"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
…
Something as vast and impersonal as the whole world was far less important to Naofumi than making sure he'd have another day with the kids or another soul soothing rest beside Raphtalia. To him, that was what he was fighting for now.
He leaned into her and caught the scent of her hair and like each time before, it comforted him and gave him the peace he needed to sleep.
...
That night with Melty
...
After departing from the savior of the heavenly fowl's company, Melty made a straight trek to the castle. She was heading to the throne room.
Along the way, many tried to speak to her, attempting to slow or stop her. She did her best to simply greet or dismiss them as she never slowed her little march.
She didn't even check to see if the throne room was in use or if her father was busy, she immediately ordered the stationed guards to open the door and entered. She saw her father on her mother's throne speaking with a noble.
He was doing the job he was tasked with and that gave her some relief. "Maybe this is all just a mistake?"
Upon seeing her, the king quickly wrapped up his business with the noble and greeted her as warmly as he ever did, "Ah, Melty! It's so good to see you. You know as a father it pains me to be separated from you during these precious years."
She returned his warmth, "Hello Father. Mother sent me to help you with all this... She seems to think that it'd be good for me to try my hand at ruling now away from her guidance."
Her father nodded in approval, "That is a wonderful idea, but I wish I'd have been told. We'd have a better reception for you, if we did."
"Mother was very cautious. She wanted my return to be unseen."
"All the same, I can't imagine you returning to the castle on your own. What incompetent guards were you assigned?"
"Well... I kind of departed from my guards to play with filolials and became separated."
And as always with his daughters, there was no anger, only concern.
"Are you telling me you were traveling on foot for some time!? How long have you been in the process of getting home!?"
This forced her to have to assure him. For all the praise of wisdom she had heard given to him, an overprotective father was all she'd seen.
"It wasn't like that father, truly. I came across the savior of the heavenly fowl and he offered me free transportation back home. So I was never in danger"
The king seemed happy, which confused Melty. She was under the impression that the savior and her father had bad history, but the mannerisms of her father seemed to indicate otherwise.
"That healer again? We've received reports of him saving whole villages. Twice. And now he returns my daughter, free of charge. We are in desperate need of men like him."
That made it sound like they'd never met, but as honest a reaction as her father was having, the savior's reaction was just as honest. The relationship between the two seemed less than straight forward.
"Um, father, I have some questions for you." She didn't wait for his answer. "In the short time I traveled with the savior, I was made aware that he has a poor opinion of you and that you've wronged him in the past... In fact, he seemed to dread the very idea of entering the capital. I heard him making plans to escape if you try to attack him... So what happened between you two?"
The king sat stunned. He had wanted to meet the one called the savior of the heavenly fowl after hearing of the great many deeds he'd done for the people. He wanted to support the healer and have his deeds to be seen as the actions of the royalty. His elusive nature and lack of roots had made that quite the task, but now he was hearing that they have history and not a pleasant one.
He collected his thoughts and tried to recall those he had to rule against in court, people who may have perceived his actions negatively, but few came to mind. Even of those few names he could recall, none fit the little bit he knew. No home, exceptional healer, and hated... him? It was baffling and he let his confusion show on his face openly to Melty.
"I... I'm not aware of any such hostilities. I was under the impression that we'd never met... How did he treat you?"
Melty could already see what he was doing, it was the right decision in her mind.
"He treated me kindly. He has four children himself, all of whom travel with him. So he was used to taking care of children."
"That's great to hear... The description I was given says he is younger, barely a man. And yet he has four children already? They must live on the road."
"Oh, they're all adopted. He and his... wife?" She realized that wasn't made clear to her. "Well, they adopted the four of them, but yes, they travel and have no home."
"As expected from a wellspring of generosity. Could I ask you to be our go-between? I want to undo any ill feelings that they may have. He has done much for us."
Melty gave a huge smile now. With a simple 'of course' she agreed to the proposal. She was quite happy now.
"I knew if given the chance, father would do what he could to correct his actions. If father acts like this when I locate the shield hero, that too will be easily fixed and I'll have completed the task mother asked of me... I will not fail you mother."
