Made before episode 4 of TADC
A prequel to the first chapter as it takes place before the wave
A blue glow manifested in close proximity to the walls surrounding the capital city of Melromarc, the glow faded as it revealed six people, those being Ren Amaki the sword hero and his party members that returned to prepare for the third wave that would commence in a few hours, as the group began walking towards the front gate, the teleportation skill from the dragon hourglass sword could technically transport him to any in doors location but not if someone or something was occupying the spot marked in the status magic, and since he didn't want to accidentally teleport to inside someone's house, it was better to just teleport outside the city and make his way to wherever he wanted to go from there
"Remember, gather only the essentials, healing and recovery potions" Ren said as his team nodded obediently as they separated once inside the city as Ren continued forward, wanting to collect his rewards from the guild of adventurers
Ren walked through the streets and immediately noticed something... Off. People were behaving in a way he hadn't seen before as they were avoiding him, although he would usually appreciate it the way they were doing was concerning, they looked at him scared out of their minds, sweating cold as some ran away, closed their windows and doors as he approached, and he was pretty sure he saw a homeless start to pray and when he stopped to look he began crying as if he was about to be killed
He was being avoided like the plague, something that was worrying him a little bit, three months ago these people were kissing the ground he walked on, now they ran for the hills at the sight of him. He wondered just what the hell was going on, the only explanation would be if their programming of behavior patterns got glitched and they now were stuck in panic mode, that was the only explanation he could think of for the moment
After witnessing a guy jump from a bridge into the river below when he saw him, Ren had finally arrived at the adventurers guild and immediately could hear shouting of a familiar voice
"What do you mean my payment was denied?!" Itsuki was screaming, Ren entered the adventurers guild as he forced the door open, everyone looked at him, and once again they were staring as if he was about to say they had a terminal illness or something. The only one who didn't react weirdly was Itsuki who gave his existence a quick acknowledgment before returning to face the woman he was screaming with
"A-a-as I told you, mister b-b-b-bow hero, the payment for completing that quest has been r-r-revoked to pay for damages..." The woman stuttered as she was scared of the bow hero, interpreting his anger as murderous disposition, Ren wondered how much of a nuance Itsuki was being to get this sort of reaction from a employee, he probably wanted to speak to her manager like a mild age woman
"What damages?!" Itsuki shouted even louder, Ren just rolled his eyes as he expected such a sloppy hero like Itsuki to have done some sort of screw up, he really disliked the guy, at first they were pretty chill but the guy had a ego problem, it also didn't help he accused Ren of being a greedy hoarder as he took all the best quests and cleared the dungeons available. Ren thought it was justified for him, the best and most professional of the three heroes to be allowed to get the harder and more rewarding quests as he was a pro gamer unlike Motoyasu and Itsuki who are simply casuals, he had to carry the team in the last wave, it was only fair after all
"Seems like you did a oopsie" Ren said teasingly as Itsuki quickly turned and pointed his bow at him, energy arrow on the ready as some of the people ducked under their tables or made a run to the corners of the room, they would go for the exit door but unfortunately Ren was blocking that, and they didn't want to risk getting within his infection aura
"Fuck off, Ren" Itsuki replied as he put down his bow, realizing that he was just making everyone more tense and uneasy about him, something he was not really in the mood for today as he has been dealing with this type of stuff all week. Ren walked to the counter as he stared at the terrified receptionist
"I'm here to retrieve the reward of these quests" Ren said as he laid out three quest papers on the counter. The receptionist began to cry softly as she made a small cross with her hand as she looked at him like he was a gnarly beast ready to pounce on her
"I'm sorry, but I cannot pay for these quests" she said, swallowing hard on her saliva as she anxiously sweated, Ren's lower left eyelid twitched for a moment as he looked at the woman
"... Why?" Ren asked, frustration clear in his tone even though his face had its usual neutral expression, something that just made the woman more scared as she tried to maintain composure
"We thank you for completing those quests sir hero, but I was given orders that the payment from quests given and completed to heroes is to be used to pay for damages to the country" the woman said as she tried to be calmed and collected, the sword hero was the most understanding of the heroes from what she heard, certainly he wouldn't kill the meager messenger for simply delivering the news?
