I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero
Lord Martiya unintentionally pointed out a point of confusion I made in last chapter. For anyone aren't familiar with Iris' original story 's̶h̶i̶l̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ Achievement of Duke's Daughter', 'Mirellia Reiser Armelia' is the mother of Iris, not Malty. I forgot those two share the same first name, mostly because I always think of the Queen as Queen Safespace and not by her first name. Not sure if it's coincident or intentional homage, both stories start with the main character unfairly prosecuted has a supposed super competent mom character with the same first name.
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.
Special thanks to Fluffball13 for this chapter, where some of my past conversation with her developed into the egg-up ranch for this chapter.
More author note at the end for people who are interested to see me blabber some more.
Wolfgang slowly bends his legs and lowers his body on the ground. Naofumi, Gaston and Porter carefully carry Firo down on a pile of grass. Raphtalia takes a wooden bowl, fills some hot water from the pound and helps the bird slowly down the rejuvenating liquid.
The imp walks over to the shaking, and squeaking bird and lowers his head to take a good look. He gently presses two fingers on Firo's neck. "She doesn't look poisoned to me. Did she eat something?"
Naofumi and Ren look at each other, where the young highwayman is the one who opens his mouth. "We didn't see her eat anything when we were trying to pick the blackcurrant berries. Although she did fall down near one of the cold trees."
"Cold tree?" Zylden looks up from the bird while he slaps his hands together to get rid of a few loose feathers. He turns to walk towards Walter's cart.
"Can you hurry up?" Naofumi turns to look at Firo, who is groaning under Raphtalia's gentle hands. He flings his arms back as if trying to throw something. "Firo might die!"
Mein can't help but be reminded of her little friend - fallen down a cliff with a pack of bone dogs, her neck bent in an unnatural way and eyes unseeing ... NO! Not thinking about it!
"Have more faith with filorials. They are sturdy creatures." The gnome grabs a pouch before turning back to Naofumi's group. "Show me."
"Look after Raphtalia for me, Éclair." Mein gives a quick shout to the Seatto heiress as she follows after the imp.
It'll be good to identify a possible source of poison, either to avoid it in the future... or to use it.
Their little group stops in front of a few thick bushes with dark red berries, and some unremarkable looking trees at a first glance.
Upon a closer inspection, the trees have narrow leaves. Not quite like the needle shaped ones from a pine, but much narrower than the usual trees growing around the Crownland. It has some blue colored fruit on its branches. The fruit looks like an opaque glass bead, with size ranging from a toddler's little finger nail, to an adult's thumb.
As the princess stands close to it, she can feel a wave of coldness seems to emanate from the strange flora. The 'cold' tree sure lives up to its name.
Zylden doesn't seem to mind the cold coming from the tree. He kicks the trunk with the flat of his foot once before turning back to everyone around him. "Well, don't just stand there like guards of a whore house. You guys are the tall people. Get me one of those fruits."
Naofumi is about to reach up to grab one of the fruits. Mein quickly catches his wrist while pulling her sword out with her free hand. "Let me cut it down, Master Naofumi. Isn't it poisoned?"
The Shield Hero turns his head to give her an appreciative nod. "Good thinking, Mein."
Mein tries to swipe at one of the lower branches with her sword. The branch bounces away from the tip of her sword instead of falling down to earth. She lets out an annoyed huff and tries again, this time using her fencing technique to add more speed and power compared to her first try. A branch with five fruits falls right by her feet.
Zylden walks by the fallen branch. He pulls out a pair of thick gloves out of the pouch and fit them over his hands. The leather seems to reflect a bronze like color against rays of sunlight filtering through the thick leaves and branches. He picks out the smallest fruit with his gloved hand, turns it around for a few seconds and promptly toss it into the air and let it fall down towards his mouth.
Chapter 33: Shades of the Past
"STOP!" Naofumi holds his hand up, as if trying to stop Zylden from eating poison by snatching the fruit mid-air. But he's too far away, and the blue glass bead like fruit falls in the imp's mouth.
"Hmm... EHMM!" The imp's cheek starts to expand, as he apparently rolls the tiny, berry like fruit in his mouth before spitting it back out. "PTOOEY! Just like I thought. Your bird wasn't poisoned, and you were right about those robbers sitting on a mountain of treasure. And I don't mean the hot spring your birdies dug out."
Naofumi dips his head down to look at the blue fruit. "I assume you mean this fruit you spit out?"
"Why, yes indeed! I knew you were a sharp one!" Zylden's emphasis in certain syllables makes it hard to tell if he's being serious, or sarcastic. The imp squats down on the dirt, and pokes at the fruit with his drake leather glove. "This here is an ice fruit. Very rare alchemy... and high end gourmet ingredients."
Mein tries to search her memory to confirm Zylden's claim. If the ingredient is as valuable as Zylden's claim, Uncle Aldrecht would surely have mentioned it. Sadly, she never paid any mind to those lessons. She always assumed such a choir is beneath a princess like her, and should be delegated to dedicated potioneers.
