Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter, and providing feed backs.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
"Do you feel any better, my lady?" Jean carefully lays a piece of cold water soaked rag over Cute's forehead, as his lady lets out a groan on the stretcher. His usually energetic and very talkative lady can only let out some groaning sound as a reply. The hit to her head must have been very bad. Thankfully, their opponent only used (relatively) non-lethal, blunt headed arrows so she is in more pain than she was actually hurt. Unfortunately, that also means his healing miracle isn't going to do her much more good than the cold water drenched rag he's laying over her head, and he has to watch her suffer. "Don't try to move, or speak. Just sleep the pain away."
"Yeah, big shot knight general. How did your plan of: "charge ahead of all my cavalry without wearing my helmet" worked out for you?" Not far from Jean, a green haired man with a mohawk hair style, wearing leather armor is also putting on a water drenched rag on the head of Jean's current trainer Cardin. But his movements are much more rough, as he simply tosses the piece of cloth onto the young knight's head.
"Shut up, you damn thief! They just took me out with a lucky shot, that's all. If that didn't happen, I'd have run all of them down like my father, or General Anderson." Sir Cardin is also lying on a stretcher, with his heavy armor already peeled off him to make carrying him easier. But he's displaying a bit more hardiness than Jean's own lady as he's still idly trading barbs with his friend.
"Sure thing. If that's going to be your last words before you go on another battle, I'll remember it. Because I'm sure nobody else will." The light-armored knight Russel rolls his eyes. He moves away from Cardin and walks over to Jean's side, places a hand on his shoulder. "Remember their lesson, boy. Always wear your helmet in battle."
Besides them, both Lady Weiss and Lady Eclair were also taken away on stretchers. Their heads bandaged up even if there's no blood running down their heads. If one looks closely, they can almost see the bump on both of their heads that makes them look a bit taller than their usual height. These bumps were given to them courtesy of a very large (horizontally, although he was certainly not short either) amphibian warrior with lime colored skin, wielding a long staff.
Chapter 59: Remembrance Under Dark Night
The moon slowly rises up into the dark sky as night falls over Griffin's Spine mountain range. The village of Nibelheim wasn't bustling to begin with, and it has only gone much quieter. Only the sound of an occasional bird or monster in the distance breaks the silence. Everyone has retired to either their inn room, or the camp the coalition army made at the foot of the mountain range. Yatsuhashi's thane opens his door and looks at the people gathered in front of him. The Spear Hero, the Throwing Weapon Hero, his companion the former princess Malty and his surrogate daughter Raphtalia. He lets out an exhausted sigh. "So... Itsuki isn't here. I guess he's still sleeping his shoulder wound away? Firo isn't here either. I half expected her to try and squeeze in here."
"Firo played too much with her sisters during the day. She's sleeping off her exhaustion right now. Although she is mumbling about you even in her sleep. Do you want me to go grab Firo, Naofumi-sama?" The Throwing Weapon Hero asks with an expecting look.
"No, let her rest. It's good if she's finally getting along with Rial and Lori, but something tells me the 'playing' part isn't as friendly as you are describing." "I guess it's finally time to reveal what my problem is with that Hammer Hero, huh? Well, I suppose there's no point putting it off any longer."
"You don't have to, if it's something personal. We are all entitled to our own secrets, Master Naofumi." Former Princess Malty quickly says back, while little Raphtalia furiously nods her own head. The Throwing Weapon Hero gives her a strange look, but doesn't say anything.
"No, no. It's not something personal. It's just... I suppose it's petty and it would make me look bad in front of you all. Since he's technically not even what caused my problem. And I'm totally blaming him without a good reason. That's why I don't want to walk all around, badmouthing him. As I'm sure you guys have already seen, he's not a bad man. He came to help us fight the kaiju turtle even when most people fighting were against him and might want to kill him. So I don't want to give other people the wrong ideas." Yatsuhashi's thane looks down at the floor, looking very unsure of himself.
"Don't worry, Master Naofumi. No matter what you are going to say, it can't be what I have been hiding from everyone before the end of the Three Heroes' Church's rebellion. All of you accepted me afterwards, even if I was lying to everyone from the start." Once again, the Throwing Weapon Hero is giving a very strange look at the former princess. It's a mix of disgust and longing... which Yatsuhashi has seen plenty of when a man looks at a woman. But there's also something different between the young summoned hero, and those men who despise a woman who they also lust after. There's no sense of carnal want in his eyes. It reminds him more of a look from a wild bonedog who has the last scrap of his food forcibly taken away.
"I wasn't forced into a political marriage to a literal rapist that would sign my freedom, or even my life away like you, though. That's why I thought you didn't do anything wrong when all you wanted was to save yourself, but my feeling towards that rich kid was just that. Pettiness." Yatsuhashi's thane only paused for a brief moment before looking up again unlike the last time. "But enough about me feeling sorry for myself. All of you wanted to know what's my problem with that rich kid... Maximilian Washington. So let's talk about it."
