Chapter 15

Sadly, a nap wasn't going to fit into the schedule.

The fighting of the first Wave started just after breakfast (rather considerate of a world ending disaster), and took almost until noon before it had called it quits and gone away.

Add that to a couple hour walk to Melromarc, and there just wasn't enough time. But, at least we had time to clean up properly.

"Kid! You're back!" Erhard greeted us as we got to his shop, "Wow... Rough time?"

"Do you want the honest answer, or the detailed answer?" I asked, making sure to wipe my feet before stepping into his nice clean shop. I made sure to look back at the other three so they'd also use his welcome mat.

He took a look at me, then the others, gave me a raised eyebrow and replied, "Honest."

"Yes." I said flatly, the other three laughing nervously. I'd been grumbling very quietly about it the entire walk back to Melromarc, and they'd already heard my detailed answer to Erhard's question.

"Well..." He considered, "You know, just go get cleaned up. We can chat about it later. Good job getting back in one piece." He folded his arms over his chest and grinned at us.

"Told you so." I said to the other three, "Thank you." I said to Erhard, the four of us bowing to him thankfully.

One of the nice little things Erhard had, being a very successful weapon and armour smith, was actual heated plumbing. Kinda. It was more 'personal' than 'on the grid'. But he had access to running water, and the magical means to make it hot or cold. He also had a large bathtub.

Being the 'captain' back in Orario meant you got to choose who did what first. However, being me, and responsible for my party's equipment and safety, as well as wanting them to be as clean as possible, I let the three of them take turns in the big copper tub while I made sure their equipment didn't need repair.

After doing what I could in the time I had, (Raphtalia, for example, had done a number on her sword, but after hours of non stop fighting that was expected), I went to take my turn in the bath.

And it was here, in this amazing bathtub (it was copper! With little clawed feet and everything!) that I nearly got caught.

My back was to the door as I finished undoing the binding I'd put around my breasts, when the door opened and Raphtalia peeked her head in. "Sir? Oh! Did I startle you?"

My tail, acting like it's own person again (oddly I liked it far better that way), had fluffed out in surprise. This was good, since it covered my rear.

"Did you need something?" I asked, looking over my shoulder but not turning around.

I knew Hestia had done something, given me something of my true abilities back, but I didn't know if changing shape was one of them, and if it was... well I still needed a mirror to do it properly.

"Mr. Erhard said he was going to show us how he washed his clothes, and I was going to pick yours up, if that's okay?" She started to get closer.

Thinking quickly, I balled up the bandage I'd been using to bind my breasts and tossed it towards the neat pile of equipment I'd put near the door, "Just this and whatever fabric is in that pile there then."

She turned away from me, and I all but jumped into the steaming water of the bath. "A bandage? What was this for? Were you hurt?"

"I was using it as my underwear." I said, "That is a thing in this world, right? I can't stand it when I sway around when I run."

I peeked over the edge of the tub, just in time to see her blush, then turned away before she looked back to me, "I'll... um... give this to Mr. Erhard." She said, "Please don't be too long, we shouldn't be late!"

I waited until the door closed again before sighing.

Hestia, in her infinite capacity to try helping, had given me a great gift. In the four seconds, yes, I counted, that she had been able to contact me, she'd restored exactly one part of my missing falna. And to me, it was the most important part.

I was her Beloved Kitsune. Sure, she had nine of them, but while she loved all her Children, equally and unfailingly, that single line on my back, that tiny little token of acknowledgement apart from the rest of her Familia...

I could only tell her how much it meant to me, but not why. By Earth's standards, Kitsune were divine. They could, given time, power, skill and influence, become part of the Celestial Pantheon. True divinity, with access to the Eastern Heavens. This was by all accounts, a good, and very bad thing for me.

That power had kept me alive while I was on Earth, dealing with Devils and Angels and insane god-touched people. That power had let me beat Ottar, retake Orario from Freya and her influence on it. But...

That power made me a Goddess. By all accounts, by the rules, I would have ascended to Tenkai the instant I returned to Orario. And even if I could get out of doing divine paperwork and returned to Orario, I'd have had to give up all that power, and ultimately failed to fix the fundamental flaw in Orario's system.

