Chapter 48

"Nadia! Ready?!" He called out, the favourite slamming the butt of her spear into the ground again. "Challengers ready?!" Tetsu stopped waving to everyone, Raphtalia put her hand to her sword's hilt, and Kodori turned a page on the book.

"FIGHT!"

(Adjusts camera zoom)

Kodori's only words to her party were, "Remember the plan." Before she locked eyes with Nadia from across the arena, and started chanting. "I am the source of all power!"

Raphtalia kept her silence, while Tetsu replied with a cheerful, 'Yes Boss!" Before the two of them rushed forward to meet their opponent. A few paces later, they started to veer apart, obviously getting ready to try and flank the Amazonian woman and give Kodori a clear line of fire while they approached.

Calmly, with a mischievous smile on her face, Nadia waited. Glancing left and right, she got her pronged spear ready, then started to hop left and right, dodging a sudden but predicable barrage of killer icicles. She almost looked disappointed at Kodori, even as Tetsu and Raphtalia finished closing the distance, the two of them jumping at her.

Then with a sudden kick, Nadia caught Tetsu mid jump, the dragon-newt folding over her heel like a book. In the same instant, she parried Raphtalia's swing in the crux of her spear's dual point. Then with a sudden spin, she redirected Tetsu's jump and Raphtalia's blade, the two combatants flying/passing past her harmlessly.

With a squeaky 'ouch' from Tetsu, and a grunt of discomfort from Raphtalia, the two of them got back on their feet as Kodori finished another spell, the two of them glowing a vaporous green as a defensive buff spell kicked in.

Nadia seemed unconcerned as she ducked and wove around her opponents kicks, punches and slashes, her spear spinning around her like it were weightless, the playful smile on her face a total opposite of Raphtalia's frown of concentration.

"Oh come now, I thought you were going to try!" She taunted, kicking Tetsu away again, then catching Raphtalia's blade on the haft of her spear.

Then Raphtalia glowed red, a different buff spell enacting, and for a moment, Nadia was pressed back as the Raccoon Girl's strength increased. But instead of trying to meet Raphtalia's new power, Nadia slipped sideways, spun on her foot, and kicked Raphtalia right in the butt, sending her crashing into the still recovering Tetsu.

But now without an opponent, Kodori had a clear shot. Instead of speaking a spell from the book, She extended her bejewelled gauntlet. With a roar, one of the gems went dark, and a bolt of lightning sizzled through the air.

Caught out, but not unaware, the crowd cheered as Nadia just barely managed to roll out of the way. But then Kodori finished an actual spell, a crescent of solid green wind slapping into the obsidian/alabaster woman just as she finished her roll.

And for the first time so far, the crowd's favoured fighter took a solid hit. Thrown off her feet by the impact, she still managed to land in a crouch, her spear planted point down in the sand to stop her from being blown away.

But Kodori didn't give her a chance to recover. Another gem from her gauntlet went dim, and another wave of icicles darted towards the crouched Amazon. As before, she wove about the attack with grace...

Until Tetsu pounced from a blind spot, punching Nadia right in the butt!

The crowd booed as Nadia lost her balance, weathering the punch much better than most, but had little time to regain her balance as Raphtalia came in from the other direction, sword swinging. The opening scene repeated again, but this time, the challengers had the upper hand and it was all Nadia could do to keep from getting hit.

Then, in the background, ignored by the fighters but certainly not the spectators, the announcer changed his play by play commentary and said, "And the Faubrey Shipping Conglomerate shows its support of the Colosseum's Favourite!"

(Kodori)

I had all but tuned out the announcer's voice in favour of paying attention to the fight at hand. Nadia was skilled! Strong, fast and confident. But even so, her mistake was to take us on alone. While it wasn't going to be easy, I was almost certain we had the upper hand now.

But then the steady buzz of the announcer's voice changed, and I caught the glow of magic use from a few of the support pillars around the arena, each now sporting a man or woman in a robe. A moment later, with a sudden heavy feeling settling on my body, like a lead blanket that was fresh from a freezer, my status screen started to go nuts with status effects.

