Hey everyone! Before we go into Chapter 42, I want to announce that the story is now available on AO3 under the same name! Of course the story over there hasn't caught up with that here yet, but soon it will be! Also, I've been updating the first chapters of the story with newly edited versions, which fix quite a lot of grammar and vocabulary mistakes I made when I was still an inexperienced writer, and some small details that people pointed out. You can check them out here, or the version I've uploaded on AO3!

Anyway, onward to Chapter 42!

Chapter 42: The Bow Hero

Usually, someone who was being threatened by an arrow pointing at his back would have panicked and tried to talk his assailant down while thinking of a way to escape from the situation.

However, the only thing EMIYA wanted to do right now was to break into a laughing fit at the pathetic attempt of Itsuki to look scary.

"Now, listen here, Itsuki," he started. "Don't do anything stupid…"

"Shut up," Itsuki, now revealed to be EMIYA's stalker, snarled angrily. "You caused all of this then ran away. Now you decide to show up and try to make yourself look heroic, just like that? You hypocrite."

So he heard about the Church's excuse, EMIYA thought. He noted with amusement that there was a strange bitterness in the brat's voice other than just anger. It sounded like… jealousy?

"So you decided to trust the Church's words just like that? Are you a goddamned sheep or something?"

Itsuki took a step forward in rage, and now EMIYA could feel the heat of the energy arrow touching the back of his coat.

"It doesn't matter!" he snarled. "It's because of you that I have been hunted around the country for a week! I didn't even know what I did, and suddenly I was called a thief, an imposter, and chased around the country like a dog! And now you have the gall to come here and show off, like you're some kind of martyr?! I don't think so, you hypocrites!"

If it wasn't for the fact that the brat was pointing a potentially deadly weapon at his back, EMIYA would probably feel a bit pity for him. Well, just a little bit.

"There are a lot of things you don't understand here, Itsuki," he said in a careful tone. "Stop thinking like a kid for once and…"

The brat didn't let him finish. "Thinking like a kid?!" he snarled. "I'm not gonna listen to you anymore, you arrogant bastard. Fuck you. You are a mockery of the title Hero."

EMIYA sighed. "If you say so… And by the way, there's a lesson you need to learn here."

"Huh?"

The sudden change in topic took Itsuki aback. What the hell was this bastard talking about?

And the ex-Counter Guardian's figure disappeared from his view. Wha…?!

"For a bowman…"

Then Itsuki felt his body fall backward as something kicked his heels from behind. His head hit the ground painfully, and thousands of stars exploded in his eyes. The arrow was let loose and shot into the sky harmlessly.

"…if you only have a bow…"

Then he saw the tall figure of the Sword Hero towering above him.

"…never let yourself get into the range of close combat when your opponent is a person specialized in it."

A fist buried itself in his solar plexus, and his consciousness faded.

Ugh… where am I…?

Itsuki groaned. All he could fathom around him was a pitch-black darkness. And his stomach felt like a hammer had just hit it with full force.

Another thing was that he felt like he was sitting on something. A chair, maybe, because he definitely felt his back leaning on something.

"Oh, hey, he's awake."

That voice was familiar. Where did he hear it before?

"Good. At last we can finally finish this."

Wait. This voice. There's no doubt. He could recognize that voice anywhere.

His eyes snapped open, and he shot up from the chair he was sitting on, enraged. He grabbed the Legendary Bow and without even looking, he fired a barrage of arrows at the direction of the voice.

"No! Cover!"

Naofumi had gotten in the way before the arrows could reach their targets, and they only bounced off the surface of the Shield harmlessly. He glanced back at EMIYA, whose weapon was already in his hand, ready to strike back.

"Didn't we already agree that we're going to talk to him first, Shirou-san?!"

Then he looked at Itsuki. "Stop it, Itsuki! We need to talk about this first!"

"There's nothing to talk about!" the Bow Hero snarled. "You all caused all of this, then jumped out to show off, to look as if you're oh so heroic… I've had enough of this!"

"Then maybe you would like to talk to me instead of them, Sir Bow Hero, Kawasumi Itsuki-sama?"

Itsuki's head snapped toward the direction of the new voice. Too busy trying to kill the Sword Hero, he didn't notice the Queen sitting at the other end of the table at the center of the room. The royal woman stood up from her seat and bowed at him.

"I believe this is the first time we meet each other face to face, Kawasumi-sama. If you remember, we already talked to each other a month ago through the ice sphere I sent you. Do you remember me?"

"You are… the Queen…" Itsuki muttered.

"You are correct, Kawasumi-sama," the Queen answered while standing straight back up. She looked at Itsuki. "I've been really worried for quite a while after the Shadow I sent as my envoy to you reported back to me that you had disappeared without notice. I was really afraid that the Church already got their hand on you."

"It's their fault that I needed to do that!" Itsuki snapped. He pointed at EMIYA and Naofumi. "Had it not been for them, nothing like this would have happened!"

