Author's Note:
Welcome to Arc 2, or what I call the beginning of Naofumi creating a traveling merchant trading empire. In this chapter we will be getting into how Naofumi handles his newly restored innocence and reputation and his relationship with the other Three Heroes going forward. We will also see Motoyasu and how the revelation that Malty lied and his party losing in the duel affects him. Maybe he'll be less of a Moronyasu now?
On a side note, I have a poll up on my profile, as I have forever disliked the fact that after Queen Mirellia comes back and puts Malty/Bitch and Aultcray/Trash on trial that even though she sentences them to execution, which considering all both have done, more than warrants it decides to commute those sentences because Naofumi wanted to be petty and change their names to something insulting. The poll is, how many of my readers at the end of the Three Heroes Church arc which is many chapters away, want to see Malty/Bitch and Aultcray/Trash actually executed or how many wish to spare one or the other or both to have one/both of them thrown into the dungeons in chains to live out the rest of their lives?
I want to once again thank Allen Blaster of Virtue of the Shield Hero fame for his comments, suggestions and encouragement and I urge you to read his fanfic as in my view, it is excellent. I also again want to thank Robotech275 of Crafting and Cooking Hero fame for all his help with timelines, Weapon Forms and other comments on this story. He too is a great author and I also urge people to read his and other stories in the Multi World Project like Kampfpanzer. His work Locked and Loaded in Another World is very good and the best example of a Gun Hero that isn't either far too overpowered and a Matrix/John Wick clone or else a try hard and edgelordy type loser. I would also like to let people know that MeTal from my Discord server is now my new beta reader and editor that I rely on for help in crafting this story of mine.
Review Responses:
Unfortunately, due to a bug in , I am unable to see the reviews that I haven't already responded to. I'm also unable to update my stats, so I want to apologize to anyone who's reviewed my work since my last chapter went live. I promise that I will respond in my next chapter no matter how many there are. You are all important to me and your comments/criticisms/suggestions are all extremely welcome and I have taken them all into account while crafting my story. Please do continue and know that I do read them all and try to respond as best I can.
80 Reviews, 79 Favorites, 105 Follows and over 10500 views and counting. Again, thanks to everyone who is supporting me, you are one of the main reasons that I write and will continue to write. As always, I will try to release a chapter bi-weekly, but it will depend on work and life. Let's dive into the story.
The Struggle of the Shield Hero
Chapter 11
Walking On Eggshells
"When you start walking on eggshells around people, that's when you know that those are people you don't need to be around. Life's too short to pretend to be anyone else."
— T.M. Frazier
The Lying Witch had left and the arena had long emptied out of all the people. The King of Fools was still on his knees before me, looking lost, and the girls were looking at him with some pity. I sighed, knowing that they wanted me to do something about this. I fought against it. After all, he caused me an enormous amount of problems, so why should I help him?
That said, even if he had a problem with me before the mess with his daughter accusing me and lying about being raped, he was still the King. I looked down at him and offered my hand and said,
"Look… I don't know how you feel right now, but…"
Before I could even finish the awkward attempt at consoling him, he snapped his eyes to me and glared and slapped my hand away. He got up and said,
"You may have gotten out of this, SHIELD! But mark my words, this isn't over! You'll screw up sooner or later, and I'll be there to make sure you suffer for it!"
He turned away and walked away, projecting as much offended dignity as he possessed. My hand just hung there, with my defense he couldn't really knock it aside, but I sighed again and I heard the girls whisper angrily behind me.
Raphtalia muttered to Rifana and Keel,
"How rude, Master Naofumi was only trying to offer some comfort, that was unnecessary!"
Rifana snorted and replied,
"It's because he loves the Lying Witch too much, even though she lied and it was proven with any doubts, he can't reconcile it. Remember when Marceau was caught stealing? Everyone knew he was the thief, but no matter how many times he was caught red handed, his Mother refused to believe it despite the evidence to the contrary. Blind love is dangerous.
Keel makes a face and shadow-boxes in the direction of where the King left and said,
"Eh, he just needs a good smack on the head! Shield Bubba, want me to smack him around a bit?"
