"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
…
She needed to speak to Leon. As uncomfortable as it was, she needed advice on dealing with Ren. She could control him with guilt…, but what if she didn't want to guilt him? What if she wished he'd rest? What if she wanted him to stop hating himself?
Even though she hadn't forgiven him, Wyndia was not a hateful person and she knew that if she continued to rely on guilt as the only way to get Ren to listen to her, there were things she'd never be able to speak to him about.
.
The next day was relaxing as well, if a little less so. Without Naofumi realizing, his idea of taking a few days off had spread like wildfire. Naofumi and Raphtalia entered the lobby of the hotel looking for the kids, as they weren't in their room. They found them speaking to several people. Melty, Keel and Wyndia, chiefly among them.
"I thought Liviccic was making use of the chance to fight these Karma bosses?" Naofumi greeted with a query.
"He is likely engaging such bosses as we speak… They said that the Karma bosses are tougher foes and to guarantee my safety, they would not take me with them today." Melty explained.
"So they made up an excuse to give you a day off?" Naofumi asked. Melty's answer was to blush and fidget a bit. Naofumi patted her head.
Naofumi gave Melty a way out of her embarrassment by speaking to someone else. "And you, Wyndia. Is Ren taking the day off?"
"No. Like Princess Melty-" She was interrupted.
"Just call me 'Melty'." Melty offered.
"...Like Melty's case, Ren is out fighting right now." She said, motioning to the front of the lobby, to the rest of Ren's party. "Only Ren, by himself…" Wyndia looked like she had more to say.
"Then we can have fun today?" Leon asked in excitement, completely ignorant of her mood.
"...Yeah!" All the same, Wyndia shifted gears.
Teal went to speak to Keel. "I'm surprised you aren't out with your party."
Keel also fidgeted, not unlike Melty. "Well, um… They said I could have the day and I'm really sore from Godiva beating on me…" Keel said, rubbing her arm.
"Just take it easy then." Raphtalia warned in concern.
"I'll give you something for that." Naofumi offered her some medicine. "Wait, Fitts and the others are grinding today?" Naofumi thought that was odd, considering everyone else was taking a day off. Even Itsuki and Rishia were taking a day.
"Apparently, they only fought three of the karma bosses with the bow hero, so they wanted to check out the last one. The nerdy one seemed excited." Keel answered. Keel's inability to remember Mia's name must have meant she didn't leave as much of an impact as Godiva did.
"Were any of them really strong?" Leon thought to ask about Keel's party.
"Hmm? Most of them were. I'd say the nerdy one was average and the guy with the gun was a lost cause, but the other three are solid. The one guy… Fitts? Saw him cut through a whole tree to crush a whole group of monsters. That was super cool." Keel answered. It was almost like Keel was remembering people more, the stronger they were.
…
Meanwhile with the rest of Keel's party
…
Having made it to the center of the island to begin their day-long grinding of this karma boss, something became noticeable. Walter's damage output. Faced with the karma dog familiars, his lack of damage was becoming evident.
He took a well-placed shot striking one of the dogs. They yelped and bled, but simply continued on. Everyone else was able to defeat these opponents in a single hit, yet Walter couldn't do so, not even in 2 hits.
Godiva made sure to remind him of this constantly.
"See? That weapon is cool and all, but you'd be doing far better with an axe in hand." Godiva complained.
To that, Walter got a bit angry and began to fire and load his gun rapidly. Each shot continued to remain non-fatal, but every single shot landed in the eyes of the enemy. After the 20th monster was blinded, Godiva gave in.
"Alright, alright. I get that you're good. Just get a bow or something." That wasn't an apology and so the blinding of enemies continued for some time.
…
Back with Naofumi
…
The kids along with Melty, Keel, and Wyndia were having a great time. Despite the fact that Keel and Wyndia looked about 15 going on 16 now, they were still very much the children they were a few weeks ago. Like with Raphtalia, it'll take time before their minds catch up with their bodies. Even after they mentally mature, the kids would still invite them to play and they'd likely accept.
Not wanting to disrupt the lobby of the hotel any longer, Naofumi thought it best to take this outside. Some followed, some wanted to finish whatever conversations they were having first.
As soon as Naofumi took a step outside, he was greeted unwantedly.
