I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero

Once again, biggest thanks for Ace-Triad helping me with SPAG edit! Also special thanks to Angel Wraith for reading my rough draft and provide important feedbacks.

More author note at the end for people who are interested to see me blabber some more.

Two more levels under her belt. That's how much the lives of the Faubley church inquisitors worth, aside from whatever the consequence of their deaths would bring to her nation.

The princess turned adventurer tries not to think too hard on it while she drips cotton cloth over the bodies with the Lute villagers. She has to close her eyes and simply toss the rag over some of the less... preserved bodies. It's one thing to kill those people in the heat of battle, something entirely different to look at them in the aftermath.

At least she didn't immediately throw up, unlike the last time she's forced to kill a man.

Not far away from her, Éclair is busying herself by cutting the bind of the inquisitor's former captives. It's hard to say if the dishonored knight is trying to avoid looking at the dead bodies, or if she's more concerned at the wellbeing of the captured victims.

"Of all the ways to die... I didn't expect it'd be Emon the Fair." The blue haired Sir Crepe walks towards the still body of Lord Emon. Her eyes a little unfocused, feet more than a bit shaking, voice trembling with emotions. It's clear she also respected, if not downright admired the Faubley inquisitor like the Seatto heiress. "Does it make me a villain?"

"Lord Emon was a good man, but he's not infallible." Éclair walks up to the other former knight, as she gently rests her hand on Sir Crepe's shoulder.

Mein drapes the last piece of cloth over the burned body of a knight. She walks over to Naofumi, who is talking to the elder of the small village. The Shield Hero is pushing his last money bag to the old man. The village elder's legs are obviously shaking as he talks with the Shield Hero in a hushed tone. But his fragile nerve doesn't stop him from pushing the money back to the young man. "There's no need for that, Master Shield Hero. Surely, you need the funds on your journey more than us."

"Keep the money for Hob's family. He died because of me." Naofumi pushes the bag of money to the village elder again. The old man shakes his head and lets out a deep sigh.

She was right, her Naofumi feels responsible for Lute's misfortune, even if his contribution to the tragedy is tangential at worst.

Mein turns to look at the side of the road once again. Rishia manages to guide the distraught Bow Hero to the foot of a tree. Her lips move open and close, most likely comforting the boy while running her hand around his shoulders. The Bow Hero's eyes are unfocused, not responding to her whispers at all.

The sound of rapid trotting comes from the direction of the capital. Mein turns her head to look at the new commotion. She sees the cloud of dust in the distance before the riders or the mounts. The white banner of the church, and the golden triangle draws her focus from the golden trimmed white armor.

The Three Heroes' Church arrives onto the scene before anybody else. At the front, riding on a raptor whose scale seems to glitter under the afternoon sun is the Pope of their faith.

Chapter 29: The Departure.

The Shield Hero's body immediately tenses up and turns to face the company of riders. Mein quickly and quietly falls behind him, just like Raphtalia and Kyubey.

The incognito princess gives a quick glance over at the two former slaves, their faces both look like wooden statues, their feet seem to drag behind their bodies. Both of them obviously intimidated by the elite knights of the Three Heroes' Church.

The reason isn't hard to puzzle out, as the branch of the hero faith that's most against beastmen and demi-humans, they both likely saw their share of this church murdering their own kind.

The princess in disguise gives a glance back to their newest recruits. Farkas rests his back against the wall of a half collapsed building, his eyes looking at the newcomers lazily. Éclair looks back and forth from the dead bodies of the Faubley clerics, to the Shield Hero, and to the members of the Three Heroes' Church. Her confusion at the situation is obvious, even if her face is hidden behind a helmet.

Huh, Mein can't find their bird anywhere. Did she get snatched by a Bonedog when nobody's watching?

Mein looks back at the Pope's entourage, trying to spot any familiar faces. To her somewhat relief, the scarred face of preacher Logarius is immediately behind the bespectacled holy man. A giant scythe on his back making his already disfigured face look even more ghastly and intimidating.

Pope Balmus reigns in his mount and raises a hand. His cleric knights and battle priests stop as one behind him. The holy man dismounts from his raptor and walks forward. For a moment, nobody dares to utter a single word. Only the sound of raptors' heavy breathing, and his footsteps can be heard in the overcrowded village.

The Pope walks to the first cloth draped body. He kneels down and flips open the cover, showing the upper body of a knight still shrouded in finest castle forged steel. Balmus gently removes the bucket helmet, and closes the open but unseeing eye of the young knight, not minding the blood tainting his robe.

Pope Balmus drapes the cloth over the corpse again as he slowly stands up. "I arrived as soon as I heard the commotion. Unfortunately, it seems like I was too late. There's no casualties, I hope?"

