"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
...
Everyone nodded and went to prepare what little they had. Wyndia followed Leon as they left. They all proved fast, as within ten minutes of Naofumi's words, they were in the carriage and ready to depart. There were three more people in the cart, but it wasn't nearly as cramped in this new cart as compared to the old one. Naofumi gave the village a final look, then a look and nod to Eclair and Ake. They set off for their newest adventure.
They were now heading off to the harbor, towards Cal Mira.
...
As they traveled in the cart, Filo began singing her traveling songs as she often did. The family sank back into their normal groove. Naofumi began putting the finishing touches on the accessories he had been working on, but with extra people here, it wasn't going to be easy. With an already crowded cart, Leon thought to ask Mia something.
"Oh, Mia. I got these staves. Could you combine them with your alchemy?" Leon asked, bringing out the 8 hydra staves and his prior weapon.
"Hmm. They are all about equal in dimensions... No reason to use form shift... Yeah, this will be the simplest form of alchemy. Which appearance do you want?" Mia eventually asked.
"This one." Leon pointed at the [Fire Hydra Staff].
"Okay, it'll only take a few minutes." She answered.
Mia began the process. None of them besides Godiva had ever seen the process before and were interested. She laid the weapons next to each other and pulled out items meant for cleaning and polishing. She then cleaned them. They looked confused.
"Dirty and other things would also be combined and possibly become part of the result, doing that would lower the quality of the result by quite a bit." Mia explained.
She then slowly laid one of the other staves on top of the [Fire Hydra Staff]. She accessed some sort of magic and gently, she pushed down on the top staff into the staff below. They soon occupied the same space and were growing, the physical form seemingly not fully defined anymore.
She repeated this process again for the 6 remaining hydra staves, but didn't place the last one inside of it. Leon was about to say something, but she was already answering him.
"These staves have a perfect synchronicity. Never seen that before. If I add your original weapon, I believe the final result will be weaker." Mia explained.
"...You're a professional." Leon relented.
Mia then began touching the glowing weapon, running her fingers down its surfaces. As she did, it was like that part of the weapon became real again. Its form was again fixed and knowable, the glow faded. Her touch was like an authority that dictated the results to the staff. Mia was very thorough and was far quicker than was expected. She was a master of her craft. None of the unsureness she possessed normally. If she could act like that during the procedure, then she had to truly feel in control.
Naofumi was starting to realize that Mia might very well be as good an alchemist as Erhart was a blacksmith, or at least she had the potential to be. Her combat stats were now decent, much better than before. The stat boosting items had their effects doubled as well during the class up ceremony. While she couldn't hold a candle to Godiva, or even Keel in terms of stats, when compared to the average person on her level, she was better. That got Naofumi thinking.
"Mia, I need some hair and blood." Naofumi said out of nowhere.
"Wha-Why?" Mia was put off by that.
"Bonus effects, I up humans and multiple types of demi-humans, but not your type yet." Naofumi thought to explain.
"These stats seem sufficient, but sure." Mia answered.
Soon after, Naofumi unlocked the first 2 ferret demi-human shields and switched to one of them. He'd master them both before they stepped foot on the island. From there, Naofumi went back to work and was able to finish the 5 accessories. While he finished them before they arrived, he had another problem. They turned out really good. He now felt conflicted about what to do with them. They would sell well on Cal Mira, but they would also serve as excellent pieces for his allies.
"What's wrong, dad? They turned out really great." Leon said, sensing their value.
"Yeah..., but 'now what?' is a question. Do we sell them or give them to allies?" Naofumi admitted.
"..." Leon paused, that was a good question.
"...I'm just going to state the obvious and say 'sell them to allies'. You realize most of your allies are being pushed into nobility? We got the money." Godiva said after the pause.
"True, I can have you all pay me in goods to the village, that'd be better for us and cheaper for you." Naofumi considered.
"The added power would be appreciated. Cal Mira is supposedly no walk in the park, some rather nasty monsters appear there." Godiva seemed to be interested.
