Biggest thanks for Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter and providing feed backs. But this chapter is NOT fully edited for SPAG mistakes
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
P.S. Updated on April 28th with the edited version.
Malty opens the door to her own suite. What a night... fighting the Fourth Wave, getting attacked by another goddess a second time after the Third Wave, and then almost getting assassinated by the same delusional vassal 'hero' a second time. She's exhausted, and wants to get into a hot bath to wash away all the grime, then fall unconscious on top of her bed. But she immediately noticed something wrong inside the room. The air feels too fresh, and not in a good way. She could smell the faint scent of ash, cinder mixed with burnt flesh and foul blood. Remnants of the battle taking place in the resort town while the Fourth Wave raged. Someone, or something had sneaked into her room, likely from a window and didn't bother to shut it back down. A sloppy intruder? Or they intentionally want her to know for some reason?
The star wand takes the form of a sword wand in her hand as she begins to creep around her own hotel room, trying to find the sign of whoever got inside. Were they here to rob the hotel amid all the chaos for wealth, or are they here to target her? Or perhaps they are messengers sent to her by someone, like her old 'friend' Iris? Henchmen number two was killed while fighting the Three Heroes' Church, but that doesn't mean Iris would be short of any messengers. Even if their temporary alliance should be dissolved now that House Amelia has officially become part of Princess Melty's faction. She probably should have backed out immediately, and called the security of Menagerie. But the way the perpetrator leaves such an obvious tell of their entry seems to indicate they were either an amateur who got in over their head, or they want Malty to notice their presence. Before she gets too far, her eyes are suddenly covered from the back. Malty gets startled, almost hopping on her feet. But she still isn't worried. She simply lets out a tired sign. "Cut the crap, Cousin Emi. I know it's you."
A string of chime like giggles come from behind Malty as the hands covering her eyes get released like a pair of unfolded wings. Malty turns around, and sees the black-haired woman standing before her. She is a few years' senior to Malty, and she should look mature with the dress suit that looks half like navy uniform, half resembling what a Faubley gentleman wears to an evening ball. But right now Duchess Emily is smiling like a little girl. "How do you know it's me, Cousin Mal? I didn't even say anything this time!"
"Who else would go through all this trouble just to mess around with me?" Malty points her thumb up over her shoulders at the opened window behind her. "The infiltration is too sloppy compared to how easy you had me. If you were an assassin, you'd have snapped my neck when you had me from behind. If you are a kidnapper, you should have used something to make me fall unconscious."
"Aww... look at you, Cousin Mal. Getting all grown up and serious. The last time I pulled this stunt, you were kicking and screaming for guards like a child. I heard you became a companion to the Shield Hero? He must have been good for you." Cousin Emily opens her arm, lunges forward and pulls Malty into a tight hug. "I missed you so much!"
"Stop that, Cousin Emi! We aren't children anymore, and you can't keep embarrassing me! If you want a hug pillow, go get Melty. She likes your hugs. But yeah, I miss you too." Malty's back tenses up from Emily's sudden embrace. She slowly relaxes and wraps her arms around Emily too. She turns her face slightly wider to look at the man dressed in a similar blue uniform to Emily, wearing a full hooded mask that has clockwork built in. "Hello to you too, Sir Corvo."
Cousin Emily's protector didn't speak, but he did give Malty a nod of acknowledgement. Before Malty has any chance to do anything, she's led over by the bed. Cousin Emily half pushes Malty onto the bed, and carefully opens her cloth and armor to expose her collar. The Duchess of Dunwall pulls off her leather glove, and brushes against Malty's marred skin with her bare fingers. "So, someone from the Three Heroes' Church really did force you into slavery! Those bastards! Tell me who did it, and I'll send Corvo to that motherless swine!"
"Don't make a big deal out of it, Cousin Emi. The other guy got it worse. He got disowned by his family, forced into slavery just like me. And unlike me, his master doesn't care enough to treat him like a freeman." Malty surprises herself at how little care she has towards Fuckboy. Not that she doesn't hold a grudge against the delusional reincarnate for what he did to Naofumi and Raphtalia... but she found herself honestly more concerned at what she witnessed during the Fourth Wave than caring about petty revenge against an arrogant, yet helpless fool. "When did you get here? I didn't see you during the Fourth Wave battle, and I just came back from all the fighting."
"Oh, yeah. That's why you are still technically a slave. Or otherwise you'd be forced to marry Uncle Egbert. Well, at least the Shield Hero is treating you well. He better be, or else I'm sticking Corvo on him too." Emily's voice trails off near the end, she begins to avoid Malty's eye contact much to the ex princess' confusion. "As for why I wasn't here waiting for you... well... That's more complicated and I'm sure you are too tired to hear me explain from the beginning."
"When Lady Emily heard what happened to you and the Shield Hero, she jumped onto the nearest ship to Melromarc. She missed you by a hair's width." Corvo opens his mouth this time, his voice sounds rough, like sandpaper being rubbed together. Malty used to remember his voice being smoother than this when Cousin Emily visited her while they were younger, and it reminds her that much like her own father, the protector of her cousin isn't getting any younger.
