Chapter 34 – What Lay Hidden

"Gau…"

"GAU~!"

After Lola's arrival, Reina got to explaining how she came into contact with her and the rest of her family. She would have saved the conversation for later, but Lola found a way to entertain herself. Right after dismissing the imp, she strode up to Kuromo and started looking him over.

Kuromo had tried putting on an intimidating front, but Lola only seemed amused by it. When he let out a shout, she gave one right back. They started going back and forth, which seemed like would go on for a bit.

That was 10 minutes ago. Now, Kuromo was partially hidden by a tree, still trying to sound fierce. Lola, for her part, was as happy as when she first started.

"Hm. I see." Grim nodded, having listened to Reina's explanation. "If I'd heard about your dealings with them through rumor instead of firsthand, I would have been more reluctant to meet with you. I still would have, but…"

"Yeah." Reina could understand his position. Running away from, getting dragged around by, and then getting saved by the Demon Lord's children didn't sound all that heroic. Add in the way Lola, and even Meru, acted with her was a pretty bad look.

"I didn't think they were that strong." Maria commented.

Reina had told her and Vyrdrun a lot before, but a few details were missed here and there. For starters, the two golems that guarded Savia's castle were pretty well-known. Each one was as strong as a level 100 adventurer with average equipment. Derdir and Maphai seemed to handle them with little issue.

Whatever Derdir did to himself and his children made them incredibly strong. If Reina had to guess, their stat growth was probably similar to Kuromo's. Meru had basically said they were fused with black dragons. Reina compared Kuromo's stats to what her other three party members said theirs were, and his growth rate was much higher.

Reina didn't know how much of a bonus her weapons provided Kuromo in terms of stats, but she had the sinking feeling Derdir somehow gave himself and his children a larger one. Plus, they could use equipment to add to their power.

"So, we're really just going to take her with us?" Grim asked, crossing his arms. He looked over at the dragon girl who continued to cow the much larger dragon.

Reina nodded. "If Meru—if Meruthia wasn't at the last Wave, we'd be dead right now."

She clenched her hand, squeezing the one in her grasp. All throughout her explanation, she didn't let go of Maria's hand.

"Since we can't get to Lespax to bring knights, it'll just be us five and Lola. We could use the help ending the Wave quickly." Reina further added.

"Daddy doesn't want me fighting the monsters! Only making sure you don't die!" Lola happily called over her shoulder before going back to scaring poor Kuromo.

Reina sighed. Lola seemed to have heard their whole conversation. At least Reina didn't say anything Lola probably didn't already know. "Well, Lespax's last Wave had a Demon Lord show up at the end anyway. We don't really lose anything by bringing her, and having backup would be good."

That was the main reason. The unsaid one was that Reina didn't want to do anything to annoy Derdir. Intentionally leaving his daughter behind would probably do that.

"I can't argue against that. You'll hear no complaints from me." Grim let out a sigh. "Although, your relationship to the Demon Lord sounds a bit too close to politics for my tastes."

"Yeah, I noticed that…" Reina had that realization at some point, though perhaps not that exact phrasing. "He won't kill me because he needs me to fight the Waves, and I can't kill him."

"I'm fine with this as well." Vyrdrun gave a nod. "Meruthia gave no indication of hostility to us, and her sister is much the same."

"I'm good with this." Maria added. The smile on her face turned impish as she looked at Reina. "Besides, I want to see how you act around her, Big Sis~."

Before Reina could retort, Grim spoke up. "I have to admit, I'm a little curious myself. Recorded history of the first empress has to be taken with a grain of salt. I wondered what kind of women the Totem Hero would gather around her."

That got Reina's full attention real quick. "She's a child!"

"She's an adult." Grim said back.

"She's a child!" Reina repeated intensely.

"I'm an adult, Big Sis!" Lola called out, keeping her eyes on Kuromo. "What are we talking about?"

"Nothing!" Reina yelled back to her.

"Technically, she is an adult." Grim said with a hint of finality.