The last line was obviously toward the village elder. Elder Lute quickly steps forward, he almost trips himself over a pebble on his first step, but manages to find his footing afterwards. "There was only one, Your Eminence. The town farmer, Hob, was executed by the Inquisitors after he refused to denounce the Shield Hero as a fake."

"May the Chief God of Mercy and Compassion cherish his soul." The Pope looks down at the ground for a brief second. "This is my fault. I should have had the foresight to dispatch a team to meet Emon at the border, and guide him to the capital. If I did, none of today's bloodshed would have happened."

"Wait." Amongst the pensive atmosphere, Naofumi steps up to stand beside Elder Lute. "You knew this inquisitor guy was coming?"

"Shield Hero, I presume?" Pope Balmus slowly turns to look at the young hero, his face a mask of neutrality against the accusatory tone of Naofumi. "While I don't have the exact schedule of my old friend Emon, I know he is coming to the capital. In fact, I was the one who wrote the letter to invite him."

"Why did you invite a foreign priest over, after your king went ahead and summoned the heroes?" The word illegally is left unsaid by Naofumi, but everyone in the know heard it anyway.

The Pope doesn't immediately answer the younger man's question. He gives a good look over the Shield Hero instead. "I didn't attend my old friend's banquet, but from what I heard you had quite an outburst, Sir Shield Hero. Once again, I presume you heard the story of your predecessor?"

Naofumi silently stares at the much larger man for a few seconds, before he finally lets out a single. "Yes."

Pope Balmus nods his head back at the Shield Hero. "That makes things easier. As you know, the theory of fake heroes existed long before the last Wave, but it mostly remains as nothing more than an easy excuse for rulers of Medea to toss mud at their rival nations. After the ... achievement of your predecessor, the theory of fake heroes who not only failed to live up to their prestige, but actively became the very antithesis of a hero became a much more prominent belief in all sects of our faith. That is why after the last Wave, all three major branches of the hero faith agreed to have at least one other faith validate the summoned heroes."

Naofumi's head dips down a little while he listens to the Pope's explanation. He looks back up at the holy man. "By your account, you are trying to do us a favor? Even if it puts your nation in an unfavorable position?"

The Pope nods his head once again. "I understand certain customs are hard for an outsider like you to grasp, Sir Shield Hero. But as a member of the clergy, my first loyalty is always to the defense of the world against our biggest threat: The Wave of Catastrophe. My loyalty to my nation, and the ruling house, comes second."

He looks away from the Shield Hero to survey all the cloth draped bodies lined up along the cobblestone road. "Unfortunately... it seems like my good intentions resulted in the worst tragedy possible."

Naofumi stares at the Pope's face for another few silent seconds, he finally seems to relent at the explanation and steps back down. "Very well."

Mein can't see his face, but the tone of his voice suggests he isn't satisfied with the answer at all.

With the Shield Hero silenced, Pope Balmus turns to look at the village elder once again. "The death of our fellow man is my fault and responsibility. His immediate family shall receive funding straight from vault of the Three Heroes' Church. They shall not starve, nor freeze for Hob of Lute's faithfulness so long as the Three Heroes' Church stands. In addition, any children he has will receive the same education as a Three Heroes' Church acolyte at our grand cathedral, even if they do not want to pursue a life of priesthood."

The compensation Pope Balmus gave to Hob's family is nothing to scoff at. While he doesn't specify an amount, the Three Heroes' Church is arguably one of the wealthiest factions in the nation after House Amelia. Both thanks to the generous donations from the aristocrats, and the money they make for their holy water and class-up service. Making sure a small family living on the outskirts of the capital is properly fed, clothed and sheltered isn't even scrap for them.

To Mein's surprise, it seems like someone doesn't think the Pope's promise is enough for the family. Preacher Logarius dismounts from his raptor and walks behind the Pope. "Your Eminence, may I suggest we forever engrave Hob of Lute's name in the Hall of Martyrs? His uncompromising faithfulness for the hero should be recognized and revered."

A series of gasps start to echo all around the incognito princess. If the Pope's proposal ensures Hob's immediate family are taken care of, the preacher's suggestion effectively ensures his name will live on as long as the hero's faith remains standing. That's the kind of honor not enjoyed by most good rulers, or courageous knights in history.

The response from the church's entourage is much more interesting. About half of them remain calm on their steed, maybe give a slight nod or two. As for the other half, some of them twitch uncomfortably on their raptors, the others begin to shout a cacophony of noise that sounds like gibberish to the ear.

"You have no right to suggest such great honor, Logarius! You are only a lowly preacher!" One of the other riders in the lead shrikes out with indignation. The long robe suggest him a priest, instead of a cleric knight.

