Chapter 5: What a Wonderful Day
Naofumi and his party arrive at the capital with Melty having joined them, having requested Naofumi if he could take her to the capital. He was hesitant but after Garfiel, Raphtalia, and Filo all argued that they should help her, he agreed after they wore him down. They made it there without incident…
(As the rest of the group slept through the night, Naofumi watched over them, mostly keeping watch, as well as working on restocking their medicines and other supplies they needed. He also kept a close eye on Garfiel, while his poison wasn't worse but it wasn't getting better. He was able to keep it stable by himself, but he needed something more powerful.
"Master Naofumi." This of course came from Raphtaila as she got up to sit next to him.
"Hm." He motioned for her to sit next him, which she did so happily. "Is something wrong?"
"I was just… Well, Is Garfiel going to be-."
"My amazin'll be fine, geez, no need to worry about me! I'm tough!" Came Garfiel's voice as he leaned up himself.
"You didn't have to baby me all day Taila, I was fine."
"I'm just worried about you."
"Alright… Garfiel, she is worried, we all are, that's why we are trying to get back to the capitol. But Raphtaila, he will be fine, so you don't need to worry about him."
"Dadfumi"
"..."
Naofumi without warning smacked the boy in the head, annoyed by what he said. After this happened, they all sat there for a moment, enjoying the night until…
"Oi, where's Melty?"
"Hm? I thought she was with Filo." Raphtalia responded, now worried for the girl's safety. They all start to look before noticing that the young girl's clothes were on the ground next to Filo. The three of them had a moment of pause before slowly turning towards the sleeping Filo.
"Y-You don't think that..."
"I mean she did want to eat her own kind. It isn't out of the realm of possibilities."
"..."
"..."
"...we saw nothin'" Garfiel said as he turned his attention towards the cart.
"Agreed."
"What? We can't just pretend this didn't happen!" Raphtalia protested to both Naofumi and Garfiel.
"We can and we will."
"Besides, we can't tell the noble that Filo ate her daughter."
"But we can't just keep quiet about this either, Naofumi-sama!"
In the commotion, Filo began to wake up, seeing everyone staring at her with wide eyes.
"Morning everyone, what's wrong?" She asked innocently.
"Filo… where is Melty?"
"Oh she's right here." This worried the trio as they were now really thinking that she just ate Melty without a second thought.
"Time to wake up Mel."
Suddenly, from a spot close to Filo's head, Melty's head popped out, gasping for air a bit as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
This made all of them a bit dumbstruck by the sight.
"What're ya doin' there?" Garfiel questioned.
"Filo-chan's feather's are so soft and comfortable..."
"So you took off your clothes?" Naofumi questioned.
"Yes." Melty said as she was preparing to go back to sleep.
"But how did you..." Raphtalia paused her questions as she approached Filo. Once she was close, she put her hand onto Filo's feathers. She was surprised by how soft and comfortable the feathers felt.
"It's so nice and warm."
Raphtalia got close to Filo and ended up falling asleep. Naofumi and Garfiel both looked at the raccoon girl, surprised that she just instantly went to sleep. Both men grabbed a feather each, both of them curious about Filo's feathers somehow being able to cause Melty and Raphtalia to go to sleep.
"What th'hell? Are these some kinda sleeping feathers?" Garfiel asked as he tried to inspect the feather in his hand.
"Maybe."
"Hm..."
The two continued to look at the feathers before the wind came in their direction, blowing the feathers away.
"Well, it's gettin' late. 'A ruby that stays up all night will regret having short legs.' ya know."
"You and your weird sayings." Naofumi commented.
"Anyway, I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me up when it's my turn t'take watch."
As Garfiel said this, he went inside the cart to sleep, away from everyone. Naofumi just looked at the boy, a bit curious on how his previous group was, especially the person he keeps referring to as captain.)
Minus that whole event, Naofumi's group returned to the Capitol without running into any problems.
"Master! I'm going to walk Melty home!"
"Alright, just remember to collect the reward."
"Kay!"
"... Bet you a silver piece she forgets."
"I bet she'll use it to buy herself food."
Raphtaila and Garfiel both whispered that to each other, thankfully out of earshot of Naofumi as he turned to them.
"We should go to the church to get that Holy water." He informed them.
Meanwhile, Ren dashed to where Naofumi should be arriving from if he came into town in the direction he knew they would come from.
'This is bad, I hope he's here and didn't take Melty all the way to the castle, the last thing we need is the King believing he kidnapped Melty.' This thought played in Ren's mind as he continued to look around for Naofumi. During the search, he thought back on the fight with the zombie dragon on how he unlocked a new power, the Blessed Series.
'What was it again… Blessed Series? What does that even mean? But… the power felt… pure. It felt almost as if it was all positive energy.' He was thinking about this Blessed Series, trying to figure out what it meant. 'It triggered after having accepted what Naofumi had said to me. Perhaps the change in mindset had been some kind of trigger.' Ren paused as he also thought of the things Garfiel had told him during and prior to the fight.
("Like the sayin' goes, Nobody Can Lift a Quain Stone Alone.")
("I understand plenty but my amazin' self won't back down. The Master Swordsman Reid laughed as he drew his sword against a dragon!")
'Those words, although sounding gibberish, somehow helped. But that wasn't the trigger itself.'
("...THIS IS YOUR FAULT, REN!")
("Naofumi… Please… I'm… Sorry!")
("SORRY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH! YOU ALMOST TOOK GARFIEL FROM ME AND NOW HIM AND FILO ARE HURT! THEY COULD DIE HERE! WE ALL COULD DIE HERE! IT'S YOUR DAMN FAULT FOR NOT ONLY THINKING THIS IS JUST SOME DAMN VIDEO GAME, BUT THINKING YOU ARE THE ONLY GOD DAMN HERO THERE IS! YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY HERO AND YOU HAVE SINGLE HANDEDLY MADE THIS SITUATION THE WORST IT COULD BE, REN AMAKI! THIS IS…ALL YOUR FAULT!")
'What Naofumi said wasn't wrong. I was being stupid. I let myself believe that this was a game and ended up just hurting a lot of innocent people.'
As Ren was thinking more and more about that situation, he shifted his focus on the power that the blessed series gave him. He was able to focus on his target, as if his eyes were cleared enough to see any living things' true nature. With the dragon, the true nature was to kill everything, especially him. There was also another ability he was able to use, the ability to see his path to victory in a more honorable state.
