Chapter 19

My ears weren't as sharp as Usa's so I spotted the crowd before I started to hear anything past confused noises. Standing on the back of an open topped wagon were Myne and Motoyasu. Around the cart were his party members, and on the front (being taken out of the harness) was a Knight Dragon.

"See that Tetsu?" I leaned forward a little, my obsidian and silver/gold edged scaled mount turning her head just enough to look at me with one eye, "That's what I thought you were. But you're much more impressive."

I scratched my fingertips along the bony crest she was growing in on the back of her head, and she started to prance a little like a proud horse at the praise. Along with my party, many of the villagers nearby had been gathering around the makeshift podium as well.

"-for his glorious victories in the last wave of destruction, the King of these lands has granted this man, Motoyasu Kitamura, governorship over these territories." Myne declared, reading from a fancy looking parchment.

"Sir?" Raphtalia started, "You already laughed like that last night. Please don't make it a bad habit?"

"-that I! The Spear Hero! Am now in cont-" Motoyasu paused what was no doubt going to be an attempt at a moving and dramatic speech, and spotted me, all his worked up showmanship seeming to drain away. Like the colour from his face.

The Old Hunter took that moment to interrupt, "This must be a mistake. I'm the governor here."

Around him, the villagers were starting to nod in agreement. It was obvious why, I mean, official letter or not, sudden changes made people upset.

Of course, Myne didn't like this at all, and as my party and I stopped at the edge of the crowd, she replied with an acidic, "What are you implying? Are you going to disobey an order from your King?"

"It seems strange, suddenly giving-"

"Silence!" She snapped back, looking to Motoyasu, seeing that he was frozen in place, then following his gaze to me, who was giving them both my very best 'you're nose is exactly where I want it' looks. "Oh! It's the Shield Hero! What are you doing here?"

"Helping with the rebuilding, earning a war chest, keeping the people safe from monsters." I replied, my smile, and my tone, dropping to just above a growl.

"Always a step behind! That's the Shield for you!" She laughed, "Well, it doesn't matter! Motoyasu owns this village now, and criminals aren't welcome on his land! Not to mention your party of freaks."

"And what will your first act as new governor be, Motoyasu?" I asked, "I'm kind of curious."

I was a little surprised at just how badly I was affecting him. It was obvious as my ears who was really running the show, but when I asked him, he acted like I was about to steal his lunch money. I could see all the signs of 'working up' the courage to speak back to me. Gripping the spear tightly, taking a deep breath, clenching his jaw, trying to get rid of a sudden case of dry mouth... I'd put the fear into him.

But I was patient. So was the crowd. They were curious too. "Well... To gain sufficient funding for rebuilding, we will impose a toll of 50 silver fee for entering, and a 50 silver fee for leaving the village."

This of course got everyone in the crowd angry. Considering the average cost of living, if you didn't grow or hunt your own food, was about 20 bronze a day. I was paying four silver a day to stay at the inn with the others. A tax like this was a death sentence for the village.

Motoyasu looked suddenly reluctant, as if he just realized how stupid his words sounded. Of course, Myne attempted to control the crowd, "Does anyone take issue with the Edict?"

"We won't be able to eat!" One person called out, "We're already recovering! We don't need to pay more!" Said another. I just sat on Tetsu's back, looking smug at the pair of them up on the wagon.

"It does sound a bit much..." Motoyasu started to say to Myne.

Myne actually glared at me when Motoyasu talked back to her, but almost as soon as she did, she regained control of her expression and leaned a little towards the Spear Hero, all smiles and lies. "We must persevere in the face of pain, or the village will never recover." She said, turning to face the Old Hunter (and apparently the governor, I had no idea until now!) "The previous governor is dismissed, by authority of the Crown."

"How dare you!" He replied, the kindly old face twisting in anger.

"Yeah! That's not fair!"

"We don't need you!"

"What can you even do for us?!"

"Sir..." Usa said, tugging my pant leg to get my attention.

