do remember this, if your stay in Melromarc does not work out, we hold our arms and doors wide open for our rightful king. Always." The female rat gives Naofumi one final attempt at trying to leave a good last impression of their barbarian country that makes Mein grind her teeth. The two rats give Naofumi a last bow as they turn to leave with Lord Noches' agent.

Well... handing two Siltvelt spies to the spymaster with ambiguous motivation behind his moves on a silver platter is probably not the best result. But at least it'll be better than to have those two return to their heretic country unchecked. Mein just has to silently pray it'll turn out in her favor... and no war comes from it.

As for the Shield Hero himself... he simply stands on the street like a statue and watches the three agents disappear around a corner. Not unlike how he reacted to his three otherworld compatriots after his trial. It makes Mein feel nervous if she is being entirely honest. Is her Naofumi is genuinely considering those vermin's proposal?

"Master Naofumi... you don't seriously consider going to that country in the future, are you?" The undercover princess leans closer to the Shield Hero to reach for him. Her hand stills in the air for a short moment, before slowly resting on his arm.

"If I ever go to Siltvelt, it'll not be to sit on its throne." Naofumi straightens his back and shakes his head. It's the same answer Naofumi gave before, so it should not have surprised the First Princess of Melromarc.

The princess inside the facade of Mein of Samphor still finds it hard to believe every time she hears it.

How can she understand this? She is betting everything of hers: The wealth she collected, a comfortable life, her prestige as the First princess, her personal safety... on the line for a chance to reclaim her birthright as the heir of glorious Melromarc.

Yet this young man from another world willingly turns down the crown of a kingdom that is being freely offered to him without batting an eye.

"You can't gain anything without sacrificing something in return, to gain, something equal in value must first be sacrificed." The Shield Hero repeats the line he spoke to the slave merchant like repeating a mantra. Perhaps this is from the very same holy text? "Nobody would freely offer their kingdom to a complete stranger, no matter how pious they are... unless it's a bait to catch bigger fish. If I accepted the offer, they'll surely demand something greater from me."

The undercover princess doesn't consider herself an expert on their world's historical events. She always found it boring to learn every minuscule detail about what has already transpired in life. She'd rather forge a new destiny herself rather than coping with the method of some long gone king or queen. But even she knows enough of the past to realize the truth in Naofumi's words.

"As expected, Master Naofumi is very wise. Of the Seven Kingdoms of the first Grand Alliance, only two remains now as Melromarc and Faubley. Over the course of centuries and the coming of the Waves of Calamity the rest... have fallen. The land that is now Siltvelt was once theirs." Mein slides her arm into Naofumi's and looks down at the ground with a solemn look on her face.

Of course, what she omitted from detail is the other five great kingdoms didn't all fall to Siltvelt. Most of them fell before Siltvelt was even truly a nation. Some simply dissolved on their own, with scattered nobles joining either Melromarc or Faubley.

"I see... that should have been expected. With how those spies described that Mikage character it's not hard to imagine him used the Shield for conquest rather than protection of those that needed it. Though I wonder how much of it was for his own reason and how much from encouragement or pressure put on by his subjects." Naofumi nods his head as his left hand brushes against the Legendary Shield once again.

Mein wonders if she should recount some of the Shield Demon's exploits during his reign of terror. She ultimately decides against it. With her being a native human of Melromarc, anything she says negatively about the last Siltvelt King will only sour Naofumi's mood. Plus, it'll raise further questions on how a country girl knows so much about the history of the events surrounding the last set of Waves.

"And even if they don't force me to do anything against my will I still can't be a king of anything." Naofumi further surprises Mein with this statement. His original reason sounds good enough, yet the young man still has more reason to turn down the ultimate power of a kingdom?

The young man from another world continues without realizing Mein's utter shock. "With greater power, comes greater responsibility. I failed to protect you just now, and you'd be hurt or worse... if that thief wasn't here, and those demi-human gangsters didn't come back to help us. How can I be responsible for a country of people, when I haven't learned how to protect my first companion in battle?"

The Shield Hero's eyes cast down, his neck drops and shoulders slump. The balloons seem to sense the depression of their new master. They slowly nudges their way over to Naofumi through the blood and the corpses, nibbling at the edge of his traveling cloak with the serrated teeth that only minutes ago were severing tendons and chewing up muscle of a good portion of the very bodies now lying lifeless around the alley.

"Well, I'd have appreciated it if you were there to protect me, Master Naofumi. But I was distracted by our… ally's… injury just like you. That's how I got caught off guard and taken down by that fanatic. It's not all your fault." She closes her hands around Naofumi's face, gently pushing his head up to look at her again. "We are still new to this saving the world thing, Master Naofumi. The bards love to tell grand tales of heroism of the Heroes of Old... but there are equally many comical stories about how those heroes made all kinds of blunders when they started out. Let's both learn to do better, from now on."

"Yeah, thank you, Mein. I should stop sulking and start trying to do better instead. I'll become a worthy Hero yet." Naofumi encloses his large hands around Mein's and looks her deep in the eyes.

For a moment, the princess in disguise wonders if she'll have her first kiss with Naofumi. It's probably the most unromantic time and place for it possible. Their first kiss should have be somewhere else more fitting… Such thoughts makes her feel more than a little embarrassed. She is the first princess of Melromarc, who should be destined to rule and lead the people of her country. Yet here, she is daydreaming about having a a proper kiss with a hero just like heiresses Noches and Claes...

Anyway it's probably further than Naofumi had gone with any girl before, hence it'll significantly deepen his bond to her. So the sooner the better.

