The start of a new arc is upon is my dear readers and I am so excited to finally get into this arc. I have been meticulously planning this story for 2 years and I am happy that we are finally getting into the real beef that this story has to you all with follow along on this new journey with Malty and the crew.
:P
Big thanks to Qinlongfei for beta reading this chapter and providing important feedback and critic.
With that said, let's get it started !
Chapter 22 : The Morning After
It was the morning after the banquet and the impromptu duel. All the heroes and their parties were gathered in the Throne Room to be given their rewards for the Wave. The Heroes stood before the Throne , while their respective parties waited on the side. Mein had to hold back the urge to yawn , it was too early in the morning to be doing this , she was up late last night meeting up with Lesty and making a begrudging partnership with the knight.
As much as she loved the night , even she needed her beauty sleep.
Mein eyes narrowed to the Spear Hero's party , that were standing opposite of them. Her eyes met with Lesty and her old friend , gave her a knowing smile. Mein would have given a small wave back , but Haven was watching the entire affair like a hawk so she couldn't so much as sneeze without her noticing.
" We will now begin handing out the rewards for the heroes for their efforts during the Wave , so they may prepare for the next in the coming month " Father addresses the room , looking a little bit better since last night. Considering the fact , that he was put under fire from all the Cardinal Heroes , its a miracle he can still invite them to give them their rewards.
At father's signal , four servants step forward , each holding pouches full of coins.
" For Sir Motoyasu , he will receive 4000 silvers " Mein couldn't see the heroes expressions , because their backs were to them but the Spear Hero seems to just give a nod , taking his reward money without so much as a word.
Father is obviously trying to butter up the Spear Hero after last night , when the Spear Hero admonished him for all nobility to see.
" Sir Itsuki and Ren will receive 3800 silvers " The two servants hand the pouches to the two young heroes. The tiny difference in reward money does not go unnoticed by Mein , father is clearly playing favorites and trying to get the Spear Hero back on his side.
" As for the Shield Hero... he will also receive 3800 silvers " Father almost sounded like he hurt himself saying that.
Naofumi looked reasonably surprised but Mein wasn't. It was clear that Father was trying to cover up for the debacle last night and is trying to save face by treating Naofumi fairly.
It seems father hasn't gone completely senile.
" Thank you , your majesty ..." Naofumi seems to nod at father before taking his reward money , stowing it away for safekeeping in his Shield's inventory.
" With that matter settled , go now brave heroes ! And become stronger for the next wave ! "
All four heroes nod , before walking out of the Throne Room with their parties in tow.
Combined with their funds last month and the ones they had just received , they should have around 4185 silvers at their disposal. More than enough to cover both living expenses and preparation costs.
" Hey Motoyasu , hang on " Naofumi stopped the Spear Hero and his party before they could walk away . The Sword and Bow had quickly left the castle , so it just left Naofumi and the Spear Hero standing in the hallways of the castle.
The Spear Hero turned his head to look at Naofumi , with neutral eyes " Yeah , Naofumi ? What is it ?"
" I just wanted to let you know , that I freed Raphtalia of her slave crest last night , you were right when you said what I was doing was wrong and I was just taking the easy way out " Naofumi admits to the Spear Hero.
Motoyasu is silent for a moment , before he lightly smiled at Naofumi " Good to hear it "
" And I wanted to say thanks ..."
Motoyasu looked at Naofumi confused " For what ?"
" For giving me a wake up call " Naofumi hesitated for a minute for answering.
Motoyasu went silent again , before he smiled and chuckled the same he always did " Don't mention it , Naofumi "
" Well , me and my party gotta get going " Motoyasu walked , but he held up his right hand in a wave motion as he did so " Take care , ya hear ? I still want a rematch for last night ! "
Naofumi chuckled and Mein saw that he had the same face he had when he first came here. Mein didn't know why but his smile seem to make her feel warm but in a good way.
" Come on guys , lets go " Naofumi took the lead and led his party out of the castle , Mein following by his side.
" So Naofumi , where shall we go today ?" Mein leaned in to ask.
" Well , since we just got a ton of money , the first thing I want to do is head to Erhard's shop " Naofumi told them as they exited the castle , passing through the gates " I still need to pay Erhard back for all the shields I copied "
Ah. Great.
Mein grip on the Naofumi's arm was a bit tighter than necessary , but it wasn't enough to actually hurt him considering his high defense , so he didn't even notice.
" Wait , wait , hang on Uncle Erhard , how much did you say ?" Ake held up a hand at Erhard.
" Didn't you hear me the first time ?" Erhard crosses his arms , raising an eyebrow at Ake.
" Oh , I heard you , I just want to make sure it sounded the crazy the second time around "
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After a brief moment of silence , Erhard let out a sigh leaning on the counter " I said that all those shield you copied are gonna be 1500 silvers "
Mein stared blankly at the bald blacksmith.
Ake was right , it did sound crazy the second time around ! That payment alone is going to eat through half of their reward that they had just received !
They had come to Erhard's shop , as per Naofumi's request to pay him back for all the shields he copied before the Wave. Though before they did come to the shop , they made a quick stop at Cathedral where the Dragon Hourglass was kept to check how much time they had before the next Wave. Of course they were met with their usual cold stares and glares , but nonetheless the Church allowed them to check the Hourglass with none of the fuss from before.
They had 45 days until the next wave was to occur. Which gave them plenty of time to get stronger for the Wave.
" Come on uncle Erhard , that's way too much even for every shield in here " Ake tried to bargain for a better price.
" Hey , you guys copied every single shield I had in here , including some of the very valuable and rare ones. This also taking into account the bulk discount I'm giving you so don't start complaining about the price now " Erhard shrugged his shoulders , not convinced at all by Ake's bargaining skills.
Ake doesn't seem to be giving up anytime soon in his bargaining for a lower price " How does 1250 silvers sound ?"
