Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter.
Special thanks to Datnoob, whose imput helped me shape a lot of this chapter and following chapter. And my long time reader/consultant Commissar Gaunt for help shaping the entire Act III.
This chapter depicts some mentally stressful scenes that might be psycological torture to readers. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note. And yeah... this time it'll be LONG.
The fugitive princess feels sore all over the back of her head, and her body. It reminded her of that time when Firo kicked her right through a wall and into a produce stall, but different. Unlike the explosion of pain that thankfully dulled by numbness, it's a more gradual, but persistent feeling like someone has tried to carve flesh from her with a dull knife. So she thinks anyway, She obviously never had someone who actually did it to her, thankfully.
"So, this is the great Shield Hero who is smarter than everyone, and would have Risen up from the unfair prosecution he had to save us all. Funny, he doesn't look so high and mighty, or smart when he's below my feet." The smug, nasal voice pierces through the haze and directly stabs at the center of Mein's mind. She immediately split her eyes open, knowing too well the owner of the incessant mewling. That proves to be a mistake, as her eyes feel like it's being poked by multiple needles while someone is pouring salt water down her face. She ends up having to close her eyes back shut extra hard. "Well, at least you two get to see your 'father' one last time."
"Let go… LET FIRO GO~!" The screaming of the gluttonous devil bird soon overcame Mein's senses. She can hear the sound of someone, small in their size struggling against one, or possibly multiple larger assailants holding them back. "Take your dirty hand off Firo, you big lump of meanie! Firo need to go to fa-"
The booming sound of a fist colliding with someone's head is heard. Firo immediately goes silent, accompanied by the sound of someone hitting the dirt and Raphtalia's horrified scream. Mein was never overly concerned about the damn bird's overall well-being. Both because of all the violence the animal rendered onto her, and because she's usually the danger other people have to watch out for when she is in the same room as someone else. But this time, the fugitive princess is genuinely fearful of the safety of the gluttonous devil bird.
"Hey! Who allowed you to hit my girl Firo?" The whinny mewling of a certain daddy's pampered boy makes Mein's ear bleed once again. At least this time, he isn't addressing Naofumi, or the fugitive princess herself.
"The little bitch shouldn't be a nuisance if she didn't want to be punished." What Mein heard next was the guttery growl that sounds like two large pieces of boulder grinding into each other. She wasn't very familiar with this voice as opposed to the ones from before, but she certainly won't forget it. No, it belongs to Vicar Vittorio's pet monster… or perhaps his feral dog on a tight leash, to be more accurate. It was the Blessed Battle Master of the Four Heroes' Church, Roger of Ajax. Such withering development makes the heart of the fugitive princess sink into the pit of her stomach.
Chapter 101: All That Awaits You Is A Somber Morrow
The fugitive princess slowly opens her eyes this time. Both in a belated effort to try and hide from her captors that she has already regained consciousness, and to slowly let her eyes get used to avoid the pain of abruptly opening her eyes like before. Sure enough, not far from him stands the Romalian Vicar's previous battle saint. The body of Firo is slumped on the ground not far from him, with Raphtalia kneeling over her fallen form. The raccoon girl's hand is open, arm stretched towards Firo but doesn't dare to touch the devil bird disguised as a child, probably afraid to make her injury worse. Behind the blessed battle master of Romalia, his aide looks at him with unsure expression. Probably didn't expect his master to simply punch out someone who looked like a Younger child. In front of the mountain of a man stands Consevatie the Younger, glaring daggers at Roger of Ajax.
One of Vicar Vittorio's favorite pets had worked together with the fanatics of the Three Heroes' Church. Someone who had openly killed members of his own sect (granted, Father Gordon and the rest of the Graile Four Heroes' Church chapel would belong to the Gallia chapter, therefore not directly under Vicar Vittorio). Had the Romalian Vicar decided that trying to clear Glorious Melromarc's good name from the other nations is already a lost cause?
"You can stop pretending to be unconscious. We saw you trying to open your eyes earlier." A scoff can be heard by Mein above her head, but the Younger man's voice sounds strange. The way he lets out certain syllables is slightly off, almost as if too much air comes from his mouth. Mein squints her eyes, and turns her face towards the voice. She sees a younger man around Consevatie's age, wearing the uniform of a ranger. Notably, some of his front teeth are missing, which explains why some of his pronunciation was weird.
"This isn't over!" Consevatie the Younger gives one last threat to Roger of Ajax, who simply scoff at his attempt to look intimidating. The pampered son of Lord Consevatie turns around to face Mein and gives a twisted smirk towards Mein. He walks over, and leans his head a bit lower. "So the slut has awakened. Guess the rest isn't far behind. You see how pathetic they truly are, Raphtalia? The shield loser, or slut can't help you. They can't even save themselves. I'm the only one who can keep you and Firo safe and well."
Raphtalia doesn't answer Consevatie's taunt. She carefully picks Firo up, and stares Consevatie's back, almost accusingly. The raccoon girl isn't the only one who shown incredulousness towards Consevatie's own smugness. Mein also hasn't forgotten how Firo was just knocked out by someone under the watch of the pampered young man.
