Extravagant.
There was no other word to describe the room we were in. Beautiful paintings. Polished furniture. Ornate rugs. This room screamed wealth. That was probably why this was the room we were sitting in while we waited.
Getting a meeting Idol Rabier wasn't difficult. I approached the soldier at the gatehouse to his manor and told him the Axe Hero wished to meet with his lord. Truthfully, I expected some resistance or excuses, but we were allowed right in. I wasn't sure if that was suspicious or not.
After waiting for about 10 minutes, a door opened. Three guards stepped in, with Rabier right behind them, plus three more guards. I wasn't picking up any hostility, so this was more a show of power.
"Lord Rabier." I stood and gave a light bow in greeting. Just because I didn't like politics didn't mean I didn't understand it at all.
"Ah, Sir Axe Hero." The fat noble approached us. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise." Quite surprisingly, he held out his hand. After shaking it, he walked over to another couch and sat.
"To what do I owe the honor?" He asked pleasantly.
"Business." I began, taking a seat. Sadeena didn't sit back down, choosing to remain standing next to my couch across from Rabier. "You see, I'm looking for a pair of demi-human slaves."
"Oh?" He arched an eyebrow and, ever so subtly, deflated. "I seem to recall a slave trader's representative coming here for the same."
"Yes. That was on my behalf." I told him. "I have a buyer who is looking for a few demi-humans in particular. A raccoon and weasel are on his list, both girls."
He nearly sneered at that. "May I assume the last specification was for his…personal pleasure?"
"You might." I nodded lightly. This was one of the lines we came up with as a backstory, and to gauge his reaction.
"Disgusting." If he wasn't in such a beautiful room, he might have spat on the ground. "To lower himself to breeding with animals, I can imagine nothing more sacrilege. Those beasts would eat one another if given the chance."
His racism was actually comforting. I detected no lie in his words, so it was safe to assume Raphtalia and Rifana at least didn't suffer through that.
"Then you'll be happy to know he isn't one of your fellow nobles. A wealthy merchant in Zeltoble." I said, using another line.
"Merchants and mercenaries, that's all that country is good for." He said dismissively.
I chuckled. "Well, that makes this conversation a bit awkward."
"Perish the thought." Rabier held up his hand. "I heard you were summoned, not native to our world. You can't be expected to know God's true designs. In truth, I am quite relieved to see you are close to the correct path, even if you are somewhat misguided. Perhaps I can interest you in joining the Three Heroes Church to make yourself right with God?"
I couldn't say I wasn't surprised by the religious pitch. "Another time. I gave my word to my employer I would search thoroughly, and I'm a man of my word."
Rabier studied my face for a moment, perhaps looking for a lie. There was one, but it was more a partial lie, and easily overshadowed by the truth. I was a man of my word.
"Well, I can appreciate that." He said, finally. "Unfortunately, what I told that slaver's man was accurate. Those two girls are no longer here."
"May I ask where they are?" I asked.
"Hm." Rabier paused. "A passing slave trader came in a few days before yours arrived. I believe he was heading north."
"I see." I nodded.
"If there is nothing else, I have a question of my own." He began anew. "What price would you sell that slave next to you for?"
My eyes widened slightly as Sadeena stiffened. Yeah, of course a war veteran against Siltvelt would recognize Sadeena as a demi-human, unlike everyone else those three came across.
"Unfortunately, she's not for sale." I responded.
"No?" Rabier chuckled. "I can assure you, I pay quite handsomely."
"I don't doubt that. However, she isn't mine to sell. My employer sent her with me to make sure those girls are up to his standards." I lied easily. Again, it was partially true.
Rabier hummed in thought. "Well, that's unfortunate. I could simply take her and leave this merchant of yours at a loss, but I wouldn't want to stain your word or honor. Especially not when I can see the true faith does interest you."
"I appreciate that." Otherwise, things would get way too messy to keep hidden.
I had to admit, Rabier had some insight. The Three Heroes Church did indeed interest me. Too bad I planned on slaughtering everyone in the cathedral when the time was right.
"I believe this concludes our meeting." Rabier said as he stood, which prompted me to stand as well. Proper decorum and all that. "My knights will show you out."
With our short meeting ended, we were escorted out of the manor. On our way out, we once more passed a short building, one with metal bars acting as a window on the door. It was a small building, hardly any room for anything.
Once outside the manor grounds, we began walking back into town.
"He's lying." Sadeena said when we were out of earshot.
