Chapter Four: I'll Protect You

The Next Morning

Raphtalia slowly blinked open her eyes. It had been a long time since she'd been allowed to sleep for as long as she wanted. It'd also been a long time since she'd felt so well-rested.

While her sleep had been peppered with nightmares, for some reason, they hadn't been as terrible as usual. She sat up, ears twitching curiously.

"Good, you're awake."

Raphtalia blinked. Her tail wagged curiously as she looked around and noticed a few different things. First, there was a small pile of orange and yellow balloon cloths lying on the ground next to the fire. Beside that was a small pile of leaves- no, she recognized them. Those were medicinal herbs, not leaves. And then on the ground in front of her was a small meal. It had another one of the fruits that she had eaten yesterday, along with some more bread crackers and some soup that had been heated in a pot over the fire.

She looked up at Naofumi, who was staring down at what looked like a large leaf shield. He had dark areas around his eyes. "Master?" She asked curiously, seeing the tired look on his face.

'I was up all night, taking out my anger and frustration on those balloons... And I only managed to get to level two.' He looked not only tired but frustrated. 'It was an incredible stroke of luck when one of them tripped me and made my shield fall on those herbs. Those three bastards only mentioned that I could absorb monsters to power up. How the hell was I supposed to know that even freaking grass can be used to unlock new shields. If it wasn't for that then that whole night would have been nothing but a damn waste of time…'

"Master?" Raphtalia asked again curiously.

He looked up at Raphtalia. "I told you to stop calling me that. Now eat up. I can't have you working for me on an empty stomach." He said, picking up his own small meal.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" Raphtalia's ears fell. She coughed into her shoulder again.

"I blended some of those herbs there into your soup. They should help soothe your cough… I think." Naofumi muttered.

That's what he hoped the herb's description told him. He was so damn tired...

She sniffed at the soup, and then her eyes widened in wonder. Within seconds, she was slurping it down. Treating it like it was the greatest dish ever.

Which, in her mind, it was.

Naofumi looked somewhat surprised at how eagerly and messily she ate it. Then he smiled slightly in relief. People back home used to exaggerate and tell him that he was a natural prodigy at cooking but he always just… sort of threw things together that he happened to have on hand. Sure, he tried to at least keep a basic notion of nutritional value in mind, but…

He took a sip of the soup from his bowl while thinking it over.

His face twisted at the taste, or rather, the lack thereof. 'I can't taste anything?' He stared down at it. He took another sip and grimaced again. 'What the hell? Is it because of my low level? No, wait, I remember tasting the meal at the inn last night…'

Slowly, he forced himself to continue eating. Maybe he messed up somewhere during the cooking process? The back of the woods wasn't exactly as well equipped as a fully furnished Japanese kitchen with cutting-edge gadgets. Plus, he had to take a lot of creative liberties since the produce here was very different compared to his world's, and he had very little to choose from. Elhart was a lifesaver, but he only packed the essentials.

But even if he couldn't taste the food, that didn't mean that he could stop. That would only mean that bitch Myne, the bitch nun from the Church, and everyone else who wanted him to fail would win. He'd show them.

Oh, he'd definitely show them.

"Master, you look tired." Raphtalia pointed out to him after she'd finished eating her whole meal.

'Wow, you think?' He wasn't close to finished yet, and he had as of yet to touch anything outside his soup, but he figured he'd save the rest for later. Who knew, maybe he'd be able to taste it later after he killed a few more balloons. The pessimistic part of his mind, however, was already saying that he was cursed to not taste anything good from this stupid world ever again because of Bitch.

Whether it was true or not, he had to agree with it. Everything was Bitch's fault.

You know what, he preferred that title. He was going to refer to the Princess as Bitch from now on. She deserved nothing less.

"Master?" Raphtalia questioned curiously when Naofumi began staring off into space again.

"What did I tell you about calling me that?!" He snapped.

"Eep!" Raphtalia pulled the cloak over her head, scared at his tone of voice.

Naofumi looked down at the shivering cloak. He groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Calm down… just calm down, you're scaring her.'

"Look, I'm not going to hit you, alright?" Naofumi asked. "Raphtalia."

…

Slowly, the little girl poked her head out from his cloak. He sighed again, seeing that there was fear in her tea-red eyes. "Look, why do you want to call me Master?" He asked.

