The Shield Heroin of Shinzo

ESKK: A new chapter lets get this update started folks.

(Start Yakumo's room early morning)

Yakumo was tossing and turning in her bed her dreams haunted by the suffering she endured as the last human. The forced marriage attempt to Ryuma, the trick that the insect King Daku played on her with a fake human girl, and even Ruspehines cruelty to even her fellow Enterans. But it didn't stop there, she saw the Dark King as her world burned around him. She saw humans suffering and dying to the dark kings cruelty.

It got worse as Yakumo saw her loved ones dying one by one to the Dark King. He then turned his attention towards Yakumo entering his Satan form. "You failed them all, human!" The Dark King announced and thus Yakumo cried out when the Dark King came after her.

"NO!" Yakumo cried out as she tried to shield herself from the Dark Kings attack. Yakumo was saved however when she was startled out of her sleep with the loud banging on her inn room door. Before her mind had caught up, her hand was already grabbing the edge of her shield ready to draw her sword on instinct.

Looking at it for a moment, her brain still catching up, there was more banging on her door. This time accompanied by shouting from a deep male voice, "Shield Hero! Open this door right now before we break it down!"

Yakumo was very confused about what was going on. Looking down at her night gown, she thought about making whoever it was banging on her door waiting so she could change. But if they were being serious about breaking the door down, she'd rather be in her night gown than nothing at all, and she rather do this peacefully first.

Changing her shield from what she hoped was an unlocked Companion Shield I, she changed it to the Orange Small Shield to work on unlocking it as she walked towards the door. Standing behind the door, she cracked it open to see who was there.

Standing there with his fist raised as if to bang on her door again, was a mustached knight with several other angry looking knights standing behind him.

"Can I help you, Sir Knight?" Yakumo asked as she was wondering what the emergency was that had her waking up this early. Yakumo noted that his face scrunched up in anger before him and a couple of his underlings shoved her door open, pushing her back. The last daughter of earth was about to protest when all of a sudden, her arms were grabbed and jerked behind her back, shackles slapped on to her wrists. Yakumo froze for a moment as recalled a similar incident with the Enterans before she was summoned.

"You're under arrest Shield Hero!" The Large man said as he glared down at Yakumo. "You're to be brought before His Majesty immediately to stand for your crimes!" The man that was obviously the one in charge added as this caused Yakumo's eyes to widen in shock.

Her mind began to race as memories began to surface once more. Waking up into a cruel and dangerous world. Being hunted by Enterans for being the last human on Entera. Being called monster, devil, witch, and several other horrid names for her.

Yakumo tried not to panic as she suspected there must have been a mistake. These people were humans, sure they weren't perfect, but this can be sorted out soon. Soon enough she was being shoved out into the hallway and out of the building. She thought about resisting, but the several men holding spears to her back and the few more around her with their hands on their swords convinced her otherwise. Without her armor equipped she didn't think it wise to test her, admittedly still ridiculous, defense stat against their weapons.

Where was Hakuba when she needed him? Yakumo had to try her hardest not to start hyperventilating, It would do her nod good if she started to have a panic attack now. But what was going on? Why were these men treating her like this? What crime was she even being accused of?

(Later Castle Melromarc Throne Room)

Yakumo was shoved into the massive double doors into the throne room, landing kneeling on the ground. Quickly she was surrounded by several more knights, each holding a spear to her before she could stand. Looking up, she saw her three fellow heroes standing up on the rise near the King, but their faces were red, and they were looking away from her.

She felt her own face flush red, mostly from embarrassment, but partially from anger as well. Not only had she just been paraded through the early morning crowd on the main road to the castle in just her nightgown. Because of the angle she was forced to kneel in relation to where the others were standing, her fellow heroes got a nice glimpse down her gown when she was tossed down.

However, before Yakumo could try to gather herself, the King stood from his throne. "What is the meaning of this?!" Aultcray bellowed loudly with a glare. "I told you to bring the Shield Hero here for questioning! Why is she not dressed?!" He demanded clearly upset by Yakumo's state of dress.

The captain, she supposed, went from smiling smugly to looking confused. Yakumo was just overall confused as it had been just one shock after another in many uncomfortable ways for the last 15 minutes.

"Your Majesty?" the knight responded as he found his question off. "We bought her here as you instructed. You didn't say to make sure she was presentable." The Knight Captain said as Yakumo was trying to figure everything out. "I felt you would want to question her quickly about why she assaulted your daughter." He said and in turn King Aultcray looked ready to murder the knight for a moment, before taking a deep breath and glaring down at the knight.

During all of this Yakumo just grew even more confused. 'Assault his daughter? Who is his daughter?' Yakumo wondered as she was confused. 'Why would they think I assaulted her? I've only been fighting monsters!' Yakumo thought as she hadn't seen anyone who might have been the kings daughter.

