This chapter came out later than I would have wanted due to some internal matters, but fortunately I was still able to get this out under the two week mark. Figured I could at least try to get this chapter out before I get swamped with college work.
Big thanks to Qinlongfei for beta reading this chapter and providing important feedback and critic.
With that said, let's get it started.
Chapter 26 : Dragon vs Bird
The morning in Lute village is as peaceful as ever, the birds chirping in the trees, the cool breeze coming from the forest and the sound of a hammer beating against a nail all provides a rather pleasant atmosphere around the village as a whole.
As Mein stands in the barn , that was used to house the villages Filorial's , they were given permission by the barn's owner to use it house their own filorial and raptor. She looks up to Jun and she has to admit...
They really do grow up fast.
But nobody told her they would grow so much in the span of 3 days !
" Its amazing how well those growth boost skills worked on them " Mein reached up and patted Jun's head , to which he purred like a cat would. And that was quite cute in Mein's opinion.
" Yeah , I can't believe how much they grew in just 3 days ! " Naofumi excitedly patted Filo's head , to which the bird responded with a happy noise.
" I think they're cuter when they are bigger ..." Raphtalia meekly said.
" Yes , the power of the Legendary weapons and the Marked are truly on par with each other " Ake mused with his arms crossed.
" No disagreement there ..." Naofumi pulled his hand back , turning to Mein " So now that they're fully grown , what do you say to taking them out for a test run Mein ? "
" Test run ? " Mein's eyebrow raised at this.
" You know , taking them both out for a ride and testing their speed " Naofumi turned to Filo " Plus , I kinda wanna see how fast Filo really is "
" GWAH~!" Filo let out an excited noise.
" A test of speed , eh ? Alright , I'm quite interested as well to see Jun's speed after training up his stamina " Mein had been hard at work building up Jun's stamina these past few days so he didn't burn out so easily.
She can't help but wonder if she can raise her agility stat so high , she can outrun a normal filorial. Would that even be possible ? She is quite fast all on her own , but even she gets tired eventually , so its a possibility worth looking into one day.
" Well , if you two are gonna be riding these two then you're both gonna need some reins , I think Bill has some spares ones in the back , hang on ..." Ake went to the back of the barn , grabbing some rather decent reins for the two monsters " Here " Ake threw the reins at Naofumi and Mein , which they caught.
" Uh ... are you sure Bill won't mind us taking these ? " Naofumi sounded a little uncertain over just taking the reins.
" Its fine , not like he's gonna need most of them now anyway , most of his filorial's died back in the wave , so we'd better put them to use somehow right ? " Ake simply said " I'll talk to him later about it , if it brings you some comfort "
Mein rolled her eyes , as she attached the reins to Jun who complied rather well " Come on Jun, show everybody what you're made off "
Jun stared at the filorial with a fire in his eyes " GRAH~! "
Mein smirked " That's what I like to hear "
Mein led Jun by the reins , as Ake escorted them to an empty grass field just outside the village. A perfect spot to test out their individual monster's speed.
It was a beautiful day and the weather was just perfect for riding on such mighty steeds to test their speed.
" Alright Filo , let's do this ! " Naofumi excitedly climbed onto Filo , showing that he has some experience with riding a stead.
" You ever done this before Sir Naofumi ? " Ake asks a little unsure if the man from another world has ever even ridden.
Naofumi waved him off with a smile " Don't worry , my family once took us to a ranch where I rode some horses when I was younger , so I think I still have some experien- AHHH ! "
Naofumi was caught off guard when the bird suddenly took off , almost making him fall off from the sheer speed of its running. The bird was clearly running at full speed leaving them all in the dust , making Mein cover her face with her veil. Naofumi was clearly having some trouble staying on , but he managed to grab the reins which gave him a good hold on the filorial. At the very least , Ake would not have the satisfaction of watching a Cardinal Hero fall off a filorial.
They all kept watching , until Naofumi and the filorial disappeared into the forest. Not being able to see them through all the trees.
" Well , I'd say that went well ..." Ake shrugged.
" Is ... Master Naofumi going to be okay ?" Raphtalia nervously asked.
" Don't worry Raphtalia, I'm sure Naofumi will be just fine " Mein seriously doubts that even with the filorial running at full speed , if Naofumi were to fall off it would barely even graze him. With his high defense stat , she doubts even him falling off a 200 foot cliff could do much to scratch him.
" Well , I'd better get a move on , if I'm going to keep up " Mein climbed on top of Jun , steadying herself and making sure she does not fall off. She grabs the reins and Jun lets out a noise of excitement.
