Chapter 122

Ren and Itsuki showed up together with S'yne, while Momo... I mean, Motoyasu walked in with Kotetsu perched on his shoulder. The dragon-noodle abandoned his shoulder for my horns, and I made sure to give her attention.

"So..." Ren asked, watching me give Kotetsu her headpat tribute. "Just us?"

The question from 'the hardcore solo' made me pause, and smile, but I nodded. "Yeah. This time, we have a little bit of a different problem, and we're going to need to spread out a little if we want to save time and keep momentum. Mayor?"

He nodded and motioned to the map. "While I find it unbelievable, not everyone believes the Empress has returned." Thankfully, he had softened a little of the 'God Empress of Q'ten Lo' honorifics. "If we were to attempt to take the old capital and move immediately to the Palace, we may be able to take it, but..."

"But we might need to rebuild the palace afterwards, not just move in." I said, "So?" I handed the 'ball' to Raphtalia.

"The people here have seen us, and what we are capable of doing. But the stranglehold of the Imperial Laws have put too much fear into the people to just act without proof. It doesn't help that there are more monsters, since the latest edict has let them grow in number."

"Aha. Liberation." Itsuki nodded, "But..." He looked to Ren, myself then Motoyasu. "We're going to cover more ground then?"

"This will be a bit of an opportunity as well, since we don't gain EXP while together like this. Sure, we're all pretty high powered already, but..." Motoyasu shrugged, giving S'yne a pat on the shoulder for fixing a couple of tears in his equipment while we'd been chatting. "Okay, I'm game. Mayor? What's the land look like?"

Raluva gave him a five degree head tilt, then caught the meaning, "Ah, I understand your meaning, Sir Hero." He scratched at his chin and started to point and explain.

"With each of us heading squads suited to the terrain..." I said after the Mayor gave us our geography lesson, "We can herald Raphtalia's return and liberate the people from the local military presences."

"Yes." the Mayor nodded, "The other town leaders aren't simply cautious. Once their people are safer, they will act as I have I am certain. However..." He paused, a look of... I wasn't sure actually...

"Don't worry." S'yne said, "They won't care about what you say, just what you do."

Aha. "Well." He ahem'ed into his hand, "You don't look like her heralds. And your weapons have yet to be gifted as hers has been." He motioned to me.

"I have SITA working on something for that. Should be with Erhard someplace." I said, "This will give you all the same... resistance... to the Sakura Stone limitations we've been having problems with. With your own versions of what I have, you'll be able to use your favoured power up unlocks instead of putting it to a vote."

Something occurred to me as well, and I let my eyes wander into the middle distance on my Status screen while Ren spoke, "So, how will we convince the people we're with Miss Raphtalia?"

"I am so glad you asked." S'yne said with a smile. "Though, I'm not sure pink will go with your hair..." She replied, squinting at Ren. "You see, the first thing they tried to dress Raphtalia in, was essentially 'royal colours'."

With a flourish, her treasured giant scissors changed to a coat rack. And with a snap of her fingers, the 'battle kimono' the mayor had tried to put on Raphtalia appeared on it. Nice red 'hakama' pants, with white and pink shirt and panels.

"Now, with a bit of alteration, I can make it work for each of you, but with this, you'll look like her personal guard."

"It's a shame we don't have a sakura coloured mascot." Motoyasu mused, "I mean, you've got two dragons and bees. I've got Kuro, you've got Solitaire..."

"Black goes with everything... until it doesn't." I nodded, "I kind of wish I spent more time organizing my inventory... Needs a sort button..."

Just as I blink-clicked at the items I wanted, a 'sort by type' button appeared on the inventory before it auto-closed and spit out the items I selected. "That's why I never got into the crafting systems." Ren shrugged.

I focused 'off' the Status screen, shaking my head a little, "Eh, most games make the crafting systems obsolete long before end game content." I put a handful of stuff on the table in front of Itsuki, "I'll make you a bow later. But you said you used enchantment slots. Some special arrow heads as well. I mean, every other game I've played with an archer class has special ammo counts..."

"Thank you." He said, "Oh, these are good..."