I looked down at him, then in the direction of where he was looking. From my perch on Tetsu's back, I spotted a small group of knights. Armed, armoured, and all riding sleek Knight Dragons. Of course, as soon as the crowd started to get out of control, Myne replied with the threat of force.

"Now now! If you revolt against the Crown, a lesson may be in order." She looked meaningfully over the crowd, and the knights started to move forward.

So I gave Tetsu a pat, and was about to give her a command, but something weird happened. There was a subtle tingle along my tail, a clear sign of magic, but I had no idea where it was coming from.

Until a small group of five black clad... I didn't want to call them ninja. But they had masks, wore all black, and used some kind of magic to slip through the crowd, past me, past Usa, past Motoyasu's party, and just... appeared in front of Myne and the Spear Hero, kneeling as if addressing royalty.

"I trust you know who we are, Lady Malty?" One of them asked, "We have brought a message for you."

Myne? Malty? Seems I wasn't the only one travelling with a bit of a disguise, seemed shocked they were there, and clearly knew what, if not who, they were. "Who are you?!"

"We have no names, but you know who we work for." Came the reply. The one speaking stood up, handed Myne a bright white bit of rolled up paper, then knelt down again.

Angrily, she unrolled the paper, looked at it, and started to go red with anger. The hell? That certainly wouldn't be word from the King... This had his idiocy all over it. I facepalmed.

"Sir?" Raphtalia asked, "Is something wrong?"

"There's only one other person in the kingdom who could counter an edict from the King. And that would be the Queen. But to do that, this wouldn't be a Monarchy, but a Matriarchy." I said from behind my palm. I felt a little stupid for not asking if there even was a Queen, but in my defence, the King was being a right bastard and keeping me too busy to think about it.

"Um, yes, Melromarc has always been a Matriarchy." Usa said, with Clive nodding in agreement.

The crowd was oblivious to my personal revelation on the matter, and instead was listening to Myne as she started to fume again, "This will be a battle!" She pointed a finger at me suddenly, "You must race our dragons to determine the next governor! If you refuse, we won't relinquish control!"

Tetsu made a surprised "Gr?" looking left, then right, then pointing at her face with one of her hand-like claws, "Gr?"

Everyone in the village looked at me hopefully, but then looked to Tetsu. She was a strong looking dragon, larger than the other Knight Dragons in sight, but she didn't look like much of a runner. Her front legs were heavier, her body thicker.

But, that was just fine. "You want me, to race one other dragon of your choosing?" I made sure to catch the eye of the lead 'ninja'. "To decide who gets to control this village?"

Myne looked at me with a sneer, obviously coming to the same conclusion as I had about Tetsu's chances against a lighter dragon. "That's right."

"You ALL heard that?!" I asked the crowd, "One dragon each. No replacements!"

"Lady Malty, the terms have been heard." The Ninja said. Oh, I liked this one. He? She? Caught on to my intention instantly.

"Three laps around the village!" Myne nodded, "Make yourselves useful and clear a track!" She ordered the people. "Motoyasu..." She turned on the charm, leaning towards the reluctant looking Hero, "I know father gave you the best of our stables."

He looked at her, put on a brave smile, and nodded.


"Sir... I know Tetsu is strong." Raphtalia started, making sure to give Tetsu's snoot a rub. "But..."

I got off Tetsu, and started to give the dragon some attention as well, "What was the first thing I taught you guys about working with Tetsu and Kunshu?" I couldn't help myself, and put my hand under the dragon's chin, and got her to push the top of her head into my chest so I could give her entire head a hug while scrubbing my fingers over those hard to scratch places.

"Ah, pack order?" Usa spoke up, looking to his lame arm and Kunshu's head as she clung to his back to watch over his weak side. "We didn't need to teach Kunshu..." He said reaching up and applying gentle hand swishes over the Bee's antenna.

