Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter and providing feed backs.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
The procession of the queen, House Amelia and the retinue of the Cardinal Heroes begin to slowly move into the village of Balafon by evening. Soon, the quint village is filled to the brim with people, and makeshift tents to the point a lot of them have to camp outside the village palisade. The farming village obviously wasn't built in mind to receive the royal family. Not to mention even their newly appointed lord hasn't gotten his own manor built yet in favor of the other more essentially buildings. So Malty's mother has to stay in the tent regardless of what her regal royal butt might think otherwise.
Speaking of the queen herself, she was led to the place where Bed-Chan restricted Lady Mordred in the company of her loyal knights. The emissaries from the other nations all followed. They either don't believe her to have fair intentions and want to ensure the right treatment of the heroes. Or they smelled blood in the water and want to use this incident to further erode whatever prestige she still has left. The queen gives one quick glance at the blond woman still hanging in the air before quickly brushing the whole incident aside. "Does Archduke Wales not teach his children manners? If he can't properly educate his children, I shall take the burden away from him. Mordred will be taken under the care of my royal guards from now on. To ensure she gets the proper training to serve the greater good of this nation, and to make sure she doesn't cause further needless incidence at this trying time."
Malty didn't expect her mother to give a fair ruling to begin with. But it's still nice to see her brushing away an incident that would have Mordred incarcerated, maybe even forced into slavery like Raphtalia's completely incompetent guardian Sadeena (because Mordred's intention was certainly the same even if she wasn't successful in harming the heroes) as her lacking manners. She's not being sarcastic here. She doesn't know what the heroes think about her mother's verdict, but at least she knows that her mother would pardon hardened criminals as long as they are useful at causing mischief and snubbing the influence of Naofumi.
"You are going to brush away this crazy woman's action, like she's a child who doesn't know better?" To Malty's slight surprise, the Bow Hero immediately throws her mother's verdict right back into her face. Itsuki clearly wasn't content to point out what he considers to be unjust actions of only his friends. "She screamed murder at Naofumi. She actually attacked us while we were resting. That's something that blue haired women get tossed into slavery for. Not only are you going to let this crazy woman go without a flap on the wrist, you are going to reward her and promote her to your guards?"
Chapter 30: Picking Up the Pieces
"Lady Mordred is not being rewarded for her action. As I explained already, her continued aggression towards Lord Shield Hero even after the grudge between both parties are officially settled is a clear sign that Archduke Wales failed to properly educate his youngest daughter. Therefore requires someone else to step in and correct the matter. Lady Mordred is not being given the same privilege as my royal guards, but being monitored over by them to ensure her good behavior from now on." The queen slightly turns her head to give the Bow Hero a sideway glance. "As for comparing her actions to the companion of the Throw Weapon Hero, there is a difference between the two of them. Yes, they both tried to aggressively assault you revered heroes. But the Throwing Weapon Hero's companion was successful when he wounded you while Lady Mordred is not. She didn't even get to fight any of you. I am not a tyrant who gives the most severe punishment to someone who only has intentions to break the law, but hasn't yet."
"The only one who Lady Mordred has wronged here, is Count Seliph." The queen points her finger at Lord Seliph, who is the one leading them as he's the person that witnessed the whole event of Mordred's action. "Because she openly assaulted him, and only him when he prevented her from gaining access to the heroes when she's not thinking straight. While Lord Seliph has already forsaken his right to punish, or ask compensation from Lady Mordred, I will ask him again for the sake of fairness. Count Seliph Sigurd Chalphy. Do you truly intend to let go of the grudge of Lady Mordred's unjust attack on you? You are the wrong party here, therefore will not need to fear retaliation if you wish to have Lady Mordred punished, or compensate you within reason."
"I do not intend to consider it an offense on me, or my family. Your majesty. Lady Mordred clearly let her grief over her brother's death get the best of her, and is simply acting out on her anger, rather than genuine malice towards me." The blue haired lord turns to look at the supreme leader of Melromarc. As someone who has the bloodline of Baldr the Paladin, Lord Seliph has a beautiful, boyish face in spite of him being over 30. His soft features naturally makes his face look sincere, especially in the eyes of women. "That being said... she clearly does carry malicious intent towards the Cardinal Heroes. Lord Shield Hero especially due to the accidental murder of Lord Jaune by his former companion. This is highly destructive considering we need the strength of the Cardinal Heroes to fight back the Wave of Catastrophe. So I highly recommend you keep a close eye on her, and do not let her have a chance to cause harm to the heroes."
