"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
...
"...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.
...
The ship was quite violent that night, but with plenty of Naofumi's medicine to go around everyone pulled through. The following morning, Naofumi woke up to see Liviccic talking to Fitts at the door of the room.
"Ah, Naofumi. I can leave if you need more sleep." Fitts offered with concern.
"No need. I've gotten used to light sleep." Naofumi dismissed him.
"True enough, but I also had to do the same and good sleep became more precious than gold. I don't mind coming back later." Fitts was still concerned.
"I'm up, your leaving wouldn't change that." Naofumi dismissed again.
Fitts relented and the three sat at the small table in the room. They began discussing their plans once they arrived.
"I was told the Earl of Habenburg will meet us when we land and he will show us around and give us the inside scoop on some things. After that, we can head out." Liviccic informed them.
"Will it be too late when we get everything done today?" Fitts asked.
"Possibly, but we can still plan out which islands to go to tomorrow and shop for essentials." Naofumi added.
"We will need to organize with the other three heroes." Liviccic told them.
"Good luck." Naofumi said sarcastically.
"I'm serious. Two cardinal heroes on the same island undermines everything." Liviccic reminded him.
"Ah, damn, that's true too. Even as hard headed as they can be, I think they'll listen to reason here." Naofumi found himself caring again.
"You and Ren will probably have free reign tomorrow though." Fitts thought aloud.
"Why would you say that?" Naofumi asked.
"Those other two heroes lack parties. Would they not stay back and try to pick up a party count? Even if temporary, added party members would be a huge boon to them. They must see that, right?" Fitts explained.
"One would hope, but neither Motoyasu, nor Itsuki took advantage of the concentration of talent aboard this ship thus far." Liviccic said with disappointment
"Worse comes to worst, some of us can party with them. The queen told us to not decline if asked." Fitts said in a tired tone.
"Good luck with that." Naofumi could sympathize.
They spoke a while and others joined in on their conversation as the ship carried them closer to their next destination. While things were going well for Naofumi, the same could not be said for the other three cardinal heroes.
...
Itsuki
...
Itsuki had recovered greatly from the medicine that Rishia had given him. He knew where the medicine came from, but he refused to ask. He went from not knowing which direction was up, to being able to go to sleep. When he woke up and had his senses, he was mad at himself.
"Make sure you keep taking that medicine, Rishia. You bought it for yourself, right?" Itsuki asked.
Itsuki wanted to take more, but he couldn't. He was at a low point and recently learned new power-up methods.
"Fueee, um, yes..., but y'know... I think I bought too much for just myself. Maybe you should take some? ...J-Just so it's not wasted." Rishia did her best attempt in convincing Itsuki to keep taking the medicine.
It wasn't a good argument, but any argument would be good enough for him. As long as he could have an excuse. He needed the medicine, but he also needed to not go back on his word. This allowed both.
"Of course..." Itsuki didn't know what else to say.
There was silence in the room for a moment. They were in the captain's quarters, the nicest room on the ship. Rishia fidgeted for a moment. Seemingly wanting to say something, but was unable. After a moment, she said something, but it wasn't the same thing she wanted to say before.
"Sir Itsuki... I know my stats aren't good, but I promise not to hold you back when we get there. I will... um... well..." Rishia was trying to find the strength to promise that she would do better and be the front-line fighter he needed.
"Rishia, don't worry about it, I have it all figured out." Itsuki dismissed, not seeing how much passion she was invoking.
"What figured out?" Rishia was confused.
"How to get your stats up." Itsuki answered.
"Fueee?" Rishia was more confused.
"I learned of a power-up method that can be used on allies. I can lower your level to gain better growth rates on your stats." Itsuki explained.
"But then I'd be a low level, I still couldn't help you..." Rishia wasn't as excited by this as Itsuki was.
"It's fine, this is Cal Mira. You'll be gaining levels like crazy and I can lower your level, over and over again. You'll have great stats in no time." Itsuki explained further.
