Chapter 65

It was subtle, but the next morning, as we all filed out of the nice inn, I could tell the 'staff' of the island were moving with a little extra bustle. The dock workers were loading up the ships there with extra harpoons for those big crossbows they had on deck. The limited garrison of soldiers were patrolling with just a little extra alertness. The Earl was directing 'traffic' and taking reports from a bunch of lightly armoured messengers. That kind of thing.

I felt pretty good when Tetsu of all people, noticed the change. "Wow... Makes me think of Kunshu."

"Ma'am Kodori." The Earl greeted the party and I, "I intend on making the announcement tonight. With a little less than two and a half days, there is only so much my militia can do, but we intend to do it to the best of out ability."

Having mingled a little with the adventurers outside of the party and that of the other three heroes, I was pretty confident they were all 'fighting' men and women. As serious about monster hunting as they were partying after the work was done. You know, adventures.

"Did you want to co-ordinate with the Queen? Perhaps arrange a little incentive?" I offered, reaching for my pouch, "I can lend you my Occulus."

He considered for a moment, and I started to feel like I'd insulted him and his capability to protect this place, but he nodded, "Please."

I nodded, then tapped the Occulus with a fingernail. A moment passed, then with a sudden brightening, I got a close up panning view of the Queen's hip, abdomen, bosom and then face. She was dressed for war it seemed, not just 'war' but 'naval combat', with sensible leather instead of metal plates.

"Lady Kodori?" She said as her imperious face settled into view. "Further complications?" It might have been my imagination, but she sounded like she expected 'more complications'.

"Queen Melromarc." I nodded my head at her, "The Earl ensures me he is putting forth his best efforts, but I've convinced him that asking for help isn't a bad thing. He would like to talk to you and coordinate with you on the defence of Cal Mira and its waters." My wording implying the Earl was doing this at my insistence, not because he was worried.

"Gladly. We are almost underway, and if nothing delays us we will be there in time." She said with a tight smile, "Princess Melty has assured me she will be able to assist if the weather becomes inconvenient."

I smiled, "Excellent. Earl? Hold it about this far from your face, this side towards you." He nodded and held out his hand, but before I handed it over I said, "My party and I, as well as the other heroes, will be working this 'event' almost to the last minute. If nothing has changed, we will end up being teleported near the boss, so we can't personally see to the island ourselves."

"Understood. We both have our duties." And with that I handed the Occulus to the Earl.

Respectfully, I took a step away, and gave my party a nod, "Time to get to work. Good job yesterday, but you'll have to go without me again."

They all looked a little sad, actually disappointed that I wouldn't be with them. But I had to resist as I herded them away from the Earl and his business.

Oddly, and honestly, it was probably the second or maybe third time I'd seen the other heroes (discounting Motoyasu now) do something really intelligent, but all of them came alone to meet me on the closest shore of the town to the broken temple.

"Boys." I greeted.

"Late again." Ren grumbled.

"Hey, ladies always take a little time to get ready." Motoyasu said.

I gave the playboy a look, but defended my tardiness with, "Was helping the Earl sort out the island's defence. Gave him the Occulus for the Queen." I waved it away, "Motoyasu and I think we've figured out the 'lose' condition."

"We can't lose though." Itsuki said, "It's not part of the-"

"Itsuki." I sighed, rubbing the side of one of my horns, "In every game, there is a winner, and loser. That means there is, in fact, a way to lose."

Ren, wise enough not to poke this particular badger, made a passable attempt at the 'topic change'. "It's underwater though... How..." He started to go pale.

"I found some special drop items, if you don't mind how silly they look." Motoyasu said, his Spear spitting out...

A penguin suit?

Yup. Giant penguin mascot suit. With a Santa hat!

"Oh come on... it's a rare drop item! You don't have to laugh so hard... sigh..." I almost couldn't hear him through my giggles.

"I got something like that." Itsuki said, the gem on the Bow glowing as he pulled out a giant squirrel suit (bushy tail included!).

Ren followed up with a 'dog' suit that actually looked like a proper dog, save for the tiny wings on the back. "They do look kinda stupid..."

"Where did you..." I gasped, leaning on a palm tree to stop from giggling myself into the water. "get those?"

They all looked surprised, "What do you mean? It's a drop item." Motoyasu said, "Not every monster does it, but aside from cutting one up, they occasionally drop actual items if you... You have no idea, do you?"

