Chapter Thirty-One: Backstory of Luge Faubley
Naofumi was confused for a moment. The Knight Eclair stared at him from her bed while the Shield Hero's mind processed what she'd said.
Though his head still ached, Naofumi's brain recalled something. Remembering part of the conversation he'd overheard between Bitch and the nun long ago.
"But Princess, what about those adventurers who signed up to work for the Shield Hero?..."
"It was only a few demi-humans and some knight from Seaetto that wanted to help him. The knight has been arrested and jailed in the castle dungeons for murdering her assassin..."
Naofumi looked at Eclair. "... You're... the knight who was falsely imprisoned by that Bitch Princess for wanting to help me," Naofumi said.
Eclair nodded. "Yes."
...
Naofumi looked stunned. "And you've been here... ever since..." It had been over two months since that day. "... Ever since the day I was summoned?"
"... Yes." Eclair said sadly after a pause. "You are the first person in months that I've seen… other than the knights tasked with bringing me my meals."
...
Wow. If he'd been forced to live alone for that long… if he hadn't had Raphtalia to help him, he had no idea where he'd be right now. Physically, or mentally. "How has no one else been able to see you? Family… friends?"
"My father was the only family I had left before the Wave killed him," Eclair said. "And since we're likely in the lower levels of the Castle Dungeons... where royal brats can keep people like me hidden away so their schemes aren't interfered with... it's likely none of my former comrades know that I'm here."
Did the King even know one of his knights was being held down here? Or did he not care because Eclair had wanted to help Naofumi.
Eventually, Eclair sighed and rubbed a hand to her head. "I'm sorry, Sir Shield Hero." She apologized. "I'm not normally this bitter."
"It's Naofumi." He said. Sir Shield Hero reminded him of what Bitch had called him. "And you don't have to apologize. I'm plenty angry myself."
He was angry with 'never my fault' Motoyasu. He was angry with the stupid Trash King. He was angry with the knights and religious fanatics of this kingdom.
Oh, and he was angry with Bitch. He couldn't forget that. He was always angry because of Bitch in one way or another.
"And anger won't get us anywhere. All it did for me was this." Eclair shuffled her cuffs up, revealing scarred skin on her wrists from when she'd pulled endlessly on the chains in an attempt to free herself.
'... Ugh…' Eclair had a point. Getting angry about being able to do nothing was only making his headache worse.
He almost wanted to sleep it off and see if that'd help or not.
Eclair curled her legs up and hugged them. "I never imagined this would be how I'd first meet you, Sir Naofumi."
He barely took notice that she wasn't dropping the Sir title. "You never thought that we'd meet as prisoners, chained up, sharing the same cell?" Naofumi asked sarcastically.
She nodded. "Growing up, I'd always wondered what it'd be like to meet the great Shield Hero. Would it be on the field of battle, or would I meet him as he went through a field hospital helping the injured? I pictured a thousand different scenarios where I'd be lucky enough to meet him… but I never could have imagined our first time meeting each other would be in some dark, lonely cell."
"Ha, I doubt anyone would expect to... did you say you wanted to meet me before?" Naofumi asked in surprise.
"Yes? Is that wrong?" Eclair asked.
Naofumi didn't answer for a moment. According to his knowledge, Melromarc worshipped the Three other Heroes. So why would some random knight ever want to meet him, much less, help him?
He still had a headache, but he put it to the side for the moment. It was time to get some answers. "Why?"
Eclair took on a nostalgic look. Thinking about a time from long ago. "II grew up in Seaetto. When I wasn't training with a sword at my Father's manor, I was in Faubley training to be a knight or visiting Lurolona Village to spar with a friend of my father's living there. In both places, they respected and worshipped all the heroes equally. But Lurolona did tend to focus their worship on the Shield Hero...
"Because of them both, I didn't grow up indoctrinated to think of the Shield Hero as a Devil. Instead, I was taught to look at him as a great hero... That's part of why I wanted to meet you. I wanted to see what a real hero looked like." Eclair admitted.
Naofumi had several more questions forming in his mind. Was Faubley another country or a city in Melromarc? Were there actually places in the world that worshipped all four heroes equally? Had she ended up here because she wanted to meet him? However, the last question was the main one bothering him. "Was Lurolona Village the demi-human village hit by the first wave?"
"Yes."
Naofumi gulped. "Then that means it's the village that the Knights destroyed."
Eclair went wide-eyed and uncurled her legs. "How do you know about that?!" She asked.
"Because…" He wasn't sure how much to share at first. Hell, he still couldn't believe the odds. His cellmate across from him was the one and only Knight who had been falsely imprisoned by Bitch because she'd signed up to help him out. And somehow, he'd ended up being placed in the same dungeon cell as her. And not only that, she knew of Raphtalia's home.
Whether that was so it was easier to keep watch over the both of them or because of some actual divine intervention, he wasn't sure.
"One of my party members is a demi-human from that village. She told me some of what happened during the wave and after." Either way, the Shield Hero felt that he could kind of trust her for now.
Eclair's face melted with... relief? "Thank the Gods. Some of them did survive…
"Did you think they were all dead?" He asked.
"Yes… after what I heard, I thought nobody from the village was left alive…" Eclair said sadly while looking down at the ground. "I thought all the people my Father died trying to protect from the wave had been killed. And that his sacrifice for them had been in vain… tell me, how did you end up meeting her?"
"I bought Raphtalia from a Slave Trader," Naofumi answered. "She and some of her friends weren't killed by the Knights, but were sold off into slavery."
...
Eclair's face hardened with anger. "They what?"
"Enslaved kids. Yeah." Naofumi sighed. "You can blame the Trash King for that since he hates demi-humans so much,"
"King Aultcray is not Trash. And he would not allow such an act to happen, Sir Naofumi." Eclair said.
…
Naofumi glared at Eclair.
To think he'd been talking with this skank.
"He is a piece of Trash. He's tried several times in the past to have me thrown in here. He doesn't care about the lives of his people. He forced me to run and hide from place to place. And now I'm stuck in here waiting for a trial that won't happen, and I'm not being allowed to fight the Waves, meaning people are going to die when I'm not there to protect them. How could you defend him and say HE ISN'T TRASH!?" Naofumi yelled angrily.
…
Eclair looked to the side. "I cannot claim to know all that you've gone through... You are right that King Aultcray doesn't like demi-humans. His dislike for the Shield Hero would stem from that."
...
She redirected her gaze firmly to his. "However, that isn't all there is to his Majesty. He does care about his people. And I can tell you with certainty that he didn't order the attack on Lurolona Village." She corrected him. "He would never do such a thing."
