Chapter Thirty-Seven: Pain of a Dog Girl
"Scree! Scree! Scree!"
Some of the spiders standing on the ceiling of the cave let out a series of high-pitched screeches as they turned around. Then, from their backsides, strings of webbing shot down at the group of three women.
"Dodge!" At Chen's shout, everyone twisted around the projectiles. The webbings hit the ground around them with a splat, sticking to wherever they hit.
"That's easier said than done!" Eclair grumbled at the overwhelming amount of backsides pointed their way.
The smaller spiders were shown on their HUDs to be around LV 30. The larger spiders were close to levels 55 to 60. And the Spider Queen's purple boss health bar had level 80 showing above it.
Eclair twisted again, dodging around more aerial projectiles launched at her. But one of them from a level 30 spider hit Eclair's foot, sticking it to the ground. She pulled on it hard and managed to tear her foot from the cave floor, but it took some effort, and right after, a level 40 spider jumped on Eclair's back, its jaws reaching for her neck.
"Ah! Get it off, get it off!" The rose-haired knight flailed around.
Raphtalia's blade quickly slashed the spider in half, covering the swordswomen in black blood. Raphtalia was then forced to jump back as more web projectiles hit the ground around her.
"Light Slash!" Raphtalia's return attack sliced right through the smaller spiders.
It also hit the ceiling behind them, causing the cavern to shake.
"Careful, the creature's webbing has to be the only thing keeping this place from collapsing in on itself!" Chen warned as she ducked below a spider's mandibles, stabbing through its underbelly with her dagger before kicking the monster away. Another blob of webbing hit her arm, but she twisted her torch in her grip and melted it right off before stabbing another spider through the head.
"Also, kind of obvious, but the higher leveled the spider, the stickier its webs will be. So if it's too hard to dodge everything, at least try to avoid getting hit by the stronger spiders." The hakuko advised.
Eclair shuddered, having no time to wipe the monster's blood off herself as more spider monsters scuttled towards her. Their mandibles clicked together maliciously. It felt like she could see her own reflection staring back at her from their beady red eyes.
Swallowing her fear, the swordswoman rushed forward, sword glowing with light.
"Second Form: Dawn's Slash!" The spiders halted, screeching from the blinding light just before the sword bathed in light slashed through them.
It was an effective attack that killed the smaller monsters. However, Eclair grimaced when the light faded and revealed several long cracks along her blade. Unlike her old family sword, this wasn't an enchanted blade. She wouldn't be able to rely on her usual shock and awe attacks this time around.
How exciting.
Another wad of spider webbing slammed into her side, and Eclair was forced to focus on the battle once again.
While Chen and Eclair engaged the smaller spider monsters, Raphtalia slashed a larger one in two. She glared past the horde at the massive form of the spider queen and the trapped occupant next to her.
"What happens if we defeat the Queen?" Raphtalia asked.
"Well, Dark Spiders do have a hierarchy." Chen flipped over a spider, bringing her dagger down into the back of another one. "They follow the orders of the leader of the nest, so if we kill her the rest would likely scatter, at least in theory," Chen contemplated as she stood back up again.
Whether it worked or not, without Naofumi there to provide defense, it'd be better to end this battle as quickly as possible. The fewer injuries, the better. "Alright, I'll kill it then," Raphtalia promised as she readied her blade in her hands.
"Just remember to avoid getting caught in her webbing," Chen reminded Raphtalia before pointing at the still struggling Dog Girl near the Queen. "Otherwise, you'll end up like your friend over there."
Raphtalia nodded. The spiders screeched again as they launched another volley of webbing at her, and-
It went right through her.
Chen briefly paused in surprise, looking at the girl. "What the-"
"Huah!" Raphtalia reappeared above a Spider Goliath, stabbing her sword right through its head. Her illusionary copy faded away from where it'd been standing right after.
Chen rubbed at her eyes and then stared in awe. She hadn't even realized the Half Tanuki girl had used illusion magic there! Miss Raphtalia was truly amazing!
The spiders scrambled around in confusion, not anticipating this turn of events either.
"Huah!" Eclair used this opening to rush forward, slashing one of the distracted spiders in half. Chen meanwhile shook her head and got back to fighting as well.
There would be time to admire Raphtalia later. Right now, there were these spider monsters to deal with, as well as...
"Ha!" Raphtalia jumped through the air, twisting her body to avoid other web projectile attacks from spiders all around her. The various attacks slammed into stalactites, the walls, the ceiling, and other spiders. She landed on another Spider Goliath, lithely chopping its head off with her sword before jumping again as it became covered in webbing.
She hopped from one large spider to the next, her sword digging through flesh, black blood flying through the air as she made her way to the Queen. Experience notifications appeared in her vision with each spider killed.
"Hiss!" A ball of darkness began to form in the middle of the queen's mandibles, and a second later, it launched the shadow attack at Raphtalia.
"Zweite Light!" Raphtalia summoned a ball of light in front of her as a counter. It not only dissolved away the attack but also caused the Spider Queen to back away, screeching in pain.
Raphtalia was about to rush forward to press on with the assault but had to jump away instead as more blobs of spider webbing impacted against the ground around her.
The Queen continued hissing as it ordered its nearby spawn to target the half-tanuki girl. "Hide Mirage!" But Raphtalia disappeared into another illusion, causing more confusion among the nest's inhabitants.
Eclair meanwhile stabbed another spider, causing it to screech and retreat into the horde. The rest of them hissed as they charged forward, forcing the swordswoman back.
"Eclair, catch!" Chen threw the torch in her hand towards the swordswoman, who caught it instinctively. Eclair then turned around as the next spider tried to attack her and slammed the torch into its face.
"HISS!" The burning spider retreated into the horde, causing other spiders covered in webbing to catch on fire as well.
"Ha, nice one!" Chen gave a thumbs up. At the same time, a spider knocked her dagger out of her hand.
"Chen, look-" Eclair began to warn.
Chen immediately turned towards the spider. With both hands unarmed, she brought her arm back and punched the spider right where its neck connected its head to its body.
"Scree-" The spider's eyes glazed over as it hit the ground, losing all of its HP at once.
Eclair paused in stunned shock.
What… what the hell had she just witnessed?!
Chen jumped onto the back of a larger spider as it charged her, and proceeded to punch the exact same spot where she'd punched the smaller spider, getting the exact same result. At seeing Eclair staring at her, she gave a grin and a thumbs up. "Did you know if you punch a Dark Spider's neck just right, you can not only break it but send the carapace fragments right into their brainstem, killing it instantly? Pretty cool trick, huh?"
Another spider tried jumping onto Chen's back, but she just casually dodged to the side, punching the back of its neck as it flew past her. She hadn't even turned to see it was coming! And she proceeded to do it again, and again, and again…
Was Eclair looking at the monster half of herself? The rose-haired knight's skills were clearly shown against human opponents. But Chen was not only reading the spider's behavior, but hitting their weak spots, disrupting the horde, and only using her bare fists to do it to boot!
Twenty spiders later and all the ones around Chen laid on the ground. The rest turned around, pointing their backsides at her. The hakuko smirked as she raised her hands.
"As source of thy power I order thee, decipher the laws of nature and blow my targets away." The spiders launched their web projectiles. "Zweite Gust!"
The wind spell hit the web projectiles, sending them back at their targets. The rest of Chen's opponents found themselves screeching in confusion as they were trapped by their own webs.
Eclair continued to stare.
The hakuko huffed as she grabbed her dagger off the ground and put it back in its sheath.
"Wh-What are you doing?! There's still more of them!" Eclair yelled, pointing at her part of the horde that had, thankfully, been too busy dealing with the fire to attack her up till this point. So if Chen took the opportunity now, Eclair wouldn't have to deal with any more of these monsters!
Chen tilted her head to the side curiously. "I just realized something, if this hive has enough food for this many monsters to set your friend aside like that, what is this food that they have so much of?"
Eclair was confused, but then Chen smiled. "Just hold their attention for a bit. I'll be right back!"
"Wha- no! Don't leave me! Do whatever you did to those monsters on these ones and-" Eclair tried to protest but Chen just saluted the swordswoman before running off deeper into the darkness of the cavern.
"You got this!" Chen encouraged.
