Author's Notes : Okay quick note before we get into this chapter , I feel like I should apologize for how long this chapter is but I had to cram a lot of stuff into here and it wouldn't feel right to cut the chapter in two . Unfortunately the next chapter will probably be the same , but after that I do promise I'll try to keep the chapters within a reasonable word range of like 7-10k words .
Also I should probably say that within this chapter , I took some inspiration from Qin's 'Ambition of a Red Princess' in regards to some of the scenes . If you've read his story , you'll probably notice this . Rest assured , the scenes are not totally alike .
Big thanks to Qinlongfei and Putain de Plagieur for beta reading this chapter and providing important feedback on the chapter and gave pretty good suggestions in the edits .
Now without further ado , let's get this chapter started !
Chapter 2 : Spending a Day with the Devil
A little known yet very important fact about Malty S Melromarc is that she is not a morning person . While she can appreciate the joys of the day as sunlight does tend to bring out her natural beauty even more , she is truly captivated by the night . Its just something about the night that makes her feel completely at home , looking up at the beautiful moon shining down on her , looking down at the lights that decorate the city below her home .
Perhaps she likes the night because it brings out the beauty in certain things ...
Well ... that and she tends to scheme and think better at night than during the day ...
"Princess Malty ? Princess Malty ?"
Which is why waking up to the sound of a servant calling her name from behind her door was pretty much the last thing she wanted to deal with in the morning ...
Gods mercy ... what the hell is it ?
Groaning in displeasure , Malty forces herself to get up from her bed to answer the door . She had barely gotten any sleep from last night , her Father's plan of sending her undercover as the Shield Hero's only companion was still fresh in her mind . But that was not the only thing that kept her awake last night , the Pope's letter to her still plagued her mind .
Could she really trust the Pope ...?
In short ... No ... she couldn't but could she really go against her Father's plan ? Doing so would no doubt put her on thin ice with both Father and the Pope , two of the most powerful figures in the country , right next to Mother .
Malty pushed all these thoughts out of her mind as she opened the door to be greeted by a demi-human servant dressed in a maids outfit ...
" What is it ?" Malty didn't bother holding back any of the irritation or annoyance she had in her voice .
" U-Um ... I'm so sorry to interrupt your sleep Princess Malty but ... his Majesty instructed me to give these to you and requests your presence in the Throne Room as soon as possible " The servant held out a bag to the Red Haired Princess .
Hmph ... what could Father possibly wish to give me ?
Malty thinks as she takes the bag from the servant and opens it to find its contents is nothing but mere ... commoner clothing ...
I cannot believe that Father is seriously wishing for me to look like a damn commoner !?
Granted she is supposed to be undercover as a simple adventurer , but she would have expected better from her father to make her wear the clothing of the common blood .
" Do you ... need help getting dressed , your Highness ? " The servant speaks up nervously which reminds Malty that she was there .
" No " Malty says simply before closing the door on her face , not really caring whether the servant had any more to say . She is perfectly capable of dressing herself .
She pulls the clothes out of the bag and eyes it with disgust and distaste .
Malty throws the clothing onto her bed and puts her fingers to her temple , trying to push back the urge to burn the clothes right then and there ...
Its for the Throne ... Its for the Throne ... Its for the Throne ...
Malty recited in her head like a mantra as a way to encourage ... or perhaps force herself to wear it ...
Sighing in defeat , she quickly changes from her nightgown to the commoners clothing her Father had prepared for her ...
Taking a quick look in the mirror , she supposes she doesn't look too bad in commoner clothing . The clothing itself was a regular dress that had the top part colored white while the bottom was colored purple , the dress also seemed to be modified so that her chest area was visible ...
It seems that Father is trying to use my own feminine charm and ... assets to lure in the Shield Hero ... clever ...
Now she had to pack up the few items she wished to bring with her , she had already decided the night before on what she wished to bring with her , most of them in her eyes were necessary .
She decided to carry light , so she only took a few items with her , a purple cloak with gold trimmings around the hood , a black veil and a mix of copper , silver and gold coins that added up to around ten gold coins altogether in the case of emergencies that she might have borrowed from the royal treasury .
It was only a few coins that neither Mother or Father could have possibly guessed that she had taken from the treasury and she doubts the kingdom will suffer much from the loss of a few coins .
She typically used these items whenever she sneaked out of the castle , the cloak and the veil were used to hide her identity , even if her face wasn't as well known among the populace as her mother's or sister it was certainly better to be safe than sorry . She couldn't possibly run the risk of word spreading on how she may have started a bar brawl or perhaps had been gathering info on one of the other nobles ...
The coins she kept on her were just in the case she had to bribe some dirty commoner into coughing up information if her usual seduction methods didn't work or perhaps if she wanted to buy something ... nice for herself and didn't want anyone to know it was her .
She would have just taken some gold coins for simplicity and lightness , but she knew that the common folk typically used silvers and coppers . While gold coins weren't exactly rare per say , it was certainly strange for a random woman to be carrying around a large stash of gold coins on her person . It was also a dead giveaway of her royal heritage and it would tip off any cutthroats looking for somebody to rob .
And next ...
Mein opened up her drawer and pulled out a sapphire dog tag and wrapped it around her neck , somewhat hiding it underneath her cloak .
She did plan on fitting the whole adventurer theme after all .
And most important of all ...
Malty reached under her bed and pulled out a sword that was still in its sheath , she attached the sword to her belt for easy access . The sword itself was nothing special , a simple iron sword like the ones used by the knight's and that she may have borrowed this one from the armory when nobody was looking and took out with her in the case of self defense .
Malty briefly wondered whether father had not realized how weird it would have been for an adventurer to show up without even a weapon on their person.
What's an adventurer without their trusty weapon ?
Throwing the cloak on , Malty takes a look at herself in the mirror
Hmmm ... not bad ... I may be playing the role of a common adventurer but even my beauty still shines is such common clothing !
Malty pulls the hood over her head and pulls the veil up to conceal her face , as she is about to leave she takes one last look at her room .
Malty is certain she has not forgotten anything important as she exits her room and heads towards the Throne Room .
As of this moment , she was no longer Malty S Melromarc , but now the simple Mein Sophie .
The moment she entered the Throne Room , she saw that Father had already arrived and the adventurers ready to set out with the Legendary Heroes . Not wasting another second she quietly slipped in between the adventurers and was now waiting for the heroes arrival.
No less than 5 minutes later they finally arrived , they were still wearing the strange clothing they had from yesterday . Mein gives a quick look at the Shield Hero , he wears a face of neutrality but the slight tenseness in his shoulders and posture gave away the fact that he is clearly nervous . Understandable from his point of view , he not only doesn't have a real weapon but in a day from now he is also going to be broke and framed as a rapist .
She almost feels sorry for the Shield Hero ... almost anyway ...
" I'm glad you could make it Legendary Heroes " Mein can hear her Father announces to them " Before you , are the men and women who will venture out with you to gain strength and fight the waves by your side "
" Now without any further delay ...It is time to set off , heroes of the future ! " Father declares and at his word , all the adventurers by Mein's side begin walking towards their chosen hero.
Showtime ...