'This power for sure puts me on the same level as Naofumi. I've noticed that despite his lower level, he still is strong. Maybe now I can keep up with him.'
As Ren thought this, he ended up bumping into someone, causing him to snap out of his thought process and back into reality. He blinked two times before realizing that he bumped into someone.
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Sword Hero. You didn't mean too, it's nice to see you once more."
Ren's mind paused for a second as he immediately realized who spoke back to him in such a friendly manner. He looked down to see that it was Filo and Melty, just the two of them.
'Found you!'
"Filo! Melty-sama! Good to see you two."
"Ren-Ren!... Why did you call Mel 'Melty-Sama?" Filo said with a smile but with a puzzled look on her face. Ren couldn't help but smile back. Melty nodded with respect.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Melty asked him as she did notice the look of deep though etched on his face. Ren stood silent for a moment as his smile faded away as he recalled why he was running all around for a good hour.
"Melty-sama, you should follow me. Your father sent me to look for you."
"Aw, I wanna take Mel home." Filo said with disappointment in her voice. Ren would offer to allow Filo to join him but knowing that the king knows of Naofumi's group by this point, it would be risky to have Filo with them.
"You don't need to worry, Filo. I'll make sure Melty-sama is safe."
"Are you sure?" Filo questioned.
"Yes." Ren said with a confident expression. Filo glared at him for a moment before accepting this.
"Okay. Bye Mel!"
"Bye Filo!"
The two waved each other goodbye before Filo started to head back. While she started to do this, Melty turned towards the Sword Hero to tell him,
"Okay, whenever you are ready."
"Okay Melty-sama, let's—"
Ren paused for a second, having felt something off.
"Is something wrong, Sword hero?"
"I-It's nothing. Just..." Ren paused himself as he sensed a clash of two strength. This prompted him to quickly grab Melty and run towards Filo's direction. She was walking back toward the carriage happily before feeling Ren tapping her shoulder. She turned around to see him, surprising her.
"Ren-Ren?"
"Sorry that this is sudden but protect Melty-sama. I have to take care of something first."
"Okay!"
As Ren makes sures that Melty and Filo are alright, he quickly jumps high as he tries to land on the exact place he felt a fight.
During the time Melty and Filo went off on their own, Garfiel, Naofumi, and Raphtalia approach a church. Naofumi noticed that the church seems to only have three of the four heroes represented; Sword, Bow, and Spear.
'Of course they would only worship those three.' Recent events have changed his opinion of Ren, but the other two can go die in a fire, Motoyasu for sure.
"Well, shall we?" Raphtalia led the way as Naofumi and Garfiel walked in.
"Garfiel. Don't say a word."
"Why are you telling me that?"
"You know why." The small exchange between the two boys made Raphtalia giggle. Ren was right, Naofumi is like a dad…
'Wait, does that mean I'm…I'm… the Mom!?' She thought as her cheeks became flushed.
"His holiness!" She completely missed the last few moments as she was daydreaming a bit from the idea, which caught Garfiel's attention.
He was extremely tempted since he had so many ways of teasing her but he didn't say a single word because of what Naofumi said. Though he will remember this.
The trio now stood before the Pope of the Church of the Three Heroes.
"Why if it isn't the Shield Hero. Welcome to our humble church my son." The Pope seems too… Happy, almost as if he was glad to see Naofumi and company, something that threw him off a bit.
"Humble?" Garfiel muttered under his breath, earning him a quick hand slap from Naofumi as a warning.
"Spare me the Pleasantries. I'm here to buy some of your best Holy water to help dispel a curse on my partner here." Naofumi was quick to the point about it, not wanting to spend too much time here.
"Do that and we'll be on our way and out of your hair"
"No need to feel defensive my child, All are welcomed here, even though we don't praise you like the other heroes, you are still a hero nonetheless. If you remember, I did see your Duel with the Spear Hero at the Royal Palace. I was truly amazed by your skill and resourcefulness in a battle that was stacked against you only for you to come out on top." The Pope was really offering praise to Naofumi, which again made the shield hero put up a defensive front.
The Pope then turned his attention to Garfiel.
"You as well have surprised me yourself, Demi-Human child. If it's ok with your party leader, I'd like to have a word with-."
"Not a chance." Naofumi cut the pope off promptly. "Like I said, we are just here for Holy water and then we'll be on our way." He made that point clear once more.
"Done." One of the guards of the Pope said as he too was in a defensive stance. While the pope seemed relaxed, the rest of the church members in the area were a bit on edge.
"Please make your offer."
"How much?"
"Our most powerful holy water will be 1 gold piece."
Both Raphtalia and Garfiel had their mouths dropped since a gold piece is a lot there.
"Damn! Fer some Holy Water?" Garfiel blurted out.
"Master Naofumi! That's way too-." Raphtalia began to say before Naofumi only gave her a look.
"One Gold is worthless compared to any of you." He said. Again, Raphtalia's poor lovestruck heart threatens to burst through her chest. Garfiel himself was surprised but he respected what the Shield Hero said.
"Shield guy, ya know how t'make a man feel something! Bros for life!"
"What did I say about talking, Garfiel?"
As soon as he handed over the coin, a bottle was presented to him. Using his appraisal skill… Something was off about the Holy Water.
"What gives, this isn't any better than some water I could get for way less at a small village church." He said as he already knew this was going to be a scam.
The Pope looked sternly towards the nun who brought out the bottle.
"My Dear, why would you present them with such a low quality item?" He asked the nun, who backed up a bit.
"Well...I-I..."
"God is equally compassion to all. If you did this to satisfy your own personal beliefs, then you must repent. Do I make myself clear?"
"I'm sorry."
The nun said as she ran to get the right item while Garfiel began to chuckle a bit, finding the situation perfect.
"Th't's what ya get fer–"
Without warning, Naofumi smacked Garfiel in the head.
"I said stay quiet, Garfiel."
"Tsk."
Garfiel rubbed his head while looking annoyed at Naofumi, not sure why he was acting this way. Naofumi wasn't going to risk anything here. With their luck, something bad was going to happen.
Finally, they leave the church, but not before some parting words.
"Rest assured my children, you are all welcomed here at the church of Three Heroes, so long as you heed to the will of God." The Pope said, with himself looking towards Garfiel, which made the boy shudder.