"So, you decided that the best thing to do was to march a young girl through the village as everyone was leaving their homes for the day, in her bed clothes?" Aultcray angerly said as he did not approve of such a move especially seeing as Melromarc was a Matriarchy.

The knight looked even more confused before looking over to Yakumo and widening his eyes for moment. Seemingly just now realizing her state of dress and now regretting what he did. Turning back to the King, he tried to stammer a response, but he was cut off quickly, however.

"Even with your beliefs, Captain, how do you think the general populace is going to look at the knights?" Aultcray asked as Yakumo noticed several of the people holding her at spear point were beginning to look uncomfortable. "How do you think they're going to look at me and the Queen? Even if I am angry that Malty was assaulted last night, I cannot simply allow this treatment of the Shield Hero!" He as Yakumo wasn't even sure what was going on for the girl to be brought in like this.

"Wait back up, Yakumo did what?!" Motoyasu asked when he heard this as even Itsuko and Ren were surprised by this.

'They weren't told?' Yakumo asked when she saw the look of confusion on their faces.

"No offense, but she doesn't seem the type." Ren admitted as there was no way someone as kind and sweet as Yakumo would go and attack someone for no reason.

Yakumo finally managed to cut in and say something as the King looked towards Ren confused. "Who are you talking about your majesty? I do not know a Princess Malty." Yakumo said as the only people in this world she did know were in the throne room barring Erhard of course.

"This is ridiculous." Ren replied, crossing his arms with a huff. "I don't believe Yakumo could or would do something like that at least not without a good reason." Ren said as he saw Yakumo and her kindness to them.

"Yeah, she's too sweet for something like that." Motoyasu added nodding in agreement with Ren.

Itsuki was silent through all of this as he was at a crossroad. Yakumo was one of the first people who showed concern for him in his life. But on the other hand, his desire to see justice wanted to believe that Yakumo must have done something to warrant this. The only thing he can do was keep quiet, wait, and watch to gather any information from this trial.

It didn't take much longer for Yakumo to find Myne who was hiding behind Motoyasu. When Yakumo saw Myne the girl quickly hid to avoid Yakumo's gaze. This confused and also worried Yakumo because her mind was putting the pieces together to form an image that made Yakumo deeply worried.

"Enough." Aultcray snapped before looking over to Myne. "Malty my dear please tell us again what happened." Aultcray said in a calm tone as he wanted to get the facts. All the while Aultcray was trying to avoid making eye contact with Yakumo so he would not see his dearly departed sister in her place.

"It was horrible." Myne or Malty in this case cried out. "She just came out of nowhere and started attacking me." Malty cried as Yakumo sat there in shock. "She had this horrifying ability to move things with her mind." Malty said revealing Yakumo's telekinesis to all those gathered here. "I couldn't move as she contorted and attacked my body without lifting a finger." Malty said as she claimed to have been attacked by Yakumo. "With just her terrible mind she choked me until I passed out when I came to, I was in the gutter and came straight for Sir-Motoyasu." Malty cried out as Yakumo was wide eyed at the accusations leveled against her.

'She's an Esper?' Itsuko wondered when he heard what Yakumo allegedly did since Telekinesis was a common ability back home.

"No way, Yakumo?" Ren asked as he looked over to Yakumo thinking of the snacks and well wishes she handed out. "She wouldn't a fly if it can be helped." Ren said refusing to believe that someone so pure would do something like that.

"There has to be some explanation to this." Motoyasu added as Aultcray heard the heroes out.

"Please I didn't attack her I swear!" Yakumo yelled out as the panic in her eyes caught Aultcray's attention and in her place Aultcray saw his sister with the same look of terror Yakumo had.

"LIAR!" Malty yelled out as she pointed accusingly at Yakumo.

"Unless you can provide proof of your innocence, Lady Shield I'll have no choice but to." Aultcray began before the large doors were opened. From the doors Hakuba hovered in much to the groups shock.

"Hakuba!" Yakumo cried out when she saw Hakuba was ok.

"My apologies I was… held back." Hakuba said as he hovered into the room. "From my understanding Yakumo is being accused of attacking the Princess." Hakuba said as Aultcray nodded.

"Yes." Aultcray said to the metallic creature standing before him.

"Then allow me to provide evidence." Hakuba said before his eyes flashed to life and then displayed a holographic projection. "Yakumo and Malty entered the inn that night to for a meal and a bed to rest on." Hakuba said as he showed the images. "During this they spoke to each other and at the end Yakumo went to sleep as Motoyasu and Itsuki can confirm." Yakumo said as Itsuko knew this. "I observed from outside where Yakumo went to sleep that night." Hakuba said and thus displayed the image of Yakumo in bed that evening.

"See told you Yakumo-chan was innocent." Motoyasu said with a smile on his face.

"There is more." Hakuba said and thus the projection continued. Inside they saw Malty enter the room and began scrounging the area searching for something. As Malty kept looking she was keeping quiet but grew upset when it was clear she couldn't find it.