Technically…he was right. This world considered people—humans, at least—to be adults at 15, which Lola was. Reina didn't particularly like that, especially with how she saw Lola acting whenever they met. She did concede that they were only two years apart, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal if there was anything between them. Aside from, of course, her sister Maphai probably killing her.

Reina also realized how much she was compartmentalizing her interactions with the girl. She didn't forget how she was chased around and feared for her life, however fake the attempt actually was. It was just seeing Lola act the way she did made her seem younger.

And not a powerful, terrifying being that could kill all of them right now.

"Yeah, I'm crazy alright." Reina sighed.

More importantly, that family led an assault that killed thousands of people. There was no way these two were seriously…

"Wait a minute." Reina glared at both Maria and Grim. "Forget Maria. Are you screwing with me, Grim?"

The noble met her stare for a few seconds before turning his head to the side, letting one hand fall to rest against his hip. "A little."

Reina really couldn't see the man doing that. Though, she could say the same for Vyrdrun, but the shaman had his rare moments.

"I'm not!" Maria said, raising her free hand. "I've wanted to know your preferences for a while now, but now I have a better reason to~. I know you like a bunch of different types, but which do you like the most? Is it perhaps mine~?" She finished, trailing her free hand up and down her well-proportioned frame.

Reina fought hard against the rising temperature of her face. "It's your fault I'm like this…" She murmured.

Maria smiled. "Oh my~! So you do like my figure the most!"

This was not how this day was supposed to go at all. Reina was supposed to enjoy the feeling of her relationship with Maria taking a large step forward. The teasing was fine, expected even, but the direction it took involving Lola was too much.

She supposed they all felt a tinge of helplessness in their situation.

"Okay, this has been fun and stress relieving, but we should get going." Reina said. Anything to end this line of discussion, really. "Kuromo!"

The dragon didn't hesitate to dash over to Reina, ending his awkward gallop directly behind her. Lola swiveled when Kuromo passed her, slowly walking over herself. Kuromo ducked down at her approach, keeping his head behind Reina's body.

"I really have to do something nice for Kuromo later. He really enjoyed flying with me on his back, so that's a good start. I'll just have to try not getting sick from it." Reina thought, letting go of Maria's hand to pet Kuromo on the side of his face.

"So, where are we heading, Big Sis?" Lola asked, bending over slightly with her claws behind her back. Her tail swished around, almost like a dog's.

"West." Reina told her. "We need to keep our distance from the capital for whenever they learn about what happened at the Wave."

"What do you mean?" Lola tilted her head to the side.

"The templars tried to kill us." Reina supplied, a little curious as to why Lola didn't know. "They said I was a fake and needed to die."

"Oh!" Lola straightened out. "You don't have to worry about that, Big Sis! They're all dead."

Confusion, relief, horror, and a few other emotions flooded into Reina in a moment. "How? Why?"

Lola scratched the back of her head, her claw sifting through her long, light brown hair. "I love Sister Meru, but…she's kind of dumb."

That was a fact Reina had already become aware of, and she already had an idea where this was going.

"She said you were about to get attacked and tried to defend you, but then you disappeared. But all those templars saw her, so she had to kill them. I mean, I'm happy there are more dead templars, but she didn't think about what she was doing."

"Oh." Reina didn't have much of a response to the realization that a few dozen people were killed. Given what they tried to do, she couldn't say she was sad about it. Despite what they did do, she wasn't even that happy.

"But you're right about getting away from Keston." Lola added. "Daddy thinks they'd probably try to pin that town's destruction on you, calling you a failure of a hero."

With a wince, Reina turned away. While the circumstances were different from what would be said, they weren't wrong. She brought the templars there. If not for her, that town might still be there.

"Hm." Grim crossed his arms once more. "I could see that happening. With how easily they turned against you, the churches likely don't hold you in high regard."

Reina could only wonder which actions led to that opinion. Certainly yelling at the leaders and giving a veiled threat were high on the list of reasons.

"I might also have to revise my opinion on this Demon Lord." Grim raised a finger.

"You can't be serious." Reina gave him a look.

