Motoyasu and Naofumi had gotten themselves a shared room at an inn after arriving at the capital for the night. So when the next morning came, and Motoyasu was awoken by Naofumi shaking him, he didn't complain about it. Instead, he simply got up, stretching as he yawned.
It had been their schedule for the week they had spent at Lurolona, with whoever woke up first waking the other. Usually, it had been Naofumi, as it had been this morning, but Motoyasu could proudly say he had woken up once before the Gauntlet hero.
Only to fall back asleep after sitting in a rather comfy seat for a bit too long. It hadn't been his proudest moment, but thankfully Naofumi had only mentioned it for the day. At least the villagers hadn't caught on, otherwise he wouldn't have known peace from it.
"Where are we going first?" Motoyasu asked as he finished stretching.
"I'm thinking Erhart first. Sooner we give him the information, sooner he can start setting stuff up." Naofumi stated. "Plus it'll be nice to see him again. We did say we were going to come by after Lurolona anyways."
"Good point." Motoyasu spoke with a nod. "I kind of forgot about that, with everything that happened." He admitted.
"Well, you know now don't you?" Naofumi answered with a shake of his head. Motoyasu responded with a sigh, before the Gauntlet hero continued
"But it's fair enough that you forgot. Is there anything else you want to do here, other than see Erhart and go check in and let the castle know we are here?"
Motoyasu thought it over for a moment before nodding. "Well, I do want to look for that monster seller. I want to see what he's got, and probably buy an egg from him."
"That's fair. Let's add that to our schedule then." Naofumi spoke with a nod. "After that, I'm not really sure. We don't really know a lot about the capital, do we?"
"Eh, it's fine." Motoyasu answered, waving off Naofumis question. "We know the important places, the rest of them don't really matter."
"I guess that's true…" Naofumi responded hesitantly.
He would mind exploring the city a bit better himself, but Motoyasu was right for now. They had the important places down, such as Erharts shop, the church, the castle and the Inn. Any other spots could be found as they went on.
"Only real plan is heading to Erharts, right?" Motoyasu checked with Naofumi.
"Yeah, but only if we can't think of anything else. Do you think they will just let us in? Or are they gonna have to check if we were actually invited or something?"
"Absolutely no idea." Motoyasu spoke with a shrug, seemingly not caring that much. "We'll find out when we get there, so there's no use stressing about it now."
Naofumi sighed at Motoyasus carefree attitude, but he knew he was right. It wouldn't do him any good to think about it too hard. He would just have to go with whatever happened.
The two spent a decent portion of the morning looking for the monster seller that Motoyasu had heard about, but they had no luck in finding the person running it. Even asking people selling their wares in the streets got them no answer.
It was with that failure that the two dragged themselves to Erharts shop to continue the rest of their day's plan. They pulled themselves through the door, and Erhart stared at the two, unimpressed.
"What's up with you two?" Erhart asked, one of his eyebrows raised.
"Looked around all morning for a monster seller, or whatever Motoyasu said the villagers called it, only to end up not finding them." Naofumi explained with a sigh, standing up straight.
"I swear it's true! Those guys wouldn't lie to me, we got super close!" Motoyasu spoke quickly.
"I'm not accusing you of lying!" Naofumi spoke quickly. "I'm just saying we didn't find him!"
"Ah, my bad." Motoyasu spoke with a nervous chuckle.
Erhart simply shook his head, sighing at the pair's shenanigans. "How have two you been? Did you manage to get to Lurolona like you said?"
"Oh, yeah! We actually got there just on time. Literally." Came the answer from Motoyasu.
"Just on time? What, did something happen?" The blacksmith asked, concern evident in his voice. "Aside from the wave, that is."
"Well…" Naofumi began. "We got a ride there from a group of people and…"
The duo explained the situation to Erhart, and the blacksmith's frown only seemed to grow the longer they went on.
"Getting hit by a wave is already bad enough, but slavers as well?" Erhart shook his head at that. "at least you two were there to help out. Hate to imagine what could have been had they been surprised."
