Author's Note:
A very short epilogue to the first arc that will explain Queen Mirellia point of view and show what was happening elsewhere behind the scenes and the deals and negotiations and diplomacy she had to do to keep the other kingdoms from declaring war on her and Melromarc for Aultcray summoning all four Heroes to him. We will also see Melty for the very first time and possibly even Fitoria.
On a side note, I have a poll up on my profile, as I have forever disliked the fact that after Queen Mirellia comes back and puts Malty/Bitch and Aultcray/Trash on trial that even though she sentences them to execution, which considering all both have done, more than warrants it decides to commute those sentences because Naofumi wanted to be petty and change their names to something insulting. The poll is, how many of my readers at the end of the Three Heroes Church arc which is many chapters away, want to see Malty/Bitch and Aultcray/Trash actually executed or how many wish to spare one or the other or both to have one/both of them thrown into the dungeons in chains to live out the rest of their lives?
I want to once again thank Allen Blaster of Virtue of the Shield Hero fame for his comments, suggestions and encouragement and I urge you to read his fanfic as in my view, it is excellent. I also again want to thank Robotech275 of Crafting and Cooking Hero fame for all his help with timelines, Weapon Forms and other comments on this story. He too is a great author and I also urge people to read his and other stories in the Multi World Project like Kampfpanzer. His work Locked and Loaded in Another World is very good and the best example of a Gun Hero that isn't either far too overpowered and a Matrix/John Wick clone or else a try hard and edgelordy type loser. I would also like to let people know that MeTal from my Discord server is now my new beta reader and editor that I rely on for help in crafting this story of mine.
Review Responses:
To Northern-megas: Well, you'll see just a bit in this chapter how the Queen is reacting to the events that have taken place. It's not much different than in canon because of necessity but she is much more upset and angry over things. As for Malty/Bitch's punishment, it's still up in the air. I think I've settled that the King will get canon punishment (save for not having his name changed as it's just stupid and petty and pointless) but will definitely not have any power whatsoever anymore.
To blueassassin996: Well, you'll just have to keep reading when we get into the next arc to find out.
To Gem Warrior: It's a long way away before we get there, I may or may not do it, or do it for very long so no worries about that.
To Amit Barabi: I have edited the first chapter to follow the same format as the rest of my chapters. I plan on rewriting it once the next Arc is over as there were plenty of things I didn't think of originally and to make it much closer in style and execution to my other chapters.
To MaxPrime: Thanks, I really enjoyed writing it, I always thought that the Duel was a wasted opportunity by Canonfumi and showed just how narrow-minded and disordered his thinking really was. To simply allow the duel to happen on Moronyasu and the King's terms was really stupid and had he been thinking a lot more clearly (as I showed) he might have been able to solve several problems at once. Keep reading this and further chapters to see how the Duel affects things going forward.
To Justaguy12312: Truthfully, I do not like Malty as a character, and her character arc and plot should have ended after the trial with either her execution or imprisonment for life in the dungeons. Her mother may have been partially responsible for her attitudes, but there is a reason her Mother decided to have Melty and remove Malty from succession. In Reprise/New Reprise, it was shown that Malty (with the help of a prince of Siltvelt) caused her canon brother to be poisoned with something that could have infected people in a way similar to the Flood from Halo (this is canon BTW) and forced her own FATHER to kill his own son to protect the rest of the family and country. Her own mother caught her laughing about it, and figured out that she had to have either done it herself or at the very least was a major accomplice to it and knew that she couldn't turn the kingdom over to her. I have no sympathy for the character because she literally is irredeemable and the fact that in canon, she is allowed to live and REMAIN IN A CARDINAL HERO'S PARTY with only a petty name change, stripping of rank and a slave seal that an unscrupulous slave trader could remove was just plain stupid. Ambition of the Red Princess aside, I will not be entertaining a scenario where Malty does not at least die, meet a fate worse than death or the very VERY least, placed in the castle (whether in the dungeons or in a tower ala Elizabeth I of Britain) where she is never heard from ever again.
To Guard98907: Same as above, you can sympathize with her, but don't forget that bad parenting doesn't excuse falsely accusing a Hero of a capital crime, regicide, attempted regicide, high treason and slavery and overall corruption. She is irredeemable unless you completely alter her personality/backstory to make her an interesting yet flawed character (which I will not be doing in this story) and therefore I will leave that to better authors such as Qinlongfei and Angel Wraith of Ambition of a Red Princess and Dishonored Princess respectively to do that.
To Guest: Same as above, she reaped what she sowed, she was LUCKY she wasn't executed when she should have really been but we'll see what happens when we get to that.
