Journey of the Sword Hero
Chapter 6
Investigation
West Melcromarc - Rabier Village
Shirou's first impression of the village was that, for its smaller size, it seemed to have a good level of development. There was a proper stone road through most of the village and the buildings were large with varying architecture.
When Shirou and Lenora reached Rabier Village, it was simple enough to enter the village and speak with the locals. However, there was a distinct difference between how Shirou and Lenora were treated by the villagers.
The humans would gladly talk to Shirou about their territory and about the various products harvested from their fields. They spoke of bountiful harvests and praised the efforts of Rabier to expand their territory. The humans tended to ignore Lenora completely. The few who would speak to her tended to have a look of regret or pity on their faces.
The Demi-Humans in town acted almost the opposite. They would talk to Shirou, but they always seemed to be cautious of anything they said or did to him. The Demi-Humans were more willing to speak freely when Lenora became the primary speaker for the both of them.
After a few hours interviewing the village people, Shirou was able to come to a few conclusions. Rabier would regularly put pressure on the Demi-Human workers and slaves to increase production with little concern for their wellbeing. Any who thought to complain openly of this treatment was punished publicly. Some extremely vocal demi humans who complained or who were more aggressive had been arrested by the guards and never seen again.
Shirou also realized it would not be simple to investigate Rabier Himself. Rabier's place of governance was a large and luxurious mansion sited on top of a hill with the only road access being a stone bridge with walled and maned gates. Armored guards could be seen patrolling the mansion grounds as well.
The two of them decided to find an inn to stay at while they are assessing the situation.
Rabier Village Inn
Shirou and Lenora were able to rent a room at a local inn for the night. Shirou did however receive a curious look when he booked the room.
"Just one room Sir? Just so you are aware, there is only one bed per room here. Your servant would have to sleep on the floor." The Innkeeper informs Shirou and gave Lenora a judgmental sneer.
Lenora bristled in annoyance at the assumption and was about to say something to the keeper when her anger turned into surprise as Shirou wrapped his arms around Lenora's waist. "Wha-" Lenora barely gets a sound out before her head is pressed into Shirou's shoulder in a hug. She goes quiet and begins to blush when she feels Shirou press his lips to the top of her head with an audible smack. One of Shirou's hands started to scratch behind one of Lenora's feline ears and she had to bury her face further into Shirou's shoulder to hide her expression.
"That will not be a problem. My companion and I have already shared a bed several times." Shirou says out loud. "Would you mind telling the staff to not worry about us tonight? It has been so long since we have been able to sleep in a proper bed and I think we will turn in early for the night." Shirou says to the keeper.
Shirou slips the Innkeeper a few extra silvers and says in a quieter voice "I would also appreciate your discretion in this matter."
The Innkeeper initially had a look of disgust at the man's open display of affection and his desire to share a bed with a Demi-Human but the extra silver causes his face to return to satisfaction. "Of course, Sir. We would not want anyone to suffer any misunderstandings with your… dalliances." The keeper says to the two.
"I thank you for your understanding." Shirou takes his key from the Innkeeper and the two go up to their rooms walking hand in hand.
Once the two are safely behind closed doors. Shirou releases Lenora, takes a few steps back and offers her a small bow in apology "I apologize if I was a little too forward with the act."
Lenora embarrassedly waves off the apology "No… it's alright. I was the one who almost broke cover and started an argument. I'm just… not used to this kind of thing." Lenora blushes as she looks at the floor, unable to look Shirou directly in the eye.
Lenora remembers the plan for the night. Shirou and her would "retire" to the local Inn for the night and then sneak out to observe Rabier's mansion's night security. The two of them would pose as a man traveling with his Demi-Human servant… with the possibility of an affair or elopement.
"You get used to it. Newcomers to any location are often met with suspicion, no matter the reason. It makes things easier to give them something to make a false conclusion on their own. Give them just enough to fill in the blanks themselves and it will seem like their own idea. As far as the keeper is aware, we are a servant and master looking for some "alone" time. The mystery is solved and there is no need to look any further into our actions. They shouldn't bother to check up on us while we are out" Shirou explains the basics of their ruse.
"Right." Lenora acknowledges that the ruse was necessary for what they plan tonight.
"Have you done this often? You seemed pretty calm about it." Lenora asked in curiosity.
"A few times. But only with people I could trust. I… was not the best actor at first and my partner had to cover for me on more than one occasion. I think she just liked to dress me up as a servant and drag me around anywhere she pleased but I can't deny that it allowed me to move around mostly without suspicion." Shirou explains.
"And who was this woman to you?" Lenora asks.
Shirou didn't see the harm in answering, a smile graced his face as he said "A trusted friend, her name was Luviagelita Edelfelt. The world's most beautiful hunter in her own words. Others would call her an opportunistic hyena. She is the heiress of an old and rich family back home. We met by coincidence after we were both lost in city foreign to the both of us and just happened to get along well. Kind of like how we met but with less trouble."
"She was surprisingly down to earth considering most people in her position tend to be snobs. She was also good at handling money despite her family's wealth. Behind her front of grace and sophistication, she was surprisingly competitive and was also a shameless flirt."
"I see. Is that the kind of woman you like?" Lenora asks with some hesitation.
Shirou thinks for a moment before he replies "I like reliable women. Luvia may not have looked like it but she could absolutely devastate someone in a fight. We saved each other's lives a few times on different occasions and we learned to rely on each other. Usually when she was doing something potentially dangerous and needed a friend that she could count on."
"We knew we could trust each other with our secrets. She was a lot better at dealing with people and politics than me so she would help me navigate around others who would take advantage of me."
"But besides that, I like genuinely good people. You can be the most beautiful woman in the world but if your hateful or vile on the inside, I will want nothing to do with you. There are a lot of decent folks out there but rarely will any of them reach out to help someone even if they are able too."
"Were you and Luvia… close? Do you want to go back to her?" Lenora asks.
Shirou sighs in response "Honestly, I would be lying if I said I won't miss her but we both knew our relationship would never go past close friends/lovers nor would it last forever. We found comfort with each other when we could and nothing more than that."
"Why not? You don't love her?" Lenora seemed unusually interested.
"Loves a strong word to use casually. We cared about each other a lot but we both had our social obligations and occupational differences. Luvia knew she would have to eventually marry some other noble magi even if only for her family's sake to have strong magical descendants. I always did admire her dedication to her family."
"I was just a guy from the magical boondocks with the reputation of a boogeyman. I also had a career as an enforcer and death could come to any of us on any mission so it was best to never get too close with anyone. My last mission proved this policy right."
"At least I still have this pendant to remember her by." Shirou gestures to the sapphire mana battery he received from Luvia. "She may have given it to me in exchange for the gem of a rival family but I think she was trying to help me in her own way by taking away something that was still giving me bad memories. Plus, it is a very useful tool." Shirou gives a small laugh as he remembers her words 'Blue suits me better' He looks at the blue gem of his Legendary Sword 'Maybe it's true'
"Luvia is a strong and resourceful woman, she will find someone better than me as a partner." Shirou was willing to explain his arrangement with Luvia in general. He was not however, going to discuss anything more detailed of his and Luvia's intimacy with a teenager. Maybe when she is older if she is still curious.
Lenora wonders if that last statement from Shirou is true but stops her questioning as she thinks she has pried enough into his private life for now. 'Reliable and kind… Seems simple enough'
The two of them take a moment to eat and rest before they readied themselves for their night observation.
Rabier Village – Nighttime
'It's a shame I'm not high enough level to use Carnwennan. I guess we will have to do this the old-fashioned way' Shirou was informed by Vivian that he needed to be level 20 to use the sword form.
The two of them dressed like a couple commoners would. Contrary to popular belief that the best disguise to wear when sneaking around was all black tight and concealing clothing like a stereotypical ninja. The best thing to wear was normal clothing that would allow you to wander out in the open without suspicion, someone easily overlooked.
