Chapter 4: Sword and Shield
The village laid ahead just of them, but the party waited on the road by their campsite, waiting for someone. Naofumi heard a snap of a tree branch, looking up, The Sword Hero wandered down the path towards them. "You're getting here pretty late."
Naofumi commented only for Ren to grunt a bit. He sat down next to him, and the moment after was awkward. Finally… someone said something. "Are we just gonna sit here and stare at the ground or did you have something?"
Garfiel let out as finally, Ren spoke.
"I was thinking about what you said when I last met you. You haven't tried to change your story about what really happened. As well as how the Princess acts." He didn't mention her name since he understands that it might be a trigger now for Naofumi.
"So, when I sent you that last message, I wanted to know if you were willing to come talk and fight with me. Your shield is powerful from what I have heard. I also heard about your nickname, the Savior of the Heavenly Fowl. And I can see… Even at your Level, you seem to be very strong." He admitted. Naofumi's eyebrow raised.
"Was this a pitch for you to come recruit me?" He asked. Ren shook his head. "I… I'm starting to doubt myself. I went towards the area where Itsuke started a civil war… the Place was in ruins… My party and I tried to help them because we were ill prepared… I left them to escort them to safety. I mostly came back to ask if you will join me in helping them." Ren seemed… different. He might have helped these people to seem like a hero. But, right now, he was telling Naofumi he couldn't do much for them and knew it.
"... If the situation is what they are saying, Itsuke is putting a lot on us to clean up his mess…But I don't have the supplies needed for them. If you help me resupply in the town just up the road, we will head out that way to help."
Naofumi's mind was made up, it was not that trusted Ren, nor did he want to clean up after the Bow hero, but the people who were in trouble… they didn't deserve it, and with a larger group, it means they can be more effective.
"While there, you and your party will listen to me, got that?"
Naofumi had an evil look in his eyes, which caused all three of his 'children' to sweatdrop. Ren only nodded after a few seconds of silence. "Works for me, you know what you are doing when it comes to this situation."
As this was said, the five of them all hear someone approaching their position. They turn towards the direction a bit wary until they notice that it was just a boy with an older woman.
"Are you both ok?" Ren was quick to ask them both as stepped up to help both of them over to the campsite.
"Watch your step." The sword hero said, wanting to make sure neither the woman or the boy to trip. Raphtalia was quick to fix them a bowl of their morning breakfast since they still had some left. The boy and the older woman were both given a seat by Garfiel, allowing the two to eat in a comfy seat.
"Thank you." The older woman said as she finished up her food. Garfiel and Raphtalia both look at each other for a moment, sensing that something is wrong. While the pair were thinking this, the boy and the woman finished eating their meal before turning to the group.
"You best avoid the village up ahead. The Village is being infected by plague." She offered, appreciating their hospitality. As she said this, the information caught Ren's attention. "Plague?" He asked the old woman with a curious tone of voice, hiding his concern. She took note of the question, prompting her to nod. "Yes, and a terrible one at that." She added.
Ren thought for a moment.
'A Plague? How?'
When he was there previously, there wasn't a sign of a plague or anything along that line before he left, meaning it just came in. He got up from where he was sitting before turning towards the Shield Hero. "Naofumi, I was here not too long ago… I didn't notice anything that would warn of Plague… would you… Help me check it out?"
"And why should we? She's telling us to stay away, then we should stay away." Naofumi too wanted to help, but if it was as bad as this woman says, it might be best not to go.
"I just want to see what is going on… Plus you are the 'Savoir' as well. You should have something to help." Ren reasoned. Naofumi thought for a moment, looking at both Raphtalia and Garfiel, both of them seemingly agreeing with Ren. "...I have medicines to sell… that's the best I can do for them. We'll also resupply as best we can for the refugee crisis you mentioned. But we can't juggle too much at once." Naofumi's words suggest that he was thinking with reason and logic while Ren wanted to act on emotions.
As soon as they made sure the woman and child were safe and ready for their journey, the group set off to the village, Naofumi and Ren sitting up front while Garfield and Raphtalia sat in the back of the wagon. Filo began to travel at modest.
"You said you were at the village not too long ago, did you pass through?"
"I did, a few weeks ago when I slayed that dragon. The one I told you about in that message." Ren explained, something that Naofumi had to remember.
"The place where I did it is near the village. They were really happy I slayed the beast…but where did plague come from?"
"Maybe it's a curse." Garfiel chimed in, having had a lot of time thinking on what could've caused the situation. Ren and Naofumi both turned towards the demi human boy with Raphtalia being the one to ask,
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if Sword guy here killed th'dragon, maybe killin' it caused some curse to happen over th'village."
Ren raised an eyebrow when he heard this.
"I'm pretty sure I would've gotten a warning or something about a curse."
"Eh, who knows. Maybe th'curse's somethin' nobody knew 'bout."
"Regardless, we will find out when we arrive."
Naofumi said since he figured that everything will be revealed to them once they arrive at the village. As they eventually approach the village, Naofumi and Ren both get out with Garfiel joining a few seconds after, all of them looking around at the deserted looking village.
"What happened here?" Garfiel asked as he felt pain and sadness all around.
"..." Ren stood silent as he worried for the fate of those he helped when he was last here. The three walked alongside Filo with Raphtalia looking around from the carriage. As they closed in more and more into the village, they noticed someone say to them,
"What brings you to a place like this?"
"I'm a traveling merchant. I'm here to sell you medicine." Naofumi said in a calm tone. The old man noticed what was heard, prompting him to say,
"A traveling merchant?" He questioned until he noticed Filo. "Wait, that filolial...could it be the Heavenly Fowl?"
The old man quickly goes towards the building where the doctor of the village is located, wanting to alert him that the Heavenly Fowl has arrived at the village. The group wait for a moment before the doctor approaches them.
"Are you...the Heavenly Fowl?"
"What's going on here?" Naofumi said with a serious tone. The doctor takes note of this and was about to say something before he ends up noticing Ren.
"You..."
"..." Ren remained silent, unsure on what to say.
"Hey, answer my question. What's going on here?" Naofumi said with a serious tone of voice. The doctor turned towards the shield hero with a nervous look.
"S-Sorry. Please follow me. I will explain everything."
"Okay."