Eclair wanted to cuss the hakuko out, but the spider horde in front of her charged forward again, screeching angrily at the swordswoman holding a lit torch in her hand.
Eclair focused on the battle again. But that didn't keep her from cursing internally at being left behind like that.
She'd definitely duel the hakuko lady later for this.
"Huah!"
Raphtalia, who was still engaged in her own battle, killed another Spider Goliath. She then jumped back right as more shadow balls from the Queen pelted the ground where she'd been standing.
The half-tanuki girl twisted in the air, avoiding another barrage of webbing from the rest of the spiders. Her high agility stat was the only thing keeping her alive right now. "Light Slash!" The attack slashed through the spiders, and the Queen shielded her eyes with her two front legs from the blinding light.
"Ha!" Raphtalia took the opening and charged forward after her feet hit the ground. A second later, one of the Queen's mandibles was sent flying through the air.
"HISSSSS!" The Queen slammed one of its large legs down at her, but Raphtalia rolled sideways away from Wyndia's trapped form, quickly turning and slicing the heads off of three other large spiders that'd come from behind to ambush her.
"Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!" More balls of darkness appeared around the Queen and some of her minions as they prepared to attack.
"Hide Mirage!" Raphtalia disappeared from view again. The balls of shadow the Queen launched hit some of her own spawn, but one did graze the Tanuki girl's side, forcing her out of her illusion.
"HISSSS!" With a loud roar, the Queen finally charged from her spot and brought her two front legs down to skewer the half-Tanuki girl.
Raphtalia took another step, before crouching down with a smirk. "Thank you for finally getting away from Wyndia."
Slash!
The white sword in the half tanuki's grip slashed right through the Queen's front legs. "I no longer have to worry about accidentally hurting her now!"
"HISSSSS!" The Queen hissed in pain as she crashed into the ground face first. Raphtalia slashed again, removing the other mandible on the spider's grotesque face.
More hissing came from the other spiders as they shot webbing at Raphtalia's position. Raphtalia, however, disappeared from view, and their attacks all missed, covering their Queen instead.
Several gashes proceeded to appear all over the Queen's body at random. The large monster screamed as it twisted and turned, eventually rolling itself on the ground while angrily screeching. Black mist poured from its mouth, but the relentless attack on its body didn't stop.
"Time to finish this!" Raphtalia reappeared to the side of it. Even heavily injured, the Queen turned around in an attempt to face the Tanuki girl.
But Raphtalia was just a bit faster. The monster had taken too much damage to turn in time. Raphtalia's blade, shining with light and shadow, skewered the boss monster right through its head.
"Yin Yang Thrust!"
The large spider's body straightened out in shock, and then, a blast of light and dark energy came out the Queen's back end, impacting against the ceiling above.
The Queen shuddered, her HP bar falling to 0, and then, she fell limp against the ground.
Eclair was breathing heavily, holding her badly damaged sword in one hand and Chen's torch in the other. The horde of spiders around her was closing in.
But then, with the death of the Queen, the remaining spiders Eclair had been facing suddenly stopped, and then a few seconds later, they turned tail and fled.
Instant relief filled Eclair's frame. The swordswoman bent forward, resting on her knees. Her eyes watched the spiders though to make sure that they weren't coming back before finally looking at Raphtalia. "Miss Raphtalia, I see you've finally managed to combine your light and shadow affinities into your sword techniques. However, I would advise you to be more mindful about where you use them in the future."
"Heheh, sorry." Raphtalia chuckled nervously.
On the bright side, the ceiling was still holding… somewhat.
Actually, with the way that the room was shaking now, it probably wouldn't be the case for long. "Wyndia."
The two found the still struggling cocoon right where it'd been left. The two girls worked to try and burn the webbing away, but it was taking too long, this particular silk seemed to resist fire to a certain degree. The room was shaking more and more.
"Have you freed her yet?" Chen reappeared and ran into the cavern, holding another torch in her hand. There was a group of people following behind her.
"No, and- wait, who are those people-" Eclair started to ask.
"The hive's food source, now pick her up, there's no time. This place is going to collapse any second now!" Chen yelled.
A nearby stalactite fell to the ground, shattering into pieces. Webbing all over snapped and broke in loud bursts as parts of the ceiling began to give way.
"Urgh, come on Miss Raphtalia, we can free her later!" Eclair threw the torch to the side and grabbed the underside of the sticky cocoon. Raphtalia did the same on the other.
She debated trying to gather some monster materials for Naofumi, but then a large boulder fell on the Dark Spider Queen's carcass, exploding it in a pile of gore and-
"Oh, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Eclair screamed in terror as she took off, forcing Raphtalia along with her.
"Hiss!" "Hiss!" "Hiss!" Apparently, the boss monster had been pregnant. The falling boulders had unleashed a torrent of baby spiders from its body.
They were level one and posed no absolutely no threat whatsoever. But the arachnophobia along with the gradually collapsing cavern made for a very terrifying experience.
Stalactites from the ceiling came crashing down around them as the webbing gave way.
The cocoon kept on struggling, but the sticky nature of its thread made it near impossible for Eclair and Raphtalia to drop it as they ran behind Chen and the group of people she'd rescued.
Nothing more was said as they escaped from the collapsing cavern. The cracks along the walls and ceiling widened and the entire mountain felt as if it would shake asunder. This continued into the cave as they ran upward, running as hard as their legs could take them.
Then, with one huge jump forward, they barely cleared a section of the cave before the entire ceiling came crashing down behind them.
Breathing heavily, the two girls looked back at the wall of rock that'd almost buried them alive. There were still sounds of screeching spiders behind it, but they were faint. There was definitely no way that horde would get through all that rock.
Thank, God. The rose-haired knight couldn't have been more relieved.
After a moment, the floor of the cave stopped trembling. The walls around them stopped cracking, and everything settled down. Besides a layer of dust floating in the air, they were all safe.
"I'm never going spelunking ever again." Eclair vowed.
Raphtalia giggled. "I'd be fine not dealing with another spider nest either."
"Screw those monsters! I don't even want to know why nature allowed them to exist!" Eclair shuddered. She was likely going to have nightmares about this experience in the days to come.
But then again, if they'd only brought a Hero along, they could have easily dealt with all the monsters by staying inside Naofumi's Meteor Shield. Heck, they wouldn't have even had to fight. They could have just approached the Queen, grabbed Wyndia while the spider's attacks bounced uselessly off of Naofumi's defenses, given the monster the middle finger, then they could have portaled out of there instead of collapsing the cavern and all that.
Then again, they would have also doomed the group of people Chen saved had they not brought her along. And a monster nest was never a good thing to leave hanging around. So maybe it'd been for the better that things worked out like this.
Maybe, hopefully, probably…
...
The nightmares better be damn worth it.
...
"Come on, let's get Wyndia out of this." Raphtalia interrupted Eclair's train of thought.
Right, Wyndia was still trapped. The swordswomen also realized it wasn't very comfortable being stuck to her cocoon, especially with how Wyndia's katana was to her face.
"Chen, a little help here." Eclair called.
"Alright, continue this way. You'll find my friend outside waiting for you." Chen said encouragingly to the group of people. Some of them were still thanking her, and others still had eyes wide with fear from the entire experience. Eventually though, when they finally started heading towards the exit, Chen used her torch to start freeing Wyndia from her cocoon.
"How did you know those people were there?" Raphtalia asked curiously.
"It didn't come to mind until like a minute after we started fighting. If those monsters had set your friend there aside instead of eating her, that must have meant that they already had plenty of food. And well… I wanted to make sure that food wasn't people." Chen's smile was a little strained as she said that.
"Well…" Eclair trembled a little. Thinking over the experience of fighting all those monsters by herself… "I'm glad your gut feeling wasn't wrong."
"Oh, it wasn't a gut feeling." Chen replied. "Most spider monsters that produce web exhibit similar behavior. They're quite picky eaters you see, and they generally prefer to devour their prey while it's still alive. So in cases when there's an overabundance of food, they wrap it up in cocoons like this, only leaving enough space to breathe!"
"..." Eclair stayed silent, and instead used Chen's torch to start burning the webbing away from around Wyndia.
The nightmares… ohhhhhhhh the nightmares...
She did not want to meet another spider monster ever again.
