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.
Hundreds of thoughts spin in Mein's head as she weighs their two options: Continue on their quest for Éclair's artifact and leave the rescue quest to the Sword Hero, or have the Sword Hero go in their stead for Seatto heirloom while they return to the capital and track down the daughter of Gaelion.
Owing a favor, possibly even a debt from a Dragon Emperor by saving their surrogate daughter is nothing to be scoffed at, judging from how powerful they are.
But on the other hand, Gaelion is a disgraced Dragon Emperor if what Farkas said can be believed, (how powerful must be the one who defeated them a decade ago?!) and has no dragon flight to call upon. Whatever help he can provide, it'll be very minimal in terms of political influence, which is what Mein needs the most currently.
That, plus her Naofumi is the one who explained how they can track down this Wyndia. If this Gaelion is reasonable, which she's willing to bet they are, judging by how they restrained their own anger, the black dragon will still owe them a favor even if the Sword Hero is the one who saves Wyndia.
For her second option, winning Éclair's allegiance will no doubt gain her a potentially useful, and powerful ally in another decade or so, after she starts to groom House Seatto's only living heir. At the same time, she can also take away one of Mother's most steadfast allies and therefore hurt her credibility with other nobles. Plus, denying the Three Heroes' Church a powerful magical artifact is a vital part of ensuring they don't try and do something unwise before Mother's return.
Yes, continuing their current quest is much more important.
"Master Naofumi, I think Master Sword Hero's suggestion is excellent." Mein quickly rests her arm and hands over Naofumi's shoulder before the Shield Hero has a chance to object. "As the Sword Hero, he'll have a much easier time to access the guard's logbook than you."
Naofumi looks at her from the corner of his eyes instead of fully turning his head. Mein doesn't understand the reason, but it seems like the Shield Hero isn't very happy with her all of sudden. Regardless after a short pause, he nods his head and concedes her point. "Alright."
Chapter 36: Shield Hero got Thane'd
"We'll make for the capital immediately." Ren picks up his sword and makes a declaration that makes the spearman of his group trip on his feet. The others don't react as severely, but all of their shoulders slump. It's not hard to understand why they act this way.
"You aren't going to rest?" Naofumi turns to look at the younger hero, his voice rises a pitch higher once again. "Haven't we just talked about being more responsible? Look at your party, they are clearly tired."
The Sword Hero turns around to look at his party. His brown glove twists together for a moment, before he balls up his hand. "We'll manage, there's a child to save."
"As much as I hate to justify the woman who thinks a magical trinket is more important than my daughter..." Gaelion's booming voice reminds everyone the giant dragon emperor is still in front of them.
Mein can't help but shrink underneath the dragon's intense glare. Regardless of her Naofumi's action, she herself most certainly didn't endear herself to Gaelion due to her less than well thought out intervention.
"...I agree with the Shield Hero. If you don't rest well, you are more likely to make mistakes." The dragon narrows its eyes and lowers his long neck, to the point he is staring directly at the Sword Hero. "Gaia forbid something bad happens to you, your followers, or Wyndia. My daughter is strong, she'll hold on for one more night when you rest."
Ren tears his gaze away from the ground and looks up at Gaelion. He slowly relaxes his hand and nods his head. "Very well, we'll rest and leave early next morning."
"Come with me before you leave. There is something I can bestow you two." With a loud 'poof' and a giant smoke puff, Gaelion shrinks down to his pygmy dragon size again. His previous booming roar becomes a tinny scratch. "Think of it as an advance payment for helping me finding my daughter."
Gaelion flaps their small wings to hover above the ground, it looks almost comical as it reminds Mein of the bee monsters outside Trumpet. The dragon emperor turns around and everyone quickly follows them into the mountain forest.
The sun has long set below the horizon, and only the moon illuminates their path. Mein casts a [Mage Light] above her head now they are no longer trying to hide away from a giant, potentially angry dragon. It'll be a very dumb way to end their lives, if they trip over some roots or undergrowth and fall to their demise down a cliff. Raphtalia gives her a quick glance and follows her example.
Mein gives a quick glance over to the Sword Hero's party. It seems the two mages have similar ideas as her. There's not much to say with the girl with her white ball of light hovering over her head. The man whose father was an azure dragon vassal on the other hand, is more interesting, where he has a strip of green colored fire loops down from his head to his feet.
By official adventurer guild's classification, Mein herself is a [sorcerer] just like her mother and younger sister: someone who utilizes the innate magic power from their bloodline - the old Hibernia royal blood House Melromarc directly descend from, father's Tristan and Germania heritage, and all the bloodlines of other heroes and nobilities who since married into their family - to cast magic.
But in the end, they cast Wizardry school magic no different from a [wizard]: A commoner with no powerful bloodline, who casts magic by intense study of magical discipline to break down and bend the rule of the world with arcane theories empowered by the powerful Aether between worlds.
That is why a wizard's class abilities are more analytical based, such as their ability to [prepare magic] by sealing incantations into their grimoire and quick release them in battle. While a sorcerer's ability tend to be more instinct based like their ability to [Overcast], empowering a spell into a more powerful version by super charging it with more mana.
This man on the other hand is definitely using Siltvelt Sorcery, an entirely different school of magic from Wizardry magic that's more similar to the innate magic abilities displaced by certain monsters.
"Have you been charging your phone like I showed you?" Naofumi is quietly talking with the Sword Hero a few steps ahead of her.
"Yeah." The boy hero seems to freeze, even flinch for a short moment. His left hand unconsciously closed in on the side of his pants. "It's... nice to have my phone working again."