"Hey, kiddo!" L'arc yelled. He was with Motoyasu and Therese. It was now evident to Naofumi that this day was to be a busy one.
"Hi gramps!" Teal responded.
"Oi, 'gramps'?" L'arc took offense.
"If you're going to call dad 'kiddo' then you're two generations older than me. Gramps." Teal explained. She didn't like the way he addressed Naofumi.
"Hehe, I guess that makes sense." L'arc didn't allow it to bother him, ruining Teal's attempts to stop him.
"Master craftsmen Naofumi, this item has been of great help. Its power and beauty are a step above! Thank you again." Therese offered gratefully.
"Yeah, you should have seen that thing in action! It was so strong that it cleared all the mobs along with the Karma boss yesterday." Motoyasu added, while staying further away.
"What?" Naofumi was lost.
"Oh, you didn't know? Therese here can fire magic attacks out of gems… Not sure how that works." Motoyasu just kept talking.
L'arc tried to change the subject. "Anyways, we were wondering-"
"That's not a type of magic I ever heard of." Leon interjected.
"...So it's rare? That's kind of neat" Motoyasu said simply.
"No. I'm saying that it doesn't make se-" Leon stopped himself.
Therese gave Leon her death glare yet again. He fell before its intensity and quieted himself. Filo noticed this and laughed at Leon, lightening the mood.
"Anyways, I heard that you are taking the day off. Isn't that a waste at a time like this? Can't you have fun after this event is over?" L'arc asked.
Naofumi couldn't tell if L'arc was genuinely curious or was trying to measure him in some way, he didn't care either way. "Raphtalia and the kids deserve some time off… Why are you three not out there already?"
"Because Moto was getting mopey." L'arc said, paired with a casual shrug.
This has happened too often. L'arc simultaneously seems like a casual and laid back guy, but somehow seemed much more intentioned. It was like he was sizing Naofumi up for some reason while also truly being a nice guy. Naofumi was finding himself lowering his guard. If these two joined Motoyasu, then he'd have nothing to worry about moving forward. So getting along with them was going to be a must.
Naofumi went to restate the same one rule. "Fine, whatever. Just remember, Motoyasu. Do-"
"Don't talk to Filo-chan, I get it." Motoyasu said.
"..." Naofumi hated that he added 'chan' to her name. Clearly that indicated that he still liked her. All the same, if he agreed to stay away from her, that's all that mattered.
"Hmm." L'arc picked up on the hostilities. "Well then, we'll bother you later. Moto, let's get an early start at the bar, kay?" That was a question, yet he was already heading that way, dragging Motoyasu along.
"No, no. We have the whole day and you're going to waste it drinking?" Therese complained behind them.
After some distance was made, L'arc asked in a low voice. "So, what happened? What did you do to keep him so mad at you?"
"I… a lot of things. Chiefly among them, I nearly killed his kid… And there is a lot more…" Motoyasu answered in shame.
"Damn… Well then, I need you drunk. Spill the beans to Therese and me and we'll figure out how to fix this." L'arc was willing to spend the day to remove tension between the pair. His voice also had no judgment of Motoyasu in it.
Motoyasu considered this. He'd tell him what he could, but he'd try to avoid telling him that they were heroes. He has been unable to think of a way to make things up to Naofumi's party. Teal outright refused his apology. Like she said, he had to actually do something if he wanted forgiveness.
While Motoyasu had the herculean task of explaining every bad thing he ever did to Naofumi and his party, while not explaining they were heroes, while drunk… The others collectively went to the beach. Keel was happy to be able to swim in the ocean again, only to be crushed by the reality that she was going to need to buy swimwear. She decided on shorts and a shirt like Teal did. Wyndia went with a normal two-piece. Melty already had swimwear ready, hoping for the chance. A one piece that was the same shade of blue as her hair.
The kids raced to the beach ahead of the others. Naofumi and Raphtalia were hoping that Melty would look after Filo, but they saw Melty riding Filo to the front of the pack. What did they expect? Regardless of her maturity at times, Melty was still a kid. Still easily swayed by the promise of fun.
It was going to be another relaxing day, free of any stress.