"And why do you say that?" Naofumi spat.
"Because he made a promise long ago to his wife that if he tried to do anything bad that affected the people in Seaetto, he would lose his title as royalty, and be as the dust under her feet."
...
Naofumi looked baffled at what she'd just said. "But, but that makes no sense-"
"Melromarc is a matriarchy Sir Naofumi," Eclair answered. "King Aultcray may look like the ruler for the moment, but when his wife returns from the International Meeting with the other nations, she will be the one in charge again. And if he had ordered the attack on the demi-human region, she would punish him in ways you couldn't imagine..."
...
Naofumi was silent for a moment. Her answer only led to more questions. Questions he didn't know if he wanted the answers to or not. "... But, but I assumed he ordered the attack on that Village since it was knights that did it."
"Were they Royal Knights, or Church Knights. Were they Mercenaries dressed as knights, or knights from the nobility?" Eclair asked. "There are more variants of 'knights' than just those under the country's command."
Eclair leaned back against her stone wall as Naofumi thought what she'd said over. "And what do you know about King Aultcray Sir Naofumi? Do you think he would risk breaking a promise and lose his status as King just to kill and enslave a small group of people?"
...
Naofumi opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to think of something to say. Other than the fact that the King hated his guts and the guts of demi-humans, there wasn't really that much to the guy. He'd never really had a heart to heart with the guy, and for good reason. He'd never bothered to talk to anyone about the King because the royalty of this country seemed downright rotten…
Hell, he'd probably heard it once or twice before, but he hadn't really taken note of the Queen before since she probably was like Bitch...
Naofumi's head started to hurt again. "I… I don't know what he'd do…" He admitted.
...
He eventually looked up. "Do you know why he hates me and demi-humans so much?" He decided to ask.
"Yes. But it would require me telling you a story about a part of Melromarc's history so you'd understand." Eclair said.
…
Naofumi sat back against his stone wall. There were still other things he wanted to ask her about, but they could wait. He'd put off learning these details for long enough.
"Might as well explain it. Since we're kind of stuck here." He said sarcastically.
Eclair smiled a little at his words. "I'll tell you what I can remember my father telling me," Eclair said, settling herself as comfortably as she could on her stone bed.
"King Aultcray first came to recognition a couple of decades ago, back when Melromarc was at war with the nation of Siltvelt."
The prison cell faded away, showing a land different from Melromarc.
"Melromarc is a country well known for its mountains and forests. But Siltvelt is well known for its wide variety of ecosystems thanks to all the different demi-human species that live there,"
"Deserts where Lizardmen thrive in the extreme temperatures."
The scene showed a city in the middle of a desert. Demi-humans with lizard-like skin walked the streets. The males were dressed in only a white robe covering their lower half. And the women were dressed the same, with the addition of a leather vest covering their chest ending just above their midsections.
"Underground systems that Lumos over generations painstakingly dug out with their own hands and magic."
The next scene was that of an underground city. Low lit lanterns adorned the walls of streets. Barely lighting the short mole-like demi-humans going about their underground business. The ceiling up above was lost in darkness hundreds of feet above.
"Lakes, rivers, and the ocean where the Orca and the Genmu reign."
The next scene showed an underwater city in the ocean bordering Siltvelt. Here, demi-humans with turtle-like shells on their backs swam from one place to another. Large, armored, human-shaped killer whales patrolled the fortifications on the outskirts. Holding harpoons and other underwater weapons while they kept watch for any sign of danger against the city.
"Tall mountains that house the Aouatsu near their peaks, and the Kitsunes near their base."
The next scene showed mountains, taller than anything shown in Melromarc. Near their peaks, instead of a city, were small huts. Out of one of them walked a human. She was short, and had blue-hair that flowed past her shoulders. Yet she fearlessly jumped off the cliff of her home.
Partway into the freefall, the woman quickly transformed and turned into a large, roaring, Azure Dragon. She leveled out and flew over a marvelous marble city at the mountain's base.
"The most abundant type of land in Siltvelt, however, is its plains. Miles, and miles of plains. The home for the Hakuko, the Shuzaku, the Dog, the Lion, and many other species of demi-human, including formerly, the Raccoons."
The scene first showed miles upon miles of plains. Some of the plains were untamed, and some were farmland. Little kids with raccoon-like ears and tails played with tiger-like, wolf-like, and lion-like demis. Chasing after kids trying to escape into the air using their underdeveloped wings under the watchful eyes of caring parents.
In the center of it all was a marvelous city built on a hill in the center of the plains. The city looked to be surrounded by layers of terraces. Each one housing a different section of the city and a different environment fit for the race living in that section of city.
The architecture of the place was amazing. Adult demi-humans of various kinds shouted out their wares to the tiger-like Hakuko, the Wolfman therianthropes, the winged Shuzaku, the shelled Genmu, and the various other demi-human nationalities walking the streets of the Siltveltian Capital. Large, armored, demi-human therianthropes patrolled the streets keeping an eye out for trouble.
"Okay, how does this all relate to the King?" Naofumi asked.
"I'm getting there Sir Naofumi. While Siltvelt is currently governed by a council of all the various demi-humans from these various areas, the norm is for them to be led by a King. The last King was a Hakuko, the Claw Hero Tai-Lon."
"At first, he was fine with only ruling his country, and treated other nations amicably. Soon, however, he sought to expand his lands, and brought death and destruction to the countries around him."
The next scene showed the palace in Siltvelt. A large demi-human that looked more white tiger than human roared out orders to his soldiers. Lashing out with a very long set of claws attached to his hands to empathize them.
The scene then expanded out, showing the nation of Siltvelt and its surrounding neighbors. One by one, these nations fell to the onslaught of the fearsome Siltveltian army, led by their ferocious Hakuko leader and his strongest warriors.
"His goal was simple. World domination. And the eradication of normal humans so the supreme races would rule all."
The scene focused on a small village. The army that had been protecting it was in retreat. A little girl cried on her fleeing mother's shoulders while reaching out towards her Father. Who was held dead in the grip of the Claw King. Behind Tai-Lon was a massive army of demi-humans roaring in victory.
"At first, Siltvelt appeared unbeatable… they were winning battle after battle, slaughtering everyone in their way…"
The scene showed a struggle in a valley. The various demi-human soldiers of Siltvelt were pushing a human army into a corner. Their victory looked assured.
"And then, when it seemed like no one could stop them, His Majesty appeared."
A lone figure appeared on the rise above. The human army looked up and started to cheer. The Siltveltians, who had been on the verge of victory, stopped to look up themselves. The young figure lowered a staff down at the opposing army.
