Shirou and Naofumi entered Lute village without drawing too much attention. They were being discreet to get the best idea of the town's overall reception to demi-humans.

Banding together to combat against a Wave of Calamity was one thing, but coexisting without prejudice after was another matter.

Though Keel and Raphtalia were starting to look like adults through leveling and experience gain, the respective images Shirou and Naofumi had of the two were when they were children.

This world was just weird.

Perception was what had to be changed, but Naofumi and Shirou had yet to properly adapt.

After the events of the Wave, many of the residents were still in a state of post recovery and clean up.

The hustle and bustle of the people was accompanied by the yelling and urging of sweating men lifting wooden beams and women holding baskets of refreshments.

These people didn't even look they had time to care about demi-humans, religions, or even monster attacks from damaged walls. Rebuilding appeared to be the only thing on their minds.

"It seems alright." Naofumi tentatively said before glancing at Shirou. "What's your magic say?"

He and Shirou were wandering near the heart of Lute village, and were intermingled with the crowd.

Shirou raised a brow at Naofumi, but didn't react much else as he shut his eyes and focused on his other senses.

"It's Reinforcement," Shirou soon opened his eyes, shifting his attention away from his hearing. "No one in the vicinity appears to be averse to demi-humans. Jeff cheated his friend at poker, and a person named Scott is involved in marital affairs."

"Perfect- I mean ouch for that Scott guy." Naofumi cringed at his fopaux. "I really don't want to get used to sleeping on bed rolls and annoying mosquitoes."

Offering a sly smile, Naofumi sighed in relief and turned his feet around. "Let's go back and get Keel and Raphtalia."

Shirou nodded in agreement, eyeing the temporary field kitchen the village had set up with twitching fingers.

"-This is ridiculous!"

Shirou and Naofumi stopped in their tracks.

The two furrowed their brows at the sound of a familiar voice echoing through the racket of the bustling crowd.

"Is that who I think it is?" Shirou murmured with knit brows before frowning.

Naofumi had no answer.

They glanced at each other in disbelief before making their way through the streets and towards an open plaza where a wooden platform was raised.

On the platform was a female knight with an exhausted expression. Veins were popped over her temples, and the limits of her patience were clearly being tested as she stood being gawked at by the crowd while wearing a locked pillory.

"Yup." Naofumi answered Shirou's question in a daze.

The female knight was none other than Éclair, the person who acted as the Shield Hero's party's escort just the other day.

Beside Éclair was a man who looked terrified and sheepish about the whole ordeal while the crowd whispered in low voices.

Éclair felt like some circus animal.

"Do you think the King will stand for this? Release me!" Éclair said, voice growing heated. "When has listening to the First Princess ever led to a good outcome?!"

The man beside Éclair, the present mayor of Lute village shuddered. He agreed with the statement, but the man wasn't of the same status as Éclair or a Knight.

"F-Forgive us." The mayor pleaded, refusing to release Eclair's lock. "There's no choice…"

"There's always a choice!" Éclair bristled, magic energy rising as her temper was about to explode.

"T-Thank you for not raising your blade against us, Ms. Knight." The mayor glanced away in shame.

With the mayor's power alone, even if he gathered the town's militia, Éclair wasn't an easy target. If not for Éclair valuing her honor and integrity enough to think of civilian lives, she would have never offered herself to this farce.

"Ugh." Éclair groaned, finally sweeping her attention away from the mayor and towards the crowd.

Éclair froze, there and then, the deepest of shame welling up from within her.

"Eclair?" Shirou called, pushing through the crowd to reach the platform with Naofumi.

Mouth drying, Éclair's heated voice suddenly became that of a mouse.

"...This isn't what it looks like."

"I thought you said you were capable?" Naofumi said, half joking, half concerned.

Eclair glared at Naofumi before reluctantly sighing in bitterness. She gestured to her restraints with her eyes.

"Just get me out of here," Éclair requested.

The mayor was the first to protest, blocking Shirou and Naofumi with his arms spread out.

"B-But Ms. Knight, the first Princess will-"

"Call it a prison break." Éclair had had enough. "I've yet to be tried in a trial to be labeled as a real criminal!"

