"What kind of man is the Shield Hero?" Melty's father asked her.
Melty paused, quietly considering the question.
The two of them were having breakfast in the dining hall, chattering about the goings on in the world today. It wasn't long into their discussion before the topic of the Shield Hero, Naofumi Iwanti, arose.
"How so, Father?" Melty asked, trying to grasp her father's exact meaning.
"I realize that I have no idea what to think of the man," Father replied sullenly. "I had expected him to… be a nuisance, a troublemaker, yet so far, he hasn't done anything beyond peddling wares and negotiating with merchants and mercenaries. Instead, it was another Hero, one I had trusted, that had wronged your sister."
Melty sighed. She knew Motoyasu didn't actually harm her sister, but trying to explain that to Father was not an easy task.
"I know that you've spoken to the man on numerous occasions this past week," Father continued, frowning. "I wish to know, what do you think of him?"
"The Shield Hero is a very complicated man, I would say." Melty grabbed onto her glass of milk and took a sip, letting her words sink in. Even before the time inclusion of time travel, Melty didn't really understand Naofumi all that well. Though, since the jump backwards, she had grown to understand him more. "But, I think if I were to summarize him, I think he is an honorable man, the sort of person who will repay what has been dealt to him, for both good and ill alike."
Father nodded, contemplating those words. "And you truly believe this?"
Melty nodded. Admittedly, she chose the best framing to her father's sensibilities, though it was also true. Whatever Naofumi endured, he returned. "I've seen him at work… in business, that is. He will respond to cruelty with cruelty, kindness with kindness, indifference with indifference." Granted, most of those situations were all weeks into the future right now, though that really didn't matter to Father.
"I see. That's… simpler than I thought it would be." Father shook his head. "Daughter, I hope you aren't being misled. What you say is pleasing to hear, though perhaps, too ideal. The Church has said that previous Shield Heroes were capable of great duplicity."
"As far as I know, what I have said is true," Melty replied. She knew that simply convincing her Father of Naofumi's character would not have been easy. In many ways, it almost seemed like her father almost didn't want to believe her. "I do not think he is a danger to us."
"Hm…" Father rubbed at his chin.
As she was about to utter her reply, Melty's older sister walked into the room. The young woman uttered frustrated curses and tired breaths.
"Ah, Malty!" Father smiled brightly.
"... Hello, Father…." Malty groaned as she table and indignantly sat down. She turned a slight scowl to Melty. "Hello, Sister, dear."
"Greetings, Sister," Melty replied in the most formal tone she could muster, barely able to suppress her frustration. "How are you this fine morning?"
"It's good to see you're back from early morning training!" Father replied.
"Training was… rough." Malty grabbed onto the nearest morsel of food and stuffed it in her mouth.
"Oh, don't worry, You and your friends will soon be out in the field and ready to properly fight against the Waves," Father said gleefully. "Your training is coming along nicely."
"Oh, joy…" Malty spat venom obvious to all except her father.
Melty frowned. Naofumi may have successfully kept her older sister away from the other Heroes, but as a consequence, Father had seen to it that her sister and her closest friends were given the best training Melromarc and the Church could offer. Malty was going to be a problem in the near future.
Malty turned to look at Melty with a scowl. "What are you looking at?"
"Oh, nothing. I just realized that I was full." Melty said. After all, there were few things that could make her lose her appetite more than her sister.
Naofumi carefully examined the bright red tomato-like fruit in his hands. It was a near exact recreation of the same fruit he created in the original timeline - the flavor was slightly sweeter, but other than that, it was nearly the same. It had taken all of yesterday and most of the morning to get this far, well into the afternoon, but the effort was well spent.
The grove was full of plantlife, entire cartloads of fruit scattered around the ground and going to waste. It was all but a final rebuttal to the very idea of hunger itself.
The few brave villagers who decided to meet him in the new copse of trees he created were apprehensive. Many looked like they were concerned that it would eat them whole, which to be fair was a reasonable thing to worry about.
"Is it really safe?"
"Surely, the Heroes have finally purified it, right?"
"But what if it repeats."
"You are welcome to not use it if you want. That choice remains up to you," Naofumi informed them. It was the same thing he had told them last time, that ultimately it was their choice to take advantage of the Mandragora's modified offspring or not.
The villagers hesitated, but they eventually relented. In a way, it was a choice between guaranteed starvation and or possible salvation.
"They do look delicious."
"And there's so much of it, too."
Naofumi passed them by and made his way towards the new wagons that had been added to the group. The villager repeated what they did last time and gave the Heroes some old wagons that they had little use for. The more things change, the more some things stay the same.
In the previous timeline, both of the wagons were added to a train and were pulled together by Filo. This time, she only got one of the wagons, whilst Kou and Yuki were eying their new prize with eagerness, like they had received a new toy and were being asked to share it. Tama, being a cat and a filolial, did not have any desire to pull wagons along and thus let Filo take the other one.
He spotted Raphtalia, Keel, and Rifana giving their last minute goodbyes to Beryl. Curious as to where Motoyasu was, the Shield Hero went further to the back.
There, he saw the Spear Hero speaking with his not-party member as they examined the fruit for themselves. "If they were already like this before, things might have ended differently with the plants," she said
"Yeah, but that was my fault for not thinking I could have used my Spear on the miracle seed," Motoyasu's voice responded. "I just thought it would be like… how I thought it was." He shook his head.
Naofumi carefully walked closer to them. He didn't say a word as they conversed. He didn't make any effort to announce his presence, but neither did he really try to hide himself. He was quite interested in trying to determine if this woman was a threat or not, not having much inkling over who she was.
"What's done is done. I'm just glad it's over," Elena sighed.
"Same," Motoyasu answered back.
"What are you going to do now?" the woman asked. "I mean. The king, if not the whole kingdom, is basically against you."
"Right now? A training montage. Except actually doing it." Motoyasu said back.
Elena gave the Spear Hero a look.
And then he explained. "Mostly, I'm just going to train up, get more experience. I think I'll just keep my head down and just work on gaining more power for myself. Maybe do an anonymous job or two, nothing major." Motoyasu sighed. "I really need to get stronger if I'm going to survive. And that means fighting for every scrap of money or experience I can muster."