"Two of his daughters have no problem killing templars and he was part of the attack on my country's greatest trade competitor, one that likes to emulate the old empire." Grim reasoned. "I haven't heard of any issues in Hascain before I left, and it doesn't sound like he's going to stop you from traveling there. They seem fine to me."

Reina could hardly argue. Given his point of view, he probably wouldn't be against what's happened.

"I like you!" Lola said with a laugh. "We should fight some templars together, Uncle."

Grim took in a sharp breath. "I am 19."

"Really?" Lola asked. "You look a lot older."

"…I think I'm ready to start traveling." Grim's desire was shared by at least one other person in the group.

~Forging Legends~

While they might not be actively hunted at the moment, it was still beneficial to keep moving west. There were more monsters to hunt, including a few new ones for weapon forms. One such monster gave a rather pleasing bonus.

Giant Crocodile Rod
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: intermediate compounding recipes 1

On the list of recipes available were MP potions. Reina had been gathering anything that looked usable, and therefore had the ingredients to make them. Once she unlocked it—which would be sometime before the end of the day—she'd be able to increase their stock of those potions. As it was, they only had what remained after Keston's Wave, plus a few more that Lola brought from their formerly abandoned gear.

Another benefit was increasing levels, though only modestly. That did bring Reina up to level 45, which opened up another black dragon form. The bonus, however…

Black Dragon Bone Amulet
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: blind-sense

If her armor didn't already grant her that ability, Reina would've been happier about it. The bonus didn't make the ability any stronger or reach any further, so it was put on the backburner for now. It'd be better if she switched out her armor again, which was likely in the future. She wanted to see more of Baric's works that he was proud of—the fact that he didn't consider her current armor among them still baffling her.

One detriment was that there was now a third person who could and would eat raw monster meat. Lola didn't really fight monsters, since she wasn't in the main party and didn't want to take any XP from them. She did, however, help herself to one of the giant boars they killed. It didn't taste good anyway, so Reina had no real problem losing the meat. Although, Lola did eat it right in front of Kuromo, practically challenging him to try taking it.

At this point, she was just bullying the poor dragon. The treats Reina would have to give Kuromo to make up for this were piling up.

They kept moving west to continue hunting, seeing as they'd be fighting monsters instead of people tomorrow so the additional training wasn't need. Reina's magic wasn't going to improve enough in a day, and the spell she was trying to create replicated a Forge ability anyway. Instead, they worked on how they'd function in a group.

Vyrdrun and Grim would be in the front, with the former providing more support for the latter against stronger opponents. Vyrdrun could use one of the item drop spears to corral a monster while Grim would use a devastating attack with his cleaver. Maria, obviously, would take up the rear and mow down enemies with her magic.

That left Reina and Kuromo, who could both fulfill multiple roles. Kuromo had hard scales to deflect blows, sharp talons to rend enemies, and an acid breath to use both up close and at a short distance. He could also fly, which would give them a number of advantages depending on how it was used.

Reina outfitted her two spirits at opposite ends: one for attacking and one for defending. The attacker used the zombie template while the defender had the advanced doll template. The zombie gave more defense and HP, but the doll had more resistances. The defender spirit would also function as support. Both Healing Touch and Healing Aura were put on it, to give it a healing ability and increase healing from all sources in the area for her party. She could also swap to the Azure Star Amulet to increase any healing she provided.

She also got a skill recently from a church weapon form: Shift Spirit. It allowed her to teleport her spirit anywhere in range of her. The cooldown was short and the SP cost was low, much like Change Spirit. It would allow even more flexibility.

One interesting thing Reina discovered was that she could summon her second spirit close to the first one, not just a certain distance from her. Therefore, she could summon one, immediately move it to an enemy with Shift Spirit, and then summon the second one in a flanking position.

After traveling and fighting for a bit, the group came to a clearing. The forest was large and vast, so they weren't on the other side just yet. Near the edge of the clearing stood something that was quite out of place in the forest.

"Is that a golem?" Reina asked, pointing to the thing in question.