The Queen shook her head. "I'm afraid you've misunderstood things here, Kawasumi-sama. If you, please sit down and let me explain what's actually happening here…"

She looked at Itsuki in anticipation. And even a brat like the Bow Hero could understand that it wasn't an invitation; it was an order. Scowling, he pulled the chair nearby and sat down.

"That is madness! There's no way something like that could have happened!?"

Mirellia shook her head upon the Bow Hero's outburst. "I can assure you that it was the complete truth that I've just told you, Kawasumi-sama. The Church has been plotting to overthrow me and Melromarc's royal family for a long time before you were summoned."

"So to you we're just tools to be used?!" Itsuki snapped angrily. Mirellia looked straight into the Bow Hero's eyes.

"To me, absolutely not, Kawasumi-sama. The fact that the people of this world need your help is undeniable. However, there are people who want to turn such an innocent wish of people to be protected to their advantage, like the Church. And what I want to do is to prevent that from happening."

Right at that time, a loud crash rose from outside the room.

"What the…?!"

The door had already burst open before the question could fully escape Naofumi's mouth. Five soldiers entered the room, dragging behind them five other people who got their arms and legs bound, as if they were prisoners. And EMIYA realized immediately who they were; after all, two of them were the ones who ran away from his group in the very first day that they met. And he was sure that no one in their right mind would wear that squirrel kigurumi voluntarily except for that girl.

"Your Majesty! We caught these people at the wall near the West Gate!" the first soldier of the group said. "They were trying to sneak into the town by climbing over the wall!"

"How dare you sons of bitches do this to us!" the burly armor-wearing man of the group screeched. "Do you know who we are?! When Itsuki-sama hears about this…!"

"Why you…!" Itsuki stood up from his chair angrily, but before he could do anything, the voice of the Queen had boomed around the room. She seemed in rage.

"How dare you treat Sir Bow Hero's companions like that?! Release them immediately, now!"

The soldiers looked at each other awkwardly. Then, one of them unsheathed his sword and cut the binding of the captured. The leader of the group of soldiers bowed in front of them apologetically. "We apologize, sirs and ma'ams…"

"Apologize my ass!" the younger of the Polignac brothers, Walter, snarled and kicked the soldier at the face. He fell to the ground with a yell of pain. The bratty teenager snatched the sword in the hand of the soldier who had just cut his binding. "You did that to us and now you think that an apology is enough?! I'm going to-!"

The sword was stopped dead on its way as Walter felt something squeezing his wrist painfully.

"You're not going to kill anyone in this room today," the Sword Hero, who had just grabbed his hand, said while glaring at him. The killing intent leaking out of the man was so intense that the little brat as well as everyone else in Itsuki's group felt like pissing themselves in fear.

Mirellia stood up from the table. "Kawasumi-sama, I'm not going to force you to work for me. However, my interest is to keep you all safe, and not let you fall into the grasp of the Church. So, from now on, please stay here with me, in this town. You and all of your companions shall be treated as guests of honor as long as you keep yourself safe here. That's everything I'm going to ask of you, Kawasumi-sama; I will never ask you to join the war or work if you don't want to do it, or if you don't have the capability to do it," she finished with a bow at Itsuki.

Then she looked at the soldiers. "Please, go to Sir Ivyred and ask him to prepare rooms for our guests here. I expect they're tired from their ordeals. I need to go to the construction zone to provide assistance. Please excuse me, Kawasumi-sama and companions."

Then she walked past the Bow Hero, toward the entrance of the room. EMIYA and Naofumi started following her.

"Don't mess with me…"

The Queen looked at the Bow Hero. "Excuse me, Kawasumi-sama?"

"I said, don't underestimate me!" the boy snarled. "If they're helping, then I'm going to do it, too! They're not going to be the ones who take the spotlight all the time!"

Then he stormed out of the room ahead. Everyone stared at the bow hero's retreating back for a while, and then his companions started following their leader out of the room. The soldiers also left for their duty. Soon, there were only the Queen and the two Heroes left in the room. The Queen looked at EMIYA and Naofumi.

"Shall we go too, Sirs Heroes?"

"Why – huff – do I – huff – need – huff – to do this -?!"

Bakta Polignac groaned and dropped the log he was dragging behind to the ground.

Itsuki had six companions in total, and it was obvious that none of them was really thrilled with the idea of manual labor like this. All of them were from noble families, so it was obvious that they weren't familiar with this kind of work.

Tersia, who had just walked by with a similarly big log on her shoulder, sneered at the moaning nobleman. "What's wrong? Didn't your leader say that he's going to help this town?"

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for someone like me to do!" the bratty noble snapped. "We're supposed to be the ones who lead them, to tell them what to do, not do something like… like some kind of slave like this! When my family hears about this, they will…"

"—tell you that war is like that!" said Eclair coldly. The knight lady was on the way of bringing a cart of metal ores to the town blacksmith, and had arrived behind them for a while. "What we need here is manpower, not armchair generals who cannot do anything but sitting there and pointing around at people. If you cannot do anything better, then you should just get out of the way and don't bother us working."