Tetsu and Raphtalia were hit with it too, and just like that, Nadia recovered her stance and kicked my two teammates away.

Nadia didn't press her advantage yet, instead, she planted the points of her spear into the sand and did a 'raise the roof' motion with her hands, striking a pose, blowing a few kisses in the direction of the cheering crowd. Then, her eyes settled on me, and with a playful lick of her lips, she picked up her spear and charged.

(Arena view again)

"And the Lightning Queen goes on the offence! With her signature stride, she charges the caster in the back while her fighters recover from the getting kicked to the curb!"

The crowd cheered, expecting blood, expecting at least one downed fighter. It was no secret that years of magical study limited a person's physical pursuits. Even if the challenger's team was led by a blacksmith, there was no way she could-

Kodori, even with sluggish feet and bent back from the status magic being heaped on her and her team, still managed to avoid the initial thrust of Nadia's spear. Kodori's sidestep led into a lean, a half turn, a duck at the waist, a lifted foot, a hop, a step back... It seemed she had an answer to every attack Nadia made.

But even so, the Amazonian fighter just seemed even more amused! Her almost childish glee turned into fascination, but then she took it a step too far, taunting Kodori. Most would have missed it, the slight leaning forward, the upward tilt of the chin as if to say 'hit me'.

She was not expecting Kodori to actually hit her. With the spine of the massive book in her hand, Kodori hit Nadia vertically in the face. From forehead to chin.

Recoiling in shock Nadia stumbled backwards, the crowd booing at the assault on their fighter's pretty face, the smallest trickles of blood starting to form under her nostrils.

"Oh? What's this? Another donation from the fans?" The announcer crowed, another wave of magic hitting the challenger team.

Raphtalia and Tetsu, recovered and just getting ready to attack again, stumbled as their bodies were hit with another wave of status down magic. Kodori seemed a little less affected, but her back was bent, her legs were starting to fold...

And just as before, Nadia recovered, laughed, and started kicking them around again. This time, Kodori was first, and unlike last time, she was unable to weave out of the way of Nadia's attack. Once, twice, three times, then with an upwards swing from the counterweight of her spear, Kodori was thrown backwards and onto her back. Moments later, after a quick parry and sidestep, Raphtalia was swept aside, the shaft of the spear catching her under the armpit and sending her sprawling, while Tetsu's leg was kicked out from under her, before she got a firm slap on the butt from Nadia, payback for earlier, the dragon-newt sliding along the ground a few metres away.

(Kodori)

I felt stupid. Even as the blunt end of Nadia's spear caught me under the chin, my forearm not quite able to halt the blow, I felt incredibly dumb. I had heard, but had not listened. Anything goes but poison. That apparently included help from the crowd, 'buying' spells from the Arena staff.

I hit the sand on my back, realizing that not only had I made enemies of potential business rivals, as well as those I'd upset by not reining in my party. But every single fan of an apparently VERY popular Nadia.

"OH! She's still able to get to her feet! But with her party down, and her apparently endless spell book closed, what will she do?!" The announcer shouted, his voice irritating me, but reminding me of something as well.

What can I do? I can support my party. And since I was the Shield, it fell on me to protect them. This fight was too important to lose. And if I expected them to fight their best, with every tool available, then I had to do the same.

My Pride would accept nothing less.

I met Nadia's eyes, and used my free hand to move the book so it 'stuck' to my forearm. "Relinquish your pain, unto me."

(Zooming out again.)

Nadia skidded to a halt in mid stride. Not only had her opponent gotten up from something that most people stayed down for until medical aid was given, she had put that massive book onto her arm like a shield.

And she then realized, it was a shield. And not just any shield.

The face of the book glowed an almost inscrutable black, the air around Kodori spiralled with sand from the arena floor, and then she, and everyone else in the arena, could see the new form that the Shield had become.