Hestia, in her innocent way of solving problems by sheer luck, had made me an exception. Because I was the Beloved Kitsune of Hestia. I was beneath her. And in Orario, the only thing beneath the Gods, were the Children. There were no 'Half Gods'. No way for a Mortal to become a God.

So when I had fully awakened as a Kitsune, and she put that single line on my status while I was still on Earth, she had managed to not only make me an exception to the Rule, but not broken any rules of her own. The next time I saw Akeno, while I wasn't under surveillance from Japanese Secret Service, I was going to give her another backrub. If it wasn't for her praying to my Hestia, and through her, Hestia connecting to me to edit my Status...

Of course, this meant She knew how, and could do it again. And while Raphtalia hadn't commented on my Falna being on my back (I checked after my bath, and no, it wasn't there), I knew Hestia had once again made me Hers. Made me the smallest of exceptions.

I was no longer a Fox demi-human in this world. I was now a proper Kitsune. Sadly, due to me getting 'reset' to fit the rules of this world, I had only the smallest hint of my old power. What I did have though, felt clearer, less... strangled. But once again I would have to figure out where my limits were.

And if I ever met Yasaka while no one was looking, I'd give her a backrub for teaching me where to even begin on finding those limits. Sadly, there was little time to discover much while I was scrubbing myself in the bath.

But, Erhard did have a mirror. So after my bath, I just had to make sure no one caught me with my pants down... I'd have to ask Haruhime when I got back if she liked the 'slender effeminate' type.

It was, for all intents and purposes, a nice party.

I'd seen better, of course. And while the four of us entering the grand ball room of Castle Melromarc wasn't heralded by any fanfare, no one had stopped us or even complained. Now, that wasn't to say people were coming up to introduce themselves, or coming over to serve us drinks. But the overall level of hostility was rather low. A welcome change for sure.

Speaking of food and drink, there were tables of it laid out along one wall. Nice fancy finger foods were on equally fancy plates, with all kinds of matching utensils as well. So, the four of us just... took up a place out of the way, at the far corner near the door, and within reasonable distance of a buffet table. There were no chairs or dining tables, so we had to stand and eat.

"Look at all this food..." Raphtalia said, sparkling proper non-sick sparkles. "Can we..."

I saw that many people were just taking what they pleased from the other tables, and setting down dirty plates on carts. "Go ahead. Make sure to mind your manners. Clive." I gave him a mild glare.

"Gr." He nodded, and followed Raphtalia to the nearest table.

"Usa." I called to him, pulling his longing gaze from the table. It was obvious he wanted something, and that he knew he couldn't do what everyone else could, since there was no real place to set a plate down. "I'll help."

"But..."

"It's my job to support the party. Pick what you like. Give me your opinion later so I can pick something myself. Maybe even try and cook it later." I suggested, tugging the sleeve of his lame arm lightly, my tail flicking against his back to urge him to follow me.

"Thank you sir..."

The King, I noticed, was in a rather good mood. A short time after we had arrived, he'd announced that 'He was pleased' and 'it went better than last time'. He was surrounded by a bunch of nobility who were alternating between 'preening' and 'fawning' over his every word, obviously trying to soak up some of the King's good mood and looking for a way to gain favour. Sycophantic politics at its worst.

The Heroes and their parties were here too of course, also gathering a few of the well dressed nobles. I didn't pay them much attention. It felt a little like 'rival Familia' back home, meeting in the dungeon. Aside from each of the other Heroes looking in my direction, then looking away, they didn't seem interested in me at all.

"Sir? I think I've had enough for the night." Usa said, carefully putting his fork on the plate I was holding for him, then taking one of the provided napkins and cleaning his mouth carefully.

"Any thoughts on the food?" I asked, setting the plate down on the 'dirty dish' cart and getting my own. "Raphtalia? Clive? Any favourites?"

Clive, unable to talk, pointed to a couple of things. Raphtalia either agreed, or not, then pointed to some kind of meat pie. Usa agreed with Clive about some kind of potato salad analog, but also a particular kind of fish patty thing that might have been deep fried.

They were all sparkling hopefully at me while I tried a nibble of each. It hadn't taken me long to get used to cooking in this world, and they were eager for me to try cooking this stuff too. "Next time we get to the market." I promised, trying the little meat pie Raphtalia liked, "Oh... this especially."