Mein walked to stand behind the Spear Hero's party first , this was of course intentional . It was so that when she joins the Shield Hero's party it would immediately get her in his good graces for the simple act of wanting to work with him when nobody else did . As she walked to stand behind the Spear , she saw that the Shield Hero , Naofumi if she recalls his name had a look of surprise on his face , he clearly wasn't expecting for the adventurers to choose which Hero they wanted to work with .
Mein instinctively ducks her head when she saw the Spear's eyes wander over to her , as she practically felt his eyes follow her movements to the back of his party .
Out of the corner of her eye she could see the Spear squint his eyes at her for a moment , before he simply shrugged and turned his attention back to father. Mein had to hold herself back from sighing in relief .
Mein pulled her hood further over her head as she had lined up at the very back of the Spear Hero's party , she looked to the front to see the Shield Hero look behind him in surprise to see that nobody had joined his party . The plan is moving forward quite nicely if she did say so herself ...
" Um ... your Majesty ?" The Shield Hero spoke up albeit a bit nervous to which attracted her Father's attention " I'm kinda alone here ? My Legendary Weapon isn't exactly geared towards fighting so how do you expect me to fight monsters by myself ?" The Shield Hero quickly realizes that he can't possibly hope to fight all by himself , exactly like her Father wanted .
" Hmmm ... my apologies Sir Shield Hero , but I am afraid there is nothing I can do if nobody wishes to join your party " Father fakes a tone of sincerity that Mein can easily spot " You must understand Sir Hero that it would be unreasonable if we were to force adventurers to join a Hero's party if they themselves are unwilling to join that particular Hero "
" I ... I understand " Even though Mein can't see his face , she can tell by simply hearing the tone of his voice that he is unhappy with this whole arrangement
The Throne Room falls into silence for a brief moment as the Shield Hero looks at the ground in defeat , now it was time for her to play her part ...
" Excuse me , your Majesty , but I have decided to join the Shield Hero's party "
Her soft voice cuts through the tense silence of the courtroom , as all eyes turn to her , Mein lowers her hood and veil to give them all a sweet smile . The Shield Hero himself turns to look at her in surprise at the sudden turn of events , he seems to be amazed by her beauty , something which she inwardly giggles at .
" Oh ? Are you sure ? You seemed to have already decided to have join the Spear Hero's party , it would be troublesome for you to suddenly change your decision " Father's fake surprise comes out as a little forced but still acts well enough .
" Yes , your Majesty , I simply believe it is unfair for the Shield Hero to have to fight all by himself " Mein says with the sweetest smile she can come up with .
" Then why did you join my party ? " To her surprise the Spear Hero gives her a questioning look " If you were going to join Naofumi then why did you join my party to begin with ? "
Mein has to hold back the urge to gulp and keeps her calm " Well like our Majesty , I did not think that not even a single companion would join the Shield Hero and like I said it is unfair for the Shield Hero to have to fight all by himself " Mein quickly explains and hopes that is enough to satisfy the Spear's curiosity.
" Alright then ..." The Spear Hero simply shrugs much to her relief .
Mein calmly walks over to the Shield Hero and holds out her hand to him " Pleased to meet you , Sir Naofumi , I am Mein Sophie . I will be your companion from now on " She gives him a bright smile that somehow seems to bring the mood of the Throne Room up .
" U-Uh ... r-right , nice to meet you too Miss Sophie " The Shield Hero returns a nervous smile to her as he shakes her hand . He's quick to turn back to face the King , he seems to be standing even straighter than before .
Father clears his throat before speaking again " Now that issue is settled , we may continue ..." A few servants stepped out carrying coin bags " We will now distribute the provision money to all the Legendary Heroes ..."
The servants stepped forward and handed the bag over to the respective heroes ...
" It is to be noted that since the Shield Hero only has one companion with him , he will receive 800 silvers worth of money while the rest shall receive only 600 " Father continued , Mein could see her Father's face turn serious.
" Now Legendary Heroes , set out and bring peace to our land ! "
Naofumi's POV
After the King sent the heroes on their way , Naofumi and his new companion Mein exited the castle , and were on their way to the town to get some equipment .
Naofumi honestly still couldn't believe that such a cute girl was his companion , after coming to this world , he not only finds out that he doesn't even have a real weapon but he's also looked down on by his fellow heroes , to the adventurers and even the King himself . While nobody flat out said it , he could tell that the real reason nobody wanted to be his companion was because everybody thought he was quite literally the weakest among the Heroes ,and for the most part ... even he couldn't disagree with that .
But as luck would have it , a single beautiful girl decided to join his party . She was quite literally one of the most beautiful girls Naofumi had ever seen in his life , the way her bright red hair shined and somehow glowed in the sunlight , how her smile seemed to light up the room and her friendly nature towards Naofumi even though she didn't even know him really .
Looks like my luck is finally starting to come around .
Naofumi was starting to question if he really was unlucky to begin with .
" The end is near ! I tell you people the waves will take us all ! " A loud crazed voice catches Naofumi's attention and he turns his head to see what looks to be a homeless man shouting his head off at the passersby " The Void will take us all ! " The people that pass him don't seem to pay the crazed man any mind , but the look of fear and worry on their faces didn't get past Naofumi .
In fact , now that he realizes it a lot of people on the street seem to be acting jumpy mainly at the crazed man's preaching , but the street itself seemed to have a very subdued atmosphere to it . People moving past quickly with fear written on their faces . More than a few people were even carrying weapons like swords , their hands on the grip to pull it out at a moments notice .
And he's willing to bet that the mother who was with her child that had just walked passed them while carrying what seemed to be an woodcutters axe on her belt , wasn't an adventurer in disguise .
" What is with everybody ? " Naofumi asks out of the blue , while looking around at the people .
" Its the Wave Sir Naofumi . Everybody's on edge now with the second wave on its way " Mein explains with sad expression " We barely overcame the first wave , it is not without reason that there is now a mass of paranoia spreading throughout the country . People jumping at their own shadows or carrying weapons in the streets "
So the wave is that serious ? Damn ...
Naofumi shakes his head , he can't think about that right now .
I need to focus . First things first , we need to get some equipment , Mein doesn't have any armor and I'm pretty much defenseless ...
Naofumi looks at his shield for a brief moment ...
Okay , maybe not defenseless but still ...
Naofumi supposes he should be grateful to the king for giving him extra provision money , Mein explained to him a little bit after they left the castle how money works in Melromarc.
She broke it down to simple terms for the young other world man , one silver is the equivalent of 50 coppers while a single gold coin is worth 100 silvers . Naofumi was glad she explained it to him or he would have run the risk of potentially getting scammed .
At the moment , they were walking through the marketplace of what Mein told was called ' Castletown ' with Naofumi looking in amazement at the scenery around him . He still couldn't believe his eyes , he had seen the city from below the castle last night but now that he's actually here , it was actually kinda nice . It seemed at least a bit more lively than the street they were just on with the crazy man .
" So uh ... Mein , we should probably get some equipment before heading out huh ?" Naofumi was trying his best to keep his cool, Mein at the moment was right next to him .
While this wouldn't be much of a problem for most guys , Naofumi was an otaku , so he doesn't usually get to be this close to a girl , a beautiful one at that !
" Yes Sir Naofumi . It is very important that we obtain proper equipment before fighting monsters to raise our level " Mein spoke with a friendly tone and a smile on her face as she moved to latch onto his arm .