…
In Lurolona village
…
Eclair was having a tough time managing everything in Naofumi's absence. There were problems with everything or at least, that is the way the residents were acting. Even with the option to tell them to wait until their lord returned, they were not daunted. Eclair wanted to curse herself. She trained with the sword growing up, even in her free time. That was what she was good at and what she gravitated to. However, her father was also a lord and lordly matters were also something she was supposed to have learned… Supposed to.
All the times she skipped reading a book to train herself were coming back to bite her in the ass.
She had a fair number of problems, but nothing that needed her to address right away. Though, she'd need to talk to Naofumi when he returned on the lack of work ethic she saw among them. Outside the knights and the newest former slaves, it was rare to see a genuinely hard worker.
She also had to deal with Gex. That was the name of the large lizard beastman that Naofumi had been leveling. He was large, intimidating, yet oddly soft around the children. Now at level 21, he was the highest level person who was not a knight. He expressed interest in being part of the guard rotation, but he had never worked in a law enforcement or military capacity. He was willing, but needed time to get used to everything. He was also welcome, as him taking up guard duty freed another man to assist the construction.
He didn't get along with Eclair at first. She had done nothing to offend him, but she was clearly of noble birth and that rubbed him the wrong way. After seeing she had skill well beyond her years, he made it a point to bother her daily for lessons. Something she'd actually enjoy doing, had she the time.
Each day Eclair dreaded what new mess she'd inherit. She was keenly aware that one of the women may go into labor. If there was something she was unprepared for, it was that. Naofumi's large medicine cache wasn't going to fix that.
The thing to ruin her morning was actually a fishing vessel. It came to deliver food for free. The man claimed to be from Cal Mira and to be delivering food as a means of payment to Naofumi. That was great news. They could eat this food right away as the rest of their supplies were long-term and Teal's crops would not grant them any benefit for days. And they had salt stores to preserve them for a few days. The problem was that there no longer existed any form of dock for the unloading of the food. The previous ones were all destroyed during the wave that took Raphtalia's parents.
She was going to need to have several men help receive the supplies. So now free food was going to cost them a good amount of labor. Before she could even give an order, another knight ran to her with yet another problem.
Zeke, the former bandit leader she was warned about. He certainly didn't look like one, now wearing decent armor that was well maintained and a fresh haircut. He came waltzing into town with a letter of recommendation from Lord Eadwig.
"As you can see, I come highly recommended. So allow me to speak to the savior. He's expecting me." Zeke demanded.
Ake was running interference, trying to stall him at the entrance of the town. Giving another knight time to fetch Eclair.
Yet another problem to sort out.
"You will not be speaking to Lord Iwatani today. He is not here." Eclair told him while she approached.
"Seriously? Then why not tell me that from the get-go? Now I gotta pitch a tent for the day." Zeke huffed.
"You plan on waiting weeks?" Eclair asked, puzzled.
"Weeks!?" Zeke had now exceeded her confusion.
"...Are you not aware that the heroes are currently attending the Cal Mira activation event?" Eclair asked, thinking that surely most people knew.
"What!? Cal Mira is active!? How long?" Zeke only got louder.
"Nearly a week, might be a week." Eclair answered calmly, not raising her voice.
Zeke gained a serious expression. He turned to leave.
"Wait, where are you going?" Eclair asked. She assumed the answer all the same.
"Cal Mira! I came here because working with the shield hero has been beneficial to everyone with the strength to survive, but the benefits of Cal Mira are greater." He took another step.
Eclair had an idea. "If that is the case, leaving seems foolish. You can get to Cal Mira in two days or less from here."
Zeke spun again. "That's right, this is a port town."
"We have a ship that will be returning to Cal Mira soon after it is finished unloading its cargo… Unfortunately, we lack volunteer workers to help do that." Eclair hoped he took the bait.
"Dammit, fine." He got what was going on.
Eclair had a smile on her face when Zeke saw the mess he was going to have to deal with. It would be grueling work and take several hours, but it'd still be faster than any alternative. With one of Eclair's issues solving the other, she thought the worst was behind her.
"Dame Eclair, it seems the carpenters and stonemasons have arrived. They want to know where they can put their supplies. They demand security for their tools." Ake called.
"...Shield hero… return quickly." She quietly begged.
…
Cal Mira beach
…
"So you'll help?" Filo asked Melty, an unusually devilish look on her face.