"Something about him seems… well… Off." Naofumi commented once they were safely outside. "Garfiel, You mind going to find Filo to make sure she didn't get lost. Raphtalia and I are going to head down to the market to start buying what we need to go and Help Ren's Party."
"Yea, my amazin' self can handle somethin' like th't." Garfiel spoke out confidently.
"Speaking of Ren-Sama, We haven't seen him yet today. Do you think he is still here?" Raphtalia asked.
"No doubt, but he might be held up somewhere. I'll get into contact with him as soon as we are ready."
"Alright, then leave finding little Filo to my amazin' self!" Garfiel boasted before walking off. Just moments after he split off from Raphtalia and Shield hero, Garfiel noticed someone running towards that direction. It was a Knight.
'What's his problem?' He thought.
"Shield Hero!? Where is the Shield Hero? I heard he was over this way!" This caught His attention even more. Garfiel was ready to fight. If this guy was looking for Naofumi, it only means he was looking for trouble given the history between them.
"Oi! Why're ya lookin' fer th'Shield Hero?" Garfiel called out as the knight who stopped seeing him.
"Wait, you're in the shield hero's party, correct? I remember you from the duel! You have to take me to him!"
"Slow down, what do ya think he did and r'ya tryin' t'like, do bad things t'him?"
"What? Oh no, I want to thank him."
"Fer?" Garfiel asked with a curious facial expression.
"For having saved my village during the last wave. My friends and I had families in that village and we wish to thank him for saving them. We also wish to fight alongside the Shield hero on the next wave."
"We? who's th's we?"
As Garfiel asks this, two magic users and two other knights appear. This caused Garfiel to once more get ready to fight.
"Sir please calm down. We're not here to start a fight or anything."
It was here where all of them heard a huge bang off in the distance, towards where Naofumi currently was.
'I wasn't on guard because of ya.' Garfiel thought to himself, having sensed that something was wrong at that moment. He looked at them as they were all surprised by the loud bang.
"I'm gonna take it th't y'all had nothin' t'do with th't."
They all nodded their heads. Garfiel sigh while saying,
"Aight…Follow me."
The group nodded as they quickly followed Garfiel towards the direction they heard the loud bang sound.
'Ya better be okay, Shield guy, Talia.'
(Moments earlier)
"Naofumi-Sama, you seemed a bit harsh on Garfiel back there. Is there a reason for that?" Raphtalia asked as the two made their way towards the Market. Along the way, Naofumi could still feel the eyes of people around him focused on his form, clearly something was on their mind.
"I just didn't want him to say something that would cause problems for us." That was a lie. Garfiel was in a bit of a hot head. Naofumi himself can be a bit impulsive as well, as Raphtalia would say about his spending habits and how often he spoils them. But how Garfiel relies on his strength, as well as his gut intuition. Sometimes that is needed but what happened back with Dragon...Both him and Filo were impulsive which led them getting hurt. Filo is still very young and doesn't understand. He knows Garfiel is young as well but not as young as Filo, not to mention that he has to understand much more about what's going on rather than choosing to act without a plan.
'Damn idiot got himself in his situation… But…'
"You feel responsible." Raphtalia seemed to read his mind. Naofumi was caught off guard by what she said. Before he was able to respond, Raphtalia continued to speak in a gentle tone, "You feel like Garf getting himself hurt was your own doing."
"..."
"But there is no need to worry. Garf can take care of himself. He is strong headed but he does know how to hold his ground."
"I know that, but he does need to learn how to control himself. If he doesn't, he might act rash one day and do something he will regret."
This is what Naofumi was truly worried about. That something he could regret could be getting himself hurt, or hurting someone else. He didn't want this not just for their group, but for Garfiel himself.
"Hm… Let's make sure we get what we need—"
"NAOFUMI!" Like a screeching monkey flying down towards him, both Naofumi, Raphtalia, and the many people of the Marketplace all snapped their heads just in time to witness the Spear Hero lunging down towards the Shield Hero. Without a second thought, Naofumi switched into his usual Chimera Viper type shield to block Motoyatsu's attack.
"Motoyasu? The hell are you doing?!"
"..."
"Like really, you attack me in public and in broad daylight?"
"Shut up You scum! You are to release that girl at once!" Motoyatsu seemed extra ticked off today.
"For the last time, I don't want to be freed, Spear Hero." While she referred to Ren with respect, there was a hint of malice in Raphtalia's voice when she spoke to Motoyasu.
"I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about that blonde girl!"
"Filo?"
"That's the name of that girl. Naofumi, how dare you! How dare you keep bringing in more slaves, you bastard!"
As Motoyasu finished speaking, he started to throw a barrage of long range attacks, causing a lot of destruction all around.
"What the hell, Motoyasu?!"
"This time you are going down, Naofumi!"
Naofumi prepared himself for combat but before anything could happen, Raphtalia stepped in and quickly got in between the two of them.
"Stop this right now, Spear hero!"
As Raphtalia says this, she pulls out her sword, ready to combat herself. Motoyasu lowers his spear for a moment, attempting to calm himself down.
"Raphtalia. Move."
"No. You don't order me around." She responded to Spear Hero, disliking the tone he had. At this moment, Motoyasu had a choice… And he readied his spear and thrusted it forward. Raphtalia and Naofumi got ready to battle him before the sound of metal colliding together rang out. It wasn't Naofumi's shield, or Raphtalia's sword, but Ren's blade blocked the blow.
"REN! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"
"I should ask the same thing. Why are you attacking Naofumi, and a place like this?" Ren was stern in his words, clearly wanting the fighting to stop.
"You disgrace. Tell me, would a Hero put innocence in danger over his own petty desires?"
"SHUT UP!" Motoyasu roared as he was two blinded by rage to understand that he was outnumbered by them. His only target was Naofumi. But someone else saw that for him.
"Sword Hero, Demi-Human! I hereby order you both to stand down." Naofumi's blood ran cold at the sound of her voice. His anger almost instantly grew as the sight of Mai came into view.
She had a smug look on her face. "Surround them." She ordered her soldiers as they did so, pushing Ren and Raphtalia out of the way, leaving room for Naofumi and Motoyasu.
"I hereby declare this an official battle between the Spear Hero and the Shield Hero." She proclaimed.
"Put your weapons away, everyone!" A new voice called out to the crowd. This voice came to a shock to soldiers who did just as ordered. This made Mai clench her teeth a bit in anger seeing the source of it… A voice Naofumi couldn't believe would say something.
Coming from the crowd were Garfiel, Filo, and Melty.
