Chapter 30: What Is A Hero?
"Hmm… this is not good."
Team EMIYA was sitting in the apothecary of Doctor Alfred in Castle Town. The old doctor was checking Atla from head to toe, and the frown on his face deepened with each centimeter he dragged his eyes on the girl.
Then, after a while, he sat straight up and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Sir Sword Hero. There is nothing I can do for her with what I have here."
Even though EMIYA had prepared himself for this answer, he was still somewhat taken aback by it. Doctor Alfred had managed to heal a big wound in Naofumi's stomach made by the Legendary Spear before, and even he had no answer for Atla's health problem.
"You don't know what's wrong with her?"
The doctor shook his head again. "Actually, I do. She has a very rare hereditary illness that is impossible to be cured by any normal methods that I know about. It weakens the muscles, inner organs and immunity system of the victim, making them vulnerable to other illnesses and at the same time, gradually paralyzing their body until they cannot even move to sit up anymore. It can be slowed down by medicine, yes, but sooner or later the victim is still going to die from it when the disease hits the heart. Ever since I started working as a healer, there is only one single case of this disease detected in this country."
"That bad, huh…"
"Yes," the doctor nodded. "The fact that this girl is still able to live until now is a miracle on its own. I don't know how, but the disease seems to have stopped spreading across her body for a while. But if we cannot find the way to purge it from her body completely, she's going to suffer from it for her whole life… and to be honest, I have to say that it's going to be better if she dies rather than enduring the torture coming from it."
EMIYA bit his lip. Of course he knew the reason why Atla's illness had stopped spreading; Caliburn, the Sword of Selection, had been keeping her safe with its protection power since he met the siblings in Zeltoble. However, the sword's power cannot completely heal her. Furthermore, the power of the sword usually only worked for its chosen wielder; he had to modify it with Unlimited Blade Works to assign Atla herself as its chosen one to make it work, and he knew modifications would degrade the mystery of Noble Phantasms, reducing their power and effectiveness. There's no way they could depend on the power of the sword forever.
Still, something in the doctor's words drew his attention. "You said 'the way'. So does it mean there is a way to cure the disease completely?"
Doctor Alfred grimaced. "There technically is. But I tell you, it's just a wishful thought; procuring it is nothing short of a miracle."
"I basically did a miracle by keeping her alive until now, didn't I?" the Sword Hero said dryly. "So I guess another miracle might still be within my grasp."
The good doctor closed his eyes. "I see. The only thing that I know exists that could have a chance to heal her is the Elixir of Yggdrasil."
The unfamiliar name made everyone blink. Even the usually most knowledgeable person in the group, Farrie, didn't seem to know what it was.
"What is the Elixir of Yggdrasil?"
Doctor Alfred stood up. He walked to the bookshelf at the far end of the store and pulled out a very old book with a thick, black leather cover. He returned to the table, placed it in front of EMIYA, and opened it to one of the pages near the end.
"The Elixir of Yggdrasil, also known as the Medicine of Miracle, is a type of potion that is capable of curing most illnesses that exist. It can also enhance the abilities of the taker to an extent nothing else could even compare. Of course, it cannot bring back the dead or anything like that, but those powers alone are already more than enough for anyone to crave it. However, wanting it is something, being able to find it is a completely different matter. It needs a lot of rare ingredients, one of which, the most important one, is the sap of a sacred tree, which could only be found in two places in the world, the isolated country Q'ten Lo, and Reiki which is to the east of Melromarc, and the sap of the tree is considered their national treasure they're not going to let go of it easily. Also, making it is another problem; the brewing process is extremely complicated and requires utmost precision. A single mistake would ruin the whole thing. The potion itself is so rare it's considered a myth whether it exists or not. Sure, some people could be claiming that they have the Elixir for sale, but most of them are fake; usually it's just water with a bit of honey and fruit juice added into it, or something like that."
Ouch. That sounded like a major pain.
Fohl growled. "So those bastards tricked me… I should have known…"
"But you know how to make it, don't you?" EMIYA pressed. "It means that if I bring you the material, you can brew the potion for me, can't you?"
The doctor shook his head. "I cannot say for sure. One thing is, I have never had enough ingredients in my hand to even try brewing one. But if you can provide me the ingredient, I'm confident that I can at least make one vial of the Elixir for you."
No one said anything for a while. Then, EMIYA said.
"Can you list out for me what I need to find?"
"Figures, huh…"
Team EMIYA left another store in the market of Castle Town with a heavy heart.
Doctor Alfred didn't lie to them at all. The ingredients they needed for the Elixir of Yggdrasil were all so rare they couldn't find them anywhere within Castle Town. Some shops offered them other types of herbs and potions, but as the doctor said, they needed those exact types of ingredients only, not anything else.
"So we're supposed to give up?" Fohl gritted his teeth angrily.
"I've never said that we're going to give up," EMIYA looked at the hakuko boy sternly. "I already told you, I'm going to find the way to cure Atla of her illness if it is the last thing I can do in this life. It's just that we need to be patient. After the Wave I'm going to travel to Reiki to talk with the authority there; hopefully, they're going to understand. Or maybe," the ex-Counter Guardian started pondering, "maybe we can ask the Queen to help us. After all, she owes us a favor. I'm sorry you would have to wait for a while, Atla."
"Please, don't worry about me, Master," from Fohl's back, Atla's melodic voice rose. "I believe that you're going to fulfill your promise."
"Guys, look!" Welt suddenly said. "Is there something happening over there?"
Everyone looked toward the direction Welt's finger was pointing at. Sure enough, in the direction of the town square, a big crowd was gathering around… something. And from the sound coming from there, they could deduce that there was a big argument happening over there.
"Let's go see!" Tersia urged.
And of course, it's the idiot again…
When Team EMIYA arrived at the square, they saw Motoyasu and Naofumi screaming their throats out at each other.
"I can't believe you!" the Spear Hero snarled at the Shield Hero with anger clear on his face. "Raphtalia-chan is one thing, but now you even enslaved children to fight for you?! What the hell kind of hero are you?!"
"Whatever I do with my companions is MY problem, bastard," Naofumi snarled back with a sneer. "And do I even need to remind you that I have to do it because of you?"
"Oh yeah? Now you're blaming me for you being a bastard?!"
While the two Heroes were busy screaming at each other's faces, Malty and her posse approached Naofumi's companions. The First Princess sneered at the six girls.
"Well, well, the animal and its pack of freaks. And guess what, a criminal, too. The Shield Devil really couldn't find anything better to act as his companions."
Naofumi's companions tensed up at the provocation. Konoha and Keel's hands curled up into fists, and Himawari hid behind Raphtalia. The little filolial looked like she was going to cry. The raccoon girl snarled; her hand reached toward the hilt of her sword.