Naofumi tries his best not to blush and fails almost immediately .
" U-Um ... so do you know any good places we could go to ?" Naofumi asks , turning away to hide his face .
Mein flashes him with another smile .
" I know just the place " Mein gently pulled on his arm and guided him to said 'place' .
" This shop is my recommendation "
Mein opened the door to the blacksmith shop , and Naofumi steps in and is instantly amazed by all the weapons and armor decorating the walls .
It feels like I'm back in the 15th century .
" Wow ... this place is like an armory " Naofumi commented .
" Yeah , that's kinda the esthetic I was going for when I decorated the place " A large bold man , possibly in his late 30's with a goatee steps behind the counter and looks at both him and Mein " Welcome to both of you , my name is Erhard and I'm the owner of this here shop "
" Pleased to meet you , I'm- "
" The Legendary Shield Hero , Naofumi Iwatani right ?" Naofumi attempted to introduce himself but Erhard cut him off
" How did you know my name ?" Naofumi was completely baffled by how Erhard knew his name
" Well for one , your clothes are really weird by any countries standards , the shield on your arm and the obvious 'fish out of water ' look you gave me when you stepped into my shop " Erhard explains with a bit of a smug smile on his face " Plus word about the Heroes names spread to town pretty damn fast "
Naofumi scratches his head a bit in embarrassment " Is it really that obvious ?"
Erhard chuckles a bit in amusement " You have no idea kid " Erhard narrows his eyes the shield attached to Naofumi's for a moment " So the Shield huh ? A bit of bad luck there "
Naofumi silently turns his hand to a fist in determination .
It doesn't matter . It'll really be over for me if I start worrying about that .
" Anyway Erhard , its a pleasure to meet you " Naofumi said with a smile to which Erhard returned
" Pleasures all mine shield boy , honestly if you become a great man and even greater hero , it won't matter nothing if you're the Shield or something else "
Naofumi's mood improves a bit more at Erhard's encouragement " Thanks old man "
" Anytime kid , but don't call me old man !" Erhard complained to which Naofumi could audibly hear Mein giggle a bit " Anyway ... I suppose you didn't just come here to make friends did you ?" Erhard narrowed his eyes at the armor and weapons that decorated the room
" No , I came here to buy some equipment for myself and my companion " Naofumi explains .
" Oh ? Well if you came here then you got some great taste " Erhard commented , looking at some of the more expensive looking items on display
"It was actually Mein who brought me here " Naofumi gestured to the red head who was still latched to his arm
"Is that so ? " Erhard narrows his eyes at Mein and for some reason he looked ... suspicious of her " Say kid , you look familiar , do we know each other ?" Erhard asks Mein and the second he asked his question , Naofumi could feel Mein briefly tighten her grip on his arm but she quickly softened her hold in less than a a few seconds .
" No sir , I'm afraid we don't know each other , I come from the village of Samphor " Mein explains with an innocent smile on her face , but Erhard still doesn't look satisfied with her answer .
" Well then how did you know about my store ? And how to bring Shield boy here ?" Erhard asks even more questions , raising an eyebrow at the red head .
" Your store is quite famous mister Erhard , even though I have only been here for the better part of a week prior to Sir Naofumi's arrival , it is quite well known throughout Castletown that you're one of the few blacksmith shops that sell good quality equipment to adventurers at a much more reasonable price in comparison to other shops " Mein explains in great detail .
Erhard eyes Mein with a suspicious look , before grinning at her .
"Well I'd hate to disappoint you and not live up to my reputation " Erhard stops looking at Mein with suspicion and turns to Naofumi " So Shield Boy , what's your budget ?"
Naofumi takes out the bag of coins that was given to him and thinks for a moment " Hmmm ... I'm thinking around say 300 silvers in total , we're still fairly new to this so I don't think we need any high level equipment just yet "
" Smart move if I've ever heard of one , so what exactly are you looking for anyway ?" Erhard asks .
" Well , we're going to need to get some armor for me and Mein and also see if you can get a weapon for me " Naofumi lets his eyes wander to the racks of weapons and the ones that lined the shelves .
" You got it " Erhard walked into the backroom and came back carrying 4 swords with him , he laid them down on the counter as they got closer for inspection "Starting from left to right is iron , magical iron , steel and magic steel . I would go with the magic iron if you're looking to stay within your budget " Erhard advised Naofumi as he went to pick up a sword
Finally , with a weapon combined with my Legendary Shield even I coul-
ZAAP!
Just as he picked up the sword , a strong voltage of electricity shocked his hand away from it .
" Whoa ! What the - " Naofumi yelled out clearly surprised at this turn of events " What the hell just happened ?"
Naofumi reached out to grab another sword but the same thing happened .
ZAAAAPPP!
The sword suddenly sparked with electricity and it went flying out his hand and ended being lodged in the floor , both Mein and Elhart were clearly taken aback by this almost as much as he did .
Naofumi turns to Erhard with a look of shock on his face " Erhard , what just happened ?"
" I have no freaking clue kid " Erhard sounding just as confused as he was .
" It's like its repelling Sir Naofumi from nothing " Mein spoke up , looking at the sword still lodged in the floor
What the hell is this ? Why can't I pick up a weapon ? It doesn't make sense ...
Naofumi's questions were answered when the help screen popped up and displayed the words right at his face ...
VIOLATION !
Heroes are forbidden from using any other weapon outside of their assigned weapon , violations of this rule will result in shocks
I can't use any other weapon than the one I've been given ? How am I supposed to fight like this ?
Should I ... fight with a shield ?
" It says right here that I can't use any other weapon aside from this shield , its like its blocking me from using other weapons like some sort of rule " Naofumi explains to them and Erhard's expression turns to one of even more confusion
" What the hell kind of rule is that ? " Erhard stepped towards him and inspected the shield using some sort magnifying glass , the gem in the center of his shield glowed brightly .
" Hmmm ... it just seems like any other regular small shield " Erhard tried pulling it away with both of his hands but to no avail " Can't you take it off or something ?"
" Well , I can change its position on my body but aside from that , I can't take it off " He had experimented with it the night before because the Shield was kinda troublesome to sleep with since it was attached to his arm .
Erhard eyed the gem of my shield curiously before standing back up " Well , I suppose there's no point complaining about it . Since you can't get a weapon , how about some armor ?"
Naofumi smiled back at him " Yeah , that would be great "
Erhard walked to the backroom and came back carrying a chest " So anything in particular you're looking for ?"
" Well ... my defense is already pretty good even when I just started , so I'll just take some light armor for the time being " Naofumi explains .
" One light armor , coming up " Erhard rummaged through the chest for a few moments before pulling out what looks to be a set of armor from the chest .
" Ah , chainmail ! Its on the lighter side not as effective as its heavy counterpart but it'll definitely protect you Sir Naofumi " Mein explains with a gleam in her eye to which both Naofumi and Erhard look at her in surprise
" Heh , your girl certainly knows her stuff " Erhard commented , smirking at Naofumi .
" Yeah , she definitely does "
" So girlie , what kind of armor are you looking for ?" Erhard turns his attention to Mein who is still admiring the armor
Mein places a hand to her chin " Would you happen to have any leather hunting armor by any chance ?"