Elena nodded her head. "If it were me, I'd probably just go somewhere and hide if I could help it."
"I can definitely understand that plan," Motoyasu agreed. "But I don't think I can do that. Lots of people will die if I don't step up."
In all honesty, Naofumi wouldn't have blamed Motoyasu if he decided to back away from fighting the Waves and lived a quiet life after what he went through. In the original timeline, if it wasn't for the threat of being stuck in a world that hated him as much as he hated it, the Shield hero probably would have chosen to leave at the earliest opportunity as well. It really said something that Motoyasu of all people had arguably more altruistic intentions than he did when he chose to continue fighting.
Though, he supposed that now, the two of them had very good reasons to fight for this world.
"Miss Haven! Master Motoyasu!" Beryl shouted as she came barreling through on Yuki's back. The white landed right in front of the duo, nearly throwing off the fox girl as she came to an abrupt stop.
Motoyasu smiled at the girl. "Hey, Beryl."
"Hm, you've definitely grown. You used to be so small." Elena said as she appraised the fox. "You're… very different from how I remember you. You're not in a maid uniform for one.""
Beryl gave the woman a smile as she got off the filolial. "Well, I kind of outgrown mine," she said, patting the armor on her body. "I like this outfit much better."
"It does so suit you," Elena agreed. She then turned to a small sack within the fox's grip. "What's that you've got there?"
"It's a present!" Yuki said.
Elena blinked, a little stunned as the large filolial started to speak. "Sorry, uh, still not used to you filolials talking." She shook her head, turning to the present and then to Motoyasu. "Was this your doing?"
The Spear Hero shrugged. "No. This is new to me, too." Motoyasu turned to the fox. "What's that you've got there?"
Beryl handed the small sack over to Elena. The woman reached in and pulled out some bars of soap. "Just something for the road. Nothing major."
"Hm, I appreciate the sentiment then. It'll be nice to finally take a bath after weeks on end." Elena said as she took the sack into her possession.
Motoyasu smiled warmly at his companions. "It's a good parting gift," he said to her. "I know it's not jewelry or anything fancy, but it's what we can offer."
"Yeah, it's the thought that counts, right?" Elena muttered. She looked conflicted.
It was around this time that Motoyasu turned his head slightly and spotted Naofumi in the corner of his vision. "Oh, Hey, Naofumi. This Elena, I don't think you've had a chance to properly meet yet."
"Greetings, Shield Hero." Elena waved a hand. "I've heard that you're a tradesman in many fields: jewelry and herbalism particularly. "
Naofumi nodded his head. "I just supply what is demanded."
"Indeed, though nothing like that has been said much about the other Heroes," the woman said. "I've never heard of anything about them simply creating things as you have. Who taught you your skills?"
"Well, the herbalism was mostly self taught, though I did have help from reading plenty of books," Naofumi said back, not without a small hint of pride. It had been a grueling month of pulling himself out of the dirt, but eventually, he managed to figure out how to make his own medicine after some trial and error; his father probably had a point when he said that he could be a pharmacist if he really wanted to be one. "I did have a teacher who instructed me in enchanting jewelry, but you're unlucky to meet him." Mostly because he wouldn't remember me, let alone teaching me. Though with any luck, we'll meet again very soon.
Elena nodded her head, studying Naofumi with her eyes. Then, she turned to Motoyasu. "Well, since you're both here, I do, I have to ask. Can I hire either of you to take me out of this village?"
"You need transport?" Motoyasu asked.
"There aren't exactly many animals here," Beryl muttered. "I think the livestock got killed either for their meat or because the plant monsters ate them all."
"The only way out of here that is not by cart is by foot," Elena muttered. "And I'm not walking to the nearest town without supplies, not when I have two perfectly good cart options of my own."
Naofumi turned a glance towards Motoyasu. "Moto, it's your choice."
The Spear Hero looked hesitant, though eventually, he came to a resolution. "I don't mind transporting you, if you'd let me." He gave an awkward smile. "I even have a cover identity if you think being associated with the Spear Hero would be a problem."
Elena nodded her head. "I can work with that." She frowned. "I should probably go and pack my things then, if we're going to leave soon."
"Don't know how long it'll be exactly, but definitely today," Naofumi said.
The woman then turned her back and went in the direction of the village. Beryl went after her, perhaps wanting to assist. Naofumi almost went to leave, himself, but he then remembered there were things he needed to speak to Motoyasu about.
As it turned out, the Spear Hero also had things he wanted to say as well. "Naofumi, thanks for putting up with me," the Spear Hero said first, "I know that must have changed your plans somewhat because of me."
"Wasn't by that much," Naofumi said. "I was already going to spend that week or so in Lute to raise Filo." In fact, he wondered if having Motoyasu around training ended up being more beneficial in the long run, since having the Spear Hero along gave him plenty of free time.
"Yeah, but I definitely put a dent in your coin purse. I know you gave me what Itsuki owed you," Motoyasu said plainly. "That's not a small sum."
"No, no it isn't." Though, it was sort of ironic, Motoyasu became the benefactor of a duel he wasn't party to, when it was the Spear Hero, himself, who in a different series of events nearly broke Naofumi's will to live. "But if it makes you feel better, think of it like an investment."
Motoyasu nodded his head. "Yeah, I'll definitely have to get some treasures you might like. I don't know how much gold I'll get, but I know there are things from Emerald Online that you might like. I'll see if I can get them."
"Just don't get yourself killed if you can help it; I can be patient with what you owe me," Naofumi warned. Though on reflection, that wasn't true. There were upcoming deadlines that had to be met, the next Wave, Glass, the Three Heroes Church, Cal Mira, and whatever it was that sent him back in time. "Just don't think about paying me off all at once, work slowly and don't be reckless, okay?"
Motoyasu looked hurt, though nodded in acceptance. "You still going to Zeltoble? I remember hearing about that when you were at the slave trader's place, what two weeks ago?"