"Bees have that built in from birth. But with Tetsu, we had to enforce a little discipline." I replied, "But you learned super fast and have been an amazing dragon." I praised her, the dragon's head trying not to push me over, but also to lean into me more to encourage more scratching. "I kinda feel bad about the people setting up the race track."

"Gr, click?"

I turned to Clive, "If someone twice your size told you not to do something, how would you feel?"


Tetsu and I tromped over to the starting line where Motoyasu was already waiting. To be fair, the dragon he was riding was very nice looking. Sleek, strong hind legs, little T-rex arms, nice colours... A prize in any dragon stable I was sure.

Where as Tetsu was big, dark scaled, with hints of bone starting to grow in places. I was biased of course, since her colours were my colours. But she was a fighter, strength and endurance. I had control over her stats because of the Shield, and I was ensuring she would be solid companion, but also a capable tireless worker.

The Maturation adjustment... I was pretty sure that was the reason for her growth and intelligence. But dragons in four out of four worlds I'd been in were already very smart.

"I'm sure I can win this time." Motoyasu said, though his heart wasn't in it.

"That woman is poison." I replied, "King's daughter too?" I wasn't one hundred percent sure, but being called 'Lady' by the (I suspected) Queen's envoy hinted at it.

"She's a fine woman!" He countered, his anger flaring. "And yes, she's the princess."

"Every word from her mouth is for her own good." I said with a sigh, "Does your world not have the same saying?"

"What saying?" He was still angry, but I was playing dirty and evoking 'the bro code' vibes.

"Never stick your dick-"

"The two contestants have arrived!" Someone announced, "Spear Hero! Ready?"

He looked away from me. I could tell he knew what I was about to say too. But he looked at the announcer (one of the knights Myne had brought along) and raised his spear in salute.

"Shield?"

I ignored the slight, and raised my arm.

"Begin!"

I gave Tetsu a little nudge with my heels, and we started forward...

At a casual walk.

Because all the while I'd been talking to Motoyasu, the bigger, meaner, more dominant dragon, had been giving the smaller, lighter domesticated one, the glare.

Even now, as Tetsu stomped forward, her head was turned slightly, just so she could keep one eye on the lesser dragon and keep it cowering.

Motoyasu on the other hand, was wondering why his mount wasn't moving. He tried everything from kicking it with his heels, pulling on the reins, yelling at it...

"I think my dragon is broken!" He yelled, the only motion his mount was making, were little movements with its feet to keep balance so Motoyasu's antics didn't topple them both over. He looked up, "You're chea...t..."

Tetsu and I had stopped, and I was giving Motoyasu the same glare.

Around us, the few seconds of cheering (I mean, this was supposed to be a race after all, entertaining, even if the future of the village was riding on it) had stopped, turned to confused murmurs, then went to silence.

Tetsu and I turned away from the Spear Hero and his mount, and I could hear the two of them unfreeze and fall to the ground behind me.

"The Spear Hero is incapable of racing!" It was the Old Hunter who announced that.

"Shut up! He's obviously using magic or something!" Myne shouted, "Disqualified!"

"Lady Malty, he is doing no such thing." I just barely heard the voice of the Ninja. "He and his dragon have no magic around them. Even the Shield is silent." There was a pause, "His companions have done nothing either."

I was already starting to like this one. I'd have to get their name... you know, after I figured out how they moved without being noticed.

Of course, now that Myne's objection had been quite thoroughly stuffed back in that trash mouth of hers, the villagers started cheering again. So I raised one arm up in victory as Tetsu stood tall on her back legs and roared triumph.


As soon as the cheering had started to simmer down, I caught the sound of Myne continuing her tirade of complaints and excuses on how I couldn't have won, how I cheated, how magic must be involved...

I was more concerned, and curious, about the ninja. I had some questions and didn't want to lose sight of them.

"It's obvious they did something to Motoyasu's dragon! Look! His dragon must have charmed it or something!"

