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.
The soldiers and adventurers from southern Melromarc all gathered in the city square of Gallia city. Sir Oersted remembers the crowd when he left the city in the morning to look for the Shield Hero's buried equipment in the mountain, and now he's a member among them. The group has also grown five times larger than the one he first saw. They are having some last minute rest as more joins them. They have been gathering since before the dawn break, and at noon, they'll begin to travel north to the capital to join with the rest of the heroes' retinue. Sir Oersted looks around. Not that he knows anyone in particular since he mostly spends time training with his fellow squires. But he still finds the sight of so many people wearing different kinds of protection gear and using different weapons to be curious. He suddenly hears some commotion of people at the edge of their group getting excited shouting something. It doesn't sound angry, like people are rioting so he assumes it's not a bad thing. But he still wants to know what's going on. So he stands up and calls out to his leader. "Captain Polnareff, I'm going to check what's going on there."
"Come back soon. Don't get distracted by some lovely mademoiselles. You don't want to upset your lovely lady princess." His knight captain gives him a joking wink, making some of his fellow knights let out some snorts or snickers at him. Captain Polnareff is easy going, but there are times Oersted wishes he isn't so flirty all the time whenever he sees a young woman. He wonders if this is why Streubough was so frustrated with him all the time, (Chief God bless his soul) not the flirty part, but the embarrassing him part.
The young knight pushes through the people sitting, or standing around the square. He's soon at the edge, and he immediately noticed the easily recognizable helmet. Slightly dented, and positively filthy that emits the stench of dirt and dried up blood. Yet the Titanite is still holding strong around the man's face, which nobody knows how it looks like. The 'Beast Slayer' is easily one of the most recognized adventurers in Melromarc, for his one man crusade against all the demi-human bandits that's been plaguing the land. He's someone who would reject a noble's request to steal monster eggs to defend a village from bandits for no reward. That's why he is, and easily deserves his recognition as one of, if not the most famous adventurer of Melromarc.
"Alice! They are increasing the number of the heroes' retinue now they are staying in Melromarc for good. We are going to join, and fight the Wave of Catastrophe alongside the heroes. Are you going to join the heroes' retinue with the Slayer?!" One adventurer about the same age as Oersted, is talking while waving his hands animatedly around - who seems to be a companion of the Beast Slayer. "It'd be good to get the original Titan Storm back! We got our own healer now, but it's just not the same without you."
"Oh, goodness no, Rufus. The Slayer is here to track down a bandit group that split from the north after the death of the Bitch Lord. I simply followed him." The young, blonde woman dressed in white priestly robe looks back at the Beast Slayer, and shakes her head at the young swordsman with an apologetic smile. The young man's arms, and his head instantly drops down at her rejection. His sudden change in posture clearly startled the young priest, so she quickly adds. "I'll do my best to convince the Slayer to come north and check what the heroes are doing after this! I think the Slayer can be a big help to the heroes even if they aren't fighting bandits."
The Slayer stops his steps. He looks back at the female healer following him, and at the young swordsman talking to her. A hoarse voice, that's hard to tell if it belongs to a young man, or someone older comes out of his dented full helmet. "There are more important things to do than seeking glory in fighting the Wave. The common peoples from the villages get robbed and killed by bandits more than some monsters from the sky."
The Beast Slayer for some reason, seems to have a rather diminished opinion towards the heroes. The young knight feels like he should come out and say something. To defend the honor of the Shield Hero who he had served for a while alongside his Gallian men. But he feels like it would not change the man's stance.
Both the blonde healer, and the young swordsman look away from the Slayer. Oersted can't tell what's going on between them. It seems like the young man knew the female healer, and probably the Slayer in the past. Yet the veteran adventurer doesn't seem to share the same enthusiasm as the young swordsman. But before he figured out what's going on with them, someone steps in behind the young swordsman. He is much older, easily over five decades with his large beard, and aged lines on his face. Yet there's no sign of gray in his deep brown mane. The way he is dressed is also peculiar: he wears a large, deep green colored long sleeve open jacket over a faint yellow colored tunic tied at the waist by a brown sash. There is no visible weapon of any kind on him. In all ways, the old man looks to be a simple village farmer who hasn't seen a single day of fighting. Yet, the more Oersted looks at the man, he begins to feel more and more dangerous. There's a controlled manner that he moves his body that most trained knights aren't able to achieve. He also isn't affected in any way by the presence of The Beast Slayer. Either from his reputation, or the saint of blood that emit from him. "I'm not going to put down the need to defend common villagers from bandits, sonny. But aren't you being a bit too hard on the heroes? Sure, a Wave of Catastrophe attacks isn't as common as bandit raids, but they are a death sentence to anyone living in a rural village. Or even in big cities. And if they aren't stopped, those monsters will move to the next village, town, or cities till there's nothing left. It certainly shouldn't be dismissed."
The Slayer crosses his arms in front of his chest, rather than saying anything back to the older veteran. The simple gesture makes his stance very clear to everyone, but the older adventurer wasn't finished. "That being said, I do agree that bandits can cause more problems to smaller, rural villages than a Wave battle which happens once every month even during an active Wave. How about this? We'll come with you to take care of the bandits, and then you can come north with us to check if the heroes are worth following afterwards."
This time, the Beast Slayer didn't say anything back to the group of adventurers. The young swordsman quickly calls out his remaining companions as they join up with the Slayer. And quickly, the two groups noticed the similarity between both group compositions. Aside from the old veteran adventurer and the Slayer being their leader, both of them have a female healer, a male fighter who is armed with a sword, a female wizard, and a female fist fighter. Rufus lets out a chuckle at the healer Alice. "You didn't try to recreate Titan Storm without us, did you? Alice?"
"And what am I? Chopped up balloon scraps?" The only odd one out from the Slayer's group lets out a giggle. Coming from someone else, the question might come off as demanding, maybe even sarcastic. But the woman's bright smile and upbeat demeaning simply makes it sound like a good natured joke. But what caught Oersted's attention most is her face. She looks close enough to Princess Malty to be a lost sister.
Chapter 31: Nobody Should Blame Me
Keyaru bows his head low to not let anyone see the scowl that he can't keep away from his face. It's just his rotten luck that the group he is assigned to got picked to go reinforce the Cardinal Heroes in case they face another attack from high ranking demons from this supposed Burning Legion. Heroes... it seems like no matter which world he is in, he can't escape those fuckwades. And as the former Healer Hero of his world, he knew it to be a title that's highly overpraised, filled by hypocritical assholes. These summoned heroes... they probably enslave children, and rape their companions in their spare time away from prying eyes.
"Your head is lower than usual, Brother Keyaru. Are you okay?" He can hear the concerned voice of Raynare coming from his side. Thankfully, he finally managed to get his facial expression in check between the few moments that wouldn't sound too unnatural for him to reply back to her.
"I am well, Sister Raynare. I am... simply ecstatic to have the honor of serving the revered heroes." Keyaru gives the demi a faint smile while fighting back the feeling of disgust from his lies. A demi... his fellow demi. Because apparently, he can't even keep his identity as a human after his first death. It almost makes him shudder what he would lose if he lost this life and get reincarnated again. His manhood? Yes... because Keyaru still remembers his past life, when he was a hero that was maligned... no, abused by his supposed fellow heroes. Simply because as the healer, he can't defend himself. At least he inherited both his past memory... and his affinity for miracles from his last life. "I think you better check up on Brother Captain Rehab. He seems even more nervous than me."