Bakta snarled at the knight lady. "How dare you wench-!"

"Fueeeeeeeh… Please don't be mean to each other…!"

That pathetic moan came from Rishia. She had just returned to the group after visiting her family; after all, the Church had just nearly murdered her parents and siblings earlier, and she had the duty to visit and take care of them at least for a while, while she's here. Right now she was carrying a basket of food to the construction site near the eastern gate for the workers to eat.

The noble brat growled. He walked to the kigurumi-dressed girl and slapped her at the face. "You have no right to open your mouth here, you pathetic weakling!"

Then he walked away, leaving the log he was supposed to carry on the ground. Everyone glared at his back as he ran out of the town gate, probably going to his leader.

Eclair walked up and gently offered her hand to the fallen girl on the ground. "You are Lord Ivyred's eldest daughter, Rishia, right? Are you okay?"

The girl took her hand with a whimper. Tersia put the log on her shoulder on the ground and complained.

"Why are you letting them do that to you, Rishia-chan? Those people are horrible. That's just bullying."

Rishia shook her head frantically. "No, no… It's… it's my fault for being weak… They just do that to help me become stronger…"

The swordsmaiden of Team EMIYA stared at the girl in horror. "What?! Why are you still defending them?! Didn't you see how that bastard treated you? They even forced you to dress in this… this crime of fashion! Seriously, who the hell would want to dress like this?" she pointed at the squirrel kigurumi Rishia was wearing.

It wasn't hard to say that Tersia was completely right. The kigurumi was hideously ugly. It was made from raw leather which didn't seem to have been processed well, as if the girl had just been stuffed into a newly skinned giant squirrel. And the hood of the suit covered her whole face, effectively turning the girl into a squirrel in all but name. It's a wonder how she was able to even breathe in that suit. Looking at her, no one could think of anything else but that the girl in front of them was bullied into wearing this.

But the girl kept stubbornly shaking her head. "No! Itsuki-sama got this for me…! It has good stats, and it's good for defense… I can't ask for anything more than this…! Please excuse me…!"

Then she turned and ran away. Eclair and Tersia looked at her retreating back worriedly until she disappeared at the other end of the street.

"Poor girl…" the swordsmaiden of Team EMIYA said. "She's been bullied without even knowing about it…"

"Or maybe she knows about it but couldn't do anything," said Eclair darkly. "What does the Bow Hero have on her that turned her into this?"

Dirt collapsed around the stone wall, making a deep trench around the town as EMIYA stabbed the blade of his Shovel Sword on the ground. Next to him, Larsazusa slammed her hand down, and sharp spikes made of bamboo shot out and covered the depth of the trench. Then, the whole trench was filled with water from the Queen's water magic. Soon, the large trench turned into a moat running around the town.

"Yeah, that should do it," EMIYA wiped sweat down his cheek.

"Good thinking, Emiya-sama," the Queen noted with a nod. "Cavalry is going to have a hard time crossing this without being shot down by our archers from the wall. Luckily for us, this is a fortified town, so we don't need to work on it too much."

"You're incredible, too, Your Majesty," EMIYA answered her. "Filling up something as big as that moat with just your magic is not a feat that everyone can do."

"Yeah," Larsazusa agreed. "We also need to think of a way to defend against siege artillery too, though; this place is on a clear plain without any obstacle in front of us. It gives us clear visibility, but also turns us into the prime target of artillery from afar."

"Then just shoot them down first before they could shoot at us," Itsuki, who was just standing there without doing anything, jumped in the conversation. No one answered him, though.

"Speaking about which, where did you even get that skill to manipulate the ground?" continued the Bow Hero in a louder voice. "I didn't see it anywhere on the weapons I copied!"

EMIYA glanced at the boy. "Are you sure you got all the weapons you could find? I got this from a normal shovel. Surely you must have copied at least one of them, haven't you? Even in this town there should be hundreds of them lying around."

Itsuki looked flustered. "H-how should I know about that?! A shovel is not a weapon! Only the best weapons would give the best skills; that's how it's supposed to be, isn't it?"

EMIYA had to muster all of his willpower to refrain from rolling his eyes. This little brat was so proud of his experience in this so-called "game" of his, and yet he would miss something that obvious?

"Even the more mundane weapons have their own use, Itsuki. Don't you realize that the rarer the weapons you want, the harder they are to find? You haven't been able to acquire that many skills and weapons since then, have you?"

It seemed that Itsuki had now realized his blunder. He scowled in annoyance, but didn't say anything else.

"Anyway," the Sword Hero continued, "a seemingly weak weapon can also be powered up and become a decent one if you pay enough attention to it. You also have some strengthening methods for your Legendary Bow, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Itsuki snorted, annoyed. "I know everything about powering up, and I've been powering up my weapons all the time! I've been travelling around the country to find all kinds of material to strengthen all my weapon forms!"