With some pained groan, the others also slowly begin to come around the fugitive princess. To her surprise, Raki, the boy from Lute village is the first one who voices his indignation. "Jackson? JACKSON! How could you!? I thought you wanted to help us!"
Mein turns her head slightly to look at the direction Raki is screaming at. Sure enough, Jackson is standing not too far from Consevatie amongst a sea of gathered fighters, both wearing the tabard of Three Heroes' Church's triangle, or the Four Heroes' Church's cross. She should have trusted her instincts, and stopped the little rat from leaving the abandoned mine! Although to Jackson's slight credit, the Younger man actually looks ashamed rather than smug. As his face is turned away from Raki, while he is seemingly trying to push his way through the wall of gathered bodies.
"Oh, PLEASE! Don't give this little two faced commoner shit more credit than he fucking deserves." Consevatie snorts at Raki's accusation. He turns his head around to sneer at Jackson before looking back down. He waves his hand, and two men step forward among the gathered people. Both wear gilded silver plate armor, carrying a full helmet underneath their arm that's decorated by marking of feathered wings. But their armor is where their similarities end. The one standing on Consevatie's right side is muscular with a square shaped face adoring short hair that's tied into a ponytail, the one on his left is lanky with a long face with a pointy chin, his hair pointing upwards like the ember at the tip of a lit candle.
"Meet Sir Dumah, and Sir Zephon, commanders of Balmus' Angel of Death. He may be an arrogant old idiot, but he sure does know how to pick good help. And I'm more than happy to relieve them from him, give them proper due." Both men positively preens when their names are mentioned by Consevatie. "Did you idiots honestly think there wouldn't be consequences for making us look like chumps back in Graile? And you can fool us just by traveling at night? Heh! You can't hide in the dark from the bat demi-human who specializes in stealth and tracking! We had you Shield Demon's little merry band watched since you stepped foot on Hybernia Plain."
"That is quite enough. We of the Four Heroes' Church do not care about the internal power struggle of your own order, but I would humbly ask you to stop berating Lord Shield Hero. My lord does not condone such-'' The aide of the Four Heroes' Church's battle saint takes half a step forward. Not getting over his master, but making his uncomfortableness clear as he addresses Consevatie the Younger. He's suddenly silenced when Roger of Ajax holds his arm up in front of his fair, nearly punching him. "My lord?"
"What are you getting your loincloth twisted into a knot for, Sebastian? Do you see me getting all torn up when a twat gets twatted?" The brutish giant snorts at his aide, clearly not nearly as enthusiastic to defend the Shield Hero. "Shut up before I make you."
"Roger of Ajax? You are in on this scheme too?!" Uranus opens his eyes, staring up at the blessed battle master of Romalia with disbelief in his eyes. "This can't be the will of Vicar Vittorio! Has he gone mad?! Where is he?! Why did he allow the Shield Hero to be-"
The retired battle priest is silenced just like Firo when the warhammer-like fist of Roger collides against his face. The old man is instantly knocked onto the ground once again, blood spilling from both his nose and mouth.
"HA HA! Should have kept quiet, ya old fuckwart. You might have kept your teeth a bit longer." Roger of Ajax cracks his knuckles as he pulls his fist back, looking all too happy and smug for someone who just punched a bound up old man in the face.
"MASTER URANUS! You, you bastard! Let me go, and have a round with me!" Seeing the last of his fellow Gallians brutalized by Vittorio's pet monster sends Sir Oersted into a frenzy. Despite being held down by his captive, he begins to flail wildly while screaming murder at Roger of Ajax. Predictably, he didn't accomplish anything other than being sent back into the dirt by a single back hand of the mountain-like man.
"What do you think you are, you little shit twat? I eat guys twice your size for breakfast." Roger of Ajax spits on the ground with barely restrained condescension. His next words throws any pretense of respect for his direct superior out of the window. "And fuck that sissy boy Vittorio too! Who cares what that limp dick little shit thinks? The girly little sissy doesn't know what a real man people can depend on if he's slapped in the face by their cock. He can have his girly pussy ass obliterated by his precious enhanced toys for all I care."
"Wh-what are you talking about, my lord?" If Roger's aide looked confused with a hint of trepidation from before, he's now a step away from full on panicking. It's not hard to understand his sudden surge of anxiety, for his master had just openly voiced rebellious intentions towards the head of Romalian Four Heroes' Church, the organization they belonged to. "Even if you don't accept Vicar Vittorio as our superior, he's the one who supported us since the end of The Great War. Shouldn't we at least treat him with respect?"
"BAH! That sissy boy 'supported' us only because his own church was floundering and failing. Him pissing gold away making magic fucked super warriors didn't work, and he needed the glory and power of REAL fighting men to support him." The blessed battle master of Four Heroes' Church takes an earth shattering step towards his aide, and picks up the comparatively thinner man up by his neck. "Who does your loyalty lie, Sebastian? Me, or that sissy boy Vittorio? I saved your sorry ass back in The Great War. I can easily take your life away."