"Oh, and this web is from the Queen too! Try to keep some of it intact, it can be very valuable to the right blacksmith." Chen said excitedly.
Eclair grumbled and didn't bother. She didn't care if this made the best armor in the world. She didn't want to touch it EVER again.
Finally, the webbing around Wyndia's face was burned away. However, it still covered her eyes, and apparently, she couldn't hear anything that'd been going on outside her cocoon either as she started to scream at them. "Ha, you fools! Do you really think you can eat me! I'm the daughter of a dragon! I'll show you what happens when you mess with me! Earth Vein, hear my-"
"Wyndia, it's us." Eclair interrupted.
"... … huh?" The dog girl sounded confused. That hadn't sounded like spider clicking or hissing. Was that a trick, or...
A few seconds later, the webbing covering her eyes and ears was cleared away, and her amber orbs looked up in confusion. "What the- what are you doing here?" Her face took on a look of disgust upon seeing Eclair.
"Saving your life, now come on, help us get you out." Raphtalia said as Eclair and Chen continued burning the webbing away.
Wyndia's face twisted in a weird expression upon noticing Raphtalia as well, but after a few seconds, she began chanting a spell for some fire magic. Once finished, she first burned away the webbing around her hands, and then eventually the rest of her body too. Soon, she was entirely freed of the sticky trap and back on her own two feet.
Chen excitedly gathered up what remained of the cocoon. "Ooooooh, this is going to make a lot of my subordinates happy! I can't wait to tell them the stories of my adventure with Miss Raphtalia!"
The half-tanuki girl cocked her head curiously. Was she actually becoming a religious symbol just like Naofumi?
That thought bothered her a lot. She was starting to understand why Naofumi didn't like being worshipped at all.
"Let's go. It's late. We can talk on the way back-" Raphtalia turned to head towards the exit.
"I'm not going with you."
…
Raphtalia turned towards the dog girl again. Wyndia had sheathed her katana, but was glaring at the Tanuki girl in challenge. Eclair had also stopped, turning to face the dog girl.
"... Chen, go on ahead." Raphtalia told the hakuko woman after a short, tense pause.
"Oh, is something wrong?" Chen asked curiously, tilting her head to the side.
"There's something private we need to settle." Eclair said in an even tone.
Something private… Chen shrugged. "Okay, I'll be outside with Lon Lon if you need me." She proceeded to leave the three girls behind and headed towards the cave entrance.
It was just the three girls now…
Raphtalia sighed. They'd gotten out of the monster nest alive, but now it was time for the even more difficult challenge.
Trying to talk down the emotional Dog Girl.
"I could have escaped all by myself, you know." Wyndia crossed her arms. "I just had to wait for the right moment and I would have burned the whole place down."
"Right, and the right moment would have definitely been around the time they injected their stomach acid into you." Eclair shuddered, recalling the bit of info Chen had dropped about the monsters. Why would the hakuko bother with remembering a horrid detail like that?!
That was just pure nightmare fuel.
Wyndia said nothing to the rose-haired knight, staring instead at Raphtalia. The girl sighed again. "Wyndia, do you know how late it is?"
"Should I care about that?" Wyndia snarkily replied.
"The sun set hours ago. We were waiting to talk to you back in camp." Raphtalia said, keeping her voice even.
"That's fine. I'm not in a talking mood right now." Wyndia tried to step past Raphtalia, but the half-Tanuki girl got in her way.
"I don't care if you're not in a talking mood, Wyndia." Raphtalia said. "I want to talk, right now."
"Tough, I don't want to." Wyndia growled.
"Please, we just want to help you-" Raphtalia began to say.
"I don't want your help either." The dog girl snapped.
Raphtalia grimaced. Wyndia tried to step past her again, but then Raphtalia's face became resolute as she stepped in front of her again. "No," She said. "I'm not going to allow you to make the same mistakes Naofumi did."
Wyndia growled again, but Raphtalia continued. "I know you're hurting and I know you're angry. But dealing with it on your own isn't going to help you or anyone."
"And what would you know about that?! What do you know about what I'm going through right now?!" Wyndia snapped at Raphtalia, but the half-tanuki girl didn't shrink back.
"A lot more than you realize." Raphtalia answered.
Wyndia growled again, her fists tightening at her sides.
"Wyndia, please, just listen-" Eclair tried to intervene.
"Why?!" Wyndia snapped her head towards the rose haired knight. "Why should I listen when it's your fault Ren was kidnapped!"
Eclair looked like she'd been struck across the face. Raphtalia stepped forward, a look of anger crossing her face that disappeared as she tried to remain calm. "Wyndia, putting blame on others isn't going to help you feel better either."
"I don't care about feeling better, you stupid bitch!" Wyndia snapped back at Raphtalia. She continued to yell, her voice growing louder and louder with each word. "The only thing I care about right now is finding Ren! I'm out here trying to find him as fast as possible, and what are you guys doing?! Blowing around hot air and sitting on your ^%$es worrying about me?!"
"You have no idea what I'm going through right now!" Wyndia screamed. "You couldn't possibly hope to understand! If you actually wanted to help, you'd be out there, trying to find him for me instead of forcing your way into my business!"
Eclair's hands balled at her sides. "Wyndia-"
"We do care." Raphtalia retorted. "About Ren, and about you. We've been trying everything to find Ren just so-"
"No you don't! If you really cared, he'd be back already!" Wyndia cut the Tanuki girl off again.
"Wyndia-" Eclair tried to say once more.
"So you think that running off on your own is helping at all?!" Raphtalia's tail bristled behind her. "Do you think you can possibly do more than everyone else when your lone adventures caused everyone to worry?!"
"I don't care if you worry about me or not!" Wyndia snapped back. "I'm actually trying to find Ren, and if you're too useless to look for him, then I don't need your help! I don't need-"
SLAP!
Wyndia's words were cut off by a loud, resounding slap across her face.
Raphtalia stepped back in surprise. She hadn't been the one to do it.
Beside her, the rose-haired swordswoman was seething.
"We don't care…" Eclair's voice came out low, almost like a growl. "You think, we don't care?!"
Wyndia took a step back as, for once, Eclair dropped her calm disposure and pointed a firm finger at the Dog Girl. "You stupid, selfish little girl!"
"To believe I spent all that time training you and the Sword Hero to become your best! That I tried helping you both with your problems, that I fought alongside you to try and bring Ren back to his senses after he fell into the Cursed Series, and you think that I DON'T CARE!?"
Wyndia remained silent. The rose-haired knight continued to rant. Fists tight and tempted to punch the Dog Girl in a rage, but holding herself just short of going that far.
"I have put up with your behavior for long enough! You're not only selfish, but blind and spoiled! The Shield Hero and Bow Hero have been doing everything in their power to find Ren! Her Majesty, her Shadows, Fitoria, her flock, this entire coalition has been working tirelessly, trying to track him down! And you have the gall to claim that WE AREN'T TRYING!?
"I hold no romantic ties towards the Sword Hero as you do, but that gives you no excuse to act like a spoiled little brat! To run off on your own everyday and almost get yourself killed while we're doing everything we can to find the Sword Hero!
"What would have happened if we decided to leave you alone tonight, huh?! What if we'd decided to give up and go back to our tents instead of going out to find you?! Would you have escaped those monsters?! Would you have prevented yourself and all those people there from becoming monster food?!"
Wyndia continued to remain silent, and Eclair felt like she was only getting started.
"Imagine how Ren would feel if we had to tell him you'd gotten yourself killed by being STUPID! Do you think he'd like hearing how the girl he loved died because she was too selfish and shortsighted to accept help from anyone who even REMOTELY cared for her wellbeing?! Tell me, DO YOU THINK GETTING YOURSELF KILLED LIKE THIS WOULD HELP REN FEEL BETTER?!"
…
…
Eclair seethed. Wyndia was saying nothing, staring down at the ground in front of her. Raphtalia was saying nothing either. The dog girl's hands were clenched into fists. And just as Eclair was about to say more, Wyndia finally spoke.
"What am I supposed to do then?"
…
"What?" Eclair asked flatly.
The dog girl looked back up. Tears streamed down the sides of her face. There was still anger there, but also desperation. "What am I supposed to do then, Eclair?!
"As far as I know, everyone around me is being useless!