Naofumi, Raphtalia, Ren, and Garfiel follow the doctor into the building while Filo stayed with the carriage. As the four followed the doctor inside, he began to explain to the four,
"We are in dire need of help."
"Well I'm only here to sell medicine."
"Even that would be a great help! I cannot make nearly enough for everyone!"
"Ha! Don't ya worry 'bout that, we're here t'help!" Garfiel boasted since he was confident that he and the shield hero can heal the villagers. As the five of them enter the building, a nurse stands up as she notices the doctor with Naofumi and Raphtalia first.
"Doctor, who are these people?"
"Oh, they say they'll sell us medicine."
"Looking at this, I should probably give it to them myself." Naofumi said as he understood just how dire the situation is.
"Allow me t'help." Garfiel said as he also went towards the villagers. Ren looked around at the villagers, feeling completely guilty.
'What could've done this...? I should've stayed with them...I should've made sure that they were truly okay.'
With this guilt in his soul, he quickly approaches the shield hero.
"What can I do to help?"
"Just give them the medicine."
"Okay."
Ren said as he along with Raphtalia assisted Naofumi in giving the villagers the medicine while Garfiel used his healing magic to help the villagers. Although it isn't as strong at the moment, it is still effective in helping them. While everyone was helping, the nurse did look at Ren with a cold glare from time to time but kept her mouth shut, knowing this isn't the time or the place for conflict.
Once everything is set and done, Naofumi and his group follow the doctor and the nurse into a room to discuss the cost of Naofumi's medicine. Just as they all enter, the nurse takes this moment to approach the sword hero.
"You..."
"Huh?"
Before Ren could properly react to the nurse calling him out, he receives a slap to the face. Naofumi and Garfiel both chuckled at this, finding it amusing that the sword hero is getting hate while Raphtalia was just left stunned alongside Ren.
"Seems like someone pissed th'nurse off." Garfiel whispers this to Raphtalia yet she ignores him, knowing that this situation is serious. Ren was just stunned as he didn't know how to react.
"Wha...?"
"You caused this, Sword Hero!"
"B-But how...?" Ren asked hesitantly. The nurse was about to shout more yet she was stopped when the doctor set his hand on her shoulder.
"S-Sorry doctor."
"It's alright, just please try to remain calm."
"What exactly did she mean by that?" Naofumi said as he looked at Ren's direction with a sharp facial expression. The doctor calmly responded to the Shield Hero's question,
"Around a month ago, he came here and defeated the dragon."
"Yes, we are aware of th't." Garfiel added in an annoyed tone, still a bit ticked off that they didn't get to go with him.
"Many adventurers came to see the corpse of the dragon, which helped the village flourish. But one day, an adventurer collapsed, and more followed. The dragon's flesh must have begun to rot and emit some kind of poison."
Hearing this, Naofumi and Ren realized what happened. Ren took it hard because in his mind, the body should have despawned… But clearly that wasn't the case.
"Ren, what happens when you leave meat out?" Naofumi asked. Ren looked down, almost choking it out as his mind forgot a very simple lesson.
"Meat… rots…" He mouthed out.
"Yes, so you should have cleaned the body!"
"Yer such an idiot. Th't's th'most basic of things."
"...i-it's...my...fault..."
Ren gets up from his chair with his vision slightly disoriented as the guilt is immense. Normally he would blame someone else for such an oversight but this was truly his fault, no way around it. He quickly starts heading towards the door, thought Naofumi took hold of his shoulder,
"Where do you think you are going?"
"I have to fix this. I have to fix my mistake."
Without hesitation, Ren brushes his hand off, leaving the room and starts to run towards the direction of the mountain. As he was running towards the mountain with everything he got, he eventually heard a voice behind him.
"Aye! Wait up!"
"Hm?"
Ren stopped on his tracks as he turned around, surprised that Garfiel managed to catch up to him.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Naofumi and the others?"
"Don't be stupid. Ya think my amazin' self'll let ya go at it alone? Not a chance!"
"But why? This is my mess and mine alone."
"Ya know, yer actin' like a child, wanting t'look all cool but yer really stupid."
Ren had no response to Garfiel's comment, not sure on how he should respond. The demi human crossed his arms as he received no response, prompting him to say,
"Like the sayin' goes, Nobody Can Lift a Quain Stone Alone."
"Huh?" Ren looked at Garfiel confused by the saying the boy said. Garfiel took note of this, forcing him to explain himself.
"It means nobody can do everythin' on their own." As Garfiel said this, he began to walk past the sword hero, making his way towards the direction of the dead dragon. "Come on, we got a job t'do. Don't ya wanna make up fer hurtin' th'village from yer mistakes?"
"Y-Yes! Let's get going."
Ren responded while also giving a nod before quickly starting to run side by side with Garfiel, both of them going on their own to get rid of the dragon's corpse. As they were running, the demi human boy thought back on how he was also trying to do everything on his own though the words that definitely stuck with him was what his captain told him,
("You know it's not gonna stay like this forever! In the same way we've all been cornered, there's gonna come a time you'll be completely helpless on your own, maybe tomorrow or maybe even right now. Learn to accept that, Garfiel. Then discover what it 'strength in numbers' means.")
'Don't ya worry Cap'n, I understand.'
As he recalls this line from his captain, he turned towards the Sword hero to ask him,
"Why do ya insist on doing things on yer own? Ya know ya can rely on us th'back ya up."
Ren heard Garfiel's question, prompting him to close his eyes for a moment, his mind making him think back of his original home.
"... Come on Ren-chan! You were amazing in the game last night. Why won't you team up with us again!?" Came the voice of a girl that walked alongside him.
"I told you Megumi, I'm a solo player. I only came along this time because you said you needed my help." Ren explained to her once more. Megumi just pouted at him for a moment before rebutting what he had said by saying, The look on her face and the roll of her eye only added to her annoyance.
"You idiot, you aren't Kirito! This isn't Sword Art Online! It's Brave Star Online!"
"What's the difference?" Ren said in a slightly sarcastic way which only causes Megumi to pout even harder.
"Hmph! You know full well that they are different! Even if Brave Star Online is a parody of Sword Art Online, it is its own thing!"
"I know. I know. I just… really relate to him."
"You really shouldn't relate to him of all characters."
