Chapter 6: Double Threat
Day 21
The village was nervous. The lord's manor, the house they were all working so hard on, is finally complete. A 3000 square foot house, spanning 2 stories and a sizable attic. On the inside, 6 large rooms make up the first floor, while the top floor had 7 rooms, with one room in particular piquing Naofumi's interest. He guessed that this was the master bedroom (aka his room), due to the size being comparable to that of the future kitchen downstairs.
Alongside the house tour given by Delia. Naofumi and Melty wandered around and inspected every nook and cranny of the house, checking for any possible cracks or damage that may pose a threat to the foundation of the house. Even after they found nothing, Naofumi was still skeptical and even decided to do an even riskier test.
Using the filolial, Naofumi had the house subjected to powerful winds from the filolial coop magic, with the house defiantly withstanding all the pressure. The wind pressure in question? A typhoon Naofumi experienced when he was 6, or what the Americans would describe as a category 3 hurricane.
"Alright. I've seen enough. Green, stop."
"Okay, master." The green-haired filolial stopped his spell. When the kids all cleared the dust from their eyes, they saw the house standing strong minus the windows that shattered under the pressure.
"Windows could use some work. But other than that, great work to you all. We finally have a house."
The villagers cheered. Everyone hugged and tossed each other into the air in pure joy. Naofumi let them have their moment of celebration for a moment before ordering all of them to calm down.
"I get that you guys are happy and all. But that's not an excuse to slack on your jobs."
"Come on Naofumi," Melty complained. Naofumi sighed as the princess forced him to address the crowd once more.
"And good job finishing up the manor. Once we get the proper furniture installed, it'll act as everyone's main house until we get the others complete. Thankfully, the ones I have planned would be much smaller than this one, and in turn, much easier to build. Until that day comes, make sure you all do your best to keep this house maintained. Understood."
"Yes Sir!" The kids replied.
They all stood at attention while the few filolial who were listening followed suit. Naofumi could almost smile at the progress made. Not just the house and village, but the villagers themselves. What was a group of cowardly, defiant, or weak children all scared of him now turned into strong, determined individuals with a goal they'll stop at nothing to accomplish… who are also still somewhat scared of him. Naofumi wasn't even sure if he could have kids anymore. Many of them have already grown up to the demi-humans equivalent of a teenager, with some of the newly shipped kids from Zeltoble falling behind. Raphtalia was an even weirder case, as she is the only one who grew to the full size of an adult.
Naofumi and Melty didn't know why other than "demi-human magic?" When they pestered Sadeena about this development, she pretty much avoided the topic, opting instead to take Naofumi to her "secret base" for a drink. Naofumi obviously declined but was weary of Sadeena and her actions.
"Good. You all can have a day off for all the hard work. If you still desire to work however will be all on you. Dismissed."
Naofumi walked off as all the villagers dispersed from the crowd, many eager to get back to work, while others wanted to chill for the day. Naofumi was one of those people. With the amount of stress, issues, and a surprising amount of near-death scenarios that happened within the last few weeks. Naofumi was waiting for an appropriate time to take a break. This moment of rest wouldn't last long, however. All thanks to Melty.
"You know, you don't have to be so rude to them."
"I've been mean to them this entire time. They seem to be doing fine."
"That's not what I mean. They just fought off a mutated vine and rebuilt a manor. You can at least show some appreciation without being asked."
"I already gave them a day off. A day off I'm desperately going to abuse." Naofumi lay on the ground, propping his head up with his hands.
"As much as I agree on a much-needed break. I'm afraid we can't today."
"Ughh." Naofumi groaned. "What now?"
"You'll want to look at this." Melty reached into her bag and pulled out a scroll. Begrudgingly getting up, Naofumi took the letter and read it out aloud.
"To lord Iwatani of the Iwatani territory."
"Is that what they're calling this place now?"
"Just keep reading."
"Okay, okay." Naofumi cleared his throat.
"You are hereby summoned by the king of Melromarc to partake in mandatory wave preparations. Along with a guard and attendant if desired. All members must be at the castle's war room by 4 in the afternoon. Signed. King Altucray Melromarc yada yada numbers." Naofumi sighed. "When were you planning on telling me this?"