"Don't embarrass me in front of Cousin Mal, Corvo! You can go back to playing mute!" Emily Waves her hand dismissively at her bodyguard and personal attendant. The old protector gives a faint bow to the Duchess of Dunwall, turns around and disappears into the suite's bathroom. Malty can hear the sound of running water not too long after. It seems like he's preparing a bath for the two of them. "Anyways... sorry I wasn't there with you when you needed me, Cousin Mal. I know you must be tired, but you want to catch up?"
"You know I always have time for you, Cousin Emi." Malty isn't lying this time. In a lot of ways, Duchess Emily feels more like a sister to her than Melty. For one thing, Emily is older than her, and tends to pamper her a little when she does come to visit Melromarc. And there is no direct political conflict between them with them not competing for the same crown, so Malty always feels more free around her cousin than her own sister. "I should tell you all about what happened between Naofumi, Raphtalia, and myself... I'm sure you'll love the two of them when you get to meet them."
Chapter 17: Sleepless Night before the Conference
Naofumi doesn't know what he expected when they visited the room Itsuki stayed in. Something like a modern hospital, maybe. But they were led straight to the heroes' suite located at the top level of Menagerie Resort. There's not even any strong smell of herb or medicine like the infirmary of that little unnamed forest monastery they stayed in after that ill thought out revolt in the city of Graile. No, it seems like Itsuki was simply put into the hotel room he was assigned in. At least there's a youngish looking woman in a white priestly robe by the side of his bed. The Shield Hero gives a few more looks at the healer woman. Not because her beauty naturally draws everyone's attention to her. She's honestly somewhat plain looking compared to a lot of other women he's seen in this world. But there's a certain look to her soft facial feature, that gives her an almost traditionally eastern look to her. Seeing the three of them enter, she moves away from the side of Itsuki's bed. "Master Bow Hero is slowly, but surely making his way to recovery. Revered heroes. After a good night's rest, he should be able to attend the Hero Conference without any problem tomorrow."
"Thank you. We'll look after Itsuki... and have a few words with him before he goes to sleep." Ren gives a nod to the female priestess who is clearly a few years, if not a full decade older than them. His words are blunt as usual, but the priestess didn't seem to mind. She gives them a bow of respect, and moves to leave the room without a word of complaint or protest.
With no one besides the four of them in the room, Naofumi moves closer to Itsuki's bed with Motoyasu and Ren. Their bow using a companion doesn't look too bad considering he got electrocuted and almost drowned in the hot spring. His eyelids are drooping down, but besides the exhausted look he doesn't look too out of ordinary. The Shield Hero sees a bucket of water on the night stand besides the bed. He grabs the small blanket off Itsuki's forehand, gives it a wash in the bucket and places it back on him. "How are you feeling, Itsuki? You don't have to worry about the Fourth Wave. We won. The other heroes were a big help."
"So I missed the whole thing... damn my lack of DEF rating..." Itsuki's lips move, but it looks unnatural. Half of his face was twitching much faster than the other side. Seemingly noticed Naofumi's staring, Itsuki raises his left hand and points to his right. "Yeah. Half of my body is still numb. So, what happened in this Wave?"
"We fought another goddess. She didn't run us over like the last one, but it wasn't an easy fight either." Ren drags over a few chairs and sets them around Itsuki's bed. Motoyasu instantly falls into the armchair, while Ren sits down on the edge with half of his butt in the air. "Gaelion said she's an earthbound deity. Like his father, or that avatar of Alaya Motoyasu and Naofumi met. I don't know if it's something that the golden knight did in the Third Wave. But I don't think it's a one time thing anymore. We'll probably fight a new god every Wave from now on, or something like that."
"Oh, yeah! At first she was this mountain like spider running all over the place, going all 'I'm going to eat you all!' And then this completely white-skinned, and white-haired young woman looked like something came out of the giant spider's head going around turning people into ashes with her big ass scythe! And when that scary white haired dude punching her face while going through seven pages of 'MUDAMUDA!', she exploded her body and turned into a smaller spider..." Motoyasu began to wildly swing his arms around once again. Naofumi witnessed the whole battle, and even he feels confused by what Motoyasu is talking about.
Naofumi was not the only one who got baffled by Motoyasu's inability to tell a coherent story. Ren cocks his head sideways, and begins to stare to their spear-wielding friend without blinking. Motoyasu apparently noticed Ren gawking at him, after a while, his voice began to slowly fizzle out. Ren finally concludes for all of them. "Motoyasu, you are not going to explain anything to any of us anymore."
"What Motoyasu tried to say was that the goddess we fought against looks like a giant red spider at first. But apparently, she can also assume the form of a white skinned, white haired woman wearing a white dress. She has this ability where she conjures up a red mist of plague that'll rot people into ash, and then..." Naofumi suddenly stops his explanation. He suddenly remembered that he never properly told his fellow hero friends what happened to Malty and himself while they were on the run from the Three Heroes' Church. So he puts his hands up into a stop sign first. "Okay... let me go back a bit so we are all at the same starting point. Everything happened too fast since Lautrec summoned his fucking goddess at the end of the Third Wave. And I never explained to the three of you what happened to Malty and I while we were on the run. Because quite a lot has happened."
"Yes. That would have been helpful." Ren is giving Naofumi the same, almost accusatory look he cast towards Motoyasu a moment ago. Naofumi could see Motoyasu furiously blinking at Ren from the side, almost like he's trying to tell Ren something. After a few moments, Ren seems to finally get Motoyasu's hint and his voice becomes slightly less tense. "I knew you went through a lot with Malty, and the queen didn't exactly give you, or any of us time to recover. But if you have important information about what we are facing, share with us. It's bad enough if we are going to fight a god every Wave from now on, worse if we fight a god without knowing critical information."