"I'll stand guard at the door and make sure nobody else will enter, or interrupt, or overhear your conversation, my thane." Seeing his thane looking at him, Yatsuhashi quickly raises his fist up and hammers on his chest. He nods his head, and quickly ushers everyone inside. Yatsuhashi leans his back and head back against the door, pressing his body tightly to it. The Nibelheim inn was built for a remote mountain village, but it doesn't completely block the sound off. And Yatsuhashi found that when he leans far back, he can hear the voice from inside. He feels a bit shameful that he's essentially trying to overhear the conversation from inside, but he also wants to know more about the men he's duty bound to serve for the rest of his life. And it's not like his thane wants to make the conversation private either. He simply didn't want other people to supposedly develop a bad impression over the summoned Hammer Hero. Something Yatsuhashi already does because of their conflict after the battle against the Spirit Tortoise.
"Right... you remember the conversation we had a while back, right? Malty? The one when I talked about my home country, and how we had all of our decisions made by our 'ally' and can't do anything we want?" As Yatsuhashi expected, he can hear the faint voice of his thane through the tiny cracks between the door board, and the frame.
"Yeah. You were saying something about there being a huge war in your world before. Afterwards your home nation got taken over by your 'ally from across the ocean', and you aren't allowed to make any decisions on your own anymore, right? It sounds less like an ally helping your country out after a war, and more like someone conquered your nation but wants to make it sound nicer. They probably even have an army occupying your land." The princess' voice comes out this time. Her voice has a distinctive hiss especially towards the end. In spite of her unsure-sounding words, it's pretty clear she has her mind already made up. Her voice suddenly grows much more shaking when she speaks again. "Wait, does that mean they go around hunting your people for fun, and raping the women to fulfill their right of the first night like the Siltvelt army did during The Great War?"
Yatsuhashi tightens his fingers into his palm. He wasn't around during the darkest times of Melromarc yet, so he never saw the barbaric actions of the Siltvelt army himself. But his father used to talk about it, and even the idea of his father being cut down by one of those beast people makes him filled with rage since father was all he had of his clan. Thankfully, his thane quickly responded to her question in the negative.
"NO! Of course not! Those are the acts of savages, and our 'allies' are 'civilized' people. They only took over to show us the error of our ways. And... I don't want to fish for sympathy. Because our own army did some really, really fucked up shit back during the war." His thane's voice takes on an uncertain tone as if he was conflicted over what he would say next." To be perfectly honest, if we go by your 'Great War' comparison, my nation would probably be Siltvelt in this case."
That confession out of his thane was something of a shock to hear for Yatsuhashi. He never would have imagined that his thane's home nation would act in a barbaric manner like the Siltvelt army, -from the sounds of it, his thane sounds almost ashamed by what his nation had done.
" Oh." The princess's response to that was simple and if he had to guess, she clearly had no idea how to respond to that revelation.
"Yeah ... our ally made sure we remembered all of it to understand why their way was superior. And we do have our own government, with our own elected leaders and officials just like our allies have in their own country. But they are still making all of the 'important decisions' for us." There is still the sign of unsureness in the voice of his thane, but as his voice goes on, the grudge in his tone progressively increases. It's clear that he does blame the so-called 'ally' of his country, in spite of his words.
"Wait. That sounds a lot like the setting of Code Geass. How come the novel never mentioned you came from a world like that? Kind of important backstory detail for the main character to leave behind... Was the author afraid to alienate some of the reader base?" The Throwing Weapon Hero's voice sounds genuinely confused, and Yatsuhashi doesn't like how the young man is talking about his own thane like he's some kind of made up character in a story.
"Man. And here I thought you were also from a version of the 'boring, regular' old Earth like I was. Turns out your earth was also way more interesting than mine." The sound of mattress creaking can be heard together with the Spear Hero's whine.
"There's nothing wrong with coming from a normal, 'boring' version of earth. Plus, just because you came from an unremarkable earth doesn't mean your own life is boring. From what you told me, it sounds like you lived in the setting of a gal game. So who knows? For all we know, you came from an earth that's digitally simulated, and you are the protagonist." Yatsuhashi doesn't truly understand the word his thane is using to comfort the Spear Hero, and he suppose it's not important as he continues the more important conversation. "Anyways... go back to that Hammer Hero again. I knew him because his family is the biggest fire arms maker and seller in the world. And they were peddling their shit all over the world, feeding wars. Not a big one where most of the countries get involved. Smaller conflict, in the less 'developed' countries."
"I knew it! I knew that shit talker was no good, but I never imagined he's some kind of death merchant! So he really was just making up excuses to make everyone else look bad to justify his own actions!" The Throwing Weapon Hero's voice comes out together with the sound of shuffling footsteps, and fists hitting wooden boards.
"You are jumping into conclusions again! This is why I didn't want to say anything before." Yatsuhashi's thane sounds understandably frustrated. "Look. Just because his family makes blood money from firearms doesn't mean he's responsible for anything bad. He hadn't even graduated from schooling at the time yet. And we already asked Raphtalia for her thoughts."
"Firearms? Like those muskets from Faubley? Why are they a big deal?" Raphtalia sounds confused. "I mean... I saw some of the people fight with them, like Tanya and her friends. But don't most people fight with swords?"
"The people from my world can't chop an entire mountain down with a sword, Raphtalia. Things like that only happen in made-up fantasies. Guns are the most powerful weapons, and they don't only make and sell guns. There are also cannons used by that Astaroth, and missiles that can fly over the ocean and blow someone up where you can't even see them..." His thane seems to try to explain the weapons of his world, before he rambled off." But yeah, anyways, getting back to what I was saying - I knew the Hammer Hero, though not personally - mostly through his family's reputation."
