After the end of the fight, everyone got to work quickly. They took them to the jail, which, surprisingly enough, had been left free of any damage from the wave.
"There were only a few people here during the wave, so they were offered a deal in which they could go free if they assisted." Was the explanation Eclair gave, which made sense to Naofumi and Motoyasu.
Fighting against a world ending disaster that was threatening to destroy your village was better than being petty and refusing to help out.
They bound each of their hands with rope, helpfully supplied by Clint, Aston and Osvald. When they were asked where they had gotten it from, they gestured towards the wagons.
"It's not like they are going to use it anymore, is it?" Clind spoke with a shrug.
Eclair seemed disappointed by it, but didnt say anything, simply opting to shake her head.
Naofumi didn't mind it though. Better to use up their resources than the likely limited ones the village had.
Once all of them were put in the cells, and stripped of any weapons, they left 3 of the demi-humans there to watch over them.
"What are we going to do with them?" Motoyasu asked Eclair. "We can't just keep them here, right?"
"We can't. We could take them to the capital to be punished, but there's the issue of transporting them." Eclair spoke.
"Well, we have the wagons we used to get here." Osvald spoke up. "But that brings up the issue of if it's right to use them."
"Indeed. They technically belong to the Melromarc army, but they were using it with the intent to capture and sell slaves." Eclair sighed. "This truly is an unfortunate situation. I knew demi-humans were hated, but I didn't realise it affected the army so much…"
"Well, it probably doesn't help that a lot of the army is devoted to the three heroes' church." Clind responded with a shrug.
"Exactly. Best i can see happening is that you take them back, they get freed, and they attempt to do this once again." Aston chimed in.
To Naofumi, it seemed like there was no easy way about this. They either keep them here for a time, and spend more resources keeping them fed and imprisoned, or they send them back and wait for another attack.
"Wait, why would they get freed? Wouldn't they be imprisoned at the capital or something?" Motoyasu questioned. "Or is there something that I'm missing?"
"Well…" Osvald looked towards Eclair before speaking. "There are some influential members of the army which are part of the three heroes church. They would probably pull some strings to get them cleared. Also helps that the king isn't exactly fond of demi-humans…"
"Yes, I'm aware of the King's dislike for Demi-humans," Eclair spoke with a nod, "But surely even he could understand that it would not be right to free these slavers!"
Osvald shrugged. "Hey, it's up to you. If you wanna take them to the king, then feel free to. I'm not gonna stop you."
Eclair sighed. "The queen should be returning soon. I'm not exactly sure when, but I'm certain once she does, we will be able to hand them over to her." She declared.
"Naofumi, didn't the King say something about when the queen was returning?" Motoyasu asked him quickly.
He nodded, thinking it over for a moment. "Wasn't it the day we got summoned? The king said the queen would return in a week, at the earliest." Naofumi spoke with uncertainty.
"Yeah, that's it!" Motoyasu confirmed quickly. "So we have, at minimum, a week to keep them here, if you are concerned about the king. Though he seemed like a pretty decent guy, so I'm sure he would be fine to hand them off to."
"Yeah, I'm still not sure why we can't just bring them to the king. I mean, surely he would listen to two heroes, right?"
"I forgot you were only summoned recently." Osvald spoke with a nod. "Well, what do you know about the King and Demi-humans?"
"Let's see…" Naofumi spoke with a hum.
"He mentioned something with Siltvelt? Said something about how Ren and Itsuki should avoid that place." Motoyasu added on.
"Oh yeah, something about the claw being their favoured seven star weapon." Naofumi spoke with a nod.
"Avoiding that place? Claws? You aren't telling me that the king summoned more seven star heroes, are you?"Eclair spoke in surprise.
"Yeah? He summoned Me, Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki. You know what us two wield, but Rens the Claw Hero, and Itsuki is the Projectile Hero." Naofumi confirmed, getting a groan from Eclair.
"Just what was his majesty thinking? Did he even consult the other nations about this?" Eclair spoke.
"Well, if it's any help…" Motoyasu spoke slowly. "Ren and Itsuki are headed to Faubrey, so we aren't all here?"
"That is actually slightly better. It would be much worse if he kept all four heroes here. If anything, it might actually improve our standing with a few other countries, having given the new seven star heroes support…" Eclair spoke approvingly.