"This isn't how heroes should conduct themselves. As well as this won't be covered up by any sort of privileges given to Heroes, or even you… Sister."
"Well Melty, You dare defy your big sister?"
"I don't know, Do you DARE to defy my AUTHORITY?" Melty wasn't backing down this time. Three of the four heroes were fighting in the streets and she was trying to egg on even more fighting.
"Sir Spear hero, Look around, does the damage you have here really reflect who you are as hero? If so, please really think about what a true hero would do." She was very stern with him, like a mother talking to a child when clearly he was much older than her. But her words made him hang his head after he looked around, seeing the panic he caused and the damage he had done.
"Sword Hero, Thank you for rushing to the scene to try and stop the fighting." She bowed to him before going around to people around the market.
'She is… Mai's sister… Meaning..' Naofumi thought for a moment.
"Savior of the Heavenly Fowl… No, Shield Hero is your proper title… I'd like a word with you."
The group relocated to a weapon shop as Ren stayed behind to help clean up the MarketPlace. Melty flogged a bit as she looked at Naofumi, who had a bit of a change from how he treated her not too long ago at this point. As if he was looking at her like she was now his enemy.
"Kid, could you explain this to me?" The shop owner asked, a bit annoyed that his place is being used anything but a shop.
"It's a long story." Naofumi responded to the shop owner's question before shifting his attention towards Melty. "Let us discuss things here."
"Come on." the shop owner said. "You know that's not gonna fly."
"Sorry. We couldn't think of a better place nearby." Raphtalia said.
"Yeesh..."
"So? Who exactly are you?" Naofumi started his interrogation towards Melty.
"Pardon my late introduction. I am first in line to the throne of Melromarc, Second Princess Melty Melromarc."
"Hold up. Yer next fer th'line of th'throne? How?" Garfiel questioned since he knows some basic things like the eldest sibling getting the throne first.
"My sister has always been...a problem child due to her personality."
"Not surprised." Naofumi added, trying to keep his anger in control. Melty continued.
"I had no idea you were the Shield Hero. But this might be perfect."
"What's up?" Filo asked with a smile.
"I–"
"No."
"Huh?" Melty was confused with Garfiel and Raphtalia both looking at Naofumi seriously. The Shield Hero looked at Melty with a serious facial expression.
"Sorry, but we are done here. I can't trust anything you say. Get lost."
"Please wait! You have to hear me out!"
"I don't 'have to' listen to a word that comes out of you royals' filthy mouths."
"Oi! Shield guy that's—" Before Garfiel could say something, they all heard the door to the shop open to see a royal knight.
"Melty-sama, His Majesty calls for you. Please come with me."
The room grew silent as Melty looked around. She saw Raphtalia looking at Naofumi with some disappointment, Naofumi relaxing on the wall with his eyes closed, Garfiel keeping his cool, and Filo completely uncertain. She turned towards Filo to tell her,
"Bye, Filo-chan."
"Mel-chan..."
Melty starts to leave with Filo preparing to leave only for Naofumi to stop her by calling her name. Filo looked down which prompted Raphtalia to pet her head while Garfiel just crossed his arms, disliking how things transpired. Naofumi opened a menu, looking at his stats while hearing Raphtalia asking him,
"Couldn't you at least have given her a chance to speak?"
"She's right, kid." The shop owner added.
"Hey, Master. Why were you so cold to Mel-chan?"
Naofumi remained silent which only caused Filo to approach him while wanting answers to her question. The Shield Hero continued to stay silent for a moment before responding in a calm manner,
"Listen, Filo. You mustn't play with her anymore."
As he says this, he gets up while looking at Filo, who was left confused and sad at the same time.
"Naofumi-sama. Speaking as a father would isn't going to help Filo understand."
Naofumi ignored Raphtalia and was about to walk away only for Filo to grab onto him while continuing to ask,
"Why? Why? Mel-chan hasn't done anything wrong! Tell me why!"
Naofumi continued to ignore this as Filo continued to ask. This annoyed Garfiel, prompting him to ask,
"And why th'hell are ya ignoring Filo-chan?"
"This has nothing to do with you Garfiel. I suggest you stay quiet."
"Oi, I don't agree with what yer doin' here, Shield guy."
"I said back off Garfiel, this has nothing to do with you."
"Hey! I'm part of th'team! My amazin' self deserves t'know th'situation."
"No you don't now shut up Garfiel Tinsel!"
Garfiel was stunned by the way Naofumi was speaking, even causing Filo and Raphtalia to stay silent. Naofumi looked at the demi human boy with an annoyed facial expression before turning away, wanting to be on his own thoughts. As he was blanking the world out, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder, prompting him to turn towards his left side only for a fist to manage to land on his face. Garfiel out of nowhere had surprised Naofumi and landed a punch.
"Wha—?" The shop owner was surprised by the demi human's action.
"Garf! What are you doing?" Raphtalia questioned with anger, completely shocked with what Garfiel had done.
"Why would you do that? Garf?" Filo said as she was shocked by the demi human boy's action. Garfiel ignored the three of them as he looked at Naofumi with anger.
"When a kid asks ya a question, ya answer with kindness. When talkin' with someone innocent like Melty-sama, ya answer with respect! And when speaking with someone, ya look at them in the eyes! It's called having manners!"
"... I don't need to. She is just like her father and her damn sister." That hit caused Naofumi to glare at Garfiel for what had done, not expecting someone from his own team to attack him. Garfiel returned the glare as well, angry with the way the Shield Hero is acting.
"Yes ya do! Shield Guy… Naofumi. What ya did was a dick move! She's just a child and ya treat her cold just because she's related th't stupid King?"
"All the more reason not to trust her." Naofumi said as he was giving off an intimidating aura.
"She has done nothin' wrong! Yer blamin' her fer what happened between th'King and ya. We just met her!"
"If you feel so strongly about this, then why don't just go? The door is right there. You can walk out."
"Really? Th't's how th's gonna go? After everything—"
"You're the one to blame for this, Garfiel." Naofumi said as he prepared himself for Garfiel's possible second attack. The demi human boy just looked at him before nodding with disappointment.
"...Fine…" It was taking Garfiel a lot to hold back his anger. He turned around as he prepared to leave only for Filo to grab his hand.
"Don't leave us, Garf..."
"...My amazin' self don't wanna...but yer stupid shield guy is actin' like a cowering child stuck in one place."
