They both stared at each for a moment. Then Raphtalia forced a smile
"I want to live too".
Naofumi gave her a smile and failed to hold back some tears. "I did it."
Naofumi recalled two days ago when he first looked her in the eyes. That she looked like she had given up on everything. She looked like she was waiting to die..., but in such a short time she'd changed her mind. She wanting to live. "If someone like her can smile then I have no right to be sad."
They had a quiet morning. Naofumi cleaned Raphtalia of the blood, then himself. He chopped off the rabbit's foot, then skinned it, then started the fire and began cooking the meat. They finally food some edible monsters so maybe they wouldn't be forced back to town so soon.
Raphtalia watched the meat and was told when and how to check them, while Naofumi tried something.
.
[Usapil Shield]
+3 agi
.
[Lucky Charm Shield]
+ item drop rate increase (small)
.
Just as Naofumi predicted. If Usapil's were this world's rabbits, then a Usapil's foot was basically a lucky rabbit's foot. Now with 4 total item drop rate up items Naofumi remembered to check he drop menu.
There wasn't anything of note dropped from any of the Balloons, just more leather scraps. The Mush monsters had dropped some weird fungus. If he had [Glass Lens Shield] and [Mush Shield] mastered he could probably know what it did. The Usapil dropped nothing. As expected with no drop rate bonuses in effect and only 1 killed.
Naofumi updated his priority list for shield mastery.
"The other 2 slaver shields first, for Raphtalia. Next my 4 item drop shields, can't miss out on opportunities. Next [Glass Lens Shield] and [Computer Shield]. Then [Wood Shield], [Leaf Shield], and [Druggist's Mortar Shield]. It was important to make medicine, but it made more logistical sense to master these 3 before the shields that make the created product better. That's because I'd be able to stockpile ingredients with the first 3 shields and so receive benefit, then after all my medicine shields are mastered... I can use all my ingredients I have with my combined bonuses to make a lot of high-quality medicine and rake in a lot of coin".
Raphtalia looked at her master to see him making a face she did not like "Master... What are you thinking about?"
Naofumi immediately broke from his thought and tried to think something, "I was ju- Is the food done?"
Raphtalia was well aware of the deflection, but answered all the same, "Nearly".
...
Naofumi and Raphtalia continued their endeavors. While they came across quite a few more Usapils They still ran low on food after day 5. Raphtalia just seemed like a bottomless pit, but as she quickly was gained a healthy weight back, Naofumi refrained from complaining about it.
…
The 2 of them reluctantly re-entered the western gate of Castle Town on the evening of that 5th day. Naofumi wanted to simply check into an inn and have a good bath and sleep in a bed, but there was one thing he wanted to do before that. He approached the same Apothecary who helped him before and kept his shield hidden. As the man spotted Naofumi he turned to him.
"Sigh, I've already told you no. Doing business with you will put me under too much strain".
Naofumi ignored him and walked right up to him. "Well then it's a good thing I'm just some guy, right? … The tools and book you sold me helped out a lot." He motioned for the man to take a look at the Raphtalia. She had no cough, had regained a healthy weight and... seemed a bit taller? The Apothecary couldn't help himself after seeing her, he bore a small smile.
"I see... Well, that's good then, but I'm serious I can't sell to you further." There was no malice in his words.
Naofumi was too pleased by the results to care about any of that "I understand. Here" He handed the man 10 stems of herbs. "I have so much I can't carry anymore, use that however you like." He did not wait for a response and left.
While they walked towards the inn Raphtalia gave him a look of inquiry, but would not ask the question. Naofumi saw this and answered. "When I gather everything, I'm going to create medicine in large quantities. When that happens, I need a way to sell them. Whether I can change his mind about doing business with me or not. He may compromise again and give me information on where else I could go to sell them".
Raphtalia could understand his reasoning, but at the same time it didn't sound like the whole truth. It sounded Like an excuse to avoid admitting to wanting to thank him. "He can throw himself in front of a monster for me, but can't admit thanks... master is weird"
She had thought something like this a lot. "He does something nice, but then covers it up by acting mean. Does he want to be hated?"
When they get to their room; he offers her the bath first and she happily accepts. Again, he went second and she soaked a bit after before bed. He held her hand again, no nightmares. The following morning, Naofumi switches shields again. "All 3 slaver shields and 2 of the coin shields are mastered. In just over a week my essential shields will be mastered...". Naofumi decides to visit Erhart before restocking on food.
