"What do you mean you don't have Raphtalia?"

We went to the slave trader's tent so I could check in on his work, and possibly explain to him how selling someone else's property wasn't a good business practice. Though, since my message said to aid the Shield Hero, and I hadn't technically paid for anyone yet, I probably wouldn't have gotten far, so I didn't bother.

"I'm afraid I haven't found any other survivors of Lurolona, yes sir." The slave trader said, bowing his head slightly. "And I have been thorough in my search thus far."

"And the place I told you to search?" I asked.

"The two you specified weren't there."

"Well, that's annoying." I was really hoping to have something to show Sadeena and Keel. It seemed like this was yet another difference. Because, really, how hard could it have been to find a village of slaves?

Well…if the knights and slavers responsible didn't want people to know, they probably would sell them somewhere that wasn't the capital, and probably not all in one place.

"Where have you searched? What towns? How many other slave traders?" Sadeena asked. She spoke quickly, and I detected a hint of panic in her voice. On our walk over, I mentioned how Raphtalia should already be here.

"All within the capital, and in two nearby towns." Beloukas replied. "But such a thing takes time, and with so little investment, to use my employees…"

"Yes, yes." I could take a hint. I pulled out another gold coin, this one from Zeltoble. I was starting to get low on those.

"Hm. A Zeltoble coin. This is—"

"Your uncle already tried that with Faubrey coins." I interrupted his obvious attempt at getting more money out of me. In response, he simply tipped his top hat.

"Very well." He said. "I'll dispatch a few more riders to make inquiries."

"Good." A thought occurred to me. "What exactly did Rabier say to your man?"

"He told him the two slaves were no longer there."

That was as good a lead as any. Chasing them down would take some time, but there weren't any other urgent matters to deal with. Important, yes, but not urgent.

"You have an idea?" Sadeena eagerly asked.

"Not here." I shook my head. "When we're out of the capital."

Atla had her hand on my arm again. I wasn't sure what she was doing until she subtly pointed near the entrance of the tent. At that moment, the flap moved. There was a good chance that was a spy or shadow lurking around, probably loyal to the church. Naofumi had two companions, so of course they wanted to keep an eye on him. That also probably meant they knew who I was, so I wouldn't be able to do anything incognito in regards to the church.

After making one more purchase and making sure Naofumi had the Slave User series—he had the first one, but would need Keel or Sadeena's blood and hair for more—we left Beloukas's place and made our way back to the carriage, not speaking all the while. Hailey was hooked up and we all piled in, with me at the front. In a few short minutes, we were outside the gatehouse and heading west at a good pace.

"What was that about?" Naofumi asked from the back.

"Hm." I looked back to the young tiger sister. "Atla?"

"We're being followed, but we should be far enough away." She said.

"Ooh, so talented~." Sadeena reached over and patted her head. "To be able to sense the presence of others, and at such a young age!"

"You knew?" Naofumi asked her.

Sadeena nodded. "Since before I joined your party, little Naofumi, when I was following you."

"Why didn't you say something?" He asked, annoyed.

"You're the Shield Hero in Melromarc. I thought it was obvious~. Not to mention your reputation here." Sadeena replied.

Naofumi grumbled under his breath. Something about their stupid religion. Good. If he already knew that, then I wouldn't have to explain as much to him.

"Why'd you buy me an egg?" Naofumi changed the subject.

"I didn't. You can pay me back later." I said.

The egg was in an incubator and sitting on Naofumi's lap. Of course, it contained a filolial. Nothing fancy, a cheap one that's used as livestock. I was starting to run low on funds—or, lower than I wanted to be. I might need to pass a few coins here and there for information, plus whatever the two girls ended up costing.

"We'll see." Naofumi replied, though he still held the egg against him.

Naofumi would thank me once his filolial transformed. I only told him it would be highly beneficial, which it was. Transformation aside, Hailey was pretty strong and fast, so that alone would be worth getting a filolial.

Incidentally, we all formed one big party. We could change groups later for XP gains, but I wanted Hailey and Naofumi in the same party. Hopefully, this would be enough, since she was raised by a hero already.

"About Raphtalia…" Sadeena quickly directed the conversation.