She pointed to the dragon Motoyasu had attempted to race with, and it was... well, no real way to describe it other than 'slinking' behind her. It's belly was so low to the ground even its stubby front arms were helping it move. It was even making little timid chirping noises.

"The Shield Hero's party has no such ability for that kind of magic." The Ninja said.

That made me raise my eyebrow a little, they knew about that? "Are you going to honour your agreement?" I asked, Tetsu stomping forward while my party walked beside us.

"Don't think you've won!" She pointed at me.

"It was a simple question." I replied, the villagers around me and mine also looking up at her, "Are you going to leave peaceably, yes, or no."

I had to calm Tetsu down, leaning forward and rubbing her neck before she started to get any ideas past a low growl.

"Fine!" She turned.

"I'll..." Motoyasu started, trying to look at me with some kind of defiance, "..." Before turning away and following Myne.

"You." I said firmly as the ninja also started to leave.

The one ninja stopped as if I put a hand on her shoulder. Yes, certainly a her. Her cloak didn't hide everything about her profile when she turned to face me. "I have duties to attend."

I felt the sudden urge to stomp forward with Tetsu, and have her bite the lady's ankle, just to hold her in place while I bent her into new and interesting shapes...

But aside from my tail fluffing out in irritation, I didn't let it show on my face. Instead I replied with, "And I've been stolen from seven children, a wife and all my friends to save your world."

Even under the mask, I could tell she might have preferred my first choice in getting her to stop and talk to me. "If you weren't so hard to find, we may have talked earlier." She replied, "But my mistress's orders come first."

In the face of that kind of loyalty, there wasn't much I could really do except resort to torture for answers... "As soon as you can then."

"Agreed." She tapped her knuckles over her heart, turned, and continued to escort the Spear and his party away.

"Sir?" Usa reached up to touch my knee, "What should we do about this?"

The Knight Dragon was still making sad noises just out of reach of Tetsu's tail. "One of Myne's party said it was useless, and they left it behind." Raphtalia said, crouching down as if she were considering on giving the poor thing a pat.

I got off Tetsu, gave her chin a little pull so she'd stop glaring at Myne's retreating back, and motioned to the 'prized' dragon of the King's stables. They hadn't even bothered to take the barding or saddle off it. "Well? What do you say?" I asked.

There was a low chest rattling rumble from deep inside Tetsu.

"No." I put my hand on the far side of Tetsu's jaw and pulled her head around to look at me, "We fight people, hunt animals, and kill monsters." I said, ignoring all the villagers around me as they watched me stand face to face-eating maw of the obsidian scaled dragon. "It isn't fighting back, and it isn't food."

Tetsu started to tense, and while I could have used the Slave Mark to enforce discipline, that would have ruined the trust we'd built up. So far, we'd only used things it understood, things that happened naturally, to show it the rules. Not some magic that it couldn't see or resist. No, the only thing I would use that magic for, is to help them grow.

"If I have to put you on your back, I will. You do not attack the helpless. You do not fight those who submit." I warned.

I was doing my best to ignore the crowd, but I certainly noticed them all backing up to give me space. A Knight Dragon certainly seemed capable in combat, but it was still just a very pointy horse (though horses didn't exist here). Tetsu was half again as massive, and no one wanted to be close if it got angry.

Well, except me. But even in Orario, I was strong in place of others, so I could show them how to do it themselves.

Tetsu backed up a half step, but it was just winding up for a headbutt. Her bony skull rushed towards me, but I slipped to the side, under her jaw and wrapped my arms around her thick neck. She tried to shake me off, swaying her body left, then right, then left again. Her arms swatted at me, but I hopped off the ground, my legs wrapping around one of her upper arms.

On her next attempt to swing me off her, I heaved my body with her momentum, and with a roar, she flopped onto her back. Arms and legs flailing around me, I laid as flat as I could over her chest and neck.

Then I started pinching her throat with my hands while saying 'Gr-nom-nom-nom'.

