Chapter Thirty-Three: Religious Hatred, Tearful Reunion, and Bitch
"So… what you're telling me... is that all this is because of the Three Heroes Church?!" Melty exclaimed.
"Yes! Even those Shadows who tried to kill us back there were from the Church!" Naofumi replied.
"But then, that'd mean some of the Royal Knights-"
"Are more loyal to the Church than to your Father," Naofumi said back seriously.
Naofumi, and his new allies, Eclair and Melty, were running down a dark stone hallway of the Castle Dungeons. The tunnels were dark, because of the nine out of ten torch sconces they ran by that weren't lit. The stones of the hallway looked old, worn, and even cracked in areas. There was no furniture and decorations of any kind. It looked dark and bleak, just like their chances of escape.
Naofumi was in the front of the group with his Chimera Viper Shield. He also held a lit torch he'd grabbed so they could see where the hell they were going in the maze of stone, doors, and noise. Eclair was in the back. She had her royal knight's helmet back on and was giving her newly recovered sword a few test swings.
The Second Princess, Melty Melromarc, was protected in the middle between them.
While Eclair had been checking her sword over to see if it had been tampered with or not, Naofumi had given Melty a more detailed explanation about what was going on. From finding out about her sister's plans to betray him, to the Three Heroes Church and their excessive hate boner for him. To fleeing the Capital and having to survive with only the help of two people.
It was very condensed and summarized, but he managed to get the main points across.
"It's also likely my former Commander also holds a higher loyalty to the Church," Eclair commented in the back.
"Along with most of the nobles in this kingdom," Naofumi said with a grimace. It was definitely not a pretty picture. It was like he was surrounded by enemies on all sides.
"But, but why would they do such a thing-" Melty tried to say.
"Because your country is so messed up that they'd rather kill the Shield Hero than protect themselves from the Waves!" Naofumi said. "Don't ask me why religion turns people into idiots! I've dealt with too many of them by this point! Now, which way do we go Second Princess?!" Naofumi answered irritably.
The weaving corridors of hallways and cell blocks were like a maze to him. The lack of efficient lighting thanks to many of the torches having been put out also didn't help. The stone hallway still shook and rang with the echoes of the knights flooding into the dungeons. Trying to find the Shield Demon and the captured Princess.
At this point, he didn't know how they'd find their way up into the castle, much less, how they'd fight their way out with all the knights that were mobilizing to capture him for yet another false charge. And he found it likely that, even if by some miracle he got to the Castle, the King would no longer be willing to listen to him.
They started to run past a hallway. "There's the Shield Demon! Take him down!"
Naofumi glanced to the side to see a group of at least a dozen knights running their way. The hallway was so narrow, however, that they couldn't all charge forward at once.
"Air Strike Shield!"
After they'd passed the hallway, Naofumi summoned a large green shield blocking it off. As they ran on, the knights ran into and pounded against the skill shield. But it didn't budge. It would stay until they either destroyed it or its timer ran out.
'Are they always going to try and find something to accuse me of to make me look like a devil!? Because that tactic is really annoying at this point!'
They hit another intersection and made a left. "Second Princess, which way do we go?!" Naofumi asked again, frustration leaking into his tone at her silence. By the sounds of it, they could be running into more knights any minute now.
"I… I don't know!" She said fearfully.
"How could you not know?! Isn't this your castle!?" Naofumi angrily asked.
He probably shouldn't be shouting so loudly. But he couldn't help it.
"Give me a break! I've hardly had reason to come down here! You also told me my Sister and Melromarc's State Church are part of an elaborate plot to have you killed! My country is ignoring all sorts of problems and being corrupted! My Papa's in danger if at least half of this is true! And for the last time, stop calling me Second Princess!" Melty snapped angrily at Naofumi.
Her sheltered life was falling apart at the seams. Couldn't the Shield Hero at least be a little more understanding about it?!
"Right, my bad Second Princess," Naofumi said sarcastically.
"I said my name is not Second Princess!"
"Now isn't the time for playing around." Eclair interrupted seriously before a fight could break out. "What cell block were we being held in back there Princess Melty? Can you remember at least that?"
"No, some of my Knights led me a short distance away from your cell! They were supposed to be our escort on the way out!" Melty replied.
They hadn't seen said Knights since they'd booked it from the cell block they were being held in.
"Do you know the layout down here?" Naofumi asked Eclair. He really hoped she did. Otherwise, their escape was going to be the shortest-lived in the history of escapes.
"I did more than my share patrols of the castle dungeons," Eclair answered. "But if I want to get us out of here, I need a point of reference to know where we're at!"
"Well, I didn't realize a point of reference could exist down here!" Naofumi yelled back irritably. Since every single dark hallway looked the freaking same to him!
'I knew I should have taken my freedom when I had the chance. Now I'm caught up in another damn mess!' Though the chances were pretty good that he'd be just as lost as he was now. And Melty would be dead. And the blame would be placed on him. And then it'd be screw what any other country thought. Aultcray would have had a very good reason to have Naofumi executed. And he, and almost everyone else in this country would never learn that it had all been because of the Three Heroes Church.
Still, Naofumi didn't understand one thing. 'That one Shadow also attacked me.' He felt his gut where the dagger had bounced off. 'If their goal was to assassinate the Second Princess and pin the blame on me... why even attack me?' He knew the people from the Church hated him. But was killing only the Princess their original intention, or had they planned on killing him and Eclair too? And if that was the case, then why?
Before he could think more about it, the group rounded another corner. Naofumi almost ran into two knights. They were far too close to try and block them off and go down a different hallway.
The two knights backed up, but then they lowered their two pikes, leveling them at him. "Halt Shield Demon-"
Before Naofumi could react by saying something like, "You've got to be kidding me." Or, "We don't have time for this." Or even something like, "Perfect! Now I can vent some frustration on you bastards!": Eclair vaulted over Naofumi.
"Huh?" That was what he ended up saying instead because of how much the action caught him off guard.
The knights were even more off guard. And, unfortunately for them, they didn't raise their pikes in time to try and skewer Eclair while she was in the air.
It would have saved them from the beatdown that happened next.
"Hiyah!"
Eclair landed in between the knights, too close for them to use their pikes. She knocked one's weapon out of his hands, before bashing his helmet in with her sword hilt. She followed it up by kicking the knight back into the wall, before turning slashing the second guy's pike in two, and then headbutting the poor sap in the head so hard that his helmet was dented.
Both knights slumped against both sides of the wall, unconscious.
Naofumi stared in shock. The fight itself hadn't lasted long. Barely more than two seconds. Eclair had been chained in her cell the last two months, unable to hone her sword skills or fight, and yet she'd taken down these two knights like they were nothing.
If he were to use gaming terms, he would have called the pair of knights noobs. And Eclair, an inactive player logging in for the first time in several months.
Which meant that the swordswomen had just turned these noobs into a pair of ultra noobs.
Eclair put a hand to her head. "Wow… it's been a while since I headbutted someone… my sword skills must be rusty if I had to rely on such crude ways of fighting." She stood up straight and looked up from the two knights at the shocked Naofumi. "What are you two standing around for?! I finally recognize where we're at, the exit is this way!" She yelled seriously, pointing her sword down a side hallway.
Naofumi quickly looked around. He didn't see any distinguishing features in this hallway with its intersections. Was it the random crack in the stone of that hallway? Was it the small piece of vine growing out of the floor?
'Screw it, I'll just think it was the headbutt that jogged her memory.' Naofumi was not going to question any way of escape. "Right! Lead the way!" He threw the torch to Eclair.
