Chapter 92

Since I was the guest, I was the one following Romina's instructions while making the new sheath for the Vassal Katana. With her holding the metal and tapping her foot to signal me to strike with the hammer, we went about making metal fittings and hoops for the sheath.

To the side, Raphtalia was working on the main body of the sheath, but it wasn't wood she was hollowing out.

No, for a a hero's sword, we were making a hero's sheath. We had taken one of the longest Tyrant Dragon teeth I had in storage, cracked it in half with very careful chiselling, and started working on individual tasks.

Since it was her sword now, Raphtalia was further hollowing out the tooth. It was almost as hard on the inside as it was the outside, but Romina had some really good tools for this kind of work. Romina and I were at the anvil, making various metal bits to not just hold the tooth together once we'd glued it, but also fittings to let Raphtalia hang or tie the sheath to her hip, or back, or not as she pleased.

Of course, we could have used wood. But as far as Raphtalia knew (so far, since she was already good with the thing) there was no 'blunt katana'. So, if she ever wanted to knock someone out, there were very few things harder than dragon bone.

"Well kiddo?" Romina smiled as Raphtalia admired the freshly polished and lacquered dragon tooth sheath. "We could probably made it even more fancy, if you wanted, but..."

"It's okay. Fancy decorations tend to just get broken off in combat. Right?" She looked at me.

Carefully and without flourish, she sheathed the Katana and slipped it into the sash of her combat miko outfit. "It suits you." I nodded, "The boys will be really surprised when they see you."

I wasn't sure if Kotetsu understood what was going on, but it was nodding along with me while making little 'grr' noises. "I suppose I should go find the other two..." Raphtalia sighed, "Are you coming Kotetsu?"

Raphtalia held out her hand, and the little dragon-noodle looked from her, to me, then zipped up her arm. Romina and I laughed as Kotetsu swam around in Raphtalia's clothing for a moment, making the racoon girl wiggle and squeak. "Supposed to be a feathered serpent, not a ferret." I laughed, "Ost?"

"I am very glad I do not get motion sick." Ost said from someplace in Raphtalia's outfit, before Kotetsu popped out of the back of her robe to stand triumphant on top of Raphtalia's head. "Yes, who is a proud dragon?"

"Gr!"

"I will get you for that! And why are you laughing?" Raphtalia pouted.

"Because it was funny?" I replied, "Shoo, go find the other two, then... I dunno..."

"I'll see if Glass has any idea what she wants for a replacement weapon." Raphtalia offered, "Make sure to eat!" She turned, paused at the door, looked back, and added, "It's good to see you laugh." And left.

"Excitable girl." Romina said.

For the rest of the day, pausing only to eat lunch and dinner (both times, Raphtalia had shown up, looked into the shop, and stared at us, just to make sure we were eating, before vanishing again), we alternated between working with stuff, and teaching the other what we were doing, while working with stuff from opposite worlds.

Not only did this let us get our work done, we taught each other by doing and not just blindly studying. Weirdly, another quirk of the strange system (probably?) the more we worked with something that shouldn't exist in the worlds we had come from, the better an idea our Status screens got along with it.

Kinda.

For Romina, things that simply didn't show anything when she looked at them, started to appear on her status screen. For me, likely with the help of the Shield, it was faster, and had less... spelling mistakes? All the same, Romina had real skill, and part of working with the unknown items so they would appear 'normally' was... well working with them. She wouldn't have needed the status screen at all back in Orario, and Welf would have loved having her around.

With us constantly handing things back and forth to each other, learning and teaching, we got a lot of things done. Raphtalia's armour had to be abandoned when she arrived, but L'arc had gotten her that really nice combat miko outfit. Still, we made her some nice bracers. And since we were doing that, I made Kizuna some bracers as well, from the guardian tiger fur and some dragon-steel I had in storage.

Of course, since we had the stuff out, and Tetsu needed a new outfit, we made the little dragon-girl a new shape changing outfit that added the white tiger fur. Poor girl wasn't very good with cold, and would appreciate the warmer clothing. And yes, we added a tiger-head hood, because we both just knew she would 'rawr' at someone while wearing this.