"Anyways." Ren went on, now making her pout more. "I'm going to be busy." He was lying. He was going to help her, but he was going to come in at the moment, as normal, and save the day. It's what he feels he should do. He was a hero after all.
"And don't even think about trying to make another dramatic entrance!" Ren froze at Megumi's words.
"You can read minds?"
"No, I can just read you like a book. But really, I'm always glad to see you, but everyone else gets annoyed at it. So don't do it. Just let us know if you're going to join us or not."
This was Ren's life. Going to school, talking with his best friend, and just enjoying Brave Star Online. He couldn't ask for anything better than at the moment in time. In Brave Star Online, he could be the hero he always wanted to be. Someone that people can look up, someone who could protect others.
His ideals… were flawed. He modeled his mindset after the hero of Sword Art Online, Kirito. He was consumed by the character that should not be worshiped in any way. But he didn't care. Was wanting to be a hero really such a bad thing?
As the duo walked down the road, they noticed an increase of police cars in the area. Little did Ren and Megumi know, they were walking right into danger.
"Because...I'm not good at making friends. Here, I just see them as NPCs. In my world, I just couldn't. I want to be seen as a hero. Heck, I had a best friend who reached out to me, befriending me though I should've appreciated that friendship more..."
Ren answered Garfiel's question as he thought back on the incident, the moments before he was summoned to this world. Garfiel looked at him for a moment before looking forward, noticing that they were closing in on the dragon's corpse. Before they arrived, he responded to Ren's response with,
"Ya know yer an idiot right?"
"How?"
"Ya act like th'cool one but deep down yer all alone because yer afraid to reach out. Don't ya want friends?"
"I..." Ren paused as he thought on how his life almost had once ended before for being close to someone though he wished he was close to people. "...do. But I can't afford anyone else getting hurt."
("Don't just give up on yourself! Whenever you think, 'I wanna do it! I wanna change!' That's where your starting line is! When you decide to lift your head and walk again, who has the right to stop you, for any reason?!")
"Ya know, ya shouldn't give up on yer self. Ya wanna change, ya wanna have friends, then go for it. Nobody's gonna judge ya fer wantin' some friends." Garfiel wasn't going to let Ren go down that path, the one he was one before. Ren stays silent as he is surprised by the demi human's words. Just as they arrive at the scene, the two begin to smell the horrible stench of death.
"Seems like we came here ill-prepared." Garfiel said, which caused Ren to facepalm, realizing that he and Garfiel hadn't thought about the stench of the dead dragon.
"Damn!"
"No worries. We won't die from th's. We'll just need t'be more careful."
"Right."
"Now how are we gonna clean it up?
"..."
"Ya don't have anythin' t'clean th's up with?"
"I don't have anything to clean it up with, yes."
Once more, due to just rushing out the door, Ren had no plan, just acted on impulse, feelings, when he should have waited to come up with a plan with the others. Garfiel couldn't help but laugh at this, finding the situation a bit funny.
"It's aight, we'll figure somethin' out but first we should move th'body."
"I agree with that, get out of the wind so it's posien doesn't carry down the mountain. as long as it stays intact, that shouldn't be a problem."
Ren stated as the two began their approach. As they drew closer, the eyes of the dragon lit up with a pinkish purple light, almost as if it was coming to life.
"Th'hell?!"
"What is...?"
Garfiel and Ren were both caught off guard by this. The two were shocked as they watched the thing seemingly recall it's blood back into its body and began to move despite being dead for weeks now and rotting, meaning...
"Is this… dragon… a… zombie!?"
"Zombie? Th'fuck's th't?"
"Undead."
"...well then, I get t'really do like th'sayin' goes, the Master Swordsman Reid laughed as he drew his sword against a dragon!"
'Reid?' Ren paused by the name only for him to think for a brief moment on what Garfiel said, eventually seeing that he had a point. There are many stories of many swordsmen killing a dragon in history… But this is one of those times… he didn't want to be a hero for the sake of being a hero… He's being a hero here because it's the right thing to do.
'Those villagers, they all suffered because I got careless. Because I saw this as a game...no, because I wanted to act like I'm the main hero of this story. I have been selfish...I have to atone for my mistakes here and now but not alone.'
"Hey Garfiel, can you help me stop this dragon?"
"Hell ya! My amazin' self's always wanted t'fight a dragon!"
Ren just smirked when he heard this, feeling the same way Garfiel does right now when he first encountered the dragon. The two turned towards the zombie dragon's direction and began the battle by charging directly at it. The dragon noticed this and quickly attacked the two by swinging its tail.
"I got it!" Using his arms, Garfield blocked the tail, but the size of it gave it enough power to push him back. Ren reacted by slicing into the tail himself.
"Lightning Slash!'
His move was activated as the attack did work before against the Dragon. It stunned it last time so it should have the same effect here, giving him an opening to finish it off quickly.
"Garfiel! It's head!" He called out.
"On it!" Garfield jumped up as he began moving forward, his arm transforming into the tiger arm. Once he closes the gap between himself and the dragon, he goes for a strong attack on the head of the dragon. Ren noticed this and felt that Garfiel had this, confident that the demi human with his large arm would be able to land the killing blow.
As Garfiel slashed the top of the dragon's head, the undead dragon moved its attention from Ren to Garfiel, quickly slapping him away with one of its wings. This showed Ren and Garfiel that the demi human boy's attack did nothing but annoy the undead dragon.
'Damn, this dragon is more dangerous than before...shit! It's all my fault.'
Ren once again felt the guilt of his mistakes, seeing that the dragon is much more dangerous than before. As he was slowly getting consume by this, Garfiel quickly shouted at him,
"Oy! Get yer head back into th'fight! Ya wanna let th's thing hurt more people?!"
'That's right! I can't think about how I messed up, I need to start finding solutions!'
Ren hit his head to get his mind back into the fight. He charged at the dragon once again, trying to get close enough to use another one of his abilities. Just as he closed the gap, he jumped high enough to reach near the dragon's head while starting to use one of his abilities.
"Dragon Buster!"
Flames burst out of the sword and took the shape of a dragon. Ren moved closely at the dragon and landed an effective hit, managing to do some damage to the undead dragon.
"Nice one!"
Garfiel cheered as he was impressed by the power. Ren nodded at this before quickly gaining some distance from the dragon. Once he was successful in doing this, his sword once again began to glow as he prepared for another attack.