"Yes!" She did a little cheer, "Oh, I mean..."

The other two laughed quietly, then I spotted both of Clive's eyes focusing on something behind me, while the other two fell silent suddenly.

With a little sigh, I turned around and saw Motoyasu wading through the people in the room towards me. The look on his face spelled trouble, so I finished chewing my mouthful and took a sip of water as quickly as was polite.

He stopped a couple paced from me, tugged off his right glove, and tossed it at my feet. I waited until the room went silent before I 'reacted'. But instead of picking it up, I looked down at it, "Are you sure? Where I'm from, the right glove means to the death." Before he could come up with a reply though, I picked up the glove and smiled, "I'll let that slide, but now that I've accepted, what's this about?"

He pointed a finger at me accusingly, "I heard all about it!" He moved that finger over a little to point behind me, "That girl, Raphtalia! She's a slave!" With every word he was regaining the bluster he'd lost when I mentioned 'to the death', and by the last word he was practically vibrating with anger again.

"She is." I admitted, "So are the other two." I added, "He's Clive, and he's Usa." I introduced, feeling a deep amusement in watching Motoyasu's face turn various shades of red as I pretended to ignore his anger. "What about it?"

I could practically see the instant his brain cells caught on to my passive aggressive taunting, and he had to take a deep breath to calm down enough to talk. "What's with that attitude?" He asked, still angry, still frowning, and obviously thinking I was just a child still. "People can't just... force people into slavery." He calmed down a little more, settling into a reasonable attempt at a big brother voice.

"Especially not us. We come from another world, we can't behave that way here." He finished.

"I bought them from the Slave Market here in the city." I said with an exaggerated shrug, "I'd never have found the place if someone," I looked past him, towards Myne and the King, who were coming this way. "hadn't put me into one of the same cages I found them in."

"What?!" He shook his head, "It doesn't matter! We heroes can't use slaves! We have to be better than that! Set a good example! Wasn't setting that house on fire enough? You have to go around dragging innocent people into combat too?"

"First I had to 'drag' them out of a cage you couldn't stand in." I said with a cheerful smile, "And now they're part of my party." I shrugged, "The only thing I've 'forced' them to do, is drink some really terrible tasting medicine. You know, to recover from cramped conditions and poor nutrition."

My utter lack of reaction to his anger, his talking down to me like a child, and his attempt to reason with me, made his anger flare back up again. So much so, that he started going red again and sputtering. He took a half step back, then pointed his spear at me. "Fight me! If I win, you will set Raphtalia free!"

Again, I met his anger with as little 'give a damn' as I could, "Just the ten year old girl? Not the other two? I mean, if you want to talk about laws, I'm curious what your world's age of consent is."

He was starting to turn purple again, when the King arrived behind him, "I had heard rumours of a Hero using slaves. But I cannot believe it's true!"

"I can't believe your guards would get lost on the way to your dungeon. It's how I found them in the first place." I replied offhandedly.

The King was far sharper than Motoyasu (though that wasn't a very high bar to clear it seemed), and he replied with an angry, "The words of a criminal are meaningless here. If Mr. Motoyasu's words do not sway you, perhaps my order will. Duel!"

"But I've already accepted." I replied with a smile and tossing Motoyasu's glove back at him, hitting him in the face with a satisfying 'slap' of leather, getting a gasp from the crowd, "But unless something is offered in return, I will refuse."

The King frowned, but I could see his eyes flicker left and right, to the nobility as well as the other two heroes, "Such belligerence... Unacceptable, even if you are a hero!" He pointed, "To the courtyard! Guards, make sure they do not interfere!"

"Sir!" Usa called out as guards peeled away from the edges of the room towards us.

"I should fight!" Raphtalia started, her hand going to her weapon.

"No." I said to my party, using my 'in combat' tone, "They brought this to me, so I will deal with it." I looked to the guards as they started to raise weapons in response to my party doing the same. "They will not resist. But you will keep your hands off them."

Behind me, the King said, "You won't have them much longer."

We were led, without being restrained, though the guards had taken my party's weapons, to the courtyard.

It was probably the single largest open space in the Castle, and it also had various balconies around it, for observation in peace time, or archers and mages in war time. Of course, I was treating it like any encounter and looking for any and everything I could use to my advantage.

