Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter and providing feed backs.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
They walk towards the Stormwind Castle which had become the headquarter of House Amelia. A figure suddenly runs out of the front gate so fast, it's practically a streak of blue and light brown colors. Malty can't tell who it is, but it doesn't seem to confuse Motoyasu as the Spear Hero voices his question without a pause. "Hey, that's Katarina? What got her so scared she's running for her life?"
That's a good question, since Katarina can be brave (or dimwitted) on the edge of being foolhardy. It would probably take more than a dragon lord, or an invading god to truly scare her. Something, such as the wrath of her own mother. Surely, she hasn't made a mess big enough to warrant Lady Claes to come all the way north of Griffin's Spine? Malty and Motoyasu's question is soon answered when they hear the voice of a young female. "Lady Katarina! Come back! I went all the way to Faubley to get your amulet for you! Why are you running away?"
The new figure is a woman around mid twenties in age. Her red hair is a few shades darker than Malty's, and they are tied up around her head to not get into her vision. What's most noteworthy is her armor. It's large and curvaceous (but not in the sexually inviting sense) and has vertical lines running down the surface of the armor between every few fingers of length. It looks less like a water barrel, and more like a giant onion on its feet. The armor makes the woman look fat, yet the shape of her face and the speed she manages to achieve chasing after Katarina suggests she should have a fairly slim build underneath the large armor. Katarina's personal maid follows only a few steps behind the woman. "Please slow down, Lady Katarina. You at least owe Sir Sieglinde, your own sworn shield, an explanation after sending her on that wild chase in Faubley."
"NO! I DON'T!" Katarina's voice sounds genuinely panicking as she continues to fly down the stairs. Nearly tripping herself a few times as she leaps down. Her eyes instantly lit up as she saw Motoyasu. "Master Motoyasu! Don't you have to go on an adventure somewhere? I'm totally available right now!"
"I don't know, Katarina. Shouldn't you attend to your companions first? They look awfully worried about you." Motoyasu didn't immediately agree with Katarina's request. His eyes cast onto the two young women chasing behind the Claes heiress. The red haired knight looks anxious, while Anne simply has a look of exhaustion on her face with her eyes turning into a slit. "Didn't you say something about sending your bodyguard to Faubley on an important errand? You should be happy she came back with the thing you wanted, right?"
"Yes! My lady! Now that I have the amulet, we can all go home where you'll be far away from danger! Your mother, Lady Miridiana must have been worried sick for you!" The red haired knight in her onion-like armor skids to a stop right behind Katarina. The amulet in her hand has a cream colored gem embedded into a spiral shaped gold pendant. So, that's the Faubley amulet that supposedly enhances the flavor of sweet someone injects. Malty would not have objected to getting one herself, but right now she has much greater problems to worry about.
Chapter 25: Last Stop in Stormwind
"But Mother would not let me leave her sight again if I got back home now! What'll I do with Tia, Iris, Master Motoyasu... and Malty! She's been turned into a slave! She needs help from all her friends now more than ever!" Katarina points her finger at Malty. For anyone else, Malty would have felt annoyed when she's being used as an excuse to keep them away from their homestead. But for someone like Katarina, she's as sincere on the inside as her exterior. So she really did bring Malty up due to personal worry.
"I appreciate you caring about me, Katarina. But you shouldn't make your Mother worry. If she's afraid of you getting into danger, that means she cares about you. And families should take care of each other, not get into fights and keep away from each other." Motoyasu holds his hands up, and gently pats down the dirt on Katarina's cloth. "Remember Tia's father? Her father was pretty worried about her too. But he allowed Tia to travel around with us. I'm sure your Mother would understand if you just talk to her and explain everything."
Katarina looks ready to argue with some more, but Anne interrupts her after pulling her sight away from Malty while staring intently at Malty. She wonders why the maid seems to take extra attention to her. Surely she's not thinking about coming back to serve her again after so many years after being Katarina's personal maid. "Lord Motoyasu is right, Lady Katarina. Remember how you got your father, and Mother talking with each other, and realized how they cared about each other? Because you were being honest after Lord Luigi took Keith into our household, while everyone else was too worried to speak about what's on their mind and they all misunderstood each other. You already proved your ability to take care of yourself in travel, and in fight when you went against the Three Heroes' Church, even if Lady Meridiana worries for you, she will understand once you explain how you care for Lord Motoyasu and want to be by his side."
Katarina wipes her head around to look at her maid for a few moments in complete and out of character silence. She suddenly slaps her head, with the bottom of her palm. "You are right, Anne! How could I forget!? Thank you! I don't know what I'd do without you!"
"I'm simply performing my duties to your parents- MPH!" Anne's voice is cut short when Katarina pulls her into a tight hug. As for the onion armored knight... she seems to be busy wiping tears off the corner of her eyes. She's apparently the simple minded kind. Not surprising, considering Katarina was able to lure her away with a very simple scheme about chasing after a likely pricy, but completely redundant magical accessory. Although what the Claes heiress revealed did get Malty thinking. It appears just like the Heiress for House Noches, Katarina also left her home to join the Spear Hero without her parent(s)' (possibly both) permission.