" Ake that's enough , you don't need to bargain " Naofumi held up a hand. Naofumi took a few coin bags from his belt and placed them on the counter not looking all too pleased himself " I made my bed and now I gotta lie in it "
Erhard did a quick count of the bags to make sure everything was there. Erhard grinned , tossing some gold coins into the air and catching them " Pleasure doing business with you Shield Boy "
Naofumi smiled back at Erhard , he didn't seem too upset over the high price of the shields " It's the least I could do after you gave Mein that good equipment before the Wave started , I was actually wondering about getting her some better armor , but I didn't know what to get " Naofumi sounds appreciative towards Erhard for making Silver Huntress armor " So thank you "
" Don't mention it Shield Boy " Erhard gives a sideway glance to Mein " Its the least I can do for you and the kid "
Mein has to hold back the urge to sigh , does Erhard always have to call her that ?
" Moving on to more serious business " Erhard glanced over at Raphtalia partially hiding behind Ake , clearly noticing the fact that she is now missing an arm " What the hell happened out there ? "
Naofumi flinched at the reminder of his failure " We got careless. We got overwhelmed protecting Lute village and-"
" Raphtalia jumped in front of me to save my life and lost her arm in the process " Mein said, remembering how she failed to notice that undead that attacked her.
Raphtalia whimpered at the reminder of her lost arm.
" Shit...I'm so sorry kid " Erhard gave his sympathies.
" Thanks Erhard " Naofumi nodded gratefully " We were thinking of getting Raphtalia a magical prosthetic because a normal one won't work for her. I was wondering if you had any ? "
" Sorry kid , but that ain't my area of expertise " Erhard shook his head " I'm a blacksmith and a damn good one, I know how to enchant weapons and all, but making magical prosthetics ain't my line of work. You're much better off talking to an experienced magic seller about it "
" What about Nellie ? " Mein suggested the witch from before " She does seem to know quite a bit about magic so she might know where we can get one "
" I don't know if aunt Nellie sells magical prosthetics though " Ake shrugged.
" Its as good a place to start as any, thanks Erhard " Naofumi nodded.
" No problem, now get out there and kick some ass !" Erhard said cheerfully as they left the shop.
" You hear that Raphtalia ? We're gonna get you a new arm " Naofumi said enthusiastically " Its going to be okay "
" T-Thank you..." Raphtalia said shyly as they walked.
Mein smiled a little. Maybe it would okay.
" Please tell me you have something aunt Nellie " Ake said almost pleadingly.
" I'm sorry Ake but I don't have anything " Nellie shook her head.
Mein felt like groaning in irritation as Raphtalia ducked her head down in sadness.
" You must have something, do you know anywhere else we can buy or get a magical prosthetic ? " Naofumi pushed on.
" I'm sorry Shield Hero but I don't have any or know anybody who might have magical prosthetics, I deal mainly in arcane trinkets, grimoires and the like " Nellia said again sadly " Regular prosthetics are somewhat easier to get, but the ones that are magical in nature are much harder to come by especially in Melromarc. They'll easily cost you an arm and a leg just to get one, and don't even get me started on custom magical prosthetics which can you cost from 4 to 5 thousand silvers alone "
With them just having paid off Erhard, they only have barely half of what they would possibly need to get Raphtalia her prosthetic and that's going to eat through their funds well before the next wave.
" You have gotta be kidding me " Naofumi said exasperatedly.
" I-Its okay Master Naofumi...I can wait..." Raphtalia said but it was clear by her voice that she wanted to have an arm back sooner rather than later.
" No, it's not okay Raphtalia, I said we would get you a prosthetic arm and we will " Naofumi said firmly " We'll just search for someone else..."
" My best wishes to you Shield Hero. You gotta keep positive in times like these " Nellia said with a smile " Say while I have you're here, how I about give your girl a magical aptitude test to find out her affinities ? Free of charge " Nellie went behind the counter and placed a crystal ball on the counter .
Mein raised an eyebrow at the woman, from the way she was acting it was clear that she was attempting to cheer up Raphtalia.
" O-Okay..." Raphtalia nodded.
Mein figures that it would be good to have Raphtalia learn her magical affinity , so that they are aware of what kind of magic to teach her. Though that means that Mein will have to her teacher , as she is the most knowledgeable about magic.
" Come here Raphtalia, put your hand on the crystal ball " Nellie gestured for Raphtalia to come closer and she stepped out from behind Mein's leg to the counter. Unfortunately the girl's forehead just barely reached the counter so Mein had to pick her up and place her on the counter so she could do the test.
Raphtalia placed her hand on the crystal ball and like Naofumi before , the ball glowed dimly as the witch closed her eyes and muttered a few words. After about a minute or so , the light faded into nothing and Raphtalia pulled her hands back.
" My , my , it would seem you have an affinity for Light and Dark magic little lady ! " Nellie said happily " Make sure you learn plenty of illusion magic ! "
So Raphtalia has Light and Dark affinities. Two of the magical affinities that were grounded in illusion. Mein recalled that people only had one of each affinity , so Raphtalia to have them both was incredible on its own. Then again her being a raccoon probably helped there.
Unfortunately Mein had neither affinity, so it might prove a bit difficult to teach her.
" Thank you so much for everything miss Nellie " Naofumi nodded in gratitude at the witch.
" Oh don't mention it , just promise me you'll take care of my little Ake " Nellie said happily, which made Ake grunt.
" Don't worry , Erhard already asked me to do that " Naofumi gave a small laugh.
" Alright , that's enough chit-chatting , lets go " Ake started pushing the whole party out of the shop "See you around aunt Nellie "
" Oh , please come by again ! I would love to show you Ake's baby pictures ! " Nellie said out loud.
Mein snorted , almost laughing at the idea of seeing Ake in diapers.
" Shut up " Ake glared at her , hearing her laugh.
Naofumi smiled amusingly at Ake " You got to admit Ake, it is kinda funny "
" We are not having this conversation right now ..."