"Um, well…" She lowered her head hesitantly when the indifferent look on Master's face didn't change. "I… I was taught to address those older than me by their titles… and your name appears as Naofumi (master) in my HUD, Master." She answered.

Naofumi sighed. "Look, I get it if you were taught that, but-"

"And, you've been so, nice to me." Raphtalia sniffled. "I want to respect you for helping me even though I'm your slave…"

…

Damn it. Despite being tired and grumpy, Naofumi sighed in defeat. The sad look in her eyes was killing him, and he'd only known her for a day. "Fine... how about a compromise then."

"A… compromise?" She asked.

"I'll let you call me Master. But you have to say my name as well. Master Naofumi." He hoped it wouldn't sound as weird if she added the name.

"Master… Naofumi?" She tried.

"Hmmm…" It still didn't sound right to him. But she looked happier saying it like that. So he could let it slide… for now.

"Alright, with that out of the way, we're going to start training now-" Naofumi started saying that, but then he gave Raphtalia another look over. Despite looking happier, she still looked tired. Now that she wasn't eating, she sagged somewhat under the weight of his cloak…

He sighed. He'd almost forgotten the wounds he treated on her yesterday. If he trained her now, they'd likely open back up again. "On second thought, how about you rest for today." He muttered.

"What?" She looked up in surprise. Hadn't Master said that they were going to do something?

"You're in no condition to fight right now. I want you to rest so you can heal up as quickly as possible." He muttered.

"But,"

"That's an order." Naofumi lightly glared down at her. "I want you to rest until you're feeling better."

"... But... but what are you going to do, Master Naofumi?" Raphtalia asked, and huddled under the cloak.

"I have work to do." With that, he stood up. However, he placed a sheathed dagger from the pack next to her. "I know I ordered you to rest. But if you're attacked, use this to defend yourself. I'll be back soon."

Raphtalia stared at the handle of the small weapon. She nervously gulped, but shakily nodded her head. Naofumi gave her a pat between her ears. "Rest well." He wandered into the forest again.

The rest of that day slowly passed for the little demi-girl.

She was too nervous to go back to sleep. She swore she saw frightening red beady eyes staring out from bushes at the edges of the clearing around her. However, no monster tried to attack her. Every once in a while, she received a notification in her HUD.

+1 EXP

Was Master… out killing monsters? If he was the Shield Hero, it made sense. But the notification didn't come very often. Was he in trouble? Was he surrounded by a lot of angry, hungry balloons?

Her fears were unfounded, as eventually, her Master did come back. The sun was beginning to set in the evening sky. If it seemed possible, he looked even more tired and worn down than before. Yet he sat down, getting to cooking the evening's meal. She began coughing, and he added more of those herbs to it for her. Then, after they'd eaten, she laid down to go to sleep.

Sometime during the night, balloon monsters attacked their little camp. Her tired Master covered her body with his, protecting her from their bites. He didn't look bothered by them. Only annoyed. He punched the balloons whenever they tried to burrow under him to get at her. Though he didn't get much sleep, the night was uneventful.

Several more days passed like this. He cooked. He checked her back. He disappeared for most of the day. He came back. She received experience notifications several times. But it was always the same one. And it seemed they came less frequently the more tired Master Naofumi got.

...

Naofumi sat in front of their fire again. Bags were starting to appear under his eyes. For all his hard work… he was only at Level 3. Raphtalia had risen to level 2. And while some of his other stats had seen some increases, his ATT stat hadn't changed at all.

His head lowered defeatedly. He'd hoped that stat would at least go up when he leveled up. But it didn't look like that would happen anytime soon.

'I can't do this by myself… but I can't force her to fight either.' He'd tried bringing himself to say the harsh words before. But, he couldn't…

Raphtalia's back was almost as good as new. She was going to have scars, possibly for the rest of her life, but they'd made good progress healing, in no small part thanks to the healing potion that Elhart had packed, which Naofumi had made Raphtalia drink the rest of over the last few days. There was no sign of infection either. Besides her sickness, she was fine… yet despite that, he couldn't bring himself to ask Raphtalia to fight for him…

'What was I thinking?' He held his head tiredly in his hands. Maybe it'd be better to sneak back into the Capital. Give Raphtalia to Elhart, have him promise to take care of her, and then go turn himself in. At least then she'd have someone to look after her and an actual roof over her head instead of being forced to sleep on the cold forest floor surrounded by monsters at all times...