"...You are right, Brother Keyaru. Thank you for notifying me." The stupid crow woman finally takes her attention off him to look at their captain. The fourth, of the Six Seraphim Brothers. She carefully steps forward, making sure not to bump into any of her fellow demi to reach their leader standing at the front of their group. Keyaru could still hear her from where he stood, thanks to the harsh discipline of the knightly order they belong to keeping them all quiet. "Are you well, Brother Captain Rehab?"
"Ah. Sister Raynare. To tell you the truth... I'm nervous about my new post as a guard captain of Lord heroes. I'm not afraid of fighting, and losing my life against a demon lord. I'm simply afraid I'm not up to the task to keep the heroes safe." The fish head helmet wearer begins his incessant whine at Raynare. "I think Brother Turel, and Brother Duma would have both been the better choice compared to me. I'm more used to being the one who stays behind, and defends a post or a base."
"Then that makes you the perfect candidate, doesn't it? Brother Captain Raziel chose the best candidate for the task. You are defending a post: the revered heroes." Keyaru almost let another scowl appear on his face as he hears the excited twine in Raynare's voice when she says bat face's name. She sounds like a bitch in heat whenever she, or someone else brings out that stupidly... handsome fuckboy. "The post is simply a moving one this time. But this would be a good chance to grow yourself. Taking on a slightly more challenging task than before."
"Yes. You are right, Sister Raynare. Thank you for your encouragement. Ah, here comes Lord Shield and Bow Hero now." Both Rehab and Raynare stop their conversation to stand at attention in the front, as a much larger group of people comes down from the northward road to join their group.
Initially, Keyaru didn't pay any attention to them. But then, a dash of pink caught his eyes, making him wonder if he is becoming delusional due to constantly stewing in his own unresolved hatred. But her face... she looks exactly like the pink-haired princess that ruined his previous life.
Keyaru couldn't hide the cruel smirk from his face, so he quickly bows his head down once again. Perfect... This is just too perfect. He thought that he can't have his revenge with him born a slave, instead of a hero in this new world. A world without his assailant. But to see that woman again with his own eyes. A ball of golden concussion forms in his hand, which he quickly dispelled into dancing sparks of lightning. The weak, frail, helpless Keyaru can do more than merely healing in this brand new world...
Bless the existence of God's Miracles.
Colorful confetti and sweet scented flower petals fall on top of everyone's heads and shoulders. The queen's procession isn't nearly as large as the full parade when Malty's father summoned all of the Melromarc nobles and their allies for a rally to 'prepare for the Wave of Catastrophe' shortly before the third Wave, but they still received a welcome worthy of the heroes. Literally in this case. To the unenlightened common folks, they don't know the full intricacy of The Game, especially when they are played on the entire world's level. They don't know how many schemes and compromises were exchanged between the different players. All they know is their queen brought all four Cardinal Heroes to Cal Mira Island for the upcoming Hero Conference, where they would be lucky if they were allowed to keep one hero. Yet in the end, she brought all four of them back. It's the kind of reputation boost her mother desperately needed after the rebellion of the Three Heroes' Church. It won't mean much for the noble families who all have their own ways to know what truly happened in The Four Corner's Room in Menagerie Hotel, and they could care less about what the commoners think. But they still need to be careful when the thoughts of the common people collect together into a tidal wave.
They united with the demi-human knights from the newly formed Sons of Biscas order. In spite of Malty's worst fear, Gaston's diminished friend apparently wasn't attacked by more agents of the Burning Legion. He continued his way back to the village of Balafon, while Malty went with Naofumi south to the capital. The rebuilding is well underway, and there's no shortage of laborers with a good number of condemned Three Heroes' Church members working off their sentences. The newly formed demi-human knight order didn't show any kind of reaction as they were welcomed by the people who used to look down, and throw rocks at them.
Aside from the royal guards, the armed escort of the queen begins to disperse as they pass through the main gate. All the soldiers look eager to kick back and relax, or perhaps go somewhere quiet and sleep for a week. The only battle they fought was the fourth Wave battle, and most of them had it relatively easy with Whip Hero Tact, and Claw Hero Lung's personal retinue served as the spearhead at facing the Wave boss and her elite underlings. But it didn't mean the trip was relaxing to the entire Melromarc escort. From the great storm before they arrived at Cal Mira Island, to Dread Pirate Roberts' raid that killed a good number of House Amelia seamen and the queen's escort, all of them have likely built as much stress as an actual war campaign.
Malty looks up at her mother at the front, she half expected the queen to blow up either figuratively, or literally after Naofumi subjected Porter's group. Mother wanted Malty's younger sister Melty to become the next queen, which means Malty is a threat to the nation's stability. Her mother will do everything in her power to snub Malty's influence, if not to get her killed. And right now, the Shield Hero Naofumi is the only one that stops her from doing what she wanted to Malty. Which means she would do everything she can to limit the Shield Hero's influence. Naofumi suddenly becomes a developed village, and the loyalty of the bandit group obviously isn't something she wanted to see. But she also can't do anything about it, since she was the one who appointed him to stop the bandit group, and she was also the one who gave the Shield Hero the right to pardon criminals as an incentive.
The queen's silence is no reassurance, as Malty knows a severe retribution is waiting for them once her mother's fury spills over her self-control. Her worry seems to come true once they cross over into the inner wall, separating the capital's castle palace from the prying eyes of the common people. A group of the royal guards who were tasked to defend the castle in the queen's absence stepped out, and crossed their weapons in front of Malty's face. Both Naofumi and Itsuki look ready to protest, but the royal guards speak up first. "By the order of the queen: All party, and retinue members, and foreign emissaries following the revered heroes are to wait outside of the palace while Her Majesty discusses issues of vital importance with Lord Shield Hero, and Lord Bow Hero."
"What are you doing! Get away from Lady- aieeek~!" Malty could hear Flare's screech going both higher and higher, and further and further. If she's about to hazard a guess, she assumes that the somewhat spoiled little lady of House Consevatie tried to step in front of the royal guard. And then immediately got pushed back by their sharp halberds. A bit of a pointless gesture from her, but it's the thought that counts.
Malty continues to struggle against the weapons that's being pressed into her body. She was never built for direct, strength based confrontation while these knights look like ancient oak trees by contrast. While she could easily subdue them with her magic, she knows better than to hand her mother an excuse to punish her. Her royal princess status means nothing in the whim of the high queen, and as the Shield Hero's slave, she isn't going to get much protection either. This was deliberately commanded by her mother, both as a way to apply pressure to the Shield Hero, and to devoid him of any political advice. Naofumi and Itsuki both step up, and push the weapon away from Malty. Naofumi in particular glares back at the royal guards, his voice cold, almost threatening. "I trust my companion explicitly! Whatever the queen wants to speak to me, she can tell it to the faces of my companions."
"Does the high queen of Melromarc know not even basic decency? Has she already forgotten that it's the heroes' decisions, not her own, that allowed them to remain in this miserable nation?! Even us Malisi knows to return a wall for a drop's gratitude. And here I thought the Melromarc people are supposed to be 'more cultured than us filthy animals'." Kael'thas also steps forward with his two fellow Siltvelt princes flanking him from both sides. They didn't pull out their respective weapons, yet they were able to push back the royal guards' weapons with their bare hands. "Ah. How silly of me. I forget you humans have never treated anyone, your own kind included, with any degree of faithfulness and fairness. Because to your kind, what one does matters not so much as who they are born as. Does your queen already decide to ignore the existence of us emissaries, who are appointed to stop her from such shady behaviors?"