" Oh come on Ake , lighten up a bit " Naofumi nudged Ake in the shoulder.
Ake only rolled his eyes in response.
" So what's the plan now Naofumi ? " Mein asks walking by his side " Getting a prosthetic for Raphtalia might take longer than we expected and we can't spend too much time searching for a buyer, I'm sorry to say it like this but we should put a pin on it as a long term quest while we prepare for the wave. I don't think any of us want to relive what its like to be unprepared for the Wave "
That made both Naofumi and Raphtalia flinch , one in anger at himself and the other at the painful reminder of what she had lost.
It was a hard thing to say but Mein needed to let them know that they could have a repeat of the last wave. Where they were woefully underleveled and prepared for the Wave. And with the next one coming soon, they needed to get prepared.
" You're right Mein, we need to prepare for the Wave...but we can't just forget about Raphtalia " Naofumi thought out loud " How about this. We go around hunting monsters, raising our levels and at the same time ask around to see if anybody has a prosthetic for sale ? Is that agreeable ? "
" A good compromise Naofumi " Mein nodded in agreement.
" So what are you thinking in particular Sir Naofumi for how we should proceed leveling ? " Ake asked.
" Well ... I'm thinking its about high time , we finally go explore the rest of Melromarc , we aren't going to be able to level sufficiently if we stay close to the capital. The monsters around the capital are too weak to give any marginal EXP gains " Naofumi puts a hand to his chin in thought " And also since I think me and Mein have unlocked all the skills and shields we can get from the monsters around here , if we're going to unlock new forms and skills then we're going to need to broaden our horizon to the rest of Melromarc "
" Very true, there are not that many strong monsters near the capital and those that carry a good EXP gain are usually found deeper within Melromarc " Mein said thoughtfully.
" Though what should our level goal before the next wave be ? " Naofumi asked.
" How about we try to aim for the 50's ? That seems like a reasonable goal " Mein suggested.
" Sounds good " Naofumi nodded in agreement " So we'll get a carriage and then we're going to be on the move , we can sell high tier medicine and potions I make to earn ourselves money on the side while we're travelling to save up for Raphtalia's prosthetic. With the waves going on , there should be a large demand for medicine going around , so we'll be able to keep ourselves funded while we're on the move "
Naofumi awkwardly scratch the side of his head " But I'll probably need someone to teach me how to read this world's language before I can start making high tier medicine "
Mein giggles in amusement , locking arms with Naofumi " Don't worry Naofumi , I promise I'll teach you everything I know ... "
Naofumi gulps , blushing as red a tomato.
Mein feels a slight tug on skirt , turning to Raphtalia who looks up at her timidly " And me too ? "
Mein resists the urge to sigh as she gently patted Raphtalia's head" Yes, Raphtalia and you too "
" Actually... " Ake butted into the conversation " I think it may be better if I were to teach Raphtalia magic "
Naofumi raised an eyebrow at Ake , clearly confused as was Mein.
" While I'm certainly not an expert concerning magic , I am knowledgeable to a certain extent about how to use magic " Ake narrowed his eyes at Mein " And I feel like it would put too much of a strain on Mein if she were to tutor both you and Raphtalia on magic , as well as teaching a new language as well "
" You make a good point Ake " Naofumi turns to Raphtalia " Raphtalia , you're going to be learning magic from Ake , okay ? "
" Okay ! " Raphtalia nodded furiously.
Mein turns to Ake wondering why he would help her and at that moment he winks at her.
Mein's eyes widened in realization of what the knight was doing , he was holding up his end of the bargain !
Perhaps , she has misjudged this knight.
" So it sounds like we have a plan , now all we need to do now is get some horses and a carriage and we should be set " Naofumi said enthusiastically , he seems to be quite excited over the prospect of travelling.
Ake scoffs at that " Fat chance getting a horse , those things are expensive as hell and are only available to the nobility. We would have a much better option if we were to get a filorial , they are much easier to get than horses "
" Filorial's ? " Naofumi repeated in confusion.
" You had to have seen them around Naofumi , they are those giant birds that pull carts and wagons around " Mein explains.
Naofumi actually gives a small laugh at that " So they are basically giant chocobo's ? "
Both Mein and Ake looked at each in confusion of what Naofumi was saying , what the hell is a chocobo ?
" What the hell is chocobo ?"Ake asks ,what they were thinking about.
" Its nothing , forget about it ..." Naofumi waves Ake off " So where do we get them ? Is there like a stable or something here in the capital ? "
" There is one right here in the capital , but they are rather more expensive than the ones sold locally " Mein was honestly not sure if there were more stables here in the capital , she had only heard about it from her brat of a sister.
" Actually buying filorial's locally isn't an option " Ake rested his hand on his sword handle " Before I left the Order, I remember hearing from my captain that the military has been buying up filorial's to use for their cavalry units. So that has in turn driven up the price of filorial's and I doubt we would want to spend that much on a couple of birds "
" Just great..." Naofumi let out a sigh in exasperation.
" But do not fear Sir Naofumi , there is another solution " Ake chimed in.
Naofumi piqued at this " What do you mean ? "
" We could buy a few monster eggs and raise our own filorial's from birth " Ake suggested " It would be much more cost efficient and at most they would cost a 100 silver pieces each and with your EXP boost, we should be able to raise the filorial in less than a week "
" Okay , sounds good " Naofumi nodded " But where are we going to get a monster egg ? "
Ake grins at Naofumi " Don't worry , I know just the guy "
After a nice little trip through the god awful part of Castletown , they stood in front of the slave trader's tent.
Mein turns to Ake with a disapproving glare " Has anyone ever told you , you're a bad person Ake ? "
Ake chuckles at her question " Yeah , I think somebody said that to me once " Ake holds open the flap and they all head inside.
" The Shield Hero and his companions return once again ! " Beloukas comes over to greet them having heard them enter. Beloukas looks at them with his usual business grin " To what do I owe the pleasure this time ?"