I thought about how to answer that. "She was at Idol Rabier's mansion. That's what we know."

"You know more." Sadeena pressed.

I let out a sigh. "How much do you want to know?"

"Everything." There was no hesitation in her voice. "Everything since the Wave. You know that much, right?"

I did. I hadn't told them about all my knowledge yet, but knowing I had a large amount of information was enough for her to guess.

This wasn't going to be easy for her to hear, but I wasn't going to hold back if she really wanted to know. "From what I remember, Raphtalia was saved by her parents when they threw her from a cliff into the ocean. The Wave boss killed her parents."

Sadeena grimaced, but I went on. "After the Wave, she was able to rally the survivors and start rebuilding, but knights killed or captured them and sold them into slavery. I believe she was sold a few times before ending up at Rabier's place, since none of her owners could tolerate her night terrors. Rifana ended up there as well."

I paused in my storytelling. The look from Sadeena told me she knew I was still holding something back, and wanted me to continue. Yeah, I really didn't want to say this, but I'd tell her.

"Idol Rabier tortures his slaves. When he's done with them, he returns them. I think he rents them for that or something."

This got a few looks from everyone. I hadn't told the tiger sisters what exactly Rabier was like, so this was new to them. Rato already knew, since she was around when I talked with Khana about him. Keel was a mix between furious and mortified. Naofumi clicked his tongue and turned to the side, muttering something about 'this disgusting country'. And Sadeena…

She was absolutely livid. Even that description didn't do it justice. Her facial expressions were mostly restrained before. Now, her teeth were clenched, her eyes were narrowed, and her hands were balled into fists.

"We are going to kill this man, Dante." She said with barely restrained rage.

"He's on the list." I told her.

"What happened next?" Sadeena asked slowly.

I nodded as I went on. "Rifana died from an illness, which Raphtalia caught. Rabier…broke her. Her friend dying and knowing her home was gone made her give up hope. She was then sold—or returned—to Beloukas. Eventually, Naofumi bought her."

Exact days notwithstanding, that was about all I knew of her imprisonment.

"I'm going to kill him!" Keel shouted.

"No." I shook my head. "That's not the plan."

"You said you would kill him, so why can't I!?" Keel demanded.

"A lot of reasons, not the least of which him being a wealthy lord with soldiers to defend him." I could understand her…his anger. "First, we do this the personable way. I'll go in and ask for information. If he says who she—or, hopefully, they—were sold to, we can go chase them down."

"You're just going to let him live!?" Keel shouted again.

"For now." I told him. "He's going to die, make no mistake. But I don't want to go through what could end up being a hard fight this early."

The last time I killed a noble…well, it worked out, but I had injuries. The way I saw it, Rabier was a proper lord with his own town, whereas that other guy was more like a minor noble. If it was just him, I was confident I could kill Rabier. My defense wasn't that high and enough arrows would take me down, even with the Axe of Rage.

"What if he refuses to tell you?" Sadeena asked. "What if he's lying? What if Rabier still has Raphtalia?"

I smiled. "Then I'll do what I do best."

"Mister Dante is really good at killing." Atla helpfully supplied.

"Yeah, he is." Fohl crossed her arms. "Not just monsters."

"Aw, you're going to make me blush, Fohl." I teased her, only for her to turn away. Atla faced her as well, almost intensely. I might have just made her jealous.

"I'll meet him with you." Sadeena stated.

"I don't think—"

"Almost no one notices that I'm a demi-human." She added. "I want to see what he says myself. I want to see if he's lying."

"Hm." Well, she had a point. The rumors didn't identify her as a demi-human. I might have heard something about a tattooed warrior. "Alright, that's fine. And, hey, in that case, we could always force a confrontation then and there. With my weapon and your insane levels, we could tear through his mansion."

"Insane levels?" Naofumi looked over at Sadeena. "Something else you're hiding from me?"

Huh? What was that about?

Sadeena shook her head. "No, little Naofumi. I can't hide my level." She refocused on me. "What level do you think I am?"

"Around 80 or 90?" I guessed. I couldn't remember exactly what it was, nor how much XP she had gained from the coliseum in Zeltoble, but it still had to be pretty high. Being in a party didn't automatically reveal that information, and I didn't ask before.