I had no doubt she could have thrown me off her, if she had taken a half second to realize I was harmless, even from this position. But I only needed to 'gr-nom-nom-nom' twice before she started making sad dragon noises to get me to stop. Dragons were not built to be flat on their backs, and me getting her there was a clear sign of dominance on my part.

And part of showing dominance, was mercy. So I rolled off her chest, tugging one of her arms so she could roll over onto her side.

"Now." I said, putting my hand on the side of her jaw to pin her head to the ground before she could stand up, "What do you say?"

"Gr."

"Not to me. To that one." I pointed to the (still cowering, but still smart enough to move away from Tetsu and I) dragon.

Tetsu and I stood up, and the villagers cheered again while the bigger dragon went to say sorry to the smaller one. I felt a little silly, now that I was covered in dirt and having just provided entertainment in place of the race that never happened.


Things started to calm down, and the Old Hunter, or rather, the town's governor, came up to me. "Shield Hero... no, Kodori. Thank you for that."

"We spent a lot of time and effort to keep this place around." I said, giving Tetsu all kinds of 'I'm sorry I had to beat you up' headpats while she hung her head over my shoulder in apology for needing to be beaten up. "Give the other dragon a good home. I don't think it could stand being around her."

"grrrrrrr."

My party and the Old Hunter laughed nervously. "Its strength will help with the wagon pulling, certainly. I know you were eager to be off, but if you waited a day or two longer we could compensate you for what you've done."

"A tax like that would have ruined this place." I said, "Bad enough people need to work to rebuild, as well as their usual jobs."

"That's very true. It's good you understand. Something occurred to us however, when we were considering how to reward your efforts."

"We?" Raphtalia asked, taking over headpat duty. "Yes yes, but you deserved it. No more misbehaving."

(sad) "gr..."

"Myself, the two lead hunters, the Innkeeper, the Rancher and the leather worker." He replied, "All people you've supported with your medicine, hunted materials, or business."

"Can't carry it all, and excess should be shared." I shrugged, though with the Shield, I could carry it all. "But what did you have in mind?"

"Well, at the rate we are able to gather wood, we should have a wagon to spare. Also, as I was able to keep my authority here, I have the ability to give you this."

He fished around inside his vest, and produced a little strip of polished metal on a string. It was covered in neat letters that had been stamped into the metal, not etched or drawn. Something like this would have taken time. Under the manufactured letters, was an etched signature, recently scratched into the bronze? I was pretty sure it was bronze...

While I considered how it was made (like an anvil head), the Old Hunter told me what it was, "This is a 'Commercial Bill of Passage', a merchant's licence. You have been exceptionally generous to us in our time of need, but..."

"You and your village, aside from a couple people in the Castle-city, have been the only ones who haven't tried to screw me over somehow." I smiled, "I suppose I would make more actual money if I sold stuff for what it was worth in coin, not good will." I considered.

"We have been growing well here, Sir." Usa offered.

I considered that, we still had time before the Wave, we were indeed growing well, and the village could still use the extra hands. I toyed with the merchant's licence in my hand, then put it into my pouch, "Deal. But today, you'll forgive me if I take the rest of the day off." I looked to the others, "You guys can do as you please today, help, rest, train, whatever. Just don't get lost, be back for dinner." I pointed to Tetsu, "Except you."

"Gr..."

"You get to learn how to pull a wagon." I said with an added 'I dare you' stare.

The Old Hunter had to spoil it by adding, "The hunters will feed you well for working with the lumberjacks."

Strong food motivation won over reluctance, and Tetsu was doing a little happy foot stomp, ready to get going. "I'll go with them." Usa said, "To help ward off surprises."

"Gr." Clive raised his hand as well, nodding to Usa.

I looked to Raphtalia, but she shook her head. "I want to work more with the spell book!"

"Very well. Back by dinner then." I said.


I had planned to wander off alone for a little while. Just to calm myself, I headed to the nearest river to have a bath. You know. Away from everything that was bothering me.