The feeling from the crowd was obvious. They expected me to lose. I was the Shield! I had no real attack power! The Spear should have no trouble overcoming me! It felt like I was back in school, two lifetimes ago, when the school bully said 'you're dead after class', and had all his friends come and watch.

I was given a shove from behind by a guard, and when I looked back at him he pointed to a spot in the middle of the courtyard. Remembering his face I commented, "Oh, the child beater." I walked out, making sure that my party members were, at the very least, not being pushed around too much.

A few moments later, Motoyasu stood across from me, still looking angry. But he was the enemy I 'knew'. Around me, standing along the walls, were more guards, also looking rather grumpy, but I also saw Myne. She was trying to act uninterested, standing there with her arms crossed and leaning on the wall, but I knew her type.

While I made note of various things, like the torches that were lighting the courtyard, the guards, Myne, the King, my party, the other Heroes... I did some stretching, doing my best to act like I was either an idiot, or overconfident.

After a minute or two, people stopped filling the balconies, and the King took a position in the middle, overseeing everything. It was here I stood up straight, unstuck the shield from my back, put it on my left arm, and looked up at him.

"Lord Aultcray." I said, ignoring Motoyasu, "I know that if I lose, you and your mages will undo the Slave Curse. However, what will I get if I win?"

"You won't win." Motoyasu said confidently.

"Shut up. The adults are talking." I snapped at him, looking back up at the King. "It hardly seems fair, even if you say I am a criminal."

Motoyasu was doing that amusing colour change thing again, but I wasn't interested in that. With everyone here, nobility, guards, heroes... I'd asked the King a direct question he could not ignore. Well, okay, he could, but if my lessons with Rias taught me anything, every challenge to your authority must be answered. Not answering was worse than giving in.

"As unlikely as it might be, if you do win, I won't imprison you for-"

"DO YOU HEAR THAT?!" I yelled out, "I stand to lose everything, yet gain nothing! Even if I am a criminal, I am still a HERO! Summoned from another world to SAVE your world!" I focused on the King, paying particular interest in his nose, "If there is no prize for victory, then there is no reason to fight!"

If nothing else, I saw Ren and Itsuki looking at the King. A few of the nobility were as well. That's what I needed.

"Ask again, if you can win." He replied. "Begin!"

With this many witnesses to his words, I had what I wanted from him. So I looked at Motoyasu with my full attention, the same kind of attention I'd give someone at home before sparring, "We can fight now." I said, readying the Shield, the nice Hagane Red of it gleaming in the torchlight.

Someone, one of the guards, maybe even the nice one who stopped the other guy from pushing me around, called out, "The Duel will take place before King Melromarc and the Pope, and thus is it legitimate and official!"

"Do you know about the tale of the Irresistible Spear and the Immovable Shield?" Motoyasu asked, the point of his spear morphing to something wider and barbed.

"My version has a sword." I shrugged, "They fought, and shattered each other." I looked at his spear, considered a moment, then morphed the Shield to the rounder and slightly bulbous Mush Shield.

"Be a man and admit defeat now!" He said, doing a very fancy twirl with his spear. He probably practised that in the mirror for days. "You can't win!"

And he charged. With a battle cry that was very dramatic, he dashed forward. Spear braced like a lance in both hands, he picked up speed and at the last moment, jumped into the air.

Of course, instead of just standing there like a brick, I did a quick roll forward under his thrust and popped up behind him, his attack hitting nothing but air. Expecting to hit something, he almost lost his balance when he landed, but recovered, spun to face me, and tried a series of rapid thrusts towards my chest.

He'd obviously not figured out that a spear is a staff with a pointy end, and after the third attempt to stab me, and me just weaving from side to side (though, I did keep the Shield up just in case he tried sweeping it at me), he started to get frustrated.

"Afraid you can't handle my strength?" He laughed, bringing the Spear up and over, trying to use the wide blade on the end like a halberd. I dodged that too, "Then again, you're only half my level!"

Oh yeah... I'd actually forgotten to 'squint' at him to activate the status window. Yup, level 43. "Ah, you're one of those." I replied, "Look at my numbers! They're so big! Numbers go Brr!"