"I have always been loyal to you… my lord. Since you saved my life." Sebastian's pupils grow smaller as he squirms in Roger's iron grasp. For a brief moment, the aide of the battle saint grovels, seemingly begging for Roger's forgiveness as the fugitive princess expected from someone like him. But then, his nerve seems to turn to steel and his response surprises her. "But I can't allow you to do this! This isn't about winning glory in battle anymore. It's about putting the world in danger. If you hurt the live of a summoned he-"
With a loud crack, Roger's left hand balls into fist and cracks into his own aide's face, sending the man flying into the gathering of his own men, knocking a dozen of them into the ground with Sebastian. Once again, the giant spits on the ground with disgust. "Always liked you, Sebastian. But you really should keep your mouth shut. Wouldn't have to rearrange your face to send a message."
The fugitive princess can feel her own body shaking. She can't know exactly if her uncontrollable convulsion comes from anger, disgust, or old fashioned fear towards the so-called 'blessed battle master' of Romalia's Four Heroes' Church. It's clear that despite being granted such an illustrious position by Vicar Vittorio among other benefits, this barely restrained animal had nothing but disdain and vindictiveness towards the Younger Romalian Vicar. But to show the same kind of careless, brutal cruelty towards his own loyal aide like his own perceived enemy simply out of a very reasonable dispute? Roger of Ajax clearly wasn't named the battle saint for his own virtue.
"The Vicar. He was never here in the first place. Was he?" Naofumi's question makes Mein turn her head over to the restrained Shield Hero. "I doubt the big guy over there would be this open if the Vicar is here in his face. This had been a trap set to lure us in from the start."
"BAH! I'd tell the sissy boy what a limp dick piece of little shit he is to his face!" Roger of Ajax screams his lung off while beating his chest, but nobody pays much attention to his pontification. If anything, more people seem to gather over his fallen aide than the wailing battle saint.
"Ah, yes. You of all people would always have the right answer. Because the great Shield Hero is the smartest among the summoned heroes, who is always in the right, and never wrong." Consevatie narrows his eyes as he sneers down at Naofumi. "Maybe you should have figured that one out before you were captured by a little old me, hmm? What's that about you 'didn't have to be the smartest' again?"
"Quite right. You see, it doesn't matter how smart one is. The trick about luring you, or anyone else for that matter is all about knowing what'll entice specific people into taking a risk." The ranger with missing teeth smirks at Naofumi, as he taps a finger over his forehead. "The Shield Hero who recently lost his Legendary Weapon, companions taken, and accused of heresy. What would turn this man who just hit rock bottom into coming out and exposing himself? Perhaps someone high on the nation, or the faith's food chain who can reverse all of that, and have you come back on top again with one fell swoop. Someone, like the Vicar of Holy Romalia? After I figured that out, all it needed to be done was how to set up a situation that looks reasonably, and naturally in your favor, but completely in our control- GAH!"
"Stop looking so smug, Leon Bartfort, you little piece of shit." Consevatie takes a step over the now named Leon Bartfort, who is writhing with pain on the ground now. He kicks the ranger with missing teeth repeatedly, till he rolls over a few times on the ground. "You might have come up with the idea, but it was I who put the plan in motion. My connections with Roger of Ajax that convinced him to join our cause, and my resources that put everything together. Don't ever try to steal my thunder, you miserable little slave!"
"That whole rumor about Vicar Vittorio was denied entry into the capital everyone was talking about. It was a false rumor spread by you, just so you can lure us back to the capital." Mein's eyes split open at her belated realization. She would be slapping at herself, if she isn't bound in restraint. Of course! That was where her bad feeling came from. She should have realized that the gossip about Vicar Vittorio being stranded outside of the city wall to be false as soon as she heard about the church's cover up of Graile! If the church had enough power to stop people from learning of the involvement of the Shield Hero, and the 'first princess' during the whole uprising in Graile, they can do the same about the Vicar of Romalia.
"Ah, but of course it was my brilliant planning that made it happen!" Consevatie the Younger opens his arms and smirks down at Naofumi once again. "What, did you think this is the plot of some badly written trashy novel, where the 'truth' would come out, and you'll get vindicated in the end like the hero of the story? HA! We are the church! We control the flow of information, and what the rest of the unenlightened sheeps of this country learn! Even if there'll be one or two people who spread words about what's really happening, they'll just be treated as gossip, while the version we give to the public will be believed as the truth! And the beauty of this plan is…"
Consevatie turns his face away from Naofumi and takes a few steps towards Mein. He squats down, pulling her face up by her hair to smirk directly into her face. "I know you would not let such an opportunity go. Because you will not be happy to live the rest of your life as a fugitive. Even if the Shield Demon figured out this whole setup with Vittorio was a trap, you would of all people would not let such a chance go. And just as I thought, you brought the Shield Demon right back to us. Didn't I tell you that you'll ruin anyone you get your hands on, Slut?"