The swordswomen led the way through the corridors of the dungeons. Naofumi didn't mind her taking the front. She seemed more than capable of defending herself if that last display revealed anything.
Eclair didn't even break stride when she threw the torch back to Naofumi and dispatched the next pair of knights that came across their path. She ducked below a sword thrust, using her blade to deflect it away, and then she grabbed the knight under his chest plate with one hand before he could recover. Then, while still running with the flailing knight, she threw him down the side hallway where the 2nd knight had been running to assist from. She then requested the torch again and continued leading the way.
'How the hell did she manage to do that!? Her strength and agility stats must be off the charts!' He checked her level on his party HUD, only for his eyes to widen at what he saw. 'SHE'S ONLY LVL 25?!
Her agility and strength were above average for such a low level. "What is the average level of knights we're facing?!" Naofumi asked Melty.
"If they're knights posted in the dungeons, their levels are typically around level 30," Melty answered.
...
Okay. Naofumi knew this was real life and not a game. But he also knew that the world had game-like mechanics to it too. Did Eclair have some hidden stats that he didn't know about that made her a better fighter against higher-leveled enemies, or had all the training she'd undergone to become the best swordswomen in the land given her a stat build larger than the higher leveled knights?...
Seriously. Just what the hell kind of knight had he unleashed?
...
Naofumi actually started to ponder a different scenario in his mind.
If Eclair hadn't been imprisoned in the beginning. Would he have ever needed to buy Raphtalia or Filo to help him out? Heck, just her influence as the daughter of an important nobleman could have been enough to net him new party members.
His whole freaking journey up to that point could have been changed…
...
Did it make him a terrible guy than to feel relief that she'd been imprisoned up till now? After all, because of that, he met Raphtalia and Filo.
He couldn't imagine anyone else being as important as those two.
His thoughts were cut short as at the very next narrow hallway, four knights came charging single file at them. All four of them held swords instead of pikes. At seeing Naofumi's group, they yelled and charged. Eclair was smirking this time as she charged right into them. Moving so quickly from one knight to the next it was almost comical how quickly they went down and stopped yelling.
Naofumi thought nothing more as they ran past each knight Eclair knocked out. Whether by using her sword hilt, the flat of her blade, the torch itself, or driving them head-first into a wall. It didn't matter.
Eclair was a machine, and the short confines worked perfectly in her favor for setting up one v one situations.
"So your mother said to have her released too?" Naofumi finally decided to ask Melty.
Melty was breathing a little heavier than before due to the constant pace… yet she smiled sheepishly. "Well… that was more because Eclair's a good friend of mine. Not because the Queen said to do it." She admitted.
"Wait, what?!" The two almost ran into Eclair, who'd slowed in front of them.
"My mother only gave me orders to help out the Shield Hero," Melty said nervously. "But my Mother's Shadow told me before I came down here that you were likely in the same cell as him. And… well... I sort of improvised from there."
If this had been an actual anime, Eclair would have shattered into glass on the spot.
'But… but I thought I was being freed for being one of the Queen's loyal knights… ahhhhhh!'
Naofumi and Melty didn't notice Eclair's distress.
They turned another corner and ran out into what looked like an underground garrison room. There were wood lockers on the sides, and several different hallways branching out. Eclair mentally forced herself back to the task at hand. "Our exit should be down that hall-" Eclair was pointing at one of the hallways when a dozen knights came charging out from it. More followed from the other hallways.
Yep, that was definitely a lot of knights.
Yet Eclair immediately ran into battle again. Being in a larger room, and with many more opponents than before, Naofumi joined in with defending Eclair while Melty hung back behind them.
"Air Strike Shield!"
A large green shield formed on Eclair's right side, blocking a pair of knights while Eclair disarmed one of the three in front of her. She threw the torch back to Naofumi, grabbed the knight's sword out of the air, and started attacking with both swords. Weaving in between swipes and thrusts with the form of a deadly dancer. She wasn't aiming to kill, but these knights were a different story.
Naofumi charged forward into the battle himself, letting his instincts take over. He wasn't much of a fighter, but even without his armor, he could damn well grab their attention. Especially those Knights who had rosaries hanging around their necks.
"Stop this at once!" Melty yelled at the knights.
"Kill the Shield Demon!" A group of Church Knights charged at Naofumi.
"Shield Prison!" Oh yeah. He should have mentioned this earlier, but he was super happy to have access to his skills once again.
A green-plated chain ball surrounded the group of knights. They screamed in confusion inside. Or maybe they actually thought the skill would dirty their souls. Naofumi blocked another knight's sword strike. He saw another one charging for Eclair from behind her while she dealt with a pair of knights, and he dropped the torch (his shield would have zapped it out of his hands anyway if he'd tried to use it as a weapon) and pointed his free hand at her. Selecting her as the target of his next spell with his HUD, all while chanting the spell. "And shield my target! Fast Guard!"
The support spell took effect. The knight brought his sword down on the back of her armor, but it bounced off as if it'd hit a brick wall. Eclair pushed both the knights she'd been facing back with a well-timed block, and quickly turned, grabbing the knight by his armor before throwing him at the two backpedaling knights. She then ducked a slash from a different knight that'd tried to sneak up on her and knocked his legs out from underneath him with the flat of her blade.
'Again, how is she doing that?!' Naofumi tried to use skill Royal Shield to knock the knight he was facing back. However, the skill dissolved as soon as he tried to use it as a battering ram.
It still caught the Knight off guard and allowed Naofumi to punch him in the face with his Chimera Viper Shield. Activating the counter Snake Venom Fang (Medium).
The knight collapsed, gasping in pain from the poison.
"I order you knights to stand down at once!" Melty yelled furiously somewhere behind Naofumi and to the side. Yet none of them listened to her.
He directed his attention back to the Shield Prison. "Change Shield! Bee Needle Paralysis Shield!" The screams inside the prison cut off.
The Knight he thought he'd taken care of got back up. Slashing at Naofumi while he was focused on the Shield Prison.
"That does it!" Melty uttered a chant so quick that Naofumi didn't catch a word of it as he blocked the knight's strike on his arm. It barely left a scratch on his skin. "Fast Aqua Shot!"
A ball of water slammed into the knight's gut with such force, he went flying back, taking down several other knights in the process. Naofumi quickly looked back to Melty, and her hands were raised. Glowing blue from the spell she had just cast. "What?!" She asked indignantly when she saw Naofumi staring at her.
"You couldn't have done that sooner Second Princess?" Naofumi asked as his shield prison disappeared, dropping the paralyzed Church Knights onto the ground.
"What have I told you about calling me Second Princess!?" Melty angrily asked. "I just saved your life! And my name is Melty! Melty Melty Melty-" She stamped her foot in time with each Melty in her childlike tantrum despite the battle going on.
"Air Strike Shield!"
A large green shield appeared beside Melty, blocking a sneak attack from one of the earlier Shadows who'd tried at that moment to sneak up on the princess from behind. The look of shock on her face was priceless.
Before the Shadow could recover, Naofumi appeared in front of the Shadow and punched him in the face with his shield several times, activating the counter again and again. The Shadow screamed in pain as the poison status took effect. "There, now I just saved your life again! Help us get out of here and I'll think about calling you by your name!" Naofumi yelled, blocking another attack from a different knight.
The knight screamed in pain when Snake Venom Fang (Medium) bit the knight. He then grabbed the knight by his armor and her across the room at another knight. Sending both sprawling across the ground.
