Chapter 51

We didn't stray far from the door of the room, just far enough for the guard to look our way, then look away again when the nice lady shook her head at him.

"I see you are already thinking of what is about to happen." She said quietly, stopping at a window at the end of the hall. The window was easily large enough to climb through, but there was no glass. Instead, it was barred with iron, much like one would a window in a high-crime area in a city. To keep people in? Or out? I wondered.

"Politics." I sighed, "I'm not fond of them. But just so I don't make more of it by being rude..."

She laughed, a cheerful sound that actually felt good to hear. "You are already doing better than most, with a manner like that." Her smile faded, but it didn't leave her eyes, "The educated call Siltvelt a parliamentary democracy. We have four major factions, each backed by a collection of related houses."

"Tiger, Turtle, Phoenix, Dragon." I said.

"Correct." She nodded, "Though, those are the ancient names, and some might take insult at their use. Hakuko, Genmu, Shusaku, Aotatsu are the four major names." When I nodded, she continued, "The most vocal, are the Hakuko. Though, since their king passed, they have settled somewhat, mostly to decide succession."

"With you so far." I nodded.

"We, the Genmu, are generally content to uphold the status quo. Not very exciting, but dealing with trade has its perks. My dress for instance." She winked at me.

"I won't apologize for staring." I did feel a little heat rising up to my ears, but I tried to hide that behind a follow up excuse, "I enjoy creating things, armour, weapons, clothing... And that style is new to me."

I expected a thank you, a smile maybe, but not a, "Well, perhaps you can examine it closer at a later time?"

"I don't expect I'll be here that long, sadly." I replied, hoping to avoid either an insult, or a scandal.

She didn't press (thankfully...), "The Shusaku aren't so much divided as scattered. The major house seems hopelessly tied up in keeping track of all of their minor houses. It seems genius, or insane, but they cause no trouble for anyone else, so they are left alone."

"The representative struck me as a scholar." I admitted.

"He is. But to be head of that house, one must have their head on straight just to keep it in line." She tittered behind a hand. "Last... The Aotatsu are..." She seemed to hesitate, "We have two major religions here in Siltvelt. The Church of the Shield, and the Dragon Faith."

She mistook my silence for offence, that much was clear, but I made a placating motion with a hand, "No no. I knew the first, but not the second. I hope Raphtalia doesn't have to draw her sword..."

"Well..." She recovered from her imagined screw up, "So long as it it well made, I doubt they will be offended. Though, that girl? She is a dragon demi-human?"

"A true dragon, inheritor of an ancient dragon soul, and one of the people who helped me slay the Tyrant Dragon Rex." I said, feeling my horns tingle at the look of shock and awe that she couldn't hide played over her smooth features. "If you're asked, tell him if he asks to buy her, I'll stuff him into a barrel and roll him down the stairs. He's welcome to pat her head though. She loves that."

Her shock turned to something close to 'childish glee' at the joke, then a quiet laugh when she realized I wasn't joking at all. "Oh, I will tell him. His faith cause us trouble from time to time, and I wouldn't mind what might be a surefire way to halt one of his attempts at a sermon."

I smiled, "Ah, it seems they are done." I turned my ears towards the door I'd nudged Melty through. "I'm guessing, formal dinner?"

"Don't sound so disappointed!" She sighed, "Though, what rumour we've heard about you does tell us you are motivated." She started to walk back towards the door.

"One way to put it." I replied, stopping at the door. A moment later, it opened on its own and Mirellia presented herself.

She had lost a tiny bit of the 'picture perfect' poise, and her eyes were ever so slightly bloodshot, but she gave me a nod, then looked to the Genmu woman, "Thank you for bringing the Shield Hero to me. Am I to assume dinner will be held in the grand hall?"

"Yes, Lady Melromarc." Genmu bowed deeply, her earlier amusement replaced with sincere respect. Though, now I wondered if I had it backwards? Was the amusement false? Or the respect?

Stupid politics.

"Please, join me." Mirellia took a step back.

I gave my guide a nod, then stepped into the Queen's room. Once the door was closed behind me, I looked around for Melty. She was... huh. Sleeping. Curled into a content little ball on a very nice couch, she was sleeping like a stone, complete with little mouse snores. Her eyes were a little puffy, but I expected that.

