Chapter 14: Guilt
"Do you...think that they will be okay?" Melty questioned, worried about Ren and his party members. Naofumi turned towards Melty for a second before turning forward. Raphtalia took this opportunity to help calm the second princess by saying:
"The Sword Hero is strong as well as his party. They will make it out unscathed."
The second princess looked at her, noticing the confidence when answering her question.
She still felt guilty though due to the fact that she's the reason that the soldiers had managed to catch up to them.
All she can hope right now is for Ren and his party members to escape their predicament.
"Don't feel guilty, princess." A voice to her side spoke, understanding how she's feeling.
The second princess turned towards the direction of the voice to see that it was Garfiel.
He had caught up after being the last one to escape out of the group.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to catch up."
"Hm."
Garfiel didn't respond to Naofumi's comment and just quickly jumped onto Filo's back to be with the other Shield Hero party members.
Once he was on Filo's back along with Naofumi, Melty, and Raphtalia, Filo increased her speed in order to gain more distance from where the other cardinal heroes are located.
While she was running deeper into the forest, Garfiel continued to speak with Melty:
"I know ya worried fer sword guy. 'F there's somethin' my amazin' self can assure ya th't they'll make 't outta there. Sword guy's pretty strong. Hell, he took on a pissed off Shield Boss."
As he said this, Naofumi turned towards his direction, wanting to ridicule him for bringing that up though he let it slip this one time.
Melty paused for a moment before nodding at Garfiel, seeing that there's no reason to trust in Ren and his party's capabilities in escaping their predicament.
As her worries were lowered, they waited until it was a safe distance before they got off of Filo's back.
She returns to her human form in order to rest up along with Raphtalia and Melty while Naofumi and Garfiel remain their guard up.
"Ya think we made it far enough."
"We must assume that some had followed."
He wasn't going to take any chance. He knows that Malty isn't going to lose this opportunity to eliminate her sister.
The demi human boy nodded, understanding that it's best to keep their guard up.
As the two were looking around, the boy sensed that someone was nearby.
"Show yerself!" Garfiel shouted, having eventually pinpointed the exact location the person nearby was at.
Naofumi responded to Garfiel's shout by smacking him in the head.
"What's the point of hiding if you're going to shout?"
"..." Garfiel just grabbed the top of his head.
As he does this, Rapthalia spots someone near the trees, revealing themselves to be someone concealing their identity through a hood and a mask.
She prepares to pull out her sword only to be stopped by Melty:
"Wait! She's on our side."
Raphtalia paused as she along with Garfiel, Naofumi, and Filo looked at the person Melty said was on their side.
As they all looked at this mysterious person, Melty began to explain:
"That's one of the Shadows, an espionage zquad under the queen's direct control."
After explaining this, the shadow looked up while speaking in a blank tone:
"Shield Hero...This is the first time I meet you in this form, zir."
"Wait, Zir?" Naofumi recognized the way this shadow was speaking, thinking back to a lady he interacted with in the castle right after speaking with the king.
The shadow took the chance to say:
"Allow me to get ztraight to the point. Shield Hero, you are requested to meet with Her Majesty the Queen, zir."
"With the queen?"
"This commotion has a deep-rooted cause, I daresay. We would like your help, zir. The abduction was zetup by those who find your accomplishments alarming."
"What would I gain from meeting the queen?" Naofumi questioned, not really fond of the idea of meeting the queen herself.
"You'll understand when you do so, Zir." As the shadow said this, their attention shifted to Garfiel. "You've zurely proven yourself quite the threat to those that feared the Shield Hero."
"Tsk." Garfiel was uncertain if the shadow was going to ridicule him. The shadow noticed this, prompting the shadow to say:
"The knights you attacked needed to be stopped as the other shadows learned of their intentions. Though in the state they were left in, it made it easy to accuse you and the Shield hero of kidnapping the young princess."
"Tsk. 'f freakin' course they'll do th't." He was not surprised by this, though he still can't help but feel guilty that he allowed himself to lose control. He can still see the blood in his hands even though it's not there. "...they deserve it."
The shadow took note of what Garfiel Tinsel had said underneath his breath though the shadow moved on from the subject back to the Shield Hero.