"Well, I have 5 to sell." Naofumi spoke as he went to present them.
"Well, what do you got?" Wyndia asked.
Naofumi eyed her for a moment. If Wyndia wanted one, Leon would pay and that wasn't actually turning them a profit at all. Wyndia saw the obvious facial expression and went to correct his thinking.
"If I want one, I'll make Ren pay for it." Wyndia assured.
Naofumi could agree to that. Milking Ren's guilt had its uses, but he was trying to improve. Long-term, it wasn't a good idea.
Naofumi presented his items. They were all silver with emeralds. He had a lot of silver and emeralds and they'd not be running out anytime soon.
He had a ring with [Attack up (medium), Magic up (small)], quality (very good).
Then there was a locket with [Defense up (Large)], quality (excellent).
There was an anklet with [Jump up (small)], Speed up (medium)], quality (very good).
Then a pendant with [Strength up (small), Attack up (medium)], quality (very good).
And lastly, a bracelet with [Magic up (Large)], quality (excellent).
After some talking a bit, it was decided that Mia would take the locket for safety, Godiva took the ring, Fitts would get the pendant, Chloe would get the anklet, and Wyndia got the bracelet.
With that settled, they went back to what they were doing before. Filo was still pulling the cart, Raphtalia leading it, Naofumi making potions, Teal helping him, then Monti and Leon would split scouting duties.
Wyndia did her best to get along with everyone and tried to learn more about them. She wanted to know the people Leon claimed as family. In the brief time she knew them, they all seemed like really nice people, but she saw what the others could not. Being raised by a dragon, she could see points of frustration with the siblings.
Monti seemed to be the strongest and oldest, or at least he was treated that way. Yet he was humble and never acted like he was anything special. That'd be pretty annoying for a dragon to witness. Teal was really good at getting under your skin and stirring the pot. She could only guess how much frustration she had caused someone prideful like Leon. Lastly there was Filo... She still could not understand how he could treat her with anything but contempt. She treated him well enough too, which was also confusing.
She had no complaints when it came to his parents. Naofumi was a caring person, but he housed a fierceness when needed and it reminded her of Gaelion's wrath on occasions. Raphtalia seemed even more openly sweet and caring, but from their interactions, she saw that she was more or less Naofumi's equal and her hand was almost always on her sword. She likely had a fury that could match her partner's own, she simply had a better control of it.
She ultimately approved of them, not that her opinion mattered at all. As long as Leon chose them, that was enough. If nothing else, knowing this family was nearly torn apart by Ren made her all the more angry at him.
...
Port to Cal Mira
...
Monti flew back down and entered the cart after catching a glimpse of their destination further ahead.
"We're almost there." Monti announced.
It had been a leisurely ride and only 4 hours at that. As the cart followed the road down the hill to the port town below, they all took turns peeking out at all there was to see. The port town wasn't small at all and looked enormous when compared to Lurolona in its current state. That said, the town looked very overwhelmed right now. There were crowds of people forming all around three very large ships in the harbor. They were each much larger than the local docks looked like they were made for. Filo wasn't able to get too close to the docks before crowds made going further in the cart an impossibility.
Seeing this, Raphtalia called to the back. "We need to go on foot from here."
Everyone acknowledged her and exited the cart. Once everyone was out of the cart, Naofumi stored it and they turned to the crowd.
"We have royal passage, no need to shove or cut. Stay together and don't cause trouble." Naofumi said, looking right at the kids as he said that.
"We will behave." Teal promised.
"Monti, keep an eye on everyone." Raphtalia told him, not believing Teal for a second.
"I'm on it!" Monti would not disappoint.
They waited in lines for some time before they saw Melty and the others bordering the ship far ahead of them, it wouldn't be much longer and he could tell Liviccic everything he learned about the weapons, possibly the greatest secret. Naofumi was becoming distracted by the guy in front of him. He was a lively sort and was becoming quite upset at how slow the boarding process was going.
"L'arc, calm down, will you?" The light blue haired girl called out next to the man.
It was becoming so obvious that even his party members felt the need to say something.