It was the face of a great cat. Framed by a mane of black hair, its feline face was twisted into a roar. Silvered teeth that were flecked with blood, eyes the colour of molten gold, there was nothing noble about this great cat.

Kodori herself had changed as well. Gone was the cold calculating look. She, like the face of the Shield roared into the sky. Now standing upright, legs apart and bent, arms apart and bent, her howl of defiance slowed, stopped, and she took a deep breath.

Nadia seemed to realize she had right now to stop what ever Kodori was about to do. But just as she started to lean forward, to bring herself and her spear up to speed for a charge, Kodori spoke again.

Seven words that would go down in the Colosseum's history with an infamy rivalling the only human to ever be banned from the sacred arena, Elrasla Ragnarok.

"I am the Source of all Power."

And for an instant, she was. And its misuse in the arena around her was punished.

Like a switch, the half dozen mages who had been paid to hinder the challenger's team, all started to go into convulsions. Clutching their head, chest or throat, they fell over, magical backlash savaging them from the inside.

Nadia however, didn't care. She was still in the arena, and her opponents were still standing. Except two paces before she could reach Kodori, before her spear could pin her to the floor in submission, Raphtalia simple appeared in front of her. Uncomprehending on how she could have missed her when the raccoon girl was glowing with enough magical power to be seen from orbit, Nadia locked eyes with her as the crux of her spear now held a stone still katana blade.

And again, with a similar suddenness, a high velocity dragon-newt punched her in the hip, the amazonian woman only seeing her as she zipped away across the arena.

In an effort to bring the crowd up again, the announcer tried to make sense of what just happened, to describe what he, and everyone else, had just seen. And apparently, to say there were no refunds when the arena mages were suddenly in need of medical attention and could no longer cast magic for 'donations'.

(Kodori)

I felt pain. My eyes, or rather, my vision, was filled with dozens of blinking shifting error windows. My three status bars (HP MP and SP) couldn't decide if they were at full, almost gone, or three times longer than they should be.

But three things were not in total chaos on my status screen. Raphtalia and Tetsu were at full strength, and had every icon for 'buff' magic I'd ever seen, and more, next to their name on my party tab. My name in the party tab had the opposite of all those positive effects. And my Shield status, the one that I never really needed to pay attention to since I knew damn well what shield I had on my arm. 'Shield of Pride'.

It hurt to move my wrist, elbow and shoulder so I could give the face of the Shield a better look. But once I had, and I saw Nadia picking herself up from the second 'punch in the butt' (thankfully, Tetsu had not made a habit of announcing her special attack), I started to understand what I'd just done.

"Raphtalia, Tetsu, I can't move." I said, my jaw feeling like I'd been chewing a wad of tough bubble gum for an hour non stop. "I ate all the magic they were using, switched it, and gave it to you two. But I took on all the negative stats. It hurts to breath."

Nadia had no idea I was talking to them as she made a show of rubbing her hip, stretching a little, making sure everything still worked...

"Are you going to be okay?" Raphtalia asked, her eyes still locked on Nadia.

"Are we still gonna fight?" Tetsu asked, "I feel amazing right now!"

Now Nadia seemed to notice us talking, and decided to taunt us from across the arena. Not only that, but try to get the crowd excited again.

"Wow! I had no idea you were the Shield Hero!" She said, making a show of stretching her arms and shoulders, "I thought you were just another mage! But look at you! You shrugged off those spells! Took one of my best hits on the chin! And those two with you? Damn! I love it!"

She was working up to something, I could tell. The crowd knew, or at least, were getting exited again, cheering, chanting her name, stomping their feet.

"But since you're trying your best! I think I should too!"

"NA-DI-A! NA-DI-A!"

The pain I was feeling all over had started to become an icy numbness, pins and needles everywhere that. Yes, even over my eyes, in my ears, along my tail, behind the knees... everywhere. It was all I could do to stay standing, or not claw at myself to dispel the feeling of ball lightning under my skin.