I took a couple deep breaths, "Wait... so... you just pull the entire thing in? That sounds so silly..." I sighed, "Back where I'm from, you pull the monsters apart for what you need." Had I been missing something all along then? What was up with this stupid world...

"Yes. It's part of the Legendary weapons. It can make drop items out of some monsters. They're always better than what you can craft, but some people try and do what you're doing. I mean, the NPC's buy the mats' for good coin." Ren explained, "Huh... So you can make that face too."

"There there." Motoyasu tried to comfort me. "Next time, just touch the gem to the monster, before you cut it apart."

"I'll... try, I suppose, next time. But! I take insult about 'unable to make better stuff'!" I pulled my water breathing amulet out from under my shirt, "You three can wear the silly mascot suits. I'll just hold on to my spares."

"But..." Ren went pale again.

I looked over my shoulder, about to jump into the water, but realized what was wrong. "Aha. You can't swim, can you?"

The three of us looked at him, and he just couldn't stop himself from blushing, "I... not really... no..."

I took out one of my spare amulets, "Don't take this off. You'll move like you're in low gravity, and can breath like normal." Itsuki and Motoyasu looked at the silly outfits in their hands, then to me, and this time, I gave in to the sad puppy eyes.

"This is... kinda fun." Ren was still almost sheet white, but was gliding/jumping/swimming along with us easily enough.

"How much further? We're losing time on the event." Itsuki grumbled.

"It's... there." I said, pushing off of the same half buried marble block as last time, and making it to the last ridge before the temple came in to view. "See?"

Motoyasu caught Ren before he could start sliding down the other side of the ridge, and we all looked at the ruined temple. "Yeah. So what's so special about that?" Itsuki asked.

"What do your eyes tell you?" I asked, wondering what might happen if I pulled the amulet off his neck, then rubbing at one of my horns to try and banish the thought. "Catapult stone there under the coral, doors blown inward, roof blown outward, and looks almost exactly like the church in Melromarc."

"It... oh... huh." Ren started to protest, but made a little 'picture frame' with the L of his thumbs and index fingers. "Yeah, almost exactly. Different colours, but the shapes, windows... yeah."

"There's more evidence inside too, if you wanna see. But my party and I cleaned it up already." I said.

"Grave robbing?" Itsuki accused.

"A little, yes." I admitted, "But the few skeletons we found are buried properly now, just over that way." I pointed back towards shore, "The point, however, is that I found a broken Hourglass."

"Broken?" Ren asked.

I pulled the largest shard of glass out of my inventory, clearly recognizable for what it was, "Broken." I made it vanish again. "The fact that I found that, and this temple is wrecked like this, suggests that this is the 'goal' of the invading Waves."

"Except we'll win. We're the heroes." Itsuki insisted.

Motoyasu put a hand on my shoulder before I could speak, and actually made an effort to dig his fingers in. I swatted his hand away, but his effort stopped me from raising my voice. "You keep calling it a game. Fine." I said, starting to feel what might have been an Oni transformation, all of my muscles compacting and tensing, "But that means there is a winner, and a loser. If the heroes 'can't lose' then it's a book not a game." I closed my eyes, the gentle currents of water outside the thin envelope of air around me soothing me a little.

"We know it isn't just monsters that come with the Wave." Motoyasu said, "Glass kicked our butts, and she probably has friends."

"So... Why don't those 'friends' just attack the hourglasses directly?" Ren asked.

"Maybe they can only damage them during a Wave?" I offered, "I don't know, but this is my best guess. What you guys didn't see, was after my party and I just barely managed to stop Glass, she went back with the Wave."

"And if she can do it, then others can too." Motoyasu said.

"Is that it then?" Itsuki asked.

"Unless you want to register the inside of the temple for your portal? Yes." I said, "We have work to do. Ren? Want help getting back to shore?"

"Hey what about us?" Motoyasu asked, hooking an arm over Itsuki's shoulders.

"You're not scared of the ocean." I said, "Ren?"

"Ah... yeah. Please?"

I took a step towards him, had one of my tails wrap around his arm, and with a couple of sharp hand gestures, we were suddenly standing on a platform of ice. The ice, not under the effect of the underwater amulets, blasted upwards out of the water exactly how physics demanded. The effect had Ren on his knees, and I gripped the ice with one hand, my fingers digging into it with my natural strength, holding us both in the middle as it breached the water like some kind of weird whale.