Which begs the question. Did both Katarina and Bertia come to the same decision on their own? Or did someone have a hand in influencing them? Someone who is likely to be very close to them therefore has their trust, and has to come from families that have similar, if not superior background to them both? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that someone is most likely being Iris. All noble houses, big and small, wealthy or destitute would benefit from a marriage with one of the summoned heroes. But as a rule of thumb, ladies from smaller noble families tend to be the ones that would seek to join a hero's adventuring party earlier. They lack the resources to compete with the more powerful families, who could afford to wait after the wave battles are concluded to not risk the lives of their daughters and simply have one of their daughters marry the hero by throwing money at the hero, or helping him with their power, connection and influence when a hero inevitably becomes a noble like themselves at the end. For Iris, who is one of the most powerful heiresses in Melromarc to volunteer herself as a companion besides one of the Cardinal Heroes, scheming to chase away the Spear Hero's original companions... manipulating her friends into joining forces with her in spite of their parents' will is simply another step. Which begs the question, what is Iris, or more likely her father planning to risk her life like this. Granted, neither of them realize the current Wave of Catastrophe would have a demonic legion behind it, and they would be facing invading outer gods since the third wave battle. But they should still be aware of the danger Iris could potentially face. Dangers that can't be solved by throwing piles of money at it.
"Lady Katarina, and her personal servant can travel with us as we move south to escort Princess Melty to the village of Balafon where she would stay as its governor." Iris' voice shakes Malty out of her thoughts. Above them at the foot of the castle gate, Iris, and other noble ladies also begin to walk down the staircase behind Melty. Iris, and the young lady from House Consevatie are the only two noble ladies who follows Melty a half pace's distance. An act to show that the two of them have most of the crown princess' favor. "House Claes' fief is close enough to Whiterun County, they would not waste too much time traveling with our larger entourage. There is safety in numbers during a trying time such as now."
"Does this mean we are setting up Balafon as our main base of operation?" Ren's voice is neutral as always. He stares at Iris, eyes not blinking. It's hard to tell if he approved of the arrangement or not. "I suppose we can't exactly change where the princess is going to reside after her Mother already appointed her as a governor. But I heard the village got trash pretty badly during the church's rebellion? And what about Stormwind? What if it comes under attack again?"
"You need not to worry about Stormwind's safety, Lord Sword Hero. The Hero Conference has been concluded where the other nations have all accepted the choice made by you revered heroes. We no longer fear the possibility of an united crusade against Melromarc even if some individual noble families or tribes are unhappy with the result. Stormwind being a port city, we could easily move resources and reinforcements through ships even in the face of a siege. I realize my family hasn't exactly proven ourselves in our most recent naval battle. But rest assured, most pirates, or privateers are not Dread Pirate Robert who can take on an entire fleet with a single barge." Iris begins to appease the heroes with her usual graceful, but leisurely pace. "As for the village of Balafon. Rebuilding it is the main reason why our queen appointed her daughter as its governor. It's a declaration to the rest of the nobility, and the clergy that Jarl Balgruuf, and his fief has the backing and favor of the crown. We should not encounter much, if any difficulties during its rebuild."
"The village of Balafon is a good place to set up shop. Better than Stormwind. It's within a day's ride to where I want to build my base. With Motoyasu's bird 'children', we could go between our two main bases without resorting to our teleport weapon skill, so we aren't limited to bring five people alongside us. Plus, we have the town of Trumpet between us. So we can get a lot of things from Trumpet before we develop our bases into proper settlement." Naofumi nods his head along, evaluating the explanation given by Iris in a straightforward manner. Not making any comment regarding her slowly closing grasp around Melty, the crown princess.
Malty isn't sure if he truly missed the underlying political machination beneath Iris' excuses, or if he chose to ignore it because he doesn't want to start a conflict with Motoyasu's fiance. Regardless, it's something she'll discuss with him in privacy. If he knows what Iris is playing at but chooses to not blow it out in the open for the sake of unity with his fellow Cardinal Heroes, good. It means he both has the perception and understanding to see through the political power play, and the wisdom to ignore it for longer reaching goals. If he honestly overlooked it, or not understanding it... Malty will simply have to use her experience monitoring her parents' court to teach him this needed skill.
"Motoyasu, I still think you should leave some of your children here at Stormwind even if we won't use it as one of our main bases. It's north of the mountain range, so it's easier for Stormwind to know what's going on in the world than a small village like Balafon. Plus it's a big port city. You never know when sea travel could come in handy." Naofumi ignores the blank, yet persistent stare Iris is giving him in favor of speaking to Motoyasu. "Talk with your children, Motoyasu. See who are responsible enough to leave at Stormwind. But don't leave them here for the rest of the waves. Maybe pick 3, or 4 of them a team, and switch them around after one or two weeks. So they can still spend time with you in Balafon. I don't want to force them to be away from their father when they are less than a year old."