"Really?" EMIYA raised an eyebrow. "How do you strengthen your weapon then?"

Itsuki bristled. "Isn't it obvious? You have to equip the weapons with ores! Weapons have ore slots, and you can equip different types of ore in them to refine it! The rarer the weapons are, the more slots you can equip ores in; that's why I have to go collect the rarest weapons, because they have the highest potential to become stronger! Also, the items I absorb into the Bow can be turned into energy to raise the stats of the weapons and your own stats, too! Are you testing me or something?"

So Itsuki's strengthening methods are ore equipment, energy conversation and something similar to my Alteration of the Soul, but with energy from items instead of points from leveling up…

The three pop-up screens appeared in front of EMIYA, signaling the unlock of the three new strengthening methods. He looked at Itsuki, and decided that the boy should also know about it, too.

"Yeah, but that isn't the only ways you can strengthen your weapon. Each of the Legendary Weapons and Seven Star Weapons has their own method of strengthening; the Legendary Sword has three different methods, too, but they're not the same as yours. And you can also unlock them for yourself."

Itsuki snorted. "Bullshit. If there were really something that convenient, why didn't I know anything about it? It should be in the guideline the Bow provided me!"

EMIYA shook his head. "But it is true. In fact, I've just unlocked all of your strengthening methods on my Sword. You have to truly believe in them in order to unlock them. If you don't, they're not going to unlock for you. This isn't something I figured out by myself; had it not been for Naofumi, I wouldn't have been able to figure it out, either. We already shared our strengthening methods to each other; Motoyasu and Naofumi already had a lot of different methods unlocked for themselves, too."

Itsuki bristled. "So that's what you all are doing behind my back, huh?! No wonder why you all suddenly got that much more powerful than me! You're trying to strengthen yourself with illegal methods behind my back?!"

"Hey, there's nothing 'illegal' here if we just happen to figure it out on our own," said EMIYA patiently. "Besides, we only figured it out last week when we were on the way back from Zeltoble; we aren't leaving you behind that much. And I don't mind sharing my strengthening methods to you at all; if I do, why do you think I'm talking to you like this now?"

Then he remembered something he usually heard Blackbeard and Tomoe Gozen said when he was still in Chaldea. "Anyway, if an error is discovered and turns out it benefits everyone, then it's not an error anymore, but rather a feature, isn't it?"

Those words were so right Itsuki couldn't find anything to retort. Therefore, even though he was very angry, the only thing he did was glaring at the Sword Hero.

"Right. So what are your strengthening methods?"

That kind of haughty and arrogant tone in the Bow Hero's voice irked EMIYA so much. But he swallowed his anger. Helping Itsuki get stronger was the more important thing now, for the sake of the world and the incoming war. He took a deep breath and started telling Itsuki his strengthening methods, as well as Captain Fargus' muscle strengthening method.

After he finished, Itsuki didn't say anything for a while. EMIYA saw the expression on his face; it looked like the boy didn't want to believe it, but couldn't find any way to deny the truth in front of him.

"Did you unlock them?" he asked. Itsuki hesitated, then nodded with a bitter face. Then he turned away, muttering "Thanks" in his mouth.

"Remember to thank Naofumi and Motoyasu after you ask for their methods, then," the Sword Hero said after Itsuki's retreating back. His eyes followed him after the boy's figure completely disappeared.

"Can't believe that a Hero could be such a brat," Larsazusa commented. She had arrived next to EMIYA for a while, and had watched the whole scene unveiling in front of her.

"It is worrisome, indeed," Mirellia also commented. "No matter how strong he might be, he's still a child. And…"

She stopped there, but both EMIYA and Larsazusa could understand what she was talking about. If anything, the Queen was the person who knew the best what would happen if a bratty child got his hand on more power than he was taught to wield.

EMIYA wiped his hands on a clean towel after he finished washing the dishes. Today the Sword Hero had dedicated himself to working hard at the construction zone, so his student Farrie had volunteered to be the one who made dinner for the whole team. And EMIYA had to admit, for a person who had just learned how to cook from him for about a month or so, she was very good.

Even Naofumi, one of the better cooks he had known since he arrived in this world, had to admit that the young priestess surprised him with her cooking. That's something he would count as impressive.

Speaking of Naofumi…

The Shield Hero was standing alone, leaning on a balcony at the other end of the corridor, looking outside in silence. It's rare to see him anywhere without Raphtalia, Keel or his other companions. Even though he could only see his back, EMIYA could be sure that the Shield Hero wasn't thinking of something very pleasant, because of his sagged shoulders and tired posture.

"Tiring day, hmm?"

Naofumi's head snapped back. "Oh, Shirou-san…"

EMIYA walked past the Shield Hero and leaned against the balcony next to him. "You're gonna depart tomorrow morning, aren't you? You should rest early."

Naofumi looked up at the starry sky. "Yeah…"

EMIYA raised an eyebrow at his fellow Hero's expression. "Why the long face?"