"Shooting Star Sword!"
Ren's sword released the magic energy within it, which released in a flash of stars. As these stars managed to land on the dragon, it left it stunned long enough for Garfiel to step in and land his own attacks.
He landed one strong hit with his tiger arm on the dragon's jaw before moving to land a powerful slash on the dragon's head once again. As he managed to land these two attacks, he also jumped away as the dragon roared with anger.
Garfiel managed to land next to Ren, both of them having their guards up. The undead dragon eventually started to blow his breath at the duo with everything it had. Garfiel and Ren both seemed confident that they can take this without any worries until for the briefest of moments, the demi human boy felt something off with the breath.
'Poison!'
Without any hesitation he threw Ren out of the way, surprising him as the Sword hero wasn't expecting Garfiel to do this. As Ren was sent flying, the undead dragon's breath hit Garfiel harshly, affecting his breathing for a moment before he managed to shake it off.
"*Cough* Ya alright sword guy!?" Garfield called out. Ren regained himself as he stood up.
"I'm alright. What was that attack? It did nothing like that when I fought it."
"It was poison!"
Ren's eyes widened. Garfiel took that full attack of poison.
"Are you okay?"
"Th's nothin'! My amazin' self can still fight!"
"You sure?"
"No need th'worry. A little poison won't kill me."
Ren was worried for Garfiel's sake but seeing that he was still standing and looked pretty much in good health, he chose to trust the demi human's words. The two looked as the dragon prepared to fire another set of poison breath.
"Ah no ya don't!"
Garfiel stomps the ground, managing to cause the ground underneath the dragon to explode for a moment, distracting it. Ren took this moment to charge in solo, confident that he should be able to take it from here.
"This time you will die, dragon."
The dragon noticed what Ren had said, causing it to quickly recover in order to fire a strong amount of its breath towards his direction. The Sword Hero was completely unprepared for this and ended up getting hit by the poison breath.
At first he wasn't afraid of this, confidently thinking that he is resistant to it only to start feeling some of the poison's effect.
"Ya fuckin' moron!"
Garfiel shouted as he managed to get to Ren before managing to quickly get him and himself out of the attack. He jumped far enough to gain some distance from the dragon. As the two were away, Garfiel began to scold Ren by saying,
"Ya need th'think before goin' in like th't! Come on, we're a team!"
"Sorry. Still not used to working with others."
"Then try harder. We're fightin' fer our lives now. We could die at any moment if we're not careful."
"R-Right."
Ren nods as he is reminded once again that this isn't a game, that this is real life. The two look at the dragon as it once again throws another set of poison breath at them. The two manage to avoid this while charging at the dragon from different directions.
Garfiel runs at the right side with his body managing to hold off the poison and Ren on the left side with some of his resistance to poison allowing him to still keep fighting. The dragon stood standing for a second before turning towards the Sword Hero, wanting vengeance on him.
It swung its tail at Ren at full speed, wanting to critically injure the sword hero only for him to avoid this attack while also sending another lighting strike at it.
This gave Garfiel the opening he needed to land a powerful hit on the dragon's neck.
The Dragon only seemed to get even more aggressive, with a slash of it's claws, it swatted Garfield away once more.
"Damn, this thing just won't go down… Again!" Garfiel was starting to feel out of it. His vision was becoming a bit blurry, but he had to fight on.
Ren watched Garfiel stumble a bit. He's taken two direct poison breath, as well as been hit more times than he has. He had to be feeling it right now.
His mind was screaming at him to tell him to leave and let him face the dragon alone to atone but Garfiel would refuse, hell even Naofumi would refuse if he was here instead of Garfiel.
Neither of them would let him do that.
("Being a hero doesn't mean you need to put the whole world on your shoulders…")
Her words felt so far away now. Such a basic thing he needed to remember… and yet he still needed to be reminded of it. 'Damn it!'
"Garfiel! Allow me to draw it's attention once again. I'll give you the opening you need to land a fatal blow."
"Don't ya worry, my amazin' self'll make sure th's dragon feels the strength of the Shield of Sanctuary."
"Alright, just don't die."
"Th't goes fer ya as well!"
Ren smiled at this before having a more serious facial expression, knowing that he will need to give it his all right here if he wants both Garfiel and himself to survive this battle. He goes to charge at the dragon once again, this time coming up with an idea that will help Garfiel have the opening he needs.
"Hey! Dragon!" Ren shouts as he wants the undead dragon to look at him only. "I killed you once before, I'll make sure to do it again!"
The dragon roared with even more anger at this before starting to swing its tail rapidly at him. Ren smirked a bit since this was what he intended to happen, prompting him to jump on top of the tail while preparing his lighting strike once again.
"Lighting strike!"
Ren sent another powerful lighting based attack, though this one seemed more powered up as it was able to stun the undead dragon for mere seconds. Within those mere few seconds, the Sword hero ran up the tail as fast as he could to close in on the dragon, preparing to use one of his strongest abilities he has that he knows will be effective on his opponent.
"Dragon Buster!"
Once again flames burst out of the sword and took the shape of a dragon. Ren smiled as he moved closely at the dragon's head in order to land another effective hit, managing to do some more damage to it. The dragon roared at Ren as it moved its left wing to try and hit the sword hero while he was in mid-air only for Garfiel to take this chance to attack the dragon's side while it was fully distracted.
As Garfiel landed the powerful hit, he quickly followed that up with a secondary hit only this time his left arm being in its beast mode. With this second amount of damage, the dragon roared in pain as it finally turned its attention towards the demi human boy. Garfiel and Ren noticed this with Garfiel quickly jumping far away to avoid an attack from the dragon while Ren prepared another powerful attack.
"Focus on me!"
Ren shouted as he prepared to use Shooting Star Sword once again only for him to be caught off guard by the undead dragon's tail. Garfiel saw this and quickly reacted by jumping high and fast towards the sword hero's position. As he does that, the dragon takes the advantage by once again sending another set of poison breath while the sword hero and Garfiel were in the air.
"Tsk. Damn th's dragon!"
Without hesitation, Garfiel threw Ren above the dragon to give the sword hero a chance to attack it while it was in the middle of an attack while also avoiding the poison. Ren was shocked by this since this'll be the third time Garfiel gets hit by the poison.