"Before they become anvil-heads..." Raphtalia sighed, "Miss S'yne? How long will it take?"

S'yne gave Raphtalia a smile, "Well." With a little poof of smoke the battle-kimono vanished and her weapon turned back into the giant scissors, "If they hold really still..." Snip snip, "A few minutes. If not, I may need to pause for bandages..." She turned her smile towards the three heroes, "I can even give you a haircut, if you want."

I was never one for capes. At most, usually for disguise or keeping things dry, I'd wear a 'half cape'. A little longer than a shawl, and never past the backs of my elbows. Long capes got tripped on, stepped on, tangles on things, caught on other things, and worst of all, grabbed, bitten or pulled when you least wanted them to. Hell, it was one of those things I would readily exploit when fighting someone!

But, If I wanted to match, I had only one real choice unless I wanted to not wear my armour.

So, to match the others, I was now wearing a knee length cape that was sakura pink, bordered in red, and with nice white shoulders. Motoyasu was back in samurai armour, except in pink and red. Ren got lucky with a half cape similar to mine, and wearing lighter armour like Bell would that favoured more reds than pinks (a compromise since he had dark hair). Itsuki actually looked really good in the lighter whites and pinks, rounding out the 'three colour' scheme with a crimson collar and cuffs.

And no, we didn't need to pause for bandages.

"So." I started, giving myself an 'are my clothes dirty' twist to look myself over, "While S'yne goes about giving everyone else in our little army a sash in the Royal colours..."

Thankfully, people were on the ball, and even as I thought of them they started appearing. "Ah, you look perfectly suited to be her Heralds." Raluva said as he entered with his son, a bundle of neatly rolled scrolls in their hands. "I have prepared messages for the mayors of other towns."

Him and his son were dividing them up among us when Erhard walked in with SITA, "Huh, never thought I'd see you in anything but black." He said to me as he handed Motoyasu a spear, then Ren a sword. "Now, I know you're just going to weapon copy these."

For Motoyasu, it was similar to the trident the Toad at the lighthouse had, a mean looking thing with elegant inward curving tines that were as much spear as weapon catcher. Ren of course got a katana with a nice pink temper line. Both weapons had a glowing bit of Sakura Stone in them.

SITA handed Itsuki a re-curve bow that was almost delicate looking. But, it had some more modern features, like a cap over the grip to protect the hand, a nice arrow rest you could aim down, and a bunch of slots you could put my 'standard enchantment tabs'. For the others, the only thing that changed was the control gem showing up on it buried in the crosspiece or behind the spear point. But for Itsuki, the very real bowstring became a line of energy and the control gem popped up just above the knuckle guard as if peeking over it to aim with him.

"They might not be as good as my master might make... But he's not taking his loss very well." Erhard apologized.

I didn't even get an accusing look from them. Instead, they all had something nice to say to the humble blacksmith. "It's working exactly as intended, and balanced just right." Motoyasu said.

"Feels good in my hands." Ren added, "like a feather but solid."

"Everything is exactly where I'd want it." Itsuki smiled, "And these fit perfectly." He also slotted in the enchantment tabs I'd given him.

Since I didn't get anything from him, I just gave Erhard a look as he rubbed the back of his head and tried (failed) not to blush. "Eh well... But now that you've copied them..."

"Well, we get to give them to our seconds. We have enough people for that?" Motoyasu asked, looking to Raluva.

"Yes. We have just enough people for two full parties for each of you." He did look to me though, "We will be very thinly guarded here however..."

And to continue the trend of 'people being on the ball', S'yne spoke suddenly over my sound stone, "Boss? Mirri has eyes on three ships flying Siltvelt colours heading towards us." A pause, "Not big ships, but they're 'flying their colours'... what ever that means."

"They're telling people exactly who they are if someone wants to bother them. Good. You want to stay behind to co-ordinate with them?" I asked.

"Yeah. Gotta keep Kotetsu out of trouble too." I could hear the smile in her voice as something fuzzy rubbed against the glass of the sound stone, "We'll be behind you when things settle."

