"Not me, her. I need some armor for her and a light weapon to use."
Raphtalia looked at him with a hint of fear. "Why would I need a w-weapon?" She spoke in almost a whisper.
"Because tomorrow we're killing monster."
If Raphtalia had [Prophecy] about now is when it's be activating
"P-please no... *cough* I. I can't face those things. I'm *cough* weak! I'll die! I don't wanna die! I- *cough cough*"
Naofumi bent to a knee. And put his hands on her shoulders. He knew this would happen, but better here than in front of a monster. "Listen Raphtalia" He began in his softest voice. She couldn't help, but pay attention. He brought up his shield.
"You see this shield? This is because I'm the shield hero" She was entranced by the shield, by the revealing of his hero status and by the softness in which he spoke.
"This means I'm a slave too" She flinched and looked at him confused. While Erhart listened from a few feet away.
"I was taken from my home. This shield was forced on me. Because of it there are things I have to do and things I can't do no matter what. It's just like that crest of yours."
Erhart never considered this, but it's completely true. Besides the respect they're given, the 4 cardinal heroes were basically really strong slaves. Raphtalia found herself sympathizing with her master. She was also taken from her home.
"The rules for my crest?" he said while pointing to his shield "I have to fight in the waves of catastrophe. I can't use any other weapon, just this shield. I have to have the lowest attack possible... And now because of some other stuff that happened, I am hated by everyone. I have to do this until the waves end or I die..." He paused making sure she was getting it.
"I want to live, Raphtalia. I want to live. To win. To be set free. I'm sure you understand?" She nodded. She knew all too well.
"I know it's not fair for me to pull you in to this, but I promise... If you kill our enemies, I'll defend you with everything I have. I mean, defending people is all I have so... … … I need you to face and fight monsters. I'm sorry, but that won't change."
Raphtalia thought about it. Here was the legendary shield hero. Someone even her parents looked up to... and he was begging for her help "Sure, not really begging because he can order me, but..." She felt weird. "This man says he's also a slave and it sounds like he is. That he really gets it. And that I'm the only one who can help him. That he'll help me in turn. That we'll basically watch out for each other. Even if it's just for now... I'll trust this man".
"I-I'll try" Her voice was quiet and shaky, but Naofumi heard it.
Over the next hour Naofumi and Erhart had Raphtalia try a few small weapons as well as 3 armor sets. They eventually decided to get her a shortsword (which was like a longsword with her small frame), 3 throwing daggers (just in case), and an armor set for her that was very light. It had armor in a few places, but was kept to a minimum. Erhart insisted on this armor set. He said that the modular armor at the joints plus the stretchable underclothes were a must. He said these 2 factors would help her, since they wouldn't need to be replaced as she grew. Naofumi said it was unnecessary and that Erhart was trying to get more coin out of it. So Erhart dropped the price to stop all the arguing. Final price 90 silver for all of it.
Naofumi planned on leaving town the following morning and stay out of town as much as possible. Doing so would limit how much others could interfere with his growth. Because of this, Erhart gave Naofumi a thick green cloak. Said it'd be great for the natural conditions and doubles as a light blanket. He also gave him a durable carving knife, saying it did too little damage to be worth anything. Naofumi was really thankful to have Erhart on his side. He wasn't afraid to give advice or offer tools. Naofumi had another ally in this world.
Naofumi and Raphtalia had a few stops to make before they retired for the night. Naofumi needed to pick up pots, pans and other cooking utensils.
"Flint and steel, sleeping supplies" *cough* Naofumi looked down at her. "..." He decided to stop by an apothecary.
They seemed not to recognize him, as his shield was hidden under his new cloak. A short conversation later had Naofumi a little frustrated. Apparently medical supplies were becoming kind of rare right now, due to the waves causing people to panic-buy all available stock. He pushed the shop keep for more. The apothecary was about to turn him away, but noticed the small coughing demihuman child clinging to him. He offered to sell him the medical supplies to make his own medicine, telling him about the type of plants he'd need to find.
