We heard some news on our travels to the capital. Apparently, brigands assaulted the border wall with powerful magic and murdered over a dozen knights. One of them was a demi-human; a gray cat demi-human. They escaped in a broken carriage pulled by a pink filolial. I wondered who that could possibly be. Certainly not us with my red filolial, a black and white hakuko, and our intact carriage.
As an aside, doing that in the evening with dual low-lighting and the glare of the setting sun in the direction of our escape route was amazingly favorable. If anyone asked, I was going to take credit for the plan and not mention how we could have probably avoided the whole thing.
After paying a toll for the carriage, we passed the gatehouse of the capital. Unlike out there, the conversations we picked up revolved more around the Shield Hero. If memory served, it had been about two weeks since he was framed. In that time, he acquired two companions, one of them being a demi-human child.
"Interesting." I commented as we found a stable to house the carriage. "Beloukas did his job. I wonder who the other person is."
"A human?" Rato guessed as she hopped out of the back, a cloak around her. Since human slavery was…well, not quite illegal, but it was reserved for criminals here, that would be a headache to deal with in more ways than one.
"Must be…" I replied.
It made sense, since we didn't hear anything else said about them; people would have been saying two demi-humans, otherwise. On the other hand, who could possibly join up with Naofumi? Who would? I wasn't sure who the demi-human was, but they were almost definitely a slave sold to him by Beloukas. It probably wasn't Raphtalia, who was specifically on my list of purchases.
I got Hailey unhitched from the carriage as Fohl and Atla stepped out. The two of them were wearing cloaks, plus a prop or two. Before returning to Melromarc, I had each of them fitted with a pair of shackles. What's more, I set Fohl's slave crest to be visible. That way, if anyone happened to see their ears or tails, they wouldn't cause too much of fuss.
Incidentally, the two of them grew a bit more with their levels. Fohl was more than a head taller than me. Atla…grew. I couldn't be much more generous than that. The top of her head didn't even reach my chin, and I was pretty sure they were both done growing. Sure, I was taller than most around here, but she was still quite short. On the plus side, the three of us made a nice sequence of heights, much to Fohl's annoyance.
"How do we find him?" Fohl asked.
"Not sure." Things were already a little different. "But I know a good place to start."
After asking a few passersby, I got directions to the best source of information. Maybe second best, but I could wait to see Beloukas. I didn't want to see another copy of him just yet.
The door chimed as we entered, Hailey waiting outside. Weapons lined the walls of the shop.
"Welcome." The bald man behind the counter greeted us. "What can I do for you?"
"Are you Erhard?" I asked as the door closed behind us.
"Erhart." He corrected easily.
Huh. Why didn't anyone else correct me? Maybe they assumed it was an accent.
"I'm looking for the Shield Hero." I told him.
His demeanor immediately shifted. "What do you want with that guy? And why come here?"
Hm. Not quite hostile. Cautious, maybe?
"We're looking to form a party with him." I said. "I was under the impression he came to this shop several times."
"Hm." Erhart regarded me with a bit of skepticism as he crossed his arms. "I don't think he'll be interested. A lot of people offered to join him, and he turned most of them down."
At the very least, that told me Erhart was on at least neutral terms with Naofumi, since I doubted he would have heard that through rumors.
I decided to give him a reason Naofumi would want my help. I pulled the Axe off my back. Erhart reached under the counter, but I displayed the Axe in front of me casually. Then, I had it shift forms.
"I think he'll be interested in my help." I said, enjoying the little fun I was having.
"The Star Axe…" Erhart muttered, easing off whatever he was grabbing. "Why are you here? I heard rumor that the Seven Star Heroes weren't needed since Melromarc summoned the Cardinal Heroes."
"Understandable, but incorrect." I returned the Axe to my back. "I was personally asked to join with the hero summoned to Melromarc." Not a lie at all.
Erhart scratched his chin. "Yeah. The kid could use all the help he can get."
I nodded in response. "I heard about his trial." That was also true. A few talks in a few villages confirmed that was the same.
