Chapter 9: Preparations for the Wave

"What exactly were you thinking, pulling a stunt like that?" Trish shouted at the Bow Hero, "Were you looking to get imprisoned?"

"I couldn't just do nothing, either!" He shouted back, "If I didn't say anything, Naofumi is going to lose all his funding for a stupid reason!"

I let loose a sigh at the sight happening in the Castle Town's alleyways.

Once the speech was finished, the Heroes all left the palace with their respective rewards.

The Spear Hero had also been granted governorship over some land to oversee the reconstruction efforts; I personally thought it was a horrible idea on the part of the king but I was in no position to object.

The Bow Hero immediately headed for the Guild to get some requests; once we were far away from the castle, Trish then pulled him over to a back alley where she proceeded to berate him for his earlier actions.

"You straight up antagonised the crown and challenged their dignity, and in the king's face! You were lucky that he had let it slide when he did!"

"There's no way I can just stand there and let such blatant injustice run its course!"

"Okay, enough, enough!"

I got between them and split them apart; for a second there, it looked like they were about to come to blows, which wouldn't bode well for Trish who had a lower defence stat than me.

"Miss Liya, you agree with me, right?" He asked me, "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"…Seeing the princess shit herself trying to come up with an excuse to overturn the case was pretty entertaining."

"Liya!"

"Hey, those bastards had it coming to them for all the shit they had pulled!"

"Yeah, that's true; but still…!" Trish let out a sigh before turning to the Bow Hero, "You didn't have to go as far as you did. You just have to point out the inconsistency and their hypocrisy will unravel itself. You didn't have to go out of the way to antagonise the princess so blatantly like that."

"I-I guess that's true…" He sheepishly scratched his cheek, "But when I saw her acting all innocent, I kind of lost it a little."

"Yeah, and now you lost some favour with the royal court; that was not a smart thing to do."

"Yeah, but I do not regret it one bit!"

"I'm sure you don't…"

You could see the migraine building up in her head; maybe I should have stopped him back in the palace…

"I… I too agree with Sir Itsuki's gallant actions!" Mald quickly interjected; he and his goons had been sidelined since last night, "While the Shield is a despicable criminal, His majesty had gone too far with—"

"Mald."

"Y-Yes, Sir Itsuki?"

Itsuki turned to the armored knight and asked, "Last night, you agreed that the Shield Hero was breaking the rules of the duel, was I not mistaken?"

"Y-Yes, that's right. Despite being in a one-on-one duel, he dared to use monsters! That bastard has not an ounce of honor in him!"

"Then you agree with what the princess had done?"

"That's—uh… well…"

Judging from that wide-eye expression of his, he definitely wasn't expecting the Bow Hero to ask him that.

Last night, after Trish had told the Bow Hero her idea for helping change the Shield Hero's bad reputation around, I informed him of the true, parasitic nature of Mald and his followers, as well as what he had tried to do last night.

I never said I wasn't going to tattle on him.

He didn't believe me at first, but after rationalising all of their unjust actions in the week we were in the same party, I managed to get Itsuki to somewhat suspect their intentions; I even came up with this idea of asking this question.

And seeing him hesitate to finish that sentence, it became obvious he didn't care if the duel was fair or not, just that the Shield Hero was the one winning it and not the Spear Hero; there was no way the Bow Hero wouldn't pick up on that.

"Gree, Rojeel; do you two agree with him?"

"We…"

The two goons no doubt had similar thoughts on the matter, though I think it was more of following after Mald's actions than actually agreeing with it.

"I-It's because it was the princess!" Mald quickly answered, "If it was anyone else, I would have voiced out an objection! But since it was the princess…"

"…Alright, I think I understand." The Bow Hero let out a sigh, "Dealing with royalty can be tough; even if they were in the wrong."

"Y-Yes, like Mald said!"

"T-That's right, Sir Itsuki! Arguing with the crown could have dire consequences!"

Looks like they managed to pull the wool over the Bow Hero's eyes this time; though it was now obvious to him that they didn't have the sense of justice as he had originally thought.

Mald's and his two goons' standing in the party would never be the same again.