"Where did that brat hide her coins and armor?" Malty snarled as she looked for the items in question. "Where did she hide those gems?" She added and thus all eyes were on Malty now.

"No this is a trick its witchcraft!" Malty defended but Aultcray cut in on his daughter.

"ENOUGH!" Aultcray snarled before he sighed to this new development. Yakumo sat there with a look of betrayal as her kindness was once again taken advantage of by others. It was worse because for Yakumo she was used to Enterans doing it but this time the culprit was another human. Aultcray saw the look in Yakumo's eyes and cursed himself for going soft for her. "In light of these developments I hereby decree that the Shield Hero is innocent of all charges." Aultcray said as Motoyasu, and Ren were smiling to this with Itsuki giving a small smile.

Aultcray then directed his attention to Malty who was unconvinced. "I don't know why you felt the need to try to frame Madam Yakumo, my daughter. I shall let it pass this time, but I decree now that the next time any of the four heroes are accused of a crime the accuser will be branded with a temporary slave crest and questioned under its influence." Aultcray said as Malty was wide eyed at her plans crash and burn.

Aultcray then turned his attention towards Yakumo knowing that what she endured today had no doubt caused her undue stress. Hakuba noted that he took another moment to say anything to her. "I apologize for the shame you have experienced today, Madam Yakumo." Aultcray apologized to the young girl. "I will give you an additional two hundred silver as recompense for my daughter falsely accusing you. To the other heroes, I apologize for the time wasted this morning." Aultcray added as he could not stand to be looking at his sisters face like this.

Having heard the king's verdict, Ren approached Yakumo, looking away from her while his hand hovered over the jewel of his sword. As he neared her, he pulled out a black cloak and laid it over her shoulders, covering her up. "Next time you want to waste my time, your Highness, please don't." He said facing the king before turning his attention to Yakumo. "I'm sorry about this Yakumo. Please get past this setback and get strong for the Waves." Ren said as he got ready to leave. "Once you're ready, remember to head north if you don't want to risk running into any of us." Ren said and thus he began to leave the castle.

"Thank goodness your ok, Yakumo-chan!" Motoyasu cried out happy that Yakumo was proven innocent.

"Pardon me Motoyasu." Hakuba said as he eased between the two. "Yakumo had just been through a stressful situation and will not be available for conversation." Hakuba said as Motoyasu recalled that Yakumo's old world was like.

"Oh, uh right sorry." Motoyasu said and thus Hakuba's pod opened and thus allowed Yakumo to come aboard. Yakumo was almost in auto pilot right now as she got into Hakuba's seat before the machine hovered on away.

(Scene Break later in town)

Hakuba floated down the street as Yakumo kept the cloak closed tightly around her body. She thought things would be different here that the struggles she endured and all that she loss would finally rest. Why? Why did she have to feel the pain of loss and betrayal even now?

Hakuba kept a close eye on his surroundings and on Yakumo. Yakumo had just been through a near traumatic event and needed time to recenter. Still, it was fortunate that Yakumo had stored her belongings, otherwise Malty would have no doubt made off with what remained of his charges funds.

"Hey Shield Lass!" A familiar voice called out with the undertones of anger and thus both Yakumo and Hakuba looked to the source of it. Looking to the source the pair saw that it was none other than Erhard that was calling out to Yakumo.

"What's this I heard about you attacking your party member last night?" He asked firmly, as Yakumo was reminded of a stern look, she used to receive from her father. Yakumo at times found herself barely remembering what he looked like during the final days of humanity on her Earth.

"I didn't attack her I swear." Yakumo defended as she had no reason to be cruel towards Malty. "The Knights woke me up banging on my door and when they came in, they dragged me through the streets and…" Yakumo trailed off as she didn't want to think about it. Seeing her tense up Erhard knew that the girl had some issues she was hiding away.

'I guess her smiles hides some pain.' Erhard thought and thus he knew he had to help her.

"Hey easy las I'm not upset with you I just wanted to get the facts straight." Erhard said assuring Yakumo that everything would be ok now.

Yakumo looked at her hand and noted how much it was shaking. She didn't even realize her body was shaking this much. All she felt was the slowly rising tide of anger, frustration, and embarrassment that had threatened to swallow her. Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes which she tried to keep in. For the first time since she awoke on Entera Yakumo was reminded of the four-year-old girl who had her childhood stripped away from her. Yakumo had been placed into hyper sleep for centuries and should have awoken as a 70-year-old woman. Instead, she awoke as a 17-year-old girl who had the mind of a 4-year-old.

A four-year-old child who thought her journey to Shinzo would be a magical adventure like in the story books. But instead, she found herself fearful for her life at every turn. She'd have already died if not for Musha, Sago, and Kutal. Now here she was again dealing with something new that she didn't know how to deal with and frustrated and scared about it.