"Let's see if you can handle this!" Nadia laughed, holding her spear out in both hands, taking a deep breath, then, it looked like she just... flexed every muscle at once. Her own voice matched the volume of the cheering crowd, and I realized she wasn't 'flexing' she was 'changing'. She wasn't just a strange human, she was a therianthrope! A shape changer!

Her body didn't really change height. But it gained a lot of mass. Arms and legs grew, the trunk of her body expanded, a long tail grew from her rear and her face elongated slightly forming into a rounded maw filled with spiky teeth. Her outfit clung to her, the change to her body not quite eliminating the need for modesty. Her sandals however had changed into metal rimmed shoes, a clear indicator of magic 'cloth', much like Tetsu's outfit and gauntlets.

She was a killer whale.

This however, didn't surprise me as much as Raphtalia, when she went wide eyed at the change in our opponent and said, "Sadeena?"

I had trouble speaking, the numbness crawling through my body making my tongue feel leaden. But Tetsu, clever girl, asked what I was unable to, "You know her?"

"Yes! She was away... when it happened. But... why didn't I remember..." She looked back at me, "I..."

Unable to stop myself, my voice said, "We fight to win."

"Too scared to move?!" Nadia (Sadeena?) roared to the pleasure of the crowd. "Fine! I'll start! I AM THE SOURCE OF ALL POWER!"

"NA-DI-A! NA-DI-A!"

Again, my voice spoke without my will behind it, "We will prove we are better than her."

I could feel the next word starting to form, and I bit down on my tongue to stop it. Raphtalia didn't seem to notice, but her look of determination returned, "I'll try and explain it to her. Tetsu! Master? We'll buy you time to recover!"

"Let's GO!" Tetsu roared.

Unable to move, much of my body, I kept my tongue between my teeth even as it still tried to say 'Order'. No. I will not say it! I will not command them to fight like that!

NO!

(Zooming out)

"OH! And the Shield Hero succumbs to..." The announcer started as Kodori fell to her knees, the roaring lion shield changing back to the Book Shield. But he stopped in mid sentence to focus on the real action, "And the OCEAN STORM has finally come to the arena!"

Raphtalia managed to dodge the massive lightning barrage from Sadeena's spear, but Tetsu was slapped off her feet and sent backwards almost all the way back to Kodori's kneeling form. Almost as soon as the spell had ended, Raphtalia clashed with the killer whale, their blades ringing like bells as they rebounded off each other.

"Boss!" Tetsu helped Kodori to her feet, "I wanna! I know you said not to but I wanna!"

Seemingly still in great pain, Kodori managed to lift her free hand up to give the messy haired dragon-newt a headpat. "I still need a moment. You have permission. No claws though."

"YAY!"

The announcer didn't care about the little discussion, and was instead giving a play by play of the duel going on in the middle of the arena. "We all know Nadia has nearly overwhelming power in this form! But our brave challenger is facing her down! Holding her own! But can she keep it up?! The support magic around her is fading!"

Raphtalia's barrage of attacks didn't slow, but they did start to lose power. Sadeena no longer had to spend nearly as much effort repelling the smaller woman's blade, and after a moment they were equals, but a moment after that, Raphtalia started to recoil from her attacks.

"Sadeena!" Raphtalia grunted, starting to parry the pronged spear, but suddenly needing to retreat a half step so she could deflect it safely. "It's me!"

Sadeena's next attack was a little slower as her real name was used, "What? How do you..." But the moment passed, and with a grace at odds with her shape, she nearly took Raphtalia's head off with the butt of her spear.

The tip of her nose stinging from the near miss, Raphtalia stepped in aggressively, forcing the bigger woman to parry with the haft of her spear, "It's Raphtalia! From Lurolona!"

This time Sadeena didn't hesitate, and gave Raphtalia a kick from under their locked weapons, "She was hardly a girl! You can't be her!"

