Chapter Twenty-Eight: Outmaneuvered and Outplayed
The current date was around three weeks before the next Wave of Catastrophe was to hit Melromarc. But the sight of this scene was no where in Melromarc.
No, it was in another country. One that Naofumi had been avoiding for a long while.
"This is an outrage!"
"This is disgraceful!"
"To think Melromarc would sink so low!"
A bunch of demi-humans argued in a large, stone-walled, roundtable conference room at the top of the Siltvelt Palace. The demi-humans were all of different races. Wolf. Elephant. Panda. Lion. And more.
Almost all of them looked very angry after hearing the surviving Hakuko's report.
The lone Royal Knight didn't look too good. She had bandages wrapped around parts of her arms and legs. She had more wrapped around her gut. She looked like she'd gone through hell and back to make it to Siltvelt to give her report on what happened in Melromarc and that was on top of the grief and pain compounded on her from the deaths of her friends. From the death of Dou-Lon...
She stood there silently, thick tears appearing in the corners of her eyes as the sight of her dead friend came to the forefront of her mind. She'd been such a coward, leaving them behind for the birds in the sky and the beasts of the forest to feast upon their corpses. If only she'd been brave enough to give them a proper burial. If only... if only she'd tried to save them before that crazy nun killed them.
The Council members continued to yell and growl over each other.
"The Shield Hero must be saved at once!"
"We must prepare our armies for war!"
"We'll burn Melromarc to the ground for its sins against the great Shield Hero!"
Amidst the calamity of voices, one raised itself above the others. "Please, everyone calm yourselves!"
After a little while, the shouting and growling calmed down. All the different representatives in the room looked to the one who had called for order. "Knight Chen, is there anything else you have to report for us?"
"... No sir, that is all." The hakuko, Chen, fell to one knee, bowing her head to hide the tears slowly falling down the sides of her face.
"I see... You are dismissed then. Please visit the court wizards immediately to get treated. Then you may have time to arrange the funerals for our fallen comrades."
"As... As you wish, Counselor Werner." She painfully bowed deeper, before turning around and leaving the room. Her dark thoughts trailing her like a looming storm cloud.
"Now, my fellow Council Members, this shouldn't surprise us." The demi-human who had been speaking was a Shuzaku male. He had red hair and flashy red feathers on wings attached to his back. Unlike Filo, his hands and feet were somewhat birdlike in his human form. He had a face that made him look young like he was in his 20's despite being much older than that. He was dressed in a black collared robe. With a red and gold symbol like an upside-down water drop on his chest.
Overall, Werner's physical characteristics were like a mix of human and the Japanese Vermillion bird. "The Queen of Melromarc already informed everyone at the Council of Nations that she was dealing with a dark faction in her kingdom. It shouldn't be a surprise that this dark faction is seeking to kill our Great God."
"Werner." A deep voice growled from a demi-human therianthrope that looked like a mammoth. "Did you forget that Hakuko told us that dark faction is our enemy. The Church of the Three Heroes. Do you not care that they are trying to destroy our God as we speak?"
"Yes, I do care counselor Tusk, but that shouldn't cause us to panic," Werner, the Shuzaku, said in a politically neutral tone. "We already feared the worst when none of our representatives were allowed into Melromarc to meet with the great Shield Hero shortly after his summoning. Hearing now that our fears our confirmed shouldn't force us to act rashly." He reasoned.
Some of the other demi-humans muttered to each other. But it seemed his words had reached them. "Fine then. Let us calmly approach this matter." Counselor Tusk said as he sat in his massive seat again.
One of the demi-humans, a lion therianthrope, chuckled to himself. Werner cast a glance at him. The representative of the lions didn't speak up.
"First, we know that the Shield Hero is currently an outcast in Melromarc, and we know that the crimes he has been accused of were the doing of the Three Heroes Church," Werner said. "However, the Queen of Melromarc has politely asked us and the other nations not to intervene. She has told us she is doing her best to aid him, and that our interference could drive the figures seeking to kill our God underground, and allow them to resurface later to harm him or the other Heroes in Melromarc."
"And do you really believe the lies of the Vixen of Melromarc, Werner?"
Werner glanced at the lion therianthrope. "Jaralis. Need I remind you that you and this council voted that I attend the council of nations after the long prophecied Waves of Catastrophe appeared? Would you rather we take a vote to have you go and hear those words from the Vixen herself?
"I can tell you from experience the coldness of her gaze is not something I'd wish to experience anytime soon." Werner said, firmly gazing at the large man.
The lion, Jaralis, growled, but didn't speak more for the moment. He was tall in his therianthrope form. His dark brown mane was like his hair and beard. Looking impressive with his tan-colored fur. He was dressed in a military uniform.
"And regardless if I trust her or not." Werner continued. "I know that going to war will not either of our situations. We lost one war with Melromarc already. The Staff Hero that defeated us last time is now Melromarc's King. On top of that, we have our own waves to deal with, and our current Claw Hero is busy training himself for the forseeable future. To go to war now would be suicide."
"Then what do you suggest we do Werner?" A woman spoke from the other end. She had long blue hair and yellow eyes. Her features were mainly human, but there was a hint of Asian Dragon to them despite her not being in her therianthrope form.