"Of course. Filolials are way better than dragons." Melty answered, trying her best to match Filo's grin.
Wyndia heard something that could not be ignored. She spun on her heel to face Filo and Melty. "That's so untrue! Dragons are way cooler."
Teal overheard a little of what was being discussed and came over to investigate. "What are you two planning?"
"Ah, Teal. Filo has recruited Melty for the rematch with Leon!" Filo answered with determination.
"A rematch, huh? Hmm… it'd still be hard… I think I know how we'd win." Teal's smile came more easily than it did the others. No one had as wicked a smile as she did in moments like these.
Teal had a plan. She'd get Leon to belittle them or say boys are better to gain Keel and Wyndia's assistance in a 5 on 2 rematch. She explained everything to Filo who seemed happy at any win she could gain.
The two of them approached Leon building yet another oversized sand castle.
"We challenge you to a rematch, Leon! It won't end like it did yesterday!" Filo declared.
"Why should I accept your rematch? You already lost." Leon said smugly.
"Are you afraid you'll lose to girls?" Teal accused.
"Huh? What does that matter? It has nothing to do with boys or girls. I'm just awesome." Leon said proudly.
"..." Teal tried again.
"Then accept the challenge. Or are you scared Filo will win this time?"
"Haha!" Leon laughed genuinely. "My wings are each bigger than both of you. You're too small to face me. Right, Monti?"
Monti was looking ahead of Leon, seeing the coming storm. He responded by backing away. To this, Leon turned to see Melty, Keel, and even Wyndia approaching a little mad.
"Small?" Melty asked, trying to hide her anger.
"So you're saying short people can't win?" Keel's hands were already fists.
"Leon… You might want to reword that." Wyndia's suggestion was said more as an order.
Leon was not taking note of the situation at all. As full of himself as always, he loudly declared, "Yeah? I'm bigger, so I win. She should learn not to mess with me." Leon sealed his fate.
While things took a different turn, Teal still managed to get the other girls to have a moment of animosity towards Leon. From here, Teal would seal his fate.
"Oh? So you could beat all of us?" Teal asked.
"Of course! Monti and m-... Where's Monti?" Leon had a spark of awareness.
"We'll see about that!" "Get him!" "Short people can be strong too!" "I'm not even short, you're just long!"
Leon looked to Wyndia for help. "Wyndia, a little help."
Wyndia's face formed into a cruel smile. "Survival of the fittest, Leon."
…
Just moments later, everyone was witnessing Leon in dragon form trying to battle off all 5 of them. Teal was trying to pull him under with her roots, while Filo, Melty and Wyndia splashed him over and over. Filo used her wings, Melty used her magic, and Wyndia used that odd form of spellcasting she had. Keel was the only one not even pretending to be playing. She just kept punching Leon in his sides over and over again. Leon was flailing around and saw no hope for victory.
"N-No! Impossible! I can't lose! I'm the great Leon! Arrrg!" He bellowed.
Most of the people on the beach were Naofumi's allies. So instead of being scared, they laughed at Leon's misfortunes. Those that were strangers picked up on the light-hearted nature around them and became less worried. Naofumi and Raphtalia would let them have some fun, but would step in if they went at it too long.
But it didn't look like that was going to happen. Leon tried one last time to throw his opponents off of him before he started succumbing to the exhaustion.
"A thousand curses upon all those that raise a banner against me! A thousand curses! Arb-ba." And with those words, Leon fell beneath the waves.
The girls cheered for a short moment, pleased that they were able to take Leon down, despite his huge size. After a moment though, they became concerned. Leon was not coming up. Teal had undone her roots, but worried that he may have still been tangled in them. Filo shot her head underwater to make sure.
"..."
She popped her head back out quickly, "He's fine. Here he comes."
No sooner did she say that did Leon's head shoot out of the water, gasping for air. He took several exaggerated breaths. "That was close…"
Wyndia was a little upset. "Next time don't stay down so long. You're being overly dramatic."
"No, you don't understand. After you girls beat me and I went down some, I sensed something. Something valuable. Extremely valuable." Leon went to explain with excitement.
"So, you admit it? We beat you?" Filo asked.
"Sh-Shut up!" Leon protested. "Just listen. There's something super valuable down there. I saw this building-thing, but I couldn't swim to it. Let's tell mom and dad. We can go treasure hunting!"