"Ah, Miss S'yne? How are the other preparations?" Raluva asked in that awkward way someone might talk someone they hoped was in the next room.

"Everyone will know exactly who we're with when we get there." She replied, "Out."

The sound stone went dark, "Raphtalia?"

She'd been silent until now, though not because she was 'out of place'. "Ren, Solitaire, Fohl and Atla will work this way. They will be at an advantage in the city streets of the larger city here."

"I will send you along with a small group of swordsmen, a pair of archers and two of our support team." Raluva added.

"Motoyasu, you, Kuro, Sadeena and Usa will head here. The wider fields of the farms there will give you plenty of room for cavalry and wide area magic."

"We have other, though lesser, filolial waiting for you, along with four archers, two from our support team, and enough lancers to fill your party." Raluva said.

"The forests are yours. Itsuki, Rishia, Clive."

"You should have no trouble there." Raluva smiled under his scruffy beard, "Young Rishia is an incredible warrior, and you'll have our best hunters with you as well as my son." Beside him, the young samurai snapped to attention.

It made me smile that Raphtalia was giving commands, but also accepting Raluva's delegation of resources. They were her orders and tactics, but his people.

"Kodori, Tetsu, and I will head to the old capital. Raphtalia said.

"Are you certain that will be enough, Empress?" Raluva asked. "Of course, you will have several of-"

But she held up a hand to stall his comments, "I'll have the strongest Shield, and the Luckiest Dragon with me. But we wouldn't say no to three archers to round out our party."

Raluva looked to me, but I smiled, "Even when she wasn't the Empress, she's hard to say no to."

And so we set out. But there was only a little fanfare as we departed. People were far too busy getting things ready for a potential siege, supplies for the incoming ships from Siltvelt, and the usual needs of a population all at the same time. With Raphtalia's new decree saying that 'fish weren't the only meat you could eat', hunter teams were out as well to keep the local monsters from eating the people and feeding them instead.

That was another reason she wanted us to spread out. Sure, it wouldn't really amount to a solution right away, but even in the short time the 'no monster killing' edict had been in place, the local monsters were getting out of hand. So even a slight reduction in numbers would help, and help later when this crap was all done with.

But all of us encountered something else on the way to our primary destinations...

"Reporting." One of the archers we'd been given returned at a nearly flat run, stopped, knelt in front of us, and spoke, "We spotted an open burial mound for a sealed beast ahead." He said in a normal voice as the rest of us stopped.

"Your partner?" Raphtalia asked, since our two scout teams worked in pairs.

"Ma'am." He started, "He is watching the beast for mannerisms and movement. It appeared to be a variation on a local Tengu monster. When I left, it was feasting on something it had caught, using a crude staff. It is perhaps twice as tall as any of us, though we did not get close enough to be seen."

"Good." Raphtalia nodded, "We kill it, and move on." She smiled.

Compared to the hydra, this fight was... kind of pathetic. Oh, it wasn't easy. For all its feral appearance as a Karasa Tengu (reminding me to say hello to Kunou and Yasaka when I got home), its big crow wings were crippled. The weapon it had was just a thin log it imbued with its own power to stop it from shattering when it was blocked or smashed into stuff when it missed. And overall, being at least 'close' to people sized, we hardly had to alter tactics.

I had stepped in, gotten its attention, and just about everyone else in the party took it to bits with opportunity attacks. The weird thing was after the fight.

"It has a dragon core." Tetsu said with Gaelion's voice. Then Tetsu herself said, "Grr, I can say that too." And booped her own nose.

Taking a manufactured copy of the All Purpose Knife from my side, I and two of our spare samurai went about dissecting the monster. After a bit of cutting, peeling, and rib cracking, we got its chest open and spotted the core.

"A bracelet? No... collar? What is that?" Raphtalia asked, no stranger to monster harvesting, but not helping me to 'keep up appearances'.

Using a pair of my blacksmith tongs, I pulled the angrily glowing bit of crystal out of the monster, "No... It's the head of a shakujo. A ritual staff for a monk." I could see a little bit of splintered gory wood sticking out of the bottom of the oddly shaped hoop of crystal, and a look back in the wound revealed a rusted bit of metal that was probably one of the rings that would adorn such a staff. "Huh."