"You-!"
Eclair stepped forward. She looked straight into Malty's eyes, not even showing a hint of fear.
"Well, the Spear Hero isn't that much better than Sir Naofumi, is it? After all, he allowed a band of whores and gold diggers to act as his companions. At least our party still has people that are actually able to fight."
Malty's face turned purple in a blink of an eye. She shrieked. "How dare you, you little-! I'm going to kill you!"
She unsheathed her sword and charged at Eclair while screaming like a banshee. She swung at the knight's neck, but her movement was so weak and clumsy Eclair only needed to raise her sword, still within its sheath, to completely stop it. And with a flick of her arm, the sword flew off the princess' hand and fell to the ground pathetically.
"You bitch!" Malty shrieked like a wounded dog. "How dare you disarm me like that?! I, a royal princess?!"
"It is you who attacked us first," Eclair answered simply. "And according to the law of Melromarc, anyone and everyone has the right to defend themselves when they are under assault from another person. Everyone in this square already saw that. And you are the one who tried to provoke us into a fight in the beginning, Princess," she pressed on the word "you" strongly enough for everyone to hear.
"Motoyasu-sama!" the First Princess turned toward the Spear Hero. "She insulted me! Please get justice for me!"
"Shut up, Myne!"
Malty was taken aback by the sudden outburst of the Spear Hero. "Wha…?!"
She couldn't believe that Motoyasu could someday talk like that to her. The audacity! He was her toy! How dare he talk back to her like that?!
Motoyasu brandished his spear. He snarled. "We're going to fight! Even if I lose my life here today, I'm not going to let you abuse those poor girls any longer!"
And now EMIYA knew that he had to intervene. He walked forward and said loudly.
"Hey, what the hell is going on here? Why are you starting a fight in the middle of the street like this?"
Everyone's heads snapped toward his direction. Motoyasu started, still in his angry voice.
"Shirou-san! That bastard Naofumi even enslaved children to fight for him now! Are you going to be okay with that?!"
EMIYA looked straight into Motoyasu's eyes. "Motoyasu. Is the 'enslaving' thing the idea inside your head only, or do you have any proof about it?"
The Spear Hero flinched. "I—Well, but, it's Naofumi! He's done it before, so…!"
EMIYA didn't let him finish his sentence. "So because of that, you somehow allowed yourself to come to the conclusion that he also enslaved these children and forced them to do what they don't want to do, without even a single hint of proof?"
Motoyasu looked mortified. It was obvious that he didn't think about this clearly. "I…"
The other members of Team EMIYA also walked into the square. They stood in front of the three filolial girls of Naofumi's party protectively, and Yuki hugged her new friend, who was trembling in fear, as a way to calm her down. The little filolial buried her face in the kitsune's white hair while glancing at the Spear Hero in fright. Seeing the kitsune, Motoyasu exploded in rage.
"Even you too?! No wonder why you took his side! You also went and enslaved-!"
His exclamation was cut abruptly as the tip of Tersia's giant sword nicked the skin of his neck. The swordsmaiden of Team EMIYA snarled, her eyes locked into the Spear Hero's eyes with hatred and rage.
"Say it. I dare you to say it again. If you dare call our little sister a slave another time, I swear on my life I will make you wish you were dead, you bastard."
Motoyasu took a step back in shock and fear. The memory of the time the girl nearly killed him in Erhard's weapon store was still clear in his head. And the look in her eyes right now was just the same as it was the last time. Motoyasu might be a little bit slow in the head, but even he could somewhat understand what he had just said was wrong.
Naofumi stepped forward. He sneered. "And you know what? Instead of worrying about my companions' wellbeing, I think you should worry about the fate of the village that you 'saved' from a famine last month instead. The villagers there might not appreciate what you did to them very much."
Motoyasu's face suddenly went chalk-white upon hearing those words. EMIYA looked at Naofumi, curious.
"What happened?"
The Shield Hero glared at Motoyasu. "Apparently, Lerno Village was in a famine a month ago. This idiot, when he was there, somehow managed to break the seal on a cursed seed and planted it in the village, saying that it would help them survive the famine. And guess what happened? It grew into a monster tree and unleashed mutated plants on the village. The village was nearly destroyed when I got there."
EMIYA glanced at Motoyasu. "Is it true, Motoyasu?"
But the Spear Hero didn't pay attention to the Sword Hero's question. He looked at Malty, who had just retreated next to him, in shock and disbelief. "Myne?! You told me that the seed was safe! How did it become like that?!"
The First Princess seemed to shrink back before the glares of accusation from everyone, including her toy. "They-they must be lying!" she said in a desperate attempt to cover for herself, but no one seemed to be convinced by her words anymore. Even Motoyasu himself.
"I need to go back there!" the Spear Hero gritted his teeth and switched his spear to a form with a red tip that looked like an arrow. Based on the similar form, EMIYA guessed that was his version of the Dragon Hourglass Sand Sword, the sword that gave him the ability to use Transport Sword. But before he could teleport away, Naofumi cut in with a sharp voice.
"Don't bother. You think there's anything for you to do over there now? Unlike you, I'm not someone who is irresponsible enough to see a problem and not do anything about it."
Hearing that, Motoyasu didn't try to teleport away anymore. He just stood there staring at the ground, his hands balled into fists in shame. Then, he turned around and started walking away.
EMIYA's eyes followed the retreating back of the Spear Hero. Then, he suddenly asked a question that made the blonde Hero stop dead on his way.
"Motoyasu. Why are you trying so hard to make yourself look heroic?"
Motoyasu just stood there like a statue for a while. Then, seemingly not being able to stand it anymore, he ran away, with Malty and her posse hastily following behind. Everyone followed the back of the Spear Hero with their eyes until it disappeared completely at the end of the road.
Without anything else that attracted their attention, the crowd started dissolving, and soon, the square was empty again, save for the two Heroes' parties.
"That bastard," Naofumi muttered. "The only thing he's ever wanted to do is to piss me off, huh."
"I don't think he's someone I can trust," Eclair shook her head. "Especially with that princess latching onto him like that. She's always been a bad influence on anyone she associates herself with."
It seemed Malty's reputation of being a bitch wasn't just in name only.
"Oh, by the way, Shirou-san," Naofumi looked at EMIYA. "How are things with Atla now? Did Doctor Alfred find out what is wrong with her?"
EMIYA shook his head. "It's not very good. He said that Atla has an illness that cannot be cured by normal medicine. The only thing that can heal her is a type of medicine called the Elixir of Yggdrasil, and it is apparently something incredibly hard to get."
"Wait, say that again," Naofumi cut in. "Did you just say Elixir of Yggdrasil?"
EMIYA blinked. "Well, yes. What's wrong?"