Melty glared indignantly at Naofumi and then glared at the Church Shadow who gripped at his face where he'd been bitten repeatedly. She stepped back. "As source of thy power, I order thee, decipher the laws of nature..."
Naofumi blocked a knight again and used his arm to block another strike. The sword left another small scratch on his unarmored arm. Then, when both knights refused to back up, he changed his shield to the Two-Headed Dog Shield. A risky maneuver that left him with a far lower defense stat than the Chimera Viper Shield.
"Ah! Ahhh!" The pair of knights both screamed though as the shield's counter activated and two long dog heads bit down on their arms, raising them up in the air.
"You still doing okay back there Second Princess?" Naofumi asked without looking back.
The Church Shadow jumped for Melty. Trying to stop her from chanting. But he was already too late.
"Zweite All Aqua Shot!"
Naofumi looked back at the end of the chant and saw an astonishing sight.
Many balls of water almost like a wave came from the princess, who had both her hands raised. The Wave first slammed the Church Shadow away into one of the side walls where he didn't get back up. Then the wave of water balls split, all flinging themselves at every standing Knight in the room. The remaining knights who'd been coming in or who were fighting Naofumi and Eclair only had enough time to widen their eyes before they were blasted away by the powerful spell.
When the spell was over, all that was left was a pile of knocked out and injured knights lying on the floor.
'Yep, still okay.' Naofumi thought as the dog heads, who'd managed to hold onto their two knights despite the force of the water, threw the two soaked unconscious knights away. And he'd thought the first spell had been impressive. Maybe if they somehow made it out of this, Melty could make for a good party member too.
Eclair nodded approvingly to the princess, who was breathing in and out heavily from the spell she'd cast. "Well done Princess Melty. Your spellcasting has improved since last time." She then looked at the one knight's sword in her hand and tossed it back to the ground. "A little too much on the heavy side for me. But it was well made."
Naofumi decided after seeing the spell to send Melty a party invitation. The girl was definitely stronger than he'd given her credit… however, his eyes only widened again when she accepted it and he saw that her level was even lower than Eclair's!
'How the hell is she casting a Zweite tier spell at only level 17?!' Granted, her MP bar was very low. It'd taken almost everything for that one spell.
Was there something to Eclair and Melty that he was missing?
He decided to think about it later. Right now, he was hearing a lot less commotion in the dungeons than he had been before. Something that surprised him. "Was that the last of them?" Naofumi asked.
"No. But the majority of knights should be searching the areas behind us for now. If the shifts and posts haven't changed since I patrolled down here, these are the knights who were positioned far away from the castle exit. The rest of our way should be clear." Eclair explained calmly.
Naofumi didn't ask what exit she was talking about as they continued running down the hallway Eclair had pointed out before the fight.
Also, to Naofumi's relief, they could see where they were going since none of the torch sconces had been put out.
True to her word, over the next minute and a half, Naofumi didn't see any more knights. In fact, the clamor of armor, footsteps, and yelling grew dimmer and dimmer the longer they ran. Something Naofumi found confusing as he would have sworn they'd be coming out in the castle.
Finally, Naofumi saw light other than torchlight. The three kept running towards what looked like a translucent stone wall... and ran out… onto a busy street?
Unfortunately, some unfortunate street vendor had his cart set up in front of the stone wall they ran out of. And Naofumi didn't stop in time to keep himself from slamming into the cart and knocking it over.
"No! My cabbages!" The vendor ran after his dropped produce.
Naofumi looked back in surprise. The exit they'd run out of wasn't visible. The sun's position in the clear sky indicated it was still morning. And the street in front of them was busy with Melromarc's citizens going about their business. The only real ruckus for the moment was being made by the poor cabbage vendor who was trying to gather his cabbages before people tromped all over them.
"What, where are we? What happened to the exit we came out of?" Naofumi asked Eclair in confusion.
"It's there, but it's covered by advanced Illusion magic. Only knights that know the right spell can access it from this site." Eclair answered. "We should be halfway between the castle and the city wall."
"Why does this even exist?" Naofumi asked.
"This was made in case royalty ever needed to flee the Castle in the case of an attack or attempted assassination. Now come on. We won't have much time before they've realized we've used it to escape." She urged both Naofumi and a tired Melty onward into the city streets.
Naofumi didn't ask any more questions He'd already seen some weird stuff since being summoned to this world. This would just be the latest on that list.
He quickly bought two spare cloaks from a vendor and placed one over himself and the other over the tired princess, who accepted it without question and put it over herself.
She might have been annoying, but at least she caught on quickly.
However, as they walked down the street, he realized he might have bought the disguises too late as he and Melty were attracting stares and whispers from some of the citizens they passed.
"Isn't that the Second Princess?"
"What's she doing out in the city streets?"
"I thought she was with the Queen over in Faubley?"
"And is that the Shield Hero she's with?"
"What would she be doing with that devil?"
"Doesn't she realize he already raped her older sister?"
"Damn it." Naofumi clenched his fists. Already some of the stares were turning into glares at him specifically. He changed his shield to the Book Shield and opened it. But it was already too late.
He was recognized. And all he could do was follow behind Eclair since he still didn't know the layout of the Capital very well.
"Naofumi. The people-" Melty started to say in surprise.
"I know... I'm used to this treatment by now." Naofumi said, having to hold back bitterness from his tone.
He'd been going around as a night merchant for so long that he'd almost forgotten that his real identity would attract this kind of attention…
"You mean, because of my sister?" Melty asked.
"Yeah. Just about everyone hates me now because of her, your Father, and the State Religion." Naofumi said.
The Church had spread the rumors. The Princess had accused Naofumi. And the Father had upheld the punishment.
It was all their damn fault.
Melty looked conflicted. "I didn't think it was this bad…"
"Believe me, this isn't the worst I've experienced."
Melty didn't want to imagine how it could be worse...
They were still walking down the middle of the street. Trying to find an alleyway they could dip into so they could lose the crowd of glares and go to a street where they wouldn't be recognized. But then a squad of knights, not Church Knights, turned around a corner. They looked to be on high alert.
Fortunately, they didn't give Naofumi and Melty a second glance thanks to Eclair. She had her helmet on, and, due to the look of her dirtied custom armor, she looked more like an adventurer than a knight. Leading a small group of adventurers with her.
The knights walked past their small group.
Naofumi breathed a sigh of relief at that. 'Alright, now we just keep on walking, and-'
"Knights! That's the Shield Demon!" A random bystander yelled, pointing at Naofumi. The bystander was wearing a rosary around his neck.
'... &^%$!'
"He's kidnapping the Second Princess!-"
Before the knights could act on the realization that they had just passed Naofumi, Eclair jumped into their midst.
The scene that followed caused every bystander on the street to scream in terror and run away.
"No! Sir Naofumi isn't kidnapping me-" Melty tried to defend Naofumi.
"The Shield Demon is slaughtering our knights!" The original bystander yelled.
"Run, run for your lives!"
"Sound the alarms! The Shield Demon is in the Capital and he's going to butcher us all!-"
"Shield Prison! Change Shield! Bee Needle Shield!" Naofumi used the skill to paralyze the man screaming for his downfall, but the damage was already done.
Naofumi clenched a fist at all the screaming. His prior worst experience with people had been at the Sacred Duel. But this… "Sir. Sir Naofumi-" Melty tried to say. Looking extremely sorry.
"I don't want to hear it!" Naofumi yelled at her in frustration. Just as Eclair knocked out the last knight of the squad. "Now come on! They know we're outside now! So we might as well make a run for it!"