"The shadows, the coalition, Fitoria, the other two heroes!
"Nobody is finding Ren… nobody is finding him anywhere... so tell me, what am I supposed to do?!" Wyndia screamed, pain spilling from her very voice.
Eclair's anger melted away. She suddenly didn't feel so good about yelling at the Dog Girl.
"But… Wyndia. They're not being useless." Raphtalia sadly interjected. Seeing the pain Wyndia was going through had taken the anger out of her too. "Naofumi has been trying so hard to find him."
"Itsuki too." Eclair added in a calmer voice. "He and everyone else have been searching tirelessly for him, Wyndia. They even put him as a higher priority than their own selves. I swear to you, they're doing everything they can."
"... If they've been searching as hard as you claim... then tell me... just how much closer are they to finding Ren?!" Wyndia demanded.
Eclair and Raphtalia were about to answer, but she cut them off. "I'll tell you, it's zero! Besides the arrow pointing at the turtle, there has been nothing these last few days! NOTHING!"
It hurt, because it was true. Despite all their effort, they weren't any closer than they had been before. "I understand. We're all frustrated, but we're trying-" Raphtalia tried to appease the Dog Girl's growing anger and pain.
"Do you understand?" Wyndia asked incredulously. "Do you understand what I'm going through Raphtalia?!"
Raphtalia tried to say yes, she understood. Naofumi had been taken from her, several times. Whether by other people or by his own damn emotions, he had been taken from her. She knew exactly what Wyndia was going through, but Wyndia didn't give her time to say any of it as she continued.
"I don't think you were the one already destroyed because you weren't strong enough for your Hero." She said the word maliciously. "I don't think you were the one who was convinced to abandon your Hero in his time of need! To realize that you weren't enough to help him, that you'd never be enough to help him, yet decided to try anyway, only to find out that he was GONE!
"And yet you claim to understand what I'm going through when you're ALWAYS enough for your hero! When you can weather every storm you two go through and cuddle up to him whenever you want?!"
The cave trembled, Eclair looked around worriedly. "You don't understand! No, you can't understand! Somebody TOOK my Sword Hero away! And I couldn't do NOTHING about it! NOTHING AT ALL! I WAS ENTIRELY USELESS!"
Raphtalia trembled in her spot.
No, her fears earlier that day were being confirmed. Wyndia wasn't openly saying it, but the dog girl truly believed that her life was nothing without Ren. And she was lashing out at everyone and everything in an effort to find him, no matter how illogical it was, no matter who she hurt.
Wyndia believed that without the Sword Hero, she could never be happy again.
"Wyndia, if you'd only let us help-"
"NO! I DON'T WANT YOUR HELP! ALL I WANT IS REN BACK!" Wyndia screamed. "IF YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND THAT, IF YOU WON'T GO OUT THERE RIGHT NOW TO FIND HIM, THEN GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
…
Raphtalia opened her mouth to say something more, but Eclair grabbed her by the shoulder, stopping her from speaking first. "Fine, if that's really what you want."
Stunned, Raphtalia moved to the side when Eclair gave her shoulders a shove. "If you won't accept our help, then go. Disappoint me, Ren, and everyone else that cares about you, Wyndia. Just know we'd be very sad to see you go."
…
Wyndia looked briefly surprised. Then, fuming at Eclair's words, Wyndia gave them both death glares before she stomped past them towards the entrance.
A moment later, Raphtalia finally shook her head and faced the calm, rose-haired knight. "What did you do that for?" She angrily asked. "We should be helping her, not letting her-"
"Miss Raphtalia…" Eclair looked the half-tanuki girl in the eyes. Her blue orbs sparkled with all the color of the ocean. "Have you forgotten who we brought along with us?"
…
At first, the half-Tanuki was confused, but then, all of a sudden, angry screaming burst out from near the cave entrance.
The two ran outside, and discovered a peculiar scene upon exiting the cave.
"Let me go! I SAID LET ME GO!" Wyndia twisted and squirmed in the arms of her captor.
Dou-Lon, however, held fast to the dog girl. He frowned. He'd said earlier that it wasn't right to always force your help on someone. But after hearing what he'd heard in the cave, he figured that for this situation...
It was justified.
Eclair sighed. Silently thanking her bakako for being as predictable as always.
"LET ME GO!" Wyndia screamed.
Chen and the other refugees in the wagon were watching the scene with stunned looks in their eyes. Had this been what Miss Raphtalia meant by settling something in private?
Obviously, it looked like they'd failed to settle things amicably.
"I'm sorry, Miss Wyndia, but you're in no state to run off by yourself at the moment." Dou-Lon looked to Tersia and nodded his head.
The blonde-haired mage sadly looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. Please don't hate me for doing this. But I know Sir Ren wouldn't want you destroying yourself for his sake. Nothing would destroy him more than thinking you were dead because of him." The mage nodded as she pulled a potion out from her sleeve.
"Wha- no, NO!" Wyndia recognized it as Tersia approached her. She started twisting and snarling. "YOU CAN'T! I NEED HIM! I NEED TO FIND HIM!" More tears fell down the sides of her face. "I NEED-"
Tersia said nothing as she brought the bottle to Wyndia's lips. Wyndia tried to close her mouth, but Tersia forced it in, making the dog girl drink its contents.
"NO!" Wyndia sputtered and coughed as the bottle was taken away. She coughed and hacked, but her struggles were already weakening. Her rapid breathing was slowing, and her eyelids were fluttering. "No! No… you… … traitor…" With her last word, the dog girl's eyes closed. A second after, she collapsed in Dou-Lon's arms as the sleep potion took her into a dreamless sleep.
...
Tersia looked up at the Hakuko with tears in her eyes. "I'm… I'm so sorry."
The Hakuko gently lifted the dog girl up as if she were a small child. "It's… it's okay. You and Eclair were right… in the end, she didn't leave us with any other choice."
It was no wonder they'd never tried forcing their help on those who hadn't wanted it before. It hurt. A lot. Yet it'd also been necessary. If Wyndia hadn't been stopped...
"I'm sorry. I couldn't bear watching you destroy yourself any longer. Please, forgive me." Tersia sniffled, wiping tears away from her face as she rubbed a hand through the sleeping dog girl's hair.
No response came from the unconscious Dog Girl. The former nun began to sob, already regretting her actions.
Raphtalia watched it all with a dead expression on her face. "What… what is this?" She turned to face Eclair.
Eclair couldn't look at the half-Tanuki girl. What had happened went against everything she knew and stood for. "The backup plan in case we wouldn't be able to convince Wyndia to come with us peacefully. I requested the Shadow to give us that potion… I didn't want to use it. But… I couldn't allow Wyndia to hurt herself any longer either. Ren would never forgive me if I allowed her to continue like this."
"When Tersia couldn't go in, I gave it to her… and I told her to use it only if she and Dou-Lon thought it would be necessary…"
The knight said nothing more as she got into the wagon and sat down in the back. Tersia and Dou-Lon said nothing either as they hopped in, setting the resting dog girl gently onto the floor.
"Mommy…" Filo looked down in worry at Raphtalia as she approached. The half-Tanuki's hands were balled into fists, and an unbelievable amount of frustration was pouring off her form.
They'd wanted to help Wyndia. Yet she'd been too stubborn, and they'd had to resort to… to this?
Filo's wings wrapped around Raphtalia, enfolding her in a gentle embrace. "It's okay, Mommy. Everything is going to be okay. Filo knows it."
...
Raphtalia's hands gradually unclenched, and she rubbed a hand along Filo's neck. "I know it will be sweetie… I know it will…"
"By the way, why is there webbing in Mommy's hair?" Filo asked.
The half-Tanuki girl chuckled, but not her normal, happy one. "Mommy will tell Filo the story another time."
"For now, let's head back."
The trip back to camp was quiet.
Chen talked with the people they'd rescued from the spider's nest, helping those still in shock to realize that they were safe. That everything would be alright now. Most of them remained quiet but a few managed to explain that they were refugees escaping from the spirit tortoise and that they tried to find shelter in one of the caves during their journey, only to stumble upon the monster nest inside. There was only a quarter of their original group left.
It was late into the night when Filo finally pulled up towards the Hero's tents. Naofumi was standing by himself in front of his, waiting for them with his arms crossed. He looked like he'd just woken up.