" We're here to buy a few filorial eggs , I remember hearing you sell those as well , am I right ? " Ake cuts straight to the chase.
" Ah , yes right this way " Beloukas walks down between the row of cages , he leads to the tent he had set up , where he kept his tools for slave seal branding. And god only knows what else.
" If you want a filorial egg , then you're going to have a play game of chance ! " Beloukas gestures towards an open crate that had a bunch of eggs lined up. Each one of them had a similar looking mark painted it , but each of them had a different color " For the very small fee of 100 silvers , you can pick one egg each "
" Who knows you might score and get a Griffin ! Or if you're particularly lucky , you might end up hitting the jackpot and getting a dragon ! And let me remind you , those are worth 50 gold pieces ! "
So its basically gambling , but without any actual skill and relying solely on dumb luck.
Mein figures that one hundred silvers isn't going to bad for Naofumi's coin purse , even after they paid off Erhard.
" So its kinda like a gacha game ? " Naofumi mumbled under his breath.
" So what do you say Sir Hero ? You feeling lucky ...? " Beloukas grins at Naofumi , twirling his mustache.
Naofumi shrugs " What do I have to lose ? Let's give it a shot "
Naofumi steps up to the crate and he eyes each egg very carefully , he's clearly trying to think this through and make a good choice. After all , they could end up getting saddled with a worthless balloon or rabbit pill and waste a hundred silvers.
After a moment of careful consideration , Naofumi carefully picks up an egg that has a purple painted mark on it.
" Ah, is that your final choice Sir Hero ? " Beloukas asks happily eyeing Naofumi's coin pouch.
"Yeah, I think I'll go with this one " Naofumi holds the egg firmly in his hand, taking care not to drop it.
" Excellent ! I'll prepare an incubator and -"
" Actually, hold on one moment " Naofumi holds a hand , stopping Beloukas mid sentence. Naofumi turns to Mein , who is standing side by side with Ake " Hey Mein , why don't you give it a shot ? "
" Huh ? "
" It would be good if we were to get two eggs , in case one of them turns out to flop. And it would be kinda unfair if it was only my luck being tested here . So what do you say ? " Naofumi gestures toward the egg box.
Mein thinks it over , Naofumi makes a good point and even then they need at least two filorial's to pull a wagon around , so that's something to consider.
After thinking it over for a brief minute , Mein walks up to the egg crate and carefully eyes each of them.
She sees that each of them has their own color. Such as purple , green , blue and red. But Mein couldn't find any pattern to the way the eggs were arranged.
Does it have something to do with the color ?
Mein did a quick head count of every egg in the crate and instantly realized something.
There were only 3 eggs that had been marked red , this can mean one of two things , either it was purposefully added as a way to throw people off when guessing or that meant there were significantly less of that particular egg.
Whichever it may be , Mein has a feeling in her heart that its going to be good.
Mein picks the egg out of the crate and holds it carefully in her hand. The egg feels rather...warm , she doesn't know why though.
Beloukas fake coughs into his hand to get her attention " If you are done , allow me to place it in the incubator " Without a word , Mein hands him the egg and he places in an incubator and putting it next to Naofumi's egg of choice.
" When can we expect them to hatch ? " Naofumi picks up his egg , while Mein did the same.
" Give or take a day , maybe less " Beloukas answers.
" Alright then , we'll be on our way " Their party starts moving their way out of the tent.
" Pleasure doing business with you " Mein can practically feel Beloukas's grin.
" I wish I could say the same " Naofumi mumbles back as they exit the tent.
They quickly make their way back onto the main street , where the crowds of people are moving around minding their own business. Naofumi holds his egg with care , clearly not wanting it to fall out of the incubator and smash onto the pavement. Mein does the same , holding it close to her chest and keeping away from people she might bump into and cause her to drop her egg.
Mein feels that it is painfully ironic that she is taking care of an egg with such care now. She can still remember back in her childhood , one assignment they were given was to take care of an egg. The result for Mein was not pretty at all , since she ended up accidentally dropping the egg in two days.
Needless to say she instantly failed that class.
" So where are we heading to Naofumi ? " Mein turns to the Shield Hero , who is holding his egg close to him.
" I'm thinking we should head over to Lute Village , we're going to need a safe place to raise these eggs and the capital doesn't exactly seem to be a very ideal place for that " Naofumi explained " Anyway , Lute seems like the best place to raise these two eggs "
Mein smiled at Naofumi " Sounds like a plan "
By the time they had arrived in Lute Village , the sun was already going down and the night would soon take over.
They walked right past what was left of the front gate. This time there was no guard post to stop them from entering since it had also been destroyed in the Wave. The walls around Lute were busted up and in many parts heavily damaged and could serve as easy ways into the village. In terms of the actual village itself , Lute had survived quite nicely , though there was the occasional destroyed building here and there , it would seem most of the buildings in Lute had survived.
As they walked through the village , they saw the villagers had already begun reconstruction. Several villagers had actually stopped and stared at them , some of them even went up to Naofumi and her to thank them for protecting their village. Mein didn't know quite what it was , but she felt ... happy for getting recognition for helping someone.
They proceeded through the village with Ake leading at the front.
" So where are we staying for the night Ake ? " Mein asks , looking at some of the buildings.
" A nice inn in Lute Village , I know the owners there's no way in hell Brent and Anne are dying in a Wave " Ake said simply " They have a restaurant as well , and its pretty affordable for adventurers "
Ake leads them around the corner to a building that looked to have been set on fire. There appeared to be two people standing outside, a man and a woman, both of which eyed the burned structure with sadness in their eyes.
" Son of a bitch " Ake cursed before running up to the couple " Anne ! Beret ! You two okay ? "
" Ake, its good to see you again my boy " Beret said turning to the knight " We heard you were travelling with the Shield Hero, but we didn't believe it when we heard it "
" What the hell happened ? " Ake said looking at the destroyed inn.