"Orders by who?" Ren asked as he placed a hand on the counter and leaned his head forward a bit as the woman moved her back to avoid any air born diseases that would come from being close to the sword hero
"B-b-b-by the crown..." the woman said as she hoped for protection from above, she would choke her boss and the king for putting in such a situation where she had to say no to now two of the most dangerous men in Melromarc
"Well, I guess I'll go talk to the king and see if that's true, otherwise I will come here and you will-"
"Please don't throw a plague at me! I'm just a simple worker here! I don't want to die!" The woman screamed as she retreated backwards as she fell, holding her hands up to her face to shield it. Ren took a step back as he looked around the room, everyone was tense and the adventurers were with their hands ready to draw their weapons, but shaking a little bit as they sweat as if they worried about dying horribly. Itsuki seemed just as shocked but more mellowed out as if this was something that already happened a few times already
Ren just walked out of there a bit flustered at having been part of such a scene but he was more concerned by what the woman had done. Why did she react like he was some type of disease devil? Why were everyone avoiding him like that? Those were the questions plaguing his mind as it made no sense, NPCs behavior shouldn't be that exaggerated on a more realistic game like this, like someone turned the wacko meter up to eleven
"You are also getting those reactions from people?" Itsuki said as he trailed behind Ren, following him as his idea of discussing this with the king was better than just continuing to scream at the guild's staff
"... Yes, it's like they see me as some type of monster out to eat their children" Ren said frustrated as he saw people observing them walking the streets from high above windows before quickly closing them as they got closer
"Might be the plague you started" Itsuki said as he looked at Ren to study his reaction to that information, see if he had truly done it and if he should use his bow to rid the world of a blight like him
"What the hell are you talking about?" Ren asked as his eyes shot wide in confusion as he looked at the bow hero, who upon seeing how utterly weird it out he was, clearly meant Ren didn't know and thus might not have been done the act on purpose, so he would be spared from a arrow in the throat for the moment
"I have been keeping my ears to the ground, I know the gossip. Apparently there's some bad rumors going on about us three, they blame you for "the curse of the black dragon" plague" Itsuki said as he needed to know the dirt talk of the underworld so he could better hunt criminals, and he had gotten pretty good at pretending to be doing something else while listening in to conversations from his days as a social outcast at school
"I swear if my payment is being used to pay for your screw up, Ren" Itsuki said as he blamed Ren for his payment being negated, having his money taken just to pay for the mistakes of an idiot like Motoyasu and Ren pissed him off. They were already ruining his name by association with their shenanigans, no one took him serious as a hero now and he blamed it on lady's man Motoyasu and Ren the edge lord as that was the only explanation
"I didn't start no fucking plague! How the heck did this happen?!" Ren shouted as his usual cool and cold persona broke for a moment, he couldn't understand how the people of this kingdom somehow believed he started a plague, he hadn't even done something that could start such a rumor like sneezing upon someone, plus he didn't understand why if he caused it then why did they named the thing after a dragon and not his name and the sword he is known for
"Apparently ground zero of the epidemic was a town you visited" Itsuki explained as he had his suspicions still but willing to see Ren's possible deniability. The sword hero thought about that for a moment as he did travel around a lot of places around the country so him passing a village that just happened to have a plague could be possible
"... Well, that's just absurd, even if I was there, the plague could have been something brewing for weeks before it got out. Pure coincidence bullshit" Ren defended himself as he couldn't believe he was being blamed for such a thing, these people were truly NPCs if they thought him having gone to a village only to leave and the thing to have a plague was idiotic, he went to a bunch of places before and afterwards that didn't get filled with sickness so he really failed to see how he was to blame here
"... What about you? Everyone seems to be walking on eggshells around you" Ren asked as he wanted to shift the conversation around, now he knew why people were reacting to him this way, but that didn't explain Itsuki receiving similar reactions
"... I killed some criminals in self defense, somehow this has been interpreted as me being a violent murderer that kills whoever annoys me" Itsuki lied, he killed more than no name thugs and he definitely didn't do most as self defense but Ren didn't need to know, he wouldn't understand his vision of justice and would just be like the others and think he was a murderer when he was a hero by his vision. Who would care if he was killing criminals? He was making the world a safer place by taking out the thrash and yet people were acting as if he committed sin when he just performed what should have been done a long time ago
"... Does Motoyasu have rumors about him? Besides that he is a skirt chaser?" Ren asked as he just needed to know if that buffoon was also having his name being dragged to the mud, because if he wasn't then Ren had a pretty good bet on who started the rumors to try and make himself the most "attractive" hero in comparison
"Yup, more so a evolution. As now people think he is a skirt chaser because he is a cannibal for women's flesh or that he sells them to slavery because some women he goes out either disappear or are found dead"