Teal looked over to Naofumi and Raphtalia relaxing on the beach. "They look really comfortable right now… Fine, let's tell them, but if they say 'no', don't whine about it." Teal thought with rare consideration on her part.
"I don't whine!" Leon whined.
"Leon's whining right now." Filo happily pointed out.
"Grr." Leon growled in frustration.
Minutes later, they made it back to the shore and went towards Naofumi and Raphtalia, Monti near them.
"Mom! Dad! I sensed treasure from this underwater building. Can we go treasure hunting?" Leon asked excitedly.
Naofumi looked up with a bit of excitement himself and Raphtalia and he exchanged looks. They'd taken the day easily so far. A little active fun would be okay too. Not to mention that Naofumi was never going to turn down an opportunity for a quick buck.
"Sounds like a plan… Were you able to reach it?" Naofumi inquired.
Leon's excitement by having his plan approved was doused by the question. "N-No… It was too deep."
"Then how are we going to reach it?" Monti asked.
Raphtalia already knew what Naofumi was going to do. She sprang to her feet and took the defensive. "Naofumi-sama, don't."
But Naofumi was already removing them from his drop menu. The Pekkul Kigurumi. The stupid looking penguin mascot outfits that he got as a drops from the Karma Penguin Boss.
.
[Pekkul Kigurumi]
Defense Up, Size Correction, Increased swim time, Race Change - Penguin
Attack Resistance (small), Water Resistance (large), Shadow Resistance (small), HP Recovery (low), Magic Up (medium), Automatic Recovery Function, Skill Adjustment (small), Monster Equip Time, No Alterations other than Type
.
The Kigurumi were exceptional pieces of armor. Naofumi took a moment to look at the other two types he received.
.
[Risuka Kigurumi]
Defense Up, Size Correction, Increased climbing, Race Change - Squirrel
Attack Resistance (small), Wind Resistance (large), Shadow Resistance (small), HP Recovery (low), Magic Up (medium), Automatic Recovery Function, Skill Adjustment (small), Monster Equip Time, No Alterations other than Type
.
[Inult Kigurumi]
Defense Up, Size Correction, Increased run speed, Race Change - Dog
Attack Resistance (small), Fire Resistance (large), Shadow Resistance (small), HP Recovery (low), Magic Up (medium), Automatic Recovery Function, Skill Adjustment (small), Monster Equip Time, No Alterations other than Type
.
They were very similar, having only a few differences among them. Despite their silly appearance, they were some of the best armor Naofumi had seen.
"I know they look dumb, but bare with it." Naofumi told them all in a resigned tone.
"Ehh!?" The kids collectively screamed.
Several minutes passed. Getting each of the kids to put on the Kigurumi was a huge chore in and of itself. Leon at least calmed down after he was in one because of the warmth. Filo and Teal were a much larger task. Getting them into their suits was one thing, but keeping them in them was an entirely different task.
"I don't need the dumb outfit. Me and another person can breathe with each other's breath." Teal argued. "Do you even have enough outfits for everyone?" Teal was desperate.
"I want to go too." "Me too." "I do as well" Wyndia, Keel, and Melty added.
Naofumi counted how many Pekkul Kigurumi he had… two short. He turned to Teal with a hesitant look. She exited her outfit with such uncharacteristic joy. She ran over to Keel.
"Looks like we can get out of wearing those things if we breathe each other's air." Teal said with a sly smile.
"...What?" Keel wasn't getting it.
"I'm a plant, so you breathe out what I breathe in and vice versa. Then we can swim the whole way down without needing to hold our breaths." Teal told her with a suspicious level of excitement.
"Oh… I'll be right back then." Keel ran off.
Wyndia and Melty agreed to get in the Kigurumi, but a most unexpected bump in the road was next, Monti. They figured he would continue to be as obedient a child as he always was, but the humiliating appearance of the Kigurumi was too much for him. He hissed for the first time as Naofumi forced him into the Kigurumi. Upon being zipped up he sat there, dead, inside and out.
Everyone hated putting it on, even Raphtalia. Though she was able to force herself to wear it. After that though, she really didn't want to walk around.