Naofumi sighed. By now, Sadeena probably got that letter Raphtalia sent. Since she didn't visit them in Lute, it was safe to say she was waiting for them to arrive in Zeltoble. "That's the plan."
"Well, it's good you're going to be saving Beryl's friends. I wish I could help, but I'm afraid I'd slow you down." Motoyasu sighed.
"Don't worry about it. I've got it mostly taken care of. What about you? Where are you going anyways?" Naofumi asked. He knew his own plans, but he hadn't really learned what Motoyasu was planning on doing beyond the most basic.
"Pretend to be someone else, but more specifically, I'm looking at traveling the coasts. Beryl wants to see her home and there are some treasure caches I remember and hope still exist. If not, well, sea monsters are good loot, I heard." Motoyasu frowned. "I'll… make sure that what I'm getting isn't a danger, this time. I'm not going to make that mistake again."
"Sounds like a good plan." Naofumi frowned as he remembered. "There are some things I have to warn you about."
Motoyasu frowned and then nodded. "Go on. I'll make sure to listen this time."
"The first thing is that we're both likely going to meet the filolial queen, Fitora, soon. She's a royal filolial just like ours, but much older and more powerful," Naofumi said. The filolial queen hasn't shown up yet, but she was always busy cleaning up the Waves in other parts of the world. With three possible heirs to her kingdom, she was going to make time, that was for certain. "She's going to test our filolials and we can't really stop her from doing so. She's just that much more powerful than the others."
"So, is her human form like she's a wizened old hag or maybe a tall empress figure?" Motoyasu wondered aloud.
"She looks a bit like a pink version of Yuki," Naofumi said and then hastily added. "At least, that's how the book described her. She's been around for thousands of years and yet, she's not that much different from our filolials."
"Weird, but okay?" Motoyasu shrugged.
"As for other things, there's a non-zero chance that the Three Heroes Church might go to kill us all soon," Naofumi said.
"You really think they'd do that?" Motoyasu looked skeptically.
"It's what happened in the book," Naofumi lied. "The Heroes caused all sorts of problems, one after the other, leading to the Three Heroes Church to attack them in an attempt to summon new Heroes."
Motoyasu made a disgusted face. "I hope that doesn't happen then. I kind of like being alive."
"Same. It'd be very bad." In actuality, Naofumi didn't know if that was going to happen this time around; the Heroes hadn't recklessly destroyed the countryside in their negligence. Sure, Motoyasu was deemed a rapist and had the miracle seed go out of control, but neither Itsuki nor Ren were likely to do anything to earn their ire - Itsuki's movements were being strictly controlled to prevent him from creating political incidents in small countries, whilst Ren wasn't going to kill a dragon and leave a noxious plague in his wake without cleaning it up.
But who knew with those fanatics? Maybe, they'd be threatened by the Shield Hero's growing power, maybe even so far as to blame the Spear Hero's fall to some sort of corrupting influence he had. And they were clearly planning their coup long before the Heroes had even been involved; military build up like what they had, pointed to that being something they planned for a while.
Though as he thought about it, there was one more thing that Naofumi wondered if he should talk about, the fact that he, Filo, and Raphtalia had come from the future, a future that they had irrecoverably changed by their actions. The Shield Hero had lied about so much between himself and the other Heroes…. And he wondered if it finally came time to come clean about his foreknowledge. He doubted Ren and Itsuki really believed him, but maybe Motoyasu would listen to words now.
On the other hand, it was insane, irrational to a degree few things were. Anyone can claim to be a time traveler, but there was very little that could be done to prove it. Further, if he did tell Motoyasu the truth, here and now, would the man be able to accept it? At the very least, the Spear Hero would want to know about his other self and how that ended up. And he probably would not like to learn that he had spent months following a certain Bitch's evil.
"Something on your mind, Naofumi?" Motoyasu asked.
"A few things," Naofumi admitted, "But we can worry about that some other time."
"Alright, I'll trust you on that." Motoyasu flashed the Shield Hero smile. "Hey, maybe we should let the kids watch their favorite show before we go? It's the season finale, isn't it?"
"Sounds like a good plan. Though, I worry it might be a bit awkward for your filolials to get used to not having a screen in front of them every other night," Naofumu mused. A part of him was also a little concerned that he arguably "corrupted" the animals into mildly obsessing about anime, but admittedly, it wasn't that bad. Besides, it did kind of inspire them to work harder.
Filo hated saying goodbye to the friends she made along the way. She always wished she could always be with Melty forever, but she was a princess and that meant she had so many boring responsibilities. She was always busy when doing princess stuff and unlike before, Melty wasn't going to be traveling with her.
This time, though, she did have new friends, her new… cousins. Yuki and Kou were funny filolials. They were both younger than her and the same age! They were there when she hatched for a second time and got to spend plenty of time growing up with them. And they were fun to be with, because they could do all of the same things she could! And maybe because Spear Guy got his own filolials, he became a better person. He was so much better to be around now… if a little sad.
And now, Filo was going to say goodbye to them, too.
The white and pink filolial turned towards Yuki and Kou, also in their bird forms, as they gave each other verbal jabs. They had just gotten done watching the season finale as Daddy called it for their favorite show. And now, Kou looked at Yuki very smugly as he declared himself a wizard and Yuki kept insisting that it wasn't like being a witch.
"Little Sister. You bothered?" Brother's voice met Filo's ears.
The filolial turned her head to her annoying brother, who lounged in the shade of one of the trees Daddy made for them. "I'm not little sister!" she insisted.
"Saw you hatch. That means you're little sister." Brother yawned.
"I was older once," Filo countered. "I was already grown up and then made little, again."
"Same. So, you're Little Sister," Brother yawned. He was always like this, always arguing about this one little thing just because he was there with Daddy when she hatched again. He wasn't a filolial like the others, but he had become a new permanent fixture in her life, being Daddy's son, like how Filo was Daddy's daughter.
Filo stuck out her tongue, annoyed and angry at the cat. "You're a meanie!"
Brother stretched, looking smug. "Still. Yuki and Kou? They're gonna leave."
"Daddy says they're going to go away soon, because Spear Guy has to get stronger." Filo frowned. "But I don't want them to go."