"Fuee, Tthank you, Sir Itsuki, but... That seems like a lot of trouble to go through for me." Rishia admitted.
"You went through a lot for me, too." Itsuki thought.
"You were the only one of them with any real sense of justice. They left the moment their names would be tarnished. You were the only one of them that proved yourself honest. We might gain new party members, but they won't last long if they're only in it to look good." Itsuki said, trying to be noble in ideal, at least out loud.
"I need real loyalty, as of now, that's only you. I'm sure we'll find others with hearts full of justice soon." Itsuki thought again.
"F-Fuee..." She had received praise from Itsuki, something she had failed to do up to this point.
Instead of being proud of herself or satisfied in any way, Rishia just felt hungry to receive further approval. She was finally acknowledged by Itsuki and would soon be of even more use to him. She was so happy.
"I will not let you down!" Rishia was pumped.
While the powering up would help Rishia greatly, receiving Itsuki's conditional approval will possibly be detrimental to her moving forward. Only time will tell.
...
Ren
...
Ren was so thankful for the medicine, but he had just run out with one last sip in the morning. Both his other two party members could not survive on just the one bottle a piece, so now he was out of medicine and didn't have enough coin to buy more. Worse, Wyndia was seeing his weakness and latching onto it.
"I don't care if you're sick. We are stuck on this boat a little bit longer, which means we can practice your magic script reading."
"I can't read it normally and you expect me to learn it when I'm nauseous? Just let up until we get to land, okay?"
"Nope. I'm still not convinced that my time looking after you is worth it."
The other party members heard the way she was talking to Ren and were becoming upset. Ren was the one providing her with equipment and levels and all she seemed to do was treat him badly. They were aware of the circumstances, but it was still crossing the line now.
"Ren has been working harder than ever since the trial."
"If he isn't traveling to slay monsters, he's studying magic at your request."
"We all had a rough night, yourself included. Would some time to refocus and compose ourselves really be that bad?"
"..." Wyndia paused. She was being collectively challenged by his other party members. She could bark back, but if she did, then she'd be acting adversarial to the whole party. She'd need to relent for now.
"Guys, stop. Wyndia is right." Ren shut them down and grabbed the book.
He tried his best to fight the motion sickness as best he could. Seeing him back her up instead of weaseling out of it made her feel a certain kind of way. That he wasn't a waste of her time.
She watched him for a short moment before taking the book from him.
"You're going to vomit on it." Wyndia complained.
"Wha-I'm doing it, okay?" Ren thought he acted correctly.
"You're just going to get more sick... face forward and close your eyes."
Ren hesitated with confusion, but she stood there, waiting. Under that judgmental gaze, he caved. He did as he was told. Wyndia then sat on the bed behind him and rested her back against his. She opened the book and started reading aloud. adding her own advice.
"Please... Be worth the effort. Please, be worth the bad you've done..." Wyndia hoped inside while reading aloud.
The other party members chalked the exchange up to Wyndia wanting to see him committed and that wasn't far from the truth.
Wyndia assisted with Ren's studies as she had been doing. Ren focused on the warmth at his back and kept his eye closed, it helped his motion sickness greatly.
...
Motoyasu
...
Motoyasu woke up to the encouraging words of two of the people he was forced to share a room with.
"You got more color in your face. Glad you pulled through." L'arc offered with more energy than the storm last night should have left him with.
"Y-Yeah, I pulled through. Somehow..." Motoyasu lacked that same energy.
"I'm sorry to say that you're gonna need to toughen up if you're ever going to want to be mistaken for the real spear hero." L'arc commented.
"What did I do wrong?" Motoyasu thought to himself.
...
Flashback
...
Motoyasu had boarded the ship by himself and felt very self-conscious as he walked the halls of the ship alone. He tried speaking to a few adventurers, but they were too focused on Cal Mira and gaining levels to act all buddy-buddy with some loner with no party.
As Motoyasu was becoming more discouraged, something caught his eye. A beautiful girl, one with unique hair and a welcoming smile. Motoyasu had found Therese and despite all that had happened, Motoyasu tried going back to his old ways.