I chuckled at Keel and shook my head at her and said,
"No, I agree with Rifana, he might have to agree that I didn't rape his daughter based on the slave curse, but he still hates me because I'm the Shield Hero. That was never going to go away, just because you helped me win a duel and got that Lying Witch to admit to lying. In fact, I'll guarantee you that when we come tomorrow to get our reward, he'll use this as a reason to stiff me. But it's fine, I got what I really wanted, my innocence and reputation restored with the rest of the people. It'll make things easier now that I don't have to hide who I am anymore. I'll be able to start some plans I have going forward. But that's for tomorrow, let's get out of here, and find a place to sleep ok?"
The girls looked at each other puzzled and muttered to each other in unison,
"Plans? What plans?"
I just smiled and led them out of the arena and into the street towards the Inn that we liked to stay at. I knew that tomorrow at the castle was going to be an exercise of walking on eggshells around the King, but it was necessary to get the funds I was going to need to start my plans. I was also going to have to have a talk with the other Three Heroes blue that they knew I was innocent and work something out where we got together before the Wave and planned out strategy and all got on the same page. If the Waves were going to be as dangerous as the one in Lute, we were going to all need to be fighting as a team, not as individuals.
Speaking of Lute, we were going to have to go there and see what we could do to help them rebuild. I didn't know if it was possible considering how much of it was destroyed. Just like Lurolona, except Lute still had most of its survivors left to be able to pick up the pieces.
The rest of the night passed by peacefully and the next morning we presented ourselves to the castle. Thanks to the grapevine, everyone has heard what had gone on during the duel and were looking at my girls with admiration and me with some grudging respect. It was a lot better from the looks I'd been getting lately of a lowly criminal.
We arrived at the throne room and the first thing I noticed was that Motoyasu didn't have the Lying Witch or her friends with him and he looked very upset. I looked at Ren and Itsuki and nodded to them, and they nodded back while we were waiting for the King to be ready and I said,
"Hey Motoyasu, Ren, Itsuki… I think it would be a good idea after we get our rewards to go to a tavern and talk. Maybe clear the air a bit, get to know each other and try and work something out. I get the feeling that what happened in the Wave yesterday wasn't what you guys expected, was it?"
Ren and Itsuki looked at each other and Itsuki said finally,
"Yeah, you're right, in my game the Wave boss was the Chimera, and once you killed it the Wave ended… I've never encountered a hidden Wave boss before."
Ren looked nervous talking, but tried to act cool and said,
"I'm sure we just unlocked a secret route or something…"
His facade crumbled a bit as he remembered just how strong that boss was and then said,
"But maybe getting together to talk wouldn't be such a bad idea…"
I looked at Motoyasu,
"Motoyasu?"
Motoyasu glared at me then hatefully and snarled,
"What? You want to lord it over me now because your party beat Myne and her friends? Thanks to that, they all decided not to party up with me anymore because they think I'm useless to them now!"
I seriously was getting tired of Motoyasu, but I could sort of understand him, and I looked at him pointedly as I said quietly,
"How does it feel, Motoyasu? You're finding out what it was like for me when I just started out. But unlike me, you don't have the prejudice of the Church and its members on top of it. Look, I don't have anything against you Motoyasu, it's not your fault that you were misled by someone you trusted, but you need to face reality. We're up against something that's different from your games. If the last wave was THAT bad, what's not to say that they ALL will be as bad… or worse? We need to work together, look, just meet us at the tavern nearby… I'll listen to all your complaints then and try to see if we can't work together."
Motoyasu snorted, but he didn't outright say no, so I took that as a positive sign. I turned back just as the King arrived and took a seat at his throne. The best part? The Lying Witch was nowhere to be found, and was probably holing up in her room, having a temper tantrum over getting her lies found out. The King looked at all of us and settled his gaze on me, glaring before he spoke out loud,
"Very well… it seems that all the Heroes are here now, we will distribute the reward funds for your performance in the last battle, as well your funds to prepare for the next Wave."
An advisor came in with four bags of money, I wondered which portion was mine and how much. Even if it was only the bare minimum, I could get by. I had medicine and other materials to sell to help get a start on what I needed but it would set me back by several weeks and I may not be able to get my plans fully underway until after the next Wave.
I was banking on the reward money to help with my plans to start a trading company that with my knowledge and skills from my world, would allow me to slowly spread out from Lurolona to the villages and towns nearby and hopefully insulate me in case King Fool and Lying Witch tried to frame me again by having economic and social influence with the areas outside of the King and Church's direct control. I knew that if I could control logistics and trade within the Kingdom, they wouldn't be able to do anything to me, unless they wanted to make the kingdom's economy collapse.