Lenora wore the clothes of a farm girl with a red-haired wig and Shirou wore the clothes of a rancher. At least that was what it would look like to others. In actuality, these clothes were just traced projections that concealed their real armor underneath.
Luckily for Shirou, his white hair was not as uncommon of a natural hair color in this world compared to his last. The night would draw less attention to his pale skin as well. That said… Shirou still wore a traced black-haired wig to further the disguise even if he still felt mildly embarrassed to be wearing a black cat eared headband and a furry black belt to blend in as a demi-human.
Lenora's bow and knives were stored in Shirou's sword inventory and the legendary Sword itself was disguised as a common dagger on his hip.
Shirou and Lenora sneaked out of their room's window to the streets below and Shirou offered Lenora his arm as they joined the few villagers in the streets still out after dark. Just a pair of demi-humans out for a late-night stroll around the village.
The two of them made sure to walk around the entire perimeter of Rabier's mansion grounds. Shirou took note of the layout of the surrounding walls, how many guards he could see on them, and checking for blind spots. Shirou mentally planned a path to get them up and over the walls if needed. He spotted a path up the rough cliffside underneath the mansion that could be used as well. Shirou kept track of which rooms still had light visible from their windows after dark and when they turned off.
As Shirou made these observations, he would periodically lean over to Lenora and whisper into her ear about what he sees and explained why it was important. Their close proximity to each other also helped sell the act of them being either a couple or simply family. Any demi-humans who may have noticed they did not belong would not sell out one of their own kind. Most humans overlooked their presence or otherwise did not engage with them.
After a few passes around the mansion, the two of them stopped at the top of a hill far away from the mansion but it still allowed them a bird's eye view of the mansion grounds. A projected blanket became their spot for a very late-night meal.
"How can you even see anything from here?" Lenora asked.
Shirou looks at her and points to his glowing blue eyes while replying "I have always naturally had good vision but there are spells that make them even stronger."
Lenora stares at the shimmering blue light within Shirou's eyes and uses a finger to trace one of the glowing magic circuits around his temple "It's warm" She comments
"It's a side effect of channeling magical energy, we have to be careful not to overuse our circuits otherwise it is entirely possible to permanently damage our body or cook ourselves from the inside. Casting spells beyond your ability or understanding is a good way to get yourself killed."
"We actually made the distinction back home between Od and Mana. Od being internal energy converted into magical energy and Mana usually refers to ambient external energy converted into magical energy. Magic circuits convert both types of energy into useable magic energy for spells. There is actually a lot more ambient mana in this world than my previous one." Shirou explains.
"Can I learn how to cast this?" she asks.
Shirou pauses to think for a moment before replying "I'm… not sure actually. Back home you either had the ability to cast magic or not." Shirou uses reinforcement on his body to make his magic circuits more visible and notably warmer. "Your potential to cast magic was determined at birth. The greater the number and quality of your circuits, the more potent spells you could cast. If you were not born with any magic circuits then you would never be able to cast magic."
"Well… I guess that's not entirely accurate but I would never recommend making artificial circuits. Trust me when I say it hurts a lot. Focus on your native wind magic for now and we can check if you are able to learn my kind of magic later… just don't get your hopes up, you may be disappointed. I'm not even sure if the people here are born with magic circuits or not" Shirou cautions.
"Is it a difficult spell to learn?" Lenora wonders.
"That's a tricky question. Reinforcement is considered one of the more basic spells to learn but only a few take the time and effort to master it, like myself. It's also potentially dangerous. If you reinforce an object too much then it can fall apart or explode. If you do this while reinforcing your body then… Well, you will be lucky just to lose the body part and nothing else."
Lenora was shocked by the description "If it's so dangerous. Why do you use it? Why take the risk at all?" Lenora asks with concern.
"Because it is useful and because I am willing to take the pain and risk." He answers. "As a child, I asked for the strength and ability to become a Hero. I dreamed of becoming someone who could save everyone and keep them from crying. I quickly learned how weak I was in comparison to the threats of the world so I had to take risks if I wanted to be strong enough to defeat them. I was told that it was unlikely I would ever become a hero and that I would probably die in the process. But… you may eventually learn that some people will do almost anything to achieve their dreams. No matter how unlikely."
"I am actually considered above average in magic circuit quality and quantity. This implies that at least one, possibly both, of my parents were mages but I never found out who they were. I could have Yokai blood mixed in with me for all that I am aware. My own adoptive father didn't even realize I had real magic circuits of my own until I accidentally activated them. I stumbled my way into my skill and knowledge."
"And look at me now. I may have not done enough to be called a true Hero; I have seen real examples. But if the Legendary Sword picked me as its first choice, then I must have been doing something right." Shirou feels a sense of contentment emanate from the concealed Legendary weapon. "Do you have a dream you want to see become reality?" He asks Lenora.
"I… don't know?" She says "Maybe to see the world safe again? I want to live somewhere where demi-humans, beastkin, and regular humans can all get along. Somewhere I can walk around proud of what I am and what I have done without any scorn." Her words gain conviction as she continues to speak.
Shirou pats Lenora on her head "That is a good dream. Hold onto it." Shirou says. "If we can't find somewhere like that here. Then it is always possible to make such a place. It may take longer, but never believe your dream is impossible. We can do it together if we have too. I have learned that dreams do not have to be accomplished alone."
Shirou offers her a kind smile and Lenora feels a sense of warmth fill her. "We will" She answers back.
"Yes, we will. Remember that, now let's get back to work." Shirou takes a moment to trace a binocular for her to use and instructs her on how to use it.
"Is this a spyglass?" Lenora asks while feeling the rugged polycarbonate and rubber material.
"Binocular, a little easier to use, and not just used by spies. Even if we are using them to spy right now. The single ocular or telescope has also been used for hundreds of years by sailors. This is a more modern and sturdier version" Shirou answers. He also shows her how to use the internal reticle to gauge distance.
Lenora sees the kind of people walking around the mansion grounds. "Lots of servants and guards. Many of them have plate armor" she notes out loud.
"Keep an eye on their numbers and track where they go. Do they have short or long patrol routes? How often do the guards talk to each other? Are they constantly alert or do they lack discipline? What quality are their armor and weapons? These are all questions we need to know."
"I hope we will not need to worry about them when we sneak in but, just in case, you will need to practice tonight with the bodkin arrows and using wind magic to increase their velocity. Their speed and shape should give you what you need to pierce through their armor. Use wind magic to run quickly if you have too." Shirou reminds her of some of the basic wind spells she has picked up recently.
"Keep an eye on the servants as well. They may not be a threat physically but, depending on their alertness and loyalty, they may give our positions away if we are spotted."
"More importantly, look at the west side of the grounds, I see a demi-human being dragged by guards down some stairs that lead underground. It is likely to be a prison or dungeon of some kind" Shirou points out.
"I see them, can't we do something about it? I see a lot of kicking and screaming." She responds.
"As much as I would like to right now, we can't. For starters, we have no idea why they are there, it might be for a legitimate reason. Secondly, it's too risky right now. There are too many guards on alert and we have no idea how many are on the inside. We will need to either find a gap in their patrol pattern or stage a large enough distraction that will allow us to sneak in." Shirou advises as he tries to control his own desire to check the area immediately.
"We may be decently armed and skilled but we are not that strong yet, we should avoid taking on a large group of enemies all at once no matter their individual strength."
"We will need to observe the place for a few days and get a gauge for their patrol patterns before we make any attempt to infiltrate and see what Rabier is really up to."
Shirou gestures for Lenora to sit beside him and begins to explain how a proper garrison should be formed and what a sentry should be on the lookout for, using Rabier's guards as an example. He also describes several ways of getting around them unnoticed.