She watched his eyes look over her, stopping for a moment at her dirty bare feet. Finally, he relaxed and let out a sigh. "I believe you lass." He finally said as he knew the look in Yakumo's eyes. "Come on. I can let you clean up and change at my shop." Erhard said as Hakuba nodded.

"I would like to be close by… just in case." Hakuba said as the tone he used suggested that Yakumo may have other issues this trial may have triggered.

"Alright I have shed you can stay in." Erhard said and in turn Hakuba nodded to the blacksmith.

"Thank you." Hakuba said and in turn they headed over to Erhards shop to rest.

(Later over in Erhards shop)

When they entered the shop Yakumo had been in yesterday, she took a moment to look around noting it hadn't changed much since yesterday. Yakumo felt the emotional high she had beginning to drain as Hakuba waited outside for her. As the emotions drained from her Yakumo felt the numbness that she had become familiar with after leaving the kittens.

"There's a wash basin upstairs, second door on the right." Erhard said giving Yakumo directions to where she can get herself cleaned up. "Not quite as good as a bath, but it'll do for now." He admitted before smiling a bit. "I don't think you want to bathe in my dirty smithing water." Erhard said as he gave a bark of laughter at seeing the shudder from the girl before shooing her upstairs.

But once she was gone Erhard's stare turned into a serious one of concern. He then headed to the window at the front of the shop and opened it so he can speak to Hakuba. "Alright metal dragon egg thing." Erhard began as he got down to it. "What's the issue with the Shield Lass and be honest with me." Erhard said making it clear he wanted to help her get better.

"Back in our world she's the last living human on the planet. Our equivalent to Demi Humans, the Enterans, wiped out all human life save for her." Hakuba said as he knew that Erhard wanted to help Yakumo. "There were only six Enterans she could trust without fear, but every Enteran we met either wanted to kill her or worse and it was always deceptions and betrayal from them." Hakuba said and in turn Erhard was left in shock here.

"Shit." Erhard voiced shocked at what he heard. The fact she met an actual human only to be betrayed by her must have triggered Yakumo.

"After three of the Enterans protecting her had expired Yakumo was forced to part with the other three who were too young to be around her." Hakuba continued giving Erhard the truth. "Isolation was her only option for self-preservation but in doing so depression and suicidal actions were noted and several times I had to neutralize or restrain her from her attempts." Hakuba said as he hated doing that to Yakumo, but she left him no choice at the time.

"Your worried this may cause her to rebound back to those less then ideal actions." Erhard said getting the gist of it.

"Yes, I plan to watch her like a hawk, but she might start to get crafty." Hakuba said as Erhard was thankful there were no sharp implements around the water basin. Though that did not mean that Yakumo would not try to improvise.

"I'll keep watch." Erhard said not wanting Yakumo to do something drastic if left alone.

"That would be most wise." Hakuba said as he did not wish for Yakumo to take her own life.

(Later)

After Yakumo had bathed, she returned downstairs and with no blood stains or signs of harm the two could breath easy. Still the danger was still there, and Erhard hated seeing that saddened look on Yakumo's face after her ordeal. Yakumo was currently clad back in the armor she had bought yesterday.

So, walking back to the storefront Yakumo saw Erhard manning the counter and approached him. "Ah! Shield lass, finally done I see." Erhard greeted the girl as he was happy to see that Yakumo was doing ok. "And would you look at that! Somehow got that armor back on!" He added happy to see that Yakumo would not have to walk around in her nightwear. "I was afraid that it might've been stolen if it was left at the inn." He said to her, looking to be in a much better mood.

"Thanks to Hakuba I learned that I could store almost anything inside my shield." Yakumo said happy for Hakuba's assistance there. "I suppose I should be grateful for that, seeing how Myne… I mean Malty tried to steal my belongings." Yakumo said feeling upset that the Princess tricked her like this.

With a sigh, the blacksmith crossed his massive arm across his massive chest. "That's a neat trick lass." Erhard said giving praise for small miracles. "Many times, I wish I had a similar power back during my adventuring days." Erhard added noting how useful such an ability would have been.

"Mister Erhard, would you mind answering a few questions I have?"

"Sure, I guess that shouldn't be a problem." Erhard said before kicking back against the wall. The blacksmith then focused on the young girl ready to answer her questions. "What you got?" He asked wondering what Yakumo needed to ask.

"First, is there any particular reason for this dislike for me that I've been seeing?" Yakumo asked as she found this concerning. "I heard and saw a few strange things yesterday after leaving your store, and then this morning the king called the knight captain out." Yakumo said as she felt she needed to know this.

Erhard scowled in response to that question before he rubbed his bald head. "I guess that's understandable." Erhard said figuring Yakumo would notice this. "Are you aware that a little over two decades ago Melromarc was at war with Siltvelt?" He asked which Yakumo nodded in response.

"It was bought up at the feast the night us heroes were summoned." Yakumo said confirming she knew a little bit about the mentioned war.

