New Yet Familiar Routes

Welcome again everyone to a new chapter of my Shield Hero fan fic. First off let me say this: I have heard your reviews and starting from this chapter onward I will no longer be censoring the swearing. For those who don't know I only did it in the first place because I personally thought it was funny. But, to insure my readers can better enjoy the story I shall let the shit be seen. And for guest reviewer Jason Wu's question: Heck if I know, but I do agree the author should have some type of explanation as to why everyone in the story is so damn stupid. Speaking of story, let's get to the latest chapter!

Unknown Melromarc Canyons: Night Time

The last couple of days had been, interesting, to say the least. Thanks to the work of some of Malty's royal mages a recording of what looked like Darius and Naofumi's parties kidnapping second princess Melty Melromarc had been circulated all over the kingdom. The result being that now they were all on the run and couldn't simply hand Melty back over as her devious sister no doubt had a plan to insure she never made it back to the capital. The false accusations of the first princess had also had the effect of getting not one, not two, but all of the remaining cardinal heroes on their trail, none of whom seemed smart, or at least not willing enough to question the current circumstances even after Melty assured them she was fine.

Now thanks to the three morons, both Johann and Filo were incapable of flying and the parties had been jumbled and split up on different sides of a large cliff wall. Which was why Naofumi was currently running with Rifana, Johann and Melty down the dirt path. "Guys, we got incoming!" exclaimed Rifana as her ears twitched, picking up the sound of several objects falling towards them, fireballs.

"Take cover behind me!" ordered Naofumi as he held his shield up, "Airstrike shield!" The large green ethereal defense formed in front of the Shield Hero as the rest of his friends huddled together to avoid any stray shots as several fireballs impacted and exploded against the emerald barrier. After several hits the large shield dissipated, but in that time Rifana had chanted a spell and ran out from behind Naofumi with an attack of her own.

"Stone Barrage!" she yelled as she hit the ground with her mace and sent a shower of high speed rock at the cliff side where the fireballs had come from. A group of robed men on horseback pulled back from the edge, though some weren't fast enough and were knocked off their horses by the stone projectiles.

"Zweit Aqua slash!" yelled Melty, who'd also been chanting a spell in cover, as she fired a stream of water at some of the regrouping pursuers. The spell quickly knocked down the closer ones while dousing the flames of some of the others who'd tried to cast more fire magic.

"You know magic, that's awesome!" cheered Johann with his fists clenched in excitement.

"It is," Melty said, "but it seems my sister took several precautions as those were mages who just attacked us."

"We've got other problems," said Naofumi as he pointed at the arrival of several pursuing knights who suddenly set up in formation with bows at the ready. "Archers! Get back!" Rifana and Melty retreated as Naofumi summoned his rage shield.

"On my command," said Myne, who'd just shown up on the cliff above them, "FIRE!" A hail of arrows fell on the party, most of which disintegrated on contact with the flaming weapon.

"Myne stop!" yelled Ren as he came running up from the path and emerged from behind the archers, "you'll hit the second princess if you just fire away like that!"

"We have to free her from the shield's brainwashing at all costs!" declared Myne as she raised her hands and began conjuring an extraordinarily large fireball above her head, "even if it means using brute force!"

"You fire that and it'll only hit all of you back even harder," said Naofumi as he lifted his rage shield higher, "are you really willing to endanger everyone like that?!"

"I'll do what I must to destroy the devil of the shield!" declared Myne as she made the fireball even larger.

"As source of thy power I order thee," said Rifana quickly, "decipher the laws of nature and bring a landslide down on my foes, rockslide tremor!" The weasel girl slammed her mace into the cliff wall, causing several glowing yellow cracks to spider web out in all directions before breaking apart. Myne yelled in fear as her spell disappeared and the spot she'd been standing on collapsed with almost the entire side of the cliff, burying all of the archers and other assembled soldiers, including the mages who'd been standing by near the first princess.

"Damn it Rifana!" exclaimed Naofumi as his shield reverted back to normal, "I thought it was clear we're trying to prove our innocence! Are you trying to make us look like killers?!"

"Would you relax for a second," said Rifana as she pointed to the pile of rubble where some of the soldiers were slowly but surely pulling themselves out, "I made sure to only drop enough weight to block the road and keep them off our backs. Darius would know I'm not that irresponsible and he'd point out that you were about to use rage shield on all of them."