Kuro... I didn't have any of the special thread to make something that changed shape with her. But I resolved to make something nice for her when I did.

And while I didn't make anything for myself, I finally took a look at what the Shield was doing with the bits from the guardian tiger clones.

"What's that noise for?" Romina asked, "We've been doing really well! No reason to sigh!" Yes, her and Welf would get along for sure.

"Back home, this," I motioned to the workshop, "Is what I did. This," I shook the Shield on my arm, "Has been feeding me lesser abilities that I already had, before being summoned took them away."

"Were you a hero there too?" She asked, holding up a tiger pelt cape, "These things must have been massive..."

"To some, yeah, suppose I was a hero." I sighed again, "Well, at least it looks good." The Shield changed, and the face now had a snarling tiger's head embossed on the front, realistic enough that you could imagine it biting the person in front of it.

Chain Shield, a way to allow me to move the otherwise stationary Air Strike Shields.

Next was something closer to a Zulu styles targe, the face made of what looked like hardened tiger pelt and leather. This one had some weird effects on it, though the one I was sighing over was the 'support nullification', since it helped me cancel out magic. An old ability made needlessly focused.

The Tiger Fang Shield would actually give me something Itsuki had accused me of having already, an 'auto parry' skill.

And lastly, the Tiger Bone Shield. This just had what the other three had for 'stat numbers', Agility up (strong).

"All the same... I'll master them all." I mumbled to myself.

Then, from outside, I heard an explosion.

"Wow... you're pretty skittish." Romina teased, "And you will help me make a new door handle."

The explosion? Fireworks. I'd almost forgotten that 'gunpowder' was a thing in Raphtalia's world, and hadn't expected it here. But once I'd gotten outside, ready for battle, Shield out, mask on...

Then there was a burst of colours, reds and blues, silver and greens, high overhead.

"Suppose their king did come back..." I sighed, "Suppose work is done for the day."

"Why? I mean, sure, I love a good party, but..." She had the same look I knew I'd had many times, 'there is shiny stuff to work on!'.

"You can go back to that." I said, holding out a hand, "And I'll be back tomorrow if we aren't moving out.

She took my hand, grinning as we got into a 'hand crushing' match. "Looking forward to it."

"Boss!" I heard Tetsu shouting from down the street, "Come quick! Look at all the pretty lights!"

There was singing, dancing, fireworks, food. The entire town had had basically turned itself inside out to throw a party.

It wasn't lavish, or even well planned. But the people saw the recent events as a sign that things were going well. Their Hero, Kizuna, had returned after a long exile. The King (you know, L'arc was going to get a nickname...) had returned from what ever it was he had told 'the people' he'd gone to do. And apparently, Raphtalia was being lauded as a new hero, holder of the Vassal Katana. Even if she was from another world, L'arc had said 'She's awesome', and the people just... cheered for her.

Now, I'll admit to being a tiny bit jealous that someone else had turned her into a stuttering idiot, being chosen by a vassal weapon was something worth praise. So, her fame was earned, no matter how embarrassed she was to suddenly be given it.

But even with the town celebrating all the good fortune, I just couldn't find any... joy in it. It wasn't that I was being ignored (mostly, I mean, I wasn't hiding my true self at all), or that there didn't seem to be anything but alcohol being served (I had to boil my own water for tea, else risk getting drunk).

No. It was the little timer at the top of my status, ticking away the seconds, minutes, hours...

"You seem distracted." Ost said from the confines of Kotetsu's claws.

Upon hearing her speak, the little dragon-noodle rubbed its cheek against the emerald as if it were a cat, but then dangled over my forehead so I could look into the green crystal while I replied (oh, and give headpats for being a thoughtful critter).

"Tick tick." I said, "I'm not sure when the Wave is, in the other world, but the one here is very soon. Soon enough we might as well just get some fighting in to bring up our levels, fight the wave, then go find Kyo."