"Same." Brother agreed, looking very sad. "Will miss them, but it's not forever, not like with brothers."
Filo deflated. She once asked about Brother's other brothers before. He never said anything about them, but he was always very said when the topic about them came up. It was someone who he missed. Frustrated at how negative things were getting, Filo made her decision. "We should play with them before they go!"
"Yeah!" Brother got up.
The duo met the other filolials and took them by surprise. Filo nipped Yuki on her wing and taunted her. "Catch me if you can!"
"Hey!" Yuki shouted back as she ran at her. Yuki was fast, very fast as a filolial and she jabbed her beak and poked Filo in the flank.
Filo laughed, taunting her even more.
Brother intercepted Yuki and pounced on her, falling into a tumble into the ground as the two struggled. Then, Kou decided to add himself into the scuffle and decided to drop in from the sky. Not wanting to be left out, Filo jumped in as well and joined the pile of feathers and fur as it tumbled in the ground.
Laughter filled them as they spun and nipped at each other. It was funny doing this when everyone was fully grown, as opposed to chicks, but it was still fun!
"Hey, no rough housing!" Daddy called out.
"Yeah, you, too, Yuki, Kou!" Spear Guy called out. "You're kicking up so much dirt!" The two of them were busy working on fixing the wagons because one of them had a wheel fall off.
The animals all stopped fighting and fell away from each other. All of them were covered in dirt and little flecks of blood from their poking and biting, but nothing that was actually serious.
The filolials and tiger turned to face each other, all of them frowning.
"So, we're going to go away from each other?" Yuki began.
Filo nodded. "Spear Guy, your daddy. He has to go somewhere, while Daddy has to go somewhere else, too."
"We're going to miss you, cousins," Brother added. .
Kou and Yuki both nodded their heads. "It'll be our season finale?" Kou asked.
Everyone knew what he was talking about. In the show, the girls all had to go their separate ways because of this thing called Summer Vacation, which made their school close and had their parents take them to different places for the summer. Daddy said that there were more episodes after, but the current season was over. There would be more adventures when they reunited.
Which did give Filo a bit of hope. "Yeah!" she said. "It's like our Summer Vacation! And then, after we'll be back together again!"
"Yeah!" Everyone else shouted at the same time, agreeing with her idea. A season finale meant that there were more seasons to go through!
"KOU!" Dog Girl's voice pierced the air.
Kou paled. He rose onto his feet. "Oop! I gotta go!"
"Give me back my crepes!" Dog Girl shouted, coming running at the big yellow bird.
Kou, very understandably, ran for his life and got chased into the shrubs. Yuki pouted and chased after them both, mostly just to make sure Kou didn't get beat up too badly again.
"Probably deserved it," Brother muttered.
Filo shrugged. Dog Girl made really good crepes. If she wasn't going to eat them immediately, then Kou just did what he did best. Though, it is also Kou's fault for being caught. So, maybe he did deserve it. Filo didn't know.
Filo got up and shook off all of the dust in her feathers. With Yuki and Kou gone until Dog Girl let him go, she was left with her annoying brother.
"Sister. What did Father say something about… last time?" Brother asked. "What was last time?"
Filo inclined her head. That was a surprise question to her.
"Daddy told Weasel and Dog about last time, before we fought plants," Brother explained.
Oh, it was that… last time, that thing that Daddy told her never to talk to Spear Guy, Fox Girl, Kou, or Yuki about. But Brother wasn't any of them, so, he was fine to tell, right? "Oh, yeah. 'Cause we fought the plant monster before."
"When?" Brother looked so funny with that look on his face.
"When I was big before," Filo said simply. She tried to make sure Spear Guy wasn't nearby and able to listen. Daddy said Spear Guy didn't need to know just yet.
Brother stared.
"So, uh… Well, things were different. Daddy got told there was a way to make money there, so he followed this weird guy's advice and got here. Spear Guy made the plant monster, but wasn't here, so lots of people died!" Filo explained. She wasn't sure if she said everything, but that was probably enough for Brother to understand. Because Brother was so smart! Smart and annoying, but also smart.
"So, Father had been here before and defeated the plant. But what about Uncle? Where was he?"
"Spear Guy was a meanie," Filo said with a pout. "He didn't have Kou or Yuki, but all of the bad girls that followed him. Especially the one."
Brother growled in frustration. "Explain things."
Filo really didn't know how else to explain it. Their favorite show didn't have an episode that explained it for her, so she was lost. And then she had an idea. "I…been to today already. I also lived tomorrow. And the day after that. And after that. But then, one day, I got sent back to when I was an egg and had to grow up again, which meant I had to do that day all over again. And then you were there!"
Brother growled but his eyes darted around. "You lived tomorrow already and then you were sent back to a…. yesterday?"
"Yeah! Lots of yesterdays!" Filo exclaimed. See, she knew Brother was very smart. "But these new days are different."
"... Different how?" Brother asked.
"Well, we didn't have Spear Guy. Daddy never let me call him Daddy. Dog Girl was Dog Boy and Weasel Girl wasn't alive," Filo said, frowning. "Some things are the same. Lots of things are different. Like, I'm the same color and Daddy is a good cook."
"...Where was I?" Brother asked. Looked very sad.
"I don't know! We never saw you." Filo said simply.
"... You didn't? I wasn't there?" Brother frowned, his whole body was low to the ground.
Filo felt bad. Brother was annoying, but he liked to play with her and brothers were supposed to be annoying, weren't they? He was weird, but he wasn't a dragon or a griffon. He was just… different. "No. But you're here now. And that's nice. I like having a brother."
"Oh, I see." Brother's posture improved. "Well, I like having Sister, too. I never had a sister, either. Just my… brothers."
Filo smiled warmly. She liked to hear Brother was feeling better. But the filolial grew a little curious. "So, I told you about how I became little again. How about you?"
Brother frowned. "I was never little before. I was always big. Very big. And then, I got small. It was really weird."
Filo blinked, a little confused. "You weren't small before?"
