Chapter 10 – New Enemy

Minions were not good craftsmen.

Maybe that wasn't exactly fair. Gnarl had mentioned there was a blacksmith minion before, but he was killed. Now, though…well, whatever the minions made needed to be for battle, like wooden barricades. Otherwise, it was pretty pathetic.

Bear in mind, this was after I tried giving them a little help.

Saw Shield
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: crafting 1

The shield didn't need to be unlocked for them to get the bonus. I could tell. Without that shield equipped…just, no.

Anyway, that had led us to our current problem, and our temporary solution. We didn't have enough bedding for the three newest members of our group. Given their condition, we certainly needed it.

Gnarl, being as knowledgeable as he was, mentioned that the legendary weapons had a crafting feature. It looked like I needed a recipe or schematic to have my weapon auto-craft for me. I had one for some alchemy things, but that wasn't unlocked yet, which was also required; that weapon was next. However, possibly since I had done so enough already, the shield could break down monster corpses for me. The downsides were that I couldn't just store a bunch of corpses in my shield in a queue, and it took about as much time to break down the monster if I did it myself. Still, I was able to get some poor bedding made for everyone.

Next was dinner. It wasn't anything fancy, just some filolial meat and potato stew—we got some good supplies from those carts. I didn't have to worry about making too much. Those three ate everything I put in front of them. To see all three of them crying as they ate…

I even got to work making healing salve for the kids since I had the ingredients, and suitable equipment from one of the carriages. Gnarl showed me how to craft it when I asked—I did say he was knowledgeable. He could have made it himself, but he claimed his hands weren't so good for that anymore. I equipped a shield that gave a bonus to potion crafting, and the ingredients were picked when I had a shield that increased their quality.

And thanks to the bonuses…

Healing Salve created!
Quality: fair, increased to slightly good.

I made enough for everyone.

"Here." I said as I approached the three kids near the cave entrance we were in.

Rifana was next to Raphtalia, but she was also comforting the other two. There was a blond cat boy named Milo and a sheep girl named Anise.

Huh. That reminded me, should I bother remembering the names of the other minions besides Gnarl and Havoc?

"Fluffy raccoon!"

"Pointy cat!"

"Woolly sheepy!"

…No. No, I should not.

Since she was Rifana's best friend, I started with Raphtalia. I shooed away the minions and got started.

"Um…here, let me…" Rifana adjusted the blanket over Raphtalia. We had those from the carriages as well, but no bedrolls.

Once she was done, I got next to them and applied the salve, starting with Raphtalia's back. The number of lashes was just too much. Who could do such a thing to kids?

Well, I already knew. That slave trader, Beloukas, told me. Idol Rabier. Rifana was actually on her way to him when I rescued her, and those slavers made sure she knew what she was in for.

I had one more person I needed to get rid of.

Speaking of Beloukas, we had a few deals worked out. He would start searching for anyone else from Lurolona, Rifana's village. He also wouldn't bring any more children to Idol, who liked to rent children to torture. Luckily, it didn't sound like Idol had anyone else from Lurolona there.

In exchange, I would be supplying him with medicine. He could sell it himself, or to an alchemist, or do whatever with it. Apparently, the price of medicine was on the rise due to the Waves. One of the carriages we captured actually had a crate of healing salve and medicine, but they were all poor quality or worse. We would save those for healing minor wounds and such.

Additionally, when he came by with a survivor, he would give us any rumors he picked up. It was important to stay informed about events, especially in a country that hated me. And, obviously, he would tell no one about me and what I was planning, or what he thought I might be planning.

"All done." I said, sliding back on the ground. I did my best to preserve Raphtalia's modesty, but she was covered in lashes almost all over her body.

"T-Thank you, Master." She responded, looking down. She and the others were added as slaves to me, allowing me to see their status, among other things.

"Raphtalia, you can call him by his name." Rifana said soothingly. "He's the Shield Hero, remember?"

Raphtalia nodded, and meekly looked up. "M-Mister Naofumi. Thank you."

"You're welcome." I did my best to give her a friendly smile. She didn't react much, so at least it wasn't scary.

I repeated the process with Milo and Anise, receiving thanks from them as well.

"You all should get some sleep." I told them, gathering up the equipment to work somewhere else.

Rifana came to my side.

"You should stay with your friends tonight." I told her.

"I will." She responded, but she continued to help me clean up.

We moved out of the entrance of this cave and headed toward another. The glowing fungus from the first minion hideout lit up the area enough, even with the cloudy night.

"Something else you wanted to say?" I asked as we got to the other cave.

Rifana fidgeted after putting down what she was carrying. The only restriction on her slave seal now was that she couldn't lie to me. I had to keep one active, and this was the only one she might try to break. Her devotion to the Shield Hero might cause her to lie about something affecting her, hence the restriction.

"Are you going to have the others fight for you?" She asked.

I had been thinking about this for a bit. It was the same when Rifana first joined me, but not quite as strong. I was more used to the idea, even though those three kids had likely gone through hell. No, especially because they went through hell.

"Yes." I told her plainly. "They need to learn how to protect themselves, and grow stronger."

Just like how Rifana couldn't lie, I continued to refuse to.

"Can…" She wanted to argue, I could tell, but she stopped herself. She knew I was right, even if the whole thing seemed wrong.

"We have the minions to help us." I reminded her. "You learned how to fight a little from them—plus what that old man, Erhart, showed you—and your friends can learn, too."

She looked to the ground. "Yes, Mister Naofumi."

I couldn't stand the look on her face. I placed my hand on her head, giving her ears a quick rub. "I won't make them do more than they're capable of. After we get them a few levels, if they want to do something other than fighting, they can do that."

I'd prefer more fighters, but things were already a bit cramped. We had no crystal balls or spell tomes to learn magic, and no bows or crossbows for range, not that we'd be able to use those. I didn't know how to use a bow or crossbow, and the minions…well, yeah. If we happened to get spell tomes, Gnarl could help with teaching. He was already teaching me to read a little, since that would be required. While I could get a spell from a crystal ball, reading it from a book was better in the long run.

"Okay." She said, taking my hand and pressing it to her cheek. She kept doing that. Maybe I should do that from the start…once she grew a little more.

"Go on. Stay with your friends tonight." I told her.

"Yes, Mister Naofumi!" She replied happily, quickly heading back over.

With the peace and quiet, I got to work making medicine. Having a batch ready for whenever Beloukas returned would give me more leeway for other activities.

While I worked, I thought about Idol Rabier some more. I knew why it bothered me, but I was surprised he kept popping up in my head. Maybe it was because he was a noble, a war veteran, and he was rewarded for being a monster. That wasn't exactly accurate, but the point remained.

How could he get away doing something like that to children? It was infuriating, really. Not only that, but he got to live in luxury while doing so. Plus, he was hurting the friends of someone I cared about. None of this was forgivable.

A few blips appeared in my status for a moment, barely noticeable. That had been happening recently, sometimes. Maybe I should ask Gnarl about it later.

Author's Notes:

You smell that? A bull is thinking about taking a shit somewhere around here.