"They are?" Naofumi blinks his eyes a few times. His voice goes a slight higher pitch than before. "How do we cure Firo's frost poison?"
"Haven't you heard what I said, boy? Your dumb chick wasn't poisoned in the first place." Zylden laughs at Naofumi again. He takes the wineskin off his waist, and drops a smaller ice fruit inside. The imp takes a swig of his newly iced wine and takes a long breath. "She probably saw the pretty looking fruit, took a full bite with her beak... and had a stomach cramp. Why, I bet she's already feeling better after your child fed her some water from the hot spring."
"Well, that's a relief." Naofumi also lets out a long breath of air, although for a different reason compared to the imp. He turns to look at Porter, the former professor from Faubley's Hero Academy. Much like the jovial man's two young unofficial students. "You have this super valuable alchemy ingredient right besides your camp, and you go out breaking laws and robbing people?"
The former professor at least has the decency to blush. "Well... I'm an expert and educator in zoology, not herbology, nor alchemy. Those are Pomona and Severus' subjects."
Naofumi shakes his head at the explanation. He turns to look at Zylden again. "Wait, if this ingredient is valuable, how come no one else found them? I doubt everyone would have a brain fart moment like Porter."
"Beats me. Help me fill my bag if you have time to bitch and moan." The imp picks the remaining ice fruit off the cut branch. He starts to toss them into a bag he takes out of his pouch. "Could be a number of things really. The most likely reason is that people didn't expect to find them here right on the edge of Melromarc Crownland. They are believed to only grow in South Chapoor forest, in the middle of Mara Gobi desert."
Naofumi's body freezes at the end, when Zylden mentions the fruit's natural habitat. "Forest, as in the middle of a desert."
"Why, yes. Don't you have one of those back home?" Zylden points to the fruit above him. "Help me cut some more down, will you?"
"I should stop questioning Isekai logic ..." Naofumi shakes his head again as he switches out his rope shield. He makes a lasso out of the rope again, tosses it up to a thick branch and pulls it down.
The three former bandits obviously decided this conversation no longer involves them. As they start to pick the ripe blackcurrant berries off the nearby bushes.
The imp walks up to the branch, and picks all the larger sized ice fruit to fill his bag. He takes a step back and waves the bag at Naofumi. The Shield Hero releases his hold on the rope lasso, letting the branch bounce right back.
Naofumi stares at the tree for a brief moment. He picks up the branch Mein cut down and let his shield absorb it. The coil of rope turns into a bundle of branches. "Well... the branch doesn't seem to have any magical power. This shield isn't any stronger than other wood based shields."
"The magic is all in the fruit, my boy. Catch!" The imp laughs at the Shield Hero. He picks up the fruit he spat out a moment ago, and tosses the fruit at Naofumi.
The Shield Hero catches it out of reflection. He lets out a grimaced 'Yuck', likely from grabbing a handful of someone else's spit. Naofumi simply tosses the fruit into the emerald core of his shield, instead of making a fuss over Zylden's disgusting behavior. "Minor frost resistance. Should be useful."
The Shield Hero turns to look at the three refugees from Reichnott County, each of them holding a bundle of berries in their hands. He holds his right arm up at them. "Put them in my shield, that'll be enough for now."
"Who died and made you the leader..." Nora's grunt is stopped by Ren's shoulder nudge. They obediently follow Naofumi's instruction afterwards.
The six of them quickly make their way back to the encampment. A bucket full of milk, and another full of egg white already waited for them beside Hickwaal's wagon when they returned.
"Oh! Shield Hero! You want to hear what we found-" Walter turns around and calls out to the Shield Hero. For some reason, the fat merchant seems to be walking with a jump enchantment in his shoes.
"Think fast, fat ass." Zylden tosses the bag of ice fruit at Walter. The merchant catches it in his hands with a surprising reflex, just like Naofumi a few moments ago. With predictably similar results. "Got you a gift."
"SON OF A GUN~!" The fat merchant throws it right out of his fat hands. The bag makes a wide, looking like it'll smash on the ground until Raphtalia jumps up and snatches it off the air.
The girl definitely has the potential to become a great acrobat. It's par for the norm for a raccoon demi-human.
"It's cold!" The raccoon girl looks down at the bag in her hand. She gives it a hesitant shake, likely feeling the fruit rolling inside before looking up at Naofumi. "What's this, Master Naofumi?"
"Want to explain, Ty- Zylden?" Naofumi narrows his eyes and looks at the Imp. The Shield Hero is obviously not happy with Zylden's prank.
"Why not let our resident merchant boss have his moment?" The gnome shrugs his shoulder and sits down on a boulder. He takes another swig out of his wineskin. "My mouth's already too dry from speaking."
The Hickwaal walks to Raphtalia and holds his hand out. "Can I have the bag back, little one?"
Raphtalia quickly drops the bag of ice fruit into Walter's hand. She immediately runs behind Kyubey. The impressive girth of the Hickwaal merchant probably reminds her too much of House Consevatie's infamous child loving degenerate.