The leader of the Aotatsu. Or the Blue Dragons. Nielsoon.
"I am suggesting not to do anything rash Nielsoon," Werner said in his neutral tone. With the leader of the Genmu away on personal business, and the Hakuko no longer allowed a representative because of the past, he and the leader of the Aotatsu, Nielsoon, were now the main influential players on the Grand Council. "We can't go to war during the Waves of Catastrophe. We especially can't do something that would enliven our enemies to kill Lord Shield."
"Hmm... Like I care what'll happen anyway," Nielsoon said indifferently. She'd never been one to have much faith in the Shield Hero. She currently had eyes for only one hero. "Ever since the last war, my people have been moving to Shieldfreeden. I was merely curious to hear this report before I left to join them."
She received glares from many of the other Council members. Siltvelt was a demi-human nation that honored purity of blood over everything else. Hence their intense discrimination of humans and anyone who was of mixed blood between humans and demi-humans. Shieldfreeden had detached itself from Siltvelt a hundred years ago to make a home for demi-humans and humans alike regardless if one was pure or a mixed breed between a human and demi-human species.
They still worshipped the Shield Hero. But Siltvelt didn't like their neighbor very much for accepting humans and for disregarding the purity of race. Yet, even with their leader leaving for Shieldfreeden, the Aotatsu remaining in Siltvelt would continue to hold one of the three positions of influence afterward when their new representative was chosen.
As for why... That's called politics.
Who really knows why stuff happens when you have such a confusing mess to sort through?
"That doesn't answer the question. What are we going to do about this?" One of the other council members, a werewolf therianthrope, growled out.
"We can't just sit around and sharpen our claws while our God is in danger." Another council member, a kitsune, said seriously.
"It's obvious what we should do!" Jaralis slammed his fist on the table before Werner could respond to the two. "I say the vixen of Melromarc can't be trusted! For all we know, she and the Staff Hero are in on the Three Heroes Church's plans to kill Lord Shield!"
"Jaralis, that is ridiculous!" Werner responded, this time in anger. "The Queen has been helping the Shield Hero! And if the Staff Hero was really in on killing Naofumi too, he wouldn't be wielding one of the seven vassal weapons, whose purpose, may I remind you, is to PROTECT THE BLOODY WORLD and aid the Holy Heroes with the Waves of Catastrophe! And if they turn against the Heroes or the world, another Hero will be called upon to stop them!"
"Bah, how can you be so sure those legends hold all the information?!" Jaralis retorted.
"... Because in our lifetimes, the Staff Hero was called to stop the Claw Hero from conquering the world." Werner said, his voice back to his normal, neutral tone.
...
It was true. All the older Council members knew Werner had just spoken the truth.
"Well, I still say that Melromarc has stepped all over the pride of the demi-humans ever since the defeat of our last King!" Jaralis continued, as if ignoring the logic of what Werner had said. "He set out to conquer the world! He set out to place us demi-humans at the top of the food chain, where we would never be looked down upon or discriminated again! But then Melromarc and its Staff Hero cut him down before he could ever accomplish that glorious triumph!"
Werner was surprised how Jaralis completely ignored his arguments, and how he spoke of the past King with such fervor. He thought the lion hated the Hakuko. He'd never liked King Tai-Lon, and had even voted against reallowing the hakuko race to join the Royal Knights.
Was the lion therianthrope planning something that he wasn't aware of?
"We can't just sit back and watch them commit one last disgrace in murdering our beloved Savior. We must bring him back where he'll be safe! Or we will forever be a disappointment in the eyes of our God!" Jaralis roared out proudly.
The other Council Members besides Werner started to applaud at Jaralis's speech.
"Yes! You're right!"
"Death to Melromarc!"
"Death to the vixen and her squire!"
"Save the Shield Hero!"
"Save our Great God!"
Werner glanced around, his eyes frantic. In the space of a minute, the younger Council members had been swayed. They, like Jaralis, were now calling for war.
'No, this was the very thing Queen Mirellia warned not to let happen!' He forced himself to keep a calm political facade on the outside, even though every other part of him wanted to use a fire spell to blast Jaralis out of the palace.
He couldn't recall in clear details what the Queen had said at the council of nations. However, he did get the paraphrased meaning of her message.
The other Heroes had chosen to stay in Melromarc for the meantime. And while she was dealing with a rogue faction in her kingdom that was antagonistic to the Shield Hero, if anyone attempted to interfere with her kingdom's affairs, they'd be squashed underfoot. Damn the waves.
"Even if we go to war." Werner started again when it was calm enough that he could be heard. "Melromarc has heavy defenses posted along their border to ours. We'd suffer serious losses before we even pierced the country's defenses. Would you sacrifice all those people when we should be focused on our own Waves?" Werner again tried to point out the immediate threat they had to deal with.
"You're right." Jaralis agreed.
Werner was slightly caught off guard. "I am?"
"Of course. Invading from our country would be suicide, and would accomplish nothing. The Wise King of Melromarc saw to that." Jaralis started to smile. It was a cunning smile. One that Werner caught the meaning of too late. "Fortunately, he believes us to not be on good terms with Shieldfreeden. Thus, Melromarc's border with Shieldfreeden is lightly defended. And we have one of Shieldfreeden's new leaders here with us to give her country's permission in allowing our armies to move through their territory."