Naofumi hesitated. "This would cost a lot more and if I can't find the ingredients or if I can't make the medicine correctly, it'd be a huge waste..." He looked down at her "No. He just told me medicine is highly sought after right now. The market is opening for me to make and sell medicine This is an investment." He wasn't wrong, but that wasn't the reason he took the deal. It seems that Naofumi was good at even manipulating himself. He had to hand over 45 silver in all. To make sure he made it right though... He fed most of the supplies to his shield
.
[Mortar Shield]:
[Ability: Solid Compounding Bonus] Increase quality of solid compounds made by 10%.
.
[Beaker Shield]
[Ability: Liquid Compounding Bonus] Increase quality of liquid compounds made by 10%
.
[Druggist's Mortar Shield]
[Ability: Collection Skill ll] When collecting material. Receive 10% more quantity.
.
"More material, better results... and they still function as tools. I can do it. I can help her with this... I now have an ability called 'collection 2', but I don't have collection 1. Guess you don't have to acquire them in order"
The Shopkeep became angry, "So you were the shield hero? Damn. Get out of here. Can't let people see me doing business with people like you." He looked around to make sure no one had noticed yet.
Naofumi decided to focus on the good instead of the bad. He ignored the man and picked Raphtalia up and went about his shopping. After picking up the last of the supplies, they made it back to their rented room for the last time in a while. As Naofumi sorted everything out the supplies he realized he already more than filled up his 51 lbs. Of carrying space that [Storage Shield] provides. He'd have to carry the rest normally. Raphtalia was still eating a bit of food Naofumi bought her. She didn't know what to do, so she sat on the side of the bed trying not to be too noisy.
Naofumi pulled out one of the medical supplies he didn't absorb, a book on beginner medicine. He had time for some reading before... "Dammit, twice" Naofumi opened the book to be greeted with strange symbols he'd never seen before. For now, he shut the book and sat it down. "Raphtalia. I'm going to take a quick bath. After I'm done, you can soak all you want. We still have more than an hour until we need to retire".
Raphtalia wasn't sure what to do. She had a feeling that her new master wouldn't be mad at her if she tried having a little fun, but at the same time it'd been so long since she played... She decided to watch out the window. She saw 3 kids playing with a ball. She just stared at them for a while.
"What's got your attention? … You want a ball?" Raphtalia flinched. Naofumi had finished his quick bath and was right behind her.
"N-no. Absolutely not! I wasn't even looking at it." She tried her best to lie, but the fast-wagging tail behind her gave away her hand so easily. Naofumi Just let her think she fooled him until she went back in to soak.
"I need to budget soon, but..." He left the room and approached the 3 kids, asking them where they got the ball. He followed their advice and found a humble little makeshift shop. He paid 5 copper for the ball and returned to the room as quickly as he could. When he returned, she was still soaking. "Good. I couldn't bare hearing any thanks from her knowing what I'm putting her through". He laid down in their bed and left the ball above the covers on her side of the bed.
…
When she exited the bathroom well relaxed and ready to sleep heavy for the first time in a long time, she noticed the ball. She quietly made her way to it. She reached a hand out to it, to make sure it was real. She felt it. She picked it up and held it. She couldn't explain why, but now she was crying. He'd gotten her a toy. Even though it was life or death for him, he wanted to treat her like a kid when he could. She had already concluded that the shield hero was a good person, but to have the time to comfort her when he could die tomorrow.
"This person is too kind. Something bad is going to happen to him if he keeps acting so kind. If it hasn't already" Raphtalia had become familiar with that aspect of life. The best people tended to die and suffer. "I like him. He's kind, but if something happened to him... I'd be back in the hands of... anyone else and that would be bad".
She got underneath the covers, ball in hand. She held it as she laid on her side. She drifted peacefully to sleep.
…
Naofumi woke to a crazed scream, but was worried because [Prophecy] did not activate. It was Raphtalia, flailing her arms and legs and whimpering. "Mama, papa." Naofumi starring like an idiot for a moment. "Don't die, don't leave me!"