Eclair agreed and they took off.
A minute later, they ran out onto the main street. No pedestrians were around anymore. "The West Gate should be a half-mile down this way-" Eclair was yelling.
"There he is!" "It's the Shield Demon and the Murdering Knight!" "They've kidnapped the princess!" "Kill them!"
Naofumi groaned. Several squads of knights were already running towards them from down the street. Pouring out of different alleyways like ants.
'You know what! I REALLY hate this &^%$ing city!'
Melty looked harshly at the knights. "Will you all just stop attacking us for one minute-"
"Save your breath, Second Princess." Naofumi interrupted. "Those are Church Knights coming after us. They won't care what you have to say." He was able to see the rosaries hanging around their necks despite the distance.
Melty, despite being tired, had the energy to pout at him. "Are you ever going to call me by my name?" She complained.
"Is that really important right now?!"
Eclair took on a sword stance. "I think I should still be able to handle a group this size with your help Sir-" Then some of the knights stopped and pulled out bows. The others continued to charge toward them.
She grimaced, it'd be one thing to fight these knights in close quarters. It'd be another thing having to do that and worry about arrows at the same time. "I'm starting to think they really dislike you Sir Naofumi." She said calmly.
"You're telling me that now?" Naofumi raised his shield protectively in front of him. "I think the term hate would be more fitting to be honest."
Either they could stay and fight up close. Or run and have to deal with the arrows. Either option would cost them precious time. Time that would allow reinforcements, more knights, maybe even Motoyasu to catch up to him.
Naofumi would literally give an arm if something good happened to them for once-
"Stay away from Daddy!"
A giant, familiar, owl-shaped bird jumped off the roof nearby over the charging Knights. The large shadow passing over them caused many to look up in surprise.
Was it a bird? Was it a plane?
Nope. It was one very unhappy-looking Filolial named Filo.
"You bad people stole Filo's Daddy!"
The knights barely had a chance to look confused at who the giant chicken owl was before Filo dropped/plowed into their ranks like a large fluffy and deadly bowling ball. The knights screamed in terror as they began to get mowed down.
"What is this thing?!"
"It's another demon!"
"Run for your lives!"
"No, stand and fight!"
"High Quick!" Filo started to move as a blur in the knight's ranks. Sowing discord... and very hurt groins in her wake with her fierce powerful kicks. She kept on aiming into the crotches of most of the knights for some weird reason.
Naofumi would probably need to teach her in the future how that wasn't the only area you should target. But for now, he just stood in amazement. His mind trying to catch up to what was happening…
The knights farther back with the bows were shocked at first, and then they recovered and started firing arrows at the large bird despite the risk of hitting their comrades. "Decipher the laws of nature and blow my targets away! Fast Tornado!" Naofumi didn't even have to act. Filo summoned a tornado of wind in between her and the bow-wielding knights. The high-velocity winds sent the arrows flying sideways into the stalls and buildings. Allowing her to continue dishing out punishment to the knights around her, who were trying to rally, but were failing miserably.
"So coooooooool!" Melty suddenly looked awestruck beside Naofumi. Stars were over her eyes, glued to the sight of the strange and powerful Filolial.
"What's… happening Sir Naofumi…" Eclair dropped from her stance as she stared in confusion as the Church Knight's charge disintegrated into utter chaos.
All because of one big fat groin-kicking wind-manipulating extremely awesome bird daughter.
Naofumi's mind finally clicked back into place, and for once, he smiled broadly. "Filo! You're getting one hell of a feast for this!" Naofumi yelled happily.
He already owed her an all you could eat buffet. But now that all you could eat buffet was going to be combined with a feast. He didn't even care if it'd take all day to make and cost several gold coins. This awesome girl more than deserved it by this point.
"Thanks! Filo's glad to see that Daddy's safe!" The bird raised a wing to her mouth in happiness, right as she kicked another knight in the groin with all her strength.
The knight screamed in pain as he was launched through the air Motoyasu style, dropping his sword and gripping his groin. It was done so casually that Naofumi started to laugh in delight. Again, he'd probably have to teach Filo not to only go for the groin when attacking bad people, but he didn't mind much at the moment since it was so damn funny.
"You mean, that's the daughter you told me about?!" Eclair asked in stunned disbelief. Recognizing the name Naofumi had told her yesterday.
Naofumi kept looking. "Of course. And If Filo's here, then that means Raphtalia isn't far behind-"
Yep, he finally saw it. The tornado disappeared, but the knights in the back didn't resume firing. They were too busy swinging their swords around, trying to slash the hidden individual knocking them out one by one. Looking closely, another one of the knights randomly collapsed with a sword-hilt-shaped dent in the back of his helmet.
Naofumi started to laugh in relief. Raphtalia was there too. Both she and Filo had somehow managed to sneak into the Capital. He couldn't think of a time when he'd been happier to see them.
Well, see one of them. Raphtalia was invisible for the moment.
"Naofumi... Is that your Filolial by any chance?" Melty asked Naofumi in a barely controlled voice that was on the verge of fangirling. Filo had almost entirely decimated the whole charging knight squad by herself at this point. Those that hadn't passed out were lying on the ground, clutching their balls in pain. Wishing they were passed out like their comrades.
"Of course. I raised her, Second Princess." Naofumi said happily. He started to walk forward to meet up with his party.
...
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Melty released something that could only be described as a high-pitched fangirlish shriek. She looked too distracted and excited to realize Naofumi had just called her Second Princess again. She and Eclair followed behind him.
"Fast Tornado!" With one last large gust of air, Filo sent the remaining knights around her flying in various directions. The knights impacted various walls, wagons, and other various objects. None of the Church Knights got back up after the brutal treatment they'd received.
They were either too hurt, or too scared.
She looked around, making sure the knights around her were incapacitated. Then she charged toward Naofumi.
"Daddy!" In mid-air, she changed in a poof of feathers. Naofumi laughed as he caught the little girl in his arms, circling as he hugged her. "Filo missed Daddy so much! Filo and mommy were both so worried about Daddy!" Filo cried happily.
"Yeah, I was worried about you too!" Naofumi said, feeling on the verge of crying.
"Ah! Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Melty looked even more awestruck at seeing Filo change forms.
It looked like she would really transform any second now.
"Who's that Daddy?" Filo asked curiously as he set her down.
Before Naofumi could answer, he was pushed out of the way by Melty. Stars once more covered her eyes. "I'm Melty! But my friends call me Mel!" She said happily.
"Nice to meet you, Mel!" Filo said while smiling happily.
Melty almost looked like she'd had a heart attack. Filo had just given her a nickname! That meant the two of them were ALREADY FRIENDS!
"Here, try this!" Melty randomly pulled some jerky from her dress and offered it to Filo. Naofumi rubbed at his eyes and stared at the girl in confusion.
Did she just randomly have jerky on her at times just in case she got to meet a Filolial!? Maybe he wasn't that far off thinking of the Second Princess as a fan girl after all!
"Yayyyyy!" Filo transformed back into her large Filolial form and gobbled up the jerky like it was candy. "Thanks, Mel!"
Melty started rubbing Filo's feathery wings. "So… cool…"
Eclair just kind of looked wide-eyed at the display.
She still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that this cute little transforming monster girl was actually Naofumi's daughter.
"I can tell you're already going to get along with each other," Naofumi said dryly, right as the last knight in the distance was dropped to the ground. He left the three behind to approach the person he'd missed the most the last two days...