The two pass the time and enjoy a night out together as they observe the mansion and practice their elemental magic well into the night until they are needed back in their room so they are still seen there in the morning.
Rabier Village – Next day
Lenora gives a big yawn as she and Shirou walk around town the next afternoon, once again in their travelers' clothes and cloaks. Shirou gives her a small chuckle and places a hand on her shoulder in sympathy "Still tired I see." He speaks.
Lenora gives him a half-hearted glare and a small pout "It's not fair that you can be so chipper after so little sleep."
This only causes Shirou to stroke her on the head as he quietly leans over to say "I'm just more used to it. You can take a nap latter if you need to and I can make you something later to help you perk up. For now, we need to be seen out and about to keep suspicion off of us. In this case, waking up latter in the day and having the staff seeing you being visibly tired after a long "night" with me will only add belief to our cover story."
Lenora blushes again as she thinks about the implications and what kind of rumors must already be spreading.
As the two of them walk around the village, they notice that the demi-human villagers seem a little more… tense than yesterday. The demi-humans are putting extra distance between them and most humans and they seem to be running along messages to each other all around the village.
Shirou notes the sense of urgency but none of the demi-humans seem to want to talk about what is wrong.
Shirou stops by a nearby stall to buy a snack, and tries unsuccessfully to get some information from the owner about anything unusual going on in town. Shirou decides take a moment to have some snacks and tea with Lenora while watching the villagers pass by.
Shirou leans over to Lenora to whisper "Their planning something. What it is, I'm not sure yet. Looks like it's being organized right now" Shirou notes that they are smart enough to speak quickly and quietly enough to not be overheard. However, he hears enough to know that something is being planned for tonight.
After their break is over, the two of them return to their room at the inn to rest and get ready for another night out.
Rabier Village – Hours Later
Shirou and Lenora take another night time walk around the village and mansion while wearing their previous disguises. They note that there are even less people out on the streets than last night.
When they pass by Rabier's mansion gate, they see a small mob of angry and shouting demi-humans in front of it. They are armed with common farm pitchforks and hoes but they shake them angrily at the guards manning the walls overhead. While the guards do not seem to feel threatened, there are notably a larger number of them at the gates. Shirou sees that because of this, there are far less of them manning the other walls.
The two of them stop by a human woman who was simply leaning against a wall nearby and watching the mob from a distance.
Shirou asks her if she knows what has got everyone so agitated and eventually receives a response "Lord Rabier took one of the farm girls, last night. Apparently after her father said something Lord Rabier did not like. Nothing good ever comes from being taken in by that man."
The woman eyes them for a moment before replying "Between you two and me. The Demi-Humans here are close to not caring what will happen to them if they complain or use force. They are tired of being punished harshly for minor things and being treated worse than animals. They treat their horses better than them."
Shirou asks her for more information "How long do they plan to protest? How do you expect Lord Rabier to respond?"
The woman scoffs "Bah, Rabier probably won't respond for a few days until he actually needs to leave his mansion. He will try to clear them out with force, just like last time, but they might actually bite back this time. Until then, I think they will at least try to keep him and his guards from getting a good night sleep. They seem determined to keep it up all night if they have too."
Shirou thanks the woman for the information and then leads Lenora down a nearby ally. Just as Lenora is about to ask what's wrong, Shirou answers "We are going to enter the mansion tonight and raid his dungeon."
Lenora's eyes go wide in surprise "What about casing the place for a few more days? Didn't you want more time to prepare?"
Shirou explains "We probably won't get another chance like this anytime soon. Rabier's guards are distracted right now by the obvious problem at the gates. His men will have been redeployed off their normal schedules so they should currently be more tired and less alert than usual. If we wait until tomorrow night then they will be better prepared and rested."
"But you are correct that this is rushed. The chances are grater that something can go wrong if we are not 100% sure what might be in there. So, if you want to go back to the inn then now is your last chance."
Shirou only receives a glare from Lenora as she throws off her traced clothes and wig. "I need my bow and knives" she tells him.
Shirou gives a sigh as he discards his own traced disguise and gives Lenora her weapons "Can't say I didn't try."
Shirou gives Lenora a serious look "OK, if you are coming along then promise me this. We are about to head into hostile territory where people are more likely to shoot first and ask questions later. Stay close to me and do everything I tell you quickly. If you notice something odd or potentially dangerous, then tell me. If someone is trying to hurt you, then shoot to kill. We don't have the numbers or strength to pull any punches and we can't risk anyone getting help against us."
Lenora takes a moment to let his words sink in. She realizes that this will be her first fight against real people, not just animals.
Shirou continues "You may have to do some things you are uncomfortable with. I need you to focus on what's going on right now. We know Lord Rabier has hurt people in the past including torturing his own slaves to death, this goes beyond what even this country allows for punishment. His guards are mostly complacent in his actions. Our objective is to see for ourselves how he treats his prisoners."
Shirou pulls out a familiar recording orb he took from the church spy. "We will have evidence if we need it. If we can get in and out quietly, then great. If we cannot… then we will need to complete our objective as fast as possible and then we will teleport out."
"Are you ready for this?" Shirou asks one more time.
Lenora finishes stringing her bow and setting her knives and quivers. She takes a big breath before looking Shirou in the eyes with focus "I am"
Shirou looks at her for a moment to judge her resolve and then directs her to follow him.
Rabier Mansion
Shirou and Lenora use the cliff underneath Rabier's mansion to their advantage. The two of them approach from the base of the cliff and at an angle out of sight from the sentries high above. The two of them ready their spells once they make it to the ascension point. Shirou uses reinforcement to make quick leaps upwards while Lenora uses her new but practiced wind magic to make similar leaps.
The two of them make it topside and wait by the edge to gauge the situation.
'Activate threat detection in active mode. I want to know if we are spotted, not just in danger.' Shirou commands Vivian.
"Understood. Active Threat Detection engaged"
Shirou chose this side specifically because it faced away from the main entrance and therefore had less guards around it as there was seemingly no access on this side. However, there was still one guard they could see on this side.
Shirou checked the area with his magic perception and found no visible detection wards around the grounds nor did he sense or smell any. At least this made their lives easier.
Shirou took a moment to assess the wandering guard and realized he would be coming close to their hiding spot soon. He motioned for Lenora to stay quite as he readied his sword and activated his reinforcement. Lenora mirrored this by pulling out one of her knives and speaking a short chant.
When the guard came close enough to the edge where they were hiding, Shirou swiftly climbed over the edge and rush to the guard. Shirou pulled the guard by his exposed shirt while simultaneously tripping him to fall over the edge and into their previous hiding spot.
At the same time as Shirou moved, Lenora called forth a brief but strong gust of wind and directed it to flow towards the edge of the cliff. The wind helped push the guard off the edge and partially muffled his cry so it would not go far.
Shirou quickly followed the guard over the cliff to finish him off only to see that the guard was already being taken care of. He saw Lenora on top of the guards spasming body as she had already pinned the guard down to the ground while simultaneously forcing her sleaved hand to his mouth to prevent him from screaming and had already cut his throat open with her knife.
Shirou helps hold the guard steady until he stops moving "Good job, I barely heard anything." Shirou tries to give her more positive feelings to focus on while he places a hand on her shoulder in support. "Are you ok?" Shirou wants to confirm.
Lenora takes a deep breath "Yeah. I think I am." She replies.
"We can talk about it later. For now, please focus on the mission." Shirou redirects her attention for now. Unfortunately, this was not the time nor place to stop and talk about their feelings.
"Right." Lenora gives one more look to the dead guard's face before Shirou moves over to close the eyes of the now dead guard. Lenora cleans her bloody blade with the exposed cloth of the guard and then sheaths it before readying her bow again.
As the two of them hide at the edge of the mansion grounds Shirou traces two sets of paper-thin guard armor to wear over their real armors. They would be their last-ditch deception only if required.