"I zugest that you go towards Shieldfrieden, where the Queen's located."
"..." Naofumi didn't like this at all. "That's too long of a trip. Even more dangerous than heading to Siltvelt."
"I understand your concern, Shield Hero. You would need protection, but once within the queen's presence, you will understand why that's the better choice."
Naofumi looked at the map, not really happy with this idea at all.
Before he had the chance to deny this plan, he saw that the shadow had suddenly disappeared.
This annoyed him since now he's place with a choice, continue the original plan or change course to Shieldfrieden.
"I say we keep th'original plan." Garfiel spoke out his thoughts, knowing what Naofumi was thinking. "We can't afford t'be running th'other way when we agreed with Sword guy th't we would be at Siltvelt."
"I understand what you're thinking, but mother is the safer option." Melty added in, trusting that her mother had a plan to keep them safe.
"I get th't, but what 'bout Sword guy? He'll need t'know 'bout th'change 'f plans."
"I haven't decided on anything." Naofumi said, grabbing everyone's attention.
"What do you think we should do, Naofumi-sama?" Raphtalia asked.
The Shield Hero remained silent for a second, thinking on the choices presented to him. He understands what Garfiel's saying though the problem stems more than just that.
He's aware that Siltvelt and Melromarc are on bad terms, so having him go there to receive Sanctuary from trash, bitch, and the church might cause a war to break out.
He's unsure if Siltvelt knows of what Melromarc has done to him and if they did, all hell would break loose.
"I have taken into consideration what you said, Garfiel, but the issue is that if we do go into Siltvelt, that might cause war."
"How so?" The demi human boy questioned.
"If Siltvelt thinks that Naofumi-sama was mistreated by Melromarc, they will wage war."
"We can't afford something like that happening right as the wave is coming up. All war would do is cause the destruction of everyone." The Shield Hero said, having taken everything into account.
"It is possible mother sent a shadow to inform the Sword Hero and his party about heading towards Shieldfrieden rather than Siltvelt."
"That's leaving it too much to chance at that point."
As Naofumi was about to add something to this conversation, he along with his party members started to smell the scent of something burning.
"What's th't burnin'?"
"..."
They turned towards the direction of the stench and saw that the fire was suddenly building up at an unnatural pace.
"That's no ordinary fire." Raphtalia said in a concerned expression.
This made things concerning since the only person they know who would be capable of such a thing would be Malty.
"That woman probably started."
"Makes me worried for the Sword Hero."
As Melty, Filo, and Raphtalia were all concerned for Ren and his party's sake.
Garfiel and Naofumi were concerned for Ren though they were more preoccupied on whether Malty only did this to try and corner them or is she trying to pursue them.
"...we should get going. The fire will spread here too."
As Naofumi said this, Filo quickly turned into her filolial in order to carry her family and friend out of there.
As Naofumi, Melty, Raphtalia, and Garfiel get onto Filo's back, the filolial begins to run towards the direction her master told her to go.
"Guess we're headed towards Shieldfrieden." Garfiel commented.
"This is the plan for now."
Naofumi isn't happy to change the plan all of a sudden though considering the current situation, it's needed for now.
As the next day arrived, Naofumi and his party had rested nearby a village before continuing their way towards Shieldfrieden.
While walking into the forest to avoid being caught by bounty hunters, the group stumble upon a few demi humans that were working on a farm close by.
This drew Raphtalia's attention, prompting her to say:
"There are a lot of demi humans in this region."
"Yeah."
"Are we in...I see!" Melty said as her voice started to turn into excitement.
"What is it?" Filo asked, curious on what's gotten Melty excited. The princess smiled as she turned around to respond with:
"A nobleman I know is in charge of this domain. He may be able to help us out."
"A nobleman?" Naofumi was skeptical. Melty continued to say:
"These days, humans treat demi-humans like slaves, but in the past, some of the nobles tried to mediate peaceful coexistence between the two races. The leader of that group was a wonderful man. He was the lord of the domain of Seyaette. But he died in the first wave, and the nobles that sided with him were all shuffled off to remote regions under Father's orders."