"Her Majesty has no intention to unfairly treat the heroes, let alone harming them. The reason for this private summon is because what she is discussing is about the security of Melromarc. The other nations have no business in our private affairs." Malty doesn't recognize the identity of the royal guard leader talking back to Prince Kael'thas. It's not knight captain Tabitha, probably because she's already been given to the Faubley King as a bribe for her mother's return. Regardless, the young looking, blonde woman isn't budging in spite of the Siltvelt prince's threat and sarcasm. "If the revered heroes wish to share what's discussed in the meeting with the rest of you, that is within their right. But as Her Majesty's personal guard, I shall not allow you to step into a room you do not belong to."
"What do you think, Naofumi? Should we go in, and see what the queen is scheming this time?" Itsuki turns his head to look at the Shield Hero. He's not even bothering to hide his fury at the queen. That act alone would have someone charged for contempt against the crown. But mother really can't do much when the heroes' (very reluctant' support) is what's stopping Prince Joseph from taking over the court.
"Do not go inside by yourself, my thane!" With a loud clap, the Spear pressed against Malty's body was slapped away. To Malty's slight surprise, Naofumi's usually stoic, and silent sworn shield Yatsuhashi speaks up in a rather agitated manner. "Have you already forgotten what she did to you the last time we were at the capital? She allowed Lady Mordred to nearly whip you to death! You aren't safe with the queen of Melromarc around! It's my shame that I didn't do anything to save you at that time. But I'm not allowing the queen another chance to kill you!"
Malty tries to think back on that sham of trial presided over by her mother. Was Yatsuhashi simply standing around while both she and Naofumi were being condemned by her mother? She... can't remember. She didn't pay any attention to Naofumi's sworn shield, because she didn't even pay much attention to Naofumi himself. At the time, she thought Naofumi was completely disillusioned with her, and wanted nothing to do with her. She doesn't remember seeing Yatsuhashi near the Shield Hero, so maybe he was being held back somewhere in the crowd. Realistically a former knight (A housecarl of lord of Midgardian descent is the equivalent of a Melromarc, or Faubley knight. Even if they aren't officially recognized as one) of Count Balgruuf, and later the Shield Hero would not be able to challenge the rule of her queen mother. But he obviously still feels bad that he didn't do anything to help Naofumi.
Regardless, Yatsuhashi's words reminded Malty how much danger Naofumi would be exposed to. So she joins him in his protest. "Sir Yatsuhashi is correct, Master Naofumi. Let us leave this cruel place behind."
"You don't have to worry about the Shield Hero's wellbeing. On my words, I'll make sure the queen doesn't hurt him." A flippant voice draws Malty's attention away from Naofumi. She sees Zellus walking over to them from a side door. Right... while he usually commands the Melromarc free fighters (mercenaries paid by, or convicts enslaved by the royal family), Zellus is still technically the vice captain of the royal guards. But Mother's royal guards begin to look at each other, some of their feet shuffling on their ground, obviously nervous in the presence of their supposed vice captain.
"YOU! You are mad if you think I can entrust my thane to someone like you!" Yatsuhashi looks ready to jump on the tip of his feet at the appearance of the wild knight captain. But he's pushed back slightly by the Shield Hero's raised hand.
"I want to see what the queen is playing at. Better to know what she wanted to do with me, than having her do something behind my back. And don't worry about my safety. I was level reset back to 1 that time. I'm back to over level 40 now. I'm the Shield Hero. I don't get hurt easily." Naofumi's face is dark enough to compare to Gaelion. Specifically that time when they first met Wyndia, and the dragon lord looked one step away from disintegrating him because of Wyndia's misguided crash. Malty wonders if he is starting to regret his decision of sharing information about Feminus with the queen. Well... it's not like they already asked about the pirates more on their mysterious informant anyway. Naofumi gives a nod to Itsuki as he begins to walk forward. "Come on, let's see what she's up to."
Malty is willing to bet that the real reason her mother is trying to separate the heroes (particularly Naofumi) from their companions, retinue members and the foreign emissaries isn't to keep their conversation private, especially with how the knight said that they are free to share the information afterwards. No, it's an attempt to isolate them from anyone who could act as their advisor, and lead them down some kind of a political trap. She quickly brushes her hand at the Shield Hero's shoulder and gives him one last piece of advice. "Don't easily agree to anything."
Naofumi turns his head to give her a nod before looking back at the royal guards. They all take one collective step back, and part ways for the two Cardinal Heroes. The two heroes share one look at each other, as they walk forward into the entrance of Melromarc Castle's palace. It used to be Malty's home, but right now, she finds no sense of security in the familiar building. It looks like the maw of a beast, waiting to swallow whole any unsuspecting people.
"Don't worry about Lord Shield Hero, my princess. He is loyal, devoted to you. He would not be swayed by... Her Grace." Malty feels a hand landing on her shoulder. She turns to face Eclair's worried face. The knight lady means well, but she doesn't know what Malty is truly worried about at the moment. Eclair is, of course, right about Naofumi's faithfulness, especially to Malty herself. But she is more worried about her mother leading him into a political trap.
She's grateful that Naofumi isn't a metaphorical carpet, or a wheelbarrow when it comes to politics like Motoyasu. Someone who lets anyone walk them all over, or push them around. But she is worried that he is getting into The Game much deeper than he is prepared for. Especially when he doesn't have a more experienced advisor beside him.
It didn't take long for the specifics of Raphtalia's new sword to be confirmed by Cattelya. All she had to do was have her hand and arm measured by the smith. Although she does suggest Raphtalia try some standard long swords at her shop, to see what length and weight she's most comfortable at using. So that's what they are going to do next. The other companions of the heroes needed to pick up their new weapons, which gave Raphtalia the time to try out some swords and decide what she'd most adapt to use.
There's already a pair of customers inside. A young man, not much older than Raki, is going over a collection of swords on the counter, while his green haired female companion looks on behind him. The young age of the man browsing the weapons isn't anything new. Medea is a harsh place, and Raphalia was used to seeing even younger children looking at weapons in Port Harp's smithy before the Wave of Catastrophe happened. But her attention is instantly drawn to the woman who turns to look at their group. There is something strange about her entire movement - it's too perfect, without any sign of hesitation especially coupled with her perfect, almost doll-like face. Raphtalia grew up around beautiful people, especially the Kazuya Clan to the point that her own (very common born, something her grandfather complained incessantly) mother could merely be considered only pretty. But something about the woman's delicate face doesn't look natural. The one she reminded Raphtalia of was.
"A Fatima? Here in the town of Trumpet?" The male sorcerer from Sword Hero's party looks up and down at the woman, confirming what Raphtalia was thinking. Yes, the only one this woman reminded her was Metatron, that speaker of Lady Yggdrasil.
"Ah. So that's what a Fatima looks like? I've never seen one before!" The spear user from the Sword Hero's party moves closer to the stranger, and begins to look at her up and down. The gesture is more than a little rude, but Raphtalia notices how neither the fatima, or her young companion reacted in any way to such unwanted attention. Are they used to something like it, or is there something else?
"Don't act so jumpy, you are being rude to the little lady and her young friend here." The older knight working for the Sword Hero slaps both of their heads while the female wizard covers her face under her hand... and Raphtalia belatedly realizes she doesn't remember any of their names. Well... They didn't really fight, or even spend much time together much before the queen's return, and the heroes were all being sanctified by the Four Heroes' Church to start recruiting for their retinue. Aside from that time when they were preparing for the third Wave battle... Raphtalia now wonders if she should have tried harder to get along with the companion of the other heroes. She's shaken out of her own thoughts when the knight forces both of his fellow companions to bow down to the two strangers. "I apologize for the rude behavior of my fellow warriors. As companions of Lord Sword Hero, they should have known better."