The fugitive princess wants to deny the words coming out of Consevatie the Younger's mouth. But deep down, she knows that he was right. She knew what kind of person Naofumi was, that he would never let her go alone to find Vicar Vittorio to try and stop the Three Heroes' Church. If she truly wanted him to escape to safety, she should not have told him her plan. She could make up some excuses about why she needs to separate from him, while sending him south to Bragi land with Silvia.
And thinking over her own action of trying to meet Vicar Vittorio… could she truly say that she made the decision for Melty's benefit, and would have allowed her Youngerer sister to assume the throne if she was successful? No, deep down, she wanted to use the opportunity to show that she was the more fitting future ruler and win Vicar Vittorio's support. Or failing that, at least having her last action spit her own mother's decision that she was irresponsible, therefore unfit for the throne. That's why she wanted Naofumi to come with her to the capital deep down, because she still didn't give up the idea of regaining her birthright.
"You let Mein go! This has nothing to do with her!" Not too surprisingly, Naofumi is the one who defends her actions. "Mein tried her best to convince me to go south and hide from you religious nutcases. I was the one who refused to let her come alone."
Consevatie releases Mein, letting her drop onto the ground like a stone. He slowly pulls his back straight, and actually blinks a couple of times at Naofumi's answer which apparently surprised him. But after a few moments, he threw his head back and burst out laughing. "AH, HAHAHAHAHA~! The Great Shield Hero. A simp, no different from the rest of them. Oh, that's rich. Not as rich as me, but still rich. If only you knew… that being said… Raphtalia!"
The raccoon girl shudders as she hears Consevatie the Younger's beckoning. Till this point, she has been kneeling at a corner nursing Firo, while pointedly not looking in their direction. But with Consevatie calling her, there's clearly no use for Raphtalia trying to hide anymore. She sluggishly stands up on her feet with Firo still in her arms, and drags her feet on the dirt over. "You called me, Master Consevatie?"
"Of course, of course! I'm not cruel like my bald headed uncle by any means. You deserve a reward for creating such an impeccable illusion of that little sissy boy Vittorio." Consevatie gleefully skips his steps over, till he stands behind the squirming raccoon girl. Looming over her, and while rubbing all over her shoulders with his hands. "You helped me in capturing the Shield Demon using your illusion magic like you were tasked to. So I would reward you… by letting you share one last moment with the loser before we put him down for good."
Mein feels her hands and feet grow cold at the revelation. She should feel betrayed at Raphtalia's involvement in Consevatie's scheme. She probably would have screamed murder, and all sorts of demeaning profanity even a month ago. But after knowing Raphtalia so well, of what a kind, grateful person she is. The fugitive princess can only imagine how absolutely crushed by the sense of guilt Raphtalia must be feeling right now, knowing that she had a hand in Three Heroes' Church capturing Naofumi.
She still remembers how bad she felt, when she lost control of her fire magic and killed her nanny. And she believes Raphtalia's attachment towards Naofumi would be much greater than her own towards old nan. Clearly, Raphtalia had no other choice, not for her own life, but for Firo's. Because after what happened to her best friend during their captivity by the uncle of Consevatie the Younger, Raphtalia would not want someone else to die because of her. A good person made helpless by her cruel captor once again, and now he's using her to further gloat to the Shield Hero. Mein's assessment towards Consevatie the Younger was right after all. He might not be someone who physically abused Raphtalia, but the mental agony he caused her was as much as the old, balding vulture.
"Raphtalia. You are taking care of Firo, like a good sister." Naofumi is the first to break the silence between them. As in his usual fashion, he comforts Raphtalia rather than cursing at her. From the way Raphtalia flinches, that might have hurt her more than if Naofumi had screamed at her. "You take care of yourself, and Firo. Okay?"
"Yes." The eyelashes of Raphtalia twitches. She squeaks out a response while biting at her own lips. "Yes I will, Master Naofumi."
"Nah, nah, nah~. He's no longer your 'master' anymore, babe. You are my girl now. I'm the one taking care of you, not the shield loser." The hand of Consevatie the Younger digs into Raphtalia's shoulders once again, as the arrogant noble boy helpfully reminds Raphtalia with a whisper that she is now his glorified possession. Before the raccoon girl has any chance to reply back, she's suddenly knocked backwards into Consevatie's face, making the boy cover his bleeding nose with a loud curse. "AH, FUCK! My nose!"
"Lord Consevatie, are you alright? Let me heal you." The bespectacled banshee of a priestess jumps over to Consevatie's side. Golden, healing light coating her hands, ready to attend the little shit's minor injury using healing miracles that's designed to save lives. "This is why you shouldn't get too close to ungrateful animals like her!
"No need! And… it's clearly not Raphtalia's fault." Consevatie actually holds his hand up to stop Sister Amelia from attending him, or continually berating Raphtalia. And surprisingly, he's once again right this time, as Mein realized the reason that the raccoon girl suddenly jerked her face back was because Firo kicked her in the chin.