With the wandering guard taken care of, the two of them were able move into a place of concealment and were able to keep track of the few patrolling guards still within view. They waited for the patrolling guards to either pass by or turn around so they could quickly dash between each concealed area and were getting closer to their final destination slowly but surely.
Their final snag before reaching the stairway that led underground was how they were going to get past the two guards already manning the entrance.
Shirou looks around for something that would cause enough distraction to pull the guards away. In his search, he sees a lantern sitting on the window leading to the stables.
"See that lantern on the stable window?" He asks Lenora.
"Yes? What about it?" She responds
"I need you to shoot it. Add some wind magic if you can do it subtlety. If you can break it and knock it over, then it can start a fire which should pull the guards away to deal with it. Fires need to be stopped as soon as possible, otherwise it will spread fast, so it requires all hands possible to deal with it. We can sneak in while everyone is distracted." Shirou explains the plan.
Lenora gauges the distance to her target and believes she can hit it with some minor shot correction with her wind magic "I think I can do it" She replies.
"Thinking is not good enough right now. If you miss then it might alert someone that we are here. You need to KNOW you can" Shirou pushes her.
"I WILL do it" Lenora gives a stronger response.
"That's what we need to hear. Now get ready." Shirou hands her a traced arrow that will disappear shortly after the shot hits.
Lenora takes a breath and lines up a shot with her shortbow and then mutters a quiet incantation. Her shot hits its target which knocks over and shatters the lantern. The added wind magic causes the fire to flare up as it lands. Smoke can be seen coming out of the window shortly afterwards and bright light can be seen inside the stables as loose hay and wood begins to catch fire.
It does not take long for the guards to notice and respond to the stable fire and the two guards guarding the stair entrance respond to help as expected.
While everyone's attention is drawn towards the stable fire, Shirou and Lenora quickly run down the stairway into the dungeons.
On their way down, "That was a good shot" Shirou pats Lenora on her head and once again praises Lenora on her good performance.
Lenora feels confidence push back some of her building nervousness "It was. See, you DO need me. Think you could have got in quietly without me?" She asks with a seemingly justified smirk.
Shirou replies "Possibly. But you are correct that it would have been harder without you. Now let's focus. No idea who's down here with us."
Shirou ensures his magical recording orb is still recording and explores the lower levels together with Lenora. Shirou feels something… odd as they enter the dungeon proper.
They do not like what they see.
The two of them realize the lower level is still occupied by the hallways of lit lanterns. As they pass by several cells, they see remnants of past occupants. The jailors did not seem to care for appearances or cleanliness as some cells still had the corpses of previous occupants and some still had varying amounts of dried blood in them. Lenora tried unsuccessfully to block the smell with her sleeve, only to stop as she remembered she still had blood on it from the earlier guard.
Shirou found it difficult to look at them, many objects from the cells had strong emotions attached to them. A lot of those emotions being fear and or anger. Some being their fading hopes as the held mementos of friends, family, or home.
Just looking at them or even just being near them was making the odd feeling he had since entering the dungeon grow stronger.
'Vivian. Are you detecting any magic or threat?' Shirou asks, despite receiving no alerts.
"Negative. There is evidence of some previous lingering magic but nothing active."
Shirou did not even smell anything magical so either it was a really small amount of magic or he was too distracted to notice right now.
Shirou was hoping to find at least someone alive down here. They know at least one girl was taken yesterday. Shirou keeps his senses open for anyone alive down here.
"Presence detected incoming south from west side intersection"
*Presence Detection Skill Acquired*
Shirou stops moving at the alert with Lenora mimicking him. He motions the number one and points to the hallway where he can feel something coming down from. He shows a short countdown of his fingers to Lenora who by now can also hear the soft clanking of armored boots coming down the hallway.
When the lone guard comes around the corner. Shirou quickly grabs the guard by the helmet and slams his head into the wall with his sword pined in between the guard's neck and wall.
"You yell, you die." Shirou informs him. "Lenora, keep an eye out." He then gives a short command to her. Lenora readies an arrow to be able to shoot at any moment and watches the hallways from the corner of the intersection.
"Do you know who you are threatening?" The guard angry says back but the fear for his own life keeps his voice low.
"Quite well Captain Daniel. The question is, did you think you or Lord Rabier could get away with it?" Shirou got his name from reading his sword and armor.
"How did?" is as far as he could say before Shirou interrupted him "Not important. What is important is what you have done with Veronica."
"Who the hell is that?" The guard responds unnerved.
"The real name of the "daughter" of the farmer you took yesterday. You really should have left people who have done no wrong alone before you decided to take one of the Queen's Shadows." Shirou makes up a lie.
The guard had to stifle a gasp before his throat catches on the blade in front of him. "What? But… We didn't know!" The guard responds before Shirou presses his sword a lightly into his throat as a reminder to be quiet.
"That was the entire point Sir. The King may approve of your Lords treatment of demi-humans but the Queen does not. She left some observers throughout the kingdom to report on who's been naughty or nice while she was gone. You and the Lord seem to have failed this test hard. Now tell me, where is she? Tell me now and I will say in my report that you co-operated with our investigation." Shirou gives him an ultimatum.
"I… Well… We… uh… She's dead sir." The guard stammers out.
"Why? She was only in here for a day." Shirou is finding it unusually hard to control his emotions right now.
"It's the witch's fault!" The guard tries to claim innocence. "We had a prisoner who was casting spells on our guards and even the Lord himself. Convincing us that our prisoners were dead so we would release them. Some sort of black magic!"
"We just recently found out about this and so the Lord killed your agent right in front of the witch as punishment. In fact, he is with her right now along with another slave we thought died weeks ago!"
Shirou can feel his anger build as the conversation goes on. "Where are they? And who else is down here?" He almost growls back.
"Block D! Just head take the hallway north and then go west, It's not far. It's just another guard and Lord Rabier." The guard answers.
It is his final words spoken as Shirou quickly uses the wall as a fulcrum and his sword cuts off the guard's head. The armored body clashes against the floor.
"Lenora. follow me. We're rushing." The two of them run down the hallways leaving behind the long and recent dead. The unknown feeling in Shirou's chest was rising the entire way.
As they approach the cell block, they can hear the shouting from within.
"Did you think you could get away with it!?" They hear an audible crack "Do you know know much you cost me with these escapees?" Another crack followed by a feminine cry of pain. "Your dirty kind love your oh so precious tails, right? How about we just take one?"
The cell block had a closed door with a slot at the top of the door to see or pass objects though. It only took a few seconds for Shirou to structural grasp the lock and then trace a key to open it.
But it took long enough that he could hear a loud scream as soon as he slammed opened the door.
Shirou quickly assessed the room. There were two adult male humans and a young adult demi-human female and a young demi-human girl. The girl was being held back by the guard while the young woman has thrashing on the floor in pain right in front of a large man in noble clothing. An unknown magic circle was written on the ground and a bloody severed tail lay limply on the ground next to the young woman. Her torn raged clothes revealing still bleeding cuts underneath.
The Lord turned around at the noise and said "Why are you bother-?"
Shirou did not take the time to appraise them or question them. Only saying "Lenora, Intercept." Before he charged the guard holding the demi-human girl. The guard's hands were two slow to release the girl or draw his weapon and therefore could not stop Shirou's reinforced blade from severing his neck and then he caught the girl before the guard's lifeless body could pull her down with him. The girl let out a cry as she was suddenly pulled away. Shirou kicked the guard's shield and short spear towards the wall and next to the other slave.
Lord Rabier seemed to catch on what was happening far quicker than the guard. He initially tried to reach the young woman on the floor, to use as a shield, only to have to jump back as an arrow flew just past where his head would have been. The arrow ended up piercing deep into the stone wall, evidence of what would have happened had he not reacted in time.