"I discovered I can use my phone to unlock a new shield form. It gains more information the more knowledge we gain from the world." Naofumi switches his shield to his glowing glass tablet. He seems to remember something, as he starts to fiddle with the colorful icons. Naofumi is rambling a bit, like how he sometimes does when he is thinking something else."I can even have it display their native language here... although I heard Mein mention the spelling and grammar are terrible. Probably the same as my literacy level."
Suddenly a cone of light projected out of his shield. Gaelion makes a surprised squeak and nearly flies headfirst into the trunk of a tree when they are suddenly enveloped by the intense light. The pygmy dragon emperor looks back while blowing a small fireball out of their snot. "Do you mind!?"
"Sorry! I just remembered I have a flashlight with my smartphone."
Hmm … a recording device, recreation device, and a light source? The enchanters and craftsmen from Naofumi's world certainly are creative.
"I see." Ren nods his head along. He takes a familiar small glass tablet out of his sword. The boy's eyes look between his sword and his phone for a few beats till' he drops the tablet into the sword's sapphire core. The blade of the sword changes into the glass tablet with a glowing display atop the handle. "Not too useful if we can't call each other."
"I suppose not." Naofumi turns his gaze from Gaelion to look at the Sword Hero again. He looks back down on the screen of his tablet shield. The Shield Hero suddenly stops, making Mein run right into his back. "Wait, did we ever exchange contacts when we first got here?"
"Of course not." Ren stops in his tracks like Naofumi, he looks back to the older hero with a puzzled look. "There's no point without any network."
"I have your name in my contact list though, but not Itsuki or Kitamura..." Mein looks over Naofumi's shoulder while rubbing her aching nose. As expected, she can't make any sense out of the gibberish looking symbols on the screen. She'll simply have to take her Naofumi's word for it.
"Did you? Let me see." Ren also looks down at the glowing screen attached on his sword hilt. His eyes quickly enlarged. "You're right. I have your name in my contact list too."
"Let me try to call you." Naofumi begins to poke the screen of his smart phone shield. A few seconds later, a song starts to play on Ren's sword. "It worked? How? Does it run on the same system that negates our EXP gain together?"
"Possibly, this world obviously has some way to track us, if it knows when to kickstart the EXP reduction." Ren nods his head along. "This'll be useful to keep in contact."
"As interesting as that sounds..." Gaelion hovers back to them, his small body wobbles up and down as if trying to show his displeasure. "Let's keep our task at hand. You both have important quests aside from playing with some new weapon form."
"Right, right. Sorry about that." Naofumi quickly puts his shield down, his younger compatriot does the same. Neither of them switches their weapon out, probably for the cone of light this form provides.
The journey afterwards doesn't take long. They probably walked for another ten to fifteen minutes by Mein's estimation till they arrived at a cave with the entrance roughly the size of Melromarc castle gate at the side of the mountain. Gaelion stops in front of everyone and looks back at them again before he enters the cave first. "Be careful under your feet."
The two heroes exchange a quick look. They both focus their lights on the floor of the cave as they lead the way inside. The first thing Mein notices are many midnight black spots on the rocky floor. At first, she wonders if they are obsidian stones with their coloration, but when Naofumi picks one up she realizes those things only have the thickness of a large silver serving plate in Father's banquet.
"Are these scales?" Naofumi flicks his finger at the stone like substance, it makes a very dull sound. He turns to look at the miniaturized dragon emperor, who somehow manages to look smug even with his small size.
"Molted by yours truly. We exchanged these with Trumpet traders with necessities for Wyndia back in the day." Gaelion bobs his head up and down in an almost cute way, if one forgets his real form is as large as a small fort. "Find a good armor smith, and pad them into your armor. It should be better than whatever materials you can get your hands on at your current level."
"I wonder if that's the reason your daughter was targeted by slave hunters to begin with..." Naofumi's comment makes Gaelion drop head first onto the cave floor. He quickly strolls forward and holds Gaelion back up. "Don't worry, we'll get your daughter back yet... well, Ren will. But I'm sure he'll find her."
"I hope so too, Wunduniik (Traveller). I hope so too..."
Mein walks to one of Gaelion's scale and picks it up, she holds it in front of her face to compare the sample with the ones she read from Uncle Aldrecht's book. The scale in her hand barely reflects the brilliant [Mage Light] hovering above her, let along her face like a mirror. Judging by this, Gaelion's scale isn't very high quality as far as dragon emperor scales go. But they should still be better than other common level range materials they can safely harvest, just like the dragon stated.
The members of both parties begin to collect all the scales scattered on the floor while the two heroes start to stuff them into their respective weapons. Gaelion flies up and lands himself on the Sword Hero's shoulder. "This is only a fraction of the power I can bestow you. Gather the other heroes when you succeed in rescuing my daughter. I will unlock the true power of the Dovah series for you all."
"Dovah series?" Naofumi looks up at Gaelion, it might be the somewhat enclosed space with many light sources, but Mein could swear his eyes seem to be twinkling. "Do they let us do dragon shout like a Dragonborn?"
"Not as easily as a real Dovahkiin (Dragonborn), no. But it'll make learning how to use Thu'um much easier." The minified dragon emperor chuckles at Naofumi's enthusiasm. "Without it, the discipline needs almost a lifetime to hone and perfect. But with the Dovah series, you can use it without killing someone else... or yourself for that matter within a month if you put in the effort."
"Oh, I see... still, it'll be useful fighting the Wave." Naofumi's face falls for a brief second, but the wide grin grows back a short while afterwards. The goofy look remains on his face for their journey back to Trumpet. "Can't wait to try [Unrelenting Force] when I'm surrounded by dimensional goblins again."