As Naofumi enters the shop, Erhart greets him with some enthusiasm "Ah! So, you haven't died yet?"
A small smirk forms on his lips "And hello to you too." Erhart chuckles.
Erhart seemed to be reaching for a long stick as Naofumi continued. "I had some questions and a few requests" Erhart simply 'hmm' as he walked just past Naofumi and sat the stick next to Raphtalia. He then measured her height and made a mark on the stick.
"2 inches in less than a week! You must have gained a lot of levels." Naofumi was now quite confused.
"Wait. What!? Are you saying she's 2 inches taller in just 5 days!?" Naofumi was slightly agape at this revelation.
Erhart facepalmed and sighed heavily, "Kid, I tried telling you last time. She needed this armor cuz she's gonna grow fast".
"Because she's a demihuman? How does that work?" Raphtalia almost sighed herself. "Mr Erhart tried to explain this before, but Master completely misunderstood and thought only of business"
"Yeah. As demihumans level up at a fast pace while young, their bodies and minds mature to be able to better use their stats".
"So... I'm taking her childhood away from her?" Naofumi seemed genuinely upset.
"If that's how you want to look at it, but that doesn't take years off her life or anything like that. It just means what she wants and how she thinks will change rapidly until she reaches young adulthood. So..." He gave Naofumi a look he didn't quite understand, "raise her right. If she grows up to be as depressing as you, it's on you".
Naofumi understood the attempt at brevity, but caught himself feeling very conscious about some of the things he'd done or said around her. He gave a short glace toward her of which she smiled back.
"Well, I need to resupply and stay out of town, but I had a few things I wanted to discuss with you".
They spoke for roughly an hour. Naofumi was asking all kinds of questions. Namely about shields. He wanted to know how many weaponized shields exist in this world, then pitched a few ideas himself. He wanted a buckler, a spiked shield, a round shield with an edge the whole way around, and a shield that was basically an elongated version of his base shield with an edge and point on its tip. Edhart had a buckler on site, the others would have to be made, but kinda liked the ideas himself.
Since Naofumi knew he was going to start making money as an apothecary soon, he decided to be a little loose with his wallet. He argued Erhart down to 25 silver per copy, but had to pay for the other 3 shields in full because as personal commissions he can't guarantee they'd sell afterward. In total he paid 25 to copy the buckler, 180 silver in total for the requested proto-type shield designs and 7 silver in maintenance to their equipment.
.
[Buckler]
+2 agi
[Ability: Parry] For the next second, def is doubled and successfully blocking an attack causes the attacker to have force applied to them, repelling them.
"Hopefully I can carry enough food supplies..." "Oi, old man, got any wooden crates or other big containers you won't miss?"
"Hmm? a got 2 wooden crates was gonna break down for some spare fire wood, why?" He asked as he showed Naofumi their location in the back.
"Because a crate obviously stores more than a backpack". Erhart had no idea what he meant, but Naofumi was more answering to himself than anything else. He absorbed the first one... and got nothing? He absorbed the second one.
.
[Storage Shield ll]
+2 atk
[Ability: Storage Expansion] The weight limit of [Inventory] has increased by an additional 50 lbs. plus 3 lbs. for each level you possess.
.
Naofumi was happy, but had to think about this. "Why did it take both? The obviously answer is that 1 wasn't enough... So, if I keep absorbing containers, I should receive another one? Unless 2 is the highest."
"Did doing that even get you anything good?" Erhart said kinda doubtfully
"Yeah actually. I can carry more stuff soon". Erhart thought for a moment, but said nothing.
They left soon after and headed for another shop. His pockets were feeling light, but once the medicine business was ready, he had a little confidence it'd work out. He felt like involving Raphtalia a bit more. So, when they went to the food stands to purchase provisions for their next departure, he asked her what kinda food she wanted to eat.
"Even when lacking in coin he'd ask me that?" Truely every minute around her master was an enigma. He was really rude, but really kind. He made zero sense.
"I... I'd like some fruit. I like sweets." Naofumi nodded and made sure to have some fruit for most meals. He'd need 2 meals a day for himself and... roughly 5 meals a day for her. Supposedly, her hunger is used to facilitate her growth and once she reaches young adulthood her hunger should become normal again.