"Anyways, I believe it is time for us to inform everyone that the issue has been dealt with." Eclair spoke, getting a nod from the others.
"Actually, whilst you are doing that, do you have any of the monsters from the wave still around?" Motoyasu asked, reminding Naofumi of the initial reason they had actually come here.
"No, there aren't any monsters alive in the village, as far as I'm aware." Eclair spoke with a shake of her head. "However, we do have the wave boss and some monster bodies left near the edge of the village."
"Great! Can we take some?" Motoyasu asked cheerfully.
"After assisting us? Of course." Eclair agreed.
It didn't take long for Eclair to get all of the villagers from the basement of her home. She had explained the situation to them already, warning them to stay away from the prison whilst they waited for the queen to return.
Naofumi and Motoyasu went to the edge of the village, finding where the remains of the wave monsters were.
"That is a lot…" Naofumi murmured to himself.
"Just means more for us to absorb, right?" Motoyasu asked with a grin.
"Yeah I guess so. Let's get to it then." Naofumi agreed.
They got to work, quickly dividing the monsters between them. Naofumi and Motoyasu both absorbed one of the smaller wave monsters, as well as dismantling the wave boss to split between them.
Neither of them could equip the weapon form that the wave boss had given to them, but they were able to equip the two headed dogs weapon form.
Two Headed Dog Gauntlets
Equip Bonus: Skill; "One-Two Punch"
Equip Effect: Dog Bite
[O]
It was a pretty good weapon form, much better than the Iron Gauntlets, that was for sure. It did make him wonder just how much better the boss weapon form would be.
Once they had finished taking them apart and absorbing everything, Naofumi and Motoyasu moved back to the middle of the village, watching as people moved around.
"So, what's our plan now?" Motoyasu asked him quietly.
"I'm not sure." Naofumi admitted. "I know we need to get stronger and all that, but I don't want to leave everyone here on their own."
Motoyasu hummed at that, seeming to understand. "Yeah. I'm not really sure either. My initial plan for us was to just get the stuff from here and leave. I wasn't expecting all of…" He gestured to the whole village before continuing, "this to happen."
"Well, we could always stay here for a bit? There's probably some new monsters around here, and then when the queen returns, we can help in taking the slavers to the capital, and go from there?" Naofumi suggested.
"We could. I'm definitely down for taking those people to the capital to get their punishment." Motoyasu agreed. "But I'm not sure about leaving this place. Fully that is." Motoyasu added on quickly.
"Not fully leaving?" Naofumi asked curiously.
"Yeah. I mean, everyone here's nice, and it would be a good call to set up some sort of permanent place to stay, right? I mean, I'm not against travelling constantly, don't get me wrong! It's just, having some place where you, me, Ren and Itsuki can meet up, swap materials and information, that would be good, right?" Motoyasu explained his thoughts.
"That could be good. Just knowing you have a safe place to stay could definitely be good, plus if people know there are heroes staying at this village, it means they are less likely to try and enslave people from here." Naofumi spoke with a nod.
"Exactly! So we can help ourselves, and help them at the same time!" Motoyasu spoke with a grin. "So what do you say?"
"It's probably something we would have to talk to Eclair about, but I don't exactly see a reason as to why she would reject it. I'm perfectly fine with it."
"Fantastic! Then let's go and find Eclair! We can talk it over with her!" Motoyasu spoke with a grin.
"Hey! Hold up, I said it was a decent idea, but shouldn't we wait a little at least?" Naofumi called out.
"Eh? Why? Wouldn't it be better to do it now?" Motoyasu questioned Naofumi.
"Well, think about it. It's already going to be pretty tough on them with just everyone here, right? And if we add that we want to stay, don't you think they are going to give us better treatment?"
"...Yeah?" Motoyasu spoke slowly, and Naofumi could tell he didn't understand.
"So, if we get preferential treatment, it means stuff is going to be tougher for everyone else."
Motoyasus eyes lit up in understanding. "Oh! I see, so we help them get back on their feet, then ask Eclair if we can set up here." He spoke with a nod.
"Exactly." Naofumi spoke with a nod, glad that Motoyasu seemed to understand it well enough.
"So what do we do in the meantime then? I know you said stick around here, but other than that."
"Well, we could always hunt with hunting and all that? Get some more levels whilst helping them out." Naofumi suggested.