" Well , lets see here... " Erhard checks the box for moment " You're in luck kid , I got a set here just for women "
" Thank you mister Erhard , we really appreciate you providing us with this equipment " Mein's smiled at Erhard once again
" Don't mention it , kid " Erhard grins at them both .
" You look quite handsome Sir Naofumi ! "
Naofumi couldn't help but blush at Mein's compliment , though ... he can't really say brown is his color ...
" T-Thank you Mein ..."
Mein smiled at him and walked to stand much closer to Naofumi , to the point where if he looked down he could see her chest !
" Do you think I look good in my armor ?" Mein questioned , speaking in the most innocent tone ...
Mein's armor consisted of a leather breastplate , two leather shoulder pads on both of her arms , a pair of leather bracers and one leather hip guard protecting her right side .
All in all , she looked pretty good looking to Naofumi .
" Y-Yes Mein ... I think you look ... very good in your armor ..." Naofumi managed to stutter out , while trying to avoid looking at her straight in the eyes
She suddenly backed off and looked at him . And she giggled a bit at his embarrassment , Naofumi could only mildly chuckle and scratch his head .
"Well as much I'm enjoying the show of you being terrible at handling women , can we get back to the equipment ?" Erhard spoke up , throwing Naofumi another smirk of his .
I am not terrible at handing women ! Well ... at least I don't think I am ...
Goddamnit I am ...
" Yes , of course " Naofumi lightly faked cough , trying to dispel some of the awkwardness " Do you need anything else Mein ? "
" Spears , bows , swords , throwing knives , we got all kinds of weapons for you missy " Erhard pointed at the countless weapons in the store " Course it always helps to have a spare sword in the case of emergencies ..."
" I am already armed well enough with my sword but ..." Mein takes a quick look at the selection of weapons around the shop " ...Do you happen to have any daggers by any chance ? The kind you can conceal under a cloak ? "
" I got this iron dagger right here " Erhard handed the knife over to Mein who looked at it with interest " Pretty basic dagger but it gets the job done , its also a bit longer than usual daggers and its pretty light , so if you're ever in need to stab a monster with your other hand ..."
" This is perfect ! Thank you mister Erhard " Mein gave a grateful smile to Erhard as she placed the dagger back into a scabbard that Erhard gave .
" Thanks a lot for the gear old man ..." Naofumi said handing him the money for the equipment
" Anytime Shield boy , and I told you already ! Don't call me old man ! I'm only 38 !" Erhard complains to which I smirk at him and Mein audibly giggles at him.
Mein's POV
After leaving Erhard's shop , Mein directed the Shield Hero towards the outside of the city , to the grassy plains . She had heard from an adventurer that this was apparently the place where a lot of rookies went to level up on their first day .
Mein watched from a distance as the wayward Shield Hero walked among the grassy plains , seemingly taking in the scenery . She almost wondered whether he noticed the sudden movement in the tall grass . Balloons most likely . Mein already knows that the weakest monster in existent can't do a thing against the Shield Hero's defense but she wants to see it for herself .
The balloon leaps at the Shield Hero and he didn't even have the time to react as it chomped down on his arm . And to her surprise , the Shield Hero didn't even flinch from the bite , due to his hero's defense . The otherworlder takes this opportunity grab it and start punching it . Mein can see its HP bar go down showing that he only managed to do a little bit of damage to the balloon with each strike .
The legends really weren't lying when they said that the Shield's defense is high ... and his attack is the worse of the heroes .
After a couple minutes of punching , he managed to kill the mob .
" Are you doing alright Sir Naofumi ?" Mein takes this opportunity to walk up to his side with her fake smile .
" Yeah, I'm doing alright , but it took me hitting that thing at least 20 times before it popped . And I only received a single EXP point from it " The Shield lets out a tired breath , clearly tired from all the punching .
" Well , that is to be expected , you're going to need to kill multiple balloons if you wish to level up Sir Naofumi "
Just as she said that , 3 more balloons popped up in front of them.
Naofumi readied his fists while Mein pulled out her sword standing ready " Well then , we still have a whole day to kill these things now do we ? " Naofumi said with a smile punching the first balloon to jump at them , as Mein went after the other two as more seemed to approach .
Hack and slash seemed to work here . And dodge .
Mein narrowly sidestepped a balloon about to bite her face off , crushing the orange monstrosity under her leather boot .
Sidestep . Slash . Dodge and hack .
The balloons themselves were pathetic and practically no threat to her at all . She was already level 17 so these balloons were little more than vermin to her and her skills as a swordswoman .
There were still more balloons to slay .
It took about the entire rest of the day of killing these balloons but the Shield managed to finally level up to level 2 . Not exactly a monumental achievement but its something at least .
Hearing the sound of slashing in the distance , Mein turns to see the Sword Hero killing multiple balloons in no time at all from a distance on a hill . Naofumi himself had stopped attacking the balloons and looked at the Sword with a hint of self disappointment in his eyes .
" Is something wrong Sir Naofumi ?" Mein asked walking up to his side already guessing it was the fact of how long it took for him to get to level 2 .
" Oh ! Its nothing Mein ... its just ... I'm sorry I couldn't help you much in battle today . But with my Shield I can only really defend at the moment . " Naofumi tells her the truth refusing to look at her directly in the eyes .
Mein just smiles at and takes his hand into hers " Think nothing of it Sir Naofumi . I am honored to fight with you . "
Naofumi gently grips her hand and manages to muster up the courage to look her in the eye " Its alright Mein , we'll both become stronger together "
That is yet to be seen , but I appreciate the enthusiasm .
Mein gives a little giggle " I can hardly wait ..."
The Shield Hero is almost making her feel bad here . Almost .
" So shall we continue ? There are still plenty of monsters here ... " Mein pulls out her sword as she sees more balloons off in the distance .
Naofumi looks to see the sun beginning to set and it slowly starting to get dark " It's already getting dark , I think we should stop for today and continue on tomorrow..."
Malty sheaths her sword and latches onto one of his arms " A wise decision Sir Hero ... I have heard that monsters are admittedly much stronger at night than during the day "
Mein could see his cheeks turn red as he realized how close she was , her breasts pressing up against his arm was an intentional move .
" So uh ... we should probably find a place to spend the night , huh ?" Naofumi turns his face away in an attempt to keep Mein from seeing his blush . It didn't work .
" I know just the place Sir Hero , we'll go to best inn in the capital " Mein says with fake excitement in the her voice .
" That sounds great , we can go there after we finish selling these balloon skins off " Naofumi looks into his inventory and see plenty of balloon skins
Mein fakes a smile of sweetness for him " Of course , Sir Naofumi "
Naofumi's POV
After selling the balloon skins off , Naofumi and Mein made their way to the inn she spoke about called 'Daedric's Inn ' . Upon seeing it , he was honestly kinda surprised at how big the place was in comparison to other inns they passed along the way .
When they entered , they saw that the inns restaurant was filled with people , which meant that most of the tables of course were occupied . Looking around Naofumi spotted Ren , Itsuki and Motoyasu all seated and eating with their companions .
Motoyasu gave a friendly wave to him as he took a sip of his drink and that made Naofumi feel a bit better at the lack of progress he made today .
