I wasn't a light sleeper, nor a heavy one, but I'd like to think I could react to danger from sleep pretty well. Since it was morning and no guards had come for us during the night, it seemed Khana was serious about not minding Rato's criminal status. Though, that was a bit obvious.

Following her suggestion, Rato and I had gone to find a slave trader last night. She didn't mind it, agreeing with Khana's views on hero protection. Personally, I think she also wanted me to know for a fact she didn't do what Conrad accused her of. Plus, she still wanted to see a filolial queen and staying with me would lead her to that.

Omir had stayed up for us and showed the way. He or Khana clearly expected me to do what she said, and they were right. We got there without issue, got a slave seal on Rato, and confirmed her side of the story. I was glad that ended up being the case, not only for my own peace of mind, but also so Khana would have less of an issue with me, if she considered us having an issue.

It was a little pricier than I wanted, since we had to get her old seal removed first. We needed her previous owner's blood to change it over to me. Sure, I had her previous owner's blood—in that I had his body in my axe—but I wasn't about to pull out his body. That would not have been a good look.

The trader also warned me about the limit on a basic seal. Someone who went through a class upgrade would likely be too powerful for it to work, meaning the shock wouldn't affect her. That was just fine with me. If I really needed it, the seal would still go off if she lied with the setting on, assuming I used it.

While I was at it, I went ahead and got the Slave User series unlocked, thanks to the ink and a bit of blood from Rato. I didn't plan on making a slave army or anything, but I had a few ideas for down the line.

Today, we'd be going out with two different hero parties, though not full ones. XP was still needed, and having too many from Khana's would reduce it more than having extra people would help.

After a quick breakfast downstairs, Rato and I went out to the stables to get Hailey. Omir and Garth were just coming down when we exited.

"Gweh!" Hailey squawked as we approached. She moved her head around excitedly until I was close enough to nuzzle.

"Good morning to you too." I said, running my fingers up and down her feathery neck.

"Gweh!"

Part of me was disappointed Hailey hadn't changed yet, but I couldn't say I was surprised. I couldn't remember how much time Naofumi spent in Lute after his race with Motoyasu, therefore how long it took for Filo to transform. A few days at most. I think they had to make a cart or something. It might have been a single day.

"Gweh?" Hailey cocked her head to the side.

"It's nothing." I gave her a smile and continued petting her. She would transform when she transformed. I wasn't in any rush, especially since it would mean meeting Fitoria. Assurances aside, I was still a bit uneasy about it.

It wasn't long before the first of Khana's party came out of the inn.

"A-Ah! Sir Axe Hero!" Martin bowed the moment he saw me. "I believe I acted shamefully yesterday at the inn. Please excuse me!"

I had to hold back a laugh, and the urge to ruffle his hair under his hat. "'Dante' is fine, and no problem. I had a good time."

That caused him to jolt and slowly look up at me. "D-Did we…do…together…?" His blush made it clear what he was asking.

"No. We didn't do…whatever it is you're thinking about." Still not into men, even feminine-looking men. Or boys, but that tacked on another issue.

"Don't be in such a rush, Martin." Khana came out and placed a hand on his shoulder, fully encompassing it. "I'm sure little man will warm up to you."

"I-I-I'm not—"

"And," Khana went on before Martin could form a proper response, "if little man proves himself in the Wave, I'm sure your time with him will be even better. I know you have a type~. Seriously, little man, he swoons over strong people. I'm a little surprised he's only slept with me, with how infatuated he can get."

I had to wonder about the hero currently winking at me, and the boy who turned into a stuttering ball of embarrassment. There were many possibilities for this little interaction, but I decided not to entertain any of them. Omir likely told her what we verified last night, so that would explain her good mood. That, or she would have been like this regardless. She was a bit of a mystery to me.

The rest of her party came out and we were on our way. The city was big, so it took a little time to get to the main gates. When we arrived, Lloyd and his griffin were waiting for us. The large lion-bird stared at my red bird as we approached.

"So, how should we divide up?" Lloyd asked as we walked. The guards at the gate gave us a salute as we passed.

"I'm thinking I'll take two with me for little man to get a lot of XP, and the rest go with you. Then we can switch out later and give you some time with him." Khana voiced her idea. "Omir, Martin, you'll be with me."

"Sure thing." Omir nodded.

"Y-Yes, Miss Khana." Martin held his staff close to him.