" The Wave happened Ake. Those damn skeletons managed to burn down the inn and now its completely uninhabitable " Anne said through angry tears.
" I'm so sorry to hear that...where are you guys staying ? " Ake asked sympathetically.
" George and Sir Rathos turned the Town Hall and Healer's Hut into a temporary shelter for those who lost their homes " Beret explained " We've been staying there until we can get the inn fixed, but until that happens nobody's staying at the inn "
" Alright, you should head back before it gets too dark "
" You said it. See you around Ake " Beret and Anne waved goodbye as they left and went off in the direction of the town hall.
" Great...there goes our lodging " Mein said tiredly.
" Can we make it back to Castletown, see if we can find an inn there ? " Naofumi suggested.
" At this hour and the time it would take to even find an inn that hasn't already been booked, fat chance of that happening " Mein said exasperated " Should we just suck it up and stay at the temporary shelter ? Its not like we have any other choices..."
" No...there is ONE other place we can stay in Lute Village " Ake spoke up as he looked at them all seriously.
" Where ? " Mein inquired.
" I know a place, just come on " Ake said quietly as he lead the way.
They all looked at each confused before they simply followed Ake, what did they have to lose ?
Ake lead the way not speaking a single word as he walked through the village with the rest of them following closely behind. Mein thinks they walked about 5 minutes before they eventually stopped in front of a large building.
They all stood in front of a large building,built almost entirely out brick rather than the usual stone that many of the common villagers used for their homes. It was bigger than any other house in the village , with the exception of the lord's house and even then it paled in comparison. The building itself looked completely unharmed too for whatever reason. It was a mansion that all the passing villagers would stare at in envy.
And yet Mein couldn't help but notice that Ake was staring at the mansion with distaste and anger in his eyes. His fists clenched as if he wanted to set it on fire.
" Ake ? You okay ? " Naofumi asked out of concern.
" I'm fine...let's go " Ake said walking up the stone steps to the mansion. The knight took out a key from his pocket and unlocked the front door.
The rest of them followed inside and Mein was pleasantly amazed to see that the interior lived up to the exterior. While it was nowhere near the same level of extravagance like Iris or Lesty's mansion, the inside had wonderful hardwood flooring, aesthetically pleasing colored walls and other amenities.
Where the hell had Ake taken them ?
" Excuse me ? Who's there ? " A voice called out followed by the sound of footsteps coming down the staircase. They all turn to see a woman , around her late 40's dressed in a maid attire coming down the stairs.
" Who is - " The woman cut herself off as soon as her eyes landed on Ake.
" Oh my god ... Master Ake ! " The old woman ran down the stairs and hugged Ake , pulling him into an embrace.
Ake let out an amused chuckle as he returned the hug " Nice to see you too , Carlyle "
Carlyle pulled away from the hug , to look at Ake " I was so worried about you , why haven't you been sending me any letters ? I was really worried when you stopped sending them , you know ! "
Ake gave a small smile , scratching his head " Sorry ... I've been really busy with the Shield Hero's party and all "
" I had heard from Erhard that you had joined the Shield Hero's party , but I didn't quite believe it " Carlyle said " Though I suppose I cannot deny he was telling the truth any further "
" Since when did you and Erhard have a talking relationship ? " Ake raised his eyebrow at her.
" Since the day , you started giving us both headaches so I would say ... about 10 years " Carlyle smiled back at Ake.
Ake rolled his eyes but not in annoyance, Mein could tell that this Carlyle was one of the few people he could relax around.
But he also seemed to completely forget about the rest of them, who were staring at the scene in surprise and shock.
Mein let out a fake cough " Ake ? Do you mind introducing us ? "
" Oh right sorry, guys this is Kate Carlyle. She's my family's personal maid and tutor since I was a baby " Ake explained " Carlyle, this is Naofumi Iwatani, Mein Sophie and Raphtalia "
Carlyle bowed respectfully to them " It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Shield Hero, I hope the estate is up to par "
" Its a-amazing and you can just call me Naofumi " The Shield Hero corrected " Ake, you never told us you were rich, I thought your parents just owned the general store here in Lute but this mansion looks to be owned by nobility "
Mein let out a whistle as she looked around the place " Nobility indeed..."
" My parents were merchants who were mid-tier nobles at best, don't get it confused " Ake corrected.
" So Master Ake, what are you doing back here so soon ? " Carlyle asked.
" We need a place to stay for the next few days while we wait for these eggs to hatch " Ake explained pointing at the two eggs " We're also going to need a carriage, did father still keep a few spare carriages at the general store here ? "
" Yes, I believe he did " Carlyle nodded " We can work out the details later, for now how would you all like some dinner ? "
Mein had almost forgotten that they hadn't ate yet. As if to remind everybody, Raphtalia's stomach growled and she blushed in embarrassment.
Carlyle giggled " Come on, I'll make something quick for everybody and while we're eating you can tell me if Master Ake has been behaving himself "
" Kate, you know I'm always gentlemanly " Ake said snidely but they both laughed.
It was an odd sight to see Ake actually being comfortable and laughing for once.
An odd sight indeed.
After Carlyle whipped up a damn good dinner for them all, that made Mein wonder how this woman was not hired to be part of the royal kitchen staff. They encountered their first 'issue' for their stay.
It turns out that coincidentally Ake's mansion had a grand total of 4 bedrooms. One belonging to Carlyle, Ake's former bedroom, the Master Bedroom and a spare guest bedroom.
Ake gave his former bedroom to Raphtalia, since it was close to Carlyle's room so she could respond and help if Raphtalia had a night terror. The knight himself took the master bedroom that supposedly belonged to his parents.
So that left the one guest bedroom for herself and Naofumi.
Mein was really starting to enjoy her partnership with Ake.
