The next day passed with relative calm and peace. Nothing happened. No news, no disasters. Even heading back to the Castle saw nothing that we had to act on, save that Naofumi had finally unlocked his (Fast Travel) skill. It was…unique to say the least. He apparently froze time for himself and his companions, and they literally just 'walked through the frozen moment' needing no food or water. He'd even been able to make it to Cal Mira, and they'd just…stepped out into the ocean and walked atop the frozen waves.
Filo apparently didn't like it, and by the way Raphtalia's ears drooped, it was obviously not a pleasant experience for her either. Naofumi, for his part, admitted it could take them anywhere, so he'd keep it, but at the same time he wouldn't mind hitching a ride with the rest of us if it was all the same to us. None of us objected to it, especially after Motoyasu, wanting to try it out, had them march back to Lute Village, returning via his own (Town Portal) spell only a few minutes later, looking a bit paler, but nothing too bad, though having Rishia help him to his seat. Meanwhile Naofumi was completely unphased.
Ren was the last of us to come back, having spent the previous evening talking with the village head, who was also a priest as it turned out, since the village was so weary from the effects of both the dragon, and its rotting corpse. Mind, he revealed that, apparently, even more work was needed, as some group had come in, and had been slowly chipping away at the woods of the village, driving towards the dragon's former lair.
Why? He still wasn't sure, but they weren't the reputable sort, especially when he revealed the Royal Decree to them of his lordship. Luckily, they were, at best, bandits and toughs, and so he and Welts had been able to deal with them without seriously injuring any of them, and then set about distributing their ill gotten gains to the people in the village, stuff they'd already managed to pull out of the dragon's lair while looking for whatever had their fancy.
He'd helped where he could, killed a few of the local monster threats, and even saved a Demi-Human who'd been moving through the area, offering her a place in the village, and making it known she was under HIS protection when the priest had objected. He would likely need to be reminded that doctrine had changed regarding the treatment of Demi-Humans and Beastmen sometime soon, but otherwise it had settled.
Neither Naofumi's, nor Motoyasu's, own moving in had been so energetic. Naofumi because the village was only just coming back, with the villagers, apparently formerly those locked up by Rabier, returning only recently, and so not having built much. Motoyasu, meanwhile, had expected some pushback, but apparently the village head of Lute was aware that, whatever had happened was Myne's fault, not his, and the fact that he brought the promise of Royal Support probably helped too.
We didn't have much else to discuss. The Queen had sent a messenger to the King of Faubury, and they would hear back sometime that night his response acknowledging the Heroes would be coming to his doorstep. If he said no to us…well we'd show up anyway, but this way at least we'd be able to say we gave him fair warning of our arrival. Not that we expected him to say no to just meeting us, since we hadn't revealed why we wanted to meet him yet. A bit dishonest perhaps, not to spell that out right away, but if it got results…
With that, we all went our own ways again, with me mentioning our new gear would be ready tomorrow, while Ren and Naofumi both said much the same, as Naofumi had ordered a few things, including a new sword for Raphtalia and claws for Filo, from a local blacksmith, and Ren likewise asked for a new cape, saying it was going to have a bonus he'd been looking for thanks to a jewel he'd recovered while clearing his island during the double EXP event.
Motoyasu mentioned he'd be jealous, if his armor weren't already one of a kind, and his partner were in need of such things. Rishia's style, as it turned out, worked best without gear, and while it would have been a boon to her stats, she already had Motoyau's help for dealing with that. As such, they were going to go off to train a bit, and deal with a few monsters in the woods around Lute, some of the things left over from the Second Wave having made nests in them at some point.
We separated back to our own things after the check in, as there wasn't much else to do. Returning to Sanctuary, Lucia, Ray, and I caught back up with the Brothers, finding Strong, was now leading a group of prospective 'Hunters' in learning how best to make use of their new abilities, sparing with them to show them the flaws in their fighting styles, and advising them not to get over reliant on their abilities, as those can only take them so far.
He was delighted to see us, and even asked Ray for a light match, the Paladin easily agreeing, and the pair facing off against each other, their skills evident, even with her using the 'practice' swords made of wood, which eventually broke under the strain of the pair's battle. If either noticed the breaking of said weapons, it was impossible to tell, as Ray tossed them aside, and with a roar, charged the larger lion man, who roared back, and even activated some of those fire themed powers he'd gotten.
Luckily, before either could collide, Lucia raised the Vassal Staff and pulled up a wall of earth between them, the pair seemingly forgetting about each other the moment they lost sight of their opponents. Quick to take advantage of that distraction, we were able to get them to stand down, and Strong even rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment at getting so far out of hand, before helpfully directing us to Fast.
The cheetah was, as it turned out, not currently training, but was coordinating the city's watchmen, a role he'd taken to with aplomb thanks to his holes giving him the ability to look out into the world around him in about a one kilometer area, and speak with people in the same, allowing him to serve as both communication hub, as well as spymaster, who'd already thwarted an attempt to undermine the city by a few groups of noble backed merchants.
I really should have put a stop to the invasions of privacy that represented, but honestly, this world was so much behind on human rights that this was not even in the top ten things that needed fixing, and for the moment, it was far too useful to give up. Biting my tongue, I asked after Shadow once we'd caught up, and as if on cue, the tiger appeared in the 'watchtower' with us, seeming to materialize out of nowhere.