"I know, I know! But I can't help it. Ships get me so excited." The man said back to her.
That voice sounded a bit off to Naofumi. The guy in front of him looked old from the back and he was in very good shape. He expected far more base in the man's voice. Naofumi let out a sigh in frustration, the man heard it clear as day. He turned around to Naofumi
"What's the matter, kiddo?" The guy asked lightly.
His hair was a dirty red and cut short, stood up in styled spikes. That type of free style of hair was something Naofumi hadn't seen before in this world. He thought that maybe the man had a hairband or something holding it up, but it seemed to stay up well-enough on it's own. He also seemed handsome enough, but maybe it was the confidence in his eyes and the more muscular build that just made him seem that way.
The one thing that caught his eye was the man's weapon. Of all things, a large scythe hung from his waist. Overall, the guy seemed like he wasn't a pushover.
"If this is the quality of adventurers that'll be on Cal Mira... Maybe Motoyasu and Itsuki will have some luck." Naofumi thought for a moment.
"Oi, I'm not a kid, I'm 20." Naofumi felt he had to put his foot down, he couldn't look bad in front of the kids.
"Oh, sorry about that. I didn't mean anything by it. I just call anyone younger than me that, force of habit." The guy responded.
He sounded both sincere and full of shit at the same time. Naofumi couldn't get a read on the guy.
"Well, don't." Naofumi answered, annoyed.
"L'Arc, behave yourself. You're bothering others." The girl at his side turned and corrected him further.
With a closer look, the girl seemed strange. One look at her eyes gave off a mixed look of Raphtalia and Eclair. She looked kind like Raphtalia, but rigid like Eclair. She was also their equal in beauty, something that almost made Naofumi look a bit longer. She also had a lot of jewelry on. Naofumi didn't have an opinion on that other than it looked good on her.
Her hair was a bluish-green and it seemed to shine well in the sunlight. Raphtalia's hair did too, but Naofumi wasn't mushy enough to tell her stuff like that.
"But maybe I should?" Naofumi thought to himself.
L'arc went to apologize. "Sorry, Therese. I just can't wait to get on the ship alre-" but was interrupted.
Leon had slipped past Naofumi and tried to grab Therese. Monti's tail caught him before he could and Naofumi then picked him up.
"Sorry about that. Leon, what are you doing?" Naofumi held him by the hood and turned him to meet his eyes.
"Dad, just look at her. Isn't she beautiful!?" Leon told his father with rare excitement.
"Aw, isn't that sweet. What an adorable little boy." Therese laughed off the boy's antics.
"Dad, listen. She's the most expensive thing I've ever sensed!" Leon was beyond excited.
No one saw the look L'arc and Therese shared at Leon's words.
"Just because someone wears something fancy doesn't mean you then badger them." Naofumi told him.
"But, dad-" Leon whined.
"Nope, you aren't acting up just because Wyndia is here." Naofumi said, passing Leon to Raphtalia.
"Behave until we are on board." Raphtalia told him.
"...Okay..." Leon knew better than to argue.
Teal leaned up to Leon. "You have good taste." Teal whispered.
The little exchange now meant Naofumi's group annoyed them too, so he had to let it go. Soon enough, they all made it on board. However, after those in front of them had boarded and Naofumi handed them his papers, the men flinched.
"We have room, but your room will have to be smaller than intended, our boat is going to be over capacity. We are so sorry." The man said, handing back the paper.
That was annoying, but they'd deal with it. They soon found out that the rooms had 6 beds, which initially ruined everything. Soon enough Melty, Liviccic and the others all came and they all shared similar problems. Some shuffling around was needed.
"Hmm, Melty, why don't you stay with the kids and Keel next door? I know you want more time to hang out with them. Plus, I can't have Monti watching over them by himself." Naofumi offered.
"That sounds great." Melty said with a smile, happy to play more with Filo and the others.
"But Princess Melty's safety was left to Lord Blackcrown..." Silvius complained.
"We have a lot to discuss." Naofumi said to Liviccic.