"Well he's not here right now," said Naofumi, "so next time give me a heads up when you're about to try a plan like that."

"Sure thing," said Rifana with a sigh as she and the others turned to leave. 'He hasn't been gone for much more than an hour and I already miss his ass.' She thought as a groan drew their attention. Stopping to look back, the group saw that it was Ren who was pulling himself out of the rubble.

"Just," the Sword Hero said between breaths, "just wait a minute. Things don't have to be this way." The Shield Hero took a moment to think on what to do next before pulling out the Three Heroes Church Rosary and tossing it to Ren.

"If you want answers, look into the church," Naofumi called from a distance, "If anyone can figure out what's going on it's you Ren." His party turned and headed off then, following the trail into a nearby forest and out of sight of their pursuers.

Other Side of the Cliff: About the Same Time

"Warhammer whirlwind!" Called Darius as he flung his weapon, sending it spinning towards a group of soldiers who were quickly scattered by the swirling wind around it. The ones lucky enough to avoid the hammer were picked off by Raphtalia as she appeared, bashed them with her sword, and disappeared again. 'Nothing like having an enchanted war hammer,' thought the Armory Hero as he lifted his hand and caught the returning weapon. It was one of a couple weapons he'd picked up from the recently unsealed Koteraan weapons vault and now that he had a chance to use them he wasn't going to waste it.

"That's the second group we've taken down," said Raphtalia as she appeared next to Darius and Filo poked her head out from behind a nearby rock, "But we can't keep this up, I don't have enough mana for it."

"If we can reach the forest at the end of this trail without encountering another group, you won't have too," said Darius as they started down the path again.

"I just want to get this thing off my ankle," whined Filo, "I hate hiding behind a rock."

"You do remember you've got those gloves Erhard gave you, right," said Darius as he glanced at the bird girl.

"Oh, you mean these," said Filo as she pulled them out with a sheepish smile on her face, "I guess I kinda forgot. Master's usually close by and tells me what to do."

"You are kind of all over the place Darius," added Raphtalia, "the first time you pulled out that hammer you almost hit me while I was invisible."

"Naofumi's abilities force him to remain relatively stationary," said Darius, "I can switch between several forms of offense so naturally I'm gonna be moving a lot more. Also, not used to having a teammate who can turn-LOOK OUT!" The three of them dove forward as a certain spear wielding hero came crashing down with a powerful thrust right behind them.

"I thought we were going to jump at the same time," said the Bow Hero as he leapt down and landed next to the Spear Hero.

"Yeah but then I thought about it and I realized this was a way cooler entrance," said Motoyasu as he pulled his weapon out of the ground and pointed it at the three fugitives.

"Hey Motorola, Dick Suki," said Darius as he and the rest got back on their feet, "I take it Ren went after Naofumi given that I don't see him here."

"It's only logical to assume you'd be the more dangerous threat," said Itsuki, "you're multiple offensive and copy abilities are quite formidable."

"I still think it's overkill," said Motoyasu, "all of his abilities are cheap imitations, so I could handle him easy."

"Really, I hear you couldn't beat master even though he can't attack much," said Filo as she poked her head out from behind Raphtalia.

"W-what, no Filo I'm sure you heard wrong, I was having an off day ya know." Stuttered the Spear Hero, clearly surprised that she even knew about that.

"And now we know why you're here," said Darius, "you're creepy angel loli fetish."

"I'm here to save both Raphtalia and Filo from that bastard Naofumi's brainwashing you prick!" declared Motoyasu as he pointed an accusatory finger at him.

"I guess you're only going to listen to two people on this issue," said the Armory Hero as he stepped to the side with some parting words to his companions, "I'll leave pedo-spear to you ladies, feel free to go all out."

"Right," said Raphtalia and Filo as they stepped towards the Spear Hero and took fighting stances.

"No wait, hold on," said Motoyasu, "I'm not supposed to fight you t-AH!" The Spear Hero stumbled back as the two girls charged him. While that was going on, Darius approached Itsuki who still had his bow trained on him.

"I'll give you one last chance to surrender," said Itsuki, "there's no need for this to continue."

"Sure, as soon as you tell me where Myne's gotten off too," said the Armory Hero, "because somehow I doubt Motoyasu sent her off of his own accord."

"She wanted to rescue her sister," said Itsuki, "it's only natural she'd go that direction."