"Where have you been?" He asked. "I had dinner ready hours… ago…" He went quiet as he saw Dou-Lon and Eclair getting out of the back, holding the unconscious bound dog girl between them. Eclair's armor was also stained with monster blood. Naofumi rubbed his eyes, making sure he wasn't seeing things.
"You know what, I'm not even going to ask." He eventually said with a dismissive hand shake.
Raphtalia nodded, her ears falling low on her head.
"Sir Naofumi, would you mind if we kept Wyndia in our tent tonight?" Eclair asked.
"Knock yourselves out." Naofumi turned around to go into his tent. "Dinner's still sitting in the kitchen in case anyone's hungry. It'll probably be cold by now though."
"Kay!" Filo, not surprisingly, was the first one to race towards the kitchen. Tersia helped Eclair with Wyndia while Dou-Lon went to get food for the two girls. Several of Chen's subordinates appeared, helping the Hakuko and addressing the needs of those she'd rescued.
Raphtalia, however, didn't follow any of them. She took only a moment at the bathhouse to get the monster webbing out of her hair. Then, finally, when that was done, she walked into Naofumi's tent.
At that point, he'd laid down in his cot and was trying to go back to sleep. On hearing her enter though, his eyes opened again.
"Raphtalia, aren't you going to grab dinner?" He asked.
She shook her head. "I'm sorry… I don't feel very hungry right now…"
…
Naofumi said nothing. Instead, he lifted his blanket up, inviting her under the covers with him.
Raphtalia took the invitation. Sliding into the cot before wrapping her arms around him and cuddling up next to him. His hand started rubbing her wet hair, smoothing out the auburn locks.
It'd been a long time since they'd last been like this. It had to be before Cal Mira. Before she'd gone too far and…
He kissed the top of her head. The thoughts from before left her mind as she took solace in his warm embrace.
...
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Huh?" She looked up at his face. He was giving her a small smile.
"I don't need to read minds to know something's troubling yours." He pointed out.
She gave him a small smile back. "Thank you…" Her smile then disappeared. "I'm still trying to process what happened out there…"
"It must have been serious if you had to knock out Ren's dog girl with a sleeping potion and tie her up." Naofumi chuckled at the look of surprise that crossed her face. "I'd at least guess that's what you did, since my HUD showed she was under a sleeping status effect. I'll also take it that monsters of some kind were involved?" He added.
"Maybe... maybe another time, Naofumi. It wasn't… a very pleasant encounter." Raphtalia admitted.
His arms tightened around her in an embrace. "It's fine. I'd say it's been a long week for all of us. Just as long as you did it for the right reasons."
She looked up at him again. She felt warmer, and not just because of her proximity to him. She felt a tear leak from her eye, and wiped it away.
"Did something happen to you while I was gone?" She asked.
Naofumi grimaced. Even when she was going through something tough, she could still tell, huh. "Melty was here earlier." He admitted.
…
"I see… did things go well?" She asked hopefully.
"Well…" He described how Melty had absolutely hated his guts. How Trash had then come in, and pleaded with his daughter to forgive him. And how everything had turned out from there.
"..." Raphtalia remained quiet as she tried to picture it. Unsurprisingly, she found it hard to believe that the coward who'd stood over Naofumi in that duel arena would ever defend him from his own daughter. But Naofumi hadn't been lying. At least, as far as she could tell.
"Did the Queen set him up for it?" Raphtalia asked skeptically.
"Funny, I asked him the same thing." Naofumi chuckled, and it brought a chuckle from Raphtalia too. It was funny how great minds think alike. "No, at least, I don't think she did. I ended up making him honey roast. I think it made him smile for a bit."
"That's good…" Raphtalia felt her stomach churn at the mention of food. She hadn't really eaten much that day, had she? Yet…
She looked down at Naofumi's chest for a moment, then looked up at his face. Even though she was hungry, she felt a different hunger gnawing at her right now. "Can I…" She started blushing and looked to the side. "Can I feel your body... for a moment?"
"Oh?" Naofumi looked curious at first, then he realized what she'd asked and his face blanched before filling with red. "Oh…"
He nervously gulped. He wondered if this would push him over the line and cause a panic attack just like before… he'd been cautious up to this point. Not wanting to do anything that would lead to him ruining another moment between them when he loved her so much... but ultimately, he found he couldn't say no. Not after everything they'd been through together. Not after what Raphtalia had gone through that day in trying to help Ren's party member.
So he nodded his head, giving her permission to touch.
Raphtalia's hands shakily moved under his shirt. Her fingers pressed down, tracing the lines of muscle on his back. Naofumi's breath hitched and his body shuddered. This… this was completely unlike last time. It was like he was acutely aware of her every movement against his skin.
Then, her hands moved to his front. Going over his abs, feeling the surprisingly smooth skin the girl remembered feeling rough and scarred at Cal Mira. Yet because of the Yggdrasil's Elixir...
"Raphtalia?" Naofumi looked confused as she suddenly moved his pant leg up, revealing his calf. Her hand fell along it.
Smooth, perfect... completely devoid of the scar he'd acquired saving her from stepping into a trap in the middle of the woods so long ago. His shoulder was also missing the scar from the Two-Headed Dog. The area where the poisonous porcupine monster had punctured him was healthy too.
All his scars, every memory of their time together in the beginning, gone. Washed over and given a clean slate. A chance for something new, for something… something…
"Raphtalia?" Naofumi's voice came out heavier. At some point, they'd both started breathing heavily, and at the sound of his voice, her tea red eyes focused on his crystal green irises.
The emotions swirling within them. The look of fear, yet excitement coursing through his veins...
"Naofumi…" Raphtalia felt his heart beating a mile a minute against her hand. He could similarly feel her heart beating as she pressed herself against him. The look in her eyes, the way her hair smelled, her hands on his body…
"Naofumi, I need you." She all but begged.
"I…" Naofumi gulped, but brought his face closer to hers. His lips hovering just an inch over hers before he whispered…
"I need you too."
Nothing more was said as their lips crashed against each other.
The next few minutes passed in a blur.
Naofumi couldn't completely recall all that happened. One moment, they'd been on the cot heavily making out, then the next, they were rolling around on the floor, lips pressed against each other, his shirt missing and her armor gone. Their tongues dueling with one another.
This was… holy crap, this was beyond anything he'd experienced before. Naofumi's otaku self was blown away by the sheer heat and hormones coursing through his mind right now. Was this what it truly meant to just let go?
Raphtalia disengaged the lip lock, suddenly biting down on Naofumi's neck. Naofumi gasped. Not from pain, but from excitement.
It was like the rest of the world was melting away around them. The amount of euphoria coursing through his veins was enough to make every horrible thing he'd gone through at this point worth nothing.
He pulled her face back up to his and reengaged with her lips. Her scent, her taste.
He wanted more of it. He wanted more of her.
Raphtalia fell on her back with a gasp as he won the war for dominance. With her armor out of the way, his hands moved under her shirt, feeling her stomach as his lips moved from her mouth to her neck, kissing the hot, fevered skin there.
Her skin felt soft, yet firm at the same time. She wasn't muscled like he was, but he could feel them under her skin. Taut, ready to spring at a moment's notice.
Raphtalia moaned, digging her hands through Naofumi's hair. Naofumi's hands moved higher as he kissed down her neck, wanting more, wanting-
"Eep!" Raphtalia let out a small scream and Naofumi jumped back in shock.
It wasn't a panic attack. Rather…
…
Naofumi's face flared bright red. Raphtalia's face was a similar shade. Her hand felt where Naofumi had just touched her seconds ago. Even more red came to her face.
Holy hell… had they really been about to… about to… damn, he hadn't expected to go this far beyond cuddling in one night!
"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, and, um, uh…" Naofumi stuttered incoherently.
"It's… It's, well, I wasn't, really, um, uh, urh…" Raphtalia was no better.
For a minute, both of them stuttered, not really sure what to say. The romantic tension dissipated to an awkward pause. An awkward pause that only two idiots in love with each other could possibly create, and then extend well beyond what would be considered normal.
Finally, Naofumi tried to regain some dignity as he held her hand in his. "That was probably a little too much all at once, huh?"
Raphtalia blushed again. "A… A little…" She admitted.