Entering the room , it was more than big enough with a desk and a window that gave light to the room came with a standing cover screen so they could change in privacy. There were also several artwork that made the room feel much more lively along with a cabinet and dresser in the corner
And there was only a single bed.
It seemed big enough that two people could sleep on .
Mein smiles evilly , as she places the egg down on the table.
" U-Um Mein ? "
" Yes , Naofumi " Mein holds herself back from chuckling at his obviously nervous demeanor .
" There's ... only one bed "
" So it seems "
" Uh ... how are going to divide this , I mean ... "
" Try not to think too hard on it Naofumi , for now let's both just get comfortable " Mein giggles at his pure behavior as she walked behind the screen " I'm gonna get changed now "
" O-Okay ! " Naofumi coughed nervously.
" You can peek if you want " Mein teased.
Naofumi face went red and he would have surely choked on something if he had been drinking.
Mein took off her purple cloak , black gloves , veil and armor , storing it in her inventory for safekeeping. She kept her sword and dagger with her though , in case she need in a flash. She opened up her inventory and selected the white shirt given to her on her first day. While she would certainly prefer her nightgown over this , it certainly acts as a good substitute.
" Alright , Naofumi you can turn around now " Mein gave the word and Naofumi turned to see Mein fully clothed. Though she really wouldn't have minded if he saw her exposed. It would have made seducing go all the more easier.
Naofumi seems to have calmed down , his cheeks losing their reddish tint. That simply won't do.
" You should take your armor off as well , its quite uncomfortable to wear armor while you sleep " Mein slyly suggested.
" Yeah , okay..." Naofumi was obviously trying to keep his cool but failing to do so. As he walked to stand behind the screen to change. It took only a few minutes before he reappeared, having removed his breastplate , gauntlets and thigh pads. Now he was only wearing his white shirt and green pants ,along with his boots of course.
Naofumi seemed to be content on looking just about anywhere but her. As if looking at her would cause him to fall for her. Smart.
Mein smirked as she got close to him , making his eyes widen by how close she was " Tell me Naofumi...did you ever have a girlfriend back in your world ? "
" No uh never...I've never had many friends back in my world, much less a girlfriend so..." Naofumi was cut off when Mein moved closer.
" So I take it you've never been kissed before ? " Mein asked seductively.
" N-No..."
" Would you like to ? "
Naofumi froze as Mein's face got closer to his. His lip trembling in anticipation, Mein smirked as she moved closer and closer-
" So we should probably get to studying and all right ? " Naofumi said awkwardly as he pulled back " I still need to learn the language of this world , hahaha..."
Mein was caught off guard for a moment before smirking like a vixen.
Oh...game on lover boy.
Mein loves it when they play hard to get. But for now, she'll settle for studying.
" Okay , so the first thing to remember about the language of this world Naofumi , is that each character can have different meaning depending on the way its written and arranged in a sentence " Mein explains as if she were a teacher " There are different types of languages of course , but the generally accepted one in Melromarc , is a slightly more simplified version of the one used by the old kingdom before the Melromarc dynasty "
" Um ... okay ?" Naofumi nods along , trying to keep up.
" Thankfully I know how to read the language of some of the heroes past so this should be much a simple matter " Mein points to a certain character in a book " Now this , character translates to 'マ' and this next one translates to ' ナ'. By now you've probably guess that the word is 'mana ' , but keep in mind that vowels in this word can differ depending on how they are drawn and how many lines they each "
" Alright ..."
Mein takes a quill and circles several letters on the book , each one of them being vowels " But this can mean a totally different thing depending-"
" Uh ..." Naofumi felt like his brain was close to popping.
Mein felt like face palming herself " Naofumi , are you even paying attention ?"
Naofumi nervously scratched the back of his head " Sorry , Mein ..."
Mein let out a sigh , they had been going at this for about 2 hours and it felt like they were no closer to teaching Naofumi the language of Medea. It had been nearing midnight by now , Mein could tell from the way the moon shifted alone. She spent an awful lot of time staying up late at night , so she could accurately predict what time it was based on the position of the moon alone. Well , that and the clock at the top right corner of her HUD clearly stated 12:00.
Mein leans back in her chair , she can't help but wonder if this is the same frustration her own teachers back then must have felt. Back when she was still a child , Mein or rather Malty wasn't exactly a fast learner back then and she was exceptionally lazy back then.
Until he showed up of course.
" Alright , lets just try again ..." Mein sucked up her frustration and turned the page of the book.
" I'm really sorry about this Mein " Naofumi apologized.
" Its alright , Naofumi ..." Mein has to hold herself back from sighing.
" It's just ... I've never been all that good at academics , even back in my previous world back home " Naofumi confesses out of the blue .
Mein's curiosity peaks at this , now this is an interesting , could this be Naofumi finally opening up about himself ?
" What do you mean by that ?" Mein subtly presses the issue.
Naofumi folds his hands together almost looking disappointed in himself " Back in my world , I was never all that good of a student. Even back in middle school my grades were only average or barely passed the minimum. When I got to high school that's when things went downhill for me , my results were awful and I had to retake the test after test , and even after that I was only able to get into a public college , since my parents at that point had pretty much given up on me "
Mein's eyes widened at what Naofumi had just said.
His parents ... gave up on him ?
" When my grades started going downhill in my senior year of high school , my parents had started focusing more on my academically gifted little brother , Takeru " Naofumi looked sad at he spoke his tale " Its probably better that I was the one who was summoned instead of my little bro , he's the one with the bright future ahead of him..."
Mein felt a pang of empathy strike her chest , as she recalls her own childhood. How her mother had practically given up on her and opted to just focus all of her attention on grooming her precious heir. As if Malty was just a troublesome mistake that she couldn't wait to get rid of.
Mein grits her teeth at the thought of her mother ...
Mother never wanted a child , she only wanted a ruler to take her place.
Mein looks at the young man from another world and for the first time in a long time ... she feels as though she can relate to somebody.