But Naofumi didn't answer him. He and Raphtalia looked at each other with eyes full of surprise and shock. Then, the Shield Hero said slowly while pulling out a small vial from his inventory, which was half-filled with a liquid the color of molten gold.
"Shirou-san. I have the Elixir of Yggdrasil here."
Everyone was shocked. EMIYA stared at the tiny vial in Naofumi's hand.
"A-are you sure about that?"
Naofumi nodded. "Yeah. Earlier, I escorted a guy who was on his way to bring medicine back to her mother. She was on the brink of death, and only the Elixir of Yggdrasil, which he managed to buy in Reiki, could help her. And I kinda… helped her recover more quickly without having to use the whole vial of the Elixir, with the power of the Shield, I think. And that guy gave me the rest of the medicine as a thank-you gift. There wasn't much left, but I think it's still going to help somewhat."
Then he scratched his head. "I knew that Atla was ill, but I didn't expect we would need to use this. I was planning on saving this for when we have to face something bad, but…"
Everyone was thrilled with joy upon hearing what the Shield Hero had just said. Tersia cheered while grabbing Fohl's hands.
"Awesome! Now Atla-chan can finally be healed!"
Farrie's eyes were brimmed with tears of happiness. "Thank god…!"
EMIYA looked at Naofumi. "Naofumi, can you sell me this? Just name the price; I'll do anything I can to get the money."
Naofumi looked at the vial of medicine in his hand. Then, he smiled and placed the bottle in EMIYA's hand.
"You just take it. After all, you've helped me a lot since I arrived in this world; how can I take money from you when I know that it is to save a person's life?"
EMIYA held the bottle in his hand. Even though it was just a bottle of medicine, somehow he could feel a gentle warmth within it. Maybe it's just the hope that was bubbling up within his heart?
"All right. Then let's go back to Doctor Alfred!"
"Yes, this is it. This is the Elixir of Yggdrasil, indeed. How did you find it so quickly?"
The old doctor nodded with a smile when he saw the bottle in EMIYA's hand. The ex-Counter Guardian glanced at Naofumi.
"It's thanks to Naofumi. He happened to have it in his possession when I told him about Atla's condition, so…"
The doctor nodded. "I see. This is going to help a lot. This much might not be enough to completely heal her, but I know for sure it is going to improve her condition a lot while waiting for a new batch to come."
Naofumi raised his hand. "Uh, Doctor, I don't know much about medical knowledge, but it seems I have a way to improve the efficacy of medicine. Can you let me take it from here?"
Taking the vial of medicine from the doctor's hand, Naofumi walked toward Atla who was sitting on a stool nearby. The shield in his hand switched into the form of a round shield with a symbol drawn on it, and EMIYA realized immediately the shape of a snake coiling around a rod. It was the symbol of Asclepius, the god of medicine.
Gently, Naofumi lifted Atla's head from behind and poured the contents of the bottle into her mouth.
The hakuko girl was suddenly enveloped in a blinding shower of light. The black blotches on her pearly skin started retreating and gradually disappeared, and her face looked relieved, as if a heavy weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. Her breathing also became soft and gentle, and she didn't cough anymore. Her body relaxed, and she fell backward, into the arm of Naofumi who had been holding her.
"She's fine," Doctor Alfred said after checking her up when the light died down. "The medicine worked very well; she hasn't recovered completely from the illness, of course, but I think a majority of it has been purged from her system. She's just tired from the sudden change in her body state. Just let her rest for a night and she'll be fine. Of course, this much isn't enough to help her recover completely, but for now, I can say for sure that she's escaped the hand of Death."
He stood straight up with a big smile on his face. "All of my life, this is the first time I see anything like this. I know that the Elixir of Yggdrasil is a miracle by itself, but I know for sure even it cannot cure this kind of illness this quickly and effectively. Maybe the actual miracle here is you, Sir Shield Hero."
Fohl walked up in front of Naofumi. He kneeled on the ground with his head bowed.
"Lord Shield Hero! I thank you with all my heart for helping Atla! If you need me to do anything to repay you, I swear I will do it with everything I have!"
"Even betraying and killing me?" quipped EMIYA, and the hakuko boy's face heated up in embarrassment.
"I-I didn't mean that…!"
Everyone laughed. Even Fohl let out an embarrassed chuckle.
"Ah, you two! Finally you're here! The modification I've been doing for your armor has just been finished!"
Erhard greeted the two Heroes with his usual cheerful grin.
"That is… kinda fast, right?" EMIYA stared at the blacksmith. "We've just left them here yesterday."
Erhard waved him off. "The difficult thing is making them. Modifying and upgrading them are just child's play to me, as long as you provide enough suitable material. Now, behold! The Champion's Garb +1 and Barbarian's Armor +1!"
The blacksmith set two suits of armor on the store counter. The previous day, EMIYA and Naofumi had left their armors at the shop before leaving for Lafan Village, together with an abundance of powerful material, such as chimera bones, hydra fangs, some of Gaelion's scales EMIYA got on the ground after the fight at Mirso Village, and all types of ores. And it seemed the blacksmith had done a magnificent job upgrading them, and now they seemed even stronger than before.
Champion's Garb +1
Base Defense: 200
Endurance +100. Strength +100. Luck + 100. MP +1000.
Magic Resistance Boost: Extra High. Physical Resistance Boost: Extra High. Abnormal Status Resistance Boost: Extra High. Heat Resistance: Very High. Cold Resistance: Very High. HP Recovery: Low. MP Recovery: Low. Self-Reparation. Air Wake. Alert.
That was a very big upgrade. Not only was every parameter of the armor boosted up tremendously, but the materials EMIYA provided also gave the armor various effects it didn't have before. Auto healing, MP auto-regeneration, and last but not least, a huge boost in Luck, which EMIYA was always grateful for. Erhard was an excellent blacksmith, indeed.
"These upgrades are incredible, old man. Thank you very much for them," he heard Naofumi say next to him. It seemed the Barbarian's Armor also got similar upgrades.
"Anything for my two Heroes," the blacksmith said with a big grin. Then he turned toward Welt and Raphtalia. "Oh, and I have something for you two, too."
He reached below the counter and pulled out two other things. They were… an arrow quiver and a sword hilt?
"What is this?" Raphtalia picked up the sword hilt curiously. The blacksmith grinned.
"Try to channel some of your magical energy into it."
Raphtalia did as instructed. Suddenly, from the guard of the hilt where the blade was supposed to be, orange energy burst out and extended upward into a blade made of pure energy. Startled, the raccoon girl dropped the… well, now proper energy sword… or light saber?... in shock.
"Wh… what is that?!"
"A magic sword…" EMIYA noted when the blade of the sword on the ground, being cut off its source of energy, started disappearing into nothingness again. "Using the magical energy of the wielder, creating a blade made of pure energy which could be retracted just by cutting off the magic sent into it… interesting."