"And you still want to join him?" Erhart asked, leaning against the counter.
"I don't think anything negative said about the Shield Hero in Melromarc, especially from its king, is worth all that much." I replied.
Erhart stared at me for a few seconds, then sighed. "Yeah. You're not wrong, I suppose."
I smiled. "And if I'm not mistaken, you don't think he did it either."
Erhart hummed as he shook his head. "I got a good look at his eyes. Those weren't the eyes of someone who just raped someone and got caught."
Kind of a specific thing to know, but I took his meaning. Erhart was like that in the books, too. He used to be an adventurer and traveled around a lot. Learning to read people was something he must have picked up.
"So, any idea where I might find him?" I asked.
"He might be in the market selling monster parts to a vendor before they close for the evening. Maybe an apothecary, too." Erhart said.
"Thanks. If we miss him, you mind telling him to wait here until night? Or check in here at night, before you close?" I asked. This way, we would have more opportunities to find him. Plus, I would get him to copy all these shields. Same for me and the axes.
"Yeah, I'll pass that along." Erhart nodded.
We exited his shop and started making our way to the market area.
It was early evening, so we would need to find an inn friendly to demi-humans soon if we couldn't find Naofumi. I didn't think he was staying in the city at night, since he was probably saving every coin he could. We might be able to find him camping out, but he could do that anywhere out there, and we still needed to sleep.
"Remember, black hair, about this tall," I gestured with my hand, mostly guessing based on common heights of the Japanese, "and he probably has a pissed off expression."
"What color is his cloak, Mister Dante?" Atla asked.
"Well, it was green in the…" I snorted. I actually snorted at that. This girl was funny.
It wasn't like we were going to separate. There were several reasons for that, not the least of which because two of my party members were hakukos. The other big reason was because I didn't think Naofumi would listen to anything they had to say. Fohl and Atla were young and women, and Rato was a beautiful woman. The last time he listened to one of those, it didn't work out so well for him.
We spent an hour looking over the market. Just like during travel, waiting was a big thing here. Lots of people passed us by. Some of them gave Fohl or Atla a second look, but a squawk from Hailey had them moving along.
A light meal was had, just food from some vendors on the street. Rato picked it out for us. Some sort of sweet meat. I hadn't eaten something like this before, so I wasn't sure what monster it came from.
Atla placed her hand on my arm. I looked down at her, confused. Was she wanting skinship or something?
"Is that him?" Fohl asked, pointing into a crowd.
I followed his finger until I saw the person she was pointing at. The guy fit the bill. He even had a green cloak on.
"Probably." I finished off my food. "Alright. I'll approach him alone. Rato?"
"I'll keep people away from them." She said.
With a nod, I went off. I had plenty of time to think of more ways to introduce myself to him. Sure, I wasn't exactly planning for it to happen in a crowded marketplace, but I could take a shot at it. At worst, he would brush me off, and then I'd just follow him from behind.
As I got closer, I saw the Shield on his arm. Yeah, that was a Holy Weapon alright. He approached a monster part buying and set down a bag. I watched from a short distance, idly looking at some fruits on the stall next to me.
After about a minute, coins were exchanged. It was time. I stepped away from the stall and headed over to—
"Can I help you with something?" I hand gripped my shoulder, halting me.
I looked over my shoulder to find out who was getting in my way. It was a woman wearing a dark cloak, hood up to conceal the top of her hair. Her expression was calm, almost pleasant, but I could sense a hint of threatening violence just below the surface.
Partially obscuring her face was all her cloak was doing, since the front was open. This woman was basically wearing a bikini underneath. She had thick, sprawling tattoos on her legs and hips…
"You…" I could hardly speak.
"Hm~?" She cocked her head to the side, but didn't let go of my shoulder. Over her back, I saw a spear…or a harpoon.
"Are you…Sadeena?" I asked.
Her eyes widened. She quickly looked around before pulling me along.