They can see the light braziers and torches atop of Trumpet wall before they even make it down from the mountain. As they walk closer and closer, the effect of having so many braziers and torch alight become much more apparent.
To say they make the night brighter than the day is a vast overstatement. But it's clear the intention was to illuminate the night as much as possible so the archers on the wall will be ready to start firing on a descending dragon... or whatever else they perceive as a threat. Such as themselves right now, judging by how a hundred arrows suddenly all trained onto them as they approach the gate.
"We are expecting assault from a dragon, travellers! State your business!" A guard, presumably a captain dressed in Whiterun yellow, walks in front of the nervous looking archers and starts to yell at them.
"We are the Shield Hero and Sword Hero. We talked down to the dragon, you have nothing to worry anymore~!" Naofumi cups his hands around his mouth and shouts back to the guard. Judging from how they don't relax and de-nock their bows even as they look at each other, the guards aren't entirely convinced."
"Let me." Gaelion flies off Ren's shoulder as he hovers forwards. His scratchy voice takes a few more volumes higher, like someone scratching their nail on a glass behind the world's most irritating trumpet. Mein can't help but press her hands firmly on her years. Poor Kyubey is knocked down on his back for a second time by Gaelion, albeit for a different reason this time. "My name is Gaelion, I come on behalf of my Drog (Lord) the dragon emperor. The misunderstanding has been cleared by the Lein Wunduniik (World Traveller), and my lord shall not bother you puny Joor (mortals) any longer."
"Ouch! My ears..." Naofumi loses his hands on his ear as he shakes his head while Raphtalia quickly helps Kyubey stand up. He turns to give pygmy Gaelion an annoyed glare. "What was that for? Aren't you the dragon emperor?"
"We must keep up the appearance, won't we?" The small dragon lands right back on Ren's shoulder while shrugging his shoulder in fake innocence. It's clear the damn dragon knows exactly what they are doing.
"Right, your damn draconic pride..." Naofumi doesn't get to have any more say as a familiar looking face, or rather, the helmet pokes its way out of the barricade.
"Sir Shield Hero? Good to see you succeeded in convincing the Sword Hero... and the dragon emperor to stand down." Éclair's muffled voice comes out of her black iron pot helmet. "I spoke with the lord of Whiterun County. Lord Balgruuf is waiting for you in his keep now. He wants to know the whole story behind this recent incident with the dragon emperor."
Hmm... it seems like her Naofumi's exploit is now officially gone beyond the notice of mere commoners now.
The walk up from the Plain District of Trumpet all the way up to the Cloud District takes less time than they spent in Gaelion's cave. On their way, they often meet guards in groups of threes and fives, armed to the teeth and holding torches as they patrol the street filled with buckets and pots of water.
Naofumi briefly stops in the middle of the Wind District to admire the statue of the nameless goddess in front of the town fountain, and the large crepe fruit tree that takes five grown man join their arms together to circumference before he takes the stairs to the Cloud District where the Count's keep, Dragonsreach lies.
Dragonsreach lives well up to its name. Compared to the typical Melromarc castles which are mostly built with giant marble or granite bricks, it takes a very apparent Midgardian influence where stones only make up the foundation, while dried, treated and possibly enchanted wood makes up the majority of the castle wall and roof.
A dragon's head, wings and claw makes up most of the decoration on pillars and corners of the roof. These totems take a much more wild and primal look of Midgardian architecture that emphasis on the feral and monstrous nature of dragons. The difference is clear as day for the princess, who is more used to the regal, majestic but ultimately reserved and docile depiction of Melromarc sculpture which takes after Albion and Gallia influence.
House Whiterun not only wears their Midgard heritage on their sleeves with the architecture, but their house emblem as well. With the long bloody feud against beastman, most human great houses frown upon using animals as their house emblem. A practice House Whiterun obviously scoffs at, judging by their maroon colored war steed emblem over creamy yellow banners.
The inside of Dragon's keep also gives a primal and grand impact, where the throne room is even bigger than Mother's court. The room is almost five floors high from bottom to ceiling, where multiple levels of elevated foundations eventually lead up to what Mein assumes to be the lord's throne. And by her rough estimation, it's still three more levels till they reach the ceiling even at the top of the ground floor. A large dragon skull decorated the wall opposite to the great gate, making the princess in disguise feel small despite her own royal status.
"What is the meaning of this, Caius?" The haughty voice of a woman draws her attention to the left, and the princess notices a dark skinned rabbit demi-human in a suit of full leather armor standing at the foot of the entrance with her arms crossed. "The Jarl is not to be disturbed while he discusses Trumpet's defense with his court."
"I bring Jarl Balgruuf the Sword Hero, the Shield Hero, and Gaelion, the messenger from the dragon emperor, Housecarl Irileth." The guard captain bows his head towards the demi-human despite himself being a human. It's clear who has the higher rank despite their respective species. "Our crisis is averted... for now. I'm sure they'll explain it much better to His Highness than me."
"Truly?" Irileth rises one of her eyebrows, the gesture reminds Mein of the Sword Hero. "Very well, I shall bring them to Jarl Balgruuf. You are dismissed, captain."
"As you wish. I shall go back to my duties in organizing the guards to stand down." The Romalian respectfully bows his head at the Count's Sworn Shield again. He quickly turns on his heel and exits the keep.
"No funny business. I don't care if you lots are legendary heroes, or the dragon emperor themselves." The rabbit Housecarl gives them a threatening glare as she turns around and walks up the stairs.