"Wait hold on Ga–!"
"My amazin' self'll be fine! Just finish th's!"
As Garfiel said this, the mist of the dragon's breath covered the boy, leaving Ren even more shocked since the demi human could die from all this exposure to poison.
"N-No..."
Ren looked down to see that he had the right chance to end this all, take out the dragon with just one powerful slash from his sword but if he takes too long, Garfiel will die. If he distracts the dragon to get him to stop shooting poison from his mouth, Garfiel's strategy would be ruined.
'What do I do?!'
("Why Ren-chan...? Why did you play the hero...?")
Ren remembered the last words his best friend had said to him before he arrived in this new world. He remembered the sadness in her voice as everything had felt like it was fading away. These words helped make Ren's choice, prompting him to quickly charge his sword as he shouted,
"Thunder Sword!"
As Ren shouted this, he sent a wave of lighting directly at the dragon's head, getting its attention. The dragon looked up as it wanted to eat the Sword hero, wanting revenge on him but the sword hero managed to land on its nose.
As he did this, he used the dragon's nose to boost himself into jumping into the dragon's poison breath mist to get Garfiel out of there. As he entered the dragon's poison breath, he managed to shove himself and Garfiel out of there, which resulted in the pair crash landing on the ground.
"Tsk. I told ya t'take yer chance...!"
"And let you get yourself killed? Not a chance." Ren said proudly as he did not regret his choice to save the demi human boy. Garfiel smiled at him before beginning to boast about his own strength.
"Eh, my amazin' self'll be fine. Th's nothin' fer my amazin' self!"
Ren just smiled at Garfiel, though that changed once the boy struggled to stand on his feet. The demi human boy's body was barely keeping up with the poison due to having been hit three times at this point. As he helps the boy stand up, he notices that the dragon is about to shoot another set of poison breath.
"Are you serious?!"
"Man, th's dragon can only do one damn attack...what a waste..."
"I'll get us out of this..."
Ren said as he prepared to take the hit of the poison breath only for someone to shout at their direction:
"Shield Prison!"
"Hm?"
Suddenly a green ball of shields cover both Ren and Garfiel, protecting the pair from the poison breath throwing towards their area. As the shield prison ability protected the two, both warriors smiled as they knew who created this.
"Took him long enough." Garfiel said as he felt relieved.
"Agreed." Ren said as he also was able to relax for a moment. The two watched as they could hear the undead dragon in pain. Garfiel smiled as he was able to sense that it was probably Filo in her filolial form. After a few seconds, the shield prison protecting the two had disappeared with both Naofumi and Raphtalia approaching them. Before they could say anything, the two immediately noticed Garfiel's condition.
"Garf!" Raphtalia shouted as she approached the very weak demi human boy. As she started to quickly give him some medicine in hopes of healing the boy, Naofumi approached Ren with a serious facial expression.
"Ren! What the hell happened here?!" He asked, trying to figure out why a dragon that was supposed to be dead was fighting back.
"Why is the Dragon still alive and what's wrong with Garfiel?" These were directed at Ren as he was supposed to be one responsible for this situation.
"The Dragon's power appearly turned it into a Zombie Dragon, Garfiel and I had no idea what we were walking into. I'm sorry I put him in danger like this." Ren bowed his head before Naofumi shoved him.
"None of that right now, we need to talk about that thing before it kills us." At that moment, Filo was knocked back. She was blinded by her hatred of Dragons as she began to attack mindlessly.
"FILO! STOP THAT AND LISTEN. AIM FOR THE SOFT SPOTS AND ATTACK THERE!" Knowing it was no use to stop her, Naofumi decided to direct her as she attacked.
"Just maybe we can all beat this thing if we work together, Ren."
"The strategy I used to defeat it the first time won't work."
"Alright, we just need to find a weak point. Raphtalia, tend to Garfiel and get him back to the wagon, then come join the fight!"
"Eh?! No way! I can still fight!" Garfiel shouted as he used all the strength inside him to slowly try to walk towards Naofumi.
"Not in that condition. If Raphtalia doesn't tend to you properly, you will die. Do you understand?"
"I understand plenty but my amazin' self won't back down. The Master Swordsman Reid laughed as he drew his sword against a dragon!"
"I don't get what that means but it is irrelevant. Go and rest up. The rest of us can handle it from here." Naofumi said as he quickly casted air strike shield in order to protect Filo from one of the dragon's attacks.
"Garfiel, Please let us help you first. Don't be stubborn..." Raphtalia was clearly worried about him, and by now, he was feeling the effects of the poison hitting him hard no matter how much he boasted about his 'Amazing self'. The pleading in Raphtaila's eyes almost reminded his own sister's.
"...tsk. Fine, but my amazin' self'll join back as soon's possible!" He called out as he walked with Raphtalia back to the wagon, trying to muster up the strength to walk normally despite the poison taking a heavy toll on his body and mind. While this happened, Ren approached Naofumi as he wanted to know,
"What's the plan, Naofumi?"
"We have to keep it's attention trained on someone. That way the rest of us can find a weak point."
"That's easy, it wants to kill me so most of this fight, it's been focused on me."
Ren and Naofumi looked at each other for a moment.
"...I think I have an idea…"
"Ren no!
"Ren Yes!"
Filo overheard what was being said and shouted that, which distracted her for a moment. This moment of distraction was long enough for the dragon to retaliate on Filo's constant attacks, allowing it to use its tail to smack her towards a nearby mountain. Filo tried to recover but the dragon made sure to knock her out by landing another brutal hit on her with its tail. Naofumi and Ren both noticed this after having argued over Ren's idea.
"Filo!" The Shield hero shouted with concern.
"M-Master..." Filo said weakly before falling to the ground in her filolial form. Naofumi had a moment of fear set in, seeing that things are going wrong extremely fast with Filo knocked out and Garfiel poisoned.
'This is all my fault… No…'
Something was starting to break inside of Naofumi. As his mind imagined something worse… Raphtaila being hurt by this thing.
"...THIS IS YOUR FAULT, REN!"
All of them, Ren mostly, were taken aback as Naofumi grabbed hold of Ren, by the neck, holding him up with his free hand while his shield arm seemed to on instinct block attacks from the Dragon's Tail without flinching. Naofumi began to choke Ren. Raphtalia and Garfiel both turned as they saw what was happening.