"Definitely." I agreed with her. "And I think I know where they're being kept."
She nodded. "It leads underground, but it was too far away for me to properly map it out."
Having echolocation was handy.
"Any shadows?" I asked.
Sadeena shook her head. "Neither from here, nor Q'ten Lo. At least, none on the surface."
"You think they might be underground with her?"
"Maybe. They're difficult to sense, even from the distance to that door. If there's a second way out of there, they would definitely stay close." Sadeena then gritted her teeth. "Especially if they wanted to see little Raphtalia being tortured."
"We'll get her out." I assured her. "Tonight."
"I don't know if I can wait that long, Dante." She told me. I pretended not to notice, but she kept clenching her fist during the meeting. If Rabier said the wrong thing, we might have had a real fight on our hands.
"Hey, I get it." I told her. When she snapped her head to me, I continued. "If it was my niece down there, I know nothing would stop me from trying immediately, even if it would mean my death. I would be far less calm than you right now, and I don't mean that as an insult."
I would know that coming up with a careful plan would be important, maybe even taking a couple days. However, I knew I wouldn't wait that long. Sadeena's restraint was impressive. She loved Raphtalia like a sister, and now she was all that remained of the people she cared for.
Sadeena glared at me for a few seconds more before giving a curt nod. We already had some plans made and we would implement them at night.
Still, I had some time to think. Why would he lie? He could have simply said the girls weren't for sale. Maybe it was out of convenience, since that would mean he wouldn't be bothered again.
Well, his lie wouldn't matter once he was dead.
~The Right Man~
Night fell, and we put our plans into action.
First was to cause a commotion and pull knights away from the manor. I had several ideas on how to do this, near the top being arson. In a medieval society, a fire in town could be absolutely devastating. Water magic would reduce it, but not negate it. Naofumi actually got me to reconsider, since a lot of innocent people would be caught it in. He was actually summoned to be a real hero.
Luckily, it turned out there was a better way to get the knights out. We would set a fire…in the forests near town. A little investigation led me to discover this town's main export: lumber. If the source of his income was threatened, Rabier was sure to send his men out immediately. He'd easily see it, too, since his manor was on top of a plateau that overlooked the forest.
Keel, wanting to do something to help, was the one to set the fires while he rode on Hailey. Him and Atla. She was adamant about helping, and there wasn't a good reason to refuse. It seemed my little speech didn't affect her nearly as much as I hoped. Even Fohl was okay with her going, likely because it wasn't that dangerous and Atla would either keep insisting or go anyway. Once a sufficient part of the forest was set ablaze, they'd meet back up with the others in hiding outside the town.
Sadeena and I waited, the knights having left the manor nearly 10 minutes ago. It was time. Stealth was our first choice. The longer it took for an alarm to be raised, the better.
My Rope Axe as a grappling hook was more than up to the task of getting us over the wall to the manor. The guards were a bit distracted watching the roaring fires in the forest below. The two that were on the wall were dead before they hit the ground.
From there, Sadeena and I carefully removed any remaining guards and made our way down the stairs and into the manor's courtyard. First thing was to check what was most likely the dungeon.
Sadeena held up her hand, stopping me from starting to pick the lock. "There's a ward on this door. If we try to break in, it'll sound an alarm."
"Hm." I looked around. "That just means he'll bring the fight to us. Saves us some time."
While it would have been nice to get the girls out and deal with Rabier later, I wasn't opposed to potentially removing him now, if it came to that.
"Do you have your slave seal remover ready?" She asked.
I nodded, tapping a pouch at my hip. "We'll be done before he knows what's going on."
I'd love to say I had the foresight to buy some remover from Beloukas before we got here, but I didn't. Instead, while we were waiting for sundown, I just dropped another portal location where the others were waiting now and teleported back to buy some. Shit wasn't cheap, 50 silver per dose. I might just have to loot this place a little to make back all the money I'd been spending.
"Rend V!" The skill that partially ignored defense was perfect for cutting down a metal door. With a series of loud clanks, it fell down some stairs just on the other side.
"Let's go! I can already hear the alarm!" Sadeena rushed in, me right behind her after pulling a torch from a nearby wall.
"I don't hear it." I said, descending the stairs.
"It's magical. Like a hum in the air." She said.
It must be so intruders didn't know about it and would get caught.
We quickly reached the bottom of the stairs, kicking the sliced door out of our way. Before us was a circular room with cells against the walls. In the center of the room was a table and two chairs, one on either side of it. A few chains hung from the ceiling near the center.
