Mache Kun: So… Tears of the kingdom was fun. Didn't mean to leave y'all without an update for months so I'll be doing a lot to make up for lost time.
Chapter 8: Heroes in Lurolona
Day 25 (Afternoon)
Two days until the wave
Dangerous. The one word Naofumi could use to describe the room of people. After calming Motoyasu down, all 4 heroes finally sat in a room together for the first time in weeks. All of them were powerful in their own ways but with the resources given to them. They could likely take over the world.
Now what could be done to make this room of already important and powerful individuals even more dangerous? Add more of them. Soon enough, the manor was filled with people, ranging from knight captains to nobles. Even Fitoria was there for some reason, alongside the king, who begrudgingly came at Melty's request.
The meeting was supposed to start earlier, but an incident led to Motoyasu having to be tied to his chair since he kept harassing Fitoria about being an angel. And Fitoria was doing everything in her power in order to not kick the hero out of fear of killing him.
"We still have one person left. So we'll wait until he arrives."
Naofumi was convinced that he was back in his old world again, leading his guild of a player against another raid boss. Except this time, it's real. And he has a lot more resources and freedoms a game couldn't offer. He still remained vigilant, though, as thinking this was a game would lead to him becoming reckless. And with his village on the line, that's something he can't risk happening.
"King. What's going on?" Ren asked.
"Yeah. Why call out here of all places? Should the castle be more suitable?" Itsuki added.
"Lord Naofumi thought it best to hold a meeting with the heroes to prep for the next oncoming wave. As for the location. It is where all the lords are gathering their soldiers."
"I see. And what about that one?" Ren said, pointing towards a knight. The knight stood up and saluted him.
"I am Sir Terius. Captain of Squad 1. I was asked by my lord to lead a squad with the heroes. Unfortunately, I got the shield hero." Terius grumbled. "Alas, I follow the crown, so I will put aside my gripes for now."
"Well, at least you'll be helpful, unlike some people." Naofumi sighed. "And what of the one next to you?"
The other soldier stood up and saluted like his comrade. "Ake Lord Naofumi. Vice-captain of the second squad!"
"And where's the captain exactly?"
"He said he had the training to do and sent me in his place."
"Perfect excuse." Naofumi scoffed.
"That introduction was nice and all. But I was more referring to the loli with wings." Ren questioned, pointing towards the bird next to Terius. Naofumi couldn't blame him for it; that would be the normal reaction to seeing a bird-human monster queen thing.
"I am Fitoria, queen of the Filolial. May I ask, what might this loli mean?"
"Uhh. It's nothing." Ren deflected.
"Really. I've heard others refer to me as one from time to time."
"Umm. Well… a loli is—
Knock, Knock, Knock
Ren breathed a sigh of relief as his explanation was interrupted by a knock at the door. No one entered; however, instead, he yelled out to the group.
"Your request from Siltvelt has arrived, sir."
"Finally."
"Is that voice coming from the closet?" Ituski asked.
"A good observation, but I'm very good at throwing my voice. I was actually under the table this whole time." Zalton crawled out from under the table, shocking the bow hero even further.
"What the. How did you knock on the door?"
"A shadow never reveals his secrets." Zalton tipped his hat towards Itsuki.
"Zalton, that's magicians."
"Only if you let it be."
"Just go get him already!" Naofumi scolded.
"Yes, sir. Smoke bomb, bomb, bomb." Throwing a ball to the ground, it released a screen of smoke that blinded everyone in the room. When the smoke dissipated, Zalton was gone and was replaced by a demi-human.
"What the hell."
"Don't ask." Standing in the place of his shadow was a knight. He was a black cat with blue eyes. He wore a set of black and gold armor and wielded a black sword.
"Naofumi. Who is this guy?."
"I am Erebus Alekos. Captain of the wave subjugation division of Siltvelt. It is truly an honor to serve you, my lord." Erebus twirled his sword around, showing off his skill before sheathing it.
"Siltvelt?" Motoyasu question.
"Yes. Lord Shield has sent a request for warriors. The council was hesitant about sending a squad into Melromarc of all places. But I believe in my lord and his decisions."