He looked triumphant upon saying those words. "We'll be able to break through and march on the Capital before Melromarc, the Staff King, or the Three Heroes Church knows what hit them!" He finished proudly.
The rest of the Council cheered/roared/growled loudly at the plan. And instead of looking at Nielsoon spitefully like they had before, they started to look at her in a new light.
Like she was the key to their plan in rescuing the Shield Hero from the clutches of evil.
"I... guess I could pull a few strings." She said nonchalantly as if it didn't really matter to her.
However, a small, barely noticeable smirk rested on her face.
Werner finally realized it. 'I've been played… by Jaralis… and Nielsoon.' He'd wondered why the two had entered the room together earlier before Chen gave her report.
He'd wondered why Jaralis was throwing aside his hatred for the Hakuko now… he'd wondered why Nielsoon had wanted to hear a report on Melromarc when she had shown no interest in the Shield Hero in the past.
It all made sense now. He'd been cleverly outmaneuvered and outplayed before the meeting had even begun.
"I have already presented my arguments for why this would be a stupid path to follow. And now, Jaralis has laid his hand bare. Let us take a vote on the matter," Werner said calmly. It was his last chance. "Who here votes that we listen to what Queen Mirellia Q. Melromarc asked of us and let her resolve the rebellion going on in her country so we don't risk her or the Staff Hero's wrath once more?"
Werner raised his hand. All the Council members went silent. Despite the plausibility of Jaralis's plan succeeding, most of them suddenly looked unsure.
They were in the middle of the Waves of Catastrophe. And there were other factors at play that had to be considered, like Faubley, a nation that had announced itself to be sided with Melromarc. The Staff Hero... or Queen Mirellia herself.
ome of them had negotiated with her in the past, and the Queen was no soft figure to them. She was fierce and cunning, not to mention, deadly… she was one person besides the Staff Hero they were afraid to piss off by disobeying her wishes...
And besides that, she'd also been friendly to the demi-humans. She was the first ruler from Melromarc in centuries to actually try to get to know them. To set up a demi-human district within her kingdom, to encourage trade between their countries. She was the first human in a long time to try and do as much good as she had up till now to mend the rift between their races.
Still, after only a moment, only two other Council Members raised their hands in support of Werner. Both of them were older than the Shuzaku man.
It was a small minority.
"All those who want to use Shieldfreeden as a path to invade Melromarc and rescue our Savior and God before the Three Heroes Church can kill him?" Jaralis asked, mockingly mimicking Jaralis's neutral tone as he raised his hand.
The other remaining council members, including Nielsoon, voted for the affirmative. Two of them still looked unsure, but had ultimately decided this was the path to go. Their faith in the Shield Hero mattered much more than any Queen's or Vassal Wielder's wrath.
It was a clear majority.
Werner grimaced as Jaralis smiled triumphantly. "Should we not wait for the representative of the Genmu to arrive and give his opinion on the matter-" Werner tried to say. If he had the third most influential member of the Council backing him up, he knew that he'd be able to sway enough votes to avoid a costly war.
"We already have a majority, Werner! You know what that means by the laws of our nation!" Jaralis interrupted with a loud roar. "Now, are you with Siltvelt and our great God, or are you a traitor to everything we hold dear?!" Jaralis growled while pointing a sharp-clawed finger angrily at the neutral politician.
Werner grimaced. Not only his loyalty to his own country, but his own faith to his God was being called out.
As much as he wanted to avoid a war, as much as he didn't want to face the wrath of the Queen… as much as he didn't want to repeat another catastrophic loss against the Staff Hero... he had no choice but to cave in to the popular opinion.
"Then we will follow the voice of the majority." He said defeatedly as he lowered his hand. The two other council members, the mammoth, and the lizardman bowed their heads as they also lowered their heads.
"Our claws and our fangs have been sharpened for this day!" Jaralis roared in support of the rest of the Council. "Now, let us prepare our armies! The time has come for us to rescue our God and Savior! The Mighty Shield Hero!"
The audience chamber broke out into applause. Several of the demi-humans rose from their seats to applaud, along with the Guards around the room.
'I can only hope this doesn't lead us to our graves…' Werner thought regretfully.
The Staff Hero had already beaten his people once before...
He hoped against hope the same tragic loss that happened before wouldn't repeat itself again.
Ksch! "Ragrrrrr!"
A guy; dressed in a red sleeveless tunic and beat up silver armor jumped back from the large tree ent's retaliatory swipe. A line of trees was leveled from its swipe like toothpicks. He jumped forward again, a determined look on his face.
"Chaos Spear!"
A dark-coated spear thrust over and over again all over the massive tree ent. The monster shrieked in pain at the onslaught. It continued to scream in anger as it moved to bring both of its long tree arms down on the fast-moving figure.
"Air Strike Javelin!"
A green-colored lance flew into the mouth of the screaming tree. It's scream suddenly cut off and an explosion happened inside its mouth. The massive tree ent swayed side to side in confusion.
"Go, Meteor Thrust!"
A blue portal formed over the swaying monster. And then a blue orb of SP and MP came flying out down at the monster.
KaBoom!
The earth shook from the impact and the following shockwave. A dust cloud formed over the area of impact, blotting out everything from view…
...