"It's your fault! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! You are the reason they got our father!" Firo jumps out of Raphtalia's arm as the raccoon girl in her adult form hits the ground. The devil bird previously masquerading as an angelic child threw all sense of pretense, and began to kick and stomp Rapthalia with a twisted expression on her face. Despite being much larger in their respective body, Raphtalia isn't trying to fight back, or even defending against herself. She's just letting Firo freely beat her, and despite Consevatie's earlier proclamation of taking care of Raphtalia, he is doing absolutely nothing to protect her from Firo's savage beating other than looking at the scene with an amused smirk. "YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! FIRO HATES YOU!"
"STOP IT! FIRO!" Not surprisingly once again, it's Naofumi who is trying to do something to stop Firo's rampage to brutalize Raphtalia. "Don't hurt Raphtalia! Family doesn't hurt family, you two have to look after each other."
"But she- she hurt YOU!" Firo whips her head around to look at Naofumi. She still looks furious, but at least she's no longer attacking Raphtalia in a blind fit of rage anymore. "She helped that mean church guy capture you! She can't be Firo's family!"
"Raphtalia didn't have a choice. She had to look after you." Mein isn't sure if it's what Naofumi actually said, or the way he said it. But Firo finally calms down after a few ragged breaths. "It's only the two of you now. You have to look after each other, like sisters."
"Not even a bad word when you hit rock bottom, huh? Man, you are pathetic." Consevatie smirks at Naofumi again as he strides over to where Raphtalia is lying on the ground. Pulling the raccoon girl up from where she lies like a lifeless corpse, the Consevatie boy preened as if he's the one who actually accomplished anything. "You see how useless the Shield Demon is, Raphtalia? It's time for you to start relying on a real man."
"Lord Consevatie!" The gruff voice of some fighting men calls from north. Not too long after, a small detachment of soldiers walks into the gathering, corralling the boys from Lute's abandoned mine as if they are animals. "We have captured the Shield Demon sympathizers as you instructed."
"WHAT!?" Jackson's head suddenly raises up. He lunges at Consevatie's direction, until he's stopped by soldiers older, and larger than him. Even as their fists, or butt of their hilt fall on his back, the commoner templar continues to struggle against them while screaming murder at Consevatie. "You promised me you'll leave those boys alone, Consevatie!"
"And so what? Did you honestly believe that I would leave these loose ends around? Then you are as stupid as you are dirt poor. Should have stayed home plowing fields, Jackson." Conservative points at his own head, sneering down at his former henchman with pure glee. He turns around and holds his hands up at the two demi-human commanders. "Show them what we do to Shield Demon sympathizers."
"Gladly." The larger bat demi-human, Dumah looks rather stoic and reserved. But Zephon replies with the same sadistic smirk as Consevatie. He takes a branding iron from one of his fellow demi-humans, heating it up in the pit of magically lit fire till the branding grows red hot before dyeing magical ink on it. The bat demi-human does not show any sense of mercy to the younger boy who is dragged crying and squirming before him. "It'll only take a moment, little one. And make no mistake. This will definitely hurt you more than it hurt me."
The scream that comes as Zephon pressed the branding iron on the boy's chest is enough to wake the dead. The sadistic bat demi-human keeps the smirk on his face, until he pulls the branding iron away. By that point, the young child is little more than a writhing mess on the ground. The same one who back in Lute's abandoned mine, looked up at Mein with his big eyes and asked her to save his village.
Consevatie was right about her. In the end, she wasn't a hero. She can't save anyone, only drag the others down together with her.
"BILLY! NO! You monsters!" Raki is biting so hard with his teeth, it looks like he's going to shatter them. He spits at Consevatie's back. "You think bullying us, common folks make you strong?! You are nothing more than a criminal wearing a fancy dress! A thief! Flaunting your family's money stolen from us common folks. Without your daddy, you are NOTHING!"
Raki's words actually make Consevatie tense up. When he turned around, his face was as twisted by anger as Firo when she brutalized Raphtalia. Three Waves of Catastrophe have already happened, yet the Consevatie boy apparently didn't learn anything. His ego is still as fragile as before, someone who can throw around insults easier than an oversized merchant throwing around his weight, but can't take any that is aimed at him. He snaps his finger. "And you think you are strong? You copperless piece of little trash? Make an example out of this one."
The fugitive princess wonders with utter horror what kind of treatment would Consevatie consider to be 'made an example', considering what has already happened to Younger Billy. And then the ground around her begins to tremble, as the giant Blessed Battle Master of the Romalia Four Heroes' Church stomps over with all the glory of his armored plates and mountain-like muscles. He cracks his knuckles as he punches his right hand into his left hand, making sounds that reminded Mein when a hammer strikes an anvil. "Finally! Time to actually kill something."
"You can't just kill Raki! He's still a kid!" Naofumi tries to struggle from his captors once again, trying to edge his way over to the Younger Lute boy to shield him to no avail.