Naofumi eyes wander from Mein to the other Heroes . He looks over to Ren's table , he and his companions all looked like they were all just keeping quiet and eating their food . Though Naofumi could kinda tell by the way they kept their heads down and sat a little bit away from Ren , that today was definitely not a good day for them .
Actually looking back on it , Ren was fighting alone in the fields wasn't he ? Makes me wonder where his companions were ? Aren't they supposed to fight together ?
Naofumi tries not to think too hard on it , as loud cheers erupt from Itsuki's table . By the looks of it , Itsuki's companions are a lot more happy with their chosen Hero in comparison to Ren's party , Itsuki himself is laughing and making conversation with his companions .
Motoyasu seemed to be openly conversing with his companions , most of which seemed to be laughing at what he was saying . Naofumi was a little jealous of how good Motoyasu was with girls .
The waitress returns and hands them their food , Naofumi put his hands to gather in a brief prayer before eating .
A few minutes pass , before he realizes that Mein has barely touched her food and is instead looking at the other 3 Heroes , she seems to be completely oblivious to the fact that she is staring .
" Um ... Mein ? Is something on your mind ?" Naofumi asks , knocking her out of her stupor
"Oh , my apologies Sir Naofumi , I was just thinking about how the Heroes are settling in so well " She quickly explains with a smile on her face " I really am fortunate to have been given this opportunity to be your companion Sir Naofumi , thank you for having me ..."
"No Mein , I'm the lucky one . If you hadn't volunteered to be my companion I'd have a huge problem fighting even low level monsters and becoming stronger " A self conscious smile grows on Naofumi's face " So I guess what I'm trying to say is ... thank you Mein..."
Mein's face turns to one of surprise for a brief moment , she clearly wasn't expecting to be thanked by Naofumi for just joining his party .
" You are far too kind Sir Naofumi , it truly was a great chance given to me to join you on your quest to fight the waves " She smiles at him and raises her glass in a toast
Naofumi raises his own glass " What exactly are we toasting to ?"
Mein thinks for a moment before answering " How about ... to moving forward into an unknowable future together ?"
Naofumi smiles brightly and raises his glass " To moving forward "
" To moving forward " Mein says before downing her drink
" Anyway , I'm going to go turn in for the night . I'm honestly not very good in social situations like this " Naofumi gestures over to how the people in bar were getting way too loud for his comfort .
" I understand Sir Naofumi . I think I will stay up a bit more to get to know the other Heroes companions better and finish my food " Mein gives a glance at the other Heroes parties .
" Sounds good , we'll need to eventually need to work together with our individual parties if we want to fight the waves . I'm not too good with people , making the first move anyway " Naofumi gets from his seat " Well I'm gonna go to my room now and ...thank you for believing in me Mein "
And like that , Naofumi quietly exited the bar and headed upstairs towards his room .
Mein's POV
As soon as the Shield Hero disappears from sight , Mein lets out a long held back sigh she's been holding in . Keeping up the "good girl" act was more exhausting than it actually looked . She wonders if it was even worth it , since she wasn't able to even gather that much info on the otherworlder's personality traits .
She needs to focus , the clock is ticking until the hour of the trial to come and she still has much work ahead of her ...
Right now she needs to gather info on the other Heroes and their personalities and decide on which one will be best suited for her goals . After all , if she does go through with Father's little plan then she will need one of the Heroes as a pawn and control him .
Mein narrows her eyes at both the Heroes and they're party members ...
Should she try speaking to the Heroes directly or speak to their companions ? On one hand speaking to the Heroes directly would mean she would get much more accurate info than whatever observation their companions could give on them . Though ... they have shown to be quite full of it and they may not give her the info she requires .
Both . Both is good .
After some internal debate she decides to do both ... now all she needs to do is to wait for the opportunity to speak to them ...
Opportunity comes sooner rather than later when one of the companions of the Bow Hero walks to the bar to get another drink . The companion in question a woman , looking close to Mein's age . She is dressed in what could only be described as warrior like clothing , her armor consisted of a black chest plate over a peacock green sleeveless dress , along with black gauntlets that didn't cover her hands ...
Just my luck ...
It saves her the trouble of having to seduce one of his male companions into giving her the info ...
Putting on her friendliest smile , Mein stands up from her chair and walks over to the blonde , maneuvering her way through the crowd . She casts a quick glance at the Bow Hero who is still talking it up with his companions .
She decides to make the first move by pretending to 'accidentally' bump into her . The blonde haired girl , turns to look at her with a little bit surprise at her sudden intrusion on her drinking .
" My apologies , I was merely getting a drink for myself and I didn't see where I was going " Mein speaks with a fake tone of sincerity , its usually best to play the 'nice girl' act when she's trying to get info out of other women , especially common women like the blonde adventurer before her .
" No need to apologize its not the first time somebody's bumped into me in a bar " The blonde woman looks at Mein for a full minute , as if trying to remember something , her face turns to realization as she finally remembers " Hey ... you're the Shield Hero's companion , aren't you ?"
Mein puts on a friendly smile " Right you are miss ...?" Mein purposefully draws out that last sentence , prompting this woman to formally introduce herself
"Armina ... " She answers , holding out her hand " My name's Armina , no need to be formal with me , I'm pretty sure I'm no older than you "
This Armina , returns a friendly smile to Mein .
Mein shakes her hand " Mein Sophie , I'm a new adventurer around here "
What she says is not at all a lie , at least ... not a complete one .
" Well Mein , its a pleasure to meet you ..." She rests her arm on the bar , as she eyes more of the beer in the bar .
" Likewise Armina " She follows Armina's eyes to where she's looking and sees an opportunity " You know what ? Since this is a joyful occasion , how about a round of beer on me ?"
Armina turns back to look at Mein with a smirk " You read my mind ..."
" Bartender ! " Mein turns and waves at the bartender . She catches his attention and he walks over to their side of the bar . Mein hands him a couple of silvers Naofumi gave her earlier " Give us two mugs of beer , one for me and my newly acquired friend "
She could hear Armina give a light chuckle " Friend ...?"
" Well an old friend of my mine once told me that if you want to make friends at a bar , buy them a couple rounds of beer " Mein explains , giving a light chuckle herself as the bartender returned with their drinks .
" Whichever friend told you that is one smart friend ..." Armina took a huge sip of her beer .
" Well then , new friend , how about sharing some stories about your adventures with the Shield Hero ?" Armina asks placing her drink down .
Mein had to internally fight the urge to smile creepily ...
" I'd be glad to do that ... if only you do the same with the Bow Hero " Mein asks , this is exactly what she was going for .
Armina stares down the bottom of her mug for a second " Hmmm ... alright , I suppose its only fair "
Mein thinks carefully for a moment , she can't let anything of value slip . She does not fully know or trust this Armina , so she can't give her anything that could potentially come back to bite her later on , after her identity is fully revealed as the First Princess of Melromarc .
After carefully thinking her words over , Mein finally speaks " Well ... I suppose our day went about as you would expect . We acquired some gear from a blacksmith's shop and went to the plains to kill some monsters " Mein purposefully keeps all the info she is telling purely plain and nothing useful , all the while observing Armina's reactions " Although Sir Naofumi , faced some difficulties with fighting the monsters , so he had to fight them bare handed which took quite a while "
Armina looks deep in thought for a moment " Heh ... can't be easy being the Shield Hero , having only a shield as a weapon ." Armina takes another swing of her beer " Especially now , with the Church of the Three spreading all that 'Devil of the Shield' crap ..."