Brother shook his head, something he learned from Daddy. "I was always big. That's how it was. I didn't know I could be small." He then growled, furious. "My old parents, they wanted me and my brothers to be strong, but it was always so painful. Then, they sent me against my father and…. I lost. Then, I became small and I was so scared and weak, because I was supposed to kill, but I couldn't anymore because my claws and teeth were so dull. But father was…comforting - I didn't know what was comforting before him."
Filo drank in her Brother's story. This was all stuff she never knew about! And to think, he was an enemy of Daddy! But now he was her Brother!
"Father gave me food and shelter and let me play with yarn. Everything was so different, better. And then you came along and… Well, you know all of that, Little Sister." Brother said.
Filo stuck out her tongue. "Annoying brother!" she said, a giggle escaping her beak.
Brother stuck out his tongue, which was funny on his face.
"You're silly!" Filo said, giggling even more.
"Not as silly as you," Brother said, but he was also laughing.
Filo smirked. And then she saw Kou and Yuki walking back to them. Both looked exhausted from having to run away from Dog Girl, but they looked fine.
Filo brightened as she saw them. She raised her wings up and waved.
Yuki waved, though Kou only raised his hands. He looked really tired. Oh, he'll probably feel better eventually.
"Oh, took them long enough!" Brother said.
"Yeah!" Filo said. She whirled in place and went into people form. She didn't have to do that, but witches did and that was what made it fun!
Yuki did her dance as she turned into a girl. Kou didn't do the dance this time, but became a boy; he was probably still hurting a little.
Filo took this as a sign and chose to ran towards her cousins. They still had a good bit of time to play with each other before going.
"Hm, wish I could do that." Brother exclaimed. He raised a paw and looked at it a little sadly.
"Oh, I'm sure Brother will learn how eventually!" Filo declared. It was a little weird how Brother was always a tiger and not able to transform, but she guessed that was normal among animals and monsters. Still, it would be nice to see if Brother could do that. An idea then crossed her mind. "Oh, maybe you just need the right dance! Witches have one dance, familairs have another dance, and wizards might have their own dance, too!"
"... You think?" Brother stared at her, interested. "I was thinking, maybe it needed theme music. Like, that's in all the transformations, and we're missing that."
"Maybe!" Filo giggled. See, she knew Brother was pretty smart! But where were they going to get music? Maybe that was something she and the others could figure out together before they left!
Brother and sister met their cousins and then quickly discussed ideas to help Brother transform. None of them seemed to work, but they had fun either way.
It was such a shame Melty wasn't here; she probably knew where to get good music!
Goodbyes were painful things.
Every one of Raphtalia's friends was there, as were the two Heroes. The woman that Sir Motoyasu was hoping to protect was there, though only in the distant background.
Raphtalia hugged Beryl and wished the fox girl the best of luck. Being the companion of one of the Holy Heroes, especially when the world could be against you wasn't easy, she knew from first hand experience.
Beryl offered a small smile. "I'll be fine. I've got Master and the filiolials with me."
Sir Motoyasu placed a hand on the fox's shoulder, emphasizing the point. "That she does," he said in an authoritative tone. The filolials giggled amongst each other, barely paying attention as they were hitched up to the wagons.
"Yeah, but it's a dangerous world out there," the tanuki girl replied.
"Can't be worse than some noble's mansion," Beryl said.
"Agreed," Keel muttered under her breath.
All of the demihumans had suffered at the hands of the nobility and none really wanted to go back to those awful places if they could, especially one in particular. He was the one who had the majority of her friends in Melromarc and was very likely a major threat given who he was aligned with.
Master Naofumi turned to the Spear Hero and gave him an affirmative nod. "Ideally, I'll be back in the Capital five days before the Wave. Right now, we've got just under thirty days."
"Zeltoble is a bit far away," Sir Motoyasu thought out loud. "You sure you can make it in time?"
"I'm not that far away from using a Portal Shield if I have to," Master Naofumi said. "But yeah, twenty-five days is enough time to make it back and forth from Meromarc to Zeltoble, even while doing the business I'm planning to do."
"As long as we won't have any major distractions, it's enough time." Raphtalia filled in. They technically had already done this trip once before, except having never crossed the border because… Sir Motoyasu stopped them.
Sir Motoyasu sighed. "If only you came to Zeltoble with us! It would have been great! And you would have saved so much trouble now!"
"Yeah. I'm definitely regretting that decision in retrospect," Master Naofumi muttered. He shook his head. "Take care, Motoyasu, Beryl. Same goes for you, you feathery bottomless pits, don't eat him out of house and home."
Kou and Yuki laughed.
Sir Motoyasu walked onto Kou's wagon whilst Beryl and Elena went with Yuki.
Raphtalia, Rifana, and Keel jumped into the back of the front of their wagon train, whilst Master Naofumi took the driver's seat. Tama jumped into the rear wagon and hid under a large cloth.
And that was when the filolials pulled away from each other and went in separate directions.
Raphtalia waved one last goodbye at the others, her friends mirroring her actions.
And then, the Spear Hero's party disappeared from view, off on their own adventures.
Rifana sighed. "So… what happened Beryl?" she asked suddenly. "You know what happened to me in the… future, but what about her?"
"I didn't really get to know the demihumans all that much." Master Naofumi answered as he held Filo's reins. "I remember helping with the reconstruction of Lurolana, but I didn't really get to know many of the people there. I was busy training up to meet the next Wave… though I was thinking about how to get more forces to help beat it back, since that tactic worked well for the most part. Maybe if I had enough time to think about it, I might have looked into getting more slaves and monsters."
Rifana and Keel squinted an eye at Master, a little surprised to learn he did in fact plan to build an army of demihumans and monsters.
Raphtalia gave them both a knowing smile. She didn't actually know for certain that was what Master Naofumi was going to do, but she had a hunch. Still, the raccoon girl shook her head. "I don't recall seeing Beryl in the village. So many of us have died already, so she could have easily been another casualty."
"So, this is probably the best fate for her then," Rifana sighed. "Just like how being here is better than being..." The weasel girl made a disgusted look. "You know."