Malty suspects the sword bearer of holy blade Tyrfing is issuing a severe caution, if not a flat out warning to his queen. Not quite in the sense that House Chalphy, or he himself would rebel against her. But in the sense that if Mordred does (almost inevitably) attempt to harm Naofumi, the queen will be held accountable for her action. Or perhaps this is simply her reading too much of his words due to her cynical nature. Regardless, the queen seems to share her opinion on Lord Seliph's words. She silently looks at the lonely brained fool, almost like she's judging him for a few moments, until she finally relent and nod her head. "My personal knights will ensure Lady Mordred's compliance. Now, if any of you would kindly release her? Or should I ask Sir Meggie to cut Lady Mordred down from this root prison?"
"That's your cue here, Bed-chan. Kindly do the beautiful queen's request please?" Zylden once again gives a quick slap on the single, dainty white flower that grew out of the root formation. A low rumble can be heard from the roots as Bed-chan's body uncurls it(her?)self from Lady Mordred, dropping her down onto the ground. The youngest House Arc daughter looks ready to slam her face into the ground, till a bed of flowers sprout from the ground underneath her, breaking her fall. The same is done to the men she came with.
"Lady Mordred, I would kindly ask you to seize all further unprovoked hostility towards Lord Shield Hero from now on. The grudge of your house, and Lord Shield Hero over the accidental murder of your younger brother has already been resolved. And you have no more reason to cause harm to the very hero whose lives are essential to the defense of our world." Mother is clearly trying to conclude this newest conflict between the Shield Hero, and her own nobles. She might want to snub the Shield Hero's influence, but she's not dumb enough to openly do it in front of the emissaries from the other nations. She might also not believe the word she's spouting, but she has to at least play up the act in the presence of emissaries from other nations. Fortunately, she is a good actor. Unfortunately, she is dealing with someone who is clearly one step away from being insane like Raphtalia's supposed protector.
"Are we going to ignore the accomplice of the Shield Demon making an attempt on my life?" Lady Mordred narrows her eyes, clearly not understanding the queen's reason for trying to cover up this latest incident. It's not something to be surprised, as the enraged sister of Jaune apparently didn't plan her goal past what she would do after killing Naofumi and Firo to avenge her dead brother, since his death would make future waves significantly harder. Fuckboy quickly runs over to Lady Mordred's side, holding her up with his hands, helping her stand back up.
"Yes! I'm trying to stop you from hurting Naofumi-sama! What about it!?" The Throwing Weapon Hero jumps out from the group of people behind the queen. While most of the queen's procession is left away from this scene, he was unfortunately one of the people allowed into the perimeter due to his hero status. "I knew you were bad all along! I should have killed you back on Cal Mira island to not let you get any chance to hurt Naofumi-sama! I will fix this problem right now!"
Malty briefly wonders how the Throwing Weapon Hero is allowed to go off his leash again, considering he's no longer by himself. She sees the white tiger siblings struggling against each other among the crowd. Fohl's face looks like he's suffering from a severe constipation as he tries to run past his little sister. He's probably torn between not physically hurting his sibling, and the need to reel back in their out of control master before he does something that'll also incriminate them. While he is busy, one of the emissaries from Zeltoble steps in. It was the short haired woman warrior from Restove. Her delicate, yet stern face remains passive as she scolds the clueless boy. "Behave yourself, Master Tairou! This is not a situation to tread lightly!"
"You are right, this situation is not to be tread lightly! Any villain who dares to oppose Naofumi-sama deserves the most severe, capital punishment!" Sato's eyes twinkles with dangerous light as he pulls out his weapon in the presence of everyone. Clearly not understanding the political implication of his actions. People instantly reacted to his aggressive behavior. The Zeltoble emissary immediately knocked his weapon out of his hand, and the four Cardinal Heroes stepped in and surrounded him from four sides. Sato stumbles back, nearly tripping over his own feat even if the Zeltoble warrior wasn't trying to harm him. Exposing his lack of actual combat skill. His hand twitches, like he wants to summon his hero weapon back to his hand again, but his body starts to move strangely. His legs, and upper body waves around, almost like his feet are suddenly rooted into the ground and his desperate not to fall over. "WH-What's happening?"
Brown, almost stone growth starts to cover his exposed skin. Just as Malty suspected, someone had enough of his violent outburst and decided to restrict him with a spell. But the spell used seems to be... [Stone Skin]? An usually low level defensive enchantment of earth affinity. But here, the purpose of the spell is clearly not to enhance the Throwing Weapon Hero's fighting ability, but to imprison him. She looks back, and sees the darkly dressed apprentice of archmage Kel'thuzad holding his hand up towards the clueless otherworld interloper. She doesn't know how powerful, or skilled an archmage from Dalaran compared to her father, or Uncle Aldrecht. But if one of their apprentices is already good enough to utilize a defensive enchantment in an offensive manner, his master must be even better.