"The longer we take, the greater chance he will use the stolen souls for something nefarious." She said, "But, if you are not strong enough to fight him, then..." I could see her tiny figure in the gem sigh, "I know you took this quest to help my world, but I do not want it to be a suicide mission."

"I am thankful for the concern. Though..." I reached up to pluck Kotetsu from my head, its back legs/claws letting go of my horns. Now in hand, it curled up into a defensive ball in my palms, Ost's prison in one claw for me to see into. "I have ideas about how to deal with your stolen power."

"You've given me time to atone for my failure, I'll gladly listen and help if I can."

"Remember you said that. Thank you Ost. Kotetsu, take super good care of her."

"Gr!" And with a lightning quick slithering crawl Kotetsu vanished into my robe, around my torso, and appeared on top of my head again, gripping my horns and guarding its very first treasure.

"You're lucky I'm not ticklish." I said, looking upwards.

Kizuna found me at some point, her cheerful face marked by a little of that 'after convention' weariness. Of course, since I'd spent (aside from Ost and Kotetsu) most of the party alone, she knew something was bothering me the instant she spotted me.

Of course, she opened her question by teasing me, "Kodori-sama, what's wrong? Out of everyone here, you're like... gloomy."

"If I have to, I will poke you with a cold nose." I warned, finding a smile from someplace in my emotional pockets and putting it on. "You do see the timer, just like I do, right?" This did remind me about something else, "Oh, since you liked mine, I made you something." I handed her the bracers I'd made for her, "Warm in winter, cool in summer, and resistant to everything but dark elemental magic."

"Oh! Awesome!" She held the bracers up to the starlight to admire them, then handed one back so she could buckle one on, then the other. "As for the waves, yeah, of course. But I'm not worried, I mean..."

Her nearly frantic cheer evaporated, "So... How has this world dealt with the waves without you?"

"Well, I'm sure you noticed how many adventuring types there were, and are, all over the place, right?" I nodded, "Well, the Jewel people, like Therese, have come up with all kinds of inventions. The item box, and item recovery gems for one."

"L'arc better not have forgotten..." I grumbled.

"He's buried under paperwork." She laughed, "Anyhow, with almost everyone who isn't working a normal job out there fighting monsters, well, when a wave happens, the Jewel people made another item. One that transports anyone who thinks they're strong enough to the Wave Boss."

"Wait... so..."

"Yeah, they don't need me." She said with a shrug, "I mean, now that I'm back, I'm still gonna fight! But in a pinch? This world figured it out." She gave my shoulder a pat, "And its a good thing, too. With the other three gone..." She lost that cheer again.

"Huh. Well, let's go find Glass, and I dunno... probably get some sleep. Raphtalia is due to glare at me sometime soon to make sure I go to bed."

"Haha! You might need to drag her back actually, she's been partying enough for the both of you!"

Yes, we found Raphtalia. No, she wasn't drunk.

It was worse. She was passed out, and slung over Tetsu's shoulder. Except, since Tetsu was much shorter than her in humanoid form, Raphtalia's feet were dragging on the ground as Tetsu walked along, uncaring about the raccoon girl's weight.

"Kizuna. You found her." Glass, as it seemed with all things, was calm and composed, sipping from a wooden mug. If she didn't have the hint of a blush and a mild scent of booze on her breath, I'd have guessed she was perfectly sober. "Therese had warned us about letting her near the alcohol, but L'arc said 'she's hilarious', and let her drink."

"Heehee. I'm gonna remind her I had to be the big sister!" Tetsu smiled from under the snoring Raphtalia.

"Hey hey." Kizuna elbowed me, "The thing."

I tapped my fist down into my palm, "Oh right. Here you go." I said, reaching into the Shield's inventory, "It's not what you had, but Romina and I put real effort into these." I handed her a pair of leather sleeves, each one holding a fan. "You can keep the sword though, since Raphtalia copied it with the Vassal weapon."