After that confrontation, we continued on our way to the Adventurer Guild.

The Adventurer Guild branch in Lola Town was a small two story building that's barely the size of a tavern; its interior was barebones with only the basics of furniture like a counter for the receptionists and a board where all the requests were posted on.

Other than some bookshelves to keep relevant books and scrolls, as well as some tables and chairs in a corner, there was little of anything else.

The one in the capital, on the other hand…

"As expected of the capital." I noted in awe.

The Guild's main branch was that of a three story building with a white and green painted exterior; a show of wealth no doubt.

Its interior was just as extravagant, though not in a gaudy way; there're still the basics of furniture, but they all seemed to be made of a more expensive type of wood that had some kind of coating on it, they even have a carpet in the middle of the Floor.

"They definitely have way more budget than the one in Lola Town." Trish noted.

Compared to this, the branch in Lola Town looked like a pig sty; not that I'll ever say that out loud, I have some hometown pride in it.

"Itsuki."

"Ren?"

As if out of nowhere, the Sword Hero walked up to us; his party could be seen at the counter, talking with the receptionist. Tersia seemed to have noticed me and gave me a wave, one which I returned.

"I have something to discuss with you, in private if possible."

"Uh, what is it you need to ask—?"

"It's about Naofumi."

That got his attention; Itsuki immediately followed Ren to the other end of the building, far enough that their conversation couldn't be heard by the rest of us; though we were still able to somewhat see them talking.

Judging by how animated they were, it must be quite the lively discussion.

"I wonder why the Sword Hero wants to talk about the Shield Hero, all of the sudden?" I wondered.

"Maybe it had something to do with what the Bow Hero did back at the palace?" Trish suggested.

That might be the case; the Sword Hero did join Itsuki in the opposition of the king's mistreatment of the Shield Hero. Maybe he too was seeing past the sweet facade the kingdom had been showing him?

"You bitch!"

"Woah!"

I ducked under a sudden swing by Mald before stepping back and drawing out Chain Sword; the armored knight growled at me, "You said something to the Bow Hero last night, didn't you!?"

"What, aside from telling him the truth about you?"

"You little…! "

He swung his fists wildly at me which I easily dodged; his unarmed combat was even worse than his swordsmanship, pitifully so.

Our fight seemed to draw the attention of the adventurers in the building, with some of the older looking adventurers looking at our fight with a tired sigh while muttering about hot blooded youngsters.

"5 silvers the bastard get his ass handed to him!"

"Oh, you are on!"

And the betting pool had already begun to roll around; they better give me a portion of the winnings!

"Do you have any idea how hard I worked to get to where I am!? I had spent weeks getting into his good graces! Weeks! And you ruined all of it!"

"You mean weeks kissing up to him and stroking his ego? And with how you have been acting, it was only a matter of time anyway."

"Damn it, hold still—!"

When he threw an extremely predictable punch that would overextend himself, I sidestepped his attack and pulled on my chain whip; the chain I had left pool under him tied around his ankle and pulled his foot forward.

"Grgk!"

It threw him off his balance and he fell back, hitting his head on the Guild's walls; I took the chance to step onto his chest plate, pressing him down while trapping him against the wall.

"Wow, you are pathetic." I commented as I pressed Chain Sword's blade tip up to his exposed neck, "Even the newest rookie would have done better than you."

I heard some cheers from the onlookers along with groans of people who no doubt lost their money in a sucker bet; why anyone would bet on this unskilled bastard was beyond me.

"Sir Mald! You—Hiek!?"

"I don't think so."

Gree and Rojeel was about to move in to save him, but Trish had conjured her binding spell and held them in place.

"D-Damn you…" He growled at me, "If you hadn't joined… If you had just remained in the countryside with your stupid grandfather and that demi-human scum… I would have that stupid kid in my palm!"

"You would have who in your palm, Mald?"

He flinched in absolute fear as the Bow Hero walked up to us, Itsuki glaring daggers towards the armored knight; I got off him and Trish undo her magic binding as we watched Mald crawled up to him.