...
The following morning
...
Naofumi woke up naturally, with Raphtalia waking just after he did. They enjoyed the moment briefly before realizing that they were actually able to not be woken up by the kids...
They started getting dressed and slowly made their way to the next door down the hall. They could only imagine the type of problems that could have developed over night, especially between Filo and Leon.
Before either of them mustered up the courage to knock on the door, Monti opened it, having felt them. He placed a finger over his lips and Naofumi and Raphtalia were led into the room quietly.
What they saw nearly drove them to laughter, but they resisted.
Apparently, Teal said she was sleeping in Monti's bed because Filo would toss and turn and Leon would steal all the blankets. This meant Filo and Leon had to share a bed...
Naofumi and Raphtalia marveled at the result.
All the blankets of the bed were tightly wrapped around one another, forming a blanket burrito, with Filo's head sticking out of one end and Leon's head sticking out the other. They looked delighted in their sleep.
Naofumi immediately used [Photograph] to immortalize this. He decided in that moment to be the type of parent to embarrass his kids with sensitive photos.
Naofumi then thought about how he hadn't used this ability that much. He used it after Monti and Filo received their proper outfits, as well as taking a picture of each of the kids when they were freshly hatched and that was it. He wish he had a picture of Raphtalia before she rapidly grew up, but maybe it was better that he didn't. He was beginning to think that he ought to use it more often. His life recently had been a flurry of ups and downs and keeping the ups immortalized might help him keep his head above water.
Briefly he went to the thought of taking a photo of the whole family before the wave, in case... No. He'd take the photo because they were still growing and changing and he'd simply like to revisit it later.
"But that in and of itself says something important..."
If he wanted to ever look back on this moment, then that meant he liked this moment, right? That despite all that has happened to him since he came to this world and despite some of the negative circumstances he had found himself in... Currently, he would honestly describe himself as happy.
He allowed a smile to tug at the sides of his mouth as he couldn't keep up the mask.
"Alright you two! We have a busy day ahead of us!"
And they did.
...
Beloukas' tent
...
It was decided to come here first because a life was on the line. Naofumi didn't like bringing the whole family to a place like this, but had little choice.
As he walked into the tent, Beloukas was speaking to an older man. Beloukas seemed to be wearing more finery than before. Actually, even the clothes themselves seemed nicer. He must have been doing good business. Naofumi was going to wait his turn, but Beloukas stopped himself mid-sentence to loudly greet him.
"Ah, if it isn't my favorite customer! Here to do more business, I hope."
The man he was previously speaking to seemed annoyed, but was also curious as to what kind of person Beloukas would call his favorite customer.
"Sorry if I'm interrupting. I had three pieces of business. I wanted to see if you were able to manage finding those odd weapons you promised before, for a start."
Beloukas rubbed his hands together "Of course, of course! Don't doubt me, dear customer~. I have the two weapons..., but I see more than two monsters with you now."
"Yeah, that was the second reason I came here. To show off Teal and Leon. I know you specialize in monsters, but Teal is a one of a kind monster and Leon is a pure dragon. I thought they'd tickle your fancy."
The man rushed over to them both with glee. Teal was a bit put off by the man. She was usually able to read people, but she had no clue with this guy. Leon was more accepting. The man was covered in valuables. Leon approved.
After a moment of gawking he asked, "Do they transform as well?" His voice hopeful.
Raphtalia responded, "Of course Leon does. Teal can transform her body in a number of ways, but not a set form like the other three." She then motioned for Leon to do so.
With that, Leon transformed and was now slightly bigger than Monti's full form in weight and nearly one and a half times bigger in size. Beloukas marveled and so did the previous customer.
However, the previous customer was secretly quite confused. He had dealt with Beloukas before and he'd never known the man to speak to demi-humans, only speak at them, but just then this demi-human had spoken to him and he acted no different. He thought it may simply be that he liked what was said. More likely, this was the preferential treatment for Beloukas' favorite customer.