"Drifa Chain Lightning!"
A lightning spell came out from his staff, striking through a legion of Siltvelt's soldiers. They fell like limp burned rag dolls. "Now!" At his signal, reserves appeared behind the Siltveltian army. Secret Ballista and Catapults that had been concealed around the valley appeared and unleashed volley after volley on the surrounded and trapped army.
The army that had been about to clinch victory began to retreat. But even that was cut off as Aultcray unleashed a powerful Earth Spell that closed off the entrance to the valley. Siltvelt's army was boxed in by the smaller, yet superior force.
The young Aultcray watched calmly as, mere moments later, the enemy army finally surrendered. The combined army of Melromarc and other nations cheered, having accomplished their first victory against Siltvelt.
"Aultcray, at the time, was the head of Melromarc's military. No one was sure where he came from, or what his family background was, yet he'd worked his way up through the ranks. And his wisdom and his intellect alone were so great that he managed to turn the face of the whole war around. Suddenly, a foe that had seemed unbeatable was glaring with weaknesses. Environmental issues for certain races of demi-humans. Unprotected supply lines. Ambush sites perfect for hit and run tactics.
"His Majesty found so many advantages that the enemy was almost resoundingly beaten every time. He planned everything down to the tiniest of details, ruining the plans of others before they could ever think of a counter-attack that could slow him down. Nothing of the sort had ever been seen before. I am unsure if anything like it will ever be seen again."
The scene showed Siltvelt and the territories it had conquered marked in red on a map of the world. Slowly, those previously captured territories turned to blue. Marking where Aultcray turned the tides of the war around.
He outmaneuvered enemy armies. Struck Siltvelt in places where they least expected it. And overall, sowed panic and confusion amongst the ranks of Siltvelt's greatest warriors and leaders.
"My Father liked to tell me of those days. How the King would fight alongside his soldiers, and how he'd fight so strongly against the demi-humans he faced… that drive drove him from battlefield to battlefield... from place to place... Till one day, four years after the war had started, he had the majority of Siltvelt's armies along with their King trapped in a valley near their border."
Aultcray stood in a general's tent. He was deliberating with his commanders over a map of the valley that led into Siltvelt. Blue flags indicated where his army was positioned along the valley, keeping the red flags representing the enemy army pinned down. Aultcray was going over the plans with his commanders, who were giving him every piece of information their scouts had acquired about the enemy forces. From their numbers to their level of morale.
Eclair's Father. A man dressed in armor with the same strawberry blonde hair as her, stood among his closest commanders and advisers. Taking stock of the whole situation.
"The plan was to strike a critical blow against their forces. A blow that would force the enemy King to surrender, and make the subjugation of the rest of Siltvelt easier…"
"If we launched brush close to their positions here, we could use fire magic to cause them to smolder and smoke them out." Lord Seaetto suggested.
"That could put our mages at risk." Another commander said.
"Unless we fired the brush over with our catapults. It'd be a simple task attaching it to large rocks so we'd get them to land where we want."
Aultcray and the others pondered over the potential strategy.
"But then one day, when my Father and all of Aultcray's other commanders were planning what would be the final attack… something happened that the Wise King hadn't accounted for."
A soldier ran into the tent suddenly, looking out of breath. "General!"
Aultcray stood at alert, all the knights in the room grabbed for their swords, expecting an attack. "What is it?" Aultcray asked. "It'd be suicide for them to launch a counter-attack now with the way our forces our positioned around them."
The messenger took a moment to catch his breath.
"It's…"
...
"It's your sister…" He finally managed to say. "Her convoy. She's… she's…"
Aultcray's full attention was on the messenger.
His lips moved, but the words weren't caught.
...
Aultcray's eyes started to widen. "No… NO!" He ran out of the command tent, pushing Lord Seaetto and the others out of the way.
"Wait, General Aultcray-" Some of the commanders tried to yell for him to stop. His heart-rending scream, however, echoed off the mountains around the valley into eternity as he ran into a portal formed by his staff.
"LUCIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The scene returned back to the cell. Eclair looked up at Naofumi. "What... what happened after that?" Naofumi asked.
Eclair looked down at the ground again. "His sister, behind his back, had been meeting with a delegation of Siltvelt demi-humans. One of them was one of Tai-Lon's younger sons. They'd claimed they wanted peace, and they'd met several times in the past with Lucia to forge a peace treaty together that'd end the war.
"She had been on her way to see him to get the details of the peace treaty finalized. And during her journey, she and her guards were ambushed. Aultcray rushed from the battlefield to the sight of the attack using the power of his staff, but he arrived... too late. The carriage transporting his sister had been torn to pieces. Blood was all over the scene. His sister Lucia… her body was never found. And no one knows what's happened to her since."
…
The silence that followed was deafening.
…
Slowly, the words sank into Naofumi. "You're saying... the reason King Aultcray doesn't like me... or demi-humans..."
"Is because he believes they were the ones that killed his Sister," Eclair said calmly.
…
"Please, continue," Naofumi said seriously.
She took a shuddering breath. "Since Aultcray believes the demi-humans killed his sister, and since the demi-humans treat the Shield Hero as their God, in his mind, he links you to them as his enemy. An enemy that could harm his current family just like they did back then."
…
Naofumi sank down on his stone bed.
It didn't excuse his actions… yet he could understand the way better than before. He couldn't imagine how traumatizing that might have been.
Not that it'd make him ever have a heart to heart with that garbage. But he could understand… had anyone kidnapped or killed his brother, he would have never forgiven them or anyone connected to them.
"While Aultcray had been searching for his sister, Tai-Lon managed to lead his army out of the trap Aultcray had set up for them in the valley. Dragging an already long and bloody war on for another two years." Eclair said sadly. "The toll on everyone was tremendous. After losing his blind sister, the Wise King was never really the same. He pinned all his anger on the demi-humans. And that anger eventually rubbed off on some of his commanders.
"He couldn't just beat Siltvelt anymore. He wanted to make them suffer. He wanted them to know the pain he was experiencing. Because of that, his plans became more rash. His soldiers were put into riskier scenarios compared to before. The armies of Siltvelt were finally able to counter him, and the war became a stalemate for a long while up until the final battle. Where Aultcray unleashed the full power of his anger and his Staff against the Claw King."
Naofumi found himself picturing it. A major battle. Both sides screaming and roaring for each other's blood.
And one man in the midst of it all. His hair likely white even back then. Screaming in anger as he unleashed death on anyone in his way.
The thought chilled him to the bone.