"Keep your eyes closed." I said, "It'll help." I looked back, away from the shore, "I am the source of all power! A gale to repel my foes, divert the danger, throw wide the slings and arrows!"

I made sure not to laugh as Ren cling to me for dear life, screaming like a little girl as I turned the little ice flow into a jet-ski.

Almost exactly at noon, Therese practically appeared out of thin air in front of the little workshop I'd taken over. For a moment, I could almost imagine her with a pair of pointy ears and a fluffy tail flailing about happily, expectantly.

Poor L'arc appeared a moment later, huffing as if he'd just run a marathon to get here. "Wait up... crazy woman... thought... cats chased shiny things..."

Thankfully, she was polite enough to not interrupt me as I hammered at a bar of steel. In an effort to make a sword Raphtalia could use without fear of breaking, that wasn't an instant war-crime to use on anything but the most dangerous of monsters, I had used every trick I could think of, plus a few I'd come up with using this world's weird magic. It wasn't delicate work, but I couldn't afford to miss a strike. I'd also asked just about every other weapon smith in town for the proper oil for quenching when I was done.

"wow..." L'arc mumbled, "kinda like you when you play with your gems."

"I don't play with them. I talk to them."

They waited patiently, until finally, I brought the straight bar of metal out of the furnace, bare handed, and plunged it into the oil trough. Hissing steam, the smell of fish, coconut and palm tree, the subtle vibration of contracting steel under my fingertips. I waited until the pain of holding nearly white hot metal faded before bringing the metal out of the oil mixture, and held it up to my eye so I could look down the length. Perfectly straight from tang to tip, with a gentle arc to the spine, like the smile of a killer in the dark.

I set it down on stand to finish air cooling before I went about sharpening it, then turned to greet the two. "Sorry for the wait." I wasn't sorry at all of course, but didn't want to be rude.

"Didn't that..." L'arc reached forward to grab my wrist, and flinched when I pulled my hand away from him. "hurt?"

I showed him my palms, not even red now. "I'm fine." I smiled, "But this brings me to my first gift for you, Therese."

Again, I imagined her with the happy tail flailing, "After seeing you do that in person, and not through the echos of your work, I can hardly contain myself!" She even did a little dance in place, "If only the Katana were here..."

I reached into a pouch, and pulled out the many faceted ruby, "First." I held it by a thin chain I'd added, giving it a little tap to make it spin and refract the forge light like a bloody disco ball. I filed 'the Katana' comment away for later.

Her reaction kinda made me wish I considered her an enemy. She took it from my hand carefully, sparkled at it like she'd just gotten a puppy for Christmas, rubbed it against her cheek (carefully), and with all the care of a mother putting a child into a cradle, hung it around her neck. I honestly wasn't sure if she saw exactly what it could do, but if I didn't suddenly feel like I needed eye protection from all her sparkling I'd have asked.

"And since you were so happy just looking at the other one, I made you a special version." I held up the 'stones of shared vision', one in each hand. I gave one to her, then demonstrated, "Hold it in your palm, tap it twice, and when you feel the vibration, tap your side once."

"Oh! These two feel like long lost friends when they speak!" She smiled almost as brightly as the sapphire, "Pay attention L'arc!"

"I am! Wow..." He leaned over a little and squinted at the picture of my face hovering over Therese's palm. Just for fun, I stuck my tongue out at him, both the image and I making fun of him. "Ha! That's really neat."

"Communication is important." I said, "Here." I handed Therese the other half, then put my palm over hers, "And to turn them off, just cover them like so."

I was a little surprised when she hugged me, the little 'squee' reminding me of home. But as soon as it happened, she had let go and returned to her spot just out of arm's reach. "I will take very good care of them." She promised, "Right?" She looked to L'arc, handing one of them over to him.

The switch from 'dazzlingly happy' to 'super serious' actually made him snap to attention, "Yes Ma'am!" then very carefully, he took the offered stone and put it in a pouch. Once Therese stopped trying to burn him with her stare, he turned to me, "So is it true? The wave is coming?"

The question caught me by surprise, but I managed to keep my eyes from wandering to the timer at the top corner of my vision, "So I've heard." I nodded, "That Earl guy is really organizing things well."

"We should get back to it then." He nodded gravely, "Right?"