"Wow, that's a bit crazy... But honestly, I feel like he pissed off too many husbands and dads from flirting with their girls that they're just spreading these rumors about him to keep women away" Ren said as he honestly saw no reason for those rumors about Motoyasu not to exist considering his playboy lifestyle, men of all ages spreading bad rumors about the man that probably broke the hearts of many daughters and sisters, while trying to make wives unfaithful to their marriage was bound to led to this. Even Itsuki agreed that was most likely the case considering they saw the guy with a new girl every time they saw him so he was probably having break ups every other week
"Yeah but doesn't explain our respective rumors, there got be a conspiracy of some kind going on" Itsuki said as he wondered, it made sense for Motoyasu but it didn't make sense for him, a true hero who fights for justice to have such derogatory rumors about his bloody escapades to have just been spread by people, the folk of this country loved him! Certainly someone else was at fault here that he didn't know of yet
"Whatever... May I ask? I have seen a lot more ragdolls around town lately, and I heard something about a... doll saint?" Ren asked, a few shops in the capital were selling some strange stuff, why would a magic shop sell identical looking ragdolls? Unless they were cursed or were some brand new sort of magical golem to play with children.
"Hmm... I think I heard something about a raggedy saint and her merry band of miracles. Nothing but superstition from what I gathered, just that a living doll and her wacky friends come to help those in need" Itsuki said as he also heard about the strange group of freaks that was an occasional topic of conversation, not as much as he and the other heroes but he did hear stuff
The tales about the doll were mostly about her helpful nature but he had also heard rumors about other strange monsters that were allegedly part of this "merry band" as he heard of a bundle of ribbons giving a depressed girl that wanted to commit suicide a magical mask to make her instantly happy, how you should use a chess piece, specifically a king's piece and placed it on your fireplace so "The King of Wood" can get rid of bugs inside your house, about poachers seeing a collection of monster parts with a larger axe roaming the outskirts of forests protecting it, or about a purple rabbit demi-human menace going around pranking people in rather mean ways or how a imp-like creature dressed in a jester get up was going through people's thrash
"Seems to have started a bit before the rumors about us, apparently it started from a village hit by the second wave" Itsuki said as he had been able to track the source of the rumors to a small village called Riyute, he would have asked the locals but the place was a bit... Destroyed beyond recognition, he did speak with some people in the capital that were from the place, apparently Motoyasu's Royal companion Malty had something to do with, something about her greed leading to the places ruin
"There was a village where the second wave happened?" Ren said as his heart sank a bit, he remembered the strange flare that shot up in the sky, he thought that was a signal that the boss had spawned but... Now it could have been a signal flare for help, an entire village worth of people was there and the three of them ignored it... He shook his head, they were just NPCs, and plus they should have some sort of guards or local adventurers that could have taken care of the small fries of the wave
"Yup, seems to be that a group of local adventurers fought off the monsters as to allow the villagers to escape, and people made that into some make believe for little kids to sleep well" Itsuki said as that was what his information gathering resulted in, everyone who was apparently there was either dead or not in any of the places he visited, the ones he spoke did mention that the adventurers had an uncommon appearance and dressed funny but just that. Itsuki assumed that they died in the wave but they at least did save some lives
"But it has taken off because of these rumors about us, people clinging to false saviors from fairy tales as they lose hope on the true heroes" Itsuki was a bit frustrated, sure it was nice that the sacrifice of a band of misfits was turned into a tale of reassurance for young folk but people believing in a fucking doll or wacky jester going to save them rather than he, the hero of justice made him mental, especially when he was being treated like a villain, if he ever finds that make belief doll he is going to shot her in the button eye
The two heroes made their way into the castle as they were allowed inside reluctantly by the guards, even the knights inside and servants seemed tense at their presence there. Eventually as they reached close to the throne room, they could see the spear hero Motoyasu laying against the wall with a very angry look on his face, before he noticed them
"Oh great, you guys here too?" Motoyasu said as he stared at them with frustrated eyes and his tone was like poison, seemed he was having just as rough of a time as them
"Hello lady killer, here looking for your latest victim?" Itsuki said jokingly as he approached him, smug look on his face, Motoyasu glared knives at him as he quickly grabbed Itsuki and slammed him to the wall, holding one of his arms while placing his available free hand to his throat, taking aback both other heroes as never did they see Motoyasu that competent
"I'm not in the mood pipsqueak" Motoyasu said as he didn't have a pleasant week, every woman that wasn't in his party avoided him and ran away scared, and when he grabbed the arm of one and pulled her in closer to speak to her, get to understand what was going on and why she was scared of such a handsome fella like him. He was kicked in the balls by a kid as he was soon ran out of town by other local residents, as different from Ren and Itsuki, he had been characterized as a monster that preyed on the weak and vulnerable while relying on his good looks, a demon of lust wouldn't be feared the same as a demon of sickness or violence. And that repeated in almost every town he walked in, some shops wouldn't give him service because he was a rapist, a sex offender, a misogynist and so many more things, especially the female run businesses.