"Yeah. I'm just glad a few of them had a change of heart." Naofumi spoke with a nod. "Otherwise, it would have come as a complete shock to us as well."
"Yeah… I would say keep an eye on those three though." The blacksmith spoke easily. Upon seeing the confused looks from Motoyasu and Naofumi, he continued.
"Think, if they were willing to switch sides that easily, then they are likely willing to do it again, yeah? Just keep an eye on them for a bit until you think you can fully trust them."
Motoyasu nodded his head in understanding. "Right, got it. It should be fine for now though. Stuff is going a bit better in the village now, enough for Eclair to actually feel safe enough to send us off."
"I would say it was more her basically saying we couldn't stay there forever to keep it safe." Naofumi spoke to Motoyasu.
"Well, yeah. That as well, but that's beside the point!" Motoyasu said quickly. "We're here now, and we have some stuff we wanted to tell you. Beside the Lurolona stuff."
"Well, I would hope you aren't going to repeat what you just said." Erhart spoke with a grin. "Though, on the topic of Lurolona, did you end up bringing back any stuff?"
Both heroes looked at the blacksmith in confusion, and Erhart sighed before clarifying. "From the wave monsters you said you were going there for. You did find some, right?"
"Oh yeah! We found some wave monsters. Giant two headed dogs." Motoyasu spoke with a nod.
"And did you bring any material from them with you?" He questioned them.
Once more, both heroes looked at the blacksmith, this time with realisation dawning in their eyes. In truth, they had completely forgotten about it with everything that had happened. Erhart seemed to understand they had forgotten, and let out a sigh.
"That's fine. That's fine. You still got some time before the wave, so bring me some stuff before it, yeah? Preferably at least a few days before so I can work on it properly, you hear?"
"We understand." "Yep, sounds good!" Came the response from Motoyasu and Naofumi respectively.
"Now, what else did you come to talk about? You didn't remember to bring the materials, so it can't be that."
"Ah, yeah it's about the reason we actually came back. Besides wanting to see you of course." Motoyasu spoke with a grin.
Erhart rolled his eyes, but took it in stride. "Yeah yeah. Get on with it then."
"You know how we could copy hammers and gauntlets?" Naofumi questioned him, getting a nod in response.
"Yeah, but I haven't got anything new ye-"
"No, it's not for us." Naofumi interrupted, giving him an apologetic smile. "We actually got asked to return because the Spear Hero is being summoned, and the queen wants us here?"
"Ah, I see. That makes sens- Wait, the Spear Hero is being summoned?" The man asked in surprise. "I mean, I knew there was a chance we would be able to summon a hero, but knowing we are summoning one is different from hearing about it. But why are you telling me?"
Both heroes stared at the blacksmith, and he seemed to understand. "Ah, I see. You think the Spear Hero will be able to copy weapons as well?"
"Well, if these weapons can, then there is no reason that they can't, right?" Motoyasu questioned.
"Yeah, you make a valid point. I think I have got some pretty good spears…" Erhart trailed off, muttering to himself for a moment as he went over his stock mentally.
It took a few more moments for the man to stop before nodding his head.
"Yeah, I can definitely do that. When did you say the summoning was supposed to take place?"
"We didn't." Naofumi spoke simply. "But it should be in… two days?" He directed the last part towards Motoyasu, unsure of it himself.
Motoyasu thought it over for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, the letter said the queen was a couple of days out from the capital yesterday, so it's like one day now? And then it also said the summoning wouldn't take place until the day after, so yeah. It's two days now." He affirmed.
"Two days huh?" Erhart spoke to himself. "Yeah I can definitely get some stuff sorted. Still got that spear out back, could probably be good. Though…" He trailed off, looking over the two heroes in front of him for a moment.
Both Motoyasu and Naofumi returned the look, and Erhart seemed to decide.
"Right, remember talking about experimenting with weapon forms? Stretching what you can copy and all that?" Erhart questioned the two.
"Vaguely?" "Yeah, it's what got you on board with the whole idea." Came the response from Motoyasu and Naofumi respectively.