" Have you ever ridden anything before ? " Ake raises an eyebrow at Mein , clearly doubtful of her ability.
Mein seems to recall back to her childhood ... of a time of happiness and when she learned many different things.
' Be sure to keep a firm grip on the reins or you might fall off if the horse gets startled ! '
Advice from a time long past comes back to her , as she subconsciously grips the reins .
" Don't look down on me , I have more experience than you could possibly know " Mein held the reins frontward " Come on Jun, let's go ! "
" GRAH~!" Jun let out a determined sound and took off running at full speed.
Mein gripped the reins even tighter , feeling the strong wind blowing against her face as if it were trying to push her off. It reminded her so much of the first time she ever rode a horse, the only difference is that she's riding a raptor this time and it is moving at 10x times that of a regular horse. She still remembers the first time she fell flat on her ass , because she didn't keep a good hold onto the reins.
" Come on Jun, show me what you got ! " Mein gave encouraging words to Jun " Show that dumb bird that dragons are superior ! "
" GRAH~!" Jun let out a determined roar and if it was possible he started going even faster than before. Mein grinned as she felt the wind blowing against her face , her cloak waving in the wind , as if she were an angel who was riding on a pegasus and would fly up into the heavens itself.
After a few minutes of riding , Mein spotted the familiar white feathers of a filorial and the green cloak flowing in the wind. Mein almost giggled at seeing Naofumi still struggle to hold on to the filorial at its fast moving speed. Mein used the reins to direct Jun to his side , so she could get side by side with the Shield Hero.
" Enjoying the ride so far ? " Mein smugly asked , Jun keeping up at the same speed as the filorial so that she could talk to Naofumi .
Naofumi turned to Mein , shocked to see her able to smile during all of this " How are you doing this so well !?"
" Experience beats everything Naofumi dear ! " Mein couldn't help but chuckle at seeing Naofumi still panic at the fast speeding filorial.
" How do I make Filo stop !? " Naofumi called out , losing his grip on the reins.
Didn't Naofumi say he had experience with riding horses , shouldn't he at least know how to stop ?
Mein will never truly understand the world Naofumi came from ...
" Just pull on the reins hard and that should make it stop ! " Mein pulled on Jun's reins as if to act as a demonstration for Naofumi. Jun immediately understood what Mein wanted , and started slowing down before stopping completely.
" Okay ! " Naofumi quickly pulled onto Filo's reins , the bird seemed to struggle against it for a minute , but started slowing down and eventually came to a full halt. Naofumi let out a sigh of relief , as he rest his head down onto the neck of the filorial.
Mein chuckled as she rode Jun to stand next to Naofumi " That was pretty good for a first timer , though a little rough around the edges if I do say so myself "
" T-Thanks ..." Naofumi breaths heavily , his heart rate coming down slowly.
" No , I'm serious , you did pretty good back there " Mein pats Naofumi on the shoulder , to encourage the young hero the same way she did to Jun.
" Yeah ... I guess I did " Naofumi sits up straight , before patting Filo on the head " Filo did pretty well too "
" GWAH~!" Filo let out a happy noise.
" I suppose ..." Mein shrugs at the bird , before turning to the raptor " Jun did quite well for our first ride "
" GRAH~! " Now it was Jun's turn to let out a happy noise.
" Come on let's head back , Ake and Raphtalia are probably worried for us by now " Mein grabbed Jun by the reins and directed them back the way they came from , Naofumi following suit on Filo.
" Hey Mein , I got to know ... how did you get so good at riding ? " Naofumi asks curiously.
Mein thinks carefully before she answers.
" I had a very good teacher "
On bird and raptor back , they were able to get back to the spot where they left Raphtalia and Ake in the dust rather quickly. Mein could see that they both took shade underneath a nearby tree , it makes sense since Mein herself would not want to wait around under the sun. Even if it isn't especially hot today.
" Big sister Mein ! Master Naofumi ! You're back ! " As soon as Raphtalia and Ake noticed their presence , Raphtalia ran over to them while Ake couldn't be bothered to even look the slightest bit worried about them.
Naofumi chuckled getting down from Filo and patting Raphtalia on the head , touching her ears gently " Yes , we're back "
" How did it go ? " Ake asked turning to Mein.
" Better than expected " Mein said simply , climbing down from Jun.
Well if you could call almost falling off on the first ride to be better than expected ...
" So who was faster ? " Ake inquired.
" Well , I think both Jun and Filo are pretty fast all on their own , but I think Filo takes the prize of being the fastest " Naofumi affectionately petted Filo's head , the bird letting out a happy gawk.