Mein raises an eyebrow at the blonde , now this is quite interesting , she supposes its fortunate Armina isn't faithful to the Church , while that doesn't necessarily make her trustworthy it does provide Mein with a little bit of reassurance ...
She never really could stand that damn cults religious teachings and dogma , mostly cause they were annoying to listen to and a pain to talk about when she very rarely spoke to someone faithful to the Church . She has absolutely no clue how she survived all those boring history lessons regarding the Church , as it was without a doubt one the most boring subjects of her curriculum back when she was a child .
Armina runs a gloved hand through her blonde hair " Our day with Sir Itsuki was quite successful if I do say so myself , he was able to rise up quite a few levels , but during our travels he kept talking about justice for some reason ..."
Justice ?
Mein casts a sideway glance at the Bow Hero , what in the waves of catastrophe could he be talking about ?
Armina continued talking which brought Mein's attention back to her " He talked about having to get stronger if he is to be an ' Ally of Justice' as he puts it ..." Armina downs the last of her beer in one last swing " I honestly have no idea what he's talking about , but I could tell he's got a good heart on his shoulder "
Mein narrows her eyes at the Bow Hero for a moment before turning back to Armina , an idea having come to mind ...
" Armina , could you perhaps grant me an introduction with the Bow Hero ?" Mein asks in a mind and innocent tone , she hopes it is enough to fool her .
Armina puts a hand to her chin , considering her request for a moment before answering " Yeah okay , I'm sure Sir Itsuki would like to get to know you "
Oh I'm sure he will ...
Armina begins walking to the Bow Hero's table , with Mein trailing close behind .
The Bow Hero turns to Armina as he notices her approach " Armina , you're back ... " The Bow Hero narrows his eyes at Mein " Who's your friend ?"
" This is Mein Sophie , she was the one who joined Sir Shield Hero's party this morning " Armina introduces 'Mein' to the rest of the group
The princess in disguise take this opportunity to step forward to the Bow Hero " It is an honor to meet you Sir Itsuki ..." She holds out her hand for his to shake .
The Bow Hero smiles " Likewise " He gives her hand a light shake " Where's Naofumi ? I don't see him around ?" Sir Itsuki looks around the bar , trying to find the Shield Hero .
" Sir Naofumi decided to turn in a little early , I decided I would stick around for a bit to get to know the other heroes and their parties a bit more " What Mein is says is not at all a lie , she just mainly is searching for info to decide on which hero's party to join , after the Shield Hero is branded a rapist .
" Well you're more than welcomed to join us " The Bow scoots to the side a bit to give both her and Armina a place to sit .
The second she sits down Mein quickly scans the Bow Hero's party ...
The Bow's party is comprised of 4 men , counting the Bow and one woman ... it seems as though Armina is the only woman in the group ... now this is quite the opportunity . If she does decide to join the Bow's party , she highly doubts that Armina will be much competition , especially when it comes to comparison to her own charm and ability to seduce men .
" So Mein , how's Naofumi doing ?" The Bow Hero asks , as his companions talk among themselves
" Sir Naofumi is doing ... well , I suppose you could say " Mein makes eye contact with Itsuki , making sure to monitor his body language and reactions " Me and Sir Naofumi did quite well in the plains against the balloons together , but he seems to come off as a little ... complicated "
The Bow raises his brow in confusion " Complicated ...?"
" He seems to be a little self-disappointed in his position is what I'm trying to say , he also seemed to be a bit down since he couldn't help me much against the balloons " Mein continues to explain to the Bow Hero , making sure to monitor his reaction and see his response to what she's telling him .
The Bow Hero takes a sip of his drink " It's probably because he's the only hero who can't fight " The Bow Hero looks to Mein directly in the eyes " I know I certainly would be stressed out if I was summoned to a world where my only weapon is pretty much a piece of armor . I'd be feeling pretty useless if I was in Naofumi's position " The Bow Hero's tone at least sounds sympathetic towards the Shield Hero's position .
" I guess I lucked out as Bow Hero , it pairs perfectly with my power " The Bow mumbles that last sentence under his breath , but Mein was still able to hear him well enough.
Power ? What did he mean by that ?
Mein wanted to ask , but she held herself back since it might be seen as overstepping her boundaries , as she isn't even a member of his party .
Instead she decided to press on something that Armina told her earlier regarding the Bow Hero " So Sir Itsuki ... Armina tells me that you wish to become an 'Ally of Justice ' "
She wants to figure out exactly what he means by that ...
" So Armina told you about that ... its nothing ... just a dream I have " The Bow Hero turns back to her , looking at her directly in the eyes.
Dream ? Now this is getting interesting ...
" You see Mein , back when I was a kid , I used to get bullied a lot because I was weak ... and long story short , I developed a strong distaste for bullies and tyrants " Bow Hero eyes turns to ones of completely seriousness , one that makes her feel unsteady
" There's nothing I love more than bringing those tyrants and bullies to their knees , and making them suffer as they're victims have " Mein can't help but feel ... afraid at the tone the Bow Hero takes , there is a certain anger to his voice but also ... sadistic in it as well .
The Bow Hero gives her a smile that sends chill down her spine " Delivering justice to those who take advantage and bully others and giving them exactly what they deserve ... that is what makes me feel alive more than anything else in the whole world "
Before Mein could properly come up with a response , one of the Bow Hero's companions , a burly man dressed in heavy armor shouts praise towards the young man " Excellent Sir Itsuki ! With you around , those damn fools that abuse their power , sleep in fear of you ! " The man slams his bottle of wine o the table as he does this , the man is clearly drunken more than he could handle for the night .
Mein takes this opportunity to slip out " Well Sir Itsuki , it has been excellent meeting you , but I must go now "
" I understand Mein , please have a good night " The Bow wishes her , before she disappears into the crowd .
Mein retreats back to the bar , as she ponders her meeting with the Bow Hero ...
Well , the Bow Hero is certainly ... an exotic case , though Mein wouldn't call him a pass just yet .
Okay Mein , focus ... Which Hero to go after next ?
Mein gives short glances to the Sword and Spear Hero's parties , not much has changed in the brief time she was talking to the Bow Hero .
The Sword is still eating his food with his companions , without much conversation going on between them . While the Spear Hero still seems to be chatting it up with his companions .
She decides to go to the Sword Hero's party , might as well save the likely most friendly for last .
She approaches the Sword Hero's table and introduces herself " Good evening , Sir Ren " Mein looks at his companions , who are now looking at her in surprise at the sudden interruption of their meal .
The Sword Hero doesn't respond for a minute before finally speaking " Good evening to you too "
Mein's eye twitches a bit in annoyance at his rude late reply , does this Hero know nothing of basic courtesy ? Yes , while she is at the moment disguised as nothing more than another common adventurer , even they deserve some level of respect and courtesy .
" Hehehe ... sorry about that lass , Sir Ren is just a little tired is all " One of the Sword's companions speak up , a man that is as big as the burly knight in the Bow Hero's party , albeit a few inches shorter than him . The man in question had a beard and was wearing a black hunting cloak with puffy white fur trimming .