What the hell was Sadeena doing here? Was this a time loop? Was Motoyasu lurking around, making sure nothing interfered with Naofumi raising Filo? No. No, that wasn't possible…right? I told my goddess about that spear Motoyasu got, but she said nothing like that should exist in this world. Was there something else? Did Motoyasu actually get something like that? Was I really me, or was I Dante number 23?
"Nadia!" A voice drew me from my thoughts. Naofumi had spotted us and called out. "What're you doing here?"
"O-Oh, little Naofumi!" Sadeena replied, moving her hand on my shoulder slightly. "This man was watching you, so I was about to send him on his way~."
Naofumi looked me up and down. "You don't look like the usual type that tries to scam me. What do you want?"
I took in a breath. Right. No point worrying about something like that. If I was in a time-loop somehow, I didn't have any memory of the previous loops. So, either I wasn't a threat to Motoyasu finding Filo, or there was no time-loop.
"Right." I cleared my throat. "I've come to Melromarc to form a party with you to fight the Waves." Smooth, Dante. Smooth.
Naofumi raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? You and every slimy adventurer who's approached me. I don't have any silver to throw away on you."
That was obvious, since he barely had any armor. His first comment was probably about my own armor, which was vastly better than his.
"I think I'm the one who has money he can throw at you, Naofumi." I replied, then patted the hand still resting on my shoulder. "I think I can help both of you get what you want."
Sadeena's eyes widened again. She took the hint easily enough, letting go and stepping next to Naofumi as he walked over.
"That so?" He asked dismissively. Already, he was looking like he would say whatever to get me to leave. "Nadia, where's Keel? You were supposed to be getting—"
"Keel!?" I nearly shouted, only barely able to restrain my voice.
Sadeena gave me a hard look. I might have tipped my hand a little too far too early.
"He's at Erhart's, looking over shortswords." Sadeena replied, reaching behind her back. "Erhart said someone was looking for you, little Naofumi, so I wanted to warn you."
Naofumi looked at me again, angry.
I held up my hands in a soothing motion. "I'm not looking for a fight. Just trying to help."
"Not interested." Naofumi said sharply. "Let's go, Nadia."
"Wait, little Naofumi." Sadeena held out her arm to stop him. "He knows something. And I'd like to know what. Give me a few minutes, if you would~."
Naofumi looked more annoyed than anything, but Sadeena was ready to pull that harpoon off her back. Her sing-song voice didn't do much to make me think otherwise. Well, this already went pear-shaped. Might as well go all in.
"I know about your village." I told Sadeena, then looked to Naofumi. "And I know you're innocent."
That got both of them to look at one another. Maybe this would work out fine. But, the way Naofumi was looking at Sadeena…
"What village?" He asked her.
"Ah…" She turned her head away.
I may have just messed something up.
~The Right Man~
I was able to convince them to table any talks until we were somewhere more private. The location I had in mind was Erhart's, since, well, that was the only place I knew of. Second place, technically, but I still didn't want to see Beloukas just yet. His uncle and his priest whatever-relation in Faubrey gave me the creeps.
On the walk there, Naofumi and Sadeena walked behind us. It wasn't hard to imagine why. There were five of us—including Hailey—and only two of them. The trip to the shop was quiet, save for the conversations I overhead as we walked. It seemed people thought the criminal Shield Hero convinced more people to join him.
Though, I did notice Hailey looking back at Naofumi several times. She even slowed down to walk closer to him, and brought her head near his. He didn't react much, except giving her a quick pat. Satisfied, she gave a squawk and rejoined me.
Once we returned to Erhart's, I saw Naofumi's other party member, Keel. She was swinging a shortsword around in front of Erhart. She didn't have any armor, just a pair of shorts and a loose shirt. If I had to place her age, I'd say around 13. She must have gotten a good number of levels, assuming her true age wasn't another difference.
The two of them looked at us as we entered.
"I see you found him." Erhart crossed his arms. "And came back here."
"I did imply we'd meet here." I shrugged, waiting for everyone but Hailey to enter.
"Uh huh." Erhart didn't look convinced. "I'm fine helping the kid out, but I don't want my shop to turn into a gathering spot."