"I was hoping to stay longer." Therese sighed, "But yes. Thank you Kodori! These are wonderful."

I waved to them as they left, sighed, then got back to work.

Thankfully, Tetsu's gloves were really easy to fix. The metal bits of the work were still perfectly sound, and I had lots of 'Tetsu cloth' left from when we made her slightly more modest Amazon outfit. I was just finishing them up when my party arrived... during a little bit of an embarrassing moment.

Weapons other than the Legendary weapon cannot be equipped!

Tetsu's finished claw/gauntlet sprung from my hand almost as soon as I had seated the glove properly, a numbing jolt of energy hitting my hand like an overzealous high-five even as the glove sailed through the air to land next to Raphtalia's foot as she and the others arrived.

"Something wrong, Ma'am?" Usa asked.

"Just wishing I could fight like I usually do." I replied, accepting the glove back, then offering them both to Tetsu, "I fixed them up nice and pretty for you."

"Yay!" She cheered, accepting them and putting them both on. "It felt so weird not wearing them!"

I missed having people be thankful for my work, but this time, I actually managed to return the hug when Tetsu clung on to me with a 'squee'. While I gave her headpats, ignoring the feeling of monster blood she hadn't quite gotten out of her hair yet, I looked to Usa, "Good?"

His newly restored hand went to the leather and sharkskin handle at his hip. The almost glowing topaz in the barbed cage on the end of the long feather light chain hummed quietly with something that sounded like eagerness at his touch, "It works quite well, and... well... I don't want to say 'fun', but it feels good to use both hands."

"Think you'll have a reasonable idea how to use it properly by tomorrow?" I asked.

"Well... I don't hit myself with it... And I can send magic down it almost as easily as casting normally." He said. "And I'm getting used to the length..." Yes, I'd made the chain of the whip VERY long, but the coils he wasn't using were just as good as armour, as they were as a weapon.

"Not bad." I smiled, "Okay you..." I nudged Tetsu away from me, getting a quiet 'aww' from her. "Raphtalia? I can't test it, but..." I went behind the counter and took out her new blade, "I used every trick I could to make this as tough as possible. And maybe a few tricks to make it look nice too."

She accepted the sheathed blade, took a moment to admire the simple wooden sheath, then with an almost delicate seeming motion, she gripped the nice sharkskin wrapped hilt and pulled it free. Like her usual fighting style, it made no noise as it came free.

I could tell she wanted to admire it first, but instead held it, gave it a few easy (and very careful) swings, struck a quick pose as if parrying, then nodded in satisfaction. THEN she held it up to look at it. "It looks... alive?"

Part of my effort to toughen the blade for her super-human strength, was to fold and twist the metals, both to ensure metal purity and bonding, but also to make sure the grain of the metal was exactly how I wanted it to be. The effect, after sharpening and polishing the blade, left an almost capillary-like pattern down its length.

"Nature is the best engineer." I said, "Clive?" I took a bundle of arrows from behind the counter, each of them metal shafted, dragon-steel tipped, and feathered with filolial pinions (yes, flightless though they were, they actually had pinion feathers). "And I've got a heap of spare arrowheads."

He accepted them in turn, stowing them in his quiver properly, putting the arrowheads in a separate pouch, then pointing both his eyes at me, "click?"

For a moment, I didn't know what he was asking. But then everyone looked at me. "Oh..." I looked down at myself, the 'slightly better than Amazon armour' I'd bought not really up to even my party's outdated armour standards. "No time. But as soon as the Wave is done..."

They kept staring, with Tetsu adding in a (I have no idea where she learned it!) "jeeeeeeee."

I sighed, "I promise." I said firmly, "But I just don't have the time or tools for what I have in mind."

"Very well." Raphtalia said, "Did you want to join us? You have probably fallen behind..."

It had been an effort of will to keep my eyes off of their progress. I didn't want to worry myself with needless micromanaging, and instead trusted them to just... do the work. Now though, I looked, "Wow." Yup, I was impressed, proud, and a little sad.

They were all just over 70. Clive in the lead with 75, Usa lagging 'last' at 71. I on the other hand, was ten levels behind, since I'd been here while they spent the last day and a bit without me.

"Yeah. I think it's time I went back to work with you." I nodded, "Clive? Did you just, get on top of a cliff or something?"

He nodded, then signed with his hands. 'Easy. Fast.'