The look on everyone's faces as they saw Naofumi's group march towards the sea in their penguin outfits got a hard and healthy laugh from everyone around them.
Keel came running back to the others holding something.
Teal took note of it. "What's that?"
"Huh? What do you think it is? It's a tube. Y'know? So we can do the breathing thing you were talking about!" Keel answered, feeling so smart to have gotten it.
"B-But… I… we were supposed to… dammit…" Teal's brain melted with disappointment.
Keel seemed to not understand or care about what Teal was actually suggesting. With that, everyone was miserable… except for Keel.
As they marched into the ocean, everyone wearing a Kigurumi noticed the ease at which they swam. The smallest motion seemed to carry them farther than expected. It was like the water gave little resistance. That everyone in a Kigurumi found it fun to swim so easily was something they would never openly admit.
Teal and Keel actually struggled to keep up with the others, no matter how much Teal morphed her body. They'd have to settle for last place. The others quickly found the structure that Leon saw before. It was an ancient building of stone. What was left after heavy erosion seemed similar to the ruins they found on each of the islands that housed the karma bosses. The increased swim time and other bonuses gave them all a bit of time to observe the outside.
Before the kids could become too distracted and forget their air was still limited, Raphtalia reigned them in. "Don't go too far. We're heading inside."
The kids all acknowledged her in their own way of various noises, soon making their way to them. After a small amount of time trying to find a way in, Filo managed to do so. The others followed. One by one, they swam down then up again, exiting into an air pocket.
The air was dry from the dust of the area. All they saw was a sliver of light coming from an adjacent room. They all caught their breath and waited for Teal and Keel, who were quite a bit behind.
They were complaining the moment they came up for air. "Geez! Could you guys go a little slower next time? Teal and I were swimming like crazy and you were nearly out of sight at one point." Keel complained.
"We'll be slower next time." Naofumi promised, never expecting a next time.
"Good!" Keel exclaimed, not realizing why Naofumi promised that.
"Can we get the treasure now!?" Leon couldn't wait.
"Let's go slow. Motoyasu and Ren mentioned dungeons to me before. This might be one. I can easily see a trap protecting the treasure." Naofumi warned them.
They went up to the sliver of light. At first, the sliver was all they could make out, but clearly there was a door of stone that was slightly ajar. Naofumi motioned for the others to help as he pushed the door open. The light flooded in and they could see the treasure that Leon had sensed.
But rather than joy, terror and confusion overtook them. They had found a dragon hourglass.
"How!?" "Why!?" The small escapes of sound in the silent temple echoed.
Naofumi went to walk forward, half-confused and half in disbelief. A light shot from his shield to the top of the hourglass. It was real, this was real.
00:48:41
…
Minutes later
…
Naofumi shot to the surface of the ocean and stood on the water using his 60 seconds of [Water Walk] from his [Lillie Pad Shield]. He ran as fast as he could in the Pekkul Kigurumi, making a mad-dash for the shore. It was quite the sight from the shore. The moment he hit the shore, he used [Knock Knock II] to summon everyone else back to him.
"Tell the others! *huff* Now!" Naofumi ordered as he tried to catch his breath.
"Come with me, Leon. Fly me to Ren." Wyndia told him.
He was reluctant, but his father gave an order. He skipped the whining and immediately transformed for her to get on.
"I'll get annoying bow boy." Filo announced, already shooting off in a direction down the beach line.
"I'll grab Liviccic and Sophia!" Monti declared, transforming mid-flight to gain speed.
"Which means I'm stuck getting Motoyasu… yay…" Teal was the only one to delay her search.
"Whoever gets back first between Leon and Monti needs to go get Fitts and the others too." Raphtalia said thoughtfully.
"Two days to prepare for a wave…" Naofumi was back to the focused self he hadn't been in a few days.
…
With Ren
…
Ren was getting ready for the next bout with the Karma boss. He had been killing the other monsters in between the 30 minute wait timer. Allowing himself no time to rest. This was why he wanted the others to not come today. He wanted to see what his maximum EXP efficiency was and go from there. He needed to think of a way to improve faster. He was hating that look that Wyndia was giving him. That look of guilt. He'd do anything to escape it.
As he was walking back, he thought he heard Wyndia's voice and turned around.