She looked at me for a moment before responding. "I'm level 32."

"…Oh." Well, there went that idea. "Okay, then. Original plan, with Sadeena coming along. We'll hammer out the details on the way."

If I had my way, maybe I'd wait until Naofumi got Zweite Aura from Cal Mira. Not that I didn't think we could fight Rabier, but dozens of guards swinging swords and shooting arrows would make a difference. Out of all of us, only I had good armor, and defense was my lowest stat.

~The Right Man~

We traveled for a few days.

When Hailey took a break, I would teleport back near the capital and start jogging in the direction of Lerno village, where I would eventually find the Bioplant. My map and the information I got from Sadeena were enough. I couldn't read the language and she heard a rumor about famine in that village—I couldn't remember the name of it before.

Getting to the coast so Sadeena could take me to Cal Mira was one of our objectives, but we would take the carriage there. She had been teaching Naofumi to read a little, saying it would allow him to read spell books. He wasn't quite there yet, but we had time in the carriage. Plus, Mirso—the village where Ren killed Gallion and ended poisoning the population—was in that general direction. Again, I couldn't recall the name, but Sadeena had seen a quest for dragon slaying. Lastly, ocean monsters gave more XP, so we'd be setting up near there for a while, hence the carriage.

Also on breaks, a few of them would go out to hunt monsters. Specifically, Fohl, Naofumi, and Keel, plus Naofumi's newly hatched filolial. Hailey needed rest, Rato was in a support role, and someone needed to watch over them. Atla wanted to go out, too, but Fohl and I agreed to keep her back. Having two hakukos walking around wouldn't be good, especially with their owner away, and doubly especially near the Shield Hero.

Originally, Atla wanted to go with me, but I refused for a similar reason. We took breaks in forested areas, away from travelers and the like. While I didn't think we could hide the sisters' race from whoever was following us, more random people seeing them wouldn't be all that great. Plus, if that was a church shadow, even they wouldn't attack one of them and risk pissing off a Seven Star Hero, so there wasn't much issue having her wait at the carriage.

Naofumi also didn't want two of my party members with him without Sadeena; the slave seal still activated when she lied, so he was confident in her sincerity in wanting to help him. He was still distrustful of me, which was fair. We'd spent our time chatting, me telling them about a few more things I'd been up to since I arrived. I didn't mention me sort of working for the queen, since that might not go over so well with him, what with her husband and daughter screwing him over. For the same reason, I didn't mention my goddess just yet. Once I proved myself useful, then we could discuss that.

Naofumi's distrust didn't extend to my knowledge of the power up methods, thankfully. A demonstration of an empowered spell and skill was all it took for him to accept my words. I had some ore for him to use, and some monster parts, but I didn't want to deplete my own reserves, hence the monster hunting.

I also got descriptions from Keel about the knights and slavers that attacked Lurolona. Naturally, they were all on my kill list, but they'd take some time. It wasn't comprehensive, but I was confident at least one of them would sell out the others to survive. I'd kill that one, too, but they didn't need to know that before spilling their guts.

~The Right Man~

"And then Mister Dante slew the monster, his foot planted on its bloody corpse atop a mountain of dead monsters!" Atla finished her story, planting her own foot on a log for emphasis.

I could only chuckle at her retelling of Zeltoble's Wave. It was highly exaggerated. Sure, I killed more than my fair share of monsters during the Wave, but the monsters weren't so considerate as to die in a single place. And the troll boss wasn't all that difficult. Still, it was fun listening to her.

"That's so cool!" Keel thought so as well, hanging off of Atla's words and wagging his tail fiercely.

We sat around a fire for the night, and we would reach Rabier's territory tomorrow before noon. A few logs were pulled close for seats and a couple of tents were set up. Not everyone enjoyed sleeping against Hailey like me, so there were options.

"Didn't Lady Hammer finish off the boss?" Rato whispered next to me.

"Gweh." Hailey nodded, sitting behind me.

"You mean swoop in and kill it a second before I could, and then brag about it all night? Yes. Yes, she did." I replied, reaching back and scratching Hailey's neck. No progress on her transformation…yet. I still had hope.