70 Reviews, 73 Favorites, 97 Follows and over 10400 views and counting. Again, thanks to everyone who is supporting me, you are one of the main reasons that I write and will continue to write. As always, I will try to release a chapter bi-weekly, but it will depend on work and life. Let's dive into the story.
The Struggle of the Shield Hero
Arc 1 - Epilogue
Rook To Queen's Knight 3, Check
"Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game."
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I am Mirellia Q. Melromarc, the Queen of the Melromarc Kingdom, and right now all I want to do is return to my chambers in the castle of my uncle-in-law, the King of Faubrey and vent all my anger and hatred on a few paintings of my husband and my eldest daughter. The untold damage that they have done to the efforts I had made to make peace with not only Siltvelt, but trade deals with Zeltoble, Shildfreeden and Faubrey, have put me and our kingdom in a very precarious position.
I should start from the beginning. Several months ago, I was interrupted from holding court, by a functionary from the Church of the Three Heroes. The Dragon Hourglass had activated and the sand was beginning to fall, signifying that the Waves of Catastrophe were approaching. Soon after that, I received messages from the leaders of the other Kingdoms to convene in Faubrey for the Four Heroes Conference.
I was leery of leaving my Kingdom behind, even though I had a capable regent in Duke Seatto who was a staunch ally of mine and would be advised by my husband, Aultcray who, while no longer the "Wisest King of Wisdom", would be adequate enough to handle affairs. I decided to take my youngest daughter, and the heir to the throne, Melty in order for her to learn about diplomacy and hammering out trade deals with friendly, neutral and even hostile nations. I had hoped that perhaps with the Waves about to begin and the Heroes needing to be summoned that perhaps we could once and for all put to rest the adversarial relationship we had with Siltvelt and its ally Shildfreeden.
The conference started fairly amicably and Melty was able to meet with the dignitaries that she would some day have to speak to as an equal. I did, however, keep her close to myself whenever we went to see her Uncle, the… infamous "Pig King" of Faubrey, a most disgusting man. Even my own husband despised him, so he changed his own name and ran away to become a simple soldier in Melromarc. He was then chosen to be the bearer of the Seven Star Staff, became the Hero of the Silvelt-Melromarc war and earned my heart after slaying the Tyrant King of Silvelt, the Claw Hero, Ga Ran Fayon.
Werner, the Shuzaku representative from Silvelt, at least was outwardly receptive to my overtures even if he was internally reticent. Schildfrieden was largely willing to consider a trade deal but it would take longer than this conference to hammer one out due to them being a republic and requiring a majority of their representatives to agree. Zeltoble on the other hand was more than willing to speak to us about trade, that whole country was based on trade, merchant guilds and the mercenaries who controlled it so it wasn't much of a surprise.
We all sat down a few days later to get to the true meaning of the conference, planning on how to handle the Waves and the summoning of the Four Heroes and the exact order of summoning. Silvelt was adamant that the Shield Hero be summoned in Siltvelt, Faubrey demanded the Bow Hero, Zeltoble wanted the Sword Hero and I fought for Melromarc to be able to summon the Spear Hero as I and my ancestors had the blood of a previous one in our veins which allowed us to rule Melromarc for generations.
We had set the summoning to happen, but the Wave hit before we were ready. It was 3 days later when my loyal Shadow appeared in my bedroom as Melty and I prepared for another fruitless meeting with Werner and Siltvelt to try and do something about the human and demi-human slavery we were perpetuating together. Melromarc was a human supremacy nation while Siltvelt was the opposite. My Shadow entered and said,
"Your Majesty, I daresay, things have happened in the kingdom that you must be made aware of immediately. It will influence your affairs at this conference and put you and Melromarc in danger of war."
My eyes narrowed and my fist clenched around my trusty fan as I said,
"Speak, my Shadow… What has transpired in our Kingdom in my absence?"
My Shadow hesitated, as if debating on whether to say what they had to, and how much before saying sadly,
"I daresay that I bring terrible news, the Wave has hit the demi-human village of Lurolona. It was defeated, however most of the villagers have perished, and also… Lord Seatto has sacrificed himself in battle with the Wave boss in an attempt to protect the villagers."