Mein waves her hand , brushing it off " Its fine , I understand that today must have been tiring for Sir Ren "
" Would you ... perhaps like to join us ? I'm sure Sir Ren wouldn't mind the company " The bearded man offers Mein , standing up and grabbing an extra chair from one of the unoccupied tables . The Sword Hero looks a bit annoyed at his companions offer to her , but decides not to say anything .
Mein gives the man a genuine smile for his help in her scouting of the Sword Hero "Thank you , kind sir " Mein takes a seat exactly opposite of the Sword Hero
The bearded man gives her a big smile " Don't mention it lass and no need to be proper with me . Just call me Bakta "
" Well Bakta , you have my thanks " She was being genuine with her gratitude , it is not often she gives actual thanks to a person for assisting her , a commoner no less .
" Hey ... you're Naofumi's companion , no ?" The Sword Hero finally decides to speak up
" Yes Sir Ren , I am the Hero of the Shield's companion , Mein Sophie " She formally introduces herself , but the Sword Hero still maintains his blank face .
" I understand ... what level are you ? " The Sword asks out of the blue .
"Well ... I had taken the liberty of leveling myself up prior to your arrival with the other Heroes , so I am currently at level 17 Sir Ren " Mein gives the Sword Hero a bright smile , letting a bit of pride for her level show , while it is nothing major in comparison to some veterans who are level 40 and above , it is an achievement she takes pride in .
But even in levels ... her brat of a sister Melty still beats her in that , because Mother always lets her kill monsters that the knights capture ... after they leave it within an inch of its life so Melty can take all the EXP from it with a single spell . Mother's blatant favoritism angers her to no end , letting Melty take the easy way out to improve her level when Mein has to do it the hard way .
The Sword Hero himself didn't respond right away and it was at that moment that Mein realized that all of his party members were staring at their chosen hero with baited breath . As if waiting to see how he'll handle the situation .
" I see ... well you and Naofumi shouldn't get cocky " The Sword Hero casts Mein a dismissive look .
" Um ... why is that Sir Ren ?"
" Because you're still too weak for the wave , if your level stays that way you're going to be just useless in the next wave as Naofumi . I used to beat other plays 10 levels higher than me back home ... " The Sword Hero's bluntly says " Naofumi is the only one of us that can't attack and your level is still way too low for the waves and I suspect it is the same for Naofumi "
And if you were not the Sword Hero , I would impale you on a pike and leave you for the crows to pick at .
Looks like the Sword Hero is a jealous and competitive brat ...
It takes every last piece of willpower Mein has not to either slap the Sword Hero or berate him ... or maybe both .
The Sword Hero is clearly arrogant and unknowingly condescending , it reminds Mein of all those damn nobles that talk behind her back .
" Thank you for your advice , Sir Ren " Mein gets up from the table " I must take my leave now "
As she walks away she can hear Bakta , utter a 'sorry' on his chosen Hero's behalf .
Damn right he should be sorry ! How dare the Sword Hero talk to her in such a condescending manner ! She has half a mind to throw him in the dungeon for his insult .
Mein takes a few deep breaths to calm herself , before moving on to her last target , the Spear Hero .
It seems that he is still seated at his table but what catches her eye is that most of his party members are no longer there , she assumes that they must have already returned to their rooms .
Mein takes a deep breath as she approaches the Spear Hero's table .
He seemed to have noticed her presence as he turned his head to greet her with a big smile " Mein ! Come to join me and Gretel for a drink ? "
" Oh no , Sir Motoyasu I've just come socialize a bit with some of my fellow adventurers " Mein gives a friendly smile both to him and the mage girl next to him . To her surprise , it was actually a very very young girl with dark red hair and a mage hat .
" Well , take a seat and grab a mug . I'm sure we've still got some leftover wine here somewhere ..."
" Its fine , I think I'll skip on the drink " Mein holds up her hand , she would much rather stay sober at the moment .
" Your choice ... where's Naofumi anyway ? " The Spear Hero looked around the room to look for the black haired shield hero .
" Sir Naofumi retired earlier this evening and I decided to stick around for a while longer just to get to know some of the fellow heroes parties " Mein quickly explains .
" Can't fault Naofumi there , most of my party already went back to their rooms " Sir Motoyasu confirmed what she already guessed .
Okay this is already going nowhere , I need to steer in the direction that I want .
Mein turns to the young red haired girl sitting beside Sir Motoyasu " Gretel was it ? Its nice to meet you , I'm Mein Sophie , companion of the Shield Hero "
" Its uh ... nice to meet you too , Miss Sophie " Gretel says back a little shyly .
Mein persists with a smile " So how did your day with Sir Motoyasu go ? Quite well I hope ..."
" It was really good ! We leveled up a lot ! " Gretel said almost immediately .
" You girls gossiping about me behind my back ? " Sir Motoyasu gives a knowing smile to them .
" Oh no , we're just doing right in front of you but feel free to join in " Mein smirks at him .
" Well , if you must know we-" Sir Motoyasu was about to speak when he suddenly he clasped his hand over his mouth .
" Sir Motoyasu ? Are you okay ? " Gretel asks with concern in her voice .
" I-I'm fine I just ... think I drank a bit too much ..." Sir Motoyasu's face looks a bit green , the telltale signs of a hangover or an oncoming throw up that Mein does not want to be near . Though counting the mugs on the Spear Hero's side , he only seemed to have drunk two mugs worth .
It seems the Spear Hero can't hold his liquor . Ironic considering he is the oldest hero .
" I think I'm just gonna go back to my room now ... "
" Come on , I'll take you back to your room " Gretel said standing up and grabbing Sir Motoyasu's arm , despite her smaller stature .
" T-Thanks Gretel ..." Sir Motoyasu turned to Mein " Sorry Mein , but I gotta go , have a goodnight ..."
Mein resists the urge to twitch " And you as well Sir Motoyasu ..."
Mein watched as the Spear Hero walked away with his companion , and she with no information about him at all .
Damn my luck ...
It is about an hour after Mein had left the restaurant and settled in her room to gather her thoughts . While her room back in the castle was much more extravagant and nicer than even what the best inn the capital had to offer , she truly couldn't complain about the room she was given . At the moment , she was mentally compiling every last piece of info she could get about the heroes from either their parties or the heroes themselves .
Her mind first compiles everything she knows about the Sword Hero . The first things that come to mind are the words rude , blunt , jealous and plain arrogant . The Sword clearly seems to judge a person based on how high their level is or perhaps he judges them based on their usefulness in battle ? From the many books Mein has read about the heroes of old and past , the Sword Hero is arguably one of the strongest heroes in terms of offensive power , right behind the Bow Hero of course .
Mein quickly dismisses him as her Hero of choice , even if she manages to twist him around her finger , there's no guarantee she'll be able to change his personality , his arrogance could end up backfiring on her in both political and military matters . Granted she could probably teach him a thing or two about politics and how to run a military , but by the time she does that , he may have ended up making more enemies both abroad and domestic .