"Thank you for returning my daughter to me." Mirellia said quietly.

"She was quite the gift of trust." I replied, looking left and right, then making my ears twitch a few times. "Fighting monsters is risky, but she has done incredibly well."

She nodded, then shook her head, reaching up to tug at her ear, but not looking around like I had, "I hope you are willing to stay for... diplomacy's sake?"

"The sooner the better." I replied, "But we can leave any time. My party is quite reliable."

The subtext? This wasn't a safe place to talk about 'things', but if need be, we were ready for 'plan B' (a mad dash escape).

"I was hoping you would tell me more about your adventures? Perhaps fill in some details about the things I've only heard rumour of?" She asked, motioning to a nice chair.

"Certainly." I sat, watching her as she sat next to Melty and somehow made the act of 'putting her child's head on her lap' look regal. "Where should I start?" I put the nice Hagane red Shield on my lap, and pulled a pencil and bit of paper out of the Shield's inventory.

Her eyes widened just a tiny bit, but she smiled slyly, "How did you evade my fool husband's edict to not leave Melromarc?"

For two hours, more or less, we talked and wrote messages to one another. I caught her up on 'news' in plain speech, and answered 'fine detail' in reply to her written questions. Twice, we were interrupted, but my ears caught the sound of the armoured guard moving before the door opened, and the paper vanished into the Shield before anyone else could see.

She also told me a few things about her Shadows. Simple one line messages. Given 'wide' orders. Acting independently and however they deemed best. Secrecy above almost all else.

I had to tell a joke, to give her a 'reason' to laugh at my written comment of, "You would be the envy of all monarchs back where I was born."

We had been reduced to idle chatter of nothing important, when we were interrupted for the third and final time.

The interruption, a smartly dressed butler who may or may not have been related to a ferret, was in the form of a half hour warning, and a 'this way sir' for me, so I could maybe stop talking to the Queen and scrub some of the travel off myself and look presentable.

The Queen, having been told of the (lack of) equipment in my pants, graciously offered to let me use her bath, 'so I would not be troubled before a meal'. Of course, what little I did know of the Queen and her political mastery, almost made me raise an eyebrow. On the surface, it would have been political suicide to 'entertain' me in such a fashion.

To almost everyone else, I was a man and demi-human. On the surface, it could mean anything from 'letting me have my privacy', to 'getting into my personal space'. Since the adjoining room of the Queen's chambers was one of the only places she had observed there to be no way to visually spy on her, only the imagination could fill in the details of what might be happening.

And to top it all off, once the butler had left, she asked me, "Would you like me to wash your back?" The words were playful sounding, but her face was perfectly straight, putting the nail in the idea that yes, that 'scandalous' was exactly what she wanted the rest of the castle to think.

So I played along, replying with an equally playful sounding yet straight faced "After my journey so far, getting clean would be the last thing on my mind with you there." I winked at her, then went into the next room, hoping against hope for hot water I didn't have to make on my own with foxfire.

Freshly scrubbed and smelling of flowery soap, I walked with Mirellia on my elbow (just her hand on my forearm, not hooked around it) On her other side, was Melty, the Queen having spent my time in the bath brushing out her hair and making her look less like an adventurer. I was quite pleased that the little princess was still wearing the 'water magic up' pendant and the magic dagger I made her. She was learning, and as combat ready as she could be without her armour.

As we were led down stairs and led towards 'the grand hall' (by a maid this time, likely part harpy or some other avian with bright feathers) more of my party joined us from various hallways, doors and staircases.

Someone was thinking... Having had my party all split like that would have made a 'normal' breakout of the Queen harder, if we wanted to do that before dinner. But, I hadn't called them over our set of sound stones.

Clive was first to join our little trio. His gear was all in place, looked freshly cleaned, and the man himself looked almost glossy. He almost looked uncomfortable with how clean he'd become. But, he still took on a slight 'blush' when I said he looked good (along with the Queen and Melty nodding agreement). Thinking on it, he was more 'chameleon' looking than when he joined my party. His limited human features, like 'normal' skin, had been shrinking, overtaken by the small rectangle scales normal to the actual lizards themselves. Was it the Shield's influence? Or something about him being a high level now?