"Oh my, may I ask your name?" Motoyasu exuded that confidence he often had.
"Oh, another adventurer. I am Therese Alexanderite, it is good to meet you." Therese greeted him kindly.
"What a beautiful name, it suits you well. Say, would you be interested in partying up w-" Motoyasu tried to settle his arm near her when a hand came from behind and grabbed his own.
L'arc lifted his arm up and slipped beneath it, reaching Therese.
"I got us a room, only one other person in it, a real quiet girl. Who's this?" L'arc told Therese.
"A Fellow adventurer, we were just getting introduced." Therese answered.
"Y-Yes, hello. I was hoping to gain some party members before we land in Cal Mira. Sorry about that."
"Sorry about what? Never apologize for being a man. Nevermind that though, are you telling me you are coming along for this trip and your party isn't even up to task? I'm an easy-going guy, but that sounds reckless."
"Y-Yeah, reckless is a word for it…" Motoyasu just accepted the criticisms with no defense.
L'arc and Therese felt they struck a nerve. Before L'arc could apologize, Therese got a little upset at L'arc. Doing so, not to yell at L'arc, but take the focus off Motoyasu a moment.
"L'arc, knock it off, he was just being friendly. No need to second guess someone else's decisions." Therese was somehow stern with L'arc while also being quite friendly.
L'arc took a step back, hands up defensively. "I was about to apologize. I am aware when I step out of line." L'arc defended.
Therese made a face. "How can you actually say that with a straight face?" Therese asked.
Their dynamic was quite endearing to Motoyasu, who tried being less of a sourpuss.
"Let's just forgive and forget. If you're not interested and are busy, I'll be on my way." Motoyasu offered.
"Don't let L'arc's rudeness drive you off. I was hoping that maybe some adventurers might have some information about Cal Mira. Do know anything that could help?" Therese re-initiated the conversation.
"I wasn't rude…, But yeah, if you've got any info, we'd appreciate it. Allow me to introduce myself first. My name is L'arc B... Just call me L'arc." L'arc greeted with a very warm smile, switching moods on a dime.
Motoyasu looked at the pair for a moment. Therese was a rare beauty and Motoyasu wanted to try putting the moves on her at some point, but thinking about it, he hesitated. He had been screwing up every relationship he's had. Maybe he should not try with her, right now he needed allies, not a girlfriend.
Then there was this guy with her. Motoyasu never had a guy in his party, but he seemed confident and was already partied with her, meaning they came as a package deal. The guy also seemed laid-back and agreeable, so far from a terrible choice.
"I can help."
Motoyasu played a game very similar to this world, down to the Cal Mira event. His information up to this point was mostly reliable. He'd need to word things so as to not reveal who he is, otherwise they'd leave like everyone else.
"I've never been there myself, but I know a lot of older people that went to the last event. I can tell you whatever you need, but if I do, will you consider partying with me?" Motoyasu offered.
"Well, hey, that's a good offer..., but don't you need to secure a room for you and your party?" L'arc pointed out.
"Um...No. I don't have any party members anymore... So finding a single bed won't be too difficult later. What do you want to know first?" Motoyasu brushed it off.
L'arc and Therese underestimated Motoyasu's position. He also asked them only to consider joining, but he'd still give them any info they needed. They could see that Motoyasu was down on his luck, but still did his best to be positive and even worry more about the troubles of others over his own. A shared look later, it was decided.
"Why not room with us. We honestly have a lot of questions." Therese offered.
Motoyasu was beginning to think that maybe things would turn out better than he predicted. He followed them to their room and answered a few questions they had. Simple ones like the number of islands and how to travel between them, Motoyasu knew those easily. Next they asked about the types of monsters that they'd need to watch out for and how much EXP they could expect, but the boat started to move and Motoyasu quickly fell prey to his seasickness.
"What's wrong, um… Forgive my rudeness, what is your name." Therese asked.