He thought about these monster and concluded that Naofumi must be a supplier of rare and valuable monsters and monster eggs. While he was dead wrong, it seemed likely given the little information he had.
"Splendid~, simply splendid~!" Beloukas was having a good time, but Naofumi needed to move things along.
"After the weapons, I'll need to put in for a very specific slave order." Naofumi said in an attempt to pull Beloukas from his self-indulgence.
It was successful, as Beloukas turned with a large smile towards him.
"...before we go any further, Mr. Bellmore, sorry about that. Let me finish with my business with him first."
This Bellmore fellow was here to purchase 40 Tyrella eggs. It was a large order. Not only that, but Tyrella weren't cheap either. Naofumi didn't hear exact numbers, but Leon sensed the exact amount of coin exchanged. 60 gold. It was insane. Naofumi was planning to spend quite a bit before the wave, but even he didn't have 60 without dipping into Gaelion's hoard.
In fact, he was worried about coin quite a bit. The present was going to cost 10 gold at most. Who knows how much the armor upgrade and better sword will cost. The magic shop was going to be expensive, he already knew. He may have to use some of Gaelion's hoard... maybe if he liquidated all his remaining medicines? Naofumi and Teal would need to visit the apothecary today or tomorrow.
Once that Bellmore guy left, Beloukas introduced the weapons he had acquired. For Filo it was a metal pair of claws for her full form. They were called Wyvern Talons. Naofumi knew that Wyverns were a sub-species of dragon, but kept that to himself. He wanted her to use them. For Monti it was almost like a lance blade mounted on something similar to a rapier's guard. It was to be worn over his tail, it even had a hole for poison to still be used. It was called a Unicorn Horn. Naofumi stopped himself from laughing.
These weapons both only worked in full form... for now. Naofumi could have Erhart fix that with their new product. Though, all their other equipment is made for human form and transforms with them to full form, but this would be the opposite. He wondered if that actually mattered.
"Hmm... These will due. Now, on to my last piece of business. I-"
"But dear customer, I haven't told you their price." Beloukas began.
"... As I was saying, I need you to locate a 12 year old dog demi-human girl. One that was sold in Mirso village."
Beloukas let it slide for now, "That is awfully specific. Mind if I ask why you want this particular slave?"
Naofumi thought about lying to him, but the truth had its advantages too.
"She was raised by the great dragon Gaelion. That makes her Leon's family. She's valuable to us, but not to anyone else. It shouldn't cost you too much to purchase her once you locate her."
"But that will take time and, as you mentioned, coin." Beloukas smiled, waiting.
"By the way... You seem to be doing well and I have a suspicion as to why." Naofumi said, not answering his question.
Beloukas gave in a bit with a smile, "Indeed, it is because of you. Your slave has given me a reputation as a seller of fine merchandise."
The family collectively decided to let the 'slave' line slide, if only once.
"Not only her, but since I made it known that you purchased at least one of your monsters here and they are all so rare and valuable. I've had countless people buy into my lottery hoping to hatch something like them."
"Then with that said, how much for the weapons?" Naofumi asked, still looking away.
"Due to the amount of indirect help you have offered me and my business, I'd go as low as 5 gold a piece for these beauties."
"Greedy little fuck."
"Make it 8 and use the other 2 gold to start your search." Naofumi would not pay a copper more.
"I see you understood what I meant, of course."
They left 10 gold poorer. Today was going to be costly.
...
The magic shop
...
They entered to see two customers in front of them. Despite this, the witch came out from behind the counter and greeted them.
"My, My. I only recently gave you instruction on the subject and already your children are up to four? Does this man give you no rest?"
She was speaking to Raphtalia, but the teasing was meant for Naofumi. For his part, he gave her a dirty look. He was honestly scared of her retaliation. She could wield Raphtalia as a weapon against him. Something like that... he couldn't defend himself from something like that. This small exchange caused Teal to have a good opinion of the woman in seconds.
"And hello to you." Raphtalia tried to push past this.
"We need a lot..." Naofumi started.
"I can guess what. Affinity testing, magic thread, and grimoires?" She said aloud.