Kunshu and Usa were next, the Empress taking her place as Usa's 'backup' arm on his weak side, and the rabbit man looking just as clean as Clive. Kunshu also looked like she'd suffered through some extra care, and her black/silver carapace was glossy where ever it didn't have that bristly fuzz (or her 'swarm') over it. I also noticed that Usa's Nue fur cape had been not just scrubbed and cleaned, but patched with care. Huh, someone around here knew what they were doing.

Raphtalia and Tetsu joined us last, both looking a little grumpy. Raphtalia gave me a clear 'talk later' look, while Tetsu grumbled about being hungry. Aside from also having cleaned up, including an expertly done tail brushing for Raphtalia, and Tetsu being clean from the horns on her head to the claws of her toes, I couldn't see anything wrong...

Then I realized, it wasn't what was 'there' but 'missing'. No one had their weapons, save myself (if you could call it that, yes, talking to you, stupid shield), Melty and Kunshu.

But that was okay. I kept their older equipment (that wasn't totally broken) in the Shield, and anyone using the magical equipment I'd made, aside from their owners, would be in for a VERY nasty surprise.

We arrived at 'the grand hall' with a little announcement (the Queen and her daughter entering first, then myself, then my party). Seating was handled in a 'high table' and 'low table' fashion, with the Queen, the four representatives and myself at one table, and then my party and a couple others I didn't know at the other table. This was similar to a medieval setup, with the 'important people' at one table, and the 'support staff' at the other.

Food and drink was carted around by mostly dressed men and women, some of which I could tell were already eyeing me with a different kind of hunger. And while that bothered me a little, I was pleased to note both tables were getting the same food. Oddly enough, that made me feel a little better. It was obvious my party wasn't invited to talk politics, but they were still invited to dinner.

The food itself was interesting. Melromarc had a 'thing' for fruit. Scary man-eating mutant plants aside, fruit was abundant over there. This made a lot of their usual foods lean towards sweeter tastes, where even meat and fish would have some kind of fruity glaze over them. Here in Siltvelt? It seemed fruits were less common, and spice was the 'thing'. The meats were spiced with something similar to cloves and garlic. The fish had a sprinkle of pepper-like stuff on it. Even the wine (I only had two sips of it) tasted faintly of cinnamon.

As well, thankfully, there was only a small amount of small talk over the table. Mostly questions about the food (be it 'what is this?' or 'do you like it?'). Though, there were bits of 'story time' in there as well, mostly 'I heard this happened' and my reply of 'actually it was like this'.

But I could tell...

They were judging me. Everything I did, from the way I held my knife and fork, to the tone of my voice when I talked. They were trying to either find fault, or familiarity, with how I did things. This was expected, if annoying. And I hoped I wouldn't run out of energy while I tried to be as perfect as Rias or Sona at the table.

To a lesser degree, my party was under the same scrutiny. Every time they (mostly Tetsu) raised their voice over a mumble. Every time a knife or fork hit a plate too hard. Even the tone of Clive's grumbles when he was asking for the salt (yes, Clive could rival Gros on his grumble expertise).

It was all for potential ammunition later, for what I could already tell would be a miserable bout of political manoeuvring.

Finally, dinner was brought to a close. Plates were cleared, drinks topped off, and we all got settled in for... politics.

The Genmu woman spoke first, "On behalf of us all, I welcome you again to Siltvelt."

I nodded my head in thanks, but didn't speak. Once again I reminded myself to send some kind of care package to Rias and her bunch for all the politics coaching I got, directly or by osmosis.

And on cue, because I didn't speak, the feathery headed Shusaku representative spoke, "We, of course had been hoping to summon you ourselves, but..." He trailed off with a sniff and a mild 'down the nose' look towards the Queen.

Under the table, the Queen gave my boot a tiny tap with her foot. So I replied with an honest, "Truth be told, I'd rather not have been summoned at all." I raised my glass and touched the wine to my lips just enough to give the illusion I'd sipped at it. "However, since I am here, I will do my best to deal with the Waves."

This ruffled (literally in one case) a few feathers across the table, and seemed to upset the Lion the most, his entire face scrunching up with anger, "It is a great honour to be summoned! To be trusted with a sacred weapon!"