The Pope holds his hand up to stop a shouting match from further escalating. The barking from the more radical church members almost covers over the sound of another army approaching. But their screech can't hide a second cloud of dust behind them coming from the same direction.

Unlike the first one which rises up high into the heaven like a tower, this second dust cloud is much wider but also shorter, suggesting a larger escort of foot soldiers than a smaller group of riders.

Soon, a moving wall of steel clad Melromarc foot soldiers turns up behind the Three Heroes' Church riders. Father and Lord Malfoy ride in the front, on top of their raptor and alicorn respectively. Lord Noches, Melromarc's spymaster follows right after Father, just like Lord Crabbe and Lord Goyle seems to be Lord Malfoy's two tails.

A much younger blonde knight, likely in his late twenty flies a rose banner. The reason Mein notices the young knight is from his steed, not a monster of any kind. No, the young man rides what seems to be a mechanical golem with the lower body of a Pegasus, and the upper body of an armor clad woman with twin lances for hand.

A rider's steed is their legs on the battlefield, one can tell a lot from their chosen beast of burden. Yet Mein can't remember this peculiar Faubley knight from his ride, or his chosen banner. Some kind of elite upstart? The fact he happens to be a member of Lord Malfoy's escort suggests he has more than a pretty face and strong connection.

The newcomers don't give the princess a lot of time to ponder over her question. Father jumps down from the raptor he likely took from the royal stable and trots his way over, tossing any sense of grace into the wind. "Do you have any idea what you just did, you fool!? In killing the Four Heroes' Church high inquisitor, you just created an incident with Faubley!"

The subject of Father's ire is unfortunately, still the Shield Hero.

"Hello!? I'm the Shield Hero here?" Naofumi doesn't turn the other cheek, unlike the aftermath of his first trial. The young man is obviously fed up for being blamed for everything, even if he feels guilty for a villager's death. He holds his arm up, and uses his free hand to hammer on the legendary shield. "Almost no ATK growth, remember? I can't kill the old ass even if I wanted to!"

"Liar!" The high-pitched scream of a bearded idiot turns everyone's head. It also reminded Mein the existence of Melromarc's disgrace. "Everyone saw you had your arms around Lord Emon's neck. You obviously used some demonic ability to break his neck!"

"The Shield Hero broke Lord Emon's neck, using a 'demonic ability', you say?" Lord Malfoy is the very opposite of Father. He slowly dismounted from his Alicorn in the definition of gracefulness, and slowly walked his way over to the scene with the unnecessary assistance of his cane. "The second accusation is easy to prove, or disapprove. It is well known any ability involving demonic rituals, the Wave, or even an outside ability would leave different kinds of cursed scars in the aftermath. All we need is to flip open the cloth covering Lord Emon's body."

Mald's face turns into an interesting shade of purple at everyone's gaze. "I didn't mean a 'demonic' connection literally. But the Shield Hero obviously used some ability from his shield to kill Lord Emon. Just like he defeated the Spear Hero in their duel after the banquet."

"Also easy to prove. All we need is to find someone around Emon's DEF, and have the Shield Hero try to strangle them right here." The Lord of House Malfoy remains the very definition of a graceful lord. Yet Mein can't help but feel he's turning his nose up against the idiotic knight. "And since sir knight, you seem eager to condemn the Shield Hero, may I suggest you volunteer yourself?"

"I was the one who killed the inquisitor." Even as the shameful knight's face turns black, a new voice turns everyone's head once again. The villagers of Lute stand apart, leaving an opening roughly allowing two grown men walking side by side, revealing the body of the Bow Hero. "I didn't want to kill him. He was trying to do what he thought was right. But he was going to kill more innocent villagers near the end, so that's why I had to put him down."

"Master Itsuki! You don't need to take blame for the fault of-" The pig like knight tries to stop the Bow Hero from continuing his confession, but he's silenced by a fierce glare from the boy hero.

"SILENCE!" The Bow Hero bites down on his lower lip after his outburst, his brows twist into knots. The boy is obviously not used to admitting his fault. "I won't cover over, or have someone else take blame for my own mistakes."

Father looks like he wants to say something. But Lord Noches quickly follows up the Bow Hero. Most likely trying to stop father from embarrassing himself, and glorious Melromarc. "If I may interject for a moment, I brought some of my most seasoned agents. They'll be able to determine the cause of death after examining the body. Although as the Spymaster, I have to ask... how did the situation get out of hand, resulting in the death of Lord Emon, and his whole escort? Lord Emon isn't a bloodthirsty monster."

Mein looks at the two summoned heroes.

Naofumi looks out the corner of his eyes at the Bow Hero, the boy in question looks down at his feet once again. "I made a mistake. I unintentionally accused Naofumi for using some... evil slavery ritual. I thought Lord Emon was talking about regular slavery."