Mein grabs Naofumi's hand , making him look at her in surprise " I think you don't think give yourself enough credit Naofumi , perhaps you are not as academically gifted as your younger brother , but you are a very special. You are kind , caring , wise , gentle and smart in your own way " Mein leans in closer to Naofumi , resting her head on his shoulder " I honestly don't think we could have gotten a better Shield Hero "
Mein can feel Naofumi still in his movements , clearly taking in everything she had just said. She looks up to see him smiling at her " Thank you ... for saying that Mein "
Mein genuinely smiles back at him " Let's get back to work shall we ?"
So they continued studying into the late night , Naofumi working with renewed determination.
" Malty , wake up " A pair of fingers snap a few times in front of her face , making her wake up . She looked around with tired eyes , she had just gotten up early in the morning , well she would have slept in had her instructor not woken her up.
" Uhhhh ... why do we have to up so early ?" Malty whined , rubbing her eyes tiredly.
The man only chuckled in response at seeing the princess so tired ...
" Because my dear princess , it is important to be disciplined and always stay on schedule . How do you think I became such a good swordsman ?"
Malty only groaned in response.
" Alright , wake up and pay attention. Now remember that stance is important to swordplay , but don't let your stance make you rigid in a fight , its also important to stay fluid and adapt to the situation as it changes. Do you follow ?"
" Uh-huh " Malty nodded along.
" You're not even listening , are you ?"
" What ? No , of course not ..." Malty tries to sound convincing but fails as her tired voice takes over.
" What did I just say ? "
" Uh ... that we should take a 15 minute break ? " Malty guessed innocently.
" Yes "
" Wait , really ? "
The man grinned at Malty " No... "
" Ugh ..." Malty's head dropped in tiredness , she feels like she's going to collapse at any minute.
He let out a sigh with a smile on his face , kneeling down in front of the young princess , he gently shakes her shoulder " Come on , Malty wake up "
" Malty ? Malty ? Malty ?"
" Mein ! "
Mein body jerked awake , as she suddenly felt a feeling of soreness ache in her body. Mein looked around , seeing that she had fallen asleep at the table instead of on the bed.
With Naofumi like she was supposed to do last night ! Goddamnit !
" Mein ! Come over here " Naofumi calls out to her from across the room , standing over the table near the bed where they had placed their eggs.
Mein rubbed her eyes and walked over to Naofumi , she thought that after spending all those days getting up early for training.
She's starting to remember now , why she isn't a morning a person.
Walking over to Naofumi , who is standing over their eggs , Mein is surprised to see that both eggs have cracks along each others shells . We both waited for a moment , just staring intently at the eggs , in the next minute a single egg piece fell from Naofumi's egg and suddenly the whole egg popped into pieces.
" Phiu ! " In the center of where the egg used to be , laid a little pink feathered bird.
Mein scrunched her nose up in annoyance.
It's not a rare breed.
" Oh my god , it is so cute ! " Naofumi eyes widened with awe at the cute little chick filorial.
" Phiu ! Phiu ! " The little chick looked around , clearly happy and energetic despite just being born.
The newborn filorial practically jumped into Naofumi's hand , when he went go pick it up . Naofumi chuckled with a happy smile on his face , he was clearly satisfied with his egg.
" I think she really likes me ! " Naofumi happily said.
" Yes , I believe it is called imprinting Naofumi " Mein said with a shaky smile.
" Mein , look at your egg " Naofumi pointed at her egg and she saw that a piece of it fell off.
A few seconds passed before a big crack appeared down the middle of the egg and it hatched by itself. Unlike the filorial who came bursting out like a wild animal , this one was much more careful and deliberate.
In its place , was a lizard the size of the filorial , Mein could instantly tell that it was no normal lizard by its fangs and long tail and the horns were a dead giveaway.
Oh my god ... I scored a dragon !
Yes ! Thank you Outsider !
Mein eyes widen in shock at her own good luck.
" Mein , what is that ? " Naofumi curiously asked.
" Its a dragon , Naofumi ... a dragon " Mein couldn't hold back the excitement she felt in her voice.
" For real ? We got a real dragon ?" Naofumi asked , looking at the lizard.
" Yes ! We did ! " Mein felt like hugging Naofumi , but that would have made the filorial too uncomfortable.
Mein turns to the little dragon hatchling , it was staring directly at her , as if trying to discern whether she was friend or foe.
" Hey , its okay ... I'm not going to hurt you " Mein holds out her hand slowly and the dragon stares at it intently " Just come to me , okay ?"
After a minute or two of thinking it over , the dragon happily jumps onto Mein's hand . She holds the dragon carefully with both hands , careful not to smother it. She can feel the dragon affectionately rub its head against her bountiful chest. She swears she can actually hear the small lizard purring.
Mein doesn't know what it was , but she feels the need to protect this small lizard.
Does this happen to all monster breeders ?
" I think he really likes you " Naofumi smiled at her , as the dragon snuggled in her arms.
Mein let out an amused chuckle " I guess imprinting really does work , huh ?"
Naofumi puts the filorial on the table and Mein does the same with the small dragon.
" Man , I can't believe we got so lucky with a dragon of all things " Naofumi says in disbelief , looking at the two monsters on the table.
" Yes , I guess Lady luck is truly on my side , eh Naofumi ?" Mein joked , unaware that Naofumi's expression had changed " We should go tell Raphtalia and Ake the good news "
" Actually , I think we should hold off on calling it good news just yet "
" Why not ?" Mein raises a confused eyebrow.
Naofumi pointed a finger at the two monsters on the table and Mein was shocked at what she saw.
Both monsters were staring each other down , as if they were sworn enemies on a battlefield. Mein could see a fire burning in the filorial's eyes and it was one of extreme rage and dislike. The same could be said for the small dragon , who was barring his sharp teeth at the filorial as if to intimidate her.
Naofumi leaned in on her " Should we do something ?"