The stupid bird even had the gall to give a gloating smirk at her and Jun.
Mein can't help but twitch , glaring at the dumb bird. Jun seems to be the doing the same to Naofumi and Filo.
" I disagree Naofumi " Mein crossed her arms , looking down on the bird " While I will admit Filo is quite fast , Jun is obviously the faster one "
" What ? Are you kidding me Mein ? Filo is obviously faster ! " Naofumi stood in defense of the bird " Did you not see Filo and I leaving you guys in the dust ?"
" That was only because the bird got a headstart on me and Jun , and even then we were able to quickly catch up with you both " Mein countered Naofumi's points as easy as she breathed.
" Well , Filo's still faster ! "
" And I'm telling you , Jun is obviously faster "
" Alright , that's enough ! " Ake stepped in between Naofumi and Mein , holding his hands up " If you guys want to find out who's faster so badly , then why don't we have a race ?"
" A race ? " Both Mein and Naofumi said at the same time.
" Yeah , a simple race around the village and we can find out who's faster " Ake quickly came up with the rules of the race " So what do you say ?"
Mein and Naofumi both look at each other.
" What do you say Mein, you up for it ? " Naofumi gave her a knowing grin.
" I don't know Naofumi ... are you and Filo prepared to eat your own dust ?" Mein playfully trash talked back.
" Heh ... I was about to say the same thing to you " Naofumi countered.
" Alright so its settled ..." Ake clapped his hands together , looking between the two sides of the race " A race between dragon and bird will begin shortly ..."
After a quick trip to the side of the village , both Mein and Naofumi saddled up on their respected steads and were prepared to race each other. More than a couple of the villagers who were curious to see what was happening and were pretty excited to see the race between dragon and bird. Mein swore she even saw some of the villagers placing bets on them.
Ake stepped in front of them with his arms crossed " Alright you two, here's how we're going to play it. First person to make 3 laps around the outskirts of village wins " Ake took his sword out and marked the a line across the ground " The first person to past through this line wins "
Ake smirks at the two of them for a second " All skills and magic are permitted "
" Master Naofumi ! Big Sister Mein ! " Raphtalia called to them from the side , waving at them " Do your best ! "
Naofumi smiled and waved back " Don't worry Raphtalia , I plan to win "
Mein shot a smirk right back at Naofumi " Don't get so overconfident Naofumi "
" Alright ! On your mark ... " Ake raised a hand, before lowering it down quickly " GO ! "
At that word , both Jun and Filo took off leaving the spectators in the dust. Mein grit her teeth , she held onto Jun as he went as fast as he could. Mein could see Naofumi also did the same with the dumb bird practically mirroring her technique.
Damnit ! We're not going to get anywhere like this !
Jun and Filo were neck and neck with each other , neither of them showing any signs of slowing down or submitting defeat to the other. Mein could practically feel the competitiveness flowing between the two races , this was more than just a race , it was battle of pride between the dragon and the bird. And neither of them looked like they were willing to give up or lose to the other.
Well , neither was she.
" Come on , Jun ! Get us a little bit ahead of them , I got an idea ! " Mein called out.
" GRAH !" Jun let out a roar , seemingly understanding Mein's word as she could felt him go faster to the point where they were slightly ahead of Naofumi and Filo.
" Filo , we gotta go faster ! " Naofumi yelled out to the bird.
" GWAH~! " Filo listened to Naofumi's words and went even faster , quickly starting to catch up to Mein and Jun.
Exactly as she predicted.
" No , you don't ! " Before Naofumi could overtake her , Mein maneuvered Jun in front of Filo blocking her path.
" What the ! - " Naofumi was caught off guard by this , but then tried to move to the side to overtake her. Mein seemed to be a step ahead of him however , moving Jun in front of Filo to cut off her path.
It was a common tactic a lot of competitive riders used against their opponents , if you position your own stead in front of your opponents and keep moving to block their path. That opponent will have no chance of overtaking you.
" No fair Mein ! " Mein heard Naofumi call out from behind her.
Mein twisted her head around to smirk at Naofumi " All's fair in battle Naofumi dear ! "
Mein could hear the sounds of spectators in front of her , turning to see that they had already returned to the starting point. Mein took a second to wave at Raphtalia and Ake as they passed the gate.
1 lap down , 2 more to go.
" Alright Jun , we're doing great ! " Mein encouraged Jun which seemed to make him happy " Give us some distance between us and them ! "
Jun nodded increasing his speed , though he was only able to get them ahead of Naofumi and Filo by a few dozen meters. It wasn't a very big gap , but it'll have to do. Now all she has to do is keep Naofumi from overtaking for the next two laps and they should win !