"You accused the Shield Hero, for using the Imperius Slavery Seal." Lord Malfoy's silky smooth voice seems to hit the Bow Hero like a war hammer. The boy positively recoils on his feet, Rishia quickly holds onto his shoulder to stop him from tumbling. "I hope you learned your lesson now, Sir Bow Hero. That is one of the worst accusations one can throw at a fellow man."

"Lord Malfoy is right, Sir Bow Hero. Did you at least try to explain and defuse the situation after you somehow learned your mistake?" Lord Noches gives a quick glance over at the Faubley lord, it's hard to tell what the spymaster is thinking of. "Or was it already too late, and Lord Emon already started fighting Sir Shield Hero, assuming he was trying to arrest Sir Shield Hero for trial back in Faubley?"

"No, they haven't started fighting yet. Although Lord Emon already killed a villager." Bow Hero looks up at the Shield Hero, most likely asking the older hero to take over.

"He tried to have Hob denounce me as a fake hero. Hob refused, and the old ass had his thugs cut his throat." Naofumi squeezes his eyes shut and takes a few deep breaths, when he's forced to talk about the dead villager once again. When his eyes are open again, there is definitely a lot of anger behind them. "I don't want anyone to die for something so stupid, like an honest mistake. But for Hob's death, I wouldn't regret it. Even if I really did snap the old ass' neck."

Mein feels something heavy in her throat. Her Naofumi's wrath is coming back again, just like the time when they met those two Siltvelt rats. He's making himself look guilty in his moment of anger. She quickly runs her arm around Naofumi's shoulder, just like Rishia is doing with the Bow Hero. "Breathe, Master Naofumi. Focus on what actually happened."

Naofumi closes his eyes again. He takes a few more deep breaths to calm himself. "Itsuki arrived right when Emon tried to have his man murder Raki, a boy living in this village. After Mein explained the misunderstanding, he did tell Emon I never used that evil brainwashing slave seal. But Emon still denounced me for having a slave before, and he tried to kill the villagers. That's why we had to fight, and kill him and all his men."

"So it IS your fault!" Father hops on his feet, pointing his finger at Naofumi. "If you never bought your demi-human slaves from some illegal slave merchant, nobody had to die today!"

Mein looks away from father in shame. It seems like Lord Noches shares her sentiment, as the spymaster painfully squeezes his eyes shut.

"Oh, yeah! Blame me, the Shield Hero, for everything! Nevermind the fact that I can't attack on my own with my low ATK, and had no one besides Mein! Forget I didn't know anything about this world and nobody bothered to explain anything to me! It's all my fault!" Naofumi throws his arms up and screams right back at Father. He starts to point fingers at all the nobles around him afterwards. "Oh wait, by your logic, all of you deserve to die because your country allows the use of slavery! You, being the king, should jump down from your castle first!"

Father sounds like he wants to further embarrass himself, but Pope Balmus interrupted him first. "You are letting your emotions take over, old friend. I suggest you step back, let me and Lord Noches take over from here. I'm afraid the Shield Hero is right in this case. All of us indeed endorse the use of slavery in some ways. Most nobles have slaves working as their servants. In the church, we have the Repentance Legion."

Father turns to look at the Pope, his lips seem to tremble a little behind his beard. "That's different, Biscas. The Shield Hero bought illegally enslaved demi-humans from an illegal skin merchant. We have servants, and soldiers who serve out their sentence."

"Yet, they all have the magical seal on their skin. Something that'll kill them with a snap of our fingers." Pope Balmus dips his head, the reflection of his bifocal spectacles hiding his eyes. "You know it's true."

The two of them stare at each other, Father blinks first as he grits his teeth. "Very well. Take over from here, Douglas."

"As much as I weep for the tragic misunderstanding, from both the Bow Hero and Shield Hero's confession, it sounds to me like Lord Emon was in the wrong." Lord Noches looks over at Lord Malfoy, who makes no effort to voice or even act out an objection. "But to avoid any embarrassing false accusations, we need to hear the situation from another source - someone isn't already a part of the heroes' party. Does anyone else want to testify for this incident?"

"I will!" The blue haired knight, and former party member of the Spear Hero steps up. "I am Sir Crepe, in service of her majesty Queen Mirellia Q Melromarc. Knighted right after the first Wave hit Port Harp and Silver Keep. I'm willing to testify for the two Legendary Heroes, and swear to speak only the truth as my oath to the crown."

"Very well." Lord Noches turns to look at the knight. "What is your involvement in the incident?"

"I was one of the captives. When I tried to stop Lord Emon and his men from taking Lute Village hostage, they knocked me down and tied me together with the villagers."