Raphtalia's illusion magic dropped as she approached. She looked as well-groomed as always, but the bags under her eyes and the slight slouch in her stance indicated how she hadn't slept well since Naofumi had been captured. She had a look of exhaustion that made his heart hurt at the sight.
But his heart warmed at her smile of relief.
She had managed to find him, and he was okay.
"Naofumi!" She said happily.
She looked even more beautiful than he remembered at that moment. He opened his arms to hug her. "Raphta-"
Slap!
Imagine his surprise when she then slapped him across the face.
Hard.
And yep, her attack stat was still as high as ever.
He gripped his face in pain. Raphtalia now had angry tears coming out of her eyes. "Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?! What the hell were you thinking telling us to run away and getting captured like that?!" She yelled angrily at him. "Don't you ever tell me to leave you behind again! Otherwise, otherwise-"
He quickly defended himself. "But you were hurt! And I wasn't planning on getting myself captured by Motoya-"
He shut up when she hugged him tightly. The angry tears had changed to tears of sadness and worry that fell down her face and landed on his cloak. "I'm… I'm so glad that you're okay." She whispered for only him to hear. "I… I couldn't bear to think about what they were doing to you… I was... I was so scared..."
Like a dam breaking inside him, Naofumi hugged the Half-Tanuki girl back. Some of his own tears of sadness and relief escaped and landed on her shoulder and hair.
He had been asleep for most of the last two days. He'd woken in chains in front of the Trash King. He'd been humiliated in front of everyone... but being separated from Raphtalia and Filo, not knowing if they were okay without him there, not knowing if they were trying to find him, not knowing if he'd ever see them again…
That had hurt more than anything else he'd ever been through.
To be able to have her back. To have this swell of emotions going through him. To be able to hug her body close, to feel her hair, to be surrounded by the familiar scent that was her...
It was one of the best feelings in the world… a feeling he didn't want to end...
…
"Eh hem." A strained cough sounded nearby. They both stopped hugging and looked to see Eclair standing awkwardly nearby next to Filo and Melty, who had been talking with each other up till that point.
Naofumi and Raphtalia started blushing, realizing how intimate the moment had been. And was it just Naofumi, or was Eclair also blushing awkwardly? "I'm sorry to interrupt your reunion, but we're in the middle of trying to escape!"
"Daddy?" Filo grabbed Naofumi's attention. Melty had stopped petting Filo's wings to look up at him too. "Who's the Strawberry Vegetable Girl over there?"
'Ahhhhhh!' Again, had this been an anime, Eclair would have shattered into pieces of glass on the spot. 'I am not a vegetable whatever! I am a loyal knight to Queen Mirellia Q. Melromarc, and I-'
"That's not important right now."
'... … AHHHHHHH!'
You know what, this was an anime.
The world behind Eclair shattered into bits of glass at what Naofumi had said. The color leeched from Eclair's frame, leaving her pale. A mini ghost dangled out of her mouth. And she turned around and almost took the fetal position on the ground.
'Does the fact that I gave everything to try and help him before truly not matter?'
If only that'd been what'd happened. Nah, in all actuality, that was all in her mind.
In real life, Eclair was turned around, shaking at what Naofumi had said.
"She's right. We should be escaping-" Naofumi was continuing.
"Um… is she okay Master Naofumi?" Raphtalia interrupted.
Naofumi looked. "You okay, Eclair?" He asked.
Eclair quickly turned back around and stood at attention. "Never better, Sir Naofumi!" She lied with a smile on her face.
"Good, then as I was saying, let's get the hell out of here." He said.
A vein bulged in Eclair's forehead. 'That's literally what I just suggested!'
Maybe it'd be for the best if she stuck to sword training. The rose-haired knight had never had much interest in romance, to begin with. And getting involved with the Shield Hero as more than a party member seemed like more trouble than it was worth.
Especially because of how dense Naofumi was.
"Hey, do you want to ride me?" Filo asked the still tired Melty.
Melty went from looking tired to looking like she had been infused with the energy of a hundred caffeinated drinks. "Would I?!" Melty swooped onto Filo's back in an instant. "So soft and warm!" She said gleefully, not even trying to hide the fangirlish voice anymore.
It was rather creepy, the double context of that whole scenario.
'You know. I could see why the Second Princess would prioritize chasing after a rare Filolial instead of coming to the Capital now.' The Shield Hero sweat dropped at the scene. He still didn't know what Filo was. But he knew whatever it was she was one of a kind since he hadn't found another Filolial like her. And Melty seemed to agree.
"Alright, let's go!"
The remaining half-mile to the gates passed by quickly. Eclair ran ahead of the group and took down whatever knights tried to get in the way. She tried not to stare back too jealously at Naofumi and Raphtalia as she went.
Naofumi was holding Raphtalia's hand while they ran. He was filling her in on what had happened to him. From the trial, talking with Eclair, finding out how she'd signed up to join his party only to be falsely accused of murder by Bitch and thrown into prison, and how the Second Princess had been letting them out of their cell when Church Shadows attacked.
Raphtalia attentively listened. Not asking any questions. Just, absorbing in her mind all that her Naofumi had gone through until he'd finished.
"And did they try and hurt you?" She finally asked.
"Other than knocking me out, that assassination attempt, and all the knights that have attacked me up to this point, no," Naofumi said.
"Alright." She didn't say anymore. 'Those people will regret the day they were born.' She promised to herself ominously.
The knights she'd spare since they couldn't really hurt Naofumi. But the Shadows, oh the Shadows would pay dearly.
At seeing the dark ominous aura coming off of Raphtalia, Naofumi sweatdropped and focused on Filo and Melty. They were already at the point of telling each other about their various adventures. It was… weird seeing how quickly the two had become friends.
Still, he didn't focus too much on it. Since, even with the dark murderous aura coming off her now, gripping Raphtalia's hand in his again made him happy in ways he never could have imagined. Like holding her hand despite fleeing for their lives felt... right?
'I really need to put a label on what I feel for her...'
When they finally arrived at the square block before the West Gate, they found it had already been shut. However, Eclair had just taken care of the last knight guarding it. The few knights who'd been on guard duty in the square were all in a pile, knocked out. Meaning they had a clear path. Only the black gate stood in the way between them and freedom. "Filo, take down that gate!" Naofumi yelled.
"Okay! Time to get off Mel!"
Melty jumped off into Raphtalia's arms, and Filo rushed towards the gate. "High Quick!"
She blazed forward through the air and slammed into the gate with one of the strongest, most powerful kicks she had. A shockwave burst out from the point of impact. However, when she jumped back, Naofumi and the rest of the party came to a stop. Her kick had barely left a dent in the black iron bars.
"What the hell?" Naofumi muttered. "Air Strike Shield!"
The green shield appeared, jamming itself against the gate. It looked no different than before. It had been well built for its job.
Raphtalia pulled out her sword. "Light Slash!" She slashed towards the gate, and a slash of light traveled off of her sword. It slammed into the two areas Naofumi and Filo had hit but didn't do anything.
"Second Princess, you released some pretty strong magic earlier. Do you have something that could bust the gate or the wall down?" Naofumi asked.
"These gates were built to withstand a siege battering ram and magic attacks. Even if I had the MP to cast that kind of spell, it'd hardly do anything." She said, "And stop calling me Second Princess!"
Naofumi ignored the last statement and examined their predicament. Looking closely, he realized that two black iron gates were in their way. Both of which were around twenty feet apart. Even if they dealt with the first one somehow, there was still the second one. On top of that, the stone passageway that went inside the walls up to the control tower for the gates was between the two. Meaning they couldn't access it from where they were.