"Understood. If we are sharing a cabin, who will be our last two...?" Liviccic asked.
"It doesn't really matter." Naofumi didn't care.
"Then... Silvius." Liviccic called.
"Yes, lord?" Silvius answered promptly
"You, Isidor and Ida can room with Fitts and Chloe. I want any hurt feelings between my upper staff and Fitts to be solved as soon as possible." Liviccic told him.
"Understood." Silvius left immediately.
"That reminds me, how many people are you bringing?" Naofumi asked Liviccic.
"It's just 5 in total. We wanted a party of 6, including Princess Melty. You haven't met Isidor and Ida. They are also upper staff, like Silvius." Liviccic explained.
"Upper staff... Lurolona has no infrastructure at all. I'll need to change that. Otherwise, when I'm not there, there is no leadership." Naofumi thought for a moment.
"Let's just go inside then and discuss this?" Sophia offered.
"Sure, but first." Naofumi walked over to Melty. "I'm relying on you to help Monti in keeping everyone in line. Even if it's just Filo." Naofumi asked of her.
"Of course." Melty responded, taking Filo's hand and guiding her to their cabin right next door. The kids knew their parents would be busy, so they followed Melty and Filo and entered their room.
"I guess Mia and I can fill the last 2 beds, it doesn't really matter. Either way, you guys enjoy your complicated talk. We'll be vetting people aboard for party space." Godiva told them, waving as they went.
"Before we even get there…? That's actually a really good idea. Let's hope that Motoyasu and Itsuki think the same." Naofumi thought aloud at Godiva's words.
They felt the ship set sail and that removed Naofumi from his thoughts.
"Yeah, let's go." Naofumi motioned them inside.
Naofumi spent more than two hours going over everything in detail as much as he could with Liviccic. Naofumi told him everything he was told in all their talks and what he discovered on his own. They disclosed things and exchanged items between the two of them, unlocking more forms. Naofumi had the time to go through his inventory and found an item he had forgotten, the [Cane of Vitality]. Liviccic was able to copy it and gain a useful support skill.
After those boring talks, they discussed Naofumi's recently made accessories. Naofumi figured they both had one, but-
"I bought Sophia one that increases speed and climbing." Liviccic said while Sophia showed off her bracelet.
"I don't have one myself..."
"Why? You can afford one, right?"
"Yes, but I wanted a specific material used and I haven't had the time to seek out a craftsmen good enough." Liviccic pulled the item out.
It was the [Idol of Curses]. Naofumi stared at it for a moment.
"...That, huh? I've been making accessories lately, want me to try?" Naofumi casually offered.
"If you think you can." Liviccic answered.
"I thought you didn't even want to touch that thing?" Raphtalia asked worriedly.
"It's fine. The wrath shield is no longer my best shield. I don't need to rely on it. So, it's fine." Naofumi assured Raphtalia.
He took the small orb in his hand easily and examined it. It didn't affect Naofumi in the slightest.
"What type of metal do you want the rest made out of?"
"Whatever you think is best. I assume you'll take payment in the form of supplies shipped to Lurolona?"
"Of course." Naofumi pocketed the orb and they went to end the conversation.
"I'm surprised that we haven't heard the kids being loud once since we've been talking. It's been two hours..." Raphtalia commented with some worry.
"Yeah, something's up. We gotta check on them, do you two mind?" Naofumi thought to ask Liviccic and Sophia before leaving.
"Of course not. I'll be dealing with these power-up methods for the rest of the day." Liviccic assured them.
They left and checked the other room, only to find it empty.
Naofumi sighed. "Let's find them." Naofumi said with a tired voice.
"I'm sure Monti and Melty are keeping them in line." Raphtalia said with a little assurance.
"I'm sure they're trying." Naofumi dismissed.
They figured that Filo and Keel got hungry again and went to bother the kitchens. That search turned out to be fruitless. Naofumi was about to call them when the pair exited the interior of the boat. They saw a number of people they knew.