"You were knocked out, you say?" The spymaster nods his head at Sir Crepe's confession. "Were you conscious when the incident happened?"

"I regained my consciousness when the sun was still on the east, the Shield Hero arrived at Lute after the Sun moved past the middle of the sky towards the west." Sir Crepe turns to look at the village elder and the couple who runs the inn. "I was tied together with the elder, and the innkeeper. You may ask them to verify my claim afterwards, Lord Noches."

"Very well, did the two heroes speak the truth?"

"They both spoke the truth. Lord Emon commanded the execution of one villager before verifying the Bow Hero's..." Sir Crepe turns her head to look at the Bow Hero again, who is in the process of burying his head into his chest. "...misunderstanding. And he proceeds to condemn the Shield Hero, and tries to have him and the villagers killed after the Bow Hero explains himself. In addition, near the end when his force is clearly outmatched, he tried to kill Elder Lute, the innkeepers, and myself instead of yielding. That's when the Shield Hero tackled him to the ground, and Bow Hero put an arrow into his head."

"Thank you, Sir Crepe." Lord Notches nods his head one final time, clearly satisfied from her answer. He turns to look at Lord Malfoy. "As much as I don't want to pour salt onto the wound and besmirch the good name of a dead man, so far it sounds like Lord Emon is the one in the wrong in this situation. High Inquisitor of Faubley or not, it doesn't give him the right to murder the vassals of Melromarc without properly conducting an investigation first. I will continue to question the witness, and collect evidence with my agents, but I imagine we will send an official letter of complaint to noble Faubley's House of the Lords, and the Cathedral of the Four Heroes' Church. You may appoint agents of your own to help the investigation, Lord Malfoy."

"Certainly, Lord Noches. As much as I always admired Lord Emon for his... diligence in upholding justice, he is also known for being ...overeager when passing judgments." Once again, Lord Malfoy doesn't do anything unbecoming of his stature, such as turning his nose. Yet the way he intentionally takes a break before choosing his word makes clear of his distaste towards the High Inquisitor. "I will make sure to bring my most unbiased recount of the incident back to the House of the Lords. As for assisting your investigation ... Captain Gramont, you and your knights will take over from here."

The blonde knight doesn't seem prepared for this sudden responsibility. He nearly jumps up on his feet before turning to look at the powerful Faubley lord. "Are you sure you no longer request the service of my men, Lord Malfoy?"

"I have an entire legion of spearmen, halberdiers, and conscript to ensure my safety. Investigating the death of the high inquisitor on the other hand..." Lord Malfoy is about to continue when a commotion turns everyone's head to the side.

"Come back here, Boulder! You can't eat the corpses!" One of Lord Malfoy's tails, it's hard for Mein to tell Lord Crabbe and Lord Goyle apart, is pulling the snake headed tail of his steed with all his might. At first, Mein thought it's some kind of an overfed filorial. But the short neck, and snakehead reveals its true identity. A cockatrice, the much more predatory, and rare cousin of the big, dumb, fluffy birds.

"His steed's name is Baldur, not Boulder." Lord Malfoy states in his driest voice. He turns back to look at the young knight captain. "Do you think I can appoint someone who mistakes the name of his own steed over the investigation?"

"Very well, I will do my best." The young knight Gramont shakes his head. "But my expertise isn't information gathering. I suggest we request the aid of the Unspeakables."

"As much as I would like to, I don't think their presence will be appreciated by our host." Lord Malfoy gives a side glance at Lord Noches. "Your job is to simply oversee the investigation to make sure nothing is overlooked, not to piece together the whole incident yourself. And if you need anything, you can always request aid from my valet."

"Understood." The knight captain gives a salute to the Malfoy Lords as he turns around, and starts to give command to the knights waiting outside Lute village.

"I will also appoint my own agent to investigate this situation. I was the one who wrote the letter to Emon and invited him, it's only right I'm the one explaining what happened to His Eminence Pope Lutasha." Pope Balmus concludes the discussion amongst the Lords present. He turns to look at the scarred preacher behind him. "Logarius. You suggested we engrave Hob of Lute's name into the Hall of the Martyrs. Now is your chance to prove his piety towards the heroes. I appoint you as the head of investigation on behalf of the Three Heroes' Church."

"I will not let you down, Your Eminence." The preacher dips his head low.

By contrast, the battle priest who chided Logarius earlier looks like he's swallowed the rotten remain of an eggy.

"I think we are no longer needed, Master Naofumi," Mein whispered into Naofumi's ears. The Shield Hero looks at her for a moment before nodding his head.

They quietly leave the scene where agents of Lord Notches, the Three Heroes' Church priests, and Faubley knights are gathering around questioning the villagers, and gathering evidence. Raphtalia and Kyubey follow them, their steps much quicker.