"You're only half right," said Darius, "you see despite Melty being the second princess, she's actually first in line to inherit the throne. The reason for that is because her older bitch of a sister has personality issues so bad that her own mother believed her unfit to rule. So she is going because her sister's there, but not because she wants to rescue her. She wants to kill her."

"But, that's ridiculous," said Itsuki, "why would she do something so unjust?"

"Do you know medieval history," questioned Darius, "heck, do you know the history of almost any kingdom, it's all about the power and not caring how it's obtained. I'm sure even Japan's had a few instances in the past where family murdered family for power. It's not right and it's not just but it happens because malicious people like that figure once they're making the rules, consequences will no longer apply to them, and Malty Melromarc is very much a malicious person." Itsuki looked like he was thinking on that for a moment before answering.

"It's plausible, I'll admit that much," said Itsuki as he lowered his bow slightly before raising it back up, "but either way you're still a fugitive, so I'll make sure you're telling the truth once I bring you all in."

"And here I'd hoped we were actually reaching an understanding," said Darius as he leapt out of the way to reveal three portals with a spear, sword and arrow that fired at the Bow Hero. Itsuki was quick to launch his own attack, easily destroying the three weapons before turning and firing at Darius who was strafing around him. The Armory Hero tucked and rolled out of the way, generating more portals as he went which shot even more projectiles at his opponent.

This time Itsuki was forced to move out of the way as the two of them ran while exchanging shot after shot. The Bow Hero quickly got frustrated with this contest, however, and fired a spray of red thunder arrows. Darius responded by raising his phalanx wall with some of his best shields which managed to hold off a majority of the attacks. A few of the shields did fall under the barrage, however, causing the attacks which got through to generate a good bit of dust which obscured Itsuki's view of his opponent as he flanked around to the left side of the shield wall and fired a wind arrow.

The shot succeeded in blasting away the dust, revealing the Bow Hero's target, wasn't there. The sound of a whip flying towards him on his left side was all the warning he got as some kind of weight struck him on his left arm, causing him to stagger a bit. When he tried to raise his bow towards the threat, the weight struck him on his left hand, making his shot go wide and hit nothing but dirt. He attempted to raise his bow again and again and each time it was struck by the same linked weight which threw his aim off before it finally wrapped around his ankle and yanked him onto the ground.

A couple of tridents and three-pronged spears emerged from above him then and pinned his bow and left arm to the ground, keeping him from not only lifting his weapon but also from getting back up. "Do you like the sea snake whip," asked Darius as he approached with said weapon in his hands, "picked this one up in Koteraan too, nasty piece of work that uses enchanted water to generate venomous fangs to paralyze the target, or in this case, get past the divine protections of a cardinal hero and actually inflict pain."

"You won't get away with this," seethed Itsuki as he tried to free his arm.

"Geez you guys need to get your hearing adjusted or something," said Darius as he sent the weapon back to his inventory and shrugged his shoulders, "the only thing we're getting away with is making it hard for Malty, the King and the Three Heroes Church to get away with what they want to get away with. If you actually take some time and look into who you're working for you just might discover who the real bad guys are here." The Armory Hero tossed a church rosary next to Itsuki before turning to leave.

"You're not getting away!" declared Itsuki as he managed to free his weapon and arm from the tridents before pulling himself up to a half-kneeling position. But as he was about to level his bow, a large hole opened up beneath him, causing him to fall several feet down until he hit soft dirt. "Don't think this'll hold me!"

"I almost wish I could take credit for it," said Darius as he turned and conjured a weapon at the sound of approaching footsteps, only to stop when he realized who it was. "Rishia, what are you doing here?"

"Well I didn't exactly plan on it," said Rishia as she pressed her fingers together, "I was clearing up some monsters when I ran into the Bow Hero's party. Apparently they liked how I wielded my magic and invited me along to keep fighting the waves. But when I heard they were going after your party I knew something wasn't right."

"Well we'd best go then before he climbs out of that hole," said Darius, "Did you happen to see how Raphtalia and Filo are doing?" The sound of Motoyasu yelling as he was sent flying through the air told them all they needed to know.

"Oh, why Filo," groaned the Spear Hero as he held onto his family jewels once again.

"Yay, spear guy went flying again!" cheered Filo as she and Raphtalia made their way over to Darius and Rishia.

"Are you alright Darius, and aren't you Rishia, the nobleman's daughter from Koteraan?" Asked Raphtalia.