"Actually," I spoke up, "would Garth be able to come instead of Omir?"

Khana grinned. "I see you're warming up to one of my guys."

"I'm not into men." Garth and I said together. Ignoring the look on Khana's face, I continued. "I don't have as much experience using an axe as I'd like, and one of my forms is a halberd."

"Ooh. You want to see how Garth handles his shaft." Khana nodded as if the universe answered a question for her.

Trusi sighed. "Sorry for our leader. She gets like this sometimes."

"It's probably Dante's fault." Garth said. "She's only like this with certain people, so it's something about him."

"Might be because he's older, but newer." Omir voiced. "She's testing out the sensibilities of the elderly."

"H-Hey! He's still a hero." Martin said, though his voice grew quieter at the end.

The three other members of Khana's party stopped, prompting Martin to as well while they looked down at him.

"10 silver says Martin wants to watch them."

"50 silver on Dante watching Khana and Martin."

"1 gold on the three of them going at it."

"You're on." Garth and Trusi shook Omir's hand.

Meanwhile, I was flabbergasted. It was about a few things, but one was able to make its way to my mouth.

"Don't you think saying this within earshot of me will make it less likely to happen?" I said I wasn't interested in men, yet they just made a bet about me fucking one, a woman in the mix or not. I also realized Khana meant Martin never slept with anyone without her being there.

"No." The three of them turned and answered in one voice.

I would have to make a note to not let anyone near my drink.

"This is why I prefer monsters." Lloyd, meanwhile, had his hand over his eyes. That did nothing to hide his own blush. "Can we get started already?"

~The Right Man~

Going with a group like this was a double-edged sword. Since we had one filolial and five people, we weren't going to be getting very far. Monsters close to towns and cities were weaker largely because that's why the place was built in the first place. That, and having resources to sustain it, but that's beside the point. We'd have to spend a bit of time traveling to find good monsters to fight.

Or, we would have, if Khana didn't have a lot of money. A ranch outside the city rents out filolials, so Khana got a pair. She had to place a large deposit to cover the cost of them, should either or both die, but she didn't even blink at it. She even rented a pair of horses for Omir and Trusi so Lloyd's griffin wouldn't be bothered by their presence. I was looking forward to having that much wealth here. It would make my job all that much easier.

At first, I wondered why Khana didn't have mounts she regularly used, since she clearly had the money for it. But, well…

"I want my red ursa…" Slumped over on her filolial, she barely watched where she went. Martin, who sat in front of her, guided their mount.

She was pretty set on getting that monster. I remembered her talking to Lloyd about one when I arrived, but it didn't look like he was going to budge. Unless the Axe was doing something weird with the translation or name, it sounded like it would be a red bear. I'll admit, I was curious.

We arrived at, well, wherever it was we were going. We all dismounted, Martin holding the reins of the two filolials while Hailey stayed by my side.

"Alright, little man." Khana stepped forward, crossing her arms. "You wanted Garth to show you some moves, right? Let's see what you can do first."

"Alright." I shifted my weapon to the Iron Halberd form. I got a Steel Halberd from Baric's shop, but I didn't have the right ore to Smelt it, so this one was slightly better.

We went through the tall grass of the field, my eyes scanning for any monsters as I took the lead. Soon enough, one appeared.

Razor Fang Stalker

I knew I was in a fantasy world, but this monster's appearance was still weird. Its fur was a muddy brown and its body looked like a small deer's. As it saw I noticed it, it raised its body from the grass. With legs more than twice the length of its body, it stood taller than Khana, looking a bit like a giraffe. Its mouth, as its name implied, was overflowing with sharp, jagged teeth.

With a cry much like a wounded deer, it thumped its front two legs on the ground as it slowly approached.

"Careful, Dante." Rato warned. "That monster will knock you off balance with its legs before snapping at you like a snake."

Scary. I was only partially joking. It reminded me of how some spider monsters would attack in games.

It let out another cry, rearing its legs up and stamping again. An intimidation tactic if I ever saw one. My stats, long weapon, and personal training made it pointless.

With the halberd pointed at it like a spear, I kept it from lunging at me. It could try to strike at me with its legs, but then I'd be able to skewer it easily, and it seemed to know it. Unlike the other monsters I've faced so far, this one seemed to have at least a shred of survival tactics.