"Duly noted." Naofumi doesn't feel happy about the almost chastising tone Ren is taking. But he knew Ren's bluntness comes more from his social awkwardness than arrogance, or malice. And honestly, he could somewhat understand Ren's problem. He's not exactly a social person himself before meeting Malty. "Ren, Motoyasu. You both saw those ash creatures the goddess used against us in this Wave battle. And Itsuki, the goddess we fought this Wave, has some ability where she rots people down into ash, and then she reanimates them from ash like they were some undead creatures. And they reform back even if we destroy them again. This isn't the first time Malty and I encountered these ash creatures. When we were escaping from Gallia, we encountered a small cult using similar magic. Malty thinks they have something to do with this 'Burning Legion' Fitoria and Metatron told us about."
Both Itsuki and Motoyasu turn their gaze towards Ren. It seems like they are used to having their sword-wielding friend make the final decision. Even if Ren is actually their youngest. "Flesh turns into ash after they are... burned? So that means the ash creatures were controlled by the Burning Legion? A bit on the nose and coincidental. But if the goddess we fight really did work for this Burning Legion, and that cultist were using the same creatures it would have made sense. Still... I don't think we'll be able to convince anyone who hasn't already made the decision to support up on such a flimsy argument alone."
"Are you talking about the Hero Conference we'll be attending tomorrow?" Naofumi's question instantly received a nod of acknowledgement from Ren. "But surely it's in all of these world leaders' interest to stop the Burning Legion from, you know? Destroying the world? I mean, don't these social elites have the most to lose because they have more wealth and power than everyone else? And they did dispatch the army to go fight that goddess."
"Naofumi. Those so-called 'world leaders' didn't dispatch the army. They were commanded by Dio, the Gauntlet Hero." All of sudden, Naofumi becomes very familiar with how Motoyasu must have felt a mere moment ago as Ren turns to focus his gaze on himself without blinking. "Those kings and what not... they didn't even want to dispatch any army to go save you and Motoyasu when Malty told them a second group of Wave monsters destroyed all of our ships. And they, especially that old Dumbledore guy, treated us like children who didn't know better. I don't think they'll do much even if someone from the Burning Legion comes from the Wave and declares war on them."
"Ah, right. Politicians. They are only good at telling lies, stealing money and playing office politics." Naofumi fights back the urge to roll his eyes. Honestly... considering what happened back in his own world... he doesn't even know why he expected any better from the politicians of this world. Maybe because he unconsciously romanticized them because they were medieval politicians, and not modern politicians? Regardless, they sound equally awful. "So in the end, we could not rely on anyone but ourselves. Well... maybe some of the other heroes. Not that Sato Tairou guy though. Honestly, I don't even know why he claims to be my biggest fan if he's not listening to a single word I say, and tries to kill my- Malty."
"What's up with that silly, crazy guy anyway?" Motoyasu puts his hands behind his head and leans his chair back, he kicks off his armored boots, and rests his feet on the edge of Itsuki's bed. "He started spouting some nonsense about how we were novel characters, and then started trash talking Malty and wanted to kill her. You think he's crazy? Or if in some other world there really is someone who wrote a story about us?"
"That's what that whole fight is about? That Tairou guy thinks we are in a novel, and you were supposed to be the main character?" Ren's eyebrows instantly raised into his hairline. He lets out a huff of air from both his nose and mouth. Naofumi isn't sure how he thinks about Ren's words. Their youngest seems more surprised, or perhaps more indignant that Naofumi Iwatani, the Shield Hero is supposedly the 'main character' of this whole mess than the fact that a summoned hero genuinely thought the fate of this world is already written by the author of some trashy wish fulfillment story. Then again, it's not like he ever thought himself as the isekai main character either back during their first discussion. "And here I thought we all fucked up pretty badly. To think there's someone who thinks this whole world was written exactly like a book, and he started picking fights with everyone because he was trying to get on your good side."
"Yeah. That's what I wanted to talk to you in private about. Since I don't know what to do with that guy. I mean, I guess he's trying to help me. So I don't feel like being too mean to him. But his 'helping' is making everything worse, and he doesn't listen to a word I try to tell him." Naofumi opens his hands and shrugs his shoulders with exasperation.
Once again, Ren begins to stare at him without blinking. "You tried to strangle him to death."
"That's because he tried to kill Malty, TWICE! And then he started trash talking about her being a b- a bad person who deserved to get married to a known serial rapist and torturer since she's a kid! Seriously, what kind of fucked up people think like that?! How would you feel if someone did this, and said this about... I don't know, Wyndia?!"
"I'd appreciate it if someone explained to me from the beginning." Itsuki's eyes move towards Motoyasu. He gives the lateral an annoyed glare and kicks his feet off the bed. Motoyasu nearly falls over in his chair due to the surprise attack done by Itsuki.
Ren casts a sideways glance at Itsuki first, before facing Naofumi once again. "When we came back from the Wave battle, we saw some people were fighting each other. One of them was that crazy noble woman who wanted to whip Naofumi to death. The other was the Throwing Weapon Hero summoned by Zeltoble and his lackeys. Turns out this 'hero' thinks we are all some isekai novel characters, he was apparently Naofumi's 'biggest fan'. He started picking a fight with that crazy noble woman because of what she did to Naofumi.