Walter fumbles with the bag of ice fruit again, but he manages to hold onto it after the bag bounces over his hand three times. He unties the string at the top and look inside. "Ice fruit? Here, in the heart of Melromarc?"
"I didn't expect it either." Zylden shrugs his shoulder as he finishes the last of his iced wine. "Probably a mana lay line underground somewhere."
"Are they worth a lot? Zylden mentioned they are rare." Naofumi looks around the Reichnott County refugees in shabby cloth. "Is it enough to get their lives back?"
"Probably not by selling these ice fruits alone." Walter rubs his chins, his eyes seem to look past the bag full of rare alchemy reagent. "Ice fruits are very rare... but their effect isn't that well sought after. There's only so much you can do with an ice-propertied potion. Not something that'll save a greedy noble's life, like Yggdrasil medicine."
"How to sell them is another problem." Porter begins to pinch his mustache. "We probably all have bounties on our heads. We can't simply walk into a town and peddle them."
"True. But you'll only do yourself a disservice, if you sell them to an alchemist. Or peddle them on the street." Walter looks up at the refugees, his eyes seem to twinkle. "They'll either be used to make ice bombs, or preservation potions. There are other, more bountiful ingredients that'll have a similar effect and you'll end up selling ice fruit at a severe discount rate. If you add them to Master Shield Hero's plan, however..."
The merchant points at the flat wineskin on Zylden's waist. "See how the imp enjoyed his drink? You can charge food, and beverages at a premium if you use ice fruit to make cold dishes, or iced wine, since ice fruits preserve themselves, unlike real ice. And the beauty to this method... you increase the shelf life of all your food stock when you properly store them beside ice fruit."
"Use them like a freezer? That's smart." Naofumi nods along Walter's comment. He seems to suddenly remember something as his head perks up. "Wait, can't you do the same thing with magic? There is ice magic in this world, right?"
Mein feels like she needs to educate her Naofumi on the finesse of magic casting. So he doesn't make uneducated opinions like this. But then again, as a village girl 'Mein of Samphor' isn't supposed to be very knowledgeable on magic theories.
Hopefully, the imp will pick up the slack.
"Not that simple, boy." Zylden tosses his empty wineskin on the ground and looks up at the young man from another world. "Ice is an advanced element. Not any random schmuck can use it. Plus, preserving food isn't as easy as blasting it with [Frostbite]. Too little, it won't last long enough to matter. Too much, you'll end up destroying the item you are trying to preserve. Ice mages skilled enough to help preserve food all have a high enough position in someone's court, or mage's guild to not preserve food for a living."
"Magic is powerful and convenient, but works by its own rules. It's not as easy as snapping your finger ..." The imp stands up from his boulder seat and snaps his finger to mimic his worlds. "...and having half the world disappear."
"Huh..." Naofumi blinks his eyes at the imp's theatrics. "Guess magic can't do everything."
"Enough of that, Master Shield Hero." Walter places the bag of ice fruit near the bucket of milk and fresh egg whites. He grabs Naofumi's wrist and pulls him towards the mountain besides the encampment. "Come with me and see what one of the refugees showed me."
The thing Walter was so excited for turns out to be a mouth to a cave. A well hidden entrance, with a large border obstructs the view and a lot of plant growth to further hide it in a shade of black and green. Mein wonders if the former robbers hide their ill gotten treasures inside, and that's why the merchant is so excited.
The Hickwaal fiddles with a pouch on his side and takes out a very stubby stick holding a crystal ball the size of a baby's fist. He holds it up, and the crystal ball lights up with [Mage Light] to illuminate the musky smelling cave. The content inside proves to be completely disappointing.
It's nothing more than a decent sized 'chamber'. About as large as Melromarc Castle's throne room with a somewhat oval shape. The only things inside are some smashed up rotten barrels, and dried hay piles which seem to be makeshift beds.
Naofumi looks around the damp cave, as he runs his finger around some of the rocky surface. "This doesn't feel natural. Like someone took a chisel to smooth the floor over. You think it's some kind of shelter?"
"Possibly, the Great War was only two decades ago. Maybe some refugees used this cave to hide from the Siltvelt army." Walter nods his head along. "More importantly... this will be a perfect place to start an egg-up ranch. So long as we post one or two guards at the entrance, we don't have to worry about annoying kids smashing them up. There are plenty of grass and leaves for muffalos to graze, those Reichnott County refugees can easily rise their muffalos and egg-up for milk and eggs."
Hmm... The princess admits she would have never came up with a way to use a dirty cave to make money. The fat merchant is smarter than he looked.
"There's only one problem. We can't pay for them." Ren walks by Naofumi and Walter. " Build a new village from scratch... living off the land... those we can do. But we have no money to buy our own herd. Tamed monsters cost 100 silver for their familiar seals alone. Adult muffalo cost at least ten times more, and we don't have time to raise a herd from eggs."
"Well, I do hope you haven't forgot about me." Hickwaal turns around and pulls his own coat. "I don't like to boast... and obviously I can't command all of Hickwaal & Sweed's fortune without being the sitting president, but getting a herd of muffalos and some egg-ups is well within my usual operating expenses."