He had to sleep outside in the streets, heck, he had to sleep outside the city as the guards would force him out, and the one time he kind of snapped and threw a spear skill by accident? He ended making a bell tower fall, no one got hurt and he didn't get kicked out this time because the people ran away out of town in fear and spread the rumor that he was a local terrorist that would blow random buildings if he didn't get pussy
Ren was forced to break the two apart as he pushed Motoyasu back, the blonde haired man took three steps back as to stop himself from falling, he was about to shout at Ren but had a sword placed against his throat as Ren looked at him very seriously, Motoyasu looked at Itsuki, still down at the ground but pointing his bow at him
"Why are you here?" Ren asked as he stared Motoyasu down, Itsuki got up and was ready to kill the spear hero but Ren held a hand against Itsuki chest to motion him to stop as he kept his cold gaze at Motoyasu
"Malty was summoned by her father, something about family manners" Motoyasu explained as they had gotten to the capital and were asked by some knights to appear immediately at the castle, Motoyasu was worried that the king wanted to take Malty away from him because of the rumors so he came anyways even though it was apparently a thing of royal and familial discussion only
"Well, I have questions that need answering from his majesty, and a little family drama won't stop me" Ren said as he really wanted his payment as he had a party to feed and money was always good to have. The three came to the throne room as they heard female shouting inside that was clearly Malty, throwing a tantrum
"Daddy! I cannot stand it-" Ren pushed open the doors as that made the people inside stop talking as they turned to look at the heroes. They saw Malty and Aultclay... But the king wasn't in the throne, in fact he was on the side of the room looking rather worried, Malty was on the middle discussing with who was in the throne, which was... A little girl with blue hair in a twin pig tails, with a lady knight with pink hair poking from her helmet
"Ah, heroes welcome, you have come at an unfortunate time" the blue child greeted them with a rather serious and professional tone as she had shifted her attention to them rather than Malty
"Uh... Who are you?" Itsuki asked rather confusedly, he never saw that girl before and she didn't look like a character from his game but the fact she was here in the throne meant something important as he could assume
"I'm Melty Q Melromarc, Malty's younger sister and..." Melty started her introduction as she picked a scroll from her side and showed it to the heroes that had a signature and had been stamped "Current acting ruler of the country"
"You? But you're a child, not even a 14 year old from the looks of it!" Motoyasu exclaimed at the absurdity of it as the other heroes were just as shocked if that was true, she hadn't even hit puberty but she was also ruling a country?
"Yes, but by the power of my mother, the Queen has given me through this decree. I am now the ruler until her return" Melty said as she understood why otherworldly heroes would find that absurd, even the citizens of this world would question it if her mother didn't have the reputation she did
"And you just allowed this?" Ren asked as he looked at king Aultclay, how pathetic can a man be to allow a child of his to simply take the throne because they convinced their mother to sign a paper? The king was already a bit pathetic in their eyes before but now how could they respect a guy who can't say no to his children?