"Please. Don't talk about master like that." Filo pleaded, wanting everyone to get along. Raphtalia also wanted this but she couldn't overlook on how Garfiel punched her master in such a cold manner. Garfiel looked at Filo shocked before looking down with disappointment.
"Sorry Filo. But yer master needs th'grow up."
"Is that so?"
Without warning, Naofumi returned the hit to Garfiel, hitting the demi human boy on the back of the head with his strongest shield. Garfiel felt this pain but he didn't react the way Naofumi expected. Garfiel just looked at him with an angry facial expression, doing his best to keep himself from transforming. He was tempted to leave, abandon Naofumi. As much as it would hurt, he would leave the shield hero if he was going to continue acting in such a way all because of his hatred towards Malty, the king, and their bloodline. He was tempted since he was remembering how he once acted about the outside world, how he would refuse to accept others until...
("Don't just give up on yourself!")
'Cap'n...'
Garfiel took a deep breath before walking out the shop… He wasn't going to leave the party. Not now, not ever at this point but right now, it's best that he gets some distance from Naofumi for a few hours. while he left, Filo started to shout,
"MASTER WHY WERE YOU SO MEAN TO MEL AND NOW GARF! THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! WHY IS EVERYONE BEING SO MEAN!? Filo whaled as she couldn't understand what was going on. To her, all of them have been together her whole life, which right now, is short but it's all she knew. So seeing someone important to her leave like that really hurt her.
She didn't wait for Naofumi to say anything before she raced off into the back room, balling her eyes out from seeing her older brother figure leave in such a way.
"Naofumi…Sama." Raphtalia felt conflicted now. She wanted to reprimand Garfiel for hitting Naofumi, but Garfiel has a point. Naofumi was unjustly cruel to Melty who hasn't done anything just because she is related to the King and Mai.
"...Kid, you shouldn't punish the child for the Sins of the father." The shop owner commented, making it clear where he stands in this situation. He didn't say much more after that since it wasn't needed. He already took his side. Naofumi was just silent at this whole situation, disappointed since this was avoidable but at the same time he wasn't wrong. He had dealt with enough of this world's crap. He had been framed for something he didn't do, casted out from everyone, not acknowledge all the good he did, and even was about to lose Raphtalia and the match to get her back…
("THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!? IF THIS IS A FUCKING DUEL RIGHT? WHY IS THIS BITCH TRYING TO USE A DAMN SNEAK ATTACK FROM BEHIND LIKE A COWARD!?")
Naofumi recalled his first interaction with Garfiel, how he was complimenting him despite the crowd clearly being on Motoyasu's side.
'Or… Am I wrong?'
Meanwhile, as he kicked a can down the road, Garfiel's own mind wandered in the same manner as Naofumi's. He just had a fight with his new brother figure who has done nothing but support him since he was far from home.
'Damn! I fucked up! Brotto'n'Cap'n would've never made a mistake th's badly. Damn it!'
Garfiel kicked a wall nearby as he was frustrated with his dumbass decision. While he was frustrated all alone, he felt someone familiar nearby him. He turned around to see that it was the Sword Hero.
"Sword Hero."
"Good to see you too, Garfiel. I see that you are...lively now."
Ren quickly noticed that Garfiel's mood wasn't as fiery as before. He looked lost in a way.
"Did something happen?"
"..."
"Is it something to do with Naofumi?"
"..."
"Garfiel, you have to say something."
Garfiel let out a long sigh as he looked up at Ren.
"Th't idiot didn't need t'be so harsh with th'young girl." He muttered under his breath but loud enough that Ren could hear it. It was all he needed to piece together what happened.
"So, he told off Princess Melty because she is the daughter of the King, the same man who has shamed and humiliated him for the last few months he's been here. I honestly get it, he must have hatred for that man that extends far deeper than most of us realize." Ren reasoned as he stroked his chin.
"But she didn't do anything! It was him, th't bastard king, not Melty!" It was clear that he strongly felt that Naofumi was in the wrong, but he didn't go about letting him know that in a way that wouldn't end in an argument with them.
"Garfiel, I was heading to talk with Naofumi anyway since we need to be leaving soon to go and help my party. If you need me to, I can mediate between you two if you need to talk out this difference. It's clear that you regret whatever you have done."
"Yea...I guess." Garfiel said as he turned back around from the way he came from. "Come on, Sword Hero. Ya wanna talk with Shield guy, then follow me."
"Alright."
Ren started to follow Garfiel around for a bit before the two arrived at the outside of the shop. Garfiel noticed that the Knights that he ran into earlier had rounded the corner in a hurry, making him think that Naofumi scared them off. Opening the door to the shop, Garfiel's eyes went right to Naofumi for a moment before cutting away. The latter did the same.
"GARFIEL! YOU'RE BACK!" Came the cry of Filo as she completely latched onto his leg, hugging him as if she let go, he would leave once more.
"Garfiel, Ren." Naofumi didn't even look at him, so it may be anger or shame holding him back right now.
Ren can see just how tense the situation is this time around. "Raphtalia, I may need your help here." He commented as she nodded, understanding why he was there beyond the other reason.
"Did Garf tell you what's going on?"
"Not exactly but I can tell something bad happened just by his way of talking."
"Ok… Naofumi-Sama… Do you have something to say to Garf?"
Naofumi remained silent for a moment before he spoke up.
"I'm sorry I hit you." Naofumi said with a hint of reluctance. Garfiel looked at a wall as he was rubbing his head.
"Yeah… Me too, Shield guy."
It was still very tense, but it was a step forward in the right direction. But it was clear this clash did a bit of damage to the progress of their relationship so far.
"Naofumi, Garfiel, you both work well together. Disagreements happen between friends. It's how you make up for them. It can make or break a friendship. You could either come back with a stronger bond, or let everything crumble away." Ren remembered the words of his friend, speaking her words when from a time their friendship was strained. His heart felt heavy thinking about her, but for now, he knew those two needed those words.
Garfiel spoke up after that. "We should…"
"Try and communicate better?" Naofumi finished his thought.
"Yeah…th't." Garfiel said hesitantly.
"This is good. Though I don't mean to ruin it by changing the subject but Naofumi, we have to start going."
"Right, your party, We were on our way to buy the extra supplies needed before that dumbass attacked us." Naofumi remembered where they were going.
"Right, we should be able to get some still before the markets close up for the evening. and Leave within the hour."