Again, the queen tapped my foot. She wanted me to get my 'motivations' set in stone for them, so they would have to work just that much harder to 'convince' me to... well I didn't know what their demands would be.

"An honour I would gladly have left to someone else." I admitted, "Back home, I have a family. Friends. Wife. Seven children. What good is 'honour' to them if I die here?" I didn't comment on the Shield though, considering most of what I had to say about it would be considered blasphemous to their local religion.

The rebuttal came not from the Lion across from me, but the Aotatsu shaman(?), "Then, why are you involving yourself in this?" He made a slow motion with his hand to the table.

"Because solving problems, and surviving, will be the only way I get to go home." I replied.

"What makes you believe there is a way to return home?" The Lion grumbled, "You would be much better off discarding that idea."

"You've shown your ability to survive here. This world would benefit greatly, if you planned for what might come after the Waves." Genmu added with that same sly smile from before.

"There is also the matter of Melromarc's betrayal of the other three countries to resolve. You speak of solving problems..." Shusaku added.

There was a pause, but this time the Queen did not tap my foot, "He is here to help resolve that particular issue." She looked at the red plumed man, "And while my foolish husband summoned the four heroes before an agreement could be reached, it was Melromarc that was the focus of the last two waves." She motioned to them, much like the Aotatsu representative had, "Siltvelt was quite adept at repelling the excess of monsters during both waves."

"Regardless." The Lion said, his thick 'fingers' playing deftly with the delicate wineglass, "Now that the Shield Hero is here, we would encourage them to stay. We've heard of your treatment in Melromarc. Betrayed by the King, thrown into a slaver's cage, at odds with the other three 'heroes'." It was clear his opinion was close to mine about the others, except Motoyasu. "As far as I'm concerned, the Queen is useless to us, now that the real prize is here."

The other three, and the Queen, were a little shocked at the bald faced statement. So was I, but I think I hid it a little better than the rest. Well, okay, until I spoke, "True. Aultcray did mistreat me. So did some of his court, the leader of their 'church', some of their knights. The list is very very long."

"By your own admission then, you should stay here." The Genmu woman said.

"You, and your party would be treated well here. Given the support you have been denied from Melromarc. Training. Willing soldiers for your party to replace those unfit for your-" I cut the Shusaku representative off.

"No." I said shortly. I was about to say more, but the Queen managed to stomp on my foot without seeming to move her leg, or make a noise.

"I can see we are at an impasse for the moment." She said while I squinted my eyes a little to try and ignore the queenly heel print now gracing the top of my foot. "All of this discussion is on the back of a long road here, and a few hours is hardly enough for even a Hero to recover their tempers."

The others were clearly upset, but the interruption and my (mostly) real glare at them seemed to make them realize they'd overstepped. "Very well." The Aotatsu said, since he was the least effected, and offensive of the four of them. "We understand you are in a rush to return, but please, indulge us another day of your time."

And just to be clear to the other three at how upset they'd made me, I replied with my very best, "Thank you, honoured Elder, for the respite, and understanding the worth of my time."

He smiled slightly in the shadow of his dragon skull hat, and with that, the four of them stood up, turned, and left.

This left us in a room with my party and the Queen, and for a moment, I thought about flipping the table and just... leaving. Maybe literally for the first part, though there was a lot of nice dinnerware on the table.

So instead, I looked to the Queen. "Ow." I said flatly.

"You were about to lose your temper." She said, sipping her wine, then letting one of the waitstaff take it away.

"Calling me a Prize? Talking about replacing my party? They aren't even trying to hide it." I grumbled, wiggling my toes to make sure nothing was broken. "Now they're going to throw dice or something to see who gets to talk to me first, to try and convince me to stay."

She nodded approvingly at my guess of their next step, but added, "And possibly try and convince some of your party to stay as well, to add additional 'hooks' to convince you."

My party, now that they were given leave to get up from the table, were coming over to me. "I might have bought them, your Highness. But I did not buy their loyalty." Convinced my foot wasn't broken, I stood up and turned to face them, "Enjoy the meal?"

"It was spicy!" Tetsu said happily, "I had to ask what that meant... but I liked it even before I knew what 'spicy' was!"