"I am," she said with a bow, "it's good to see you all again. But we'd best hurry before they get back up. There's a side trail over here that'll lead into the forest."

"You take point then," said Darius, "we'll be right behind you." The green-haired girl nodded as they ran down the trail and into the nearest section of trees before continuing down a worn trail which looked like it was used by the local wildlife. By the time Itsuki got out of the hole, his quarry was long gone.

Mountain Forest: Some Time Later

Both groups kept separated in order to make it more difficult for them to be found, only stopping when they absolutely needed to rest. This became even more critical when they noticed a large forest fire closing in on them, likely caused by Myne and the other soldiers to flush them out. But it only succeeded in getting them to flee to another section of the forest where they continued their pattern of move, rest when necessary, then move again. It was during one of these breaks where Darius was finally able to spare a moment to contact Naofumi. "Any sign of pursuit on your end?" Asked the Shield Hero as his image appeared on the HUD.

"We haven't seen or heard anyone for at least an hour," replied Darius as he worked on using a lock picking skill to remove the shackle on Filo's leg, "hopefully that means we're safe for now. How are Rifana and Johann?"

"You're dragon boy is a lot better now that he's got this shackle off his leg," said Naofumi as the sound of both him and Rifana saying hi could be heard over the transmission.

"Well he'll be disappointed to know that Filo's is off too," said Darius as his Stat screen confirmed the shackle's spell and lock had been disarmed, causing it to fall off of the Filolial girl's ankle.

"Yay, free at last!" cheered Filo as she immediately turned into her bird form and spun around for a moment.

"Filo please be a little quieter," urged Raphtalia, "we're still trying to hide." The bird girl pouted but sat down nonetheless.

"So what's our plan now," asked the Armory Hero, "a good portion of the king's soldiers and the three puppet heroes are standing between us and Siltvelt, which means it'll be nearly impossible to cross the border without running into another fight with them."

"Funny you should mention that," replied the Shield Hero, "because that shadow we bumped into walking down the stairs at the castle the other day popped up just a minute ago to suggest another course of action. We go see the queen of Melromarc."

"Well it wouldn't hurt to have royalty on our side for once, no offense Melty," said Darius as he heard the girl 'hmph' on the other end of the line, "where would we need to go?"

"She's currently in another country which just so happens to be in the opposite direction we'd planned on going," informed Naofumi.

"Well as just mentioned our planned route is kind of a bust," said Darius as he pulled out the map and looked at it, "assuming they still think we're headed to Siltvelt the guard presence should be lower around that country's border, in theory."

"Yeah but is that really our only option," said Naofumi, "All we were told was that the queen would explain the situation to us once we got there."

"Well given what Melty's told us she's a lot more reasonable than the king," said Darius, "not to mention the only reason we were going out of the country in the first place was to find a dragon's hourglass for class upgrades. If the Queen can provide at least that then the trip will be worth it, and we might learn why King ass clown is being such a dick in the first place."

"I guess it's a chance we'll have to take then," said Naofumi, "but we also need a place to meet up."

"How about in this region," said Melty as the map was held up where the cardinal hero could see it on his HUD, "I happen to know the nobleman in charge of the area."

"Wait a sec," said Darius as he looked closer at the map, recognizing a few features, "I know this region too, Lord Van Reichnott lives around here."

"You know Lord Reichnott?" Questioned Melty with what Darius assumed was a confused tilt of her head.

"He gave me, Rifana and her friends shelter after I rescued them from a piece of human garbage named Idol Rabier," explained Darius, "and if you know him too then it's a safe bet he'd be willing to at least listen to the truth of what's really going on right now."

"It'd probably be best if we met up first before meeting him though," said Naofumi as he indicated a spot on the map, "I'd like to make sure we're not taken by surprise if it turns out he's in league with the king."

"Highly unlikely given it was the king who banished him to the far reaches in the first place," said Darius as he circled the spot on the map before rolling it back up, "but I'm sure you'll understand once you see for yourself. In the meantime, we'd best get moving."

"Right," said the Shield Hero, "just call if something goes wrong." The Armory Hero gave an affirmative as the image of his comrade disappeared from his HUD.

"Alright, time to get moving again," said Darius as he signaled for everyone to head out. With the current lack of pursuit, the goal was to put as much distance between them and the forest fire as possible, so they elected to go on one of the mountain roads to increase their pace a bit. Without the need to watch their step for branches or large rocks, the group was able to focus on other things. Which is why Raphtalia decided now was a good time to get some answers to a few questions.