There was a moment of hesitation, but Motoyasu was already coming to trust them.
"I'm Motoyasu Kitamura... The spear hero." Motoyasu answered, with some strain.
"..." There was a small pause.
Then L'arc started laughing.
"You? The spear hero? Nice try." L'arc found the idea to be beyond absurd.
"What?" Motoyasu sat there watching L'arc hold his sides as he laughed, even Therese lightly chuckled.
"There's no way someone like you is the spear hero. A word of advice? Don't lie about something like that. The spear hero is an attempted murderer and pedophile. It doesn't fit you and it'll end in trouble." The fact Motoyasu hit on Therese and was so kind didn't line up at all with the story they heard.
"Um, but-" Motoyasu attempted to explain things.
All attempts to correct the record were met with dismissive denial. Before Motoyasu could push the issue, Motoyasu suffered from motion sickness until he received Naofumi's medicine. Leaving him unable to hold a conversation.
He spoke more with L'arc and Therese after he recovered, but he stopped trying to convince them that he was the spear hero. Partially because he was too sick to deal with it and partially because convincing them wouldn't be a good thing.
...
Flashback ends
...
Motoyasu tried again to tell them the truth. "I keep telling you, I'm-"
"Yeah, yeah. You need to find someone better to emulate." L'arc laughed off. "Here, have a drink." L'arc offered Motoyasu some hidden alcohol.
"I'm not emulating or lying, and… Normally I'd love to, but the sea is killing me." Motoyasu wasn't even mad at this point, he was struggling to not give up.
Between the seasickness and L'arc's light attitude denying him, Motoyasu struggled to not just give up on convincing L'arc. He tried one last thing to convince him.
"Aww, don't be like that." L'arc protested.
"I promise I'll drink myself silly on land, but not here." Motoyasu begged.
"A night out drinking? Sounds like a plan?." L'arc accepted the plan immediately.
Motoyasu wasn't even sure what he was agreeing to, talking made it worse. Just then, Therese entered the room.
"Hear that, Therese? I have to take Moto out drinking to cheer him up. It's not that I want to, but my hands are tied. Motoyasu will need some company." L'arc told her.
"..." Therese didn't even look at L'arc. She quietly walked over to her bed and sat down, clearly bothered by the news.
L'arc felt like he did something wrong, but he didn't understand what it was. "Therese, what's wrong?"
"Nothing… We'll be arriving in less than an hour according to some sailors I was speaking to." Therese changed the subject.
"Nice, guess we'll hit an island and battle as soon as we land, sound good Moto?" L'arc planned for the three of them.
"You two will party up with me?" Motoyasu asked hopefully, wanting to make sure that he heard him right.
"Sure, why wouldn't we? You're a good guy, but you're a bit harsh on yourself." L'arc tried to get Motoyasu to act less depressed.
Motoyasu tried arguing. "T-That's because I'm the spear hero, I-"
"You're never gonna drop that, are you?" L'arc asked.
Motoyasu tried one last thing to convince him. Because he wanted them to accept him for who he really was, with all the mistakes he made. They seemed like the only people he could confide in.
"Okay, look at this." Motoyasu directed.
He proceeded to change the weapon form of his spear several times. Surely this will convince him.
"And? We fought a whole group of fake shield heroes that had transforming weapons. Though I'll admit, you're very dedicated to your costume to go that far." L'arc was impressed, but far from convinced.
Motoyasu just fell over, he gave up. L'arc had dismissed everything he said. Even worse, L'arc was doing this because he actually thought well of Motoyasu. He was no longer Motoyasu, he was an imposter of himself. He found himself without the motivation to prove to these nice people that he had made some terrible mistakes. He felt that not convincing them was the same as lying to them, but he put forth a lot of effort on that front. If he kept pushing, he might drive them away… And then he'd be alone again.
…
Naofumi and co.
…
Eventually everyone partied up and the kids woke up and got ready. Naofumi didn't want to, but decided that the heroes needed to make sure which islands they were going to, to not cancel their EXP gain.