"Don't forget that they also have to be strong. We are leaving Firo here at Stormwind. If she gets into an angry tantrum, she'll probably take down half of Stormwind once she starts ramping up again. Her fellow filorial monarchs are the best candidates to stop her." Malty helpfully (at least she hopes) adds. She likes to think Firo learnt her lesson after her careless action caused the death of Jaune, which forced her into exile. But judging from her manners, and how the Throwing Weapon Hero acts... she's willing to bet that Firo has only gotten worse since she became the companion of another hero.
"Got it, Naofumi, Malty. I'll go talk to my children, see who'll be fine at staying here. Although I'm thinking about making Yume in charge. She's responsible even if she's young." Motoyasu half answers the Shield Hero, and half mutters to himself as he walks away. Malty would like to point out all of his 'children' are young, since he's only been summoned to Medea for less than three months. But maybe he's talking about she's young even when it comes to his many birds.
Naofumi turns around to look at Ren and Itsuki next. He pauses for a brief moment, seems to be thinking over what to do before speaking up once again. "What about you two, Ren, Itsuki? Are you two also planning to set up somewhere, or will you stay at Balafon, or the settlement I want to start up? Because you know, we are all supposed to have the title of Dukes if we want to stay after the Wave is finished, so you two should be allowed to have your own land."
"Your Highness, it seems like the honored heroes are going to prepare themselves for their next mission. Perhaps it's time for us to retire, and prepare for your own departure south to Balafon." Iris seems to get the clue that the Shield Hero is no longer paying her, or Melty much attention. She leans closer to Melty's ear and asks her in a low voice as to not rudely disturb the conversation between the heroes, but loud enough to let them hear her words to know she's not trying to badmouth them, or pulling some scheme on them. "Unlike the honored heroes, we have no convenience of a teleportation spell. We need to assemble a proper escort for you to make sure you won't be put into danger during your trip."
"I shall wait till I bid my sister farewell... you may prepare for our escort, Iris. I know there are many untested, but talented commanders in Lord Motoyasu's retinue and I assume it's the same case among other heroes." Melty immediately waves Iris' suggestion off. But she did allow the House Amelia heiress to prepare for their departure without her presence. If Iris is annoyed by Melty's closeness to Malty, she didn't show it on her face. She beckons her personal maid over, and begins whispering to Tanya (her maid, not the Shiltfreeden Shive squad leader with the pig head), presumably for the details of their escort party.
"Two bases are more than enough for now. Plus we have three if we count Stormwind." After some deliberation, Ren shakes his head. "There'll come a time to have our own land and build our settlement. Now is not the right time. We saw what these so-called 'leaders' acted in the conference. They'll try to exploit and manipulate us however they can. We need to stick together right now."
"Ren is right. Although I'm probably going to make some trips back here to Stormwind. I got this country in a mess, I should help with its rebuild." The Bow Hero looks at his friends before speaking his own decisions. It shouldn't be Malty's place to remind him, since technically the four Cardinal Heroes are all still competitors. But since they did come to Naofumi and her rescue during the battle with the Three Heroes' Church, and stood together with Naofumi to pressure the other leaders during the conference to get what he wanted, she feels it's bad faith if she doesn't remind him of the danger of staying in Stormwind.
"You should be aware that King Wyrian has an heir to his throne, Master Itsuki. He wouldn't have been a victim of the uprising you caused here, since he's still studying in Faubley's Hero Academy. I imagine he would not have much love for you once he returns. Especially since he would associate House Amelia's action of annexing Stormwind to your own actions." Malty cast her eyes at Iris. Not an accusatory glare, because Iris is the heiress of the most powerful noble family in Melromarc and she's currently only a slave owned by the Shield Hero. She's merely giving her the same blank stare Iris gave to the heroes moments earlier.
"House Amelia did not annex Stormwind. We merely restored, and maintained its order so its people won't murder each other over whatever scraps of food they have left. Once Prince Anduin returns, he will be made the next king of Stormwind with the support of House Amelia." Malty fights the urge to roll her eyes at Iris' explanation. Iris would no doubt keep her words. As a noble house who openly runs one of the largest internal and foreign trade empires, Iris can't be caught openly lying to destroy her own credibility. But kings are not the same. Even if Prince Anduin manages to bring some of his friends (and assuming they are loyal to him), they would not be able to challenge House Amelia's rule when Iris likely has her own men take over all the important positions in Stormwind. If he returns with no one but himself... the title of a king is likely the only thing he will get. Not that Malty could blame Iris, she herself would have done the same thing in Iris' own shoes. But unlike Iris, she wouldn't even dare to think about bringing back the son of the late king for the risk of him causing a coup to take back power.
Iris Amelia is an active Player of The Game, no different from her father. Yet, in spite of her ambitious and scheming nature, she does try to do her friends and allies right. That kind of confidence is something Malty lacks... something she needs to bridge the gap with her childhood playmate if she wants to become a player herself, let alone winning the throne from her little sister. She still lacks the capacity to become one of the top nobles, let alone a queen.