Tears fell from my eyes, Duke Seatto had been my greatest ally and partner in setting up and protecting the peace gesture I had made with Siltvelt, a village made up of demi-human refugees from Siltvelt, and now everything was gone. Melty gasped herself, she was not as close to Seatto as I was, but she had learned a great deal from him, this was a tragedy indeed. I motioned for the Shadow to continue,
"Your Majesty, while this is tragic I daresay, that is only the beginning…"
I blinked and turned to face my Shadow in shock, what could be worse than what they had just told me? They sighed and took up the tale,
"When the knights arrived the next day, they were not there to help clean up and protect the survivors, they were protecting slavers who killed the remaining adults and enslaved the surviving children in order to sell them throughout Melromarc and other countries to their nobility"
My fan began to crack in my grasp and I said then,
"When I return, it seems I will need to purge our more… zealous members of the nobility and knighthood. I assume you have the names and houses of those who participated and bought Our vulnerable citizens?"
The Shadow nods but continued,
"Your Majesty, I daresay, again that is only a small part of the problems that have developed in your absence. Your Husband, the King, has taken control of the Kingdom and listens solely to The Pope and his advisors, and because of this he first threw Dame Eclair into the dungeon for treason when she learned of what had happened in her lands and rightfully demanded the head of the captain of the Knights who lead the attack."
I turned, my eyes flashing, tossed my hand and then thick icicles erupted from it piercing a painting of my DEAR husband my attendants kept on hand when I was away in just such circumstances. Ever since my husband lost his sister, his hatred of demi-humans and Siltvelt had robbed him off his wisdom and replaced it with obsession and an unhealthy reliance on Pope Balmus who was politically opposed of me and, as I suspected and my Shadows concurred, was overtly working against me and undermining me just so he could overthrow me. I turned back as my fan cracked further and grated,
"Continue…"
The Shadow took one look at the painting and shivered visibly, but said,
"Again, it's only a small part of the transgressions your husband has done, and possibly led us to the brink of war. He has been convinced by the Church to summon all Four Heroes to Melromarc, despite your orders to do nothing without your prior approval."
I growled and threw more icicles at his painting and my head began to throb. I said then,
"Very well, I assume you know who the Four Heroes are, has my husband at least done one thing as I asked and treated the Shield Hero fairly?"
The Shadow froze at my expression and stuttered. I knew them to be the most reliable and loyal of my Shadows, so to see them so shaken… I knew what they would say next would enrage me beyond all measure. I was not disappointed as they said softly,
"The Four Heroes are the Spear Hero Motoyasu Kitamura, the Sword Hero Ren Amaki, the Bow Hero Itsuki Kawasumi and the Shield Hero Naofumi Iwatani… and I'm afraid… well, thanks to your daughter… the Shield Hero was falsely accused of rape despite his protestations of innocence and his logical reasoning as to why he was. The King declared him guilty in front of the entire court and declared that he will receive no aid from the Kingdom. I am also afraid that this information will soon be in the hands of other nations if it isn't already."
I was still for a long moment, and then a primal scream was wrenched from my throat as Melty quickly left the room and I turned and used my strongest Fire spells to completely immolate the paintings of my idiotic husband and foolish first daughter! They have ruined EVERYTHING I had built up! I would be LUCKY if I manage to calm the rage of the other nations enough to avoid war, and that doesn't include Siltvelt who would demand all of my, Melty's and the rest of my family's heads for the affront to their God.
I threw my fan and the broken piece of trash shattered the mirror I was looking at, the pieces showing the mask of rage I had on my face right now. The Shadow had wisely snuck out the window during my temper tantrum and returned when they saw that I had control over myself again and I said quietly,
"I want you to deliver a message to my husband… and I want you to deliver it personally so that there can be no misunderstandings or mistakes. You are to tell him that under no uncertain circumstances, to do ANYTHING to the Shield Hero that could be construed as prejudice or persecution. He is to do his best to treat the Shield Hero fairly… or THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!"
I nearly shouted that last and the Shadow nodded quickly and said,
"I daresay, your will be done, Your Majesty."
I nodded,
"Go now Shadow, make my words and feelings known to my 'husband' and don't forget to tell my 'daughter' to watch herself… I know everything she has done and is going to do and I.. am NOT happy with her. Also, do what you can to help the Shield Hero from the shadows. Speak to Beloukas, the Slave Trader, perhaps we can use him to funnel some demi-humans that he might be able to turn into viable party members for now."
The Shadow bowed and then vanished out the window once more, their presence gone and as soon as they were, Melty returned and said quietly,
"Mother, what are we to do? The representatives will all blame us for breaking the agreement we made regarding the Heroes. Are we going to be at war?"
I looked at my youngest, who's expression was one of fear and I gently put my hand on her head and ruffled her blue locks as I said kindly,
"I hope not, I will have to show them why I am called the Vixen of Melromarc. No one will want to start a war during the Waves, that would be folly. I just hope that I have the skill to deal with the mess your father has made of things. I may need to send you back in my place to take control of the Kingdom if things get any worse. Let's go and meet everyone and see how things stand."