"Except we already have Melromarc knights, so it's quite stupid to call Siltvelt here," Terius muttered.
"My lord knows what he's doing. Insult him again and I'll drag you across the pavement."
"Oh, you want to go demi." Terius stood up and tossed his sword aside.
"Bring it." Terius caught fire a little as he also threw his sword aside, and the room turned cold as ice began to form on Erebus's arms. They were about to go at it until Naofumi wrapped both of them up in his rope shield.
"Not in the house. Sit down and shut up." Dragging them both to the ground. They apologized to their respective leaders and sat down as ordered. With everyone finally here and not butting heads with each other, Naofumi dropped several documents of paper on the table and passed them out to everyone there.
"We have two days until the wave hits. With how. Unpredictable it could be, the basic plan is to go there with a bunch of troops and protect the civilians." In a move that almost made him gag. Naofumi called for the king to take over. A gesture that also almost made Aultcray gag.
"As the shield hero was saying, we have no idea where, or what monsters we'll be fighting. So in order to counter this unpredictability, each squad would consist of 12 soldiers, 4 sets of archers, mages, and a melee unit. The soldiers can deal with any ground troops while the archers deal with any air units. Mages can act as both, so they're the key ingredient to this plan. Preferred magic would be large-area-of-effect cooperative spells, such as Typhoon or Sanction."
The king rolled out a paper that filled up the entire table. On it were various circles with little drawings of the heroes' weapons in order to indicate who was who.
"Each hero will have 3 squads. The sword and spear heroes' squads will push both flanks of the monster forces, forcing them into the middle. With them in place, the bow hero with his AoE skills will work alongside his squad in order to decimate the gathered monsters. He specifically will be equipped with a team of ritual magic users, instead of the 4/4/4 setup like the rest, to maximize the damage dealt.
The shield hero and his squad will aid the bow hero in this task and protect him from any stray monsters that may attack. Once the monster's forces get weak enough, the heroes will push forward with their own parties to confront and take out the boss. While that is happening, we'll have the filolials run around the battlefield and take out any monster that attempts to leave the area.
Ren attempted to say something, but Altucray placed another paper on the table, this one being much larger than the previous one.
"Now that is the plan if everything goes smoothly. In the event the wave spawns near a village, part of Naofumi's squad will have to fall back to protect them, while Filolials also fall back to act as Itsuki's squad's defenders. Now if that happens, Lord Ren and Motoyasu would have to work harder to make sure no monster leaves the area. We'll also have to conduct a thorough search afterward just to be sure. That is all for plan 1."
"Well, that was shorter than expected," Itsuki commented.
"Very. Now onto Plan 2, in case Plan 1 and its backup plans fail."
Groans from several people filled the room as Altucray pulled out yet another paper.
/~/
"And that will be the end of our strategy meeting. Please try to remember every contingency for the plans."
"You mean the 420 possible backup plans you made just in case backup plan 69 fails?" Itsuki chuckled.
"I can assure you, Lord Bow, all of this is necessary in order to avoid as many casualties as possible. Of course, the possibility of all the plans going awry to get to that point is almost impossible."
"Guess that's why they call him the wisest king of wisdom," Ren muttered.
"Now with the plans out of the way, Nobles, continue your preparations as usual. Heroes and Captains, I ask that you two get acquainted with each other beforehand. If there are any compatibility issues, I ask that you notify me right away. We don't want a repeat of the first wave, so let's do our best.
"Yes, your majesty!"
Everyone got up and left the room around the same time. The only ones who stayed were the three heroes who had plenty of questions for Naofumi. Melty, the king, and lastly, Fitoria.
"Father, may I ask. What will Fitoria do during all of this?" Melty questioned.
"Although the existence and possible help from the fabled Filolial queen would be an excellent way to make your mother jealous. She expressed that she doesn't want to participate in the battle." Altucray informed.
"What?" Naofumi questioned.
"What the staff hero says is correct. Fitoria won't be participating."
"Staff hero?"