The little girl was eating the breakfast he'd made for her. But she looked up into his face. "Master Naofumi, what's wrong?" She asked.

He gave her a small glare again, but it seemed she was getting used to them now. She still looked at him with wide, worried eyes...

He sighed, curling his arms around his knees. "Raphtalia, I'm sorry, but I can't put this off anymore... I need you to start fighting monsters for me." He said defeatedly.

…

He looked over his knees at the girl. There was fear in her eyes. But along with that, there was an odd, calm acceptance as well. "Is that why you bought me, Master?"

He was briefly surprised, but then he sadly nodded. This little girl was smarter than he'd realized. "I have no attack power… and if I wander too far, I can't hurt any of the monsters." He admitted. "I bought you because I needed someone to fight for me… but if I can't get stronger, I won't be able to get you to the next town for proper treatment. At this rate, it'd be better going back, but..."

There was a long pause between them after that. He slowly ate his tasteless meal.

…

"Alright."

He looked up in surprise. Raphtalia had moved in front of him. Her small hands shakily held the hilt of a dagger. She looked frightened, but her eyes flashed with determination. "I'll… I'll do my best." She looked to the sides as if she was scared a balloon would leap out at any moment. "Just… just be patient with me… Master Naofumi… please." She fearfully said. "I don't like monsters."

...

Tears wanted to come to Naofumi's eyes. He hid them, of course. But nonetheless, he gratefully patted the girl between the ears, giving her ears a floof as he did so. She looked surprised by that, but her tail started wagging happily behind her at the action.

"Alright, just know I'm not going to go easy on you." He said. "We're both going to need to get strong if we want to survive."

With that, he reached behind himself and pulled out a red balloon that had been munching on his back. "Eep!" Raphtalia fell back in fright, almost dropping the dagger. 'Why did Master Naofumi have a monster hiding on him?!' She hadn't expected a monster that soon!

"You said that you'll help me kill monsters. Well, here's your first one." He'd already accumulated several hours trying to punch this particular balloon into oblivion. He got nothing but an ineffectual clanging whenever he punched it. He was starting to figure out whenever he heard a Clang! sound, that meant an action did no damage. "Kill it."

Raphtalia backed away even further from the demon balloon, which snapped menacingly at her. "But, but I'm not ready-" Raphtalia tried to say.

"It's okay. I'm holding it in place so it won't be able to hurt you. You can do it! Just stab it!" Naofumi tried to add some encouragement to his tired voice. However, it came off as an order.

Raphtalia's slave crest glowed purple on her chest, and she whimpered again at the familiar pain that coursed through her. However, it was enough of a motivator to overcome her fear for the time being. Unsheathing the dagger, she ran forward with her eyes closed to stab at the red balloon. Only the blade deflected off its skin, and it screeched angrily at her. Making a very scary face.

"Augh!" Raphtalia screamed in fear, backing away again from the captive aggressive demon balloon.

"Sorry! Put some muscle into it!" Naofumi again yelled. He hadn't meant for it to be an order! Damn it! Stupid slave crest! Couldn't he deactivate it or something?!

He knew he should have read the fine print before leaving Beloukas! If he'd only had time to learn more about the crest itself!

Raphtalia shakily got back up and then charged forward again. "Hahhhh!"

Pop!

This time, the red balloon popped in Naofumi's hands. Red balloon fragments fell around Raphtalia like confetti.

+15 EXP

…

So that's what Itsuki and Motoyasu meant when they said experience was shared with the rest of the party. He hadn't killed it. But he'd gotten the equivalent of killing fifteen orange balloons. That was...

"Good job." He patted the girl's shocked head again. "And… I'm sorry about the order." He added.

The girl came out of her state of shock. She smiled up at him so brightly, he almost thought he'd go blind. "It's okay, Master Naofumi! That was, that was… weird!" She struggled to find the right word for a moment. But she honestly hadn't looked happier since the moment he bought her.

Naofumi smiled as well and turned around, showing several other red balloons chomping on the chainmail on his back. "Well then, can you kill these for me too?" He asked.

The happy moment was ruined. "Aaaahhhhh! Just how many monsters do you have on you Master Naofumi?!" Raphtalia yelled.

"I don't know. Just kill them. They're getting annoying." He replied dryly.

It took some more encouragement, and he was careful not to accidentally activate the slave crest, but eventually, Raphtalia killed all the other balloon monsters that'd made their home under his chainmail. The short exertion had made her tired, but the single "good job" and head pat he gave her made it more than worth it.