"Jarl? I thought Lord Balgruuf's title was Count?" Naofumi turns his head to look at Mein.
"I think that's the old Kingdom of Midgard's title. Eclea of Port Harp probably knows more." Mein quickly gives a slight nudge towards Éclair, prompting the Seatto heiress to take over the explanation in case she herself gives away some information a commoner would not know.
"Ah, yes, Sir Shield Hero. A 'Jarl' is indeed the Midgard's equivalent to a Count. Just like a 'Housecarl' is the same as a Melromarc and Faubley 'Sworn Shield', the sworn bodyguards of their ladies and lords." Éclair quickly follows up Mein's suggestion. "House Whiterun was descended from the Midgard nobility who refused to merge their nation with the beastman after the founding of Siltvelt. Those Midgard nobles moved south to the other kingdoms, and a lot of them are allowed to keep using their old Midgard titles as a honor for their faithfulness."
"I see..." Naofumi nods his head as he slowly climbs up after Irileth. He suddenly stops his feet when his head rises above the top of the foundation. "Wait, that girl... she has white hair?"
Mein quickly jogs up two steps to look at what has her Naofumi stumped. She notices a teenage girl around Sword Hero's age sitting on one side of the wooden long table, with a light blue one piece dress decorated with snow white patterns. And her pure white long hair tied into a ponytail.
What's the chance that they heard the exploit of the Schnee family from their victims... and then meet the Schnee heiress on the same night.
"Master Naofumi, that girl must be from the Schnee family." Naofumi's head immediately turns to look at Mein as she whispers into his ears. "Other than the youngest daughter of House Ascart, they are the only notable family with snow white hair."
"Wait, House Ascart gets tossed out of the queen's court when they have a daughter with white hair, and this Schnee family is allowed to go around running other people away from their homes when their whole family has white hair?" A heavy knot forms between Naofumi's eyes at this point while Ren walks past him. The Sword Hero gives a slight pause to look at Naofumi, but he doesn't say anything and continues towards the Jarl's throne. "Didn't anyone accuse them for being demi-human sympathizers? Why aren't any Melromarc Nobles doing something to stop them?"
"Probably because they aren't, because they are honor-less filthy con-men who give the rest merchants bad names." The princess growls under her breath, some of the annoyance isn't entirely acting. The Schnees didn't do their best job to hide their distaste towards her the few times they met in one of Mother or Father's banquet. "They are well known to use demi-human slaves... and whoever else they can get their filthy claws on to fill their mining camps. Most don't even live pass the month, like that merc captain said. And... I heard rumors about them bribing the officials and nobilities up and down to get where they are now."
"Figures, the good people are those suffering from prejudice and malicious rumors, while the corrupt and cutthroat thrive." Naofumi narrows his eyes and shakes his head in distaste, he quickly catches up behind the Sword Hero.
Mein shakes her head just like the Shield Hero to push the unpleasant through away from her mind. She walks beside her hero towards the wooden throne under the dragon skull where Lord Balgruuf 'the Greater' Whiterun sits.
The Count/Jarl of Whiterun County/Hold is well past fifty summers with his graying mane, but his hair bears no sign of receding, unlike his poor steward (judging by his fine padded coat) who stands to his right.
On the other side stands an almost bald man with brown colored beard knotted into a goatee in the same style as the Count, he wears a suit of heavy scale armor with a great sword behind his back. Judging from Mein's political studies, this is probably the Count's younger brother and general Hrongar Whiterun.
A third man stands on the same side as the Count's (presumably) younger brother, wearing a dark blue hooded robe obscuring his head. No doubt, the court's battle mage.
Not exactly the most sophisticated court the princess has seen. Then again... it certainly puts their Lute Village 'war council' to shame.
"My lord." Contrary to her previous arrogant attitude, the rabbit Sworn Shield's tone to her lord is nothing short of complete respect. The conversation between the four men stops as they all turn to look at the demi-human and everyone following her. "I bring you the messenger of dragon emperor Gaelion, the Shield Hero, and the Sword Hero."
"Ah, a pygmy dragon! If I may have a moment of your time, can you explain what your duties are within the dragon emperor's court? I have always been fascinated by how dragon emperors seem to function similar to our own society..." Before the Count even has a chance to open his mouth, his battle mage suddenly launches into an incessant ramble at Gaelion. He makes his way down towards the undercover dragon emperor, Mein can feel his eyes glowing at the dragon.
"Farengar, Enough! Do not bother the honored messenger of a child of Gaia with your fascination!" The Count stands up from his throne and roars at the over enthusiastic mage.
"Apologies, my lord. It's just... the chance to directly talk with an associate with a true dragon emperor is very rare with their aversion to us. And I would like to take this opportunity to learn more about them..." The mage holds him back and tears his body painfully back towards his lord while his feet hold firmly towards Gaelion. As for the incognito dragon emperor... it seems even they fears the zealous mage as they quickly hides behind the Sword Hero.
"Would you leave Gaelion alone, if I give you these three pieces of scales from his lord?" Naofumi quickly takes three pieces of Gaelion's scales out of his shield and holds it in front of the mage. The man's eyes positively twinkle at his blatant bribe. "They were given to me as front payment for a service."
"Ah, yes. Thank you for your... contribution, Sir Hero. These will be invaluable in my research. I shall not waste your valuable time *whispers* and mine... *whispers* with menial complexities..." The mage quickly snatches the scales out of Naofumi's hand and turns around to power walk towards a chamber to the side of the hall.
Mein can practically hear the man giggle as he disappears into the side chamber.
