When In Zeltoble
Hello everyone, happy belated Thanksgiving and welcome to the latest chapter of Armory of the Forgotten Hero! Our heroes are arriving in Zeltoble this chapter and it's a little different from some of the other cities they're used too. But one thing which hasn't changed, I'm still posting on Pat reon and if you like what I do and want to support me, see about becoming a patron! Now then, it seems we have no guest review questions this time around, so on to the chapter!
Nighttime: Zeltoble
"Take a look down below," Darius called from the front, "I think we're here." Both Johann and Rifana gasped in wonder as they dipped beneath a low hanging cloud and spotted the countless lights of numerous buildings. It was undeniably a city stretching out for miles with a large bridge crossing a massive body of water which characterized its border. And even in the dark, Darius recognized the shape of a coliseum sprouting up near the city's center.
"It may appear like a wondrous place from above," Izumi warned, "but be wary. There are just as many slums here as there are upscaled districts and many people who'd profit off of kidnapped individuals."
"Guess that's no surprise," Darius mused while ordering Johann to take them down towards Naofumi's wagon, "it is the city of merchants and mercenaries, meaning there are people here who'd do all manner of despicable things for money. Keep your guard up everyone." A trio of 'right' answered in response to this as they landed and met up with their friends on the ground. Next came the task of getting Johann to ride in the wagon.
At least that had been the expectation, but instead it was Izumi of all people who was holding them up. "You're really picking now of all times to change clothes," Naofumi commented with his hands on his hips. He couldn't actually see the horned girl since she was in the wagon.
"I believe it was discussed that disguising ourselves would help with moving around the city," Izumi called back, "but it is incredibly hard to change clothes while flying on the back of a dragon. No fault of his own, of course."
"Granted," Darius admitted, "but do you have at least a rough estimate of when you'll be?" He was interrupted by the horned girl hopping out of the wagon and landing in front of him, "done?" The reason for his surprised tone was obvious. Izumi had foregone her usual kimono-like outfit in favor of what amounted to a blue bra and panties with a see-through blue sash hanging around her waist and cuffs on her ankles and wrists. In short, she looked like a belly dancer.
"Do you think this suits me, Darius," she asked while posing with her arms above her head.
"It," the Armory Hero had to hit himself to stop from staring, "it suits you a little too well. I thought the goal was to not attract attention while we're here?"
"A master parading his servants around will look less suspicious than several people walking around in cloaks," Izumi offered.
"Pretty sure you just wanted to show off the outfit for Darius," Rifana commented with her arms crossed.
"You're not wrong," she admitted with an amused smile, "but don't worry, I planned ahead and got outfits for you, Raphtalia and Rishia as well."
"You want us to go out in public like that?!" All three girls exclaimed with expressions ranging from surprised to confused to slightly angry.
"I didn't want any of you to feel left out," Izumi put a finger to her chin, "though thinking about it now I suppose Rishia could pose as a sort of secretary since she doesn't have a man to show off for right now."
"How is it you managed to make that both reassuring and painful at the same time," Rishia sweat dropped.
"Gah, let's just go already," Naofumi grunted, "we're going to be spending a good bit of time in the wagon anyway, so it won't matter how you're dressed right now." This put an end to further discussion on the topic as the group, including a begrudging Johann, all piled into the wagon and crossed the bridge into the city. And it was very much like Izumi had described it.
Despite it being nighttime, the city was lively with throngs of people around every corner. Stalls seemed to line every street with shopping districts being just as abundant as the slums. In many ways it was chaotic, but upbeat in most cases. One of the more interesting facts Darius recalled about the place as they rode was that Zeltoble didn't actually have a king or queen. It was instead run by several big merchants who acted as a council and tended to the affairs of the country.
In theory, this meant they shouldn't be too concerned about the heroes and their parties so long as nothing happened which disrupted their business. Given the current hero's luck, however, it was highly likely they were about to step on someone's toes. But Darius pushed that thought to the back of his mind as they parked the cart and began walking towards their destination, knowing that it was a bridge they'd just have to cross when they got there. In the meantime, he was left to wonder how anyone wore such gigantic hats!