"Reporting." Another of our scouts returned with a quick stop-bow-kneel, "The burial chamber was empty save for this." He held out his hand, revealing a weakly glowing Sakura Stone. "There was another, but it was shattered and dull."

"More work from our false emperor's puppeteer." I shook my head, putting the cursed staff-head into an inventory crystal, "If what Raluva says is correct, you will be able to use those once we get you to the old capital."

"Do you think other sealed monsters are breaking free?" Tetsu asked, picking up a handful of tengu feathers and tossing them into the air like a handful of leaves.

"We'll find out tonight when people report in."

The rest of the day was spent fighting more monsters and making our way towards the old capital. The edict of 'no monster slaying' had really messed up the place. We had come across a couple of abandoned villages, a small farm, the ruin of a stable (and the bones of the animals they once housed), and more than a couple undigested bits of clothing.

It was that evening, while we made camp in a partially burned out hut, that we got the first report of what the others were up to.

The last tendrils of daylight were fading when Ren's voice spoke over one of the sound stones. "This is the Empress's sword." Yes... we had code names. No, it wasn't my idea. Damn you Momo.

"The Empress's bow, reporting in." Itsuki said two seconds later.

Five seconds after that, "Her ladyship's Spear, reporting in."

"We're all here then." I said.

"Oh, come on, say it." Motoyasu teased.

It was only because Raphtalia laughed that I replied, "The Empress's Castle, reporting in." I sighed, "Ren, you first."

"We're in the first small settlement on the way to the larger population centre. On our way here though, we encountered... I'm not sure what it was... It was like a bunch of broken knives in the shape of a monster. We killed it, but it was held together by a dragon core that looked like a set of claws." He paused, "Past that, and the increased monster numbers, we've liberated the town here and they are getting ready to support us."

"Good. Strange, but good. Itsuki?"

"We also encountered another sealed monster. Though, with Clive and I working together, we didn't know it was a sealed monster until we spotted the burial mound it had escaped from."

"Oh, we recovered a Sakura Stone as well, pardon." Ren interjected.

"We did as well. And a shard of dragon core that was... capped? Napped! Napped into an axe." Itsuki said as Clive clicked his beak in approval in the background. "It was also cursed, like the sword, so it's in its own inventory crystal."

"Good call. Motoyasu?"

"We ran down one of those things too. Sadly, a lot of the farmland we're supposed to be liberating has been abandoned due to lack of walls and defences from the local monsters. The monster was some kind of ghost made of paper or something. Nasty business, and we lost a couple of our filolial to it. But it had a dragon core that looked like some kind of handle inside it. Not sure what it was a handle for, but I wasn't going to pick it up to check. Also contained in an inventory crystal."

"We've been encountering the same problems you guys have." I said, "Abandoned little villages, lots of monsters, and a burial mound with a Karasa Tengu. It had the head of a staff inside it."

"Starting to think that the seals monsters are a little more than just sealed monsters." Ren said, "It's like this place is a dumping ground for cursed dragon cores." A pause, "Ah, sure."

"Hey... I think I'm seeing a pattern here." It was Fohl who took over Ren's communication stone, "I might be wrong, but we have an axe. A staff-head. And claws. Those are three of the vassal weapons of this world. If my guess is right, then that handle might be for a whip, or projectile."

There was silence over the crystals for a moment, "I... don't like where that idea is going." Itsuki said slowly. "But why?"

"Think on it for now." I said, getting ideas of my own, "Be careful, and get as much sleep as you can. How's resistance been aside from monsters?"

"The town we're in now had a garrison, but the people turned on them as soon as we started fighting them." Ren said.

"The burial mound we encountered had a dozen soldiers running away from it." Motoyasu said, "Though, the monster was mean enough that I'd run too if I wasn't there to kill it. They were dealt with."

"We encountered a half dozen of those ninja." Itsuki said, "But this time we surprised them. They can't hide from Rishia."

"And we've seen no one. Just remains." I said, "Okay. Keep watch, sleep fast, and back to work tomorrow."