Mein didn't know why she was getting so determined over a pointless race , at best it was just a meaningless game to help pass the time and entertain a couple of the villagers and maybe even earn some pride for Jun and to put the dumb bird in its place.
Mein looked down to Jun and looked back at Naofumi and Filo.
The princess in disguise realized that the reason she was determined was because she up against Naofumi...
How strange...
Mein was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Naofumi and Filo speed up to try and overtake her from the side.
Shit ! She had been so distracted , she completely spaced out !
Mein quickly maneuvered Jun to block Naofumi's path just in the nick of time , as they passed through the halfway point to the gate.
" Not this time ! " Mein heard Naofumi call out , turning around in the nick of time to see Naofumi maneuver the bird onto the steep hill on the side.
" What the - ! " Mein screamed out in surprise.
" Airstrike Shield ! " A green shield appeared a few meters in the air ahead of her and the bird made a great jump , using the shield as a sorta stepping ladder to get ahead of them.
And it worked , the bird landed way ahead of them managing to overtake them.
" Hey ! No fair ! " Mein called out , trying to catch up.
Naofumi heard her , turning his head around to smirk at her " Hey , all's fair in battle right ? "
Oh that cheeky little ...
Mein could see that Naofumi passed the gate before her , now there was only one lap remaining.
She is not going to lose some dumb bird !
" Come on , Jun ! I need you to go faster ! " Mein leaned and spoke to Jun directly " I know you can do it ! I know you're better than that dumb bird ! "
" GRAHHHH ! " Jun let out a vigorous roar as if it were magic , Jun went even faster than before. Pushing himself to the very limits to catch up to the bird. Mein held onto the reins as tight as she could in fear that she might fall off as shockwaves could be heard from the places they passed just from the force of Jun's speed. Mein focused her attention on a certain a green caped hero and bird they were closing in on.
They eventually were able to catch up to them , bringing them both neck and neck with each other , both Naofumi and Mein locking eyes neither of them having to say anything.
It was clear neither of them wanted to lose.
Mein kept close track to where they were , they were almost at the halfway point and if Mein was correct , Naofumi was going to do his little 'airstrike shield ' trick again. But there's no way in hell , she's going to let that happen again.
It seems Naofumi has chosen a battle of skills , a very bad choice.
Mein made another pass and on their side was the steep hill , Mein knew what she needed to do.
" Alright Filo ! One more time ! "
" GWAH~! " The bird responded before making its jump onto the steep hill , running alongside it with Jun keeping close on the main path. Mein saw Naofumi hold out his hand " Airstrike Shield ! "
Like last time a green floating shield appeared in the air ahead of Mein and the bird made a great jump for it.
Only this time , Mein was prepared for it.
She was so glad that the villagers had only stood by the starting point...so that meant there were no witnesses to view her little trick.
Changing skills she used Blink to get ahead of Naofumi and the bird while they were still stuck in the air. Teleporting a few dozen meters ahead of them , allowing herself and Jun to get ahead of them.
Mein could hear Naofumi from behind her drop down onto the ground , sounding surprised at how she managed to get ahead of him.
" Wait , what the hell !? " Naofumi called out " How did you get ahead of me !? "
Mein twisted her head around to smirk at the surprised hero " I'm a woman of many talents dear Naofumi ! "
She turned back to the view ahead of her , she could see the gate in front of her , it would seem that Ake had set up a white ribbon to mark the victor.
Mein heard Naofumi catch up from behind her , the bird had somehow found some strength left in her body , enough to put them neck and neck with each other.
They were getting closer and closer to the finish line , both dragon and bird giving it all they got.
They neared the finish line and in some stroke of good luck ... Jun broke through the ribbon first.
Cheers erupted throughout the small crowd , as they both passed through the finish line.
Mein smirked pulling on the reins to make Jun stop , taking a second to pat the dragon on the head " Good work Jun ... good work "
Mein let out a sigh ... she almost couldn't believe it.
They won.
" Well , I'd say that was a very fun race wouldn't you say Naofumi ? " Mein climbed down from Jun , with a proud smirk on her face. After the race was over , some money was exchanged between hands , the villagers were seriously betting on them and she swears she saw Ake taking money from some of the villagers , it would seem that his bet was placed on her.
A wise choice if she were to say.
Riding Filo and Jun slowly out of the outskirts of the village , they took some cover near the barn.
Naofumi pouted in response , climbing down from Filo " You're only saying that because you won "
" Yeah , pretty much " Mein nodded in agreement , petting Jun on the head " Good boy Jun , good boy "
Jun leaned into her hand affectionately enjoying it as much as he could.
