Chapter 5 – New Perspective

"Hm."

Yesterday was pretty exciting, all things considered. I didn't mean that in a happy way, more about how many things happened. Even when things settled down for the night, there were still new things.

First was when Rifana became my slave. Like the minions, I could see her stats as easily as my own. She was level 1, just like me. The interesting thing, however, was when I thought to absorb the rest of the ink Gnarl used to paint the seal on her. I couldn't actually see what it was, since my level wasn't high enough, but it was there.

Second was when I went to prepare a meal for us. I hadn't eaten for a while, and neither had Rifana. The minions beat up the meat those slavers were cooking while my back was turned. Idiots. When I skinned one of the usapil monsters a minion had stashed in a sack, my weapon let me absorb the fur. Since that gave me another weapon, I experimented a little while the meat cooked. Some hair and blood from Rifana got two more weapons.

Finding her was really good. If I broke down monsters, I'd get even more weapon forms. I was learning a few tricks with this damn shield.

I also absorbed some of the junk the minions had collected. There were a few weapons that could have been unlocked, but, again, it seemed like my level was too low.

Anyway, that brought us to today…or the afternoon. I wasn't sure what time it was, but I woke up with Rifana clinging to my side.

It was strange. Yesterday, I didn't want her anywhere near this close to me. Now, well…maybe I just needed a good night's sleep.

"Hey, Rifana." I shook her, trying to free myself.

"Mwha…?" She let out a groggy noise as she looked up at me. Her eyes widened. "Ah! Mister Shield Hero!"

"Morning." I greeted her, ignoring her panic. "Get ready. We have a lot to do today."

She seemed like a nice kid. A little too enthusiastic to help me. I didn't really like the near-worship she showed, but Gnarl assured me that being viewed as a god would only benefit me as an Overlord.

We ate some of the leftover meat and got ourselves armored. As much as I didn't want to, I put on the chainmail one of those slavers had. It reminded me of Motoyasu and Myne, but I couldn't be picky.

After a walk through the caves, we came out to the fields once more. It looked to be about noon.

"Where to, Nah-foo-mee?" Havoc asked.

"Eugh. You can call me 'Master'." I told him. These things said my name really weirdly. "And wherever the monsters are."

Today, we would be gaining levels. With the exception of the Small Shield and the Novice Overlord's Gauntlet, I couldn't use anything from my weapon tree, let alone unlock their abilities. I'd worry about copying weapons in town later.

Me, Rifana, and five minions. Based on how well they did last night, today wasn't going to be a problem.

And it wasn't.

We spent hours going through the fields and nearby forest. When we encountered a monster, I would block the first strike if necessary. The minions would beat on the monster with their clubs, or a mace in Havoc's case. When it was bruised and bloodied, or something like a balloon that's already weak enough to hold, Rifana would finish it off with a dagger we got off one of the slavers.

I thought she might be scared to do something like that. Not only was she killing something, but she didn't have any armor. Minion armor was crude and not properly sized.

Instead, she was enthusiastic to help me. After a dozen monsters, she fell into a rhythm, not needing me to tell her when to attack. When she stabbed an usapil in the chest and the blood sprayed on her face, she just smiled happily. When the minions cheered after a kill, she started cheering with them.

I couldn't help but wonder if this was a result of demi-human zealotry, the minions influencing her, or if she was always a scary kid.

In any case, we made great progress. By the time the sun was starting to set, I was level 9 and Rifana was level 11. Getting the kill gave out more XP. It felt a bit like we were cheating, since the minions tirelessly beat up anything that moved. Them having such high defense just added to it.

I also got a lot of life essence, racking up a lot of minions to create. Thankfully, I didn't need to have the Novice Overlord's Gauntlet equipped when a monster died, just to collect the essence afterward.

There were so many weapons I could start unlocking. Once I saw it, the first one was one for Rifana, and any other slaves I got.

Slave User Shield
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: slave maturation adjustment (small)

There were two more in the series that were grayed out due to my level, and possibly more further down. I could only assume the others in the series continued the trend.

I had to say, Rifana ate quite a lot. After stopping for the second time, I just cooked up a bunch of monster meat for her to snack on throughout the day. I didn't think kids would be this hungry, but we were getting in a good workout.

"What's next, Mister Naofumi?" Rifana asked after we broke down our latest batch of kills and gave them to one of the minions to carry in a sack. Rifana and I did; the minions weren't good at this sort of thing. There was probably someone in town I could sell parts to, assuming they would actually buy from me. This was a game world, after all.

"Let's keep going. We've got a good pace going."

"Yes, Mister Naofumi!" Her tail swished behind her as she pointed her dagger forward.

Cute.

"Master!" After a few minutes of walking, one of the minions grabbed me and whispered. "Voices!"

I stopped and listened. Yeah, I could hear them. They sounded like they were getting closer. We might have gotten a little too close to the main road outside the city.

"You guys, hide." I told the minions. It probably wouldn't be good if they were seen.

The minions disappeared through bushes and undergrowth, leaving Rifana and me near the edge of the forest. We got closer to the voices, and a wagon accompanied them.

"I still say we could have gotten more if we went to Rabier territory." One of them, a man, spoke.

"That's too far away. There's no way we could have taken them all the way there." The other replied.

"Just imagine how much more silver we could have gotten…"

"Quit being so greedy!"

Merchants? No, I could see them now. They wore armor, just like the knights did.

A restrained noise next to me drew my attention. "Rifana?" I looked down at the girl, who was shaking.

"Those men…" Her breathing was hard. "They were at my village after the Wave. They killed…they captured…"

As tears threatened to pour out of her, I placed my hand on her head. She didn't need to say anything else. I could already tell what she was trying to say. It wasn't even a day ago that she was being transported somewhere.

"Knights?" I asked, wanting to make sure. She nodded.

That settled things really quick. Knights were supposed to protect the people. And what did these guys do? After her village was hit by the Wave, she and her friends were sold as slaves by them.

I'll admit, part of me wasn't sure about this whole 'Overlord' thing before. Killing people, taking slaves, it just wasn't something I was entirely comfortable with. Now, seeing how knights of the kingdom acted, I knew better. I couldn't be any worse than them.

Or the princess.

I gave Rifana's head a few more pats, prompting her to look up at me. I gave her my best, most vicious smile I could.

"Let's go take care of them."

Author's Notes:

"You are bad guy, but this does not mean you are bad guy." – Someone wise from a movie.