Even if she was soon to be the Empress of the hidden nation of this 'world', she wouldn't skip out of night watch duty. Upon spotting her getting close to the campfire from the little tents, and giving my partner a nod to go wake his replacement I started to shift out from under Tetsu's big dragon head as she grr-mumbled quietly in her sleep.

"Hey..." She started as I managed to get my legs out from under the snoozing disaster everyone loved.

"Hmm?" I replied as I stood, stretching my arms over my head, "Nothing to report."

She knelt down next to Tetsu's head, "Then why do I feel like you're hiding something from me?" She asked quietly, getting a pleased grumble from Tetsu for being close. "Why isn't Kotetsu with any of the teams? Or S'yne? Or even SITA?"

I finished my stretch, then crouched down so we could talk in a whisper. "SITA is helping Raluva and Erhard equip people back at port. S'yne is my voice for our reinforcements from Siltvelt. And Kotetsu is working on finding the water dragon."

"And... you have your own army, right?"

"I do. But you've seen how proud these people are. You are the only one they'd accept to help solve their problems. Without you, I suspect the four Heroes would have been treated like I was back in Melromarc." I gave her shoulder a pat, "And I got my 'army' from the same place I found you, Usa and Clive."

"They could still help, I mean... Now that we're on the move?" She didn't shy from my hand, and even held out a hand for one of my tails to perch.

"If I call them, they won't arrive asking questions. They're meant for the Waves. That means they will show up, and start fighting at full power." I smiled, "If you really want them to show up, be absolutely sure."

"You make them sound as bad as the monsters."

"They aren't monsters. Just... soldiers like me." I took my hand off her shoulder, stood, and turned to find my tent, "Good night Raphtalia."

The next morning, most of that day, and almost until dinner time, we were fighting. It wasn't very difficult, just constant, and it was clear that the old capital had been overrun by monsters.

Not that we were actually close to it yet. It was still at least two days at the pace we were going. Rough terrain, constant fighting, and bad weather that had us camping under an overhang of rock before dinner time.

"Liberation on hold due to torrential storms..." I sighed. "How's the leg?"

The one I was asking had taken a bad fall while we headed towards shelter. "Sore, Ma'am. But I will be fine to fight."

Empress or not, Raphtalia appeared with her usual Big Sister energy, "You will rest until morning."

"Yes, Empress!" His bandaged leg stopped him from standing at attention, but it was clear he really wanted to.

"We aren't moving until this rain passes. This a normal storm?" I asked, "Tetsu, at least take your harness off before playing in the puddles."

Tetsu had one foot outside the shelter, stopped, turned, and started to undo her harness.

Another of our team answered, "It's a little out of season. But plentiful rainfall is our blessing and curse."

I nodded, my thoughts turning towards the rice I would be cooking once this was all done. Rice needed a lot of water after all... Yes, rain for that wonderful grain... "It's a bit early for the reports..." Raphtalia started, "What about the port town?"

"We could check on them, sure."

(S'yne)

Like anyone else who didn't need to be out in the rain, S'yne was watching it come down from under a roof. "The Ships arrived without issue just ahead of the storm." She said into the glowing bit of black glass held in her hand. "We managed to get enough shelter for them before it started coming down."

"How are the locals taking it?" Kodori's voice asked.

"Not badly? Well enough to help build the shelters for them at least. Raluva is a good diplomat. And your all purpose knife is going to be a hit when you get it to Hickwaal." She replied, taking a step away from the window as a gust of wind sprayed a bit of water at her. "Erhard and SITA are working hard to set up squad leaders with Sakura Stone weapons as well."

"What's your read on the soldiers themselves?"

S'yne wasn't expecting that question, and took a moment to consider, "Maybe a little too eager to fight. But that might just be an effect of the boat ride and rain."

"Make it very clear to whomever is in charge, that trade deals will be decided on how well mannered they are. I know I have influence with the house heads, but if they aren't here to oversee directly..."

"I'll tell the three in charge." S'yne replied with a laugh, "Money talks."