" Well , I'd say its safe to say that Jun is clearly faster " Ake seemed to be quite happy , though Mein suspects it has something to do with the money he had just won " And I earned myself a couple dozen coins from some of the villagers , so it all worked out "
Called it.
Naofumi raised an eyebrow at Ake " You seriously placed bets on us ? "
Ake looked back at Naofumi , as if he were the weird one " Of course , how often do you think villagers get to see a race between a bird and a raptor ? Of course , I'm gonna use this opportunity to make money , who wouldn't ? "
Naofumi rolled his eyes at Ake , knowing that it was pointless trying to argue.
Mein stopped petting Jun and smirked at Naofumi " Good boy Jun ! Very good boy !"
" GUAH !" Filo squaked at her glorious dragon, clearly feeling like a sore loser over being beaten.
" Hey, hey, calm down Filo " Naofumi kept the bird at bay with his own words of comfort.
" Well , anyway I think Jun and Filo are finally big enough to haul a carriage around , now all that's left to do is to - "
POOF !
The sound of a poof and a puff of smoke did not go unnoticed by any of them , as Mein could see the once normal sized filorial turn into what she can only describe as a gigantic white fat chicken.
But Filo wasn't the only one who got a growth boost , Jun was now much bigger than he was before , standing at least a foot taller than Mein . He resembled then of a much smaller T-Rex dragon , that she had read about in her book.
" What the hell just happened ... ? "Ake broke the silence between them , looking between Filo and Jun.
" I ... have no idea " Naofumi slowly reached out and touched Filo's feathers gently.
Mein looked up to Jun who was looking down her with a happy smile , she slowly reached out and touched his head and he responded in the same happy cat purring as he did before.
" What even happened to them ? One second , their normal sized dragon and filorial , the next ... I don't even know " Naofumi scratched his head in confusion , wondering what the hell happened.
" Could this be the effects of the growth boost skills ? " Mein suggested , she had no idea that they could grow anymore than they already have. Yet here they are even bigger than they were a couple minutes ago.
Ake shrugged crossing his arms " Maybe. I've never seen a filorial or dragon like these two before "
" So ... soft " Raphtalia who had went up to Filo to touch her feathers , was looking strangely sleepy after her hand had sunk into the birds feathers " So warm too ... Filo feels so nice "
Oh dear gods no ! Mein swears to the goddamn Outsider that Raphtalia will not fall for the dumb birds cutesy act , soft and warm act !
It was enough dealing with her annoying sister and mother who were practically filorial addicts , she was not having Raphtalia become one of them !
" Come now , Raphtalia you shouldn't fall asleep on Filo " Mein gently pulled Raphtalia away from Filo , just before she could fully relax into the bird.
" Okay big sis ... " Raphtalia nodded , rubbing her eyes " I don't know why , but I just got really sleepy from just touching Filo's feathers just now "
" Well , we can take a break after this okay ? " Mein sweetly smiled as Raphtalia nodded , patting the little raccoons head gently. She was getting surprisingly good at this whole big sister act , even more so than she ever did with her actual sister.
" So now that our steads are fully grown we can-"
" Ake ! " A voice called out interrupting Naofumi, as they all turn to see Gaston walking toward them...with a squad of knights following behind him.
" Gaston, what's going on and..." Ake said but stopped as he looked at the knight captain at the front " Captain Lorin ? "
" Private Ake " The Captain with the mustache addressed him with a tone of professionalism and authority.
" Sir ! " Ake stood up straight at being addressed by his superior.
" What's going on here ? " Naofumi asked.
The Captain turned to the Shield Hero with a calm expression " You have been requested to the castle by the King "
Mein's eyes widen at hearing that.
Well, this is not what she was expecting.
With a knight escort, they made their way back to the capital, although it was much quicker trip since they had opted to ride their now fully grown steads. Mein was riding on Jun with Raphtalia holding onto her waist with her one good arm, and Naofumi was riding on Filo and Ake was riding on a spare filorial that he had borrowed from Bill. The knights had also brought their own steads so there was no trouble. Discounting that some of the knights were giving Naofumi and Raphtalia dirty looks and glares, some were even stony faced at Ake, looking at him as if he were a traitor to the knights.
Only the knight captain was one of the few who was able to keep up an air of professionalism and that seemed to be enough to keep the others in line.
" Hold on tight Raphtalia and tell me if you want to slow down " Mein said as they rode to the capital.
" O-Okay big sister..." Raphtalia nodded, doing her best to hang on with only one arm.