"Shit" He grabbed her and held her arms and legs from thrashing as he tried to quiet her. "shh, shh. It's okay, you're okay. Everything's fine". He continued to cradle her until her crying stopped. He kept her for a moment longer before releasing her. He held her hand as she slept hoping to prevent that. "I really am the worst bastard for doing this to her."
…
The next morning, they woke early and quickly got ready to depart. Neither said a word. From the moment they exited the room the strolled at a brisk pace that Raphtalia struggled a bit to maintain. As they exited the city, the guards watched them with suspicion. Naofumi was just grateful he could leave that place without a fight.
As they crested the first hill Naofumi stopped Raphtalia and pointed to the balloons in the distance. "Okay Raphtalia. Those are balloons, they're the weakest monsters around. I'm going to go grab one and you wait for me to bring it to you, okay?"
"B-but there's a lot of them, I *cough* thought you needed me to do this."
"I need you to attack, these things can't hurt me at all." He strolled leisurely into a whole crowd of them as they swarmed angrily. She thought to check on him, but he soon emerged from the hive of balloons. He walked up to her and held 1 out in front of her.
"Okay. I will hold it. Just stab it or something." Raphtalia removed her short sword from its sheath slowly and looked at it. She took 2 steps.
"O-okay, here goes." With a novice swing the Balloon popped. They both received the following message:
[Gained 1 EXP]
Naofumi was quite please and also very frustrated. "1 swing, 1 kill? And that easily? Because the weapon? The attack stat? Both?" He decided to be happy about it or at least present himself that way.
"See, that was easy enough, right?" He was pushing his frustration down as deep as he could.
Raphtalia looked stunned, "It was-It wasn't scary *cough* at all!"
Naofumi pulled another balloon off himself and held it. "We'll do this until we're level 2, maybe 3. Then we will go deeper into the wilderness. We'll take every precaution, but do keep in mind this is only easy because they can't hurt me and they're the weakest thing."
As he said Nafumi didn't travel further until he was level 2. 20 EXP seemed to be the requirement for the jump from level 1 to level 2. He waited until Raphtalia leveled up too. During this time, they fought a yellow and red Balloon. Naofumi saw that the red Balloon was notably stronger and gave 2 EXP instead of 1. It could actually hurt him, if barely. Before they went deeper Naofumi fed his shield the remains of those damned Balloons.
.
[Yellow Small Shield]
+1 def
.
[Red Small Shield]
+2 def
.
As they traveled deeper, he did not neglect his shield, attempting to feed it everything he could find.
.
[Wood Shield]
+1 def
[Ability: Collection Skill] When collecting material. Receive 5% more quantity.
.
[Leaf Shield]
[Ability: Forage] When collecting material. Receive 5% better quality.
.
[Stone Shield]
+2 def
[Ability: Bedrock] Upon activation your total weight triples as long as this ability remains active (You do not feel the difference yourself).
.
Naofumi scoured not only for monsters and absorption fodder, but the ingredients he was told to search for. He found an herb he believed matched the description he was given. He made sure to gather them with his [Leaf Shield] on. The herbs grew a bit and came to life a bit as he grabbed them. Having collected 5 Herbs from under an old tree, he was quite pleased. He knew there was another ingredient he wanted to find, small berries of a pink hue. He was about to move on when the obvious hit him.
He fed 1 of the herbs to the shield.
.
[Herbal Shield]
+1 mdef
[Ability: Apothecary] Crafted concoctions will be 5% better.
.
He was reassured further, "This medicine will definitely help her... Making and selling medicine might legitimately have merit at this rate. I seem to be fully geared towards support. I will likely receive even more bonuses in this regard." He was about to sit down to quickly fix up a medicine when-
[Alert! Danger Imminent!]