"Is there even any different monsters around here?" Motoyasu asked with a frown.
"No idea." Naofumi answered with a shrug.
He looked around for a moment, taking note of people before catching sight of the girl in the apron once again before making up his mind.
If she was a chef, like Naofumi assumed, then surely she should have some idea on where the village gets their food from.
"Come on, let's go ask her. If she doesn't know anything, we can go ask Eclair." Naofumi spoke easily.
Motoyasu nodded, and before Naofumi could say anything, Motoyasu had taken the lead.
"Hey, you! In the… is that an apron?" Motoyasu asked, momentarily distracted. "Nevermind, are you a cook for the village or something?"
"Huh?" The girl looked around for a moment, seeing if Motoyasu was talking to anyone else before nervously nodding her head. "Yeah? I only really cooked the meal yesterday, but yeah. Why?" She asked nervously.
"Me and my friend want to know where you get the food from the village. Is it monsters around here, transported from other villages, or something else?"
"Uh…Well…" She looked nervous, looking around for a moment before finally answering. "Well… We usually got it from the storage, and it was provided by the people who went fishing, but they aren't exactly around…"
"Ok," Naofumi spoke slowly. "Did you not hunt monsters around here?"
"M-Maybe?" She answered with a shrug. "I didn't exactly take part in it, I was busy cooking…or trying to" She murmured the last part to herself,
Naofumi let out a sigh as he shut his eyes. She was absolutely useless in terms of information, so it was likely they were going to have to go ask Eclair or one of the people guarding the slavers at the moment.
"But I did hear some villagers talking about some monsters in the forest. They said it might be good?" She offered weakly.
"Thank you. We will definitely go check it out." Motoyasu spoke with a grin, thanking her before heading out, with Naofumi silently following suit.
"Hey! Naofumi, wait up!" Motoyasu called out, finally catching up to him. "How are we gonna bring the monsters back? You can't expect us to be able to carry enough back to feed everyone, right?"
Naofumi paused at that. He hadn't exactly thought that far. Judging by how Motoyasu was looking at him, he seemed to have realised the same thing as he grinned at Naofumi.
"Well, we can probably just take one of the wagons, right?" Motoyasu suggested. "It's not like they are gonna use them, right?"
"True, but are they even gonna listen to us? I mean, I'm not even sure what those monsters attached to the wagons are." Naofumi spoke with a shrug.
"Well, we can always ask someone. Any idea where they were taken?" Motoyasu asked.
Naofumi thought about it for a moment. He remembered one of the demi-humans with them had led them off somewhere, but not exactly where.
"They are… Somewhere in the village." Naofumi spoke slowly.
Motoyasu nodded, looking around for a moment. "Well, guess we'll just have to look around then." He spoke cheerfully.
As it turned out, they didn't really need to look that far. The wagons and the monsters pulling them were placed near the entrance to the village.
The bird looking monster was happily tearing into the body of a two headed dog whilst the lizard looking monster next to it was drinking from a bucket that had been placed near it.
"Heroes." The person spoke. "What are you doing here? Is there some other issue?" He asked curiously.
Motoyasu shook his head, and made to speak only for Naofumi to beat him to it.
"We're gonna go hunting and bring some monsters back to feed everyone. Mind if we take one of these wagons to store stuff in?"
"Yeah, sure. Go ahead." The demi-human spoke with a wave of his hand. "If i had to pick one between them for dragging the wagon around, the Filolial will probably be better. It's a bit faster compared to the Tyrella, and it's just eaten."
Naofumi nodded at that, looking between the two monsters tied up to the wagons.
"So…" Mototasy spoke slowly, "which ones which?"
"One with the scales is the Tyrella, one with the feathers is a Filolial." The person answered. "Oh, and since you're going out hunting, there's some wooly monsters out there that would be good. Can use the wool to make new clothes, bedding, all that stuff, and the meat for food." The demi-human continued.
Naofumi and Motoyasu nodded at that.
"Better than the girl at least. She gave us barely any information." Naofumi spoke with a sigh.
"Girl? What, was she the one wearing an apron and all that?" The demi-human asked them.
Naofumi nodded in response and he seemed to understand, nodding his head.