Anger put a little extra speed into his next attack, and this time I had to block directly. I mean, for only an instant, as I angled the Shield a little the Spear screeched off it and away from me. "Hold STILL!"

He made to sweep me aside with the spear, but I switched hands with the Shield, and halted his momentum by putting my hand on his elbow. He was still stronger, but I quick-stepped around him, using his own strength to get me out of the way harmlessly.

He jumped away from me as I got behind him, and I saw his eyes do the same 'squint' as he looked at his own status window. It was obvious he was about to do something, so I settled my feet and raised the Shield.

Again, it was very dramatic, but this time the Spear started to glow. He dashed forward two steps, and called out, "Chaos SPE-ACK!"

And ran flat into my Air Strike Shield, the spectral barrier appearing just as he started to pull his arms back to do... whatever it was he was going to do. Momentum halted, I dispelled it to start its cool down, took my own two steps forward and punched him in the nose.

The sound was satisfying, but the blood on his face was from him running into my Air Strike Shield, not my fist. But just like before, when I was getting pushed and kicked around, the 'force' was there, and his head rolled back with my punch.

He stumbled backwards, the crowd in the balconies gasping as I seemed to have done damage to him. Holding his nose, he glared at me, "A punch? Weak as expected! You aren't even using the Shield!"

I looked at the Shield on my arm, blinking in fake surprise at it being there, "Oh! Right, I suppose so!" Then I looked him in the eye, "Would you like me to?"

He lunged at me again, and this time I DID meet the point of his spear head on. But in the time he stood, to the time I blocked, the Shield had changed again, the face of it now supporting two large dog heads.

"What?!" He tried to jump back, but the Black Dog Shield came alive, the two snarling heads jumping forward and latching onto his arm. They even extended, holding fast as he tried to get away.

With his off arm occupied, I dashed forward as well, getting beside him, punching him in his unprotected ribs and then kicking his leg out from under him. I hopped back, the dog heads returning to their inanimate state. "You know... This is very satisfying." I made a show of it by giving each of the dog heads on the Shield a pat.

He got back to his feet, touching the back of his head, "You fight dirty! Nothing but tricks and cheap attacks!"

Sadly, he still hadn't figured out 'scream and leap' didn't work with me. But once again, he thrust his spear out, trying to catch me in the leg. This time, instead of stepping aside, my Shield changed again, the surface sprouting short porcupine quills. I tilted the Shield so the Spear slid past me, and put my shoulder behind it when Motoyasu's body followed it and slammed into him.

"Told you." I said, "You'd hurt yourself if you didn't hold it properly." I took another step forward, ducking and raising the Shield as he tried to hook me with the spines behind his Spear point. The blow was deflected upwards, and I once again shouldered myself into my shield, driving the spines on it into his exposed gut.

He grunted in pain, actual pain, and spots of blood started to appear down the front of his armour, where his armour was chain link instead of steel plate. He stumbled backwards, swinging his spear in an arc to try and get me to back off. "I will not lose!" He screamed.

Around me, I could hear 'public opinion' about the fight getting louder. 'How dare he do that to the Spear!', 'This shouldn't be happening!', 'Have you no shame!'.

"You know." I said, changing the Shield to the Rope Shield and 'sticking' it firmly on my back. "You might think I'm just a child. And I'll admit it's getting past my bed time." I twisted my bracers around a half turn, exposing the spikes, "But don't you think you should give up?"

He looked at me in disbelief, his anger returning, his legs getting set up for a lunge and his hands settling along the shaft of the spear. "You will never beat me!"

"You're still looking at the numbers." I sighed, reaching back and taking the end of the Rope from the Shield. "You're a bit of a player, I can tell. Here's another word you might know." I tied the end into a quick slip knot, "Shibari."

"You won't make a fool of ME!" His spear glowed again, and he bent his knees a little more.

This time, I charged first. As he called out his attack (Chaos spear! If you were curious), I took a twisting step to the side, two steps forward, then did my best baseball slide over the nice stone of the arena. My nice cape got caught in the attack, but before the sound of shredding fabric faded, I slid between his legs and flicked the weighted end of the rope around his ankle.

I then put one of my feet behind his front leg, and heaved his back leg out from under him.