"Glad one of you remembers at least. I've got a unique shield out back which, with the church's position against the Shield Hero, ain't gonna be doing much for the rest of its time here. I doubt Siltvelt will even let the person enter Melromarc, so I'm thinking I'll start trying out what the limit of your copying ability is."
"How long do you think it will take?" Motoyasu asked excitedly.
"Well, that's the difficult part. I have to decide what I want to make first, plus working with the stuff is gonna take a while. I haven't worked with it since I was working with my master…" Erhart seemed to think about it for a moment before shaking his head. "Regardless, I think it will be enough for one weapon for the time being, so who's getting the first one?"
Motoyasu looked towards Naofumi immediately, and he let a sigh escape him. He could already guess that Motoyasu wanted to get it first.
"Can I?" Motoyasu asked, continuing to look at his fellow hero.
"And what's in it for me?" Naofumi questioned him.
Motoyasu seemed to actually think it over for a moment, as if he wasn't sure what he could actually give to get the new weapon first. Before Naofumi could say it didn't matter, and he was fine for his fellow hero to get it first, Motoyasus eyes lit up.
"That's it! If I remember correctly, the wave boss is supposed to be a Chimera." Motoyasu spoke quickly, "So, you can get first pick of the heads, then me and the Spear Hero can get one each, then you get the last. It means you get two heads, so you can probably mess around with Weapon Synthesis and all that, right?"
Naofumi did not respond for a moment, thinking it over himself, and he could see Motoyasu getting nervous. It was a good offer, and if what Motoyasu said was true, combining two of the Chimera heads would probably be decent.
"Alright. As long as it is a Chimera." Naofumi agreed. "If it's not, then you owe me a favour, got it?"
"Deal!" The hammer hero agreed easily, a grin on his face.
"Right then. I'll be making a hammer I guess. Any specific sort of hammer, or do you want it to be a surprise?" Erhart questioned.
"Uh…" Motoyasu looked at the blacksmith, clearly not having planned anything beyond this point, and Erhart let out a sigh.
"Right. Let's get that out of the way first." Erhart decided.
The decision making didn't take long, and it was decided that Erhart would be making a sledgehammer for Motoyasu to attempt to copy. If that failed, then it would be a basic hammer for the weapon copy.
The blacksmith had warned them again before leaving that it probably wouldn't be ready in time for the first wave, which had upset Motoyasu slightly, but he had waved it off after the man had explained the reason why once more.
For now, they were at the entrance to the castle again. The guards positioned there were shifting nervously, shooting looks at the two heroes whilst they weren't paying attention. One of the guards who had been positioned there had been sent to the king to explain the situation to them.
"So…" Naofumi began slowly. "What was it like in your game? I mean, you keep saying all of this stuff being from your game, but you seem pretty surprised at some stuff that happens."
"Oh, well… The only really new stuff is everything that happened in Lurolona. Though, there were some expansions being planned, so it might have been a part of it?" Motoyasu spoke with uncertainty. "All I know is that I don't remember any of these systems in the game, but like I said, it could have been planned to be added in an expansion."
"Well, what's next? After the wave. You said the boss of this one should be a Chimera back at Erharts." Naofumi probed.
"Oh yeah. It's basically just kill enough monsters and the boss will spawn in. It gives some pretty good weapons, so we should definitely be set for a while." Motoyasu spoke with a grin. "After that… It's just some set up quests I think. The sort of stuff you do in every playthrough, to make future quests easier, you know?"
"I see…" Naofumi spoke with a frown. It was nice to have some information on what was coming up, but it felt a bit convenient to him. "Do you think its going to remain the same though?" He questioned.
Motoyasu opened his mouth to speak before thinking it over. "You… make a good point. It's already changed a bit, what with all these systems. And the Lurolona quest definitely didn't exist before…"
The hammer hero continued to think it over, even as the guard they had sent returned to the gate.
"Heroes! Apologies for the delay, please, follow me."