Naofumi didn't even consider staying in town tonight. He had too little money to spend. It was best to prioritize his medicine plan. He switched to his [Map Shield] and used [World Map]. The map he absorbed early own showed a town that they could realistically reach in just under 2 days. While he was hedging his bets that he could sell his medicine in this town, there can only be benefits in operating in multiple towns.
"Raphtalia. We're heading to 'Lute' village"
…
Over the next 3 days they traveled to Lute village. It would have been 2 days, but Naofumi avoided the roads just in case. In that time, his last coin shield, his [Lucky Charm Shield], and [Storage Shield ll] were mastered. He decided to master the upgrade to [inventory] before mastering it itself to have the higher storage space. He also tried a few things along the way that could be a big help in the future. Firstly, even red balloons could no longer hurt him. Secondly after capturing a balloon, he can store it away in [inventory], the best part? Balloons weighed .25 lbs. Meaning the number of balloons he can store is crazy. Of course, he only stored the red balloons.
The first thing he did upon entering lute was to switch to his book shield to hide his identity and approach a merchant. Naofumi had 4 Usapil pelts to sell, but also more than 100 Balloon leather scrapes. He didn't expect anyone to want the balloon scrapes, but he was pleasantly surprised. Because monsters would be a huge strain on farmers, leather goods are almost exclusively received from monsters, not domesticated animals. So, to these people it was common sense. Naofumi had seen these large chocobo-like birds around both castle town and this place of lute village though. So, there must be a different reason for their domestication that monsters don't supply.
The man offered 2 cooper per leather scrape for a total of 2 silver and 14 copper. He also offered 2 silver and 33 copper for the 3 pelts. Naofumi thought his prices were more than fair. "I guess it's because no one knows me here..." Naofumi thought for a moment.
"Listen, I'm in need of more coin than that, but I'm aware this deal is fair... Is there anything nearby you'd recommend? Whether it be a job or a known spot for herb gathering?"
The merchant explained there was a mine just south of town that is currently not in use. Apparently, some monsters had moved in after the first wave, whether from the wave or displaced monster as a result. The merchant seemed to blame the heroes for not solving the problem, but Naofumi found that stupid. This town is less than a day's ride on horse from the capital city of this nation, but they had not sent some knights to deal with this?
Despite his misgivings, he was excited to explore the mine. There would be plenty of shields and coin to be had, but... Why not get paid twice? "If I clear the monsters out of the mine, would I be paid?" He was told he'd have to talk to the local lord on how much, but the man sounded sure there would be a reward.
…
After an intense talk to a cornered lord Naofumi conformed a payment of 70 silver for clearing the mine. Raphtalia did her best not to judge him, but he browbeat the man into paying double what he first offered.
Before they even entered the cave Naofumi was snagging 'loot'. He absorbed a pickaxe, some coal left in a minecart, the minecart itself, some rope and even the door of the building itself.
.
[Mining Shield]
[Ability: Mining] locate valuable minerals within 10 feet of you plus 1 foot per level you possess.
.
[Fuel Tank Shield]
+1 mp, +1 sp
[Ability: Extra Fuel] The first cost of MP or SP each day is 0.
.
[Rope Shield]
[Ability: Air Strike Shield] Manifest a direction barrier with your def and mdef.
[Unique Ability: Hook] Grab onto something within 5 meters
.
[Gate Shield]
+1 def, +1 mdef
[Ability: Knock Knock] After blocking 3 attacks successfully you may summon a party member from your shield, teleporting them.
.
[Lock Shield]
+1 mdef
[Ability: Lock Down] After blocking a spell or ability, make the spell or ability unable to be used for 1 minute plus 1 second for each level you possess.
.
"The minecart gave nothing? Hmm..." Naofumi grabs a second pickaxe and motions Raphtalia to follow him into the mines. She follows close by. Naofumi used a method of gathering materials as followed; Locate mineral with [Mining], switch to use [Collection ll], store all minerals in [Storage]. This method was a little slow, but gave the most results.
He also refused to add anything to his shield now. He didn't want to get distracted. He turned corners with concern, shield raised in one hand, a torch in the other. No matter how deep they went in, they didn't see a single monster.
"Master. You don't plan to lie and say we cleared it out when we didn't, right?" Naofumi was planning just that, but didn't want to admit it to her.
"Time to deflect again" "Y'know I hate it when you call me 'master', could you not?"
"Then... What should I call you?"
"My name obviously"
"Um, and that is?"