"Yes, but more than you think. We'll need 5 baskets of magic thread and we also need intermediate grimoires for everyone..."
The witch was a bit shocked. She could see them being at the point of wanting intermediate magic, but the cost all together...
"Well... Let me see what I can-"
Naofumi saw the look and dispelled it. "We have the coin, trust me."
She met his eyes for a moment. Wondering if she should slip a discount into the price and if so, how much?
"Intermediate Grimoires are 2 gold a piece... I'm sorry, I can't go lower than that right now."
Naofumi was confident in the money he earned, but that was insane. it'd be 10 gold just for Raphtalia and him. He was going to need to spend some of Gaelion's hoard, at least for Leon's cost, if this kept up.
"...Like I said, that's fine. You're going to be making a little bit more today."
The witch returned to her two other customers and did her business quickly. After their business was concluded, she motioned for the party to approach the counter.
"Let's get the simple stuff out of the way, I'll now check these two's affinity."
Teal went first. Naofumi knew that Teal would speed by all of them in terms of reading and comprehension. He felt magic might help her more than it had Filo, maybe even Monti.
"Hmm, I see. Earth affinity. I suppose that makes a fair bit of sense." The witch then placed a beginner grimoire for earth on the counter.
"Don't forget the intermediate one too." Naofumi said.
It shocked her that he'd buy both now and not wait until she mastered one before purchasing the other. Though, she also knew he knew that. So he had to have his reasons.
Leon stepped forth and attempted to see his affinity. The witch had her hands raised for only a moment before gasping and reaching for a cup of water. Small flames burst forth around the crystal ball before quickly being dowsed by the water.
"Leon, what did you do?" Raphtalia asked in a disapproving manner.
But the witch answered for him, "It isn't his fault... This is amazing. He may have the strongest magic affinity I've ever seen. No. He definitely has the strongest I've seen... And, of course, it's fire."
"That's to be expected. He's Gaelion's own flesh and blood, after all." Monti said with a hint of pride for his brother.
The witch's eyes nearly popped out of her skull before she recovered with a genuine laugh. It wasn't often she was taken off guard like that.
"Well, I suppose you can start making your thread. I'll gather all the grimoires."
With a nod they did so. Teal's thread had a cool blue shade to it, while Leon's would go back and forth between black and gold. Raphtalia and Naofumi also made some as well. The self-repairing property was just too good to pass up. Raphtalia's was a light pink, so faded that it sometimes took a moment to see it as pink. Naofumi noted it was similar to her eyes. Naofumi's was a dark green, to no one's surprise.
Leon asked the witch about a magic staff, thinking she'd know. She said that as long as the material was magical, it didn't matter all that much, but that they'd need a catalyst atop the staff in order to gain the benefits a magic staff was supposed to bring. Even after that, you'd need someone to set the catalyst correctly. She called it 'attuning'.
Leon was pleased. If the staff could be made out of any magical materials, then his spear staff could be made by Erhart and simply have the witch provide the catalyst and attuning afterwards.
Naofumi thought about the process of making a staff. He thought of a gift he'd need to make to increase their chances during the wave...
They had quite a lot to purchase. 2 beginner grimoires, 9 intermediate grimoires and 5 baskets of magic thread (two baskets for Leon)... The total came to 20 gold and 50 silver.
It was a devastating figure, but Naofumi hid his thoughts of the matter from the rest of them. These were necessary purchases.
They left here now down 30 and a half gold poorer than they were that morning. How quickly all their earnings were being used up.
As they left, Naofumi was already getting cautious of his funds. He thought it best to visit the apothecary before returning to Erhart's.
...
Tailor's shop
...
Before they even entered the building, Monti's tail was wagging. Teal and Leon were both wondering why their brother would care so much about a clothing store, but the moment that Naofumi or Filo tried to answer the question, Monti got all embarrassed and hurried them inside.
Once inside, Naofumi simply called for the walking disaster.
"Oi! I got two more kids for you to make clothes for." There was silence.