"Hey, what's next on the agenda?" Keel asked.. "Like, we've never talked about… future stuff because Motoyasu and Beryl were around, so uh, what's the plan?"
"Well, I'm thinking Ren will hopefully take the hint and dispose of the dragon corpse properly," Master Naofumi answered. "He killed a dragon and let its body rot so badly it poisoned the countryside. And then it became undead and we had to take care of it.. Ren should hopefully clean it up now."
It was always something that perplexed Raphtalia before she went back to the past, on why the Sword Hero never thought about something so obvious until Master Naofumi explained how in most video games, things like rotting didn't exist because it was generally not important enough to exist. Honestly, it kind of came off like how in stories, things that weren't important to think about weren't mentioned because there were only so many things the writer could put in.
Still, with no zombie dragon, Master Naofumi hopefully didn't… lose himself like last time.
"Huh, so no poison monsters?" Filo asked. "They were kind of yummy!"
"Everything tastes good to you, even carrion," Master Naofumi said.
"Okay, so, if we're not doing that, then what are we going to do?" Keel asked.
"First off, there's an old lady I want to visit," Master Naofumi answered. "She's not that far away from here."
"An old lady? Is she important?" Keel asked.
"She's a retired adventurer," Raphtalia answered. The raccoon girl's face scrunched up as she struggled to remember the details. It had been so long and she barely knew the old woman. "And she was sort of our trainer for a time, teaching us some fighting techniques. She also helped out during the Waves, but she's sick right now."
"Oh. So, she's going to teach us to be even stronger?" Keel smiled excitedly.
"Ideally. But I don't know if we'll have the time or resources to devote to her training before the Queen is back in the country," Master Naofumi answered. "So, we're just going to pop by and heal her before heading off."
"And what's next?" Keel asked.
"Well, we spent nearly two weeks learning to work with magic and with me getting some business contacts and jewelcraft training, but we already have all of that." Master Naofumi said. "I still intend to meet with Hickwaal, but we're not going to spend that much time with him. Mostly, I just want to hash out some ideas I had and see if he's willing to bite."
Keel nodded. "Still, at the end of this trip, our friends outside of Melromarc will be free."
"They'll probably stay outside the country for the meantime. Between the upcoming war with the Three Heroes Church and the scum of the nobility, it's not safe for them to return," Naofumi grumbled. "Between the cost of transportation, food, and rebuilding, it won't be cheap."
"Yeah, money is always a problem," Keel agreed.
"And then there's the other expenses. Fighting the upcoming Wave will require us to upgrade our gear. We'll need to pay for food and maintenance. And then there's the possibility of us expanding our operations. All of which will require funding." Master Naofumi said. "Funding we'll have to make ourselves."
Raphtalia smirked at his words. Between her lessons from her father and the time she spent traveling as Master Naofumi's sales assistant, she knew the ins and outs of how money worked. Proper budget management was essential, almost as much as earning the money from sales.
"Hey, if it gets my friends and neighbors free, I'll do nearly anything," Keel declared.
Rifana laughed. "Sure, you say that now, but there's a saying about more than you can chew for a reason."
Keel deflated slightly. "Maybe, but hey, I'm willing to try anything if it means getting the money we need."
"I'll support you, Keel," Raphtalia declared. "I'll do what I have to do to earn enough money, too."
"Hm, I might have an idea or two, some things I thought about when I was back home. Not sure if it'll actually work yet." Master Naofumi said vaguely.
"Hey, Daddy," Filo piped up, turning her head back to the cart. "What about those hot springs? Can we go there, too? It's not that far and we can get there in a few days!"
"Huh, I forgot about that place." Master Naofumi muttered. "I guess it couldn't hurt to have a little break…. Probably should have told Motoyasu about it, too."
Raphtalia blinked a few times before she remembered. Oh, right. That was back when she and Filo didn't quite understand each other and fought for Master Naofumi's attention and time. They had that wild adventure in the mountains and grew closer to each other, ending when they sold a boar's carcass to the hotspring manager for a tidy sum. The two of them had thankfully outgrown such crazy ideas and knew what their places were now. But just visiting the hot springs felt like a good use of time.
The raccoon girl turned towards her oldest friends, both of them looking quite interested in a visit.
Ren woke up that day a bit later than expected. The Sword Hero stayed up all night last night, thinking about how he was going to do battle against the dragon. How could he not? Everyone knew that dragon bosses were instantly cool, because dragons were cool by being there.
And now, he was going to kill one with this character, the first proper dragon on this new account! In full dive VR, to boot!
That was going to make the upcoming fight truly epic, worth remembering. If only he could figure out the snapshot or replay feature in his HUD, that would have been so cool.
The Sword Hero turned to his party behind him, all of them equipped with anti-dragon or anti-undead equipment if possible. It was a minor change, just small enough to give his party an edge in the upcoming fights. They flashed him smiles talking about how they approved of his choices and leadership.
The Sword Hero turned away and looked ahead. Ugh. Ren didn't know how to really handle groups of people like this. That was why he had Mald acting as his second in command most of the time, handling all of the stuff he didn't care for. It just wasn't who he was and what he did.
The Sword Hero walked forward into the blistering drylands. Today, the temperature was higher than normal, making him slightly regret his choice of armor. Whatever, that was something to worry about once he was done with this job and wanted to make the surrounding area into a hunting ground while he waited for his quarry to respawn.
Ren caught sight of a massive set of claw marks into the stone as well as the leftovers of different, hard to identify kills. The teenager squinted an eye ahead, towards a plateau. Just barely visible behind some rocky outcropping were a pair of enormous horns.
"That must be it!" Bakta whispered.
Ren raised a hand to silence his party member. The boss was already grounded and alerting it to their presence now could have easily convinced the creature to flee. No, they had to close the distance and make their challenge known.
The Sword Hero stuck close to the rocky outcropping as he slipped on past. His party walked behind him.
The dragon appeared before them, laying his body on raised stones. It looked to be of a western style dragon with blue and black armored scales and obsidian looking horns. It...he was bigger than a house, with a wingspan that could have covered neighboring buildings. And that neck was as long as a giraffe's! And all of that bulk translated to raw natural power.