Both Naofumi and Motoyasu followed behind the guard, though neither spoke. Naofumi, because he was content with the silence, and Motoyasu due to thinking over things. The group soon emerged into a courtyard, where Aultcray was speaking with some servants.
The servants soon moved away, and Aultcray turned, facing the heroes.
"Hero Naofumi, Hero Motoyasu. What a pleasant surprise it is to see you so soon. Thank you for bringing them here, you are dismissed."
The guard saluted before turning away, likely going back to his post, and Motoyasu smiled at Aultcray.
"Hey. We thought it was best to be here early, right Naofumi?"
"Yeah. Better early than late, I guess." Naofumi spoke with a nod.
"Glad to see that the two of you are proactive, though, if I may ask, why you are here?" Aultcray questioned both. "I'll admit, I was not expecting the two of you to be here. I'm still making preparations for my wife's return." He admitted.
"Well, that's part of it. The queen asked for both of us to be here for the summoning to take place soon?" Naofumi explained.
"Ah," Aultcray seemed caught off guard by it, but he took it in stride. "I'll admit, this is the first I am hearing of it, but if it is from my wife, then there is no reason to refuse you. Come, let us get something to eat, and we can discuss how the two of you have found your time in Melromarc!"
Aultcray smiled at them, and beckoned for them to follow him. He guided them through the castle, and the two heroes soon found themselves getting lost as they turned corner after corner.
They paused only once, and that was for Aultcray to have a quick talk with a servant about food being served for their small group before he took off once more.
It wasn't long before the two heroes and the king were sitting, and not much longer after that the servants quickly began bringing out several plates of food for them to select from. They thanked the servants before they left back to the kitchen, and Aultcray spoke.
"So, Heroes." The man spoke, a small smile on his face. "You said you were invited here at the request of my wife?" He asked, as if double checking.
"Yeah. At least, that's what the letter said." Motoyasu confirmed easily. "The guy read it out for us, and it basically told us that the Queen would like us present for the summoning." He explained.
"I see. It does seem like something my wife would do." He admitted with a nod of his head. "Anyways, how has your time in my country been?" The king asked, changing the subject.
He filled his plate, and both heroes copied him.
"It's been good." Naofumi spoke hesitantly. "It's still a bit of a difference, but I would like to think I'm adjusting well."
"And you, Hero Kitamura?" Aultcray asked the hammer hero. "How are you faring?"
"It's been great! I'm really enjoying it honestly." He spoke with a grin, as Naofumi took a bite of his meal. "Though, I do wish we could have seen more. We've kind of stuck to one spot for now."
"Stuck in one spot?" Aultcray repeated, a frown on his face. "Has something happened? Is there something giving you two trouble, or-"
"No, it's nothing like that." Naofumi cut in quickly, before pausing. "Well, slightly." He amended.
Upon getting a look from Aultcray, Naofumi continued what he was saying.
"Well, it's just that me and Motoyasu were planning on heading to Lurolona, shortly after, and we happened to get a ride there." He spoke quickly.
"It is rather fortunate you had a quick trip there, though may I ask what you planned to do in Lurolona?" Aultcray questioned.
"Oh that's simple. We were planning on seeing the aftermath of the wave, and see if there were any corpses around we could use for weapon forms."
The king nodded, thinking it over. "Yes, I imagine wave monsters would give a good weapon form. Though it does make me wonder, what would…" He trailed off for a moment, before a sigh escaped him. "No need to think about that for now. Did you manage to get what you wanted from there?"
"Yeah, we managed to absorb one of the wave monsters after everything. The people we came with were apparently knights?" Motoyasu said questioningly.
Aultcray seemed surprised by that, frowning slightly. "I can't say I recall sending any people to Lurolona. Are you sure they were knights?"
Motoyasu paused at that, thinking it over for a moment, and Naofumi had to do the same.
"Maybe?" Naofumi answered. He couldn't recall if Aston, Osvald or Clind had actually confirmed if they were knights, just simply their concerns of whether the church would find out what had happened.