"What you keep yammering about, you glory-stealing sissy boy?" Roger of Ajax stops in front of Raki, scrunches up his face and gives Naofumi a disgusted look. "The little shit is old enough to carry a sword. He's old enough to die. I wouldn't worry about him if I were you. You are next."
"It's alright, Master Shield Hero." Raki gives Naofumi a smile, trying to comfort the Shield Hero even as Roger of Ajax raises his armored boots, reading to crush the boy's head like a rotten citrus cabbage. "This is the Wave of Catastrophe. People die."
"NO! YUZU! GET HIM!" Naofumi's scream confuses Mein for a brief moment. She assumed that their captors must have found out his pet abominations that's mimicking his belt and killed them, and that's why they haven't caused a scene and bite them yet. It seems like he's holding his pet balloons back, perhaps waiting for an opportunity to do something with them. His pants belt instantly snaps open, as three orange spheres pop into existence and jump onto Roger's raised leg, starting chewing at them. The giant man throws any sense of his previous 'manliness', as he falls backwards onto his back, while squealing louder than a dying pig. The Shield Hero isn't finished yet, as he barks out one last command even as his captors push him down into the dirt. "Take Raki and run! Find Eclair, find the other heroes! Tell them what happened!"
It seems like Naofumi's pet balloons have been with him long enough to grow enough sentience to fully understand his command. They jump off Roger of Ajax before his subordinates manage to close in, and form into a single being once again that somewhat resembles a cross between a common knight's raptor and the giant thunder lizard. The reformed Yuzu thunder raptor picks Raki up with his cloth using its maw, bounces and runs away from the gathered fighters and battle priests from both churches, and disappears into the forest towards north.
"Eclair? The traitorous daughter of the animal loving Seattos? She should have been executed before the Second Wave! She's still alive?!" Sister Amelia pauses for a brief second, before she starts screeching at the church fighters. Completely ignoring how she was just as ineffective. "YOU IDIOTS! You let the Shield Demon's pet monsters and that blasted village boy get away!"
"It's alright. No need to pop a blood vessel and make yourself look ugly, my dear. It's only three dumb monsters and a kid. What can they do even if they reach the three stooges? Who are useless losers to begin with." Consevatie continues to smirk, as if everything is still going as his plan rather than horribly flying off the handle. "Why, if that little shit brings the three weapon stooges to us, it'll just save us the trouble of hunting those three clowns down ourselves."
"You think that stunt was funny? You sneaky sissy boy?!" Roger of Ajax stomps his way over to Naofumi while Consevatie is busy appeasing his female henchmen.
"No?" Naofumi looks up at the mountain like a giant looming over him, he can barely open his eyes with his head pushed into the dirt. But he still managed to squeeze out a smile. "Although I have to admit. Seeing you scream like a little girl was funny when your favorite insult is 'sissy boy'."
With an animalistic scream, Roger of Ajax proceeds to kick Naofumi with his armored boots, right in the now shieldless Shield Hero's face. Seeing Naofumi suffering from the savage beating, Mein begins to desperately struggle against her own captor. She doesn't know what she'd do if she managed to get free, not that it's likely. But she doesn't want to see Naofumi suffering from this absolute… animal.
"NO!" Raphtalia throws herself right on top of Naofumi's body, she lets a few pained grunt as the boots of Roger of Ajax falls on her back. Seeing both Naofumi and Raphtalia suffering makes Mein redouble her effort. Not that it did her any good, as she gets a whip from the handle of a sword or a mace. Thankfully, she's not the only one who is trying to stop the out of control rage monster.
"Firo KICKS YOU!" A small figure rams into Roger of Ajax' back, knocking him over like an out of control filorial carriage. Considering Firo's real form, that analogy isn't too far away from the truth. The payback for the Romalian Four Heroes' Church's battle 'saint' was instant, as Firo began to furiously kick him with all her strength, making the giant rolling on the ground like a boulder sized pebble.
Consevatie's face is covered with a dark cloud as he walks over to Raphtalia, who is barely even breathing by this point. He seems to finally realize how much abuse the poor raccoon girl has suffered. But it still doesn't stop him from roughly dragging Raphtalia away from Naofumi's body, and tossing her into Sister Amelia's hands. "Heal her, Amelia. Don't let Raphtalia die."
Sister Amelia looks down at Raphtalia in her arms with utter disgust. But her hands still light up with healing light as she gives a curt nod to Consevatie. "Very well, my lord."
"RAGH!" Not far away, Roger of Ajax finally managed to peel Firo off his back, and threw her into the ground with enough force to create a small crater. Seemingly not satisfied after the furious rounds of kicking he suffered from Firo, he stomps his armored boots onto Firo's back and presses down a couple of times. Making sure the monarch filorial remains down for good before he stomps his way over to Consevatie. "YOU think it's funny to make your little pet kick me in the back, ya little shit?!"
"Yes. It was funny seeing you rolling on the ground like a barrel, you fatass has-been." Consevatie crosses his arms in front of his chest and sneers right back at Roger of Ajax. "You wouldn't have been kicked, if you didn't attack my girl in the first place. What. Don't tell me the war hero of Romalia, the Blessed Battle Master can't even handle a bird. I'm losing to a bird~!"