Since I didn't want it to decide the fight wasn't worth it, I made the first move. I swept the halberd to the side, hoping to hook a leg. It was more agile than I realized, swiftly pulling up its leg and swatting at me with the other. Two talons at the end of its foot struck my chainmail, but it didn't deal much damage. In response, I grabbed the leg, keeping it in place.

"Erst Axe!" Changing my weapon to the Steel Axe, I pulled the monster toward me and sunk it into its head. An XP notification told me I'd already won.

As the monster fell to the ground, I looked back at Khana and Garth. "How'd I do?"

"Terrible." Garth said immediately.

"You had to change your weapon, so that's a failure." Khana shook her head, smirking.

"Forget that." Garth strode forward. "With the point, you could have forced it back. You had range over it, so it couldn't fight back without endangering itself. When it did, you'd either pierce it, or catch its leg and knock it off balance, leaving you with an opening to strike. Ideally, you'd have a companion deal the damage while you maneuvered it."

Was that how halberds were used? I didn't think so, but this weapon was probably used differently in this world. Besides, most of my training was with firearms of various designs, with some martial arts mixed in. Mostly hand-to-hand, and nothing like Krav Maga, but I could disarm a man pointing a gun at my head point blank. Still, I'd defer to the expert here.

"That was a test to see if you knew the basics of using such a weapon, and you didn't think to have Khana join you." Garth was really driving home his belief on it.

"I didn't think I should have a hero help me show off." I tried to argue, but Garth wasn't having it.

"But that's part of the point! When an enemy is distracted by you, someone else can deliver a devastating blow."

That still didn't sound right, but the stats on the halberd forms really weren't great. Ah! There was a scene from that Castlevania show where a halberdier shoved the point through a monster and another soldier with a broadsword or something came up and cut it down…I think. It's been a minute since I watched that, but I think that's what Garth was getting at.

"In that case…Hailey." I looked over at my filolial.

"Gweh!" She fluttered her wings and stomped over, ready to go.

"Just like Garth said. Next monster, I'll distract it while you finish it off."

"Gweh!" Hailey bobbed her head in understanding.

We needed to work on more cooperation other than mounted combat. "And don't worry if we don't get it right. I can always use a halberd like a top-heavy spear."

"You what!?" That was apparently the wrong thing to say. Hailey and I moved forward, searching for more monsters while Garth went on a long tirade about the beauty and sophistication of the mighty halberd. I guess there was a big difference in how the point of a halberd should be used compared to a spear.

~The Right Man~

We spent about an hour going at it with the nearby monsters. Those stalker things were a bit uncommon, but we got to try our hand at fighting another one. Just like Garth wanted, I played the role of support. With the head of the halberd near the base of the monster's leg, it was unable to strike from that side with either leg or its razor fangs. It tried, but I was able to hook the front leg. Hailey was able to get in and peck at it, doing a surprising amount of damage as she prodded and bit.

One corpse wasn't enough to unlock a form, but a second one did the trick. I even dissected it to try and get more, but only one part of it gave me a weapon.

Razor Fang Stalker Halberd
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: agility 3

Double Fang Axe
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: skill "Rend"

The halberd I got had better stats than the iron one, and roughly equal to the steel. It was a bit longer and, fortunately, it took an ore I had a good amount of to Smelt. If nothing changed, I'd have this as one of my weapons for the Wave.

The Double Fang Axe was a two-headed axe, though it was a one-handed weapon. The stats weren't quite as high as the Steel Axe and I couldn't Smelt it much. The skill, however, dealt a little more damage—about the same as Erst Chop—and ignored some defense.

I wasn't worried about the Wave, since this was only the first one, but having one of my weapons set made me feel better. If the boss ended up being somehow very strong, I still had the Axe of Rage to fall back on and quickly crush it.

As for my performance…

"I don't know how you survived fighting monsters so long, let alone reach such a high level." Garth was quite critical of my technique, which was mostly hacking at an enemy when I wasn't using a halberd form.

All the power up methods, 3 already mastered weapon forms at the start, a curse weapon, and corpse looting. That's how I've managed so far, though I'm sure I'd have done passably otherwise. Only one reason was known to them and I wasn't about to say the others.

"Most of the monster I've fought were pretty simple." That was another explanation. Killing a lot of them really grew my level.

"Little man is pretty tenacious." Khana offered her own view, which wasn't much better. There was a distinct lack of critique on my axe-wielding.