First Naofumi went to Ren's room. He found Ren listening to Wyndia teaching him how to read. He looked really sick, even with the medicine. Naofumi was pleased he was improving in any way he could whenever he could, that was reassuring.
"Ren, I'm going to need to borrow you." Naofumi interrupted Wyndia.
"Why?" Ren asked.
"We need to not go to the same island at the same time and one of them is going to leave the second we get off of this boat." Naofumi explained.
"You know, they aren't that bad." Ren tried defending.
"..." Naofumi's counter-argument was simply staring at Ren a moment.
Ren sighed. "You're right, let's go." Ren admitted.
The two of them traveled to Motoyasu's room, but when they knocked on the door Motoyasu was not the one to answer the door.
"Oh, hey kiddo, what did you need?" L'arc asked warmly.
"Dammit, I'm not a kid. I have 4 kids myself." Naofumi argued.
"...Sure, kiddo." L'arc dismissed.
"Naofumi, give up. You can't convince L'arc that the sky is blue or the ocean is wet." Motoyasu intervened, recognizing his voice.
Motoyasu moved past L'arc and waved to him. "Looks like I'll be a bit."
"That's fine, see ya when you get back." L'arc didn't question it, going over to sit next to Therese.
The three traveled mostly in silence, but Ren had to ask the obvious. "Were those two your new party members?"
"Seems so. We're partying on Cal Mira and they refuse to believe I'm the spear hero… I just have to show them the truth and maybe I can convince them to stay afterwards." Motoyasu told them.
"That L'arc guys seems tough, good choice. I'm surprised you'd have a guy in your party." Naofumi commented.
"Well… He was a package deal with Therese." Motoyasu admitted.
"And there it is." Naofumi sighed, having thought that this was the case.
After that exchange, they made it to the captain's quarters and knocked on the door.
"Are we arriving?" Itsuki called out.
"Soon, but we need to talk." Naofumi answered.
"...Go away, Naofumi. I'm trying to get rest while I can." Itsuki sounded annoyed to hear Naofumi's voice.
"Itsuki, open up, it'll only take a minute." Ren called.
"Ren? I don't care. Go away." Itsuki sounded more annoyed.
"Listen, we just need to avoid each other while grinding. You don't want to lose out on EXP, right?" Motoyasu called.
"...You too? …Fine." Itsuki gave in.
They talked and argued for a bit. Itsuki seemed to want the best rotation for him, while Motoyasu wanted one that was more even. Ren said rotation order didn't really matter. He said that they would reach a level where that didn't matter soon enough, Itsuki smirked at that. Naofumi never played a game similar to this world, meaning he didn't know anything about Cal Mira. He had to rely on the others to help him out. When the arguing was done, Itsuki took a slightly less optimal option. He was being incredibly hardheaded. They agreed to take one of the big islands each day as well as two of the smaller ones near them. And agreed to a rotation. With that, they'd avoid each other when out leveling.
They were being shooed away by Itsuki when Naofumi remembered something.
"Itsuki, if you need teammates, the queen has people here to help." Naofumi told him.
"You mean that creepy necromancer? No thanks." Itsuki dismissed.
"No, I mean she sent some people who will be taking up positions as greater lords."
Itsuki paused for a moment "...I might grab them at some point… I have to make sure the wicked and corrupt don't take over the land." Itsuki announced.
They collectively rolled their eyes as they left. Itsuki wasn't lying though, he'd see what type of people these lords were. He already felt negatively towards Melromarc, but the queen made promises of the place getting better. He'd use these three new lords to see the type of direction the queen planned on taking the nation.
...
The arrival
...
Not long after that, the boat arrived at Cal Mira and the excitement was felt by all. Some adventurers wanted to jump ship just to begin grinding a bit sooner and at least one of them did so. Even the kids were overly excited. Naofumi had to hold Teal under one arm like luggage, Raphtalia had to hold Leon in her arms and Melty held Filo's hand, but Filo was all but dragging her around. The boat was unloaded and the heroes and the others sent by the queen gathered near a man who seemed to be the man they were waiting for.