"I see, is that the reason why you don't like him? Because his family sells weapons?" The princess asked gently.
"Not….exactly. I think I dislike him more for what he represents and reminds me of." His thane let out a sigh as he tried to explain his feelings." I mean, I can kinda get the point he's trying to make - God knows there's quite a few nobles on my shitlist for what they've put me through. But at the same time I can't help but see him as a hypocrite, spouting things like liberty and justice when he grew up rich and his family made their bank off the backs of other people's suffering. And pretending like his country is oh-so superior when they were the ones who profited the most after the war, it just rubs me the wrong way." Yatsuhashi's thane surprisingly lets out a chuckle." Sounds pretty petty now that I say it out loud, huh?"
"No, you are not being petty at all, Naofumi. If anything I'd say you're being quite reasonable in your feelings with the Hammer Hero." The princess instantly refuted his thane's words in a comforting tone." He may not have slighted you personally, but that doesn't make your feelings of distaste invalid if what you said is true. Considering how much that blowhard likes to blabber about liberty and justice when this was his life back in your world. Nobody would blame you for not having the highest opinion of him."
"Yeah! That stupid Hammer wannabe might spout pretty words, but he's just a self-righteous prick who only cares about himself!" The Throwing Weapon Hero surprisingly agrees with the princess this one time.
"Thanks for the words of encouragement…though I'm not sure I would completely agree considering it was him calling me out that got me to go back on my decision to enslave criminals." Yatsuhashi's mind leaves the conversation from inside the room when he hears the creaking of floor from one side of the hall and the sound of metal armor clanking together. He pushes himself away from the door, and gets ready for a fight in case the person isn't friendly.
The newcomer quickly reveals to be a knight wearing golden-trimmed, deep blue-colored armor from the Sons of Biscas order. It was one of the lead knights that came to help guard Yatsuhashi's thane and the other heroes back when they first encountered these two demons in Balafon village. The housecarl doubts he is here to cause the heroes harm, but he probably has something else in mind. Seeing Yatsuhashi's eyes focused on him, the knight quickly pulls out a rolled up parchment from behind him. "A message from the capital, to the heroes."
Yatsuhashi thought the message came rather quickly, considering the former king only talked about sending it earlier the day. But a fight as important as a Guardian Beast who was taken over by an invader from another world would be a top priority threat, and they probably exchanged the message with the fastest transportation method, and there would be no delay due to the usual bureaucracy. He's about to have the blue armored knight pass when he hears the loud commotion from outside the inn. The two of them quickly run to the window on one side of the hall, and see the guards stationed on the ground holding torches fighting someone. Yatsuhashi taps the knight on the shoulder. "Go inside and inform the heroes, I'll see what this is about."
The Housecarl quickly runs down the flight of stairs, leaving the protection of his thane and his friends to the newly arrived demi-human knight. As he runs out of the inn, he sees there's already a few dozen men groaning, twitching on the ground. Some of them wear light Siltvelt leather armor, while others are covered in heavy plates. More and more fighters standing guardsin the small village are coming out with torches in their hands. None of the native inhabitants of the Nibelheim village, other than the female mayor dared to come out and see what's going on. Although Yatsuhashi does notice there are dark silhouettes hiding around the opened windows peaking out after a quick glance.
Someone that looks like a savage is being surrounded in the slowly shrinking circle of warriors. The figure's body is covered in snapped branches that still have fresh leaves attached to them. Some kind of commander wearing a full helmet, in the armor of the Four Heroes' Church, is leading the battle against the intruder. It was hard to recognize her at first, but Yatsuhashi realizes it was the crazy woman who Raphtalia is close to. So he quickly holds his arms up and tries to bring the situation in control! "STOP! That's not an enemy! That's a retinue member of the Shield Hero!"
The helmet-wearing Four Heroes' Church knight holds up his free fist, seemingly giving a wordless order to everyone to pull back even if he and all of his subordinates are still maintaining a fighting stance while they backs down. But just as they backs off, the 'big sister' of Raphtalia doesn't, and she immediately lunges towards the church commander with her spear. With a loud clunk, the tip of her spear is knocked off the target with a jump kick from the female Nibelheim mayor, who is now wearing a set of clothes that resemble more of a pair of overalls than her dress when she came out to greet everyone earlier in the day. Yatsuhashi quickly jumps in, and blocks further attack from the woman. "What are you doing, Miss Sadina? Why are you attacking your allies?"
A low growl that sounds more like an animal than a disciplined warrior reaches his ears, and Yatsuhashi notices her eyes are bloodshot and without focus. Now that he thinks about it... he hasn't seen the woman fighting alongside them against Astaroth, or the Spirit Tortoise. Where has she been, had she somehow been taken by an enemy and controlled just like the turtle? He quickly shouts back to the other fighters around her. "Something's wrong with Miss Sadina! Everyone clear away! She has powerful lightning magic. We don't know what she might do if she's pushed too hard!"
