The Lost Children of Rurorona

Hello everyone and welcome back at last to the latest chapter of Armory of the Forgotten Hero and the start of its new season! There's a lot in store for our heroes this go round from new and dangerous cities to dealing with enemies both old and new alike. It might start a little slow at first but it won't take long to pick up. And speaking of picking up, why not check out my Pat reon and become a patron to receive news and get a glimpse inside how these stories come about! Anyway, you've all waited patiently and with no guest review questions this week, on to the story!

Zeltoble: The Dark Colliseum

Noisy, that was an apt way to describe the current atmosphere. Numerous people sitting in stands surrounding an arena were shouting, cheering and everything in between as they bared witness to the spectacle before them. Darius, for his part, didn't bother paying attention to any of the crowd, save for the occasional glance at the stands where his other friends resided. Of course, even had he wanted to look at the stands now was certainly not the time as he dodged out of the way of a wind blade which tore up part of the ground.

"Oh! it seems team Kon is struggling against the Crowley Bunch!" An announcer declared from higher up in the stands, "this might be it for our newcomers!"

"You both holding up alright," Darius spoke up as Rifana and Johann regrouped next to him.

"I've been in less annoying predicaments," the weasel girl responded as their enemy team's mage began charging up another wind spell.

"Don't worry," the Armory Hero assured, "we won't have to hold out much longer, I hope." In the back of his mind, however, he was recalling the annoying series of events which led to this particular situation.

A Few Days Earlier: Melromarc Castle

"So, there's still no word on where those three morons ran off too," Darius guessed as he and Naofumi entered a fortified stone room. The queen, Mirellia Q. Melromarc, was currently looking out over her kingdom from the view which had been cut open in the rocks. The rest of the room had only a rack with a few weapons and other oddities on it along with a table covered in a simple white cloth.

"I'm afraid not," she confirmed without looking back at the duo, "we were grateful for their help in fending off the Wave Kyo Ethnina artificially produced, but it's possible they felt responsible for what happened and that's why they chose to flee."

"Are they aware that the Spirit Tortoise was only the first of the sacred beasts?" Naofumi questioned.

"It is unlikely they were informed," Mirellia responded, "though they knew of the Spirit Tortoise before any of us, that doesn't necessarily mean they know of the phoenix. With its impending awakening, having even one of the heroes missing right now is a serious concern."

"I'm guessing you want us to bring them in as soon as they're found," the Armory Hero surmised.

"My shadows and scouts will handle the search," the queen assured as she turned to them, "I'm aware you have many of your own affairs to manage at this time, including strengthening yourselves and your fellow warriors. It would be unwise for me to interrupt that, so instead I ask that you aid us in bringing back the other three heroes only when we're certain we've located them. And, to lend us your aid once again as the Shield and Armory Heroes when the time arrives." She showed how serious she was by bowing her head to the two of them.

"You don't need to ask us," Naofumi responded once he recovered from being mildly surprised at the queen's gesture, "we'll fight to protect our lands. But what about your own affairs? The three nations to the east along with Faubley are lurking around your country. As the queen of Melromarc, isn't that a pretty big concern?" It had been something of an accidental discovery on their part.

While scouting around to make sure none of the Spirit Tortoise's familiars remained, they'd spotted tents from the nations of Lowhirot, Haikazuya, and Mideus. It wasn't entirely strange for the armies which had gathered as part of the Allied Nations to still be hanging around. But the presence of Faubley, who hadn't shown up for the battle against the sacred beast, was rather troubling. "Faubley has stationed their soldiers nearby in what they're calling a 'relief effort'," the Queen explained, "the reason the other three nations have remained is because they're wary of Faubley. Melromarc and that nation are allies, for the moment at least."

"That's reassuring," Darius commented sarcastically, "but I guess it's another reason to get the rest of the heroes back here. Even if they aren't that helpful the other nations would still think twice about making any rash moves."

"It's my sincere hope that the need for such deterrence won't arise," Mirellia sighed, "but these are difficult times. For now, we should all tend to our lands and gather what strength we can."

"We've already got a few stops in mind for that," Naofumi assured, "we only have three and a half months before the phoenix awakens, so we're strapped for time as is." And they'd been lucky to get even that. Had they returned without the Spirit Tortoise's energy to form a temporary barrier the phoenix would've awoken immediately.

