This is a Full Metal Alchemist and Rising of the Shield Hero Fanfiction only.
I just know that my former subordinate will do something stupid, I just know it, I don't even need to think about it too much, he will do something that could never consider something a mature individual would do, he will get back at people who actually did him no wrong.
As we walked back home through the city I realized something, maybe having one more person help would not be such a bad idea, but the fact that we have to pretty much walk from place to place pretty much slows us down, had we not been summoned near Lute in the last wave instead if we had been summoned to the Capital, Lute would be gone, everyone dead by the time we got to them.
That is when I remembered something Raphtalia told me about all these birds pulling all these wagons and carts, maybe if we got ourselves one we could cut down on the time it takes for us to get somewhere, we might even be able to help more than just Lute. "Master Mustang, not that I want to disrupt your thinking, but could we visit the slave trader? I kind of need to ask him to do something for me."
I looked at her and couldn't help but to put my transportation ideas aside, "What could you possibly want with that guy? You know the only thing that you lost was the Slave Seal right? You don't even need it anymore, so why would you want something that causes you pain?"
She looked at me and then she looked at her self in a nearby window, "I know, but to me that seal has much more meaning than just ownership, to me it reminds me of how we met, and of all the things you have done for me, you even admit that as the shield hero you managed to keep an eye on my health and even helped me gain experience because of it. Please Master Mustang, I really want to have that seal back."
I don't get it, why would she do this to herself, I remember how much it actually hurts, "Alright, if that is what you want, let's go to meet that guy. I just hope that he doesn't do anything funny to you." For some reason, this made her smile and blush at the same time.
As we entered the place we saw him with a crate of what looked to be chicken eggs, did we interrupt him buying his groceries? "Ah, Mustang, a pleasure to see you. To what do I owe this happy occasion? Maybe you wish to purchase another slave? You know I am always happy to provide my services to you especially."
That didn't exactly seem like a lie but it also I felt that there was something behind that, a hidden motive. "Well I am surprised you didn't hear about the fiasco that happened yesterday at the castle, some fool basically destroyed the seal that you made on Raphtalia here. So we will need for you to draw another one, but the real question is why are you in such a good mood?"
I looked at him as he walked around Raphtalia, God helps him if he tries to get fresh with her. "Well my good mood is largely caused by you, your work in Lute has made people take notice of the slave you purchased from me, it is amazing how that slave who was just skin and bones become as recognized and estimated as she has, why she has given me the reputation of providing good slaves, and the money just keeps rolling in."
"Why I would be willing to pay you sixty gold pieces if she happens to be a virgin." I could practically feel the anger rolling off Raphtalia as he mentioned that, I better change the subject and fast or this merchant will have to get used to a liquid diet.
"Not interested in selling, what want to know what is the deal with all these eggs?" He stepped in front of the crate and began to smile so big, he reminded me of a cat that just ate a canary.
"This is a brand new service we are providing once a month, for fifty silver pieces you can take one of these eggs, why if you are lucky you might get something as amazing as a dragon, but regardless you will certainly get a filolial, why Sir Mustang are you interested? Give me sixty and that will cover the expense of the new slave seal."
I didn't want to argue over five silver pieces, I told him that was acceptable like always he took his brush a plate and a dagger for me to cut my finger. He began to draw the seal on her and I never realized that the slave seal was exactly between her breasts, without even realizing it I was getting an eyeful of her, and for some reason, Raphtalia didn't seem to be bothered by it.
As he finished drawing the seal he brushed the mixture with my blood, for some odd reason Raphtalia didn't complain or showed signs that it hurt her as much has it looked like it did when the seal was first drawn. She smiled at me and still holding her armor open looked at me with a smile.
"How does the seal look Master Mustang do you see any differences?" Is she trying to get to me that her breasts are bigger than I expected or the fact that I can practically see her nipples? I looked at the slave trader, "No, I don't see anything wrong with the seal, you do good work as always Beloukas, here you are your silver pieces."
He looked at the small bag of coins and smiled, "Oh this is why I always am happy to see such a wonderful costumer, why doing business with you makes my brain tingle, now if you will excuse me, I have to take care of something, but if you ever change your mind about selling or buying a new slave, or anything I can do for you please feel free to visit."