She was the one who gave a piece of her mind to the Bow Hero over creating an incident with Faubley, but she certainly didn't expect a possible retribution on her Naofumi this quickly. At least he's exonerated, for now. But knowing the way Faubley usually acts, this incident is far from over.

Well, at least that's something Mother and Father will have a headache over. There is certainly a good side to not being the one sitting on the throne.

The direct involvement of the Pope isn't something she expected, or planned for. Neither does he follow through with his confession back in the Cathedral, and passing fairly unbiased judgment towards her Naofumi.

That being said, the princess is willing to bet on her instinct, and all her former experience from observing the court. That the Pope of the Three Heroes' Church is only acting the way he did to both earn a good reception from the commoners. He's also manipulating her Naofumi into thinking the church is a possible ally, before kicking the young man from another world down the cliff.

"What do you think about the Pope, Master Naofumi?"

Naofumi looks away to the side for a moment before opening his mouth. "Well... he seems like an upstanding holy man."

Not good - it seems like he is already letting his guard down around the head of the religion who dedicate themselves fighting against the Shield Hero.

"Yeah, Pope Balmus was a hero from the Great War... but I'm not sure we can trust him. He IS the head of the THREE Heroes' Church, after all." She leans into Naofumi's ear and whispers to him. "Not to mention... he fought beastmen and demi-humans twenty five years ago in the Great War. I don't think he'll accept a hero who fights alongside demi-humans, like Raphtalia and Kyubey."

Naofumi turns to look at her in the eyes. His intense gaze makes the princess want to look away. "I know. Holy man or not... a religion always serves politics in the end. He pretty much admitted it with that whole verifying the identity of a hero thing. If he's not in politics, who cares if the heroes are real or fake, as long as they are here to stop the Waves and save lives?"

The Shield Hero turns around to ruffle Raphtalia's hair. "That's why he's either lying right into our faces, or trying to kick away the royal family and control this country himself. It's easier to deal with a brute like the king, but we'll have to be extra careful around someone who pretends to play nice, like this Pope."

Of course, she should have given her Naofumi more credit than she did.

"What should we do now? Should we take our contingency plan, after we complete..." Mein quickly looks at the Seatto heiress not far away from her. The dishonored knight is talking with the blue haired knight. "... our newest quest?"

Honestly, she doesn't want to turn around and run like a demi-human with a tail between her legs. But with how things progressed, she may not have a better chance than this wild quest from the Seatto heiress.

Knowing Mother... there's a good chance all the blame will be pinned on her head to appease Faubley for the death of Emon. Becoming the newest plaything of her uncle might actually be a better fate than being condemned as a witch by the Church of Four Heroes.

"Port Harp is no more, but House Seatto's seat of power was right on the border." Kyubey nods his head at Mein's suggestion. "There's a good chance we can slip away from the border right around the Silver Peak. We can probably find a small port, and get on a ship to Zeltoble with everyone none the wiser."

"I don't know... I'll think it over on the way. I guess. I'm not sure there's anyone in power I can trust, to be honest. But I don't want to hide for the rest of my life. There are too many innocent people depending on the heroes in a Wave." Naofumi turns around and sits down on the grass. His eyes follow the villagers of Lute, who are currently being questioned.

Of course, her Naofumi and his bleeding heart. It's not exactly smart, but it's also hard to fault him for his kindness and his sense of duty.

"Very well, we'll think it over on the way. Who knows, maybe we'll find another nice little village like Lute on our way, away from Crownland with all the big name nobles and priests." Mein also sits down on her behind, just like Naofumi. She turns her head and brushes at Raphtalia's hair. "What about you, Raphtalia?"

"I follow wherever Master Naofumi and big sister Mein goes!" The demi-human girl balls her hand into a tiny fist as she makes her declaration.

"Good girl." Mein ruffles the kid's hair just like Naofumi a moment ago. That's when she notices their bird nudging her way across the grass not far. Its puffy tummy is two or three sizes larger than when she tackled a Faubley knight during the fight. She's also smugly licking her beak with her tongue. "Master Naofumi, I think Firo found Lute's underground grain storage when nobody's looking."

"What!?" Naofumi whips his head to look at his bird. He quickly stands up and catches the pudgy bird with his hands. "Bad Firo! You aren't supposed to eat those people's food!"

The bird's eyes turn wide. She furiously shakes her head trying to deny her crime, but Naofumi isn't buying it. "Don't try to deny it. You are fatter than the pillar. You are going to have a diet now, Firo."

The bird rolls her eyes, her head flips back and tongue dangling out of her beak. Very obviously indisposed of.

"I spoiled her too much." Naofumi shakes his head. He carries the fat bird under his arm and turns to Mein and the two demi-human. "Let's gather up Farkas and E-Eclea. We should make some distance while there's still daylight."