Did the Shield Hero amass his army through head pats? She'd believe it. They felt soooooo good!

After absorbing some of the fragments, unlocking the Red Balloon Shield, and storing the rest away, he nodded in satisfaction. "Let's pack up. It's time we moved on from here."

"Right," Raphtalia quickly sheathed her dagger. After helping to pack up their camp, she followed Naofumi into the forest.

"Raphtalia, now!"

"Hahhh!" Pop!

Raphtalia slashed through a balloon Naofumi held captive in his hand.

"Right here!" Naofumi ordered next.

Raphtalia did a sideways slash through a group of three small mush monsters that her master lined up perfectly using his shield. Her blade cut through each series of Mush, killing them instantly.

"One more!" He yelled, having dived to hold down a Mush that was bigger than the others.

"Huahh!" Raphtalia jumped over Naofumi, bringing her dagger down right as Naofumi moved his hands out of the way. The large mush gurgled once as the blade stabbed into it, and then it shriveled up. A core fell out of it onto the ground.

Naofumi looked around at all the other monster fragments lying on the ground. There were no other monsters in sight. "Raphtalia." He said.

"Right." She said, moving from spot to spot to gather the materials and corpses since there were no other monsters around.

It had only been two days since they left their original campsite. Yet the girl looked much healthier than before. He had her resting often, and he still examined the marks on her back. But it seemed the more she leveled up, the better she got.

She stopped to cough into her shoulder. While she was leveling up, her sickness hadn't gone away. But after her short coughing fit, she went back to gathering.

Naofumi watched her. 'Even with her sickness impeding her, she's surprisingly energetic... And quick to learn.' Hell, she'd gotten used to the dagger she wielded very quickly. Though that didn't mean he didn't try to protect her when he could by shielding her from hordes of monsters. Still, he was proud of the progress she was making. Despite her fears, she was helping him.

Also, he had a weird thought while killing monsters with her. He couldn't help but be reminded of a song from his world. It became especially prominent in his mind whenever they faced red balloons. Though, fortunately, they didn't have to face 99 of them at once.

He walked over to the side of the clearing. More balloons munched on his chainmail beneath his cape. It took him only a few seconds of looking to find a patch of leaves he'd noticed while fighting the monsters a few minutes ago.

He plucked the differently shaped leaves from the ground, and a green glow surrounded them. 'Just as I thought.'

His passive abilities from the mush series of shields he'd unlocked earlier identified it as another type of medicinal herb. The equip ability of his leaf shield that he'd unlocked, meaning he no longer had to equip the shield to use it, also improved their quality. He brought the herb close to examine it. The description of the herb and its stats came into view on his screen. Then below that, a notification appeared, saying he had gathered enough different items to use the compounding skill he'd gotten unlocking the equip bonus from one of the Mush series of shields.

Again, the thought of how gamelike this world was, went through his mind.

'So all I have to do is combine these different herbs and monster materials together, and I can get something useful. I'll have to look it up in the guide to figure out if I can compound medicine or not.' He pocketed the herbs in the bulging pack which, thanks to Raphtalia, was starting to fill up with all sorts of monster items.

"Here Master Naofumi," Raphtalia said, handing over the pile of monster materials and corpses she had collected. Including the large Mush's core. He had her collect the corpses of the monsters they defeated not only as a possible money source. But so they wouldn't leave any trace of themselves behind that could be tracked.

He still found the title annoying. But she looked happy saying it, so he was letting it slide. He really hoped she'd get to call him by only Naofumi though. It was weird being referred to as Master Naofumi.

Shaking away his thoughts, he absorbed what was new into his Shield. Unlocking several different shields, including a Mush Core Shield. While it didn't give him any stat increases, its equip bonus increased the effectiveness of the other Mush Shields he'd unlocked the equip bonuses for. 'So my defense goes up on those shields, and I should be able to cook and compound better since I unlocked those skills from the Mush series...' He placed the rest of the materials in the pack.

"Good job Raphtalia." He patted her on the head.

She giggled happily, and a happy smile matched her happy swishing tail. Even though the praise had been said in the same indifferent tone he used all the time. "Thank you, Master Naofumi." She said happily.

While she was distracted, he checked her stats.