All except Motoyasu. He thought that seeing him with the other heroes doing official stuff might actually convince L'arc that he was a hero, but he still had some doubts. He wanted L'arc and Therese to get to know him a bit more and see what he can do before he wanted them to know the truth. He never used to hold this kind of doubt in his heart before. Motoyasu had to admit to himself, he was scared of being alone. So even though he promised he'd do better, he left with L'arc and Therese to the island he agreed to go to.
"I should have known that loser wouldn't behave for long." Teal said with annoyance.
Before they could collectively yell about Motoyasu, the man that was waiting for everyone approached. He was dressed in a Melromarc military uniform, one that Naofumi hadn't seen before, but its similarities to the ones he knew were too many for it not to be the case. On the uniform looked like a decoration at first, perhaps one given for military service? …No. It was a… tourist flag?
"I am the Earl of Habenburg, and the care of these islands has been entrusted to me. Welcome to the Cal Mira Archipelago, heroes. And to you as well you, my soon-to-be peers." The man greeted politely.
Naofumi went to step forward, but Itsuki beat him to the punch.
"I am the bow hero, Itsuki Kawasumi. Could you please show us to the row boats?" Itsuki tried to cut to the chase.
"I would be happy to do just that, but first, allow me to tell you all a little bit about our lovely islands." The Earl asked politely, not perturbed by Itsuki.
"...You realize that we are heroes and that we've come here to gain the power to save the world, right?" Ren was slightly annoyed too.
Even Wyndia was in agreement, they had things to do. Liviccic went to step forward when the Earl spoke up.
"Yes, I understand. Yet, these oral traditions speak of Cal Mira long being a place special to the four heroes; they have trained here for as long as we have recorded. The heroes gained things from Cal Mira and Cal Mira has gained things from them. Please, follow the footsteps of those heroes that have come before you. To gain what they gained and to maybe leave Cal Mira richer as well." The man was good with his words and seemed authentically passionate.
"...Fine, continue." Itsuki relented.
From there, the man took them through the main island. He said a lot of things that Ren and Itsuki already knew and that left them both bored and agitated. Naofumi and everyone else was hearing it for the first time.
The Cal Mira Archipelago was made up of many islands with five notable ones and several more smaller ones. The only one that is inhabited is this one, the largest one. The other islands are left uninhabited because of the activation event. While adventurers think of the event as a position thing, without them, the monsters would overtake all the people that live here. The Earl seemed to understand the Cal Mira Archipelago's situation well. The activation event helps the local economy greatly, but it is also a time of potential harm to the locals. Hearing that killing the monsters was not only to their benefit, but also to protect the people motivated Itsuki, Rishia and Monti far more.
The Earl showed them to the shops as they headed towards the center of town. That made Naofumi want to ask.
"I have a merchant's pass, would I still need to pay to set up shop?" Naofumi threw that out there.
"A merchant's pass would be enough normally, but during this event, we charge a premium, it wouldn't be accepted. That being said, I would never charge a cardinal hero." The Earl explained.
"What do you need to sell things for, Naofumi?" Itsuki asked with suspension.
"Are you kidding me? We run an entire town that is currently very poor. I just sold five accessories on the way here and we'll be selling medicine too." Naofumi told him.
"Oh, speaking of which…" Wyndia showed the silver emerald bracelet she got from Naofumi. "Naofumi said you can make payments." Wyndia told Ren.
"Wha-Bu-Ah… Tsk, fine." Ren went from broke to in debt just like that.
"What the hell!?" Ren thought to himself, but Wyndia stared at him and he stayed stone-faced.
Once they left the local market, they made it all the way to the center of town. Naofumi almost missed a local monument of some kind because he was trying to keep the kids in line.
"Thank god Monti behaves." Naofumi and Raphtalia thought as they kept them in line.
"But this is boring, let's go swimming!" Filo whined.