He stood back up and readied his shield toward the bushes. His sudden movement scared Raphtalia a bit. In just a moment after, 3 small creatures lept from the bush and attempted to strike Naofumi. He easily thwarted this attack and threw them back. They seemed to be different colored fungus monsters. He didn't have time to learn their name and stats. He realized that this was still a problem though.
He had to stay between the enemy and Raphtalia to ensure her safety. He also could not do anything himself and needed Raphtalia to attack. So, he could defend from them or defeat them, but not both. Worse of all? If even 1 of them ignored him and went for her... He had no idea if she could hold out against it as she was.
Sure enough, the little monsters came back for another round. The green and blue ones attempted to tackle Naofumi while the white-ish one seemed to be targeting Raphtalia. He turned to ignore the attack aimed for him assuming the damage would be 0. Unfortunately, even if it was 0 damage that didn't stop the tackle from pushing him back, making him unable to intercept the third one.
Raphtalia attempted to throw one of her knives at it as instructed, but with no training it was a poor throw and missed it's mark completely. She stood stunned for a moment, not sure if she should run or if she should fight.
Naofumi saw this a called to her. "I order you to fight!" Raphtalia immediately acted. Even if it wasn't an order, she probably would have moved at the sound of his voice. Since it was an order though it dispelled all doubt. Attempting to run would cause the slave crest to activate, that combined with the monster and her sickness... she'd die for sure.
She wasn't confident in her timing and so decided to thrust her weapon instead. It ran the small mushroom creature through, but it kept trying to come at her as if nothing had happened. This terrified Raphtalia, who kept one hand on her sword to hold it back as she drew another throwing knife and stabbed at it desperately. After the third thrust, it dropped at her feet.
[Gained 1 EXP]
"You did well, now hurry and finish these." She looked up from the monster she slayed to her master. Naofumi was on his back with an arm around each of 2 remaining monsters. He seemed hurt. Raphtalia quickly ran over with her short sword and started to finish them. She took a bit longer to strike, because she didn't want to hit her master.
As those 2 also grew still, she collapsed in fear.
[Gained 2 EXP] [Gained 2 EXP]
Naofumi had a little bit of damage, but ignored it to check on Raphtalia. "I'm sorry. I said I'd protect you and I couldn't even stop these little bastards... Then I gave that order without thinking. I could have gotten you killed."
Raphtalia looked up to him again. He was doing it again. He took damage, not her. Yet he still checks her first? She slowed her breath trying to calm down. Coughing a bit as she did so. "I'm sorry too. I froze. I missed my knife". Her eyes grew wet as she tried her best to calm down.
Naofumi sighed, "I'm the adult, the one giving orders, the one with a legendary weapon... If it's anyone's fault, it's my own." She didn't react.
He stood and began gathering material from the fallen. "She's a little girl who almost died in a pathetic manner moments ago, my words aren't going to do shit..."
.
[Mush Shield]
[Ability: Plant appraisal] Increases the information observed from [Inspect] if target is plant-based.
.
[Green Mush Shield]
[Ability: Apprenticeship Compounding] You cannot fail beginner recipes
.
[Blue Mush Shield]
[Ability: Fungal Recipes] Gain all beginner recipes that use fungus
.
[Recipe Menu unlocked] All known recipes can be reviewed here, new information discovered is automatically added to this list.
.
"If this works the same as the map..." He fed the recipe book to the shield.
[ingredient and recipe data received]
[recipe menu has been updated]
Naofumi could now read these at least. He confirmed the recipe and sat down to make 2 of the medicines. He had to use the [Mortar Shield] and many other bonuses would not work right now, as they aren't mastered. He had no other option.
"Are we... Are we stopping for the day?" Raphtalia asked in confusion.
"No, but I need to do something really quick. You can play with your ball now if you want, but don't go to far." He began to ground up the herbs.
Raphtalia perked up at this, but wasn't exactly in a playing mood herself... She began to throw her ball at a tree and catch it as it bounced off. After a bit she started doing it with 1 hand. She was trying to hit the same stop over and over again. Naofumi noticed this. "Practicing aim with your throwing knives. She can't even play like a kid. I'm quite the bastard."