I wasn't all that broken up at the kill-steal or loss of XP. Khana's boasting was the worst of it, so much so that I mingled with the mercenaries instead of listening to her on repeat. Or Martin's own exaggerations.

"Can you teach me to fight like you do?" Keel took a step to me and asked.

"Most of my power comes from my weapon." I told him. "I'm decent with an axe, but I was briefly trained by Khana and Garth."

"Then could Khana train me? Could you ask her to?" He asked. I would have to tell Garth he just got snubbed as a teacher.

"Ehh…" I looked to the side.

"Please!" Keel got even closer, hands clasped together.

"Well, it's not like she'd outright refuse, but…" I wasn't sure how to say this.

"She would probably try to sleep with you." Atla just went ahead and said it. She crossed her arms and turned away. "That's what she did with Mister Dante. She's like that."

Yeah, I hadn't exactly told Naofumi and them about my relationship with Khana, at least to that extent. As for everyone else…Khana had a big mouth at times.

"Atla…" Fohl sighed. Yep. Atla was jealous of Khana. I had no plans to address that.

"Oh my~!" Sadeena laughed behind her hand.

"O-Oh…" Keel shrank back a little. "Um…"

"Don't worry, I won't let her snatch you up." I assured him. I already kept an eye on her around Atla and Fohl. I did catch Khana flirting with Atla at Zeltoble's celebration…probably. What was one more person? Though, I did like teasing people, so… "Even though you're probably her type."

That got a huge blush out of the boy. "I-I am…?"

"As far as I can tell." I was mostly honest. She had Martin, and they shared a few qualities. "Especially since you're pretty. Khana's into women, so you're checking a lot of boxes."

He continued to blush, but puffed himself up a little. "I'm not pretty, I'm cool!" He declared.

"I hate to break it to you, but you're pretty." I replied with a shrug.

"Cool!" Keel repeated.

"Anyone else want to weigh in?" I asked our group.

Keel immediately spun to Sadeena, who looked like she was holding back laughter. He then looked to Naofumi and saw no hope there. The guy wasn't smiling, but he was in far from a bad mood. The black-feathered filolial in his lap certainly helped, and its growth made it almost too big for that. Almost predictably, he named him Kuro, Japanese for black.

"I think Keel looks handsome, and certainly cool." Atla said.

Keel grinned at the praise. "Thanks! I'm glad someone…" He then realized who exactly said that.

"You have just been a treat this past week." I told her.

"Thank you, Mister Dante!" She wasted no time sitting on my other side, leaning against me, much to Fohl's annoyance. She then whispered in my ear while I patted her head.

Keel, meanwhile, let his arms hang loosely.

"You fight…uh, your style…" Fohl tried to speak, but she couldn't seem to find the words.

"Like he's been fighting for a week?" I supplied.

Fohl glanced at me. "Well, not everyone can make a career out of it."

"Not everyone lives that long." I was sure this was her warming up to me more. Must be.

"Am I not cool?" Keel asked.

"Ah, don't worry about it. There's still time to be cool." I offered. "You might want to develop more muscles, though. Even now, I can't help thinking you're a girl."

"How many times do I have to tell you!? I'm a man!" Keel retorted.

"I mean, I'll take Naofumi's word for it." They had bathed in a river together at one point to get blood off of their clothes, hence his knowledge.

"Look, see?" Keel lifted his shirt, showing off his chest. There was some muscle there, and his growth did make him look a little more manly.

"I have a response to that, but Fohl might hit me for it." I said.

"I might hit you right now." Fohl grumbled. She was tall, fully grown, quite muscular…and not all that feminine. If I didn't know better, I might confuse her for a man. That would definitely get me hit.

"Grr! Fine!" Keel, in all his now-teenage wisdom, pulled down his shorts next. "See? I'm a man!"

"Oh dear!" Atla held her hand to her mouth. "You just exposed yourself in front of a girl!"

Keel immediately became aware of himself, hastily pulling up his shorts again. Atla's fake shock wasn't fooling anyone, except maybe Keel. Naofumi shook his head, playing with Kuro. Fohl sighed, though she was probably glad she wasn't the object of my teasing. Sadeena held back a laugh. Rato…well, she was far too used to my teasing of others and had already checked out of the whole ordeal.