"I can pay you if that helps." I offered. Erhart just waved his hand and went back to Keel, only for the dog girl to approach us.
"Who're they?" Keel asked Naofumi.
"Someone who knows about us." Naofumi strode past Keel and leaned against a wall, crossing his arms. "So? Start talking. Why do you think I'm innocent?"
All my plans for speaking with him were out the window. Okay, that wasn't really true. I didn't have any grand plans for this, just an offer to kill Malty for him, and make sure he knew about this country.
And now I had the added complexity of Sadeena, who was going by Nadia. I didn't know what she had planned, but I was probably about to ruin it.
"You are the main character of a light novel I read." Diving right in would be the quickest way to start.
Naofumi raised an eyebrow. When he didn't say anything, I continued.
"I know you were framed by Myne, who is actually the first princess of this country, Malty Melromarc." That got a stronger reaction out of him. His eyes narrowed at me. "She framed you as part of a plan to become queen. And because she's sadistic and you were an easy target politically."
"She…" Naofumi gritted his teeth. Then, he shook his head and glared at me. "Why should I believe you?"
"What do you have in mind?" I asked back, then offered an idea. "I can try answering some questions to prove it."
Naofumi tapped his finger against his arm. "What are my parents' names?"
"Don't know." I responded.
"My brother's name?"
"Don't know that either."
"You aren't very convincing."
I shrugged. "The author wasn't always great at giving these details. I do know you're a good cook."
He rolled his eyes. "I'm not that good."
Sadeena laughed softly and covered her mouth. I took that to mean he was, in fact, a good cook, likely working with whatever they hunted.
"Let's see…" I paused to think of something. Since he mentioned his family, I remembered a small tidbit that might work. "Your brother was a delinquent until you straightened him out with games."
It was one of the first things mentioned in the light novel and web novel, so it wasn't hard to recall.
"Also, animals really like you." Hailey's interest in him reminded me of that little factoid. I think he once mentioned something about riding a neighborhood dog when he was little.
"Hm." Naofumi continued to stare at me, studying me. "Alright. Let's say I believe you, for now. Why are you here?"
"To help you." I told him. He didn't look convinced. "Helping you helps me, since I need to party with a Holy Hero."
"Why?" He asked.
"Reasons." I responded coyly before I continued. "I'd prefer to give that information when we're alone."
"Kind of hard to do in the old man's shop." Naofumi said.
"In that case, I'll distract you from your question with a neat trick."
I walked over to the wall that was filled with shields. Picking one at random, I pulled it off and brought it to Naofumi.
"Hold this." I told him.
"Why? I already have a shield." The way he referenced his weapon told me he did not care for it at all.
"Just do it." I sighed. I knew he might be stubborn, but it wasn't like he had anything to lose.
He must have felt the same, since he let out a sigh of his own and took the shield from my hands. I waited for a second, then his eyes looked up. Yeah, it worked.
"Weapon Copy?" He said, eyes moving over an invisible screen. "Heroes can copy weapons?"
"Huh?" Erhart perked up and looked over at us. "They can do what?"
"That they can." I told Naofumi. "And you're surrounded by shields."
Naofumi gave me another look, pushed the shield back into my arms, and walked over to the opposing wall.
"Hey, kid! What're you doing?" Erhart quickly asked.
"Don't worry about it." I said, setting the shield on the ground and walking over to him.
"Don't worry? You just told him he could steal all my…" Erhart's voice trailed off as I placed a gold coin on the counter.
"For your trouble, since you aren't actually losing anything." I said. After a moment, I pulled out another one. "For me, too."
He looked at the two coins, then up at me. Then, he sighed. "Fine. I guess he's not actually stealing anything…these coins are from Shieldfreeden."
"I have Zeltoble, if you prefer those. Not much in the way of Melromarc currency." It wouldn't have been good to absorb those knights, no matter how shiny and expensive their armor may have been. I only had about 100 Melromarc silver that I exchanged in Zeltoble, at what I could only assume was a bad rate.
"I suppose I can import something from there…" He muttered, scooping up the coins.