Raphtalia, Lvl 6

Naofumi, Lvl 5

'Wow, all this in two days of farming weak monsters.' It had definitely gone better than his days of solo farming had.

Naofumi looked up at the gradually darkening sky. 'Now that we're stronger, we should be able to reach that village soon. Otherwise, I don't know how I'm going to carry all this stuff we've found out here.' He wasn't sure how much more the pack could fit. Plus, they were running low on food, bandages, and other supplies.

He wished that his Shield had an inventory management ability or something like that. That would have been convenient. He also wondered where the monsters he absorbed went after going into his Shield... Maybe his Shield treated them like Trash? Never to be seen again.

He took some of the larger mush out of the pack, absorbing them into the Shield's gemstone. Even though he'd unlocked their weapon forms, the Shield greedily ate them up. He shrugged. At least he had a personal trash can that he could rely on. The real value came from the monster materials anyway, not their corpses.

"What now, Master?" Raphtalia asked curiously.

He pulled out the map that Elhart had given him and tried to find where they were in the forest. He assumed if they wanted to get to Lute Village, they'd have to go further south. But there were several different towns on the map. He wished he could read the writing on the damn thing to figure out which town was… which... wait a second…!

"Raphtalia, which one of these is Lute Village?" He asked.

She looked down at the map and then pointed at a village south of the Capital. "That one."

So she could read, huh? That was useful. Maybe she hadn't been a slave her whole life. Why hadn't he asked her sooner?

Then again, he hadn't exactly tried to pry into her life yet...

"Alright, let's keep going then." He said to her. He'd worry about it later.

Raphtalia cheerfully stood up, happy she'd been able to help Master Naofumi. However, her happiness didn't last long.

"*COUGH* *COUGH* *COUGH* *COUGH* *COUGH* *COUGH*"

Naofumi stopped worriedly. "Raphtalia?!"

She coughed a while longer. It felt like her chest was on fire. She nearly toppled over, but Naofumi quickly supported her. "Raphtalia?! Are you okay?!"

She shook her head. Master's herbal soup blend from lunch had worn off.

"Let's get you back to camp."

Raphtalia didn't protest when he picked her up and ran.

The longer she was with her new master, the better off she felt than before. Sure, he still hadn't opened up much since he'd bought her. And while he was scary at times, she was beginning to notice how nice her master actually was. Especially during times like these.

When they got back to the campsite, Naofumi quickly ground up some herbs and added them to a broth that he had been cooking over the fire. After giving some to Raphtalia, the girl felt somewhat better. "M-Master Naofumi." She coughed again. "Am I going to die?" She suddenly looked up at him and asked sadly.

"No, you're not," Naofumi said it dryly. Hiding how uncertain he was. He could hear himself screaming internally. The herbal blends had been working at first, but she was getting worse again. Why?!

After a few minutes, Raphtalia took off her boots and sat on a rock next to the river. She grabbed a small fishing pole that she'd made from a long stick, some strand she'd found off a monster in the forest, and some orange balloon remains. She cast her line into the water. While she waited for a bite, she rubbed her chest and sides, hoping it'd make it easier to breathe.

With Raphtalia feeling a little better for the moment, Naofumi sat down near the campfire. He equipped one of the shields he'd gotten yesterday. By equipping it for a certain amount of time, he'd unlock its equip bonus permanently.

At the moment he looked up, Raphtalia squealed in delight as she caught another river fish and reeled it in. The way she took delight in it and the fact that she was very good at it told Naofumi she must have been raised in a fishing village before being captured and enslaved. He looked back down at the shield's current weapon form. Angler Shield.

It gave him a +1 in defense and an equip bonus that was supposed to make him better at catching fish. Not only could he level up to become stronger, but by absorbing the different things that he found, he could unlock equip bonuses that either gave his passive skills a nice boost or gave him new skills like fishing, compounding, and crafting.

'I wish I could find something that would increase my attack stat...'

So far the balloon remains and other monster drops had only increased his defense or stamina. And the skills they had given him were non-combat essential ones. Like being able to cook better, identify what herb was what, compound and craft materials, etc.

In other words, he still wasn't much more than a shield. In fact, thinking about it, it was like the skills he was getting were making him better suited as a butler.

Raphtalia's butler, no doubt…

He found himself worrying about her again. What if he couldn't heal her? What if her sickness got worse, and...

"Master Naofumi, look what I caught!" Raphtalia excitedly ran up to him.