"N-No, Sir Itsuki; i-it's not what you think—"

"Oh? Because I'm sure to have heard things pretty clearly." He stated with a cold stare, "So all those praises you gave me, they were empty? You were indeed using me for your own selfish gains?"

"That's not true, Sir Itsuki!" Mald cried out, "You are being lied to! They are the one trying to use you! Not me!"

Man, this guy was tenacious in keeping to his lies to the bitter end; no, desperate would be a better word for it. Regardless, his sweet lies were useless now; he wouldn't be able to pull the wool over his eyes again.

"I-In fact, they are trying to keep me from telling you the truth! I'm your ever loyal servant—"

"Don't you dare lie to me again!" Itsuki screamed angrily, "…Miss Liya had told me everything. I didn't want to believe it, but in hindsight, it had been blatantly obvious…"

"No, Sir Itsuki! I'm not lying to you!"

"That's what all liars say." He looked into the air and a few moments later, the name of Mald and his two goons were removed from the shared party window, "You are no longer part of my party. Get out of my sight."

"Please, no! Sir Itsuki!"

"I said get lost!"

Looking completely defeated, Mald could only give me a glare before leaving the building; Gree and Rojeel looked like they wanted to defend themselves, but a cold look from Itsuki was enough to shut their mouths as they followed after Mald.

The cheers of the onlookers shook the building afterwards; parasitic bastards like them were never well-liked by anyone, so seeing one of them getting booted in public like that must feel amazing.

"I knew that guy was bad news." Ren suddenly stated, "He tried buttering me up when he first joined; I didn't take in to his bullshit so he just left on his own."

"And you didn't try to warn me!?"

"Would you have listened?"

"…yeah, that's fair."

"Sir Ren! We've finished registering the requests!"

"Understood! We'll leave immediately!"

The Sword Hero then turned to the Bow Hero, "Itsuki, about what we discussed…"

"I'll keep an eye out, don't worry."

With a nod of affirmation, Ren rejoined his party and left the building.

"…I guess you were right after all, Miss Liya." Itsuki told me with a sigh, "How blind was I to his sweet lies that I failed to see through his facade…"

"Don't be too hard on yourself." I assured him, "At least you finally see through it in the end."

"At least the bastard and his two lackeys are no longer an issue." Trish noted with a sigh, "One less thing to worry about now."

"Yeah, I guess that's true."

"Still, our party is now down by three people… things aren't going to be easy for us."

She's right; the three of us worked to our strengths when we're positioned in the rear, Itsuki especially since he was the Bow Hero. But without a proper vanguard, our party's combat potential had been compromised.

I could act as our party's vanguard, I didn't have to be the one to hand them potions after all, but it wouldn't be ideal. If anything, it might break our formation.

"Maybe we could recruit someone to act as our vanguard?" I mused out loud.

"T-Then maybe I can be of service to you!"

All of a sudden, someone walked up to us in a nervous stride and an askew smile; the young woman raised her hand to her chest.

"My name is Theresa Maywind, and I can't help overheard that you—"

"Eclair, what the hell are you wearing?"

Her face was covered by a mask styled after a filolial as well as a hooded robe, but the pink bangs sticking out was a dead giveaway to her true identity; heck, she was even giving us the ever familiar knight salute!

"I-I do not know this Eclair you speak of! My name is Theresa Maywind—"

"And isn't that the name of the main character of The Nightly Tales of a Wandering Knight?"

"It's m-merely a c-coincidence!"

"Eclair, I know it's you. Just cut the bullshit, and the mask, and tell me why the hell are you here dressed like that?"

Instead of the plated armor of the knights, she was dressed in a simple blouse and pants with pieces of armor around her hands and legs, and a steel sword sheathed by her hip; the most basic of apparel for rookie adventurers.

"You know this clown?" Trish asked me.

"Unfortunately." I sighed, "This is my old childhood friend, Eclair Seaetto."

"The daughter of the late Lord Seaetto? That old friend of yours?"

"Yup, the very same. The last I've heard, she was supposed to be in the knights, not dressing up like… well, that."

"I told you, I am not Eclair Seaetto! My name is—"

"Seriously, cut it out already! We all know it's you, Eclair Seae—!"

"Sssshh!"