The loud rumble of someone's stomach brings both of them back to reality. They look to the side, and see the little raccoon girl pressing down her stomach with her hands. If the first time was loud then this time it's thunderous.

"So, sorry..." A deep red blush fills her cheek as she keeps shaking her head with panic in her eyes.

"You must be starving." Naofumi let go of Mein's hand and walk over to the demi-human girl. He kneels down to the cub's eye level and pulls some rabbit pill jerky out of his pouch and hands a water bag to the girl. "Have some to fill your stomach, but don't eat too much. They aren't easy to digest and you'll get stomach ache."

"Okay, thank you. Master." The raccoon girl quickly moves her head up and down as she begins to move the rabbit pill jerky into her mouth, while taking rapid some small bites. She only breaks of her chewing to gulp down some water.

Naofumi ruffles the girl's fluffy ear once again, causing her to abruptly stop eating for a second, before resuming as if nothing happened. The Shield Hero stands up and looks around for his party. "Let's go find an inn, get some food and a hot bath to clean up. We'll get all of you equipped afterwords."

Non-Canon Omake: This is my BOOMSTICK! (AKA What if Malty was right about the balloons)

"We'll Slaughter You ALL!" With a simple command from the Whip Hero, his flock of female attendants pull firearms out of nowhere and level them against the Shield Hero's party. A hail of bullets assaults them like a storm.

"[AIR STRIKE PHASER SHIELD V]!" With no time for hesitation, Naofumi immediately activates his strongest defensive ability. The winged great shield holds against the attack, barely managing to shelter his party from instant death.

"What!? Our lowest level is 250 and they deflected our bullets!?" The Whip Hero seems to be quite surprised at a lower leveled Hero managing to withstand the group attack of his harem. He jumps up from his seat, one so big it might as well be a throne. The headband wearing playboy has lost all his calm and looks positively livid as he pulls out his Vassal Weapon. "It's not over-"

"SHUT UP AND LISTEN UP YOU LECHEROUS SCREW-HEAD! See this!?" Equally enraged shouting makes the Whip Hero freeze in his tracks. Naofumi wiggles his fingers on his free hand to make a 'come on' gesture toward his three balloons. They immediately jump into his waiting hand, fusing together to become an elongated oval abomination of multiple eyes and tentacles with an ethereal purple glow. "You think your AK47 is impressive!? This... is my BOOMSTICK!"

The Shield Hero did... something hard to elucidate to the eldritch abomination in his hand. Which can best be approximated as him squeezing its rear end. The unspeakable evil pukes out a brilliant vortex of royal purple light with bottomless dark abyss in the center, sucking the Whip Hero and his cohort screaming and kicking into it, seemingly dissolving them into nothing. In the end only a shimmering ball of light, likely the essence of the Whip, manages to escape the spiral of doom as it closes.

"Master Naofumi, what is... that?" Malty slowly crawls up from the floor, the pounding of her heart so loud it feels like it's about to burst out of her chest. She always suspected true… but to have witnessed it after all this time…

"Oh, this? Only one of the best Wonder Weapons ever." Naofumi turns around to look at his party for a second. He pets the indescribable monstrosity like a cute pet, as if the thing hadn't just effortlessly devoured a Vassal Hero and his level 250 companions. "Apothican Servant."

---

End Note:

Naofumi's party being ambushed in the slum, and Malty almost get shanked by some fanatic is actually suggested by one of the reader almost half a year ago. Sorry I forgot who this was suggested by and I had to many PMs to look them over to credit the correct person. I think it was Darkdoom III, but if I get it wrong feel free to PM me again and call me an idiot. I hope I at least done this idea justice.

:P

I actually like the idea since I think it's a twist of a common trope, where the isekai'ed main character get a street level encounter either with some thugs, or nobles. He curbstomps them to show both how badass he is, and how truly virtuous he is.

Here, Naofumi gets into a common street level encounter... and he'd be completely fucked if the demi-human gang from a few chapters ago didn't show up to save him near the end. Not to say Naofumi will continue to remain under powered (although I do generally like under powered protagonist than over powered), but I want to show how both him and Malty start out as clumsy amateurs and have to slowly climb up the power level.

Replies to some guest reviews:

It's too much a shame to not have canon Dark! Naofumi show up in some way. And considering even Dark! Naofumi values his trusted companions, I think it's in character he'd fuss over Malty who in this timeline saved him from being condemned as a criminal. There will definitely be more jealousy from Malty as female characters come near Naofumi.

XDDD

To Night:

I don't want to spoil too much, but Naofumi will certainly talk to Malty about his world later in some of their bonding moment... and everyone will get to see how Malty would imagine modern Japan through Naofumi's description.

XD

To Crimson:

I'm honored you think my overall plot is good, thank you very much for your kind words!

Speaking of canon... this is obviously my own personal taste, but I think the author made the wrong decision to focus so much effort on the made up video game like mechanic. It's interesting for 10 chapters or so... but later all it did is to make the power level of an otherwise kind of generic isekai power fantasy story more quantifiable.

The world building on the other hand... could have been genuinely ground breaking. For an otherwise very run of the mill summon hero to save their fantasy world story, I like the impression on how this Wave of Catastrophe has happened so many times through out history, the world leaders stopped seeing the summoned heroes as their savior, and more as a kind of war resource to fight over and exploit.

I think if the canon story actually focused more on their world building, it could have became the Isekai subgenre equivalent to what 'A Song of Ice and Fire' is to western High Fantasy genre: A well made subversion/deconstruction of the genre itself in addition to a story set within the genre.

Then again, the reason canon Rising isn't what I think it could have been is a huge reason why I'm passionate to write fanfiction for it.

:P