"I promise we will go swimming at some point, but for now, shut it." Naofumi wasn't going to be nice, Filo was acting like a brat.
"Hmph." Filo pouted, but grew quiet.
"These are the four pioneers that brought prosperity to our island: Pekkul, Usauni, Risuka, and Inult." The Earl told the group.
Naofumi looked over to see something that looked like a totem pole, but it wasn't made of wood. It had a stylized dog holding a rope at the base, then a squirrel holding a saw of some kind above the dog, then a rabbit with a farming hoe, then a penguin with a fishing-pole at the top. All four of the animals were wearing Santa hats.
"Those names…" Itsuki muttered.
"They're rather…" Ren started to say.
"Really basic." Naofumi thought.
"Ah, so you can tell? All four of these were named thus by a previous group of heroes. It's been said that their names come from animals from their original worlds. All you heroes share a language, yes? So is it true?" The Earl asked, a little intrigued
"Yeah, those align with animal names from my world." Naofumi told the man.
The man flashed a smile at that. "See how seriously we take our oral traditions? That has never been written down, simply passed from person to person… And yet, all this time later it remains." The Earl told them.
"It does show a great level of dedication." Itsuki admitted.
"Indeed, and the statue is not the only thing the heroes have left us." The Earl motioned to a stone tablet. "It is an inscription left to us by the Four Legendary Heroes from long ago."
The heroes looked at the stone, only Naofumi seeming to care.
"Ugh, that stupid magic writing again, what a pain. Rishia, what's it say?" Itsuki asked her, giving up right away.
Rishia could read all the magic script she has ever encountered, this included, but what she found beyond the script was what in books were referred to as the 'heroes language'. She could not begin to understand the true writing beyond the magic script.
"Fueee. Um… I can't read it. It-"
"That's not unusual. If you don't have the right affinity, you can't read magic script. Only I, the greatest mage in the world, can do so." Leon announced.
"Doesn't it take you hours and you still have to ask us stuff and it was way easier to just hear us cast it first? Not impressive." Filo chirped.
"Why you…" Leon got mad.
Rishia interrupted. "That's why it's odd. I, um…"
"What is it Rishia?" Itsuki asked.
Rishia pulled herself together for Itsuki. "F-Fuee, I c-can read all the magic scripts… So the fact I can't read this is weird. It-"
"Wait! What!? You can read all of them!?" Leon was upset.
"Fueee!" Rishia shrank behind Itsuki.
"That is super rare. I've never even heard of someone that talented." Liviccic admitted aloud.
"I've heard of one, but that was more than 40 years ago." Sophia added.
"That's cheating! I'm supposed to be the best!" Leon was about to throw a tantrum.
"Leon, stop." Monti tried.
"Wow, Leon isn't even good at the one thing he can do." Filo antagonized him.
"Filo, stop." Monti tried again.
"Shut up!" Leon yelled.
"Both of you, stop." Raphtalia told them firmly.
They quit instantly. Their father was angry more often, but their mother's anger was a rare and terrible thing.
Itsuki felt kind of stupid now. Not only did he not know anything about magic script, but he didn't even know how talented Rishia was. He had her class upgrade into a physical class despite such a thing? He wanted to leave.
"So if Rishia can't read it, what is it?" Itsuki asked.
"..." That was the question and it gave them pause.
"Um, like I was trying to say, it's written in the hero's language. If you can read magic script, you heroes should have no problem." Rishia finally finished what she was trying to say.
"Oh, really?" Naofumi took a few steps forward and looked at the tablet.
"I am the source of all power. The Shield Hero commands you. He has understood this inscription. Support him… [Zweite Aura]…?"
Naofumi had to pick a target for the spell. He chose Monti.
"W-Whoa. I feel… stronger? But also full of energy?" Monti tried to explain.
Naofumi checked Monti's stats and his jaw fell.
"Y-Your stats… all the important ones went up by a lot… maybe even about half? Holy crap." Naofumi was beyond pleased.
"Wha? I need to learn that." Leon protested.