Malty looks back at the two white tiger siblings again, now their roles have reversed where Atla is struggling to lunge forward, while Fohl is holding her back in a vice grip. In the meantime, mother gives a nod to Kel'thuzad's apprentice before turning to look at the Throwing Weapon Hero. "Thank you for reeling in Lord Throwing Weapon Hero, Mr. Gauldoth. As for you, Lord Sato. I don't know if this kind of action is more acceptable in the free city states of theZeltoble Pact, or why you think I would approve of you attempting one of my nobles. But let it be clear from now on: Even if one of my nobles breaks decorum, or worse, the law. It is not the place of you heroes to take justice in your own hand to pass judgment, especially attempts on the life of Melromarc nobility. I will not fault you from trying to subdue someone like Lady Mordred when it's not possible to de-escalate the situation. But you have no right to murder one of my nobles without me passing judgment on them through a court trial first."
Malty's eyes dart between her mother and the temporarily subdued Throwing Weapon Hero. Sato got a light punishment, or perhaps it's more fitting to say he didn't get punished in any way aside from losing his face in front of everyone (again). But that act is clearly by her mother's design. With the fool's complete lack of political (or basic, for that matter) intelligence and with his zealous loyalty towards Naofumi, all of his mess up could be traced back to the Shield Hero as well as the free city state alliance of Zeltoble Pact. Mother is intentionally leaving an out of control walking disaster around to let him spoil Zeltoble, as well as Naofumi's reputation. And the queen of Melromarc doesn't have to do a thing. A very good bargain for her indeed, so long as Sato doesn't mess up so badly that it would in some way directly hurt her. Although if that becomes the case, she imagines her mother would promptly deal with Sato right away as the bumbling fool would have outlived his usefulness, and Zeltoble won't be able to do anything about it due to the idiocy of the hero they summoned.
"The queen is letting your self-proclaimed fan wildly run amok to hurt your prestige, Master Naofumi." Naofumi's head faintly bobs up and down as Malty whispers into his ears. While it might simply be him having neck irritation, the frown he wears on his face tells another idea. She is willing to bet that the Shield Hero understands the, but can't think of a way around it. Well... there is a way to fix the problem, permanently. Simply kill the fool, as the death of a star weapon hero would not affect the strength of future Waves. Naofumi's opinion about killing a fellow hero aside, she isn't going to openly talk about it in public like this.
Malty steals another look at the two Zeltoble representatives. Wanting to get a better grasp of the personal dynamic of their Zeltoble 'allies'. She can't tell anything from Gauldoth with his entire body being wrapped in thick, dark clothing. But the female warrior from the city of Restov is glaring at Sato. At least one of the two emissaries has a negative opinion towards the hero they supposedly support and serve. That being said, the apprentice mage's opinion is also important, not to mention they don't know if the female warrior's distaste towards the Throwing Weapon Hero would be enough to support their suggestion of killing a vassal hero, hire some assassin to do it... or make it look like an accident, such as letting him die in a wave. Ironic, how a supposed 'ally' of Naofumi is causing them more headache than they were being hunted down by the Three Weapon Heroes. But that's also the brilliance of her mother's plan: it's an open scheme that they have no choice but to endure the long term negative effect, or try to end it quickly but get the reputation of being a hero killer in the process. At least the Zeltoble representatives are now helping Fohl to control his worst behavior to preserve their nation's dignity.
Fuckboy, who is standing right besides Lady Mordred, suddenly straightens his body in an almost unnatural way. Then, he begins to violently shake, and collapses onto the ground like he's having a seizure. Or more to the point, like he's being shocked by his slave seal. Did he somehow trigger some punishment of his slave seal? Like trying to cup a feel on Mordred while in close proximity with her? It certainly feels like something the idiot would do. But Malty's hypothesis is quickly shot down by Mordred when glares at her slave from the corner of her eyes. "What are you playing at now, Slave?!"
"I-I'm sorry... m-my lady." Fuckboy tries to grovel to Mordred even as his body is shaking wildly, to the point he's barely letting out a full sentence. "I, I-I... seems to have ta-aken... more than..."
"Take the scum away, so I don't have to hear his sniveling." Mordred isn't interested to hear his excuses, or even any possible explanation. She simply orders her men to drag him away like a dead dog. She turns to the queen and kneels back down next. "I shall serve you as one of your guards, my queen. So long as you remain just, and correct the injustice done to my family."
"Remember you are under a probation period, Lady Mordred. You are not being picked as a potential candidate for my guards because of your achievement. You are under watch for impulsive and unruly behaviors. But if you serve me faithfully, I shall ensure the wrong done to your family is made right after the end of the Wave of Catastrophe." The queen turns to the four heroes after making her promises to Mordred. "Now that this disturbance is resolved, perhaps you would fulfill your promise of clearing up that camp of bandits for Whiterun County, Lord Shield Hero? Or are there more agents of this supposed 'Burning Legion' we are not aware of?"