I went to the meeting, and as I feared, Werner and Siltvelt were irate over Melromarc summoning their God and treating him like a criminal and threatened war. Zeltoble was ready to punish us by pausing all trade, Shidfreeden was angry as well and steadfastly refused to consider any lessening of tariffs on our goods imported into their country and even threatened to blockade Melromarc. Faubrey for their part was upset, but what scared me most, was Uncle-in-law Phineas seemingly amused and far too confident.
It took several days of me using all my skills as a diplomat and negotiator to satisfy all the nations at the conference of my and the Kingdom's innocence and preventing war, either by conventional forces or trade-wise. But by the time I was done, I was exhausted and the only reason I wasn't in the dungeons with my youngest daughter awaiting our execution was because of a horrible deal I needed to make with my uncle-in-law.
I was forced to agree to send my oldest daughter as a 'bride' to him. The very idea of it made me want to vomit as marriage to him was a fate worse than death to noble women. Upon learning of their fate, most choose suicide rather than suffer his idea of 'marriage'. But it was thanks to that deal and Faubrey's help and other events that we later learned that took place in Melromarc that helped to calm the anger and bring us all back to the same page.
I was about to relax in my rooms when once again, my loyal Shadow appeared in my rooms while Melty and I were sharing a rare meal alone. They went to a knee and said,
"I daresay, I bring news, Your Majesty… The Wave has come and gone at Lute Village. The Village itself was nearly destroyed thanks to the monsters, however casualties were kept to the bare minimum thanks to the actions of the Shield Hero protecting the Village while the other Heroes went to fight the Boss. Unfortunately, the boss they killed did not end the Wave, another one appeared in the middle of the Village and was almost too strong for the Heroes to defeat. It was only when the Shield Hero did something that we Shadows couldn't see nor understand did it die."
I was afraid for a moment until I learned that there were few casualties, if nothing else, the village would survive. Buildings could be rebuilt, replaced, the people couldn't. I then frowned and asked,
"That's not all, is it? I know you, my Shadow, if that was all you have, you would have simply sent a subordinate to deliver the message… had something else happened… something my foolish husband or my spoiled brat of a daughter have done?"
The Shadow lowered her head, and my fan once again started to crack as they said,
"I daresay, I'm afraid so. The Shield Hero, not being able to gain any party members that were trustworthy, was forced to go Beloukas, the Slave Trader and thanks to some assistance from myself in the shadows, able to purchase three sickly and half-dead demi-human slaves… all of whom were survivors of Lurolona Village. They had been tortured by a contemporary of your husband's, Idol Rabier. However, thanks to the Shield Hero, Rabier is no more."
I listened to this silently, waiting, and was rewarded with,
"The Shield Hero, thanks to the assistance of Lord Reichnott was able to travel to Lurolona and met up with the strongest warrior in the village, the orca therianthrope, Sadeena and, after they resolved a brief misunderstanding, went and killed Rabier and rescued all the slaves he kept. They are now residing back in Lurolona where the village is being rebuilt."
I frowned then and said,
"Interesting, and a good thing that the Shield Hero has taken out an odious noble that I was planning to purge anyway, but I fail to see what that means…"
The Shadow gently cut me off and said,
"I daresay, Your Majesty, I only mention it because by virtue of having slaves, your daughter used that fact to invite the Spear Hero and King to try and force the Shield Hero into a duel with the Spear Hero. However the Shield Hero was much more cunning than one might realize, he engaged your husband and used his hatred and belief in your daughter to make the bet different from what was initially proposed."
I narrowed my eyes and said,
"What were the terms he requested and the stakes? I assume that is at the heart of the matter?"
Melty was listening intently now, like me, she had a line for the lore and history of the Cardinal Heroes and something this noteworthy, while concerning and aggravating was not something one would hear, hence I allowed her to hear the details,
"Yes, Your Majesty, I daresay that the Spear Hero wanted the three slaves of the Shield Hero freed and placed in the care of someone who was, in his words, "more suitable" than the Shield Hero. He was under the full impression that your daughter was a victim and believed literally everything she told him. The Shield Hero managed to get the King to agree to instead of a duel between him and the Spear Hero that their parties fight it via proxy. That would be your daughter and her two hangers-on Lesty and Elena with the Shield Hero only wanting for your daughter to be branded with a high level slave crest and for him to be able to ask her one question. And if your daughter answered truthfully, then he would forfeit and lose his party members and be placed in the dungeon until it was time for the next Wave."