The Shield Hero sighed. "It's nothing… just… I don't know if I'm fit for this or not, you know? When I was first summoned here, I thought being a Hero was a privilege, a blessing, that everything would be easy with the power they gave me, just like what I usually see in novels and manga… but then… things happened. I only managed to get where I am today thanks to Raphtalia, Keel, my little girls… thanks to you. And now… people keep calling me a saint. I'm supposed to be leading people. I really don't know… if I have the power to do this. To carry all burdens on my shoulders."

Ah, so that's what he's worrying about…

EMIYA chuckled. Somehow, the Shield Hero reminded him of two people. A young boy who wanted to become a hero, to carry the burdens of the world on his shoulders, only to become the exact opposite of what he wanted to become. And a young girl who was forced into her duty, only to take up the mantle without hesitation and do the job better than anyone else who was better than her, because she knew that was what she must do, for the sake of others, with the help of everyone around her.

"And why is it important, anyway?"

Naofumi stared at the Sword Hero. "But…"

"Trying to carry a big burden alone never leads to any good thing," the ex-Counter Guardian chuckled again. "The last time I met a person who wanted to do that, he was on the way of walking into hell. He pushed everyone close to him away, because he deemed that his way of thinking, his ideal would just hurt them. He decided to walk alone, and that led him to his downfall. Don't be like that man. Just because people are calling you a saint doesn't mean you have to carry everything on your own shoulders. Trust in your companions, and accept their help."

Naofumi rolled his eyes. "You sound way better fit to be a leader than me, to be honest."

EMIYA shook his head. "Nah. I'm more of the kind who prefers to work alone. Leading just a small band like my team already took everything out of me."

Then he chuckled. "If anything, there is only one person I've met so far since I arrived here who I would deem to be a decent leader."

For some reason, Naofumi thought he already knew the answer before EMIYA gave it to him.

"The Queen?"

EMIYA nodded.

Naofumi's eyes narrowed. "You seem to trust her a lot, I say."

The Sword Hero shook his head. "No, I don't."

Naofumi blinked. "Then why…"

EMIYA sighed. "She's just as manipulative and vicious as any other politicians and aristocrats out there. And I'm pretty sure she won't hesitate to tell lies after lies if they benefit her cause. However, if there is something that makes her different that I saw, it's that she's willing to admit her faults and actually makes efforts to fix them. She's ready to put her trust in people below her, and be just and fair to even the ones who are considered inferior in this land. That's not something that can usually be seen in a ruler, and most of those that I've ever known who were ready to do things like that were all considered the best ones in history. Therefore, I guess for now we should just give her the benefit of the doubt."

He stopped for a moment, then continued. "Besides, she's the best hope that we have for now. I would say that we need to rely on her a little bit more, at least for now."

"Hmm."

The two Heroes returned to silence for a while. Then, Naofumi said.

"Itsuki came to me this afternoon."

EMIYA nodded. "Ah, so he did. I kinda told him to go to you to ask for the strengthening methods, you know. Did you tell him?"

Naofumi nodded. "I did. It's just… he's so annoying. I don't know if it's a wise thing to help him become stronger or not, to be honest."

EMIYA winced. "Well, yeah… but even so, we need to do that. In this situation, we need everyone to be as strong as possible. Not only for this war, but also for the future. We don't know what kinds of enemy we're going to have to face…"

The Sword Hero's words were cut short as a series of loud thumping noises rose behind the two Heroes. They looked back, and saw the girls of their teams stomping toward them; their faces shared the same furious expression. Tersia was dragging someone with her by the arm, and EMIYA blinked when he realized the face of the person. He had only seen her face once during the most recent Wave, after her kigurumi was shredded to bits by the boss monster, but that green hair tied into two braids and those emerald eyes could only belong to one person. Itsuki's companion, Rishia. And for some reason… tears could be seen rolling down the shy girl's cheeks.

The girls stopped in front of the two Heroes. Tersia said in a grim tone. "Sensei… we need to talk."

"Itsuki!"

The door was blasted off its hinges, and Naofumi and EMIYA, together with the girls of their teams, stomped into the room at the bewilderment of the Bow Hero.

"Wh-what?! What the hell do you want?!"

Naofumi stomped across the room and stood in front of Itsuki, who had jumped off the bed he was lying on and was now glaring at him. He yelled in a tone full of fury.

"What the hell do I want?! I want to know how you managed to live with yourselves!"

The Shield Hero's voice echoed around the room. It was so loud some of the china vases on the shelves nearby even shook lightly. Finally, Itsuki was the first one who came around.

"What the hell are you saying?!" he shouted back at Naofumi.

To answer the Bow Hero, Naofumi crossed the room toward the entrance again, and pulled Rishia, who looked like she was going to break into tears any time soon, into the room. "Look at her! Are you still going to play dumb now?!"