"I know I shouldn't need to ask this," said Raphtalia to Rishia, "but aren't you afraid of getting kicked out of the Bow Hero's party for helping us?"

"I'd like to think Sir Itsuki is better than that," said Rishia with a sigh, "I wasn't sure what to think when he asked me to join his party. After all it was the Bow Hero's party who was responsible for the state of Koteraan worsening. But after meeting him I could tell that he didn't mean any harm and was just trying to help, so I thought maybe if I was there I could keep him from repeating the same mistake again."

"That reminds me," Said Darius, "I suppose we should think of some kind of excuse for you when we run into them again. If they really believe the whole tall tale about a brainwashing shield then they might just assume you didn't know what you were doing and leave it at that."

"But they should know the truth," said Rishia, "you, Rifana, Johann and Lady Figneria risked your lives to save not only me but my entire homeland! The only reason I'm even here right now is because you rescued me from the nobleman who was holding me for ransom. I can't just go along with a lie that will make you look like some criminal!"

"And I'd more than appreciate it if the situation was different," said Darius, "but right now anyone caught helping or even associating with us could be at risk so long as the nation still believes we kidnapped Melty. So unless you have reason to believe Itsuki and the other heroes will listen, it'd be best if you just played dumb for now. Plus, I'd rather not have to explain to your father why his daughter is locked up again." Rishia deflated a bit at this logic, knowing that he was probably right.

"It'll be fine Rishia," said Raphtalia with a hand on her shoulder, "we'll figure this mess out and get our names cleared, so don't worry." This seemed to cheer the green-haired girl up a bit as she nodded with a small smile. "By the way, I've been wondering something." Raphtalia leaned in closer to whisper her question to Rishia. "Did anything happen between Darius and Rifana in Koteraan, because they've been acting strange ever since they got back."

"Well I don't know the particulars but," a blush appeared on the green-haired girl's face as she said her next words, "I remember losing track of them during the celebration and when I went looking for them, they were in the royal chambers with Lady Figneria doing, I'm not sure how to describe it but they had the door locked and-."

"DARIUS SAXON!" exclaimed Raphtalia, having heard enough to guess what must've happened as she stomped ahead of Rishia. "Did you really?! With my best friend?!"

"Let's just hold up for a second," said the surprised cardinal hero as he rubbed the ear the raccoon girl had yelled in, "what exactly am I being accused of?"

"You, you and Rifana did the stuff you're supposed to do, well, after kissing didn't you?!" said a now very flustered Raphtalia.

"Oh, uh, that," said Darius sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head before sighing, "I suppose if I don't tell you'll just badger Rifana until she does. So let's just get one thing straight right off the bat-."

Forest Trail with Naofumi's Party

"IT WASN'T OUR IDEA!" exclaimed Rifana. Oddly enough, Naofumi had picked this particular time as well to ask a similar question to the weasel girl. He was truthfully just making a bit of conversation, which was why he was more than a little surprised at her sudden outburst. "It was Figneria's idea," Rifana explained, "you see I know Darius isn't the type to hang around large crowds for an extended period of time, he's just not used to that sort of thing even if he's polite and doesn't show it. So I took him up to the royal chambers where we could both get a good bit of sleep, and yes I did want to cuddle with him a bit."

"And then your weapons teacher shows up and, what, tells you to," Naofumi surmised until realization struck, "no, you two didn't, did you? The reason you two have been kind of awkward is-?"

"Yep," said Rifana as she fidgeted, "Me, Darius and our teacher Figneria all did the deed."

"That dog," said Naofumi with a smirk, "I am gonna give him so much crap the next time I see him. A threesome with his partner and his weapons instructor, it's like the plot to a fucking hentai!"

"But it made complete sense at the time," defended Rifana, "Figneria said we'd succeeded in conquering a country and were facing the possibility of dying in the wave the next day, so what better time was there? Sure it was weird having another person share such an intimate moment with us but I still enjoyed it and I'd-I enjoyed it." A sudden thought occurred to the weasel girl which she'd innocently neglected to consider.

"Look it's not really a big deal to be honest," said Naofumi, "what you guys do in your party is your business. I just find it surprising that Darius actually went the whole nine yards with both of you."

"It is a little surprising I'll admit, but what about you and Raphtalia," said Rifana, "I've found it continually surprising that you haven't so much as kissed her on the cheek, or have you two gone all the way behind our backs as well?"