... On second thought, that explained to Ren and Itsuki how Malty probably had turned out
"My father could not have done anything, he is a king in name only, simply a demonstrative title. He holds the same power as a jester in this castle, he wasn't even supposed to make the choice of summoning you three, but he went ahead and disregarded mother after taking the throne in her absence" Melty said as she quickly sent a disappointed glance at her father who seemed to shrink from the act. Oh, the king wasn't actually a king but just a token asset? That answered their question on why he was ruling even though they had found out this place was a matriarch where women hold more power, it also explains why they found it hard to see him as a true king but also he had gone ahead and did something behind his wife's back without actually holding power in the situation... Yeah this was some intense familial drama, worthy of a divorce if they could say so and now they really didn't want to get involved, they had to bolt out before getting dragged to it
"Uh... Listen, we are just here to discuss our payment that has been-"
"About receiving from the guild? Yes it is true, I have ordered that your payments be used to help the kingdom for the damages you three caused" Melty stated flatly to them as the heroes all stiffened, the girl in blue awaited their reactions as the bow hero had a frown on his face as he walked towards her
"Listen here brat! Just because mommy dearest gave you the throne doesn't mean you can take people's hard work money because of some stupid rumors!" Itsuki said as he pointed at her but before he could approach any further, the knight lady with pink hair positioned herself between him and the princess with her sword drawn, Itsuki realizing he was acting overtly aggressive again and playing into the rumors about his behavior unknowingly as he hesitantly took a step back, as Melty raised her hand to motion the pink haired sword mistress to relax her battle stance
"I wouldn't call those rumors stupid, when they are correct if not a bit exaggerated" Melty said as the heroes seemed confused, gosh, was that how she was like when she was with Pomni's group? Always not knowing what was going on and looking confused whenever someone said anything?
"Do you remember Mirso village, sword hero? The place you battled Galileon the dragon?" Melty asked him as her gaze befell the sword hero, who although wanted to say out loud "that thing had a name?" Keep his mouth shut as he could tell that she didn't actually want an answer from him as she answered it immediately "It was ground zero for the plague, as it was born from the corpse of the dragon"
"Hey, that's hardly my fault, they wanted to keep the corpse so they could pay back for the damage the thing did" Ren stated his defense, he didn't much of Mirso besides the dragon, he regretted not having absorbed the entire thing but it was part of the quest to leave the body, had he be allowed to do so then this plague wouldn't and he wouldn't have gotten his name slandered
"True, I can't fault you for following orders and a giant pile of meat rotting in the sun would cause disease anyways, I can however blame you for causing the thing to revive itself" that declaration from the young princess once again intrigued the heroes as Ren felt worried
"You see, Galileon was a dragon emperor, a rare and powerful breed of dragon with exceptional magic and great egos. It is said that if they feel insulted in death, they'll turn into zombies lingering with hatred towards whatever hurts their egos" Melty explained as the heroes thought about that, there were stronger version of normal monster in their games, powerful dragons with a different title were totally believable and pop culture had characterized dragons as arrogant creatures, so prideful in fact that they were some of the most petty of jerks, and undeads were a common fantasy stereotype, usually reviving for vengeance, and Ren began to sweat as he realized where this was going and how he definitely had a fault in this
"And according to our intelligence gathering team, you were very disrespectful as it died, childish even. Saying how pathetic it was and even performing some type of mocking crouch" Melty said as the shadows of her mother that had been watching the sword hero had made clear that he was rude to the being as it died. Ren could feel the judging glances of Motoyasu and Itsuki for the two understood that he had committed the cardinal sin of T-bagging a fallen foe after a pvp match
"Needless to say it returned as a zombie dragon, who scorched the village to the ground before it started moving, spreading the plague to five other villages before it was stopped and permanently killed" Melty said as she considered telling him who had done the dragon slaying but she kept her lips sealed for the sake of her promise, but knowing five other villages were affected was a good way for the sword hero to realize why everyone was taking "his" plague so serious
"Currently, any money you would make from quests or from beating the waves will be used to help the afflicted and contain the infection. I know you were not entirely at fault here, but it's still being debated whether or not the dragon would have turned undead or spread the plague if you hadn't disrespected it, specially because the thing only said one word... Sword, over and over again" Melty finished as that was the final nail to Ren's coffin, the princess admitted that the jury was still out on his blame on the matter since he was manipulated but having the thing supposedly repeatedly say the name of the weapon he represented and was tied to as it walked through spreading disease was nothing short of incriminating