"Wait, how far away is your party?"
"About a Day's journey to that village we fought the dragon at."
Garfiel thought for a moment.
"Wait, if we leave it will take us longer since we'll have to make camp just outside the city!"
Ren looked a bit confused.
"Wait… you guys don't know?"
"Know what?"
"About our Teleport ability."
"What teleporting ability?" Naofumi questioned.
"Wait, you haven't done your upgrades?" Ren questioned as well, completely dumbfounded that Naofumi hadn't upgraded yet or reached the level to teleport yet.
"Upgrades?"
Ren's eyes widen. It was too late for him to really explain it
"Alright, I'll have to explain it more later. For now, lets get to the market before it closes." Ren explained.
"Fine, but you're going to tell me what the hell you mean as soon as you can."
"Alright, geez, you really are a dad if you didn't realize that much."
"Oh shut up Ren."
The five of them traveled down to the market, quickly trying to gather what they needed. Food, medicine, and other materials they needed. Once down, They all met back at Naofumi's cartage.
"Alright, I'm going to add you all to my party as well." Ren explained.
"Wait, I thought we couldn't form a party together?" Naofumi said as Ren shrugged.
"From what I recalled, it was that we shouldn't party together, not that we couldn't. But this is a time we need to ignore that rule. Besides, I believe it was just the King and his scheming to put you at a disadvantage now." Ren has come around and has been thinking about this for a while now. The King has been against Naofumi since the start, it only made sense he lies to everyone to keep him in power.
"I say we do it." Garfiel said as he began to move close to Ren.
"I agree."
"Me too!" Raphtalia and Filo had said in unison. Naofumi nodded at this.
"If you add me, it should add all of us to the party."
Ren nodded as he began to do so, Naofumi was no longer the party leader, he gave that up to Ren so he could teleport.
"Naofumi, let me show you how to do this as well." Ren began to explain,
"First you need to bring up your interface, there should be an icon next to your skill tree now. It took a few weeks. It brings up a menu. It shows you locations of towns and cities you have been to as well as your party members."
Naofumi nodded as he did see the icon Ren mentioned now. But as he selected, it was still locked.
"...I'm not at a high enough level for it." He said as Ren was a bit perplexed.
"Wait…" He looked at Naofumi's level, seeing it was only at 38.
"I would never have guessed your level was too low for it… with how strong you are." Ren spoke, a bit annoyed at himself for being a higher level and yet still weaker than Naofumi.
Naofumi ruffled his head hearing the tone in his voice. "You're not weak." He reminded him as the two nodded to each other.
"Already, Filo, you hang on to that wagon."
"Aye Aye Ren-Ren!" She called as she transformed back into her bird form
In a moment, the group felt as if they were teleporting. For Ren, Raphtalia, and Naofumi, it felt as if they were teleporting like the wave. Garfiel and Filo on the other hand were amazed by the skill.
'Th's would've come'n handy back home.' Garfiel thought as he looked around the new location he along with Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Filo find themselves in. Ren turned towards his right side to see his party was still there. Tersia the martial artist of the group was tending the children, Welt the guy with knives was doing his best to make some food with Farrie the axe man's assistance, and Bakta the spell caster was using his healing magic to tend to those that were wounded.
"Master Ren!" Tersia looked over to see him there but took another look at who he was with. "Wait… is that?"
"Well I'll be… The Shield Hero and his party." Bakta commented as Welt and Farrie both looked up as well to see what was going on.
Naofumi took a look around, seeing the state the people were in.
"It was much worse before my party found them. When we realized we were ill prepared for this sort of situation, I knew I had to ask you." Ren told Naofumi.
Garfiel was the first look around, seeing the people there, reminded him of the people at Sanctuary, more so the villagers who came there just before the attack.
"You ok Garf?" Filo asked him, lightly tugging on him, seeing the expression on his face was enough to make her worry about him.
"...Yeah, my amazin' self's fine. Just… rememberin somthin', that's all." In his eyes however, flashes of a blade briefly passed through him as a fleeting thought. His instincts were to attack however he was able to keep himself in control.
Naofumi noticed this interaction, but he couldn't deal with it right now since he and Garfiel were still on rocky terms. Despite this though, Garfiel was there for him from the beginning, so he needs to be there for Garfiel. He approached the demi human boy and tapped him on the shoulder.
"What's gotten into you?" Naofumi said in his unique neutral tone of voice. Garfiel snapped out of his small trace and quickly began to walk towards the villagers. Before that though, he was able to answer Naofumi's question.
"It's nothin'. Let's go help out th'villagers."
Setting up the relief supplies didn't take much time with the extra hands helping out. Naofumi took aside the village leader to ask about their whole situation since he only got bits and pieces from Ren.
"We came from the country in the north. An adventurer came and organized a resistance there. In all fairness, our lives did get better for a little while, but then the leaders began to hike up the taxes once more."
"Do you know who the adventurer was?"
"No, but some people say he used a bow."
This confirmed it. He needed to speak with Ren about it.
"It turns out it takes a lot of money to run a country. Perhaps the old king had the right idea."
"...He shouldn't have been taking the money from the people who needed it the most." Naofumi commented as he nodded to the old man. "We'll have someone from Melromarc come and assist you more as soon as the next wave is over. We have gathered enough supplies for your people to last until then."
"Thank you Savior of the Heavenly Fowl."
Naofumi just nodded at the old man before turning his attention towards Ren.
"Did you hear who caused this?"
"Yeah...though we should discuss this later."
"Agreed."
Naofumi and Ren put a pin on the conversation, both agreeing that they should focus on the villagers.
Ren and Naofumi with their respectful groups returned to the capital once they were able to make sure that the villagers had enough supplies to survive.
"You know you have to talk to him."
"Yeah yeah, I will."
"Naofumi."
"I said I will. He just needs time to cool off more, it's only been a day."
This back and forth between the two heroes was out of earshot of their parties. Clearly, Ren has been bugging him from time to time through the day about Garfiel. The two have been tense around each other the whole day. Even though they said sorry earlier, there were still unspoken words that both of them needed to get out.
"And you will listen to what he has to say while you give him your reasons, and try to come to an understanding between each other?"
"... We'll cross that bridge when we get there."
"Hopefully that comes soon. It would be bad if you two were still on bad terms during the waves."
Naofumi nodded, knowing that talking will be a bit uncomfortable for the both of them. But it needed to be done. He didn't want Garfiel to think he was against him.