"Today. We received this about a week ago, so I had time to prepare."
"And why the hell would you tell me now of all times!?"
"Because If I told you earlier, you made up an excuse."
"I-... screw off."
/~/
"Hya."
Rifana and Keel clashed their blades and claws respectively. Several of the other villagers watched on from afar as flames and claws of energy fly all across the battlefield.
"Finish her Keel!"
"Take him out Rifana!"
The villagers cheered. After a few clashes of their blades, Keel managed to kick Rifana back and let off a howl.
"[Fast Flame Blade!]"
"[Fast Claw Slash!]"
Rifana and Keel both close in on each other and attack. The clash gave off a brief blinding light, before revealing both combatants on the ground. Rifana had a light scratch on her face, while Keel had some minor burns in the form of Rifana's blunt side of her sword.
"Umm… Another tie. The score is 0-0." The chinchilla announcer declared.
"Aww." The collective villager groaned.
"Okay, the next duel is between-"
"Wait, Wait!" Raphtalia shouted. Panting as she got to the group, she drank a quick cup of water offered to her and sat down.
"Well, what is it!?"
"Ah right. I need to talk with Keel and Rifana."
"Oh well…" The chinchilla gestured over to Keel and Rifana being dragged off.
"Oh um Sorry. You continue what you're doing."
Raphtalia ran off, leaving the group of spectators confused. This confusion only lasted for a few seconds though, as the chinchilla announced the next round, making the spectators hyped for the next duel.
/~/
"State your purpose at the castle!" The knight demanded.
Several other lords were making it through just fine, but Naofumi was the one singled out for presumably "hiding a weapon."
"Well if you must know, you're idi-"
"Let me handle this-" Melty pushes Naofumi's head out of the carriage window, and pokes her out.
"P-p-princess Melty!"
"Knight. Let me and my companion in right now before I court-martial you for inconveniencing a noble of Melromarc."
"Yes princess, sorry princess. It'll never happen again!" The knight immediately got out of the way and let the carriage through.
"I'll be sure to get that fixed."
"The guard or the hatred for me?"
"Both. Threats of a court-martial can only get you so far."
"I'm pretty sure you already cleared my name. What's the issue now?"
"Do you seriously not…" Melty stopped herself and placed her finger on her chin.
"Right. I guess you wouldn't know."
"Know what?"
"Sisters' accusations weren't the main reason everyone hated you. Even though they were a big catalyst in order to rekindle that hate. The hatred of the shield hero goes way back. Mostly contributed by the conflict between Siltvelt and Melromarc.
"Right, my church is in Siltvelt and Melromarc hates demi-humans. Vice versa for Siltvelt and you got yourself discrimination. Why am I a major player in all of this exactly?"
"The feud between nations isn't the conflict I'm referring to. Many years back, Melromarc and Siltvelt were at war with each other. I'm sure you can see why the nation the shield hero built going to war with another can spark some bad blood. Especially when the species leading the nation at the time, was of the old shield heroes' alchemical experiments, being the hakuko."
"...well that's bullshit. Why are they blaming me!?"
"Fear. Anger. People act rashly when under certain emotions. The stories told by the church painted you as a demon. And 2 days after your summoning, the king releases an announcement basically saying that everything the church said was true with "valid evidence" to back it up. I know father means well, but honestly, the trouble he caused could have been catastrophic for the nation if I hadn't stepped in."
"Um, define means well!?"
"My father has probably the most reason to hate you. I'm surprised he's showing as much restraint as he is. He could have smitten you in over 97 different ways, and then find a way to do it again while you were in the afterlife."
"I highly doubt that." Naofumi crossed his arms.
"Oh trust me, he very much can. But I'm getting off-topic. To keep it short, both his parents were killed by the hakuko, then his sister not so long after. With everyone in his family dead, he has grown a close attachment to Malty, pretty much spoiling her beyond normal. After that, mother got to me first."
"Thank god for that."