Naofumi could feel Itsuki's stare on him without looking at the Bow Hero still lying on the bed. After a while, the Bow Hero finally concludes. "So you are Mr. Incredible, and that crazy guy Syndrome. But he hasn't gone to the villain side yet like the movie, and you are trying to stop this part from happening? That's what got you worked up?"
"Oh, he's a worse fanboy than Syndrome was before he became an evil Bond villain. Syndrome was annoying as a kid fanboy, but Sato actively tried to kill Malty, twice. Trash … trash-talked about all three of you because he thinks all three of you can't change till I apparently beat all of you into submission and turn you into my glorified henchmen... or something like that." Naofumi rolls his eyes as he thinks about the crazy fanboy once again. "Talk about pot calling the kettle black. Not like he's listening to a word I said."
"Maybe you could do the same thing he wants you to do to the three of us?" Motoyasu moves over and picks up a short, soft seat without a back or arms. Is it still called an ottoman in this world if the country doesn't exist? Well... not important. His self-proclaimed rival and friend sets the little seat in front of him, plops himself back onto his chair and rests his feet on the soft seat this time. "You know? Beat him into submission and turn him into your henchman? He can't complain about it if he's the one who suggested it, right?"
"I don't think he is the problem. The country summoned him could be though." Ren crosses his arms in front of chest as his face twists into a deep frown. "He was being an idiot when he started dissing everyone around him. But he isn't summoned from the same country like the four of us. Judging by how these so-called 'world leaders' reacted when Malty and I talked with them, I'm betting on them starting some shit up if we go around beating a hero someone else owned."
"So we are back at square one. Tolerating my psychotic fanboy, and hoping he doesn't do something too ridiculous and fuck everyone over. At least till he goes completely into the deep end, turning into an actual villain, or getting everyone sick and tired of him. Meanwhile, I can't do anything even after he tried to kill Malty twice. And he's probably going to keep the track record." Naofumi's head drops down and he pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. He can feel someone giving his shoulder a few pats, and he's willing to bet it's Motoyasu. "Fuck my life."
"But the reverse should be true. Your fanboy attacked your companion twice without provocation, and his companion tried to assassinate you twice." Ren's index finger suddenly flies up from his left fist. "Why not use your hero's influence to block him politically?"
"Would they even listen though? I'm not exactly on the Queen's well-liked list at the moment." Naofumi shrugs his shoulders as he opens both of his hands. "Not sure if she wants me to actually die. But she certainly won't be fighting for me."
"What about Siltvelt? Aren't you their rightful king? One of their princes became your slave to be your bodyguard." Ren's suggestion does make Naofumi think over his options. Yes... he could probably use Siltvelt to air his grievances against his annoying fanboy. But what price would he pay in exchange? They did imprison the last Shield Hero, and that eventually lead to him losing his mind and became the King of Rape.
"Hey, look on the bright side, Naofumi. A psychotic fanboy is better than a psychotic girl chasing after you. You haven't been stabbed to death by him yet. We'll just have to make sure Malty stays safe from this one crazy guy... and all the crazy gods trying to kill her too." Motoyasu's words didn't make him feel better. Because he is suddenly reminded by the fact that yes, both the goddess summoned by Lautrec, and that spider goddess was specifically targeting Malty. "...Okay... maybe that's the not so bright side."
"That reminded me... I don't know who Lautrec's goddess was. But I think the spider goddess was Kumoko." Naofumi puts his hand down and raises his head up to look through the faces of his fellow heroes. "I didn't think about it when I first arrived on the other island with Motoyasu. Because she is a giant, crimson spider the size of a mountain. But didn't her humanoid body look just like Kumoko when she got her humanoid form? I mean aside from her eyes? She's using a scythe as her weapon too. Her rot ability looks different from Kumoko's rot magic, but aside from controlling the ash of the people she killed, didn't it have a similar effect?"
"Now that you mentioned it... yes. If the spider goddess was Kumoko, it would explain why she gives everyone a hard time even with three veteran heroes fighting with us. She was one-shotting the heroes of her world in her novels." Ren's eyes trail off to the side as he seems to ponder over Naofumi's words. The frown on his face only grows deeper. "And it's really bad news for all of us. It means this Burning Legion we are facing against has the power to beat other isekai novel protagonists. Kumoko wasn't just a hero in her own story - she was a demon lord, and a goddess.
This means if what that annoying fanboy said was true that we are in a novel, and Naofumi is the main hero, we still can't rely on the original plot and assume we would win in the end. Actually, Naofumi. You should ask him if this Burning Legion appeared in the novel he read or not. Even if we don't take everything he said at face value, knowing if the main threat we are facing is 'canonical' or not should still give us some clues to work with."
Naofumi thinks over Ren's suggestion. He's not eager to see his annoying fan anywhere near him, let alone trying to talk to the delusional fuck. But yes, he could see Ren's suggestion yielding fruit. On the one hand, he knows better than taking outside sources wholesale based on inaccurate information his fellow heroes revealed about the games from their worlds. If the Burning Legion is a threat from the novel Sato, Tairou read, then it'll give them some information about this threat even if they can't take it at face value. But if the Burning Legion doesn't appear in the novel based on their journey, it would be a clear indication that any information Tairou revealed to them later is unreliable if his novel doesn't even predict their greatest threat. "Very well... I could take one for the team and try to fish for some information from my number one fan. Motoyasu, I want you to take care of Malty and make sure she's safe while I go talk to Tairou. I don't want him to have another chance to kill her."