"Hey Ren… I have a question. I noticed that Raphtalia and Filo have stars next to their name, and they haven't progressed past Level 40. Is that a level cap?"
Ren's eyes widened a bit. "You… Haven't taken them to get class upgrades yet?"
Naofumi shook his head. "I didn't know I had to do that."
Ren was about to say something before he realized just what happened there. The king and his meddling once again strike. Information about class upgrades came from informants of the King that he said he sent out to each Hero, which clearly wasn't the case.
"You get them at the Dragon Hourglass. If you want, I can go with you to show you; Tersia finally reached her level for an upgrade."
"I mean sure, if you want."
Ren nodded at what Naofumi had said before turning towards his party, alerting them of what's going to happen. He told Welt, Ferrie, and Bakta that he was going to take Tersia to get the class upgrades with The Shield Hero and his group.
"Alright then Sword Hero. What would you like us to do?" Axe man asked.
"Just wait for Tersia and I to return. You can wait in the weapons shop."
Welt, Ferrie, and Bakta nodded at Ren before making their way towards the weapons shop, giving the trio a chance to go and see if they can upgrade their weapons. While they went to do this, Ren and Tersia joined Naofumi and his party as they began to make their way towards the location of the hourglass. While they were making their way towards the hourglass, Garfiel started to walk behind the group, wanting to keep his distance from the Shield Hero. While he did this, he thought back about his choice in hitting Naofumi for being stubborn.
("I heard ya gave Cap'n a beatdown, Brotto.")
("A beatdown is an extreme exaggeration. I just had to knock some sense into him.")
("Ya mean durin' th'time of th'Sanctuary?")
("Yes. I'm a little surprised it even worked but then again, Natsuki-san can be extremely stubborn.")
Garfiel crossed his arms as this memory played in his mind, remembering the small conversation with Otto regarding a method to knock some sense into a stubborn person. As he was in deep thought, he eventually snapped out of it when he felt a tap to the shoulder.
"Hm?" Garfiel turned towards his right side to see that it was Ren.
"You alright? You seem to be distracted."
"Yea, my amazin' self's aight. Just got somethin' in mind."
"Like?"
"Just...an old memory from a friend." Garfiel said in a calm and reserved manner, surprising Ren since he didn't expect Garfiel to be reserved. He nodded at the demi human boy before turning forward as they began to make their way towards the dragon hourglass. Once they arrived, The nuns looked at the group.
"The Sword… and Shield Heroes? Together?" One of the nuns questioned, surprised by the two were together.
"I had no idea they were friends."
"This can't be right."
Whispers all around the area from seeing the two heroes together, normally they would see the other heroes together, But seeing the Shield with anyone besides his party was something new.
"We're here for class upgrades."
"That'll be fifteen gold pieces."
"Fifteen gold pieces?!"
"A class upgrade costs fifteen gold pieces per person."
"That's too much." Raphtalia said with concern.
"Th't's bullshit." Garfiel commented.
"You didn't charge me that much last time…" All heads turn to Ren as he and Tersia both stood there.
"Yeah, you only charged Master Ren One Gold Piece! That's not fair!"
Naofumi's eyes lit up a bit as he looked at the woman with glasses, who at first had a smug grin, not having a look on her face since she wasn't around when Ren had his last Upgrade.
"Inflating the price just because it's me huh?"
"Not so fast." Another Nun came out of nowhere.
"We are forbidden from giving Class upgrades to Shield hero's party."
"First you overcharge them… and now you FORBID him from getting something that all Heroes have received? Which can hinder our ability to fight the Waves!" The person who seemed more outraged by this wasn't Naofumi, but it was Ren. He had seen enough of the unjustfulness Naofumi and his group had been dealing with. The nun pulled out the decree while saying,
"It's a direct order from his majesty."
"What decree?"
"This one stupid kid."
"Yer grabbin' nothin'."
"What are you...?" The nun looked at her hand and immediately realized that somehow the decree had disappeared from her hand. "What the?"
She looked around until they all noticed that Garfiel had the decree in his hand.
"How did he...?"
"Ya all underestimate my speed and also..." Garfiel paused himself as he started to rip the paper apart into tiny pieces. "Ya assholes have been messin' with Shield boss. My amazin' self's had enough of it. Th'man's a stubborn moron but at least he's done a lot more than all of y'all combine. So leave him be or else there will be trouble."
As Garfiel finishes speaking, he smiles as he slammed his fist to his hand with enough strength to scare the nuns. Naofumi was prepared to hit Garfiel to stop him from causing trouble only for him to notice Ren and his party member also preparing themselves for battle.
"You dare try to-."
"Yes, he does, and I stand with his choice. You won't be seeing my party here anymore." Ren was pissed now.
"Ren, Garfiel. We're done here, let's go." Naofumi finally spoke up, grabbing both of them by the shoulders. His face was holding back anger, but he has been dealing with this for months now, he's used to it. And getting mad over it just...wasn't worth it to him. He also was feeling a little bit happy seeing Ren and one of his party members siding with him. He was also grateful to Garfiel for standing by his side despite how they are at the moment in bad terms.
"Come on Raphtalia, Filo, we are leaving."
"Yes Naofumi-sama."
"Okay master!"
Naofumi and the others began to leave with the nuns in complete shock that the Sword Hero would threaten them. The nun that was holding the decree looked at Ren with anger in her eyes.
"We have to let the priest know about this, we have to let him know about the Sword Hero's connection with the devil of the shield."
Deciding that their next best action is to simmer down, and get some lunch and try to relax a bit. As they found the normal pub they all go to, meeting up with the rest of Ren's party. As they walked in, something caught Naofumi's eyes.
"Itsuki?" He said it mostly to himself, but Ren and Garfied both noticed him there as well.
"Oh, it's him, I got some words for him as-."
"It might be better if I talk with him." Ren suggested as he knew Garfied would take it too far.
"Agreed. Let's all get a table then." Naofumi suggested as the rest of the group followed him. Ren approached the Bow Hero.
"Oh, Ren, how have you been? I haven't seen you since you faced that Dragon." Itsuki was cheerful. Seemingly, he hasn't noticed Naofumi and his group yet.
"Hey man, mind if we talk, I have something I want to ask you about."
"Is that so? I too have something I want to run by you. It seems someone has stolen a job from me at the guild. It was about the job of overthrowing a king to the north. I don't know why that happened. Maybe someone impersonated me and took the reward."