He also took note that the walls here were taller. This part of the city was at a higher elevation than the lower part. There was a bridge spanning either a moat or something he could barely see from this side of the wall. And that only a wide wooden bridge on the other end passed whatever the gap he was seeing between the walls and the ground was.
Naofumi sighed. "Fine then, I guess we'll just use Filo to jump us carefully over the walls one or two at a-"
"Naofumi!"
'... Damn.' Naofumi turned around. Sure enough, another legion of knights was coming down the main road towards them. The mustached smug Royal Knight Commander bastard himself was leading them with his array of Captains behind him. And approaching beside the Commander was none other than the other memorable bastard.
Motoyasu himself.
It looked like the Capital had brought all of its forces to bear to recapture him too. Not surprising since they thought that Naofumi was kidnapping the Royal Princess and all that nonsense.
"You've gone too far this time Naofumi! Release the Princess this instant!" Motoyasu angrily demanded as he approached. He was still a good 100 yards out.
Naofumi couldn't use Filo to jump over the wall now. She wouldn't be able to get everyone over in time. And that'd be too many knights to fend off, not counting the trouble Motoyasu could cause even from a distance. "Release her, hell, I don't even have her bound!" Naofumi said angrily.
"Don't lie to me Naofumi!"
Wow. Talk about deja vu.
Motoyasu started to go on one of his long-winded rants about how Naofumi was evil and how everything was his fault and that he'd make him pay and so on. Naofumi was honestly tuning him out so he couldn't tell. He started moving his hand in sock puppet motions, mimicking what he thought Motoyasu was likely saying to him.
Motoyasu finally seemed to realize what Naofumi was doing after a moment and stopped his speech 50 yards away from Naofumi. "Are you even paying attention!?" He angrily demanded.
"I don't know, you don't seem to pay attention whenever I talk to you, idiot!" Naofumi responded back heatedly. "How do you like having a taste of your own ignorance thrown back at you!?"
"Master Naofumi. Your antics aren't helping our situation." Raphtalia said with a sigh.
"How dare you respond so disrespectfully to the Spear Hero, Shield Demon!" The mustached Royal Knight Commander yelled angrily. Most of the knights cheered behind him. Now that they were closer, Naofumi took notice that these Knights weren't Church Knights. Some of the knights at the front were donned differently than the lesser knights he'd dealt with before. Their armor looked more refined, and stronger… were these elite knights perhaps?
Eclair looked like she'd been slapped across the face. She stared furiously at the Royal Knight Commander.
"Now do as he says and release the Princess this instant!" The Commander demanded.
"Again, does it look like I'm trying to keep the Second Princess here captive?!" Naofumi angrily demanded.
"Daddy, do you want me to kick Spear Guy for you?" Filo asked.
A pale look went over Motoyasu's face at Filo's words. And he clutched tightly at his spear. However, before he, Naofumi, or anyone else could say anything or do anything, Melty moved several steps in front of Naofumi so that everyone could see her.
Unbound. Unharmed. Tired. And very much pissed off. "Sir Spear Hero, Commander, in the name of her Majesty Queen Mirellia Q. Melromarc, I order you to stop this foolishness at once!"
...
Motoyasu and all of the knights stopped after only a few seconds. They were a hundred feet away from Naofumi's party. And filled in most of the square block. Melty took a few more steps forward. Seeing how she'd grabbed their undivided attention now.
"I am not being kidnapped by the Shield Hero! He is not taking me against my will away from the Capital!" Melty said authoritatively. "In fact, I was sent by my mother to escort the Shield Hero, his companions, and the knight Eclair to Faubley. Where she wishes to meet with all of them." She continued.
Wow. She was actually lying for their sake now. That was thoughtful of her.
"No!" The Knight Commander started to say as the knights began murmuring. "It's obvious the Shield Demon is forcing her to say this! He's using her to try and escape-"
"Shut your mouth Commander! Did I not just say that I am here on orders from your Queen!" She snapped with authority at the Commander, silencing him. "Tell me, since you're so intent on labeling the Shield Hero a criminal. What logical reason would he have to kidnap me when I was the one that released him from his cell?!"
Even before all this, she'd never liked the choice Father and Mother had picked to become the Commander over all the knights. The way he was acting now like he was supposed to hold all the authority here only cemented that fact.
The Commander didn't speak, and he and his knights didn't try to advance any farther forward. Motoyasu looked stunned. "The Shield Hero didn't try to kidnap me." Melty began speaking again. "In fact, he saved me from an assassination attempt right after I released him and the Knight Eclair. When it failed, the assassin yelled false accusations in an attempt to gather his cohorts to kill me. That is why we are leaving so abruptly without meeting my Father. I will not have my life, nor the Shield Hero's life risked any further than they already have been."
"But, but Naofumi and his party have been taking down knights left and right! We found some of them in the dungeon-" Motoyasu tried to say angrily.
"Those knights are not dead, I assure you," Melty said calmly. "I took some of them down myself because, unlike you, those idiots were too intent on fighting instead of listening to me. Even my own worthless knights who were supposed to be there to protect me were nowhere to be seen." Hearing the second princess call some of the knights in attendance idiots or worthless was like a blow to the gut to the pride they'd built.
It was never a good day when the royals you were sworn to protect called you a worthless idiot.
"Now, I have orders to bring the Shield Hero and his party with me to Faubley to meet the Queen. So if you wouldn't mind giving the order to open the gates so we can leave, Commander -" Melty was about to finish.
"Don't listen! My sister's been brainwashed by the Devil of the Shield!"
All of a sudden, Myne made her bitchy appearance from the ranks of the knights.
The bitch looked as bitchy as ever. Dressed in the same bitch armor that Naofumi had foolishly bought for the bitch that day so long ago.
Murmurs came from the knights again.
Even Melty looked caught off guard. "Sister, stop fooling around! You can't go against what our mother has said-" She tried to say seriously.
"The Devil of the Shield used his powers to brainwash my sister! That's why she's denying the kidnap charges! That's why she's saying they need to leave the country! The Devil of the Shield has her under a spell just like the rest of his party!" Bitch pointed accusingly at the group. "Now he's trying to influence all of us so he can escape with my precious little sister!"
It took only those few words from her to convince everyone. The knights roared in anger, glaring at Naofumi with hate. Though Motoyasu seemed a little conflicted by what Myne had said. "Myne, I thought I told you to stay with the other girls at the castle-"
"ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?! ARE YOU ALL REALLY THAT STUPID TO BELIEVE THAT!?"
Everyone looked at Naofumi. He'd never looked so pissed off before in his life. He almost did look like a devil. "If I really had a shield like that, why am I not using it on all of you right now!?" He angrily demanded. "Hell, if you even try to use your brains to think about it, I wouldn't even be in the Capital in the first place if I could brainwash everyone in my way! I could have just brainwashed Motoyasu instead of letting him capture me!"
"Shut it Naofumi! Myne's right!" Motoyasu looked pained to say it, but he still took an offensive stance again. "I'm sure it costs a lot of SP to brainwash someone! And that's why you aren't using that shield on all of us right now!"
What was up with the Spear Hero? One moment he seemed all fired up to take him down. And then the next, it was like it pained him to have Myne there. And now he was supporting her again.
Was he bipolar, or just lethally stupid?
Whatever it was, the comment he'd made actually made a lot of sense. Maybe he couldn't brainwash everyone because of the amount of SP it'd take. 'Motoyasu isn't totally brain dead after all.' He was almost proud that Motoyasu showed something of a brain.