"WHY YOU LITTLE!" Roger of Ajax pulls his fist back, ready to punch Consevatie in the face like he did to his own loyal aide. But his eyes suddenly roll into the back of his skull, as he crushes onto the ground with a loud bang. Behind him, a demi-human wearing the tabard of the cross of Four Heroes' Church is holding a bloodied warhammer. One of Roger's own men. He has a pair of rat ears, and barely stands taller than Melty. But despite his diminished size, he seems to be strong enough to knock the giant down.
"What, you aren't going to defend your precious battle saint, rat?" Consevatie looks down at the rat demi-human, who tosses away his blooded warhammer in disgust.
"Defending him? Fuck NO!" The midget rat demi-human spits on the ground before turning around to leave without bothering to spare a single glance at Roger of Ajax' unconscious body. "Fucker might have pulled us out of poverty, but he used as like disposable pawns back in The Great War. Never bothered how many of us he killed because of his reckless charges, only cared about his own glory. He can look after himself, if he's such a big, strong, manly man."
"Oh, well. Now that's concluded." Consevatie shrugs his shoulder as he walks back, till he stops over Naofumi's broken form lying on the ground. He lets out another gleeful smirk as he pulls out his axe, holding it over the fallen Shield Hero. "Now, for the grand 'opening'."
"Wait. Why simply kill the Shield Demon, and Slut out here, when you could have both utterly humiliated them and used them to gain more prestige for yourself." To Mein's surprise, a voice with wobbly pronunciation stops Consevatie from executing Naofumi. She turns her face around, seeing Leon Bartfort slowly stand up from the ground.
Something doesn't feel right to the fugitive princess. Perhaps her past experience observing her parents' court is making her over-analyze the situation. Especially with how helpless she herself is caught in. But did Bartfort just suggested Consevatie to keep Naofumi alive, when he helped Consevatie plan Naofumi's capture? Something doesn't feel right here. Keeping the Shield Hero alive presents more risk, especially with Vittorio close by (even if his Blessed Battle Master turns out to be an accomplice of Consevatie, but he clearly had a lot of possible mutual disgust with Roger of Ajax judging from the battle saint's words). If the Shield Hero gets rescued in the end by someone and survives, both Consevatie and Bartfort will be condemned for no other reason than to appease the other nations.
Once again, something doesn't feel right here.
"Hmm… go on." Consevatie narrows his eyes as he scratches his chin. Clearly feeling intrigued with Bartfort's suggestion due to lack of better judgment.
"Think about it. You took down one of the four Cardinal Heroes, without even using a vassal weapon yourself." Leon Bartfort's smirk looks like some kind of demonic creature leading an errant knight astray in one of those trashy novels. "Do you want to kill him out here, where barely anyone will recognize your achievement? Or do you want to have a grand event, where you get to show the whole nation what useless idiots these so-called heroes are, and use their fall as your stepping stone to achieve power!?"
"Don't listen to this lowly border noble! He's trying to mislead you, Lord Consevatie. The traitorous daughter of the animal loving Seaettos still lives, and she clearly worked with the Shield Demon if he told his pet monsters to seek her out! And what about Vicar Vittorio of Romalia?" Sister Amelia runs over from the side, while baring her teeth at Bartfort. She also gives Mein a withering glare. "Not even Cromwell would agree about keeping the Shield Demon and her alive!"
"And what about them? Are you telling me that you are afraid of some knight who lost her home, and barely has a copper to her name? The sissy boy Vicar from a place you never heard before, or that old fart Cromwell of all people? Aren't you aspiring to become someone greater than the heroes, a god? And now you are going to let a bunch of nobodies dictate what you can and can't do?" Bartfort crosses his arms as he sneers back at Consevatie. Sister Amelia looks like she wants to argue more, but Consevatie holds his hand up to stop her.
"You trust me, don't you, Sister Amelia?" Consevatie the Younger turns to face Sister Amelia, grabbing her shoulder with his hand.
"Of course I do, my lord! You are my one and only master!"
"Good, good! Then don't worry, I have it all under control." Consevatie leans closer to Amelia's ear, whispering some venomous nothing that he probably thinks is sweet into her ears. On the other side, Bartfort starts to scream and writhe in pain once again. "Oh, and Bartfort, you little shit. Don't ever dare to speak to me with such an arrogant tone ever again. Remember, I hold your life in my hand, because you lost your challenge to me."
Bartfort slowly crawls back to his full height from the ground. Thanks to Mein lying on the ground, she managed to catch the vindictive glare shining in his eyes while Consevatie is none the wiser. "...Duly noted."
"Shame I can't put an actual slave seal onto the fake hero. I suppose a little mark will do." As for the rich noble boy, he takes the branding iron from Zephon. Heating it in the magical fire pit again, he moves over to stand over Naofumi as his lackeys pull the Shield Hero's clothes apart. He sneers down at Naofumi's unmoving body for a brief second, before pressing the burning piece onto the Shield Hero's chest. "You will remember in whatever brief moment of life I decided to grant you, that I, Siegmar Isaac Octavia Consevatie, is the one who utterly defeated you, Shield Loser."