"Well, that makes it a bit easier." Erhard said before he began the explanation. "You see, demi humans in general, but Siltvelt especially, worship the Shield Hero as their personal god." Erhard revealed which caused Yakumo's eyes widened in shock.

'An entire country believes that I am there god?' Yakumo mentally gasped as the concept was mind boggling to her.

Noting the look that Yakumo had Erhard nodded at her look. "Yeah, well because of that belief, the Four Heroes Church that was the main religion at the time was converted into the Three Heroes Church and the Shield Hero cast as the Shield Devil." Erhard explained and in turn Yakumo was now worried about her own wellbeing.

"While most people don't put too much faith into that stance, there are some fanatical worshippers." Erhard explained so he can give Yakumo ample warning of what to expect. "Especially among veterans of that war, and their descendants." He said which meant that Yakumo had to start watching her back going forward.

Yakumo was in shock to it all, in these lands she was seen as both God and Devil. She didn't know how to take it; it was like a parody of some of her favorite books back from before the fall. Taking a deep breath to try and center herself after yet another bombshell being dropped on her, not wanting to have a panic attack here.

"The second thing I want to ask concerns something the king mention at the end of the trial." Yakumo said when she finally continued. "He mentioned that any future accusations against a hero would have to backed by a slave seal. What exactly is that?" Yakumo asked with a frown towards the blacksmith, expecting a certain answer but hoping she was wrong. Yakumo knew what a slave was even as a child, she just hopes she was wrong about it.

Erhard gave a heavy sigh, making a disgusted face at her question. "The answer to that goes back to the conflict between Melromarc and Siltvelt. The two countries have been at arms pretty much since they were founded several iterations of Heroes ago by said heroes." Erhard said giving Yakumo the run down of the story. "Soon after their founding's Melromarc developed a stance of human supremacy, while Siltvelt established demi human supremacy." He went on which made Yakumo worried for both kingdoms.

"This belief in the separate supremacies led to each side taking slaves from the other." He went off as Yakumo found the answer, she suspected but didn't make it any easier to swallow. "To enforce the slavery with various methods to different severities, they applied a curse to the slave, a curse that has existed within magic circles for supposedly millennia, so no one knows the exact origins on it." He said which made Yakumo worried as this meant that any way of breaking it might be lost to the sands of time.

"Even to this day, slavery is technically legal within each country, and even most others practice it in some form or another." Erhard said while Yakumo paid attention and Hakuba took notes in his processor. "In Melromarc, they are supposed to be a source of easy physical labor, at least on paper." Erhard said but from the tone he used it was clear he didn't support it. "It's something of an open secret that various tiers of royalty own, abuse and kill slaves for their own amusement." Erhard said which made Yakumo gasp at this.

"That's horrible!" Yakumo cried out as she didn't think humans can be so cruel like that. Perhaps it was that same human cruelty that had been the reason for the Enteran uprising.

Erhard took a moment for Yakumo to calm down before he continued. "However, the king's declaration is a bit more of an accepted practice by the common population." Erhard said making sure that Yakumo understood the world she was in. "On imprinting a person with the slave seal, various restrictions can be placed on the slave and one such restriction is that they aren't allowed to lie." He said as Yakumo found this use to be both cruel and useful at the same time. "If they try to counter these restriction's and lie anyway, they'll experience pain in relation to the severity of the lie." He said which Yakumo saw there was an issue with this.

"But it's not perfect is it." Yakumo said more then asked to which Erhard nodded.

"That's right Shield Lass." Erhard said seeing Yakumo was a smart girl. "It's not an infallible practice, it still requires the one asking questions to be able to recognize lies of omission, or that what the person might think is the truth is not the actual truth, just how they perceive it." Erhard said as he continued his explanation. "Most people still don't like the idea of being someone's slave, even if just for the duration of a trial." HE said which meant that such a tool while useful had severe drawbacks for it.

Yakumo nodded in understanding to the blacksmith. It made a lot of sense, even if it still left a bad taste in her mouth at the idea. "I guess my last question is if you know somewhere I can pay for a companion?" Yakumo asked as she needed party members or companions to fight with her in the Waves. "Maybe even a monster I can train to fight for me." Yakumo said as she knew her telekinesis needed more practice.

Erhard scratched at his beard in thought. "Well for a companion, you could always try the Adventurer's Guild near the castle." Erhard offered knowing that it was Yakumo's best bet despite being the Shield Heroine. "As for a monster." Erhard trailed off as he closed his eyes thinking, before snapping his fingers as he remembered something that can help Yakumo. "There is a monster tamer that I remember hearing about." Erhard said but his tone then changed. "From what I know, he's a bit…on the sketchy side but the quality of his supplies are of good quality with a fair price." Erhard said as Yakumo knew this sketchy salesmen might be her best hope.

"Can you give me directions to his shop?" Yakumo asked wanting to get this over with.