The King was then given a very big bag of coins and turned and spoke out loud and offered it Motoyasu, and glares at him saying,
"To the Spear Hero, Motoyasu, while We are VERY displeased with how lax he is in helping my daughter and her friends grow in strength and as it seems they are not happy to be in a party with you, We are giving you 4000 silver. This both in recognition of your 'performance' and to allow you to pay for a new party… I suggest you do better in cultivating the strengths of whoever joins you THIS TIME!"
I tried to hide a wince, the Foolish King's tone was acid and his remarks stung like a poison. I couldn't help but feel a tinge of both satisfaction and pity for Motoyasu. I know he's an idiot and gullible when it comes to women but the Lying Witch did take him just as much for a ride as she did me. I definitely wanted to speak to him before he left, because we needed to patch things up and with the King just as angry at him as he was with me, maybe we might just be able to work things out at least and be on neutral if not good terms now.
Motoyasu for his part looked very uncomfortable and did in fact, wince, as he stepped forward and received the money from the King. It looked like the bag was heavier in his hands than the weight of the coins inside them due to the failed expectations of the King who had entrusted his daughter to him. He stepped back in line with us with his head bowed, saying nothing.
The King continued glaring at Motoyasu until the advisor handed him another bag that was slightly smaller than Motoyasu, cleared his throat and offered it to Ren, a much more pleasant expression on his face and said,
"Next, to the Sword Hero, Ren, in recognition of the fulfillment of our request and performance in the Wave and to express Our trust and hopes in you, your reward is 3800 pieces of silver."
I was raising my eyebrows now, I wondered if the kingdom would be able to sustain that kind of financial support every month after a wave. Either the coffers of the kingdom were bigger and with the trade and infrastructure to support it was good, or the King was that desperate to make sure that we had no reason to leave the country to find a better deal elsewhere. It made me curious to find out what the other countries were like. Surely once I started traveling around and starting my trading company I could begin to make contacts and gather the information I would need once I had the power to branch out into different countries.
Ren, for his part, looked unfazed but there was a hint of a smirk on his features as I could hear him muttering to himself after receiving the bag and stepping back,
"No longer the King's little favorite, aren't you…"
I gave Ren a look, but I can't say that I didn't understand how he felt. I too was a little tired of the favoritism Motoyasu had gotten. But then, I was tired of the favoritism that all of them got instead of all four of us. But what can you do when the major religion of the country was based on the fact that there were Three Heroes and one devil who happened to be Hero.
The King received another bag of similar size to Ren's and then turned to Itsuki who was beaming and looking like he was ready to receive the King's praise for a job well done. He reminded me of Keel in a lot of ways in his need to be praised and actively seeking out affirmation for his deed of "Justice". The King then offered it to Itsuki and said,
"Now for the Bow Hero, Itsuki. News of your deeds has echoed throughout the land. We are humbled at the truly amazing job you did in such trying times. As with the Sword Hero, your reward is 3800 pieces of silver."
Itsuki preened at the praise, and marched up confidently and received the bag of money from the King and walked back, shooting the three of us a triumphant look as if to say "Beat that!" I could almost imagine seeing dog ears standing up straight on his head and a tail that was wagging a mile a minute behind him.
Finally, the King was handed a bag that was smaller than the rest and froze as he took it from the advisor. He looked at it and frowned and then looked up and glared at the advisor who simply shook his head. The King gritted his teeth and then forced his expression into something resembling neutrality and turned to me and almost as it pained him, offered it to me, and said,
"As for the Shield… Hero, Naofumi… We… g-grant you…"
I waited, feeling in that moment as Itsuki did, triumphant that the King was forced to now deal with me fairly and not as a criminal thanks to the duel. I savored how uncomfortable and ill actually having to treat me with a modicum of respect when clearly he wanted to have been able to completely ignore me and give me nothing. He cleared his throat and continued,
"3000 pieces of silver, f-for your efforts at protecting Our citizens in the village of L-Lute… and also as an… … …"
He trailed off, not wanting to have to continue, but prodded by the advisor growled and finally spit out the last,
"Apology for the unpleasantness and the false conviction for a crime… that you clearly… did not… commit."
I walked up and he simply dropped the bag into my hands, as if my mere presence disgusted him and brushed off his hands and then said to all of us, completely ignoring me now in his haste to get rid of us all,
"This concludes the audience, We wish the Heroes good fortune in the days ahead as they get stronger and prepare for the next Wave. Glory to Melromarc and to the continued efforts of our Thr… err FOUR Heroes. Good day!"