It took a moment, but then the heavily breathing figure finally reappeared. Leaning on his spear. "Did… did that do it?"
The dust cleared in front of him. The tree ent laid on its side in a crater made from the skill. Breathing faintly.
"Damn it! Just die already!" He drove his spear one last time into the tree ent's body. It sputtered, and then it finally died.
An experience notification finally appeared next to Motoyasu's head.
"Finally." He started absorbing the large monster into the Legendary Spear. Now that he wasn't moving around dodging attacks, it was easier to see how beat up his armor looked.
His red sleeveless tunic was torn in places. His silver armor looked dull and had cracks along the arms and chest plate. His blonde hair which he normally kept in a ponytail was down and wild. Lastly, his orange eyes looked dull.
Motoyasu was a complete and utter mess...
He finished absorbing the tree ent, and his spear changed shape to the new weapon form he'd unlocked. "Damn it." It had good stats. But… "I knew I shouldn't have wasted the last of my ore using my [Smelting] method on that other spear."
He'd gotten a new spear form a few days ago, and had used the last of the ore he had on hand to smelt it and make it stronger.
He switched to his most powerful spear and checked the monster's drop items in the hero's inventory menu. "Damn it, again." There hadn't been any good drops either. And he didn't have enough monster souls to use either [Status Enchant] or [Spirit Enchant] on the new weapon form.
He was still stuck with the same spear he'd been using to kill monsters over the last week.
"Why isn't this working?... I came out here to get stronger! This is supposed to be one of the best farming spots in this world?!" He raised his head to the sky. "WHY AM I STUCK! DAMN IT!" He screamed so loudly his voice echoed off the mountains.
"Ergh."
"Rrrgh."
At his yell, two large mounds rose up a hundred feet in front of him. Two more massive tree ents who'd been awakened from their deep slumber.
They started to lumber towards Motoyasu, annoyed that someone had woken them up.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAYYYYYYY!"
Motoyasu ran forward into another fight.
A couple of hours later, Motoyasu sat by a fire at his makeshift campsite. He had a half-tent set up between two trees. A pot nearby was preparing a stew made from monsters he'd killed the previous day.
'Damn it… nothing works.'
He'd finally gotten enough monster souls to [Spirit Enchant] his new spear. However, it had only received Attack Up +20. After several more hours of farming, he'd gotten enough souls and trash items that he used to [Status Enchant] the same spear, giving it Strength Up +15.
What a waste. He would have reset the enchantment immediately if not for the fact that he didn't have the materials or souls to enchant it again right now.
He hadn't found any of the ores he used to for his [Smelting] method. And unless he moved to an area with weaker monsters, he wouldn't be able to use the new spear and use his main upgrade method to make it stronger. [Weapon Mastery]. The more he used a weapon, the more its stats would increase as he became familiar with it.
'I hate this…'
" I wouldn't call someone like you a Hero." Albert said as he calmly approached, holding his weapon to the side.
"You didn't protect our village during the Wave of Catastrophe. You didn't help to clean up your mess after the wave was over. You haven't even done your job as Lord. You've done nothing heroic in our eyes. All you've done is hurt the people we care about."
'Get out of my head…'
Motoyasu couldn't get the scene out of his mind. The scene of where it'd all gone downhill. Where his time in another world had strangely ground to a halt.
Albert shook his head, as if in disappointment. "You may hold the Spear of Legend, but you aren't a hero to us. If you want to make us happy, then take your Party and your knights, and leave our town!"
"Urgh!" Motoyasu got up and started to pace his campsite.
He couldn't forget the look of anger on the King's face! He couldn't forget the disappointment emanating from that NPC! He couldn't forget all the fair maidens he'd seen looking out from their windows, scared of him.
He couldn't forget. HE COULDN'T FORGET!
'I'm supposed to trust my friends! I'm supposed to trust Myne… ... ... ... but... but all I've done is hurt others... every choice I've made has only led to hurting others... if I can't trust my friends, then I can't even trust myself! I... I...'
Most of all, his final departing thoughts from before he left the Capital hadn't left him.
No matter how many monsters he slew. No matter how many nights he spent by himself in the mountains… no matter how many travelers he protected… no matter how many fair maidens he saved from bandits… no matter how much he focused on becoming stronger...
Nothing helped.
Nothing... HELPED!
He still didn't feel like a hero. He still didn't feel like he was getting stronger… he still didn't know if trusting his friends would lead him to become a hero or not.
His party settings showed the girls in his party. Elena, Lesty, Myne... and some girl named Rino. The name was oddly familiar. She'd only been a party member for a day before disappearing. The rest of his party claimed that she couldn't handle it.
Either way, he didn't really care. They weren't receiving experience since he was so far away. Without his help, they'd had to work on their own to raise their levels from the 40's to the low 60's. They must have been working hard, just like him who was close to level 69…
At one point he would found it a funny joke to share with them. Now, he wondered if he could ever trust them enough to work with them again?...
He could have kicked them out at any time… he could have gone solo and forgotten that he'd ever been friends with them... yet he couldn't. For some reason, despite everything that had happened, a part of him still held out hope. A part of him still held out that trusting his friends was the right thing to do…
And yet, another part doubted them. And another part doubted himself. Were his friends really that trustworthy, or was he the untrustworthy one? Were all those mistakes they'd made, taxing a town into revolt, failing to guard relief supplies against bandits, unleashing a cursed plant on a town… had it all been their fault? Or had it been his fault because he wasn't strong enough or smart enough to do anything meaningful?...