The tailor started to walk to the front, but as soon as she saw who it was she was sprinting at them. She was going so fast that she wasn't able to stop on her own and Monti moved to stop her before she hurt herself.
"Oh, yes! Yes! Yes! A thousand times, yes!"
Her head jerked creepily to Teal, then Leon, then back again.
"Just look at these two. How do you keep finding such aesthetically superior children? A beautiful flower that is the cherished pinnacle of natural beauty walking amongst us! And him. A fierceness, a regally, something I can't quite place."
"He's a pure dragon." Monti offered. He loved hearing her little speeches that showered the family in praise.
"Ah! That's it! Yes, exactly it! A noble dragon, one of the greatest beings of this world. That strength coated in an aloofness that slumbering dragons are known for."
Naofumi and Raphtalia were now both trying to calm her down.
"Please tell me you're here with more custom orders!"
"Yes, dammit. Now shut up." Naofumi hated dealing with her, but she was the best he'd seen.
After calming her down for nearly 30 minutes, they got down to the point of the visit.
"So both of them are in need of transforming clothes and you've already brought the magic thread. Good."
She looked Teal and Leon over again.
Teal had begun to suspect that the reason Monti liked this place was this woman. His mannerisms were not hidden from her gaze. She'd tease him without end about that later.
Leon stared her down any time she looked at him. In his mind, if he looked away first, she won. At what? He didn't know, but he felt it was true.
"I have just the thing, I-"
"Hold on. Leon has certain needs and Teal is quite choosy. You can't just make whatever you want here." Raphtalia interrupted her.
The tailor seemed annoyed, but gave a look of asking her to elaborate.
"Leon requires thicker clothes, something that provides more warmth. As a dragon, he needs to maintain a higher body temperature." Raphtalia told her.
"Okay. Maybe the mother has some useful information that'll help after all."
"And Teal... You're basically going to need her explicit approval or she won't wear it." Raphtalia warned further.
"Are you implying something, mother? That I am high maintenance?" Teal asked, pretending to be offended.
"Of course not. I simply meant that you know who you are and know who it is you want to be." Raphtalia explained with her overly genuine look she often had.
Teal found it so hard to be her sarcastic self in the presence of her mother's overtly honest attitude. It forced her to be a little more honest herself, which she didn't entirely like to do or even know how to do. She simply smiled and nodded.
The tailor outlined her idea for Leon first. A set of elegant and generous robes like those of noble scholars. Leon loved the idea, but requested that his horn remained visible through a hole made on the hood. That he wanted to show off his horn all the time caused Filo to start messing with him again.
For Teal, it was worse than Raphtalia first broached it as. Teal was against pants or anything close with a passion, but everything the tailor offered was also dissatisfactory. Some of her reasons weren't even that good. Even Teal started to feel bad and was thinking of choosing the least bad option, but Naofumi wasn't having it.
Naofumi started talking about clothes from his world as best he could, trying to offer an entirely new world of options, literally. Some of them were hard for him to describe, but he tried his best. It wasn't until he was going over a kimono that Teal perked up. Naofumi wished he still had the pictures of his family from the last festival they went to many years ago. It was on his phone before being absorbed, but were now gone...
There was a faint glow from his shield when that thought crossed his mind. He checked his shield and, more specifically, his photos. He saw what should not have been there. The very picture he was recalling. He thought about it a moment. Maybe when he absorbed his phone back then, one of the photos transferred over to his shield..., but he had five spaces per level. If that were the case, he'd have five old photos, not one.
He had no choice but to conclude that it was the shield that did this. He was truly grateful in that moment. No matter how small it may have been, the shield helped him in a way that was not to this world's benefit at all. It was only to his benefit. Not only would it help here, but of all the pictures he had of his family, that one was among the best at showing them together as a family. Even if it was 5 years old at this point. Taken before he was an adult.
"Take a look at this. This is my parents, my brother and me. All wearing our kimonos. They're unisex and very open. As you can see, there's also a few different ways of wearing it. It's very versatile... Do you like it Teal?" Naofumi asked.