"That being the case, what about the Seven Star Heroes," Darius questioned, "they're supposed to be this world's vassal heroes, but I haven't seen a single one this whole time."

"We've been investigating that matter with what resources we have to spare," Mirellia informed, "but so far, we haven't been able to contact any of them or find any good leads to their whereabouts. The only one whose location we do know is the Staff Hero's."

"He doesn't really count for anything right now," Naofumi scoffed, "he can't even summon the staff for Darius to examine."

"Perhaps in time that will change," the queen pointed out, though it was obvious she wasn't that optimistic either, "for now, will you two accompany me? We still have some matters to discuss, but as you pointed out earlier, Sir Iwatani, our time is limited."

At About the Same Time: Melty's Room

"Are you going somewhere, Mel," Filo asked while observing the maids packing multiple suitcases with clothes and other essentials. Rifana, Raphtalia, Johann, Rishia, Izumi, and even Raph-chan and Rina were present.

"Yep, I'm heading to Seyaette," the princess informed happily.

"Is that near where we live?" the winged girl asked hopefully.

"It is," Melty confirmed with a nod.

"Heck yeah!" Johann cheered along with Filo, "that means we can play together more!" The two mounts then glared at each other but were stopped from arguing about whose turn it was to play with Melty when the princess continued.

"Éclair is having a tough time ruling her lands and Reichnott can't keep venturing away from his," she explained, "so I've decided to help!"

"You're really busy for a princess," Raphtalia observed.

"Managing the affairs of the kingdom is my job," Melty replied with a smile.

"And you're really good at it," Rifana observed, "come to think of it, we're not taking away Rishia's time as a princess by having her as a member of Naofumi's party, are we?"

"Oh, uh," the green-haired girl laughed nervously, "Mom and Dad seem to be doing just fine and Figneria's helping, so, they figured it'd be best for me to get more real-world experience first before taking on the duties of a princess."

"That and I'll be teaching you in my spare time," Melty reminded, "when you're not busy training in magic, the sword, hengen musou, adventuring with Naofumi."

"Raphu, Rin-Rin," the two shikigami spoke up from their spots in Rishia and Rifana's arms.

"And making time to play with the little ones," Izumi giggled.

"Speaking of time, we're going to finish packing and leave today, so let's hurry!" Melty declared with a cheer from Johann and Filo.

Covered Area Within the Depths of the Castle

"So, what do you want us to do with this material," Darius asked while examining a piece of the Spirit Tortoise's body. They were currently on the pathway of a large circular chamber which had a big open space in the center. An open space which was currently occupied by a large chunk of said sacred beast with a tent roof covering it. Various samples of the tortoise were lying on multiple rolling carts in front of them. "We've already absorbed some of it into our weapons thanks to Ost."

"I still feel it would be best if you had extra material from this particular creature," the queen urged, "no doubt there are some potions, weapons, armor or other uses you can find for it."

"There is actually a potion recipe I was thinking about trying," Naofumi revealed, "I'd hoped the chunk of Spirit Tortoise meat we got would be enough but having these extra pieces will help too."

"I'm afraid you're likely going to need it in the near future," Mirellia suddenly developed a downcast expression, "difficult as this is for me to say, Malty, ahem, Bitch has gone missing as well."

"Outstanding," Darius groaned, "no doubt she slipped away while Motoyasu was busy getting caught in the Spirit Tortoise. Any idea where she might be now?"

"She was last sighted near the northern border," the queen informed, "it's possible she's planning something, so be careful."

"I'm guessing there's a reason you haven't tried calling her back with the slave crest," Naofumi raised an eyebrow.

"We don't know how but she's blocking it," Mirellia sighed, "aside from the need to remain hidden, nothing is restricting her actions right now."

"Then you'd better hope she isn't up to anything," the Armory Hero warned while walking past the queen, "or I intend to keep my promise and put her out of all our miseries." The red-haired woman simply nodded, knowing full well that he would do so without hesitation. And she had no doubt the Shield Hero was of the same mind.

Later In the Day: The Slave Merchant's Tent

"It's been too long, Shield Hero!" The round man known as Beloukas greeted, "I had a feeling you'd show up soon, though there's not much around here right now."

"I can see that," Naofumi observed, "I guess you're still mooching off of my success."