Naofumi nearly jumped. He'd spaced out for a moment. The girl showed the line of fish she'd caught and hooked to a long stick. He nodded his head at her. "Good job, Raphtalia. I'll see what I can turn this into for dinner tonight." He said, giving her a pat on the head.

Raphtalia smiled widely at the action.

Soon, after cutting the fish into bits and adding different herbs he'd found in the forest, he put a lid on the broth cooking over the fire. Naofumi stayed next to it, occasionally opening and stirring it. He couldn't tell for sure or not, but it looked like the broth was glowing. 'Is my cooking skill affecting it? Damn, this shield is weird…'

Raphtalia watched quietly from the side, her belly rumbling with hunger. She also started coughing into her shoulder again. 'Already? But I just gave her a herbal blend...'

Seeing the way she was suffering, and seeing how she was eyeing the cooking food, he sighed. "Hey, Raphtalia, could you take over cooking for a moment?" He asked her.

Raphtalia looked at him in surprise. So far, he'd handled all the cooking for both of them. "Um, are you sure?" She asked. Tail twitching nervously.

Naofumi nodded. "Just stir it every couple minutes and keep it covered in between."

Raphtalia looked at the pot again, then at him. Eventually, she nodded and took his place.

He watched her for a minute. Making sure she knew how to stir before he got to work.

He laid out the herbs he'd collected so far onto a small flat rock. "Let's see." He muttered to himself, opening up the help guide in the bottom right of his menu.

He skimmed through different options until he got to the crafting and compounding tab, then he found several different tabs from there. His screen filled up with text. "Let's see, medicine, medicine, can I compound medicine- yes! Jackpot!" He found the recipe. "So all I have to do is…"

He picked up a pair of herbs off the ground along with a rock. It wasn't a compounding tool, but it was good enough. He got to work following the instructions.

…

'Damn! This is way harder than the help guide said it'd be!' Another failed compounding creation laid in front of him. He had a leaf cup and some leather flasks he'd managed to craft from some monster skins, but making the medicine itself with rocks was damn near impossible.

He heard more coughing behind him and quickly got back to it. 'I'm doing this to help Raphtalia. I have to learn how to do this.'

…

Finally, the blessed words appeared on his HUD.

Compounding Success! Obtained the following:

Nutritional Pill - Poor Quality

Medicine - Normal Quality

Naofumi sighed in relief as he looked at what he was holding. There was a pill-shaped item in his left hand identified as the poor-quality nutritional pill. And in his right, he held a cone-shaped leaf cup filled with a dark green liquid identified as the normal quality medicine. A leather flask containing the rest of it was laid on the rock.

'Alright, it finally worked… somewhat...' He hadn't been trying to make the Nutritional Pill. But it had come out as a creation for some reason...

'Well, moment of truth.'

Raphtalia coughed into her arm a couple of times when she noticed a shadow falling over her. She quickly looked up in fright, and then relaxed. "Oh, what is it, master Naofumi?" Raphtalia asked curiously.

"Raphtalia, you have to drink this." He said, giving her the cone-shaped leaf cup.

She moved to the side, allowing Naofumi to sit in his original spot again. She sniffed at the contents, and her tail spiked up behind her at the weird smell. "Mmmm…" She muttered to herself unsurely.

"It's okay. It's just medicine. It'll help you feel better." Naofumi said gently.

Raphtalia sniffed tentatively at the cup in her hand again and then, trusting her master, she tried to drink it.

Her eyes widened, and her face turned dark. Trusting her master on this had been a very bad idea! "Peh peh!" She spat to the side. It was the worst thing she'd ever tasted in her life, and that was saying something since slave food was not good food.

"What's wrong!?" Naofumi quickly asked with concern. Had he made a mistake after all?.

"It's, it's so bitter," Raphtalia complained.

...

He sighed in relief and smiled. "Raphtalia, good medicine is supposed to taste bitter. Now come on, drink it up!"

"Wahhhhhh! I don't want to!" Raphtalia whined in childish complaint.

…

"Raphtalia." Naofumi's voice became serious as his smile vanished. "Remember what you asked me earlier? About whether you're going to die or not?"

The tanuki stopped grimacing at his cutting remark and looked down at the tiny cup in her hands. "Because I don't want you to die. I know it's gross, but I promise it'll work."

…

"But, but-" Raphtalia shook. However, she eventually forced herself to drink it. She immediately began gagging.