"Bingo," the blacksmith grinned. "Because of its nature as a magic weapon, only people with great innate potential as a magic user could use it effectively. Swordfighters who are good at using magic aren't common, mind you. And this girl has excellent potential with magic, from what Ecclesia told me, so I guess this is going to fit her well."
"Wow…" Raphtalia, now having picked the sword up from the ground, marveled in awe.
"Oh, but I have to tell you this; since the blade of this sword is made from pure magic, it is not very effective against flesh," Erhard continued. "It can go through flesh, but you wouldn't be able to deal much damage with it. You cannot use it to cut down enemies or anything like that. However, it is incredibly effective against magic itself. It can cut the magic lines inside an object or even a person, temporarily disabling them, and might even knock out the fighters who depend solely on their magic, such as mages. Also, it can even destroy magic spells. Of course, it wouldn't help much against Dritte-level magic or so, but for minor to moderate spells…"
"A very formidable weapon, indeed," whistled EMIYA.
Welt picked up the arrow quiver on the counter. "And this is…"
The blacksmith grinned again. "Ah, that's one of the works I'm proud of the most. I call it the Enchanting Quiver."
EMIYA had to ask the blacksmith again to ensure he didn't hear wrong. "Excuse me, do you mean enchanted quiver?"
Erhard shook his head. "No, no, no. The Enchanting Quiver. For you to understand it, I guess a demonstration is the best way. Come with me."
The blacksmith led the group to the back of the store, where there was a yard with some dummies standing. It wasn't that uncommon for a blacksmith to have a yard in his store; usually, they would use it as a place to test the weapons they made. He put on the glove that went together with the quiver from before, then pointed at the dummy at the far end of the yard.
"There, boy. Try using an arrow from this quiver to shoot at that dummy."
Welt pulled an arrow from the quiver and nocked it on the Hydra Bow he got from the Wave boss at Zeltoble in confusion. He still hadn't understood what the blacksmith wanted him to do. But he still pulled the bowstring back and shot the arrow toward the dummy.
What he didn't expect was that when the arrow hit the straw target, it suddenly exploded violently with a deafening "bang", drowning the strawman in a raging fire.
"Whoa!"
"See?" Erhard raised the hand wearing the glove up. "When you prepare to fire an arrow, you can channel your magical energy into one of these parts on this glove," he pointed at the fingers of the glove, which EMIYA now realized were marked with three different colors. "Each finger represents an element: red is fire, yellow is lightning, blue is ice. The quiver is going to receive your magical energy and enchant the arrows in the quiver with the magic of that element. Fire would give you an explosion, lightning would shock the enemy with electricity, and ice would freeze up the part of the enemy's body hit by it. The enchantment would only last ten seconds on the arrow, so you need to be quick before it fades away. It would take a lot of training to master, but if you can do it, it is going to be useful for sure."
"So it's like this quiver I got from the Hydra," Welt glanced at the Hydra Venom Quiver on his back, "but instead of Hydra venom, it gives my arrows elemental powers. That is really cool, Erhard-san. Thank you very much."
"Damn it, that's so unfair, Uncle," Tersia pouted. "Why is Welt-kun the only one who gets such a cool thing?"
"Don't be impolite, Tersia-chan," Farrie scolded her friend with a smile.
The blacksmith laughed and rubbed the girl's brown hair. "I actually made these things quite a long time ago. If I have the time, I'm surely going to make you something even cooler than that, kid."
EMIYA smirked. He understood why the blacksmith was showing off like this. The previous day, when he saw Wyndia's staff, he immediately asked where she got it from, and after she told him that she got it from a blacksmith in Zeltoble, he didn't stop glaring at the weapon even during their lunch. It seemed that the weapon itself had ignited his competitive blood.
Finally, after the happy mood had dwindled a bit, EMIYA looked at Naofumi.
"So, how have you prepared for the incoming Wave?"
The Shield Hero shrugged. "Well, so-so, I guess. Now I have more people in my party, I think I can handle evacuation and rescue without having to borrow your party members. Guess I would just stick with what I'm good at, hmm."
"You remember that we can bring people outside of our parties with us in the Wave, don't you?" EMIYA reminded him. "We can make temporary battalions with other fighters outside of our parties to join us in battle. I found out about that when I was in Zeltoble."
"Yeah, I still remember," growled Naofumi. "But where can we even find people to help us?"
"Maybe we can go ask for assistance from the Royal Knight…"
"I'm never going to ask for help from those wretched bastards," Naofumi snarled immediately when the name was mentioned.
EMIYA winced mentally. The Shield Hero had more than enough reason to refuse assistance from the Royal Knight even if they offered. And even if they enlisted the help of the Royal Knight, there's no guarantee that they would listen to their commands, or wouldn't sabotage their effort behind their back.
Even though Eclair had told them there were trustworthy people in the Knights, the Wave was coming in five days; there was no time to root out the untrustworthy people anyway.
"Um, sensei," Tersia's voice rose behind him. "If there's nowhere else to find, how about we try the Adventurer's Guild?"
"So this is the Adventurer's Guild, huh…"
This was the first time EMIYA went to the Adventurer's Guild. He knew that Tersia's father was a renowned member of the Guild, but otherwise, he didn't know anything else about the Guild itself. And being too busy with training his team and fighting the Wave, he had completely forgotten about its existence, until now.
He pushed the front door made of a type of wood similar to oak open, and the group walked into the building. The clerk at the receptionist's table greeted them with a smile.
"Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild… oh, is that Tersia-chan? Long time no see!"
The swordsmaiden of Team EMIYA skipped toward the counter with a big smile on her own face. "Betty-nee-chan! I'm bringing my sensei here today for work!"
The clerk looked at the group behind her in surprise. Then, her eyes stopped at EMIYA and Naofumi, and her smile brightened even more than before.
"Oh! Then you must be the Sword and the Shield Heroes! What an honor to have you here today! I am Elizabeth Helmgard, and I'm the receptionist and quest-giver of the Castle Town branch of the Adventurer's Guild. How can I help you today, Sirs Heroes?"
"You seem to realize who we are pretty quickly, Miss," EMIYA noted while looking around the room. It was full of adventurers of all ages and genders who were lounging around, either chatting or looking for jobs to do. Elizabeth nodded.
"Well, Tersia-chan is one of our favorites here! She's the youngest D-rank adventurer registered here, and of course we know she's going on a journey together with the legendary Sword Hero. Considering she called you her teacher, I could guess that you're the Hero in question. And since you're wearing a shield similar to Sir Sword Hero's weapon, I figured out you must be the famous Shield Hero people are talking about, too," she smiled at Naofumi, who grimaced.