She suddenly covered my mouth with her hand before gesturing at one of the notice boards.

Aside from the requests, the Guild also posted wanted posters of dangerous criminals in the area for all adventurers to keep a lookout for; if you managed to subdue one of them, you're privy to their bounty reward, which can range from a few dozen silvers to several gold coins.

And one of such posters had the hand drawn picture of Eclair herself, drawn in the most evil looking manner possible.

"Wanted!? You—!?"

"Keep it down!" She whispered.

"…Let's go somewhere more inconspicuous." Itsuki suggested.

We immediately left the building and duck into an alley before I immediately railed on her.

"What the hell did you do!?" I cried out.

"Nothing wrong!" She replied.

"Well, clearly the knights disagree." Trish noted while reading the wanted poster she had nicked from the board, "It says here that you… escaped from prison?"

"Prison!? Why were you in prison!?"

"…Hah…" Eclair sighed, "About a month back, I got word that several knights took advantage of my father's passing to raid our family's territory and captured several demi-humans. I immediately hunted them down and punished them for their evil deeds, only to get arrested for assaulting my superiors and was stripped of my noble status."

"…Not what I was expecting, but definitely the kind of muscle headed action you would do."

Eclair always had a strong sense of justice and duty, though she had the tendency to charge into the fray without thinking of the consequences.

"It was my duty as one of the kingdom's knights to punish wrongdoers, even if it is one of my colleagues!"

"I agree!" Itsuki proclaimed, "Any evil deed must not go unpunished, no matter if the culprit is a noble or a king!"

"Not the time for that!"

I sighed before asking, "So, if you are arrested, why did you break out of jail? That doesn't seem like the type of thing you would do."

"The queen was the one that broke me out."

"The queen?"

"Yes. She had one of her Shadows do it." She told me, "And she also gave me orders to help out the Heroes under disguise."

"And this is your disguise?"

"It was what I was provided, yes."

That would explain the mask and hooded robes; adventurers wearing masks weren't an unusual sight, seeing as there had been nobles who disguised themselves as adventurers in the past.

Also, Shadows were real!? That secret order of spies that answered to the Queen alone actually exists!?

"Wouldn't it be better if you sought out the Shield Hero instead?" If there's a Hero that needs help, it would be him.

"I've tried to approach him before, but he ignored me."

"I figured as much; the guy doesn't seem to trust anyone outside his party." Trish noted. "Though, I would do the same if someone dressed like you came up to me and offering their services."

"Grgk! I-I knew that…"

"So, Sir Itsuki, what say you? Shall we let her join the party?" I asked, "If you question if she is trustworthy, then I can assure you that—"

"Of course she can join our party!" Itsuki nodded with a grin, "How can I not allow a fellow enforcer of justice into our ranks!"

Yeah, I figured as much; at least in terms of sense of justice, they were peas in a pod.

"I appreciate it, Sir Bow Hero!" Eclair bowed to him, "I'll do my best to be of service to you!"

"Call me Itsuki, please. I am trying to keep as low as a profile as much as possible, so…"

"Ah, yes. I understand, Sir Itsuki."

Looks like we gotten ourselves a proper vanguard now; Éclair was more experienced in the front lines than me, after all. Next to Trish, there's no one I trust more to watch my back.

"Liya."

"Yes, Éclair?"

She walked up to me before bowing, "I'm sorry for unable to protect Lurolana. Even more that I was unable to properly bring those bastards to justice."

"…You don't have to apologise for that." I told her.

"Even so…"

"Just focus on what you need to do now. We can think about the village after this whole mess is behind us."

"…Yeah, you're right."

We then returned to the Guild and received a couple of requests that would bring us into the kingdom's northern border; apparently there had been a huge famine crisis in an allied kingdom and we were tasked with escorting the relief supplies they had requested.

After that, I requested that we headed to the local apothecary first; while our potions weren't running out anytime soon, it would be safer to have a few extras on hand just in case.

"Oh, these are some good quality herbs." I noted as I looked over the medicinal plants the shop had stocked up.

"I've gotten a good supplier recently." The old man that owned the store told me.