"Please, do excuse my battle mage Farengar Secret-Fire. Esteemed guests. He is probably one of, if not the most enthusiastic researcher over draconic lore in this world." The Count coughs into his hand to hide his embarrassment. "Let me properly introduce myself, my court, and the guests I am currently hosting. I am Balgruuf Whiterun, the Jarl of Whiterun Hold. To my left, is my general and brother Hrongar"
The massive Midgardian man gives them a nod.
The Count turns to his right and looks at the bolding Romalian man, who bows to them with respect. "My steward Proventus Avenicci."
Next, the Count holds his arm up with the two girls and a boy sitting by the side of the long banquet table. "Those are my other guests: Cute Reichnott, the daughter and heir of Count Van Reichnott, the lord regent of Ivory Pass, her friend Weiss Schnee, and her Housecarl Jean of House Reichnott."
Mein turns around to look at the three youths sitting by the long table. The Schnee heiress she already noticed before Balgruuf's introduction. Cute Reichnott has pink hair, and she looks like a typical heiress who heard too much tales of Mother: She wears a blouse and a miniskirt underneath a suit of armor that's so over decorated, it looks even more like an art piece than the two piece hunting armor Mein herself had her eyes on back in the Smith Demon's shop.
As for her servant, the brown haired boy wears a brown suit a few shades lighter than his hair with a white holy icon of the Four sewn into the chest, and a pair of round pauldrons decorated to look like angry balloons. He also carries a brass staff with a magical crystal orb at the tip. It's clear the Sworn Shield chooses functionality over personality with his chosen attire and weapon unlike his master - not a bad choice for a battle priest.
"Since I see a messenger from the child of Gaia among you, and don't hear the sound of battle as my city burns. Can I safely assume the immediate crisis has been averted?" The Count narrows his eyes as he sits back down on his throne and looks at his new batch of guests.
"My Drog (Lord) did not wish to bother you Joor (mortals) in the first place. We Dov (dragons) are meant to leave apart from you Joor (mortals) while protecting this world from harm, and only intervene if you Joor (mortals) breaks the law of nature and tries to destroy the world after all. But..." Gaelion hovers out of Ren's back and starts to speak at the Midgardian Count. "... the adopted Kiir (children) of my lord was taken by some foolish slave hunters, and my lord was trying to locate their Kiir (children). That misunderstanding has since been cleared by the Shield Hero, and the Sword Hero has pleaded himself to look for my lord's Kiir (children) while delivering justice and punishing the foolish Joor (mortals) who wronged them."
The frown of the Count grows deeper as Gaelion gives his explanation. In the end, Lord Balgruuf stands up from his throne once again. "I am truly and terribly sorry for this transgression, honored messenger from the Child of Gaia. We Midgardians are supposed to be sworn protectors of your lords, and I am ashamed such tragedy occurred on my soil under my watch. If there is any help I can provide, please do not hesitate to ask."
"We already planned our actions, and your help is not needed at the moment. But rest assured, my Drog (Lord) shall be pleased to know that you have not forgotten your Heyv (duty), Kiir Ahrk Vahlok (Children and Guardian) of the motherland." With this conclusion, Gaelion flies back and lands on Ren's shoulder once again.
"You have my gratitude for not only averting a crisis on the same level as a Wave of Catastrophe on my Land, but helping a Child of Gaia, Sir Heroes." Count Balgruuf turns to look at the two legendary heroes and their party. "As a reward, please take anything you see fit from my personal armory to arm and armor yourselves... within reason, of course. I would like you not to take everything I own while we are still facing the Wave... and possible wars with other countries."
Hmm... the Count of Whiterun doesn't say it out loud. But it seems like even he realized Father's attempt to deny other countries their hero may trigger a war. The old Midgardian lord may hate the Game, but he certainly knows how it's played.
Wait, something doesn't feel right here. The Count is talking with Gaelion like he wants to help the Dragon Emperor... or at least understand what the grievance Gaelion has with his people. Yet the quest posted by the Adventurers Guild not only mistook the Dragon Emperor to a common dragon, but the objective became extermination as well?
Something is seriously wrong here. It seems like she needs to do some more investigation into such a matter... as the first princess of Melromarc away from her Naofumi's eyes, of course.
"If there isn't any fight with a dragon, I'll take my leave now, brother." Hrongar crosses his arms in front of his chest, his knuckles cracking. "I'm going to take one last round on the wall. Make sure nobody on the night watch duty slacks off."
"That's for the best, Hrongar." Balgruuf looks back to his brother and nods his head. The burly Midgardian turns around and walks away from the throne.
"I can't take any rewards. Naofumi did all the negotiation." Ren looks to his fellow hero before he dips his head low. It seems like the Sword Hero knows how to be humble, despite his arrogant personality. "I would have gone ahead and tried to kill the dragon."
"Regardless, Sword Hero. You answered my call for help, and you offered to help Gaelion's lord. You also deserves the reward as the Shield Hero." The Midgardian lord sits back on his throne. The old lord once again showed his experience in politics by giving both heroes the same treatment, despite one of them clearly didn't deserving such support. "Now with one problem solved, we can finally focus our force on the 'one-bag bandits' before we can send the overdue supply caravan to aid Balafon's crisis..."
"One-bag bandits?" A chuckle escapes Naofumi's lips. "What's up with the name? Do they all wear one-bag over their head or something?"