"That is one reason," the merchant admitted before drawing their attention to a scroll hanging up on a curtain. It was a notice about a very particular subject. "But this declaration about you looking for the people of Rurorona village is the main culprit. The nobles heard about the announcement in advance and bought up all the slaves from the village to sell outside of the country."

"Geez, are there still that many nobles that hate the shield hero," Rifana narrowed her eyes.

"Not as many as you think," the slave trader informed, "the fact that those specific slaves are valued by a hero is what makes others believe they are valuable. No doubt there are many wondering why the Shield and Armoy Heroes would single out the people of this specific village."

"How much would it cost to buy them back right now," Naoufumi asked.

"At the moment, you'd probably be paying thirty gold a head," the merchant raised up three fingers for emphasis.

"Raphtalia was thirty silvers!" The shield hero exclaimed, "you're telling me the price is a hundred times what it was?!"

"I was thirty-one silvers, actually," Raphtalia added with a sigh.

"That's not an expense we can just put on the kingdom's tab right now," Darius rubbed his head in annoyance, "there's still a lot going into reconstruction."

"I could request funds from home," Rishia brought up, "but I don't know how much they'd be able to spare right now."

"We'll figure it out," Naofumi sighed, "for now, I'll buy every slave you have left along with some monster eggs, so give me all the information you have."

"That's my friend the Shield Hero!" The slave trader cheered, "I think I'm getting the shivers!"

"I can fix that if you don't get on with it," Rifana emphasized her point by heating up her mace with magic.

"Right, the Rurorona villagers," the merchant composed himself, "if you want them the best place to go is Zeltoble."

"Oh, that place," Izumi developed a frown, "I should've known."

"Been there before," Darius questioned in genuine curiosity. He hadn't thought to ask if Izumi had ever traveled out of the mountains of her clan home. He'd have to remedy that.

"Once," she revealed, "it was to learn about the land beyond Siltvelt, and a test."

"I guess we'll have something to talk about when we visit," the Armory Hero commented. Conversation was sparse after that as the group engaged in the task of escorting the newly acquired children and monster eggs back to their village. As per the usual, most of them were happy to be out of there. Thankfully, the next stop for the Armoy Hero's party would be more pleasant, or so they hoped.

The Next Day: Siltvelt

"Ah, Sir Armory Hero!" Werner exclaimed happily, a smile on his feathered face, "welcome back to Siltvelt! Had I known you'd be coming I'd have arranged a splendid welcome!"

"I'm certain," Darius deadpanned, "but we're just swinging by for a bit to find a few people. Did the Yama clan warriors ever get started on their way to Melromarc?"

"I'm afraid not," the winged man informed, "more of the Spirit Tortoise's familiars began attacking shortly after you left. Dealing with them delayed the warriors as they joined up with our soldiers to hold the monsters off. Then when they were rested and ready to head out again, the Wave hit. A messenger was dispatched to inform Melromarc of this development, but it seems they either haven't arrived yet or never made it."

"Did my clan members all survive?" Izumi questioned with, understandably, a mild hint of concern in her voice.

"They did, though a few of them were injured in the fighting," Werner responded, "in fact I think they're all in the royal infirmary right now, this way." The Armory Hero and his party followed the Shusaku representative, keeping an eye out for anything weird. Even though Darius had warned him not to pull any stunts, that didn't mean there weren't others who'd try pulling their own. Turns out, being famous can be just as big of a headache as being infamous, on occasion.

Thankfully, nothing happened this time as they arrived at the medical ward which was set up in a similar fashion to the one in Melromarc, albeit with more exotic medical tools lying around like files for horns and claws. And speaking of horns, a large group of horned demihumans was currently gathered in the far corner of the room. "Natsui," Izumi greeted while taking the lead, "I should've known the clan head would send you."

"Izumi," a man with short blue hair and two black horns protruding from his head smiled, "it's good to see you unharmed. I'd heard you'd gone to confront the Spirit Tortoise alongside the Armory Hero." He whispered the next part, "is that him standing towards the back?"

"Allow me to introduce everyone," the horned girl smiled before holding out her hand, "this is Rifana, the mighty and beautiful mace wielder. Alongside her is Johann, future dragon emperor and mount of the Armory Hero."

"You can go ahead and just start calling me your highness," he stated proudly with his hands on his hips. Izumi wisely ignored this comment.

"And this is Darius Saxon, the Armory Hero," she finished.

"It's hard to believe it's really you," Natsui commented as he stepped forward, "might we see the bands?"