Nora's eye immediately shots up to glare at the fat merchant. "You want to own our lives? Just like those dirty Schnees!?"
Walter scoffs at the hellion's accusation. "Me? Like a Schnee whit-lock!? Please, do not insult my family name by comparing me with those nouveau riche, young miss. I come from the old and respected Hickwaal & Sweed lineage. We make allies like the Schnees make enemies. As they always say, the Hickwaal & Sweed company grows their fortune with their partners, the Schnees steal coins from their victims!"
"Didn't you want to rob us blind a few hours ago, after the Shield Hero defeated us?" One of Ren's eyebrow shoots up, making him look similar to the hero who shares his name.
"Well... that, you see..." The Hickwaal coughs into his hand to hide his embarrassment. "When you guys were trying to rob me, it's fair game for me to rob you back. But now that we established you guys are refugees falling on hard times, who simply need someone with a mercantile mind to guide you on the right path, I'm willing to treat all of you as my future business partners."
"I may not teach business classes, but I assume you want to pay your investment back." Porter plays with his mustache. There's some flash of intensity behind his lazy eyes.
"Of course, I'm a businessman, not a philanthropist giving away free alms. But I don't plan to overcharge you with interests, if that's what you are worried about." Walter rubs his hands together. "That being said... I would like to build a Hickwaal & Sweed trading post... and shop right here in this new village you guys start. Hopefully after you earn a pardon from the local lordship."
"Maybe I can try to appeal to this lord for you guys?" Naofumi turns to look at Mein. "Mein, do you know who's the lord of this land, or should I ask Éclair?"
The undercover princess knows who is the reigning lord residing in Trumpet, of course. She briefly considers if a village girl living in the next province would know this information. After a quick deliberation, she decided some basic information should be reasonable.
"We aren't far from the town of Trumpet, Master Naofumi. We should be within Whiterun County. The current lord is Count Balgruuf 'the Greater' Whiterun. Lord Ascart fought alongside him back in the Great War." Mein looks up at the cave ceiling, pretending like she's trying hard to recall the information. "I don't know too much about him. He wasn't very active in the Queen's court, mostly keeping to himself."
"Let's hope he's a reasonable man then. I'm not holding out hope he's like the spymaster, as long as he isn't an idiot like the king." Naofumi lets out a tired sigh. He waves at the Reichnott County refugees. "Do you guys have anyone good at cooking? Like someone who used to run an Inn? I'll show you some good dishes to have."
The three of the former bandits look around at each other. It's rather clear none of them had actual culinary training. The gunman Ren steps forward. "Our village was small, so we didn't have an inn. But I know the basics, while Nora could grab a few more housewives who are used to cooking."
"That's a start." Naofumi shakes his head as he leads everyone out of the cave again.
Mein was rather thankful she no longer has to subject her nose to the musky odor inside.
"I know a smuggler back in the capital. He claimed to found a way to create the familiar seal for cheap... as long as they are used for low level monsters." Naofumi's conversation with Walter makes Mein confused for a few seconds. She quickly realizes the Shield Hero is talking about Beloukas. It's hard to think the short, stout man for anything more than a skin merchant. "Should be good for egg-ups, right?"
"That would be an interesting way to cut costs for starting an egg-up ranch, Master Shield Hero." The fat merchant furiously nods his head along, reminding Mein of a baby filorial picking up seeds off the ground. "It'll be interesting to meet this resourceful smuggler. Maybe find a way to convince him to go legal."
Something tells the princess in disguise a friendship will bloom out between Hickwaal and Beloukas. As for it being beautiful or a backstabbing in disguise, that'll be a question for another day.
Half a dozen women are quickly gathered and lined up in front of Naofumi together with Ren. The Shield Hero starts a fire, takes out his culinary tools and begins to explain to them how to create certain dishes.
"Hmm... I wonder." Naofumi rubs his chin as he looks at the bag of ice fruit besides the bucket of milk and egg whites. He turns towards his spectators and starts to gesture with his hands. "I want to try something. Can anyone of you curve some wood branches? I need some small, preferably flat wood shards about... this long."
"I can do it." Ren steps up again while the women gather some branches for the teen. He takes a snake shaped dagger off his waist and starts to cut wooden shards Naofumi requested.
The Shield Hero takes out a few of his potion vials and carefully fills them with milk. He has Ren sticks one of the sticks inside the vial. Then, Naofumi takes out his own dagger and cuts open one of the ice fruits to let its juice spill into milk. "Pull it out."
The teen highwayman pulls out the stick of iced milk out and looks at Naofumi with confusion.
"Try it out, this is what we call 'popsicles' back home." Naofumi holds a wooden stick in front of his mouth, and pokes his tongue out to show Ren how to lick the frozen treat.
Ren looks back at the popsicle in his hand and gives a hesitant lick. He blinks a little, before looking back at Naofumi again. "It's strange, but good."