Lenora moved to put herself between the unknown woman and Lord Rabier, keeping her arrow pointed at the Lord. Shirou directed the unknown girl to stand behind him as they walked around the room to join Lenora and the woman. The girl fell to her knees next to the bleeding woman and mutters incoherent words.
*Warning. High Level Threat Detected*
"Shirou. You are facing an opponent who far out levels you. Please use caution."
"Do you know whose mansion you are attacking!?" Rabier yells as he sets aside a *magic* infused whip to instead pull out a sword.
Shirou hates looking at both of them.
Shirou struggles to control himself "Lord Rabier. You are under investigation for corruption. We have evidence that you have not only enslaved and tortured numerous people. But that you also have falsely imprisoned innocent civilians and executed them without cause. What do you have to say for yourself!?" Shirou accuses, more forcefully than he normally would.
"Innocent civilians? Ha! I've only ever done my service as a follower of God and locked up these dammed beasts like all deserve. Their crime is existing and I am the one who judges them. Who sent you here anyways? Was it that beast lover next door Van Reichnott? King Aultcray would never have disapproved of what I'm doing here." Rabier responds.
"Even this Kingdom has laws on how badly you can treat slaves, dismemberment and torture to the point of death is beyond even what this country allows!" Shirou yells back.
"And you are going to stop me? Boy, I've been fighting longer than you have been alive. Fought side by side with the King himself in the war against Siltvelt. Heh, no matter. I will just end you myself and then take care of your girl afterwards." Rabier taunts.
"Lenora. Guard them while I take care of this. Be careful, he is stronger than he looks. Shoot only if you see a clear opening" Shirou says to Lenora.
Shirou shifts his sword into a short saber that is better for the close environments and then uses doppelganger to make a copy of it in his other hand. The action makes Rabier realize who stands before him.
"Oh? So, the Sword Hero thinks he can stick his nose where it does not belong? Aren't you supposed to be training for the waves right now? I wonder why you are all the way over here? Wasn't only the Shield Hero supposed to be an animal fucker?"
Shirou tries to take the initiative with a quick strike. Only for Rabier to parry one of his blades and move out of the way of the other. He counters with a slash of his own and only Shirou's experience and reinforcement allowed him to predict his reaction and move out of the way in time. Luckily for Shirou, He has plenty of experience fighting people stronger and faster than himself.
"So, you're not completely inexperienced. Your still too slow for me." Rabier continues to press Shirou with a series of attacks. He managed to land a few shallow cuts on Shirou which dispelled his guard armor disguise and revealed his true armor beneath it.
"Now I see how you got in. Sneaky bastard! You belong with that witch! If I hadn't noticed I was enchanted, and broke her spell, I would probably be her thrall right now!" Rabier was forced to put distance between them in order to dodge a speeding magic arrow.
"Now you're just annoying me." Rabier grunts out. "Let's see how you handle your precious beasts turning against you. Slaves… I order you to kill them." Rabier commands.
Both of the unknown slave girl's chests glow as they let out a cry of pain. Magical electricity can be seen arcing across their skin causing violent spasms and reactions.
The slave girl picks up the nearby shield and the woman grasps the short spear next to her with shaking hands.
"I… Don't… Want to!" The young girl manages to yell back past the pain. She throws herself onto the woman's chest and they both suffer the pain together. Their armaments were clenched in their hands but they were unwilling to use them. "Go to hell!" The woman had enough strength to say to Rabier. She then looked into Shirou's eyes and silently called for help. Shirou felt something snap inside of him and then wash over him.
"Useless! Even slaves should be somewhat obedient. You both know you're going to die at this rate if you don't obey, right?" Rabier taunts the slaves suffering on the floor.
"That's enough." Shirou tries again to get through Rabier's guard, his building anger fueling his aggression. Rabier possessed faster speed and reaction times than him despite Rabier's large size, as befitting of his higher level.
Rabier dodges out of the way "Oh? Who's the master here that says that?" Rabier taunts back.
Shirou stops moving for a moment and Rabier looks at him. Rabier was about to taunt his weakness again but suddenly feels a sense of dread.
"What did you do?" Rabier looks around as he tries to find the source of the feeling.
After he dodges another useless arrow, he notices something odd about the Sword Hero. The pale skin was nothing new however, he notices the sharp blue glowing lines on his face and body fading. The man's silver eyes were turning red.
"I said. That's enough" Shirou says again.
*Cursed Series Unlocked*
*A̷͔͕̐̾̌̾ḽ̸̡̧̛͓͕̞̝̤̲̬͇̲͍͇͈͆̈́̾͛̑͒̂͆͐͂͊̏̀͊̀̚͜l̵̗͍̞͌͋͂͐̒͊̿͋̽͌͘͝͝ͅ ̷̡̨̨̦͙̯̗̥̣͓̹͖͌̿̒͐͑̒̀̈́̍t̸̨̩̭͉̬̪͈̟̭̙͕̬̞̲̗͌̐̓̆̈́̉̾͒͆͜͠͝ḫ̴̛̠̮̣͚̈́̄̈́̏̏̾̆͒̓̎̌̐̽͛ȩ̶͚̜̟̰͓̊̈͊͂̿̿̌͋̐̋̀̑̿͌̆̄ ̷͈̹̙̩͂́͂̀̋̓́̅̈̚͝W̸̢͖̥̬̘̘͔̦͓͉̝̙̮͚͙̄̈͑̍̂́̉̊́̊͠ͅò̸̧̧̞͙͉̞̪̞̟͇͗̀̍͑̀͐̽̈́͋͂̊͊̾̚͜͝r̴̨̛̪̖̙̠̬̪̮̫̻͕̜͕͙͋̂̀͑͌̽͊̑̌͛̚̚͜͠l̴͍̏̓̔̉͛̅͌d̶̢͉͎̮͇̜̠̻̮̤͑̓͐̌̓'̸̳̄̎̾̔̾͌̈̆̾͐͘͘͜͠͝s̴̨̨̛̼̞͈̪̼̹̤͖̳͉̤̠̔̃̇͗̊͗͜ͅ ̴̧̛̜͖̬̦͈̙̼̞̠̱͓̯̙̊̎̈̎̑̎̋͌͌̆́́̅͘͝͠E̴͓̩͓͂͌̅̉́̓̀͊͜͝͝v̷̨̨̛͈̥̳̟̼̪̩̜̼͖̲͕̞͙̯͌̔́̅̈́͗̌͂͘͝i̸̢̨͈̠̣͈̞̰̯͍͈̝̻͐̊̇̍̋͘͜ͅͅl̷̢̢̘̝͚͙̥͖̖̑͝*
*A̵̞̣̦͓̥̦̿͗͐͐̾̆͑ṿ̵̳̘͛͌ȩ̷̥̠̰̻̗͔̞̤͓͓̲͉̗͕̊̃̀̀́̒̍̇̑̌͑͗̇͗͌͝n̴̨̛͉͙̘̣̔̉̈́̎͐́̉͒̏̓̿̏̓͛̈̀g̶͔̮̣̤̍̈̃̉̂͒̉̅̀̇̾͒̑̓̃͜͝e̵̡̧͍͔̹̬̞̯̦̥̻͗͛̓̋̾ͅř̸̗̦̮̩͋̃̔̅͌͗̂̓͆͂̕̕͜͠ Sword form unlocked*
*Ability: ERROR*
Suddenly, Shirou's circuits shine again but this time with a crimson light. His sword shifts into a two-handed longsword with black and red patterns flowing around the blade. His body begins crackling with a familiar electricity.
A soft gasp draws Rabier's attention to the slaves. The first thing he noticed was that the slave crests were still shining, indicating that they were actively working. There was even arcing electricity showing the slaves were being punished, being given pain until they obeyed.
The slaves looked they were in no such pain.
The two bewildered slaves were able to sit up against the wall. The girl stared at her hands still cracking with electricity. The woman looked at her still bleeding wounds and to her severed tail beside her. "The pain stopped?" She wandered out loud and looked at two men fighting in front of her.