"Very much thankful for that, but you can put the clues together. Father is a broken man. And when he saw his daughter in tears that night saying his most hated enemy, the one who created the beings that would take his family also took his daughter's "innocence." Well, I think we both know the saying, "the wrath of a father is greater than 1000 suns."
"No, no I don't."
"Really? Well, my point still stands. With my mother's warnings along with the allegations proven to be false, father would most likely return to normal. He'll most likely keep a close eye on you, but hopefully, he won't try anything too drastic."
"Although I had a small newfound respect for him, you're really giving too much credit to your bastard father."
"Hey! I said he's trying!"
A knock on the carriage door is heard, startling Melty.
"Princess, shield. Are you alright in there, you've been in there for a while."
"I-in a minute! Just finishing a talk." Melty got up and dusted herself off. "Let's go. We don't want people getting the wrong idea."
Naofumi scoffed. "Please. Like me and you would ever."
/~/
"Look at this." Raphtalia knelt on the ground and pointed at several tracks making its way into the forest.
"Yeah. That beaver is very weird… should we take him to the medical tent?" Keel asked.
"What? No, I'm talking about the tracks not- Please stay focused Keel."
"I don't see the issue. They're just tracks, anyone could have made them."
"I'm not so sure. Keel, does your hunting troupe ever go in this area?" Raphtalia questioned.
"No, we stick with the woods out back. We tried out front before, but since it's near a path-cleared path, there are little monsters to find. But we don't have to worry, it could just be the caravan that came here yesterday."
"Yeah… Guess I was getting too worked up."
"Oh you certainly werent."
"Huh?" The three demi-humans turned around to confront the mysterious voice.
"Up here chaps." Looking up, the three friends stare as they see two beavers. One on the ground, and one in the tree. Things got even weirder for them once one of the ground fell over, revealing that he has no back.
"What the!" Keel exclaimed. Coating his claws in magic.
"A nice invention made from trees. It's called cardboard. I use it all the time to mimic my likeness, and throw off people who aren't paying attention." The beaver tipped his hat. "Zalton is the name, and I'm a platypus thank you very much."
"I thought you were sleeping!?" Rifana questioned.
"Another deception. The shield lord asked me to act as his personal shadow, so I've been surveying the area since morning. These tracks you see are certainly not from our caravan." Jumping down from the tree, the platypus handed over a sketch to Raphtalia, who suddenly flinched the second she laid her eyes on it.
"I was planning on warning our great lord and savior earlier. But due to the house testing and the sudden meeting he had to attend, I have been unable to relay the information."
"This is bad, they're returning again!?"
"Calm down Raphtalia. Deep breaths okay." Rifana and Keel did their best to calm their friend down, but it did very little to quell her rage."
"I see. They want a fight don't they." Raphtalia crumpled the paper. "I won't let them take this place again. Rifana, Keel. Grab the others."
"We're going to kick some ass!?" Rifana punched her fist into her palm.
"Oh, maliciously."
"Then let's do it." The three friends brought their hands together, along with the weird platypus wanting to join in on the fun. Pushing him aside, they all throw their hands into the air, and run off into the village.
/~/
"And with our Lafan village acting as our base of operations. We will be able to adapt quickly to the current location of the wave and move quickly. Now, are there any objections to this current plan?"
The majority of the nobles in the room didn't move an inch. Even those who weren't physically present, and were attending via a crystal ball didn't budge at the request. All except for one fat noble who carried a whip on his side.
"I for one object to the shield demons' lack of contributions. He should be supplied with as many troops as everybody else!"
"It's lord Iwatani to you. And I believe I have gave enough."
"FLOPPY BARNACLES YOU DID!!!"
"Floppy what?"
"You only have to provide a small garrison of troops, while the rest of us have to send armor, weapons, and platoons on our own. King Melromarc, I plead that you have the lord Iwatani contribute!" Some of the nobles in the crowd Naofumi dubbed "The shield haters" all started to get riled up, chanting the same thing towards the king who seemed to be considering it at first. That was until he remembered his daughters, and snapped out of his fantasies.
"Silence!" The shield haters all settled down at the command of the king.