"It's alright. Not the first time people look at us like this, it won't be the last time either." The young man turns around and gives Sword Hero's companions a grin. Raphtalia trembles at what should have been a friendly gesture. The way this unintroduced young man moves his face... There's something chilling about it. Almost like a bonedog grinning at its prey before ripping them to shred with its sharp teeth. She quickly looks around at everyone around herself, and notices none of them seem to be alarmed like herself. Was she simply being paranoid because of her life as a slave twice?
"We are taking too long. Our lord is waiting." The fatima woman suddenly opens her mouth, startling the spear user serving the Sword Hero into jumping up. The male sorcerer didn't react as much as his fellow companion, but he did also look up from under the knight's palm. The female golem's voice is as emotionless as her face, which doesn't make Raphtalia feel any better compared to her male companion's grin.
"You are right, Lamia. Let's go." The young man gives the now named Fatima a nod, as they walk out of the shop. The grin on his face recedes into a smirk. The companions of the Cardinal Heroes part ways to allow their exit. Raphtalia could almost feel the air become warm again as the two of them left the little smithy.
"Ah! Companions of revered heroes! I have all of your weapons ready! Please, give me just a minute..." Cattleya's young son quickly returns the sword he lined up on the counter back onto the racks, crates and barrels. Considering how he's at least two heads shorter than Raki, he's surprisingly strong and agile while holding such a collection of weapons in his tiny arms.
Raphtalia feels like someone is giving her a gentle brush on her shoulder. She turns around, and sees the knight giving her an encouraging smile. "Maybe you want to have a short spar with me, while trying some of the other swords they already have available, little lady? Get a feel of how different weapons handle, with their different lengths, weight, and frigidity of the blade in combat. See what feels right in your hand when you are trying to use them. I can act as your practice target."
"Good idea! While the treasure sword is considered a standardized weapon in Siltvelt midlands, there are still different lengths to them. Having a feel on how some of the different weapons handle is as important as measuring your hand and arm length." Cattleya immediately supported the veteran knight's suggestion. Raphtalia doesn't know what she wanted, aside from her wanting to be more helpful to both Naofumi and Malty. So she decided to listen to the advice of the expert. After giving the knight a nod, he begins to collect some of the weapons off the shelves while the others are busy trying out their new weapons from Cattleya's son. Raphtalia isn't too sure about literally using one of her fellow companions as a training target, but she hardly thinks that she can harm him with his better fighting experience. What would be the chance that she, a complete amateur who never properly learned how to use a weapon (much to House Kaguya's charing) who has been training, and fighting for most of his life?
Itsuki can't tell what Naofumi is thinking right now, aside from his fellow hero being obviously very upset. His brows and mouth both twitch every time he moves another step forward. This would have been a good chance to share what he learnt about Feminus with the queen. Those pirate's mysterious contact who probably had something against all four of them. Maybe Naofumi is rethinking the decision to tell the queen about Feminus? Itsuki wonders if perhaps he should simply bite the bullet and say it for Naofumi, or would that be the wrong thing to do? After a while, Naofumi finally opens his mouth. "About the pirates, they-"
"Well played, Shield Hero. You used the difference in knowledge between us to take a lot of advantages from me for yourself." The queen immediately cuts Naofumi off as he's trying to reveal critical information to her.
What a rude action! Especially after the queen chastised that crazy blonde lady's lack of manners when she attacked Naofumi in Balafon... wait a minute! She's intentionally doing this to intimidate Naofumi, isn't she?
"You already knew the bandit group before I ordered you to clear them out, didn't you? That's why you asked me for the right to pardon the criminals. Because you meant to subjugate them from the start, not to destroy them. It's devious, but clever. Very clever. And make no mistake, Shield Hero. I am complimenting you. From your action during the Hero Conference, it's clear to me that you are no longer content to be simply another piece on the board for all the Players of The Game to move around. You have the aspiration to become another player. And you need some darkness... some dirtiness to play this game well." The queen continues her rant, completely ignoring Naofumi's face which seems to grow darker, and angrier with every word coming out of her mouth.
Itsuki is annoyed at how much the queen is talking down to them. Sure, she is the supreme leader of the country they are in. But it's not like she's doing a very good job at it. Would she even still be the queen, if they didn't fight and beat the Pope at the border, and have him admit Naofumi to be his successor? The pope's demi-human children clearly didn't respect the queen with how they acted after they returned to the capital. Not to mention, she was pretty useless in the Hero Conference too, ready to lay flat and let all the other big name leaders walk all over her. He looks at Naofumi again, and notices the former college student has his fingers balled up into a fist. Looking one step away from punching something... or someone.
"If you want me to return what right you give out to you, or hand you those people I recruited for myself, you can forget about it." Naofumi's eyes narrow as he glares at the queen's back between his eyelids. One of her knights (wasn't she around Motoyasu, or rather, Princess Melty? She even tried to stop them from rescuing her from Three Heroes' Church) instantly pulled her sword out of its sheath, looking ready to attack them. Itsuki instantly knocks an energy arrow onto his bow at the female knight in return. He doesn't know if he's a fast enough draw to attack the knight if she decides to attack Naofumi, but he still doesn't want to be the one who shoots first.
Thankfully, they didn't come to blow at each other. The queen didn't stop, or turn back at Itsuki and Naofumi. But she did rest her hand on that rude female knight's shoulder. Itsuki can feel someone slapping his shoulder, so he turns to face his left side, and sees Naofumi shaking his head at him. He disspells his energy arrow just as the female knight returns her weapon back to the sheath with an angry 'hmph'. He doesn't know what she's acting so arrogant about. It's not like she got easily taken out by Hayate or anything.
The queen doesn't seem to get affected by this brief exchange. She turns a corner after her guards, and Itsuki notices they are walking towards a set of stone stairs leading downward. He didn't wonder where they were being led to for too long before he got his answer. The stench in the air quickly tells him that it's not a good place, and beautiful, ornament candle sticks are quickly replaced by simple, wooden torches on the wall. The steel barred doors are the nail in the coffin if he somehow becomes even more densely brained than Motoyasu. They are in the dungeon. There are sounds of pained groaning, vitriol filled curses and begging for mercy all around them. Which tells Itsuki that this dungeon isn't only for a show of intimidation. They are very much filled to the brim. Is the queen ready to have them tossed in the prison? She knows that she can't get away with it, right?
They arrive at the end of the hall as one of the queen's guards begins to push at the wall. The sound of something turning can be heard inside the walls, and the bricks slowly begin to part ways. The queen enters the hidden chamber after some of her guards, while others stand on the side. Itsuki exchanges another quick look with Naofumi. His fellow hero shrugs his shoulders, lowers his head and enters after the queen, so Itsuki follows after Naofumi... and nearly collides into his back. He takes a brief pause, closes his eyes to gather his bearings before opening them up again, and quickly realizes what got his fellow hero so stunned. Before them stand none other than Confessor Cromwell, supposedly one of the mastermind behind the Three Heroes' Church's coup, the one who tried to frame Naofumi as a heretic linked to that evil goddess summoned at the end of the third Wave, and the one who took Melty and enslaved Motoyasu's 'son' Mutsu. He is currently standing with a slightly hunched over posture, and his face is also pointing slightly to the ground. Naofumi simply glares daggers at the rat bastard without saying anything, Itsuki isn't nearly as well mannered as his older friend as he points his finger accusingly at the confessor. "What's this fucking bastard doing here? Are you going to work with him and hurt Naofumi too?!"