"Yes. I… was the wielder of the seven-star staff. Now I'm just a king trying to protect its kingdom."
"Seven-star? As in, there are seven more weapons out there!?" Motoyasu questioned.
"Eight, actually. And many of them are still inactive. That's why it's crucial for the heroes to work together, or this world will not last. I know not of the strength of the current heroes. So Fitoria would like to observe the wave to see."
"You don't trust our resolve?"
"Not that I don't trust your skill, but this is a serious matter. If the heroes aren't strong enough to stop a wave, then new ones must be appointed quickly before it's too late. Fitoria hopes it doesn't have to come to that."
The pressure in the room went heavy, it's feeling being able to crush a man a thousand times over.
"Where did you meet her again?" Ren asked.
"I don't know. She kind of just showed up." Ren facepalmed and looked over at Fitoria.
"Okay, bird queen… child… whatever. Do you have any tips for us on how to get stronger so we don't have to die?"
"Are you using all the methods properly?" Fitoria replied.
"Yeah, all three."
"You mean twenty, right?"
"What?"
"What?"
The three heroes and the king looked dumbfounded by the information, while Naofumi sat there confused.
"Queen Angel, may I ask? What do you mean by 20?" Motoyasu asked.
"And second question. What the hell's a power-up method?" Naofumi added. That comment seemed to grab the attention of everyone in the room. Fitoria, however, felt relieved at the revelation.
"Well… it's a good thing this was discovered this early."
"Queen Fitoria. What are you saying? Are there more than one method that can be utilized?" The king questioned.
"One? There are supposed to be three?"
"Right. Refinement, soul ench-"
"Hold up, Motoyasu. What do you mean by refinement? It's ore equip?!" Itsuki argued.
"I don't know where any of you are getting ore whatever from. But it's Rarity up."
"No, it's not!"
"FITORIA!" The three heroes yelled.
"... Very glad Fitoria discovered this early." Fitoria got up and summoned forth a carriage.
"This is what the humans would call the seven-star carriage, another legendary weapon. For the 4 holy weapons of the world, each of you carries 4 different methods, while the seven stars of this world carry one. So all of you are correct in your own manner, for every weapon has a different method."
"So there truly is one more. I knew seven fell off." Aultcray mumbled.
"I see. So if all these methods are shareable. We should have nine between them all right?"
"That's correct, young princess. Ten since I hold my own. These methods will help you grow along the levels you gather. There are other ways to get stronger, but Fitoria thinks we should start working on this first. Shield hero, I suggest you start."
"I don't know what to tell you. I don't have any of these methods you're talking about."
"Have you tried the help screen?" Ren suggested.
"Yes I have. There's still nothing. What's going on, Fitoria?"
"I don't know. Perhaps it's because he lacks knowledge of it?" Fitoria shrugged.
"Great!" Naofumi groaned, slapping his face. "So how am I supposed to gain the knowledge then?!"
"Also unsure," Fitoria replied, getting another groan from Naofumi. "Perhaps we should learn the other heroes' methods instead. Then we'll figure out what's wrong with yours."
"If you say so."
Everyone decided to share their methods like Fitoria asked. It took a lot of convincing and back and forth between the three heroes. But they were finally able to share all nine methods with each other.
Next up was Fitoria and Altucray. Fitoria apparently had all twenty with her. But she forgot where they came from. The only one she could remember was her own. Aultcray also shared his. And despite losing access to the staff. The method still went through.
"So eleven methods were shared. Yours still haven't awakened Naofumi?" Melty questioned.
"Not that I know of. I was able to use the others, though, without issue."
"So the queen angel's theory about your lack of method knowledge seems to be correct," Motoyasu added.
"Seems like it. How annoying." Naofumi complained.
"It's not all bad. Eleven methods to start is indeed a lot. I suggest trying to find the rest when you journey to defend the other kingdoms."
"That is probably the best choice. I'll try to ask Siltvelt if they have any knowledge of the shield." Naofumi got up from the table and headed towards the door. "By the way, Some ground rules during your stay. If you see construction, avoid it. If you see the filolial fighting, avoid it."