Ren beamed, seeing his opponent for the first time. This was what he played video games for, what he spent the majority of his time preparing to challenge. Everyone knew that Bosses were the biggest value in both difficulty and reward.
Sure, the first dragon boss in Brave Star Online wasn't a big deal, but if Naofumi's hidden lore translated in a secret rematch, that had to mean all sorts of rewards.
Ren adjusted himself, making one last look over to make sure he was ready. He had to look cool to be cool, right?
"Hello, Sword Hero, Ren Amaki," the dragon then spoke, never turning his head. "I've been expecting you."
Ren froze and abruptly stopped looking himself over, not expecting to be called out by the boss. By name no less! Maybe he reached some sort of hidden trigger? Or maybe he failed at the stealth challenge? He didn't exactly specialize in it, since his build was all about damage.
His party looked at him, startled that they had lost the element of surprise. There were looks of worry in their expressions as they all sensed that something had gone wrong.
No, as much as Ren felt he wanted to run, his pride wouldn't let him. He was the Sword Hero, not some loser. He put on a brave face and walked forward as steady as he could. "You were expecting me?" he asked, whilst drawing his sword. That was what people said, right?
The dragon turned to look at the Sword Hero with a weary expression, like someone who hadn't had slept all that much. "I dreamed of this day, of the day you'd come to… kill me," he sounded so… old, weary. "Why? What do you want from me?"
The Boss Fight was not beginning as Ren remembered it. The NPC dragon was supposed to boast about his superiority and power, not be depressing to talk to.
Ren approached, confused that the dragon would talk about matters like this. "You dreamed about this?"
"Yes. You challenged me, I died. You came and slew me, leaving my body to be devoured by carrion bests until it rotted away into an undead husk. Rage burned inside of me, allowing me to persist after death and to return to a cruel mockery of life. The Shield Hero slew me again, taking my heart in the process," the dragon said plainly before sighing. He narrowed his eyes until they burned like coals. "I hate you… Ren Amaki. I hate you for killing me. You haven't done so yet, but that's why you're here, isn't it?"
Ren gulped, seeing those piercing eyes strike into his soul. It was like he could feel his soul catch on fire if he so much as looked at it. No, no. That's just… a very good art direction. It wasn't real. It could hurt him, maybe, but it wasn't real! No, this was a game, he had to act his part. "I don't know anything about your dreams! But I'm here to kill you to end your reign of terror against the people of Melromarc!"
"Who fed you such lies?" The dragon hissed. "Was it the covetous local lord? We have never even met before now and you aim to kill me! Did you even bother to learn who I was?"
Ren blinked. He didn't actually know who his employer was. The contract was handled by his party, he just knew where it pointed. Yet, it made him question. "What makes this lord so covetous?" he said, keeping his tone neutral..
"It isn't an uncommon thing for human nobility to pine after a dragon's personal collection, real or imagined as it may be. Some of my kind are known for amassing a small treasure trove, a small windfall for a struggling aristocrat," the dragon said grimly. "Other times, it is the land they are after, the hunting range the dragon has laid claim to. Either way, what is mine is something the human wants."
"Don't listen to him!" Mald shouted. "He's trying to trick you."
Ren turned to Mald, not sure what to say to the man. He felt uncertain of how to proceed, since this was not at all what he had expected. He hadn't even considered that the dragon might have a personal hoard of any sort. If it was real, it could have been a substantial payday, just the thing he needed to power himself up. "Are you trying to turn me against my employer?" the Sword Hero spat at the great best. "Is that why you're making such attacks against my employer's character? So that you can avoid this fight?"
"No, I am no coward. I will face death as a dragon should. That is why I am here instead of running away from failure, despite knowing that this meeting was fated to happen and would result," the dragon said with a grim determination. "I simply wish to know. Is the only reason you're here because someone else told you to? Do you have any motives of your own?"
"I… want to get stronger, more powerful." Ren said, thinking of the most direct and simple explanation that he could. "You… you're in my way."
The dragon inhaled, smoke plumes coming out from his nostrils. "I suppose that's as good a reason as any, the young are supposed to destroy the old and seize the spoils of war." The dragon rose onto his legs and extended half of them forward as he got into a fighting position. "But I will not make this easy! I, Gaelion, shall accept your challenge."
Ren smirked. Now, that was more like it. He must have worked his way out of the weird dialogue branch that he activated and was going back to how the boss fight was supposed to initiate. Yet, a part of him wondered, why was the boss different in the first place? What trigger caused all of this? He couldn't even imagine what sequence of events he could have done that would have led to the dragon being so… weird.
Whatever, he'll figure it out later. "Everyone, go on the attack!" Ren shouted.
The dragon simply walked forward and swiped with a claw. Everyone scattered out of the way.
Mald charged in and smashed his new hammer down at the dragon's limb. To that, Gaelion spun and knocked him with his tail.
Ren slashed his Legendary Sword at the dragon's exposed flanks, drawing blood.
The dragon let out an ear piercing roar that knocked Ren backwards. The great beast then drew in his breath and released a gout of burning blue fire.
Ren's party scattered from the blaze, but it was clear that they weren't going to outrun it if it came to a prolonged battle.
The Sword Hero quickly called out a skill. "Wind Cleave!" he shouted, slicing his sword in the air. A crescent of sharpened wind projected from the cut and flew towards Gaelion's mouth.
The dragon recoiled as the invisible wave of force cut at his neck and drew a large gash down his throat. He closed his mouth, the flame sputtering from the sudden cut.
Ren went to close in for the attack.
Gaelion's slammed his claws into the Sword Hero's direction, carving the earth.
Ren leapt forward, barely avoiding getting caught in the attack. His sword extended, he called out another skill, "Thunder Sword!" The Legendary Sword burned with conjured lightning. The Sword Hero slammed the blade into the dragon's exposed arm, drawing a massive gash and a pile of blood.
"He's injured! Get him!" Mald shouted, calling for the rest of the party to close in and engage all at once.