"...Nothing… Maybe I do need a little res-"
Ren was plucked off of the ground by Leon flying as fast as he could.
"What the HELLLL!?" Ren was *slightly* surprised.
"Leon! I told you to let me just explain everything to him. You did that on purpose."
"This is faster. Explain on the way." Leon told her
"..."
"..."
"Admit it. You did that to mess with him." Wyndia demanded.
"Hehe." Leon admitted with a snicker.
…
With Itsuki
…
Itsuki and Rishia were finding themselves lost as to what to do. Giving themselves a day was reasonable and appreciated, but now they just felt awkward. Itsuki had been moving from one action to another, from crime to crime. Always with a goal, always acting towards that goal. Ever since Rishia was rescued by Itsuki, she had been carried by the wind in Itsuki's sail. Riding their metaphorical ship wherever Itsuki pointed.
But now that they were not actively trying to achieve anything, even for just the day…
Itsuki had lowered Rishia's level by as much as 15 levels a day using the whip method he was told about. He had been increasing all of Rishia's stats, but it wasn't as effective as they liked. Had Rishia had the stats of a normal adventure, then with over 50 reset levels boosting her stats she'd be stronger than Godiva, maybe even approaching Raphtalia in strength. However, it felt like drops in the bucket. Rishia would need 100-no, 200 reset levels before her stats were going to look good.
For that purpose, Cal Mira was a boon. Gaining levels up to 60 was not a hard task, especially for a hero. This activation event was also supposed to last for 3 weeks in total. Itsuki was determined to get Rishia up to the point of being useful, or at least feeling useful. Even if it took him 10 times the effort to make Rishia a worthwhile companion as it would someone else. There was a truth he'd never ignore: she hadn't abandoned him, so he would not abandon her.
They sat on the beach. They weren't staring out over the ocean as much as they were at a loss as to what they should do or talk about. Rishia felt like this was her chance to get to know more about Itsuki. So even if it was embarrassing, she'd break the silence.
"Itsuki-sama… Can you tell me about the world you come from?" Rishia's voice sounded stressed just asking that.
Itsuki flinched at that. He wasn't expecting Rishia to be the first to talk and certainly didn't expect her to ask a question like that.
"But maybe it would be better if she knew why I desire justice…" Itsuki thought.
"Well… in my world-" Itsuki explained several things to her about his world. In his world, the majority of people possessed psychic abilities of some kind. The ability to understand animals intuitively, abnormal talents of all sorts. Some people had more than one. One was often judged for having a weak or useless ability and it was far worse for those that had none at all. He told her how his ability wasn't seen as useful in his old world, because it was controlled through social pressure and money, not violence.
He was able to tell her most of it, but something cut him short. A dust-up coming down the shoreline. At first, he thought it might be a monster, but a moment later he confirmed it was. It was, but it was Filo in her full form running right at them.
She stopped 10' before them and slid another 9' forward. Rishia threw a towel over Itsuki and herself to keep the incoming sand from getting on them. After a moment, Itsuki took the towel off and looked up to her angrily.
"What are you doing? Does Naofumi know you're doing this?" Itsuki questioned.
"Mom and dad sent Filo to find you. Get on." Filo motioned.
"Why?... No." Things were happening too fast. They had a slow moment just before Filo barged in.
"You have to. Mom said to get the other heroes for the secret wave thing." Filo failed to explain anything well.
"Secret… wave…?" He questioned.
He and Rishia hitched a ride a minute later. Filo was terrible at explaining things, but they at least understood that the situation was serious.
…
With Motoyasu
…
Motoyasu was 8 drinks in and on the verge of tears. He had been against the idea of spilling too much information, but he was a mess at this point and just kept admitting things.
"Then… I sat there and let Myne burn down their wagon, which they were living in. Why would I do that!? Then I threatened his son's life… with every intention to follow through on it. Who does that!? Then when they were defending themselves I nearly killed Teal-chan. If they didn't escape, I would have killed her. When did I… How did I get like this!? I never used to be like this… At least… I hope so…" Motoyasu kept spilling his guts.
L'arc had such great advice like: 'oof' and 'wow, that's crazy'. This was probably because he was also drunk.