"... That's understandable" Ren said as he gave an understanding nod, he was man enough to at least recognize some of his fault here, he would never take all the blame and barely considered that he played a part in this whole thing but he could admit that looking back at it now he did act immaturely, that dragon was the toughest opponent he faced so far in this world, and after defeating him in a arduous struggle he commemorated his triumph victory with gusto
He saw that the thing was still breathing, although clearly with difficulty as it choked on it's own blood, seeing his downed opponent like that, one that caused him so much trouble and almost ended his life, he wasn't filled with a sense of honor against a challenging opponent, he felt satisfaction at seeing him like that, and he couldn't help but gloat to its face and mock it, belittle the giant beast
He should have known that this place had undeads, his game had zombie and skeleton versions of some of the enemies so he should have expected a zombie dragon to be a thing. Had he known that this particular one worked on a karma system, he would have kept the toxic gamer in himself in check at the time
"Good going Ren! I knew you had something to do with my payment!" Itsuki shouted irritated as he was correct in his assumption, it was Ren's fault he wasn't getting paid by the guild, he was making him (and Motoyasu) have to amend for his blunder of not accounting for zombies, granted he didn't know of that as well since he thought the only zombies he would see would be from the waves but to consider none of the people he killed had revived as rotten corpses he thought himself in the clear
"Yeah me too!" Motoyasu added as he also was having money problems, though that was less that the guild had refused him payment and more that literally no one wanted to do business with him that didn't seem like a criminal, as he had a guy come ask him for the livers of his next victims for some silver
"Oh no, the situation between you two is for entirely different reasons" Melty said as that made the two heroes look at her wide eyed as Ren snickered for not being the only one who was going to get a scolding
"Your payment bow hero, is being used to help with the civil war you played a part in and your spear hero is to compensate the families that lost daughters and sons because of you"
"What?!" Both screamed as Ren was mildly surprised, Itsuki didn't mention having been in a civil war, as Ren wondered why would the bow hero want to involve himself in politics
"To go over in parts, bow hero, I know you had the best of intentions but killing the ruler of a place will not immediately solve all of the problems that area had, especially if the people that replace them are not suited to rule" Melty said as she stared at the bow hero as he gripped his bow tightly, he would shoot her if she wasn't a child but he had to seen that she was right. He had not checked to see if the rebellion he helped had any backstory in politics, he was in a fantasy world so no way there would be colleges and universities so normal people can learn politics, so he might have helped people who couldn't understand heads or tails on how to run a small country
"And Spear hero, you should have consulted an expert on plants before handling out the seed you found in the alchemist cave, while it works as a miracle tree in the early stage of maturity, it quickly grows into a monstrous plant capable of taking the life off the ground. You had unleashed a boss monster and left it in a defenseless village, if you had stayed for a few days you could have stopped the suffering from taking such a strong hold, it's already dead but not thanks to you" Melty explained as she saw the spear hero expression shift in shock as she pondered when she should question him on the rumors of his supposed use of women, she had a suspicion that it was something relating to Malty but that could wait to after the wave as it was drawing near soon and it would be better if the heroes aren't too distracted
After all she still had to wait for her mother's arrival before she could hold a trial to her sister, father and the heroes but they didn't need to know that otherwise they would flee and unfortunately only Shieldfreeden knew of a way to stop the teleportation powers of the heroes. But perhaps this little reality check would make them take the incoming wave seriously
Motoyasu was of course shocked to know he had apparently unleashed a monster, but both he and the other two cursed under their breaths as that was clearly a secret optional boss that probably dropped great loot and weapon forms and it now had probably gotten to waste
"With so many damages to the country caused by you three, it's only fair to revoke your payment to help the people" Melty explained and the heroes stayed quiet without any comeback or retort to her point
"But what about our monthly payment for beating the waves?" Motoyasu asked, as surely she hadn't cut that as well
"I will still provide those, but they have been cut down enough to sustain yourselves for two weeks if you're all resourceful" Melty said as she expected a bit of shock from them but by this point they should have gotten some managing and survival skills to be able to not spend too much, certainly they had learn how to cook monsters they slayed and how to camp without needing to have to go to a inn to sleep, if a group that started with zero survival and camping skills like Ragatha's could survive this long then the other heroes should have developed similar abilities