"Remind them I might also have enough influence with the house heads to look the other way if they get out of hand. The people here are proud, but also don't rely on a court system to punish criminals."

Raphtalia's voice spoke up suddenly, "I will also not stop my people from doing it."

She couldn't see it, but S'yne was sure Kodori was smiling just like she was at Raphtalia's words. "I'll tell them. Do you still want the Hearth on standby? SITA says there is at least a ninety eight percent chance she'd be on target."

Raphtalia spoke again, "It's been made clear what it might cost. So please wait for my word on the matter?"

"As she says." Kodori added, "Any movements we aren't seeing out here?"

"We've had a couple of probing attacks. But even tyrants will stay home for rain like this. A couple of injuries, a bunch of refugees, and a few small groups from other settlements the others have gotten to."

"Good. I think that's all?" Kodori sounded like she asked that to Raphtalia as well, "Yeah. Stay warm."

"Sure thing Boss. Going to go tell our new arrivals to behave and get them some sashes." S'yne replied, tapping the crystal with a fingertip to turn it off. "Hope they like pink."

(Kotetsu)

We find our brave dragon-noodle hiding under the Vassal Mirror. Using it like an umbrella to keep the worst of the rain off, she has found herself in a strange predicament.

While young, younger than even Tetsu, she had more than her fair share of intelligence. Most saw her as an exotic pet. Though considering how she acted, and how others treated her, it was an easy assumption to make. She loved food, napping where it was warm, headpats, and just about everything a small adorable critter enjoyed while in the presence of those larger than it.

So it would have surprised almost everyone that she had been sneaking away, on her own, towards the New Capital. Her mission? Find the current water dragon, or, the water dragon Miko. The nice dragon core they'd met on the way under the barrier had given her a little of its power, so she wasn't aimless in her search.

But, like all the other heroes, she had to deal with monsters. Still less than a metre long, she was very powerful for her size and age. The Mirror was a huge part of that power, as was the manipulation of the Shield in her birth. But she was also a thinking predator, and like the stoat and weasels of Earth, she could take down things many times her size.

And she had been! Even without her more draconic abilities like breathing fire, ice, lightning or acid (she hated the last one, it made her really hungry), she was quite capable of using her claws and teeth to rip open soft spots.

Even if those soft spots were on creatures she had no idea about. Like weird one-footed umbrella monsters. Or wagon wheels with old man faces in the middle. Paper ghosts? A ghost woman who was super cold? Oh oh! She did know about the Kappa. Tasted better on the Hearth though. Weird lizards who only looked like dragons, but were mostly bone and stupid.

All this, and more, fell victim to her more than human intelligence and tiny fury as she made her way towards the gentle pull the blessing of the Water Dragon had given her.

Except now...

She stood on the stump of a small lightning blasted tree, the mirror over her head to keep the worst of the rain off. Around her, were a dozen monsters. Not very big, not very scary, but far too many to risk fighting all at once without risking her mission.

But the weird thing was, they weren't attacking, or pacing, or even showing teeth!

No, they were just sitting there, at attention, their half-ghostly forms ignoring the driving rain from above, and casting no shadows with the occasional flash of lightning.

So, she looked up into the Mirror, "Mom? Mom? Have... question... problem?" She had been told to keep her magic use to a minimum, and only call if she couldn't finish her mission. But this situation was... weird. And her young mind decided to 'ask an adult', as it were.

A moment later, Kodori's face appeared in the mirror, a concerned look for the dragon-noodle. "Danger? I have a mirror..."

"Not... not sure? Was cornered by monsters. But... They just watching. No grr, no bite, no pace... Just watch."

Kodori's face mirrored her own confusion, but as usual she offered a little guidance, but not a direct answer. "Try making friends? Maybe they will go away. If not, get to the trees."

"Okay. I try." And she looked down at the ring of monsters around her. "Want food?"

The collection of Spirit Foxes blinked at her silently, one of them flicking its tongue over the side of its muzzle to clean the top of its nose.

NOTES!

Yes, Naofumi did encounter spirit foxes. It's in the books! But he and the others were mean to them.

So of course I'm gonna put them in!

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