"Don't try to pin your blame on my daughter!" Motoyasu went silent at the King's words. "You are just as much to blame as she is! To think you'd go off and lead her to do such incredibly foolish acts in the name of royalty!"
Motoyasu hung his head. The Wise King's words rang in his ears. What could he possibly do?
…
Motoyasu's head jerked up. "Who's there?!" He stood up, holding his spear in front of him.
…
"Relax, Sir Spear Hero." A figure dropped lithely from the trees. She was dressed in black robes. A rosary hung around her neck.
He recognized her. She'd been among several who'd given him information about what was going on in the kingdom before he'd disappeared.
"How'd you find me here?" Motoyasu asked.
"We've known you were here for a while Sir Motoyasu. However, we did not feel the need to interrupt you before now." The Church Shadow answered.
"You mean, you've known where I've been at all this time, and you never even thought to help me out while I was struggling!?" Motoyasu angrily asked.
"We didn't feel it necessary to interrupt your training. Have you not greatly improved since your self-imposed exile without our help?" The Church Shadow asked.
The Shadow did have a point. Motoyasu might have been naive at times, but he was no idiot. While he'd been focusing on upgrading his weapons, he'd also focused on becoming more familiar with them and improving his techniques.
He wasn't an expert spearman in any sense of the word. But he wasn't the same hopeless loser he'd been before at least.
"I don't care if you're a fair maiden or not," Motoyasu said ill-temperedly. While he might have gotten better, he was still mad. "You can stay the hell away! I'm doing fine all by myself!"
The Shadow remained silent. "I'm trying to get strong enough to get back in the good graces of the King, the people, and all the fair maidens in this land! And if you're just here to observe, then you can &^%$ off! I'll do it all by myself if I have too! No one will hold me back! No one!"
"But aren't you the one holding himself back?" The Church Shadow asked.
Motoyasu opened his mouth to reply, but nothing would come out. He scowled instead and turned away. "I don't have time to listen to this." He hefted his spear and started to walk for the forest again. Monsters were tougher at night. But they normally gave more experience and better drop items too because of it. He'd rather do night hunting then have to listen to some stupid Shadow.
"We located the Shield Demon."
Motoyasu stopped. '... Naofumi…' Those villagers had looked to Naofumi as a hero… Ren and Itsuki had supported Naofumi after he lost his duel… and that girl he traveled with… genuinely loved him despite how evil he was!
It pissed him off. Naofumi was scum! And yet, Naofumi had been treated more as a hero than he had! It filled Motoyasu with envy that a demon such as Naofumi could have the true love of a beautiful maiden and the appreciation of a town of people while he had nothing.
Maybe that was the reason why the townspeople had revolted against him. Maybe that was the reason he'd abandoned that food cart to bring the seed that ended the famine... Maybe that was why the seed had mutated and caused so much trouble! Naofumi must have used the powers of his shield to mutate the seed himself. He must have used his shield to persuade Ren and Itsuki to stop talking to him!
Of course, that had to be why this was happening to him. Why he was forced to live in exile and live on his own! It had to be why he was doubting his friends! It was all Naofumi's fault!
A sinister aura started to hover around Motoyasu's spear.
"We aren't entirely certain. But we believe we might have found someone matching his description southwest of the Capital. Several squads of knights are on standby, but they need a hero to lead them if we want to have hope of ending the Shield Demon's influence. Will you help us, Sir Motoyasu? Will you help us capture the Shield Demon once and for all, and become the true hero of Melromarc?"
… Motoyasu's fist clenched around the haft of his spear. … "Let's go." He angrily said.
It was time to settle the score. It was time to pay Naofumi back for everything he'd done... and to show how much stronger he was compared to him.
All his power-up methods had been geared towards increasing his strength and attack. If Naofumi still thought his immovable shield could hold it's own against his irresistible spear...
Then he had another thing coming.
"Is this the place?"
"Yes, Sir Ren," Tersia nodded her head. "Come on, help me out with this Farrie." She called back to the other green-haired mage.
"Why do I have to help? Can't you just ask Bakta?" Farrie asked with a groan that made the older mage smile.
"Because Bakta wasn't taught how to open this door," Tersia said.
"What door?" The large man asked. They were facing a brown wall of the Three Heroes Church. There were triangles engraved on it, each one smaller and inside the others. Ren was facing the smallest one, which was just a little taller than him.
"You see what I mean?" Tersia's smile turned into a smirk.
"Fineeeeee." Farrie smirked as she moved next to her blonde mage friend, and the two raised their hands up. Ren observed them with Bakta and Welt standing beside him. Bakta crossed his arms and frowned, wondering if he'd just been teased again.
A glowing pentagram with symbols on it appeared in front of the mage girl's hands. The wall in front of them began to glow with light.
After a moment, the light faded. The two smallest engraved triangles on the wall had disappeared, showing a passageway that led down under the Church.
"What the-!" Bakta took a step back in surprise, but Welt's hand slapped over his mouth, cutting him off.
Ren simply nodded his thanks to the two girls. "Well done."