"Is there a reason you decided to dress like a musketeer," Naofumi asked as they walked.
"I've been wanting to try this look for a while," Darius explained as he adjusted the long blue cape hanging around his shoulders. The rest of his current ensemble could be described as a blue and silver musketeer outfit complete with a large hat with a feather in it. "Don't get me wrong, I love sneaking around with a cloak on but Izumi's got a point, too many of us going around dressed like that could potentially draw attention. This way, we have an alibi."
"And what sort of alibi would that be," the shield hero questioned, not needing to turn around for Darius to see the eyebrow he was undoubtedly raising.
"That I am a wealthy gentleman from Melromarc," Darius explained, "Rifana here is my lovely assistant and Izumi my devoted guard and servant girl. The rest of you are mercenaries I hired as guides and bodyguards." Funnily enough, Rifana had in fact donned a merchant's outfit of her own which consisted of white baggy pants, brown shoes, a long-sleeved yellow shirt, a grey vest and a circular hat which hid her ears.
"What about me, Boss," Johann asked while looking up from his own cloaked disguise.
"You and Filo can be our protégés," the Armory Hero answered while patting his mount's head, "we're showing you the ropes and the many fine places in the city."
"Yeah! I'm a protégé!" Johann cheered with his hands in the air.
"He has no idea what that means, does he," Rifana whispered to Darius.
"Doubt it," he almost laughed.
"Well we might need to tweak the part about fine places," Naofumi announced as they arrived at their destination, "because this place doesn't look super high class." He wasn't kidding. The location they'd arrived at was a tavern, nestled in between another couple of taverns. Even if it did have a second story it still looked a bit small in comparison to some of the others around it.
"This is supposed to be a shop," Raphtalia voiced her and a couple other party member's confusion.
"The slave merchant said we'd understand once we got here," the shield hero reminded as he opened the door.
"Hello, hello," greeted an all too familiar looking man in a black suit and top hat, "you must be the Shield and Armory Heroes along with your parties!"
"Huh, what are you doing here," Rishia asked in confusion. It was shared by most everyone else since the man they were looking at was Beloukas from Melromarc. Or was he?
"Ah, that sharp glare of yours is exactly as my nephew described, Shield Hero!" The man gushed while adjusting his glasses.
"Wait, you're not Beloukas?" Darius raised an eyebrow.
"No, I'm the uncle of the man you know in Melromarc," he explained, "I trade slaves here in Zeltoble. My nephew has told me you're one of his best customers. Now, come in, I have much to show you."
"Five bucks says this place has some sort of secret basement," the Armory Hero whispered to Naofumi who just shrugged while the merchant kept talking.
"In this country there are several places above the surface where you can have fun," he explained while walking around to the other side of the otherwise ordinary looking bar, "but the real fun lies elsewhere." The short man pushed in a bottle on a wine rack which was sticking out further than the others. In response, the entire rack slid to the side until only half of it was visible, revealing a hidden staircase. "There are stairs all over this city which lead underground to a place full of fun, excitement and shivers!"
"Called it, secret basement," Darius commented as both parties began descending the stairs behind their host.
"I'm willing to bet his idea of fun and shivers isn't the same as ours," Rifana surmised. Most everyone in the party agreed with that assessment, considering the man before them was a practical carbon copy of the one back in Melromarc.
"You're both lucky, Shield and Armory Heroes," the slave merchant continued, "I've heard what you're looking for has just come in today." The group entered a very large room then which resembled a theater. All the seats were filled with people of obvious prestige and wealth, their clearly expensive outfits a dead giveaway. But what caught their attention was the stage at the back of the room with a man standing behind a podium.
"And now our next item is one you've all been waiting for," he announced, "a demihuman from Rurorona Village which is now owned by the Shield and Armory Heroes!"
"An underworld auction," Naofumi realized.
"Here you can buy things you can't buy on the surface," the merchant explained, "slaves whose ownership is forbidden in Melromarc are being sold here tonight." And a prime example just showed up, a young demihuman girl in brown rags with dog ears and a tail.