"Tsk." Garfiel had no words when hearing that the kind had sent those that were good with demi humans away.
It reminded him of why he hated the outside world before meeting the captain and why he wanted to protect those that were living in the Sanctuary.
Naofumi was annoyed as well since he can see that there's a pattern with the king and demi humans.
"That guy's hatred of demi humans is absurd." As Naofumi said this, he along with Garfiel noticed Raphtalia's expression. "What's wrong, Raphtalia?"
She was silent for a moment, feeling a heavy burden when Melty had mentioned the nobleman that was friendly with demi-humans...more specifically, the Sayaette region.
"The village I'm from is in Sayaette's jurisdiction." A sad tone from the raccoon girl. Garfiel sensed this and couldn't help but understand her feelings. Melty took notice of what Raphtalia had said.
"I heard the Sayaette was attacked by rioters after the wave." The second princess spoke. Raphtalia was silent for a second, having a grim expression before commenting on what Melty had said.
"That's right." She paused for a moment, thinking back on that tragic day she lost her parents and the day after...
"My village was attacked by a mob of Melromarc's soldiers."
Garfiel couldn't help but feel like beating up the knights that had destroyed Raphtalia's village, both the monsters from the wave and the knights.
If it wasn't for the fact that he doesn't want to draw attention, he would punch a building down to let out his frustration.
Naofumi remained silent for a second, completely annoyed before saying:
"The more I hear about these people, the more they disgust me."
"..." Melty was silent for a second before looking down. "I'm so sorry."
"It's not like it was your fault, Melty-chan."
"As royalty, there must have been something we could have done. But we did nothing to help." As the second princess was about to finish speaking, she was grabbing her dress with frustration.
She shook this frustration off a few seconds later as she became much serious when asking Raphtalia:
"Raphtalia-san, tell me everything you remember about those soldiers. Once this all dies down, I'll make sure they're brought to justice."
Raphtalia took a moment to process what Melty had said before smiling, appreciating the second princess's words.
"Okay."
Naofumi took this chance to change subject back into Melty's nobleman she's familiar with.
"And this nobleman you know lives here, right?"
"Yes." She quickly responded.
"The question is whether or not we can trust him."
"You are indeed right." A new voice spoke out, prompting Naofumi and Garfiel to quickly be on high alert.
As they turned towards the voice's direction, the others looked as well to see a noble with glasses standing there, calmly.
Everyone was on edge since this noble had suddenly appeared right behind them without anybody noticing.
As the Shield Hero party prepared themselves, the noble remained having a smile on his face.
"It's been too long, Reichnott." Melty spoke with a smile on her face.
"Welcome, Melty-sama." The noble said in response to Melty while also giving a bow towards her before turning his attention to the Shield Hero. "Pleased to meet you. I am Van Reichnott, the lord of this domain."
"Yer th'nobleman?" Garfiel questioned. "Ya look so feeble."
*SMACK*
Garfiel was not only smacked by Naofumi but also from Raphtalia.
The demi human boy held the top of his head, annoyed by the sudden smack while Reichnott couldn't help but chuckle when he saw this happen.
"Shouldn't say such a thing to a noble, let alone in their presence."
As Raphtalia scolded Garfiel for this, Reichnott couldn't help but add in:
"It's alright. No need to be harsh on the boy."
As he said this, Naofumi turned towards the nobleman.
'His stealth is off the charts. What's with him?'
"This is no place for a chat. Would you like to join me at my mansion?"
As he asked this, the group agreed and followed Reichnott into his mansion in order to speak in a more private area. Once there, Reichnott asked:
"Melty-sama, what brings you to my domain?"
"...I don't mean to burden you, but we have nowhere else to go for now."
Reichnott looked at Melty, remaining with his calm expression. He got up from the table, he started to speak again:
"I presume the situation is related to the young boy right there." Reichnott turned towards Garfiel as he said this.
The demi human boy was annoyed when hearing this, not liking the reminder of his mess up.
His silence gave Reichnott enough information to go off of when asking this question:
"Where might the Sword Hero be, Shield Hero?"