"What, no," said a now somewhat flustered Naofumi, "that's not something party members just do."

"How do you know?" Questioned Rifana, "I personally think you could learn a thing or two from Darius in this instance. After all you travel with an exceptionally attractive girl who'd jump on you if you'd just give her the go ahead."

"That's crazy," said the Shield Hero, "Raphtalia doesn't feel that way about me."

"Why wouldn't she?" Questioned the weasel girl, "you rescued her from slavery, fed her and clothed her, taught her to fight and aside from the occasional bit of rudeness you've more or less shown her nothing but kindness and respect ever since the two of you met. A better question would be how could she not feel something for you?"

"And you're basing all of this information off of what, exactly?" Questioned the Shield Hero with a raised eyebrow.

"If you recall I was in the exact same circumstances as my friend when Darius rescued me," said Rifana. "I was given a second chance at life thanks to him. Because of Darius I got the opportunity to become strong enough to protect others and the world. Ever since the day I met him, Darius has been nothing but kind and caring towards me and his eyes never show a glimmer of disapproval about who I am now. Even when I was covered in blood, even though I'm a demi-human, and even despite the fact that I no longer exhibit what many consider to be 'womanly charms', Darius still sees me as a beautiful person. On top of all that, he gave me something I thought I'd never have since becoming a warrior, he made me a woman. I owe everything to him and you could afford to tell him thank you every now and then as well."

"I have thanked him at least once or twice," said Naofumi.

"I mean really thanked him," said Rifana, "Darius is too nice to point it out but you've only ever really said thanks when he does something exceptionally useful for you. You never once said 'thank you for being the first to believe me' or 'thank you for being my friend and sticking with me despite the whole kingdom being against us' or even 'thanks for fighting alongside me to quell the waves.' I know you have some enormous trust issues but what more does he have to do to prove to you that he's genuine, name the country he recently liberated after you?"

"Okay, okay I get it," groaned the Shield Hero, "clearly I have some issues to work out that I didn't realize needed working out, is that what you want to hear right now?"

"I just want you to think about a few things," said Rifana with a smirk, "after all, this little talk has helped me realize a couple things too. So we'd best hurry and meet up with the others because I need to talk a few things over with my partner." She continued to walk along happily until she felt a tug on her armor. The weasel girl looked over and remembered that Melty and Johann were also there, and the second princess was clearly blushing from hearing their earlier conversation. As for Johann, he had only one question.

"Rifana," he said with a tilt of his head, "what's a threesome?"

Unknown Melromarc Forest: At about the Same Time

The Armory Hero had to admit that he sometimes forgot that Raphtalia's brute strength, while not equal to Rifana's, very much belied her build. In this instance he was reminded of just how strong she was because said raccoon girl was holding him off the ground by the section of cape around his neck. "Do you have any idea what you might've done?" Questioned Raphtalia.

"Figneria assured us that it couldn't happen yet," said Darius, "She even lent us a potion before we left in case we wanted to, you know, try it again."

"Again!" Raphtalia nearly shouted as the blush on her face got even redder, "You can't just do something like that so carelessly, otherwise I would've already, I mean I-."

"Would've done the same with Naofu-UUUUF!" The Armory Hero's comment had quickly been cut off by the raccoon girl shoving him against a tree. She was shaking her head in a rather embarrassed fashion, whether it was in denial or not he wasn't sure, but it was obvious she did not want him finishing that sentence. "Geez, what do you want me to say, that I regret giving my first time to your extremely beautiful best friend and my hot teacher? Let's be honest here, none of us exactly have the same luxury of time as everyone else because we're fighting to save the world."

"But we should still do this sort of stuff right," said Raphtalia, "you and her haven't even been out on a proper date."

"But we have been by each other's side almost as long as I've been in this world," said Darius, "we may not have been on a proper date but we've shared time together and learned about each other, enough to the point that we might actually like each other. Tell me, if we all did die tomorrow what would you regret most? That you did something a little embarrassing or that you didn't at least try to show the one you care for how you feel?" Raphtalia paused at his question, loosening her grip to the point where the Armory Hero slipped from her grasp against the tree.

"I, I don't know," Raphtalia finally said, "I know where my heart is, but I don't know if what I feel is mutual."

"I could say the same," said Darius, "yes Rifana and I gave each other our first time, but we still need to figure out if we did that out of our feelings for each other or just so we wouldn't have regrets the next day. The only thing I know for sure is, my teacher is very persuasive."