Having a dedicated healer in Rato allowed me to be a little reckless with my HP, which I still had plenty of. Hailey being a high-mobility fighter that could also stomp enemies to death was more than a little bonus.

We continued like that for a little while longer, me getting pointers on how to fight in close combat better with some demonstrations from Garth. With the exception of my most recent gains, most of my weapons I got from monsters were one- or two-handed axes that weren't much longer than a, well, longsword. Most of the bonuses I got were also stats, either combat or non-combat, though I did get another potion recipe bonus.

Garth seemed to equally pride himself on using a halberd and lament his choice of weapon. I couldn't blame him, what with the stats I saw on mine. I managed to find a monster with appraisal, so I could increase that slightly without using Job Level, which I'd done yesterday. It wasn't something normally allowed except after passing level 100, but my goddess and the Axe Spirit had worked something out. She wasn't clear on the details, but it didn't negatively affect me, so I didn't really mind. It also cost a lot to upgrade that compared to my combat stats, so finding equip bonuses was the preferred method. My cooking skill, on the other hand, cost only a little more to improve than my combat stats.

Eventually, Khana joined in on the fighting—her words being "Let's have some fun!" She was certainly a veteran hero, able to crush any enemy she came across. The form she used, incidentally, was a long-hafted war hammer, longer than my longest non-halberd weapon.

Khana showed me how she used her hammer quite a bit. Since it was pretty close to an axe, I knew I'd be able to mimic her. That was both weapon use and style of fighting. She would charge in and smash, crush, and slam monsters left and right. Oh, and against one of those stalker monsters, she went right for snapping its front legs the wrong way before obliterating its skull.

I also got to see Martin in action, though he was very much a rearguard person. Healing and water were his attributes, and he rarely made an attack. His role in the party was clearly geared toward his first attribute. I hadn't actually gotten myself checked out with what magic I could use, since I still had to prepare for the first Wave. Rato had brought it up and mentioned using a crystal ball, though those were expensive and not as efficient. Still, I'd have some magic to use in the short term, so we'd see how things went.

"You're picking up maneuvers pretty quickly." Khana commented.

"Just part of me being a man." Was my response.

"Hear that, Garth?" Khana laughed.

He didn't rise to her bait. "Learning things quickly is being a man?"

"Jack of all trades, master of one. That's how my father taught me to be." I elaborated. "I'm pretty good at picking up the basics quickly, just not good at improving beyond that."

At most, I'd get around to apprentice, maybe adept, certainly not expert, if going by Skyrim ranks.

Khana hummed softly. "I'm sure he'd be proud to see you now."

"Yeah…" He might be, but probably not for a number of reasons.

After another hour or so, we switched groups. Rato, Hailey, and I went with Lloyd and his griffin.

"Grah!" Draak took one whiff of me and decided he didn't want to be close at all. That included me being near Lloyd, as Draak kept his body between the two of us when I took a step closer.

"Heh, heh, sorry about him." Lloyd gave Draak a pat on his side. "Draak's mate recently had her eggs hatch, so he's been feeling a bit more protective of his herd. And since he was one of the first monsters I hatched after gaining the Star Whip, well…"

"No worries." I had to keep a hand on Hailey so she wouldn't act out either.

"I'm a little jealous of you, actually." Lloyd mentioned as he mounted up. "Filolial feathers are really soft."

That comment got him a wing smack from Draak.

"Same to you. I like animals, and you have young griffins."

Hailey gave me a headbutt from the front, probably because Rato was behind me this time and she didn't want to hit the innocent alchemist.

"By the way," I said as we started to move through the fields, "are red ursas just red bears?"

"Huh." Lloyd quirked an eyebrow. "You just said the same word twice, but differently. That's our weapons' translation feature for you. So, yes, I suppose."

Translations were weird. "Then I can see why she'd want one."

I think I just witnessed the deepest sigh in the world. "At first, she wanted one of my griffins, an older one. Now she wants a red ursa. Pretty soon, she'll think up a way to ride a land calamari and try to get one out of me."

"…If that's what it sounds like, I almost want one." Not as something to ride, of course, unless it could move across the ground like it was swimming. I also doubted it be as big as the Kraken from Pirates of the Caribbean, so it wouldn't be eating any castles.

I may have veered a little too into the 'fun' aspect of my job there.