"I'm sorry to have given you such a misguided impression of me, revered heroes." Confessor Cromwell bows his head even lower at Itsuki's accusation, but that's not all he did. Before both Itsuki and Naofumi, he actually goes down on his knees and prostrates at both of them. "I am but a humble servant of Our Lord, The Chief God. I admit I was led astray by my zeal to serve... and the misguided goal of the late Pope Balmus. And right now, I only seek to absolute myself before Our Lord - by serving his messengers, the revered heroes, and Her Grace with my best abilities."
"You'll have to excuse me for not taking a single word you said at face value. Kyubey and Farkas lost their lives because of you." Naofumi wasn't moved by Cromwell's act of subservience. Itsuki doesn't blame him, he lost two of his companions to the Three Heroes' Church. And unlike Fuckboy, Cromwell didn't receive his rightful punishment. He turns his attention to the queen next. "If this is your way to protest about what I did to that group of 'bandits', I got your message loud and clear. I'm not going to give anything back to you even if you work with my enemies. Heck, that's even more reason for me to not let you take a single step from me."
"What your own act, and what you say to Her Majesty, Shield Hero." Itsuki doesn't think the emphasis in the rude knight's voice is meant for respect. "What you just said, and how you act can have you charged with contempt at the crown. One of the most severe crimes one can commit."
"Geez, I wonder why. Maybe people would not be motivated to feel such contempt at this crown if she wasn't a shitty person who works with scumbags who harmed her own people." Naofumi was clearly not scared by the knight's attempted bullying. His words make the woman pull her sword out once again, to which Itsuki also knocks his energy arrow, ready to help Naofumi fight his way back out to their followers.
"Hold, Sir Palmer. I will not judge the heroes for having their opinions on what I must do." Once again, the queen places a hand on the arm of her lackey. Unlike before, this time she properly addressed both of them. Itsuki isn't willing to let his guard down and dispel his arrow this time. That is until Naofumi began to poke him repeatedly on his shoulder. He looks to the side, and sees his older companion is still holding a relaxed posture, and his shield remains in its weak, default form. Did Naofumi already guess that the queen isn't trying to actually harm them, and was only trying to intimidate them?
"As I stated earlier, you have shown yourself capable as a hero who won't get easily swayed in The Game by a prospecting Player who grows too bold, and ambitious for their station. That is why I intend to reward you with a power that I trust only you will use responsibly to defend our world against both The Wave of Catastrophe, and The Burning Legion you talked about. Which is why I needed this sniveling bootlicker." The queen turns to look at Cromwell who is still groveling on the ground. Her demeanor has always been haughty since her appearance, but she's currently looking at the confessor like she's looking at something unpleasant she had to peel off her shoes. Not that Itsuki expected her royal bitchiness to actually step into something unpleasant with her army of guards. "You are already using the slave seal to enforce loyalty of bandits, pirates, and whatever other undesirables to have them fight against the threat of our world rather than the innocent people. But you are not using the full potential of the magical mark. Cromwell here will take over the explanation on how you can utilize it further."
"As you command, my queen, and revered heroes." Cromwell didn't raise his head, in fact, he pressed his face right onto the cold, stone floor. "Someone may have already explained this to you, revered heroes, or perhaps not. But the seal to ensure absolute loyalty originated from the Familiar Seal devised by Saint Brimir, the patron saint of all mages. To command mindless beasts, making them into trusty companions and protectors of mages who aren't as physically adapted as warriors. So the prime function of such magical ritual is to enhance their intelligence, and failing that... ensure their loyalty to their masters. But what's not widely known, even among the historians and scholars, is the second function of the seal, which is designed to grant power to those who bear the mark. So even the lowest rabbit pill could protect its master against a much greater beast such as a bonedog, or a raptor. Of course, such a powerful enchantment is tightly guarded by Saint Brimir's family, and his disciples for the fear of it falling into the wrong hands and wreaking havoc on the world."
Itsuki is almost immediately reminded of the familiar rune from a certain light novel turned manga and anime series when he heard the name Brimir. In the original story, Sato went from a normal, slightly perverted student who never picked up and used a weapon to a skilled weapons master thanks to his Gandalf rune. Is there some similar magical enchantment to the whole slave seal they are not aware of. It almost sounds too good to be true, but if it is... would it be right to use the slavery system because of the advantage? If an army of skilled, powerful fighters can be made out of convicts working out of their sentences, less innocent people will have to be forced to fight, get hurt... and die against the invading demon armies led by outer gods. But there will also be some pretty severe consequences. What if the convicts use the power to do bad things? Sure... there's the punishment setting to stop them... but it would not bring much comfort to the people they do end up hurting. Not to mention it would also empower the slave owners, giving them support to perpetuate this cruel, abusive system if it's used to stop the Wave of Catastrophe...
"What's the catch? And don't try to bullshit me here. Trying to lie to me that there's no catch, or play it off as some minor, unremarkable thing. I know the rule of 'equivalent exchange'. To gain, something equal, or greater in value must first be sacrificed." Itsuki's thoughts are interrupted by Naofumi's words. The voice of his older friend is still somewhat even, but growing progressively hoarse at the end, almost like he's putting in an effort but slowly losing his cool. His face also doesn't look any brighter since he departed from his friends to follow the queen inside the palace. "I know you don't like me, or your older daughter Malty. So there's no snowballs' chance in hell that you'd let us walk away with such a major advantage if this supposed power boost to the slaves had no drawbacks."
"Not to mention... why aren't you using it on your family, and your lackeys is there's such easy to gain power boost? Sure, you have to go through the risk of putting you all under the supposed control of someone as your 'master'. But what's stopping you from grabbing a slave, have them chained up in a dungeon and assign this slave who can't do anything to you as your new master while you enjoy an easy to obtain power boost without any sacrifices?" Naofumi continues to take apart the idea that the queen and Cromwell try to sell him. That using the slave seal to enhance people's battle prowess is a reward she's giving him. His voice makes Itsuki feel even colder than before, both in the sense of how he ignored the trap laid before them by the queen, and on how coldly rational Naofumi is acting right now to not let the potential reward... or even the moral implication of the suggestion cloud his judgment. "So spit it out! What's the one big downside this method of strengthening slaves would bring out? What's sacrificed for their new found power? Is it their longevity, burn out and massively decrease their life expectancy? Or is it some bigger sacrifice I'm too afraid to even think about?! Because all those bandits, the Siltvelt fighters, and even Malty are my slaves. But I'm not going to force them to go through this kind of sacrifice just so I can have some stronger fighters against a demonic legion."
"Do excuse my impudence, revered heroes. But in this case, you are being a bit too paranoid on the consequences of the familiar's empowerment enchantment. Saint Brimir designed the seal for his personal protectors after all, and it would have been quite the self-defeating thing if they died too easily, leaving him with no defenders. But to better explain what's needed for the familiar seal's empowerment enchantment, Ineed to explain a bit more in depth on how the 'level up' system works." Cromwell can't lower his head even deeper into the ground, since he's literally scrubbing the floor of the dungeon with his face. But he did take a short pause before continuing. "While our body can be trained, enhanced by spells, and further decorated by powerful equipment. The true strength of all those living in the world of Medea are our souls. In the end, it's unlocking the true power of our soul that grants us the ability to split heaven, and shatter earth. Which is what happens when we 'level up'. And the secret to Saint Brimir's familiar marks is to strengthen one's own soul..."