"If I had to say though, the leader of that operation did seem like he was an actual captain, even if Eclair mentioned she wasn't sure how he became one."
Aultcrays frown only seemed to deepen as he listened. "I see… I'll admit, I will not be able to ascertain for myself whether or not the person you are speaking of is a captain. I can certainly try to find out, but unless the people involved in this incident are brought here, then I'm truly afraid there is not much that can be done."
"That's fine. Eclair actually suggested that we wait until the queen gets back to bring them here." Motoyasu spoke with a nod.
"Yes, that would certainly make things easier." Aultcray nodded. "How is the situation in Lurolona, besides that? I was saddened to hear that Lord Seaetto had passed during the wave, and the fate of the village residents was unknown to me."
"It's doing better than before." Naofumi answered. "As we said, we stayed there for a little bit, and kind of helped around, though they could do with some more help. We couldn't really supply much."
"I see…" Aultcray spoke slowly. He seemed hesitant to speak for a moment, but sighed before pushing on. "I will discuss it with my wife when she returns. She is certainly more… level headed on these matters than I am, I will admit that. I'll see what can be done though."
"That's perfectly fine." Naofumi spoke with a nod.
They remained silent for a time after that, with the three finishing off their food before Aultcray spoke once more.
"Have you considered looking for the other seven star heroes?" The king questioned.
Both Motoyasu and Naofumi stayed silent for a moment before shaking their heads. The thought hadn't really crossed either of their minds during their time in Lurolona, but it made sense to look for them. They would likely have methods they could use as well.
"Not really." Motoyasu admitted. "But what are the other seven star weapons?" The hammer hero asked.
Naofumi leaned forward as well, curious about it as well. "Yeah, we only know ours, Rens and Itsukis. The name is 'Seven Star Weapons', so there's got to be seven, right?"
"You would be correct, Naofumi." Aultcray spoke with a smile. "There are indeed seven weapons. There are the four that you and your friends wield, namely the Gauntlet, Hammer, Claw and Projectile. The Gauntlets and Claws were… difficult to obtain permission to summon for. I thankfully managed to convince the ruler of where the Gauntlets were located by appealing to his more… money oriented mind, whilst my wife, Mirellia, was able to obtain the right to summon the Claw Hero."
Naofumi hadn't even considered the fact that it might have been difficult to obtain permission to summon a hero, though he imagined the arrival of the waves had likely expedited the process quite a bit.
"What about the Hammer and Projectile?" Motoyasu asked, "You only mentioned difficulties with the Gauntlets and Claws, so they can't have been that difficult, right?"
"You would be correct, Motoyasu. It was less trouble than the Claws and Gauntlets, but still some troubles. Though, I feel I should mention that they will be eventually expecting you to fight the waves in their countries."
"Ah. I had completely forgotten about that." Motoyasu spoke slowly. "I… wasn't expected to go directly there, was I?" He asked with a nervous laugh.
"Of course not. They know not to expect a hero immediately, though it would likely be better for you to register with Shildfreedens hourglass sooner than later." The king answered. "Now, back on topic. The three other weapons, beside the four mentioned prior."
"The first is the Whip. As far as I am aware, it currently has no chosen wielder, though I'm sure that will change soon enough. It is currently located in Faubrey. The next would be the axe. Its wielders tend to be more active around Zeltoble, though I do hear it has chosen someone to wield it."
"A Whip and Axe, huh…" Motoyasu spoke slowly. "Some pretty normal weapons, I guess. Though, it does make me wonder if there's any weapon with magic."
Aultcrays smile grew at that. "There is indeed one weapon like that, Motoyasu. That would be the Staff, which allows its wielder to cast magic regardless of element." He seemed proud of that fact, almost as if he knew something, and Naofumi spoke up.
"So who's the current wielder?"
"Why that would be-" Before Aultcray could finish what he was saying, the door was pushed open, a knight stepping in with concern written on his face.
"Y-Your Majesty!" The knight spoke quickly. "I was asked to remind you of a meeting you had scheduled today, with several nobles?"
"Ah, where has the time gone?" Aultcray lamented.