"Ah yeah, don't be too harsh on her." He spoke kindly. "She's been putting her all into cooking since her brother left for Faubrey. Boy said he was gonna keep in contact with her through letters but they just never came."
He sighed, shaking his head before continuing. "Most bizarre smith I ever met, but damned if he wasn't skilled with a hammer."
"Got it! Focus on those wooly monsters due to their use, then everything else." Motoyasu spoke with a smile.
Whilst he was doing that, Naofumi moved over to the Filolial, which tilted its head at Naofumis approach. He hesitantly reached a hand out, gently petting its head, and it let out a small, happy chirp.
It reminded Naofumi of something from a game back in his world, but he couldn't exactly remember what.
Pushing that thought to the side, he continued petting the Filolials head whilst Motoyasu got into the front of the wagon, taking hold of the reins.
"Naofumi, have you got any experience with this sort of stuff?" Motoyasu asked him, looking nervously between the FIlolial and the reins.
"No, can't say I do." Naofumi answered him with a shake of his head. "Only thing I have is that animals have always liked me, but I don't see that transferring over to riding a wagon."
Motoyasu let out a sigh, seeming to have expected it before continuing. "Right. Well, this is going to be an experience alright." He murmured before shaking his head.
Naofumi stopped petting the Filolial before moving to the back of the wagon and sitting down.
"Let's… get going then?" Motoyasu spoke, holding the reins uselessly.
The filolial turned its head to face Motoyasu, and looked at him as if to ask where they were going.
"The forest? Just over that direction?" Motoyasu spoke slowly, hoping that the Filolial understood him.
The filolial let out a 'Gweh!', as if understanding what Motoyasu had said before moving towards the exit to the village.
As it turned out, the Filolial was fast, even with a Wagon attached to it. The sheep-like monsters didn't give Naofumi or Motoyasu any problems whilst fighting them, and soon enough, they had enough of the monsters stored in the wagon to cook enough for everyone in the village.
"This should be more than enough, right?" Motoyasu asked, throwing another woolly monster onto the wagon.
They had already absorbed a couple each into their weapons, but compared to the two-headed dog form, it was kind of bad. The only redeeming quality of it was the equip effect, but it seemed so situational that it wasn't worth it at the moment.
"Yeah, it should be fine." Naofumi answered with a nod, already thinking of what to make.
The filolial was currently tearing at one of the monsters they had tossed to it, and neither of them had looked back at it, not wanting to see the mess it had made.
New weapon forms when?
"What are we going to be making then?" Motoyasu questioned, setting himself down once again. "Any ideas with all of this?"
"Well, it's not the most creative, but since we have such a large number of people again, I'm thinking of another stew? It's easy enough to make, a ton of it can be done at once, and if there's any left over, we can save it for tomorrow."
Motoyasu nodded his head, seeming to agree with Naofumi. "Yeah, that could definitely work. I doubt it's all going to get eaten today, I mean, most of them are kids, they can't eat that much right?"
Naofumi shrugged. "Well, they can eat as much as they want. Just so long as they don't make themselves sick. Come on, the Filolial is done eating, we can get going."
"Huh, it is." Motoyasu spoke. He took hold of the reins again, and the Filolial began moving.
The trip didn't take long, and soon enough they found themselves back in the village. The villagers were helpful enough to take all of the monsters through and take them apart, which saved Naofumi and Motoyasu some time.
Whilst the villagers took them apart, and separated them into piles, Naofumi and Motoyasu were shown to the kitchens by the chef they had spoken to earlier, though Naofumi held some suspicions on whether or not she was actually a chef.
"Uh… we store all the pots and that in here, though if you need something specific, you would probably need to ask Lady Eclair…" She murmured nervously, and Naofumi bit back a sigh.
"We should be fine. It's just going to be a simple stew for tonight. Not much goes into that at least." Motoyasu spoke with a grin.
"R-Right. Are you going to need any help, or…?" She spoke, a hint of hopefulness in her voice.
Naofumi was about to say no, that he and Motoyasu would be more than enough for this, but before he could, Motoyasu had already answered her.
"Sure! The more the merrier. Let's see… What are we starting off with first Naofumi?"
Naofumi let out a sigh, but did not comment on the chef staying. Hopefully she could prove at least helpful.
"Right. First off, washing our hands then prepping everything. Cutting boards, onions, all of that stuff. Understood?"