Yatsuhashi's warning was immediately taken by the Four Heroes' Church members surrounding Sadina. They pedal further back, erecting magical barriers while pulling down the wounded still on the ground. Thankfully, Sadina's attention seems to be fixed on him, rather than the defenseless downed fighters. He doesn't dare to divert his attention further, remembering how she bested him in their last fight with her lightning magic. For now though, the woman fights more like a cornered animal than a skilled arcane warrior. An animal who is wielding a spear, but still an animal who seems to be lashing out with her instinct more than any of her practiced skill and accumulated battle experience. She's also not using any of her magic. But her speed and strength seems to be greater than their last encounter, so the fight isn't any easier, per se. The housecarl concentrates all of his mind, and puts up a solid wall of defense with his own sword, keeping Sadina's spear away from harming him.
"No, no, NO! You are doing it all wrong! Look at the curve, the thickness of the beauty in your hand! She's made to go on the offense, not letting you use her like a shield and hide behind her!" Yatsuhashi didn't pay any mind to the voice screaming over his head at first, not daring to let his guard down and have Sadina beat him once again. He's the one who told everyone to stand down, because he recognized her and didn't want the church fighters to harm her. That means if she gets through him and hurts someone else, it would be his fault and he needs to take responsibility for his actions. But then a shadow falls right beside him, and begin to lunge at Sadina. "BAH! The boy isn't listening. Show how it's done, partner!"
With the voice referring to a 'partner', Yatsuhashi expected someone else to jump into the fight. So he's instantly surprised when the figure immediately pulls out a katana, and begins to attack Sadina from the opposite side. It also lets him see the figure, and realizes it's a man with dog ears with a boyish figure with clear Kyutenrou features, not someone who sounded like a lecherous old man at all. But he's not about to object for any help he's getting. Especially since the man is able to hold his own against Sadina's furious assault. Although … he is clearly also trying to take Sadina in alive, since he's using the blunt backside of his weapon to attack her. Her attacks are still furious, but Yatsuhashi can feel the dog man and himself are slowly gaining ground on her, as the attack from the two of them pushes at her, squeezing the space her spear manages to take, smaller and smaller.
As the fight drags on, she seems to become further enraged, and she finally releases a surge of lightning around her with a loud yell, sending both him and the dog warrior helping him skidding back on the ground. Once again, all of his muscles seize up from the current running through his body. But a loud blast rings around his head, making Sadina lose her balance. He manages to turn his head around enough to see the helmet-wearing commander of the Four Heroes' Church holding a musket with a thin trail of smoke rising from the gun barrel. He doesn't know if the commander whose name he never learnt used a non-lethal round, or if Sadina's defenses are high enough to not let her take lethal damage even when a bullet hits her head. But it quickly becomes irrelevant when the dog man jumps up from his crouching position, and hits the back of Sadina's neck with the blunt side of his blade, finally sending her crashing face down onto the ground.
"You fought well, fellow warriors of Melromarc." The dog man walks over to Yatsuhashi, extends his hand and helps him up. He closes his hands in front of his chest and gives a courteous bow. "Saito Hiraga of House Warde. Yojimbo of Lady Louise. Your technique looks very similar to the one I was trained in. Yet, you are obviously not a man of Kyutenrou. May I know the name of the warrior who fought alongside me?"
"Yatsuhashi of the Miyamoto Clan. Housecarl of the Shield Hero." Yatsuhashi returns Saito's bow with one of his own as the church fighters run up to Sadina and begin to tire her up. "I'm guessing you are the descendant of an Okami warrior from Kyutenrou? Our clan is descended directly from a previous sword hero, but I heard my father say we have a very similar custom and fighting style to the Okami warriors."
"What's going on here?!" The sound of Yatsuhashi's thane can be heard from the direction of the inn. He looks back, and sees the Shield Hero leading the rest of the group out as they look at the aftermath of the battle, and sees Sadina lying on the ground. "Wait. Was that the crazy woman who tried to murder me? What's she trying to do again?"
"It is Big Sister Sadina! I haven't seen her since the night before we went to fight that Mirror Demon. I was wondering where she went the whole battle." Raphtalia quickly runs over to Sadina's side, kneels down and looks at her old friend. "She looks terrible! What happened here? Was she trying to kill Naofumi again?"
"I don't know. She's already fighting the guards and the Four Heroes' Church militant when I noticed something's wrong. I thought they didn't recognize her and mistook her for an intruder because she looked like she ran through a forest without stopping, so I tried to call everyone off. Then she went after me while red in the eyes, like she's either gone completely crazy or if someone's controlling her." Yatsuhashi turns to the helmet-wearing commander of the Four Heroes' Church militants. "Can we have one of your priests look at her over? She clearly needs help. But if someone was controlling her like how the Mirror Demon was controlling the Spirit Tortoise, that's even a bigger source of concern."
"I shall arrange it." The helmeted commander nods his head with a hoarse voice. The female mayor standing beside him turns to look at his face with an unsure look. Yatsuhashi supposes that most people would feel trepidation about having more church officials enter their community after what the Three Heroes' Church did. But she didn't say anything to object in the end.
"I bet this has something to do with that damn Mirror Demon, or that Hammer Hero. Maybe even the Burning Legion everyone was talking about. Sadina is one of your stronger allies. She would even go on to become the Harpoon Hero from Glass' world from the book. If they control her or take her out, they will remove a very powerful companion from your side." The Throwing Weapon Hero punches his fist into his own hand with a loud crack, baring his teeth.