"We'll do it as you said." Naofumi turns to look at Ren and Motoyasu, who are going to be separated from him for now. "Remember to send a message every hour or so. That way, we'll know each other are okay, and aren't attacked by more of those demons, or devils working for the Burning Legion."
"Don't worry. I'll have one of my children remind me even if I forget. You take yourself too, Naofumi." Motoyasu walks up to Naofumi, and pulls his fellow hero into a tight embrace. The Shield Hero tenses up for a brief second, before he returns the gesture with vastly less enthusiasm and gives the Spear Hero a few light pats on the back. Motoyasu turns to the two younger heroes next, and does the same to them in spite of their much more annoyed look on their faces. Ren in particular, is rolling his eyes while tapping his feet on the ground. Look ready to kick him away... or kick him in the groin.
"Master Naofumi. If I can make a brief stop at the city of Trumpet?" Raphtalia suddenly steps out from the crowd. Her eyes wander away from Naofumi's face, and her fingers are brushing against one another erratically. "Master Granny said that my body is fit to use a light weapon, but using a Siltvelt soft sword is too advanced for me to begin with. She suggested that I get a standard Siltvelt Midland treasure sword. So I was wondering if I can do that with the smith?"
"Of course you can, Raphtalia. You need a proper weapon to defend yourself if you get separated by everyone. Even young boys and girls, like Raki and his scout friends, have weapons fit for them." Malty walks up to Raphtalia, and gives her a few encouraging pats on the shoulder and her head. Come to think of it... this is one of the few times, if not the first time she asked for something. Usually, it's Naofumi and she asks if Raphtalia still needs anything, and she would often refuse. This is another good chance to get their surrogate daughter to act more assertive. Not to mention that what she asked for is more of a necessity. "We'll ask Cattleya to forge you a good sword to go with Hidden Purple."
"My trip to Cal Mira Island has already taken me too much time away from my duty as Melromarc's queen. I need to return to the capital as soon as possible. If the Shield Hero does not wish to clear up the bandit camp in our way, my knights will be more than happy to do their duty." Mother's excuse nearly makes Malty roll her eyes. As if the queen herself didn't waste most of her personal vault... and the treasury with all her foreign vacation- no, 'diplomatic trips to promote world peace and unity'. To the point she's barely staying in the nation for most of the years. But no, now is the time her mother remembers her 'queenly duty' and wants to return to the capital.
As much as Malty not like the idea of having House Amelia control the nation's finance (because the royal family, as well as most other noble houses are hopelessly indebted to House Amelia due to The Great War), at least Duke Louis had put his foot down on the amount of money her mother could spend with all her foreign trips, so she can't further bankrupt the nation. She doesn't know what her mother would do if not for Iris' father being her coin pincher. Blaming Malty for wasting the treasury to cover up for her own pointlessly wild expenditures with all her foreign trips (because her royal procession, not to mention the escort to ensure her safety all cost as much money as waging a war)? Actually... her mother could and would totally do that, considering she had no problem with selling Malty to her Faubley uncle King Egbert.
"I'll do what I promised. You just hang back safely among your knights. Raphtalia, some of our companions had their weapons broken while they were fighting Riser Phenex. They already made their order with Cattleya, and it should be time their order has been filled. You can go with them to order a new weapon for yourself, and then come back and wait for us in Balafon. We'll return soon enough after taking care of the bandits." Raphtalia's face darkens as she realizes that she's going to be separated with Naofumi again after rejoining him. But she nods her head in understanding. Yuzus jump out of her clothes, joining together and forming into a raptor in front of the Shield Hero, clearly becking Naofumi to ride them. So he climbs up on them and looks at Ren and Motoyasu next. "I'll entrust Raphtalia's safety to you while I'm gone, Ren. And Motoyasu, you are going to be by yourself this time. Even Iris is going to stay with Melty here at Balafon. Remember to send messages to us, and don't jump into action immediately. Listen to what other people suggest to you first... like Bertia. She's a bit shy, but she's also very smart and just needs to be more confident. And you need to get your impulsive nature under control."
"Aye-aye, Captain. You have nothing to worry about. I'll remember to care for Tia more." Motoyasu gives a salute to Naofumi. He reaches out for Bertia, and pulls her closer to him by the shoulder. As expected, the no longer pudgy, but still timid young lady of House Noches instantly grows red. But there is also a determined fire in her eyes.