"What?! Then why the hell should we even help fight the waves at all!" Itsuki spoke up angered, they were already dealing with the people turning against them and now they were having their funds cut? It was already hard to sell stuff to shops and the guild was already refusing to pay them so without the payment of the waves they would be short on cash. Did this brat really expect them to just accept this, they were heroes and yet she wanted them to live close to misery as they had entire parties of people to sustain and themselves
"So are you saying that if you don't get your usual rewards, you will let the world die? Perhaps the rumors were right about you three. I met monsters with more heart than you all" Melty said thoroughly surprised and disappointed with the three heroes of legends, as it seemed that not being treated as the perfect golden boys of the country who could get whatever they wanted was enough to make them unwilling to help a world facing disaster were hundreds if not millions of people would die because of their inertia to do anything without incentive, she wondered if they do realize that if the world dies by being overrun by monsters that they would die as well, they could only return if the waves were over but not if the world explodes
It made her think back to Ragatha and the others, they were not the most stable group she had met, they clearly had more issues than they let on and at least one of them was fully insane while another was a huge asshole, surprisingly less so than her sister, as Jax had merely joked about poisoning her food, while her sister Malty actually did it. They were monsters in the body and broken in mind but not the soul, they had even less of an incentive to do anything about the current situation and problems of the country and yet they still helped people even if by accident
It was because of them that the plague was stopped from spreading and at least two villages were healed with their aid, because of them the bio plant monster was stopped from growing ever more until it could become a truly terrifying specimen. They admittedly did very little to help the refugees because it wasn't like they could magically solve the results of a war but at least they gave them some food and treated the wounded
Sure, they still had Jax as a problem but the rabbit man was surprisingly tame considering how he hyped himself up as this sick and twisted guy, apparently from her conversation with Ragatha he had become more tame simply because he couldn't get away with most stuff anymore, there were consequences in this world unlike theirs that directly tied to their survival and he had apparently already faced some of it before
Maybe that was why he fascinated her the most besides the group's fillolian and her new strange best friend Amber, the purple rabbit reminded her so much of Malty but he was actually aware that his actions could have consequences to himself down the line, Malty knew how her actions affected other but not herself, she felt a bigger sense of brotherhood with a strange psychotic man from another dimension than her own sister and that frankly worried her
Especially the fact that she technically owned every breath she took and the fact she was here now to him. After the assassination attempted towards her by what she assumed to be church loyalists, Melty was nothing more than a bloody mess, she had been shielded for the most part but the explosion that hit her carriage that initiated the assault rocked her to her temples as she had a few shrapnel pieces of wood impale her, and when she ran away during the fight, she was hit with another explosion that sent her rolling down a hill while hitting rocks and finally a tree
She was barely conscious when she saw two figures overlooking her, an orange and purple figure, too much pain and too much blood loss as she closed her eyes, feeling saddened that she failed her mother and would not see her and her father again. Only for her to wake up in a camp surrounded by monsters as one of them treated her wounds
From what she gathered of how that happened, Amber stumbled upon her as she was playing, then some of the attackers came to check her body and finish her off in case she was alive, that's when they saw Amber and they attacked her after she spoke due to being a royal fillolian, eventually Jax arrived since he was Amber's accompany so she wouldn't get into trouble after following the sound of commotion. That's when they took her back to camp after finishing off the loyalists
That was the part that most confused her, Jax was a demented lunatic who adored violent chaos and couldn't give a damn about someone but himself and was only looking after Amber because he was forced to do so. She knew it couldn't have been Amber because as much as she liked the fillolian she knew that if her "family" told her to leave a at death's door person to die, she would do so with no questions asked and no regret, and thus that meant the one who made the choice to spare her life from the cold embrace of the abyss was the one person who should for all intents and purposes be the most willing to do nothing
What compelled him? She would never know since he would never respond truthfully, but the fact that a menace at the level of her sister had made a selfless choice... It gave her hope, for both her family and the heroes, if a monster could do the right thing when it should be impossible then certainly that meant that there was still a chance of redemption for her older sister and the heroes, for them to amend their problematic behaviors and come out as better people and she had to cling to that hope as one week changed her a lot, she gained a new perspective on the world from having to live in the rough and tough with such a group