The heroes were all hanging over the side of the ship, looking pitiful. The seasickness defeated them like no fight had up to this point. Rishia did what she could to help Itsuki, but she looked terrible herself. Motoyasu had no such comfort, but it was better than Ren. Ren not only had to deal with the sea sickness, but Wyndia yelling at him as well.
"You're a legendary hero and you can't even stand up? What the hell?" Wyndia complained.
"Me-Mercy..." Ren begged.
"I'm going to die alone..." Motoyasu was resigned to his fate.
"I'll be f-fine, Rishia, just give me a moment." Itsuki made a hollow promise.
Naofumi almost wanted to help them, but something caught Raphtalia's eye and she nudged to follow her gaze.
They saw Filo swimming in the water in her full form alongside the ship. Monti's tail was wagging like he also wanted to go swimming, but he didn't know if he'd get in trouble. He'd have gone in to get Filo out, but then he might get in trouble. Melty and Keel stood near the other kids, waiting for something. Suddenly, a shadow appeared behind Filo in the water.
"It's actually working?" Leon asked in disbelief.
"Get ready!" Teal said in excitement.
Filo waited a moment before leaping out of the water for a moment.
[Blightning]
Monti shot off his spell, striking the water near the shadow, stunning the beast. Filo came back down and grabbed the creature out of the water. She threw it into the air, towards the ship.
Teal formed a large wooden stake and positioned it carefully. The shark monster fell helplessly, impaled on the stake and writhed in pain, blood leaving the monster. The other heroes saw this and got even more sick.
"My turn." Leon announced.
He leapt off the boat while the other kids positioned the shark over the edge of the ship. Leon transformed into his dragon form and breathed bright golden fire onto the shark for nearly half a minute. When he was done, the outermost section was charred, but the inside seemed cooked well enough. Leon returned to the ship in human form as the kids began to dig in. Monti saved large sections of their catch for their parents, not seeing them watching them. They all dug in, but Filo and Keel were ravenous.
"Huh, they can transform into monsters?" L'arc commented, sounding impressed more than shocked.
Naofumi took notice that L'arc was right behind him, looking over his shoulder. It was odd how easily Naofumi let his guard down around the random guy. He had that older brother energy about him.
"Yes, our kids are all monsters, but they are still people." Raphtalia responded.
"Mom! Dad! We got some food!" Filo now saw them and called out.
"I can see that... Catch me two more, okay? Leave one raw for me. I'll make us enough food to last us the whole trip." Naofumi responded, walking down to meet them.
He took off a small piece of cooked fish meat and sampled it. It seemed cooked enough to eat as is.
"H-How? How can you talk about eating and even eat on this damned boat?" Ren asked miserably.
Naofumi looked at the three of them, then noticed two more of Ren's party members and Rishia were also pitifully suffering too.
"Fine, listen up. I have medicine specifically for motion sickness, I had to learn to make it for Raphtalia. I'll sell it for 50 silver a bottle." Naofumi was feeling merciful.
"50 silver!? That's robbery!" Itsuki protested.
"Then don't buy it. It's my own personal medicine, I doubt you'll find anything on the ship that'll help." Naofumi had mercy, but not much.
"I'll take two." Motoyasu gave in immediately.
"Sip it. If you drink it too fast and throw it up, then you wasted your coin." Naofumi told him while receiving a gold piece.
Naofumi handed him the medicine and Motoyasu immediately began sipping on one of them. The color was returning to his face a bit, the medicine had an obvious effect.
"...Two for me then." Ren gave up the moment he saw how well they worked on Motoyasu.
"Sir Ren?" One of his party members whimpered.
"...Four in total, I can't afford more." Ren gave in again.
Ren honestly couldn't. He had to buy Wyndia new equipment twice in their short time together because he refused to pay attention when told about demi-human aging. He also found that he wasn't finding work with his reputation in the gutter. All in all, he was going to be broke after this. He'd need to sell monster parts and drops instead of only using it as energy, otherwise he'd be in trouble.
Motoyasu also couldn't find work, but without party members to look after and having more coin from the start, he didn't have such issues.