Shirou felt… anger was not the right word. The feeling had been welling up since he entered the dungeon but he thinks he understands it now. These feelings are not his. They are the desires of those who died in this place and of the two who still live behind him. The feeling is the desire for "Retribution" Shirou says out loud. This feeling, was directed solely at the Lord in front of him.
"What?" Rabier says in confusion before he has to block an attack with greater force than Shirou had attacked him with before. Rabier was forced back by the strength of Shirou's swing. Before he could say anything else, Rabier cried out in pain as electricity flowed from Shirou's blade into his body. Rabier was forced to break the blade lock and create distance.
"This is your comeuppance Rabier." Shirou says as a line of floating swords of varying shapes and sizes appeared behind Shirou. The swords turn their points towards Rabier and fire in his direction as fast as an arrow.
Rabier manages to parry one of the flying swords, shattering it in the process. He was not prepared for the piercing scream that followed the swords destruction. Rabier tries to speak a quick chant to ward off the projectiles but finds it difficult to concentrate past the screaming and crying swords. Every sword broken released a different cry or scream. Some of woman, some of men, some children, some adults.
Rabier attempts to flee the room now that the fight is turning against him only to realize the door leading out has been frozen shut. Rabier's inattentiveness cost him as he was only partially able to block a slash from Shirou. The blade still managed to gouge his leg which caused him to kneel on the floor. The pain traveled with force all across his body like nails and teeth tearing into him all over.
A second swing from Shirou removed Rabier's sword hand, Rabier let out a pained scream in response. Both hand and sword clattered to the side. Shirou held the sword to Rabier's neck. Rabier could hear pain filled cries emanating from the sword in front of him. As he stares at it, he can almost picture a face to match each scream.
"Goodbye Rabier. May you rest in peace in the afterlife along with those you have sent there before you." Shirou says before piercing Rabier's neck and then severing it. Shirou stares at Rabier's now lifeless body. The strong emotions were fading away and clearing the fog over his thoughts.
For a moment. There is nothing but silence, the feeling of dread in the room slowly dissipating. Until Lenora breaks it "Shirou?" She calls out as she approaches him. She places a hand on his shoulder and calls out to him again "Shirou?"
This at least gets a reaction. He turns his now red eyes towards her and asks "Are you ok? How about the other two?" Even with the more menacing look. She can still see the concern in them.
"I'm ok. Not even a scratch. I think the lady needs help badly though." She answers.
Shirou turns to the two demi-humans and takes in their appearances.
The young woman looks like a fox type of demi-human with large furred and pointed ears. Probably just entering adulthood. She would be considered beautiful if it were not for the blood on her lips or splattered on the rags called clothes. She possessed light skin with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She also still possessed a long fluffy, if bloody, tail. Proof that she had lost one of two tails in total.
The second girl was young. Maybe around Raphtalia's age. She seemed to be in much better condition than the woman, just some bruises. It seemed the fox woman was her protector in this prison. The girl had light skin, short pink hair, naturally red eyes and had rounded animal ears and a furred tail. A weasel perhaps?
As Shirou took in their appearance. The two slaves also looked at him. The red in his eyes was losing its glow and color, returning to silver. The luminous red lines crawling across his body dimmed to black before fading away. Only his sword remained changed.
As this happened, the two of them began to feel familiar pain slowly return to them. "it's hurting again." The girl says.
"Everything will be alright. I am here." Shirou said to them. Shirou tapped into what mana stores he had left to try to heal them. The weasel girl's wounds were minor enough to heal but the fox woman's wounds her harder to fix.
"These wounds were cursed." The fox woman says as she gestures towards Rabier's discarded whip.
"Don't worry about it. I've delt with worse." Nothing could beat dealing with the effects of lancers cursed spear or fighting all the world's evil Shirou thinks.
"Vivian, I need more mana." Shirou calls out.
"Activating recovery ability. Converting unspent SP into MP." Vivian calls out from the sword.
"Lenora, pass me her tail." Shirou instructs. To her credit, Lenora only hesitated briefly before doing as asked. The fox woman's eyes were beginning to water with tears as she saw her own severed tail in his hands, her fox ears pointed down.
Shirou places one hand on her head and says "shh. Everything will be ok. I will take care of you." Shirou speaks softly to her. Her eyes and ears perked back up in response.
Shirou places the base of the tail to where it was cut off from her backside. Shirou unfortunately does not enough skill in healing magic nor the mana needed to reattach the limb.
Shirou looks at the fox woman's hopeful face one more time before he takes his hand off the woman to take the sapphire pendant off his chest. Shirou talks out loud to himself "Sorry Luvia. I know you only wanted me to use this for myself. But someone else needs it right now."
Shirou whispered a short aria to the gem before it began to emit a bright light. The stored mana within the gem flowed into Shirou and completely saturated his magic circuits. Shirou quickly began to direct the excess energy into a chant "May your heart be unburdened. Your mind be clear. Your body, become whole. Let healing life grace your body, mind, and spirit."
Shirou's normally blue magic circuits turned gold during the chant. The golden light traveled down his hands and into the young woman. She briefly stiffened at the unexpected sensation before relaxing in comfort as the warm light washed away the pain. At some point she realized both her tails were whole and completely fine after she unintendedly began to wag them in front of herself. The building exhaustion from her time here also began to fade away.
The woman looks at her body and sees the open lash wounds from Rabier's whip are completely gone. Not even scars remain as evidence. A gentle prodding reveals that there is no lingering pain or sensitivity either. She sits up and confirms her two tails have full range of motion without any pain.
Her slave mark still remains however. It still glows and seems to be attempting to cause her pain but it currently feels no worse than a pinch against her skin.
"Thank you." She says to Shirou. He gives her a gentle smile in response. The weasel girl gives the woman a hug and says to Shirou "We are all better now!"
The woman smiles back at the girl's happiness and smiles at Shirou as well saying "Thank you."
Shirou looks at their combined smiles and can feel their relief. 'This is what I wanted. The ability to take someone's pain away. To see people smiling once more in happiness.' Shirou thinks to himself.
The woman looks down at her glowing slave crest and says "Well… maybe not all better yet, unfortunately. With Rabier dead, the slave crests are still trying to fulfill their final command. I don't know how long you can suppress their magic."
Shirou decides to clarify "Its… not exactly suppression. All the pain both of you are currently experiencing. Is actually currently being redirected into me."
All three of the girls take a closer look at Shirou and notice that the magical electricity from earlier is still arcing from the legendary Sword and into Shirou.
When the fox girl realizes the implications, she called out in shock "Wait, when the pain initially faded away… you were taking all the pain upon yourself! And you fought Rabier while feeling the pain of both of us combined? Are you crazy?"
Shirou rubs the back of his head in mild embarrassment "It's not the first time I've been called that. And it definitely will not be the last. Don't worry about it too much, I have felt worse pain in the past. I am used to it and can handle it."
The woman bristles in response "Used to it!? That does not make it acceptable! I couldn't feel anything but pain and I could barely move. You're telling me your currently feeling double that and I'm supposed to feel alright about it?" She scolds Shirou.
The weasel girl next to her also looks at Shirou in concern "Can you make the slave crests stop or go away Mr. Sword Hero?" She asks Shirou.
Shirou realizes they have not been introduced and says "I think I might. But before that let us introduce ourselves. My name is Shirou Emiya, also known as the Sword Hero. This is Lenora, my companion assisting me in defending against the waves."
Lenora gives the two a wave in response and offers an apology "We are sorry we could not get here earlier. Defenses were too tight yesterday and Shirou here has only been in this world for about a week."
"My name is Kotone, a Kitsune demi-human, and please don't apologize. I am just grateful you showed up in time to save us both." The fox girl introduces herself.
