"Naofumi!" I shout, as he starts to leave again, and I rush to the stairs. In my hurry, my side suddenly seizes up, and I nearly tumble, but the Shield Hero proves to be a fast catch, and almost leaps up the stairs, grabbing me, and helping me down them to the bottom.
"Dude, slow down a bit, we can't have one of the Heroes getting hurt…more than you already are I mean," he tells me as we reach the bottom stair, and I nod in response, holding myself against the banister. Opening my mouth to say something, he holds up his hand, motioning me to silence, as he takes a deep breath.
"Listen I…I want you to know, I thought about what you said in the restaurant, the one just before the Wave," he began, obviously searching for the words, stumbling a little on them, but I just looked at him, not interrupting.
"I…I don't think I was wrong, you should have thought through what you did more. Ren too. We're Heroes, even if I admit I'm not always the one I'd like to be," he added, the last glancing at the big doors out into town…probably towards Raphtalia and Filo honestly.
"Still, you two were Heroes, and saved people. We should be mindful of the consequences of our actions, but you both did what you did to protect people, and I really don't have the right to say otherwise just because something unintended came from it," he said simply, and then bowed his head.
"I'm sorry," he finished simply, and I took a moment to take that in. I'd not forgotten about our confrontation that day before this last Wave, but I hadn't been thinking about that when I rushed after him, and hearing him say that, unprompted, seemed like it demanded a response from me, so I tried to stand up as tall as I could…it was still a head taller than him, but not as tall as I normally was.
"I'm sorry too. I was harsh, and didn't take the time to explain myself, which I should have done, regardless of what I felt. I've heard what you've done, and as much as I want to, I can't judge you for taking money, since you've been earning those rewards," I tell him, putting my hand on his shoulder and getting him to look up at me. I then, taking a moment to (Sense) and use (Void Gaze) to see that no one was within earshot.
"I also don't think a certain princess' word carries the weight it did on our third day here, when she claimed a particular event happened," I said, not in a whisper, but not quite loudly. That, after a moment, caused Naofumi to stand up straight, and I could feel, through my hand on his shoulder, his whole body suddenly tense up.
"You…" he let that trail off, as he tried to process what I said.
"I can't prove it, obviously, as that sort of crime is hard to prove or disprove save if there's evidence of you simply not being there. However, your actions and hers speak ill of one of you, and it's not the one that it should be if her words were true," I said, trying to be surreptitious, just in case anyone was listening in despite what my skill said.
"The others, do they?" he asked, and at that, I pulled back, and then seemed to consider it, even though I knew the answer.
"I think Ren is starting to see that the royals here are no friends to us, despite their claims. That whole PvP match they set up was proof enough of that," I said, and he grit his teeth a little at the reminder of having a victory stolen from him by Myne's interference in his duel.
"Beyond that, Motoyasu is…to put it bluntly he's wrapped around her pinkie, so I doubt he'd see his way through to accusing her of lying, but I wanted you to know, you're not alone, Shield Hero, and we will stand with you, if it comes down to it," I told him, and his expression softened, as I nodded, a smile on my lips, turning a bit sour as I turned around, trying to be all dramatic, but having to limp up the stairs, cursing my low stats.
He, luckily, let me limp away, turning and moving towards the keep's doors, as I made my way back down the hall, getting to the throne room just as Motoyasu and Ren came out, holding two rather large bags of coins. Not too much this time, just about one-thousand silver apiece this time, which had the Spear Hero tell me he was pretty sure the King was going to give me like, ten times that much for driving off Glass.
Going into the throne room, the King, who was discussing something with a man in a robe I took to be some kind of councilor or other official, he rose up. A few platitudes later, and he invited me to a private chamber, the King rising from his throne, and he, along with some guards, guiding me down the corridor, one helpful man providing a shoulder to lean on as we made our way to a smaller room with a table, and a map all laid out on it.
Sitting down, quite gratefully, the King chuckled a little, and then waved off his guards, telling them he felt safe enough with me, and our words were not for ears beyond this room. The man with the fanciest hat, whom I could only assume was the second in command of the Royal Guard after the captain, and had a level only a bit south of my own, nodded, and proceeded out of the door, closing it, as the King leaned forward, and crossed his fingers.
"Now, then, LORD Bowman, I believe we have some things to discuss," as he motioned towards the map, which had a few nice new markings on it, right where Sanctuary had been built.
"I suppose we do, your Highness," I agreed, as he nodded, and then leaned down to some kind of cabinet built into the bottom of the table at his seat. From there, he pulled out several forms, looking for all the world like contracts from my world, with nice even lettering, none of the flourishes that you would expect. My translation ability helpfully sorted through most of the legal stuff, giving me numbers and ratios as I looked it over.
"I've had my people looking over records of trade within the valley, to determine what the appropriate taxes are for such each season, and I believe they've been fair in their assessment, though if you want to send them to your…allies within the Guild before signing, I can fully understand," he said, and I was actually rather shocked with how civil he was being, as I used the calculator to go over the costs, and found it was in fact, quite a reasonable sum of money he was asking for per season.