It was an odd setup, but maybe he wanted to torture slaves in a place everyone could see it. But, then, what was with the table? And everything looked clean, despite the heavy scent of copper in the air. I knew what that meant. No, not important. What was important was the fact that no one was here.
"Sadeena?" I asked as I looked around, trying to find a hint.
"Nothing." She murmured. The stone floor beneath her cracked as she slammed her harpoon down. "Nothing!"
"Hm." We probably didn't have a lot of time, so I couldn't search every part of this place. There was a door on the opposite side from where we entered. I could check that, then we race back up to fight Rabier if the girls weren't there.
I went over to the door and pulled it open. Inside…
"Dear god…" I let out without thinking.
Sadeena came up behind me and looked in. "Dante…" Her voice came out as a whisper.
Inside the room were all manner of tools. Knives, a cleaver, a trough that was filled with blood, a chain with a hook hanging over it. It was surprisingly clean in here, an overturned bucket with a towel sitting on it.
I looked back to the table in the room. That was the centerpiece for all this. His words from before came back to me. He didn't just refer to them as animals as a pejorative. Everything here…
"Did he…" I didn't even want to form the words. Idol Rabier…forced his slaves to eat one another. I could only imagine the condescending look on his face while he watched them eat.
This…This was abhorrent. Disgusting. Inhuman. That thing living in that manor, there was no excuse for him to live.
"Sir Axe Hero?" A familiar, jovial voice called out, echoing in the underground rooms. "Is that you down there?"
"Rabier!" Sadeena screamed, taking off for the exit.
"Wait!" I called out and ran after her. The woman was much faster than me.
By the time I reached the stairs, she was already at the top. I ran as fast as I could, listening for what was going on. A pop. A crack of a whip. Stones breaking.
I made it to the top, axe up and ready. Rabier just reeled in his whip, handle in one hand and the wrapped-up length in the other. Beside him was a squad of knights, at least 15. Swords, spears, and bows in equal amounts. Not a shield in sight.
"I see the queen's dog has been sniffing around." He said, grinning at me. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
I didn't answer him right away. While facing him, I let my eyes drift to Sadeena. She already transformed into her therianthrope form, and was slumped against the wall of the dungeon. A deep gash was on her stomach, blood spilling from the wound and her mouth. Her eyes glanced at me, so I knew she was both alive and conscious.
"You're well informed." I said, carefully walking closer to Sadeena. My axe was up, ready to deflect any attack. I pulled a potion from my belt and gently tossed it to Sadeena, now sitting beside me.
"I have my sources." He smugly responded. The church, no doubt. "Didn't I tell you those animals were no longer here? I sold them to someone going north."
"You're a decent liar. I can spot decent lies." I told him. "Where are they?"
"Hm? Where are they? I can't seem to remember…" His eyes looked around, though he kept his body facing me. The knights with him laughed at his words.
"I suppose I'll have to beat it out of you." I told him. "I don't need your knights. If any of them want to live—"
"A useless bluff." Rabier said dismissively. "You weren't summoned all that long ago. You're no match for us."
I almost wanted to smile, but seeing what I did down there ruined the mood. Not only did he not know about the power up methods, heroes gained XP faster, with Holy Heroes gaining it the fastest. How else could they be expected to fight a world-ending disaster on such short notice?
However, there was one thing I was concerned about. Sadeena wasn't getting up…no, she was trying. That wound was deep and a glance told me it didn't heal properly. That bit I barely remembered from the light novels was true: his whip was cursed. That wound wasn't going to heal anytime soon.
"Alright, you're leaving." I told Sadeena. "Don't you dare argue otherwise."
"You—" She started to protest, only to end up coughing blood.
"Be angry at me later. Portal Axe!" I moved my weapon slightly and activated my skill.
Portal skill blocked!
I clicked my tongue in frustration.
"'Portal Axe', was it?" Rabier mocked. "Didn't seem to work."
No shit. It wasn't like I had a reason to think it wouldn't. That obelisk over there, the one sealing that dinosaur with the dragon emperor shard, was probably why. I doubted it was anything Rabier planned, but that didn't matter now.
Fine then. Hard way it was. "Stay back and defend yourself." I told Sadeena. "I don't know if I can cover for you."
"Hah!" Rabier laughed, releasing his whip and arcing in back. "You should care more about yourself than that animal!"
He cracked it forward, sending the end straight at me. Time seemed to slow a bit, thanks to my levels. Even before he began, I was changing my axe's form.