The Sword Hero knew this wasn't a game, but it appeared that this building still matched up with his game knowledge. This passageway would lead down to a secret archive below the Church. In his game, players that discovered this passageway would go down to take a quest from the church librarian to find rare lost books in return for gold.
However, he was coming here for a very different reason.
"You were right," Wyndia said behind him. "Well done."
Ren nodded, and together, he and his party started to descend down the stone steps.
"I can't believe the time we spent training to be nuns actually came in handy," Farrie commented.
"We could have brute-forced the entrance if we needed to," Bakta commented to himself.
"But then we'd attract everyone with all the noise it'd make," Welt replied.
"And this is supposed to be a stealth mission. Not a 'look at me, I'm a noisy noble idiot' mission." Tersia teased.
...
Batka grumbled but didn't respond back to the jeer.
Wyndia remained silent as she followed behind Ren. Ren looked back to see her holding a ball of fire in her hand to light the path.
At level 38, Wyndia still didn't look much different than she had when they first met. Her light brown hair was still in the same french braid style as when Ren had taken her in. She'd hardly grown an inch, if she'd grown at all. She hadn't experienced any rapid growth like Raphtalia had.
Ren didn't know what that meant. Did Wyndia's race not age up with levels? Did they age up later than other demi-humans?
Had Wyndia not aged up because she was already around his age?
He didn't know what it was. What he did know was that he'd long since learned that Wyndia wasn't a weak small child. And there were some differences in the dog girl compared to before.
She was almost a full head shorter than Ren, but she now stood as confidently as a dragon. Her face looked more full than when they'd first met.
Her chest hadn't grown much, but her legs and butt had filled out. Her classic outfit had been modified with sections of light metal armor over her arms, torso, and the top of her legs. She still had her katana, and alongside fire magic, Ren had learned she was also capable of casting Support magic. Though it appeared to be something that she was struggling to learn.
There were some differences, but it was uncertain if they came from aging up, or from finally having a diet that didn't consist of mainly meat, with the occasional fruits or whatever she got on her rare trip to Mirso when she was with Gaelion. Ren didn't want to ask though. After all, he didn't want to accuse the dragon of accidentally malnourishing his adopted daughter with only meat.
Did dragons only eat meat? He'd have to ponder that another time.
In their spare time, she trained with her blade under Bakta and Welt while tackling magic training with Farrie and Tersia.
If Ren had still been treating this as a game, he would have put Wyndia in the middle of the formation. Not so he could protect her, as he'd long since learned she didn't like being coddled and would slap him if he tried. No, the reason was that her abilities allowed her to fight either on the front lines or the back depending on where she was needed.
It still felt like she was glaring at him from time to time. But, he couldn't help but think she'd started acting differently around him compared to before Leruno. He didn't know what it was. And if it wasn't for the importance of the task they were doing, he would have given more thought to the dog girl following behind him.
…
After a moment of silence, Ren and his party reached the bottom of the stairs. Then, after walking down a short hallway, they came out into the Church Archives. A large room lined with bookcases on both sides.
The librarian's desk at the end was empty.
"We need to find the information the Three Heroes Church is hiding about Naofumi," Ren said, before looking to his party. "Spread out."
"Yes, Sir Ren." His party members separated to the various shelves.
Ren approached one shelf and grabbed a random red-bound book with a symbol of the four Cardinal Weapons on the cover. He opened it and grimaced when he saw the unfamiliar characters.
Perhaps he should have Farrie or Tersia teach him how to read in his spare time? Though he didn't know when he'd ever have time to do that.
He remembered the first time he'd seen a sign in Melromarc's language. It hadn't really bothered him that he couldn't read it since he could remember his favorite game like the back of his hand. Now, however, it was really starting to bug him.
He set the book in his inventory. It had the four Cardinal Weapons on it, so it might be important.
"Hey, I think I found something interesting here."
"What is it Bakta? Did you find some dirty magazines or something?" Tersia teased.
Bakta gave a dirty glare in her direction. "No, it's something about a replica weapon or whatever."
"Why do you sound unsure? Can't you read it and find out?" Tersia asked curiously.
"I'm the fifth son of a noble! I focused more on training instead of reading and writing since I thought it was more likely for me to be in the military instead of inheriting and running my Father's estate." He said in his defense.
"But as a noble, you could have become an officer. And then you'd have to read reports and send messages." Tersia said.
"..." Bakta stood in silence after that. He couldn't come up with a single comeback to that.
"Sigh, you're so worthless sometimes," Farrie said with disappointment.
"Excuse me for thinking I'd never have to read thanks to my older brothers!"
"Cut the chatter. You're going to wake up the whole Church at this rate." Welt said at a different bookshelf before Ren could intervene. He was looking through book after book trying to find something important. At least he could read.
"Here, at least let me see it," Tersia said as she approached Bakta.
"Alright, but I don't want to be teased about my poor reading skills in the future-" Bakta was saying.
A book dropped to the floor. Everyone looked in the direction immediately.
Wyndia was standing by one of the last bookshelves. Her normally reserved face held stunned surprise. "No…"
"What is it?" Ren asked worriedly as he approached. The rest of the party also walked over.
Wyndia quickly composed herself. "I… I found something." She picked the book up off the ground.