"NAOFUMI-SAMA! STOP! REN'S OUR FRIEND!" Raphtaila screamed out as she and Garfiel watched in horror.
"OI! NAOFUMI! LET HIM GO!"
Naofumi ignored them as Ren began to struggle.
"Naofumi… Please… I'm… Sorry!"
"SORRY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH! YOU ALMOST TOOK GARFIEL FROM ME AND NOW HIM AND FILO ARE HURT! THEY COULD DIE HERE! WE ALL COULD DIE HERE! IT'S YOUR DAMN FAULT FOR NOT ONLY THINKING THIS IS JUST SOME DAMN VIDEO GAME, BUT THINKING YOU ARE THE ONLY GOD DAMN HERO THERE IS! YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY HERO AND YOU HAVE SINGLE HANDEDLY MADE THIS SITUATION THE WORST IT COULD BE, REN AMAKI! THIS IS…ALL YOUR FAULT!"
Naofumi's roars were as fierce as the Dragon has he couldn't help but choke Ren. All the Sword Hero could see was red, fiery eyes, not of the Dragon, but of the Shield Hero. He took a look around, racing towards him were his other two party members, wanting to stop their leader, Filo was still down but was clearly upset at the situation.
Ren took a look back between the Dragon, and Naofumi… He felt ashamed. Naofumi was right, this was his fault and while he was trying to fix it, he did it so impulsively, so narrow sighted, in such a way that they were all going to die.
'I'm so pathetic. I keep wanting to do everything on my own, maybe I should–'
("Ren-chan remember… Being a Hero, doesn't mean you have to be alone. Stand with everyone and open your mind and heart…")
'Stand...with everyone?'
Ren thought as something came to mind, something that Garfiel had said earlier.
("Like the sayin' goes, Nobody Can Lift a Quain Stone Alone.")
"Naofumi-sama stop!" Ren came back to the moment as Raphtaila was holding onto the Shield hero, hugging Naofumi, who seemed to be calmer now. Garfiel held his hand out, weakly standing up himself.
"You alright?" He asked.
"Yeah… But he's right… It is my fault… Naofumi… I'm not just sorry… But I want to work with you guys to defeat this thing… From now on… I want to fight with you as my friend Naofumi." Ren declared.
In his vision, his skill tree popped up, as the saw around him, a blue and white magical aura surrounded him. His eyes looked over as many new 'skills' were being unlocked.
'Blessed… Series…?'
Suddenly, he looked at the Dragon, and everyone else around him. He could see something about them. While Naofumi's group had a white aura around them, the Dragon had a black one, as well as something purple glowing inside of it.
'Wait, could that be the source of its power?'
Without any time to waste, he turns to Naofumi in order to tell him this information.
"There is something in the dragon's stomach. An odd purple glow."
Looking that way, Naofumi didn't see anything, but for some reason, the look in Ren's eye… told him to trust him.
"Raphtaila, we're going to get Ren an opening!" He called
"Don't forget 'bout me!" Garfiel said as he was using every ounce of strength he had in him to stay standing.
"You are not participating." Naofumi said with a sharp look, not wanting Garfiel to get himself killed yet the boy didn't listen.
"My amazin' self started th's fight, I'm gonna help finish it!"
Naofumi was taken aback by Garfiel's sheer will power though he did still see the boy as completely stubborn and foolish.
"If you wish to help then you will help Raphtalia. Only distract the dragon, not go into a fist fight with it."
"Don't ya worry, my amazin' self won't let ya down!"
"Alright then, go!"
Raphtalia and Garfiel both nodded at Naofumi before running towards the dragon on different sides, with Raphtalia on the left and Garfiel on the right.
As the two were closing in, Ren started to run towards the middle while Naofumi created a couple of air strike shields to allow Ren to reach the head of the dragon without the need of using an extreme high jump.
Garfiel quickly grabs a strong looking rock and throws it with enough force to cause just a little damage, enough to get the dragon's attention.
"Oi! Don't think I'm out of th'fight just yet, ya ugly bastard!"
The dragon roared at Garfiel as it prepared to attack the demi human boy only for Raphtalia to get close enough to land a single hit on the dragon. This got its attention, distracting it long enough for Ren to reach a high enough height to attack the undead dragon from above.
"Ha!"
Out of nowhere, Filo, finally recovered enough to turn back into her bird form, kicked the Dragon on its neck, making it crane to a safe angle for Ren to begin his attack.
"This is for all those sick villagers! And this is for Garfield and Filo!" He called as he jumped from the last Air strike shield and went right into the Dragon's mouth. The moment he entered, he used his sword to slice down and open the dragon's neck, all the way down to it's stomach.
"Dragon Buster!"
He let out as he reached it's stomach while slicing through the neck from the inside. He manages to see the source of the dragon's power more clearly as his vision was no longer clouded. The blast of flames sent the crystal rocketing out of the dragon, effectively killing it as the undead dragon made one last roar before falling to the ground.
The group took in a big sigh of relief as the dragon fell. Ren, covered in the gore of the beast, slumped onto the ground from the feeling of his new powers leaving him for now. He panted as he felt a hand pick him up by the shoulder. Naofumi, finally calmer, looked at Ren.
"Good work." Was all he said patting his back.
"Thanks… How are Garfiel and Filo?"
"They are doing alright. But, we need to get Garfiel back to the village so we can cure his poison. I don't have the tools on me." Naofumi explained.
"My amazin' self'll...be fine...th's just..."
Garfiel passed out after having exhausted all of his strength.
Garfiel finally woke up again, seeing he was in a bed. His body was still in pain because of the poison, but for the most part, he wasn't going to die from it. Naofumi was sitting by his bedside, finally looking up for his studies as he noticed the movement.
"You're awake finally." He commented as his expression changed from worried to relieved.
"Yeah… how is everyone?"
"Worried sick about you. Filo bounced back like nothing happened to her." Naofumi added as Garfiel grinned.
"So you were most worried about me, huh?"
"Yeah because you and Ren were both dumbasses and charged up the mountain without a plan."
"Well we would have been fine if you didn't take so long.. why did you take so long anyways?"