"No, swallow it. Don't spit it out!" He helped her keep her mouth shut.

Raphtalia somehow choked it down. She began coughing again, but it wasn't from sickness this time. "Whyyyyyyyyy?!"

"Sigh." He sat on the ground. "Was it that hard to do?" He dryly asked.

Raphtalia kept wiping at her tongue. "Why did you make me drink that before dinner?" She complained. "Now everything will taste horrible!"

"Because I said so. Now stop whining about it." Naofumi said, a glint of anger and frustration evident in his tone.

Raphtalia's eyes went wide. She then instinctively covered her head and started whimpering again.

Fortunately, Naofumi was quick to realize why and calmed down. 'Damn it. I was only trying to help…'

Raphtalia was still covering her head with her hands when a warm arm wrapped around her. She looked up at her Master. His other hand rubbed through her hair between her ears comfortingly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blow up at you. I'm just worried. I want this medicine to work. I don't want to worry about your sickness developing into something worse, and then…" He couldn't finish the thought, and he looked to the side. His normally expressionless face holding a trace of sadness. 'Then... I'd be unable to do anything about it...'

Raphtalia looked up at him, her eyes still wide, but not with fear. 'He... he really does care about me.' Tears filled her eyes again, and she tightly hugged Naofumi while crying softly. "I'm sorry, Master Naofumi. I promise I won't complain about having to take bitter medicine again." She cried into his shoulder.

Naofumi looked back down at her. "It's okay... I can already feel your forehead cooling down. I don't think I'll have you take any more medicine for a while." He said.

...

Raphtalia slowly stopped crying and felt at her forehead with her hand. He was right. It didn't feel so hot anymore. In fact, she didn't feel like she had to cough either. She separated from Naofumi, looking at her hands in wonder.

In some ways, this really did feel like a game. Even the medicine worked faster than it did on Earth.

He had to remember that this wasn't a game though. Even one wrong misstep and he could seriously hurt this little girl. "Feel better?"

She nodded. She began smiling up at him again. Her smile, it was so precious...

At that moment, Raphtalia's stomach grumbled again. Naofumi began chuckling as Raphtalia's cheeks flushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-" She tried to say, feeling embarrassed.

"Now that you're feeling better, your stomach is more active than ever," Naofumi said, sounding rather happy. It'd been the first time she'd seen her Master come so close to laughing.

Raphtalia's face turned a darker red from embarrassment, and she quickly faced away. "It's, it's not that! I've just, I've been a slave for a while, and, and now I'm having good food, and, I um-" She tried to say, but she kept on stumbling over her words because of how embarrassed she was. Why did her old stomach have to return now?

"Here. You can serve yourself first. I'll eat whatever you don't want." He said. He took the lid off and dished some of the fish soup into a bowl before handing it to her.

Raphtalia looked down at it, and then up at Naofumi. He was giving her a look that said: 'Go on, I'm not going to stop you.'

...

With that bright smile on her face that was slowly becoming familiar, she grabbed a spoon and started devouring it immediately. He noticed that her eyes, which had looked like a dull-red when he first saw them, looked more lively than ever before. They were starting to resemble a familiar tea he was fond of from back home.

'There, at least now she's starting to act a little more like a kid.'

His happiness was short-lived as he took a sip from his bowl. His smile reverted back to its original frown. 'But of course. Even with my improved cooking skills, I still can't taste a damn thing.' He was going to have to once again force himself to eat another meal. 'The next time I'm able to, I'm going to slug that bitch in the face for taking away my ability to taste any food. It's one thing to have me killed off, it's another to take away the joy of eating.'

Naofumi kept watch during the night. He had his pile of herbs out and was busy trying to turn them into medicine, both to help out Raphtalia and to sell to towns at a later time. Lacking the proper tools though, it was proving to be a long and arduous task.

That didn't keep him from trying though.

Things became somewhat easier after he absorbed another batch of medicine he'd made into his Shield, unlocking the Petit Medicine Shield. It gave him a passive ability that improved the quality of the medicine he made. 'If it really works this well, I wonder how much it would sell for… though I should keep some and continue experimenting. Raphtalia will need more if she wants to be cured of her sickness for good.'

As long as he had every possible advantage he could obtain, he could make living on the run work. He just had to work hard for it. Harder than he'd had for anything else before now. But at least now, he wasn't thinking about turning himself in. He realized he could make this work. He could not only get stronger but find ways to make his and Raphtalia's lives easier.