"As much as I hate it as well. Do keep in mind that Iwatani is not only the lord but the shield hero. That means he will be on the front lines with his own party long before any of us even arrive. With that in mind, I say it's fair that he has to contribute the least, as he'll be in the thick of the action immediately. Of course, I would offer the same to all. That's if you want to go into the fray yourself with one of the other heroes?"
The offer went dead silent as Naofumi and another man with tiny spectacles chuckled a bit. Struggling to compose themselves.
Naofumi, along with laughing, was also pretty confused. The king just stood up for him, even though it was begrudgingly hard for him. To spare his mind from thinking about what happened, he just chalked it down as Melty's influence.
"If that's all for the objection, then let us-"
"I actually have something to add." Naofumi blurted out.
Altucray groaned. "What might be the issue Lord Iwatani?"
"This is preparation for the waves, correct? Why aren't the other heroes here?"
"Being that this is for the lords and preparation of soldiers, the heroes can have their own separate meeting in order to strategize."
"I find all this knight placement planning unnecessary though?"
"Are you saying the wisest king of wisdom's plan is a rubbish shield!?"
"Not that it's rubbish. But there's a much more convenient option that wasn't accounted for."
"And what might that be?" Altucray questioned.
"The party system."
/~/
"Raphtalia. Zalton was able to find the nearby camp." A male demi-human with a monkey tail was announced.
"The platypus is very impressive. Guess he is the best shadow."
"But wouldn't that also make him the worst? Since shadows are supposed to be hidden and all."
"We don't have time to question the fallacies in his claims Rifana. As far as we know, he's the best and only shadow we have." Raphtalia strapped on the last of her armor. A breastplate with arm bracers she uses for hunting whenever she can. The sword she wielded was her father's. She asked Naofumi to get it reforged and he agreed. Now she carries it everywhere she goes, not willing to part with it.
"I'm questioning why we have to go on the assault. Won't we have the home-field advantage here? I have plenty of tunnels to get the jump on them." Delia suggested. She was lightly armed. Only using leather armor and wielding zero weapons.
"Smart plan, the problem though. We only have one house, many of our friends have zero combat experience or the willingness to kill, and all the filolial have gone who knows where with our best rancher being missing with them. Not to mention, Sadeena is probably in Zeltoble by now getting drunk" Raphtalia sharpened her blade against a whetstone. We can't take that chance. With them being close to the village since this morning, who knows when they might launch a sneak attack."
The ground shakes as an explosion is heard outside. Exiting the house and looking outside, waves of slavers all force their way into the village and attack the villagers with ropes, sacks, and cages.
"Right now will be the correct guess."
/~/
"Damn it just stops squirming." A bulky man groaned.
"Still having trouble with that one? Those cat ones are very difficult to grab."
"It would be easier if I had a lighter load. This one is getting a bit too large."
"Then throw them in the cart and get a move on. The buyers want them fresh and full of hope."
"I'm trying to get a new record. Now just get in the- ow, it bit me!" The man dropped the bag, allowing the kids and teens to escape. "No, my haul! Alright kid, hard way it is."
The man brought his fist up and brought it down on the cat's head, only for it to fall off once it connected. Looking at his arm, he starts to scream as he realizes it's not there.
"What, but you ag- Holy shit dude."
"Zweite Wolf Kick!" In her wolf form, Keel flies in from the man's blind spot and kicks him in the head. After bringing him down, Keel leaps off the man and ax-kicks the armless assailant into the ground. "Hold on. First Cross Slash" Tossing the kid forward, Keel jumped and brought down his claws in an x motion, clawing through the attacking spearman. He then used the spearman's face as a platform to leap off of and catch the kid in midair and land safely on the ground.
"Don't puke on me please."
Running off, Keel dodges the majority of the fights until he reaches the house. Dropping him in the secret hole in the back so he can get inside. He returns to the fray to assist his fellow villagers.
"How many did you save?"
"Just one. Technically 3 since he dropped his bag."
"I got 6. You better keep up." Rifana taunted as she dashed off.
"We're not making this a game." Running along beside his best friend. Keel and Rifana made quick work of any slaver unfortunate enough to be alone and rescued many of the village slaves. Passing beside their fellow hunters, many of them were doing well for themselves.