"Glass? My personal maid? What has she got to do with anything?" Lady Bertia looks at the Throwing Weapon Hero with a completely confused look, before quickly realizing something. "Oh, wait. You mean the world the Mirror Demon came from sounds like her name? What a coincidence!"
"How would the Mirror Demon, the American rich kid, or the Burning Legion know about Sadina supposedly becoming a hero in the future, though? Do they all have someone who can see the future, or came from the world where this story about us exists? Because I came from the same world as the rich boy. And I can tell you there's no fictional story written about myself." Yatsuhashi's thane asks the Throwing Weapon Hero, looking very suspicious.
"Oh, I mean they don't actually have to know about Sadina's future to pick her as a target, Naofumi-sama. They could have picked her completely at random. She almost killed you on Cal Mira Island, didn't she? So to anyone who wants you harm, she's clearly someone who is strong, and worth taking out." The Hammer Hero's eyes quickly begin to dart between Sadina's sprawled body on the ground, and Yatsuhashi's thane.
"I don't think she needs someone controlling her to be crazy. She did want to kill Master Naofumi just because you told her that Raphtalia was supposed to have a relationship from that fiction you read. It sounds like she has finally cracked and gone fully mad." Former Princess Malty sounds more than a bit vindictive about the woman, but then she looks at Raphtalia kneeling by Sadina with a very sad looking face and quickly changes her tune and wording. "Or maybe you are right. It is the work of someone like the Mirror Demon, or the Burning Legion."
"Big Sister Sadina clearly needs help. I should have said something earlier. I knew she was acting strange... but I thought she's just distracted and anxious because of what happened to me..." Raphtalia's eyes are fixed on the ground where Sadina was lying even as the church people took her away. "Do you think they can help her, Master Naofumi? Or is it already too late?"
"I don't know. Raphtalia. I don't think anyone is too late to be helped, but they need to be able to help themselves, or at least want others to help them first. Your old protector... she seems to be fixed on the idea that I was up to no good with you. I hope she can eventually change her mind, like Sato did about Malty." Yatsuhashi's thane doesn't seem to realize that the Throwing Weapon Hero has fixed his gaze on him while he's talking to little Raphtalia. He turns to look at the church commander who is slowly walking away. "Let us know what happened to Raphtalia's friend once you are done with her, alright? To be honest, I don't really care about her too much. But Raphtalia would want to have some closure."
"Understood. It shall be done." The commander of the Four Heroes' Church gives a nod back to them, as he slowly leads the men away down the mountain, probably towards the camp they are building at its base.
"I should also get going, Naofumi-sama. I don't know what happened to Sadina, and I probably should have paid her more attention. But now she's like this... I don't have a good solution either. Nothing like this happened in the original story. But at least there's something I can do for now." The Throwing Weapon Hero takes a step up to Yatsuhashi's thane. The word implies he's going further than simply returning to his room.
"You are leaving, now? Aren't you going to at least rest for tonight before going back to the capital? Our new meeting with the queen won't happen till' tomorrow." Yatsuhashi's thane sounds genuinely surprised at the decision made by the other young hero.
"I'm going to Lute Village, not the capital. Because I'm worried for all those people. The message the queen passed us said something about there are more, and more powerful monsters appearing all over the land." As the Throwing Weapon Hero speaks, there's a moment of genuine concern rather than his usual over dramatics. "The people of Lute treated me, and my companions well once they heard I was helping you. And if I let them get hurt by monsters, I would have failed them in addition to I would have failed you. I know I should be helping you the most, Naofumi-sama. But you have all these people helping and protecting you when the people of Lute has no one-"
"Hey, no need to feel sorry. I'm actually really happy that you care more about the lives of the innocent civilians than me. Like you said, I have all of these people willing to help and protect me just because I'm the Shield Hero, and the world would be closer to ruin if I die. Not to mention as the Shield Hero I'm already hard to kill." Yatsuhashi's thane knocks his own shield a couple of times with his fist. He looks like he made some decision as he suddenly speaks to the turtle spirit inside of his shield. "Hey, Terrapagos. Can I pass one of my unlocked forms onto Sato, even if we no longer have the material for it?"
"As Alaya's WEAPON, you should have this ability to pass your form onto a world shard holder. But I can see you still haven't gained enough mastery of your own ability as a WEAPON to do that. Let me take over for now, I'll do it for you." The phantom looking turtle rises up from the shield again. "Just take a deep breath. Try to completely relax your body and mind to let me move in."
Yatsuhashi's thane does exactly that as he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and relaxes his entire body. When he opens his eyes next time, there's clearly something very different about him. The way he carries himself looks different, like he's carrying some kind of invisible mountain on his shoulders, and his gaze becomes much more seasoned. When he opens his mouth, the voice of the turtle comes out. "Hold your world shard in front of me, boy. And I shall give the WEAPON form the Emerald WEAPON wanted to bestow you."