As his legs slid into a very awkward split, I looped the knot of the rope around his foot. He started howling in pain as his hips stretched in ways they never had before, and I moved to loop the rope around his neck.

There was a very distinct 'GRR!' from the crowd just as the fur of my tail started to tingle. I dove to the side on sheer instinct. There was a sudden heavy WHOOSH of compressed and violent air that flew through the space I'd just been in. Turning to look in the direction it came from, I saw Myne standing there, arm outstretched, hand raised and glowing the not-grey colour I was blind to.

Motoyasu didn't waste time, and I felt the rope in my hand go slack as he got it off his boot.

I sighed, "So predictable." I said, pointing to Myne, "Cheating." I pointed to the King, who just happened to be looking the other way, "Racist." I pointed to Motoyasu, "Hypocrite."

Motoyasu pulled his death glare away from me to look at Myne, but she'd dropped the smug look and had already lowered her hand. He then focused on me again, "You're only saying that because you can't-"

"Shield Prison." I said, shutting him inside a perfect sphere of interlocked Shields, and shutting him up as well. "Give up, or I start trying." I said.

There was an impact inside the cage, "HA! I know this will-"

I stopped in front of the metal ball of Shields, and dropped the effect. A very surprised Motoyasu stumbled as his feet went from 'round' to 'flat' surfaces. And I punched him.

He flinched back, but I gripped the sleeve of his arm, pulled him back, and punched him again.

For at least two full minutes, I alternated between stopping every attempt he made to swing his spear, punching him, tripping him, slamming him against my Air Strike Shield every time it was off cool down, and generally embarrassing him. My attacks weren't hurting him, but the resulting physics were.

And I did it all without saying a single word.

None of my punches or kicks were hurting him, but every chance I got I tripped him face first into the ground. Or twisted his arms around painfully. Or braced his own spear against him while I performed leg locks.

After about five minutes of this, the King shouted, "Enough!" The entire room was practically foaming at the mouth at my treatment of their 'Beloved Spear Hero', and the King had finally had enough.

But he chose... poorly.

"It is obvious you cannot defeat him no matter how hard you try!" He shouted, "You are just being pointlessly cruel!"

I ignored him, feeling my anger settling in my gut, "Motoyasu. Do you give up?" I tripped Motoyasu again, putting my foot on his shoulder and pulling his arm back, his inability to let go of the Spear letting me brace it against my body and making his escape impossible.

By now, his face was a mess of scuffs and bruises, but the blood seeping into his clothes from the Porcupine Shield had stopped. "Ha..." He laughed, "If this is all you can do..." He was however sporting a bloody noise from me throwing him onto his face a few time.

"Let him go!" The King ordered, and I heard a very distinct cry of alarm from Raphtalia.

"REN! ITSUKI!" I called out, "What do my Fellow Heroes think?" I held up the hand not on Motoyasu's wrist, made a fist and stuck my thumb out sideways, like Caesar looking down at the gladiator pit and deciding the fighter's fate.

Everyone looked at them, and honestly I felt a tiny bit bad for putting the two of them 'on the spot'. But after a moment, they both gave a thumb's down. "The Shield has won." Itsuki said, with Ren nodding along.

"Do you not care about your slaves?" The King asked.

I let Motoyasu's arm go, stepped back, and looked at him again with my very best 'your nose is soft' look. "I have been judged by my peers. And been called the victor!" I felt that spark of anger growing, but I clamped down on it. I needed to keep my composure... I had to!

"You forget! My word is Law in this land!" He countered, standing and reaching behind him to take hold of Raphtalia. At some point she had been gagged and her arms tied behind her. Usa and Clive as well, though Clive didn't need to open his mouth to growl his warning.

"You said 'ask if I win'. My peers, the Heroes, have said I have won!" I growled, "Let my party members go, and return the items you stole from me, before trying to sell me into slavery!"

"I will not argue with a child." He countered, motioning to his guards.

I glared at him a moment longer, "Motoyasu." I said quietly, "If you have any shred of decency, admit you lost." I took a half step away from him, and offered him a hand to get him off the floor.

He got to his knees, bracing the spear on the ground to steady himself before looking at my hand. "Do I have a choice?"

"You wouldn't like it if you said no." I said seriously as he took my hand.