Raphtalia had to plant the point of her sword into the sand to stop her backwards slide, her other arm holding her middle. "She... The Shield Hero bought me." She coughed.

Even with her inhuman face, it was obvious Sadeena had put the pieces together. But just as that look of realization dawned on her...

She was once again hit by a dragon.

Twice as big as before, Sadeena was still less than half the size of Tetsu in her full dragon form, and with a last second announcement of, "I'm gonna BITE YOU!" The two shape changers went down in a tangle of limbs.

The crowd went nuts as their favourite and the no-longer-tiny dragon slammed into each other. But even that wasn't enough to keep Sadeena down for long. Amid roars, shouts, cries of 'BITE BITE' and 'GRR NOM!', she worked her way back to her feet, and with an expertly timed interception, crammed the shaft of her spear between Tetsu's teeth to stop her from biting her.

The crowd held their breath a moment, before Sadeena heaved Tetsu away. Even so, she couldn't keep her spear, it and Tetsu rolling to a stop some distance away.

"I came here to buy them you know." Sadeena said, turning to Raphtalia as she got to her feet. The Killer Whale glanced back to where Kodori was still kneeling, noting that Raphtalia was glowing with a healing spell. "Then I hear word that someone was interested in them."

The pain faded from Raphtalia's eyes, and she got herself into a proper stance again, "She bought them all." Raphtalia said, "Even rescued Keel from Idol Rabier."

The massive woman rolled her shoulders, her webbed fingers curling into massive fists, "Show me how much you've grown then! Come at me little-"

Sadeena paused, hopped sideways, and caught her spear out of the air. From where she'd fallen, Tetsu had picked it up and thrown it at her. Even with her massive strength behind it, the veteran pit fighter plucked it from the air as if it were a ball.

Then she noticed what looked like a door made of dragon scales rushing towards her at uncommon speed.

"And the Shield Hero is back on her feet and rushing Nadia!"

"Weave!" Kodori called out as she slammed into, then deflected the two pronged spear.

Tetsu, always willing to fight, charged forward. Raphtalia, a little more reluctant, but following the order, readied her blade and charged as well.

Kodori bounced off of Sadeena's reflexive attack. Raphtalia's sword came up and over the Shield, the butt of the spear intercepting the blade. Tetsu arrived right on time, but missed her tackle due to Sadeena's tail slapping her aside. Kodori braced herself behind the Shield to force Sadeena to parry again. Tetsu's dexterous hands latched onto the shaft of the spear. Kodori spun and slammed her heel into the back of Sadeena's knee.

Sadeena turned the stumble into a fall and roll to get under and away from Raphtalia's swing, popped up behind the Raccoon Girl and just managed to start a punch into her back...

Kodori stepped between her and Raphtalia. Tetsu jumped over the two of them to try and flatten Sadeena to the sand. Raphtalia turned and smashed the pommel of her sword up into the Whale's chin. Kodori stepped ahead of Raphtalia, slamming the Shield of Marius upwards to match Raphtalia's strike...

And the Arena Favourite stumbled backwards...

Only to be slammed forwards by Tetsu's muscular tail.

And the cycle repeated. Block, strike strike. Block strike strike! The huge woman was bounced like a ball between the three in a dizzying display of coordination and style. Even as the crowd alternated between boos and impressed gasps, it was clear that Sadeena was being well and truly handled.

Until finally, after yet another failed attempt to land any sort of attack through Kodori's defence, she was clipped by another of Tetsu's tail swings. Sadeena half spun on one foot, her body shrinking, returning to its original form, and with a 'thump' and little dust cloud of sand, she flopped onto her back, unmoving.

The crowd went silent in disbelief, but the Announcer more than made up for it with, "AND NADIA FALLS! THE CHALLENGERS WIN!"

And while there were a handful of 'converts' who cheered for the challenging team, only Frost's Ragers really made an effort to cheer for Kodori's victory.