The feet of the Throwing Weapon Hero shuffles on the ground a little. His head also wobbles around a bit, looking somewhat unsure at the Spirit Tortoise who took over the body of Yatsuhashi's thane. After a while, he holds the legendary throwing weapon in front of him in both hands, at its default form as the Spirit Tortoise changes the legendary shield into that strange form that looks like a large rectangular, moving screen. He places his hand over the legendary throwing weapon, and after an emerald colored flash, the legendary throwing weapon also becomes a form that looks like the same shifting screen in the thin metal frame, but with a small handle on the side that roughly looks like the shape of a throwing axe. The young hero looks clearly surprised at this. "Is this... a smart phone?!"
The turtle closes the eyes of Yatsuhashi's thane, and when he opens his eyes again, Yatsuhashi knows his thane is back in control once again. "Yeah. Our smartphones were the few things my friends and I had on us aside from our modern clothes. And I later decided to try to let my shield absorb it. This way, we can directly power them with our magic energy, and we also find out that we can call each other with the phone app. You should be able to quickly contact, and ask for our help if you encounter something that'll give us trouble."
"Oh, this... this is a great gift, Naofumi-sama! I don't know what to say other than thank you! Thank you very much!" The Throwing Weapon Hero takes a step back, and begins to bow to Yatsuhashi's thane furiously.
"And... don't think you can only rely on me either. I know you don't trust in my friends, the other Cardinal Heroes, because of the stories you read. But don't judge them based on how someone who never actually met them chooses to write about them. Because I spent time with them, fought alongside them. I can say that I trust them with my life." Yatsuhashi's thane points his finger at the Spear Hero again. "I'm not saying they are perfect, and they never make mistakes. I'm not perfect either, and I still make plenty of mistakes. But if you don't trust them, at least trust me when I say you can depend on them when the chips are down."
"I... will take that thought into consideration." The way Throwing Weapon Hero is still looking at the Spear Hero from the corner of his eyes shows that he's not very faithful, or happy about trusting in the other hero. But at least he didn't openly disagree this time. He takes a few steps away, and bows down to Yatsuhashi's thane. "I'm going to go get my companions, and leave for Lute Village. Thank you for your help, Naofumi-sama."
"Are you sure we can trust your fan, Master Naofumi?" Former Princess Malty leans closer to Yatsuhashi's thane, and asks with a lowered voice to not let the Throwing Weapon Hero overhears her. "You saw how he acted before, always insisting on whatever the story he read was true instead of what you told him. I'm not saying he can't change, because he is at least more focused on helping the people of Lute than trying to kill me and messing around with your other friends. But I'm not sure about trusting in him. Because the way he reacted to that hammer rebel shows that he can still fly wildly out of control."
"To be honest, I don't know. But I do know one thing. With the threat of the Burning Legion, Astaroth, and that Katana Hero hanging over our head. And with people like Dumbledore and the Faubley king being very unhelpful, we need as many allies as we can get. Plus I'm not giving him some super powerful weapon form, or ability. The Smartphone form merely makes it easier for him to contact us, or to let us contact him. This way, we can make sure we look after him better." Once again, Yatsuhashi thinks that his own thane doesn't sound as sure as he's trying to convince the former princess. "I know you don't like him because he tried to kill you, but-"
"Say no more. I know what you are trying to say, Master Naofumi. If you have never given me, or your fellow heroes a chance, we would have not become your allies." The princess presses her index finger on the lips of Yatsuhashi's thane. "All I wanted you to do is be more aware of who, and how much you are willing to trust. Because if you aren't careful, you might end up giving an opportunity to someone who wishes to harm you. I think you are doing fine this time, just be very careful what kind of power you are going to share with this guy in the future. Unless he truly proves he is trustworthy, of course."
"Yeah. You are right. We already see people from other dimensions infiltrating this world. We don't know who might be working for the Burning Legion, or some other faction who might want to take over this world for their own greed." Yatsuhashi's thane nods his head, and then turns to look at the Spear Hero. "Are you okay with what I did, Motoyasu? Because I know he hasn't been nice to you from the start."
"Hey, don't you worry about me, Naofumi!" The Spear Hero gives a light slap on the shoulder of Yatsuhashi's thane. The light hearted way his body moves, and the way he speaks is the complete opposite from the carefully measured way former princess Malty carries herself. "I'm used to spending time around people who aren't easy to please. If you think that guy was bad... you really should get to know some of the girls I used to know before I was summoned. I'll just treat him like I treat Ikuyo and Momiji. Not taking anything bad, he talks to heart."
"Those were the two girls that stabbed you before you got summoned, right? I almost forgot how bad you had it." The face of Yatsuhashi's thane scrunches up, giving up some pretty messed up information about the Spear Hero that he never realized.
"I still can't imagine why someone would dislike Master Motoyasu so much, they would have stabbed him! The nerve of those two girls!" Lady Katarina puts both of her hands on her own waist while she lets out a huge puff of air from both her mouth and nose. Lady Bertia's reaction isn't as aggressive, but she still wraps her arms around one of the Spear Hero's own arms to comfort him. Lady Katarina reaches one hand over, and pats the Spear Hero on his chest. "Does it still hurt, Master Motoyasu?"
"I'm alright, Katarina. They didn't even leave any scars after I was summoned here." The Spear Hero looks down at his chest, his free hand slowly reaches up and rests on his own chest, over Katarina's smaller hand. "I just wish I had treated that situation better, so they didn't end up trying to kill each other, and then tried to kill me with them. I mean... I thought we were just friends, having a good time so none of us will feel lonely anymore. But turns out they wanted to have a relationship with me like Iris, and all of you. But I still don't understand why they ended up trying to kill each other. None of you tried to cut each other, or me up after all..."