"This is about the best I can do," Darius replied as he removed them from his wrists and held them out. They actually changed size whenever he moved them around his body but, naturally, they still stuck to him. "I imagine you all have some kind of picture of what the base form looks like."

"We do," the Yama clan member confirmed, "still, to actually see the real thing, it's unbelievable. Most of us are still getting over the fact that you beat Izumi."

"I personally wish you guys had found a less lethal test to confirm my identity," Darius commented, "if she'd caught me a couple months ago, I'd probably be dead right now."

"Your praise flatters me, Darius," Izumi bowed her head, "let us all be thankful that fate was not so cruel."

"I concur," Natsui agreed, "I thought to curse fate myself because of how much we've been delayed, but it turns out we were right where we needed to be." He and the other Yama clan members, save for the two injured ones in hospital beds, took a knee then. "Sir Armory Hero, we of the Yama clan pledge ourselves to you. Our lives are now yours to command and we vow to be of service to you in any way we can."

"Well, I guess a good start would be getting a few ground rules out of the way," Darius began while rubbing the back of his head, "first off, you don't have to call me Armory Hero or anything like that, just Darius will do. Second, don't feel the need to kneel before me every time I walk into a room."

"It is demanded by the clan that we show you respect Sir Arm-I mean Sir Darius," Natsui declared, likely surprised at such a request.

"Hey, we're gonna be hanging around each other for a while," the cardinal hero pointed out, "you can't be super formal forever, that just sounds tiring."

"Then at least allow us to salute you, Sir Darius," he requested, "it is vital that we maintain discipline in order to fulfill our duties."

"Fair enough," the Armory Hero granted, "we'll figure out all the particulars once we get back to the village. In the meantime, you can stand now by the way, who all's going?"

"I'm afraid only us six," Natsui informed as they all stood up, "our other two members were injured during the Wave, and it would be unwise to deprive our clan of too many warriors."

"We can still work with that for the time being," Darius assured while producing two healing potions. He noted that Natsui's group was split evenly with three men and three women who were quickly introduced while the cardinal hero gave the enhanced potions to the injured members. As expected of a concoction enhanced by the Shield Hero, it healed them quite quickly, reducing their stay from three days to only one day. After that, the group gathered back in the main room, taking their time to ensure the teleport recharge was complete, and bid Werner a quick farewell before heading off again.

Nighttime: Rurorona Village

"Heading to Zeltoble after you just got back, that's rough," Melty commented as she stood outside the wagon with Keel.

"We're racing against the clock," Naofumi reminded, "the longer we wait the harder it's going to be to find the villagers. And with the three heroes still missing we only have so much time to spare just doing this."

"How come you can't use that portal thing?" Keel questioned, "it'd be a lot faster than using the carriage."

"They can't warp to anywhere they haven't registered," Melty reminded.

"Whaaat?" the demihuman put his hands behind his head, "that sucks."

"We didn't write the rules for these things," Darius reminded as he approached with his party and the other Yama clan members in tow. "We just roll with what they give us."

"Anyway, don't worry about being gone for a few days," Melty assured, "Éclair and I will look after the demihuman slaves you brought and teach them what they need to know."

"And as their senior, I promise to train them really hard!" Keel declared.

"Good to hear," Naofumi nodded, "I'll leave them to you."

"And Natsui," Darius turned to the Yama clan members, "sorry I gotta hightail it so soon after bringing you here so listen closely. While we're gone Melty and Éclair are in charge. I know Siltvelt's got a lot of bad blood with Melromarc but Princess Melty here has been nothing but helpful to us. Guard her and this village as if you were guarding your own clan home, understood?"

"A friend of the Armory Hero is a friend of the Yama clan," he replied with a quick bow.

"Good man," the cardinal hero nodded before addressing all six warriors, "alright, Rino should have a job for all of you so go find her and she'll put you to work."

"At once!" The Yama clan members declared before turning and heading off.

"I know this place has technically been a military camp as well as a village for a while," Rifana spoke up, "but it's still weird to know you've basically got a guard detail now."

"I've technically been Darius's bodyguard since I joined your party," Izumi reminded.

"Yeah, but you usually lead with being a fiancé before being a bodyguard," the weasel girl pointed out.