"Now, for you," Consevatie turns around on his heel, dipping the branding iron into the fire pit again and then waited for his henchmen to dye magical ink onto its tips. "... should have groveled, and begged me to take you when you had the chance. I would have felt generous enough to take you in. But now… you will live and die as a slave, my dear Slut-Chan."
She doesn't stay conscious for long as the burning metal presses into her chest.
End Note:
Well, that happened. IS YOUR EXPECTATION SUBVERTED YET~?
Okay, jokes and memes aside, I hope this chapter is the good kind of subverting expectation and not 'I expected a good story and have my expectation subverted' kind of subversion. An event similar to this chapter was originally supposed to happen much later in ACT III in my original plan where Naofumi and Malty's group gets captured by Three Heroes Church, which would have lead to the three weapon heroes and their companions coming to their rescue in their execution event for the three weapon heroes to return Naofumi's kindness to them back in ACT II. Commissar Gaunt pointed out it wouldn't make much sense with how much depth I been adding to Three Heroes Church, and Pope Balmus. As if they were able to capture Naofumi and Malty, they'd have secretly execute them both for a sense of deniability to not have the crime traced back to them. Especially with Malty now possessing the Vassal Wand. So this idea was originally scrapped for my current iteration of ACT III.
The chance to salvage this idea came from Datnoob's contribution, who correctly pointed out it would be more in Leon Bartfort's personality to stab SIOC in the back for humiliating and enslaving him. So the idea of SIOC keeping Naofumi and Malty prisoner for a later public execution was born from my original idea, which makes slightly a bit more sense. As Bartfort was intentionally giving bad advice and fanning SIOC's ego to plan for his eventual downfall.
As for the big idea for this chapter, where it turns out Vicar Vittorio was never denied entry to the capital, and it was a rumor spread around by SIOC and a trap laid for Naofumi and Malty by Leon Bartfort. This idea was born around the chapter when I had Oersted, Streibough and Uranus (from Live A Live) join Naofumi and Malty's group. A bit of spoiler for the Super Famicom game. In the original game, Streibitch used his illussion magic to have Oersted assassinated their king, which inspired me with the idea of 3HC using an illussion to create a fake Vicar Vittorio to lure Naofumi and Malty into a trap. Originally, the illussion would have been created by Streibitch just like the game, but I decided him joining 3HC really doesn't make much sense, so this role ended up falling on Raphtalia's shoulder. And honestly, I think it worked out better this way where she unknowingly helped 3HC in capturing her surrogate father and mother because she was too busy trying to keep herself and Firo alive, and didn't think too much for the reason of her actions.
The idea of the whole fake Vicar Vittorio (particularly about the spread of the false rumor of how he was denied entry to the capital which lured Naofumi and Malty back to the capital in an attempt to have audiance with him) is also me once again, throwing shade at RotSH's canon. This time about Naofumi's name was quickly cleared up after a few waves where he went around solving some local problems. No, something like that would NOT have realistically happened, at least not how fast Alenko made it happen.
Alenko seemed to have forgotten (or they ignored it and hoped the readers forgotten about it if they don't mention it) the world their story took place in was medieval age (granted, magical medieval age, but still medieval age following a lot of the age's rules), not information age where any random yahoo with access on internet can make a viral video and have their brand of 'truth' heard by countless people. While there would definitely have been rumors about the good deed by the Shield Demon, a church that's powerful enough to cause a rebellion, and would have successfully overthrown the nation's ruling family if not for a literal author's Deus Ex Machina would have easily been able to sway what information people get to know. Especially through countless generation of indoctrination about the Shield Hero being a traitor to humanity and help out their bitter enemies. If 3HC actually did their job, most of the Melromarc would still hates Naofumi thinking he's the one who caused all the problems, while the weapon heroes are the ones who solved the problems he caused, which would not have lead to Pope Balmus trying to name himself a god supposedly because he can't smooch off the reputation of the heroes his faith worshipped.
So yeah. I liked how SIOC, a comparatively stupid character truly gets a win over Naofumi and Malty in this arc, leaving them with some pretty permnant physical, and emotional scars... with the help from Leon Bartfort, of course. It shows that just because a character is a dumb clown, doesn't mean the heroes doesn't have to play smart to beat them. Even an idiotic clown who is most of the time, the butt of the jokes have their days, and can still hurt them if they bat below their average.
Guest review time.
To Guest:
Thank you very much for your review once again, hope you are enjoying the story so far, and will continue to have a good time.
Also thank you for elaborating your reasoning for why you believe earth would actually be at a higher plane of existance than Medea. I do find your reasoning about Medea possibly being a pocket universe with one small solar system to be a very persuasive reasoning. I'm not sure I would actually make your suggestion canon, but this kind of theoretical pseudo science is still pretty fun to think over.
XD