"They eat a lot, so you probably don't." Lloyd shook his head. "Then again, so do filolials, so you're probably used to that."

Hailey certainly had a big appetite. I'd learned a few things from Rato about filolials, or was reminded of them. They were a cheaper alternative to horses, mostly because they could eat just about anything and were easier to train for pulling carriages. But they also ate a lot, so demand for them wasn't as big as it could have been. They weren't miracle animals.

Lloyd led us onward. Unlike with Khana, I couldn't exactly adapt his style to my own. A whip was just far too different of a weapon. Further, he couldn't really add more to my knowledge of filolials that Rato didn't already have. It was mostly tips about using a mount in combat, since he spent part of his adventuring using one.

I did learn that he didn't use monster seals on his monsters. He preferred taming them himself, even if he had the egg. It must have been a Whip Hero thing, since Rato told me taming a monster after it hatched was incredibly difficult, even with a seal later on.

It was pretty interesting to see him crack his whip and throw out a whirlwind at monsters. I also got XP from being in a party with him, so it wasn't like my time was wasted or anything. Although, he wasn't nearly as talkative, at least to us. Well, he'd talk to Hailey about as much to Rato or me. I didn't take it personally, since he fully admitted to preferring monsters over people.

I did, however, get to try out one of the power up methods a little more. Rather, I was attempting to refine my use of it. Energy Boost. It was always active, increasing my stats some. That was fine, but using it with attacks and my two attack skills was a little weird. I couldn't get a handle on controlling how much I used, even after having spent four days using it. Unlike most things I learned, this wasn't nearly as intuitive. That, or it was just too foreign to get a grip quickly. I imagined learning magic would be similar.

After a few hours of killing monsters, and keeping Hailey and Draak from picking a fight with one another, we met back up with Khana and her group. Lunch was well overdue, but we weren't ready to head back to the capital yet, so we made a small camp to eat.

"Little man knows how to cook, eh?" Khana loomed over the pot we had a stew cooking in.

"I have many talents." I smirked at her. "Cooking is just one of the reasons I'm awesome. Plus, I've gone hunting a few times and know how to handle a dead animal for eating."

"You better not try to get into another eating contest with Lloyd's griffin." Trusi warned her as she sliced some razor fang stalker meat into strips.

Khana raised one hand while placing the other over her heart. "I swear I will not get into an eating competition with Lloyd's griffin."

"Or Sir Dante's filolial." Martin quietly added as he ground up some herbs.

"Betrayal!" Khana shouted, though I could see the smile on both hers and Martin's faces.

The Hammer Hero was good for a laugh and more than pleasant company. I think I'd miss her once we went our separate ways until the next Wave.

As our late lunch was cooking, I thought over what the two veteran heroes had taught me. More accurately, the mostly repeated information I got from the packet and my own knowledge. For example, I could be registered to every hourglass, something I remember wasn't possible in the web novel version.

One thing I didn't know myself was how the Waves summoned the registered heroes. It was said in the packet, but it still surprised me. Apparently, I had to be near the hourglass in question to be teleported. By 'near', I meant that hourglass had to be the closest one to me, regardless of whether or not I was registered to any others.

Thanks to the Dragon Hourglass Sand Axe, I could teleport to an hourglass up to 24 hours before the Wave. I wasn't high enough level to use the skill, but the weapon basically forced open the skill to that one location. It looked almost glitched, but I was assured that was normal.

It wasn't really something I learned, but it was more driven home how inefficiently I was hunting monsters. I knew going for quantity over quality wouldn't work forever, but seeing the increased XP some of the monsters gave me was a bit of an eyeopener. That was in addition to how much XP every higher level required. Khana's advice going forward was to take monster extermination quests from the guild. Aside from being paid, those were monsters people had a harder time getting rid of, thus likely worth more XP.

"Food's ready." I called out to the three parties.

Bowls of stew were passed around, plus some cooked meat Martin had worked on. Hailey and Draak had some of the meat, plus a lot more dead monsters to munch on. They came from our weapons, so we already got whatever drop items they had. The only loss was from selling them, plus not being used for my power up methods.

"What's that?" Lloyd looked at me as I pulled something from my pack.

"Cigarettes." I told him. "I had them when I arrived."

That wasn't a lie at all, since I really did have them when I got here. I just didn't have them before then. Not that it made a difference. I had my gun on me when I died, but it didn't show up here with me.