He let out a sigh, but stood up, a frown on his face. "My apologies, Naofumi, Motoyasu. It seems my duty calls. Should you wish for it, lodging is available here for you this evening, should you wish to relax. I'm sure my wife would berate me should I let you go back to the city when there is plenty of free room here."
"We will take you up on that offer, Your Majesty." Motoyasu spoke with a smile,
"Then please, enjoy the rest of your day Heroes. I presume I shall see you tomorrow, when my wife returns. I bid you farewell."
With that, Aultcray followed behind the knight, shutting the door behind him as he left the two in silence.
"He never told us who wielded the staff." Naofumi spoke after a moment.
"Ah, you're right! Though, it's a unique selection of weapons, don't you think?" Motoyasu asked him.
"Yeah, it is pretty odd, but what I find more odd is that there's only seven." Naofumi spoke with a sigh. "I mean, It's such a specific number, you know? Why not go for two per each Holy Weapon?"
"I mean, don't you feel like four is a pretty specific number in that case?" Motoyasu pointed out.
"I… Yeah, you have a point. I'm probably thinking too much about it." Was the response from Naofumi, waving it off. "Do you think it'll be the same rooms we stayed in last time?"
"Don't see why not. Though… I'm not really sure where they are. And I really don't feel like just walking around looking for them, you know? I don't want to appear somewhere I'm not supposed to."
"That's true. We could probably ask a servant as we go around the castle, right?" Naofumi suggested.
"Yeah that could work. Would save us the headache of not knowing what rooms to not enter and all that."
Both heroes stood up, but before they could make their way to the door, there was a knock, followed by it opening.
"Heroes?" A servant spoke as they entered. Upon getting confirmation they were there, the servant stared at them. "The King has asked me to lead you to your lodgings for the evening. If you would follow me?"
Without waiting a moment, the servant turned and left the room, leaving Motoyasu and Naofumi staring at each other in confusion before rushing to catch up to the servant.
"You there." Aultcray spoke, directing it towards a servant washing the windows.
"Your Majesty?" The servant asked slowly. "Is there an issue?"
"No, no. There is no issue with your work, I would simply ask that you do something. The Gauntlet and Hammer Hero are in the dining hall. I regrettably had to leave them early, and I realise that they may not know their way around the castle as of now."
The servant nodded in understanding. She had heard about some of the Seven Star Heroes being summoned a week prior, but she hadn't been on duty at that time.
"I hope it won't be too much trouble to guide them to their rooms for the evening?" Aultcray asked her.
"Of course not, your Majesty. I will do it right now." She spoke with a bow.
Aultcray gave her a smile, lowering his head slightly. "It is appreciated. You are dismissed."
He waved her off, and the last thing she heard was a mutter from the King, complaining about his meeting with the nobles. It didn't take her long to make her way to the dining hall thanks to her experience in moving around the castle, and she knocked on the door politely.
She waited a few moments before knocking again before frowning. Were the heroes ignoring the knocking, or could they simply not hear it? Deciding that she had given them enough warning, she opened the door, only to be shown an empty room. The only sign that people had been in there was the three plates left on the table.
Her frown only grew as she stepped in and picked up the plates, shaking her head. If the head maid saw this, she would have punished whoever had left them here, and she wasn't going to risk taking the blame for it. She did wonder where the heroes were, but she decided she could look for them once she had taken the plates back to the kitchen.
Perhaps they knew more than the king thought? The servant thought to herself. Despite that, she would still look for them, if only to confirm they had arrived at their rooms.
Woo, another chapter done. This one took less than a month to complete, so I count that as a win.
Stuffs being set up, just hoping I can do decent with what I have planned. No Belouklas yet, despite Motoyasus and Naofumis best attempts to track him down. He can be an elusive guy when he wants to I guess.
Also Siderite weapons, because as it turns out, Erhart has all four in the back of his shop at the point of summoning from a reprise loop. Thanks Reprise.
As has been said before, there is no consistent update time for this fic, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless. Until next time I suppose.