"Men! Form up around Lord Shield, and Bow Hero. Cavalry at the front, infantry five columns behind! I don't want to hear any gossip, or see you lollygagging while marching! Or you'll be talking to my lieutenant!" Eclair quickly begins to bark out orders to arrange the retinue members of the Naofumi and Itsuki. Malty notices that a heavily armored young man with short, orange hair is slapping the head of a mace into his free hand, while smiling tauntingly at the retinue members of the two heroes. He is... the son of Count Winchester, wasn't he? The various recruits of both nobility, and those of common birth quickly get into line as Eclair commanded. A few of them collide, and trip over each other. But at most they let out some groan and grunt of pain without complaint, and quickly pick themselves up. Overall, the retinues of the heroes aren't a well-disciplined army, but at least they aren't a group of rabbles tossed together and it seemed to be built on the threat of fear so far. It seems like less than a week after the retinue have formed, he's already gained a reputation as someone not to be truffled with. Malty doesn't know how much good they'll do if the two devils (and likely agents of Burning Legion) come to attack again. But at least they should act as a good wall of flesh between the heroes and their foes.
Regardless, she needs to talk with the Shield Hero about his psychotic fan, because he is becoming more and more of a problem now that he's openly feuding with Melromarc nobility. This time they got lucky that Mordred stepped out of her line first, but who can say the next time he feels like 'defending the Shield Hero from an evil noble', it's not the Throwing Weapon Hero himself, and by extension... Naofumi, who ends up overstepping their boundaries? The Shield Hero has already openly flipped the table on all the world leaders, he needs to be able to unite all those who could support him, not make more enemies wherever he goes. She would rather they speak about it in privacy, but the matter is too urgent to wait.
"We need to talk about your follower, Lord Throwing Weapon Hero, Master Naofumi." The Shield Hero's eyes twitch, and his neck cranks in a way that shows his lack of enthusiasm about the topic. Regardless, Malty continues because this is important. "We can't allow him to keep doing what he did to Lady Mordred first at Cal Mira Island, and then what he almost did here. We got lucky that Lady Mordred did you wrong first, and Zeltoble emissaries stopped him from further incriminating himself and you this time. But We can't keep letting him push his luck. So I have to ask you this important question: What do you want to do with the Throwing Weapon Hero? Do you still want him as a potential ally, or an enemy? Because the way for us to 'take care of him' would be very different depending on your answer.
If it's up to Malty, she would have rather treat Tairou as an enemy (especially since he already tried to kill her twice) and crush him before he has more chance to cause any trouble. Only the dead make no mistakes, and unlike the Cardinal Heroes, a Star Hero's life isn't tied to the defense of the wave. Zeltoble, or someone else could always summon another wielder of the Star Throwing Weapon, or bestow it to a worthy wielder. But she imagines that's not what Naofumi wants, plus she likely wouldn't make them look too dear to Zeltoble if she had Corvo assassinate the idiot.
"I want to keep Tairou as my ally, if I can." Malty lets out a faint sigh, as Naofumi gives the answer she already expected. Perhaps he was being naive, but the same naivety was what made him accept her even knowing that she lied to him from the beginning. She has no right to stop him from giving the same kindness and patience to other people. The only thing she can do... is give him the experience she learned from observing her mother's court. "If you want to keep Tairou around, I think you shouldn't let him run around free, jumping up and down and picking fights with anyone he assumes to be your enemy. Give him some minor duties, maybe even something that he could truly help the world with. That way, he will be too busy to make a mess out of everything he gets close to. And at least you would know what he is doing, and prepare contingency plans in case he messes them up too."
Naofumi dips his head low, looking like he's genuinely considering Malty's suggestion. After a few moments, he looks back up at her eyes and nods. "Good suggestion. I'll give it some thought before sending him away. I have some ideas, but I want to think them over first."
"Stay behind me, Brother Demetrius!" Oersted adopts a crossguard stance as the horde of skeletons charges at their. But before they have a chance to do so, Knight Captain Polnareff has already charged out. An epee is usually a very light weapon, not the best when it comes to dealing with undead creatures. Yet this didn't stop the Silver Chariot of Gallia. The mithril weapon turned into a force of nature in the hand of the knight captain as he easily sent out a dozen stabs when a lesser fencer would only release one. Blowing apart the weapon, armor, and bones of any undead in his path.
"Form around Brother Demetrius, let no undead creature pass!" While Captain Polnareff is cutting a path among the congregating undead creatures, Lord Alexander begins to rally his fellow knights around their only dedicated miracle user. The knight quickly followed his command, not only because they respect Lord Alexander, but also because their situation truly calls for it.
Oersted had gone on the expedition to recover the Shield Hero's lost armor into the mountain range. The cave the Shield Hero described wasn't that hard to find, even if it still took them half a day due to none of them knowing what his armor actually looked like, therefore can't simply use a [Clairvoyance] spell to point them to the right direction. Unfortunately for all of them, they also discovered the hidden entrance to that ominous dungeon the Shield Hero mentioned. While none of them are learned mages, Sir Antonio Chevalier is a learned man of ancient history. He deduced this is the entrance to the legendary 'Palace of the Dead'. Which is both a dungeon that is connected to powerful death magic, and also a connection to ancient dragon worship.