It stood taller than Vyrdrun and had a large, heavy metal sword in one hand that had the tip resting on the ground. It's body looked to be made entirely of iron or steel, its head in the shape of a metal helmet. From this distance, the finer details couldn't be made out.

"Huh. It is." Maria covered her eyes slightly as she looked. "What's it doing out here?"

"There's a spirit nearby." Vyrdrun said. "Although…"

He scrunched up his face slightly.

"I thought this was farther north." Lola's soft voice from behind caused them to turn.

"Is something wrong?" Reina asked her.

"Um." The girl shifted from foot to foot. "Well…I'm not sure if I should tell you…but maybe I should?"

Lola began pacing in the field they found themselves in. She held a claw to her chin as she walked, her wings wrapping around her almost like a cape.

"Hmmm. Daddy doesn't want any humans to contract with the spirit inside. But, you're the Ritual Implement Hero. It's your right to visit any spirit you want. Hmmm."

Watching the girl think like that was somewhat adorable, but Reina decided to offer a suggestion, even if she was a little reluctant to say it out loud. "We could just wait for your father to send a message. I don't want to do something he'd be mad about."

Lola stopped her pacing to look at her. "What do you mean?"

"Isn't he watching me right now?" Reina asked, raising a hand. "Or, maybe he has someone watching me? I know scrying exists."

Lola stared at her for a moment as if she grew a second head. "You can't scry on a hero, Big Sis."

Reina blinked. "Huh?"

"Yeah. For some reason, scrying magic doesn't work on heroes. Why would Daddy have his imps watching you if he could do that?"

"I mean…" Reina scratched the back of her head over her helmet.

"It's true." Grim added in. "Scrying, mental domination, and slave collars are some of the few things I know heroes are immune to." He let out a chuckle. "Master didn't tell me that until after we got into a slavers den. And, well, I'm sure you can imagine how that turned out."

Reina could imagine, based on what she'd heard about the Cleaver Hero so far. She looked to Maria, who gave a shrug and shake of her head. This didn't seem to be common knowledge.

Admittedly, Reina didn't know too much about scrying, beyond that it existed here. She knew about it from her games, but that didn't tell her how it worked in this world. Though, it wouldn't be a leap to say it would have a similar drawback as being an orator. She didn't know much about those either, at first, but she did learn what their restriction was. They were not allowed to speak at all. If they did, they'd have to go back to the spirit to regain the contract.

That was something Maria had told her about at some point. It was part of the reason she didn't have that contract. As for not using the outline of it, apparently it was incredibly difficult to use. Even if it wasn't, it required a good chunk of MP to cast. Trying to practice with it would be very costly if she wanted to become adept in a short time, what with needing a lot of MP potions. Wizards hardly ever bothered with it when orators were available for hire.

If scrying was at all similar, she could see why it wouldn't be used constantly. She really should have thought of that before. Then again, Derdir was a Demon Lord, or the Demon Lord, depending on who you asked. It wouldn't be so far-fetched to think he could afford it or coerce someone into doing it for him.

All this was a matter for later.

"Also, it's difficult to send a message to a non-orator." Grim added. "The message tends to be garbled, and only the most proficient can do it."

Another thing she hadn't thought about. Though, this made sense. Grim said he was getting his message relayed, which implied it wasn't going directly to the Cleaver Hero.

"Yeah. I guess I didn't really think all that through." Reina admitted. She met Lola's eyes. "So, about the spirit…"

The girl looked back over at the golem. "Well, I don't think that one was as dangerous." She muttered something under her breath about the bottom of the list. "I suppose if you defeat the golem, you can contract with the spirit."

Fighting a golem. Reina didn't have any experience with that, but the dolls were constructs of some sort. They were more agile with their softer bodies. The two golems back in Savia were strong, but they were also pretty slow. This one would be weighed down by its huge mass and didn't look nearly as intimidating. Plus, they had someone who could easily deal with that.

"However!" As if reading her thoughts, Lola pointed a claw at the party shaman. "Vyrdrun can't help you. You'll have to beat it without him."