"Glad you like it." Naofumi smiles at Ren's reaction. "We still have plenty of ice fruits back there. We can use them to make these popsicles, and sell them in the next town."
Ren looks back at the bucket of milk and back at his own popsicle. "I don't think we have enough milk."
"You can use water, and add fruit juice to make it sweet. But let's try something else for now." Naofumi turns around to start preparing different dishes.
Mein sits down with the Grimoire of Water beside the Shield Hero as he works in the open kitchen. There's way more spectators than their little questing group, but it reminds her of the nights on the road once again. She's about to flip open the pages when Naofumi makes a comment besides her. "These ice fruits are incredible."
"How so, Master Naofumi?" The undercover princess looks up at Naofumi, whose sight is focused on the food ingredients in front of him.
"I forgot most of the science I learned in school, but I still remember some basic thermal dynamics. 'Cold' does not exist. Feeling cold is simply from a lack of heat. So these ice fruits... they can absorb heat around them?" Naofumi flips what looks like a small flat bread over his frying pan. It's clear the Shield Hero's mind isn't on what he's talking about, and he's simply making some random conversations while he cooks.
Mein doesn't understand much of his words. But Naofumi's remark, and the short conversation with Zylden from before still give her a sense of warm nostalgia. For a moment, it feels like she's back in Uncle Aldrecht's class once again.
"Uncle Aldrecht, Uncle Aldrecht!" The princess slams open the door to the royal battle mage's chamber, rattles the magical artifacts and bottle of potion on the shelf. "Teach me new spells!"
The princess likes going into Uncle Aldrecht's room. His room is filled with interesting things, unlike her other teachers. Sure, there are boring materials like very thick books that's NOT romance novels, or scrolls with weird worm-like symbols. But there are other strange things, like beautiful preserved plants in jars, shiny stones, or complex little devices.
She wished she was here more often. But both Father and Mother give stern warnings against visiting Uncle Aldrecht outside her lessons.
"Slow down, little one." Aldrecht smiles at his young apprentice and pokes her on the nose. "We'll have plenty of time learning new spells, after you finish your theory lessons. Do you remember the basic foundation of Brimir magic?"
"Yes!" The princess stands straight and recalls her material. "The founder of Wizardry school magic, Brimir the Void Caller laid down the foundation of the magic system we used today. Four prime elements, Earth, Water, Wind and Fire are the four pillars, and by mastering and combining them together, we create the advanced elements. Like Wind combining with Water becomes the advanced element of Ice, and Earth with Water becomes the advanced element of Wood. In addition, powering one sphere of magic over its limit can yield the opposite result, like an overcharged healing spell can be used to cause harm to the body through decay."
"Good, you paid attention, and didn't read your romance novels like your history classes." The royal mage puts down the vials he's been working on a table. The princess giggles at being found out.
Aldrecht walks beside the princess and guides her to sit on a cushion. He holds up the magic text book, 'Introduction to the Founder and Wizardry Magic'. "Today, I'm going to teach you not to believe everything the textbook said, and start to think more for yourself. Over half of the content in this book is, for the lack of better words... complete rubbish written by self-important fools and social climbers masquerading as arcane researchers."
"Eh!?" The princess lets out a yell of surprise. "But, but the book is written by respected Faubley wizards..."
"Who are more interested to cultivate favor from kings and lords than studying the mystery of the Endless Aether." Aldrecht blows his graying beard. "There is a reason why the Founder's base four elements are called the 'prime' element. Because they make up the prime building block of the world we inhabit."
"But, doesn't the world have more things than only earth, water, wind and fire? Like, like the trees." The princess points her finger at a small potted plant by the shelf's feet.
"A common misconception, thinking the Founder's classification for magic was too narrow and not encompassing enough for Wizardry School's magic, let alone our world. Something I do not agree with." Uncle Aldrecht runs a hand through his beard while smiling.
"The Founder... he truly was a brilliant man too much ahead of his own time." The mage grabs a green colored stone off his table and sits down on the cushion in front of the princess. "I believe the Founder's four prime elements each correspond to a state of matter in our world, therefore is even more encompassing than our current prime element, advanced element system. But because he lived in ancient times, he doesn't have modern advancement to properly phrase the terms he used. Which created the misconception."
The royal mage points to the stone sitting in his palm. "Earth for example, corresponds to Solid."
The stone in Uncle Aldrecht's hand slowly begins to dissolve, turning into a small whirlpool spiraling slightly above his palm. "Water to liquid."
The whirlpool spins faster and faster, turning into a small green colored tornado. "Wind to Gas."
The tornado suddenly seems to burst apart, becoming a small but incandescent ball of green fire hovering above the royal mage's hand. "Fire to Plasma."
The little ball of fire turns back into a tornado, a whirlpool, and finally back to the green stone in the mage's hand. When the princess looks up, she gasps at Uncle Aldrecht's face. His hair and beard is drenched wet, the color of blood completely missing on his skin. She quickly jumps up from her cushion. "Uncle Aldrecht! You aren't well! I'll go get Pope Balmus for you!"