Lord Maximilian naturally suggested making a preliminary scout inside this dungeon. His love for adventure clearly overpowers whatever sense of self-preservation he has, even when it's not hunting living creatures. Sir Oersted wanted to reject the suggestion. He didn't want to overcomplicate this journey which was only meant to recover the Shield Hero's lost blue chromezoid armor. But he was only a young knight serving under House De Gallia, so he doesn't have the power to overrule a lord from their cadet branch. Especially not when the fabled treasures contained inside the Palace of the Dead would prove an invaluable help to the defense against the Wave of Catastrophe.
Which lead to how they are currently being swarmed, and nearly overrun by what feels like an endless wave of undead creatures. Individually, they are still weak. But after three levels deep, the number of the undead have already grown unfathomable, seemingly endless.
Something was tossed through the horde of skeletons, cleaving them right through like Captain Polnareff. The shadow traveled in an oval shaped arc, before returning into a waiting hand covered in heavy, dark titanite gauntlet. The thing turned out to be a large battle ax, and its master holds an equally weighted broadsword in the other hand. The axe, sword dual wielding knight didn't come alone, he had dozens of knights all dressed in heavy armor leaving no skin exposed, giving them a collective menacing aura that contrasted them from the silver armored House De Gallia knights. The heavy dread knights of House Armure have arrived. Their leader's voice sounds booming as it comes from his helmet. "Link up with us, Gallian knights. We shall serve as your rear guards as we back up to the surface."
Captain Polnareff quickly turns around, rejoining the rest of his knights and acts as the spearhead towards the House Armure heavy knights. The dread knight's terror tactics don't affect emotionless undead creatures, but their heavy axe and swords are the best weapon to bear against skeleton creatures. With the help of their fresh reinforcements, they easily moved back out of the Palace of the Dead from the direction they came. They didn't collect much spoil from their first expedition, only some old trinket that at most, hold historical value for scholars than merchant, and none of them have any actual magical power to be used against the Wave of the Catastrophe, or The Burning Legion the Shield Hero, Princess Malty and the current mortal avatar of Alaya spoken of. But it wasn't a complete loss for them. At least the situation has not deteriorated to the point they lost lives of fighting men yet, and they now know better of the possible threat exploring the ancient dungeon entails.
As the fake cave wall part ways, leading everyone out of the dungeon. Sir Oersted could hear the sound of shovels striking earth. He was surprised at the ray of sunlight hitting his eyes, since the entrance of the Palace of the Dead leads to a lower cave which only connected to the upper level of the cave through a sinkhole. The young Gallian knight squints his eyes, and sees laborers digging in front of him, and a single earth mage fortifying the enlarged cave with his earth magic. Of course, the hole that served as the 'corridor' to the upper cave is too narrow for the House Armure dread knights to come from, someone has brought laborers to open the passage up to allow small expedition team, even their heavier members to go through... and likely to make a defensible check point in case any undead creature wanders out of the dungeon.
Golden curls of hair as radiant as sunlight tells Oersted the identity of the noble in charge of the construction. Lady Malicia stomps her way in front of Lord Maximilian, opens her mouth, and begins to scold the impulsive young lord. "Lord Maximilian! What were you thinking!? Why do you think exploring The Palace of the Dead, one of the most ancient, and dangerous dungeons known to men with a small squad of knights, and a single priest who hasn't yet completed his full training was a good idea! And you! Lord Alexander! Why did you not hold your brother back in!? I fully expected Lord Maximilian to be impulsive and foolish, but you are supposed to be the responsible one that held back your brother! What do you think would happen if Sir Gram hadn't brought his House Armure knights with him to collect you? Do you expect me to lead a group of unarmored, not properly armed laborers who were refugees two weeks ago to your rescue?!"
Lord Maximilian actually looks properly chastised for once. Lord Alexander also has his head hang a little lower than usual. The older Ritallia lord steps forward to face Lady Malicia's full wrath. "I am very sorry, Lady Malicia. I admit we were collectively foolish, and severely underestimated the threat The Palace of the Dead possesses. We thought we would be safe on the first few floors, as records of it extend to well over a hundred levels. It would be what Prince Joseph wanted us to do."
Lord Alexander's words made Malicia's anger deflate. Seemingly accepting the young lord's explanation. Lord Alexander turns his head to the fully armored House Armure knight next. "Thank you for your timely rescue, Sir Graham."
"No thanks is needed, milord." The dread knight slowly removes the helmet on his head, revealing a young, handsome face with lustrous, flowing golden hair. "As willed by my goddess, I am merely doing my duties. Everyone who answered the call of heroes has gathered at the city of Gallia. We may travel north to join the Cardinal Heroes whenever you command."