"No, Sir Shield Hero, this silly title is what their victim gave to them." Count Balgruuf also has a smile on his face, it seems like the Midgardian lord has taken quite the liking to her Naofumi to not mind his impolite interruption. "According to the travellers and merchants who are robbed by them, this particular band of bandits only ask them for one-bag worth of treasure from all their victims without exception. They originated from the Hold of Lord Van Reichnott, and they have moved to my Hold lately."
"Wait... do they have a leader who already had their class-up. Old, jolly guy with a grey white beard, using a shotgun... or do you guys call it blunderbuss, with an axe blade on the handle?" Naofumi draws an imaginary mustache over his lips with his hand.
Count Balgruuf exchanged a glance with his steward. The balding man gives a respectful nod back to his lord.
"We already encountered... and subdued them earlier today. They are refugees displaced from their homes, and that's why they don't take everything from their victims." Naofumi takes off his helmet to scratch his hair before putting it back on. He holds his empty hands up in front of him at the Midgardian Lord. "I helped them find a way to feed themselves, and I meant to ask for a pardon from them. Can I ask for their pardon, instead of anything from your armory?"
"Truly!? Then you have provided me two great services in a single day, Sir Shield Hero!" The Count's voice takes a few pitches higher, it seems like he's now genuinely elated, compared to his cordial politeness from before. "Unfortunately, as seeing how they have been breaking laws across holds and provinces, a pardon is not within my right to give. And only the Queen, or her Regent, may issue such a decree. That being said, I am willing to let them be so long as they remain in my Hold and do not break any further laws."
"I suppose it'll do." Naofumi lets out a sigh and takes a step back.
Éclair looks like she's about to say something as she rises her foot like she's about to step forward, but Lord Balgruuf continues his announcement before she has a chance.
"As much as you already helped me twice... I'm afraid there is a third favor I want to ask of you." The Count adjusts his shoulders, it's hard to tell if it's from embarrassment, or an attempt to make himself a bit more comfortable. "For almost a month, my people from the village of Balafon have asked for my aid due to their food shortage crisis. A matter I have failed to assist due to a dragon flying over my head, and bandits raiding my countryside. I'm going to have Irileth prepare a supply caravan, and take a squad of my men to relieve the people of Balafon. I will be very grateful, if one of you is willing to accompany my supply to offer some extra protection."
"Sorry, I need to travel back to the capital early tomorrow to track down Ga..." Gaelion bites Ren's face before the boy has a chance to give away that he IS the dragon emperor. "...the daughter of the dragon."
"I'll do it. I'm fetching someone to this Balafon place in the first place." With Naofumi's reminder, Mein quickly remembers that Zylden was indeed going to the village of Balafon before Walter Hickwaal's wagon broke down in the middle of the road.
"Excellent! You have my gratitude for a third time, Shield Hero. You have gone above and beyond in providing service for my people and I. Such service can't be repaid with mere rewards from any weapon or armor from my armory. I hereby name you Thane of Whiterun Hold. I grant you Breezehome as your personal estate within my hold, and your personal Housecarl." The old lord stands up from his throne. He looks at his rabbit Sworn Shield. "Irileth, bring Yatsuhashi. He serves the Shield Hero from this night forth."
Hmm... Mein doesn't know about this Yatsuhashi person. But it's most definitely a Quo'ten Lo style name. It seems like there are a lot of demi-humans under Lord Balgruuf's employ.
"The Count has named you his champion, Sir Shield Hero. You aren't a noble yet, per say... but as his champion you rank higher than knights of the same stature." On the other side, Éclair quietly whispers to Naofumi, who seems to nod his head absentmindedly. He probably can't wrap his head around all the different titles.
"Are you sure, my lord?" The rabbit looks up at her lord with a puzzled expression on her face. "Yatsuhashi is still young. Perhaps someone a bit older with more experience is more prudent?"
"Yatsuhashi may be one of my youngest warriors, but he is mature for his age. He shall serve the Shield Hero well. And, I am sure he will especially appreciate the chance to serve a summoned hero."
"Very well, I shall bring him now." Irileth bows her head and turns to walk away.
"My Jarl, Breezehome has been vacant for a long time after the untimely death of its former owner. It's probably bare of furnishing, and has dust everywhere. Not fit for your thane of a legendary hero." The balding Romalian steward lowers his head to whisper to his lord. "If you excuse me, I'll go and see to its clean up, and add some proper furniture for someone of Master Shield Hero's stature."
"Excellent suggestion, Proventus. Take directly from my coiffeur for any funds you need. I'll personally see to it that the Shield Hero is well taken care of." Lord Balgruuf nods at his steward, who bows to both the lord and Naofumi before taking his leave.
"My Lord, the ones you call "One-bag Bandits" are innocent people who are displaced from their home, illegally." Éclair finally catches the opportunity to walk forward and interject. She gives a quick glance towards the Schnee heiress, who seems completely uninterested in their conversation this whole time. "The Schnee family stole their land, and ran them out."
"WHAT!?" The Schnee heiress jumps up from her seat like her skirt is on fire. Well, Éclair has her attention now.
And the undercover princess has the urge to slap at her own face with the Seatto's bluntness. No wonder her father was murdered, if this is how they handle all their political affairs.
"Lord Balgruuf, I demand you show this hedge knight her way out, after she attempted to besmirch my family's good name." The Schnee heiress draws her rapier and points at Éclair. "It would also do you good to rescind your previous decision to leave those dangerous criminals along."
Your family's GOOD, name? You wannabe high class young lady, even if the Schnee family's name is good to begin with, yours are perfectly capable of besmirching your own good names!
Is this the night where idiotic heiresses having a 'dig your own grave' competition night to see who first emerge onto Siltvelt soil?