Itsuki feels something change from the corner of his eyes. He turns left to look, and sees the shield on Naofumi's arm has changed form. Into something that looks like a large, thick, black wheel. His older friend takes one step forward towards Cromwell, and holds his wheel shaped shield over the confessor's head. "Stop bullshitting us and get to the point! Or else I'll crash your head with this [Wheel of Penitence]! The [Crown Shield] isn't my only offensive shield! What. Is. The. SACRIFICE!?"
"To strengthen one's soul, other souls must be taken, and combined into theirs." Cromwell's body twitches, and he finally slips the truth of what the queen was no doubt trying to hide this entire time. Itsuki has thought that he got everything figured out back home. But after the few months he's been the Bow Hero, he realized that he is still as clueless as the rest of his classmates back in his world with how tough and difficult the world is. He is... probably not as thick, and simple minded as Motoyasu, but that's not saying much. Yet this time, even he figured things out.
"That's why you are trying to 'reward' Naofumi with this secret. You are going to have him murder other people to strengthen his slaves. If words get out, people will see him like a demon, and you get to stay clean!" Itsuki peels his sight away from the groveling confessor to glare at the queen. Naofumi's instinct was right after all. The Queen isn't trying to reward him. She's trying to lead him into a trap that would ruin his reputation. "We are not supposed to be someone's judge, jury and executioners just because we are heroes!"
"Lord Shield Hero has already walked that path when he decided to use slave seals to recruit bandits, pirates, and other convicts to fight the Wave of Catastrophe. Need I remind you heroes, that enslaving humans is not legal in our nation, and he could face prosecution himself with such action? The only reason he hasn't, is because I, as the high queen of Glorious Melromarc, was there to give the verdict that it's a judgment passed legally to the pirates." The queen nonchalantly brushes aside Itsuki's accusation. It made him feel sorry for both Malty and Melty. He doesn't know them as well as Naofumi, and Motoyasu respectively, but they seem... alright. Considering what kind of motherly influence (or lack thereof) they must have grown up with. "As for being people's judge, jury and executioners. What do you think all of you did during the attempted coup of the Three Heroes' Church? Did you leave all of those who crossed your path alive to face a royal judgment from me? Or did you kill a good number of them? There is no difference here. The people who'll be sacrificed to enhance the power of those who fight the Wave of Catastrophe are all the convicted criminals!"
"It's alright. I can speak for myself." Itsuki is about to argue with the queen some more when he feels Naofumi's hand on his shoulder again. This time, his grip is more firm than before. He turns to look at his older friend, and sees Naofumi staring directly in the queen's eyes as he steps forward. "I know, and I admit I'm not the most upstanding person. I tried to always do the right thing before the Third Wave, and the scum that's currently groveling at your feet taught me how to do it only when I'm not strong enough to protect everyone I cared for, leading to them getting hurt. That's why between keeping integrity and making sure the people I care are safe, I will choose the second option."
"You aren't going to take her offer, are you?! That's-" Itsuki whips his head around to look at Naofumi in shock. Surely, he isn't thinking about agreeing with the queen and getting used as her scapegoat? Naofumi holds his hand up in front of his face. Itsuki isn't sure what he should do if Naofumi takes the queen's offer now. Naofumi did tell him to speak his mind when his method causes ethical problems... but what if Naofumi doesn't agree with his opinion? Should he try to stop his older friend with force, if words aren't enough to reach him?
"That being said, there's a difference between killing someone in battle because they are trying to kill me in return, and killing someone when they are already captured and can't harm anyone anymore. I'm not a hero, but I'm not a demon who decides who should die just so I can get some convenient power up!" Thankfully, Itsuki's worst fear appears to be unfounded. Naofumi rejects the queen's offer, like Itsuki wanted. "There is accruing power to protect what we all hold dear, but there are also lines one shouldn't cross because it would make us into monsters. And what you suggest is a line we should not cross, period! Yes. I make criminals into slaves to have them fight the demon legion trying to invade this world. But at least all of them have an equal chance to survive, based on their own power and skill. Who am I, and who are you to make a decision on whose life should be sacrificed that could give superpowers to someone else?"
Naofumi always knew that he's not a hero like Malty, or Raphtalia expected of him. Before his summon, he's just a normal guy who drifts through life. Too hesitate to make any decisions before time is up, then have decisions made for himself, or simply give up and let things happen without his input. That doesn't sound like the quality of a hero even in his own mind. Although he did try his best to do what he considered to be heroic when he's put into the spot of a hero. And it resulted in two of his companions killed by the Three Heroes' Church, Raphtalia and Firo getting enslaved by them. Now, he's just trying his best to become strong enough to protect those closest to them, and that means giving up the integrity he's been trying to uphold since his summoning. What he considered to be the making of a hero from popular culture he knows. In the end, he's still no different from the same guy who failed to get into Tokyo University, and then refused to go to Hokkaido with his only friend.
But he still feels something akin to rage when Malty's mother looks down judgingly at him. He isn't sure what about the queen that makes him as mad as those self-serving, greedy liars from the Three Heroes' Church (although not as mad as people like Fuckboy, or Bartfort who sees themselves as completely above everyone else simply because they got a chance to live a new life. They are simply the worst scums). Maybe it's the way that she looks down at him reminded of the worst looks he got from his own parents. Or maybe it's because he remembers how unfairly she treated her own daughter Malty. Regardless, the queen is the few people who he can't stand the thought of being talked down to, like he's somehow invalid. Which is the exact thing she is doing right now.
"What you are saying, is that when there is a method in front of you, that would give more power to the people fighting the Wave of Catastrophe and save more innocent lives in the long run, you would rather do nothing and hope the power everyone already has is enough to stop an demonic invasion commanded by an outer god. Something you yourself tried to present to the leaders of the world. Simply because you aren't stern enough to sacrifice some condemned criminals to death, even if you already condemned them to die fighting the Wave." The queen narrows her eyes, and looks down on him. "And I thought summoned heroes are made of sterner stuff than this."
"Are you even listening to what you are speaking of!? Or are you truly delusional, and don't see the difference?! Sentencing a criminal to serve time, or hell, to execution, is not the same as mass killing them because you want to turn them into power-up candy for other people! And tell us to our eyes, without blinking that you would only pass this judgment on those who truly deserve death. Or are you going to move on to your enemies, the people you can't take care of, the ones you don't like... anyone you don't need in this country?!" Itsuki is almost jumping on his feet now screaming at the queen. Naofumi once again reaches out to his younger interloper, doing his best to calm Itsuki even if he himself feels as agitated inside. He still has a lot to learn from Malty to become a proper politician in this shitty world, but one thing he understands, at least conceptually, is that when one sits down at the metaphorical negotiation table, they need to keep their outward appearance calm no matter how they feel inside.
"Ethical reasons brought up by Itsuki aside, If this method you brought up truly is as magical, effective, practical, and needed as you claimed, Why did you not already use it? It seems to me that this would be the chance for you to claw back some power, especially after you almost got disposed of by your fellow lords." Naofumi can see Itsuki slowly turning to face him, a look of belated realization appearing on his face. Much like Motoyasu, Itsuki can be a bit slow on the uptake. Especially when his attention is hyper focused on a single detail. But when you understand how to properly communicate with them to fill in the gaps, he isn't blind by any means. "Other than the lives sacrificed, there's a more severe downside you aren't mentioning here, isn't it? Perhaps some kind of social taboo even for this slavery endorsing, crappy world that you can't be caught dead with, or else you would further lose your position as the acting supreme leader of this country? A potential risk, that's much, much more severe than the assured, immediate benefit you can get in the form of a super powered army? A risk, you have no problem to let us shield you from. Then again, I shouldn't complain about it. I am the shield hero after all."