"The final battle of the war was a slaughter unlike anything else both sides had ever seen. It was a battle so fierce that my Father said the heavens themselves quaked in their boots. The Hakuko fought bravely alongside their King, as did every other race present... but in the end, after many Hakuko had been killed, Aultcray dueled and killed the Claw King Tai-Lon. Forcing the rest of his army to surrender, and bringing the war to an end."
Eclair sighed. "After that, Queen Mirellia, who'd married Aultcray sometime during the war, led the negotiations between nations for a peace treaty." He wanted to ask about Queen Mirellia, but he sat, still remaining silent. "During the process, the majority of Siltvelt's representatives blamed the war on the Raccoons. Claiming they had been the ones to convince Tai-Lon to start the war by using Illusion magic to twist his mind. The Hakuko had been devastated by the war, but still, a few of them tried to speak out, saying that Tai-Lon hadn't been twisted into the war and he'd done it for glory and honor for their race. But those that spoke out to defend the scapegoat race were exiled from Siltvelt along with all the noble Raccoon families. The commoner Raccoons that couldn't afford to be exiled were instead enslaved and put to forced labor, and have been ever since."
That was an unexpected piece of information Naofumi hadn't expected to learn.
'So… the reason why Raphtalia was considered unworthy… was because a bunch of people in power decided to blame one race for a bloody war?!' Naofumi hated Siltvelt even more now. Being a scapegoat was something he was very familiar with.
Just when he thought things in the world couldn't get any more stupid, he was proven wrong. A whole nation possibly hated his demi-human companion just because of her race.
Despicable.
"Fortunately, as part of the peace treaty, Queen Mirellia managed to take most of these refugees along with many of the other outcast demi-humans who spoke out against the cruelty of the Council's decision into Melromarc to form a demi-human friendly region in my Father's domain. As long as Siltvelt would similarly form a safe region for humans inside its borders, peace would remain between the two… I will admit, my Father told me that the Wise King hadn't wanted to agree to it. But because he loved his wife and daughter more than ever after the loss of his sister and would rather have peace so they'd remain safe, he agreed. He made her the promise that he wouldn't try and interfere with the region, or else his life would be in her hands." Eclair breathed a sigh of relief. "That's everything I know."
...
"... Fine. So he has his reasons to hate me." Naofumi admitted grudgingly. He would have said Trash, but he found it likely Eclair would scold him if he called him that after hearing some of the King's own tragic backstory.
Plus, the other information Eclair had mentioned helped him to understand more about the world than he had before. In a way that made him hate it more.
Would he ever learn something that'd make him want to stay here?
"I'm sorry, I haven't spoken to anyone in a while." Eclair suddenly apologized. "You probably didn't need to hear all the history relating to the Siltvelt War. It's just been awhile since I've had the chance to talk with someone. And the guards won't talk to me or let me do any sword training, so I'm always cooped up in this cell without anything to do-" Eclair began speaking quickly.
"It's fine." Naofumi dryly interrupted her. "I didn't need to hear all of it. But I did learn some important things."
...
Eclair breathed deeply to calm herself.
It was at this point Naofumi realized something. They'd been taken so far off-topic he'd forgotten to ask. "Now that you've gotten that out of the way. How about you tell me how you ended up here?
"Alright." Eclair thought for a moment so she could explain more simply. "Before the first wave struck, I was supposed to be part of the Queen's personal guard for the conference about the next Waves of Catastrophe.
"However, on our way there, I had a bad feeling, and I got my Queen's permission to return home. The Wave was to hit any day now, and... I wanted to be there, on the low chance that it impacted my Father's region.
"By the time I made it back, however, the wave had already hit. The Seaetto region had been badly hit. Lurolona was completely destroyed, and the nearby town where my Father and I had lived..."
...
...
Naofumi stared as the knight choked on her words.
"The Knights guarding the roads to the region weren't allowing anybody inside. They told me everything had been destroyed, and wouldn't let me do something as simple as retrieve my Father's remains," Eclair muttered, her hands forming fists. "They said the area was unsafe for someone like me. So I tried going to a nearby town outside my Father's region to send a message through the guild. My goal was to contact the Queen and receive her permission to use her authority to be able to enter. However, I was told she was too busy dealing with the other countries who'd realized the danger of the waves and were in an uproar about it. So I tried to get in contact with her personal Shadows, but found they were busy dealing with other matters. There was nothing I could do..."
So her Majesty also used Shadows. Interesting. Why hadn't he seen any working for her before now?
"What happened after that?" Naofumi asked.
"I eventually returned to the Capital two weeks after the wave hit. There, I tried to seek permission from the Knight Commander to be stationed at Seaetto. But I was told only elite knights were being allowed in the area to dispatch of the monsters. I then tried to tell him I was one of the Queen's personal elite knights, that I was the best swordswoman in the nation, and that I could handle myself. I then added that as the daughter of the former lord of the area, it was my right to oversee my property and everything in it."
Her hands formed fists again. "He had the gall to laugh at me. And told me that if I didn't leave him alone, he'd have me escorted out. Whether I was the daughter of that lowly demi-human loving Lord or not."
...
It was a moment before she spoke again. "I should have realized by the way he talked about my Father that something was very wrong. I should have realized it..."
She calmed down and looked back up. "I soon found myself in the Three Heroes Church. I'd wanted to find a way of letting go of these feelings of frustration, and though I'd never thought much of the Three other Cardinal Heroes as I did the Shield Hero, I found myself sitting in one of the pews to pray for help and guidance."
Eclair sat in a soft-seated pew inside the Chapel of the Three Heroes Church. In front of her was an altar with the rosary symbol on the front. Behind the altar was a stained-glass depiction of the Sword, the Spear, and the Bow. Making a triangle around the rosary of the Three Heroes Church.
The chapel itself yelled money and power instead of humility and faith.
"Oh Gods, please, soften the hearts of my commanding officer. Please, let me see if my friends are safe, and let me retrieve my Father's body so he can be at peace." Eclair's head was bowed, and her hands were clasped fervently in prayer in front of her. "I will do anything. I just ask for a miracle to happen, so I may go and-"
"Lady Altara, have the King and the Pope come to a decision?"
Eclair stopped praying and looked up curiously as one of the doors near the altar opened. A middle-aged nun came out with a young acolyte.
"They have. The Pope has, at last, managed to convince his Majesty of our dire need." Altara responded to the acolyte. "Soon, our best mages will be using the rare artifact we've kept for centuries to summon our Gods back to our world," Altara looked up at the stained-glass depiction of the rosary. There was a look of excitement on her face.
Eclair found herself stooping lower in her pew. Hiding from sight so she could listen in.
The Gods… were they… talking about the Cardinal Heroes?