With that, the King stood along with the rest of the court and walked to a door that I assumed led to the royal wing and the King's quarters as everyone started to file out. I quickly stopped Motoyasu, Ren and Itsuki and gave them directions to the tavern I frequented with my party and with that, left with the girls to get us all a table first.
When I arrived, I asked the owner to give us the big table in the middle of the tavern and paid him with some of my silver to convince him to empty a couple of other tables for our parties. It wasn't going to hurt me much seeing as I had plenty of monster parts and drops to sell that I estimated would bring my total funds to close to 4500 pieces of silver.
After a bit, the Four Heroes and their parties started filing in. My party was sitting nearby at a table and was visible as Ren and his party arrived first. Ren's party immediately took up the empty table in the corner, far away from where Ren took a seat on my left side. I could see one of Ren's party members, a man in an iron armor suit, look disgusted at all the demi-humans in the place.
Itsuki and his party came next and were clearly much closer to him than Ren's party was, as they were chatting happily, and I could hear them praise Itsuki over and over for how the King singled him out for his works of great "Justice". His party took a seat at a table near the girls and though they seemed uncomfortable being around so many demi-humans, they weren't overtly being as racist about it as Ren's party member in the iron suit was. Itsuki nodded to Ren and I and took a seat across from Ren on my right side.
Motoyasu came last, and he was still smarting over the loss of his party and the public scolding he received from the King. He took a look around and noticed us and our parties and glared at me. It seemed he still blamed me for everything, and I knew that I was going to have to clear the air and pacify him or this would end up being nothing more than a waste of time. Motoyasu took the last seat across from me.
I looked at Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu, and none of them seemed to be that happy to be here, the lack of trust between us all was palpable and I decided to speak up first and break the ice as I said,
"I hope you all didn't mind, but I ordered us all some food and drinks, I thought it would be a bad idea to start a heavy discussion on an empty stomach. Since I was the one who suggested that we meet, I'll foot the bill…"
The three of them gave various words of acknowledgement and the silence stretched out as we dug into the food provided. I quite liked the food here and judging from the looks and enthusiasm that Ren, Motoyasu and Itsuki gave as they ate showed that they felt the same. After all the food was eaten and all the plates cleared away, I took a breath, this was probably going to be the most important conversation I've ever had. If it went well, then perhaps things might improve going forward. If it went poorly, then eventually we would all die, maybe not in the next Wave, but likely during one we would. I needed us all on the same page and the only way to do that was first to deal with Motoyasu and his antipathy towards me.
I looked at Ren and Itsuki who were waiting patiently for me to speak, seeing as this was my idea and my show and I then looked straight at Motoyasu and spoke,
"Ok… look, Motoyasu, I first want to say… I'm sorry."
His eyes flashed and he glared at me, but didn't say anything, and I said then,
"You were tricked too… I know it's not easy for you to accept it, and I know you're upset and hurt, but I want you to know that I have no hard feelings or blame you for believing B… I mean Malty…"
That's when Motoyasu erupted and pointed at me,
"There! Right there, you were going to call her Bitch, weren't you! You hated her from the moment you met her! Maybe you didn't force yourself on her like she said, but you disliked her from the very beginning! A-And not only that! But them!"
He pointed then to my girls and said,
"You enslave three cute girls! That's really low man! How could you do that to them! We're supposed to be Heroes!"
My temples started to throb once more, and the beginning of a migraine was stabbing me in the brain. I had forgotten the one track mind Motoyasu had. Ren then spoke up in defense of me that moment,
"Motoyasu, to be fair to him, clearly Myne/Malty had ulterior motives for joining him when she picked you originally and then switched over to join Naofumi when no one else would. I would have been wary of someone like that even without her having done what she did to him."
Itsuki nodded and frowned as he added his two cents to the discussion,
"While I am NOT happy at ALL about him having slaves as party members, I did speak to some of the King's legal advisors and they did confirm what Naofumi said, that slavery IS unfortunately legal here… as long as the slaves are demi-humans then nobility and the Cardinal Heroes are free to purchase and use demi-human slaves as they see fit. It is also important to note that they don't appear to ACT as slaves… in fact, I have dealt with some nobles who have taken pains to mistreat slaves in my presence so I know what I am talking about."