And just like that, their best strategy was down the drain.

Reina looked to Maria and Grim. She motioned for Kuromo to lower his head to them. "What do you two think?"

"I'd put it at around level 60 equivalent. It might have some hidden ranged attacks, so we'll have to be cautious." Grim started. They were in their 40s, with Kuromo in his 30s, but Reina was still a hero. It wasn't even, but it was 4 on 1.

"Something like that will be pretty resistant to magic." Maria said. "I don't think I'll be able to help much directly, but I can cast a few buff spells with time beforehand."

"My weapon should be able to pierce it, but the golem has a large striking range." Grim spoke again. "If we can get it lower to the ground, I can get at its chest easier. In any case, your dragon should be able to deal a great amount of damage.

He pointed at Kuromo before continuing. "While magical in nature, his breath is still acid. If nothing else, he should be able to whittle away at it before we strike in earnest."

Kuromo straightened and puffed out his chest, a smirk on his scaly face. "Gau!"

Reina smiled up at him before returning to the others. "Alright then, here's what I'm thinking."

She laid out the plan for them.

After receiving spells, Reina and Grim would ride on Kuromo and fly over. The dragon would open with a beam of acid from behind to test out the golem's defense and hopefully ruin its mobility. If it couldn't fight back, they'd simply keep at it until it broke. If it could, Kuromo would let them off and make sweeps with his breath when he could.

Reina's spirits were a bit of a dice roll. A golem's magic resistance might not stand up to the abilities that used MP. If they did, she still had two bodies to throw at it and knock it off its feet. Three, if she included herself. She had a skill to bypass defense and she could always play decoy with it.

With the general plan set, they got to it. A few minutes of casting and several spells later, Reina and Grim took off on Kuromo.

The dragon circled around, gaining altitude as they surveyed the area. There wasn't much around the golem except a small burrow that led underground. That was probably where the spirit was located.

Kuromo turned in the air and began to dive, coming up on the golem from behind. He arched his head back slightly and let out a roar. A stream of acid spewed from his mouth and slammed into the golem's back. Kuromo pulled up to the side and flew around.

Reina looked back to see what the damage was. The golem stayed in place, the acid clinging to its form. It didn't even raise its large sword. If it wasn't going to counterattack, all the better.

"Hit it again, Kuromo!" Reina shouted over the wind.

"Gau!" The dragon responded to the command, coming down for another pass.

They came to its side this time, another blast of acid slamming into it. As they flew behind it, Reina saw the golem begin to move. It's heavy body went forward…and slammed into the ground.

Reina looked behind her at Grim. The noble looked equally confused.

As they slowly descended, they continued to watch the golem, its body unmoving. Lola and Vyrdrun also started approaching the downed golem. When they landed, Reina brought out her spirit just to be safe as she walked forward.

Looking over the golem up close, there was no sign of movement. It wasn't even holding its sword anymore. In fact, the sword and the golem had rust over parts of them.

"Did we kill it?" Reina asked the group as she took off her helmet. She dismissed her spirit as well. "Or was it already dead?"

"It shouldn't have been." Maria stepped around the golem's arm to get a closer look. "A golem this finely made should have lasted well over a century, and it doesn't look nearly that old."

"Then how…?" Reina began to ask as Vyrdrun stepped up.

"Mystic rain." He said. "That rust isn't natural."

"No way." Maria shook her head. "Golems this good are made to resist it."

"Unless their creator is killed." Grim offered. "In that case, the magic holding them together begins to unravel. It takes a long time, but I'm willing to bet violet rain speeds up the process."

Reina continued to look over the body. It was an easy victory, or perhaps not one at all. She didn't want to say it was a letdown, but it definitely felt underwhelming.

"Does it have an emblem on it?" Maria asked. "I'm curious who it belonged to. It should be on the chest."

"It…" Lola spoke up, but the immediately closed her mouth.

Reina gave her a quick glance, but the shifting of metal brought her back to the golem. Vyrdrun lifted it up, allowing Maria a view. She frowned at what she saw, and Reina could see it too. What was the emblem was completely melted by the acid.