"I think I understand what you mean," said Raphtalia, "perhaps she could help me with my own dilemma in the future."

"Well let's work on getting through this dilemma first," said the Armory Hero as he dusted himself off before starting back down the trail with the others behind him.

"So what did Darius do exactly?" Questioned Filo to Rishia, "Master sleeps in the same room with us all the time. Is that what you're supposed to do after kissing, because Master hasn't kissed either of us?"

"Oh, well, you see," said Rishia nervously, "when two people really like one another they-."

"Don't you dare," Raphtalia and Darius both called back, causing Rishia to jump with a quick 'eep.' Conversation steered very far from that particular topic for the rest of the journey.

Grounds outside the Reichnott Manor

"Well this is it, right?" Questioned Naofumi as he and the rest of his group looked out over the fields of a mansion with a green roof and a few spires. Strangely enough, the Shield Hero had noted a large presence of demi-humans in the region and among the workers in this particular field. According to Melty, this region had been home to a noble who'd been trying to build good relations with demi-humans.

"It is indeed," confirmed Melty, "with luck, Lord Reichnott should be around at this hour."

"Now all we need is for-what was that?" Asked the Shield Hero as they all turned around to face a possible threat emerging from the bushes. It was a tense moment as the foliage parted to reveal, Darius?

"Wo, sorry about that," said Darius as he held his hands up, "I forgot we're all still a bit jumpy right now."

"DARIUS!" cheered Rifana and Johann as they tackled the Armory Hero to the ground with a group hug. Filo also rushed over and hugged Naofumi.

"It's good to see that you're all okay," said Raphtalia as she restrained herself from tackling Naofumi.

"It's good to see you're both alright as well," said Naofumi, "And Darius, thanks for looking after them."

"Hey no problem its-did you just say thank you?" Questioned the Armory Hero.

"Yeah I did, what's the issue?" Replied the Shield Hero.

"Nothing," said Darius, "I'm just not used to hearing you say it is all. But I should also be thanking you for keeping Rifana and Johann safe too."

"Don't mention it. By the way, how'd you wind up dragging Rishia into all of this," asked Naofumi as he indicated the green-haired girl.

"Oh, it was my own decision really," said Rishia sheepishly, "I didn't want Sir Itsuki and Sir Darius fighting, so I cast earth magic and opened a hole under the Bow Hero. I've been tagging along ever since."

"Well as long as you're with us you're a fugitive," said Naofumi, "so you'd best be sure this is what you want." Rishia hesitated for a moment but nodded her head in understanding.

"Alright, now that we're all here I guess we knock on the door and say hello," commented Darius as he headed for the forest edge.

"Let's hold up for just a moment," said Naofuim as he leaned against a tree to get a better view of the manor, "I know he helped you last time, but you weren't a fugitive from the kingdom then. We need to make sure we can trust this guy first before we do anything."

"That is a good assumption Sir Hero," said a voice from behind them as everyone turned around to see said glasses wearing nobleman standing right there with his trademark friendly smile on his face. The Shield Hero moved to a fighting stance along with Raphtalia and Filo but stopped when Darius and Rifana both put a hand out in front of them.

"Lord Reichnott, it's good to see that you are doing well," said Melty with a friendly smile.

"It is even better to see you are still in good health Princess Melty," replied Reichnott with a bow, "And dear Rifana and Sir Darius, it is wonderful to see the both of you again."

"How's the mansion grounds been since we took out those monsters?" Asked Darius in a friendly tone.

"My farmers have never felt safer," replied Reichnott, "and before I forget my manners I must also bid a warm welcome to you and your party as well Sir Shield Hero." Naofumi didn't respond but he did relax his stance along with Raphtalia. "But of course this is no place to hold a conversation. Let us head up to the house, we have much to discuss." No argument was voiced out loud to this request as the group followed the nobleman into his house. Unbeknownst to any of them, a figure in a black robe was watching from a distance, and he was not one of the Queen's shadows but a man with malicious intentions hidden behind his currently smirking face.

Our heroes have escaped one set of pursuers, but it seems another is still on their trail and he does not have their best interests in mind! But we'll learn about that later, for now I'd like to say hello again to everyone. I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter and as always feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes learn the state of the region ever since Rabier's death, and for a number of Jurassic Park quips. 'Til then.