Poor Clive was working his tongue around in his mouth, while trying not to open his mouth. Probably to clear out the bits of pepper-like stuff and other 'solid' spice that didn't melt when you put them in your mouth.

"They have different fish here." Usa said, "But it was a little too spicy for my taste."

"Buzz." Kunshu said, holding up a little flower I'd seen decorating their table in a vase.

I accepted the flower and said, "I'll ask, and see if we can add it to the wagon." And the flower vanished into the Shield.

"I'm not sure how I liked it." Raphtalia said, "It tasted good, but..." She rubbed her stomach.

I flagged down a maid (or rather, an 'exotically almost not dressed cat girl with a maid bonnet') "Could you warm up some milk for my friend?"

She nodded, took a good look at me, then Raphtalia, and vanished into the mass of waitstaff clearing the tables.

"I'd almost forgotten what the food was like here." Melty admitted, "I like your cooking more I think." She said.

"Thank you." I smiled, "I'll see what I can do about getting a supply of spice and recipes. Now... seems we're stuck here at least part of tomorrow. But if that changes..." I scratched at the base of one of my ears, "Head back to your rooms, relax, maybe read a book or something, but don't accept anything if you can help it. Stay back Raphtalia?"

They all nodded, and as asked Raphtalia stayed behind. Melty did as well, but only long enough to look up at her mother, "May I..."

"Of course." I said.

"Very well. Try not to cause any issues until tomorrow, Sir Hero." Mirellia smiled slightly before gliding away with her daughter.

"Your jealous, aren't you?" Raphtalia asked.

"I am." I admitted, "So what was the problem?"

"They demanded our weapons." She said quietly, motioning for us to move out of the way while the tables were cleared. "They even threatened you, and us, if we didn't hand them over."

"Troublesome. But it's fine." I said, "no really." I added when her tail started to bristle, "Aside from the dragon stone in yours and Clive's weapons, it's all replaceable." I paused, "did they actually take the Atma weapon?"

"Yes, since it was at my hip like a weapon, even with no blade. All we have are our little daggers..." She pouted. "I know they're replaceable, but you gave them to us."

"I did. But the weapon is just a tool. The skill to use it is yours alone. What about..." I looked down at her wrist, noting that yes, she had her spell storage bracelet on.

"We all have that stuff still."

"Sir Hero?" The 'maid' interrupted us, arriving with a silver platter and a slightly steaming cup of milk on it.

"Thank you." I said, handing it to Raphtalia, "This should calm your stomach, help you sleep. I suspect tomorrow is going to be either very boring, or far too exciting."

She accepted the cup, then surprised me with a very public... well it wasn't a hug. But she did lean in chest to chest and rub her cheek against mine. With the wall on that side, everyone else in the room could easily have mistaken it for a kiss. But with that, and a smile, she vanished back the way we'd all entered.

I sighed, then looked for someone who wasn't busy, and dressed in more than some silk scarves, and asked where my room was.

Instead of bothering to get ready for sleep, like I very much wanted to, I decided to start a few traps of my own. If tomorrow did involve a high speed chase, then I would need a little more than my 'standard' sizes for monster hunting potions. It was one thing to toss a smoke bomb to distract a single monster or a small group, yet leave the party still able to see the target(s). But another entirely to blind several hallways or a large room.

There were other things too. And yes, to 'civilized' people, it might classify as a terror weapon. Like a Marlboro pot, instead of a vial. One of the few actually useful things the Shield could do, was make stuff like that 'internally'. It cut down on the smell, and hid the fact I was making something particularly vile. Sure, no matter how good I was, or how high the quality of the materials I put in, the result was 'normal quality'. But unless I wanted to make this nice castle of theirs uninhabitable for a week...

Though, if they offended me that badly...

But aside from letting the Shield make all kinds of war-crime level pranks in 'secret', I got my other 'deterrents' started. I even made it smell nice.

Not long after I had things bubbling in my alchemy kit, there was a polite but firm knock on the door. Right on time it seemed. "Enter." Yes, the nice guest room's door could lock, no, I hadn't bothered.

The fiery feathered Shusaku representative opened the door, "Good evening, Sir Hero."