The mayor wilted, arms falling to his side as Shirou and Naofumi moved past him.

"You have the key- right bullshit projections." Naofumi deadpanned, staring at Shirou.

Scanning the pillory's lock mechanism, with Structural Analysis, Shirou projected a key that freed Éclair from her restraints.

"Thank you," Eclair said, rubbing her wrists and neck. "This wasn't how I'd intended to meet with you both again upon getting here, but this isn't the time to be idle."

Eclair immediately pushed through the crowd while gesturing for Shirou and Naofumi to follow her to a more secluded place.

They ended up settling on a dilapidated barn that was barely hanging together from the Wave.

"What's going on?" Shirou was the first to broach the topic.

Éclair hesitated, shifting her weight from foot to foot before giving up.

"I wasn't tasked with only escorting the Shield Hero's party to Lute village, but also tasked with another assignment by the King," she explained.

Moving to make sure there were no others listening in, Éclair moved closer to Shirou and Naofumi while whispering in a low voice.

"Though remote, Lute village is also the site of many branches of the Three Heroes Church spread across Melromarc. Considering the relationship between the Three Heroes Church and your party, the King was cautious about dissuading 'rash' action."

"What for?" Naofumi asked, growing invested now that he was getting caught up in all these conspiracies.

"The King is cautious of Balmus." Eclair finally admitted. "After the Wave celebration party, and the class advancement with the Dragon Hourglass, we got word that Balmus has disappeared from the Church."

"Then why Lute?" Shirou said.

Éclair wet her lips, more than certain now that she recalled the actions of the First Princess to accuse her of heresy.

"...Because that's where the Shield Hero's party would be. Now listen closely."

Éclair began recounting her encounter with Myne, and the potential location Balmus could have gone.

At the Shield Hero's camp, Keel was quietly lacing her boots while Raphtalia stood hesitantly beside her.

"Keel, maybe this isn't the best idea?"

Keel rolled her eyes and looked away from her friend.

"Then you can choose not to follow?" Keel finished tying one boot and moved to the other. "Like my father once said, if you want to be treated like a man, act like a man!"

Hopping onto her feet, Keel stared at the tidied camp before holstering her spear on her back and securing the loose blouse over her top.

She was ready.

"Uhm," Raphtalia blinked, Filo perched on her head and looking for food. "But we're not-"

Keel cut Raphtalia off, not realizing she'd said anything wrong.

"I'm not the smartest Raph, but it's not hard to see what Lord Shirou and Naofumi are doing for us." Keel said with uncharacteristic seriousness.

She bit her lips. "Instead of sleeping on soft beds, they were out here camping and even woke up early. Do you really believe them when they say that something came up and that they'd hunt for monsters in the surroundings?"

Raphtalia winced, opening and closing her mouth but not going out anything concrete. "Thats…?"

Keel's nose twitched, sniffing the air.

She soon gave Raphtalia's the blandest look. Something close to 'told you so.'

"Their scent is in the opposite direction of the forests, Raph." Keel turned towards Lute village, pointing a finger. "It leads there. We both know why."

Despite Raphtalia's resistance, she was still getting ready to leave just like Keel.

She knew exactly what Keel was talking about.

"I'm already used to people pointing fingers at me or telling me to lift this or that since I was a kid," Keel put on a strained smile, flexing her bicep. "But Lord Shirou and Naofumi seem to think we can't endure it."

"They're wrong," Raphtalia found herself nodding. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't listen."

Keel raised her tail up like a flag pole and huffed as she trudged to Lute village.

"Then you can stay here."

She'd find Shirou and Naofumi and personally show them that words would no longer affect them as they did when they were little children.

"Wait!"

Raphtalia grabbed her sword and chased after Keel with little Filo jumping off Raphtalia's head and nestling herself comfortably in the groove of Raphtalia's bosom.

Keel and Raphtalia eventually entered Lute village.

The area was primarily farmland with just one hotel for travellers, but a forest existed on the far side where the Shield Hero's party had camped out of sight for the night.

There was a market center, and shops filled with merchants hawking their wares lined several parts of the market streets.

After repairs, the commerce sector would surely boom again. Due to its convenient location by many trade routes, it was a primary stop over for caravans and wanderers.