I let out a breath I was holding, the backup from Ren and Itsuki was a welcome surprise. Motoyasu looked chastened, but still glared at me, as he said,
"Fine, maybe that's all true and all… but why did you have to get the slave seal put on Myne as your reward for winning the duel? You could have just asked the question without it!"
I sighed and replied,
"Motoyasu, she would have lied again, and without the seal there would be no way to prove it. I wasn't just trying to clear my name… I was trying to convince the THREE of you that she couldn't be trusted. Sure, it was me that she screwed over but look how quickly she screwed you by dumping you and leaving you without a party. She could have just as easily accused you, and maybe have a lot more weight to the accusation seeing as you were sleeping with her!"
Motoyasu looked like he was slapped in the face, and still looked quarrelsome, but stayed silent, giving me tacit permission to continue. I sighed again and said to him,
"Motoyasu, think about it… If she could lie and accuse me, a Cardinal Hero that's supposed to help save the world from the Waves, what's keeping her from doing it to you, or Ren or Itsuki? I had to do what I did to show everyone what she is… a spoiled, selfish lying little brat who wanted to cause drama and discord between us and almost succeeded."
I had to calm down, but it was hard, and I could tell that at least Itsuki and Ren were on my side. I said then softer,
"Dude, I'm holding this meeting with us because I want us to work TOGETHER! Yesterday's Wave was bad and we almost died because we couldn't work together or share information or plan strategy. We all just did our own thing and that "Hidden Wave Boss" thing nearly beat us! I almost lost Rifana from it and that's what triggered… whatever it was that came over me and allowed me to beat it… but that's beside the point. Had we all been on the same page, we might have been able to coordinate better and come up with a plan that didn't include me losing 10 levels of XP to a curse from whatever I did to beat it. Beating bosses is NOT my job, protecting people IS! I'm the Shield Hero for heaven's sake!"
Motoyasu was silent, eyeing me, arms crossed and I almost despaired, I was pretty sure I could at least work with Itsuki and Ren now and maybe they'd listen to me and share info possibly, but without Motoyasu it would be all for naught. Why could he not understand, did that Lying Witch get her claws into him THAT deep that he couldn't think of anything else but his wounded pride? But I was surprised when his expression softened and he lowered his arms and said,
"Ok… ok, I get it… I'll believe you… I mean, Myne did lie. I don't know exactly why and it's hard to believe that she did… but it's also true that I didn't really know her all that well and that I've had problems with women in the past…"
He trailed off as a haunted look passed over his features before he shuddered, and I knew he was thinking about how he died before he continued,
"But it's also true that you never lied to me, and you are treating those girls right. So I'll trust you… just this once… and listen to you and do this, share information and the like and plan even if I think it's kind of stupid. But if I find out later that you're treating those girls like crap…"
He glared at me and said then,
"I won't hesitate to duel you… and BEAT you myself this time."
I nodded then and sighed with relief internally and offered my hand to him saying,
"Welcome aboard… Motoyasu… nice to be… allies with you, rather than enemies or whatever."
He looked at my hand for a second and then shook my hand and just like that, the terribly heavy atmosphere in the tavern evaporated just like that as he grinned and then said,
"So with all that out of the way… Which of your girls do you like the most, Naofumi?"
I blinked and then quickly glanced at my party, who were studiously trying to look nonchalant, but whose ears were perked and tails were wagging in anticipation. I sighed, but this time because Motoyasu was Motoyasu and if he wasn't womanizing himself, he wanted to know about other girls. I replied,
"Right now I'm too focused on just trying to survive the Waves, since some day they'll be defeated and I'll be going home. It seems unfair to start a relationship when there's the possibility that I might leave and never see them again. I also could never choose between them, I like them all as my comrades, equally."
Motoyasu and the girls faces fell and Motoyasu then narrowed his eyes and said something that made Itsuki and Ren spit out their drinks and snort laughter,
"You're joking right? Are you seriously telling me you never thought about it with any of them? Are you gay or are you…"
He leaned and said this last softly so that only the four of us could hear, and this question was what had Ren and Itsuki almost cracking up even though it pissed me off,
"Impotent… like, you can't get it up, so like you're not wanting to embarrass yourself?"
I gaped at him, and I quickly said,
"Wait what?! No! I'm straight! Completely straight! I like girls! And I have no issues there at all, thank you very much ! Hey, Ren, Itsuki! What are you laughing about? You have hot girls in your party too, have you tried anything romantic with them yet?"