Things were finally looking up.

...

Sleeping with his green cloak wrapped around her like a blanket, Raphtalia fidgeted in her sleep. Quiet whimpers came out of her mouth at the latest nightmare going on in her mind.

Raphtalia was being carried in the arms of her Father. Both he and her mother were running for the cliff face next to the village. Left and right, other demi-humans were screaming in fear. Some were trying to get the children to safety where they'd be out of reach of the monsters. Others brandished pitchforks, weapons, or magic to fight back against the seemingly endless tide of monsters. There were so many though, and she saw countless people that she'd known her whole life all around, lying on the ground. Their lifeless eyes staring up at nothing as monsters stepped over their bodies to continue their assault.

The kids who hadn't been moved to safety clutched to their dead parents. They cried helplessly over their mangled bodies, begging them to come back. And while her father did his best to cover her eyes, it was already too late. The scene of bloodshed around her would forever be imprinted into her mind. Of both her village and the sky above. Her mom rushed to the children, throwing them into the arms of other villagers while directing them to run.

"Augh!" Her Father grunted in pain when a dog monster with two horns on its head bit into his arm. He managed to make it back away with a quick light spell, and his wife unsheathed a sword at her waist and cut it down. "Keep holding on, Raphtalia! We'll get you to safety!" He yelled at her.

She recognized what they were running away from in the sky. There had been a picture representation of it in the storybook Father used to read to her. It was the large angry-looking swirling circles in the sky that were unleashing all sorts of monsters onto the town below. Her eyes were wide with fear in recognition of what could only be known as the Wave of Catastrophe.

'How can we be safe without the help of the Cardinal Heroes?'

Her parents ran up the cliff face next to the sea that her town was based on. Behind them, the largest, meanest looking demon of them all; a three-headed Cerberus dog was slowly lumbering towards them. Looking around, Raphtalia realized that they were the only targets around.

They were trapped.

Her hands were clasped over her heart. 'No, this wasn't how it was supposed to go. I was supposed to meet the Shield Hero. He was supposed to help.' She thought to herself in fear. 'He was supposed to save us.'

What could they do?... what could they...

Her dad put his hand, covered in blood from the wound on his arm, in front of her. "I'm sorry Raphtalia."

"Huh," Raphtalia asked in confusion, not understanding what he'd meant. When she looked up at him, she saw the face of someone resigned to their fate.

"Raphtalia." Her mother looked back at her. "We only wanted to make sure you survived. Please... find it in your heart to forgive us for this selfish desire." She said sadly, the giant Cerberus lumbered closer and closer.

...

Her eyes widened in understanding, but it was too late. Both of her parents smiled down at her despite knowing what was about to happen. Both of them mouthed the same thing at the same time. The words they'd said to her every night before she went to bed.

Then, her father pushed her over the cliff's edge, and she fell down towards the water below.

A soundless scream came from Raphtalia's lips. Her arms reached up towards her parents.

The two rushed forward. Her Father sent off bursts of light. Her mother slashed with her sword.

The monster's three heads bit down.

"NOOOOOOO!" Raphtalia jumped up screaming, eyes wide open and crying.

Naofumi nearly fell off his rock in shock.

"Nooo, mommy, daddy! Please don't leave me!" Raphtalia cried, her eyes now tightly closed. Her hands flailing blindly in front of her.

"What's wrong?!" Naofumi asked, getting down on one knee next to her. All he got was unintelligible crying in response.

"Calm down. Everything's okay." He said, hugging the little girl to his left shoulder.

"Mother. Father. Noooo." She cried more quietly. "They're both gone. They're dead." Tears fell down her face onto his shoulder.

"Don't cry. It's alright." He said, his other hand rubbing the back of her head gently. Trying to help calm the little Tanuki girl down.

She continued crying softly into his shoulder. The wounds in her mind freshly opened again from the memory turned nightmare.

"Mother... father... why did you have to die... please, come back." Raphtalia whimpered.

'... she lost her parents...'

…

He felt sadness well up inside him again. The pessimistic part of his mind didn't speak up. Even that part of him felt bad for this little girl in his arms. His parents weren't the best… but if he lost them...

"It'll be alright. I'm here for you." He said, slowly comforting the sobbing girl back to sleep.

…

"I promise. I'll protect you, no matter what happens."

Till Next Time

Allen