"All of his stats? That…that's a serious spell… I need that." Ren admitted.
"Ren, have you been paying attention to your lessons? There is no guarantee that you'd learn the same spell. Any hero without support as an affinity would obviously not have such a spell." Wyndia told him.
"True. I don't have a support affinity, so I doubt I could use it." Itsuki agreed.
"Someone is going to have to tell the spear hero about this later." Liviccic said, trying to read the magic script.
"Nope. Seems this is only for the holy heroes. Oh well. I have plenty of abilities I need to learn and master. I'm far behind the heroes in prep time and it'd also make sense that they will get stronger than I can." Liviccic thought to himself.
"What else must you show us?" Fitts chimed in, the first non-hero or party member to speak yet.
"Very well. I know that you are all eager to get out there and help keep us safe. Allow me to show you to the inn, but please also allow me to help guide you further on the way." The Earl told them.
From there the Earl led them to the inn as he promised, occasionally adding some commentary on the occasional item. One of which caught Naofumi's attention.
"And over there is a shop owned by a very skilled fisherman, famous in the area. You heroes might care to see what he has. He sells rare items like deep sea corals and dacna pearls." The Earl told them.
"Dacna pearls? Do they sell that well?" Naofumi asked, remembering that they looked ugly.
"Of course. That's one of the larger treasures you could acquire at sea. Perhaps you might find some materials at such a shop that your preferred blacksmiths can make use of?" The Earl offered, trying to appeal to what he thinks would interest them.
The other important thing he mentions was right before they arrived.
"Travel between islands can be done with rented rowboats. They charge you by the day and taking a rowboat that another rented will not be tolerated. This time of year, the tide can also lower enough for some islands to be traveled between on foot through small land bridges. Please keep in mind where your boats are." The Earl explained.
"Lastly… Please respect your fellow adventures. Some of them will not get another chance to participate in such an event again, but the power they gain here will then be used to help save people from wild monsters in the future. So if an adventurer has engaged a foe, please allow them their fight unless you have to step in to save their life." The Earl explained further.
It felt like the Earl was warning the heroes, having heard of their crimes. Itsuki picked up on that and wanted to leave already.
They were led inside the inn, which seemed like a castle and hotel in one. Many servants greeted them.
"We will take your things and place them in your rooms." The wait staff said in unison.
"I'm sure you'd like to get started. We will each give you your room number and key. If you need anything, please ask."
"Question. Can we get a second room? Even if that means two smaller rooms, we'd appreciate it." Raphtalia asked.
"Of course, here. Here is a second key. If new arrangements must be made while you are away, we will inform you when you return."
Few seemed to react at that, but there were some that came towards Raphtalia and then Naofumi. Naofumi flashed his signature 'fuck off' look to them all, catching Sophia giving him a thumbs up.
"Tsk, let's go." Naofumi wanted out, now.
Naofumi, Raphtalia, the kids, and Keel left. Ren's party were right behind them. Liviccic's group was lagging behind.
Those who needed to drop things off, did so. No sooner did they finish handing over their stuff did Itsuki call to them.
"I need party members, who is available?" Itsuki asked.
There was a pause. Fitts, Chloe, Godiva and Mia raised their hands. They were hoping to at least get a day of grinding in before they had to partner up with Itsuki or Motoyasu. Itsuki and Rishia approached and the two groups started to discuss party roles and such.
Within the hour, Itsuki, Ren and Liviccic's parties had rented a rowboat and made their way to an island. Naofumi and the others made it to one too, but to avoid paying any money at all, they rode Leon to their destination.
All the heroes were now in the thick of it. Fighting the huge numbers of monsters that just kept coming, receiving great doses of EXP as they went. The Cal Mira event was now fully underway.
.
[Author's Notes]
Itsuki has a full team temporarily, will they get along?
Motoyasu is partied with L'arc and Therese, how will that change things?
The family and Keel have been unleashed on the islands. Expect gains, but when they aren't grinding, expect shenanigans.
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