"Hm?" Naofumi looked at the noble with a serious expression when hearing that particular question. The noble saw the reaction of the Shield Hero, prompting him to elaborate himself:
"A couple of knights came here a few days ago asking if anybody in this domain has seen either you or the Sword Hero. I thought that perhaps he was traveling with you if those knights were asking such questions."
The group remained silent for a few seconds, processing what was said by Reichnott.
As they looked among one another, Melty took the chance to explain to her friend what had happened to Ren.
"The Sword Hero and his party were traveling with us, however we were separated during an attack yesterday."
"Ah, might I refer to the ones that attacked you that created that fire in the forest last night? I heard from the guards that it was as they call you, The Devil of the Shield."
Naofumi said nothing though he was annoyed by the information.
'Tsk. Of course they would pin bitch's actions as my own. Disgusting.'
He was tempted to slam his hand onto the table, yet he remained in control of his emotions. Reichnott closed his eyes as he continued,
"Allow me to give you a chance to rest. You are allowed to stay as long as you need to be at full strength." As he said this, a couple of maids entered the room with strollers carrying food which immediately had Filo and Garfiel's attention.
"Food!" The two shouted, ready to eat up everything that's brought to them.
"Manners you two." Raphtalia said sternly, not wanting them to make Naofumi look bad if they start eating without manners.
Filo and Garfiel turned towards Raphtalia at first before noticing Naofumi's glare.
This prompted the two to calm themselves down and to wait until the food was served to them.
Once everything was set, Filo asked:
"May I eat, master?"
"No, wait." As Naofumi said this, Filo was a bit confused by this response. He continued, "I don't trust this guy yet."
Just as the Shield hero said this, Reichnott suddenly appeared to his side to grab a piece of food that was in front of his guest before eating it.
This action alone surprised Naofumi, if only for a brief moment.
As Reichnott took the bite of the piece of food he grabbed:
"Ah, this is delicious. Rest assured, the food isn't poisoned."
"Time to eat!" Both Garfiel and Filo said in unison before beginning the feast by grabbing the food with their hands.
"Filo! Garf! Where are you manners?!" The Raccoon girl said, scolding the two yet again.
Both looked at her for a moment before continuing to eat though this time properly with a fork and knife.
Naofumi looked at the food, skeptical though he did hear Raphtalia tell him:
"Let us eat too, Naofumi-sama."
"..." He remained silent.
"Casting doubts on such gracious hospitality? How rude can you be?" Melty questioned him.
"We shouldn't stay here too long." The Shield Hero responded to the second princess's questions. "We're leaving tomorrow morning."
"That soon?" The princess spoke with a surprised tone and expression.
"The longer we stay, the higher the odds of us being sniffed out."
"I agree." Garfiel added. They'll be searchin' fer me with more aggression now th't we humiliated them by escapin' all thanks t'Sword guy."
"I suppose you have a point, both of you..." Melty was a bit hesitant when saying this first part since her reasoning for wanting to leave not too early is because: "...I was hoping to rest some more."
Reichnott remained silent for a moment, listening to his guests speak before interjecting his own thoughts. He turned towards the princess to tell her:
"You've changed a little, Princess Melty."
"Hm?" She tilted her head when the nobleman said this.
"You used to force yourself to act more mature, but it seems traveling with the Shield Hero has helped you grow in a good way."
Melty's face suddenly turned red when she processed what Reichnott had just said. This also prompted Naofumi to comment:
"I'm pretty sure you mean in a bad way."
"Sh-Shut up!" Melty swiftly responded to Naofumi's comment. "Don't make a racket while we're eating."
"Whose fault do you think it is?!"
As this interaction between the two was happening, Reichnott and Garfiel couldn't help but enjoy this entertainment.
Raphtalia was neutral on this as well as Filo not really caring since she was focused on the food she's eating.
After eating dinner, the group split up for now with Melty and Filo being outside while Naofumi took this chance to rest up. Garfiel was outside though on his own, wanting a chance to reflect on the events he has gone through since arriving to this world.
As he thought of all the moments, both good and bad, he couldn't help but think back on two specific moments.
The first being when he had nearly destroyed the group with a poor judgment call by punching Naofumi to knock some sense into him.
The second being nearly killing all the knights that attempted to kill Melty by beating them to near death.