On their way there, Mein couldn't help but wonder why father had requested to see them. Naofumi had tried asking the knight captain about why he had been summoned, but he replied that he was merely sent out to bring him to the castle. So that left them all to wonder why Father would request Naofumi to the castle and Mein didn't have any good guesses. Its very unlikely that this is some kind of trap though, Father seemed to be playing the long game and is trying to play nice for the sake of keeping the heroes on his side.
But for what reason does he have to call Naofumi to the castle, she has no clue.
Mein's stomach twists into uncomfortable knots as she thinks about her father and what she had done not but a few nights ago.
It will be...odd seeing father again. Considering she killed a dummy with his face not too long ago.
She still vividly remembers firing the crossbow bolt into his head, no hesitation pulling the trigger and caring even less of the fact as she remembered seeing his body hit the floor lifeless.
No hesitation, no mercy, not even the slightest tinge of regret until she realized afterwards of what she'd done.
Maybe that's the reason why Outsider made her an Agent...maybe its because she's that fucked up of a person.
" Mein ? You okay ? " Naofumi called out to her, knocking her out of her introspective thoughts.
"...I'm fine " Mein said as she rode a bit ahead, ignoring the concerned look of Naofumi and Raphtalia.
It took only a few more minutes of riding before they reached the castle, stopping at the castle stables with their knight escorts.
" Leave your steads here and follow us " The Captain said simply.
" Stay here and behave Filo, if you do I'll give you a treat "
" GUAAH !" Filo chirp happily.
" Be a good boy and try to keep Filo from doing anything stupid " Mein whispered to Jun.
" GAAH !" Jun replied, clearly understanding what she was saying.
Leaving their steads behind, they follow their knight escort into the castle and Mein did her best to keep her head down as they approached the Throne Room.
But like the party that Iris threw a few days back, it appeared that they were not the only heroes to have been requested to the castle.
" Naofumi ? "
" Motoyasu ? You guys are here too ? " Naofumi said as they entered the Throne and saw the 3 Heroes with their parties. The Three Heroes stood directly in front of the King, while the heroes parties stood on the sidelines of the Throne Room.
" Excellent, now that the Shield Hero is here, we may begin " Father cut in before the four heroes could start conversing among themselves, sitting with his hands on the arms of the Throne.
And to her surprise, Uncle Loknar was here too. Standing next to father with his arms crossed and observing the heroes with a critical eye.
" Come on, you two " Mein quickly gestured Ake and Raphtalia over to stand by the sidelines with the others. Ignoring the glance uncle Loknar gave her.
The Bow had no hesitation speaking up, cutting straight to the point " So why have you requested us here ? "
" I have called you all here, because I've received word that you are all preparing to venture deeper into Melromarc " Father said.
Mein's eyes narrowed at that, has father been keeping them under surveillance ? Does he know that she's...a heretic now ?
If Father did know than he made no indication of it on his face, as his focus was entirely on the heroes in front of him.
The Heroes all looked among each other, before the Sword spoke up " Yes, we are getting ready to head further into Melromarc...that's not a problem is it ? " The Sword's voice almost sounded threatening, as if he's daring father to make a move.
To her surprise, Father was completely calm as he didn't give any reaction to Sword's dig at him " Not at all Sir Ren, in fact I'm glad that you are all venturing out to gain more power...that being said, I feel as though you shouldn't leave without getting at least a proper foothold in magic "
Father snapped his fingers and at that moment, four servants carrying large bags approached the heroes and handed it to them.
Now what the hell is this ?
Itsuki looked inside his bag and his eyes widened a little " Are these-"
" Crystal balls containing spells that are within your respective magical affinities, along with some grimoires on higher level spells to get you started " Father explained, but Mein was shocked at this.
Father is giving them crystal balls, which would be a big step in getting Naofumi access to some magic... so that's Father's game here. He's trying to appear fair and all to the Shield Hero to get the other heroes back on his side, and what better way to do that than give him some crystal balls too while showering them with gifts.
"...What's the catch ? " Naofumi asked with a raised eyebrow.
" No catch. I simply want you heroes to grow in power and not go deeper into Melromarc without at least a foothold in magic..." Father said simply " And you would be wise to take them or be put at a severe disadvantage having to go and buy them all yourself and spend months learning the magic "
Mein couldn't disagree with that logic. Even with her coaching Naofumi every day, it would be weeks before he would be able to cast a single basic spell, let alone get to the more advanced spells...so unfortunately they must take Father's gift.
The Heroes look among themselves, all of them nodding in agreement.
" Very well...thank you for the help King " Motoyasu said respectfully " We'll be sure to put them to good use..."