(Kodori)

Everything still hurt, but most of that pain was now settling into my horns, even though they were small, and wouldn't likely make them grow, they were still curses. Victory had been achieved, and my demon nature was drinking it in. Even as the three of us caught our breath, my attention turned to our opponent.

"Ow." She said, though for all our efforts she was hardly scratched. A bit of bruising, a bit of need to adjust her outfit for modesty... But otherwise?

"You threw the match." I said, hoping my lowered voice wouldn't get picked up by the announcer over the few patches of cheering.

Raphtalia, helping Sadeena to her feet, shot me a glare, but Nadia replied with an equally low, "I'm pretty tough, but if the munchkin here was really trying to hurt me, I'd have lost for real." She gave me a look, then looked past me.

Turning, I saw the 'Gate of Setting Sun' opening. I expected a medic or two, or our faceless announcer to come through the door, but no.

"Murder Pierrot!" The announcer crowed, "The Murder Pierrot has entered the arena! Folks! This is an unscheduled challenge! The Arena Champion is here, and challenging the challengers!"

Sadeena dusted herself off a little, then gripped her spear tight enough that I heard knuckles pop. "She'll let you leave, but this is the first time I've seen her come out without being called out."

The crowd seemed to be... I think the best phrase would be 'awed silence'.

Pierrot wasn't very tall, but she looked unique for sure. White hair, expertly made but obviously hand made clothing of purples and white, neat slipper shoes...

And a vassal weapon. Unless that little gem in the middle of her weapon was just for show, it was nearly identical to that of Glass. And what was her weapon? A giant pair of scissors. Almost as tall as she was, there was basically no way it wasn't a vassal weapon with how easily she was carrying it.

But this was perfect... "Here." I said, handing out my newest potion to the three of them, then downing one myself. I'll note here, that my status screen finally settled down, and my three 'bars' stopped wobbling around and started to creep back to full power. "This almost couldn't have worked out better." I said.

"You're crazy." Sadeena laughed, "But why the hell are you trying so hard?"

"My party needs to class up." I said, "And if we can beat her, people will think twice about trying to stop us."

"Who is this girl Raphy?"

"My boss." Raphtalia shrugged, "I'm ready." She added.

"Me too!" Tetsu clawed at the ground with her back leg.

I stepped forward, and the Announcer picked up on the 'vibe' my party and I were giving off, "Oh!? The Challengers look to be ready to fight again! And... NADIA IS GOING TO STEP IN AS WELL!"

I unhooked my mask from my belt, and fitted it over my horns. "That's probably a weapon like mine or Glass. Be careful."

(Cue the actual boss music?)

As before, Kodori started the fight by opening the Book Shield and chanting. Raphtalia and Tetsu, unsure about how to mesh with Sadeena, gave each other a brief look before the Amazonian Whale decided for them and charged forward.

Pierrot... almost didn't react. She simply stood her ground, faced the oncoming rush until Sadeena got about half way to her, and made a motion as if she were throwing something.

Almost invisible to the eye, the three forward fighters were suddenly hit by dozens, hundreds of tiny sewing needles. Tetsu, aside from using her hands to shade her eyes, was unaffected by the little projectiles. Sadeena had to close one eye and shade the other with her free hand, but was also too thick skinned for the attack to work. But Raphtalia had to stop as she, or rather, her clothing, was covered in dozes of itchy, scratchy needles that didn't dig into her flesh, but caused her enough discomfort she couldn't help herself but to stop.

Now lagging behind and doing her best to shake the needles, Pierrot now only faced down two. But just as Kodori finished her casting, a cloud of killer icicles forming overhead, she vanished...

Then appeared beside Raphtalia, her massive sewing shears already in motion. Unprepared, Raphtalia was swatted away as if weightless, crying out in pain as she hit the sand and started rolling towards the now opponent-less Tetsu and Sadeena.