He flinched from my gaze, but then looked up at the King, "I lost!" He shouted, "He can keep his Slaves... For now."

Most of the room, the King included, seemed to flinch at the admittance. I could practically hear the King's teeth grinding when he replied to, "Very well! Take them, and get out of my sight!"

My three party members were pushed forward by the guards, then pushed again to redirect them towards the nearest set of stairs.

"And my items?" I asked.

"I cannot return what I do not have." He said with a sneer, "The trash you stole was destroyed."

I knew he was lying. The system of this world said my ring was indestructible. That same system didn't know why it was, just that it was. Still... his outright refusal to return my wedding ring...

"Hey..." Motoyasu started with a little alarm in his voice.

I felt my control slipping. That burning, tearing feeling in my chest that happened before I started to lose focus... The audacity... the cheek... the outright refusal to just admit he just wanted to keep it! First he steals me from my home. Steals my stuff. Tries to take my dignity by selling me.

Curse Series. Shield of ? conditions met.

The hot rage that was building hit a wall of emotional ice. This man, this kingdom, the angry nobility around him, the irrelevant priesthood... They weren't worth my anger.

"Whoa..." Motoyasu said, "Calm down kiddo..."

Then there was this guy...

"Listen, boy." I said under my breath, "I might not have looked like it when I got here. But I'm older, wiser, and smarter than you will ever be. And yes, I'm taller now too." I turned away, "I hope you learned something today, and not just that you lost to someone half your level."

I ignored what ever it was he said, then looked up at the King. And just how Raphtalia had taught Usa Clive and I, I mouthed four words to him in the local language. "Liar, cheat, thief, coward."

Rage filled his face, but he was beneath my notice now. Instead I walked towards the stairs my party members were being led to and met up with them at the bottom.

"Take them, you filthy-"

"Do you want to die?" I looked at the young guard who had kicked around my younger self, "Did you not just watch me pull apart the Spear Hero with nothing but my bare hands?" I took a half step forward, and he stumbled backwards into another guard. "Usa?" I said.

"Ah... um..." And suddenly, his hands came free from behind his back, a little hidden dagger that had been in his lame arm's bracer cutting the rope around his wrists. "Hold still Miss Raphtalia... Clive..." And their hands were free as well.

"Thank you for returning my party members." I said to the other two where were wide eyed, but not about to piss themselves, "We are now leaving."

On the way out, we got a few angry looks, some sneers, one guard even spit at my feet as we passed. But this was not a 'walk of shame'. Not for us at least.

"Sir..." Usa started.

"Wait until we are out of the castle." I said quietly, my tail swishing at him lightly.

"Yes sir." He replied.

"You are very scary when you want to be." Raphtalia said as we got near the side door next to the big portcullis of the Castle's main gate.

"Wait. Until. We. Are. Out." I repeated, my tail swishing at her too, hopefully taking some of the anger out of my words.

Then a pair of hands took hold of my tail, very gently held it. "Gr." Then let it go.

I couldn't keep hold of my anger with that kind of concern from them. But they stayed silent until the guard (also not happy I was there, but kept his words to himself) let us out of the heavy iron and wood door, and slammed it shut behind us.

"Let's go back to Erhard's place." I said, "We need to plan, and we need to get away from this castle."

"But sir... what about your ring?" Raphtalia asked, taking hold of my tail, stepping ahead of me then letting it go.

My tail clung to my chest, and I hugged it, "There is no way he could destroy it." I said, "So I will be back for it." I let out a growling sigh, "Looking at the numbers... Motoyasu was right. I am half his level. We need to move further afield. When I do come for my ring, I won't take no for an answer."

"Those attacks you were using..." Usa started, "I've never seen anything like it before."

"Gr!" Clive agreed, stepping beside Raphtalia and doing a reasonable imitation of my 'punch to the nose' on the air in front of him.

"I'll teach you all. I hope I've proven that skill can beat strength?" I couldn't help myself, and smiled, a little pride in my chest, being able to pass on some of Takemikazuchi's wisdom, and soon, skill.

They all nodded, "We look forward to learning!" Raphtalia said, "Um... but what now?"

"Isn't it... what next?" Usa asked.

"Oh right..." Raphtalia laughed.