Part of me felt a little bad for Keel. He was a little impulsive, but he had a good head on his shoulders. Maybe I was teasing a little too much, but it helped take the edge off. Tomorrow, we'd be meeting with Rabier, and while only Sadeena and I would meet him in person, no one here liked being in his territory.

After a good laugh at Keel's expense, I stood. Now seemed like a good opportunity. "Ah, just look at us. Friends having fun, telling stories, letting our guard down. The perfect time for someone to say something informative so someone else can hear it."

A few confused looks were thrown my way, but I didn't pay it any mind. There were only two things I cared about. First was Sadeena's quick nod. Second was the rustle not too far to my right, giving me exactly what I wanted.

"Meteor Axe VII!" Without a wasted movement, I unhooked my axe, spun in place, and swung out my skill.

The crescent-shaped energy slash tore into the tree on its path, along with the bushes. A soft grunt came from them. Then, a dark-clothed figured materialized and started to run.

"Zweite Paralyzing Thunder!" Sadeena called out, launching her spell. It struck the person dead-on, making them convulse before falling to the ground.

"Nice!" I ran to the downed figure, a shadow, before they could shake off the effect and regain their footing. Shadows had a high level, according to Nelshen. With my foot on their back, they weren't going anywhere.

I knew Sadeena knew something was up, but I didn't think she had a spell prepared. Did she chant it completely under her breath? Scary. I would definitely appreciate her help when I gained access to Way of the Dragon Vein.

"What the hell!?" Naofumi stood from his log, shield up and Kuro on the ground.

"Nothing to worry about." I told him, angling my axe near the shadow's neck. "Just a shadow that got a little too bold."

Sadeena approached from one side, Fohl the other. The others in the group closed in as well.

"Any last words?" I asked the shadow.

There was silence for a few moments. Then, the shadow spoke. "…I work for the queen."

"Hmm." I couldn't see her face—her voice gave away her gender—so I couldn't tell if she was lying. Though, even if I saw it, I wasn't confident I could pick out a lie from a highly trained spy.

"The queen?" Naofumi stood next to me, his expression stern. "Why should that matter?"

"Have you not told him, Axe Hero?" The shadow asked.

"I was going to eventually." I admitted. Naofumi shot me a glare, but I ignored it. "Why don't you inform him."

The shadow moved slightly, but I kept my foot on her back. "Sir MacRory has been hired to protect the hero summoned to Melromarc." She said.

"That's a charitable description." I deadpanned. It wasn't like I was expecting her to give all the details.

"'The' hero?" Naofumi asked. "Weren't all the Cardinal Heroes summoned in Melromarc to fight the Waves?"

"You can blame the king for that." I told him. "He summoned all four Holy Heroes even though all the major countries were discussing who would get which hero."

"Why?" Naofumi asked.

"Because the Waves are happening all over the world." I answered.

"All over…" Naofumi murmured, then crossed his arms as he glared at me. "And you didn't think to tell me that?"

"I have a lot of things to tell you, and you only just started being more open to listen." I said. "Look, I'm not a diplomat or a highly skilled manipulator. I hit things until they stop being a problem. I have other people to figure out who I should hit."

"Like the queen?" Sadeena asked.

"Like Nelshen, the chancellor of Shieldfreeden." I answered her.

The shadow beneath me twitched. "And what of the queen? And your agreement?"

"What about them?" I asked back. The shadow remained silent. "The leash your queen tried putting on us wasn't nearly as secure as she thought. But then, how would she know my exact circumstances? How could she possibly predict her husband screwing things up this badly? If only she had someone with knowledge of the future on her side."

"You knew." It wasn't a question, but a statement from the shadow. "You knew the king would go against the other countries and summon all four heroes. You knew and you did nothing. Why?"

"She blackmailed me and my first friend in this world, another hero. It's the kind of thing that puts me off of helping someone." It wasn't rocket science.

"And for that, you would risk the world? To spite my queen for a perceived slight?"

"No." And with that, I brought my axe up and swiftly plunged it into the back of her head. "It was for the sake of this world that I didn't change one key event I knew about."

The explanation wasn't for the dead shadow, though I did sometimes tell off a corpse that had just before been a bit too arrogant or uppity. No need giving a target the chance to turn the tides. With the shadow dead, I hefted the Axe over my shoulder to look at the three it was for.