"I learned that the Pope was working together with the King to summon the Cardinal Heroes of Legend without the permission of the Queen. The last wave had struck Melromarc, and according to the Hourglass, the next wave would strike Melromarc within the month. They'd need all the help they could get if they wanted to survive the waves of Catastrophe." Eclair said in the background as the nun and acolyte talked in quiet tones to each other. Summarizing what Eclair had overheard.
"This is great news. But what'll happen if the Shield Demon gets summoned with the other Cardinal Heroes?" The acolyte asked curiously.
Eclair raised an eyebrow at that. But continued listening in.
"Do not worry, my child," Altara said, resting a hand on the younger acolyte's shoulder. "Even if the Shield Demon is summoned, I'm sure it'll be easy to keep him from getting in the way of the Cardinal Heroes. After all, the Pope sent me along with many of our Church Knights to the region of Seaetto for that reason."
...
Eclair's blood ran cold. "The Pope, in his infinite wisdom, saw he would convince the King to go forward with the summoning if it truly looked like the Wave had destroyed an entire region of our country. And thus, to weaken our enemy and strengthen his benevolence's argument, he sent me to lead the Church's loyal Knights, knowing I would make sure with my abilities in magic that no word of our deeds would ever get out to anyone." Altara said gently as if she were talking to a child. "And I did just that. Those that survived the Wave of Catastrophe have been dealt with. And those not loyal to his Benevolence saw nothing but complete and utter destruction upon their visit.
"Not even the King knows of our plans child. All will be well."
Eclair waited a little while longer as Altara finally turned away from the rosary. "Come now. We still have a little more to do before the preparations for the summoning are complete." Altara said to the acolyte, walking back to the door. "If the Shield Demon is summoned, we'll have to make sure all our plans are in place. There's so much left to do... I must speak with our informant inside the castle to make sure all is ready before we go forward with our plan to destroy the Shield Demon, once, and for all."
"... Yes, my lady." The acolyte followed.
Eclair was left alone in the room. Sitting quietly in the pews. Her eyes filling with tears. "No…" She finally started to cry.
Not only her Father. Her lizardman friend. And everyone else she'd sparred with... they'd all been killed.
Only, they hadn't been killed by the Wave, like her Father.
"I was overwhelmed with grief, unlike anything I'd ever felt before… but after overhearing what that nun said, I knew what I had to do."
Eclair wiped her tears away, stood up with a serious expression on her face, and walked out of the chapel.
"Instead of going to inform my Queen, I made the choice to stay in the castle and see which heroes would be summoned. Despite my grief, I knew if the Shield Hero was to be targeted that I had to be there to assist you.
"I hadn't met you, but I knew I couldn't let you die. So I stayed in my quarters in the castle until the time came when you and the other Heroes were summoned."
The scene changed, showing a calm Eclair disguised in normal knight armor, standing guard beside a pillar. With her hair tucked away, she looked like any other ordinary knight.
She watched as the throne room doors opened, and as the Cardinal Heroes of Legend walked in. The Sword Hero, the Bow Hero, the Spear Hero… and lastly, the Shield Hero.
"Seeing that you had been summoned, I knew what I had to do next."
Eclair walked in, standing guard with the other knights in the throne room. Watching as the Heroes introduced themselves. Watching until the meeting was over.
Then, she quietly returned to her quarters. Where she got rid of the bulky knight armor and put her own armor back on.
"The call had already gone out that adventurers were needed to assist the Cardinal heroes. And so I went to the Royal Knights that had been assigned to sort through the adventurers that wanted to fight alongside the Cardinal Heroes. They wanted to give me some trouble about signing up to join the Shield Hero's party, saying I wouldn't be able to meet him for a few days, and I… persuaded them not to mess around over important matters."
Eclair calmly stood by an upturned desk. Some adventurers peeked out from the line, looking at her in surprise. She had the two still surprised Royal Knights roughly pressed against the stone wall of the castle. Convincing them that continuing to get in her way would be a very bad idea.
"When everything was done, I went back to my quarters to prepare for the next day. The day I was supposed to meet you and become a member of your party."
The scene changed again, showing a large room in the castle. Eclair was kneeling next to her bed, whispering her prayers under her breath before she'd turn in for the night.
"Please, protect me from harm. Protect my comrades from harm. And help me to be able to do my duty, and-" In the middle of her praying, she suddenly stopped.
"I don't know how I realized it, but… I thought I was in great danger."
She stood back up, pulling her sword from her sheath. "Who's there?!"
Eclair held her sword threateningly in front of her, looking in the darkness around her. She had a strong feeling that she was being watched at that moment. But she couldn't tell why.
…
Eclair lowered her sword point slightly. Then she started to shake her head to clear it. The stress of tomorrow must have been getting to her. She began to turn back to her bed-
Her body reacted before her mind did. Her sword moved, deflecting a black dagger that appeared from the darkness. Before she could yell, she had to jump to the side, avoiding a second and third one that immediately followed. They dug deep into the wall behind her. "Stop!-" She tried to yell but quickly raised her sword again to block another thrown dagger.
In desperation, realizing that she didn't know how many daggers her attacker had and that the person was trying to kill her, she jumped forward, moving her sword in a wide-sweeping arc.
The move worked, and she felt her sword tug through flesh. In the darkness in front of her, the would-be assassin fell backward away from her.
Eclair quickly lit a lamp, revealing a black-robed figure who was quick to get back up. He kept a grip on his dagger this time, and Eclair barely avoided the stab to her shoulder. The man proceeded to move rapidly, trying again and again to slash at her.
Yet Eclair skillfully blocked or parried all of his strikes. And when he overextended on a strike that left him open, she slashed the man across the chest.
The blood from both wounds stained the floor. Yet the man kept his grip on the hilt of a fifth dagger. In his other hand, the assassin was gripping a rosary. "Who are you? Why are you trying to kill me?" Eclair asked angrily, pointing her sword at the assassin.
The figure coughed up blood, looking up at Eclair with hate. "All those… that support the Shield Demon... must… DIE!" The assassin somehow jumped forward despite his injuries. Trying to stab at Eclair with the dagger.
On instinct, Eclair evaded and thrust her sword backward through the assassin's heart from behind.
A dying gasp escaped the man's lips, and he slumped forward.
Eclair quickly pulled her sword out, and the assassin dropped to the floor. She was breathing heavily, filled with adrenaline from the sudden fight. An exp notification appeared in her vision, and she realized with sinking horror that she'd just killed another person.
Yet, even as that thought occurred, another one quickly followed it, making the knight freeze in terror. 'All those who support the Shield Hero... THE OTHERS!'