I blinked, and then my eyes opened wide as I realized what question he would want to ask my daughter under the slave curse, I said,
"He wanted her to answer truthfully if he raped her in front of everyone, didn't he?
The Shadow nodded,
"Indeed, I daresay, your daughter whined and tried to get your husband to reconsider, but he hated the Shield and believed in your daughter so much and it backfired greatly on him. Your daughter and her friends were no match for the combined might of the Shield Hero's party and your daughter received quite the beating before falling unconscious and giving the win to the Shield Hero."
I gave a bit of a smile, before asking,
"And what of the other Heroes?
The Shadow replied,
"The Bow and Sword Heroes took the duty of guarding both the Spear and Shield Heroes talent to keep them from potentially interfering."
I nodded and then got to the meat of the conversation,
"So what was the result then?"
The Shadow has an ironic smile on their face and said,
"The King himself painted the crest on Princess Malty and was so confident that when the Shield Hero asked his question, he would win anyways. Sadly for him, he truly didn't know what his daughter was capable of. I will have a report later on of all that you're daughter has done while in the Spear Hero's party however, in a positive note, your daughter kept refusing to answer the question until finally the pain was too much and she tried to lie, nearly shocking her to death before she admitted to setting the Shield Hero up in front of the entire court, restoring the Shield Hero's innocence and reputation."
I covered my mouth with my fan to hide my gleeful smile at this news, I was going to have to do something about my husband, my daughter and eventually the Church, but at least I could bring this news to the representatives and perhaps turn things around and renegotiate certain desks I was forced to make. I said to the Shadow then,
"Anything else, Shadow?"
They said then,
"Only that the Pope is beginning to move and has contacted your daughter to meet her, I believe it will not be long before events come to a head."
I nodded, I was having a feeling that Balmus wasn't going to stay quiet for too long, this was faster than what I anticipated, but perhaps I could use this to my advantage. I said to the Shadow,
"Very well, keep me posted on developments…"
The Shadow bowed and vanished again and I turned to Melty and said,
"It seems I need to send you sooner than I thought, I will need to see which bodyguards I can spare to bring you back home. I want you to try and find the Shield Hero and provide whatever aid you can. I'm sure he's at the very least wary of the royal family because of your father and sister. It would be good to show him that not all of us dislike him or want to make his life miserable."
Melty blinked, but curtsied and nodded,
"Yes Your Majesty, your will be done, I shall pack immediately."
I smiled fondly at my youngest, I regretted that she so rarely spoke in anything less than a formal tone to me and others. She was only twelve and barely had a childhood thanks to me taking over her education to lessen the influence her father would have spoiled her like her elder sister. She would succeed me and she was my pride and joy. My only wish for her was that someday she finds happiness. I turned away and looked out the window and hoped that my Kingdom would hold it just a little longer so that I could return and defang and destroy the vipers that infested it.
And there we go, that's what's going on in the background elsewhere during this story. The Queen is well informed and Melty will be showing up earlier than in canon during Arc 2. I will now be taking a short break of a couple of weeks to plot the second arc of Naofumi being a traveling merchant and starting his trading empire to start gaining full economic control of Melromarc, getting a Filolial egg and raising a Queen (not Filo) and culminating with the Lafan Wave and meeting Glass for the first time. I will also be writing some more Interludes for my spin-off fanfic The Struggle of the Shield Hero: Interludes that will detail Beloukas's point of view and each of the Three Heroes as well.
I am starting a new job which will likely take up a good portion of my time that I normally use to write, so I may not be posting as frequently as I used to. I will try to keep posting at least a chapter a week, but bi-weekly might be a stretch unless I'm posting a main story chapter plus one that will go up on my Interludes spin-off. Speaking of, please do check that story out, I will have an Interlude detailing the points of view of each of the Three Heroes and what they were doing after the trial and all but abandoning Naofumi after the first arc is over with.
Also, I have a question of my readers, who would like to see me do another spin-off that deals with Kizuna and what takes place in her world with meeting Glass, L'Arc, Therese, Ethnobolt and the rest and defeating the Dark Dragon Emperor before she is imprisoned in the Infinite Labyrinth and then meeting Naofumi and Rishia there? I might start it once we get past the Lafan Wave and stalemating with Glass. It wouldn't be updated NEARLY as much as the main story as that will be my primary focus, but I'm curious as to what sort of appetite for it might be.
I have created a Discord for those who want to follow along with my story. I will have a channel for discussions of my fanfic with myself and others as well as a channel where I will post my W.I.P. documents so that people can be spoiled if they like future storylines and events. Invite link is discord . gg / Rx8UkJQwM7 (without the spaces)