"No need!" The old mage holds his free hand up to stop the princess. He takes a vial of blue potion out of his robe and quickly down the entire content. His face is still pale, but at least he no longer looks like he'll drop down any moment. "I underestimated the mana required for a full state transmutation and suffered a little mana thirst. I'll be fine after a night's rest."
"If you say so..." The princess sits back down with some hesitation. "I'll go grab the Pope if you fall down!"
"Worry not for me, little one." Uncle Aldrecht smiles and ruffles her hair. "To be fair, the Founder's original system isn't perfect. Personally, I would apply the dyad modifier from Siltvelt to help perfect it. But that's a discussion for another time. Maybe I'll teach you the principle of Siltvelt's Sorcery School Magic when you get a little order. It's an interesting topic."
The princess nods her head along, even if she doesn't understand what Uncle Aldrecht is talking about. She suddenly remembers something else from her textbook. "What about the mystical lost fifth element? The void? If the Four Prime elements fit the four states of matter, it'll leave out the Founder's own element."
"Once again, a common misconception pushed forward by incompetent fools." Uncle Aldrecht blows up his beard once again. "The Founder never had, or even proposed a fifth element."
"EHHH~!" The princess lets out a more shrill scream than before.
"I spend my whole life combing through the library searching for ancient, and official documents left behind by the Founder, and those after him." The royal mage turns his head around, the princess notices he's looking at the direction of Faubley. "None of the records around, or even right after the Founder's time had any claim of a fifth element. No, those records came after the decline of Romalia Theocracy, post the founding of the new Heroes' Church, by the Pope claiming their country was founded by the Founder's disciple. A tactic to add some mysterious divinity to justify their own declining rule, no doubt."
"But, what about all the records of the Founder's feat achieved outside the four elements?" The princess rubs her chin with her index finger, her brow locks into a deep frown. "Even if the Founder himself never called his magic 'Void' element, the feat he achieved doesn't lie."
The royal mage smiles at the princess' question. He runs his hand through the princess' hair. "You are thinking for yourself and questioning my opinions. Good! I want you to always think this way. Don't blindly believe knowledge passed down by those before you, because men make mistakes. As for the Founder's many feats... he indeed used something outside of the Four Prime Element, but it's not something like a mystical fifth element. It's the very energy that powers the Wizardry School of magic: Aether, or Mana."
"Eh! You mean the Founder was using something supercharged [Magic Missile] even I can cast!?" The princess can't help but exclaim once again at the mage's answer.
"Why, that is indeed what I believe in. Do you remember why pure Aether energy isn't used a lot to form actual spells? Even if it makes up some of the most basic spells, like [Magic Missile]?" Uncle Aldrecht nods his head while running his hand through his beard.
"Aether is the energy powering Wizardry Magic, but pure Aether has a hard time manifesting in our world without dissolving and di- diss... dissipating into the environment." The princess struggles a couple of times to pronounce the complicated word from her text book before finally getting it right. "Therefore, it is much more energy efficient to use Aether energy to manipulate the element around us than using Aether to form the spell itself."
"Good, good. I know you are very smart when you put your head into the topic of your study." Uncle Aldrecht smiles and pokes at her forehead.
The princess smiles back at Uncle Aldrecht's compliment. Not Mother's constant scolding, where she is never good enough. Not Father's patronizing cuddling where she can never do wrong. Compliments she truly earned makes her feel warm inside, and want to put more mind into her studies.
"Pancake's ready." Naofumi's word brings Mein back to the present. She looks down, and sees a small pile of flat cake in her dish. The berries on top gives it a bit more color than light and dark yellow.
Naofumi is about to dig into his own food, he stops his fork and turns his head left. Nora is staring at the content of his dish, a trial of clear drool running down her chin. "You want it?"
The hellion nods her head furiously.
"Dig in." Naofumi hands his own plate to the bandit girl. She immediately, and furiously follows his command, wolfing down the content in mere minutes.
"Don't you have to say something, Nora?" Ren stares at his companion, disapproval clear in his eyes.
Nora's face slowly turns right even as she bites down hard on her lips.
"You aren't so bad... For a BOOTLICKER!" The hellion shouts out her last insult and runs straight into the forest.
Ungrateful wench!
"NORA!" Ren gives an exasperated sigh as he turns to look at Naofumi. "I'm sorry. She wasn't always like this, but after we got kicked out of our homes..."
"I understand." The Shield Hero is predictably more forgiving than Mein. He simply shakes his head with a smile. "Respect is earned, not demanded. At least I moved up the ladder from asskisser to bootlicker. Shouldn't you go after your friend?"
"Yeah, I should." Ren quickly turns to chase after Nora into the forest.
The incognito princess shakes her head at the farce in front of her. This is why she'll never share what she rightfully owns with someone else. There's no guarantee you will receive gratitude in return. "You shouldn't be this forgiving to that ungrateful wench, Master Naofumi. You already did more than enough for them. Others will take advantage of you, mistaking your kindness for weakness."