She quickly opened her door and ran out into the hallway. Booking it towards the rooms where the other adventurers were being housed until the morning.
She opened the door to the room, and her heart stopped at what she saw.
'My… Gods…'
There were signs of a struggle in the room. Claw marks on the floors and walls. Small pools of blood here and there on the ground. But no sign of the demi-human adventurers.
Wherever they'd been before, they were all gone.
Eclair felt sick to her stomach. This, this went beyond what she'd been expecting. Such barbarity, and all too...!
'I have to warn the Shield Hero.' Eclair realized.
The first part of the scheme she'd heard about, her reason for joining the Shield Hero's party, had already been put into motion.
She quickly ran away from the area, heading in the direction of the Hero's Quarters.
Eclair turned another corner and nearly ran into Princess Malty. "Princess!" Eclair said in relief. "It's not safe for you here! There are assassins, in the castle," Eclair said, sounding out of breath.
"Assassins?" Malty said curiously.
"Yes! One of them was in my room. I killed him, but the rest kidnapped the adventurers for the Shield Hero's party." Eclair continued to explain in between breaths. "The Heroes… they're not safe here!"
Eclair made to run past Malty, but Malty got in her way. She had a smirk on her face now. "Did you just say, you killed one of these, 'assassins' in your room?" Malty asked for clarification.
"Princess, I have no time for your games," Eclair said impatiently. "I need to warn the Heroes before-"
"It seems you know too much about what's going on," Malty said, smiling bitchily. "Sorry, but I can't have you warning the Shield Demon about my plans."
Eclair backed up. Why was the First Princess acting this way?
"Arrest her!" Malty ordered.
Before Eclair could realize whom Malty was talking to, she was grabbed from behind by two knights. "Wait! What did I do?!" Eclair screamed angrily.
"It's obvious you hold the same evil as the Devil of the Shield in you," Malty said haughtily. "You killed someone in cold blood. The body in your room is evidence!"
"What are you talking about!? The person in that room was trying to kill me! What I did was self-defense as a knight to your Mother Queen-" Eclair screamed angrily.
"Take her to the dungeons! Just for mentioning that false queen, she deserves to rot in a cell." Malty said dismissively.
Eclair barely noticed the rosaries around the necks of the two knights that were pulling her away. "Princess Malty!" Eclair screamed.
One of the knights knocked her out, making her world go black.
The scene moved back to Eclair and Naofumi.
...
...
...
Naofumi honestly didn't know what to say after hearing that.
Eclair looked down at the floor. She had realized it shortly after she woke up in this cell almost two months ago.
The nun had said she had an informant inside the castle helping them. She'd realized too late though that the informant could have been a royal. A scheming, backstabbing, manipulative royal who lied and cried crocodile tears on a daily basis to disguise her true intentions.
She had been a fool to have not run away from Princess Malty.
"I failed to protect you. I failed to protect those who wanted to support you. And worse, I was unable to inform you of the princess's or the Church's scheming in time Sir Shield Hero." She finished sadly. "I'm truly sorry for all the trouble I caused to you..."
…
"Well, actually… I have some stuff I need to tell you now." After everything he'd heard, it sounded like Eclair needed some good news in her life.
They'd only met, but he found he could already trust her. So he proceeded to share with her what had happened ever since he'd been summoned to this world.
He started with how Bitch had joined his party under the guise of Myne. Then he told her how he'd learned about her scheming in time to escape. How he'd bought Raphtalia and then Filo to help him while on the run, leveling up, surviving the waves, becoming the Nocturnal Doctor, and so on from there till the moment when he was captured.
When he finished almost an hour later, Eclair looked stunned at hearing his story. "By the Gods. I'm surprised the King didn't try to have you executed outright instead of throwing you down here."
"What makes you say that?" Naofumi asked.
"Sir Naofumi. As I told you before. Melromarc is a matriarch country. Raping a woman in Melromarc alone is punishable by death. Being accused of raping a royal and running away from your crime..."
She left it hanging. But a chill struck Naofumi to the bone. "… you should be dead ten times over." Eclair said. "Any rational father alone would want to kill you."
"Are you saying the King actually wants to keep me alive then?" Naofumi asked.
"Yes. Either he realizes that your death would anger the other nations. Or that it would anger the Queen. Perhaps both. So the best he can do right now is hold you here until her Majesty returns to give her verdict on the matter." She frowned. "Still, to think you had to go through all that."
"Yeah, it's been tough, but it hasn't been all bad." He said in a surprisingly optimistic tone. He felt a lot better now. It even felt like his headache from earlier had almost disappeared. "If it hadn't been for what had happened, I would have never met Raphtalia or Filo. I probably wouldn't have ended up getting so close to either of them... I just hope that they're okay."
He worriedly checked his HUD again to see if they were ok. They looked to be ok since the various gauges were still full
It didn't feel the same. He wanted to see them both… he wanted to hug them. Let them know that he was okay. That he wasn't alone in some dark cell with nothing to do... even with Eclair there, it didn't feel okay without the two of them beside him.
Especially Raphtalia...
"... How much do these two mean to you?" Eclair asked quietly.
Naofumi wasn't sure or not, but it seemed like Eclair was a little shy as she spoke. "Well, I mean, Filo, for all her faults, is like my daughter now." He answered.
"And this girl, Raphtalia?" The knight pressed.
Naofumi frowned a little. "I'm still not entirely sure. But I know she loves me... and I feel something similar for her… I honestly don't know. But it feels clearer every day, so I think I'll know eventually."
Now Eclair looked... disappointed. "I've honestly never thought much about girls before because of stuff in the past. So I'm not sure what my feelings are exactly… But…" He frowned again and looked to Eclair. "Why do you ask?"
"... it's nothing." She shook her head. "I prefer sword training anyway."
That was out of left field. Naofumi had no idea what the comment was supposed to mean. Why even ask that question only to follow it up with something like that?
He then groaned. His headache, which had felt like it was receding, was coming back with a vengeance.
Eclair heard him. "Is there something wrong Sir Naofumi?"
"Nothing… it's just my head…"
Eclair quickly pieced together why. "With your defense stat, they probably used tranquilizer or something similar on you to knock you out and transport you here. If your head is still hurting, the only thing that'll help is to sleep it off so the rest can work its way out of your system."
Naofumi was still confused about some stuff. He wanted to ask more questions. Like what was Queen Mirellia like? Would she be a possible ally? But his head was really starting to hurt like hell, and he honestly felt very tired.
And as grim as the thought was, there was always tomorrow since he had nothing better to do trapped in this stupid cell. So he laid back down. "Alright... and Eclair."