"Famous for being a rapist, huh…"
Elizabeth's smile didn't fade. "At the beginning, yes. However, after that, everyone heard about your heroic deeds all over Melromarc, especially how you single-handedly protected Ryute Village during the Wave, saved Lerno Village from the monstrous Bio-Plant, and stopped a spreading epidemic in the van Reichnott and Rabier territories with your medicine. And since then, people have been suspicious about the claim from the palace that you are an evil rapist. Most of us here actually cannot think of you as evil now, Sir Shield Hero."
Naofumi groaned. "Great. I was a criminal of this world, and suddenly after a night, I became a saint. Isn't it convenient?"
"Not just 'after a night', Sir Shield Hero," the clerk corrected him. "Even though you were under that terrible accusation, you still did your best to prove yourself not to be like what people claimed you to be. It isn't something anyone can do overnight. And for that, I really admire you, Sir Shield Hero… or should I say, the Saint of the Bird Gods?"
Raphtalia squeezed Naofumi's hand with a smile. "You know she's right, Naofumi-sama."
Naofumi scowled, but didn't say anything else. However, if anyone paid close attention, they could see a slight blush on his face.
"You fought off a whole epidemic?" Farrie looked at the Shield Hero with sparkling eyes. "How did you do that, Sir Shield Hero?"
Naofumi hesitated for a moment. Then, he shrugged, and his Shield took the form of the shield he had used before to help Atla drink the Elixir. "Well, it's thanks to this shield. I asked that guy to let the Shield absorb just a drop of the Elixir of Yggdrasil, just to see what would happen… and it unlocked this. It has the ability to boost the range of effect and power of every medicine I have to an absurd level, way better than the shields I had unlocked before that. Even a bottle of normal medicine could cure a lot of people if used in tandem with this shield. It's thanks to this that I managed to heal that old lady completely with only half of the Elixir bottle, you know."
He glanced at the Shield on his arm. "I wasn't really able to do anything much. Most of the work was done by this thing. The only thing I did was to create medicine… It seems no matter how much I hate this thing, it still somehow managed to force me to use it after all."
Silence filled the room for a while. Then EMIYA turned to the clerk. "So, we have something we want to request the help of the Guild. The next Wave is coming, and we're in need of manpower. Can we ask the people of the Guild to fight in the Wave together with us?"
Elizabeth shook her head. "I'm afraid it's impossible, Sir Sword Hero. Not because we don't want to, I swear," she hastily added when she saw EMIYA's face. "The Adventurer's Guild doesn't actually have soldiers in possession; we're basically a hub for adventurers around the country to gather, as well as receiving requests from people and issuing them for the gathering adventurers to take and deal with. We are not the army, you know."
Naofumi clicked his tongue. "Tsk. So useless."
"If you want to recruit people, the only way for you to do it here is to issue a quest for adventurers to take," the girl continued. "However, if you do that, the best you can get is two or three adventurers. If you want to gather an army to deal with something like a Wave of Calamity, it is going to be a national-level mission, and it is going to need the approval of the Grandmaster of the Guild to issue a mission of such level. And considering you would need to go to Faubley to meet with the Grandmaster… yeah, I don't think you would have enough time."
Ouch. That was way harder than EMIYA had thought.
Right at that time, an angry voice rose from the entrance of the Guild Hall when the wooden door burst open again.
"There you are, Naofumi!"
Everyone turned toward the entrance, and Naofumi groaned.
"Oh, great. First Motoyasu, now Itsuki?! Is today 'let's harass Naofumi' day or something?"
The person who had just yelled, now identified as Itsuki himself, stormed into the hall with his companions right behind him. He looked really angry. He ran toward the Shield Hero and called out with an accusing voice.
"It was YOU. I completed an official request, and you swept in to steal my reward!"
"Wait, what?!" Naofumi exclaimed in confusion. He didn't seem to understand what was going on. "When did I even do that?!"
"You're going to play dumb?!"
"Okay, hold on," EMIYA cut in. "What the hell are you talking about? If you don't explain it thoroughly, it just seems like you're accusing Naofumi of something for no reason."
The Bow Hero glared at EMIYA in annoyance, but then he started explaining. "Last month, I was tasked with investigating the actions of a local despot in the northern territory, and then I was charged with removing him from office – which I did, obviously. After I finished that, I sent Mald to the guild office to collect my reward, but they said it had been accepted!"
The more the Bow Hero said, the less EMIYA could understand what he was saying. "So? I still don't see how Naofumi was related to everything you've said."
Itsuki fumed. "So?! Only Naofumi could have done that!"
EMIYA shook his head. "Okay, now that doesn't make any sense. You're accusing him without even a hint of proof. Do you have any proof that Naofumi did something like that?"
Itsuki spluttered. "Well… He has the Shield, which can change shape, so he could have made it look like my Legendary Bow and taken my payment!"
"That is not proof; that is an accusation based on a theory that you thought of by yourself," EMIYA pointed out. "Besides, Naofumi's Shield isn't the only thing that could transform to look like something else. If you accuse Naofumi of doing something like that, you are also accusing at least me and Motoyasu, too. Not to mention the Seven Star Heroes, including the King himself."
Itsuki looked like he had been choking on something really big. Obviously he was trying to find something to say, but couldn't. Then, he clicked his tongue and turned toward Elizabeth. "Then you! You have the responsibility to investigate and give me back my reward!"
The Guild clerk bowed her head. "Sure thing, Sir Bow Hero. Let me check in the archive. If you did complete the quest, surely there must be some record stored in the archive."
When the girl retreated to the back room, Itsuki glared at his two fellow Heroes. "And what are you doing here?"
"We're trying to recruit people to help in fighting the Wave," EMIYA explained. "We figured enlisting the help of adventurers would be a good way, so…"
The young boy sneered. "You are Heroes, and yet you want to pull other people into your fight? How irresponsible."
The ex-Guardian's eyes narrowed. "What?"
"Fighting the Waves is the duty of the Heroes," Itsuki said coldly. "If you have to depend on the strength of others, then why bother being a Hero in the first place?"
Everyone else was shocked at the conceited words of the Bow Hero. Everyone, besides EMIYA. He wasn't just shocked. He was pissed.
He had thought of Itsuki just as a naïve boy who wanted to become a hero. He had given him the benefit of the doubt, attributing what he did to his young age and naivete. However, now he understood what kind of person this little brat was.
He turned around. "Let's go, everyone. We're not going to find any help here. We need to try looking somewhere else, then."
Then he walked out of the chamber, not even waiting for Elizabeth to come back. Everyone else was bewildered by the sudden gesture of the Sword Hero, but compelled anyway. After the wooden door closed behind them, Fohl raised the question he had been holding back.
"What gives, Master?"