The city of Trumpet wasn't too different from how Raphtalia remembered. There's some crumbed stones in the walls, and some more cracks in the streets and the buildings near the edge of the city. She remembered that the furnace of Queen's Blade was made of metal, but a stone furnace stood in its place. Raphtalia can only assume these were all the damage caused by the Three Heroes' Church's rebellion. Fuckboy didn't enter the city of Trumpet when he was asked to take over Balafon village, so she didn't come to the city either. But she did hear that they put the town under siege, and chased away Lord Balgruuf.
Staying in her adult body isn't as tough as before. As much as she hated Fuckboy for what he did to her surrogate family, she can admit that him forcing her to always stay in her adult form (and forcing her to constantly act subservient to him) had helped her learn to deal with the constant surge of emotions she feel in her older body. It's still much more pronounced than if she stays in her child's body, but she can deal with it better now.
"Ah, the honored companions of the revered heroes." Cattleya sees them from a distance even while she's busy hammering some heated ingots over her forge. She pointed her finger to the door of her shop. "All of your weapons are ready. You can pick them up from my son. He's behind the counter in the shop right now."
"Thank you, madam smith." Sir Bektor gives a respectful bow to the large (both in height... and 'other' things) woman. He turns to Raphtalia next. "Now would be the good time to place your order. Miss Raphtalia. Or do you happens to have one Siltvelt's midland style treasure sword already forged, and ready to be picked up?"
"Oh, Chief God, no. That style of weapon isn't very popular among the soldiers, the sellswords, or the guilds here in Melromarc, or even in Faubley. They are considered to be too fragile and soft even compared to a regular arming sword. And if a duelist wanted to use a speed, agile light sword, they'd usually go for something like a high quality rapier, or an epee. There's no point for me to make one even as a sample. They are either used by Siltvelt nobles to flaunt their wealth and status, or Martial artists with specific fighting styles. And they would always file in a custom order for their swords." Cattleya shakes her head, making her breasts bounce every way underneath her blacksmith's apron. "Although, I can make them. I used to travel the world with my husband back when we were younger, chief god bless his soul. That's how I was able to make Miss Mein her custom ordered soft treasure sword. Is it working well for her?"
"Ah... a lot of things happened. Big Sister Malty became the new Wand Hero. So she can't use the sword you made for her, and she gave it to me." Raphtalia steps forward, and pulls the edge of her pants up, showing Cattleya the sword guard of the Hidden Purple blade she wrapped around her waist as a belt. "I'm not very skilled at using it though. I'm learning how to wield it from Granny, but she suggested I start with a standard treasure sword first before I try to use a soft sword."
"Good suggestion. When you start learning a new fighting style, you would want the blade of your weapon to stay tangible, and not wobble in every direction because of a minor shake from your hand." Cattleya nods her head in agreement. She turns her attention back to the (presumable) weapon she's currently working on. "Do you want a standard steel sword, or do you want to use special material for your sword like Miss Mein did?"
"A steel sword is fine. I'm only using it to learn the fighting style, and as an intermediate weapon. I... Big Sister Malty gave me her sword. I want to learn how to use it." Raphtalia gives a few pat on her waist, where Malty's sword hangs. Granny said that her body is built for light, agile weapons like this, she wants to utilize it.
Malty could see birds leaving their nest from a distance. Clearly, they are being collectively startled by something: the migration of a monster horde, or a group of people. Porter's group is coming out to meet them. Probably not to fight, but to find out if this seemingly large army made of a few thousand people is here to harm them. As they get closer to the small hills and rolling forest where the refugee turned bandits made their home. At first, the former princess can't tell where the bandits are hiding among the trees and foliage even if she knows they are definitely there to observe, perhaps even try to ambush them. But then Nora came charging out of the bushes even with her limp. She's quickly dragged back into the treeline again by Ren (the bandit, not the Sword Hero).
Seeing their old acquaintance, Naofumi rides out in front of their entire group. With a wave of his arm, he allows the bottom of the scroll he's holding to fall off his fingers and hit the ground. "I have got the right to pardon criminals from the queen. You don't have to worry about being hunted down like fugitives anymore!"
"Are you going to trick us into coming out of the forest, so you can enslave us?! We heard what you did to those Siltvelt raiders, or the pirates!" Nora's angry voice comes out of the forest. It seems like Naofumi's reputation has spread through people's gossip. And while it can certainly be a good thing, it can be a bad thing as well.
"No tricks. As what Lord Shield Hero said. By the order of Her Majesty Mirellia Quincy Melromarc, Queen of Glorious Melromarc, and the will of the Shield Hero, Naofumi Iwatani. He is holding a decree of the Melromarc high queen in his hand." Malty rides out besides Naofumi. His more casual demeanor and words can be a good way to close the metaphorical distance with other people, especially those of humbler birth. But in a situation like this when he's trying to subjugate a group of bandits, a little bit of formality wouldn't hurt to make it sound more serious. "If you have doubts, appoint one of you to come out and take Her Majesty's decree with you to examine it over. Surely at least one of you is sophisticated enough to know their validity? But I must remind you to treat the royal document like it's your life. For harming it will be seen as holding contempt at the crown, and instantly forfeit all of your lives."