The weasel girl speaks next "My name is Rifana! I am a weasel demi-human. See Kotone? I told you a Hero would come. Maybe not the one I said but someone still did! When Kotone and I were taken in by Lord Rabier and realized what would happen to us, she used her hypnosis spells to make the guards leave us alone. It was too dangerous to leave."
Kotone clarifies "My magic is not perfect and I'm not that skilled. I needed to look them in the eyes and I could only make them believe they had already done the things they were already going to. I made them believe they already tortured us or that we had died in the process. I could not make them believe things they would drastically disbelieve, like the Lord willingly ordering them to set us free. To my shame, I sometimes had to use these spells on other prisoners to sell the deception."
Rifana's expression drops as she remembers the look of her friend after she was made to believe she was dead. If only they were all in the same cell…
Her thoughts are interrupted by Shirou.
"Let's see what we can do about those crests first." Shirou takes a moment to think about his options. 'Hmm. Daggers ARE allowed. Maybe I can make it work if I don't use it as a weapon.' Shirou remembers a particular ritual dagger.
"Wait!"
Shirou had already begun tracing Rule Breaker before he heard Vivian's call.
"Rul-" "NO!" Shirou could not get one word out before he heard Vivian's voice scream in his head. The jagged dagger in his hand overloaded with magic and then exploded, sending shards into his hand before dispersing.
"Denied!"
"Prohibited!"
"Banned!"
"Restriction Violation!"
"You are not allowed to even summon that… thing!"
Vivian's voice continued to yell in his head. Shirou was finding it difficult to concentrate and tried to figure out what just happened. Did Vivian overload the dagger through him by using his magic energy? Can she actually do that? 'Vivian? What did you do?'
"Shirou! Are you alright?" He is distracted when the Kotone grabs his hand and brings it close to her face. Shirou realizes that his hand that was holding Rule Breaker is bleeding but the wounds are shallow. The blood drips onto her chest.
"I'm fine. It will heal quickly; the wounds are shallow." Shirou reassures her.
Rifana gently takes his hand and brings it to her lips "Mwah! There, a kiss to make it feel better." Shirou would have found the act cute if Rifana did not get blood on her lips in the process. His blood also dripped a little onto her chest.
Some of Shirou's blood even managed to get on Lenora who was next to him when the blade shattered. Lenora noticed the glow of the two slave's crests had stopped. "It seems whatever happened did its job at the very least. The crests stopped glowing." She points out.
The two slaves look down and realize this too "No more pinching. Its stopped."
Their celebration would have to wait. It was forgotten in the chaos that that party was standing on, and Shirou was still bleeding on, a slave binding ritual circle.
*Slave Binding Ritual Initiated*
*Previous Experience Detected*
*Modifying Ritual*
Suddenly, the slave's crests glow with a familiar blue light. The large spell circle on the ground also begins to glow with the same light. Shirou feels a large amount of his, just recently overflowing, magical energy pool rapidly draining. He feels a burning sensation on both of his hands and left forearm.
Lenora lets out a cry as her chest suddenly begins to glow with an unfamiliar symbol. She has the distinct feeling of being connected to… something greater. Like a river flowing water into her pond from a lake. After a moment, the light from all sources dies down.
*Servant Binding Ritual Complete*
*Reevaluating Party*
Party Member Lenora Status Change to: Archer Class Servant - Lenora
Party Member Added: Lancer Class Servant - Kotone
Party Member Added: Shielder Class Servant – Rifana
*Shirou Emiya designated as Servant Leader*
"What… Just happened?" Shirou calls out loud. "Vivian? What did you do?" No response. "Vivian?" He asks his sword. He again, received no response. He notices that his sword has reverted to his base form at some point in the process. He then looks at the three girls. "Is everyone ok?
Kotone stands up, stretches, and flexes her muscles while saying "I… Feel fine. Even better than before."
Rifana jumps up with excessive energy, she playfully swings around her large shield with one hand. "I feel really good!"
Lenora checks herself and feels lighter on her feet "I feel great but…" She unbuckles the top of her gambeson and shows a crest VERY familiar to Shirou. "Did I get branded as a slave?" She asks Shirou.
Before he could try to form an answer, Kotone answers instead "I don't know what that is but it's not a slave crest." She then points to where her previous crest was "Look at mine, it's changed, we all seem to have a different kind."
All three of the girls received a crest. Each crest was centered on their chests and just under where the collarbones meet. Lenora's crest looked like a bow, Kotone's crest looked like a spear, and Rifana's crest looked like a shield. Each crest design was made of flowing lines that formed the silhouette of each weapon.
"They're not slave crests. Those are servant crests. It… may be my fault they are there." Shirou reveals. He takes his gauntlets and vambraces off to show the back of both of his hands so they can see. An exact copy of each of the girl's crests are present on Shirou. The spear crest on his left hand, the bow crest on his right hand, and the shield crest on his forearm above the spear crest.
"Servant crest? How are they different." Lenora asks with a little nervousness. Kotone and Rifana listen attentively, wanting to know for themselves.
"It would take too long to explain right now. But a quick answer is we are connected in a magical way and you don't have the same restrictions as a slave crest. You could stab me through the chest right now and that crest would not stop you." Shirou partially explains.
The three girls look horrified at the thought. "What's the point then?" Kotone asks.
"We become partners and share our strengths. We really need to get moving now. I promise I will properly explain later. None of you are in any danger right now. But you need to come with me." Shirou asks them to join him properly.
Seeing no reason to deny the man who saved them, and the only one who can get them safely out of this place. They all get ready to leave but not before taking all of Rabier's valuables and money from his person. Shirou took the time to look into the history of Rabier's key ring.
"Wait a minute!" Rifana said. She quickly rushes over to Rabier's corpse and gives it one strong kick to his ribs. There was enough force that the party all heard a wet crack from where she struck. Rifana then quickly came back to the group and said "I feel better now." Shirou shook his head at the action but all of them then leave the cell block after Shirou unfroze the door.
"Do you know which cell the farm girl was in yesterday?" Shirou asks Kotone.
"They brought me to block C, which is close by. I don't know if she is still there" She answers.
"Based on what we have seen here, she probably is."
The party reaches the cell block and finds what they were looking for even if not in the state they preferred. The body of a young girl dog demi-human is still in her cell. Her body was still in the early stages of death. Her body was stiff with rigor mortis, bruised with lividity, but the nastier effects had not started yet. Her wounds were still visible, evidence of her torture before death, but luckily nothing was down here able to accelerate their deterioration. The fact that rigor mortis was still in effect meant she had been dead somewhere between 8-24 hours.
Kotone and Rifana stared at the body with conflicted looks. They did not know her, but they felt at least partially responsible for her death as she was killed in front of them just to serve as an example and punish them.
Kotone kneels next to the body and says "I'm sorry. If I was stronger or smarter, Maybe I could have gotten all of us out of here or appeased Rabier. If it wasn't for me then…"
She is briefly startled when an arm wraps around her shoulders "Don't blame yourself for not being ready for something no one should ever have to deal with." Shirou says to her.
"But it's because I got caught that-" She tries to say before Shirou interrupts "If it were not for you. Rifana would be dead." Shirou turns her to look at Rifana, who was now softly stroking the dead girl's head while wishing her goodnight and farewell. "Do you regret her being alive?" He asked Kotone.
"What? No, of course not!" She indignantly responded.
"Then don't regret anything that happened here." Shirou answered. "Sometimes we just can't save everyone, even when we try. But we can try our hardest to at least save those we care about the most. Rifana is safe and lives because of you. Never regret that." It was a hard lesson for Shirou to learn but eventually, he too came to accept it.
"You helped others escape as well." Rifana replies. "You helped my friends escape. I would have been happy just for that. But you took care of me here too. So, thank you." She says to Kotone.
"And thank you too, Shirou and Lenora, for saving us!" She thanked their rescuers as well.