"The bandits confessed that Lord Van Reichnott sold the mining rights of their village after we subdued them. Something he had no right to sell on behalf of the villagers to begin with." Without Mein's intervention, the Seatto heiress takes the lead once again at their 'dig your own grave' competition.
"WHAT!?" The high pitched screech comes from the Reichnott heiress this time. She pulls out a pair of razor edged sabers with square shaped full hand guards and points her weapon at Éclair. "How dare you accuse Father of crime! You, you filthy hedge knight! I challenge you to a Trial by Com-MURPH!"
"NO! My lady! Please, control yourself... ACK!" Cute's servant manages to stop her from digging her own grave in a more literal sense, at the expense of his army being bitten by his mistress.
"...Cute...?" Éclair lets out a whisper like gasp, likely from the shock of Cute's reaction. No doubt, she knew this feisty child likely before her life as a political hostage... err, foster child of House Melromarc. Not hard to imagine, considering the closeness between their families where Van Reichnott serves as Uther's steward, and later provincial regent.
"My family has done more than any other to help Melromarc's effort to combat the Wave of Catastrophe when we unearth the ores to forge our army's weapons and armor while donating a large sum of our earnings for the war effort." Weiss looks down at Éclair from her nose, even when the Seatto heiress stands higher than her. "Surely, it's more prudent to trust us than a bunch of lowly bandits, who likely spouts whatever lie they want to escape punishment."
Helping Melromarc's effort to combat the Wave? More like getting rich on all the dead slaves' backs and collecting as much coin from all the Melromarc lords who needed weapons and armor, like House Amelia did back in the Great War selling grain and war rations. As for their donations... Mein herself obviously doesn't have access to Schnee family's log book, but she's willing to bet her own royal status that they donated mere pocket change back compared to how much they rake in gold.
Lord Balgruuf stands up slowly from his throne. Much like Pope Balmus did when he stepped into the healing chamber to cure Mein's cursed wound, the aging Midgardian lord somehow seems to suck all the attention in the room onto himself to make him look larger than he really was. It seems like his nickname 'the Greater' isn't just for show. "I will not invite any of my guests to leave while you are under my roof, nor would I rescind my previous command to leave the One-bag Bandits alone."
"What! You can't possibly take the side of a bunch of filthy criminals and a hedge knight over the Schnee family." The Schnee heiress is about to whine some more, until she turns silent after receiving a glare from Lord Balgruuf.
"I am taking no one's side other than Whiterun's, Miss Weiss." Lord Balgruuf delivers the Schnee heiress a light snub when he reminds her that she's not a noble 'lady', despite how she's been throwing her weight like one off her family's fortune. "It is for practical reasons. I shall not waste the lives of my men chasing bandits and brigands who are willing to reform, one of which already had his class-up, when we could be hit with a Wave in the next year or so. If you are not happy with how I run my own, I suggest you enjoy the amenities of my city and keep offering you, and leave the decision making to me alone."
The Schnee heiress' jaw hangs down, but no voice comes out. After a few pauses she stomps on the floor one last time and turns to walk away.
"Wait for me, BIG SISTER Weiss!" Cute finally tears herself out of her Sworn Shield's grasp. She runs after the humbled merchant heiress. Éclair looks like she's struck on the head by a war hammer again as she stumbles on her feet.
"Please, excuse my lady and her friend. They had a long day." Cute's poor servant gives an apologetic smile to everyone and bows his head deep down, before following his master.
"Now that unpleasantness is over, I know I already agreed with leaving the One-bag Bandits alone... but can I know where they set up camp, Sir Shield Hero? It'll probably be good to keep my people away from them... and to keep an eye on them, just in case they are back to their old ways before they truly manage to resettle." Count Balgruuf's words make Naofumi tear his eyes away from the retreating forms of his previous guests.
"Yeah, they settled in the forest south of the main road." Naofumi's words make both the Count as his Steward freeze. The bold Romalian even started coughing violently. "Is there something wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing, Sir Shield Hero. They choose to settle in the nameless forest that's rumored to dwell necromancers, that's all..."
"NECROMANCERS!?" Naofumi lets out a let yelp as he turns on his heels, he looks like he's going to bolt for the door till Mein manages to grab onto his shoulder. "Let go! Mein! I need to warn them before they get turned into skeletons!"
"Please, wait till Lord Balgruuf finishes talking, Master Naofumi. You are being very impolite... and I'm sure there's more to the story." Mein gets dragged down three steps by Naofumi till Éclair joins her effort. The two of them manage to stop Naofumi from running right out of Dragonsreach.
"Yes, apologies for giving you a false scare, Sir Shield Hero. As I was saying, the rumor about necromancers is purely gossip and old wives' tales. Mainly because there was an abandoned wizard's tower in the forest." Lord Balgruuf twists the knot of his beard with his finger as he looks at the comedy in front of him. 'The Greater' is back to the mild-mannered, old and welcoming Midgardian lord now. "An elderly couple live there now, but they are nothing more than hermits who practice herbal medicine and low level magical tricks. You might have already met their daughter, Mica. She works as a receptionist in the capital's Adventurer's Guild."
"The girl using a stone tablet like a clipboard holding her papers and scrolls?" Mein turns to look at Ren's declaration, it seems one of the heroes indeed met this Mica character. "I got the quest with the dragon from her."
Huh, what are the chances.
"Oh, it's only a fake rumor." Naofumi stops his struggle as he slowly turns to look at the Count again. "Why not dispel it, if there's no necromancer to begin with?"