As we left Raphtalia was somehow in a much more foul mood, "Why did you have to spend so much on that egg? We might have a need for that money later, Master Mustang please try and keep your purse strings a little tighter."
I was carrying the egg in a carrying case which of course the trader provided, "I won't like Raphtalia I do like to have a pet, but that is not the real reason, if this egg hatches and we gain a dragon, we can then sell it and make quite the profit if we raise it right. Even if it is a filolial we can't depend on getting everywhere on foot, at best we gain new help during battles, at worse, we gain a means of transportation."
She smiled as I said that, "Well I guess you are right, it did take us a few hours to get to the capital, but we also need to save some money in case of emergencies. We need to save money for anything that may happen to us in the future."
I guess I know who is going to pretty much want to have the control of my finances. Honestly things are progressing a little too fast, just yesterday I saw her as a little kid, now I found her sleeping in the nude, flashing her breasts at me at the slave traders tent, and now she is lecturing me about being more frugal with my expenses, in less than two days I have gone from a surrogate father to a man who is getting lectured by his wife.
We walked on the road towards Lute, and for a moment I truly began to see the land, somehow before last night, I never truly saw the landscape that was before me, the hills, valleys, forests, and streams, the sun shining, birds singing, flowers in the fields and small animals playing with each other on the grassy meadows.
I have seen this in several previous lives but somehow now I remember just how beautiful this world can be. I feel like decades of stress and angst just melted and I could look forward to seeing my friends and neighbors at Lute. For some strange reason, that place truly is feeling like home.
As we walked we also saw many filolials pulling carts and wagons, it is amazing that something that is born from an egg I am carrying can grow to be big and strong to pull a cart that I think it would take two horses in the world were I was ended up after I got killed by Luge.
I got to make sure I help this little one grow to be the best it can be, "You know Raphtalia you may be against us having this egg, but think about it, when this hatches, it will sort of being like good practice for you when you want to have kids someday, it could be a chance for you to practice being a mother."
That is when she actually began to lean on me as we walked, for some reason, I think she is blushing three shades of red, and probably is smiling. Well, I decided to let her keep her daydreams, our life is harsh enough as it is.
As we began to work I took some minutes each day to check how the egg was doing, this is not the first Filolial I raised, so you could say I got experience with the entire hatching process, now I only wonder if this one will turn into a Filolial Queen like my first Filolial, they tend to be rather difficult to raise, and I don't know where to make Mana thread these days.
Maybe that witch that I know in the capital can tell where to get mana thread or magic thread to make some clothes, but that only is important if the little one inside become a Queen, there is no need to make or able to make mana threads for some clothing that transforms with the user if this little one is just a normal Filolial.
The Filolial Queen is very good at transformation magic, she tends to hide in her flock by turning into an ordinary Filolial, but the thing I found most shocking is that they can also turn into a human form, I still remember when I saw her do that once. Well to say that one second I was being smothered by a large bird sleeping next to me, and the next day was a naked teen with wings was a shock.
My companions at the time sure took their time making fun of me. I swear if I didn't learn about transforming clothes I was going to be the only hero that was flat broke. For some odd reason, I think she is still alive but that was centuries ago, come to think of it, I wonder how Fitoria is doing or even if she is still alive.
As we continued to work to repair all the destroyed or damaged structures and roads in Lute, I am honestly wondering what Luge in his demented mind plans to do to punish this innocent town for being so kind to me.
During lunch, I went to check and wouldn't you know it the egg began to crack, and I, of course, called Raphtalia immediately this is not something she would want to miss. As the eggshell began to crack I began to take the pieces that fell off and fed them to my shield. Sure enough, the shield unlocked a brand new shield.
It would allow me to do exactly the same thing that I could with the slave user shield, but this is the animal tamer shield. I could improve the way our little bird grew and how has her stats would grow, even how much experience our little bird would get. I put the settings on the shield to the max, just like I did for Raphtalia.
As soon as the last piece of the eggshell was fed to my shield the tiny pink chick jumped up from where the egg had been resting and on top of my head, chirping like she was the happiest bird in existence. "Look Master Mustang she thinks you are her mother. Isn't she adorable? The thing I am worried about is what do we feed her?"