"You poor thing. Don't worry, I won't let those girls hurt you even if they chase you to our world, Master Motoyasu. I'm sure Iris and Bertia wouldn't let them either. Would you, Tia?" Katarina turns her head to look at Lady Bertia, and she begins to furiously shake her head. She turns to the Spear Hero next. "See, Master Motoyasu? Tia is here to support you as well."
"No, I don't want you to get into a fight with Ikuyo and Momiji too. They didn't do anything wrong, I was the one who couldn't make them understand that everyone should be nice and friendly to each other." The Spear Hero takes a pause. And for the moment, he actually looks very sad. "But... that's not the point, is it? Because I'm not going back to the world I came from, at least not till the Wave and the Burning Legion is stopped. And even if I go back... I'm not sure if Ikuyo and Momiji were still alive. They did start trying to stab each other before they turned to me. I don't think I can go back and fix my past mistakes, no matter how much I want to."
"Melromarc Castle... It's been so long. I forgot how tall and proud its walls stood." She tightens her fingers around the spear as she looks from the tree branches she's sitting on. Even with the sun long sunken into the horizon, and only the moon and stars to provide meager light, the wall of Melromarc Castle stood as an impressive bulwark that would turn back any would-be attackers. Of course, she knew how fragile it truly was when faced with real opposition.
"Don't tell me that after what we went through, you finally want to go native now. Or are you talking about destroying this with your own hand? Because the best way to show your love to something, is always grinding it down to dirt using your own hand." She narrows her eyes at the woman with dry hair that turns yellow that reminds her of dead grass. Seeing her attention, the other woman gives her a toothy grin, while she reflexes her bulging muscles underneath the tightly wrapped bandages. The sapphire on the back of her right hand flashes its light in her eyes.
"Don't pick a fight, Noriko. Not now. We just arrived in this new world, with no one to help us but each other. The three of us have to stick, and work together." She turns to look at her other traveling companion. Unlike Noriko Tatsumiya, who is a hulking mound of muscles barely covered in tattered fabricd and bandages, Yuri Neuer is the exact opposite, always doing her best to keep a clean and graceful appearance, her fragile frame is wrapped in an elegant dress that fits more in a banquet, or dance party than the wilderness they usually trudge through.
"Don't pretend like you are some kind of goody-two shoes dainty lady, Neuer. There's no pretty boys for you to impress. Only us, and both of us knew what you are made of." Noriko lets out a hiss at the dainty Lady Yuri before she turns to her. "What do you plan to do this time? Should we play nice and try to get along with the natives, or should we take what we want from them?"
"Be quiet, you fools. I'm thinking." She isn't nearly as calm as she is showing both Noriko and Yuri... because this world reminds her so much of her past. But something was wrong. Because she didn't remember the Spirit Tortoise happening the way it was. Why was the Bioplant growing out of the turtle? But before she has the time to answer, a beam of purple falls into the forest like a falling star. Judging from the distance, it's going down to Lute Village. That was different from how she remembered as well. A star hero? Here, in Melromarc? Did the Star Wand recover earlier than usual? With her mind made, she turns to her two companions. "We'll go investigate Lute village. Figure out who is the Star Hero that just arrived now. We can figure out a game plan after we have more information."
Omake: Re-take of the Sword Hero 4
A feast was held at the big tree village for the arrival of Kizuna and Ren himself, a friendly Cardinal Hero from another world. Although judging from the happy and excited expression of both the humanoid inhabitants and the monster inhabitants, the harvest nation only wanted an excuse to have a party. Ren suppose that he can't blame them, they must all have been living under great pressure with the Mirror Demon, and the Katana Hero both trying to conquer the world and openly fight for dominance while the Wave is still going on.
Ren uses the time to take a peek at Honoka Machio, the Farming Hero. She has a plain, but girl next door-like face. Coupled with her short hair, inviting smile and the plain working overalls she wears to this feast, this is what a female farmer would look in Ren's mind. A world where all four summoned heroes are always girls... Ren tries to imagine how that would look for him and his friends. Well... he had already dressed as a nun together with Motoyasu and Itsuki when they were infiltrating the Three Heroes' Church, so it's not too hard to imagine how they would look like girls. And according to some of the former bandits working for Naofumi, he also dressed up like a maid while he was running from the Three Heroes' Church. Was he feeling a slight sense of shame that he didn't get to witness it personally?
"You are staring, Ren-kun. Do you like a down-to-earth girl like Honoka-chan?" A gentle tap from Kizuna makes him realize he's probably behaving very rudely to his host while he got lost in his mind. He quickly averted his gaze and looked at Kizuna. Thankfully, she has an impish smile rather than a frown, or some other disapproving look. "Well, it's a shame if you do. Because she's already taken. L'Arc-San has been with her almost from the beginning. It's hard not to imagine they get together like an item."