There were no characters on the book's cover binding.
Wyndia opened the book as the rest of the party gathered around her, and she began to read the paragraph where she'd left off. With the way it was written, it looked like a journal.
"... The first Shield Hero came from another world during the Waves of Catastrophe alongside two Vassal Heroes. The Claw Hero and the Hammer Hero. Adding them to our Whip and Carriage Heroes gave us new hope in fighting off the waves of Catastrophe and uniting the world... but with them came mankind's greatest eternal enemies... the demi-humans."
"What is this?" Welt asked, sounding surprised.
"It sounds like some hidden history or something," Farrie said to herself.
"It's not any history I've read before," Tersia commented.
"History, that sounds boring," Bakta said boredly.
Slap! "Ow!" Bakta held the back of his head where Tersia had slapped him.
"If you don't want to be slapped, either stop with the dumb comments or put your helmet back on," Welt told him.
"A helmet won't stop a magic-user," Tersia said.
Wyndia continued. "They were humans with animal features that came from the Shield Hero's world. At first, they appeared harmless. But then, we soon realized they had the ability to age and mature as they leveled. This presented a major threat to our country Piensa that was even greater than the Waves of Catastrophe themselves.
"With such an ability, they could raise an army of soldiers twice as fast, maybe even thrice as fast then normal humans. If left to grow, they could pose a serious threat. Our goal was to become the leaders of the world, but that would be impossible as long as humans with their aging abilities stood in the way.
"We thought we could easily eradicate them with the chaos that'd been caused by the combination of worlds. A few had even defected to us to help us in destroying their brethren as they'd been enemies. The Bow Hero seemed willing to help… but the Shield Hero did not."
No one commented anymore. They all stared as Wyndia continued in a serious tone. "The Shield Hero claimed to fight to protect everyone. However, when he learned of our desire to eradicate the demi-humans, he showed his true colors. He tricked us, saying he'd lead the demi-humans into our trap. However, he instead led our enemies away under the guise of night. Using the power of his shield, he helped the whole population to escape to the land known today as Siltvelt.
"We sent our forces soon after to conquer the Shield Hero and his new nation, but we were repelled. Worse, our armies almost completely disintegrated into chaos. For the Shield Hero, Mamoru, didn't fight fair. Instead of having the weak demi-humans he ruled over fight us, he instead gathered a horde of powerful monsters with his evil skills and led them against our defenseless soldiers, completely taking them by surprise... because of our losses, and because of the threat of the waves, we were unable to move against them again until long after they'd established themselves in their lands. It was too late for us to eradicate the menace to our world and ensure our rise to power over every country in the world."
It was silent in the room…
Wyndia closed the book. "To paraphrase the rest, while many humans in different nations looked at the Shield Hero's actions as a means for helping the demi-humans to establish themselves in our world, those who eventually formed the Three Heroes Church branded the Shield Hero as a devil for this. And they have spread the false doctrine that demi-humans came as abominations from humans mating with monsters ever since. That is the real history of what happened. The history the Three Heroes Church has been hiding from the world."
"Demi-humans aren't the offspring of monsters. We are a variant of humans that came from another world."
...
"Wow... we were never taught that, were we Tersia?" Farrie asked, genuinely looking surprised.
"We weren't, and to think they were hiding this..." Tersia frowned to herself as she put a hand to her chin in thought.
Ren also thought about what Wyndia had read. This, this would explain why the Church hated Naofumi so much. Their plans for world domination had been ruined by the actions of a past Shield Hero.
But then... why had it only mentioned the Bow Hero? Who were the other Heroes that'd been listed? What had the Spear and Sword Heroes been doing at that time?
"It sounds like the Church has been hiding things from its followers," Ren commented. It gave some answers, but also raised far more questions.
"Let's take this with us. Maybe if the people hear about this, they'll realize that the Shield Hero isn't a devil and-" Wyndia was saying.
A fireball hit the book in Wyndia's hands, causing her to drop it. The old dry pages burned so quickly that it was like it was incinerated instead of burned. Ren and the rest of the party turned in surprise.
"My, it is unfortunate we didn't decide to burn that book sooner." Pope Balamus commented. He had a retinue of Church Knights and Mages with him that quickly moved to surround Ren's party in the corner of the room. He calmly approached, holding a strange glowing gold sword in one hand. "After all, it was filled with old blasphemies. It appears to have polluted your minds just as it has with others who sneaked a look at its contents."
"Uh oh," Bakta muttered.
"I told you you were too loud," Tersia whispered to the party's tank.
Before they could argue, Ren held up his sword. "Transport Sword!"
A notification popped up on his status magic.
Warning: Unable to teleport due to outside interference!
"But… how?" Ren said in surprise.
The Pope calmly smiled. "Melromarc has entrusted the Three Heroes Church with the nation's Dragon Hourglass for generations. Did you really think we wouldn't have learned how to keep false heroes from escaping using its power in all that time?"
Ren held his sword up in a defensive pose. Welt and Bakta took up positions beside him, while Wyndia stood next to Tersia and Farrie in the back. Ren did his best to remain calm while hiding his frustration. That'd been his only backup plan for in case they were discovered.
In his game, there'd been special areas where he wasn't allowed to teleport. But he'd never thought that was something the Three Heroes Church could control.