"Yeah, yeah. We already heard it from your Kurugimi guard."
"Really?" Guess someone is getting a raise… Do I even pay them? Naofumi pondered.
"Well, if that's the case, find Delia and ask for the guest housing. And if you need something, ask Raphtalia or Melty." Naofumi reached the door and opened it before looking up at the ceiling. "Zalton. Tell Dalton to postpone today's hunts and report to Melty for more details."
"Yes, sir." Dropping from the ceiling. Zalton landed on the table and leaped out an open window leading towards the gate. The heroes were speechless, not knowing how to react to what just happened. It was today they learned that they haven't even come close to the true weirdness this world has to offer.
/~/
"Leaving the house. The four heroes split up, all going their separate directions while Altucray and Melty stayed in the manor.
Itsuki had a long day. Traveling to Lurorona was pretty tiring on foot, and he wanted to get some rest after attending the whole four-hour meeting.
His first and final stop of the day was at the housing district Naofumi mentioned. During the time between the raid and the meeting, Delia was able to restore several of the houses back to their former glory. This was one of the bigger events in the village since the others no longer had to sleep outside or bunch up in a pile in the manor.
When Itsukii arrived at the construction zone. He witnesses the villagers carrying furniture into the buildings, with Delia standing on a rock observing everything.
"Keep it up, everyone! If these houses aren't furnished by sundown! You will be sleeping outside yourself."
"Umm. Are you Delia?"
The rabbit girl turned around and looked at Itsuki with annoyance.
"Teba! A slaver got out again."
A white male filolial leaped out of the ground with a bow pointed right at Itsuki. He had white hair with the bottom part of it being black. He also wore a black shirt and baggy pants along with a white cowl that fell back to his calves. On his left wrist was a bracelet with half a carrot. It was the other half of Delia's which had the other half of the carrot.
"May I ask why you can't deal with it yourself?"
"I'm working, can't ya see?"
"Apologies. Standing in one place must be taking up so much energy." Teba scoffed. "And remember what master said about the threats."
"That they should be more threatening?"
"That is not what he said." Teba sighed. "Whatever, let's just deal with him." Teba started to knock an arrow, but Itsuki put out his hands.
"Hold on, hold on. I'm not a slaver. I'm the bow hero. I'm just looking for a bed."
"Bow hero," Teba muttered as he pondered his mind for a bit. "Ahh, one of Masters guests."
"Yeah, I'm on the side of justice here. So can you put the bow down?"
Teba lowered his bow as Itsuki asked, getting a sigh of relief from the bow hero.
"So you're looking for a bed, right? Well, you're in luck. We finished construction earlier today and are now working on the furnishings."
"Did you perform the proper inspections before you started doing that?" Teba asked.
"Not at all!" Delia beamed, getting another sigh and facepalm from Naofumi.
"I swear, Delia. If the king and other heroes die under your watch. Being an orphan for the second time will only be the fourth worst thing to happen to you." Teba threatened.
"Hey! The hell does that mean?
Itsuki watched Teba and Delia argue as the other workers moved on without a care in the world. It would take them at least 15 minutes for them to stop and another hour for Itsuki to get to his bed.
/~/
Ren walked near the gate of the village, hoping to do some grinding before dinner was prepared. As he reached the gate, something caught his eye. A pretty big farm growing various types of unknown produce. And at its forefront, a 10ft tall bush, with a yellow flower at the top of its hedge. The bushes themselves were spread across the whole village but hadn't fully wrapped around it yet, leaving some openings.
"Nyuuu!"
"Big sis. Look!" A filolial shouted.
Her name was Zeal, a teal-colored Filolial with a pink and teal dress, and beside her was her partner Alia.
"Oh, a visitor. Welcome!" Alia beamed.
"What the hell is that?" Ren asked.
"A project master was working on. This hedge will act as a wall for the entire village. Master made is with extremely high vitality, immunity, and growth. It is as durable as a brick wall and can even regrow itself when damaged."