The two fans were named simply, 'Sun' and 'Moon'. (Romina had the same kind of naming sense as Welf too! That is... a bad one.) We couldn't figure out a way to replicate the Vassal Fan's ability to copy itself, so we instead made two fans that did different things. Of course, both were capable of combat, but the real difference was what they could do. 'Sun', had a bunch of built in attack magics. Fire, razor winds, lightning. While 'Moon' held defensive ones, ice barriers, wind gusts for arrow deflection, stone barricades. The only visible difference between them was the gem in the pin that held the fan's panels together, a ruby for 'sun' and sapphire for 'moon', of course.

"And." I said, "They are able to absorb power from fallen monsters."

"I helped with that." Ost said, "As well as some interesting materials from a monster you're very familiar with, I'm guessing."

"The Soul Eater." Glass said, doing a very simple, weirdly familiar dance with the fans. I suddenly thought of Akeno. Though the last time she held a fan was to boop my nose. Or Takemikazuchi... Who broke it.

"I doubt it's as powerful as the Vassal Weapon effect, but it's the best I can do with the skill I have." I nodded, scratching at my nose.

She snapped the fans closed, put them back in the leather sleeves (yes, white tiger hide), and bowed to me. "With the care and dedication you commit to everything, I know you would do no less than your best, even for a former enemy."

I returned the bow and flicked at Kizuna's rear with a tail, making the Hero 'eek' and go over to hide behind Glass, "I'm going to make sure she gets back to your place. Then make sure she gets some sleep. We have a couple days to make ready for the wave, level up, recover and create more equipment, then go and deal with Kyo."

"You will join us then?" Glass looked a little surprised.

"There is work to be done, and I'm here to do it." I shrugged, then took Raphtalia from Tetsu, "And Kizuna said we're all friends now. So yes." I paused after a step, "Say, where's Kuro?"

"Ah, she was singing with Therese earlier, but I am not sure now." Glass said, "If we see her, we'll send her back to the house."

Kuro met us part way back to Kizuna's home, and for the first time since Motoyasu's disappearance looked happy. The world switch seemed to have changed the instinct to 'pull a wagon' that Filolial had, to 'sing', and the party (with, no surprise, singing and music) was exactly what her new/current nature wanted.

She lost a little of that cheer when I told her 'the plan' to fight the next wave, but understood, especially after what had happened, that we needed power, and running ahead without the proper strength would accomplish nothing.

The next morning, after giving Raphtalia some hangover medicine (though, not before suffering for about an hour after waking up), I told her the plan as well. Kizuna (who helped with the hangover punishment by helping me cook with ALL THE NOISY POTS AND PANS for breakfast) agreed to help my party, and L'arc had sent a message along with them that he would try and find stuff in the castle store houses as well.

As an owner of a vassal weapon himself, he knew how they powered up. And since we'd all agreed to get along and proven we were willing to put in our best effort (he really liked Glass's new fans), he was going to see what he could do.

Of course, when a king (even a popular one like L'arc) gave stuff away for 'free', well... Politics were involved.

Glass was giving me a thoughtful look. All of my party actually. I much rather liked this look compared to her angry one, or the distrusting one, or even the (I suspected) jealous one (I didn't have a proper women's intuition, but I was suspecting Glass wanted to be more than a friend to Kizuna...).

"I suggest, you all dress to impress." She said. "Mostly, a little cleaning will do." She crouched a little to brush at Kuro's frilly dress. "And didn't you have this made only yesterday?" She stood, moved over a step, then crouched a little to give Tetsu a hint of a glare.

Tetsu pouted a little, since her nice new 'warmer weather' white tiger mini-zon outfit was already a bit dirty, "I was helping Kotetsu find stuff under the house..."

Kotetsu, on top of my head, was holding a copper doumon coin in its teeth while nodding vigorously.

Glass sighed a little, "You, past a little dirt, look just fine." She said to Raphtalia, "But you..." She looked at me, "The people outside L'arc's inner circle will not believe you are a hero."

I smiled, "Being underestimated is one of my greatest weapons." I said, and to my surprise, Glass nodded (instead of say, looking angry, since she was quite guilty of that), "But you're right. Gift or not, if we come to the bargaining table with nothing, we are beggars, not prospects."