Rishia wasn't dressed in her squirrel kigurumi anymore. Instead, she was wearing a set of Tersia's shorts and tank top, and thanks to that, things that people couldn't see while she was wearing that ugly kigurumi were exposed clearly to everyone. Her arms, thighs, back and chest were riddled with bruises and scratches. Some bruises were even as big as an orange or an apple.

"If we didn't happen to stumble upon her when we went to the public bath, we wouldn't have noticed this," Tersia raised her voice with a tone full of disgust.

Rishia peeked her head into the bathhouse. Good, there's no one here.

This was her hometown. She could have taken a bath at her house whenever she wanted.

However, she was scared. She could not let anyone see this. Especially her parents and her little brother. She didn't mind it, but she knew that they were NOT going to let it go if they saw this.

That was why she chose to go to the public bathhouse at this time of the day. It's really late now; there should be no one there.

Gently, she stripped the squirrel kigurumi off her body, as well as the undershirt she wore below it. She winced a bit when the rough leather touched a certain spot on her arm. But it was nothing; she had to do it quickly and returned…

Suddenly the door of the women's changing room burst open. And to Rishia's horror, the girls of the other Heroes' parties walked into the room. It was obvious that they were also going to take their own baths, considering what they were holding in their hands: sponge, shampoo, spare clothes, everything.

And Rishia was standing there, completely exposed; the only things left on her body were her panties and bra. There was nothing that could hide her injured body from the eyes of the other girls.

"Oh, hey, it's Rishia-chan!" Tersia was the first one who noticed the green-haired girl. She waved at the girl cheerfully. "Are you going to take a bath, too? Let's…"

The words died in the swordsmaiden's throat when she saw the state of the girl's body. One look was more than enough for her to understand what was happening. The smile on her face immediately turned into a snarl.

"Rishia-chan, dress up," she pushed her spare clothes into Rishia's hands and growled before the terrified eyes of the girl. "We're going to see sensei, right now."

"Then what? What does that have to do with me?" Itsuki snapped angrily. "She might have been hit by something on the battlefield!"

"These are not wounds caused by stabbing or slashing," EMIYA looked straight into the Bow Hero's eyes. "They are blunt trauma, caused by the fist of a teenager or maybe someone a little bit older. And there is no such wound on her face or anywhere that could be seen easily. She was hit by a person. And a teenager with enough strength to cause such terrible wounds, who has been travelling with her for more than a month…"

He trailed off there, but everyone could understand what he was implying. Itsuki fumed angrily.

"And? Are you implying that I was the one who hit her?"

"No!" Surprisingly, it was Rishia who blurted out. Her voice sounded like it choked up inside her throat, and she was on the verge of bursting into tears. "It wasn't Itsuki-sama! It was…"

Right at that time, a sleepy voice rose from outside. "What the hell is all the commotion? Ruining my sleep…"

Everyone turned around toward the entrance, where Itsuki's party was standing at. There were Bakta and Walther, as well as another young man about twenty years old and another girl with a long braid down her back. The big man wearing a shiny suit of armor, who was usually the loudest one among the group, was nowhere to be seen.

"…them," EMIYA finished the sentence for Rishia while glaring dagger at the group of people.

Walther glared back at the Sword Hero. "What? What do you mean by that, you psycho?"

Tersia took a step forward. She yelled in anger. "You are the ones who did all that to Rishia-chan! You bullied her, even though she was one of you! What kind of person are you?!"

The arrogant noble brat sneered at the green-haired girl. "Ah, that. And so what? We just gave this pathetic weakling a bit of what was coming to her – what about it, then?"

"What?!"

"She's too weak to handle the fights that we're going to face in the Waves, so we just taught her what it would be like for her if she continues to be weak," Bakta answered with a smirk on his face, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We just wanted to help her, to make her better; that's the wrong thing to do now, is it?"

Those arrogant words sent a ripple of anger into the members of Team EMIYA and Naofumi's party. Wyndia and Eclair had to hold both of Tersia's arms to prevent the girl from caving the arrogant noble's face in.

"Wow, it's been so long," Naofumi said sarcastically. "You know what, those words sound so similar to what I usually heard at school when I was still in my world. You know, from those bullies who would never dare attacking others who are weaker than them unless it is four on one? I wonder who the weak ones here are?"

"And if you think about it, I really wonder if Rishia-chan is the weak one here or not," Surprisingly, it was Farrie who raised her voice this time. "During the last Wave, she was the last person of your party who managed to stay conscious after the boss ship appeared. She was the one who carried every one of you to safety. She did everything to help you, all alone, while all of you were so busy indulging in your blissful naps, unaware of anything outside. And if that's what you call weak, I don't know what to call all of you anymore. How about… pathetic losers, I guess?" she finished with a sneer of her own.

"Why you little bitch-!?"

"Enough!"

Itsuki's voice cut everyone short. He had stood up from his bed, and EMIYA narrowed his eyes when he saw the boy's expression. His face was clearly angry, indeed, but there was something else the ex-Counter Guardian could see in his eyes. But at that moment, he couldn't figure out what it meant.