Some worked as a unit in order to overwhelm the enemy, while others like Delia and Zalton went off alone and were taking out salvers left and right. Delia by using her kicks and Zalton by using the venom coming from his claw to incapacitate many with its excruciating pain.
"Where's Raphtalia? I don't see her anywhere."
"I last saw her by the beach. Some of the others were there."
"And she hasn't come back? Let's go check it out."
"Right."
/~/
"Careful now, we'll lose profit if we hurt you too badly." The muscular man taunted. He had a goatee that circled around to his chin, and a large greatsword currently in his possession.
Raphtalia stood a fair distance away from him, sword in one hand while the other inspected her face, as she had been cut moments before. Behind her were 6 demi human children, all of them being the last of the childing coming in from Zeltoble, and all of them cowering under a nearby rock. Crying, and cheering on their protector.
"You. You're the leader, correct? The one who orchestrated all of this?"
"Huh? Well yes, I am. Surprised that a lowly demi can figure that out throughout all the chaos."
"I never needed to figure anything out. I've seen you guys operate before. I know your plan, and I refuse to let it happen once again."
"Seen it before??? Am I supposed to know you or something?"
"You certainly will!" Raphtalia lunged forward and thrust her blade into the slaver's chest.
The captain bored his greatsword down to block the attack and swung it back at Raphtalia, who leaped over the blade and counted with a midair thrust. But the captain stabbed his sword into the ground and used the swinging momentum to jump out of the way.
"[Fast Holy!]" A ball of light flies from Raphtalia's hands and hits their face, leaving a small scorch mark on the side of his cheek. And while he was distracted by the pain, Raphtalia came in and got a good hit in with her sword, slashing him across the chest. But the captain grabbed her by the neck before she could escape.
"You damn brat." The captain slams Raphtalia into the ground and takes Raphtalia's sword, tossing it aside. Picking up his greatsword with one hand, he flipped it over to the hilt side and aimed it towards Raphtalia's head. But before he can bring his blade down, Raphtalia used [First Light] to blind the captain, forcing his hand away so she can escape.
The escape was short-lived however, as when she went to pick up her blade, the captain's blade came over her head, slamming her back to the ground. At least, that was the intended result. Once the dust settled, the captain saw his blade phasing through the raccoon and realized what was going on.
Turning back around quickly, he was just in time to witness Raphtalia charging at him, her hands glowing in a weird golden aura that most likely spelled doom to whoever it touched.
"This is for everyone you've sold! My very own spell, crafted to take down people like you!" Raphtalia's hands glowed brighter. [Dreifach… Magic Fist!]"
"Magic wha-." The first hit he sustained knocked the wind out of the captain, breaking through his armor and sending him back several feet. Getting back up, the captain saw Raphtalia hot on his position and tried blocking with his greatsword like before. But that did very little, as moved to the side and punched him before he could shift his sword, inflicting even more damage, and disarming him further.
The slaver was now on his knees, crawling away as he tried to escape from the raccoon's fury. But Raphtlia catches up quickly and grabs him by the neck, the light from her hand slowly burning it.
"Call them off now, and I might let you live."
"Heh." The captain coughed. "You think… you can scare me into submission. My men… have already gotten plenty of you kids. We can escape easily and call it a success."
"Not exactly?"
A man fell between Raphtalia and the slave captain.
"C-c-captain… why didn't you tell us… these kids were so strong."
"Jeyha!"
"Wow, I really do remember him." Falling from above, Keel landed gracefully while Rifana landed purposefully on the recently thrown guard.
"I see that you already won."
"Yeah. That magic fist sure packed a punch."
"I told you augmenting yourself with magic was cool."
"I know right!" Raphtalia and Keel geeked out a bit before Rifanan hit them both.
"Guys. Slavers…"
"Right. Sorry." Raphtalia walked over to the captain.
"Hold on hold on/ We can make a compromise."
"Perhaps. Maybe I should extend you mercy."
"R-really?"