Fortunately, Naofumi had a backup, thanks to Raphtalia bringing his pack with fresh bottles in it. "You sure about that?!"
He pulled out something that required a little backstory.
Soul Healing Water. It's damn hard to find the ingredients for it since they're not used in most medicines. And after gathering the necessary herbs in the forest, Naofumi found that they were one of the more difficult medicines to compound at his current skill level.
He'd only managed to make a few of these bad boys thus far. And he'd found they had no effect on normal people.
Raphtalia said they tasted like chemicals. Filo said they tasted really weird. He'd tried it himself and agreed with Raphtalia that they tasted like the soda Mountain Dew from his world. However, while it hadn't affected his party members, Naofumi's SP gauge refilled whenever he drank them. So that meant it was a medicine specifically for heroes…
Although he really wished it tasted better than chemical soda.
Anyway, back to the present. Motoyasu seemed to recognize what Naofumi was holding. "If it did cost me a lot of SP, then all I'd have to do is drink one of these to be able to brainwash you? Is that right?" Naofumi asked sarcastically.
Motoyasu grimaced. "Fine, I guess you're right about that-" Motoyasu was actually agreeing with Naofumi on a point.
"Don't even bother!" Bitch said accusingly. "The castle mages are all casting magic on the area now to prevent your Shield from brainwashing anyone else you demon!"
And thus, the stupidity deepened as everyone looked to Myne again. "If your mages are able to do that, why don't you have them cast magic on my party members to free them from their brainwashing?!" Naofumi refuted.
"It's too late. Those monsters of yours have been around you too long for the mage's spell to have any effect on them!" Myne answered haughtily.
Naofumi clenched his fist at Myne calling Filo and Raphtalia monsters. But then he smirked. "Fine. Cast it on those two then." Naofumi said as he pointed at Eclair and Melty.
His surprise comeback caught Myne off guard. "What are you talking about?!" She demanded.
"They haven't been around me for even more than a day. If you're not lying, then those mages should be easily able to free them before they're too far gone, unless your mages are weak bastards such as yourself."
"Don't listen to his words! That is how the Devil of the Shield brainwashes you!" Myne yelled at the knights who'd nearly been swayed by Naofumi's common sense. In fact, quite a few looked like they'd been swayed already.
"But you've been talking back to me this whole damn time!" Naofumi snapped at her. "Stop being backward with your logic and just admit you're lying!" He'd just shown a major flaw in her argument and she was just going to pull something like that?! Even some of her own knights were looking at her weirdly.
"Since when do we have magic to prevent brainwashing?" One smart individual asked.
"Draw swords!" The Commander, however, wasn't going to stand by idly any longer. "We must protect our princess!"
The majority of his Knights needed to be convinced of the justice of their cause, so he forced the Captains to make their subordinates draw their weapons. The elite knights near the front pulled out blades that shined in the sun.
The only Captain behind the Commander that wasn't along for the ride was the same one who'd informed the Commander about the Shield Hero escaping his cell. He was frowning actually. As were some of the knights he commanded behind him. A few of whom had fought alongside the Shield Hero in Lute Village.
Naofumi looked frustrated, but Eclair grabbed his shoulder while glaring at the Knight Commander. "Trying to use Common Sense won't get us out of this Sir Naofumi. The Commander and First Princess want you dead. And the knights won't disobey their orders."
She was right.
"Urgh!" Motoyasu readied his spear. It almost looked like he didn't want to fight. However, he trusted Myne was doing the right thing here. To go against that trust would be to go against his very being.
"We don't have any other choice now." Eclair took up a sword stance a few steps in front of Naofumi.
"Filo won't let you meanies hurt Filo's Daddy!" Filo got in a ready stance.
Raphtalia said nothing, but she took a protective stance next to Naofumi. Ready to act as his sword.
"Sister, why…" Melty trailed off. By this point, she had moved to Naofumi's opposite side. Having backed away in fear of her older sister.
"My dear precious Melty," Malty said, feigning worry as if she was finally taking notice of her little sister again. "Don't you worry. You'll be freed from the Shield Demon's brainwashing soon enough... I'll make sure of it, personally." Her voice was that of worry, but there was a threatening undertone to it.
"Sister, you're… you're insane," Melty said as if she was finally realizing it herself.
"Don't speak like that to your own sister. Now, come. If what the Shield Demon said really is true, then we can break your brainwashing together."
"Come. Let's go home together now to Papa." Myne said as she held her hand out towards Melty.
...
"No…"
Naofumi was still trying to think of something to say, anything that could prevent the situation they were in from breaking out into a one-sided fight when a small hand grabbed the side of his shirt. He looked, and, for once, Melty looked more like a scared little girl in his eyes.
"I… I can't go back." She whispered. "I'll be killed... I know it. My sister… she'll kill me."
...
Naofumi looked from Melty to Bitch. She still held her hand out, but the look in her eyes. Her face was a mask of sympathy and care, but her eyes said otherwise. They looked at her little sister with contempt and spite. Just like whenever she looked at him. Just like whenever she looked at anything that could get in the way of her ambition to become the next Queen.
It was despicable. It was monstrous. Twisted. Ugly. Even Melty, a young girl, Bitch's OWN SISTER could see it.
Naofumi took in a sharp gasp of breath as realization struck. 'That's why the Church Shadow attacked me.'
The original plot hadn't been to assassinate Melty and pin the blame on him. No, the original plot had been to have all of them killed in one fell swoop. While they were down in the dungeons, where anything could have happened. Where blame could have been assigned without the need for witnesses. It'd be like killing two birds with one stone.
And of course, there could be only a few people in the castle who would have known exactly when Melty had planned on freeing him... and one of those was standing a hundred feet in front of him. The puzzle pieces came together in his mind like an easy puzzle, because it didn't take much brainpower to figure it out.
'She's… she's so evil that she'd even kill her own sister...' Melty had said she was the heir to the throne instead of her older sister. So that meant if she died... then Bitch would become the heir instead...
"Give the Second Princess back Naofumi!" Motoyasu threatened, pointing his spear at Naofumi. "If there's any good left in you, do it now so we won't have to fight!"
It was right there. The answer to possibly avoiding this whole fight. And yet...
"Come to me, dearest little sister."
…
"Please, Sir Naofumi… please help…" Melty quietly pleaded.
Melty continued to quietly cry… then she felt a hand pat her head. "Don't worry."
She looked up in surprise. It was Naofumi that was reassuring her. "I'm the Shield Hero. I won't let anyone harm you while you're with me." He said seriously.
Naofumi glared angrily at Motoyasu. It was one answer to their situation. But he knew it wasn't the right one. 'But I'm done. I've run away for long enough.'
Raphtalia was readying her sword to fight. "Raphtalia, I need one of your gloves." He said in a cold voice.
Raphtalia looked at him in surprise at first... But then she nodded and took off her right glove, giving it to Naofumi without question. It was at times like this he was grateful she could read what was on his mind. Even when he had a maelstrom of thoughts swirling through it, she almost always seemed to know what he was thinking about.
Without looking back, he walked calmly forward towards Motoyasu. The Commander was on Motoyasu's left, and Bitch was on his right.
"Wait, what are you doing?!" Motoyasu asked fearfully. The knights behind them stirred uneasily as the Shield Hero slowly approached all by himself.
"What I should have done back at the celebration long ago," Naofumi said flatly. After a moment, he stopped ten feet in front of Motoyasu, looking him in the eyes. "I thought I didn't have a choice back then. I thought my only way out was to go through you. I thought that was the answer then." He'd thought the only way out was to follow Ren's plan. To duel Motoyasu, beat him, and prove that he wasn't who the people thought he was.