"Kodori." I said, not looking up from my work, very carefully adding things to it. "I am not defined by my equipment." I smiled, more at the double meaning of my joke, than trying to be pleasant.

From the corner of my eye, I could see his face twist slightly in disapproval, but as he closed the door behind him there was nothing to betray emotion in his voice. "Pardon, Kodori. I am Victor."

I caught the barest hint of emotion in his voice at the end, so I made a token attempt to excuse my inattention, "Pardon, Victor of the Shusaku. This is delicate work."

He seemed to accept the 'snub' in favour of... well, my favour, and kept his silence until I finished adding things in by the literal drop to the alchemy set. Stupid Shield, leave the actual work to me.

"You see, I am quite serious about this job I've been forced in to." I said, offering my hand.

He seemed to know the 'ritual' of the handshake, and he at least met my eyes as we shook. "I am sure you can guess why I am here." He said, "With the Waves, tension between countries, and a myriad of other issues, Siltvelt must gather allies. Skill, strength, experience. While I understand your reluctance to discard what roots you've set down in Melromarc, Siltvelt has much more to offer you."

Figuring I'd at least give him a little time to speak instead of seeing if he could fly (hmm, the window had 'security bars' over it... maybe not), I asked, "Such as?"

"Melromarc, while the largest of the four countries on this continent, is actually the poorest. They are not destitute, nor lacking robust trade, but they are somewhat directionless with the bounty within their boarders." He said, pacing on the nice carpeted floor much like I did back home. "We in Siltvelt not only trade with Zeltobe and Faubrey we are the only country to trade openly with Q'ten Lo."

That name was new to me, but I filed it away for later, mostly to keep up my mysterious act. "You are also a demi-human dominant country, whereas Melromarc is not." I felt a little itch in my horns, and almost smiled as I started to lead him on.

"Indeed. It took all of a week after the first wave for the nobility and citizens of Melromarc to discard the Queen's edicts on equal rights, and begin enslaving demi-humans without reason." He paused his pacing to look down his nose at me, as I continued to sit in the nice chair by the equally nice desk, (that I'd possibly ruined with my alchemy). "Add that to their sudden conversion to the 'church of the three heroes' and that you yourself are a demi-human, and I am sure you can see the benefits of turning your back on them."

"True. I could turn my back on them. But it wouldn't be solving the problem, would it?" I asked. "I'm sure you know already, that my party consists of slaves."

"We know this, yes. Obtained while you were unjustly framed and thrown into the Slaver's care." He smiled, "Were you aware that one of the Queen's failed attempts at reform, was a village of Demi-humans?"

"I've heard about that, yes."

"We are currently pushing towards an initiative to free those wrongly taken into slavery. That is one of the many things we can do for you, to prove we are worth backing."

"Pass." I shrugged, hiding a smile as I turned to check on my bubbling glass-works, "Offering me money is kind of pointless."

He went almost perfectly still, with only a slight draft in the room making one of the feathers he had for hair wiggle amusingly, "Surely you jest! Do you not care if your fellow demi-humans rot in a slaver's care?"

"First." I said, not raising my voice like he had, "They are not my 'fellow demi-humans'. And second, I already freed them. Every single one I could find. Paid for, given medicine, a place to stay, food, and a chance to get educated however they wished."

"Impossible! Such an amount of money would have taken-"

"I did it between waves for all the slaves in Melromarc, and a few days ago in Zeltobe for the rest. Aultcray and his lackeys failed them by deed, and you failed them by word." I did my best to keep my tone even, but I was sure I was returning at least a little of that 'down the nose' energy this man had. "As for trade, you do know I bought a class up ritual in Zeltobe, right?"

For a moment, he looked like he had swallowed a rock, but after a moment he attempted to salvage the small nuke I'd tossed into his offer of 'money'. "Such a sum would be impossible for someone new to the world."

"New to this world, yes. But I've been told I'm pretty smart. For instance, I could calculate for you, within a few drops, how much water that nice vase over there holds, without ever filling it myself. Aside from that, my party and I have earned partnership with Hickwaal." For the record though, I hated doing calculus.

He tried again to say something meaningful, but gave up in an attempt to salvage a little dignity. "I see I cannot convince you. Regardless, no matter what you think, thank you for your efforts, even if they are not your 'fellows'."