Both monsters stared at each other for a whole minute-
Before charging at each other and attacking each other , the dragon trying to tear the filorial's throat out , while the filorial was trying to kick it away.
" Whoa , whoa ! Take it easy you two ! " Naofumi tried to separate the two monsters , to keep them from killing the other.
Oh yeah , Dragons and Filorial's hate each other. This is going to be a problem.
So much to unpack in this one chapter and it is a slower paced one. Although I admit that was intentional on my part because I did want to add in at least a few light hearted fluff moments, to make this chapter a bit of a breather for both the readers and the cast. While my story is definitely a lot more grimdark than Qin, I certainly don't want it to be dark all the time to the point it dips into grimderp.
The quest for getting Raphtalia a prosthetic has already begun and it is not looking so good. Needless to say, its going to be a while before Raphtalia gets her new prosthetic.
Bits of Ake's past showing up literally as we get to meet Carlyle who is in fact a character from Kabukicho Sherlock. And also because I didn't want to make Ake that edgelord brooding character that ponders about how tragic his life is all the time. I intend for there to be layers to his character. I also admit that I didn't do the best job of hinting that Ake was technically from nobility, originally it was going to be revealed much earlier but with all the changes made to the story's pacing it kinda popped off along the way. Hope you'll all still find Ake's character enjoyable.
Naofumi trying and failing to learn a new language with Malty...can I just say how ridiculous Naofumi learning a new language in like what ? A week in canon actually was ? Human mind simply doesn't work that way, especially when it's written language. And Naofumi was stated to be a below average student. Which raises the question for how he was ever considered below his younger brother if he could learn to comprehend another world's language in a short amount of time. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that learning a new language isn't as simple as looking at a dictionary and understanding what the word means. Its just another case of the author making Bitchassfumi ridiculously OP.
And the icing on the cake for this chapter is Filo's hatching...along with the addition of another OC that was created by me to be the animal companion of Malty. And to act as a kind of parallel to Filo in a way. Which in this case is a dragon...you can all probably imagine the issues we're going to be dealing with in the next chapter already.
Moving that out of the way, let's answer some reviews shall we ?
To reality deviant :
If Queen Safespace wasn't there to cater to Bitchassfumi's every needs and Aultcray was indeed the highest authority, then the author's precious husbando would actually need to handle the fallout of the 3HC along with dealing with realistic consequences of killing their Pope.
It would have made the story, you know ? Actually interesting. But no, Queenie just Thanos Snap away the 3HC like she is the ultimate power in the country.
I won't say too much about Naofumi's reaction to Queenie's little deal with Piggy, but it will be brought up later...
But you are correct to assume that it will indeed not go the way Queenie thinks it will.
To Argent7771:
Well, hope this chapter satiated your need for some Mein X Naofumi fluff. Rest assured that I have many more planned.
:P
To Matt Rogan :
Fair enough, glad you're still enjoying the story !
To Allyexis :
Yeah, as tempting as it would be for me to just mercilessly throw shade at Queenie, I do want her to have an ACTUAL character in this story and emotions towards her actions and those around her. Her relationship with her daughters is going to be a lot more complicated than it may appear. Needless to say , she's definitely going to be a lot different than Queenie in Qin's story.
I agree that I was also disgusted that the heroes in canon would let Malty go through that. Its almost as if Alenko created Piggy exclusively just to torture Malty.
Once again, can't say much about Naofumi's reaction , but I'm glad you're still interested in this story !
To pendragonZx :
Considering the mountains of cheat plot armor that author airdropped into Bitchassfumi's lap on a silver platter, I doubt he would have actually 'struggled' to do anything. Especially since he was living and managing just fine post 2nd Wave. You can at best argue for him struggling until the 2nd Wave, after that not so much.
And a cheap power up would have essentially been the same as a Deus Ex Machina for Naofumi to solve all of his problems anyway.
To Guest :
(I'm not sure if these three all are from the same Guest, but I'm going to be answering them seperately )
First off, you are correct that King Aither is indeed from Epic Seven. Unfortunately Axel4ekruz already gave to me in a PM so good try !
Admittedly, I didn't like the interludes at first, but I think they are growing on me.
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Secondly, oh I couldn't agree more on Melty and Queenie my dear guest.
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Queenie actually did sell her body to Piggy in exchange for cooperation to get her ass out of the hot seat. And she's also majorly incompetent as she let the Church grow in size to the point where they could have overthrown the Royal Family and would have succeeded if the MC's plot armor wasn't stronger.
Melty sure as hell isn't the genius counterpart to Malty we are led to believe, on account of her naiveness , leaving her guards behind so she could play with a bunch of birds and would have also gotten killed if she wasn't reserved to be part of Bitchassfumi's harem.
Honestly, I think the whole premise of Shield Hero being a 'realistic isekai deconstruct' was just bait. That the author never intended to explore that story and only made it so that it doesn't disappear into the sea of op isekai protagonist crap, that in reality it was just the same old power fantasy garbage we've all come to expect.
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Third and lastly, I have to disagree that Motoyasu is in the wrong. He did have a very good point about Naofumi's use of slavery justifying not just the slavery in Melromarc but also in countries like Siltvelt that straight up worship the Shield Hero.
Admittedly, I didn't do the best job of showing this, I think Qin and canon actually did it better. Where they showed the King easily take Raphtalia away even if she had the slave seal on, so in reality the seal provided no actual protection to Raphtalia and only serves to justify a blackhearted abusive system.
To address your point about slavery seal having stats growth is in reality a mechanical reason the author pulled out of their behind to justify a much more serious morality issue. The whole slave stat growth bonus is just the author inventing an easy reason to shill for canon Bitchassfumi's morally reprehensible act and they can easily flip back by saying there's also a companion growth adjustment bigger than slave if Naofumi bothered to take off the slave seal.
Hope that answers your questions.
Wrapping all that up, I'll see you all in the next one.
Angel Out.