Caught basically alone, Kodori faced down the Murder Pierrot as she finished charging the distance between them. The Book Shield vanished and was replaced by the massive Shield of Marius, but her opponent didn't slow. Instead, she braced the giant scissors like a lance, seemingly unconcerned about the sheet of armour between her and the Shield Hero.

(Kodori)

I watched the three of them charge, was unable to see the attack and help them as the rain of... needles? Were those needles? Fell on them, and winced as Raphtalia got caught up in it, and promised to myself to remember to do something nice for her after she got swatted away, our opponent seeming to teleport across the arena.

I didn't know how she had done these things. I simply accepted that she had.

I raised and braced the Shield of Marius before me, but when I saw Pierrot's near emotionless face smile slightly, her weapon raised and shouldered as if to charge right through me... A champion would have been watching, and she would know who I was by now.

So instead of meeting her charge...

"OH! The Shield Hero thinks twice about stopping our champion's charge! But... Oh... oh my... what... how... where..."

The announcer, most of the crowd, and Kodori's three party members just stopped moving to watch, as Kodori changed her Shield to something smaller, put her free hand on the Murder Pierrot's wrist, and started to bend the Arena Champion into funny shapes.

Frost's Ragers were the only ones really making noise as the Shield Hero demonstrated various forms of Judo, Jujitsu and at one point a complicated rolling suplex that went into a corkscrew pile driver.

After almost a solid five minutes of this, Murder Pierrot lay on the sand, little spirals in her eyes, and Kodori finally took her hand off her wrist.

Thirty seconds after that, the announcer remembered he was on the clock, "It seems..." He paused, took a deep breath away from the microphone, then returned with a full power, let's not think about what just happened, this is amazing, "IT SEEMS WE HAVE OURSELVES SOME NEW CHAMPIONS!"

(Kodori)

The next hour or two was spent with some minor celebration, someone coming up to us with our winnings (yes, I bet on my team winning, and Melty was told to bet on us again if possible), and a few other minor things that were mostly just for show.

Finally, we were allowed to leave, and the first words Nadia/Sadeena said was, "Wow... You're practically glowing still. You must have magic hands." This was followed with the curvy woman leaning super close to Usa, "Does she?"

Of course, Usa short circuited, and since Sadeena had pressed close to his weak side, he nearly fell over trying to turn and push her away from his personal space.

Kunshu rescued him, supporting the poor boy and giving the Amazon a short angry buzz from her wings.

"Kodori is indeed good with her hands." Melty said, "But now that it's over..."

It was obvious she was in a rush to return to her mother. "Yes. Hickwaal and I will be going to petition the merchant lords who are in the city tomorrow just after breakfast. Raphtalia? Take who you need with you to the Ringmaster, and get everything set. Melty, take Kunshu with you to organize with Frost." She nodded, "Once done, meet with Raphtalia and he'll start getting them organized for travel."

"What about me?" Sadeena asked, giving Kunshu a look, then deciding not to tease the rabbit a second time. "I was going to buy and free them but now... I kinda don't have anything to do."

I looked at her, stopped myself from saying the first thing that came to mind (you'd have bought them already if you hadn't spent it all on booze you stupid lush), and instead said, "I'm not your boss. But I won't turn away extra hands to help get them home safe."

"Ah... Ma'am? What of our two newest friends?" Usa asked.

"I'll be meeting with them tomorrow as well, right?" Raphtalia asked.

"That's right. Clive? When Atla and Fohl come by, see if you can't make a nice comfortable spot for the poor girl in the wagon."

Our mostly silent chameleon-man nodded, theatrically rubbing his chin to signify deep thought on how to go about it.

"Boss?" Tetsu started.

"Yes. It's dinner time." I assured her, "Sadeena? You can join us if you want, but after a day like today, I'm gonna let the clowns cook."

Notes

Almost an entire chapter of combat... x.x

And while yes, I did kinda sandbag the fallen vassal weapon user S'yne. I figured she'd have no idea about Kodori's real skill. Stupid shield...

Anyhow. :) Next chapter will be on the way out of Zeltobe!

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

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