The Shield Hero sighed. Damn it. He couldn't believe he'd ruined another make out session with his hot girlfriend, and it wasn't even because of a stupid panic attack.
Still, Raphtalia smiled. "B-But you didn't have a panic attack, so…" She looked at Naofumi's face again. "That makes me feel really happy right now."
…
"You know what, I'm happy too." Naofumi honestly admitted, his arms wrapping around the half-tanuki girl again. Even if his body felt a little frustrated with him… he was happy that Raphtalia was happy. He was happy that Bitch hadn't appeared to torment them both in that moment.
She felt warm against him, and he looked towards the lone cot that seemed so far away on the other side of the tent and sighed. "Crap, I really don't want to move right now."
"I don't either." Raphtalia cuddled up against his bare chest, resting her head under his chin. Her ears flicked against him as her tail wrapped its way around his leg. "Let's just stay like this for tonight."
"Raphtalia, I want to sleep on the comfy cot the Queen provided for me." Naofumi groaned.
The half-tanuki girl giggled. It was like she knew exactly what she was doing. The evil woman.
"Naofumi… can you hold me like this for tonight… please?" Raphtalia asked innocently.
Naofumi groaned, yet wrapped his arms around her again. "Fine, but only for tonight…" His face flushed red at the intimacy of their situation. But as long as he didn't have a panic attack or any nightmares, he'd be okay with this. He'd be... more than okay with her.
Raphtalia smiled. She was still sad about Wyndia. Not because she realized she couldn't help her, but because… she could picture now what it'd be like if Naofumi was torn from her at this moment. And the thought filled her with such pain…
And Wyndia was experiencing this. In real life. More than that, she'd lost her confidence in everyone… even herself.
"Naofumi?" Raphtalia whispered.
"Yeah." He responded.
"... Let's work as hard as we can tomorrow." Raphtalia said.
She got no reply beyond him burying his chin in her hair and kissing it. Yet she knew they were of the same opinion.
Cuddling with Naofumi on the floor of the tent as they drifted off to sleep together, Raphtalia knew. She couldn't bear letting the Dog Girl shoulder that pain any longer.
Tomorrow, they'd find a lead. And she wouldn't just come to Wyndia with words of comfort. She'd give her hope that Ren could be found, and even better…
That Wyndia was strong enough to save the Hero she loved, that she was brave enough to stand beside him without needing help from anyone else.
Just like Rishia could with Itsuki.
Just like Raphtalia did with Naofumi.
Author's Notes:
Wow, to think we finally reached 100 chapters. I definitely didn't see myself getting this far when I started. Nor did I picture bringing up some nice, hot, spicy romance so early in the arc. But you know what, I'm glad to have made it this far, and I feel a lot better after reading over that adorable (and hot) raphumi scene after all the conflict and heartache we've seen lately.
The below omake is a bit longer than usual. Since it's the 100th chapter, I decided to go a bit extra. It's… certainly unusual. There's also plenty more material I could cover for it depending on how much it's liked. I'll just have to wait and see if this should get a part two or not.
Hero Clips!
What if Allen was Summoned As a Hero?
"Oh Holy Heroes, please save our world!"
The black-haired Ren narrowed his eyes. "You brought us here and expect us to fight for you-" His words cut off upon seeing the Hero beside him.
"Oh, yes, finally, with my meta knowledge, I can fix things myself, just like all the other authors on that website I'm pretty popular on." The six-foot-tall Hero towered over the other shorter heroes. In fact, he towered over almost everyone else in the setting.
Damn, was everyone really that short? He knew the average height of Japan was like 5'4" or something like that, but geez, he could even see over Motoyasu's head. They were really tiny.
Looking down, Allen found he was holding the Holy Bow. Understandable, since justice was more of his trait. He wasn't one to protect others like Naofumi or work hard solely to get stronger like Ren. Allen was loyal to his friends, but not to the level of simphood that Motoyasu had achieved.
Now, he could do like everyone else and fix this world. He'd forge a story so grand, not even the fake Gods would be able to tear it from this world, and-
Wait, he just realized, had Ren stopped speaking? Wasn't he and Motoyasu supposed to be saying something to the priests that'd summoned them right now? Allen looked down at the short Sword Hero.
"Uhhhhhhhhhh… meta knowledge?" Ren finally managed to say, looking directly at him.
"Oh, it's nothing." Allen smirked. Ren awkwardly shuffled away from him, as did Motoyasu and Naofumi.
It looked like Allen had already run into his first problem. He wasn't Japanese, he was American. The other three were looking at him, Naofumi in curiosity, and Ren and Motoyasu in wariness. Understandable, since he wasn't from the same culture as them. He'd also said something that he probably shouldn't have said.
That was ok. He'd win them over with his good charm and hilarious puns (at least, Allen himself found them hilarious) soon enough.
"Yo, I'm Allen, it's nice to meet y'all." Allen smiled widely and held his hand out.
…
"Come on, is no one going to try and break this awkward atmosphere?" Allen asked.
It was uncharacteristically silent as they were escorted to the King's Throne Room.
"Welcome Heroes, to the great kingdom of Melromarc!" An individual in front of a pair of large ornate thrones at the end of the room stood up upon the Hero's entrance. "I am-"
"Lüge Lancrose Faubley, right?" Allen interjected.
"What the- how did you know that?" The King said in shock.
"Oops…" Allen looked off to the side. He hadn't meant to use his meta knowledge there to show off! "I, uh…" Crap, not only had he failed to diffuse the awkward tension from earlier, but now it looked like he was showing off to the other three Heroes! And-
Oh, Gods! He had to diffuse the situation right now before the Church got suspicious and killed the whole lot of them because that was what religious fanatics did! You never wanted to mess with those nuts! "I-I mean, aren't you well known for being the Staff Hero in the previous war, great Wise King? How could I have not known of your great name?"
Allen could feel the man's gaze on him, as if weighing him in his mind. Then, to his relief, a smile spread across Aultcray's features. "Why, yes, I was. So it is true that the summoned heroes are knowledgeable about our world…" The King sounded pleased to be acknowledged for his status.
"I didn't know that," Ren whispered to Motoyasu.
"I didn't know that either," The tall short blonde whispered back.
Allen sighed in relief. Crisis, averted. At least, for now. He just had to make sure to get through this without running his mouth again and they'd be all set...
"Well then, I'm sure you brave Heroes are aware of why you were summoned here-"
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot! Your sister who you thought was dead was actually alive until recently, oof, sorry about that. But that's okay because she left behind two kids named Fohl and Atla! They're over in Zeltoble right now, and Fohl is fighting in the arena to afford medicine for his sister who looks a lot like your sister by the way, and she's super awesome despite being blind and has a great talent for Hengen Musou so you… should..." Allen trailed off, seeing all the pairs of eyes looking at him.
He just couldn't keep his big mouth shut, couldn't he?
"Meep-" Church Shadows sprang from the ceiling, killing the meta hero and his compatriots.
"So I'm the Bow Hero, sweet!" Allen stood outside in the forest on his first-day hunting. There'd been a weird thing with time resetting to before that meeting, or maybe some unknown hand had fixed the universe and sealed his mouth shut and fast-forwarded time till now so he'd be sure not to mess anything else up.
But anyway, he'd somehow managed to get through the previous night mostly spoiler intact along with the Hero meeting afterward.
Because of his meta knowledge, he had most of the power-up methods unlike the other Heroes. However, he hadn't shared them with the others yet since A. most of the methods were useless at the start, B. Motoyasu and Ren weren't likely to believe him this early on and arguing with them about it would be pointless. C. Naofumi would believe him, but the Church who had their agents listening in would no doubt kill Naofumi if he made him too OP early on.
Lastly was D. raphumi.
Allen did not want to do anything that would keep that ship from ever happening. And really, there was a lot he could potentially do to prevent it. Even something as simple as standing up for the Shield Hero at tomorrow's trial would guarantee that Naofumi would never buy the Tanuki girl, leaving her to rot in a tent and die.
Reprise really showed how you had to be careful. Even giving the slightest action at the wrong time could cause Naofumi to buy someone else besides Raphtalia. He'd still be saving someone else, but it wouldn't be raphumi.