Malty knows that among the bandits, at least Porter would be able to tell that the document in Naofumi's hand is real. He was a professor teaching at the most illustrious institution of Faubley. This wouldn't be the first time he witnessed a similar document from the royalty. Not too long after, Ren comes out of the treeline. He runs over to the Shield Hero, kneels down and picks up the decree with both hands, and quickly backs into the forest once again. This simple gesture of submission tells Malty that the bandit's decision is a foregone conclusion. Although she has something else to worry about. Mainly, the pirates of the former Jackdaw crew. The former pirates are shuffling their feet while looking at each other. They are clearly wondering why the Shield Hero went ahead and pardoned this group of bandits, while enslaving them.
"These aren't just your usual type of bandits who steal from people. They are displaced refugees, who had their home taken away by the Schnee family. And had to resort to banditry to survive. Even then, they have not killed anyone. And they have helped both Count Balgruuf Whiterun, and Lord Shield Hero during the Three Heroes Church's rebellion. They have earned their pardon. Serve Master Naofumi as well as you can, and those of you who survive will earn your mercy, and reward from him as well." Malty's eyes sweep through all the pirates. Most of them instantly bow their head, not daring to meet her gaze. They know that she is different from them, even if she is also a slave of the Shield Hero. Out of the few dozen men from the Jackdaw, only its tan-skinned captain, the fire sorceress, the masked pirate, and a dark skinned man look at her straight in the eyes. She doesn't know if they believe her words or not, and to be honest, she can't say she cares about the lives of some ship raiding pirates too much. They'll either listen to Naofumi, either because they value their own lives, or they believe his cause. Or they'll die from rebelling against him, and there's less criminal scum in the world for people to worry about.
But it does make her realize that this is what she can do to help the Shield Hero, in addition to advising him on how to play The Game without making too many obvious mistakes. To smooth over the different opinions of his followers, be them free volunteers, or forced slaves. So the people who follow the Shield Hero will focus their effort in fighting Naofumi's enemies (not limited to only The Burning Legion), and not each other.
"Well, I guess we shouldn't have ever doubted you, young Shield Hero. You really came through for these people." Porter steps out of the bushes, holding the queen's royal decree in his free hand. He's holding his ax blade embedded blunderbuss in his dominant hand, but not pointing it at Naofumi or the army that followed him. He steps closer to Naofumi, and leans closer to the Shield Hero to whisper into his ears. "Our camp is coming along nicely. We had some help from Jarl Balgruuf's men, as you know. It's starting to look like a real village people can settle in now. You want to go take a look?"
Clearly, the help Porter's group received was not from Jarl Balgruuf, or else he doesn't need to try and hide it. Or maybe he just doesn't want people to know that Balgruuf is helping a group of supposed 'bandits', but it's not like the royal family, or anyone else, gets to tell the count how to run his business in his own county. Regardless, Malty is willing to bet it was the hermit Le Stranges, and their animated skeleton that helped them build their home. A wave of commotion behind them shakes Malty out of her own thoughts, she looks back and sees a female knight with a stylized torch emblem walking up to them. "Lord Shield Hero. Her Majesty, Queen Mirellia asked for your presence."
End Note:
Yeah, the queen totally did not reward Mordred for going against the Shield Hero and by extension... Malty. No, siry.
Sarcasm aside, did anyone still remember about the entrance to the dungeon Naofumi discovered by complete accident which he didn't explore in the prequel? Yeah, I planed Palace of the Dead from back then. Although obviously this wouldn't be a major plot point yet.
And Raphtalia start on her small step goal of getting a more fitting sword for herself so she can learn how to fight.
To Marx:
I know I probably won't come off as trustworthy with how much I admitted to hate the queen in canon. But do you believe I actually have NO intention of making her comes off as iredeemable in my own story? Which make no mistake, I made her into a VERY pathetic character because I truly think she's this pathetic in canon without Alenko's constant handwaving and self-contradicting retcons to airbrush her mistakes and sweeping them under the rug. But the point is for the sake of my story, she is someone who genuinely believe she's doing what's best for her people in spite of all her failures and isn't only using it as a lie to excuse her own rules.
So for her to raise taxes would simply be contradicting to her characterization I established. She would snub Naofumi and Malty, even leaving political traps for them to fall into (as we'll see in a few chapters), but I'm not going to go against the traits I established for her and have her oppress the people under Naofumi and Malty just to make her more unlikeable.