Therese had her mouth covered in shock most of the time. By this point, Motoyasu had told them nearly everything. She never would have imagined Motoyasu doing any of that. They were hoping to reconcile him and Naofumi, but from what they were told, Naofumi's attitude towards Motoyasu was completely justified. She hoped that some of what Motoyasu said was untrue. Hoping that he was just confused from the alcohol.
"Then we fought again… tricked by the pointy-hat man." Motoyasu was very drunk at this point. "If we won, they were going to kill us. If we lost, they were going to kill us. There was so much more going on and we all just nodded along without any care…" Motoyasu continued.
Therese patted his back trying to comfort him, L'arc slid him another drink.
"First those two killed me… even though we were friends. Then Myne tried to kill me… even though we were friends… I'm so glad I found you two. I can't-I can't do this on my own… I'm not that kind of guy… not that kind of guy… not that… Oh! And they accused me of having impure thoughts about Filo-chan! I mean, sure, she's a perfect angel that any man would be lucky to have… and she has the voice of an angel too! She's easily the cutest girl I've ever met, but… … What was I talking about?" Motoyasu was jumping between thoughts at this point.
Teal had found Motoyasu by following the sound of his bellyaching.
"Hey! We have a serious issue! Dad is trying to gather all the other heroes." Teal yelled loudly and in Motoyasu's face on purpose.
At the word 'hero', Therese flinched and L'arc's eyes narrowed.
"Teal-chan! I'm sorry for everything! Please forgive me! I swear I'll make it up to you. I'll…" Motoyasu stopped himself to take another drink.
Teal made a face of disgust. "Stop drinking and listen. There is an emergency! You want to make it up to me? Then get off your ass and follow me!"
That grabbed Motoyasu's attention. He slowly turned to her and paused for a moment.
"...R-Right…" He stood and began to follow Teal, using the holy spear as a means to stay upright.
"I'll be back in… a while." Motoyasu thought to say bye to L'arc and Therese, but didn't know how long they'd be gone.
Neither seemed too bothered by him leaving and waved him off. After they left, Therese turned to L'arc. Wordlessly, he sat his cup down and they went to pay the tab. They seemed in a good mood, but their eyes were serious.
…
With Liviccic and Sophia
…
Their group was enjoying the challenge of the karma bosses. While they were no challenge as a group, if they fought them one on one, it was a great chance to get used to what they were now capable of.
Silvius had just finished slaying the boss and was walking back to his seat, quite winded.
"*huff* *huff* That was a daunting task alone. I lack your power Lord, or the power of Lady Sophia." Silvius admitted.
"Nonsense. For a human that isn't a hero, how many could beat one of these beasts?" Sophia thought it was impressive.
"But had I not possessed [Grief] I would have lost." Silvius countered.
"And had they been a human, you could have wielded [Grief] against them, winning even more soundly. Don't be ashamed to wield the tools you have. Imagine if any of the heroes possessed such a mindset." Ida lectured.
Liviccic wasn't sure if he was getting used to their lecturing or something else, but their advice was coming across as more useful as time passed.
"I believe you are up next, my lord." Isidor reminded.
"A good chance to try out these new spells and skills." Liviccic stood, only to turn immediately as Monti landed violently near them.
"Liviccic! Sophia! We have an emergency!" Monti yelled.
"Is Princess Melty okay!?" Liviccic voiced his first concern.
"She's fine, but we have a wave coming. We found a dragon hourglass deep underwater. Dad needs everyone there as soon as possible!" Monti told them, motioning them to climb on.
But Monti would not be able to carry 5 people while flying. Liviccic locked eyes with each of them as a quiet conversation took place. After that brief moment, Liviccic and Sophia ran to Monti and began climbing on, while the other three ran for their boat. Monti took off soon after.
…
Each hero was now on their way to Naofumi. They had two days to prepare for a wave that they had no previous knowledge of. They'd need to register for the wave, gather as many allies as they could and possibly face a wave at sea.
.
[Author's Notes]
What's not to love? Drunk Moto, Leon getting beaten up by 5 girls, forcing people to dress as penguins. Fun stuff.
And Teal's attempted scheme failed when faced with Keel's… naivety. No matter what she tries, all Keel is interested in is being strong and eating.
Didn't want to end the chapter at the hourglass reveal because… I mean, we all know about it. So I decided to include a little bit about the heroes doing stuff.
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