"Naofumi made this?" Ren thought. He had heard of alchemists and their crazy experiments before. But the thought of Naofumi's skill being this good makes him respect Naofumi even more.
"His game knowledge is pretty trash. But he's adapting much faster than any of us could."
"What game?" Zeal and Alia asked simultaneously.
"Don't worry about it."
"Okay then. What to see something cool?"
"I guess so."
"Yay." Alia grabbed Ren with her bushy tail and effortlessly carried him towards the flower. Dropping her in front of a patch of dirt, she pointed towards a bunch of letters on the ground.
"I… can't read that."
"No problem, the message says. Howdy. Flowey Flower. Lave you, master."
"Lave?"
"His spelling could be better. But this is an intelligent plant we're working with. The last two attempts ended with fire. But I have high hopes for this one."
"Maybe if he absorbs enough souls. He can become some god of hyper-death!" Zeal beamed.
"…That is the weirdest hypothetical scenario I've ever heard."
"Alright, a bit too crazy." Alia pouted. "We also have one more thing to show you. Zeal, bring one of them out, please."
"Okay, sis!" Zeal jumped down one of the rabbit holes. Around two minutes later, a tied-up man was launched out of the hole and crashed to the ground.
"Who is that?"
"A slaver who tried and did enslave us. We now keep him as a prisoner and use him for various hard labor."
"I thought human slaves were illegal."
"For legal reasons. He does not have the slave crest. He just knows better."
Ren was a little suspicious but decided not to press further. He was a slaver who committed who knows how many atrocities against the villagers. So some karmic retribution would make sense.
What he wasn't expecting, however, was Flowey to shed off some of his petals and launch them at the salver.
He was hit by three of these petals, and they all pierced his skin. The wounds weren't deep enough to inflict any permanent damage but were enough to kill dozens of lesser monsters since it was able to hurt the slaver.
"…."
"Too graphic? Guess that means you're doing a good job, Flowey." Zeal gave Flowey a thumbs up.
"Nyuuu."
/~/
"Hya. Kya."
"Put more force into your kick!" After many days of hard work, all of them had gotten new clothes, courtesy of Strelitzia's clothing division. Now, they were all being trained by Yuki… well, most of them. The other half was with Dynn, learning how to pose.
Yuki had a hard time complaining, however. At least he was doing something, unlike another bird.
Sakura had been asleep ever since Naofumi went to his meeting. And for whatever reason, she got a cowlick from Fitoria.
Between the three chosen. Yuki was said to be a natural was the most combat-oriented, and Dynn was the best magic-wise. When it came to building a flock, Fitoria said the three of them could make one that rivaled her own.
Yuki, however, felt that she was the only one actually doing all the work while the other two lazed about. It's not that she hates them. She just wanted someone competent and less lazy to be chosen as a king/queen candidate. Alas, this was the decision Fitoria made, and she is going to have to deal with it.
"Oh, angeeeel!" While he was running. Motoyasu tripped and fell into one of the burrows. Yuki looked back to see what the commotion was, but shrugged when she saw nothing there.
Getting up. Motoyasu looked around and found himself in a system of tunnels. With the hole he fell through being too high to climb back up. Motoyasu was forced to choose a path and pray he made it out.
Walking for what felt like minutes. Motoyasu finally found a light at the end of the tunnel. His relief was suddenly crushed, however, when he reached the end.
"Failure to obey the king's rule." Rifana picked up a card and placed it in the massive hand of her opponent behind bars.
"I'm starting to think you're making half these rules up as you go."
"Excessive talking." Rifana gave him another card.
"Excessive talking for you too." The slaver gave Rifana a card, but she just put it back in his hand.
"Bad call, two cards this time."
"Hey. Do either of you know where the exit is?"
Rifana looked back at the new visitor with a confused look.
"Point of order." Rifana sighed. "I thought I had this place on lockdown." Rifana drew a flaming sword from her sheath and slowly walked towards the spear hero.
"Um, Missy, he's not one of us. The person you're trying to kill is actually the spear hero." The slaver informed.
"Really? Noted." Rifana put away her sword and kicked Motoyasu hard in the crotch. "That's for master."