"Don't say that, Naofumi! Just because you are the literal Shield Hero, doesn't mean you'll have to take all the blames for someone else's fuckups too." Itsuki didn't seem to recognize that the last part about Naofumi's speech was pure sarcasm. Then again, maybe he did, and he's simply laying on a bit of his own sarcasm. Regardless, Naofumi continues on the point he's trying to make.
"I have seen how you act as a queen. Isn't it funny that you are trying to blame me for doing nothing to stop the Burning Legion, when you yourself let your country go into the toilet because you did nothing? And then you tried to pin all the blame on your daughter, and your husband to make yourself look clean and fresh." Naofumi grinds his teeth, as he looks at the creature standing before him. He is once again reminded of Balmus' speech when he was facing the pope of Three Heroes' Church in their final battle. And Balmus talked about the idea of a strong leader uniting the weak, unenlightened masses under one goal. He doesn't know if this is what passes for a strong leader. He doesn't like to think so, because of how much he witnessed the people of this nation suffer since the short few months of his summoning. All he knows is how incredibly lucky that both Malty and Melty didn't turn into someone much worse if this is the kind of motherly influence they grew up with. "If you truly believe in how needed this method of sacrificing the many to empower the few is. Why don't you do it yourself? Why do you not sacrifice yourself, instead of using other people as your scapegoat?"
"How dare you accuse my queen for your own slothfulness! I have tolerated your attitude thus far because of your hero status, but no longer- GAH! GET THEM OFF~!" Palmer pulls her sword out of the sheath again as she charges at Naofumi. Seemingly with the intention to hurt, if not to kill. But her angry roar quickly turns into pained squeals when the Yuzus detached themselves from Naofumi's waist, and began to gnaw the thuggish knight all over. Her armor didn't prove much protection against the three Mimic Balloons. Probably thanks to their 'Pain Enhancement' skill which severely increases the pain they cause to their enemies.
Naofumi ignores Itsuki looking down at the knight rolling over the stone floor, and gives an annoyed glare to Zellus. The knight is tossing some kind of nuts into his mouth, while whistling at Palmer's suffering. "I can't help but notice you didn't try to defend me like you promised Yatsuhashi."
"From who, Sarah Palmer? She's a teethless bonedog pup to any real warrior. All bark, and no bite." Zellus snorts back at Naofumi, clearly not taking the situation with any degree of seriousness. He spits out some shells of the nut he's eating on Palmer's head. "Besides, I know you keep some balloons with you. It's funnier this way."
"You think I don't spend every single waking moment wishing that I could right all the wrongs I rendered onto my people due to my mistakes by sacrificing myself? That by giving up my life, my everything, I could make everyone live happily after? But as the supreme leader of this nation, I am not always allowed to do what I please for the greater good of my people. Admittance of my own mistakes, my own guilt would have been THE most irresponsible thing for me to do. Because it gives an excuse for any and all of my political enemies, both domestic and foreign the excuse they need to cause harm to this nation!" Somehow, the queen's response to Naofumi's newest question feels different from before. All of her previous speeches were controlled, measured. There is a sense of calm even when she puts emotion into it. But at the moment, the queen's breath is slowly becoming more ragged, there is trembling in some of her syllables. She's either genuinely shaken by Naofumi's accusation this time, or truly angered by how neither he nor Zellus showed her any respect. "I have made terrible mistakes in my past, Shield Hero. My actions caused the death of my mother, and my sister! My nation was invaded, most of my people lived under a brutal occupation! That was caused by my action as only a royal princess, not even the first in line for the throne! If you actually stepped up to the role of a leader, you would have realized that you have no right to blame me!"
"Maybe you are right, but I wouldn't know because I'm not a leader of anything. I'm just a normal kid from Tokyo, I barely even qualify as a hero." Naofumi scoffs at the queen's accusation as he turns his head away. He scans through the room. Aside from Palmer who is writhing, or Cromwell who is groveling on the ground with his head bowed low, every single guard and knight of the queen avoids his gaze. It seems like they too realize the hypocrisy of their own queen's action, and are ashamed of it. The Shield Hero lets out a mirthless laugh as he turns to look at the queen once again. "You know what's funny? When I was first summoned to this world, I thought your husband was trash. He got played by the comically evil, self-serving nobles and church around him. Making my life hard, seemingly for no reason. But now I know why he acted the way he did. He was a desperate father who got crushed by his past trauma, who only wanted to keep his family safe. He's not a good, or even a competent leader. At least from what I've seen. But I respect him for his dedication to his family. As for you!"
Naofumi glares at the queen right in her eyes and points his finger at her. "You claim your own actions are for the greater good of your people. And maybe you truly believe it in your head, but it's clear you only believe it in the concept of 'greater good for your nation and your people', not in how to actually treat your people well, making sure they are well taken care of and happy. Because what have you done so far? You were nowhere to be seen when your country went into the toilet before, and especially after the third Wave. How many of your precious people have suffered because of your absence. And no, your absence does not excuse your mistake in all the mess caused by the Three Heroes' Church. Because if you truly cared about the innocent people, shouldn't you ensure the people left in charge in your absence are competent, and faithful at doing their jobs? But most of what I saw since my summon was a decadent court of self-serving bastards growing fat on the common people's suffering, or a cult that literally threw a coup not only against us summoned heroes, but at your family as well. You. You … are an abject, STUPID FAILURE as a mother AND as this country's queen. And by the way. The bandits convinced me to join me. They were a group of displaced refugees forced to resort to banditry to survive after they were kicked out of their homes. You would have known it, if you truly cared about the individual well-being of your people like you claimed."
"Come on, Itsuki. We are done wasting time with this Trash." Naofumi turns to look at Itsuki. His younger friend actually jumps on his feet, clearly startled by him. But Naofumi is way beyond caring by this point. He turns back to give the queen another glare and bid her farewell. "Live long and prosper."
Zellus shrugs his shoulders, and turns around to open the hidden doorway for them. Naofumi doesn't look back, but he feels the rubbery touch of the Yuzus' bodies as they jump onto his waist, stretching themselves into a belt once again as he walks away.
End Note:
Those of you who also read my friend Angel Wraith's story are no doubt familiar with (Totally NOT Goblin) Beast Slayer, and his take on Titan Storm. And while the titan quartet from that story are all his work at fleshing them out, Beast Slayer as a character was originally written by me. This is about as close to an canonical crossover between our stories (unless I ever write some agents of The Outsider, which to be realistic, isn't off the table), because without fully explaining what's going on at the god level, our world's setting simply isn't compatible to exist in the same universe.
DJman248 had asked if Keyaru would make an appearance since Flare is now part of the Ambition/Ascention world. And to be fair, I do want to add the little shit into this story just to take a few jabs at why he is a human garbage of a main character (because when you literally had to make the villain be a pedo to make your main character look good by comparison, you have done something really, REALLY wrong and fucked up). For a while it kind of stumped me how I'm going to include the fucker since his name is canonically Japanese, and the only native Japanese like culture in Medea aka Raphtalia's world is the one her ancestor came from. And then it occured to me that I'm totally overthinking it, and I'll just reincarnate the fucker into Medea as a trash panda, and a former slave of 3HC. Pretty fitting for him.