"I'm going to deal with it later," the Bow Hero continued. "But this is the matter of my party, not yours, so I'm going to be the one who deals with it. Now please, get out of my room. I'm too tired now and I need to sleep."

Everyone glared at the Bow Hero. It was obvious that he's just saying that to stuff the problem in the fridge. But they couldn't do anything because after all, he was right; this was the matter of his party, and even Rishia herself didn't seem to want them to do anything, either.

Right at that time, Welt appeared at the entrance of the room. The young man was dressing in his full battle gear, and his face was bearing a grim expression.

"Sensei, Her Majesty wants to see you immediately. And you too, Sir Naofumi, and," he stopped his words mid-sentence and glared at Itsuki, though it was just a very quick moment before he continued, "Sir Itsuki. Sir Motoyasu is already there and is waiting for you all. Even all of us companions are required, too," he finished with a glance toward his teammates.

The three Heroes blinked. What did the Queen want with them that she would call for them this late at night?

The three Heroes, as well as their companions, walked out to the town square where the Queen and Motoyasu were supposedly waiting for them. When they arrived, the first thing they heard was…

"Release me! Release me! When Itsuki-sama knows about this, he's going to kill all of you!"

"What is the meaning of this?!" Itsuki rushed into the square and exclaimed. "Why is Mald on the ground tied up like this?!"

Sure enough, on the ground was the last member of Itsuki's party who was nowhere to be seen earlier. Seeing Itsuki running into the square, his face brightened up. "Itsuki-sama! Please help me!"

The Queen walked up toward Itsuki. She gave him a small sheet of paper folded into eight. "If you can, please read this. It's going to explain everything."

Itsuki opened the sheet of paper. It was full of black markings written in lines, but didn't look like any kind of letters that he had seen before. "What the hell is this?"

Different from Itsuki, however, EMIYA and Naofumi had learned how to read this world's language. Therefore, even though they still couldn't read it very fast, they could still realize the basic meaning upon glancing at the paper.

"This is a letter," Naofumi said, and EMIYA nodded in agreement. He snatched the piece of paper from Itsuki's hand before the Bow Hero could do anything and gave it to Farrie. "Farrie, can you please read this out loud for everyone to hear?"

Farrie took the sheet of paper from her teacher's hand. Her face darkened in anger at each word her eyes reached. Opening her mouth, she started reading. The letter was basically a description of the state of Ivyred Territory at the moment. It described every construction that had been finished and was being built, as well as the weak points in defense, how many soldiers they had, weapons that they owned, and the plans the Queen wanted to put into action in the next few days. There was even a plan for soldiers to sneak into the town and attack it during the night.

It was obvious; Mald was a spy of the Church.

"This cannot be!" Itsuki exclaimed in shock. "You must be trying to frame him or something! There's no way Mald can betray us!"

Welt looked at the Bow Hero. "I caught him red-handed when he was trying to send this letter away. I shot down the bird he used to send it, and it is a bird that is usually trained to deliver letters. I was born in a hunter family; I can recognize something like that easily. Not only me, but two Shadows of Her Majesty also helped me detain him. They were there, watching everything. They can be witnesses."

Next to Mirellia, the two Shadows who were standing there nodded in confirmation.

"Itsuki-sama, don't listen to them!" Mald kept screaming hysterically. "They're trying to frame me!"

Mirellia sighed. "I didn't want to do this, but it seems there's no choice. Get the slave crest ready. We're going to see if he's telling the truth or not."

Even under the dim light of torches, it could be seen clearly that Mald's face turned white as a sheet in an instant. EMIYA had to admit, Mirellia was just as ruthless as her husband; even though he hadn't seen what the slave crest could do to force the truth out of someone before, he still knew that it should be incredibly effective. If not, there's no reason for the Church Shadow to murder the witness then commit suicide in his "trial" from before.

And it was obvious that Mald himself understood that, because he struggled like mad when a mage removed his shirt to apply the slave crest on his chest, and the soldiers holding him needed to use all their strength to keep him still.

"Hey!" Itsuki raised his voice angrily. "No matter what he did, he's still my companion! You can't do something like… like enslaving him just like that!"

The Queen turned around and looked straight into Itsuki's eyes. "Kawasumi-sama. From what I heard about you, you are someone who loves justice and would live to bring justice to the world. Am I wrong?"

Itsuki faltered. "Well, yeah, but…"

Mirellia's voice turned trenchant. "Then you should know that even though he became your companion, he's still a citizen of Melromarc. And no Melromartian is beyond the judgment of the law, no matter what kind of person they might be. If you're in doubt, I can ask you to join me as the master of the slave crest if you want, and you will see that I have no plan to force anything out of him but the truth. But this is my country, and I'm going to do what I need to do to find out whether or not a person who is supposed to be a citizen of this country is guilty of treason or not. That is justice."