And if that wasn't enough, Raphtalia was a very key figure for battles later on. For Q'Ten Lo. For the Vassal Katana. Etc. If he did something that kept Naofumi from buying her, he had no idea just how drastically the story could change, and most likely for the worse.
So Allen was doing the logical move and skipping the trial entirely. Better to forge his own path in this world rather than worry about someone else who'd turn out fine in the end.
Naofumi would be fine without him there anyway. No point trying to help things along.
Besides, there were a few other problems he had to address in the meantime.
With the majority of his party offered by the King consisting of church spies, he had no choice but to decline wanting to party at the time, preferring to start out by himself first and find his compatriots while exploring the world. He'd put it that way since, if he resisted having those church plants as party members vehemently, the Church would kill him. If he tried pulling a blackops and tried sneaking away at only level 1, well… that just wouldn't have worked with them being at least ten levels above him. And if he did sneak away, the Church would kill him.
So he stated that he'd prefer being solo for now, and his decision was respected by the King. Just as long as he did nothing to piss off the Church Shadows watching his progress, Allen would be just fine...
As for the other problem…
"Stop moving you stupid monster!"
Allen's arrow flew over the cackling balloon monster, impacting against a tree.
Hitting a moving target was much harder than you'd think. Allen's training in scout camp as a teenager was nothing compared to this. Why couldn't he have Itsuki's level of training as well as his slight aim correction quirk?!
Chomp! "Ahhhhhhhhh!"
That bite on his arm really hurt too. Oof, it was too bad he wasn't the Shield Hero, or even the Sword Hero. The Bow also had the lowest defense of all the Heroes.
"Why did I have to get the stupid bow?!" Allen yelled as he released another arrow from the bow. At least he didn't have to load it. The bow just magically made the ammunition for him every time he pulled it back.
Not that it improved his accuracy in the slightest. He'd probably need a lot of training in order to get good at this.
Chomp!
And that was if he could survive being bitten by all these monsters first.
"Okay, so that didn't go as planned." Allen held a pile of balloon scraps in his hands. He was also covered in bite marks.
Since shooting arrows had proven useless, he'd taken to bashing the balloons with the Bow itself instead. It wasn't as effective as swinging a sword, but at least it got the job done. Now he just had to find the right merchant, and…
Seven, Hours, Later
"Where the hell is the shopping district?!" Allen yelled, stranded in the middle of an unfamiliar street.
That was another issue he was unfortunately beginning to discover. Even with all that light novel, manga, and anime knowledge flowing through his brain… he still couldn't read the Melromarcian signs, nor did he know the layout of Melromarc's Capital. Because there was no damn official maps written by the author.
It was getting late too.
He really should have asked someone for directions… but who asked around for directions these days?! He'd look like an idiot!
Turning down the party of Church spies was turning out to be a pretty bad idea. He could have really used their guidance about now.
Crap, he just realized, he didn't even know the way to Elhart's shop?!
HOW WAS HE SUPPOSED TO USE WEAPON COPY TO GET A BUNCH OF GOOD BOWS EARLY ON?! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
It has been a week since being summoned.
Allen has been forced to learn the pains of this world for the last week.
Luckily, he received assistance from the King so he could be trained by the country's best archers. The perk of being a hero.
Without GPS, he had to, gasp, ask around for directions.
He managed to plot out some of the layout of the town at this point so he at least knew how to get to the inn. He still had as of yet to visit Elhart's shop but had been directed to another blacksmith shop in the city since, apparently, there was more than just Elhart's shop available to acquire new weapon forms from.
Allen even somehow managed to locate the OC's of his story, adding all but one of them into his party for reasons he'd rather not spoil on.
He'd managed to garner some levels fighting the monsters near the forest. Using his Bow whenever hitting them with an arrow proved to be impossible.
He'd also absorbed random things like rope or pipe to get some new weapons, and even acquired a few skills. So things were turning up for him, right?
However, there was now another obstacle he had to address…
"How the hell am I supposed to use all these strengthening methods?!"
The route to becoming OP. And boy did it suck early on.
The methods worked exponentially to raise the Hero's strength. However, only four of the methods passively raised his stats. The others required work, effort, and materials. A lot of materials. Like, it wasn't even funny. His own Job Levels method was like a money sink. It was the most effective in the long run, but required far more than what he could acquire right now. He probably wouldn't even be able to start using it for another month. As for the other methods...
"Where the hell did that blonde bastard even find those damn ores that he used for his Ore Equip method?! Damn it, I could really use his gaming knowledge right now!" Allen cursed Itsuki and the other Heroes for not going over even a smidgen of their game knowledge in any form of media. Which also included Naofumi, since, you know, he never detailed how or where exactly he got the ores from either.
What an unreliable narrator that bastard was. Everything would be so much simpler if Shield Hero had been written from a third-person Point of View.
Oh yeah, speaking of him, it'd been a week since the summoning. Besides going back to Aultcray to beg for archery training… he hadn't been at the castle for the trial or anything. At this point, Naofumi was probably still wandering around the Capital in only his underwear if he remembered the canon correctly.
He probably could have been there to try and support Naofumi… then he remembered how showing him even a smidgen of care would forever ruin Raphumi from happening, and that Naofumi would turn out alright in the end anyway, plus, the Shield Hero was not in the state of mind to want to see him or anyone else right now, so Allen left it at that since he was still going through the pains of trying to carve his own path in the world.
"Hey, Bow, can you lower the costs for Job Levels just a little bit?!" Allen yelled at the yellow gemstone of his weapon.
Just like the other times, he got no response.
"I know you're in there spirit! Come on, I wasn't gifted with Itsuki's knowledge! So make things a little easier on me and at least give me a map!" Allen yelled at his weapon.
"Um, what's going on with Sir Allen?" One of his party members standing outside the door asked.
"The usual. Come on, lets grind some levels." The other party member shrugged before walking away from the door hiding their somewhat crazy but good natured Bow Hero to continue screaming at his weapon to make things easier on him.
Which, unfortunately, it did not.
It was a couple weeks until the Wave, and Allen was struggling with yet another difficult task.
"Holy crap, will you words just make sense for me?!" Allen screamed down at the book in his hands.
"Um, Sir?" His party member looked at him confusedly.
It was nice that the weapons automatically translated everything he said and what others said so they understood one another. But the fact that it couldn't translate written languages sucked! He also knew this was the only way to do it, because no weapon with the ability to translate written languages was ever mentioned in any of the light novels he'd read.
Unless that was something that'd been in the untranslated light novel territory. But if it appeared while Naofumi was in the past, Allen highly doubted he'd acquire it now. In fact, he theorized that was something that might only work with the Vassal Book of Glass's world. Which was in the hands of that bastard-
Oh, wait, that'd be spoilers.
Regardless, it was very much a pain trying to learn Melromarcian. Especially since he still had to go through the effort of leveling during the day (made somewhat easier thanks to finally acquiring a few skills), haggling with merchants for the best price (which he still needed a lot of effort to improve in), and trying to utilize what strengthening methods he could use right now.
That last one was something he couldn't do too much of, since he still needed to sell some materials, drops, and monster parts he acquired so he'd have the money needed to feed himself and his party as well as outfit them with better equipment as they leveled up.
But at least he was making some progress… right?
It was a week until the Wave.
Allen was once again beating his head against the wall, which was something that was becoming a common occurrence for him. It was the only way he felt he could get rid of the stress building up in his body.
"You just need to feel the magic in you, Sir Allen." Rachel calmly told him as she picked the grimoire he'd been trying to read off the ground.
"First, I have to learn Melromarcian, and then I have to learn how to read magic text on top of Melromarcian!" Allen continued with making a dent in the wood with his head.
How could he have forgotten such a small stupid detail in regards to magic?! It was like trying to learn Latin through Swahili! It sucked sucked sucked sucked SUCKED!
He'd even caved in and tried breaking one of the King's crystal balls to automatically learn a spell (it'd been Earth Shot) even though it'd be weaker since he hadn't learned it from a grimoire. But at least he'd have magic!
There was only one issue.
HOW THE HELL WAS HE SUPPOSED TO CAST MAGIC?!
"Now I understand why Naofumi struggled so much with this crap! I don't know what you mean by letting it flow through me!" Allen screamed again. Why did he have to come from a world that had little to nothing on magic! He hadn't even learned how to do those stupid sleight of hand tricks the cheap magicians used!