Naofumi didn't feel bad at all for extorting them. He honestly found it fair. Having high end motion sickness medicine right when you need it? That's convenient, and convenience costs coin.
"W-Well, I'm not paying. I don't need your help-p." Itsuki argued, even while trying not to puke.
"Sir Itsuki..." Rishia was concerned more for him than herself, but would not argue with him.
"Suit yourself." Naofumi walked away, not even pretending to care.
The boat ride was uneventful that first day. Monti did as Naofumi asked and got Naofumi a raw shark to absorb.
.
[Blue Shark Shield]
[Ability: Swimming I] Can swim slightly better.
.
[Shark Bite Shield]
[Ability: Naval Combat] Increases battle effectiveness on ships.
[Unique Ability: Shark Tooth] After an enemy attacks this shield, the shield will attempt to bite down on the enemy.
.
Other than that, the family relaxed in a different type of environment. Naofumi took the cooked fish and still made it delicious, even though it was already cooked before by Leon. Honestly, Naofumi's cooking was its own alchemy. Even with two huge sharks worth of meat, everyone they knew wanted some of his food. He had to cook the rest of the third one in order to feed them all. The boat ride was enjoyable that first half of the way.
It wasn't until they went to go to sleep that Naofumi and Sophia saw a problem. They stared at the beds with contempt. They were far too small for two people to sleep on one of them together. Which meant-
"But I wanted to cuddle!" Naofumi and Sophia lamented, both now unable to share a bed with their respective partners.
…
That night
...
"Naofumi, we may need to check on the kids." Raphtalia called weakly.
Naofumi slowly came to. The whole ship was jerking violently from side to side. Raphtalia was sicker than ever and Liviccic, Mia, and Godiva had no issue before, but now they also needed the medicine. Raphtalia was able to pull out the medicine herself, so they were all on the way back to recovery. Naofumi and Sophia seemed unaffected. Naofumi knew it was late, but he also knew checking on the kids was necessary.
He got up and exited their room. He saw a few people on the floor or holding onto something solid. While Naofumi was shrugging it off, it was becoming very apparent to him that the violent rocking of the boat was far greater than it should be. He opened the door to the kids' room to see what the damage was. Filo was in her full form resting in the center of the room. Melty and Keel were deep in Filo's feathers, both having had some of Naofumi's medicine. The other three kids looked normal at first, but he noticed that Leon was facing the wall. No. That Leon's horn was piercing into the wall, it looked like he was stuck.
"What the hell?" Naofumi thought aloud with genuine curiosity.
"Leon kept being thrown out of bed, so he did that so he could stay under the covers." Monti said with a tired voice.
Monti had woken up from the door opening. Naofumi and Monti shared a look, bonding over their shared feelings of Leon's smartly stupid moments.
"...Go back to bed." Naofumi refused to think about Leon's actions longer than Leon did.
"Goodnight, dad." Monti said, rolling back over.
"Goodnight." Naofumi said, exiting the room and closing the door.
Naofumi walked back to his room and placed a hand on the door handle, when a moment of brilliance hit him. Naofumi opened the door, but didn't enter.
"The kids are fine. I'll go back to bed in a bit." Naofumi told Raphtalia.
"...Naofumi-sama, what are you planning?" Raphtalia saw his scheming face and immediately knew.
"N-Nothing." Naofumi was caught so easily.
"Naofumi-sama." Raphtalia sounded annoyed.
"I was just thinking other people on the boat could really use this medicine." Naofumi tried to present the positives of his plan.
"You mean you are going to exploit their pain for coin?" Raphtalia just wanted him to be honest with her.
"...Yes." Naofumi admitted.
"...Make sure you get enough sleep." Raphtalia relented and went back to bed.
She had to accept that this was also a part of Naofumi.
Naofumi took that as full permission to stick it to any-to help as many people as he could.
Naofumi went around for nearly an hour. Offering his medicine. He knew he couldn't sell the medicine for 50 silver like he did with the heroes because these adventures didn't have that kind of coin. That said, he was making a killing at 10 silver a bottle. Normally the potion would sell for about 2 silver. He almost wanted to laugh.