"I'll go take a look at the local potion shops, or alchemist while we wait for Motoyasu. Now that we have the free time, I need to consult an expert on potion making. You two have something you wanted to do?" Naofumi's question makes Malty pause for a brief moment. He's looking for a healer? He was hurt fighting that spider outer god, although Tact did give him some Yggdrasil pills. Then again, Tanya did say they are only good for keeping you from dying, but has no ability to cure long term ailment of disability. If he did suffer from a crippling disability fighting the goddess, it's definitely best to have a healer look him over.
"Oh, yeah. Rishia's 'brother' is a pretty good alchemist. I mean... they are not really related by blood. He's more of her childhood friend who knew her enough to be family. What am I saying..." Ren turns his head to look at Itsuki, who is letting his mouth ramble while looking everywhere but at his two fellow heroes. Malty wonders what these two younger heroes are playing at. "I'll go get Rishia and she can lead you guys to him. It's probably better if I don't accompany you. He doesn't really like me, because of the mess I caused Stormwind. Don't want him to toss you all out just because he sees you with me. I'll go get her right now!"
The Bow Hero turns around, and flies up the staircase to the castle of Stormwind like death is chasing him. Rishia's 'brother' must really not like him if mentioning the guy causes Itsuki to act this jumpy. Malty feels someone pulling her hand, so she turns her head around, and sees her younger sister standing beside her. It seems like Melty decided to stop waiting around for the heroes to finish their conversation, and decided to say whatever she wants to Malty.
"Don't worry, Big Sister Malty. I'll make everything right for you." The crown princess whispers in Malty's ear, and quickly ducks her head and runs away before Malty has a chance to grasp what she said, or ask her for clarification. Somehow, Malty feels the opposite of reassured, even if Melty seems to want to reassure her of... something. And it's the lack of clarity over what that 'something' is that makes Malty very worried.
"Have you decided who to take with you to Balafon? Each of us only has five candidates to teleport alongside us." Ren turns his head to ask the Shield Hero, and his companions. "I suppose you want to take Malty, Raphtalia, your bodyguard and your two birds with you?"
"NO WAY! You aren't taking Raphtalia anywhere without me!" Keel immediately jumps in front of Raphtalia. Pushing her friend back while blocking Naofumi's sight from her. "She's not going anywhere without me! I'm not going to let anyone take her as a slave again because you can't protect her!"
Raphtalia looks between her friend and Naofumi. She takes a step back before speaking. "I think I'll go with the big group of people, Master Naofumi. I'm not going to be much help to you or Malty in a big fight. I could still use some training with my new teacher. Plus, I'm kind of worried about what new problems Big Sister Sadeena would get into."
"Take care of yourself, Raphtalia. I'm happy you are trying to do more things by yourself than relying on us, but I just want you to be careful." Naofumi bends down on his knees and gives his surrogate daughter a hug. Malty does the same after him. She's not worried about Raphtalia's safety, since she's going to travel with the retinue of the heroes, the crown princess and the queen's retinue south. Not to mention they also have one, no, two martial art masters among them. Probably much safer than the heroes' relatively smaller group. If she somehow still got hurt... it's a sign that the end time has truly come.
"And what about you, Malty? Are you sure you'll be alright without me? Or even one of them?" Mala looks at Malty with Baldy and Blue Eyes behind her. It's clear she meant the two knights. "The last time you tried to do something by yourself, you nearly got killed by the church."
"I'll be fine, Mala. I'm also one of the heroes now." Malty holds the broken star wand up in front of Mala's face. "I can't always hide behind one of my former servants."
"I'm coming with you if you aren't taking your personal maid, or one of your knights." Malty feels someone throwing her arms around her shoulder. She looks behind, and sure enough, Cousin Emily is hanging on her back, with Sir Corvo looking at her.
Lori (Mein II) looks between them, she takes a step to the side and groom's Raphtalia's hair. Seemingly showing the Shield Hero that she'll stay behind and keep Raphtalia safe.
"Sorry it took me this long, Master Heroes!" Rishia can be heard and seen running out of the castle and down the stairs. Malty knows factually that the jumpy girl is more confident than when she first started adventuring. She has seen Rishia fight with the rest of the Bow Hero's party rather than staying in the back and holding onto their supplies. And she has seen Rishia stand up to other people who try to bully her. But it's easy to forget it when she's still as anxious around the heroes as she started. As soon as she reaches the foot of the staircase, she begins to bow down her head repeatedly at the heroes. It's almost hilarious that she looks like someone who is having neck problems, rather than a young girl who is very respectful to the heroes. "Honored heroes! Master Itsuki just informed me that you seek the help of my brother? Please come with me, I shall lead you to him."
"Calm yourself. We aren't going to hurt you, or yell at you." The Shield Hero takes a step forward and puts his hands up in a comforting manner. He keeps his voice low, and friendly. "Itsuki mentioned your brother is a good alchemist?"