"Oh well." Maria sighed, stepping back. "Well, Boss? Looks like it's all yours."

Nodding, Reina moved forward and touched her weapon's gem to the golem. The whole body was pulled into it.

Iron Golem Plating Amulet
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: magic resistance (small)

Iron Golem Totem
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: Spirit Stat Allocation 1

The first one was pretty straightforward, and a good find in Reina's opinion. General resistance to magic was pretty good. The second drew some speculation. She switched to it, the form being a small iron statue in her hand that was almost folded in on itself. Nothing seemed different when she brought up her Forge menu, so it might be something that's available after she unlocks it. She'd focus on this one for now.

"Right then." Reina turned to face Lola. "Does that mean we can contract with the spirit?"

Lola pursed her lips slightly. "I thought it'd last longer…" She muttered quietly before looking to Reina. "I guess so, but I'd rather not let anyone but you make a contract. Even then…" She lightly crossed her arms before looking away.

"I don't think contracting with this spirit is a good idea." Vyrdrun said. "There's something wrong about it."

"What do you mean?" Maria asked.

"I can't say for certain." Vyrdrun shook his head. "I just sense something off. I won't be meditating near it."

"Hm~." Maria hummed, looking at the burrow not even a stone's throw away. "Well, I certainly don't want to get on any Demon Lord's bad side. It's your call if you want to, Boss."

Both of their refusals gave Reina pause. Neither one shied away from a spirit before. It was almost enough to make Reina not want to either. Almost. But the fact that Derdir didn't want anyone to contract with this spirit made up for that.

"I'll do it." She declared.

"Big Sis…" Lola let out before immediately backing down. "Just be careful, okay?"

Whatever misgivings Reina had about Lola and her family, the girl seemed genuine about her safety. Nevertheless, Reina walked over to the burrow.

She felt a chill as she placed a foot on the path sloping down. She brought out her flaming zombie spirit to light the way, as well as keeping her weapon in its sword form. There was more than enough room to walk down without crouching, but Vyrdrun would have a hard time making it through without scraping against the almost dug out walls.

It wasn't that long of a walk down, almost a minute. At the bottom of the burrow was a small area with nothing but hardened earth around her. The 'room' was about the size of her and Maria's large bedroom in the mansion. None of the other spirit locations Reina went to before had anything necessarily special about them, but this one felt different. It had a golem guarding it, after all.

The only difference for this one was he chill in the air. It was a creeping sensation before, but now she could see her own breath.

"I guess I should start." She all but whispered. She was having second thoughts about this, but the prospect of having something Derdir didn't want her to have was too enticing. Contradictory to her previous feelings on him aside, she wanted to see what was so special.

Before she could begin, she felt a tug. It wasn't anywhere specific on her body, nor did it move her, but she still felt it. Looking around, she couldn't spot anything. She turned in place, gazing at the entrance to the slope and still saw nothing.

Completing a full turn, Reina found nothing out of the ordinary in the room. But there was something wrong. When she faced the same direction as before, she saw her spirit was turned around.

She hadn't made it move.

The flaming zombie looked at her, its burning face staring down at her. Its mouth began to open, a low noise emanating from it. Broken teeth were shown as its jaw continued to lower further and further, beyond what it should have been capable of.

"Oh, I don't like this…" Reina raised her sword and took a step back, regret flooding her body.

And then, the zombie unleashed a horrid scream.

Author's Notes:

I'm a little surprised I was able to post this week. On Saturday, my big writing day, my computer decided to be difficult and refused to function at all. It would turn on, but nothing else. Luckily, I keep a backup of all my writing files and have an old laptop I can use. I'll see what the problem with my main computer is today, and if I'll need to get a new one. But oh man, if it had died after I wrote a bunch before I could back it up, I'd have been pissed.

Not quite where I was going to end this, but you know…word count and all. Next chapter should include the Wave.

Also, next chapter might be delayed. Motivation took a hit with my major source of entertainment going down and my backup laptop just can't compare. We'll see.