He got nods from both of his assistants, and they rushed around to get everything they needed out. Naofumi kept a close eye on both of them. He knew Motoyasu was somewhat competent thanks to yesterday, but he wasn't sure about the new person.
She, at the very least, seemed to know where everything was, so it seemed like it was going to turn out decent at least.
Naofumi had turned away for five minutes. Five minutes to simply ask one of the villagers to set up a table for all the kids to eat at, and when he had stepped back into the kitchen, it was chaos.
The chef was holding onto a flaming frying pan, terror written on her face as Motoyasu tried to advise her.
"Just put it down slowly, okay? Move away from it, and don't worry. It's not horrible alright?"
As if to contradict what Motoyasu just said, the flames roared louder before settling down to dance across the pan. It clattered back onto the side, and Naofumi rushed over.
He grabbed the salt off the side, and began pouring it into the pan, then let out a small sigh as it died down before turning to glare at the person who had caused it.
"Im sor-" "Out."Naofumi spoke, cutting her off.
She stared at him for a moment, her mouth opening and closing uselessly.
"Out!" Naofumi spoke again, pointing to the exit.
She frowned, but turned around, heading to the exit. She paused a few times, turning to look at both Naofumi and Motoyasu, but when neither of them told her to stop, she finally left the kitchen.
Naofumi let out a sigh, looking at the now salt covered frying pan.
"How did you do that?" Motoyasu asked him curiously, and when he got a confused stare from Naofumi, he explained further. "Act so quickly, I mean. I didn't even know salt could help with that sort of stuff."
Naofumi shrugged, picking up the pan as he did. "Just something I learned, haven't had to use it until now though." He answered. "Well, at least she didn't ruin everything. Ready to get back into it?"
"Yeah, let's finish this up. I'm hungry, and everyone else probably is as well." Motoyasu spoke with a nod.
The duo finally finished serving the last bowl of stew for the time being, watching as the last kid ran off with the bowl to sit beside everyone else.
Naofumi looked behind him, watching as the few remaining adults washed everything up as thanks for making the food and let out a breath. It was always nice to cook, but even cooking for this many people took its toll on him.
"Hero Iwatani, Hero Kitamura." a voice spoke from their side.
They turned to face the voice, and noticed it was Eclair, who smiled softly at them. "Thank you again for the meal."
"Oh it's no problem." Motoyasu spoke with a smile. "I'm just glad to help."
"Same here. Though I do have something to request, if that's fine?"
"Of course. If it's within our power to do what you ask, then we will do it." Eclair spoke with a nod.
"Great. Its nothing major, just… would it be possible for us to set up some sort of place here? For Heroes and all that." Naofumi spoke.
Eclair looked at him in confusion, and Motoyasu jumped in for the save.
"What he means is, we want a spot where heroes can have a safe place to stay. We aren't sure about our friends, but they would probably appreciate a place to store stuff and rest in a proper bed. Not to mention having a place where we can meet up to swap information."
"I…I see." Eclair spoke, thinking it over.
"Plus! It would give the village some more protection! I mean, who's going to want to attack a place that is home to heroes?" Motoyasu asked with a grin.
That seemed to win Eclair over, who nodded her head. "Yes, I can understand the reasoning. Plus your presence here would certainly deter any raids from happening…"
She looked out towards the village, speaking under her breath to herself. "...Yes, that could work, maybe over there…" She nodded before speaking up. "Yes, that's perfectly fine. Though, I do hope you are fine to wait some time at least? We still have plenty of repairs to finish before thinking of anything new."
"Of course." Naofumi spoke. He wasn't expecting Eclair to drop everything for them. "Me and Motoyasu can make do for now, so don't worry."
Eclair thanked them once more before walking off to check in with others, whilst Naofumi and Motoyasu took their own bowls, beginning to eat. It had been a productive day for them, and they could only hope the next few days would be as productive.
This chapter was a pain to write for some reason. I'm not sure why it was, but something in me would not let me move past the halfway point until today, so I wrote it all at once. Either way, the chapter is here, so that's good at least.
Naofumi and Motoyasu have secured Lurolona as a place for them to stay, great for them! As well as getting Two headed dog weapon forms, so a pretty good find for them, especially with Synthesis this early.
Next chapter hopefully shouldn't take a month and a bit, but we will see I guess.