"Yeah! I can do that. Katarina and Bertia probably wanted to get in touch with their friends too. But aren't you missing something more important, Naofumi?" Motoyasu edges his own chair closer to Naofumi, and places a hand on the Shield Hero's shoulder. "Malty got attacked twice by this crazy fucker since she got to Cal Mira Island. And she's targeted by another evil goddess again. You should do something nice for her. Make her feel comfortable, safe, and loved."
"We have more important things to worry about - like the survival of this world and everyone in it. I'm sure Malty will understand." Naofumi Waves Motoyasu's suggestion away. Not that he doesn't care about how Malty feels... but right now he's more concerned for the power of the Burning Legion.
Especially after seeing that part of Kumoko's memory. Motoyasu doesn't look convinced as his eyes narrow, mouth puffing out. Both Ren and Itsuki roll their eyes at their most childish, an ironically oldest member. "I'll think about how to make up for Malty later, okay? Right now let's conclude what we learnt from our Wave battle to Itsuki so he doesn't get left out of the loop. But anyways, while we were fighting Kumoko... she conjured up some images behind her. It showed how she's beaten into the ground by the Burning Legion, and was forced to serve them. What's more... The woman who enslaved her is a tanuki demi-human. And she looks just like Raphtalia grown up."
"You mean she looks like Raphtalia, if she grows up badly and looks angry at everyone around her." Motoyasu's attention is successfully diverted from his earlier priority of comforting Malty. He narrows his eyes in a different way, like he's trying to make a scary face to scare a child. "Her eyes are all scrunched up like this, her eyes always point down like everyone is bug underneath her, and she talks like a villain from an anime putting them down and calling them all pathetic and stuff. I doubt she's actually Raphtalia in any way."
"Do you think she's that goddess summoned by your lizardman from the last Wave battle, Naofumi?" Ren's question makes Naofumi look away from Motoyasu. "It fits, doesn't it? She's also a tanuki like Raphtalia, and we never saw what the goddess from the the Third Wave looked like because her face was covered by some kind of a fog. It could have been her all along."
Naofumi thinks over the goddess' demeanor during her brief appearance at the end of the Third Wave. He shakes his head when he thinks about how the tanuki goddess talked with Lautrec. It was a brief exchange, but the goddess did treat Lautrec with a kind of polite respect that sets her apart from the evil Raphtalia lookalike from Kumoko's memory. But the Shield Hero finds himself changing his opinion and nodding his head along when he remembers how Lautrec's fucking goddess acted afterwards when she fought against everyone. She was very dismissive towards everyone who fought against her, and she hurt the Pope of the Three Heroes' Church with the clear intention to kill. Not to mention her almost excessively obsessive intention to kill Malty. It fits the evil Raphtalia look alike's callous attitude.
Then, Naofumi shakes his head once again when he remembers how shocked and ashamed the goddess looked when he accused her of not giving people chances, in spite of how he can't see her face clearly. He... can't imagine that evil-looking Raphtalia having the same look on her. "I don't know. I can't be sure. But... I don't think she's the same one from Kumoko's memory. The goddess looked very regretful when I confronted her about her careless attitude towards Malty and everyone else she hurt. I can't imagine that... that woman fighting for the Burning Legion to look the same."
"Who knows? Maybe she's a Raphtalia from another Medea who was evil... what?" Motoyasu's eyes suddenly begin to dart across the room as the gaze of Naofumi, Ren and Itsuki all focus on him. "I mean, it's possible. Right? We all know we come from different versions of Earth. So it's possible this world has different alternate versions too!"
"Our worlds are very different. All of you said people with super power aren't real, or at least not well known. And Ren comes from a world with very advanced VR technology. I don't know what's the difference between yours and Naofumi, but we know at the very least Japan has different prime ministers." Itsuki manages to let out a snort even with half of his face still twitching. "What makes you think another Raphtalia would have existed even if there's another version of Medea?"
"No... Motoyasu's suggestion actually does have merit. I've been sitting on this thought for a while. But I didn't think it was important till now." Naofumi looks at Ren next, their youngest fellow hero looks thoughtful as his face slowly bobs up and down while his eyes cast downward at the floor. "Most of the time, we understand each other when we make pop culture references. All of you were making fun of me being similar to Kirito from Sword Art Online, and we all reacted the same when Katarina told us that Son Goku was her ancestor. Which means Dragon Ball as a franchise exists in all of our worlds even if the story might be a bit different. Let's try what we did again. On the count of three, who was the creator of Dragon Ball?"
All four of them look at each other as Ren slowly raises his fingers up in place of verbal counting. When the middle finger on his left hand comes up, all four of them speak together. "AKIRA TORIYAMA!"
The four of them fall into stunned silence afterwards. Not even Motoyasu made a sound, or some faint movement with his body. But after a few seconds, the Spear Hero is the first one to break the silence between them. "So we now know Akira Toriyama-sensei is a constant in all of our worlds? THAT'S AWESOME!"