A smile graced the face of Shirou and Lenora.
"Please accept my thanks as well. Both of you." Kotone says, still in Shirou's arms.
Shirou gives her a pat on the head and says "You are both welcome. I am just glad we got here in time. We still have a little more to do and only so much time left." He then shifts his attention over to the dead body. Lenora accepted their thanks as well.
"Are we taking the body with us?" Lenora asks, having already guessed the reason why they were there.
"Yes, but not in this state." Shirou answers as he knells down next to the body. Healing magic does not really work on the dead. He can't reinforce the body's functions if there is no ongoing healing process to reinforce. He can however, use alteration to mend the girls' wounds shut and clean off the blood so she can be presentable to her family.
Shirou used some water magic to remove any blood and filth left over after her death. Alteration also served as a quick dry. He then traced a large black cloth to wrap her body in and picked her up. Another light alteration spell to her body made her flexible enough to carry easily.
"We have one last stop" Shirou said.
"Where to now? I'm worried that guards could come down here any moment." Lenora asks in worry.
Shirou holds up the key ring "We are going to raid Rabier's vault."
"Huh? Not that I don't approve, but why?" Lenora questions.
"We just killed the Lord of this territory. Justified or not. I want this to look more like a theft gone wrong, rather than an assassination." A little late for a proper plan Shirou will admit but the keys he found will show him exactly where to go.
Shirou traces some more paper-thin guard uniforms for himself, Kotone, and Rifana, who are surprised by the display of magic. "These will let us at least briefly avoid suspicion. The vault is not far. Stay quiet and follow me. When we are done in the vault, we will teleport out." Shirou explains the plan.
When the group returns top side. They see that the fire they started earlier is now only smoking. A large section of the stables has burnt away or collapsed and a section of grass all around it has disappeared. There are still guards and servants around it, but they are mostly there to make sure the fire does not start again.
The party uses this distraction to make a bee line to the inside of the mansion. The opulent interior is only occupied by servants who were all too eager to get out of the way of an entire squad of guards moving with purpose. If any of them noticed how short one of those guards were, they did not stop to ask.
When they reached the vault, Shirou opened it with Rabier's keys. Inside was a large amount of gold, silver and copper coins. In addition to a selection of expensive jewelry. Shirou closed the door behind them and relocked it. "Grab everything you can and bring it to my sword." Shirou instructs the group.
They spend a few minutes gathering the loot and storing it all inside his Legendary Sword. Thankfully, his sword functions seemed to be operating normally despite Vivian's silence. After this is done. Shirou gathers the group together, switched to his portal sword, and teleports the group to just outside Rabier village.
Rabier Village
Kotone and Rifana stare at the night sky in amazement. Both are glad to finally be out of Rabier's mansion. Shirou calls their attention.
"Just a little longer. We are almost done here" Shirou reminds them, gesturing to the body he is still carrying. He receives three nods of acknowledgment.
It did not take long to find the mob still outside of Rabier's gates. The guards manning the walls are still unaware of what has happened to their Lord.
"Hey Lady" Shirou calls out to the woman who was still observing the mob from a distance. Shirou guesses based on the position of the moon that the entire mission lasted a little under two hours.
The human woman turns to look at them and shows them her open hands, probably thinking them to be guards "Hey now. I haven't been doing anything. I have just been watching and wondering what all the fuss was about."
"It's alright. We are not here to hurt you or them." Shirou tries to calm her down.
"Oh yeah? Then what do you need from me?" She responds with suspicion.
"You know the father of the girl who was recently taken by the Lord?" Shirou asks.
"I might. What about him?"
"Do you know where he lives?"
"Yes? But why are you asking me?"
"Please take this to him and tell him Justice has been done." Shirou lays the body at her feet.
"Hey! I'm not a delivery-" The informant is interrupted by Kotone.
"Please?" She asks in a pleading voice. "Can you also please tell him we are sorry?"
"I…" The woman notices the hidden details that mark her as a demi-human "Are you? Well, never mind. Yes. I will take it. Especially if it's what I think it is."
The woman receives a thank you from the entire party. And then the party leaves the area. Once they duck behind a familiar alleyway, the entire group disappears again. Their destination being much further away this time.
After the party leaves, the woman checks the body. Confirming it to be the farmer's daughter. She notes that she is in decent condition despite being under Rabier's tender care. "Justice has been done huh?" She wonders out loud. She turns back to the observe the gates and sees that… something has changed among the guards.
She does not see any smoke like earlier but the guards are now all moving around in a frenzy. About an hour later, she receives an answer. Another woman in all black approaches her from behind. "Your report? What has happened?" She asks the shadow.
"We have not confirmed it with our own eyes but initial reports are that Lord Rabier has perished." The shadow says.
"Really now? When did this happen?" She questions.
"Guards claimed it had to be very recent. Within the last few hours. They are still searching for the perpetrator."
"It will not do them any good. I am fairly certain I just spoke to them a little while ago. They are long gone by now. I applaud them for being able to come up with a plan and then execute it under such short notice." The woman says to the Shadow.
"Ma'am?" The shadow questions.
"Oh yes. They are definitely efficient. They even came out with more allies than they went in with." The woman hands the shadow a sealed letter. "Make sure the Queen gets this. Tell her that I am almost certain the Sword Hero will be open to helping us. Advise that he is potentially dangerous but I do not believe he is a threat to our people."
"Understood" The Shadow responds before departing.
After the Shadow left, the woman thought to herself 'You heroes really like to shake things up huh? I wonder what you all will do next?' The woman would stay there for most of the night to observe.
The announcement of Lord Rabier's official death would not come until days later.
Author Notes: (Possible Spoilers
Got busy at work again, and then had extra time again. Not that anyone cares about that.
Back to the story.
Lenora and Shirou bond a bit and Shirou revealed some of his past. I am sure it did not surprise most people that one of Shirou's relationships was with Luvia based on the hints.
Keep in mind that this is Shirou who was explaining his relationship and that Shirou tends to downplay his own worth and actions.
Luvia was totally prepared to say screw family tradition and would have been willing to marry Shirou even if only to tie him down. The only real thing stopping her from committing was that she would have had to reveal his reality marble to justify the marriage to her family. And then would have needed to defend them both from clocktowers response.
Lenora is acting like Shirou's apprentice in this chapter, having all the basics explained to her so she can act as Shirou's partner in the field. I am sure her questions about Shirou's love life had no alternative reason other than curiosity.
Shirou did not expect her to have to deal with death up close so soon. But Lenora did ask for it. Shirou himself was taught to kill at a younger age than Lenora and he saw death up close in personal as his first memory he can recall.
We meet the OC party member Kotone and the actually alive Rifana. Yes, this is the same Rifana that is Raphtalia's friend. Why? Because I wanted to. Kotone's existence and protection being my reason why Rifana is still alive in my story. That said, the two of them did see and experience hardship during their stay in Rabier's care that may have affected them. If you did not already notice the hints.
Shirou tries to be the rock for everyone to lean on and offers his support whenever possible. Having dealt with similar events in the past.
If you can read the glitchy text, Cool. Hint for later. If you can't, that's fine too. Shirou will figure it out eventually.
Servant class party members – I was working up to this and I hope it at least comes off plausibly. Suffice to say that Shirou has no idea what or why it happened. Only knowing that Vivian REALLY does not like Rule Breaker.
I can't imagine why.
They will have a talk later on and Shirou will get to see just what has been going on in his soul. Having three proper servants will also cause some things familiar to Shirou to happen to everyone in his party.
The Legendary system made a connection between slaves and servants to make something more familiar to Shirou.
Shirou will explain the situation and talk to his new party members next chapter.
Lord Rabier is dead, which means the crap he put Naofumi, Malty, and his own territory though won't happen.
The Queen will soon be aware of Shirou's actions have someone approach him at a later time.