Looked at her and I took the chick off my head and let her get comfortable on my arm. "I wouldn't worry too much, this is not the first Filolial that I raised, grains and fruits, seeds also are a good snack when she is this small. I will put several trays of food and water in her crib." I began touching her feathers and she began to make all this sounds telling me she was really happy.
Good thing she hatched after we got done with today's work. I began to focus on some of the things I needed to do for our upkeep. I began to blend medicines and began to transmute different things to help me keep the cost of replacing vials low. I managed to make a crate or two of health potions, mana potions only one create and status potions I made one third of a crate to cure skin conditions, such as burns and rashes, another third to cure poisons, and last must certainly not least, some potions to help with digestive trouble such as diarrhea, constipation, and gas.
All in all, it took me the rest of the day to finish the crates I would deliver tomorrow. The last crate I made using medicines I learned to make from my mom, these are medicines that could be considered experimental here. I hope that the Apothecary owner will be able to tell how helpful these new medicines are.
As we begin to get ready the next day, we eat breakfast and I go to check on our little bird when I realize that the chick has grown quite a bit, even more so than my previous filolial, it was something that did not happen before. It seems the reason is that I am maximizing the growth by not letting a single stat point go to waste.
She is as big as a rather large dog, and this is on the second day after she hatched, well no matter, we all begin to walk towards the capital and sure enough, the owner of the apothecary could easily see the benefit of my new potions. We all walked to our favorite inn and ordered a meal, I made quite a bit of money thanks to the new medicines.
"Master Mustang, is there anything wrong?" I did not expect his question from Raphtalia, I guess she is getting better at reading my body language. I looked at her and smiled.
"Nothing to worry about Raphtalia, just that we need to get you a new sword and maybe new armor. I think the one you are wearing right now is a little uncomfortable for you, well don't worry, we made more than enough money on the last trade to buy you some good armor, and a better sword for you."
She drops her fork and looks at me with this look of utter concern, "Master why would you think my armor will be uncomfortable? Didn't I tell you to be more careful with how you spend your money?"
I guess there is no way to get around this issue, I leaned closer to her since she is seated right next to me, "I figured that your armor was a little too tight for you, as for me wasting money, don't worry the new sword will help us on our attempts to hunt down the monsters that are around Lute, you must have noticed all the monsters that appeared right after the last wave?"
She laughed and from out of nowhere she gets up from her seat and kisses me on my cheek. "I didn't want to inconvenience you with having to buy me new gear, especially since we got another person to take care off, isn't that right Filo? Papa should be more careful with how he spends his money don't you think so?"
Well if Raphtalia is trying to embarrass me I would say this attempt is a success. We decided to go to Erhard's shop as we left the Inn and paid for our meal. For some strange reason, Filo is acting happier than ever.
As we entered the shop I begin to wonder how in the world does Erhard stay in business, the place was empty, I hope that he at least is selling armor to the knights guarding the domain. "Erhard, long time no see, Raphtalia here needs a new armor and a better sword, she wants to keep our spending low, however, can you modify and reinforce the armor she is currently wearing?"
He laughed and looked at me, "Nothing to it kid, I am a master blacksmith, this will be a really easy thing for me to do, with the armor being modified and reinforced and a new magic steel sword I would say it will cost you five gold pieces." I told him to make it three and he had a deal.
We argued for a few minutes, and sure enough, the final price was four gold pieces. We had to wait a few hours in the shop, and since Filo seemed to be really curious about the gear in the shop I took the time to show her what each piece was, I swear I feel like a dad and daughter going to a museum.
Erhard finally returned with the new armor, and Raphtalia could change out of the robes she was given to wear while we waited, couldn't happen sooner for my liking, those robes are supposed to cover her body, but no, instead they were so form fitting that anyone seeing her would tell she was not wearing a bra.
The armor was pretty much remade, they were better plating and some changes to the way the armor was put together, it seems Erhard is conspiring to dry me insane. Like I need any more reasons to look how different she now looks, ever since I was able to see her as how she actually looks, I am getting all kinds of mixed signals, she calls me Master like when I started living and working with her, but gets angry like we are arguing like a couple that has been married for decades, and honestly treats Filo almost like a daughter.
She even came up with her name by herself, well no matter, with my track record giving names has never been what you call one of my strengths, Fitoria is probably a good example on how bad I am at naming someone. We left and Filo was looking at everything, guess she is surprised since she has never seen the capital.