Rachel continued to calmly assist the Bow Hero before retiring to bed for the night.
Oh yeah, that was one other issue Allen had as of late.
He liked his sleep. And the time he needed to accomplish all of this really infringed on his sleep schedule.
"Things better get better after the first wave or I swear to everything holy!"
Things did not get better during the first wave.
Not only was he actually weaker than Itsuki had been at that point due to trying to do everything all at once. He'd also stayed up the previous night, planning out how he'd handle the wave monsters and help protect the village perfectly so he would fall on Naofumi's good radar later on. And that, well...
To better explain the context, he didn't know what day the wave would hit. The LN's said a month, but due to Naofumi's timeline, that could have been thirty-seven days or whatever around that. It'd been a while since he'd seen the timeline someone had made on Discord. He also hadn't done well keeping track of how many days had passed by since coming to this world since he normally relied on his phone for remembering what day it was.
Then again, he'd also received a few messengers from the castle telling him the wave would be soon. He could have also visited the Church and registered so a timer would appear in his vision. But he'd been busy, and he didn't want anything tying him to those crazy religious bastards.
A few shadows had confronted him, asking when he'd register at the Hourglass. And he'd told them he'd be at the Church tomorrow to look at the hourglass, and then tomorrow came and went and he was still doing his own thing because screw the Church.
At least he showed he was preparing for the Wave with the activities he'd been doing. And he knew the Wave would happen in Lute anyway. So once everyone around him began to look on edge, he went over and based himself around Lute and started planning out exactly how he'd handle the Wave so he could both handle the Guardian Beast and show that he was a protector of the people.
Now, what was the big, bad thing Allen did that made this a huge problem?
He slept through it.
Literally, staying up all night to plan everything out… and he slept through the entire wave the very next day (he'd guessed it to be the day after that)! And the part he didn't sleep through...
"Ugh, what…" Allen tiredly rubbed at his eyes as he tried to focus on the creature that'd fallen into his room.
"rrrrrraaaaaa"
Was that a zombie? "Okay. Either you kill me quickly to relieve me from this exhaustion, or I kill you for ruining the good dream I was having, what's your call?"
"rrrrrraaaaaa"
Allen: sighs heavily as he stands up
"... alright then."
He proceeded to kill the damn thing, throw it out the broken window, and go back to sleep in his bed while his party members banged on his door.
That was the power of college students. They could sleep through ANYTHING.
If Allen had only been isekaied a few years earlier in life…
It was very awkward standing around at the celebration. His party of OCs was doing their best to try and alleviate the worries of those around him without giving away that the Bow Hero had slept through everything.
Allen would do that himself, but… it was beyond awkward just being there already. All that planning and all that preparing... and he'd utterly flopped.
On the bright side, he could see Naofumi brooding in the corner away from everyone else. And... yes! He'd bought Raphtalia, and she looked like a college student now! Ha! Even though he was tired and exhausted and most likely going to suffer consequences from not really participating in the Lute Wave, at least his raphumi was well on its way to becoming a reality!
He just had to get through this party, wait for Filo to hatch, helping Naofumi to heal even more mentally, and then maybe he could approach him before the third wave and make sure that he could get the raphumi to progress more quickly than in canon while making Naofumi stronger and-
"Naofumi!" Motoyasu approached the Shield Hero, dropping his glove on the ground. "I challenge you to a duel!"
…
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… &^%$.
He'd almost forgotten about this part.
Allen was forced to watch the events of the duel take place.
It was hard. Really, really hard to not interfere. Between seeing everyone booing the Shield Hero to Myne's blatant interference (seeing her made his blood boil, so he was forced to look away for the majority of the fight). But somehow, he managed to get through it without giving in to temptation and blatantly interfering, which would have definitely kept raphumi from happening.
And it was hard. Like, he realized he could shoot an arrow at Naofumi and it'd be open interference to the Spear Hero then. But then, how would Naofumi see it as… eh, maybe thoughts for later.
He'd avoided seeing the other paths of Naofumi's pain, which had made it somewhat easier to ignore him up to this point. But when he finally saw him lying on the ground, a man without hope losing what little hope he hadn't realized he had left... it definitely hurt.
But seeing Raphtalia slap Motoyasu, and the other things she did after that, that was definitely amazing. It was probably the most beautiful thing he'd witnessed since coming to this world.
It was perfect, now, all he had to do was wait for Ren to go down, talk down the King, and then…
Wait, where was Ren?
Allen finally looked around the stands. It took a moment, but he found Ren, still sitting down. The poor boy was biting his fingernails in nervousness. It was like he knew what was going on was wrong. But then, why wasn't he going down there to help out like in canon-
Wait, he'd had Itsuki at his side when he did that. Ren had been friends with Itsuki at that point.
But Allen had replaced Itsuki. And he hadn't befriended the Sword Hero or any of the other Heroes. Hell, he hadn't even sat next to the Sword Hero for the Sacred Duel.
Did that mean that there'd been something he hadn't accounted for? Something that could only be discerned by reading between the lines and remembering the backgrounds of the characters...
By not befriending the Sword Hero and sitting next to him for this duel, Allen had not only not been there to give Ren the push of justice needed to overcome his anxiety and go down to talk down the situation, but by doing nothing, he'd ruined...
Whoops.
Allen watched as, down below, the situation escalated further without the Heroes to talk Raphtalia down. And then, even worse.
Naofumi pulled out the Shield of Rage.
Without the other Heroes to talk the King or Raphtalia down, nobody was there to keep Naofumi from falling into the abyss and unlocking the Cursed Shield.
"Wha- no! He's not supposed to unlock that at least for another month!" Allen scrambled to stand up and try to get to Ren to get the situation deescalated.
"You all shall burn before me!" Edgefumi screamed.
"Wha- Naofumi, what's gotten into you!?" Motoyasu screamed in fear.
"No, Naofumi, stop before-" Allen tried to deescalate the situation while in the stands.
But well…
…
Allen was later seen running away from the Capital as it became enveloped in a sea of cursed flames.
About a week after the incident, wandering around in the wild without his party, who were most likely dead, Allen stopped.
A little girl with angel wings was staring at him from across the clearing.
"The Shield Hero is dead, isn't he?" Allen asked.
Fitoria nodded. "He left me with no choice. After killing the Spear Hero and the Sword Hero and all those people…"
Allen nodded his head, sighing as he accepted his fate. What a crapshow this had turned out to be. "And now, I have to die so a new batch of heroes can be summoned."
Fitoria sadly nodded as she approached. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I know you care for this world. Just, do me a favor and make it quick." Allen gave his last request.
Fitoria held him by the hand. It was amazing. It was softer than he'd imagined it to be. He almost felt tempted to hug the bird queen. She'd taken so much on her shoulders…
Unfortunately, he didn't get the chance to do so as he was atomized by Fitoria's most powerful attack.
At least she'd made it painless.
And what a hell of a way to go.
...
"Huh?" Allen opened his eyes. "How am I still alive?" Allen wondered out loud. Hadn't Fitoria just offed him and-
"Oh Holy Heroes, please save our world!"
Allen's eyes widened in horror. He recognized the room they were in. "No…"
The black-haired Ren narrowed his eyes. "You brought us here and expect us to fight for you-" His words cut off by the Hero next to him.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Allen ran screaming from the room. "I DON'T WANT TO GO THROUGH ALL THIS AGAIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNN!"
"... Uh…" Ren looked at the other Heroes. "Do you two have any idea what's going on?"
"None." Naofumi and Motoyasu answered at the same time.
"GIVE ME BACK MY MODERN LIFE! GIVE ME BACK THE DAYS WHEN I DIDN'T HAVE TO LEARN NEW LANGUAGES AND MAGIC AND HAD A MICROWAVE AND PHONES AND DIDN'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH ALL THIS STRESS AND AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The stress was too much. Allen lost the will to live, and subsequently unlocked the Bow of Pride because of it.
And that is why Allen would never make the mistake of writing a SI with meta knowledge in the Shield hero world.
Because ultimately, by trying to do everything, he'd ruin everything.
And honestly, it'd be waaaaaaaaaaaaay too stressful trying to be a Hero for another world.
Till Next Time
Allen