"YES! Please, don't let his young age fool you. He's been an apprentice to our old alchemist since a child. He's one of the best alchemists in our country." Malty briefly wonders if by 'our country', Rishia meant only Stormwind. Since he's likely the only alchemist in this small nation. The jumpy girl quickly clarifies. "I mean he's one of the best alchemists even compared to his peers in Melromarc!"
Ren turns to look at Naofumi. His face has the same blank look as he always carries. "He did help me examine some nightbloom extract before we went to help you fight the Three Heroes' Church. Let's try him first. If he can't do anything, we'll go ask around other people."
The walk to this alchemist shop didn't take long. The city of Stormwind is small compared to Melromarc Castle. But when they arrived at the shop district, Malty noticed there's a crowd gathered around a single shop. She looks up, and instantly sees the potion bottle shaped wooden cut out hanging off the building. While the princess turned slave wondering the reason for these people's gathering, a furious scream seems to answer her question. "Oh, so it's 'L'Arc' now? I thought my name was 'Little Raruk' after you got everyone in Stormwind calling me that. Out! NOW!"
"Please, don't act like this, L'Arc. I knew I was very foolish when I visited Stormwind as a girl. And it was totally my fault that you got picked on by everyone because of my bad pronunciation. But I'm smarter and more sophisticated now! I read a lot of books written by mainland people! Let me make it up to you. Here, let me help you carry these-" The sound of glasses shattering cuts the voice short. To Malty's surprise, the almost pleading voice belongs to none other than one of Lady Blake's escorts, Theresa to be specific. The sea amazon is strong enough to fight Sadina to a stand still, and Sadina was able to take down Yatsuhashi. She doesn't know what's Rishia's 'brother' look like. But she knows the guy is supposedly a good alchemist, at least in Rishia's own eyes. Perhaps it's generalization, but a good alchemist tends to spend most of their time in a lab as part of their profession. Not much free time to train their body, or kill monsters to raise their levels. She doesn't know how the guy manages to have the courage to confront such a buffed amazon, and more surprisingly, actually forces her to back down.
The sound of something... hitting something firm can be heard inside the shop, and Malty soon has her answers. Theresa is the first one that ran out of the potion shop. A lot of indescribable, and thick looking liquid drenched her cloth and covered her exposed body. The presence of glass shard embedded in her cloth, or in her hair clues in the Princess turned adventurer that she probably knocked over a lot of potions inside the shop. Soon after, Rishia's childhood friend, one she's close enough to see as family, comes out. He looks like a typical, if somewhat young, potion master or alchemist: long, thick, but neat and tight robe covering his body to ensure his body is protected in case of alchemical and brewing accident, but not get in the way of his operation. His hair is greasy and there are bags under his squinted eyes likely due to constant foams of his work. He is gripping the handle of a long broom in one hand, while pushing her out of the shop with the other. "OUT! OUT! You clumsy, stupid ogre girl! What do you think my shop is? I brew life saving medicines for ill people, and you just smashed half of them!"
"So the name of your 'brother' is actually L'Arc, not Raruk?" One of Ren's eyebrows has raised into his hairline once again as he looks at Rishia. As for the Stormwind native... She has both of her eyes covering her face, looking very much embarrassed by the display. Malty wonders if there's some kind of story behind Ren's display of incredulousness.
"Yes... big brother Raruk's birth name was L'Arc Berg. And there used to be a lot of trade between us and Cal Mira Island because we were both independent nations from the big power blocks." Malty's eye flickers over to the now named alchemist. He has a family name, which means his ancestors are either a wealthy merchant, or a knight. Possibly even a noble, although 'Berg' doesn't particularly sound like the family name for a noble family. "When Theresa first came to Stormwind, her pronunciation of Medea Common wasn't really good... so she kept calling big brother 'little Raruk' and it got stuck. He let it slide now... but he clearly still holds some resentment towards Theresa."
"Theresa, I think you should leave for now. Let your 'friend' calm down a bit... and please, stop trying to 'help' if you just end up smashing everything." Naofumi walks over between him. He pushes the reluctant looking sea amazon away, ignoring the business end of a broomstick falling onto his back, or the unidentifiable (and likely disgusting) mix of magical liquid touching his hand. Theresa finally resigned that she's not repairing any relationship she has with her childhood... actually, what is her relationship with L'Arc? She seems to care about the alchemist if she's willing to apologize and tries to make up for the past grievances between them. But Rishia's 'brother' doesn't seem to share her sentiment. Regardless, the Shield Hero turns around to look at the young potion shop owner after Theresa disappeared into the crowd. "Is it okay if we come into your shop to discuss something, or is it a bad time now?"
"What are you nosy fools looking at? Stop being a bother and go back to your work. Do you want my healing potion, or not?" L'Arc waves his fist threateningly at the spectating crowd, making them all turn around and dissipate. He turns to the Shield Hero next, hooking his fingers to beckon Naofumi inside. He speaks with a gruff voice. "Come in, just don't make a further mess. That clumsy oaf set me back at least a week's schedule."