"And you believe Raphtalia is also a constant of any possible different versions of this world, Medea. Even if in another world she might have grown up... bad." Naofumi doesn't know how to feel about his surrogate daughter, who was the definition of a good, well behaving child, could have become what that woman serving the Burning Legion was like from another version of this world. But he does (at least he thinks) manages to catch the main point from Ren's argument.
"She might not be the only one. Think about it." Ren raises both of his hands and taps his index fingers on both sides of his temples. "The goddess summoned by Lautrec targeted Malty. Kumoko also tried to capture Malty. Something about Malty, which we haven't figured out is clearly important for both of them. We already know gods are aware of, and could invade other worlds. Wouldn't it make more sense that they both targeted her because of what might have happened to her, or what she might have done from another world?"
Naofumi doesn't like to entertain the thought of alternate worlds, possibly even the idea of alternate timelines. He barely knows all the important details about the world he is living in. And now Ren throws in the possibility of another Malty from another world, or timelines? Itsuki is faster at expressing his annoyance than Naofumi. "You gotta be kidding me! We all have countless messes about what's happening in front of us. And now you are throwing in the idea that this whole clusterfuck is started because of some alternate dimension crap?! lIf that's what happened, I'd have rather stayed on my Earth. At least things made sense!"
"It doesn't matter if there are other Raphtalia, or Malty running around. We should focus on what's happening in front of us." Motoyasu stands up front his seat (without putting his boots back on, Naofumi likes to point out. At least he's wearing socks so he's not standing around in his bare feet.), and holds his arms out. He is actually acting somewhat of his age at this moment. "The Burning Legion is trying to destroy the world we are in, and kill or enslave everyone we know. Forget what happened, or is happening in other worlds. What they are doing to our world is wrong and we have to stop them!"
Or die trying. That's what Naofumi is thinking of in his own mind. Because he already witnessed what the slaves of the Burning Legion could have done from the Wave battle they just came back from. It took the strongest veteran heroes working together to fight Kumoko to a stand still. Which actually feels about right, considering how powerful she's supposed to be from her own novel. And he nearly died if it wasn't for the medicine given to him by the Whip Hero. He looks over at Ren. With the way his lips move, Naofumi immediately knows their youngest hero thought of the same and was ready to say it out loud. "Ren, just don't. We all had a long day with the ride through the storm, that crazy woman's assassination attempt, and the Wave battle. Let's just go back to our rooms and rest."
Ren's eyes turn to look at Naofumi. His eyes narrow, brows cocking slightly downwards. The Sword Hero clearly didn't like the way Naofumi silenced him, but he didn't fight Naofumi over, or continue to say what he thought of out loud. With a curt nod, he stands up from the chair. "Naofumi's right. We are all tired, and we have another long day ahead of the whole Hero Conference nonsense. We should rest, and make sure we'll be at our A game tomorrow."
"Yes. Now there's no war going on outside my window, I could finally have a good sleep and forget how I got electrocuted by an insane woman. Something has to be done about her." Itsuki didn't try to keep them around for longer. With a few snarky remarks, he Waves them out of his room. At least Motoyasu remembered his stripped-off boots, and he grabbed them before exiting out of Itsuki's room.
Ren didn't say anything more as he turned around and entered into his own suite. He apparently wasn't being courteous, or considerate to Itsuki when he said everyone should rest. Naofumi turns around and looks at Motoyasu. The Spear Hero is currently hopping around on one foot, trying to put his armored boots back on. As the Shield Hero is still mulling over what to say, Motoyasu has already put his foot armor back on, walked over to Naofumi and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. "Okay, let's go."
"I haven't said anything... yet?" Naofumi blinks his eyes a couple of times as he stares blankly back at Motoyasu. Yes, he did want to talk with Motoyasu, or rather, anyone who he doesn't have to hide anything with. But he wasn't sure if his fellow hero is up to more chatting after everything they already went through on this day. Surely, Motoyasu is feeling as tired as he is.
"I thought you looked like you wanted to talk, maybe even take a walk together. Because, you know? If you didn't, you'd have gone to your own room like Ren just did." Motoyasu backs away and puts his hands up above his head. "Or did I read you wrong, and you really did want to go to sleep? Because that's cool too."
"No... I did want to talk with someone. Clearing up my head a little. It feels like more things happened today then what I went through while I was running away from the Three Heroes' Church with Malty. I mean... I guess I want to talk about some of that too." Naofumi knows that he is sounding like a rambling idiot. He wonders if he got somehow infected by whatever caused his self-proclaimed 'biggest fan' to make all those stupid decisions. Motoyasu didn't seem to mind, as he simply held his arm towards the stair like he's waiting for Naofumi to take the first step. So that's what the Shield Hero did. He tries to use the silence between the two of them to think over everything. Maybe organize his thoughts a bit so he doesn't sound like Motoyasu spinning a story around and getting everyone confused. But he doesn't know where to begin. All these thoughts on how there's apparently an isekai novel in another world about him, like he is a made up character no different from some of the previous heroes that have been summoned. Or the possibilities of other alternate versions of the world he got summoned into. Before he manages to comb through his mind, Motoyasu suddenly pushes him against a wall. "Hey, what gives-"
The Spear Hero didn't immediately reply back. He puts his index finger up in front of his mouth in a 'hush' gesture, and then peeked his head out around the corner. Naofumi follows Motoyasu's example, and sees two figures standing in the hallway. It's that spear wielding knight with black hair, and the blonde female knight who helped reinforce them during the Wave battle. Right now, the young man is talking to the woman with a very stern looking face. "Nanna, I think we should renew our vows while we are here at Cal Mira island. We aren't getting any younger, and we are fighting a Wave of Catastrophe battle right now. I heard from those who fought at the front, they fought another invading god just like the last Wave. If we wait till we fulfill our vows... we might die before we get married."