"I'll do you one better and draw you a map draw you a map." Erhard said before the digging around behind his counter. It didn't take long before he eventually pulled out a roll of parchment and a quill with an inkbottle. He quickly began to sketch out a very rough map, pausing every now and then as if thinking. After a few minutes he turned it around to show Yakumo.

"So, this might be off a bit, but if you go out the store and turn left you should be able to follow the map." Erhard said as he gave Yakumo instructions. "The notches coming off of the lines are other roads to make it easy for you to count." He added as Yakumo paid close attention. "Around the area the map ends you should hopefully see or find a circus tent." Erhard detailed to the last daughter of humanity. "From what I've heard he's one of the best [Monster Traders] in castle town." He said which Yakumo took the map.

"Thank you, Mr. Erhard." Yakumo said grateful for his help.

"No problem, Shield Lass." Erhard said happy to help Yakumo out. "I also went ahead and marked the location of the Guild if you want to stop by there as well." "Erhard added as he pointed to where the guild was located which Yakumo saw .

"Hakuba should be able to use this to get me there." Yakumo said as she trusted Hakuba to take her where she needed to go. "I may come by with my new companion later today to get them outfitted properly if required." Yakumo said knowing that she can trust Erhard at the very least. "Otherwise, I will try to stop by before the next Wave to make sure we have gear ready." She said which had Erhard gave a loud laugh.

"Sounds good Shield Lass!" HE said more then happy to do business with Yakumo. "I look forward to your continued patronage." He said patting Yakumo on the head causing her to yelp a bit. "Good luck on your journey!" He said and in turn Yakumo nodded.

Yakumo then bade goodbye to the blacksmith before finally leaving his store. She was glad that she could finally walk the town in her own clothes and not draw more attention than any other well-dressed adventurer. It was even better seeing as adventurers were thankfully common enough here.

Yakumo then jumped into Hakuba and got ready to depart. "Alright, Hakuba can you scan this map and take in directions I give?" Yakumo asked and thus Hakuba nodded.

"Of course." Hakuba said and thus Yakumo smiled and began to repeat the directions Erhard gave her while Hakuba scanned the map Yakumo brought him.

(Later with the Shield party)

After going down the directions Erhard had given them Yakumo and Hakuba had soon entered a section of town that looked less well off. Not quite what she would call slums, but less flashy and showy as the main streets she had been on. Not trusting the people that she noticed lurking around, she drew her cloak tighter around her, and pulled the hood up to cover her hair and shield her face in shadow. At the same time Hakuba pulled the glass covering over Yakumo to better protect her from any oncoming threats here.

Continuing on the way, her eyes darting around, keeping an eye out for threats she saw what she would describe as a circus tent a ways off. It looked slightly off from her map, but she had been warned that it might.

Cautiously she approached, the area around her finally starting to look more like the slums of a medieval town. She was soon in front of the tent as she stepped out of Hakuba looking up at the circus tent with a hint of fear and trepidation before her.

Yakumo entered the tent leaving Hakuba outside as she kept her guard up. "Ooh, a customer? Welcome madam, to my Monster Tent!" Came a short, fat man crowed from the back of his tent. He was short for a man his age, as Yakumo noted to herself that he may even be a bit shorter than Mushra prior to entering his Hyper Form. He wore a strange top hat and a feather lined cape over tuxedo style coattails. His face was chubby with his obesity and a strange mustache. Overall, the impression Yakumo got was something along the lines of slimy penguin. Watching the man almost waddle over towards her did not help her impression.

"What can I help you with today ma'am?" The man asked with a small bow tipping off his top hat to reveal his bald head to the shield heroine. Yakumo knew her funds would not be able to hire an Adventurer and she still needed to be able to purchase supplies for this quest.

"Yes, I'm looking for something that can help my on my journey a companion or even a monster that can be trained to fight." Yakumo said as she looked to the slimy man before her.

"Well then you've certainly come to the right place ma'am." The man said as he smiled at the Shield Heroine. "I have plenty of monsters and mounts to choose from all of them in different stages of their development." The man said as Yakumo raised a brow to this as a knot formed in her stomach.

"Pardon me but why such a variety of stages?" Yakumo asked with a neutral tone or as close as she can get. "I feel one fully grown would be more suitable." Yakumo said but then merchant chuckled to this.

"Your clearly new to this business." The man said but his grin never left. "That's alright everyone has to start somewhere." He said before getting down to it. "The reason for the variety is quiet simple, the younger a monster the more likely it's to listen to you." He said which got Yakumo's attention. "For example, you can get a monster from the moment it hatches, and it will imprint on you and depending on how you treat it, then it will remain your loyal servant for life." The man said with a grin on his face that made Yakumo want to leave and never come back.

"I see." Yakumo said taking a moment to regain herself. "W-what would you recommend?" Yakumo asked trying to keep her calm.

"Well for your request, would I be able to interest you in a griffon?" The man said as he smirked at her. "They're extremely well known to turn into powerful monsters, and one full grown can easily carry three or four people." He explained as Yakumo glanced at the man before continuing on with her circuit of the tent interior.