"If you need more healing potions, I can help." Naofumi enters into the potion shop, Malty follows after him. She wouldn't call the interior dingy, but it's definitely not something she would describe as homely either, let alone one well-decorated. There's a counter facing the door, and plenty of shelves lined up the walls. There's a big pile of broken glasses and chipped wooden crates, likely where Theresa made her accident earlier. "With my fully limit break alchemy shield series, my shield can naturally produce pretty good quality potions as long as I supply my shield with the raw materials."
"Ah, yes. Of course. You heroes have your hero weapon that makes everything easy." L'Arc rolls his eyes, the white of his eyes making the dark circle looking even more prominent. He turns the broom around, and begins to sweep all the shattered glass into a single pile. "Look. I'm not against you producing healing potions en masse, so long as you use them to help people and not use it to drive all your competitors out of business. Because you can't expect standardized, mass produced potions to fit all situations. Certain people have specific conditions in their body that requires a brewer to make customized potions for them, or else it'll hurt them instead. You take away the way of living from all the potion masters from a town, you take away the lives of people with those conditions."
"That's actually the reason why I came to see you. Well... sort of." Naofumi's voice makes L'Arc stop his work and look up. The Shield Hero takes the green chunk of crystal that looks like a vibrant emerald out of his shield. It's the 'fruit' of Yggdrasil given to him by Metatron. "I was told this can be turned into a potion that could even revive someone at death's door-"
"Give me that!" L'Arc tosses his broom aside, takes a long stride towards Naofumi and snatches the crystal off his hand. The young alchemist walks over by the window, holds it in front of his eyes and turns it over a few times, inspecting it under the sunlight. Afterwards, he sniffed it with his nose, and even bit it a few times with his teeth. "I'll be. A genuine piece of the Cosmic Seed. They are the core ingredient of Yggdrasil Medicine... among other things. One of the most powerful, rare, therefore valuable magical reagents of our world. I'm assuming the fact you took this to me, an alchemist and potion brewer, is because you want the medicine, and not other things it could be used for?"
"Yes. That's correct. I heard that medicine could be used to bring someone back from the edge of death. And even completely fix any problem their body has without any drawback. Can you make it? I don't want to mess up the brewing myself." Malty nods her head along. There is... probably not a wrong way to use the fruit of Yggdrasil from Metatrone. Although the insurance of what's essentially an extra life is certainly something she wouldn't complain about.
"Let's see what potion you have first. Brewing the Yggdrasil Potion is a big time investment. I'd rather make sure the common people are taken care of, than doing some special order for you to give you an extra life." L'Arc's voice still isn't friendly or inviting. But at least he's not shooting down Naofumi's request outright. It seems like in spite of his bad attitude, the young alchemist takes his duty seriously, and he cares about taking care of common people more for the gain of money, prestige, or gaining favor or connection with a legendary hero. Once, someone like L'Arc would have annoyed Malty due to their lack of greedy weakness she could exploit. But after building a relationship with Eclair, and observing Naofumi, she realized people like this are, in a way, easier to manipulate than greedy, self-serving scum. All one has to do is to learn what button to push them, and they are much more trustworthy than a scum who could be bought through money once you earn their loyalty, or even their willingness to cooperate with you.
"Of course. I have a lot of potions to restore HP, cure common ailments like poison and paralysis. I also have plenty of medicines that could be used to cure common illnesses..." The Shield Hero begins to take vials of potion out of his shield, and spread them on the counter of L'Arc's shop.
L'Arc cast a quick look at the vials of potion Naofumi left on the counter. He immediately reaches his hand over for the medicine. Once again, the young alchemist holds the potion underneath the light to look over. He then opens the stopper to sniff at the liquid. At least he didn't try to bite... or more to the point dropping the medicine in his mouth to taste them. Afterwards, he puts the stopper back on the vial and sets it on the counter again, then points his finger at the illness curing medicine. "These are more important to common people. Not everyone goes out to fight wild animals in their spare time. Aside from occasional bar fights or criminals trying to resist arrest, most city dwellers don't need healing potions. So take them to adventurer's guild, or peddle them on a stall near the waterfront where most mercs and sellswords gather. Leave me something like ten vials of health recovery potion, and 100 or so cures common illnesses for me every month, I'll have time to do custom orders for you, or anyone else. You can leave the cosmic seed with me for ten days, and then I'll have your potion for you."
"Done. I'll leave these potions, and this chunk of magic seed here with you." Naofumi casts his eyes over to Rishia. The Stormwind native girl has her eyes dancing between the two of them. The Shield Hero pulls his sight back and sets the green chunk of crystal on the counter next to the large pile of potions. "She's stuck with Itsuki through the whole Three Heroes' Church rebellion. I'm sure you as her childhood friend would be just as faithful and not cut us short. What about you, Ren? Do you have anything you want from an alchemist?"