"Oh!" Tetsu and Kuro perked up at the same time, "Are you gonna wear that stuff again?"

They looked at each other, one glaring, the other smiling, as they said the exact same thing at the exact same time.

"I've added a little improvement to the armour." I nodded, "But... Should I show them exactly who they are dealing with? Or maybe hold back a little?" I looked to Tetsu, "All of us?"

"Oh! Can I really do the thing? I really wanna do the thing!" Tetsu did a happy little foot-to-foot hop.

"Yes, I think you should." I smiled, looking to Raphtalia.

And so, it was with great fanfare that Kizuna and her otherworldly friends/rescuers returned to L'arc's castle riding not one, but two legendary beasts.

Kizuna and Glass sat on my back, my armoured fox form stalking towards the castle gates in near silence despite the plates of metal over my body. Beside me rode Raphtalia, the newest Chosen of the Vassal Katana. She rode atop Tetsu, who just for today, or at least until we got into the castle itself, was refraining from getting people to give her headpats.

With Kizuna on my back, and a Vassal Weapon holder on Tetsu's, the two 'legendary beasts' were signs of status and not fear. Even if the two of us were quite capable of blending in normally, it was still a sign to 'the people' we were not to be feared, but trusted. Of course, having already been seen by the people in our usual two legged forms, it also showed we were willing to help their heroes (returned or newly endowed) in every capacity, including as mounts.

Trust, and status, the two most important things for a hero to have from the people they protected.

We were escorted into the castle, through the courtyard, and to the inner gate. It was here we discarded half the 'show', Tetsu and I returning to our usual shapes and sizes. Having cleaned ourselves up a little, we were still impressive looking, and were brought in to L'arc's 'court'.

I considered leaving my mask on. Past being proud of the work I put into it, it also hid my face. I was sure L'arc and Therese knew just as well as the rest of our two parties this was a joke. That the only reason why we put on a show at all instead of just... showing up and following him to where ever he had the materials he'd offered to get for us.

My mask would stop people from seeing me role my eyes at joke none (except maybe his Uncle who greeted me when I brought Kizuna back) of the other nobles were in on.

"I suppose, it's a little late. I mean, we've already thrown the party for your return!" L'arc laughed, "But really, it's amazing to have you back with us Kiddo."

Kizuna didn't bow, but was at least speaking seriously. "It's good to be back." She started, "I couldn't have done it alone however." She stepped aside, letting me take a half step forward, "If it weren't for the Shield Hero, Kodori."

Now, the story was already well established. If this world were even close to all the others, rumours would have spread from those who were there first, to those who were here now. So now that Kizuna had introduced me, it was time to set things in stone, so to speak, and rally the people to the 'cause'.

I took off my mask, though not before taking a deep breath (the rattle of air thought the 'mouth' of the mask adding to the mysteriousness). "I am Kodori Haruhime, holder of the Holy Shield from another world." I said, taking the Shield from my back and setting it on my arm. "This is Kuro." She gave a shy wave, but a perfect curtsy, "Tetsu." A cheerful wave, but a silent one. "Raphtalia." She stepped up beside me, the position of an equal, "Kotetsu." Raphtalia held out a hand and the dragon-noodle appeared from her sleeve to wrap around her hand. "And Ost." Kotetsu held out the emerald prison.

Those who were here when I first arrived nodded, those who had seen my party at the little celebration put things together, and I was pretty sure no one missed the gem on the Vassal Katana.

"By your legends, and the ones from the world we came from, a Holy Hero cannot move between worlds." I continued, "But, we are chasing a known criminal of your world, at the behest of Ost."

Half second pause, flawless pickup, "My full name is Ost Horai, and I am the soul of the Spirit Tortoise." That got instant attention from some of the people in the room. "The one you know as Kyo, desecrated my body, using its ability to halt the Waves as a last resort before it was needed. Thousands of people were killed before their time, and the power of their souls was stolen." Kotetsu, gave the Prison a cheek rub to comfort the sad voice inside the gem, "Using what little power I had left to me, and the gift of ingenuity from Kodori, I am here now to help you and yours track Kyo down."