AND of course, Naofumi (and Itsuki) have another confrontation with the queen. Those who have spend some time in RotSH community should have heard about my incandescent hatred towards the Queen Cunt herself. And make no mistake, it's very true. For a long time, I thought my most hated fictional character would forever be Lacus Clyne from Gundam SEED, until Queen Safespace Simpy McCunt (as I say: she's Bitchassfumi's safespace in Web Novel, his simp from Light Novel onward, but she's a cunt all the way) came along and knocked Lacus off of her douche throne.
My biggest problem with Queen Cunt is simple: She doesn't work, at all, as a character. At least in the form Alenko intended her to function in story. Her mere existence is like a world tearing anomaly that breaks the continuity of the entire world's setting and timeline itself, creating more and more plotholes around her.
With the hindsight of Alenko's latest (and stupidest) retcon of her dead son (I might have to explain why that's as stupid, but another time), I now have undeniable proof that the queen's existence had always been a badly thought out retcon rather than planned out by Alenko from the beginning. Because surely, if Melromarc was always meant to be a matriarchy, Alenko would at least made it a dead daughter rather than a dead son in their latest scatter brained retcon in an attempt to demonize Malty from childhood to make Cunt selling her out to piggard less iredeemably evil (which doesn't work as Alenko clearly intended anyway, since the whole dead son plot done more to make Cunt look like a complete retard/coldblooded bitch who never cared about her family than making Malty look evil for anyone who don't blindly hate Malty from the start).
But my rant aside, Cunt's exist for one reason. To Thanos snap away the political clusterfuck Alenko wrote Melromarc into by the end of 3HC plot, a problem their imaginary dream pet husbando Bitchassfumi can't just brute force through with his raw stats, clearly all it takes is one good leader who has both the will and the skill to instant handwave all the mess of problem away, right? So all Alenko had to do is make a ruler who ranks higher than that meanie poopoo head king who has been bullying their precious imaginary dream pet husbando, RIGHT?
To quote Lex Luthor: WRONG!
The whole problem with Queen Cunt fixing everything wrong with Melromarc is to ignore a very simple fact Alenko probably never cared about when writing the entire 3HC storyline: 3HC wasn't only against the Shield Hero, and then all four Cardinal Heroes. They were trying to actively throw a coup to overthrow the ruling family of Melromarc. And what is the one job a ruler has to absolutely get right in, oh, yeah. NOT GET OVERTHROWN.
The fact that Cunt somehow waited till 3HC and Balmus had a chance to cause this kind of a mess in her nation before stepping in to mop up the situation really shows how bad a ruler she is before hand. Because once again, Cunt wasn't created from the very start with the history of the world in mind, and she existed only after every event has already happened, essentially acting as a Deus Ex Machina plot device to return the world state to a previous more stable point (as opposed to... oh, I don't know. Have Bitchassfumi MOVE TO SOMEWHERE ELSE?). And all the later writing, Alenko tries to keep throwing band aid over the fatal wound by giving excuses after excuses to explain how it's all Trash's fault, and Cunt really is a very badass and smart and well meaning ruler. None of it actually stick if you think about it.
She's going around the world trying to negotiate world peace so she's not responsible for the mess her nation is in (Lex Luthor: WRONG!).
Number 1, for a queen like her to take the trips she had and not get looked down upon by other rulers, it would cause a lot of money and supplies for her to assemble a procession and the armed escort. Which would have realistically been a MASSIVE financial and resource drain to her nation especially since Melromarc just came out of a big war with Siltvelt. So yeah, Malty running the treasury into the ground is simply Cunt using her daughter as a scape goat, she would have realistically been much more responsible for the problem.
Number 2, we factually know the other major rulers are all malicious manipulators, and none of her supposed peace trips had any real impact on the world states (as shown from the different reprisal timelines how easy for the stack of cards to crumble). So she's literally just going around, pissing her nation's money away for nothing other than her expansive paid foreign vacations.
Plus, for a truly competent ruler, if they need to move away from their seat of power, they would have created contingency plans if someone decided to use this opportunity to throw a coup (what you know, that's EXACTLY what 3HC did!). Alenko tried to throw in an excuse in how the queen wanted Eclair's father to act as the regent instead of her husband (a stupid choice which I already explained in my previous story on how it would just get Eclair's father killed for no good reason), but the fact that she either can't be bothered to find a replacement, or can't find one really speaks how lonesome her own faction is.
And speaking of the whole 3HC rebellion. Alenko tried to explain away on how the rebellion would have already happened if Balmus wasn't so afraid of her to show how much of a badass she supposedly is. Except that excuse doesn't stick either because of two reasons.
One, we are already shown what kind of person canon Balmus (not my version) is. A complete idiot who throws away all sense of caution at first opportunity and flat out commits HERESY when he had no reason (once again, I already explained away in my previous story on how he could have simply information controlled the situation to make Bitchassfumi look like the bad guy even if the three weapon heroes all made mistakes, and it would not have realistically gotten the truth out in the time frame it did in canon) to do so. Which really doesn't make much sense that this guy could actually hide his real intention away from a truly smart ruler, especially one who supposed to have an army of super ninjas at her beck and call.
The explanation that she's playing 4D chess, trying to have Balmus hang himself doesn't work either. Because if that's what she planned for, she could have easily provoked him into having a prematurely prepared rebellion while she's in control of the situation by constantly snubbing 3HC's influence. Which would have caused infinitely less damage to her nation than how it happened in canon.
In conclusion, Queen Cunt as a character as Alenko intended for her to function simply DOES. NOT. WORK. Which is not to say she can't be written as a compelling character in her own right. This is why when someone asked me in the last story why I don't simply change her action to be smart as Alenko made her to be in narration. Because that route is not just a dead end, it's literally an anomaly in time and space continum that would completely tear the entire story apart.
And here is my personal tinfoil hat theory on what REALLY happened in canon RotSH that would somewhat explain the events:
From the start, the queen never had control of her nation. Melromarc either lost their war against Siltvelt, or suffered a mutal defeat so devastating that Faubley stepped in and controlled the nation with Cunt as Piggard's puppet. Which would neatly explain why Cunt (supposedly) didn't use slave seal to find out who was the real culprit behind her son's murder. She either knew from the start, or actually DID forced the culprit to tell the truth and the real mastermind behind the assassination was King Piggard. Likely because she tried to get out of his control (most likely because she can stand on her own now she married a hero) and he used this dead son to both send a message to her, and break Aultcray's control over his hero weapon. And Malty being betrothaled to Piggard is not because of some stupid reason like she's evil since childhood. She's simply a sacrifice Piggard forced Cunt into giving him, so he could have stronger hold over Melromarc by having a descendent with Malty.
Cunt's foreign trips isn't some stupid reason like she's trying to promote the message of peace and unity, it's Piggard forcing her to grovel to him, and likely giving him the latest report of his nation.
3HC might have foreign tie with Faubley, or it could have simply been corrupt on its own like all out of control organized religion with no accountability would eventually fall headfirst into. It doesn't really matter in the end. Balmus was a good guy all alone, and realized how corrupt 3HC had gotten and the only thing left to do is to burn it to the ground. Which is why he intentionally played the role of a villain and committed heresy to give an excuse to whoever would put things right. And Cunt simply got lucky by appearing at the right time and right place.
Do I think that's what Alenko intended to happen in their story? Of course not. But because they went all in on the whole Good Queen plot so much, that's about the only logical explanation on how the events happened in the way it did in canon. So once again, Alenko. If you ever want to make your story make a lick of sense, I did your homework for you to copy.
You are welcome.