"Yes, Sir Naofumi," Eclair responded.
"I'm sorry it's because of me that you were put down here. But... it means a lot to me that there were people at the start that wanted to help me." Naofumi admitted.
...
…
…
"You're welcome, Sir Naofumi." Naofumi heard as he was drifting off to sleep.
The pain faded away as Naofumi fell back into dreamland.
A small figure and a large figure peeked out from behind a tree in the darkening night.
"There it is." Ahead of them were the gates to the Capital. With the coming night, it looked like the knights were preparing to close them.
"Mommy, are you sure Filo can't bring the wagon along?"
"Yes, I'm sorry sweetie. But it's too big for me to sneak in."
"Awwww…" Filo looked back at the area where she and Mommy had hidden the wagon. It was covered in branches and mud. 'And Filo spent so much time polishing it so it'd be nice and shiny…'
A wagon was approaching the gates.
"You ready, Filo?" Raphtalia asked.
Filo looked at her wagon a moment longer, then nodded to Raphtalia. Raphtalia climbed onto her back and clutched to her neck feathers. "As source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature, and hide us from sight." Raphtalia quietly chanted. Filo bent down as Raphtalia selected the both of them on her HUD.
The knight on guard started to talk to the driver of the wagon.
"All Hide Mirage."
Raphtalia's magic covered herself and Filo. Immediately after the spell was in effect, Filo ran out from the cover of the trees towards the gates.
The knight was in the middle of talking with the driver of the wagon when a whoosh of air suddenly blew past him, springing him to alertness. "Who's there?!" He pointed his pike around, looking for whatever monster had caused the gust of air.
There was nothing around him.
"Is something wrong?" The wagon driver asked.
"Hey, Roark, is something going on down there?" A knight from the wall up above yelled down.
The knight looked around for a moment more. "No, I'm just getting tired." The knight said while rubbing at his eyes. "Welcome back, Second Princess." The knight directed the wagon in. "I don't think any other travelers will be out at night. Let's close the gates!" The knight yelled up above.
"Right away."
Inside, behind a farmer's stall by the wall near the South Gate, Raphtalia reappeared from her magic spell. She had a hood over her head to hide her face. Filo also reappeared as a little girl next to her. "What now, mommy?" She asked quietly.
Raphtalia gripped one of Filo's hands gently. "We're going to find an old friend. One you haven't had the chance to meet yet, Filo." She said quietly.
It had been a while since Raphtalia had last been in the Capital. Most of the streets she and Filo quietly walked were unfamiliar. Knight patrols appeared every now and then, forcing the two of them to hide and watch quietly from the Shadows hidden from the light of hanging lanterns.
Raphtalia wished that she was searching for Naofumi. But she had no idea where they were hiding him. She also couldn't sneak around in the dark forever trying to find him. She needed somewhere in the Capital where she and Filo could rest, find out where Naofumi was being held, and then formulate a plan to rescue him. And Raphtalia knew of just the place…
...
At last, they arrived in front of the door of the place she'd been looking for.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
…
The door slowly opened. "Now who in the blazes are you to knock this late at-" Elhart stopped speaking in surprise. "Little miss, is that you?"
"Yes, it's me, Elhart," Raphtalia said, smiling at the sight of the kind blacksmith.
"What are you doing back here? Why isn't Shield Bro with you?" Elhart noticed Filo. "And who's the little girl?"
"I can explain. But not out here." Raphtalia told him.
"Yeah… yeah you're right." Elhart was a smart man and quick to read the situation. He opened the door the rest of the way. "Come in. I'm sure there's a lot I need catching up on."
Raphtalia and Filo entered the kind blacksmith's shop, and he closed the door before a patrol rounded the corner on the street. They passed on by, unaware that the Shield Hero's party members had just gone inside.
Elhart could already tell he was going to be in for a long night.
"Now tell me, what happened, and why the hell is Shield Bro not with you?"
"Thank you for the ride, kind sir."
"No problem Miss. I'm always happy to help out royalty." The wagon driver who'd last been seen at the South Gate snapped his reins and left the little blue-haired girl behind.
She calmly, and tiredly approached the castle doors. It'd been a long journey on her part. Made all the longer by an unintentional detour she'd taken. But she'd finally made it home.
Before she even reached the doors, however, they opened. King Aultcray came rushing out.
"Daughter!"
"Father!"
The two embraced happily. The stress of the journey quickly became worth it as the young girl hugged her loving and caring Father for the first time in months.
"Oh, my dear Melty. I've missed you so much." King Aultcray said, happiness clear in his tone.
"I missed you too Papa." Melty smiled brightly for him.
They stayed in their embrace for a moment longer, and then Aultcray separated to look down at her. "What brings you back so soon dear daughter? Is everything alright abroad?" Aultcray asked worriedly.
"Mother gave me permission to return home a month ago to see you, Father," Melty said happily. "Sorry, the journey took so long. But I ran into some issues on the way here."
"You can tell me all about it later." King Aultcray said, noticing his daughter's tiredness. "I'll take you to your room. There you can rest, and we can talk more in the morning."
"Okay... Before that though, I must ask about the current whereabouts of the Shield Hero." She said. "Mother wanted me to check in on how things were going in that regard."
...
King Aultcray's smile was replaced with a grimace. "You do know where he is, do you Father?"
"Yes, my dear. But first, you should rest-" He tried to say.
"Father. Please don't hide things from me." Melty looked at him insistently.
...
"He was captured recently by the Spear Hero. He's currently being held in the dungeons while evidence is gathered for the crimes he is accused of." Aultcray could never resist his youngest daughter when she looked at him like that.
"... alright." Melty thought to herself. "I shall rest in my room for the night. But in the morning, I will meet with the Shield Hero myself."
"But, Melty, he hurt your sister, it wouldn't be safe for you to try and see him-" Aultcray was about to burst in anger. But then, he could never be angry with either of his daughters. So he managed to control his tone. "I can't let you meet him. He has done terrible things, dear daughter. Things you aren't old enough to-"
"I know what rape is, Father." Melty said calmly. "You forget that Mother has taught me how to defend myself from such advances. Though, me and her are both at a loss for how the Shield Hero, a hero recorded in history books the world over to have little in terms of attack power, and who had just been summoned to our world, could have raped the First Princess when she was level 20 when I left."
...
Aultcray stared, dumbfounded at his daughter. "Father, I do not know if the Shield Hero is guilty or not. I would be just as angry as you if it is true and he hurt dear sister. But whether he has committed any crimes or not, we cannot afford to antagonize the Cardinal Heroes during the Waves of Catastrophe. Besides giving me permission to see you, Mother also wants me to verify the Shield Hero's innocence on her behalf. And should he have committed the crimes he's been accused of, then he should be punished. But if he's innocent, he should be freed as soon as possible."