"Hmm." Khana hummed as she watched me take a drag. "Kind of like a small cigar. Nobles here in Faubrey like them. Think I got some as a gift at some point."

"You sold them to a merchant an hour after getting them." Garth pointed out.

"Did I?" Khana cocked an eyebrow. "I guess I did. Well, drinking is the only vice I need."

"We all know that isn't true." Trusi said, prompting a round of laughter from the rest of her party. Even Lloyd laughed, though he hid his mouth.

Khana simply shrugged, taking a bite out of the meat. "I like what I like."

This was nice. It's been a long time since I was around people who did banter like this. Sure, most of them were some flavor of killer or asshole, but we still worked together. Would I find people here to banter with like this? Naofumi…probably wouldn't. He didn't strike me as the type. If I could catch Sadeena in Zeltoble, she might. Plus, she likes to drink, so I'd have a drinking buddy.

As pleasant as the atmosphere was, it was probably a good time to ask something I'd been meaning to.

"Got a bit of an odd request." I started. "I hate to ask, but would one of you be willing to not come to this Wave? I want to gain more levels quickly before they start getting more difficult. Of course, I'm more than willing to share any drops I get with the one who doesn't come."

Lloyd stroked his chin. "Well, the legends say the Waves are supposed to get stronger as time passes, but I doubt the rulers would wait to summon the Cardinal Heroes if the Waves got strong fast."

Khana shook her head. "I do doubt that, but you're right. Heard Siltvelt's Wave wasn't so bad with just one hero, and neither was Zeltoble's with none."

That was in reference to the fact that the rulers of various nations were meeting in the capital here to discuss where all the heroes went. Of course, I'm sure I'll have to meet with the king of Faubrey sooner or later, even if I'd rather it be never.

In regards to rulers not doing what was in their best interests, I wasn't surprised. Ignoring my book knowledge, that was something people did, though they thought their actions were in their best interests. All the powerful nations would want a hero for themselves, making sure they're taken care of first. Politics over saving the world, though I suppose not warring currently is putting the world first.

"I was in Othil's first Wave." Lloyd added. "There were a lot of monsters falling from the sky, but mine were more than enough to keep the nearby village safe until the guards got into position. The Wave boss wasn't that strong, too."

It sounded like I was going to get a 'yes'.

"I'll be here for sure." Khana crossed her arms, giving a toothy grin. "Love a good fight. But Lloyd here…"

The young man scratched the back of his head. "Well, a few of my monsters just hatched and I wouldn't want to bring them to a Wave. I'll take dead monsters over drop items."

"I can do that." I gave him a nod. Only Job Level really needed a lot of monster corpses as material. Even the Carriage's method only required a set amount in my drops for a bonus, though more would increase it some.

Khana smiled. "So, I'll take you to the Wave, and Lloyd here can raise up that red ursa for me."

"I'm not giving you one of my monsters, Khana!"

"Come on, Lloyd. You owe me for dealing with King Piggy for you."

"You aren't doing anything for me."

"Sure I am. You know he's gonna throw a party after the Wave, like he does for anything important. You not fighting in it means you won't have to be there."

"That means I'd owe Dante, not you."

Khana's party shared another laugh at the two heroes' banter. Not going to lie, there was a small part of me tempted to not fight in this Wave to put off meeting with the king, but I had a job to do.

"Anyway." Lloyd sighed. "Dante, do you know what country you'd want to go to? Or what hero you want to help?"

"Huh?" I looked over at him.

"I don't think he was listening to the pope." Khana laughed. "I think he was busy checking him out."

"That's not funny." I made sure to fix her with a harsh glare.

Khana just waved me off. "We'll probably be asked by the king to aid the Cardinal Heroes in growing and gaining levels. Since you were recently summoned, you might not get asked, but it's worth thinking about."

This opened up a nice possibility of having good reason to be in Melromarc. Or, it would. If everything happened the same, Melromarc would summon all four of the heroes and piss everyone else off.

Omir suddenly pulled the bow from his back and nocked an arrow. I went for the Axe on my back, ready to cut down whoever or whatever had snuck up on us while we talked. But as I turned to look, my hand stopped on the shaft. There was no one there.

"Keep moving." Omir commanded, keeping his bow pointed at a tree a few dozen feet away.

I was about to ask what he was doing, but there was a slight movement in the tree. I couldn't see what it was, but Omir soon lowered his bow.