I was desperate to get the attention off of me and so I sacrificed Ren and Itsuki and they quickly got flustered, Ren the most as he said,
"N-No… Romance is for k-kids… I'm not interested in that stuff…"
It was so obvious that he was, he probably liked one of the two older girls in his party but because he was projecting the cool guy attitude, he just couldn't admit it. Itsuki looked panicked but tried to hide it with condescension as he looked down his nose and said,
"Like Naofumi, I'm too busy dispensing Justice, to worry about affairs of the heart…"
Motoyasu looked at the three of us and shook his head and looked mournful as he said,
"That's so sad, the three of you will be virgins forever…"
I spoke up then, correcting Motoyasu,
"Yeah, no Motoyasu, I've had a lover before, I'm no virgin…"
That admission made the girls all gasp as one and turn and say to me,
"What, Master Naofumi? You have a lover back home?"
They almost looked devastated and I glared over at Motoyasu for this as I turned to my party and said gently,
"HAD a lover back home, we broke up ages ago, so while I am single I am not interested in a relationship at this time…"
They all looked hopeful and put their heads together and started whispering things that I really didn't want to think about right now. After that, the four of us made more small talk, but it was getting late and we all had things to do and so we made an agreement to meet at this tavern with our parties about a day or so before the Wave to meet and discuss strategy. I did learn what they all agreed would be expected during this next wave. A Ghost Ship that depending on who was speaking, had different ways to spawn the Wave Boss which all three agreed was the Soul Eater. We parted ways and as they and their parties all filed out, I liked to believe that we had finally become allies, if not even friends. Even if it was just an agreement to meet up and plan for the Wave and we were only just amicable with each other, I felt it to be a huge win for me.
I left the tavern myself with the girls and stretched as I looked at the afternoon sun and said to them,
"Well, that went fairly well, but now we too have things to do. I guess it's time I spoke of what my plans are going to be going forward to you all."
The girls all looked at each other, and then nodded to me expectantly, and I said,
"My plan is this: I am going to use the money that the King gave us as a reward and what we get from selling the monster drops and parts we've harvested from all the monsters we've killed so far to start a traveling merchant trading company."
The girls look at each other, puzzled, and Keel is the one to speak up and say,
"Uh, Shield Bubba… how exactly is that going to help us defeat the Waves?"
I chuckled and ruffled Keel's hair and ears and she leaned up against me, her tail going a mile a minute with a silly expression on her face as Raphtalia and Rifana pouted. I then said,
"Well, think about it, everything… from the food we eat, to the clothes we wear, armor and weapons we use and so on, require money."
The girls all nod at that, understanding that much at least, I continued,
"So basically, everything has some sort of value, and the price is set, depending on the cost of producing whatever good it is, including the materials, labor, shipping and/or transportation costs plus a bit of a markup so that the seller can make a profit. I'm simplifying things here, but essentially, in order to make money, you need to sell things for a little bit more than what it costs to make it. Bear in mind that includes us selling all our drops and monster materials as gathering them takes time and effort and we have to balance that out with using consumables like potions, food and things to get it."
I could see that I was starting to lose the girls here as they looked at each other a bit quizzically. I smiled and said,
"Ok, here's an easier way to describe it using an example: A balloon skin sells at the market here in Castle Town for 3 copper and the merchant who we sell ours to gives us 1 copper per skin. On average, we can kill dozens and gather their skins, let's say for estimation's sake that we can kill and gather about 45 skins an hour. So using that plus the price we get per skin, our profit is 45 copper coins per hour…"
I was going to continue on with the basic economics lesson when I could see that poor Keel was holding her head and her eyes were swirling as she shouted,
"UGH! Math! I hate math Shield Bubba… it hurts my brain!"
Raphtalia and Rifana laughed softly and Rifana was a bit harsh as she said,
"You always were bad at lessons, Keel!"
Keel's face fell and we all laughed at her before she joined in, still in good spirits and I smiled and decided to end things with,
"Well, it'll become more clear when we actually get started, but the more money we make, the better it will be for us. Now, let's start by heading to the merchants to sell our materials and drops and then visit the Apothecary, Magic Shop owner and Erhard. Once we do that, hopefully it won't be too late and we can finally visit Beloukas, the Slave Trader."