Naofumi stopped in his tracks. He turned to see her genuinely confused. "I never told her my name? Right. Erhart calls me 'kid' and Beloukas calls me 'Son' and 'Partner'... It's always been a Japanese tradition to introduce yourself before asking someone else's name. Yet when I asked Raphtalia, I didn't. Did I not because this isn't Japan? ...or because I didn't see her as a person?"
Naofumi used his soft voice again, even he noticed how much she liked it. "My name is Naofumi, Naofumi Iwatani... Sorry for the late introductions."
She smiled as she heard that voice again, "Hello Naofumi-sama"
Naofumi tried to hide how much he liked being called that. Tried anyway.
As the hit the back of the mine it opened up into a large natural cave. It had several large cliff faces and clear water at the bottom. It could be that the invading monsters already migrated elsewhere using natural exits... As he began to mine some more, He hear a scream. It was the exact same scream he heard when she had nightmares. He spun around to see a large 2 headed dog stampeding at Raphtalia.
He ran to her while switching to his [Rope Shield]. The dog was coming too fast for him to do anything else, but grab her. He used [inspect] on the beast as he ran.
[Name: Orthrus]
[Race: Interdimensional Hound]
[level: 19]
[Hp: 253]
[Mp: 84]
[Atk: 89]
[Mag: 38]
[Def: 51]
[Mdef: 49]
[Agi: 65]
[Number killed: 0]
Naofumi was terrified. He and Raphtalia had made amazing progress, but they were both level 6. The thing was triple their level. Naofumi beat it in terms of physical defense and magical defense by a bit. Even had a tad more health, but his attack stat was truly massive. That thing's 89 attack versus his own 60 defense... With jaws that big... could the damned mutt tear off his arm?
Upon seeing the stats Naofumi immediately changed tactics. It's agility stat meant it would catch up to them very soon. He leapt from a cliff into the clear water. Activating [Hook] to grab another cliff.
Raphtalia felt stuck in time. Again, she was being thrown into water from a cliff face. Again, a multi-headed dog beast stared holes through her.
Naofumi struggled to pull Raphtalia and himself from the water. Slowly pulling himself up the cliff face, Raphtalia was softly repeating herself "I'm sorry, I'm sorry". Naofumi ignored it, finishing his climb and placing Raphtalia at his side.
They both caught their breath while checking to make sure the monster wasn't near. After that Naofumi turned to Raphtalia. "What the hell was that? You're still freezing up all the time? How Am I supposed to rely on you!?".
Raphtalia wanted to cry, not for getting yelled at, but because he was right. She had once again done nothing. She sped up his grinding, but she had yet to help him do anything that he couldn't do on his own. "I-It was a dog monster, that makes it different!"
Naofumi wasn't having it, "Like hell it does! What? You scared of dogs too!? what aren't you scared of!?" He was aware he was being a bastard and he didn't care.
"Cuz a dog monster k-killed mama and papa..." Naofumi realized he might have been very out of line.
"Raphtalia... I've been avoiding this, but... tell me everything. About what those nightmares are about... and how you became a slave."
He was using that voice again. She'd yet to build an immunity to it. "I lived in a small village by the sea. It was mostly demi-humans, but there were some humans. Our lord Seaetto was a human. The village was here, in Melromarc... and Melromarc doesn't treat us kindly at all, but in our village, we were fine and Lord Seaetto kept us safe... Then the wave happened." Small tears fell, but her voice stayed about the same. Naofumi sat beside her as she continued
"Lord Seaetto came riding in to save us. He killed a lot of monsters, but there was so many and... He died, though I didn't see it. My mother and father took me and tried to flee... This crazy three-headed dog monster chased us to the cliff. My parents threw me into the ocean and I saw it".
"Saw what?" Naofumi automatically asked without thinking
"Saw it rip them to pieces... they were probably dead before I hit the water."
They both sat quietly for a moment before she continued, "Afterwards... We tried to rebuild. We wanted to show that we survived and could still be happy. About a week later knights for the capitol showed up..."
"What good does it do to show up a week AFTER the wave?"
"They were the ones that made us slaves..."
Naofumi was enraged now. "Those damned knights can enslave little girls, but couldn't kill a monster a day's ride away from the capital!? No. That damned trash king tells them what to do. That piece of shit!"
Raphtalia kept silently weeping until Naofumi took her into his arms. "We aren't just both slaves, we share an enemy as well..." He held her until she stopped crying. They sat for a while more until Naofumi spoke.