" It is my pleasure... and may fortune favor you heroes " Father said as the heroes and their parties left the Throne Room.
Mein gave him one last forlorn look at Father before following after Naofumi.
Naofumi's POV
" Its official, that son of a bitch is spying on us " Itsuki said as he looked at his fellow heroes and party members.
After the whole gift giving from the king was over, and they had left the castle, Itsuki immediately asked the rest of them to go to a nearby tavern to discuss what had happened just now. Naofumi honestly would have suggested the same thing since he did want to talk about why on earth the King would legitimately want to help him and his party by giving him some crystal balls and grimoires.
" What makes you say that Itsuki ? " Motoyasu asked.
" Besides the fact that he knew that we were preparing to push out and all of our magical affinities ? " Itsuki pointed out " There's no way he could have known that if he wasn't spying on us "
" I agree with Itsuki, it felt a little too convenient that he gave us all these gifts free of charge if he wasn't spying on us or known that we were getting ready to venture deeper into Melromarc " Naofumi agreed " He must have spies or something placed all over the capital "
" Sounds likely..." Ren nodded " Though the most surprising part is that he actually gave some crystal balls to Naofumi "
" He likely did that just to save face with the rest of us, by pretending that he was being fair and all " Itsuki pointed out.
" Still...we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth " Motoyasu commented with his arms crossed " I mean, maybe the King genuinely wants to help us get stronger by giving us all these crystal balls and books, he may not like Naofumi but I think he does want us to get stronger for Melromarc's sake "
Naofumi thought about that for a moment.
Did the King actually hate him more than he cared about his country ? He wanted to say yes, but the truth of it was he didn't know the King well enough to make an accurate guess on whether he hates him more than protecting his homeland.
" Be that as it may...we need to try to be self reliant on growing stronger " Itsuki said " Look, I'm not saying we should antagonize the King outright...but I am saying we shouldn't trust him 100 percent...just stay on your toes around him is all I'm saying "
" Fair enough " Motoyasu shrugged.
" I am going to enjoy having access to some magic finally " Ren said as he pulled out one of the crystal balls from the bag.
Naofumi couldn't deny that as he was kinda excited to have access to some magic too, as he pulled out one of the crystal balls from his bag.
" So uh...how do we use these things ? " Motoyasu awkwardly asked his party members.
Naofumi was also in the same boat of confusion on how to use these things.
" You're supposed to break them with your hands and let the magic flow into you " Mein explained.
" Oh " Naofumi held the crystal ball in his hands and using both of them, he cracked the crystal ball and in the next instant, it completely shattered and some kind of strange magic flowed out of the ball and into him.
" Whoa..." Naofumi said as he felt the magic flow into him. It felt good, powerful even. And he received a notification telling him that he had learned the ' Zweit Heal' spell.
" What did you get ? " Ake asked.
" Something called Zweit Heal...I'm going to take a guess and say that's a healing spell " Naofumi answered.
" I got Zweit Fireball "
" Zweit Thunderbolt "
" Ice Spikes "
The heroes continued on breaking the few crystal balls that they each had, all of them getting different spells each time. Naofumi of course, got mainly support spells like ' Zweit Agility', ' Zweit Strength', ' Zweit Guard' and the like. Though he couldn't deny that he was a little bit jealous of the other heroes who got a lot of attacking spells and such.
Oh well, no point bitching about it.
It took a couple minutes, but the heroes managed to break all of the crystal balls and by the end of it, had more spells than they started out with.
" Alright, that's all of them " Ren said as he wiped his hands together.
" There weren't really that many though " Itsuki commented.
" Well, the King did say that he also gave us high level grimoires to learn spells from " Motoyasu said as he took out his book.
Naofumi might as well check his book himself and see what he got.
Mein and the others were standing right next to him, as he took out the book.
And thanks to Mein's consistent teaching, he was actually able to understand the title of the book...
'Grimoire on High Level Offensive Spells '
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
It was easily the biggest passive aggressive fuck you he had ever been given in his life.
" Hahahahahahahahaha !" Ake laughed as he saw the title of the book" Hahahahahaha...Good one my king ! "
Mein herself could barely hold back from laughing too at seeing the title of the book.
" What's so funny ? " Itsuki asked.
" C-C-Check this out..." Ake pointed to the book Naofumi was holding, while still laughing.
" What's so..." Itsuki saw the title of the book " HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !"
The other heroes also saw the title and laughed a little, even Ren chuckling a little at the 'gift' the King had given him. At least, Motoyasu gave him a sympathetic look and patted him on the back.
Somebody please end me now...