But instead of 'alone' I had Kunshu. Well, she wouldn't snitch on me if she saw me naked at least. To be fair, even this close to Riyute or the Castle-city, the riverbank still had monsters, so having her around would maybe let me get clean.


Kunshu was interesting to watch. I mean, past being a humanoid bee that made me think of Delly and one of Jamil's giant bees having a child somehow. She had this weird... mannerism to her. She'd zip off to a flower, very gently poke her chin into it, then zip back to me. Or go kill a monster (Balloons mostly), then zip back to me. Each time she returned, I gave her a little praise, maybe a swish at her antenna.

It was like I was her 'home', and she was either 'working' for me, or 'defending' me. She would only stop this kind of autopilot routine if I called her name and asked her to do something. Even so, she wasn't 'simple minded'. When I paused to gather some medicinal herbs, she knelt with me, took note of what I was doing, and helped me gather them. They weren't like the vines of flowers in the swamp, so this was a 'new skill' she was learning.

"You know." I started saying as she buzzed back to me after killing a Mush, "I wonder how smart you really are. It's a shame your mouth isn't made for speech."

I may have imagined the sad tone to the "Buzz..." of her wings. "click."

"True, Clive can't speak either, and we get along just fine. Don't worry about it." I gave her antenna a little brush with my hand, "We're here. Can you gather some dry wood? I'll set up a little fire pit."


Another thing I noticed about her, as I scrubbed myself in the cold water of the stream, was she had no fear of fire. Not only did she gather wood, she also started a fire. I showed her how, and after a few tries with her not quite proper hands, she had gotten a good spark on the kindling and started a little fire. She even used her wings to fan them, and once that was done, she backed off to a safe distance, and just... curled up into her 'fuzzy ball with wings' form.

"I wonder if you'd be able to learn how to use a spear." I thought out loud as I lay in the water, submerged to my chin, "If I had a dozen of you back home, Demeter and Jamil would be beside themselves with joy... Though too many might cause a problem... Maybe? Hmm..."

A few minutes later I heard Kunshu 'say', "Click! Click-click!" Followed by the sudden heavy thrum of her wings as she started to hover.

"Kunshu, no." I'd been hoping this would happen, "Make no sudden moves, and she won't attack." I said, reaching an arm out for my clothing. Instead of standing, I dragged my pants into the water and gave them a few dunks to clean them. Self repairing, yes. Self cleaning, no.

"You were expecting someone?" It was the voice of the same 'ninja' from Riyute. "Is... oh..."

"She's just sniffing you." I knew what Kunshu was doing, even if I wasn't looking. As unpleasant as it felt, I put my pants on under water, then stood up. "Just brush a hand gently over her antenna."

Still facing away, I looked down at myself just to make sure my 'disguise' hadn't slipped and I was still 'flat chested'. Inspection over, I turned to face the voice, and yes, she was introducing herself to the bee Monarch. Once satisfied, Kunshu stepped back a half pace, then did a little hovering step over to me, one of her feet picking up my shirt, delivering it up, hand over hand, until she held it out for me with the opposite upper arm.

"Thank you." I said, "Yes, I know I look amazing, but please." I smiled at her, as she knelt near the fire, looking up at me.

She turned away from my effeminate yet toned body. Her mask only covered her eyes, not her cheeks. "ahem. I hope you will forgive-"

"No." I said, turning, dunking my shirt in the water a couple times, then standing. "Altcray Melromarc has no excuse for his treatment of me. Malty, or Myne, or whatever she wants to call herself. She also has no excuse for what she's done."

She was silent as I wrung out my shirt, the water clear, but flowing like blood in a slow stream from the fabric.

"If I had some way back home, right this second, I'd take it." I said, putting my shirt on (slowly... teasing her was making it easier to forget how angry I was), "Am I right in assuming you work for the Queen?"

She hadn't said so directly to Myne, but to me she said, "Yes. We are..." She paused, "A secret guard to Her Majesty."