"It's too bad really." Pope Balamus said with a smile. "Out of all the Heroes, you seemed like the most capable Sir Ren. You killed a Dragon Emperor. You've taken down several squads of bandits. You even resolved the plant crisis in Leruno. Your heroic actions have won over people in ways the other Heroes have been unable to accomplish.
"I was hopeful that you'd continue to be useful... But it seems that you have proven yourself to be just as false as the late Bow Hero. A disappointment really."
Ren's eyes slightly widened. "What did you do to Itsuki?"
"The false Bow Hero has been taken care of. As of now, they are but corpses to society. And you and your party are nothing but walking corpses in our eyes. A mere afterthought in God's grand design for this world."
Ren's calm facade cracked as he visibly staggered. He closed his eyes tight to keep tears from clouding his vision.
If Itsuki had been killed…
"Y-You won't get away with this!" Welt said angrily.
"Now now, walking corpses aren't supposed to talk. Please stand still and allow us to purify you." Pope Balamus said as if it was a joke. "Before we get to purifying your souls, however, I would like to thank you for returning my property to me." He said, pointing his sword to Wyndia. "I'll make sure she doesn't run away again. After all, as an abomination with the blood of a hero running through her veins, it is required that she receive extra purification if she ever wishes to be able to see the face of God."
"Meteor Slash!"
Ren sent the high-powered skill flying at his Excellency.
He raised his own weapon. A glowing gold sword. "Reflect Slash." He said calmly. His sword glowed brighter, and, with ease, he knocked Ren's attack to the side.
Ren's attack slammed into a bookcase, destroying it.
The Sword Hero looked stunned at how easily one of his strongest attacks had been deflected. And by something he recognized as one of his own skills. "But... how…"
Pope Balamus continued to smile and held the glowing sword at his side. "It is a simple explanation really. But I've wasted enough time as it is."
Ren noticed the Pope's sword was glowing less for some reason. Before Ren could think more on it though, His Excellency calmly gave the order to his knights and mages.
"Kill them."
With a loud cry, the Church Knights charged forward.
End of Arc 2
Hero Clips!
How to Bluff
"Hi, Allen here, before your scheduled omake, let me say: this extra scene is based on only the anime version of the Replica Weapon his Excellency uses against the Heroes in that long-drawn-out fight Naofumi uses Blood Sacrifice in."
A blurred spoke in a hallway of the Church. Time was frozen around him.
"You see, the light novel Replica is supposed to contain the MP of hundreds of years worth of loyal followers. There is no need for the followers of the present to supply their magic to it because it already has enough magic power contained in it to split a mountain. However, this omake makes fun of the anime version of the weapon."
The blurred figure bowed. "Now, on with the show."
The figure disappeared, and time resumed in the hallway of the Church. A nun rushed across the corridor and pushed open a large door.
"Your Excellency, I spotted the Sword Hero entering the Church Archives."
Pope Balamus looked up from his desk in surprise. "What?! Why didn't you stop him?!" He asked the nun.
"I... I thought that he'd been given permission to go down there, but I went to you just in case-"
"Of course I didn't give him permission! Do you think me a fool?!" He angrily asked. "Get me the Replica Weapon!"
"But, what are you planning-" She started to ask in fear.
"Get me it, and have every follower start to contribute their magic to it immediately! We'll need every ounce of it we can get if we want to stop a catastrophe from happening!"
"Yes, your Holiness!" The nun quickly bowed before hustling out of the room to fulfill his orders.
Pope Balamus sat in his padded ornate chair, thinking to himself. 'I wasn't expecting the Sword Hero to do this. If he's in our Archives, my doubts must be correct in that he's aligned himself to help the Shield Devil. Now I have to take extreme measures to make sure he is eliminated. But the Replica Weapon is the only thing powerful enough to face him. And it requires the mana of many followers to use even once... I doubt I would even be able to swing it more than once with the amount of followers currently in the Church... what to do... what to do...'
Eventually, an entourage of Church Knights came with the Replica Weapon in hand. Pope Balamus took it and went down with them and several Church Mages into the Archives, still trying to think of a plan.
"But... how…"
Pope Balamus continued to calmly smile and held the glowing sword at his side. 'Yes! It worked! There was just enough mana for me to deflect his skill!'
He'd been trying to hold the picture of calmness the whole time but had inwardly worried there wouldn't be enough mana in the weapon for him to use it. Now, he looked super awesome and bad&^% after deflecting one of Ren's most powerful skills.
"It is a simple explanation really." Pope Balamus said calmly.
"What is that explanation then?" Ren demanded.
'Oh, er, um...' He kept the calm mask plastered to his face. Checking the weapon over, he saw there wasn't enough mana for him to use another skill like that again for a long while.
"Kill them." He ordered the knights.
"Aren't you going to answer my question?!" Ren angrily demanded. "You can't just show up with an OP weapon and not have an excuse for how it works-"
"You are but walking corpses." Pope Balamus calmly said. "An explanation of this weapon's properties would be wasted on you." He bluffed.
'Now, quickly, take him down while he still thinks I'm a major threat!' The Pope thought fearfully as his knights and mages attacked.
Because if Ren and the others realized that he was bluffing, he'd be in serious trouble.
Till Next Time
Allen