"Don't worry, I won't be this forgiving on everyone. These people are no threat to me, I think it's okay for me to show some kindness." Naofumi nods his head along, but it's clear he's not taking Mein's counselling to heart.
The princess shakes her head, deciding to drop the topic for now. Her Naofumi is right in that defeated refugees are no threat to them, she'll only turn Naofumi away if she tries to force the issue. Hopefully her advice will fare better, when it comes down to the more cutthroat sport of the Game of Thrones.
Mein looks down at her plate and starts to... why is her plate empty?
Correction, there's some indescribable clear liquid on her plate. Mein doesn't want to find out what it is, but she turns her head anyway. And sure enough, Firo is standing right besides her swallowing something. The bird's peak seems to stretch wider than usual, forming into what filorial birds pass for a smirk.
"That's it." Mein pulls her sword out of its sheath while she slowly stands up. "I'm turning you into Liberation Day stuffed roast."
"GUAH!" Firo lets out a loud screech and runs away, with Mein chasing right after her despite Naofumi's exasperated cry.
"Are you sure you want to continue on your way now, Master Shield Hero?" Walter looks up at Naofumi as his mercenaries help move a small box of ice berries together with some of the 'popsicles' into Naofumi's carriage. "The dragon is still flying ahead of us, isn't it? Maybe you should stay a little longer?"
"We are on a quest to the north, I can't wait for this dragon out. Who knows, maybe I'll resolve the dragon problem before I continue north." Naofumi shakes his head at Walter's advice. "If I see Hector in Trumpet, I'll tell him where to find you."
"You are going north? Do you plan to go through the village of Balafon? I want to investigate a dungeon near the village. Do you mind taking me along?" Zylden walks out from behind Walter. "I'll teach you how to wave enchantments for payment."
Naofumi turns around to look at his companions. Mein looks at Éclair, who looks equally as clueless. It looks like neither of their education covered small villages dotted around Melromarc. Okay, maybe it was covered in her geography class, but she rarely paid much attention to the most boring topic of her studies.
"Balafon is the small farming and herding village north of Trumpet. Right on the edge of Crownland. We had a number of produce coming from them, before the Wave of Catastrophe." Thankfully, Kyubey seems to be knowledgeable enough for Naofumi's needs. "We'll pass right through them."
"Alright. Welcome aboard, Zylden." Naofumi waves his hand towards the back of his carriage.
"You have a dirty mouth and an even dirtier mind, and you drink all my watered wine. But I'm going to miss you, you damn imp." Walter looks down at the gnome and lets out a sigh.
"I would say I'll miss you too, but I'd be lying." Zylden pushes his shaded glasses up and winks at Walter. "Maybe in your next life. Where you stuffed all your lard in a pair of knockers on your chest."
The Hickwaal simply rolls his eyes.
The Shield Hero's iron wood filorial carriage rolls along the cobblestone road with one additional passenger. Firo is outside, happily running beside Gaston's bird Wolfgang to give room for Farkas to recover his wound.
Speaking of the wolf man, he is still sprawled across the back, sleeping like death. Everyone else takes after his example, there's not enough room to have everyone lie on their back or side, but more than enough room to sit around and close their eyes.
Mein quickly loses count of time. She begins to drift in and out of a nap, seeing Uncle Aldrecht's smiling face one moment, and a fat filorial with dragon like leather wings sprouting on its back the next. After who knows how long, she hears Kyubey's emotionless voice calling out. "We arrived at Trumpet, Master Shield Hero."
"Let me take a look." Mein opens her eyes and sees the Shield Hero push aside the drape to look outside. The young man comes face to face with an ugly, brown, carapace face of a monster.
Mein immediately pulls her sword out and gets ready for a fight. Then, she noticed the monster in question isn't trying to attack the Shield Hero. It simply hovers beside their stopped carriage, hovering in front of Naofumi while buzzing up a storm. The undercover princess crawls forward through Éclair, and Farkas' prong form to get a better look.
A dragon bee isn't a dragon, but rather a monster belonging to the insect family. It got its name from its maw, which is shaped more like a lizard than a bug. The insect's blue eyes are currently locked in a stare off with Naofumi. Despite the lack of a monster seal on its body, Mein realizes it's a domesticated monster born from a queen bee with a familiar seal. That's the only explanation on why it doesn't immediately attack.
According to Mein's studies, there are a number of apiaries and meadery around the town of Trumpet. It's the town's major produce, aside from dragon sightings. Likely thanks to House Whiterun's encouragement, due to its Midgard lineage.
The worker bee loses interest in Naofumi, it turns around and buzzes into the forest. Likely trying to find ingredients that'll help its hive produce more honey. Mein looks further up the road, and sees farms, windmills, apiaries and meadery dotted in the distant plain as the sun slowly falls down the horizon. On the hill surrounded by river and farmland is a large town protected by a stone wall. The fort atop the hill is likely Dragon's Keep, the home to House Whiterun.