Naofumi sighed as he remembered Filo throwing a fit because at first, he was going to leave the wagon, but she somehow got the idea that they would leave it behind forever. It took most of the time they were late to get her to calm down and decide to take the wagon up with them.
"...Long story." Naofumi supplied as he looked slightly annoyed. "Anyways, Ren and I finished cleaning up the dragon's body. We also found it's core that Ren said was what brought it back to life… Filo ate a piece of it…"
Garfiel couldn't help but laugh, knowing that Filo would eat just about anything she thinks would taste good.
It wasn't long before a knock came to the door. Naofumi opened it, knowing it was the other three coming to check on Garfiel like they have been doing for the last few hours.
"Garf, you are okay." Raphtalia said with Filo showing her affection and worry towards the demi human boy by giving him a hug. Garfiel accepted this hug from Filo while turning towards Raphtalia, boasting a bit despite his body still in pain.
"Yea! My amazin' self still got th's!"
Raphtalia just smiled at Garfiel, seeing that he still had a strong spirit despite being out for almost the rest of the day. Ren approached the demi human boy and began to say in a low tone of voice,
"I'm sorry Garfiel, I should've been a lot more careful."
"Ah, don't worry Sword guy, my amazin' self had loads of fun. Besides, we made one hell of a team."
Ren was caught off guard by this for a moment before just responding with,
"Yeah, we sure did. Though you should really rest. Your body is barely pushing back the poison."
"Yea, figured as much. Though th's just a temporary rest. Once my amazin' self gets back t'full strength, nothin'll stop me!"
Ren just smiled and nodded at Garfiel's claims, believing the boy since he was able to take so much poison despite not having any kind of resistance to it.
"And you won't get back to full strength until you're rested." Naofumi lightly scolded.
"Oh come on Naofumi, I'm resting, I'm resting!"
Ren chuckled as he noticed how he treats all three of his party members. It was strange as Ren himself never felt that close to his party.
'That is something I will need to change soon.'
As Ren engraved this thought in his soul, he turned towards Naofumi, noticing just how much he cares about his party members.
"You seem really like a dad to them… Huh, Dadfumi…"
"..."
Naofumi was surprised by this, causing him to be silent for a moment before turning towards Ren with an annoyed expression.
"Say that again and I will Kill you."
"Alright Alright, I was just messing with you." Ren said as he could tell that Naofumi wouldn't actually kill him. "We should probably leave Garfiel to rest then."
"Yeah, come on Raphtalia, Filo. Garfiel needs to sleep."
"Now wait a moment! My amazin' self isn't sleeping right now!"
"Doesn't matter, get some rest."
"Tsk. Whatever, 'Dadfumi'."
"Excuse me?"
Naofumi gave a dangerous aura towards Garfiel when he said that name. Raphtalia was left shocked while Filo giggled as she saw that the demi human boy was in trouble. Before Naofumi said anything more on that matter towards Garfiel, he turned towards Ren sharply.
"I blame you for that."
"My bad."
Ren said hesitantly since he didn't expect Garfiel to use the throwaway nickname he gave Naofumi so quickly and sarcastically.
"Master Dadfumi!" Filo cheered as Naofumi glared at Ren even more, making Raphtalia sweatdrop.
"...My bad again…"
"Whatever, it's stuck now. Just don't make it a habit." Naofumi said, annoyed.
'Sadly that might stick.' Ren thought since he knows how much of a dad Naofumi makes himself out to be in front of his three party members. It was… refreshing to see.
"I sort of envy this, Naofumi. I feel I don't have the same kind of relationship with my party. We get along… but It doesn't feel like we truly feel like a family."
Naofumi understood why.
"Well, maybe you can take the first steps into improving your relationship."
"How so?"
"Just talk to them. It's really that simple." Naofumi said with a slightly annoyed tone of voice, annoyed at how Ren doesn't know the basics of making meaningful relationships. Ren just crossed his arms as he felt uncertain on whether he can actually talk to his party after having distanced himself from them. Before he could even question Naofumi's answer, he started to think back about his best friend, how she never stopped trying to converse with him despite his cold and loner-like demeanor. He closed his eyes as he smiled.
"Alright Naofumi, I'll try just that."
"Naofumi-sama, we should leave. Garf needs his rest." Raphtalia said as she noticed that Garfiel managed to go and sleep. The others also noticed this and quickly began to leave the room. As Ren was the last one to leave, he turned towards the sleeping Garfiel.
'Thank you Garfiel. You helped me improve not only in strength but also in my heart. I owe you one.'
With Ren's thought finished, he gently closed the door to allow the demi human boy to rest, knowing that he had earned it.
A few days had passed after the battle against the dragon. Garfield has made enough of a recovery that is able to travel now, but the villagers still weren't completely healed from the illness.
"...So I'll go ahead and head back to the capital. I need to inform both the guild and the King about this situation… I won't mention you because of that." Ren explained as he and Naofumi's party walked back from a small job they took together.
"Right… I'll be heading that way tomorrow so we'll link up there and buy the supplies we need to go clean up Itsuke's mess now." Clearly annoyed, Naofumi made sure to make it clear that he was only doing this to help the people. Ren is going to owe him a lot.
"I sent a messenger to my party to inform them that we will be heading that way soon." Ren added. The two were deep into planning this next move, making Raphtaila, Filo, and Garfiel happy seeing the two heroes working together. As the five of them were walking around for a bit, they noticed a girl with blue attire and blue hair surrounded by filolials.
"Is that...?"
"...a human child?"
Both Ren and Naofumi speculated. Garfiel tried to close in quietly only to accidentally break a branch, startling the filolials. As all of the filolials began to run, Filo started to say,
"Those birds look yummy."
"...what?" Ren said dumbfoundly
"Filo… you're not thinking about-"
"If we start now, we can catch them!"
Of course, it came back to their mind that if Filo thought of it as food, she would want to eat it, including apparently other Filolials.
"Ya do know they're like ya, a Filolial! Yer trying t'eat yer own kind!"
"Huh?" Filo only thought with her stomach, naturally, she saw prey, not more of her kind.
"So… Big!"
"That's what she said! Ha! …Ow! Talia!"
"I don't know what that means but it was probably something stupid."
"It was––ow!"