Standing with their demi-human features apparent, there was surprisingly not a lot of attention directed at them. The few passersby gave them dirty looks, but the vast majority minded their own business and didn't meddle. There were too many things to do, and the only ones with time on their hands to deride Keel and Raphtalia were other travellers to Lute.

"See? It's fine," Keel said, Raphtalia slowly nodding behind her. "Now let's find Lord Shirou and Naofumi."

It was easier said than done.

Although Lute village was rather small, it was crowded.

No matter where Keel or Raphtalia looked, it was hard to find Shirou and Naofumi in the crowd. Keel had even tried using her nose several times, but there were too many different smells and signals lingering in the air for it to be of much use.

Wandering the streets, Keel was just about to round the corner to another fork in the road when Raphtalia suddenly grabbed her by the head and pushed her.

"Duck." Raphtalia hissed.

Raphtalia hastily pushed Keel's head down and ushered them behind the cover of a shop vendor's stall who gave the both of them an unappreciative glare.

"Whaat?"

Keel paused mid speech, her nose twitching.

Her eyes widened as she stifled a growl when Raphtalia made a shushing gesture with her finger over her mouth.

Through the crowd, the distinct figures of three people surrounded by their own parties were impossible not to notice when the crowd was whispering and pointing at them.

The Sword Hero, the Spear Hero, and the Bow Hero were all present in Lute.

Raphtalia and Keel's eyes dilated.

Why were they all here?

Without Shirou or Naofumi with them, neither Keel or Raphtalia were keen on getting noticed. Especially given Lord Motoyasu's tendencies.

"The back alley," Raphtalia whispered.

Keel nodded.

Fortunately, another large crowd that had formed from some other public event helped conceal Keel and Raphtalia's movements.

The alley the two headed towards was less an alley, and more just a cramped space between buildings with trash strewn here and there.

Keel and Raphtalia had expected to be the only ones using the alley as a refuge, or at least some place to stay out of sight, but they ended up with company.

From the other end of the alley, hurried footsteps echoed over the dirt.

There was a girl with blue hair tied up into twin tails rushing past them that ended up tripping on trash left along the ground.

The girl had not noticed the trash in the dimness of the alley. That or her own urgency blinded her to her surroundings.

Observing the girl, Keel and Raphtalia noticed certain peculiarities.

Twigs and bramble were stuck in her hair, while her fancy goth-Lolita dress was all ruffled up and stained with dirt patches.

Judging from the direction she'd come from, Keel and Raphtalia could see a forest entrance at the end of the alley. That, and a small hole in the village's walls that a child or someone small could crawl through.

Damages had yet to be fully repaired since the wave, and it showed.

Nonetheless, the girl pouted as she picked herself up from her scraped knees.

She looked the very picture of a sheltered but determined noble lady. Even the stockings she wore were torn at her fall, but the main focal point of Keel and Raphtalia's stares was the bow on her back.

"Ooowe, no." The girl pursed her lips, swaying on her feet as she'd been running the entire time. "Please don't be too late."

Raphtalia coughed, getting the little girl's attention.

"Need a little help?" Raphtalia offered in a sweet voice.

However, the girl froze while staring at Keel and Raphtalia.

Keel and Raphtalia thought the girl was focusing on their demi-human features and grew awkward, but in truth the girl was recalling the reports she'd once read.

Excitement quickly replaced the urgency on the girl's face.

"Y-You both!"

"Yes?"

The both asked skeptically, a little Filolial peaking out of Raphtalia's bosom.

"Filo!"

The girl's eyes brightened considerably at Filo's cheer before she quickly snapped out of it.

"Where's the Shield Hero?!" She demanded.

I love the holidays, but man is it hard to find time to write properly with work, holidays, and festivities going on.

Thanks for reading!

Free web novel :[The Apostate in Grim Fantasy] (For those that asked, the web novel is available on webnovel and the patron main page, leave a review if you'd like! New goal is 20 reviews)

Next update: Birth of a Legend V2

P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious

Book links:

Fatedlegacydark

New Book: Out on Amazon (Remove dash on link)

Survivor's Log Reflection: Amazon.c-om/dp/B08VDDGN7Z?