"...Absolutely!" Teal's problem was she couldn't really put it into words. She hated restricting herself and would prefer being naked if she could get away with that. That and none of the clothes seemed to add to her the same way Monti and Filo's did. Even better was the part about it being unisex. Teal may have claimed herself a sister to Filo in the moment, but she was a man as well and wearing a skirt had been less than ideal, to put it mildly.
The Tailor brought a hand to her chin. She gazed at the clothes from another world. Her own world had nothing like it. She had to ask Naofumi a few questions. There were a few things you couldn't tell at a glance.
After that, Naofumi and Raphtalia surprised her by asking for something of their own. They both planned to wear their armor most of the time, but wanted the clothing section of their armor to be self-repairing and even beyond that, they wanted something nice to wear for the times they were in towns or playing with the kids.
Raphtalia had no requests outside of the clothing that she'd wear alongside her armor to not restrict her movements. Naofumi only requested a recreation of his cloak, complete with the unfurling into a blanket as the original did.
The tailor was noticeably less excited about their clothes, but she agreed all the same.
"Will these be overnight orders, like last time?"
"No. Prioritize our children's clothes first. We need all four done in three days. Is that acceptable?"
"That's fine. I can finish these in two days..., but are you sure you don't want overnight work?" The tailor wanted an excuse to work herself ragged on her latest masterpieces.
"I'm not requesting that, so I'm not paying more. You do what you want." Naofumi saw what she wanted. Maybe he could bait her into a free service.
"F-fine." The tailor mustered up all her willpower to not give the service away for free.
They spent 10 silver for each kid request and 15 per adult request.
They had now spent 31 gold so far today.
From here, they needed to spit up. Naofumi and Teal needed to sell all they could to the apothecary, as their funds were all but non-existent. He gave Raphtalia 153 silver, hoping she wouldn't need more, as that was all they had without dipping into Gaelion's hoard. Raphtalia and the three remaining kids needed to visit Erhart. They needed a progress update and also now needed Monti and Filo's new weapons to be blended for them to transform.
They just hoped they'd have two copper to rum together afterwards.
...
Erhart's shop
...
Raphtalia and the kids re-entered the shop. Their faces were a good mix of tired, annoyed and hopeful. All except Leon, whose head was already deep into his grimoire.
Erhart couldn't help but comment on it. "Ha, you look like you've already had quite the day. What happened? And where's the kid?"
Raphtalia let her frustrations be known through her expression.
"We've spent so much of our time making money and it's almost all gone in a single day... How do you think I feel? As for Naofumi-sama, He went to the apothecary. He's hoping to make a little more coin. You're the only one we are not sure we can pay in full right now."
Secretly, she thought about how they'd have no coin for the date that she wanted.
"Really? But the kid said he could default the unused material to me, right? It's great stuff, and he already gave me 10 gold yesterday. Paying me won't be too much more yet."
Raphtalia presented the Wyvern Talons and Unicorn Horn to Erhart.
"These need to be blended with Filo's crystal ore, while this needs to be blended with Monti's crystal ore. We also need you to make a combination staff and spear with Leon's crystal ore, but leave a spot for another of his crystal ores to be used as its catalyst... I know it's a lot."
"I know you guys need it... Don't fret too much. Blending metals into these won't be all that much work. I'll have to get the details on this staff idea, but it shouldn't be too much. Besides, I trust you kids. I can stand to deal with an I.O.U. from you lot for a bit. I mean, you'll receive more money after the wave, right?"
The party was very grateful for his cooperation and understanding, but Leon wasn't happy at all.
He could sense how much coin was near him and so knew how much the family had spent. He also felt bad about what happened yesterday. He used physical force against his father and regardless of if he was forgiven, he still felt bad. He decided that he'd find a way to earn some money for the family. Something to help them out with their current issue. He just needed time to think of how to do that.
While he thought to himself, Filo picked up on his mood and studied him suspiciously.
The party stayed there a bit longer. Not wanting to bother Erhart while he was so busy, they opted to stand just outside the shop and talk.
Finally, Leon spoke up.
"Can we explore the capital as long as we stay together?" He asked Raphtalia.