"You've heard her," the ex-Counter Guardian answered curtly. "We will need to go through a lot if we want to find people from the Guild, and we don't have the time and resources to do that. Besides," his voice suddenly lowered to a dangerous level, "I don't want to stay in the same room as a narcissist who only wants to look like a hero rather than acting like a hero."
When they left the building, they could still hear Itsuki's shriek coming from the Guild Hall.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN I WASN'T THE ONE WHO COMPLETED THE QUEST?"
"Hey, Shirou-san. Do you feel that?"
Of course EMIYA didn't need Naofumi's words to know that they were being tailed. Indeed, someone had been following the Heroes and their companions for a while. However, he… she… that person was definitely not a professional killer or anything like that. Their movement was clumsy, and they couldn't hide their presence no matter how hard they tried. There's no way that was someone who wanted to do something like assassinating the Heroes, because if that's the case, they would be doing a terrible job.
The two Heroes glanced at their companions, and the group turned right at the intersection at the end of the road. Afraid of losing his target, the stalker hastily ran after the Heroes, rushing toward the direction where the backs of the group had just disappeared. He turned, and…
…saw thirteen pairs of eyes glaring daggers at him.
The stalker, now identified as a young boy dressed in knight uniform, fell flat on his butt in shock and surprise. Naofumi grabbed the collar of his shirt and lifted him up from the ground before anyone could stop him. He snarled at the boy's terrified eyes; the Shield on his arm took the form of the Chimera Viper Shield in a flash of light.
"What do you want with me? Sure, I cannot deal damage, but that doesn't mean I cannot give you a whole world of pain."
"Wait, Sir Naofumi! Wait!"
Eclair's frantic scream stopped Naofumi's hand dead in midair. He glanced at the young woman. "What?"
The rosette didn't answer him. She walked forward and gently pried his hand off the boy's collar.
"You're Ake-kun, aren't you?" she looked at the boy with gentle eyes.
"C-Captain Seatto!" the boy stuttered. Naofumi eyed the rosette.
"You know him?"
Eclair turned back to him. "He was one of the new squires in my squadron before I was imprisoned. He's a good boy, if a little bit naïve, but definitely not a jerk like the First Princess or the two other Heroes. He's not going to do anything to harm us, Sir Naofumi."
Naofumi sighed and shook his head. "Very well. What do you want?"
"Please let us fight in the Wave with you, Lord Shield Hero!"
What the boy had just blurted out actually took the Shield Hero aback. "What?"
"We lower-ranked soldiers were really touched by how you risked yourself to protect Ryute Village during the last Wave, sir! And I'm from Ryute, too, so I need to repay you for what you've done for my family and friends there, sir!"
Ryute Village, huh…
"Why don't you go ask the other Heroes, then? Surely it's gonna be better if you cooperate with someone who can actually attack, unlike me."
Ake's face darkened. "Those Heroes didn't do anything to help our village during the Wave. And I," he spat on the ground, "am never going to lower myself to helping that bastard Spear after what he did to our village!"
Naofumi winced mentally. What did the idiot do to make a boy like this one despise him so much?
"Well," he said carefully. "Even if I let you, there's only one of you here, isn't it? One more person isn't going to help a lot with fighting something like the Wave, you know."
The young knight's face brightened. "You don't have to worry about that, sir! Not only me, but there are also quite a few of us who were impressed with how you fought that day, and we formed a team! Everyone, come here!"
From behind the corner, about twenty or so more heads poked out. They were all young, about fifteen or sixteen years old; some of them even looked as young as Fohl, who was the youngest member of Team EMIYA by now. Their outfit looked cheap and shoddy; it was clear that they were at the lower hierarchy of the army. And EMIYA noticed that there were even some demi-humans in there. Melromarc had a clear prejudice against demi-humans, so it's a big question how these youngsters managed to survive, much less become a soldier.
He suspected that the Queen had a hand in this; she might have attempted to quell the discrimination by herself, but so far her effort only resulted in having some demi-humans in the army, and even that didn't work out so well for those poor youngsters.
"But you are knights of the kingdom," Eclair looked at the group with a stern face. "You cannot abandon your post to come fight with us without asking for permission from your superior."
"We already asked for permission, Captain Seatto!" Ake still hadn't given up. "Da—I mean, Commander Leonhart has already given us permission to join the Heroes in the next Wave! And all the guards posted around town also agreed with us; our number one priority must be protecting our citizens from harm! We cannot just sit here and leave everything to the Heroes!"
A surprised look flashed across Eclair's face. "Captain Leonhart is now the Knight Commander? Well, that explains it. He's always an honorable man who puts the citizens of this country as his top priority. Sir Naofumi, I think we can trust them."
Naofumi seemed to be convinced by the words of the young woman. He opened his mouth…
"Wait."
EMIYA's voice next to him stopped the words from coming out of the Shield Hero's mouth. The Sword Hero walked up; his eyes bore into the young boy's with a glare that seemed to drill into his brain. He took out a spear from his inventory; he got this before as a drop item from a monster, but couldn't use it, so he just left it in the inventory to wait for an opportunity to use it.
"One thousand silver pieces. If you can pay for this, I'll think about your offer."
Everyone was taken aback by the sudden proposal of the Sword Hero. One thousand silver pieces meant ten gold pieces, and there was no way a newbie squire like this boy could have that much money ready in his pocket. Farrie, as good-natured as she always was, started. "Sensei…!"
But a glare from her teacher shut her up. The ex-Counter Guardian turned back to the boy and asked again.
"What's wrong? Buy it from me, and I'll consider it. Or are those pretty words you've just said just pretty words?"
The young squire bit his lip. Then, all of a sudden, he turned toward his comrades standing behind him and said.
"Everyone! Please lend me your money! I promise I will pay you back later!"
To EMIYA's surprise, the other soldiers immediately and readily pulled out their money from everywhere; some pulled out their money pouches, some turned out their pockets, some even reached into their boots and hats to salvage even the smallest penny. Soon, a pile of coins was set in front of EMIYA, and he noted in amusement that most of the coins were just small copper pieces.
"Here you go, Lord Sword Hero! We're still missing some, but please take seven hundred silver pieces first! I'm going back to my dormitory to get the rest of the money!"
Then Ake turned around, but before he could run away, the big and strong hand of the Sword Hero had already grasped his shoulder.
"Come back here tomorrow, at ten in the morning, all of you, with all of your best equipment."
The young squire, as well as his comrades, all widened their eyes. "You mean…!"
The ex-Counter Guardian smiled at them. "I've never expected you to be able to get that kind of money. The fact that you all tried to do it showed how sincere you are when you said you wanted to help, and that's all I need. Come back here with all of your best equipment tomorrow; we will need to discuss strategy and set up battalions for the fight, as well as test what you all can do, too. And remember," he suddenly stopped smiling, and his face returned to the stern and stoic expression he usually had, "fighting in the Wave is not a game; it is a matter of life and death. So if anyone wants to run away, this is your chance. I'm not going to force any of you to throw your life away if you don't want to."