Although they definitely deserved it, he does acknowledge that he went overboard with the way he treated them.
"What are you doing all alone here?" Raphtalia said, suddenly appearing right behind him. Garfiel turned around to respond:
"Just wanted some alone time."
"I can see that." She responded to his response before sitting next to him. "You know that you should be resting. Naofumi-sama and you haven't rested long enough."
"Yea, I know. Somebody's gotta keep watch."
"Not the two of you at the same time!" She exclaimed. "The whole point is for one to keep guard while everyone rested."
"I know, I know. Don't hafta be so harsh 'bout it." As he said this, he took the chance to look at the sun setting from where they are. Raphtalia looked as well, enjoying the moment with her friend before finally having the chance to ask:
"Are you not sleeping because of the nightmares you've been having?"
"...so ya noticed." He scratched the back of his head when saying this, not denying what the raccoon girl was saying. This caused her to worry since she already suspected something's off and to have Garfiel confirm it in such an oddly calm manner raises concerns. "Just some bad nightmares fer now. Once everythin's died down, I'll be able t'sleep better."
"Then tell me, what are the nightmares you are having?"
"..."
Garfiel was silent for a moment, not really wanting to go into detail about the nightmares he's been having. He tried to think of how he can change the conversion however he knows that she wouldn't be fooled by that.
"*Sigh* Just dealin' with an enemy from th'past."
"What did they do to be your enemy?" Raphtalia was curious about this, wondering what kind of threats did Garfiel Tinsel dealt with before joining Naofumi's party. The demi human boy took a moment before turning towards her in order to answer her question.
"Th'one invidin' my dreams was an assassin, someone th't wanted t'kill my big sis 'n th'girl she was trainin' t'be a maid. Cap'n knew 'bout it n'was able t'save them...though he needed t'knock some sense into me t'finally help."
"Wait, why did this Captain of yours need to knock some sense into you? Did you not care about your sister?"
"I cared for her!" Garfiel exclaimed before taking a second to calm himself down. "Sorry. Just don't want ya t'misunderstand what happened."
Raphtalia nodded at what he said, taking this chance to listen more on Garfiel's story.
"It's a lot t'tell in regards t'not wantin' t'help big sis but th't's fer another time. Th'assassin th't the cap'n needed help facin' against was an annoyin' one. She constantly healed from her wounds within seconds, making it a pain to eliminate her in a few fatal hits."
"I can imagine this assassin being a hard opponent to beat." As she said this, she pictured herself in Garfiel's shoes. To deal with someone who can instantly heal after taking wounds that are fatal can be problematic. This made her think,
'To face such an opponent, what else did you have to deal with?'
Garfiel took a breath before continuing:
"Th's woman was th'toughest opponent my amazin' self had handled since leaving th'Sanctuary. Despite th't annoyin' ability, I was able to beat her by throwing a large Wagpig at her."
"A wagpig?" She tilted her head as she asked this.
"It's th'name 'f a mabeast I used t'kill th't assassin permanently."
"How did you use the mabeast to kill the assassin?"
"Tossed th't giant mabeast towards th'assassin. Squashed her t'death."
"I see..." Raphtalia couldn't help but think just how much Garfiel had gone through before meeting up with them. "That must've been quite the rough battle."
"Yea, though it showed how far my amazin' self needs t'get in order t'become th'strongest."
"You mentioned that this assassin is in your nightmares, correct?" As she asked this, he responded with a simple nod. She took a moment before continuing to speak, "What does this assassin do in your nightmares?"
"She...mainly taunts, sometimes kills my friends. Sometimes she gets th'better 'f me and nearly gets me right before waking up. She's been a nuisance ever since th't day."
She took a moment to process what the demi human boy had said. Once she's processed everything, she has a thought on why he's having nightmares.
"Do you regret killing the assassin?"
Garfiel was silent for a second since he wasn't really thinking about Elsa in such a long time. It had been months since he's fought her and after the fact, he had been focused on helping his captain and his attempts to get closer to Emilia.
Then there's the fact that he ended up in this world and met Naofumi, Raphtalia, Filo, and others. Now that he's thinking about Elsa, he doesn't feel anything for her.