The Sword Hero was looking at the different vials of potion displayed on one of the shelves. After hearing his name, he turns around to look at Naofumi and then settles his sight on L'Arc. The youngest Cardinal Hero didn't immediately answer the Shield Hero's question. He takes a brief pause, seemingly pondering over the question for a brief moment. "I still haven't decided what to do with my piece yet. I think I'll hold onto it for now. I'll wait till' all of you make up your mind. Save mine for an emergency."
"Not a bad idea. We probably should save one of these in case something bad happens. Although you probably don't want to sit on it for too long. L'Arc did say it takes a while to turn this chunk of rock into a potion. I imagine it's the same for other uses." Rishia's brother lets out a snort at Naofumi's words. Malty isn't sure if he's annoyed at the intimate way Naofumi addressed him, or the Shield Hero calling one of the most powerful reagents in their world a 'chunk of rock'. "You probably don't want to hold it till we are facing the main force of the Burning Legion. That would be too late."
The sound of more commotion comes from outside the shop. For a brief second, Malty wonders if Theresa is back once again, so she opens the door to check. The princess found both the Spear Hero and the Bow Hero. There is also the Throwing Weapon Hero, and his two white tiger lackeys. They seem to be in a dispute over something as the pitch of their voices, particularly Naofumi's psychotic fan, keep getting louder and louder. "What do you mean you won't take me along!? Are you trying to pull something over Naofumi-Sama again?!"
"What's going on here?!" Malty steps through the door and takes a better look at the situation. Turns out, neither Itsuki or Motoyasu came by themselves. The Spear Hero especially. There's a few dozen beautiful looking young men and women (most of them women) behind him, all of them wearing flamboyant, often strange looking (there's a lot of holes in their cloth, seemingly cut out intentionally to show their skin) clothing. She's willing to bet all of them are his bird 'children', because right now all of them are staring at the Throwing Weapon Hero in various different states of confusion, anger... or sheer contempt. "Is he causing problems again, Master Motoyasu, Master Itsuki? Should I go get Master Naofumi?"
"These two useless idiots are the ones causing problems for Naofumi-sama! Although I don't suppose you would know, or care, Bitch. I know you are trying to drag Naofumi-sama down every chance you get." The Throwing Weapon Hero crosses his arms and narrows his eyes to glare at Malty. The princess turned slave didn't pay him any attention. After facing demi-gods, Pope Balmus and the more threatening thugs of the church (both from the Three Heroes' Church and Four Heroes' Church), Naofumi's psychotic fan is barely a yapping baby bonedog.
"You shut up. We'll be here all day if you try to explain." Motoyasu takes half a step forward. But Itsuki holds his hand up and slaps him away before he has a chance to let any word leave his open mouth. Interestingly, none of Motoyasu's 'children' reacted to Bow Hero straight up attacking the Spear Hero. Perhaps the rumor of filorial having the innate ability to sense someone's aggression has some truth. Regardless of what Malty thinks, the Bow Hero explains what happened between them. "This guy came to us, demanding us to teleport him, and his... people instead of our own companions to Balafon."
"You three stooges, and all your asskissers are useless. Only Naofumi-sama, and his companions will do the right thing and save everyone from the Wave of Catastrophe! Actually, all of you are worse than useless. Because I know you'll try to hurt Naofumi-sama because you idiots are all jealous of his achievement! Take Naofumi-sama's canon companions and I along! We'll help him because none of you will do anything!" The Throwing Weapon Hero straightens his back and lets some air out of his nose, acting like a priced racing filorial who won the annual filorial race in the city of Zeltoble.
Malty isn't sure if she should look down at the young madman for his utter foolishness, or have some twisted respect for his stubbornness. He is trying to plead the Cardinal Heroes for help... while looking down at them and insulting them with nonsense. He does realize all they have to do is not take him along when they teleport... right? Meanwhile, the white tiger girl Atla's face is twisted between furiously glaring back at Motoyasu's children, and pulling Sato's arm back. Knowing what she thinks of Naofumi... she probably doesn't want the Throwing Weapon Hero to come along anyway. As for her brother Fohl, he looks dead on his feet, exhausting at everything happening around him. Poor guy, Malty would have felt the same way if she's in his not so envious position. Maybe she could ask Naofumi to do something nice for him. Because he deserves it... and it might further instill the Throwing Weapon Hero's party with inward paranoia that they'd be too busy arguing and fighting each other than making everyone else's life hard.
"Motoyasu, and Itsuki. Have all of you picked your companions that'll come alone?" Naofumi pokes his head out of L'Arc's potion shop. For the briefest moment when he noticed Sato's presence, his face scrunched up in a way as if silently saying 'You again'. But he didn't actually say anything to the Throwing Weapon Hero. It seems like the Shield Hero has figured out the best way to deal with his fan who is clearly insane: by not dealing with him and pretending he doesn't exist.