"Mostly, because we benefited from such rumors when they scared off some superstitious cowardly lot." Lord Balgruuf sighs into his hand. "A lot of my people managed to escape abuse from Siltvelt army back in the Great War when they hid deep in the forest."
"Have I arrived at a bad time, my lord?" A new voices makes Mein turn to look at the west side of the castle again. There, stands a towering dark haired young man with boyish face and deeply tanned skin. He wears a suit of dyed green linen cloth that looks like a cloak folded together from left and side, the traditional clothing of the nomads living on the edge of Mara Gobi desert. And sure enough, the curved greatsword on his back is definitely a weapon favored by the desert nomads.
Mein assumes this young man to be the 'Yatsuhashi' character, who Count Balgruuf's rabbit Sworn Shield went to fetch. But to her surprise, the young man doesn't have raccoon ears atop of his ear.
Human, Quo'Ten Lo style name, desert nomads attire and weapons... Could this young man be from the Miyamoto Clan? She heard stories of them from her fencing coach Zellus.
It is said on the sand of Mara Gobi. Among beastmen, Carthus Company. Among humans, the Miyamoto Clan. Rumored to be descendant from a previous Sword Hero (but NOT the 8th who passed down Aldorian style fencing), the Miyamoto Clan takes their clan name from a legendary swordsman of the heroes' world.
Unlike the Carthus Company and Mara tribe who devote their lives to fighting and winning, the Miyamoto Clan devote their lives to hone their swordsmanship. They are even willing to intentionally handicap themselves in battle, so long as it helps them break through their limit and achieve higher mastery of their swordsmanship.
That was decades ago. Almost twenty years from now, some disaster struck the clan and they almost died out. Only the few scattered remnants of their once mighty clan remains on Medea now.
"Ah, Yatsuhashi. You arrived just in time, come." Lord Balgruuf waves his hand at the towering young man, gestures him to come closer. The Midgardian lord turns to fix his gaze at Naofumi. "Sir Shield Hero. This is Yatsuhashi Daichi. He may be young, but he is one of my best warriors. I hereby name him your personal Housecarl."
Daichi, not Miyamoto? Then again... the remnants of the Miyamoto clan usually change their names, considering how much they fetch on the underground slave market.
A bit over cautious. House Whiterun follows their Midgardian tradition and has no knight, but judging from how he interacts with Lord Balgruuf, the young man is one of his personal warriors. Effectively House Whiterun's equivalent of a knight. Any skin trader or man hunter has to be a colossal idiot if they tried to enslave and sell this man.
"Master Shield Hero." Yatsuhashi walks in front of Naofumi, closes his palms together like Naofumi himself does every time the hero utters his dining prayer and bows his head low. "As your personal Housecarl, I am sworn to protect you, and everything you own with my life."
End Note:
Fun trivia. Originally I planned this chapter and next chapter for a single chapter. Very much like I originally planned to wrap up that whole bandit business within 2 chapters at most. I have a habit to underestimate how much stuff I can actually ramble in an arc.
In case anyone played the Japanese only PSP game. Cute and Jean are the main/original characters from Bandai game Queen's Blade Spiral Chaos. Not sure anyone realized it (probably not since she's barely recognizable after my makeup job), but the original character Macaron Raithos who made a short appearance during 2nd Wave fight is loosely based on Queen's Gate Spiral Chaos' new main character Maron. Even though Macaron is a wizard, not a duel claw using slasher like Maron. And her dialogue 'Battle field kitchen, open for business!' is actually inspired by one of Maron's combat dialogue from the game.
Since every minor character from RotSH is pretty much getting extended family in my story to support my attempt to write a GoT style political drama, obviously I would do the same to Van Reichnott. And I decided to throw Cute and Jean in there. And yes, that means there will also be Queen's Blade characters later in this story. Because where else should I get female warriors for the supposed matriarchal Melromarc?
:P
Guest review time.
To Guests:
Thank you very much for the reviews and kind words!
I hope by cringe you meant Ren's backstory, and not my own writing.
XD
On a more serious note, sorry to disappoint but not immediately back to the final arc of Act 2 yet. There are still some intrigue to play with Melromarc politics... and whatever else shenanigans Naofumi will inevitably attract as the main character.
Not sure if you mean Guitar Hero the franchise, or a guitar as one of the legendary weapon? I imagine it would probably be something like Brutal Legend if there is a Guitar Hero in RotSH.
To Giuseppe:
Glad to know my answer helped.
I have to admit, I personally don't like this trope/trend with fantasy writing where scientific based civilization tend to walk all over arcane based civilization in term of technological level. I think it speaks more of our innate arrogance on our own achievements (deserved or not) in believing our own society being the inherent superior one. An arcane based society where 'magic' is real would probably have a very similar path of technological progress like our own society instead of being stagnant, since 'magic' to them is basically science to us.
Fun trivia, I think Doraemon (yes, I'm a massive Doraemon fanboy on how I grow up with the manga in my childhood) actually did this idea much more progressively (and probably unintentionally) way back in the 70s in one of its movie, where Nobita changed his world to run on magic instead of science... and basically all the technology is the same as his original world. Everything just run on magic theory, instead of scientific theory.
I tried to show this in my story through Malty's flashback, where through Aldrecht's lecture we see Medea's magic progress from being a school of philosophy like our world's ancient scholar/philosopher/pseudo scientist, to being institutionalized, and researcher started to use magic theory to explain how their world works like how Aldrecht's view on Brimir/Aristotle elementalism to actual state of matter. And of course, in one of the earlier chapter Malty mentioned there is a mana storage device invented in Faubley similar to battery store electricity.