He could have sold medicine the whole night, but he knew Raphtalia probably wasn't asleep and wouldn't be until he returned. Naofumi began to make his way back to the room, when a girl approached him.
Her skin was turning as green as her hair. It was Rishia, Itsuki's only party member.
"Sh-Shield hero. I need to buy some of that medicine from earlier… please?" She asked weakly.
One last sale wouldn't hurt, but as he went to grab a bottle, a thought hit him.
"Is this medicine for you, or for Itsuki?" Naofumi had a feeling.
"Fueeee… You can clearly see that I am not feeling well..." Rishia answered.
"...Say it. Who are you buying this medicine for?" Naofumi was more sure now.
"For Itsuki… I have the coin." Rishia admitted.
"Fine, how many bottles?" Naofumi said, reaching for them.
"T-Two, please. Itsuki is in bad shape." Rishia disclosed.
"Okay, 100 silver." Naofumi said with a straight face.
Rishia paused, stunned by his words.
"I don't understand, I was told you were selling them for 10 silver? That's what the people I spoke to said." Rishia was upset.
"I told Itsuki 50 silver each." Naofumi clarified.
"Fuee, that's not fair." Rishia complained softly.
"No, him almost killing my son and getting away with it, that's unfair. Pay or shut up." Naofumi was taking his remaining anger at Itsuki and aiming it towards Rishia.
Rishia needed to ask kindly again. "Please, won't you-"
"No. I don't recall you attacking us at any point, but you sat by and nodded along mindlessly to whatever bullshit Itsuki pulled. If you're so willing to ride along as he fucks about, then at least pick up the tab."
"Fuee… I … Um..." Rishia felt cornered.
Naofumi sighed. "I hope Itsuki can find better party members to replace you." Naofumi was disappointed.
"Fueeee! No, I'm staying by Sir Itsuki's side!" Rishia raised her voice.
"If only you showed that backbone to Itsuki when he's about to do something stupid." Naofumi bit back.
"...Stop, just… I'll pay..." Rishia felt defeated, she gave up.
"The 100 silver?" Naofumi reminded her.
"Yes..." Rishia answered.
Rishia took out her coin, and held it out to him. Naofumi eyed it a moment before reaching out and grabbing 40 silver from her hands.
"Fuee?" Rishia was confused.
Naofumi handed her four bottles of medicine and began walking away.
"...Why?" Rishia managed to ask.
"You're choosing to stay by Itsuki's side and even get him medicine after he declined it himself, while not asking for medicine for yourself. Even I know when to let up, something Itsuki-" Naofumi began explaining.
"Please… Don't talk ill of Sir Itsuki. He...um..." Rishia would stand up for Itsuki, but not herself.
"...Word of advice. Next time, instead of buying medicine from me behind his back, you should have just convinced him to buy it to his face." Naofumi told her, walking away, not turning to look at her.
Naofumi returned to his room and bed. Rishia stood in the hallway a few minutes longer in frustration. Eventually, she took a sip of a potion and felt their effects. She then left to help out Itsuki, her hero.
.
[Author's Notes]
Leon's new staff is made. Mia, Godiva, Chloe, Fitts, Wyndia, and Sophia have accessories to help them out. Liviccic now knows the power up methods. They are as ready for whatever Cal Mira as they could be.
I know many people are probably mad that they aren't sharing a room with L'arc and Therese, but listen, Motoyasu and Ren aren't demanding better rooms and Motoyasu and Itsuki have a lot less part members, while Naofumi has a dozen allies on board. There's no reason for him to share a room with strangers.
I plan on them still hitting it off later and being friends, but for now L'arc and Therese are sharing a room with Motoyasu and some others. It'll come up next chapter.
Monster kids are still monsters. Hunting is as important as eating sometimes.
My boy Naofumi exploiting the sick and the helpless, what a hero
Naofumi has his first direct encounter with Rishia and it's under far different circumstances than in canon
Please leave a review!