Yakumo only had two hundred Silver on her person, and she needed to conserve it for the necessities. "How much would that cost me?" Yakumo asked and thus the man told her.

The penguin like man held up his hand with all his fingers spread. "One griffon egg would cost you 5 Gold Coins!" The man revealed which made Yakumo go wide eyed in shock

"I'm sorry but that is well beyond my price range." Yakumo said as she looked to the man. "What cheaper alternatives do you have?" She asked and thus the man smirked a bit.

"I had a feeling you might say that." The man said before gesturing to another area of the tent with his cane. "Thankfully, I do have several other products more in your price range." He said and thus Yakumo felt that knot in her stomach return. "Right this way." He said and thus the last daughter of humanity followed the man but kept her defenses up.

"You're a slave trader... aren't you." Yakumo said as she looked to the man.

"Indeed, I am, Shield Heroine." The man said as he smiled to Yakumo who was shocked. "Yes, I know who you are, I am Beloukas finest trader in all of Melromarc if I do say so myself." He said to the Shield Heroine. " I have more Demihumans than anything else, but this makes things easier." He said as Yakumo then stopped and got on the defensive.

"And why would I want a slave?!" Yakumo nearly snapped her morals taking control.

"Trust, of course," Beloukas replied which hit Yakumo where it hurt, her own issues. "Right now, you have no one to trust here aside from one man." He said referring to Erhard. "But with a Slave, they cannot lie nor disobey their master." Beloukas said which got Yakumo worried.

"But that's too cruel. Why w-" Yakumo began before she heard a faint coughing noise, making her turn towards a cage covered up with a tarp.

"Oh, you don't want what's in that cage, little lady," Beloukas stated as he made his way over to the tarp Yakumo saw. "That one is ill and has a lot of mental issues. But I can offer you to see them." He said which got Yakumo to zero in on the tarp.

Yakumo uncovered the cage and gasped in horror over what she saw. Curled up in a ball inside of it was a little girl, no older than ten at best. Her long brown hair was matted and knotted from months of little to no care and Yakumo could swear she could see her bones beneath the flesh in some spots. Shackles covered her wrists and neck, the faint red she could see around her wrists evident to her. All she wore were rags in the form of a makeshift dress and she had a tanuki's ears and tail. But the worst of it all...was what Yakumo saw in her brown eyes. They were dull...as if she were broken in spirit much like Yakumo had been on Entera.

"She's..." Yakumo began, holding a hand over her mouth as tears began to form in her eyes. "She's only a child…" Yakumo cried as her voice carried the tone of horror over what she saw.

"But of course!" Beloukas declared almost with pride. "Some of the Demihumans I sell here are children." He said which made Yakumo nearly draw her sword to run this man through. "It is often best to get them while they are young...but as I have warned before, she is ill and has a lot of mental issues, especially with canines." Beloukas explained to Yakumo as she was having a near panic attack.

'Is this what it was like for the Enterans when humans made them?' Yakumo mentally cried as she saw this. 'Is this what we did to them? If so... then maybe what they did to us was justified.' Yakumo mentally panicked as she tried to regain her senses.

It took her some time but eventually Yakumo regained her voice. "How much?" Yakumo suddenly asked her voice barely above a whisper when she spoke.

"Hm?" Beloukas asked as he looked over to the Sheild Heroine.

"I said how much?" Yakumo asked as Beloukas heard her this time.

"You plan on buying that one?" Beloukas asked when he heard her question.

"I did ask how much." Yakumo said as she couldn't just let this girl stay there not when she had those same broken defeated eyes as she did.

"Hmm...Considering she might not have long left for this world...30 Silvers." Beloukas said and thus Yakumo nodded to this. During the whole exchange, the girl saw Yakumo the look of horror in her eyes the tears that swelled for a moment the child had some hope that maybe someone would take pity on her.

"Deal." Yakumo said as Beloukas smiled to this.

"Splendid." He said with a smile on his face. "If you'll follow me, we shall prep for the slave binding ceremony." He said and during all of this Yakumo knew that she would need a long bath afterwards.

(Later)

Needless to say, Yakumo quickly found out what was involved with gaining a slave and she hated every part of it. They had arrived at a cleared-out section of the tent where they can get business done. As Yakumo followed Beloukas to a crate that had a series of small bowls and brushes she watched intently as the man grabbed an urn nearby.

During all of this Yakumo felt sick disgusted with herself for taking part of this. She felt tainted and filthy as she saw this horror show play out. In this world this was common practice but never did Yakumo expect for humans to be this cruel to take part of the practice. She was used to seeing Enterans being cruel never did Yakumo expect to see the same sort of cruelty from humans.

The trader gave a small chuckle seeing her watching him as he poured a small amount of ink from the urn into one of the small bowls. After setting the urn back down her gestured to the bowl. "Now all I need from you Madam Shield, is a tiny bit of your blood mixed in with this here [Slave Ink]." Beloukas said explaining things to the Shield Heroine. "Then we can apply it to the girl, and you shall receive the rights of her ownership." He said and for a moment Yakumo hesitated.