But that wasn't going to happen. That was never going to happen. Not when there were people like Pope Balamus, Bitch, the Royal Knight Commander, and God knows how many other horrible people in power.
He was never going to make a point to the people. As Firo the beast tamer had said to him long ago, it wouldn't have mattered if he had raped the Bitch or not. He and others would still think he was nothing more than a devil because of evil people saying he was.
So if nothing he did really mattered... "I know now what I should have done."
He raised the glove and threw it to the ground.
Everyone there went wide-eyed at the action. But not because it had landed at Motoyasu's feet. He shouldn't have gone for the dog on the leash. Instead, he should have gone for the girl that had been pulling the strings herself.
The glove landed beside Motoyasu, at the feet of Bitch.
Her smug look evaporated faster than the morning dew in the sun.
Naofumi glared at her. "If you want to keep on hiding behind your lame schemes and convince everyone that I'm a brainwashing demon, then fine! I challenge you, Princess Malty Melromarc to a Duel!" Naofumi formally challenged the First Princess.
Hero Clips!
The Taste of Magic Healing Water
"Naofumi, what does this taste like to you?" Motoyasu asked, showing a glass vial full of Magic Healing Water.
Naofumi took an experimental sip of the potion that helped replenish MP. "Hmmm, It tastes like Dr. Pepper. Why do you ask?" Naofumi replied.
"What's Dr. Pepper?" Motoyasu asked confusedly. Before Naofumi could answer, Motoyasu shrugged and continued. "Anywho, I'd say this tastes more like Mountain Lightning to me."
"... Mountain Lightning?" Naofumi asked in confusion.
"Yeah, it's like, the most popular soda in Japan right now," Motoyasu replied.
"But I've never even heard of that soda in my Japan," Naofumi said.
"I haven't heard of yours either," Motoyasu said.
"How could you not have heard of Dr. Pepper?!" Naofumi angrily asked.
"How could you not have heard about Mountain Lightning!?" Motoyasu asked indignantly.
"You're both wrong." Ren and Itsuki appeared. "It obviously tastes Clang Cola."
"No, it's more like Second Maid Lemonade!" Itsuki yelled.
"For the last time Itsuki, I've never heard of Second Maid Lemonade in my life!" Ren yelled at Itsuki.
"Second Maid?" Motoyasu started to giggle. "What happened to the first maid? Did she not taste good enough?"
"Don't you dare make fun of my favorite drink!" Itsuki yelled at Motoyasu.
It looked like a fight was about to break out between the three heroes.
"Wait, hold on a moment!" Naofumi said in realization. "I think I understand what's going on here." He pointed at Motoyasu. "Your Mountain Lightning is like my world's Mountain Dew." He pointed at Ren. "Your Clang Cola is like my world's CocaCola." He pointed at Itsuki. "And your Second Maid Lemonade is like my world's Minute Maid Lemonade."
The heroes all looked at each other.
"You know, that actually makes a lot of sense," Itsuki spoke first.
"We come from alternate Japans. I guess even the sodas we'd be familiar with would go by different names in our worlds." Ren said logically.
"Yeah, good on you for figuring it out Naofumi," Motoyasu said happily.
"... although, I have bad news for you Motoyasu," Naofumi said. It sounded oddly reminiscent of their first night together when they'd told him the bad news of the Shielder class.
"What do you mean?" Motoyasu asked.
"Your Magic Healing Water tastes like chemicals," Naofumi said with a smirk.
"What! No way!" Motoyasu said angrily. "You take that back!"
Ren and Itsuki thought over Naofumi's words. "If Naofumi's theory is correct, then I'd have to agree," Ren said. "Mountain Ew tastes like chemicals in my world too."
"And Mount Stew tastes worse than that." Itsuki agreed. Motoyasu looked at him in shock. "I'm sorry. It just doesn't taste very good."
"No, it can't be!" Motoyasu fell to his knees. "Mountain Lightning is supposed to be the best! I'd drink five of them each night because it was my favorite drink to help me stay up gaming!" The Spear Hero cried in agony over his favorite drink not being well-liked in other worlds.
"No wonder Motoyasu's brain dead. All the chemicals probably killed his brain." Itsuki said.
"And they probably killed his taste for good women too," Ren added.
"Considering how he still hangs out with Bitch. I could agree with that." Naofumi agreed.
"SHUT UP!" Did they really have to rub salt in the wound!?
Motoyasu couldn't wait until his character development finally allowed him to not trust Bitch for good.
He'd be so much happier when she was out of his life.
Hero Clips!
Fangirls
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"Oi, what's with that annoying sound?!" Naofumi yelled crankily. He stumbled out of his wagon, only to stop in shock.
"I'm, like, your biggest fan ever!"
"M-M-MELTY!?" Naofumi was so surprised that he forgot to call the young girl Second Princess like normal.
The formerly blue-haired princess was in the most ridiculous cosplay he'd ever seen.
Her usual dress had been replaced with the exact outfit that Filo wore. Her hair was dyed blonde now to try and match Filo's hair color. She even had a pair of wings taped to her back that looked eerily similar to Filo's.
Like, it was very creepy how similar they looked. Had the girl made them from Filo's feathers?!
He thought they'd only met her TODAY!
"Hey Mel! You're looking great!" Filo complimented.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The Second Princess let out another fangirlish shriek at being addressed by her number one favorite person in the entire world!
Even though she'd only met her that day!
Naofumi would have said something, but then he noticed something even more ridiculous!
Even though they both had blue eye colors, Filo's eyes were a lighter blue than Melty's. Which the girl had fixed, BY WEARING FREAKING LIGHT BLUE CONTACTS THAT MATCHED FILO'S EYE COLOR EXACTLY!
"WHAT THE LITERAL-" Naofumi was about to cuss, but stopped just short of dropping a cuss word before his daughter.
The last thing he needed was for Filo to start going around cussing at random times. Raphtalia would not have been very happy about that.
"Want to go play Mel?!" Filo asked excitedly.
"Would I ever!?" Melty shrieked happily.
"Wait, you two can't just-" Naofumi froze up again.
MELTY HAD EVEN STYLED HER HAIR IN THE SAME FASHION AS FILO'S!? HOW THE HELL WAS HE ONLY NOTICING THAT NOW!
"Yayyyy~!" Filo transformed into her large bird owl form, whatever the heck it was called. Naofumi still didn't know, after all. And he thought the ridiculousness would end there.
"Wait, just a..." Melty pulled out another outfit that just about made Naofumi faint.
It was utterly ridiculous. How anyone could think it'd look like his daughter was beyond him. But with the help of stints and a very creative pulley system on the inside, Melty had managed to make a costume that resembled Filo almost perfectly. "Don't run too fast! I'm still not used to this thing yet!" Melty yelled from inside the thing.
"Kay!" Filo took off at a brisk pace, and her loyal fangirl followed right behind her.
...
"Naofumi, you don't look okay. Is everything alright?" Raphtalia asked worriedly.
"No, I don't think I'm okay." Naofumi shook his head.
And thus, the Shield Hero acquired not only a brave knight to his ever-expanding party but a fangirl that could mimic his daughter almost perfectly in either form. As stupid as that sounded.
"Yep, this is definitely more crack than I can handle for a day." Naofumi shook his head and began to walk away from the scene.
And yet it was scary how this actually looked plausible, considering how much Melty loved Filolials.
Till Next Time
Allen