[Lesser medicine x 2 created]
As soon as he was done making these 2, he fed 1 to his shield
.
[Medicine Shield]
+1 mdef
[Ability: Medicine efficiency] Medicine used by you are 10% stronger
.
He switched to this new shield right away. "Raphtalia come here a moment." He was using that soft voice she really liked. She approached him.
"Sit" She sat right next to him where he indicated.
"I need you to drink this" He held a rolled leaf with some weird liquid in it. Raphtalia went to grab it, but he was already bringing it to her lips. She tried to drink it, but the moment she tasted it she tried to stop.
"figured it'd taste like crap, too bad, drink every last drop". She struggles, but he forces her to drink it all. She wanted to spit it out, but he held his hand over her mouth. After a moment she swallowed the last of it. She just gave him a look of 'why the hell'.
He handed her a piece of dried meat to get that awful taste out of her mouth. "That was medicine. It should help clear your cough up. I'll be making you drink them every 8 hours until your cough goes away. I know it suck, but bear with it a bit longer. Once you're no longer sick, you should be able to fight better".
As she ate the rations, he provided she couldn't help, but feel happy. While Naofumi felt she thought poorly of him, it couldn't be further from the truth. He was only making her fight because he had to. He gave her this ball, time to play with it whenever possible, food whenever she wanted and now? He was making her medicine that he could be selling for money. It had been some time since she felt so wanted, so valued, so...
…
They continued throughout the day; fighting monsters, gathering materials and ingredients, traveling further in, etc. Naofumi was actually pretty pleased with their progress. Even with Raphtalia needing food near constantly, they were making great time. The only problem was that none of these mobs were edible. He was hoping for something actually made of meat. His 1-week supply of food wasn't going to last 3 days at this rate.
As it turned to night Naofumi thought that he did not want to explore at night. He set up camp and started a fire. He began making medicine with the more herbs he'd gathered. Raphtalia sat at the fire starring into it. Thinking about her day. About the monsters she killed, something she never thought herself capable of. As Naofumi finished the first potion he turned to Raphtalia, "This medicine has both ingredients, it should work even better... Please drink it".
She got up and walked to him. She thought about how she made such trouble for him. He'd make her valuable medicine, then she'd try and waste it. He held it outstretched and she took it into her on hands. "I have to fight monsters and fight alongside the shield hero, I can't buckle to a bad taste". In one dramatic motion she gulped it down. Trying to not taste it. "Master seems to approve".
Naofumi took his gifted cloak and detached it. As he did, he now saw that it was 2 layers. Completely unraveling it gave him a decent blanket. He turned to Raphtalia "Outright come here, we're going to bed". She looked at him wondering what he meant. He simply had a tired look; she couldn't pick up on anything else.
"Umm" She just kinda stood there for a moment, after which Naofumi looked up to see she hadn't moved yet.
"Listen. I have a shield that alerts me to danger. Remember how I readied for those first fungus enemies before they were in sight?" Raphtalia nodded still confused.
"It alarms when I'm in danger. So, if we sleep right next to one another it'll wake me up in time to protect you. Otherwise, we'd have to take shifts, but neither of us can handle things on our own yet. So come here already". "Also you don't have nightmares while I hold you. Can't have monsters hearing that and coming right at us".
She hurried over hearing him sound annoyed at the end. They both got under the cloak and found a comfortable position. He slept facing her, his shielded arm overtop her in a position to preemptively protect her. As they both awkwardly laid there waiting to fall asleep Raphtalia had to ask, "So, what else can your shield do?"
Naofumi seemed to not mind the question. If anything, he felt her knowing what he can do could only be a benefit. "Well, each shield does something different. After I use 1 long enough, I keep the bonuses even if I use another shield. As for what each 1 does..." He slowly gave explanation of about 5 shields, after which he saw she was asleep. "I thought I'd be so angry... at everything, but caring for her is kinda keeping me in check for now. For now..."