"I'm a demihuman from Rurorona Village!" She announced with a surprising amount of happiness, considering her situation. The reason why became obvious when Raphtalia spoke.
"She's lying," the raccoon girl announced, her face a mixture of sadness and possibly a little frustration.
"I'll admit they tried to be convincing," Rifana added with narrowed eyes, "she's using the regional dialect of the village."
"So they're not just selling the real ones but fakes as well," Naofumi realized, putting a discrete but comforting hand on Raphtalia's back.
"Quite right," the slave merchant confirmed as the bidding went higher and higher. Darius stopped listening after it got to seventy two gold. "It's likely only those from Rurorona Village would be able to spot the real ones. I know you probably thought you were doing the right thing, but this is the result. You just don't know how things will go in business."
"Not entirely true," Darius announced as he put a hand on the man's shoulder and spoke in a lower, darker tone, "your nephew already knows this but if you try to screw us over in any way, not only will you be out of business I'll introduce you to something they have in my world called organ harvesting. We'll auction off your insides all over the country and the only thing left of you will be that little suit which we'll use to decorate a scarecrow."
"Oh ho, you're just as ruthless as my nephew told me," the merchant laughed nervously. By this point the auction had ended with the demihuman girl being sold off for a hundred gold pieces. "Of course I can't say when or where the real villagers will show up, but I do have solid information that one of them is here. Though I also heard you bought up the remaining slaves in Melromarc, so you're likely a little short on gold right now."
"We can't just shell out the amount they're asking for," Naofumi admitted, "but I'll bet you know a good way to make money fast." The slave merchant flashed his, family's, trademark toothy grin at that question.
"You no doubt saw the coliseum on your way in, right," he asked, "people there fight fair and with their honor on the line. It's a good moneymaker, but if you really want to make a lot fast, the underground arena is where you should go. As you've no doubt guessed, there are practically no rules down there so you do whatever it takes to win. You can bet on a dark horse or enter yourselves, so long as you succeed you'll gain the money you need for the auction."
"No doubt you'll enjoy betting on us too," Darius pointed out with his arms crossed.
"Ah, you've seen right through me," the merchant admitted shamelessly, "yes, I'm already prepared to set up an entry for you. Just thinking about how you plan on making the money is giving me the shivers!"
A Short Time Later: Local Inn
"So is this really our only option," Rifana asked in annoyance. The group was all currently meeting in the room that Naofumi's party would be using which had three beds, making it a little cramped. "I know most of us aren't at the top of our game right now but we've got the backing of the Allied Nations and you guys are cardinal heroes. Can't we, I don't know, raid this place and get everyone back? We can even use the excuse that we're recruiting them to help keep the world from ending."
"I wish it were that simple," Naofumi sighed from his position in the center of the room, "but we don't have near enough intel to pull something like that off right now. And even if we did it'd take time to get something like that organized and if any of our targets caught wind of a possible raid they'd hightail it. Sure we could do it ourselves while we're here but it's the same problem, word gets out that we're after specific individuals and the owners hightail it."
"A lot of our friends are here right now because it's known that we have an interest in them," Raphtalia reminded with drooping ears, "if we act carelessly, it might accidentally make things worse." Rifana deflated at the logic, prompting Darius to put a comforting arm around her shoulders.
"I don't like it either," the Armory Hero placated, "if we find a better way we'll use that way. For now, the important thing is that we get your friends back." His girlfriend nodded in understanding.
"I guess it's not really all that different from how we've done things before," the weasel girl admitted, "alright, what do we need to do first?"
"First we'll need to get the lay of the land," Naofumi began, "Darius and I will check out the underground coliseum and see how things work. While we're doing that, Raphtalia and Rifana will make a list of all the missing villagers we need to find. As for everyone else, rest up for the time being and if we're not back within a few hours, start looking for us at the location the slave merchant gave us." A series of nods and affirmatives came in answer to this decision.
Later: The Underground Coliseum
It would seem the slave merchant hadn't been kidding about multiple passages and stairways. The location they'd been given was another tavern, one of a number, which led to the hidden arena. He'd been kind enough to provide them with a ticket of sorts to get in and what both heroes found did surprise them a bit. The name underground coliseum had been no exaggeration, the place was a literal full-sized coliseum under the ground.