Even Itsuki couldn't find any word to retort. He grudgingly accepted the Queen's offer, and his blood was mixed into the ink that was used to draw the slave crest on Mald's chest, just like how the King did it during EMIYA's trial earlier. A pop-up screen appeared in front of Itsuki, showing that the crest was in effect with the option of preventing the crest holder from lying lit.

And that made Mald's face somehow even paler than before.

"Now that everything is in order, I'm going to ask you, Mald," Mirellia said when the slave crest was finished. Her voice was colder than ice. "Are you here to spy on us under the order of the Church?"

"N-no… GYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

As the word escaped Mald's mouth, his body was immediately assaulted by hundreds of volts of electricity. He screamed and thrashed around in agony, to the horror of everyone standing in the square.

"Th-that… that was so brutal…" Motoyasu mumbled, his voice was trembling with fear and shock.

"But incredibly effective…" Naofumi also muttered.

"Wrong answer," the Queen glared at him. "Now that you've already experienced what lying would do to you, are you still going to keep lying?"

Mald couldn't say anything. He just glared at the Queen with eyes full of hatred.

"Very well then," Mirellia sighed. "Next question. What was your intention when you joined Kawasumi-sama?"

Mald gritted his teeth. "You-! I joined him because he's a good Hero who fights for justice—GYAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Itsuki's face went pale when his companion was once again shocked violently on the ground by the slave crest. "What…!"

"Please, Itsuki-sama! Please believe me! I'm not lying to y- GYAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"It's sad, really," Naofumi shook his head. "He keeps lying, even though he already knew he cannot. What?" he said when Motoyasu glanced at him. "Don't forget that I also own a slave. I know what the slave crest can do. He's not going to be able to lie without getting shocked. And the fact that he gets shocked nonstop like that means he's still lying."

On the ground, Mald was lying there, breathing heavily in agony. It seemed that he had realized how futile it was to keep lying. He glared at the Queen and snarled in his breath.

"D-don't think… you have won… You've chosen… the losing team… His Excellency… is going to crush all of you… and eradicate… all of those animals from this world…! LONG LIVE THE CHURCH! LONG LIVE HIS EX—GAAAH!"

And the bastard saw his body frozen in an iceberg, courtesy of the Queen's magic.

"Well, I guess we've heard more than enough here, haven't we?"

The Queen stood straight up. She was now glaring at Mald; her eyes were cold and merciless. She opened her mouth, and everyone in the square suddenly felt chill crawling up their spines.

"It's obvious to everyone here that this wretched mongrel has planned to betray us since the beginning. He intended to give this whole place, together with me, his Queen, and the four Cardinal Heroes, to the Church. He didn't have any intention to repent for his crime, and he only joined the Bow Hero Kawasumi Itsuki-sama for his own ulterior motive. Such crimes are unforgiveable by the law of Melromarc, and as such, I hereby declare his punishment."

She lowered her hand at Mald's face, and his eyes widened in horror when he realized what was going to happen.

"Death by execution."

The ice crawled up his neck, and soon, his whole body was encased in the iceberg. The last expression that could be seen on his face was the scream of horror that couldn't escape his mouth before the whole thing, man and ice, shattered into millions of pieces. There wasn't even a drop of blood shed, simply because all the blood in his body had been completely frozen.

For a while, no one could say a word. The brutal execution of Mald had completely stunned them into silence. EMIYA was probably the only one among them who wasn't unnerved by that. After all, he had seen a lot of even more gruesome deaths than this before.

Mirellia turned back to the Heroes and their companions. "It's been a long day for all of you. I'm sorry that you have to see this. For now, please return to sleep. We would have a lot of work to do tomorrow. Good night, Sirs Heroes and companions."

It wasn't a coincidence that she requested all the companions to be here. She wanted to send them a message. If you turn against me, against this country, this is going to be your fate. Remember it.

Even though the Queen wished them good night, EMIYA was sure that none of them would be able to have a good night sleep at all after this. Especially a certain Bow Hero.

Itsuki rolled around on his bed. After that terrible incident, he couldn't calm his mind down to put himself to sleep anymore.

He had killed a lot since he arrived in this world. It's incredibly easy, indeed; just a snap of his bowstring and the person he wanted to kill would fall over, dead. After all, those people were just NPCs; there's no need for him to feel anything for them. They're evil people, and he put them down for the sake of justice.

But now, when one of his own companions was killed in front of him like that…

He should have been angry. However, there was absolutely nothing he could feel angry about.

If what Mald himself confessed earlier was true, and it should be because Itsuki himself was one of the people who controlled the slave crest, then he definitely was one of those evil people he was supposed to put down. He was trying to sell him to the Church. He only approached Itsuki because he was someone he could use for his ulterior motive. Taking his side would go against all of those things Itsuki always claimed himself to be.

And what he said before…

"You-! I joined him because he's a good Hero who fights for justice—GYAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

He was shocked when he said that. It could only mean that he was lying about Itsuki being a good Hero in his mind.

Then, if that's the case…

What kind of Hero was he in his eyes… in his companions' eyes… in everyone's eyes?