"Ugh." Motoyasu wasn't expecting that level of power from the Rifana and was immediately knocked to the ground as he grabbed his crotch.
"Worth it. Alright then, what do you want?" Rifana asked as she sat back down. She was waiting for an answer but just remembered what she did and tossed him a healing potion.
/~/
"An exit, you say? Just climb the ladder and you'll be out."
"Was kicking me even necessary?" Motoyasu whimpered. He wanted to get angry but was scared of what she could do in an actual fight. That, and he has a feeling that he deserved it in a way.
"Yes. Also, stop following the birds around. Most of them think you're weird."
"But these are actual angels we're talking about. How can I resist?"
"Maybe try buying one yourself. Filolials are pretty cheap to rich people." Rifana suggested. She could only cover her ears to protect them from Motoyasu's eureka moment.
"Why haven't I thought of it before! I can buy my own angel. FLONNE, I'M COMING FOR YOU!"
Motoyasu climbed out of the cave, his voice getting lower and lower as he ran off.
"Never in my life would I believe an angel fetish existed. Today changed that."
"What can I say? Weirdos are weird." Rifana gave the slaver another card.
"Okay. The hell is that one for!?"
"Touching cards."
"Are you at least going to tell me the damn rules, Demi?"
"The first rule of Mao is that you can't talk about the rules of Mao."
"Fuck you."
/~/
"I feel like I'm forgetting something." Motoyasu pondered as he stood at the front gate. "Well, it's probably not important since I forgot."
/~/
"I am now the king of Mao."
"I still think this game is bullshit." The slaver complained. As Rifana drew a new hand to start another round, Keel came into the jail wrapped with a blanket below his waist and bandages on his chest.
"Lol. What happened to you?
"Fire. Lots and lots of fire."
"And your clothes?"
"She burnt them. Put her in a cell for me; I need to get changed." Keel dropped down next to the infamous red-haired bitch next to Rifana. She was tied with a rope and gagged with a ball of paper. Despite all the bindings, however, she continued to struggle.
"... So was that a dude or?"
"According to the rumors, a girl, I think. At this point, people are betting on whether or not he's a trap or reverse trap." Rifana dragged Malty into a cell and started to cut her bindings.
"Try kicking em between the legs and see what the reaction is."
"I'll try it later."
As Rifana cut the last bind, Malty leaped up and started to attack. It took all of Rifana's strength to fight her off since she was much stronger than expected. Usually she would just use her sword, but orders from Naofumi said non-lethal, meaning she had to engage in a fistfight.
"I swear you weasel. Let me out of this cell! I am the princess; I am above—
One of Rifana's clones tackled Melty to the ground and held her mouth open. With help from a few more, they held her down long enough to force a drink down her throat, knocking her out almost instantly.
"The hell was that?"
"Oh, some knockout juice. 1 part apple juice, 5 teaspoons of sleep-inducing herbs."
"You drugged the princess!?"
"You know it!"
"… I'm starting to think Siltvelt was the better option. Also, that's excessive talking."
"Oh fuck off!"
/~/
Character Entries Unlocked
Flowey the Flower
Propagation 5: So it can grow a wall around the village
Production 1: No food necessary
Vitality 9: Necessary to grow something that large
Immunity 10: Needed for the sheer mass and size
Intelligence 10: The amount he needed to make it docile
Growth 12: To give it it's quick regrowth capabilities
Mutation 3: So it can use its intelligence to its advantage
Special Ability: "Friendliness" Pellets
Special Notes: Very friendly to goats for some reason.
Name: Teba
Weapon: Bow
Magic: Wind/Support
The Filolial of Delia. Stoic and cold like his owner. Always butting heads with the bunny in some way.
Name: Zeal
Weapon: None
Magic: Healing/Support
The Filolial of Alia. Smile, Sweet, Sister, and Sadistic. Emphasis on sadistic.
Erebus Alekos:
Weapon: Sword
Magic: Ice
Siltvelt Black Cat Captain. Shield fanatic. A drunk.
Thanks for reading!