"Yeah. I'll take Kazehana, Homura, Tsukiumi, Musubi, and Kusano with me. Yume and Karasuba will stay in Stormwind with Benitsubasa and Haihane. Miya and Mutsu will lead the rest of their sisters and brothers to escort Melty to Balafon." Motoyasu began to point his fingers at his many 'children'. He clearly didn't realize Naofumi's question was not the go ahead to have him personally introduce which one of his children is acting in what role. Not that Malty (or anyone else, for that matter) would even know which one of his many birds he is talking about. No wonder Itsuki slapped him off when he tried to explain what's going on between them and Sato. "You need something else before we go."
"No, I-" Naofumi continues to ignore Sato's furiously waving hand. He seems to suddenly realize something, as he pulls his cloak aside, and pokes at the orange rubber 'belt' on his waist. The three 'Yuzu' seemingly understand what he's asking, as they detach themselves and revert back to their original balloon form. Motoyasu immediately stumbles back, and would likely fall on his behind if his children didn't get a hold of him. It seems like Malty wasn't the only one who had an unforgettable memory of balloon bite. "Let your children take Yuzu with them. I think they would have also been included on the five person limit during a teleportation. I don't want to accidentally leave anyone behind."
"NO! Wait, Naofumi-sama! Have these idiots take your canon companions, and me with you! We'll do more to help you than these useless stooges, I promise you!" Seemingly realizing the Shield Hero's intention to leave them behind, Sato tries to run over to Naofumi's side. He collides into a wall of bodies made of Motoyasu's children instead.
"You are a hero too. Why don't you teleport your companions, and yourself if you want to follow me. I doubt you'll help me more than my friends already did with the Three Heroes' Church when you need to mooch them off in the first place." Naofumi finally acknowledges Sato, but instead of supporting him, he simply hisses at him while giving him some well deserved tongue lashing.
"My level isn't high enough to use the teleportation form! And they only 'helped' you because they were there, and they'd be hurt by the Three Heroes' Church too! I know only you did anything meaningful against that stupid liar Balmus!" Sato quickly picks himself back up and tries to run to Naofumi again. But Motoyasu's children don't budge, and simply push him right back. They may look slim now, but all of their real, bird bodies are as large as a carriage with nothing but pure muscles and bones.
"Maybe you should have fought that invading goddess with me, instead of picking a fight with a noble woman? My level wasn't high enough to use my teleportation shield either. But after killing that goddess, my level went above 50." Naofumi rolls his eyes at Sato, no longer pretending to have any basic respect towards his psychotic fan.
"YES! I know only you are badass enough to kill gods, Naofumi-sama! You clearly didn't need mine, or anyone else's help. That's why I would focus on clearing out other minor obstacles for you, like that evil noble woman!"
"Master Shield Hero. Here is the declaration my queen has for you that gives you the right to pardon minor criminals... within reason." The sound of a female knight under Mother catches everyone's attention. Sure enough, she is holding a scroll in her hand. Naofumi takes the royal decree in his hand, spreads it out and glares at the thing like he wants it to catch on fire. After a few moments, he passes the scroll over to Malty. Right... His understanding of Medea Common isn't enough to read a complex legal document yet.
Malty takes over the decree and reads it over from the start to finish. Half expected her mother to leave some intentional loopholes or traps to have the Shield Hero hang himself. To her surprise, the declaration is genuine in terms of what power it gives to the Shield Hero. It seems like Mother realized how severe the punishment from the other nations is if she tries to spring a legal trap on the heroes she shouldn't be allowed to have. She closes the scroll and looks at Naofumi. "The queen's decree is genuine, Master Naofumi. We are all set."
The Shield Hero nods to Malty. He didn't respond back to his idiot fan. After one last stare casted at Sato with the blankest expression for a few seconds, the Shield Hero turned to his fellow Cardinal Heroes. "We wasted enough time. Let's go."
"NO! Naofumi-sama! Is this because I cuckolded your companions by accident? I DIDN'T MEAN TO-" Malty didn't hear the rest of Sato's ramble when her vision was filled with the emerald light of Naofumi's [Teleportation Shield] ability.
End Note:
We continue to build/wrap some of the side character thread that's been brought up since Ambition of the Red Princess. Katarina's one time mentioned bodyguard (yes, it's Sieglinde from the first Dark Souls. Of course I'm going to make the onion knights of Catarina serve Katarina) makes her official appearance, both she and Anne is at their wits' end with Saiyanrina. And more implication that Iris is really using her 'friends' for her own family's political ambition.
And of course, 'Raruk'/L'arc finally gets his proper introduction even if he already had a few scenes before this point. To explain, he is the SI character of my friend Angel Wraith. He didn't have a good idea on what to name his own SI character, so he just used L'arc's Japanese pronounciation as his own character name. And I decided 'I'll just make him L'arc's Medea counterpart!' And yes, he directly inspired the Medea counterpart of Glass (Bertia's personal maid), and Theresa (the sea tribe amazonian Darth Maul).
If anyone was curious, Medea L'arc being a potion maker is Angel Wraith's original idea for his SI character. And I borrowed L'arc's look to further flesh out his character.