Satisfied, I looked back to Naofumi, who had already made his way through half of Erhart's stock. This was definitely a step in the right direction, and it would help convince him about the power up methods.
Then I looked at the other person that needed convincing. I was pretty sure Sadeena hadn't taken her eyes off me the whole time. What I was looking at, however, was her chest. Large breasts aside, she had a slave seal there, barely peeking out beneath her cloak. That told me a little more about what she was doing, but not quite enough, since Naofumi called her Nadia before.
Maybe I could let her keep her alias, but that would be a lot of work for gains I couldn't properly identify. Once more, I decided to jump right in.
"Your village." I began, looking between both Sadeena and Keel. "I've already begun searching for survivors."
"You have!?" Keel excitedly yelled. "How? When?"
"A few days after the Wave, when I reached Zeltoble." I told her. "A slave trader there has family here, so I had him send a message to start looking. If I had to guess, that's where you were before Naofumi bought you."
Keel winced. "I didn't see anyone else from the village."
"Were you sold by Beloukas? A short, fat man in a ringmaster…uh, wearing a suit with coattails and a top hat, and probably shiny glasses?"
"Yeah, that's him." Keel nodded.
"When did Naofumi buy you?"
"Um…10, no, 11 days ago?" She didn't seem sure. That was a couple days after I met the slave merchant, which was already a few days after Melromarc's Wave.
"Huh. He works fast." I commented. It wasn't strange that he didn't have more villagers at that point, since I was sure there were plenty of places to buy and sell slaves in Melromarc. "I'm surprised Naofumi could afford you. He didn't sell you for cheap, did he?"
"Is 50 silver cheap for a slave?" Keel asked genuinely.
"A little."
Besides Atla and Fohl, I did get some prices for other slave children in Zeltoble. It was dumb. I had more important things to do then buy up children and free them. Not only did I not have the money for it, but they could just as easily be snatched up again. I didn't have the resources to watch over them, either. If nothing else, I got a better idea on the slave economy.
"The king gave all us heroes starting silver." Naofumi said, finished with his weapon copying.
"You still had some left after you were robbed?" I asked.
Naofumi scoffed. "I hid some behind my shield. It's a common thing to do when visiting another country."
"Huh." Another difference. Not only did Naofumi not throw his silver at Motoyasu in a fit, he kept a lot with him.
"Now then, I have some questions, too." Naofumi crossed his arms again, this time looking at Sadeena. "What village was he talking about?"
"My village." Keel looked up at him. "It was hit by the Wave. Didn't I tell you that already?"
"You did." Naofumi didn't turn his gaze from Sadeena, who looked away.
"Ah, well…" She started, only to trail off.
"You lived in that village, too, didn't you?" Naofumi asked.
"Wait, really?" Keel turned to Sadeena. "You don't look familiar."
"Ah…" Sadeena turned her head to the side. She set her harpoon against a wall and unhooked the cloak from her shoulders, letting it drop to the ground. In a large puff of smoke, she changed her form.
Keel stares up at her, eyes wide and mouth hanging open at the large orca therianthrope in front of her. "Big Sis Sadeena!" It took all of two seconds for her to cling to Sadeena's leg.
"Hello, little Keel." She patted her shoulder.
"Why didn't you say something before?" Keel asked. "You've been with us for a week!"
"Yeah." Naofumi continued to glare.
"Ah, well…" Sadeena didn't meet Naofumi's gaze. "I wanted to make sure little Naofumi treated you well."
"That took a week?" Naofumi asked, clearly not believing her.
His skepticism was warranted. Sadeena wasn't saying everything. Still, she remained silent.
"Nadia, I'm ordering you to tell me why you kept quiet." Naofumi said.
The slave seal on Sadeena activated, violet sparks emitting from it. However, Sadeena didn't seem at all bothered by it. Naofumi stood there, eyes wide.
"Sorry, little Naofumi." Sadeena said calmly, finally looking at him. "I saw little Keel walking with you, and I heard about your trial. I watched over you for a day to make sure you treated him well. The only time you used the slave seal was when Keel was scared to attack a balloon. After seeing you treat him well, I decided to…"
She let her words trail off. I pieced together what her plan was. "You wanted to find any other survivors, and use his status as a hero to keep them safe."