60
The timer started. My Axe of Rage was in hand. I side-stepped the whip and rocketed toward him. The increase to my stats was insane, but I wasn't going to showboat. I needed to make sure they were all dead before it expired.
Rabier was surprised, but he collected himself quickly, yanking back his whip. A pair of swordsmen intercepted my charge, blocking my overhead strike with both their swords and allowing black flames to spill around them.
A bit tougher than the guards of that noble in Shieldfreeden, but nothing I couldn't handle. I ripped my axe free of the weapon lock and embedded it in the chest of one of the knights. The other swordsman was too stunned to act, but the lancer behind him wasn't. He thrust at me before I could fully free my weapon, getting a glancing blow on my side.
Two more lancers rushed me, but I disengaged. That wasn't a smart move, since that allowed the archers to fire at me. I blocked two with my axe, one missed, and the last two struck my left shoulder. They mostly just stung, but I'd die by a thousand cuts with enough time.
The swordsmen who didn't just get splattered with blood quickly surrounded me. They were far enough apart I couldn't get two of them in a single swipe with Cleave, but close enough to attack if I went after one of them.
They were ignoring Sadeena, who still hadn't gotten up. Good. Yeah, I was the more threatening enemy, so it made sense. That meant I didn't need to watch out for her, but that put so much more focus on me.
The knights didn't attack. Rabier's whip came flying as I hastily brought up my axe to parry it. Unfortunately, its trajectory changed, going under my axe and striking me in my chest.
I was thrown back, feet in the air for a moment before I regained my footing. I held my chest, my armor dented and torn where he hit me, my blood covering my palm. That attack dropped my HP by over 25%.
Even with the Axe of Rage, I took a lot of damage. The normal weapons were one thing, but that whip was far too much. I could see why Sadeena was only just getting to her feet. Should I evolve the Axe of Rage? I was allowed to, but advised against it.
No. The battle didn't call for it yet. I knew the cost of doing that.
"Hah!" Rabier laughed, reclaiming his whip. "Whatever demonic form the Axe has taken won't save you! You'll be—"
"Whirling Axe III!" I brought my axe back and threw it. It spun in an arc, carving into two of the bowmen behind Rabier. It would have hit him, but the fat fucker was fast for a man his size. He ducked beneath it, allowing it to hit a third archer.
Tomahawk
(abilities unlocked) Equip Bonus: skill "Whirling Axe"
A nice axe I found at Erhart's. It would return to me much faster than a thrown axe with the Returning effect, could hit multiple enemies, and it did a little extra damage. The cooldown was quite a bit longer than most of my skills, so I likely wouldn't be able to use it twice in this fight. Still, three dead archers was a good trade.
The Axe returned to me before the swordsmen could close in. The lead one tried to backpedal, but he wasn't quick enough. His head rolled on the ground, disconnected from his body.
40
Only two swordsmen and three archers were down. I wasn't making good time.
"Meteor Axe V!" I fired off the energy slash at the precariously grouped up spearmen.
The skill tore into the first three in the group and burned the side of a fourth. That was more like it. Why that skill had a shorter cooldown than Whirling Axe was a mystery, but I wasn't going to complain.
Rabier's whip cracked again, but I was far enough away to dodge it, even with its strange movements. If I was closer or surrounded, he'd have a better chance.
"Uproar VII!" With my main attack skill on cooldown, I was confident locking it out temporarily for stats. The extra agility would let me dodge attacks more easily. I would need that.
With a heave, I launched my axe at another archer. It split his head in two before he could fully draw his bow.
The remaining swordsmen and spearmen tried to surround me, but I swiftly moved around them, hand up, waiting for my axe to return.
"Bastard!" Rabier roared, snapping his whip in the air and striking my axe, flinging it away. He really was insightful.
"Guh!" But that axe wasn't my only weapon. For starters, I did have some martial arts training. Some. I was able to divert a spear thrust and close in on the spearman, stabbing him in the throat with a hastily pulled dagger.
Now I was in my element. I had plenty of knife training. It was no Legendary Weapon, but HP wasn't everything, and my attack stat was still raised with Uproar. A hole in the throat would take someone out of a fight and kill them quickly if they weren't healed.
30
Uproar ended. It was a really short skill. Seeing how I couldn't cancel it so I could use spells or other skills, it would need to be.
My axe tried to return to me again, but Rabier knocked it away again. He knew how dangerous it was, and probably thought his guards would be able to overwhelm me.