If the 'last hit' counted for a little more, it made sense, yeah. "Let's go then." I went behind the counter, and while mostly hidden from view took out my 'not quite infinity gauntlets'. "If I have to drink every mana potion I have in storage, I will. But I am going to break this stupid 'defence is everything' meta..."

For the next few hours, we tried something different. I didn't want to resort to this, but once I thought about it, started speaking the thought out loud, then stopped when I realized what I was saying...

My party once again gave me their very best raccoon/dragon/chameleon/rabbit eyes, and I not only finished voicing the thought, but they agreed to enact upon it.

So, for those next few hours, I went 'solo', removing them from my party, while the four of them just... held stuff down for me to kill. Raphtalia confused and blinded monsters, allowing me to drive killer icicles into the softest spots. Usa tangled things up with his much longer whip and mild paralytic magic, letting me grapple things into spike traps, or Raphtalia's old sword that had been quite purposefully left laying around. Tetsu just held things underwater until they were too weak to resist even my feeble attacks and sub-par magic, or having them drink enough sea water that an ice spell was... explosively fatal.

In game terms, I got carried, hard. And by the time we called it quits, and I got them back (comfortably) into my 'party' tab again, I was level 73.

I didn't like it. Oh, I understood it needed to be done. But the role reversal... it made me feel a little hollow inside. Once again, this world had taken something from me, but as always, I gave freely what needed to be given, to get the job done. But I still didn't like it.

On the way back, to distract myself from my wounded pride, I sorted through this new 'thing' Motoyasu had told me about. 'The drop item'.

Yes, I did in fact, get drop items. They made absolutely no sense! But... the proof was in my hands, so to speak.

First, were the 'Kigurimi'. The mascot suits. I'd gotten two, the 'pekkul', and the 'dog'. They had a lot of interesting effects. They changed sizes to fit the wearer, forced a 'swimming proficiency', limited (but still good) air supply, health and stamina regeneration, mild magic power increase and a 'small' shadow resistance. This is where they diverged a little. The Penguin version resisted water (large), and the Dog allowed you to 'slow fall' (making the little fluffy wings on the back flap super hard).

However, they looked ridiculous. We tried them on for 'science' purposes, but aside from the slow fall mechanic on the dog version, and a reasonably good defence stat... No one wanted to look silly for the sake of defence. And for once, I didn't blame any of them. However, I did say that I would work with Erhard if I could, and try and 'strip' the enchantments from them, like Hickwaal showed me, to put the effects I couldn't get normally into actual good (looking) and useful armour.

Next, were a handful of weapons. Similar to Tetsu's gloves, but they didn't change shape, and none of the protective coatings to stop monster blood or other such from wearing them down quickly. Then there was a 'Rabbit sword'. Both weapons had 'agility up' and 'attack up', but also 'defence down'. They also carried some kind of curse. Raphtalia and Tetsu tested the weapons, since they were best suited for them. But the monsters they killed with them...

Only the slime monsters that kept the beaches clean wanted anything to do with the corpses they left. Any attempt to gather materials from the monsters failed, and the nearly always hungry Tetsu lost her appetite with the weird smell coming off the corpses. After testing, I put the weapons into the Shield's inventory, and resolved to do something with them later.

Lastly, was an actual pleasant surprise. The biggest of the dogs had dropped something called 'oreikel ore'. The shape and heft of the metal made me think of the metal deposits inside a Minotaur horn, but the colour and hardness were different. We didn't get a lot of it, but I knew I could figure out something with it.

We got back to town, and found it... not empty but almost everyone had vacated to the docks. The Earl had apparently made his announcement, and almost everyone who didn't want to fight, had just packed up and gotten in line to leave by ship.

Idiots. The water would be the worst place to be.

"Wow, the place feels so empty now..." Tetsu said, changing into her dragon form so she could shake some coconuts down from a palm tree. "Heehee. Now that no one is nearby, I can do this without hurting anyone!"

"Ah, Lady Kodori." It was one of the 'bikini maids', "The Lord Earl wished to speak to you as soon as you returned."

"About the suddenly empty island?" I asked, bowing slightly to the lady, "He couldn't convince them to stay I guess?"

"The civilians have barricaded themselves in their homes, while the merchants from the mainland and some of the adventurers have left by ship." She said, turning and walking away a couple of steps, "This way please."

"Some?" Usa asked, keen eared as always.