None of the soldiers in front of him moved a muscle. Their faces were brimming with confidence and eagerness. EMIYA glanced at Naofumi, who raised a thumb in approval, then looked at the group in front of him again.
"Very well. Then from now on, you're going to be under my command until the Wave ends. Now, dismiss!"
"Yessir!"
The meeting the next day was better than EMIYA had expected.
Turned out the new Commander of the Royal Knight was the stern captain who assisted Naofumi during the Ryute Wave. Not only was he much more reasonable than the previous Commander, but he was also way more competent. Sure, he couldn't join the Heroes in fighting the Wave due to having to protect the royal family, but he did more than enough by pointing out the strengths and the weaknesses of the soldiers who would join the operation, which included not only the young squires they met the previous day, but also another squadron of older soldiers who didn't agree with how their previous Commander treated the Shield and the Sword Heroes. In total, the group reached a pretty impressive number of forty people. While not being able to compare to the force gathered in Zeltoble to fight off their Wave, they made up for it with discipline and enthusiasm.
There wasn't much time left until the Wave. Most of the preparation had been done, and until then, the best they could do was to train themselves moderately and keep themselves healthy and uninjured.
Now, the group was on their way to the main gate of Castle Town to teleport back to Lafan Village. For some reason, the only place where they could use the Transport Sword within the border of Castle Town was the Church, and if they wanted to teleport away without going there, they needed to get out of the town border. That was pretty inconvenient, but EMIYA guessed it made sense; if they left it so that anyone with a weapon having the power to teleport could get in and out of the capital city of a country that easily, there would surely be huge security problems. Even when he was in Zeltoble Harbor, he had to get out of the town in order to use the Transport Sword to return to Melromarc.
He wondered how Captain Fargus could still use the skill within the border of the town, though. Maybe only the Hero directly associating themselves with the country could do that?
The group was now walking past the town tavern. Absently, EMIYA glanced inside the place, and something in there attracted his attention.
Motoyasu was in there. He was sitting at the bartender's counter; in front of him, there were five or six empty mugs. The blonde Hero must have been drinking in there for quite a while. And the strangest thing was, he was sitting in there alone. Usually, he would have his harem coiling around him like a bunch of snakes, but today he was sitting in there, drinking alone in complete silence.
"Hey, Naofumi. Can you bring the others back to Lafan first?"
The Shield Hero raised an eyebrow at the sudden request of the Sword Hero. "Hm? We're not going to teleport back?"
EMIYA nodded. "I have something I need to do. I'll catch up with you guys later. You have your carriage parked at Erhard's place, don't you?"
Naofumi stared at his fellow Hero. Then, he shrugged. "Sure thing. The girls are going to enjoy it, anyway. Hey, you three! Who wants to pull the carriage today?"
Immediately, the three filolial girls perked up. "Me!" Konoha, enthusiastic and perky as always, raised her hand to the sky first.
"Hey, no fair, Konoha-chan!" Sakura, the usually sweet and demure one, pouted and pulled her sister's arm in a manner so unlike her at all. "You've already pulled the carriage the other day! It's my turn now!"
"Um… I want to pull the carriage too…!" Even Himawari, the shyest one among the three, also raised her voice a little bit more than usual.
"All right, all right, you three! We're going to decide when we arrive at Erhard's place, okay?" Raphtalia cut in, trying to quell the three little girls down, and they reluctantly stopped, even though they were still glaring at each other.
"Then we're going ahead, Shirou-san. See you back in Lafan," Naofumi said, and the group started leaving. After their backs had completely disappeared, EMIYA pushed the door open and entered the tavern.
Motoyasu seemed to be so drunk he didn't even realize that someone was approaching him. Only when the Sword Hero sat down right next to him did he pick himself up from his mug to see. Then he immediately scowled.
"What do you want?"
EMIYA calmly received the mug the bartender had just given him and took a sip from it. "What? Now even enjoying a drink at the tavern is wrong to you?"
Hearing that, the Spear Hero didn't say anything else. He just returned to sipping from his own mug in silence.
There was almost no other guest in the tavern at that moment, except for a single person sitting in the far corner, so for a while, there was no sound at all except for the drinking noises coming from the two Heroes. Then, Motoyasu was the one who broke the silence.
"Must be nice to have everyone look up to you."
His voice was full of bitterness. But EMIYA was surprised not hearing any hint of anger in it. If anything, Motoyasu right now sounded even more sober than he was when he wasn't drinking his head off.
"Everything I did all turned up failures," the Spear Hero continued with a voice full of moroseness. "I couldn't do even a single good thing, no matter how hard I tried. I wanted to save the people in trouble, and yet everything I did just ended up hurting them even more. Why? Why is it only me?"
He punched the counter in frustration and grief. EMIYA could hear clearly the despair in his voice by now.
Then suddenly, he snapped his head toward EMIYA. He grabbed the ex-Counter Guardian's arms with his trembling hands. "Shirou-san! Please tell me! Please teach me how to become a good hero!"
Yeah, how about you stop being a jerk for once first?
Those words were on the verge of shooting out of EMIYA's mouth. However, before it could escape his throat, it was stopped abruptly as he looked at the Spear Hero in front of him.
People usually say that the drunk cannot tell lies. And looking at Motoyasu right now, EMIYA was pretty sure that he wasn't lying. That voice full of frustration, those eyes that were filled with despair and grief… they belonged to a person who genuinely wanted to do good things for people, but was impossible to no matter how much he tried. He had a good intention, but at the same time, wasn't able to live up to it because he didn't know how. He messed up everything because of his incompetence, not because he meant to do it.
Maybe there was still hope for him, after all…
"Motoyasu," he said slowly. "If that is your wish, there is only one piece of advice I can give you. Don't try to become a hero."
Motoyasu's eyes flashed in anger. He grabbed EMIYA's collar and snarled. "Even you?! Even after I poured all my heart out to you, you're still saying that?!"
EMIYA calmly pried the Spear Hero's fingers off his collar. He looked straight into Motoyasu's eyes and asked with a calm tone. "Motoyasu. What do you think the duty of a hero is?"
"What?!" Motoyasu snapped back, still looking very angry. "Saving people, protecting the weak, punishing evil, and things like that! Is there anything wrong with it?"
"I see," EMIYA continued, still unfazed by the Spear Hero's outburst. "Then, what you mean is, a hero requires a villain to defeat, to protect people from."
"Obviously!"
"And what if that villain doesn't exist? What if no one needs you to protect them?"