"What was that?" I asked.

"A shadow." He said, returning his bow to his back.

Oh right, magic ninjas. I didn't forget, I'm just surprised one was around so soon. Then again, I was a new hero that was recently revealed in both churches.

As we got back to our lunch, a low rumble and thumping started up. Looking back over to the tree, I saw a procession of carriages and mounted knights.

"Something going on?" I asked the two heroes.

"Probably for the conference." Lloyd offered. "They're going to summon the Cardinal Heroes and decide who goes where, after all."

"Melromarc." Omir pointed to one of the carriages, a sigil decorating the side of it.

Huh. I didn't ask before, but I just assumed everyone was already gathered and meeting about it. Then again, I didn't really have a timeline of stuff before the summoning.

I didn't think there was much I could really change on that front. Apparently, summoning heroes was a difficult spell that often didn't succeed, not even at summoning a single hero. There might have been a special thing the people from the Three Heroes Church used to make it a success, with all four heroes no less. It's not like I could warn the people here about it, since there was no way I should even know it was going to happen.

Thinking about it, a lot more might be different that I first thought. The packet from my goddess had Mirellia listed as the queen and Aultcray with the Staff, though dormant right now. For all I knew, they could summon all the heroes in Faubrey easily and then divide them up. I should really expand my thinking on things.

"Who would you two go with?" I asked my fellow heroes.

"Probably whoever went to Shieldfreeden." Khana said. "I have a portal location there already. Plus, I'm close with a few important people there."

Garth snorted. "Right. 'Close'."

"Don't be jealous~." Khana teased.

"I was thinking of going with either the Bow Hero or Spear Hero." Lloyd said. "But, if they went to Melromarc or Siltvelt…"

"Ugh. Yeah, I wouldn't want that either." Khana nodded.

I could understand why Khana wouldn't like going to either place, probably for a similar reason as Lloyd. Selling criminals to Melromarc or Siltvelt was something she didn't like in Faubrey, so going to either of those places wouldn't be much better. Plus, her party had both humans and a demi-human in it.

Both Melromarc and Siltvelt had their own issues, but Faubrey wasn't really any better. That was made worse by the thing that sat on the throne, the person I wasn't looking forward to meeting. I really couldn't stress that point enough. Malty being the same as she was in the books or not, I couldn't say there was anyone I'd wish that fate on.

"It's not like either of those countries will need one of us anyway." Khana pointed out. "Both have a Seven Star Hero already."

And that basically confirmed that Aultcray's staff being out of commission wasn't widely known.

"Conrad will likely stay in Faubrey." Lloyd said. "He's spent most of his time here."

That was good enough reason for me not to be. Khana gave me a small look, telling me much the same.

"I might try for Zeltoble then." I gave my thoughts on the matter.

"Ooh." Khana gave me an appraising look. "And why would that be?"

"Lots of good weapons to copy. Plus, people can make money there. I'm good at making money." Not as good as Eddy, but I learned quite a bit from him.

"Well, someone's been learning about our world." Khana had an impressed look on her face.

"I won't last long if I don't." I gave her a shrug. "I don't suppose I could hitch a ride to Shieldfreeden with you?"

"Hah! There it is!" Khana slapped her knee with a laugh. "Sure, little man, I'll play filolial driver for you. I've been meaning to save a location there anyway."

And just like that, I had transportation. That would get me somewhat close to Melromarc, though still not close enough to make it for their first Wave. Hailey was getting faster, but she wasn't that fast. Plus, I could always get an early start on the search for the villagers, or at least have eyes out if and when they got sold out of the country.

As a bonus, I might find Sadeena there, gaining a powerful ally. I could also get the hakuko siblings, if they were there. I didn't like the idea of Fohl fighting in the coliseum for medicine money for his sick sister, especially since he's like 11 years old. A kid shouldn't have to do that, and I can actually do something about it. Bringing him and his sister with me wasn't the greatest, but they'll be much better off. I'll make sure of that.

And, hey, if and when shit hit the fan with the summoning, I'd get to Naofumi that much sooner and have people to help out.

Author's Notes:

Next chapter is the Wave. I think I'll do a couple more chapters for this story before I start switching between this one and Forging Legends.

Just a reminder, I crosspost on AO3. Since the issue of story updates not being emailed on FF is continuing, I figured I'd remind people of that, just in case.