"It wouldn't be very romantic if I put my bodyguard duties above all else," the horned girl informed, "though I feel I should mention that the three women Natsui brought from my clan have also been trained in the duties of being a wife."

"That seems a little odd," Rifana noted before realization hit her, "wait, don't tell me they're supposed to be his wives too?!"

"No," Izumi quickly corrected, "guarding and serving the Armory Hero are their primary duties. It is only in the event that I fail to fulfill my own role that one of them shall take over as a future wife."

"About the only way you could fail is if you couldn't bear children or….," Rifana trailed off.

"Or if you die," Darius finished with a sigh. Everyone grew quiet for a minute before Johann suddenly spoke up.

"Guys, Naofumi's leaving," he announced while changing into dragon form.

"Right, everybody pile on," the Armory Hero called as he and Rifana climbed aboard the mount. Izumi hesitated for a moment before Johann poked her with his nose.

"Hey, don't worry about it," he assured, "What you should really be worried about is apologizing to those girls."

"Apologizing?" Izumi repeated with a confused tilt of her head.

"Yep," Johann smiled, or what passed for one in his dragon form, "because the boss is gonna protect you like he's protected all of us. He's gonna do such a good job that none of those girls will even come close to replacing you. Then you'll have to apologize for getting all the good mating and all the babies you're gonna-."

"Okay, point made," Darius exclaimed, "let's just get to flying and feeling some of the night air, alright."

"That sounds wonderful," Izumi smiled happily before climbing aboard. The party took off then, quickly catching up with the departing carriage as their journey to Zeltoble commenced.

A Few Days Later: A Few Miles Out from Zeltoble

"Whatcha working on over there," Darius asked while examining one of the arrows he'd used in a previous fight. It was technically still intact but there were cracks in the shaft and the arrowhead itself seemed a bit loose. Currently he and Naofumi were the only two that were awake. Everyone else was asleep next to the fire or in the wagon.

"One of the recipes I got from the Spirit Tortoise," Naofumi replied, not looking up from the shield he had equipped that resembled a green piece of shell. "It's something called the Yggdrasill potion."

"Yggdrasill," the Armory Hero repeated, "like the tree from Norse mythology?"

"I guess," the shield wielder shrugged, "I wasn't the one in charge of naming all this stuff."

"Still weird," Darius commented as the arrow in his hands glowed for a short moment, "it's one thing for our weapons to have the names of stuff we recognize, it's probably meant to help us. But when other stuff in this world is also named after things we're familiar with."

"It's probably another side effect of heroes coming here from other worlds," Naofumi mused while examining the newly crafted potion in his hands, "believe it or not we've got our own set of weebs who are crazy about various European and Western cultures, including ones who are especially crazy about America."

"I have heard that," the Armoy Hero nodded as he produced a short spear he used as a projectile. Like the arrow before it, there was some damage along the shaft and spearpoint. "You look at our cowboys like we look at your samurai and go 'wow, that's the coolest thing ever'!"

"We did have one or two guys like that in an online guild I used to run," the Shield Hero admitted, "speaking of looking at things, what have you been doing to those weapons the last few minutes? It doesn't look like the usual enhancement method."

"Oh, you mean this," Darius once again made the weapon in his hands glow faintly. Naofumi really paid attention this time and noted that all of the cracks and wear in the weapon were now gone. "I recently unlocked a weapon repair function. Got it from those artificial Monarch Guardians at Kyo's lab."

"We did learn a thing or two back in Glass's world," Naofumi admitted, "but you better not let Earhard know you can repair your own weapons now or he'll probably flip."

"Good news for him that blasted curse is still limiting my abilities," Darius informed, "I can't repair more complex or powerful weapons right now. The holy water and Izumi's healing ability is helping but it's still gonna be a bit before I'm back up to a hundred percent."

"Ditto," the shield hero sighed, "we're gonna have to be extra careful when we get there."

"No kidding," the Armory Hero agreed. He didn't want to admit it, but he was a little nervous, given Zeltoble's full title: the city of merchants and mercenaries. And tomorrow, they'd find out just how much trouble one could find in a city with a title like that.

And so our hero's journey resumes and this time it's taking them to the big city! And like any big city, there's bound to be some not so great places to be. But we'll see about that in the next chapter, so in the meantime feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Also, check out my Pat reon and see about becoming a patron! Last thing, stop in next time as our heroes learn the best way to make a buck might also be the most painful! 'Til then.