"And where is She?" I took the Shield off my back and took a brush from its inventory, sitting on a stump (that Kunshu had placed by the fire without being asked).

"I..."

At her hesitation, I changed the question. "How about, 'what is she doing'?" My tail was horribly tangled... probably from all the angry puffing out it had been doing recently...

"That I can answer." She nodded, a tiny smile under the mask hiding her eyes, "She has been in talks with Melromarc's neighbours." She hesitated, but I paused my brushing, silently telling her I was expecting more. "The prophecy of the Waves was coming to pass, and she left to negotiate with the other nations. It had been decided that each of the four great powers would summon a Hero, with Melromarc, as a concession to encourage peace, summoning last."

"And then Altcray summoned all four of us. Now she's stuck where ever she is, trying to placate the other three nations, and stop them from burning Melromarc to the ground." The deduction was easy enough to make, and what little of her face I could see told me I was right. "So, now what?"

She considered that, then said, "I, and others, have been given limited orders to try and keep things from falling apart. Things such as what almost happened in Riyute."

"And me being framed for burning down someone's home, then almost getting sold into slavery? Items from my home being stolen and apparently lost by Altcray?" I sighed, brushing my tail some more to settle it back down again.

"The King is a devout follower of the Church of the Three Heroes. They are a cult that branched off from the Church of the Four Heroes. They have dim views of the Shield Hero, as well as that of Demi-Humans. We have also discovered they are actively spreading rumours about you, branding you as a crimina..." She paused, "Sir, you're glowing."

"Yes, because I am very angry." I replied plainly, taking a deep breath to try and calm myself.

Kunshu looked at me, then the kneeling Ninja, then gave my head a well meaning pat. She even brushed one of her not-fingers over my ears, like I did with her antenna.

"I'm going to be very honest with you." I said, tilting my head to show Kunshu I liked what she was doing, even if it wasn't good at it. "I might not be the Hero most of Melromarc wanted, but if something isn't done about Altcray and Malty, I'm going to be the Monster I think they need." I brushed my tail a little more, "The way I arrived here, suggests I can't get back until the Waves are over. And as much as I don't like that, I can handle the task."

I stood, giving up on my tail (only to have Kunshu take the brush from my hand and try and capture my tail for me), "But if something isn't done, if I don't start getting a little support from the people who want their world saved, I'm going to fix things my way. And I will start with your King and that princess." I leaned forward just a little, "Then the Church, a few of the Knights, and everyone I can identify who's wronged me for the crime of being stolen from my world to save yours."

She seemed shocked, "You would do that?"

"Aside from a few people who've taken either pity on me, or I've saved some relative or some such in the Wave by defending Riyute, I haven't been given a reason not to do that. And that isn't including this hatred of Demi-humans I've seen." I started putting on my armour, making sure not to move too much so Kunshu could continue brushing my tail. She'd get extra headpats for it later.

"I cannot offer an excuse for that." She said, "But can you wait a short while? We must follow Her Majesty's orders."

"Can you take a message to her?"

"I plan on returning to her as soon as I leave this clearing."

"Message is as follows. Send me a sign of good faith, or I will fix your kingdom for you. I fight people, I hunt animals, and I kill monsters. End message."

"I understand. I will deliver that to Her Majesty."

"Thank you for your service." I nodded, "I don't know where I'm going, but in a day, maybe two, I am leaving Riyute. I've been given a Merchant's License, and I plan on using it to travel, make money, and gain power to fight the waves."

"May I suggest Lerno, to the East, or Mirso, to the West. The Magistrate of Riyute can show you exactly where they are along the roads." She replied.

The effort, if only a token one, wasn't lost on me, "I'll ask, thank you."

"If I may then?"

"Sooner gone, sooner back."

I didn't see her stand, but with a rustle of fabric, she was suddenly on her feet, and an eye blink later, I was alone with Kunshu. "click?"

"Magic. Really good too." I said, "Reminds me... I should really look into those books. That alchemy book has some stuff in it I want to try..."