"But... why would Mirellia do that?!" Aultcray looked genuinely worried. He'd already lost some of his family in the past. What if... the Shield Hero tried to do something to his young daughter while she was with him and-
"Father. You know we need the help of all the Cardinal Heroes if the world is to survive the Waves of Catastrophe. The other nations are mad that Melromarc summoned them all. And Mother has had to deal with the consequences of that the last few months."
"Do you really want Mother to come back after dealing with that political fallout only to find that you've made a further mess of things during her absence?"
...
Melty's face softened. "I say this only because I love you Papa. Please, let me help you."
...
"Alright." King Aultcray relented. If it had been anyone other than his own family, he would have refused. But like Malty, he could never say no to Melty. It was probably his greatest weakness.
He couldn't say no to the wishes of his daughters. "You can meet him yourself tomorrow morning. After you've rested tonight. But I plead with you to be careful."
Melty hugged her Father again. "Thanks Papa." She looked up to him and began to smile again. What Mirellia had told her to tell her Father was done.
"Will you escort me to my room? There is much I have to tell you about my travels before I go to sleep." Melty said happily as if the former subject had never been brought up. "And it's been such a long time since you told me a bedtime story!"
Aultcray started to smile again. "Of course. I'm sure you've seen some interesting things since you left. And I'd love to hear about it while I tucked you in like old times."
The two walked through the castle doors. Heading down the main hallway as they talked with one another...
...
From the shadows, a certain red-haired bitch slowly crept out. "So, my sweet little sister returned to free the Shield Hero..."
She laughed bitchily into her hand. "Oh, poor naive Mel. It pains me to have to do this." She didn't look pained at all as she held a hand over her heart. "But this works in my favor. Now, neither of you will be surviving tomorrow."
It had already been planned that the Shield Hero would be assassinated in his cell. But if the young heir to the throne was killed too... well, kill off two birds with one stone.
The annoying Shield Hero would, at last, be dead.
And no one would be standing in the way of Malty 'Bitch' Melromarc from becoming Queen!
"Yes, I couldn't imagine anything more perfect." She said happily to herself. She loved it when her plans came together so beautifully.
Too bad she only thought of her plans in the short term. Otherwise, she'd be able to see how this would REALLY screw her over in the long run.
The First Princess disappeared into the shadows of a side hallway.
Hero Clips!
The Tragic Story of King Melromarc XXXII
"My name is Aultcray Melromarc. I am the current King of the mighty nation of Melromarc." Aultcray sat on a throne, holding his normal staff in one hand.
At one point, he'd held the Vassal Staff, or the Staff of the Seven-Star Heroes as it was called in his world. But long had been the days when he'd been worthy of holding it.
"Long before I became the King, I was a prince of Faubley. My real name back then was Luge Faubley. I was only thirteen years younger than the current King, and 52nd in line from the throne." Aultcray began to explain his tragic backstory. "I knew I'd never be destined to sit in the throne of Faubley, being so far down the line. So I thought my life would be that of a lowly prince, living in the shadows of all his other relatives."
"However, one day, in the middle of the night, my life changed forever when a group of Hakuko raided our manor. Killing my mom, my servants, and everyone else except me and my blind Sister, Lecia, who I managed to save from the destruction of that terrible day."
Aultcray sighed sadly. "I tried to ask my country for help, but they were more than willing to dust my family's tragic ending under the rug. It was likely those Hakuko were mercenaries hired by a prince in line behind me who wanted my family out of the way. Since I couldn't find justice in Faubley, I took my sister, the last family I had in this world, and what little money I had on my person, and left the toxic political atmosphere of Faubley behind for Melromarc. There I joined the military with the hope of one day being able to avenge my family of those damn Hakuko, and so I could get the money I needed to help take care of my poor little sister."
Aultcray stood, making a dramatic pose. "I worked hard to take care of my sister amongst all my studies and travels. I had the worst time starting out as a recruit. But I quickly made a name for myself with my genius and superb tactics. And when the day came that the Staff chose me to wield it to defend the world against the Claw King, I finally saw my chance to turn my life around and to avenge my dead family-"
"Just cut the crap already!" Naofumi yelled.
A record scratch sounded somewhere in the background.
"What in the holy blazes!" The King was brought out of his personal monologue by the sight of a chained up Naofumi still sitting in front of him. "What are you still doing here?! I thought I ordered to have this scum thrown in the dungeons!"
"We were just about to do that when you began monologuing your Majesty." Aultcray's minister apologized.
"... What?"
"We felt it'd be rude to interrupt, sire." The minister added to his previous statement.
"Gosh, you're like the most generic King I've ever seen!" Naofumi complained. "You think you're all high and mighty because you get to sit on your King throne in your King robes. Wearing your king hat talking about all that and-"
"Silence! I refuse to allow you to disrespect the Great King, Aultcray Melromarc XXXII any further!" Aultcray's minister yelled at Naofumi.
"Are you kidding me?! There were 31 others just like him?!" Naofumi asked in disbelief. "No wonder this world is screwed!"
...
...
Aultcray and his minister were so stunned by that response that it took the King a moment to recompose himself.
"Throw him in the dungeons now."
"That's right. Cut off the conversation you stupid generic King! You know you can't fight against the facts!" Naofumi yelled as the guards began dragging him away.
"Will somebody please knock him out!" King Aultcray demanded.
"The issue with that sire is that none of us have a high enough attack stat to accomplish such a feat." Aultcray's minister informed him.
"Aw yeah! I get to be as loud and annoying as possible on my way out! That's what you get for separating me from my party you old ugly bastard!" Naofumi's voice was still quite audible despite having been dragged out of the throne room.
Aultcray sighed heavily. "Why did the Staff stop working for me all those years ago?"
"Because their purpose is to either save the world or assist the Holy Heroes sir. It won't come back to you until you make the conscious decision to let go of your grudge against the demi-humans and assist the Shield Hero."
"Ugh..." Maybe it was a good thing the Staff had stopped responding to him.
"You can still hear me, right?! Right you piece of Trash?!" Naofumi's voice sounded loud and clear from down the hall. His Shield changed to the Voice Gengar Shield and he yelled through the mic so the words reverberated through the whole castle. "I know, I'll tell you the poem I wrote about Bitch!
"In a field near Swig, amongst a herd of pigs, was the royal swine named Bitch!"
Aultcray literally couldn't imagine anything worse than being forced to assist a Hero like this.
Till Next Time
Allen