"Sorry I didn't bring her any gifts, unless she wants to accept some of the materials I have from the world I got summoned to." Ren shakes his head and takes out some of the higher grade materials from his sword, particularly Gaelion's shredded scales before he got taken to this world and shrunk down into a smaller (and very pudgy-looking) form. He's glaring right now as if sensing Ren's own thought... don't think thoughts like wanting to squish his round face. Remember he can disintegrate you with a harsh breath once he grows up again) baby dragon.
"REN! This food is very tasty! Here, try some!" Wyndia suddenly plops herself between Ren and Kizuna, physically splitting them apart. Something tells Ren that Wyndia is not acting normal, since she's no longer calling him 'Sky Guy' anymore. He looks down at the plate in her hand, and sees a lot of roasted vegetables. They look just a little big different from the food he already had from the world of Medea, and surprisingly like the ones grown on earth. He takes another look at the Farming Hero Honoka again. Maybe it's some specific ability from the hero weapon? Kizuna did tell him that the universal limit of the Malach set of legendary weapons was that they can't be used to harm humans, but they have some powerful special abilities in return. And then he's broken out of his own thoughts by Wyndia shoving the food into his face. "HERE! TRY SOME!"
"Alright." Ren nods back to Wyndia, and picks what looks like a roasted sweet potato as a safe option. It tastes surprisingly fresh, which he didn't expect since it was prepared through roasting. Like what he remembers of food from his own world, but with a stronger flavor which made it actually better than the same food from his memory. So he began to sample the other vegetables picked by Wyndia, all of them taste as good as the sweet potato. "They are very good, Wyndia. Thank you very much."
"See? I knew you would like them." Wyndia sets the now empty plate down near the fire, puts her fists on the side of her waist and thrust out her chest. "And I have more good ideas too! Since the problem everyone has is with those two bad heroes. Why don't we go and take them out? We got you here, a Cardinal Hero from another world which they wouldn't have expected. If we take them out, we can then take their hero weapon, and use them for good things. Like fighting the Wave, and that Burning Legion Master Shield Hero talked about. Who knows? Maybe even I could be a hero once a weapon becomes free."
Wyndia's voice grows progressively louder near the end, until the point where everyone surrounding the large bonfire is looking at her like she grew a second head. A wave of enthusiastic claps can be heard as L'arc stands up from the Farming Hero's side. He manages to sound genuine even when Ren thought Wyndia was being way too optimistic. "Bravo, bravo! We need more guys with more courage who are willing to stand up to the Mirror Demon, and that greedy Katana Hero."
"That is actually what we came to talk with you and Lady Machio with, Lord Berg. The Mirror Demon, and the Katana Hero have been allowed to run freely in our world for so long, killing, pillaging, destroying anyone who stands in their way. They need to be stopped, and not hide away and hoping they'll eventually take each other out. It's very unlikely they'll simply destroy each other, and they are clearly growing stronger, not weaker as they fight each other like some of us hoped." Fan Hero Glass also stands up not far from where Kizuna sits. "We have already heard news about the Cooking Hero, Lady Akiyama has joined forces with the Katana Hero before we reached the Death Forest."
"Jinko is with that guy? How? Why? No, wait. I can totally see it. She always had that 'might equals right' attitude with her constantly going about cooking is about competition!" The Farming Hero looks confused for a brief moment before raising her hand up to rub her forehead. "I half expected the two of them would rub each other wrong. Because neither of them tolerate anyone who says no to them. But I guess they don't have much conflict since all Jinko wanted was to experiment and make new dishes. With the Katana Hero and his lackeys providing her with exotic material and her making food for his men to make them stronger, we need to take them out before we can no longer catch up. The produce grown from Lady Machio's ability can also enhance the strength of those who eat them. So your men from the Harvest Nation are the ones who can keep up with the Katana Hero's forces."
"You just love to put me in a bad spot, don't you, Glass? Aiee... this is a very hard decision to make. Everyone here at Harvest looks to me to make all the hard decisions." L'arc shakes his head while his browns tighten together into a knot. The Farming Hero puts a hand on his shoulder as a sign of comfort. "Would be nice to have Kyo here. He'll probably do more trash talk than help us planning, but it's nice to borrow his brain for things like this. Tell you what. We are still a bit underpowered even if Harvest joins together with the Fan. And I don't want to lead everyone to their death after we finally find a good place to settle. You find where Kyo went after his country got taken by the Mirror Demon, or get the Ship Hero on our side, and then we'll talk about going to war with the Katana, or the Mirror."
End Note：
Once again, I have to confess I haven't planned out who messed up Sardina's head to have her attack everyone in a frenzy (could be that nobody is behind it, and she has simply gone coocoo for cocopuff too). Agents of Burning Legion is obvious, there could also be the native anti-hero faction Zeek and Feminus are a part of too. Since after Zeek's original betrayal of Naofumi and his fellow Unspeakables, I definitely had more inspiration about and fleshed out what's going on with the faction he is part of.
We also get a bit more on Ren's side as he's trapped in the world of Malach AKA Glass' world. The idea of the other three Cardinal Heroes other than Hunting Hero Kizuna are Farming Hero Honoka Michio (more or less a rule 63'ed Hiraku Machio from [Farming Life in Another World]), and Cooking Hero Jinko Akiyama (the daughter of Jan Akiyama and Kiriko Gobanchou from [Iron Wok Jan]), and the unrevealed (uncreated) Fishing Hero.