Yakumo's sickness grew as she walked over to the slave trader and offered to him her hand. She felt numb as he cut a small slit in her finger just enough to draw blood. Yakumo looked away from it but the more she took part of it the sicker she felt the shame she felt now made her question her own humanity.

When Yakumo's blood fell into the bowl where it then gave a soft purple glow for a moment before dimming. Once that was done Beloukas grabbed the bowl and a brush before returning to the young Demihuman slave girl who was currently shackled to the middle of the open area. A new wave of shame hit Yakumo when he pulled the front of the dirty rags that could only barely be called a dress down, exposing the small girl's chest. On her chest was a circle that vaguely looked like it consisted of three dragon heads trying to eat each other. Beloukas painted over the existing pattern with the [Slave Ink].

As soon as he finished the last stroke, the half tanuki girl began to scream as the sigil begun to glow like metal branding on her skin. This made Yakumo look away as she could hear the girl screaming in pain. 'What are you doing!? Why are you doing this!? What's wrong with you Yakumo?!' Yakumo mentally yelled at herself for her role in this.

{Slave acquired. Now opening settings for conditions of use.}

A window popped up in front of Yakumo, as she found that it consisted of a checklist of various restrictions that could be applied, level of punishment for breaking the restriction, and a spot for custom restrictions. When she tried to close the window without selecting anything, another message appeared.

{Error: Slavery requires a condition to be enforced.}

Yakumo shame grew further as she realized she was being given no choice. Despite deciding to check off the girl had to obey her orders or be lightly punished Yakumo felt disgusted with herself. After that, the window finally closed, and with it the light coming from the sigil, and the child's screaming. Underneath her mini status, Yakumo saw the slave sigil appear along with the name Raphtalia and a health bar. Never had she felt such shame in herself until this very moment. Never had Yakumo felt such disgust in herself until this moment. It took all of her will power to avoid dry heaving on the spot as she wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

"The ceremony is now complete. Congratulations on your first slave, Madam Shield Hero." Beloukas said with a chuckle. "Now your payment if you don't mind." He said as Yakumo was quick to give the coins thirty silver plus extra for the commission.

"Thank you." Yakumo gritted out as she almost felt her fury come to fore.

As Yakumo left, she could almost hear the slave trader behind her as she left the tent. "Well, she certainly is a bit soft." Beloukas said as Yakumo left. "But I got a good feeling she's certainly going to become a regular customer who I'll enjoy working with." Beloukas said as Yakumo lead Raphtalia out of the tent.

Unknown to Yakumo as she left the tent her shield began to give off an ominous aura. This aura made an alert appear, but her focus was zeroed in on leaving the tent and putting as much distance between her and the tent as possible. 'Why did I do that? Why did I let it happen? What's wrong with me?' Yakumo scolded herself as she and her new slave left the tent.

As Yakumo got outside the slave girl nearly gasped when she saw Hakuba there. "Yakumo... are you ok?" Hakuba asked as he detected Yakumo's elevated heartrate. As Yakumo got to him, she stumbled and leaned against Hakuba who saw that Yakumo was on the verge of a panic attack. She was mentally lashing out at herself for doing this for allowing herself to do this, perpetuating the cruelty of others. She could barely breath as she felt such shame in herself.

"M-mistress." The Demihuman girl suddenly said and thus Yakumo looked and saw her looking to Yakumo with concern. Yakumo couldn't find her voice as she fell to her knees and hugged the girl close much to her surprise. As she did this Yakumo began to weep which the girl saw also. Her tears was of anguish for all that she lost, her tears was of sadness for what this poor girl had to endure, and her tears were of shame in taking part of that cruelty.

The Demi-Human child saw that her new mistress was in distress and didn't know how to help her. All she could do was return the hug and tried to comfort her as best she could.

But in her anguish the ominous aura from Yakumo's shield eased back. But an alert popped up from her hub icon.

{Curse Series Sloth Shield Requirements Met}

(Meanwhile deep in the cosmos)

A lone meteorite was seen drifting through space silent and dormant but giving off a dark aura. Inside the meteorite an entity stirred carrying with it countless millennia of hatred and rage. Hatred at those who stood against his ambitions, Hatred against those who sealed him away, and hatred for those who deny him the power he craves. Something in this universe had stirred him from his slumber and from what he felt, he was making a direct course to the source.

Giving off a malicious chuckle he knew that it was only a matter of time before he arrived. "Finally." He said and thus he began his journey so he may begin his ambitions anew. The world of waves and heroes was about to face the might of the fallen Celestial Guardian Lanancuras.

(TBC)

ESKK: Hope I did this chapter justice and you all enjoyed it. Now then you know the drill leave a review for me and as I always say here, ja-ne.