"Yes. A small reward was offered to anyone willing to stay to defend the island, decreed by the Queen herself. But even so, a third of the adventurers left with the merchants."

I thought about how many adventurers that might actually be, then nodded, "That's not really so bad. Some of those would have been under the employ of those merchants, and others may have been 'hired' after the news of the Wave."

"That is correct." She nodded, stopping by a small stone building with the distinct look of a military barracks. "Through the door, and into the room straight across from the entrance."

We entered through the heavy wood and iron door, paused as a soldier ran past from left to right, then walked across the hall and through another heavy door. "Ah, Lady Kodori." The Earl stopped what ever he was saying, and greeted me. Around him were (of course) the other three heroes, and a dozen or so other adventurers. I'd met a couple in passing, mostly to say 'coming through' or 'lemme bandage that', but they were leaders of their own parties.

"We were just getting settled." Motoyasu greeted me with a lazy salute.

I looked back at my party, "It'll be a bit cramped in here. Get over to the inn. Tetsu, be sure to clean your teeth before you change back."

Tetsu's dragon snoot poked into the room, giving more than a few people a bit of a scare, before she leaned her head against my shoulder, "Okay. Ooo... right there..." And of course got a rub just over her eye.

"Come on you!" Raphtalia said from behind the dragon someplace, "You're supposed to change before you go inside!"

The dragon-snoot retreated from the doorway, and I closed the door as Tetsu pouted, "But I had coconuts to eat..."

By now, some of them were laughing. Many of them had seen Tetsu on the way here, but having a dragon on an open ship deck, and trying to get into a small room with only one exit, were two very different things for an adventurer.

"ahem." The Earl got everyone focused again. "If you would join us?"

I nodded, "Pardon." And wedged myself between Motoyasu and one of those I'd met before.

On the table was a pretty good map of the island chain and the surrounding waters. Cal Mira was clearly marked, and at the northern edge of the map, the mainland and the Port Town were marked. "The town itself, with the help of the adventurers who stayed behind, will be reasonably defended. We have rolled out our cannons, and those from my garrison here will be manning them to keep larger things from coming ashore."

The Earl tapped the map as he explained, and while the other three heroes raised an eyebrow at 'cannons', no one spoke up to interrupt. "The Queen, and her armada, along with every able bodied soldier and adventurer she could find with a hint of naval combat experience, will be positioned in open water near here." He tapped a spot that looked to be a couple kilometres off shore from here. "So long as the weather holds, she will be ready by the time the Wave starts." He looked to Motoyasu, "Has nothing changed?"

"Got a little under a day now." He said.

"Cannons?" Itsuki asked.

"Yes. They are difficult to maintain, and the powder used to fire them is hard to keep viable. But they are powerful." The Earl explained.

"Anything else?" Ren looked doubtful at 'powerful' but that was to be expected, he was from Earth.

"Ever few years we have problems with shark swarms. If they get out of hand, we use explosive rucolu barrels." He replied.

"Oh, that's nasty." I said before I could stop myself, getting more than a few eyes looking towards me, "Fish breathe water, not wine."

"Just so. It does not last long, but it turns the water toxic, and the effect is even worse than a person eating a fruit raw." The Earl nodded, "Past that, we will be relying on the adventurers and our sailors to keep the ships afloat." He looked to Motoyasu, Itsuki and Ren, "The heroes and their parties will be aboard one of our ships here, and move out to meet the Queen's Armada."

"We are teleported to the Wave's location though..." Ren said, clearly not happy with the idea of another boat ride.

"Yeah, and if the fight is on the water, wouldn't you want to be near a boat?" Motoyasu said with a shrug, "Oh... You might want to leave your parties until after the wave starts..."

Ren looked confused, but Itsuki said, "Ah, just in case it we end up in the water right away?"

Not a bad idea... But it gave me another idea. "If the Queen brought enough ships, and has smaller vessels in the water, even if you do end up in the water you should be rescued fast." I said while patting a tail. "Still have those pendants?"

They nodded, "Rather not wear one of those... things..." Ren mumbled.

The Earl once again wrangled the conversation back on topic, "The Queen herself will be on the water to assist." He said with a hint of pride, "Be sure to do your best, all of you. I have already taken down numbers and names, and a bounty has been set aside for all of you."

A little less than a day. A good sleep, a good meal, and a precious little time for much else. 'Much else' was what I was focused on however.