"I see. Honestly, as it hasn't come up yet, might I ask how long a season is within this world, and how many in a year?" I questioned, and he nodded, with their being the typical four seasons, though they also detonated the solstices as particularly important dates as the monsters were most active then, with him advising me on the best time to 'tighten' my security beforehand.
"I must admit, you're being far less hostile about this then I thought you'd be," I said, as a maid dropped off a cup of the not-coffee I had enjoyed, with him taking a small snifter of wine for himself from the same tray, before she left us.
"I will admit, when I'd heard of you allowing those ani…those demi-humans and beastmen into active service as Adventurers, I was most put out with it. I know how they can be, I've seen the depravity of their kind, in war and in supposed peace," he said, slowly sloshing the wine about before taking a small sip of it.
"But…I cannot deny what you have done. More than five-hundred years that monster has sat in a valley, unmoved by those with heroic ambitions, or entire armies. Yet, thanks to you, three beastmen of all things, with the assistance of a demi-human, and a single young human woman, were able to slay it. I will not overlook accomplishments like that, simply because I find the people behind them distasteful," he said simply.
"More than that, you've saved people, people my pride and foolishness put in harm's way. A lifetime ago I would have gone there myself to free them, yes even the demi-humans, from such awfulness. But this current crisis sees many things that I would rather not allow brought forward, and I have to ignore them," he continued, and I looked at him, downing the last of my cup before clapping it onto the table.
"If I may be so bold, Your Highness, I would ask this. You obviously have a history with the Demi-Humans, I've read some of that, of the war and death that stands between this nation and that of Siltvelt, that you wielded a magic staff against them, and slew their King. Why did that not slack your thirst for their blood? What crime was committed against you that was not recorded, that drives this animosity?" I asked, trying to make it sound poetic, trying to sound…heroic, and it seemed to work, as the King, staring into his cup, swirled it around, before downing the whole thing in a few swallows, and then staring at me.
"My dear sister, a girl born without sight, was slain by one of them. An innocent, a bystander at best, a helpless person at worst. They had no reason to slay her. They knew nothing of her blood or mine, and yet blood was all I found of her. Those animals took her body, probably ate it. I will never forgive them for that. They will never know anything by hate from myself," he said, and I could see his shoulders shaking with a rage that I think befitted such a declaration.
"I cannot bring myself to see them as people, and with the war and the prisoners left after, prisoners we could not return because Siltvelt had none of ours, or so they claimed, to trade, I convinced my wife to turn to the Slave Seal to deal with them. I do not regret that. Too many people died in the war for our nation to have recovered so swiftly without their labor," he continued, rising and ringing a bell along the wall, causing the maid to return within seconds, another cup for us both, she saw his stern expression and nodded, obviously something passing between them as she took the empties and left us once more.
"After that, the ones living in Melromarc were allowed to live. I offered them no aid, but I did not knock them down either. They were allowed to keep to the Shield, their patron Hero, and his icons, despite the church wanting to crack down. I did not force the Slave Seal on them, but if they fell on hard times, sometimes a village would sell their young into service to make ends meet. I do, occasionally, regret that, but I cannot help every village, and thus, if this is what they must do, then it is their lot," he said, taking a swallow of his drink.
"I see," I said, as he gently set his cup down, and then we spent what felt like hours simply staring at each other. It was…interesting, to have such a frank discussion with him, to see where his pain lay, and why his heart was so hard. I had to admit, to myself if not to him, that I wasn't sure I could forgive him for propagating the cycle of revenge this far. More victims had been made, in the name of a lost loved one, then could be counted.
I was not about to voice such, however. This was a man who bared his pain to me, and I was not going to sully that just now by pulling at the heart of it. For now, I simply sat there with him in silence. He looked down at the map at last, and our words turned back to taxes and such. He made certain I was aware that Beastman and Demi-Human adventurers were going to reflect on Sanctuary itself, and if any got out of line, it would be the city that would pay restitution.
That was…acceptable, honestly. Now that I knew where he was coming from, it must hurt, a lot, to have such people operating in his nation. Still, he did not chide me for it again, and we began to go over specifics on how taxation would be spent locally, where roads leading into Sanctuary were my responsibility, and what the Kingdom would recommend for faster travel, as well as a few road sizes that had been suggested by engineers.
We were deep into the minutia when the door suddenly opened wide, and a pair of women…one quite a bit younger than the other, stormed into the room. The first, the red head, was Myne, dressed not in her armor, but in a far more flattering affair, for reasons that I could only guess at. The second, the younger, was dressed in blue with hair to match, and she had an angry expression on her face, while Myne's looked pained.
"Father, I demand to speak with you about the disrespect you have shown the Shield Hero," says the blue one, introducing her, to me thanks to the power of (Insight), as Second Princess, and Heiress to the Kingdom of Melromarc, Melty.