"Well... After a good night's sleep. We need to get away from here. And for that..." I sighed, "I think we should go back to the Ringmaster."

They stopped and went wide eyed, (except Clive, his eyes just wandered around crazily for a moment). "But sir..."

"You are my party, not my slaves. But he also sells animals." They all looked relieved, "Those... Filolial and dragons look combat capable too."

Erhard wasn't... sympathetic. No. Understanding, yes, supportive, sure. But no, not sympathetic. That was fine, I didn't need pity. I've never really looked at 'pity' as insulting though, but today I just wasn't in the mood.

After I told him what happened, he just reached over, gave my ears a well meaning scroofle, (then did the same to the other three, he didn't seem to care about boy or girl, we were all just 'good kids' to him), and told us his back room was still free for the night.

"Well, about that." I started, "We haven't had time to sort our loot from the Wave."

"It's a little late to start hammering. I mean, my neighbours are understanding and all, but..." Erhard tried to dissuade me, but it was a half effort at best. "But so long as we're quiet."

"I don't think Mr. Erhard is fooling anyone." Raphtalia whispered to the other two.

"Hey now..." Erhard almost pouted, scrubbing his hand over the back of his head.

I couldn't help myself and smiled as well, "Well, the other three did a number on the beast, then didn't really care about how they treated it gathering materials after." We got to one of his many worktables, and I started pulling out materials. "But I did my best before we were summoned for that..."

"Don't worry about it kiddo. You're the bigger man for walking away." He said, watching as the Shield spit out various things. "Teeth, claws, fur, some scales..." He wasn't touching anything, but he was rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "Didn't get a chance to treat the hide, but..."

"I have some bones too." I said, pulling out a pair of long leg bones, "Front legs, went with the cat paws."

"Oh! Well, I do have some ideas. But it will be a day or two before it's done." He looked at the rest of us, "You've been keeping their gear in good shape too... mostly."

"Couldn't get a good whetstone, but we did what we could." I said.

"Sir has taught us how to do our own basic upkeep on our weapons and armour. Even me." Usa said, a little pride in his usually timid voice.

"Good!" Erhard laughed, "Oh, what's this here?"

"Dragon horns." I said, "Not to be confused with serpent fangs..." I pointed to the snake tail's long hollow fangs, "Already extracted the venom, but don't be careless with them."

"Okay! I think I got some great ideas here... But." He looked at us, "It's past your bed times."

From anyone else in this world, I'd have taken offence. But he was right. "Well, seems we've been told." I said, "I'll cook breakfast."

"I look forward to it." Erhard grinned while the others started to sparkle, despite the rough evening.

After a good sleep and breakfast, I felt... well not better but more centred. If I ever saw the King alone in a dark alley... whomever found him next would be traumatized for life. Myne... I expected her sneak attack at some point. I mean, why else would she be on the arena floor and not in the stands like everyone else. Did they think I was stupid?

Then there was my ring...

"So, what's your plan for the day? You mentioned looking for something to get you around faster?" Erhard pulled me out of what was likely going to be a graphic mental exercise in recreating the Cursed Cube and using it on someone...

"Ah. Well, I know where to look." I said, "Helping you here, selling a bunch of metal to that nice Merchant fellow, and only paying for your labour instead of materials as well... We have some money."

He nodded, "If you didn't need to level up so much, I'd be willing to put you to work."

"My party has already out levelled me. And I'm just under half Motoyasu's level..."

"Oh!" Raphtalia perked up, "Do you know how much time there is until the next Wave? You said you had a clock... but is it still there?"

To anyone looking at my face, I'd have looked like I was checking to see if anyone was watching before I stole something, but in that middle distance in my vision, I spotted a new little timer in the top right corner. "Aha. 45 and a half days? Yeah."

"Well, you have some time at least. But you're right, if you want to get to the places less travelled, where wild monsters like to wander, you're going to need something faster than two feet and a heart beat." Erhard nodded, "Leave this to me. Though, can you leave that with me?" He motioned to my 'no longer hugging my body because I was smol Black Dog coat. "And how are you three getting along with your weapons?"

NOTES!

Yes, that felt... refreshing. It's been a while since Kodori has beaten the breaks off someone so deserving. A lot to unpack in this one, and even more to come. See you all in five days.

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

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

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