Mountain rises to the north of Trumpet, leading into the nation's northern provinces Silver Pass and Jagged Reach. The last major stop for weary travelers on Crownland before they enter the mountain provinces that serve as natural barriers of glorious Melromarc against the rest of the world.
"Nothing's burning from the dragon yet... this looks promising." Naofumi nods his head, his word brings Mein's attention back to that possible dragon problem ahead of them. "Let's go, Kyubey, Gaston."
"Gladly." The Lute hunter shakes the reign. Wolfgang lets out a crisp chirp as he pulls their carriage forward.
As their carriage draws closer, Mein can't help the eerie sense growing inside her when she sees no workers in the field. Only the occasional dragon bee flying around, giving them curious glances.
The sun is halfway below the mountain as their carriage approaches the south gate. The princess notices there's no guards posted on the wall, or in front of the gate. Strange, but no different than the field outside of the town. A side door opens up, likely connecting to a small room for guards on night duty to rest and warm themselves up.
A guardsman in house Whiterun's yellow color quickly waves his hand towards them. "Come inside! Quickly!"
Mein shares a quick look with Naofumi. It's rather strange for guards at the gate to be this trusting to total strangers. The sound of a flying and roaring dragon over their head answers their confusion. Both Wolfgang and Firo pick up their pace, and ducks under the gate the guards open up for them. Likely from their natural instinct to avoid the dragon.
It is said that war makes strange bedfellows. An angry dragon apparently has the same effect.
"What's going on here with that dragon?" Naofumi points his hand up at the guards.
"Go to the town's Inn 'Burden Rest' up ahead. The Inn keeper will answer your questions." The guard pats Naofumi's back a couple of times and quickly ushers them through the gate. "Don't draw the dragon's attention to us. It hasn't eaten anybody yet, but nobody wants to be the first."
The town's main road, which can easily fit three carriages side by side is completely empty. It doesn't take long for them to find the inn the guard is talking about. Burden Rest isn't a high end lodging like Deidric's Inn back in the capital judging by its plain wooden structure, but it easily puts Lute's Inn to shame with its large stable and yard in the middle of a square shaped hall.
Gaston leads everyone, except the still sleeping Farkas inside. "I know the innkeeper."
The female innkeeper is in her early thirties. She looks obviously tired and stressed, judging by her dipping head and the bags beneath her eyes. She gives a quick glance at Gaston and freezes on the spot. A child, around six to eight summers old, runs out behind the counter and runs towards Gaston. "Uncle Gaston! Are you playing pirate?"
"Hey, big guy. How's life treating you?" Gaston takes the boy up and spins him around. He sits the child on his shoulder. "Not causing your parents too much trouble?"
"Gaston?" The sound of footsteps can be heard over everyone's head. A short, stout man runs down the stairs. "Is that you, Gaston? I heard Lute was hit in the last wave and you... oh my."
The man no doubt saw the eye patch over Gaston's eye as the hunter turned to look at him. As for the hunter in question, his face burst into happy laughter seeing the shorter man.
"LeFou, old buddy! Good to see you again!"
End Note:
I first encountered this idea of plasma being a 4th state for matter in Japanese manga 'Hell Teacher Nube'. While I'm pretty sure it's pseudo science since I don't remember seeing it anywhere else, I thought it would be an interesting idea to combine it with the classic 4 base element magic system derived from Aristotle's philosophy to give it a bit of a pseudo science vibe. Where the 4 elements each correspond to a state of matter.
:P
Onto guest reviews.
To DiscipleofErebos:
Definitely agree with you on character's failing ultimately traces back to the author, unless the author is writing a story based on true event like a historical fiction.
Obviously, I don't know the author's own creative process, so I'm making very uneducated tinfoil hat theories. But the queen's character comes off to me as an entirely new character awkwardly hammered into the story at the point of her appearance, than a character already planned from the start, with the purpose of quickly resolving the clusterfuck of a plot involving Melromarc's internal politics to give a clean slate for the plot afterwards.
That, or the author is terrible at execute a proper build up and a payoff. Which I won't be surprised if it happens to be the case.
To Halo:
Well... not sure if the anime will massively change the event of the source material. Which some animation adaptation do. Bokurano immediately comes to mind, as the anime's plot was written as a middle finger fuck you to the manga's author because the animation director supposedly hated the manga.
But yeah... without spoiling too much, I think you'll end up disappointed with what the author did with the three weapon heroes. Although your prediction is definitely my own direction with the three weapon heroes.
:P
To Guest:
The Claw Hero won't be an important character in this story for a while. Considering right now the four cardinal heroes are still too low level to appear on her radar. Although once again, without spoiling too much, there will be something involved with Siltvelt before end of Act 2 similar to Lucius Malfoy's involvement in the earlier chapters.
To Gorbad Ironclaw:
Once again, I don't want to spoil too much of my future plot. But considering how I'm portraying the Three Heroes Church and the Pope so far, I think it'll be safe to reveal Three Heroes Church plotline won't happen and end exactly like canon. Hope you'll like what I planned (huge credit to Commissar Gaunt who helped me iron out a lot of kinks).