...
The following morning the 2 awoke a bit after dawn. Naofumi was pleasantly surprised that [Prophecy] didn't activate. "I wonder what kept the monsters away? The fire and smoke? Maybe we just killed enough of them that they got the message". He also looked happy at his mastered [Slaver Shield lll]. He was pulled from his thoughts by Raphtalia's stomach growling
"S-sorry..." She seemed embarrassed, but Naofumi wasn't upset by it. He was a little hungry too. He saw that their fire from the night before was out, but some embers remained, meaning starting a new fire would be too difficult.
"I'm going to restart the fire and heat up some food". He stood and returned his cloak to how he wore it before.
"Then I'll help!" Raphtalia was tired of having her master do everything. It made her feel useless.
"If you want..." "She was able to raise her voice and not cough, is it gone? Did I do it?"
As they began to gather sticks Naofumi was thinking about how he didn't mind living like this. If he had to avoid towns, this isn't that bad of an alternative.
[Alert! Danger Imminent!]
Naofumi Wasn't going to screw up again. He immediately dropped everything in his hands and bolted towards Raphtalia. Suddenly a white blur shot out at her. Naofumi reached out and caught it. It was a weird bunny... ball... thing. None of these things were normal. It dug into his arm with its teeth, which surprised Naofumi. He switched shields and used [Inspect]
[Name: Nameless]
[Race: Usapil]
[level: 3]
[Hp: 55]
[Mp: 23]
[Atk: 19]
[Mag: 14]
[Def: 11]
[Mdef: 12]
[Agi: 27]
[Number killed: 0]
"Level 3? 27 agility!? Had I not caught this, we'd be hopelessly chasing this thing."
"Alright Raphtalia, same as before. Hurry up, this actually hurts a bit."
But she made no effort to move at all. She just stood there, hand on her sword, gazing at it.
"What the hell are you standing around for? Raphtalia!"
"N-no..." She said in a whisper. "If I stab it. There will be blood."
"Are you kidding me!? Raphtalia, we will be fighting in the waves! YOU will be fighting in the waves. There will be a lot of blood!" He stopped himself, he decided yelling wasn't going to help, he lowered his voice. Back to that voice she really liked. "Sometimes Raphtalia, you don't get to choose whether someone is going to die, but simply who the one to die is." These words felt so wrong to her to hear, but he was using that voice, so she listened intently.
"If we kill this thing, we get to live. If it kills us, it gets to live. We didn't choose the circumstances, but we can choose the outcome..." Even as she was processing this, she drew her sword and took 1 step.
"That 3-headed freak that killed my parents would bleed too... but I'd want it to." She gripped her weapon tightly as she charged at it. Tears in her eyes she yelled as she thrusted into it. The blood went everywhere in a violent display. She kept crying as her tears washed a little of the blood off of her face.
She tried to catch her breath now, noticing the cough was really gone. She eventually looked up to her master and locked eyes.
Naofumi felt he might have pushed her too far and was feeling like a damned villain. He went to say something to her, but she locked eyes with him. He stopped.
They both stared at each for a moment. Then Raphtalia forced a smile
.
"I want to live too".
.
.
.
[author's notes]
I've always seen the 4 holy heroes as slaves and it's always irked me that more of a caparison isn't made.
You may notice I edited previous chapters, specifically that I nerfed stats on some shields. Just felt it is better this way.
So I've decided that because Naofumi wasn't betrayed some of his issues wont manifest. So while he can't taste a thing, he won't be blind to Raphtalia's growth rate. Meaning he has to deal with growth sooner and she can begin her attempts to 'win him over' without as much stubborn protag energy countering her. I still plan on him being apprehensive to the idea for obvious reasons, but I also plan to be given chances for Naofumi to see that she didn't just mature physically.
I plan on introducing Filo at the same time and Naofumi actually getting the first OC egg just before that. Meaning it will be 2, maybe 3 more chapters until the first new monster kid is shown.
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