The next hero that comes to mind is the Spear Hero . It takes Mein more than a couple of minutes to dismiss him of her hero of choice . She will admit that he was quite the hard pass with his somewhat level head and maturity , but there was simply too little information on him for her to properly assess him as her hero of choice . While the little witch did put him in a rather positive light based on how their day went , there was always the possibility that she may have embellished what really happened .
And even if she joins his party , there is too much competition for her work through since all of his companions are women and are not doubt trying to court him as she speaks . While she is confident that with time she would be able to work her way through all of them and gain his sole affection , but by the time she does however she will have fallen behind on every other woman who has attached themselves to the hip of their chosen Legendary Hero .
And so ... fate would have it ... it comes down to either the Bow Hero or Shield Hero .
Based on her evaluation of the Bow Hero , he is certainly ... for lack of a better term much more manageable but exotic than the other two heroes .
From what she could gather about his personality , he seems to have a strong sense of justice ... or perhaps a liking of justice , it doesn't really matter to her . But if she does choose him as her Hero of choice , she can then use his sense of justice to control him . She can easily manipulate him into believing she will be a lawful and just ruler , if he helps her in achieving the Throne .
Plus ... with demi-human slaves abundancy in Melromarc , she can use the helplessness of those dirty animals as a way to feed into his sense of justice .
It all makes perfect sense and is quite simple , if she does frame the Shield for the crime of raping her , he will certainly be all ears and be her 'shoulder to cry on' . She can then explain to him about the slavery system in Melromarc , she then predicts he will then start some mission to end slavery in Melromarc ... if what he said about hating those that pick on the weak is indeed true than from there , she just needs to convince him to help her attain the Throne once more , so that she may finally abolish slavery in Melromarc .
Which is something , she isn't entirely sure she'll do , but she'll cross that bridge when she comes to it .
Mein places her hand to chin , deep in thought as her mind drifts to the Shield Hero .
Even though , she has spent the better part of a day with the Shield Hero , she couldn't form a proper assessment of him . She wasn't lying when she said to the Bow Hero that he seemed complicated ... but he was also distant in a way . From what she could gather , he seems to be quite friendly and polite with people , as he was when they were purchasing equipment from that blacksmith , who made her nervous when he said she seemed familiar . Aside from that , he doesn't seem to act like a buffoon unlike some of his peers , though she wouldn't necessarily mark that as a monumental achievement as pretty much anybody with tact could do that .
Even though , wedding him would act as a great political maneuver , seeing as he is worshiped by both Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden , she still has no clue what that damn Three Heroes Church is planning .
Mein sighs in both anger and frustration , she has to take into account that cult of the 3 Heroes , her mother and even her brat of a sister .
Mother's shadows are certainly one thing to worry about , Mein wonders if they were listening to their little meeting yesterday night . If they were ... than that would be quite problematic for Mein , granted Mother would be unable to do anything at the moment seeing as she is still far away from Melromarc and Father is still the rightful regent of the country until then .
But when Mother comes back ... there will be hell to pay , she will most likely start by stripping both herself and Father of their royal titles and after that ... whatever punishment mother could dish out is anyone's guess .
The Pope will most likely be removed from his position and replaced by someone else ... someone Mother can control ...
Mein grits her teeth in pure anger at her mother ... as memories of her childhood seem to come back to life .
She dismisses them ruthlessly , now was not the time to dwell on such personal matters , right now she needs to think about the Three Heroes Church . The Pope did say he could make her Queen , she was still unsure about how truthful he was being , but if he was then he must have a plan on how to deal with mother .
She has no issue with betraying her mother and nothing would make Mein happier than seeing her mother being brought to her knees in both a literal and power like sense .
Even if that means , working with the second person she hates the most ...
Before Mein leaves her room , she opens the dresser of the room and finds a satchel that should be big enough to carry all of the Shield Hero's belongings in it , since she can't reasonably carry all of them with both of her hands .
Exiting her room and heading straight for the Shield Hero's room , she crouches down to avoid making too much noise .
Once she is in front of his door , Mein looks through the door lock to confirm that the Shield is indeed asleep .It would be troublesome , if he were to awake now to find her creeping inside his room to steal his possessions . After confirming that the Shield Hero is fast asleep , she moves to open the door ... and run into her first problem of the night .
Mein could only sigh in annoyance , she should have expected it would be natural for the Shield to lock his door , even though he may be from another world , that is still basic knowledge . Standing up straight and walking back into her room , she thinks of a way to get inside his room .
Her eyes wander around the room , until they reach the window . Mein's eyes widen in realization as she hurries to the window and checking to see if it has a lock .
To her fortune , the simple wooden window doesn't have a lock , Mein could grin at what this meant . If we go by that assumption , that none of the windows have locks then that would mean , she could enter his room through his window !
She opens her window and looks outside , only to groan in annoyance . Even though her room is directly right next to the Shield Hero's room , their windows are still too far apart , she can see the ledge of his window , is just big enough for her to grab on to but she's still too far apart , she looks at the building across from her window and sees that the gap isn't too far apart ...
Mein realizes that there is only one way she can do this ...
Stepping onto the ledge of the window and readying her jump , she takes a deep breath before she makes the jump . She manages to grab on to the gutter of the roof , she could only wince in barely suppressed disgust when she feels the dirt of the gutter on her fingers . She ignores the dirtiness of the gutters enough to get her footing onto the roof . Seeing the Shield Hero's window in her sights , she makes another jump and manages to grab onto the ledge with relative ease .
Mein couldn't help but find herself being thankful at all the training she did in her younger days .
This wouldn't be so easy if I hadn't been trained so well ...
Mein pushes the thoughts out of her head , as she as quietly opens the window of the Shield Hero , carefully placing her footing on the ledge and quietly stepping onto the smooth hard wooden floor . Mein looks to the bed , to see a slumbering Shield Hero on the soft comfortable bed , he looked almost ... peaceful in his slumber .
Mein shook her head , now was not the time to be admiring the Shield's looks , she had a job to do ...
Crouching down to avoid making as much noise as possible, she carefully stalks over to the dresser and opens it to find his armor and money and even his rather strange otherworlder clothes but she supposes those have to be worth something as they did looked quite unique.
Stashing them away in the satchel , she quietly retreats back to the window and returns the way she came .
She doesn't even bother to be quiet as she drops from the window ledge to the floor hard .
She takes a moment to catch her breath , the trial will begin tomorrow if the Pope makes good on his end of the plan .
It takes her a couple of minutes to get her heart rate down a bit , not because of all the ledge grabbing and jumping tired her out quite a bit , considering how much she trained in her youth but because of the situation itself that her heart was racing .
She has no clue how her old friend used to do that stuff on a daily basis .
Mein took in a deep breath .
Now all there was left to do ... was wait .
She has a big day tomorrow after all ...
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter , sorry it was so long , not counting the next chapter I do promise that the chapters after the next one will be more reasonably length . Actually after rereading the first chapter , I didn't realize how long it actually was , I don't know why but it seemed way shorter in the Doc Manager for some reason . Very strange .
But anyway back to the story , I will try to update this story on a consistent basis . I'm aiming for weekly updates for now( Two weeks at the most ) , but that might take a while since I'm in college right now .
Nonetheless , if you have any non-spoiler questions feel free to ask them in the reviews . I know I certainly tend to have more than a couple when I'm interested in a new story .
That's all for now , see you all in the next one .
Angel Out .