"Tsk!" The wounded spearman was able to get a hit on my wounded shoulder when I tried to close in on a swordsman.
I was starting to need that axe back. I was handy with a knife, but I had little experience parrying a sword with one. Plus, their teamwork was pretty good. They kept moving to put me between them and Rabier, with the spearman on the side and the archer still with his lord.
"Shit!" I yelped, dodging another whip attack. It cracked the ground that was just underfoot a moment ago. "Grr!" The second I landed, another arrow hit my shoulder.
20
This wasn't going as well as I hoped. The trap he set was a good one. Even if I lied well enough—and I might not have—him knowing I worked for the queen in any capacity instantly discredited anything I had to say. He couldn't have known why we wanted to find the girls, but he knew we would search for them here.
Being on the receiving end of traps wasn't fun. It was starting to look like I'd have to evolve the weapon to Axe of Rage II. Even not in hand, I got stats from it, minus most of the attack. I'd rather avoid evolving it for now, but I didn't have much choice…
"Zweite Thunderbolt!"
Sadeena's spell forced Rabier to switch targets. The lightning raced toward him, making him crack his whip at it. The spell exploded with the whip crack, making a loud boom.
That allowed my axe to return to me, and immediately be put to use.
"Cleave III! Great Cleave III!" Just like that, the remaining melee combatants were reduced to zero. Rabier only had a single archer left…no, wait, he didn't. The man turned tail and ran.
"Meteor Axe V!" I fired off the skill at him. It quickly reached him and cut him down. I didn't know if we could actually prevent any witnesses from reporting what happened here, since Rabier clearly expected an attack, but it was worth attempting.
"Heathens! Vile beasts! The righteous—" His tirade was cut short as I rushed him. He swung his whip around.
"Hng!" I barely deflected it with my left arm, though that limb was going to be useless for a while now. Adrenaline was pumping, so I couldn't feel all the pain, but I knew I couldn't move it.
For the chunk of HP I just lost, I made it to Rabier before he could reel in his whip. "Erst Chop V!" Aided by my skill, I brought the Axe down and cut his hand off at the wrist.
"AAAHH!" He howled in pain, the black flames of my axe quickly cauterizing the wound with a curse. "You—"
He was silenced when the flat of my axe slammed into his face, breaking his nose. On the ground and clutching his face, he glared at me through his fingers. I had to admit, I was a little surprised he was still conscious. That wasn't a tap I gave him.
"You'll never escape from here!" He spat at me, then glared to my side. Sadeena had slowly made her way over, still in her large therianthrope form. "My knights will return soon enough from the forest, and the town guards have no doubt heard the battle. You're dead!"
"That's nice." I had already switched out of my Axe of Rage and hung it on my back. A bit more pain filtered through now, but nothing I couldn't handle.
He wasn't wrong. If we didn't get somewhere else quick, we'd be swarmed. I might be able to fight through them all, depending on their levels, but Sadeena was in no condition to do the same. Once we were away from that obelisk, I could use Portal Axe on the two of us, but that would leave Rabier. I still had questions for him, and I needed time to make sure I got them. Largest of them all was the girls' fate. They might still be alive somewhere. He wasn't lying when he said they weren't here, but that was all I had.
"Is there another way out of here? Somewhere we can sneak out? Your life depends on your answer." I demanded.
"Hah! Hahahaha!" He laughed like a madman. "Do you think I'm a fool? You'll kill me the moment I tell you!"
"No, we won't. We have some questions for you first." Confirming the fate of Raphtalia and Rifana was important. Now that the fight was over, I had a few ideas for the worst case. But I needed information.
"And why would I ever tell you heretics any—" His retort was cut off by a scream. Sadeena plunged her harpoon into his ankle.
"Ready to help?" I asked with a smile. "I have potions, so we can take our time convincing you."
The blood drained from Rabier's face. That sure as hell didn't take long to convince him.
Author's Notes:
Dante isn't a one-man army. He's a one-man platoon. He's also still one man. I imagine Idol Rabier not only has a class up, but probably a good number of levels above that. I'm pretty sure he's canonically a veteran of the war with Siltvelt, or at least fought against them. He didn't strike me as over 40 years old, and the war was 25 years ago…but that might be when it started. I don't think we know when it ended. Eh. Him being a war veteran sounds right, so that's what I went with. Plus, I had that backstory already in "The Wrong Hero", so I couldn't really change it.