The laughter eventually died down and they all collected themselves.
" S-Sorry...couldn't help myself " Ake said.
" Glad you find this funny Ake " Naofumi said blankly.
" You gotta admit that its a good one from the King if nothing else " Itsuki said with a smirk.
" Hey, don't feel so bad Naofumi " Mein tried to cheer him up " Me and Ake can use this book to learn more higher level magic and spells "
That's just another reminder that I can't attack !
Naofumi groaned as buried his face into the table, as Motoyasu continued patting him on the back.
Ake's POV
"So will you be leaving soon ? " Carlyle asked as she watched him with curious eyes.
" Yes, our group will need to venture deeper into Melromarc in order to unlock new forms for Sir Naofumi. We also need to start hunting bigger game if we want to level up sufficiently " Ake answered as he searched the drawers of his father's office searching for one particular item.
They had returned some time ago and the sun had already set. Dinner had been finished about an hour ago and Mein was busy putting Raphtalia to bed while Sir Naofumi was busy trying to learn some new recipes from that apothecary book.
So that left Ake essentially ransacking his father's office, while his former nanny watched him.
" What exactly are you looking for Master Ake ? " Carlyle finally asked.
" The Heroes had made plans to start a traveling business, Sir Naofumi is going to be the one doing the mass production and selling, while the heroes handle supplying ingredients and other precious materials and items they can sell for some quick coin " Ake explained " And if we're going to be merchants than we're going to need a trading pass...where the heck did father put it ? "
" Second drawer on the right " Carlyle calmly said.
Ake quickly checked there and low and behold there it was, his trading pass to get the heroes traveling business started.
" Thank you Carlyle " Ake nodded in gratitude to the old maid.
Carlyle didn't respond...as her attention turned to a framed picture hanging on the wall.
It was of them.
Back when Ake was still a child, Carlyle still young-ish and his parents weren't totally conceited dicks.
Ake thought it was a happier time...now nothing more than just a memory to look back on.
" It's a beautiful painting " Carlyle muttered.
" I fucking hated it, the damn thing took hours for the painter to finish and Father wouldn't stop bemoaning about wanting it to be perfect " Ake said with a glare at his father's face.
" Master Ake...I understand that you and your parents didn't part on good terms when you left to go train as a knight-"
" Severe understatement " Ake commented.
" But I think it would be in your best interests to at least make peace with their memory...considering they are no longer here " Carlyle said.
He wondered about that, it was certainly a thought that had crossed his mind more than once.
Ake tried to remember back to a time when his parents weren't totally conceited dicks,when they still seemed to care about more than just making sure their wealth grew. But then his mind flips back to all the times, his father would sit him down and force him to read books on business, economics and the like. Always talking about taking over the family business without even sparing a moment to wonder if that's what Ake himself wanted.
Did he hate his parents ? If you asked him that a few years ago, he would have said yes, but now that he's somewhat older...
He can't help but admit that his feelings are more complicated than anything, more than he wanted to think about and unravel.
" I don't know how to..." Ake said after a moment " My parents were not supportive of me. They didn't support my joining of the knights. They didn't like who I was in a relationship with. They didn't like that I wasn't going to take over the family business...I've been mad at them for so long that its...hard to imagine actually forgiving them for what they did..."
" I don't blame you...this isn't easy for anybody..." Carlyle put a hand on his shoulder " I just hope that you'll try if nothing else Ake..."
Ake looked at his former nanny...and decided that he couldn't say no to her.
"...I'll try "
" Good. Very good..." Carlyle nodded with a smile.
" Anyway, I better head to bed, we got a big day tomorrow "
" Understood. Have a goodnight Master Ake "
" You too Carlyle, you too " Ake said as he left the room and headed to his parents room.
As he laid down on his parents bed and looked up at the ceiling in contemplation, thinking about everything on his plate right now.
He already had an annoying princess to deal with, he didn't want to deal with his parental issues too...but as much as he hated it, he knew that Carlyle was right...that he had to do it, for his own sake.
He just wasn't sure how.
And here we are again at the end of the chapter, I hope you all enjoyed this follow up from the previous interlude along with my own little play on the race between Naofumi and Malty. Where the race honestly became less of who was faster and more about who had better synergy with their mounts. Hope you still enjoyed the twist I put on the race.
Moving forward with the scene with Aultcray... well, I implied that he was going to play nice toward Naofumi, didn't mean he wasn't going to be petty AF when he can get away with it.
XD
Next chapter, we will finally be venturing further in Melromarc and getting into the real beef of this story.
With that said, I will see you all in the next one.
Angel Out.