"We aren't waiting for food... for Firo to grow up?" With Naofumi's declaration, Mein finally remembers how hungry she is before the fight with Emon and the Four Heroes' Church knights.

"We'll have some rations on the way. I don't want more trouble finding these good people." Naofumi doesn't raise his voice. But there is a finality to his somber words.

Mein simply nods along as she falls into the steps of the Shield Hero with Raphtalia and Kyubey. Farkas joins their group as they walk past the big werewolf. The five of them approach Éclair while she is still talking with Sir Crepe.

"...I'm not sure I'm up to the task, honestly. I didn't even complete my training. The queen only knighted me, and my fellow squires because of the Wave hitting us." Unlike her pontification when testifying for the heroes, Sir Crepe's voice is low and tired. The knight looks more than a little defeated standing in front of Éclair. "I was useless when Lord Emon came with his knight. I'd have died, if Shield Hero and Bow Hero weren't here."

"Nobody starts out their career at Prestige Level or Epic Level. You have to work your way up from Common Level, step by step and one level at a time." Éclair pats her hand on Sir Crepe's shoulder. "At least you tried your best, doing the right thing, unlike some knights at a higher level. That's the most important thing."

Éclair isn't saying the name out loud. But it's clear the Seatto heiress is also not impressed with a certain knight in Bow Hero's group.

The Seatto heiress reaches into a little pouch and takes out a piece of a shining trinket. It's a tiny little silver pin, without any gemstones on it. The pin is shaped like an open palm with five fingers lined up tightly together. She fixes the pin onto Sir Crepe's cloth.

"Captain, that's...?"

"The Pin of House Seatto knights, with the family crest of the Silver Hand. Five fingers together, embodies the unity of scholar, warrior, farmer, craftsman and merchant around the nobility. Fingers pointing up above the palm, for the wellbeing of the people is forever above us the nobility." Éclair gives one last pat on Sir Crepe's arm. "As the last survivor of my house, I judge you worthy of being a Seatto knight. Go forth, without falter."

"Yes, Captain." The blue haired knight fights back the tears in her eyes. She hammers her fist right above her fist, turns around and runs toward the Bow Hero.

"What's that whole thing about?" Naofumi's eyes finally leave the back of Sir Crepe to look at Naofumi.

"Nothing. My old squire wanted to join the Bow Hero's party, but she's having some second thoughts. So I give her some encouragement." Éclair turns to look at Naofumi, she seems to notice everyone around him. "Is there something wrong?"

"We are leaving for your quest."

"You are leaving already, Master Shield Hero?" Elder Lute runs his way over. He works up a sweat, and has to wipe his head with a piece of cloth. "But, but your bird is still so small. And we haven't finished the final touch on his carriage yet."

"I can't stay any longer. Hob already died because of me. Who knows what more trouble I'll bring to your doorsteps if I stay longer." Naofumi's eyes wander to one particular cloth covered body at the entrance of the village. Underneath that particular blanket lies the only victim of Lute village.

"You can't blame yourself, Master Shield Hero. Our king is... well, was wise I guess. But he's wrong this time."

"Maybe, but I can't deny trouble finds me." Naofumi's free hand reaches up at his shield once again. "Can't say I'm too surprised, the more I learn what Mikage did. I don't want any of you on the way, when someone else decides to pick a fight with the Shield Hero."

"Please, Master Shield Hero, stay one more night." The elder holds his finger up in front of their faces. "You haven't had anything to eat yet, and you'll need a good night's rest if you want to go on a long journey. Give us one more night to finish up your carriage, and you can leave early tomorrow."

Naofumi is ready to object, but his stomach starts rumbling together with everyone else in his party.

"Alright, one more night."

The afternoon, evening, and night passes without any incident, aside from the agents from different factions doing their investigations, and the constant hammering and sawing sound coming from the carriage. Mein doesn't have any hope for the cart being made ready for their use. Even if the villagers manage to finish building the carriage, there's no way Firo will grow up fast enough to pull it overnight.

But she's not going to deny warm food in her belly, and a good rest in the relative safety of the village, even if the constant construction sound wasn't exactly pleasant. She had a dream where she's being chased by a mountain sized filorial hammering a war drum.

Shortly after she wakes up, she finds out the reason why Elder Lute thought one night was enough for the dark wood cart to become functional. A bird is fitted right in front of the carriage, but instead of Firo, it's the black filorial of Gaston.

Firo jumps up angrily in front of the carriage stealer, screeching at the bird who took her rightful place in front of the beautiful cart.

"What can I say? I'll be your guide with Wolf, till your little lady grows up." Gaston scratches the chin of his black filorial, making him release a happy gurgling sound. "Wolf was getting a little fat, so this seems like a good way for him to slim down."