"You…could have prevented it." Naofumi's eyes were filled with anger.

"Possibly." I told him honestly. "Maybe the queen could have prevented the summoning. Maybe Aultcray would have ignored her command and just summoned you all sooner. Maybe you would have been summoned in Siltvelt, and things would be a lot worse for you."

"Why?" Naofumi asked, continuing to scrutinize me. "Why would that have possibly been worse than what I went through?"

"Because you probably would have ended up a breeding slave." I told him.

That was enough to shock Naofumi out of his glare. His face twisted in disgust. "A breeding slave? What are you talking about?"

"I knew you didn't have knowledge of this world, but I'm surprised you know so little." I glanced at Sadeena.

"He didn't ask~." Sadeena answered innocently. "Besides, little Naofumi didn't seem like the type of man who would accept something like that."

Naofumi turned his anger to her. "More like you didn't want to lose someone who could help you find your villagers."

Sadeena's eyes widened slightly. "…Yes. I still wanted your help, little Naofumi. But I also knew Siltvelt is a zealous country, much like Melromarc. You might very well have been used like Dante said. And I didn't think Melromarc would allow you to travel there."

The mark on her chest didn't glow, so she spoke honestly. My own knowledge confirmed that, seeing how Naofumi was killed in Motoyasu's first time-loop when he traveled there with some Siltvelt emissaries.

"Fine." With a click of his tongue and a grumble, Naofumi looked away. "I guess things could have been worse."

"Glad we're all on the same page, then." I said, stowing my axe.

"But that doesn't mean I trust you." Naofumi pointed out.

"I gave you the power up methods, showed you an ability of the Legendary Weapons, and brought more allies to fight with you. How much more do you want?" I asked, genuinely curious what his response would be.

"Enough to know I won't be backstabbed by you later." He said. "Since you killed that woman without any remorse, I can't believe you won't do the same to me."

"Don't try to blackmail me and you'll be on a good path." I joked, pulling a knife from my hip and lowering myself to the shadow.

"What are…" Naofumi's voice trailed off as he saw what I was doing.

"What are you doing!?" Keel shouted. I heard him jump back behind me.

"Getting materials." I told him. "Bone, muscle, and skin. Combined with the body, that's four weapon forms you'll get, Naofumi. You already know doing this gets you more weapon forms."

While I wasn't looking at him, the noises told me he was not at all enthused about absorbing what I was preparing.

"Oh my." Sadeena's voice didn't have its usual charm to it.

"That's sick." Naofumi murmured.

"Then the next story will be how I crawled through literal shit to kill someone." I stood up once more. Some dissection abilities made short work of the arm.

Naofumi just looked at me like I ate her or something. He didn't move to absorb the pieces.

I sighed. "You want to know how you can trust me? I'm doing this for the same reason she is." I nodded toward Sadeena. "Once I accomplish my tasks, I get my family back. That was the agreement I came to with my goddess."

"Your…" Naofumi trailed off, so I continued.

"Believe me, if things were different, we wouldn't be having this conversation. If her goal was this world's destruction, I'd just kill you and the other three heroes during the next Wave, ending this world. You'd never see me coming. I would wipe out millions just to bring my family back."

I took a step forward, Naofumi taking one back. I held up the human remains to him as I continued to approach.

"I need a Holy Hero with me, and you're that hero. I'll make sure you survive until the end so you can return home. I'll kill anyone who gets in our way, even whole countries. Those are the lengths I'll go to."

Naofumi stopped retreating. Slowly, he brought up a hand. He started to absorb what I offered him.

My little speech wasn't just for him. Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at the one person who needed to know just what kind of man I was. Atla's loyalty was appreciated, but her attachment was misplaced.

Yes, things would go much more smoothly if she obeyed me without question. That didn't mean I would enjoy it. And just because I could go through with killing everyone, that didn't mean I would be happy about it. I still had a heart, as twisted as it was.

Maybe her affection could find a new target, like the good man who was twisted by this world in front of me. Better than me, who chose to go down a blood-filled path.

Author's Notes:

We're on the road to finding Raphtalia and Rifana.