"The—"
The word choked inside Motoyasu's throat. Yes, what does being a hero mean when the hero has no one to fight, no one to defeat? What does he do when no one needs his protection? That was something the blonde young man had never thought of before.
"See?" EMIYA concluded. "You said you want to protect Raphtalia and the three girls from Naofumi, without even a hint of proof that he actually did something bad to them. Which meant that inside you, you wished for them to be violated and mistreated by him so that you could jump in and save them. You didn't even ask whether they needed, or even wanted you to save them or not. You just wanted to show off that you were a hero, by making a villain out of someone who you didn't even know if they actually were like that or not."
Besides the people he really loved, EMIYA didn't remember much about what happened during his life. However, there were still a few things that he could never forget. And the words he had just said were something like that. They were the few words that set up his whole life, that played a very big part in making him the person he was right now. The words of his archnemesis, Kotomine Kirei.
He hated the fake priest with all of his heart. However, at the same time, he had to admit, grudgingly, that what he said was correct. A hero can never exist without a villain. Therefore, the wish to become a hero is a contradiction in itself. If you desire to protect something, to save something, at the same time, there exists a wish for something to violate it.
Then again, just because you are correct doesn't mean you are right. Trying to force people to accept you as a hero is not good, indeed, but doing good things for others is never a bad thing, either. What matters is how you do them.
Motoyasu's face went pale with each word EMIYA said. "Then… what should I do…" he murmured, his eyes couldn't meet the Sword Hero's anymore.
"I don't know that much more about being a hero than you," EMIYA stood up from his stool. He looked at Motoyasu with softer eyes than before. "However, there is one thing I know for sure. Don't try to make people accept that you're a hero. If you truly want to be one, stop trying to show off that you're doing heroic things just to make yourself look better. Take responsibility for what you did, and be responsible for what you're doing from now on. A real hero doesn't work to make people recognize him; people recognize him because of what he does."
Then he turned around and walked out of the tavern. He shot a quick glance at the person sitting in the corner before pushing the wooden door open and disappearing behind it.
Itsuki was pissed.
Sitting in the corner of the tavern, he was able to hear every word of the conversation between the two Heroes. And what the Sword Hero said pissed him off so badly that he nearly jumped out of his seat to yell at him.
What the hell did the man even know?
"A real hero doesn't work to make people recognize him; people recognize him because of what he does."
Pfft. If that's really the case, he wouldn't have had to suffer during all of his childhood.
In his world, esper was the name shared by every individual who possessed supernatural power. Psychic power, super strength, flight… things like those were common among the citizens of the world, and people who possessed power were considered nobles and usually held in high esteem.
Usually, yes.
Itsuki's parents were both very powerful espers and were high-ranking members of the organization that governed his world, the Hero Association. They were respected by everyone as the two strongest protectors of the world, and when Itsuki was born, everyone had hoped that he would follow in his parents' footsteps.
However, people would soon be disappointed when the only talent he had was the ability to shoot a bow accurately. In a world where people stay in flying cities, fighting armies of robots with superhuman strength and energy blasts, he had a bow and arrows. Naturally, everyone saw him as a loser who couldn't do anything but live in his parents' shadows.
Even his parents were disappointed in him. Even though they tried to hide it, he knew it for sure. He had overheard them many times saying that they wished they had another child.
And when he reached the age of ten, he was sent to a gifted school for espers, where he was ranked as an E-rank. The lowest rank in the hierarchy. Naturally, he became the joke of the school. He didn't have anything to show off; he wasn't good at sports, his educational prowess was mediocre, and his power was a joke. He became the target of bullies who had "better" superpowers than him almost every day. Even the girl who said that she loved him turned out to have approached him only because of his parents' fame and wealth, and dumped him immediately when she found another guy who was more handsome and powerful than him.
He was angry. What did he even do to deserve that? He was born into a prestigious family, and he even had his own power. He was proud of it, but why did everyone keep sneering at him, saying that he was pathetic? He had tried his best to improve himself, but no matter how hard he tried, no matter what he did, he was still only a loser in everyone's eyes. He had tried to use whatever he had to do good things for people, but the only thing he got back was insults and betrayals, even from the people he considered closest to him.
And he came to the conclusion that society only cares about people who are the best. There is no place for even the second-best in the world. If you don't have something you can show off to society, you just don't deserve to exist, no matter who you are or what you have, no matter how hard you try.
And that was why when he realized he was summoned to another world, a world in the game where he was the best player, a world where he could put his talent to good use, he was thrilled. Finally, there was a place where he could shine. He's going to become the perfect Hero, and his life will finally have the meaning it was supposed to have.
But then…
That person named Emiya Shirou had to appear. Everything Itsuki did, he did it better. He saw things that Itsuki himself didn't manage to see, what he should have been able to see, in just a glance. He fought way better and way more effectively, and even knew about things that a master of the game like Itsuki himself didn't know. He didn't even look or act like a hero, and yet he was more heroic than what Itsuki could ever be.
And now, he had the nerve to stand there and lecture about how a Hero should act.
Those words were meant for Motoyasu, yet Itsuki felt like they were aimed at him. It felt just like the Sword Hero was insulting him. It's just like he had said Itsuki didn't deserve to be a hero.
No. There's no way it's true. He's never going to accept it. He's going to teach the Sword Hero how much of a hero he can be.
So, this chapter is mostly about Motoyasu and Itsuki, and their views about how to be a hero.
As we can see, Motoyasu was going through a very big change in his mindset after the incident in Ryute Village. The confrontation in Castle Town still happened, but this time, it was not because he lusted after Naofumi's filolial companion, but rather because he was genuinely concerned about the wellbeing of the three girls. He now had good intention, but just didn't know how to express it. And he genuinely wanted to become better instead of just showing off. Whether he's going to succeed or not is still something that must be seen, though.
And Itsuki was still as obnoxious as ever. But frankly, he was actually one of the few people in the whole Shield Hero canon that I can relate to and understand. If there was anything that could be said to have been clearly portrayed of him, I would say that he had a big inferiority complex. A person who is considered useless and inferior by others would naturally try to make himself look better in other people's eyes as a reflex, and Itsuki was a case where that effort went too far. Of course, I'm NOT saying that Itsuki is right. No matter what your reason is, acting like a pompous little brat is not going to help your case. And if that behaviour of yours ends up harming other people... yeah, there's no excuse for that. It's just that the society where he was from actually had a big role in making such a despicable character in early canon!Itsuki.
And for anyone who thinks that the Elixir of Yggdrasil Naofumi gave EMIYA in this chapter is a deus ex machina... well, the event that led to Naofumi's possession of the medicine actually happened in canon, and what I did was just modifying it a little bit. And of course, as I already mentioned in the chapter, that much elixir wasn't enough to heal Atla completely. They're going to need more of that later, but now she's not in danger of dying anymore.
Until next time.