"Buzz." Kunshu gave my ears a little swish again, and then she placed the brush on my head, apparently done with my tail.

I put it back in the Shield, stood up, then made a few quick motions with my hands, a bit of the nearby stream leaping out of the flow like a fish, and landing on our little fire. "Let's head back. Speaking of alchemy... I wonder if you make honey like every other Bee I've met. I wonder if this world even knows that honey is just bee vomit?"

Kunshu made no comment, instead putting first one hand, then another, then lifted a leg up, her limbs clinging to my back one by one so she could save herself the walk back. She might have weighed thirty kilograms, so it was kind of like wearing a weird novelty backpack. She did the same thing Sir Skitters did though, keeping her head over my shoulder just enough to see over as I returned to town.


Raphtalia, Kunshu and I spent the rest of the afternoon in our room. I could feel her working with the magic book, the occasional tingle of magic making the fur on my tail act as if static were near it. Kunshu... She just slept next to her, giving Raphtalia an excuse to pat her.

I on the other hand, was pouring over the alchemy book. Some of it, I'd already figured out, or had the Shield provide the recipe for, like 'Nourishing Beverage (but not my variations that made it taste less like wet cardboard). Others however were more... utility based. Weed killer was one, insecticide as well. 'Acidic water' got a raised eyebrow, but I knew how to make that already. Then there was this world's version of 'magical water', but also one called 'soul healing medicine'. Maybe that was for SP?

One however got my attention. Gunpowder. Yup, the names of the ingredients were different, but the ratios were the same for 'black powder'. Of course, if I made two different kinds of 'acidic water', those being nitric acid and sulphuric acid, I could make Gun-cotton...

"Sir... you're doing it again..." Raphtalia sighed.

"Was I?"

"Buzz." Kunshu replied instead. Then to my surprise she made the 'alert' noise, "Click. Click-click!"

A half second later, I heard footsteps running up the stairs, "Sir!" The door was flung open, Usa standing there and looking quite distressed, "Sir! Something strange happened to Tetsu!"

I put a bookmark in the book and stored it in the shield. "What's wrong?" I asked, getting up and following Usa out and back down the stairs. Raphtalia was right behind me, only pausing long enough for Kunshu to cling to her back.

We got a few looks as we dashed out of the Inn, and a few more as we followed Usa towards the loaded lumber wagons. No one was panicking, but I saw more than one confused face among them.

Then something slammed into me. Fairly heavy, very strong, the person (at least, I felt all the arms/legs that should be there) hit me with enough force to knock me off my feet. Reaction kicked in, and after a couple of rolls, a flip, a narrowly missed mouthful of gold and black hair, I found myself on top of someone, my knees pinning their legs, my hands pinning their shoulders and my tail wrapped around another tail.

"Aww... I thought I could surprise you and take over!"

I found myself looking into eyes like mine, but the face of a a young dark skinned girl. Her hair was an alternating pattern of black and gold, and there were thin patches of silver scales highlighting her features. "Wait... Tetsu?"

"Who else would I be?" She replied, her voice young and energetic, "You're not gonna bite me... are you?"

Before I could think of an answer, the world around me darkened as a sheet of cloth was thrown over the both of us. "Gr." Clive said.

"But it's itchy!" Tetsu growled, her teeth perfect triangle points in her mouth, "Do I gotta wear clothes?" A pause, "Um..."

I couldn't help it, I dropped my head into her chest and started laughing. This world was just so... weird.


Notes!

Yes, a few things come to light, even as more questions arise. But that's okay, it's what makes this story so fun.

Poor Motoyasu though... He's been quite thoroughly broken out of the 'this is a game' mentality. Or if he hasn't, well, the game isn't much fun with Kodori around, is it?

Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord!

aKAQg4bnYu for the discord!

And my actual book, Were Too? is on Inkitt.

And! I'm looking into getting some story themed merchandise made. Join the Discord to find out more!