The girls weren't too pleased with that last part and Raphtalia asked me hesitantly,
"Why the Slave Trader, Master Naofumi? I can understand the others, but aren't we enough?"
I sighed and stopped and looked at the three of them and said,
"Girls, first off, you are enough… you're more than enough, as fighting potential."
I paused so that it could sink in, what I was saying, and continued,
"But let's face it, I want to start up a merchant empire, and while there's a lot we can do there's a lot that we can't do alone. We're going to need help and more than that, you want to see Lurolona rise up once more right? Well, that's going to mean us finding as many of the former villagers that got enslaved and trying to buy them. That's going to take time and probably a ton of gold to do so and right now, our only option is to use and trust Beloukas."
The three of them looked at each other and smiled and then Raphtalia said,
"Alright Master Naofumi, we understand, we don't like it but we understand. But that isn't all, is it? There's more to it than that, isn't there?"
I chuckled, they knew me so well, after all this time and I thought to myself,
"I'm really lucky to have them, I don't think I could have gotten this far without them."
I then said to them, answering their question,
"Yes, while it would be nice to be able to buy everyone you know from the village, it's going to take time and money that we don't have yet to do so and it's a long-term goal. But we can at least get the ball rolling with Beloukas now."
I took a breath and continued,
"What we're really going there for is two things. The first is to buy any young slaves that he has that are or were merchants and craftsmen. We're going to need them, not only to help us rebuild Lurolona, but to help us with the formation of the merchant empire by being employees. We'll get to all that later, but trust me, they'll be necessary."
The girls looked puzzled for a moment, but then nodded and I continued,
"The second is that we need reliable transportation. We can't keep renting George and a cart from Reichnott. We need a Filolial, or in this case Filolials and carts of our own. Beloukas, he told me when I first went there, made mention that while slave trading is what he does, it's not ALL that he does, he's primarily a Monster Trader and that means that he sells monster eggs, eggs that might hatch Filolials. I aim for us to buy 3, and train them up as party members and eventually they'll all get carts and we'll have enough party members to split into three groups with each group having one of our Filolials in them for fighting potential and transportation."
The girls blinked, and then when they thought it out, they saw the beginnings of my plan and Raphtalia said, wide-eyed,
"Ah! You plan on using those slaves you buy to level up and then have them be merchants while using the Filolials!"
I smiled and nodded to her and said,
"Exactly, they'll be independent of us and help us go around and build up our trading empire and then be able to help us defend against the Waves. I guess it's more like a merchant army maybe… and we'll have our home base be Lurolona."
The girls all looked so happy that they could cry and they immediately hugged me and I smiled and patted their heads. I gave them a gentle smile when they had gathered themselves and said,
"So how do you like the name, "The Lurolona Trading Company"?"
So there we are, welcome to the beginnings of Adultfumi attempting to use his business skill and acumen to control the economy and logistics of Melromarc through the use of Filolial carts. It's definitely NOT going to go the way Adultfumi expects, because we all know how Filo was (and for the record, don't expect any canon Filolials, these three will all be OCs). It's going to be a very, very bumpy ride… evil grin. So stick around for the next chapter, same Struggle time, same Struggle story/channel. Batman '66 theme music plays
I am starting a new job which will likely take up a good portion of my time that I normally use to write, so I may not be posting as frequently as I used to. I will try to keep posting at least a chapter a week, but bi-weekly might be a stretch unless I'm posting a main story chapter plus one that will go up on my Interludes spin-off. Speaking of, please do check that story out, I will have an Interlude detailing the points of view of each of the Three Heroes and what they were doing after the trial and all but abandoning Naofumi after the first arc is over with.
Also, I have a question of my readers, who would like to see me do another spin-off that deals with Kizuna and what takes place in her world with meeting Glass, L'Arc, Therese, Ethnobolt and the rest and defeating the Dark Dragon Emperor before she is imprisoned in the Infinite Labyrinth and then meeting Naofumi and Rishia there? I might start it once we get past the Lafan Wave and stalemating with Glass. It wouldn't be updated NEARLY as much as the main story as that will be my primary focus, but I'm curious as to what sort of appetite for it might be.
I have created a Discord for those who want to follow along with my story. I will have a channel for discussions of my fanfic with myself and others as well as a channel where I will post my W.I.P. documents so that people can be spoiled if they like future storylines and events. Invite link is discord . gg / Rx8UkJQwM7 (without the spaces)