The reward, the words hung over Ren. "Is that all you're thinking about? The reward? Tell me, after what happened, did you go back to check on the kingdom when all was said and done?"
"... The resistance I formed and led were noble people with the best intentions."
Itsuki didn't let it phase with what Ren said at first. But, he was right, he didn't go back to see what had happened since he helped overthrow the King.
"Well I did see the aftermath of your war… and I found refugees escaping to Melomarc, without food, shelter, and on the run from the situation you left them in. Things became just as bad as they were under the outested king,"
Ren made his point to get a cross. Itsuki stood there for a moment, hearing this formed an uneasy pit in his stomach.
"But-."
"You're not the only one who messed up. That dragon I slayed decayed over time and caused an epidemic that nearly wiped out a whole town."
"..." Itsuki was silent as he heard what Ren said, noticing how much guilt the sword hero has when speaking about it. "Sorry to hear about that."
"It's fine. If it wasn't for Naofumi, they would be all dead and I would have all those innocent lives on my head."
"Wait, Naofumi helped you out?" Itsuki said surprisingly with a little anger in him, hating the shield hero.
"Yea, is th't a problem?" Garfiel added to the conversation as he approached the Sword Hero and the Bow Hero with the Shield Hero by his side.
"Yes it is, demi human." Itsuki sharply retorted as he looked at Garfiel and Naofumi with anger in his eyes. Garfiel just shrugged at Itsuki's glance before finishing the food he had brought with him. While the demi human boy was doing this, Ren defended Naofumi by asking,
"What's your problem?"
"My problem is that I know it was Naofumi that took my reward."
"Wait, didn't you also defend Naofumi back during his fight with Motoyasu?" Ren questioned, seeing this as an odd change of view.
"That's different. We saw that Malty had interfered. Here, I know it was him."
"How?" Garfiel questioned once again, finding the bow hero completely annoying and stupid.
"And why would I do that?" Naofumi added as he found Itsuki's accusations not as serious as he would back a few weeks ago. Before Itsuki could answer Naofumi's question with anger in his voice, Garfiel quickly added in,
"Ya shouldn't act so high'n mighty, ya bastard. Don't ya know th't ya caused many deaths yerself?"
"Stop changing the subject! This is about how Naofumi impersonated me and took my reward."
"Yer deflectin' th'blame cause yer t'scared t'accept th't ya fucked up. Stop being such a child and grow th'fuck up already."
Itsuki's eyes widened with anger for a moment before he clenched his right fist before swinging it towards Garfiel.
"Don't you dare disrespect me—!"
He tried to land a punch on the demi human yet the boy was able to not only block off the attack but also return one of his own.
"Ya ain't shit."
As Itsuki was sent flying onto a table thanks to Garfiel's strong punch. Itsuki's party all got up as they did not like what Garfiel had done to their leader. Mald the knight got on Garfiel's face as he said to him,
"Stupid fucking demi human! You'll pay for what you did to Itsuki-sama!"
Garfiel smiled at the nobleman knight before he suddenly punched him in the gut with enough strength to cause the knight to fall on his knees.
"Yer a fuckin' moron. Don't act like yer all th't when ya ain't shit."
"Why you little—!"
"Enough!"
Both Naofumi and Ren said in unison as the two heroes got in between Garfiel and Mald. Naofumi shoved Garfiel back with a lot of force while telling him,
"Enough out of you! You'll get us in even more trouble! Dumbass!"
"Aight! I get it! No need t'be a prick 'bout it."
"I have to because you are a damn reckless moron!"
As Naofumi said this, Garfiel stood silent as he really took the time to think about what the Shield Hero had said.
"Yer right. My amazin' self's reckless. But guess what? I'm gonna be reckless and stand up fer my friends if assholes like th't stupid bow moron and his stupid lackey disrespect them."
Once Garfiel finished speaking, he turned around just as Raphtalia and Filo arrived at the scene, both worried that Garfiel and Naofumi were going to fight again. The demi human boy looked at the two, noticing that they were worried again. This prompted him to take a deep breath before walking away, keeping things as civilized as possible.
"You two need to reconcile, Naofumi-sama. We can't fight amongst each other. We are a team."
"He is just so reckless and careless."
"I know and I will scold him about that but you also need to do something as well about it without just turning things into a shouting match."
"…"
Naofumi just remained silent on this fact. Ren approached the three of them while saying,
"We should probably leave before more trouble happens."
"Agreed."
Ren signaled his party members that it was time to go. This also alerted Garfiel that it was time for him as well. As Garfiel and Ren's party catch up and leave the pub with Naofumi, Ren, Filo, and Raphtalia, the large group end up encountering the two magic users and three knights from before.
"Thank goodness we found it, you. We ran around all day and somehow scraped up 150 silver pieces."
"Really?" Ren asked as he looked at Naofumi with a bit of disappointment, figuring that he made the three knights and two magic users get silver pieces for him. Naofumi didn't answer Ren's question, instead he walked towards the knight that held the bag of silver coins. As he approached the knight, he gave them the necklace while saying,
"Use that money to get yourself better equipment."
The knight was stunned for a second.
"You mean you'll accept us?"
"I can't have you guys dropping like flies."
"Thank you so much." The knight said all the while Naofumi noticed that the three knights and the two mages were added to his group.
"Don't get the wrong idea. The moment you try to exploit or set me up, you'll have hell to pay."
"Of course."
"Thanks for having us!"
Filo ran in front of the knights and sages for a moment before turning towards Naofumi to say,
"We have lots more friends now!"
"We do. With Ren-sama's party and ours, we have quite a large group." Raphtalia pointed out. Naofumi took note of this as he checked to see how long the next wave was going to come.
"Okay, there are still a few days before the Wave. We will need to prepare."
"Then shall we train together, both our groups?" Ren asked. Naofumi stood silent for a moment before looking at the Sword Hero.
"That is acceptable. But the same warning goes to you."
"After everything that just happened, you honestly are worried about that?"
"Just covering my bases."
Naofumi took a look at Garfiel, even though he had defended him today… There was still a gap between them. Garfiel returned the look, both of them felt the tension between them. It was a void that needed to close, and soon.
"Let's just get th's over with. We gotta get strong fer th'wave."
"...yeah."
Naofumi reluctantly agreed. Raphtalia and Filo both looked at the Shield Hero and the demi human boy, worried that it'll take long before the two would close this void created in their friendship.