Sadeena turned to look at me. I couldn't get a good feel for her expression, since she was in her therianthrope form.
"Yes." She nodded. The slave seal deactivated. "And to gain your trust, I took a slave seal. But people who are strong in magic can manipulate weak seals easily, and my stats were already strong enough to let me endure the effects."
Naofumi wasn't looking too good. His arms hung at his sides, hands balled into fists.
"So, it was all a trick." He muttered.
"No, little Naofumi." Sadeena took a step toward him, only for Naofumi to step back. "We were both betrayed, you by your companion and me by this country. If we continue to work together, we can make things right."
"I don't care about that!" He yelled. "I want to go home. As long as I fight in the Waves, I'll get what I want."
"Then you should continue to work with her." I stepped in. I didn't want this to go any more pear-shaped than it already had, especially since I started it. "So she kept her motivation hidden from you. There are worse ways to start a partnership. Let's all work together."
Naofumi turned his scowl to me. "And what makes you any better?"
"Did I mention I'm also a hero?" I asked.
"What?" Naofumi quirked an eyebrow at me.
In response, I turned slightly and pointed at the Axe on my back. "The Star Axe Hero, one of eight."
"There's seven." Erhart said, rejoining the conversation.
"We'll get to that later." There were too many things to bring up at the moment.
"That's even less reason for me to work with you. Heroes can't gain XP near each other." Naofumi pointed out.
"Vassal Heroes are a little different from Holy Heroes." I responded. "In any case, can you really afford to turn your back on potential allies?"
"You mean people I can't trust?" He retorted.
"Who was it that taught you about copying weapons again?" I asked innocently. He didn't respond. "Look, if I was against you, I wouldn't bother showing you that. It'd be easier to kill you with less stats and skills. And besides…"
I moved closer to him. Naofumi stepped back and raised his shield, but I didn't stop until my face was close to his.
"I can kill that bitch princess for you when the time is right." I whispered.
Naofumi looked at me in shock. Was I serious? Would I really go up against the whole country just for him. I could see the questions on his face. If he knew the hot water I was already in with the queen, he wouldn't doubt it. Something else to discuss later.
"Fine." He said, pulling away from me. "I feel like you'll just follow me around anyway, so it's better if I keep you close."
Huh. I almost got a tsundere vibe from him. Not in the romantic sense, of course, just the whole 'hiding your true feelings' thing. A good position to have, considering what happened the last time he trusted someone.
"Besides," he added, "someone who throws around gold coins like that probably isn't out to rob me."
Oh, you saw that? Even while copying shields, he must have kept an eye on me.
If nothing else, I figured he might just want me around so he could get more tricks out of me, like copying weapons. Well, he would get those, too.
"Excellent." I clapped my hands. "Let me just copy the weapons I paid for and we can head toward our first stop." I looked over at Sadeena and Keel. "That being, seeing where that slave trader is on finding the villagers."
Sadeena smiled and transformed back. Keel was shaking from excitement. All in all, not a bad way to start things off. This was why I didn't care for politics and negotiations. I did refer to myself as a hammer, right? Well, that also meant I preferred dealing with nails, since hitting them solved the problem.
"And since we're all working together now, let me introduce you to my party." I said.
I nodded to Fohl and Atla, who removed their hoods.
"Oh my~." Sadeena held a hand to her mouth. "Quite dangerous for you two to be here."
"Hence the cloaks and shackles." I commented, then went through the introductions.
I then got to copying the weapons in the shop, though I didn't pay much attention to them. Many were ones I already had, so there wasn't much for me to even review. Instead, I was thinking back on the talk we just had. One thing in particular stood out.
"By the way, did you say Keel was a boy?"
Author's Notes:
Enter Sadeena. And Keel, too. Originally, I debated on whether or not to have Keel in the group. I figured it couldn't hurt.
More twists and turns coming up.