"Eh... You could, but let's wait until your father and sister return first."
Right on time, Naofumi was running towards them with Teal under his arm.
Running? Why was he running?
When he reached them, he stopped and did his best to catch his breath.
"Dad? What happened?" Monti asked
Naofumi spoke, still catching his breath, "Don't worry *Breathes* Just some *Breathes* knight or guard. *Breathes* Tried to stop us. He *Breathes* knew me by my appearance."
Teal continued from where he left off.
"Yeah, some cute little knight tried to approach father while calling him 'shield hero'. We ran and they tried their best to give chase..., but we sold a whole bunch to that apothecary. With the next wave in a few days, his medicine is selling like crazy."
Leon spoke back. "Well, that's good news then. We needed more coin..."
Leon didn't interact with the family as much before, but he'd make an effort from now on.
After that, Naofumi and Raphtalia exchanged info.
Naofumi sold all but six potions. One for each of them. He haggled for four silver a piece instead of his usual three. He made them 256 silver in total. He was really hating his generosity right about now. Had he charged more appropriately for the medicine up until now, they would be more than fine. He felt that under charging them was now a detriment to the family's safety.
Raphtalia informed him that Erhart didn't take her coin yet and said he'd accept an I.O.U. if need be. This news was also good. Between them, they had nearly four gold and no need to pay right away. Maybe things were going better than expected.
They felt like they had enough good news and went to go towards a tavern or restaurant to eat, but someone spoke up to grab their attention.
"Do you have room for one more...? If it wouldn't be an inconvenience." The voice was unmistakable, it was Melty
"Mel-chan!" Filo yelled before running up to her and giving her a welcoming hug.
"Um, that's fine, but what about your parents? You just made it home from being lost yesterday and now they're letting you eat out with strangers?" Raphtalia said
"It's fine. Like I told you, my mother really likes you, savior... And while my father and you have butted heads in the past, he too is grateful to you. I even brought you some coin from father as a token of his gratitude for having rescued me."
Alarms were now going off in Naofumi's head.
"Her father was a noble that I butted heads with? Maybe that's to say that her father was one of the many nobles that treated me like trash before? Maybe one I met in passing at the celebration after the second wave's defeat?"
No.
"Melty didn't mention that I was the shield hero, because Melty wasn't made aware of that yet. So they only knew me as the savior of the heavenly fowl. So whomever her father is, he had butted heads with me in my guise? Well, it couldn't be that Wagner fuck... Whoever her father was, he lived here, in the capital..."
Either way, he was dealing with Melty here, not her family. She had shown herself to be a good kid and even offered a reward for their efforts in seeing her home. He thought this was enough to let it slide for now.
"I'm not aware of who your father is or what kind of issues we've had, but you are more than welcome to join us."
This left Melty overjoyed. She'd need to take it slow. She'd need to slowly find out why he hated her father and then do all that she could to correct it.
She handed Naofumi a small bag of coin. Naofumi thought a noble might repay in gold and not sliver, but he'd take what he could get. That was his thought when he felt the bag's weight. However, when he opened the bag, he was pleasantly surprised.
The king was generous to Naofumi under these blinding circumstances. Only knowing that he saved two villages and his daughter, but not knowing his identity had led to this great reward.
Naofumi held a bag of 50 gold pieces. More coin than he'd spent the whole day. They were now richer than before they entered the capital.
The whole family wore huge smiles and were all laughs as Melty and them went off to have a great meal and enjoy their day!
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[Author's Notes]
Might be the longest between chapters so far. You might be wondering why. It's because a thunderstorm took out my power wiping writing progress TWICE. But it's here now.
This chapter is paradoxically a chapter where nothing happens and where a lot of things happen.
Melty is being given a chance to reveal herself slowly. Will it keep Naofumi from rejecting her?
With all the coin they are dropping and gains they are making, will the glass fight still be so one-sided?
I still need suggestions for the accessories. I was thinking of cufflinks For Monti and maybe a ring to go on Leon's horn. I still have no idea for Teal. Something to go with the kimono?
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