"No." Bringing down her magically enhanced fist into the captain's face. Raphtalia further drove the slaver into the sand with no remorse. Falling to the ground soon after.
"Raphtalia, you okay?"
"Yeah. Dreifach class magic takes a lot at this level. I'll stick to zweite class for- Keel, behind you."
"What?" Looking behind them, 3 slavers all approached the ground from behind and tried to stab Keel. But a flash of silver appears out of nowhere and knocks all of them away. When the flash stops, a single filolial in a dress, far more elegant than the rags the others have stood in its place. It was white, with the wings sprouting from the back also being white. Her hair was silver and sprouted three ahoge, ultimately being the weirdest feature on the bird to the three friends.
Turning around, the filolial's dress carried hints of red on her sleeves, elegantly glorifying the bird as she looked at all three of them. "Sorry for interrupting. But a friend of yours said I would be able to find the shield hero here?"
/~/
"There's no word that'll help me describe how boring that meeting was."
"It wasn't that bad. Besides, now we have a way to bring in our own army. This changes everything!"
"It's just a sub-party. Do you guys not have those?"
"Not at all… well, at least I'm unsure about it. No one ever goes over 6 party members in order to preserve exp. How did you figure it out?"
"Well I have over 20 birds and who knows how many slaves at this point. I've been putting several of them into these sub-parties since the day I got them." Naofumi opened up his menu. "See. I got Delia and her team of builders in one team. Dalton, Kuro, and Randy. Rapht- wait, what?"
"What's wrong?"
"Their health is dangerously low. Everyone's health is low!"
"What!?"
"Somethings wrong. Sakura! Double time."
"Okay!" Sakura sped up and shook Melty around a bit as she hit her top speeds. As they got closer to the village, Naofumi's worst fears suddenly became true as the smell of smoke lingered in the air.
"Melty, be on guard. We're under attack."
"But who could it be?"
"Don't know. We'll figure that out soon enough."
Entering through the front gate, Naofumi and Melty burst out their carriage, ready for a fight. But as they brandished their weapon, they saw that everything was calm.
Naofumi only saw a bunch of men being piled on top of one another, and one seemingly uncaptured person being bullied.
Naofumi watched on as the slaves used this singular personal as a training dummy. Each of them slaves were basically lining up to either test their combo or tag team moves on the poor individual.
The weirder thing was that just left of them were the Filolial. All of them seemingly in a standoff with a bunch of normal Filolial, while another unknown one in the middle of the standoff, doing weird poses along with the others.
He didn't know what to think. The village was attacked, someone was cooking something, filolial all over the place, and a cardboard cutout of his shadow lying down by the gate. There was too much going on for him to process, so he only calmed himself, and built up lungs for the shout of his life.
"RAPHTALIA!!!"
/~/
Super Filo Force
"Alright guys, let's not mess up this time."
"I really think you should stop reading masters stuff Freon." Yuki scolded.
"Who cares! let's do it. Super Filo Force, actualize!"
The wind swirled around the Filolial, generating a spiral of flames provided by a few of the villagers behind them. The birds then stepped forward, posing until it was their turn.
"Crimmy! Red Filolial Ranger."
"Marine! Blue Filolial Ranger."
"Kou! Yellow Filolial Ranger."
"Sakura… Pink Filolial Ranger?"
"Midori! Green Filolial Ranger!"
"Kuro!" Kuro did several more poses than normal, and performed a backflip to finish it off.
"Hey, too flashy. Stick to the script!" Freon scolded.
"Sorry. Black Filolial Ranger."
"Yuki! White Filolial Ranger."
"Freon! Red Filolial Ranger."
"Fitoria… silver filolial ranger?"
"Ha!" The tornado behind them dispersed, scattering the flames in the air to mimic an explosion while the rest of them posed.
Looking by his side, he noticed that Sakura was gone. And Melty watched on, looking very confused.
"Where the hell did they learn that?"
/~/
AN: If we continue the filo. Filo would be a pink Ranger, and Luna would be a white ranger. Unfortunately, neither of them can show up. Two red rangers can also exist, just look at power rangers samurai… I blame Javetts for this omake.
Thanks for reading, and leave a review.