These thoughts shifted towards the knights he brutally harmed, feeling guilt that he took it that far.
He could've pummeled them for trying to kill Melty but not leave them in a state that's almost inhuman. That and having lost control, a mistake that even Naofumi made.
"I think I care more 'bout losin' it t'those knights. I don't regret harmin' them, but th'way I handled th'situation is what's botherin' me."
"I will admit, you took things a bit too far however it's not like we don't understand your intentions. I believe even Naofumi-sama would've done the same if not outright kill them if he was capable of doing it. I even wanted to harm them, but we must keep our emotions in check. We represent Naofumi-sama, the Shield Hero. We don't want people thinking that we are nothing more than monsters."
"..."
Garfiel remained silent for a moment before getting up, noticing that it's about to get dark.
"We should start headin' back."
"Agreed."
Just as she got up after speaking only one word, the two demi humans turned towards the mansion and prepared to head over. Right before entering the mansion, she placed her hand onto his left arm while telling him,
"You aren't alone, Garf. You are pretty stubborn and headstrong, but you can always rely on us too."
"Thanks." The demi human boy said with a smile before the two went inside.
Reichnott takes Naofumi, Melty, and the others to a specific room where they will be safe for the night. Garfiel had volunteered to be on first watch only for Raphtalia to convince him to take this chance to rest.
The demi human boy paused for a moment before nodding, knowing full well that Raphtalia won't stop nagging him until he goes and rests up. As he goes to bed for the night, his mind starts drifting for a bit before arriving at the mansion once again.
As he was there, the dream plays out like normal with him investigating to see where everyone in the mansion is before running into her again.
"Elsa."
"Garfiel."
The two stared at each other for a moment, assessing their options before a fight broke out.
Usually after ten seconds, Elsa pulls out her two knives to begin their feud once again though this time she does something differently.
"Did you enjoy it?"
"Hm?"
"Killing those men? Did you enjoy the bloodshed?"
"Th'fuck 'r ya talkin' 'bout, ya bit—?!"
Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly saw that their surroundings were no longer the hallway he usually faces the Bowel Hunter but instead the outside area where the knights tried to kill Melty.
He could see that they were all bloodied up from his bruises but he also noticed that their bowels were cut up.
"What th'fuck?! I didn't do th's shit!"
"You may not have, but we both know you want to." She whispered into his ear, catching him off guard since he didn't see her appear right behind him. He jumped forward to gain some distance from the Bowel Hunter before shouting:
"Yer just fuckin' insane!"
Elsa smiled sinisterly as she began to pull out her knives before beginning their fight though as she was swiftly moving in, Garfiel was suddenly awakened.
"...huh?" Garfiel was at first disoriented for a moment before noticing Naofumi and Melty right next to his bed. "...what's goin' on? Somethin' happened?"
"We were just worried about you." Melty responded, having noticed that he was having a nightmare.
"You were muttering something while moving all around, as if you were about to be killed." Naofumi said in a serious tone. Garfiel paused for a moment before just scratching the back of his head.
"...Sorry fer worryin' ya." He said before getting up from the bed. "Guess I'll be on lookout."
As he was about to get up, he noticed Naofumi's right hand stop him by being right in front of him.
"Rest. It's still too early for you to get up."
"...ya sure? I can take lookout fer now—"
"Rest."
Naofumi sharply cut off Garfiel, not wanting this boy to find some excuse to not rest. The demi human boy remained silent for a second before just nodding and returning to sleep.
Though as he begins to drift into his dreams, he is suddenly awakened again a couple of hours later.
He noticed that everyone was asleep except for Naofumi, who was looking outside.
He slowly got up as he prepared to take over as the next one to be on lookout only for Naofumi to say:
"You should take this chance to rest up. Once we leave in the next few hours, we will be on guard constantly."
"It's fine." Garfiel commented as he got back up. "I've slept enough. Yer th'one who hasn't been restin'."
"..." Naofumi didn't respond to what Garfiel had said, continuing to look outside. Though he did turn around once he heard the demi human boy attempting to leave the room.
"Where are you going?"
"Just gonna grab some food. Be right back."