"Are you sure, Gaston? Don't you have to be the head tracker for the village hunters?"

"Well, I taught them everything I knew. The other hunters have to learn how to work without me." Gaston shrugs his shoulders. He picks Firo up, and settles her right onto Wolfgang's back. "There you go, little lady. Have the front seat and watch how your big brother Wolfgang does the job, help you get familiar with how to pull a cart."

On the side, Raphtalia is having her own farewell with the friends she made in Lute.

"Guess you'll be all grown up next time we meet." Raki looks down at Raphtalia, a sad smile on his lips. "I'll have to look up at you."

"Yeah..." Raphtalia's ear drops down on her head. She's obviously not used to the idea of herself growing up before her new friends.

"Well, I'll make sure to drink a lot of bean milk, and grow taller than you when it's my time." Raki pulls the demi-human girl into an embrace. Raphtalia also runs her arm around his shoulders. "Take care of yourself, I'll see you after the Wave is over."

The Bow Hero is among the many who is seeing Naofumi off. After the incident caused by his misunderstanding, Mein half expects he'll find a hole to crawl into. But it seems the boy is more resilient than she gave him credit for.

"Watch your back, Naofumi. You don't know what'll happen on your journey, and who wants to stab you in the back."

"I think I'll be fine, as long as a fellow hero doesn't accuse me of some crime I didn't commit." Naofumi's words aren't exactly nice, but there's no heat behind the biting remark. It's clear the Shield Hero is ready to flip the book over this page of unpleasantness.

"You bastard." The Bow Hero punches Naofumi on the shoulder. "Next time, you'll be the one who messes up, and I'll come help you clean up."

"Don't count on it." Naofumi punches the boy hero back before he climbs onto the back of the cart.

Mein helps carry Raphtalia up the carriage before climbing on with Éclair. Kyubey and Farkas take the front seat as Gaston climbs onto the back of his bird. Their carriage slowly begins to roll away from the sleepy little village, until the people and buildings slowly disappear from their sight.

End Note:

So, Naofumi and the Pope of Three Heroes' Church meet face to face for the first time... and no immediate battle aside form the minor spit contest between them, but we all know what this will lead up to. I hope to have a more natural progression of conflict between the Shield Hero and the Three Heroes' Church in this story, where they are a more intangible and looming threat through Act 2, and finally becomes an aggressive and immediate threat in the Act 3 of what I come to call 'Three Heroes' Church Saga' which covers from the hero summoning till the end of church rebellion arc.

And Naofumi's party is official beginning their journey around Melromarc, instead of setting up shop at the beginner's village. I want to once again, thank fellow writer Pretty Lazy for allowing me to use their idea of hunting the Seatto Heirloom arc in their story 'The Rising of The Four Heroes'. I also recommend everyone who is sick and tired of the animosity between heroes in most RotSH fanfictions to check out his story. It's one of the most underrated story on this fandom right now.

Guest review time.

To Nights:

Itsuki's back story is rather interesting in my story, in term of the meta-narrative. His backstory got retcon'ed twice, where the current version I wrote IS my original plan, and his outburst/reference to FATE in chapter 3 was added by Comrade Broseph (who is a massive FATE and Shirou fanboy, according to his own account) because Itsuki was obviously inspired by Shirou (once again, according to Comrade Broseph).

Honestly, I and I'm assume a number of other writers on this fandom doesn't like the overly exaggerated, borderline caricature characterization in canon. I realize archetype with one specifically over exaggerated trait is an anime/manga characterization tradition, but my personal problem is RotSH seems to crank this up to eleven and it makes most characters in canon comes off more like plot devices.

And yes, Ren and Motoyasu's backstory is also coming up in this Act. I hope you'll like what I came up for them.

;)

To Guests:

Well, the good captain is definitely a major inspiration when I'm trying to expand pure Naofumi's characterization. Let's just say there's a reason why I had him play pretend Captain America in an earlier chapter even if he's Japanese.

Yeah, Katarina probably has a hand in rounding up Malty's harder edges before Naofumi showed up.

:)

To BlackoutSampler:

While Ratman certainly has its share of problem like every other thing, I think it should have gotten more recognition than it actually got considering the smash success of both One Punchman, and My Hero Academy. Not to mention The Boys, which actually go over a lot of the same points Ratman did, just with the 90s dark age cynicism instead of Ratman's borderline crack comedy anime/manga trope filter.

Glad you enjoyed Malty's character arc in my story. I'm definitely fascinated with the idea of what if she's a real person, and not a glorified plot device to fling mud at the author's husbando. And yes, she would be absolutely disgusted by her canon self's action, for canon Malty's stupidity if not for her needless sadism.