Garfiel received another hit in the head from Naofumi this time. He had understood what Garfiel's joke meant. The little girl continued to speak with Filo, befriending her. As the two were talking, the group learned that the girl's name was Melty.
"Seems like they're gettin' a lot."
"Yeah, it is good. Filo should get along with other children."
"Ya sure're right 'bout th't, Dadfumi."
Naofumi smacked Garfiel in the head for mentioning that stupid nickname once again before looking at Ren once again, still blaming him for saying that nickname. Ren just nervously laughed this off. The Shield hero turned towards Filo's direction to say,
"Hey Filo! Don't forget that we still have to go to the village to do some work. But in the meantime, you can play with that girl."
"You mean it?" Filo said with excitement in her voice.
"Can she really?" The girl known as Melty asked with her voice also excited by this.
"Sure, I don't see why not." Naofumi responded in a blank expression, not seeing anything wrong with it. Filo jumped up before switching into her human form. Melty was surprised by this yet happy. As the two girls were speaking for a bit, Ren couldn't help but say,
"This is quite wholesome."
"It sure is." Naofumi said, having seen this as an opportunity to agree with Ren in something.
"Master, can I play a little longer with Mel?"
"Sure, just be back by sunset."
"Classic Dadfumi." Garfiel said as he couldn't resist saying that.
"Hey Filo, Garfiel will take care of you."
"What?"
"He'll make sure to bring you back before sunset."
"Wait a minute, my amazin' self ain't no babysitter!"
"Well that's what you get for pushing your luck. Come on Raphtalia, Ren, we have some work to do."
"Th's not fair, boss man!" Garfiel shouted after him as the trio wandered off. As the three left Garfiel behind to take care of Filo and Melty, Ren started the conversation with Naofumi,
"Seems like it is time for me to head on out."
"Well then, I guess I'll see you over there then."
"Yeah."
"Naofumi-sama, isn't there something you want to tell Ren-sama?" Raphtalia said which caused Naofumi to be slightly uncomfortable.
"Fine...Ren, I'm sorry about before. I don't remember what happened but still, I'm sorry for lashing out on you."
"It's fine, I figured that you weren't in control. Though before I leave, I wanted to ask if you knew something called 'the blessed series'?"
"The blessed series?" Naofumi looked at Ren a little confused. This gave Ren enough information that this is something new.
"It is something I just unlocked during the fight with the undead dragon. Once I learn more of its abilities, I will tell you about them."
"Alright, but if you ask me, you should keep it to yourself for now. Don't tell Itsuki or that idiot Motoyasu."
"I wasn't planning to, at least not until I understood its power."
Naofumi just nodded at Ren before him and Raphtalia watched the Sword Hero go off on his own, knowing that they will cross paths once again soon. Raphtalia looked at Naofumi for a moment before smiling.
"Seems like you have a new friend."
"Hm? No, Ren is just someone I can work with now. He isn't stupid like Motoyasu or completely self rightous like Itsuki. Ren is actually someone who will listen to reason."
"Well we also have to thank Garfiel. He must've said something to the Sword Hero to have helped him change." Raphtalia said, knowing that the demi human boy also played a role in Ren's change in personality. Naofumi took a moment to think on Garfiel, knowing that the boy was something else.
"He really is something, annoying at times and very stupid but resorceful when it counts."
Raphtalia agreed though she did have a lot of respect for Garfiel, having seen just how capable he is when he is cornered.
"We should go back and help the villagers."
"Yes, Naofumi-sama."
Raphtalia nodded as she followed her master towards the village.
Ren had managed to reach the capital with his first destination being the castle to speak with the king. It didn't take him long before managing to get into the castle, leading him to make his way towards the throne room. As he entered, he could hear the king berating a couple of knights.
"How could you lose her?! I should have your heads for this!"
"P-Pardon us, your majesty...w-we didn't know she was gone until––"
"Find her! And if anything happens to her, you five will be executed! Understood?!"
"Y-Yes your majesty!"
The five knights left the throne room in a hurry, all of them now on a mission to find the person they had lost. As they left, the priest noticed Ren's presence.
"Ah. The Sword Hero. What brings you here?"
"Yes, I've come here to apologize."
"Apologize? Why?" The king questioned, a bit confused on what the sword hero wants to apologize for. The priest was also interested to know what the sword hero is apologizing for. Ren kneeled in respect to show his sincerest of apologies as he said to both of them,
"I want to apologize for my mistake. I defeated a dragon but because I was careless, the people of a village down the mountain got sick. I did clean up my mistakes but I must still apologize for doing such a careless mistake of leaving the corpse there."
The Priest and the King were a bit surprised by this. The King was uncertain on how to really react while The Priest smiled at the Sword hero and approached him. Once he was close to the sword hero, he began to tell him,
"You are forgiven. As someone who can admit their mistakes and fix them, you have proven to be a worthy hero. God has forgiven you my son, now rise."
Ren looked at the priest and just gave him a nod. The King closed his eyes as he gave his own thoughts on the matter.
"You have proven yourself a worthy hero in the previous waves and considering that you chose to fix the mistake you made, I think this can slide as a warning to be careful."
"Thank you." Ren said, feeling validated though he had already felt that when he and Naofumi became friends during the days where they took on the monsters near the village while Garfiel was recovering. He stood up and was about to leave but before that, he looked at the king to ask,
"Why were you mad at those five knights?"
"Ah, those idiots. They left my daughter behind and I'm worried that something bad might happen to her."
"Your daughter? You mean Malty? Isn't she with Motoyasu and his group?"
"Oh no, not her. I mean my other daughter, Melty."
Hearing that name, Ren's eyes slightly widen, but he had to hide his reaction.
"You have another daughter? That's––" Ren paused as he processed the name of the King's second daughter. A bit of fear was instilled in the Sword Hero, though he managed to stay calm as he needed to make sure of something.
"I can help look for her, just tell me how she looks."
"That'll be great! You might help me where those buffoons of knights failed."
"Just tell me how she looks please. I want to help."
"Right Right."
The king proceeds to speak about his second daughter, the attire she wears, the age, and how she likes filolials. All of this caused Ren to just look with fear since he has seen her and knows that she is with Naofumi, which would cause a lot of problems. He bows to the king while saying,
"I will find her. I promise."
Once he finished speaking, Ren immediately left the throne room.
'Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!'