"Yes... I should know better than to expect that my Mother is still alive. We have been searching for her since the end of the war. And if we can't find her by now..." Nanna's eyes cast down, she sounds very dejected. But before she had a chance to say anything, the young man in front of her grabbed her hand.
"Lady Lachesis must still be alive somewhere in the world, never give up hope, Nanna!" The black haired young knight looks into her eyes with a determined expression. Naofumi wasn't sure if he truly believed what he's saying, but he's certainly trying to convince his own... girlfriend? Sweetheart? He cast a quick look at Motoyasu, these two were part of his retinue, he probably knows them a bit more. Probably. While the Shield Hero is lost in his thoughts, the black haired knight continues. "We both survived, and we were children. She was already an accomplished master knight. Let us renew our vows here, and hold our official ceremony once we return Leonister in front of my brother. And when we find Lady Lachesis... we can proudly tell her that we are happily married."
"Yes... I think my Mother would have liked that." A smile slowly began to appear on Nanna's face. The two of them turned around, walking around towards Naofumi and Motoyasu. The Spear Hero drags Naofumi back up the stairs, till they hear the footsteps grow closer to them, and then turn around growing fainter as they take the stairs down.
"What was that?" Naofumi turns around to look at Motoyasu. His spear wielding friend simply shrugs back. For a little while, he's slightly concerned that Motoyasu is going to go on another long, unintelligent ramble once again trying to explain things.
"Marquis Leif is Katarina's distant cousin. He joined my retinue because of her." Thankfully, Motoyasu's reply was short and to the point this time. "We better ask Katarina if we want to know more. But did you really want to interrupt the two of them at that moment?"
"Alright..." Naofumi wasn't sure he understood all of this. He doesn't exactly have a lot of personal experience with all this lovey and cuddly stuffy with how awkward he was around other people. And while Motoyasu is surrounded by young women all the time, Naofumi isn't sure he truly understands all of that stuff either. Aside from that one time he publicly proposed to Iris, he honestly acts more like he's just having a fun and friendly time around them. By the time he recovered his thoughts from all of this confusing boy and girl stuff, he realized that they are under the stars rather than the ceiling of Menagerie Hotel.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Motoyasu turns around and rests his hands behind the back of his head once again. "I'm not smart like Iris, or Ren. So don't expect me to give you some smart answers. But at least I can listen and pretend I understand what you are talking about. I heard it from Aunt Naru, that's a good thing."
Well... at least Motoyasu is being honest. And truly, Naofumi didn't expect anyone to give him an answer to his question either. He's not sure he trusts anyone's answer anyway, considering how much burden is rested on them. All four of them have messed up big time before this point, Itsuki with both Stormwind and his answer to that crazy Emon guy, Ren almost caused the desolation of Smaug with Gaelion, Motoyasu was the one who suggested using that seed around Balafon which give birth to that young outer god, and himself didn't realize how much a threat the Three Heroes' Church truly was and his companions paid the price. But maybe he was right, sometimes having a friendly ear willing to listen to one's complaint will make one feel better. "I'm afraid, Motoyasu. For a long time, Malty thought I was a professional hero trained in some hero school before I was summoned. I was obviously not, and I'm just a regular guy like anyone of you. Heck, Itsuki might have been the most well-prepared out of us on how his world actually had super heroes. Now that I told her the truth... and she didn't show any disappointment in me being just a regular guy, I don't feel any better."
Motoyasu didn't say anything back to Naofumi. He simply walks alongside the deserted street that's still filled with the broken bodies of Wave monsters and stained by their blood. So Naofumi continues. "I don't know if Kumoko was exactly the same as the one we read from her novel before she's taken and corrupted by the Burning Legion. If that Sato guy didn't lie to us, she might be like us... like me. Different from how she was written in a novel. But Gaelion did call her an Earthbound deity like his father, and like Fitoria. If a minor god can't stop this Burning Legion, could someone like me do it?"
"Well... I can't say for sure. You already know I'm not smart, but even I can tell Kumoko was clearly stronger than we put together." Motoyasu shrugs his shoulders. But his nonchalant look breaks apart from something that's more heavy looking as he points towards a direction with his finger. Naofumi turns his gaze to look, and sees what appeared to be an onsen house that had its walls torn apart, the building itself about to fall into the ground. Not the one they went to, but looking similar enough even with it came to ruin. "There... I saw a really nice-looking grandmother and her young grandson got torn apart by the Wave monsters before I could get to them. And you were the one telling me we can't save everyone even if we were heroes."