He still didn't speak, but as it turned out, two out of breath people followed behind him, trying to do the same trick as their 'master' but flopping over the moment they appeared. What was shocking was that one of them was a lizard with white scales I'd never seen before, but the other was a human, with bronze skin and black hair. I hadn't thought about it before, but I had kind of assumed the whole ninja training was only going to be for people from the Beastman village.
I didn't voice that, however, and welcomed them both, the lizard woman, introducing herself as Speaker of Shadow…not shadows, just Shadow, as apparently she had some way to know what he was thinking in the same way his brothers did. The other man turned out to be a slave from the village who had selected a class most in line with the ninja arts, and thus had all but begged to be trained, his skills making him Shadow's number two guy at the moment.
There were almost twenty of them now, all with skills and abilities thanks to being able to Level that meant they were already superior to where Shadow had been when he left the village. With their skills, they acted as a kind of reinforcement brigade for the city guard that Fast directed. They had ensured that the roads to Sanctuary stayed clear, and even helped to evacuate Thud recently, when one of the guards had tried to put the city on lockdown to prevent it from failing completely.
That was news to me, and I had to question how quickly it had happened, only to be reminded that most trade to the two northern countries would pass through either Sanctuary or Thud, and it was more than a day more to do the latter than the former. Sure, some would have kept to the old route out of habit, or just to deny a town with Beastmen and Demi-Humans, being run by the Adventurer Guild their business, but that would give way to profitability at the end of the trade lines.
And towns like Thud, which produced nothing, and were just a trade stop died the moment the trade did. It lived only through tariffs on goods that passed through. So I had apparently killed a town with my actions. Thinking back to our altercation in the pretzel place, I actually shook my head, remembering Naofumi being so…obtuse back then, seeing the worst in his fellow Heroes, and not asking us for info on the situation…then again we did the same back, so perhaps it was fair?
It was a conundrum, honestly, thinking about it. Naofumi had indeed been a jerk, both to us, and to others, so when his character was called into question, we'd just taken it as read. But I knew now most of that was just his not really being 'into' this. He wanted to go home. He had a life, and a loving family to get back to, whereas…well I'd never questioned Ren or Motoyasu, but it seemed they were fine with being here, in this place and time, and possibly never going home.
Thoughts rolling around in my head, as Shadow and Fast bid us goodbye, and we proceeded to move towards the forges near the center of town, where people moved in and out with sometimes a bit too much excitement, as they would come out in gleaming armor, or with some shiny weapon, their eyes showing that they were in awe of their gear, which ranged from heavy metal plates, to smoothed leather, to bladed things larger than they were, to small wands that sparked with magical power.
They parted as we entered, bowing their heads to us…to me, as I found Souka hard at work, her Traveling Forge being put to work to upgrade or improve gear, while others worked to produce it in its base form. She smiled at us as she finished up her current product, breathing on it with just a bit of fire to her breath, before finally shattering the rainbow shell holding what turned out to be a necklace, that she passed to a thoroughly impressed apprentice, before coming to us.
She was happy to see us, hugging me tight enough that I had to wonder if I took HP damage, while also chatting a bit with Lucia and Ray. As it turned out, she'd heard what had happened, in brief, from some people in the Guild, so she didn't need to be told a second time, and even waved her hand when Lucia apologized for having the rings and things she'd worked so hard on destroyed like that.
She insisted that was fine, though, even commenting that she'd already gotten to work on a few bits of our stuff, which should be ready by the evening she said with a wink. Then, a voice came up, and she rolled her eyes. Smiling, she turned, told them to hold on a minute, and then thanked us for all the cool things to work on, assuring us she'd make sure our gear was topped up in terms of upgrades, before going back to her Traveling Forge and resuming her efforts.
Little else to do, we proceeded back to our home, and just rested for the rest of the day, watching as the sun drifted above us, before falling behind one of the gorge's walls, casting the whole place into darkness lit by torches, lanterns, and floating magical lights. It was just as the last bit of light left the sky, however, that something changed, and we rose from our seats to go greet a procession, holding a chest with our new gear in the middle of them.
(A/N: Just in case anyone's curious, the four Travel spells are from stuff I enjoyed, just to give them some flavor.
Bard's is Lloyd's Beacon from the Might and Magic franchise. It works by placing down a point, and allowing you to instantly teleport back to it. This gives his the most utility when he's been somewhere, as it allows him to constantly reset the points of travel.
Motoyasu's is Town Portal from the same series, which only works to 'established' cities, though it can technically take you to any of those you're aware of. In the original games this meant a city with a fountain(To differentiate it from non-established cities). Means his works best early game, and has less utility, but is simply easier to use.
Ren's is from a fantasy book(David Eddings), wherein the main lead could 'move' along a road or path instantly, so long as it was a known route. Like with Ren, that became an issue because it could be stopped by moving water, like a river. It provides an in-between the other two, it has great utility, but still some limitations on where it can take you.
Finally, Naofumi's is also from another Eddings book, and seems to 'stop time' for the people involved. They go into a catatonic state and simply walk to where they're going. It's why it affects Filo and Raphtalia in the way it does. They 'feel' the movement in a way that tells them something was wrong, but they can't place their finger on it. Beyond that, it's the most useful of the methods, since it can take you 'instantly' wherever you want to go in complete safety. That being why it has the biggest downside.)