It was made up of multiple levels too. There were the main stands located around the arena itself, another level littered with tables and what one would call conscession stands built into the walls and then there was the level Darius and Naofumi were on which contained bars with viewing areas for everyone to watch the fight. Naturally the private boxes were even higher than that, containing tables, games and other forms of entertainment. "Wonder if this place used to be more legitimate," Darius mused aloud as he and Naofumi took a seat at a table across from each other, making it easier for them to talk while watching the current match: an armored humanoid panda against an armored elephant woman.
"Who knows," Naofumi shrugged, "maybe they started with a public underground coliseum and decided the matches looked better in the daylight or there was just that much demand for a seedier type of competition." The Armory Hero personally hoped for the former because it was a little depressing to think a place this large was built for the sole purpose of shadier entertainment. But at the moment he figured it didn't make much of a difference how it wound up the way it did, just how they were going to work with it the way it was now. So he did his best to focus on the current spectacle before him and ignore the loud drunk woman a few tables away claiming victory over her currently passed out opponent.
At least that was the plan until said drunk sauntered over and set a mug down on the table between them. "I don't believe I've seen you two before," she cooed with a pleasant smile, "is this your first time?" Darius shot a look towards his friend who did one thing he'd become very good at: giving people the cold shoulder. The Armory Hero decided to follow his lead and turned his attention back to the match.
"Oh my," she put a hand to her mouth in slight surprise, "you don't seem to be having much fun. Let's start with a drink." Again the two heroes refused to answer but unfortunately the woman was ready this time. "If you don't, you might not be able to keep those seats for long."
She indicated the bartender who was eyeing them both with a look of annoyance. 'Guess this place still works like a regular bar,' Darius mused. "Waitress," Naofumi called, "give me the cheapest alcohol you got and something nonalcoholic for my friend." For some reason this made more than a couple patrons laugh, something about the woman getting rejected.
"I'm guessing you're a regular around here," the Armory Hero observed as the stranger pulled up a chair and sat between them, noticeably closer to Naofumi than him. But he was more concerned about the two-pronged harpoon on her back. It resembled a mancatcher with a pointed blade on the other end and was very well made. If Darius hadn't known any better he might've assumed it was a vassal weapon given how decorated it was, even having a blue jewel on it.
Actually now that he took a better look at the person intruding upon their recon he could see why she was surprised to be turned down. She was attractive, with long black hair reaching past her waist that was tied at the end, resembling a fish's tail. Her outfit didn't leave much to the imagination with black sleeves on her upper arms and lower legs, a short blue vest, white wrapping around her large bust, a white loincloth over blue panties and sandals on her feet. She also had nice white skin and soft blue eyes which flitted back and forth between the match and Naofumi.
"You can call me Nadia," she replied with a small smile without looking in his direction, "and you could say I'm known around these parts." The woman might've said more but a sudden flash of light drew their attention. The elephant woman and panda had been trading punches with the panda managing to gain the upperhand, that is until a barrier suddenly sprang up and protected the pachyderm fighter.
"That magic wasn't from the elephant woman," Naofumi exclaimed before he and Darius both looked around, discovering the source to be from an individual in a peacoat. He wasn't the only one in the arena either. Similar individuals were stationed at seemingly random locations all over the coliseum.
"Oh my, you two really are new here," Nadia realized with slight surprise, "those individuals there are paid something called support money by the guests to lend aid to their chosen fighters."
"Are only those guys out there allowed to give support," the shield hero decided to ask.
"That is the general rule," the harpoon woman confirmed, "I hear they once tried allowing the audience themselves to do it but that became too hard to manage so they came up with this system."
"Guess it would be hard to cast with a raving crowd around you," Darius admitted, "can we knock 'em out if they start to become a pain? This place was advertised as having no rules."
"Maybe, maybe not," Nadia cooed, "if you two keep me company for a bit, I could tell you all kinds of things."
"You mean milk the money out of us," Naofumi pointed out her true intentions immediately before standing up, "come on Darius, we can look up the rules ours-."