Whoever that picked these really knew where to look if they were able to find herbs of such quality; they even picked it in a way that wouldn't lower its quality either.

They must be an old hand in foraging; I wonder who could that be.

As I checked out the stocked herbs, I took noticed that he had also stocked up on Morpheus Bellflower bulbs that had been carefully tied up; the proper way of keeping them.

The sight of it brought back the bad memory of that damn kidnapping noble; but it also brought back another that gave me an idea.

"How much for these Morpheus Bellflowers?"

"Whoa there, kid. Those aren't something novices should be touching." The old man warned me, "Practice a few more years before even attempting to use them."

"I'm not a novice, though."

"Of course, you aren't, kid."

""Pft!""

I rolled my eyes at the ever-familiar confrontation while ignoring the snickering Trish and Eclair, the latter at least had the decency to not made it so obvious.

My short stature had always seemed to give everyone the impression that I was way, way younger than I actually am.

It had gotten really, really annoying.

Taking some Green Plants and Aero Flowers off the shelves and the mortar out of my bag, I looked the owner straight in his eyes as I effortlessly made a Recovery Medicine (Advanced) in front of him.

"There! How is that for a novice!?"

"What in the—isn't that the new revolutionary potion!? The one that heals the most fatal of wounds!?" The old man cried out, "I've tried the recipe they released, but the ratio is so strict that if even a little shift in it would result in failure!"

Many attempts had been made to improve on it so it might be easier to make, but it had all deemed a failure; no matter what I add in, it turned out that useless grey sludge.

"And yet, you made it so easily…! You definitely not a novice."

"So, mind selling me those Morpheus Bellflowers now?"

"Sure, take as much as you need; if you have the money for it, that is."

"Thanks! Oh, and I like add in a couple of this, a few of that, and…"

We ended purchasing a pile of different herbs for potion use among a few for personal use, way too much to be carried everywhere. Thankfully we were able to store them in the storage of the Bow Hero's weapon.

I could never get used to seeing stuff disappearing into that yellow gem of his.

However, the purchase also used up around a fourth of the funds the crown had given us; I may have overestimated how much the herbs would cost us.

After that little escapade, we headed to the local blacksmith to hopefully repair Trish's damaged armor set.

"Can you fix this?" Trish asked the owner of the blacksmith, a well-built bald middle-aged man with a beard.

"Mm…" He looked over the robes with a curious glance, "I'm not much of an expert on mage robes, but I'll see what I can do."

"Much appreciated. How long do you need?"

"With these damages, it should be ready by tomorrow morning."

"Can't you finish it earlier?" Itsuki asked.

"Sorry, kid; even if I prioritised this, it will still take till tonight for me to finish repairing it." He told him, "Any sooner, and it wouldn't hold together."

"You can't rush good work, Sir Bow Hero." Eclair told him.

"Hah, I guess…"

Thankfully, the requested escort was able to delay their leave till tomorrow morning, so we could wait for him to fully repair it.

With that being said, we decided to make use of the newly acquired free time to head out of town and grind out some levels; we also used this time to work on the new party formation with Eclair.

Eclair and I would act as the new vanguard, Itsuki and Trish would bring up the rear; I would periodically switch between the two depending on the situation.

It took some getting used to, but I was able to adapt to my new position by the time the sun had set over the plains.

When we returned back to the inn after having a late dinner at the tavern, I got to work in making new weapons for me to use in the future fights ahead of us.

…
To be continued…

This chapter was pretty tough to write, but I managed to finish it! Especially now that Season 2 has officially aired.

Got to say, Éclair sounded exactly I had imagined her to be; her VA did a good work.

Man, writing how Mald gets kicked out of the party was pretty cathectic; the fucker was really annoying in the later parts of the LN, being quite literally the male, dumber version of Malty.

Hopefully, how he got booted was satisfying enough; if you have any problems with it, just let me know.

Also, Éclair is here! And is now part of the Bow Hero's party! This was brought up by a random review and that gave me this idea.

With that said, I thank you all for reading!

*Sup! So, this is the rewrite of my rewrite of my Shield Hero OC fic. This time, I'm going to make a few changes so that it would be more than just a Canon rehash.