The poor Book Shield had spent most of my time levelling practically burning with mana overload. It had even changed to reflect that! It was still metal cornered, leather bound and sporting the heavy lock and green gem. But now, something like a circuit board had grown over the entire thing. It was subtle, only catching the odd reflection when the light hit it just so, but the cover, its bindings, and every single page now had that near invisible metallic tracery over it, like it was just under the 'skin' of the surfaces.

The stats on it had improved too. With it, my own artifice, and more than a few 'herbal throat candies', I might as well have been called the Book Hero. Oh, I was no where near the magic power of Usa, or even Raphtalia. But I had finally broken the 'meta' of the Shield. I had a viable way to hurt things with more than just raw physics.

But... That was boring. I had only recovered a hint of my former magic power, and while I could use it to harm (unlike before), it was something any other mage in the world could do.

"You look really sinister when you brush your tail like that." Motoyasu snapped me out of my thoughts. "Sorry about before."

"Hmm?" I let that tail go, and one of the others replaced it so it could get it's share of attention. "You've already said sorry for being an idiot."

"No no. Not that." He shook his head, "Underwater."

"Oh..." It took a moment for me to recall what he might be talking about.

"You looked like you were going to kill him." He clarified, "I didn't wanna call you on it, but I had to try and get your attention."

My third tail (still waiting for attention) flopped over my shoulder and I remembered. "Right... Heh. Thank you."

"Thank you?"

"I was going to kill him." I said flatly, "You've become reliable, Motoyasu-san. Don't forget to wear that amulet. Make sure you are out of the party with Kuro so she doesn't end up teleporting with you."

He stopped in his tracks at my casual admission of what might have been second degree murder, "Yeah, I'll do that..."

'The good meal' was indeed epic. The kitchen staff of the inn we were staying at basically turned itself inside out to provide its best food and service to those still on the island. In a way, it was a great way to boost moral. Fighting on an empty stomach sucked, and a good meal reminded you that there was something to live for if times got tough.

For some? It might be a last meal too. But there was also more than a little of that wine going around. L'arc and Therese were there too, and even if I was still unsure about where their allegiances lay, they reminded me so much of home with how they were acting. L'arc and Welf would have gotten along like long lost brothers, and Therese would have been an instant friend to just about everyone with how easily she carried herself.

"Come on Fox!" L'arc cheered, slamming a mug down in front of me, "Drink with us! Don't just sit there and look grumpy!"

I looked at the mug, the smell of the wine stronger than the stuff I had during Raphtalia's drinking contest, and shook my head, "Not a chance." I said, "I can't hold my liqueur."

"The Rabbit and now you? Bah!" He pouted, actually pouted, "How about you Scaly?" He looked to Clive.

Clive motioned with his mug and took a careful sip, but even that had a tiny dribble escape from the corner of his mouth.

"Well, guess that counts!" He laughed, "You gonna be on the ships tomorrow?"

"Of course." I nodded, "Got a world to save, so they say."

He lost a little of his exuberance, and in that instant of doubt on his face, I knew he would be my enemy. But just as fast as it faded, the smile returned, "Well, here's to saving the world!" He lifted his own mug, as did many others, and with a cheer most of the tavern drank.

Except me. I was a square. But... "I think I will take this." I picked up the mug he'd brought, touching it to my lips just enough to taste it. "But to my room, just in case it's too strong." I looked to Clive, "Not too late."

He nodded, raised his cup to me, and used his hand to sign something. 'Enemy'.

I replied with a sign of my own. 'Yes'.

In the privacy of the room we'd been given, I was very carefully distilling that mug of wine L'arc had given me. While my alchemy set worked on that (I was really just making brandy, except the 'wine' was already upwards of 30 or so percent alcohol by volume...), I was working on something else.

"Okay you..." I said, "You're the only one of the three that can talk, and if the Shield is going to drip feed my own abilities back to me? I'm going to make it work."

The little fox in front of me, the 'Black Messenger', sat statue still, its semi-solid form letting off nearly invisible wisps of magic steam.

"Now, repeat after me..."

Notes!

Next chapter? Not the wave! But a peek into Orario, since it's been just under 45 days back home.

Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord!

aKAQg4bnYu for the discord!

And my actual book, Were Too? is on Inkitt.

And! I'm looking into getting some story themed merchandise made. Join the Discord to find out more!