"Sasa-chan is the one who's going to win this time," Nadia interrupted, causing the two heroes to pause before she clarified, "the panda. Her full name is Larsazusa but most call her Sasa because it's easier. Which one did you happen to be betting on? Or are you both here to enter yourself?"
"Maybe, maybe not," Darius commented as he sat down, "why don't we see if your prediction comes true first." The drunk woman simply smiled. Not long after that, the one known as Sasa-chan used a magical attack which produced a clustering tower of bamboo shafts, knocking her opponent into the air before she landed with a thud. The elephant woman was clearly unconscious as the panda fighter was declared the winner.
"So you've got good intuition," Naofumi admitted with a sigh as he sat down, "fine. We didn't bet on either of them."
"That's a shame," Nadia almost laughed, "it's a waste if you didn't enjoy it."
"Tell me, did that panda also have support magic?" The Shield Hero asked. The harpoon woman's answer to that was to smile and lightly shake her mug of alcohol. "Ugh, fine," he lifted up his own mug and chugged a rather substantial amount before slamming it down, "I'll buy you a couple rounds but in exchange we don't answer any of your questions unless you answer ours."
"That's more like it," the drunk raised her glass, "waiter, more alcohol please!" 'Never a dull moment,' Darius sighed, feeling oddly like a third wheel in this whole exchange. Hence why he only answered the occasional question and instead watched the next match between a demihuman with tiger features named Fohl and a noble with a sword. Still, he managed to learn enough.
Competitors could enter alone or as a team of up to three people, which would be good news for their parties, there was little to no limit on the use of weapons or magic, and the most popular matches were three-on-three team matches. Nadia was a little surprised to find out they might be entering as competitors but her attention was quickly diverted when the white tiger boy lost. "Poor kid, don't you think," Nadia sighed while resting her head on her hand.
"I wonder what they offered for him to throw the match," Darius mused while noting the boy's stats, "he's pretty strong for a kid."
"Something valuable," Naofumi guessed with a melancholy look, "he's clearly the one who agreed to fix the match."
"He was," Nadia acknowledged before standing up, "I think that's enough drinking for one day. Thanks for the company." She walked away with a wave then as the two heroes mulled over what they'd learned.
"So," Darius knew he was stating the obvious, "I guess we're doing this." Naofumi simply nodded, getting a sigh out of the Armory Hero. "Just another day in the life of heroing."
The Present
"Darius," Naofumi's voice came over his HUD, "I think that should be enough. Raphtalia's castingthe illusion now."
"Good, Johann's getting restless," the Armory Hero quipped as he adjusted the short halberd he'd been using before speaking to his party members, "it looks like this is it." His girlfriend and mount got the signal as an odd feeling washed over them, one they recognized as Raphtalia's magic. "Now let's take 'em!" Johann and Rifana launched into action as Darius threw his halberd like a spear.
The surprised mage quickly responded by blowing the weapon away, not realizing it was a feint until Darius had already moved in with a sword handle in his grasp. "Thanks for being a test subject!" Darius ignited the blue mana blade and jammed it into the mage's stomach, causing him to cry out in pain and surprise before collapsing from depletion of his mana. Rifana and Johann were equally done wasting time with their own opponents.
Johann kicked the ax wielding member of the enemy team in the face, knocking him back into the wall, which nearly cracked, before he fell over unconscious. The last opponent tried to use a shield which was easily batted aside by Rifana before she knocked him in the head with the studded club she was using. The party regrouped then as Raphtalia's illusion faded. The trio made a show of being winded, breathing in and out more heavily before Darius raised his fist in the air, "we DID IT!"
A chorus of both cheers and boos answered this declaration. They would be the first of many. For over the next few days, two teams would be rising through the ranks: Team Kon and Team Rock Valley.
It appears the time has come for our heroes to shake their moneymakers(weapons) again and this time they're doing it like the Romans. Their entrance might be easy enough but we'll see how long it stays that way. So in the meantime feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Also, check out my Pat reon and see about becoming a patron! Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes participate in perhaps the most lethal competitive sport in the land! 'Til then.