The Shield Hero realizes that he's learning what gave Motoyasu his near breakdown while they were separated from Malty and Ren, trying to hold back the second group of Wave monsters from overrun the resort district. "I'm not smart, so don't expect me to give you a good answer that'll cheer you up. But you did tell me to keep going when I was sad because I couldn't save everyone in front of me. If we try our best, we might not be able to help everyone. But if we don't do anything, we won't help anyone. That's what you wanted to tell me, wasn't it? I think that's what I'll do for this world. I know the Burning Legion are bad guys if they are killing innocent people. And I'll fight them with everything I have even if I get beaten by them."
Motoyasu's response isn't very sophisticated like he admitted. But there is a certain sense of wisdom to his simple logic. There's no use worrying, or fear for the possibility of losing to the Burning Legion. They are already summoned into this world under invasion from some world- ending demonic legion, while most of its social elites (who also happen to be some of their strongest fighters) were too busy playing political games for influence and power than banding together to stop this world-ending crisis. There's no point on worrying about the possibility of losing when the situation is nearly fucked up beyond repair. They just have to... do their best, and help everyone they can along the way. "Thanks, Motoyasu. That was... surprisingly insightful.
The Spear Hero didn't say anything more. Motoyasu gives Naofumi another light tap on the shoulder, and the two of them turn a circle around the street to return to the Menagerie Hotel from a different street. This time, they picked a far route that's closer to the beach. There is a sense of quiet beauty to the island under the moon and stars even with the destruction, the dead bodies, the stink of fire and blood. The port where countless ships sank into the bay has less corpses piled all over. The guards of Cal Mira Island clearly give up on defending it due to their lack of numbers. And right now, there's a small bundle of fire near the port. At first, Naofumi thought it's more of the leftover fire caused by the fierce fighting. But then he takes a closer look, and realizes it's a small bonfire made by two people both have their backs towards the Shield Hero. One of them was the blue haired knight who came to their rescue at the resort, the other being the priestess who was taking care of Itsuki.
Naofumi carefully begins to walk closer to them, curious on what they are doing. Turns out, the blue haired knight is roasting some fishes over the fire he made. The Shield Hero could smell the burnt scent of them being overcooked, but the young knight doesn't seem to realize it as he continues to spread powders of salt (at least Naofumi assume them to be salt), and then coat what seems to be some kind of sauce onto the fish with a brush. The priestess puts a hand on the knight's shoulder. "Seliph, maybe I should be cooking them? That's not something you should be doing."
"Nonsense, Muirne. You've been busy taking care of all the wounded fighters, and Lord Bow Hero. Taking care of you is the least I could do." The blue haired knight Seliph picks up one roasted fish by its wooden branch and hands it over to Muirne. Naofumi doesn't know how good those roasted fish taste. They can't be that good considering how he could clearly see they were half burnt. Seliph clearly wasn't used to cooking, but neither himself nor Muirne complained about it as they slowly had their night snack.
Naofumi feels a tag on his arm, and knows that Motoyasu is trying to pull him away. The Shield Hero didn't protest, or fight against his friend. He didn't want to interrupt the quiet moment the knight and the priestess had with each other. He turns around, and almost regrets his decision as Motoyasu gives him an almost conspiratory look that clearly ruined whatever simple wisdom he had a few moments before. "Doesn't looking at them make you think of something?"
"What are you talking about?" Naofumi slaps Motoyasu's hand away with some annoyance.
Motoyasu covers his face, looking like he's genuinely hurt due to Naofumi not coming to some silly conclusion he himself clearly came to. "Hello? Didn't you notice what both Leif, and Seliph did before you? They were trying to do something nice, and special for their girls. This is a good time for you to show how much you care about Malty too! And I have just the idea."
Naofumi feels like he's going to regret listening to Motoyasu for whatever mischief his fellow hero comes up with. But he does want to do something nice and special for Malty, and he's all out of ideas. He just hopes it won't backfire spectacularly.
End Note:
After some flashback and a few off hand mention from Malty in the prequel, we get to see Malty interact face to face with her distant Faubley family. But in case anyone already forgot, Emily is the daughter of Trash's younger sister, and her human husband Lord Henry.
And the heroes have another meeting between themselves. This time, they talks about the Burning Legion, and the world's political leaders instead of video game like mechanics to their hero weapons. I'm very late to the condolences to Akira Toriyama sensei's passing, but yes. I made him an universal constant in my own story, because if anyone deserves it, it's the granddaddy of Shounen manga which directly inspired isekai genre.
Just to be clear. When I had that small scene where Motoyasu almost had a break down during the 4th wave, I didn't think of the specific reason behind it, or plan to have a call back moment to it a few chapters later. It just feels like something that would happen to him with the way he developed as a character, and what would have naturally happened during a wave battle. Doesn't mean I won't take advantage of it existed later to give a character moment between him and Naofumi. But then again, this is Motoyasu who doesn't keep being sad for long, and he's back to causing some shenanigans at the end of this chapter. All of you will witness what he plans to have Naofumi do next chapter.
A bit of clarification since I seen people pointing this out in review a few times. Naofumi isn't gaslight by the queen's verdict at the end of the Three Heroes Church rebellion. He is aware that the queen was intentionally and unfairly snubbing him because of Malty, and he should be exonerated by law. But he does feel personally guilty for Jaune's death. Because Jaune was supportive of him from start to finish, and regardless if his call for parley was successful or not, he didn't deserve to get killed by Firo the way he did. And he knows Firo turned out to be a callous monster who doesn't care for the life or death of others because he didn't raise her properly.