The dragon was forced onto the defensive, barely able to keep up with an entire party's attacks pushing him back. Sure, Gaelion's stat whatever they were must have been very high defensively, but he was one dragon facing a whole party who kept him on the backfoot. Whenever he attacked one opponent, the others came in and nipped at him.
In fact, Ren was starting to wonder if he should have not made the dragon into a solo duel. The setup and framing of the dialogue certainly indicated that was an option if he had thought about it. Whatever, the bonus boss was hopefully a thing.
The best the dragon could do was swipe with his tail or smash the earth with his claws, but it was clear that the pressure was taking its toll. He could barely fight back now.
With the dragon slowing down, Ren chose to end the fight here. He unleashed one last skill, one sufficiently flashy to end the fight. "Crimson Sword!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. His Legendary Sword became encased in burning crimson flame. With a single swipe, he cut into the dragon's torso and burned it from the inside out.
Gaelion collapsed, his body no longer able to support himself. He fell into a heap, right in front of the Sword Hero.
"Well…. Done…." the dragon gasped, probably beginning to recite the end of boss cutscene.
Ren smirked at the dragon. "Of course, I won," he said flippantly. The Sword Hero's party fell in behind him, mostly intact, though it looked like Farrie will need some new clothes and burn medication.
Gaelion smirked back. "I already knew the likely outcome of our battle. This only reinforced what I dreamed."
"Hmph, you're still able to talk?" Mald scowled.
The dragon ignored him and his eyes off in the distance. "I'm… sorry…. My dream came true…"
Ren raised an eyebrow. To who was he saying that to? Was this a hint at something else?
"Heh, you better be!" Mald spat in his face.
The dragon's eyes flicked towards Ren, barely holding on. There was a small ember rage within those fading eyes, enough that the teenage boy felt unsettled looking into them. "I… hope you are satisfied… my murderer…"
Ren paled. No. He wasn't a murderer. This was a game. No one died. No one was hurt. Gaelion simply fulfilled his narrative role, nothing more. It was no different from how an actor would die in a film. And the Sword Hero was supposed to kill dragons, right? "I am no murderer…"
Even as he was dying, Gaelion somehow looked so confident that was winning. "... You are… in denial… No wonder… you became a failure…" And then the dragon's eyes closed, never to open again.
Ren stared at the fallen beast, feeling like he had lost despite being the one still alive. The dragon's words unsettled him, rattled him to his core in ways he just couldn't, didn't want to consider. Yet, he had no option but to think about it - his whole team were wondering what it all meant, what the dragon's words even represented.
Almost aimlessly, Ren walked back with his party as they began to chatter amongst each other while they patched their wounds. On reflex, he looted his item drops and found something wasn't relevant to him.
Almost all of them were concerned about the fact that the dragon had seen them coming, even going so far as to know Ren by name. Others were concerned by the possibility of a dragon hoard… and that their employer was holding out on them if it existed.
Ren, however, stared pensively at the sky. The dragon's final words struck him in his gut, as though they were tailor made to wound him.
He wasn't a murderer. He was just a kid enjoying his favorite video game, passing the time.
"You okay, Ren?" Bakta asked.
"I'm fine," Ren insisted.
"Pft, don't listen to the dragon. He just wanted to get in your head and bother you!" Mald spat. "He's the enemy. And not worth paying attention to."
Ren nodded his head silently. Yeah, Gaelion was… good game design. An advanced AI has the capability to adapt and think up scenarios on the fly, all to help improve immersion. If the AI was making such precise and coordinated attacks against his emotional state, that was just… good game design. He should appreciate it, not shy away.
And yet… If all of that was good game design, what did any of Gaelion's words even mean?
His hands trembled.
He clearly pointed to the idea that he could turn into a zombie for a rematch boss, but it was supposed to be the Shield Hero who defeated him again? Was that a quest for Naofumi? And then there was the insinuation that their employer may not have had pure intentions for wanting him dead, implying that there were story hooks for something there later. But that last part, about how he, Ren Amaki, was meant to be a failure. That was hard to digest. Was that meant to be an indication of what his future looked like?
If Brave Star Online was a single player RPG, that was the sort of dialogue that would have been found in a new game plus. All of that made no sense in the context of the world he knew.
"If he has a treasure hoard, he's probably set a trap or two," Mald said bitterly, referring to the rest of the group as they speculated on some of the dragon's claims for why he was wanted dead. He took off his helmet and wiped off the soot that clung onto his armor. "If he knew he was going to die, he probably rigged it up with a trap or something."
"Yeah, but… why was he expecting all of us to, you know, kill him?" Farrie asked. "That's very weird. How did he know who we were and that we were coming for him?"
Ren couldn't help but agree. Something wasn't right about this. And as far as he knew, nothing in Brave Star Online was relevant. This was whole new territory, probably added in a recent patch or something. The Sword Hero shook his head. "Let's just get back to town and claim the reward money. We'll look for that treasure once we set up a permanent camp."
The party nodded.
"So, what about the body?" Bakta asked. "Should we like… you know, at least loot it? Strip it for parts?"
"We'll deal with it later." Ren answered. Ideally, he still would get to slay the dragon a second time. Yet, with what had transpired so far, he didn't know if that was as good an idea as he thought it was.
Maybe he should… talk to Naofumi using the Communicator Sword, but that was… a tall ask, especially if he was far away. But the Sheild Hero, he knew things, knew the lore the game was based on. Maybe he knew the answers to all of these questions?
No. That was quitter talk. He had to… keep his mind busy. Maybe he should look for that treasure hoard, if it existed. If there was a treasure hoard, it would make this whole trip worth it, especially if it contained something of real value. A large, unexpected windfall was very desirable given his stretched coffers..
For anyone familiar with Reprise, you'll know how Kou tended to treat Keel. In this situation, Keel is actually probably at a higher level and an active combatant, not to mention having essentially been there when Kou was a chick.
Some of you are probably disappointed that Gealion died. I've actually had quite a bit of thought on how to handle his situation, especially given who he is and the role played in the canonical story. Ultimately, I decided on this fate, given the level of animosity he felt for Ren. Others are probably surprised by the things he was saying, whilst some of you probably saw this coming.