I nodded, accepting the gratitude, false or not. "They are not my 'fellows' no, but they are my people. I told you, I solve problems."

He paused, hand on the doorknob of my nice little room, "I will admit, I heard you say it after dinner, but I think I am only listening to it now. Goodnight, Kodori."

And he was gone. If my lessons with Rias told me anything, I had won my first 'round'. Also, I had only a few minutes before my next guest.

I was just getting ready to pour the results of my work into a fancy glass vial when my second guest arrived. This time, the knock was big and authoritative, and when I replied to the knock with, "Enter." the person behind the door nearly filled it with his size.

Seeing him when he wasn't sitting down, and alone, made me realize just how big this man was. "Sir Kodori."

Aha, he must have talked to the Phoenix. "I am. Pardon for a moment." Again, I tested his patience by paying my work more attention than him. "But you have me at a disadvantage."

"Jaralis, representative of the Hakuko." He said, glaring at me as I finished pouring the almost clear, nice smelling results of my work into the vial. "I am surprised you are not resting, like the rest of your... party." The distaste was clear in his tone.

"I am well aware of how my evening will play out. After you, I'm expecting at least one more visitor." I carefully put a cork into the vial, and left it aside to cool, "Don't look so surprised. I may be a stranger to your world, but there are a lot of similarities."

"So, you say. But do you really understand what is at play? What your presence means here in Siltvelt?" He crossed his arms, "There is much we can offer you, in exchange for your presence."

"I disagree. There is almost nothing you can offer me. I do not need money and I do not need support from your soldiers." I looked up at him passively, "As for what is at play... I'm actually getting a little tired of hearing this situation being referred to as a game."

That made him chuckle, a low gravelly sound, "I am more surprised that you insist on returning to a place that has made every effort to belittle and undermine you. Is it because you think you can prove yourself to them? Force them to treat you fairly? Give you equal status to the other three heroes? I am having a hard time deciding if you are a fool, or hopelessly optimistic."

This time I crossed my arms, saying nothing but putting on an air of indifference.

So he continued, "If you put your support behind us, you could have a small army behind you when you returned. You could return that useless figurehead to her throne, then subjugate her moments later. Afterwards, you could return here. We would be happy to give you your own land, a manor, access to our best craftsmen." He paused, looking at my somewhat shabby equipment, "And while you say you are married, there would be no end of women willing to pair with the Shield Hero."

His lips pulled back into a fanged smile at my raised eyebrow, but then turned into a frown when I replied with a simple, "No."

My rejection of what amounted to 'everything a person could want' upset him. "A fool then! What more could you want? Are you so sure you can return home? Do you think that idiot Queen can salvage the situation in her kingdom? And it is obvious you desire a partner, considering you court your own slave."

"I know return is possible. It's how I and the other heroes know anything about this land at all." I sighed, "I don't need money. I can create weapons and armour to rival the Legendary Weapons. And while you speak of 'power' and 'support', the Queen you speak so poorly of trusted her own daughter to me, as a show of good faith to the work I'm doing."

He took a moment to glare at me, then turned around sharply, "Perhaps other measures will be needed to convince you."

"I think." I said quietly as his hand settled on the doorknob, "You should consider very carefully that line of thinking."

He turned to look back over his shoulder at me, and I could hear the doorknob start rattling slightly in his grip as his hand trembled.

"Thank you for visiting." I said, feeling my horns itch and my body warm up for a fight without conscience thought.

He tried to recover a little of his pride, his huge hand gripping the doorknob and silencing his trembling, "While we worship the Shield, here in Siltvelt, it is because the wielder is a protector, not a fighter. You don't scare me."

He opened the door, and I decided to get one last barb in, "Tell that to your tail."

I saw him look down as he stepped through the doorway, and yes, his tail had swished between his legs to wrap around his knee. But now that he was in the hallway, with the guard outside my room, he didn't dare lose his temper.

I knew he would be trouble. But for the moment, that was two for two.

Notes!

(League of Legends voice) Shut down.

See you next time.

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

aKAQg4bnYu for the discord!

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

And! I'm looking into getting some story themed merchandise made. Join the Discord to find out more!