Raphtalia lowered her extended arm so people would stop focusing on the shiny green gem, "I did not mean to be chosen by the Vassal Katana. But I have heard the weapon's call to free the Vassal Book from one who is unworthy."

L'arc, a fellow Vassal Weapon holder, nodded. "We." He motioned to Glass and Therese, "Had been tracking down Kyo, but he had escaped from us. We were there when he stole the power meant to save your world if the Waves threatened to destroy it." He stood, drawing attention from all those nobles, "For our failure to capture him before he could kill so many people of your world, our failure to stop him from escaping with their souls, and your help in returning our beloved Hunting Hero to us, and the promise to help us recover a Vassal Weapon from one who is unworthy..."

He made the universal gesture (so far as I'd seen in five out of five worlds!) of welcoming, opening his arms wide, palms up.

"We will offer every assistance we can, out of respect for a fellow Hero, and one worthy to hold a Vassal Weapon."

I was about to say something suitable thankful, but I gave up on that notion when everyone started cheering. So instead, I just bowed my head, tapping my fist to my breastplate and holding that position until L'arc nodded back to me.

Maybe he didn't need a nickname. For what almost seemed like an allergic reaction to his position as king, he knew exactly how to play the game. Now, with his support, the cheering of just about everyone I could see, and the support of their beloved hero, no one would dare raise a fuss over whatever help L'arc gave us.

He even played it up just a tiny bit more!

After the various nobility and guards stopped cheering, he asked, "Can we count on you for the next Wave?"

"No matter what world I am in, it is my duty." I replied.

A bit later...

"Phew." L'arc sighed, his nice combat haori from when we rescued him back to being all informal and open to show off his chest. "All that formal crap is worse than fighting..."

Yes, after 'that formal crap' he escorted us (personally!) through his castle to one of the storage rooms. Not to be confused with the treasury, this was where raw materials were stored. Dried food for a siege, barrels of water, metal for weapons, coal for forges... All the things the soldiers would need for a last stand and more.

Most importantly, at least for Raphtalia and I (and at one point, Kizuna, L'arc and Glass), monster bits. They could be used in weapon and armour craft, so they were stored here as well.

"Less paperwork this way." I said, giving him a pat on the back, "I'll admit, I thought you were just some meathead adrenaline junkie."

The one guard who had followed all of us went wide eyed, but almost everyone else laughed (except Glass, Glass was a square). "He complained every step of the way, but he did learn." Therese smiled.

"I know I'll hate it, but after all the effort I've put into keeping the people safe, there would be no point if I sat down in the chair and ruined it by not knowing what to do!" L'arc grinned, "I'd feel even worse, wasting the effort of my friends."

His party, Kizuna included, grinned back at him, (except Glass, but at least she smiled a little.)

We took a little time going over things. Kizuna even added to the 'monster bits' piles with all the stuff she'd picked up in the labyrinth. Sadly, one of the things I really wanted wasn't here. At least, not in abundance.

"I know I know." L'arc said with a sigh, "I know it would be the easiest way to recover your levels, but..."

Yes, the castle's supply of earth crystals was for emergencies only, and what few he did give us, went to Raphtalia, Tetsu and Kuro.

"But." He rubbed his chin.

"Alto!" Kizuna said, "He's still alive right?" He nodded and she looked to me, "He's a really good merchant."

"A terrible person. But a good merchant, yes." Glass clarified.

"He's due back soon. And if anyone can find a place for a ton of earth crystals, it'd be him." L'arc nodded, not commenting about what Glass said.

"Alright." I nodded, "Well, seems we have more work to do." I gave Kuro and Tetsu hugs with my tails, and put a hand on Raphtalia's shoulder, "Kizuna? If you could help them? I'm going to go back to Romina and go all out." I smiled, the Shield now full of local materials, "We've got a couple days before the Wave, and some strength to recover if we want to be helpful."

Notes!

Yup, a little more gear up, then a couple chapters of fun, adventure, and once again, combat!" See you soon. :)

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

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