"Hold it!" Before the Shield Hero could do something, Garfiel had swiftly left the room in order to avoid sleeping. Naofumi was annoyed by this.
"That moron!" He turned towards the window as he noticed the wagon, having noticed someone enter the mansion a few minutes ago.
While Naofumi went to wake everyone up, Garfiel calmly walked as he felt lucky that he didn't return to the same nightmare when he slept a second time, yet he doesn't like that he can't just sleep peacefully.
'Damn th't crazy bitch.'
He can't help but blame the Bowel Hunter for making it hard for him to sleep. He stretched his arms while walking towards the first floor.
Once arriving at the first floor, he could hear Reichnott voice speaking with someone else.
'Hm. I wonder what's th't all 'bout.'
As Garfiel thought this, he started to walk towards the direction of Reichnett's voice.
As he was closing in, he started to notice that the other voice speaking with the nobleman sounded...like a douchebag.
'Who th'hell's speakin' with th'nobleman?'
As he was closing in onto the door, he overheard Reichnott's conversation with the kind nobleman saying:
"I can assure you, I haven't seen him or the Shield Hero."
"Right, as if someone like you wouldn't help the Shield Hero, let alone a terrorist demi human."
As this arrogant man was saying this, he turned towards a few knights right behind him.
"Arrest Van Reichnott for treason."
'Th'fuck?!' Garfiel was completely caught off guard by this and prepared to jump in to help only for someone to grab his arm.
"Don't." Garfiel turned to see one of the maids right behind him. "You can't be seen. You and the Shield Hero need to get out of here."
"What exactly's goin' on?"
"A nobleman from the next town over marched in here and accused Sir Reichnett of hiding you and the Shield Hero."
"Th'hell. He's gonna be in trouble."
"No, wait!"
"Look, I can't let an innocent man get in trouble fer us." Right before he goes into the kitchen where Reichnott is being arrested, he says one more thing to the maid. "Let th'others know what's goin' on."
"Stop!"
The maid tried to stop Garfiel from making a foolish choice yet the demi human boy didn't hesitate to open the door.
His first thought right before the door had fully opened was to knock everyone out to get Reichnott to safety...yet he remembered what happened the last time he went off on knights.
This reminder made him take another approach to try and help Reichnott.
"Stop right there!" Garfiel shouted as he entered the kitchen, grabbing everyone's attention.
The room went silent as the knights and the two noblemen were looking at him.
"Who the hell are you?"
"I'm th'one yer lookin' fer. Now let th's man go."
The nobleman looked at the knights and just nodded at them, signaling to capture the demi human boy. As the knights approached him, they began to tie his arms behind his back. While this was happening, the nobleman questioned him:
"If you are who you say, then where's the princess? Where's that scoundrel devil of the shield?"
"Yer never gonna find them!"
"Is that so?" The nobleman smiled when asking this, having an idea on how to acquire this information. He turned towards the knights to tell them, "Take this arrogant scum away. Have a few search for the others. I know they are here somewhere."
As a couple of knights began to search the mansion, Reichnott looked at Garfiel, confused on why he would sell himself out. The nobleman turned towards the knights holding onto Garfiel and Reichnott to tell them:
"Take these two away. We will interrogate them."
"Eh?! I told ya t'let him go!"
"Hmph. Why should I listen to a lowlife scum like you?"
Garfiel didn't take this well and was about to break free only for the nobleman to pull out a sword and point it directly towards Reichnott's neck.
"Now Now you stupid mutt, do anything out of line and he will pay the price."
"Tsk."
Garfiel gave a death glare at this nobleman, wishing he punched him first before being captured.
As he calmed himself, the knights took him and Reichnott outside and into the nobleman's wagon.
As the two were being guarded by the knights with mainly the ones guarding the nobleman having their weapons ready to kill him, Reichnott took this opportunity to ask in a quiet tone:
"Why didn't you run?"
Garfiel turned towards Reichnott for a second, having been able to hear the nobleman's question.
"Was trynna help but there's also th'punishment fer th't incident."
As he said this, he and Reichnott were put into the wagon all the while Naofumi observed from a distance.
"What the hell did you do now?"