"Raphtalia. We're going to live, right?" She gave him an affirmed nod. "Then we're going to have to get past that thing... Here's the plan-"
…
Naofumi using his map abilities located the monster and laid in wait. As the Beast saw him it began to charge. Raphtalia threw her 3 knives from behind Naofumi. 1 missed, one hit the main body, one hit its mark, right on the head. It didn't seem to mind at all and kept charging. Naofumi smirked, "Red Celebration!" "I know it's not an ability, but I had to name it". Suddenly 12 Red Balloons were released at the beast just as it came within 20 feet of them.
They bit at him, but dealt no damage. Damage wasn't the goal though. The monster snapped at them in confusion and hate, popping them one by one. While this was happening, Raphtalia ran to the far left, behind a large rock with her shortsword drawn. Waiting. Naofumi walked to the cliff and switched to his [Rope Shield]. He eyed his spare pickaxe firmly dug into the ground less than a foot away.
After the last Balloon was popped, the monster was crazed. It charged at Naofumi with killing intent. Its tunnel vision allowed Raphtalia to run at its side without worry and strike the same head again, only this time with her shortsword. The head slumped to the side dead as the other kept its attention on Naofumi.
"Good. If it chose to go after Raphtalia instead, it'd have had to use [Air Strike Shield] and then try doing this from behind. This way is way easier."
Naofumi used [Hook] to wrap around the neck of the remaining head, then dodged to the side. He watched as the beast could not stop its momentum and went off the cliff. Naofumi clung to the pickaxe with all he had, as Raphtalia ran over and held him too. The goal was to snap the last one's neck, but that didn't happen. They misjudged the weight as they both were pulled down the cliff as well.
The beast was; tired, down a head, small injuries all over and was struggling to find proper footing in the shallow water.
Naofumi was; winded, low on Sp, and the weight of the dog nearly dislocated his arm.
Raphtalia was down to just her short sword and was dizzy from the fall.
As all three stood up, there was a moment of quiet consideration.
Naofumi didn't even look at Raphtalia, "We're going to live" He ran in with her behind him. They were slowed by the water a bit. The dog however, did not charge. It waited for Naofumi to get close enough and attempted to bite at his throat. Naofumi tried blocking it and tried to push it back, but it simply went off course a bit and tore into his shoulder. Just before he buckled from the weight, Raphtalia came in swinging wildly. Striking it 3 times, 4 times, she kept slashing its stomach until it faltered and Naofumi was able to push the creature off of him. As the beast fell back it made no attempt to stop itself. He laid its heads under water, no bubbles to be seen.
[Gained 544 EXP]
Naofumi was proud. Of both himself and Raphtalia. He had a lot of tools at his disposal, but without Raphtalia he didn't have a way to win. "Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia ran up to him and threw her arms around him. It hurt a lot, but he let it happen. Naofumi was too confused at her reaction. It took him a moment to really consider it. Naofumi realized that she was worried about him. Him. Despite owning her as a slave, yelling at her and making her do dangerous things... she cared about him. "That a girl is this pure and good exists despite her experiences... it's both a miracle and a terrible indictment of those who abused her... myself included. Even if I can't calm down around others, I'll try harder to be what she wants me to be".
...
After some time, they collected parts from the dog. They then gathered a large amount of 'light metal' before leaving to get their reward.
[Two-Headed Black Dog Shield]
+2 atk
[Ability: Alertness] Aware of enemies within 30 feet plus 1 foot for each level you possess
[Unique Ability: Dog bite] Any enemy that comes within 5 feet of you is attacked by the 2 black dog heads
.
[Light Metal]
+1 def, +1 mdef, +2 agi
.
.
.
[Author's notes]
I'm not exacting happy with the fight, but it's fine. I didn't want something like 8 foot tall two-headed dog monster killed in 2 stabs from a small blade, but at the same time, Naofumi has to be creative with his current abilities to do much. Do you have a better way he could have killed it? Let me know.
Now Naofumi has a much more obvious appreciation for Raphtalia, not only as a means of fighting, but as a person.
Next chapter is the wave. If I can fit all the pre-wave and the whole wave into next chapter, then the first egg will be acquired, otherwise 2 eggs the following chapter.
I have names for the first 2 new kids, but not the second 2. When those eggs are received, I will ask you guys for suggestions.
Please leave a review!