Chapter 6 – New Goal

The fight was easy. I couldn't even call it a fight. These were knights of the kingdom?

Well, sort of.

I contacted Gnarl before we confronted them. Knights were, on average, about level 30. The ones in the castle that protected the king were a little higher. The ones that were in more remote locations were lower. These two, who partook in enslaving the survivors of a village decimated by a Wave, must have been even lower.

Picking a fight with them was easy. The second they saw me and Rifana, they figured out who I was. Well, I switched back to my first shield to make it easier for them. They stopped the horse pulling their cart, stepped off, and acted like they were just going to take the little girl next to me as an easy prize.

Five minions had something to say about that.

I knew my defense must have been high, since being punched by castle knights didn't even hurt, but it was really high. The minions swarmed the knights and started beating them down. Of course, I joined in, but they probably could have handled these two themselves.

At the end, I took almost no damage, and only two of the minions were below 80% HP. That left us with two knights—bruised, bloody, and bound with some rope they had in the carriage—a carriage, and a horse. Oh, and…

Rope Shield
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: skill "Erst Shield"

I got a skill, which would deploy a large shield anywhere within range. It used SP, which recovered really quickly, so that was good. All in all, this was a good day. And, it might just get a little better.

"What now, Master?" Havoc asked, tapping his mace over his shoulder. "We kill humies now?"

"Not yet." I told him. "First…"

I had Rifana step forward, standing right in front of me with my hands on her shoulders.

"Do you know who this is?" I asked them.

"Hmph!" One of them spat some blood at my feet. "Some demi-human brat."

"Your whore." The other one smirked. They didn't seem to fully realize their position.

I could feel Rifana tremble. If her ears were anything to go by, it wasn't out of fear.

"You destroyed my village." She said coldly.

"Oh yeah?" The first one raised an eyebrow. "You animals are hard to tell apart."

Rifana was shaking.

"What's the matter? You going to cry?" The second knight sneered.

"Havoc." I looked to the minion. "Hit his side."

"Yah!" He did so without any hesitation. The knights were wearing plate mail, or maybe half-plate armor. They were protected, but a mace's blunt damage was going to travel.

"Hrg!" The knight toppled over, his face hitting the ground.

"Damn Shield!" The one not in pain yelled. "You think you're going to get away with this? Just wait until we get back to the capital!"

"You think you're going to make it out of this alive?" I asked, grinning.

"Hah! We're knights of the kingdom! If we're found dead, there'll be a search for us. They'll find you and throw you in the dungeon, if you're lucky. And as for this little demi-human whore—"

"Havoc." I didn't need to give him any further instruction.

With both knights now in pain, I stepped around Rifana and knelt next to her. Her face was a mix of hate and pain. Maybe having her confront them like this wasn't such a good idea.

"Rifana…" Despite the situation, I tried to speak softly. Soothingly. She flinched, so maybe it didn't come out that way. It wasn't like I was smiling. I hadn't done that since before the trial, at least not in a way that didn't promise violence.

"What…" She choked back a sob before trying again. "What do you want me to do with them, Mister Naofumi?"

"What do you want to do?" I asked back.

She clenched her fists, taking a step forward. Then another. When she was in front of one of the knights, she looked down at him.

"Where are they?" She asked.

"The fuck are you—" His sharp response was met with a kick to the head.

"Where are they?" She repeated, her voice like ice. "Where's Raphtalia? Where's Keel? Where's everyone?"

Those must have been her friends. I only really thought about it abstractly before, but her whole life was thrown into hell with the first Wave. Her parents, her home, her friends, she lost everything. Maybe I could understand her wanting to follow me now, even if I hadn't been the Shield Hero.

"How should I know!?" The knight yelled. "Hey, Shield! Are you sure you want this bitch to do this? You know what'll happen to you, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I smirked, turning my head to the side.

"Is this any way for a hero to act!?" He spat.

"A hero? I thought I was a rapist. That's what everyone in town seems to think of me." Unbelievable. They knew about the crime I was convicted of, somehow, and they still thought I was going to save them?

"Demon!" He cried out. "Once they find our bodies, they'll come looking for you!"

"They won't be finding your bodies." I had something to absorb those, after all.

"You—" His words were cut off by Rifana shoving her dagger against his throat.

"Stop yelling at Mister Naofumi." Her voice had grown even colder. "Last chance. Tell me where all my friends are."

The knight swallowed, his eyes wavering as he stared at her. Then, he opened his mouth. "You're bluffing! You're not going to put the Shield Demon at risk—"

Just like that, he was silenced. Rifana drew the dagger across his neck. Blood spew on her from the wound as he struggled on the ground in vain.

"Oh shit! Oh fuck!" The other knight started pushing against the ground with his feet in a pointless attempt to get away. Not that I would let him get far.

"No, you don't." I grabbed one of his ankles. He used his other leg to kick me, landing a few on my face, but it didn't do anything.

While the minions gathered around the dead knight—Rifana and I just gained a level—to loot his corpse, Rifana slowly approached the other knight.

"Do you want to die, too?" She asked, bringing up her dagger.

"Hii!" He let out a terrified squeal. "I-I don't know! We just sold what we had to a traveling slave peddler! I don't know where he was going! We didn't even get his name! Just some skinny man!"

That was barely anything to go off of.

Rifana tilted her head to the side. "Is that so?" Then, just like the first knight, she went for the throat. This one was stabbed clean through, though the outpouring of blood was similar.

He struggled for a few moments before he went still as well, granting us XP.

I had to say, that was a little terrifying. Rifana was mad and justifiably so. I wasn't going to complain, though. We couldn't let them live. I thought about telling her to kill them, but I didn't think I could bring myself to order it. Now, I didn't need to.

"Rifana?" The moment I spoke her name, she spun around and dropped her dagger.

"O-Oh! Mister Naofumi!" It was like she forgot I was here. Again, I couldn't blame her. She just killed two people for the first time.

"Are you okay?" I generally knew the answer, but thought I should ask anyway.

She took in a breath before responding. "Yes, Mister Naofumi. I'm sorry they said those things about you."

What? "About me?" I asked. "What about what they said about you?"

Rifana just shook her head. "I already knew what they thought about me when they attacked my village. I was ready for being hated. But I wasn't going to let them badmouth the man who saved my life."

Wow. What was this feeling? Was this what it felt like to be viewed as a god? No. She was viewing me as a hero. I think I liked that.

That got me thinking. I was the Overlord now, yes, but I was still a hero, despite what the people here thought. Except, not all the people saw me badly. Demi-humans would still see me as a hero. That was especially true for the ones who were slaves in this country, if I freed them.

Yeah, that seemed like a good goal. That would line up pretty nicely. Who would have the most slaves? The most powerful people here, at least politically. Once we got stronger, and I could command more minions at once, we could go around to every noble and free their slaves. I would be the hero I should have been from the start.

Sy$-em E^^oR!

PR!de S3ri3s unl^^ked

Something flashed in my status for a second, but I couldn't see what it was. Oh well. It didn't matter. For the first time since I became the Overlord, I felt a real sense of direction. I now had a real goal to work toward.

And if we were going to house a bunch of freed slaves, we'd need somewhere else to set up.

Author's Notes:

I wonder what that was all about. Who can say~? It smells like AU bullshit from here, though.