Ren looked at the princess and then Itsuki, guy certainly deserved his rumors if he was talking like this to everyone, didn't he realized how bad that made them look? Sure, Ren liked receiving rewards just as much as anyone else but he was socially aware enough to understand that they had screwed up in the eyes of not only royalty and people, they were being essentially having their allowances cut because of some pretty big screw ups
Was he outraged? A little bit of course but he knew why people were treating them like that now, and besides they hadn't been executed yet, the civilians were probably too afraid of them to do anything like that but Melty had the knights and mages of the country in her back and call, she could kill them with overwhelming numbers or imprison them to make a public execution to ease her people but she hasn't done that because she needed them to defend her country, she needed the heroes and killing then would risk her entire kingdom so the best she could do is cut their funds
He had to do something, running away from the country would be a good idea but certainly the borders were tightly watched to stop them as it was probably expected of them to try and leave after ruining the place and certainly these rumors had spread to everywhere else, so even if they got out any surrounding kingdom and city would know of their mistakes... They were locked in a difficult situation and the only way out was either risking it or being complacent for the first time in this world
"Princess Melty, I'm sorry for his behavior, we have been having a rough time as of recently... Let us prove that we are still those heroes everyone looked at as pillars of hope in these dire times" Ren said as he took a step forward, trying to appeal to her as he could try and improve their standing in her eyes by performing well in the waves, at least show that their combat prowess was invaluable
"... Very well, this incoming wave will be a showing of what you three can do and if it is worth the crown's support" Melty said as she had hoped for the heroes to do quite the showing to prove their worth, that they were capable and strong enough to help Melromarc without ruining it, without the need for some serious training and a seminar on how to behave. Otherwise, she would have to go beg in her knees to Pomni and the others to reconsider her offer. She snapped her fingers as a figure appeared from out of thin air besides the throne room, shocking the heroes
"This is a shadow, one of our information gatherers, allow them to join one of your parties and they shall accompany you into the wave. Once it is dealt, return to the castle immediately so I can have their performance report" Melty said as the heroes eyed the ninja looking person and swallow hard on their saliva as now there was a pressure to do very well in the wave. The shadow approached Ren and he reluctantly sent it an invite to his party which they accepted immediately
"Now leave as I have plenty of stuff to deal with, and Malty, besides all we had discussed, this wave will also be a showing if you deserve to stay out of house arrest" Melty said as she looked at her sister that had her face filled with clearly indignation but she just scoffed as she went and pulled Motoyasu out of there as the heroes exited the room, leaving only her and her father
"Melty my dear, you-"
"Shut up father, go to your room, you are to stay there until mother returns" Melty said as she coldly dismissed her father while grounding him, Zooble taught her a thing or two as she watched their way of dealing with Jax. Aultclay just stayed quiet as he saw her little girl act so differently... He walked away to his quarter, feeling ashamed
Melty rested her face in one hand as she looked out of the window into the forest, swearing she could see a familiar orange dot in the distance. She wondered how things were going to go now
"Amber? You have been staring into the horizon for a while... Anything in your mind?" Pomni asked as she looked at the orange fillolian, who had remained perfectly still as she looked over to the city from the gaps between the trees, eyeing the castle that towered above any other building in the city
"I miss Melty... She was my best friend" Amber said as she reminisced about the girl in blue, she was the first ever friend the fillolian had made and probably the best she could have, after all she wasn't freaked out when she had first talk, in fact she was marveled about it.
"I know... We all do... She was a really good kid" Pomni said as she also liked the girl, probably the most understanding person they met, sure she was scared at first but she quickly got over it, as she then got her child like wonder and curiosity took over as she overwhelmed them with questions of every type, it was endearing even if some of them were a bit intrusive though it made sense, they were really unique.
"I know why you and the others didn't want to but I wanted to see how her house was, I bet it is pretty and fancy..." Amber said as she wasn't dumb, she was there when the refused her offer and heard their reasoning
"Well, maybe one day we can all go there and--"
"Why not right now?" Amber asked as she stared at Pomni, who tensed up a bit before looking away shamefully as she didn't know what best to say, that didn't go unnoticed by the royal bird
"Sorry..." Amber said as it was now her turn to look away in shame as Pomni went and placed a hand to her neck to brush it a bit
"It's fine, Ragatha is gonna make meat stew, the wave is in three hours so we will have an early dinner, with plenty of leftovers for you to eat while we come back" Pomni said as she knew how much Amber liked to eat yummy food, specially with the cooking bonuses of Ragatha's shield
"Why can't I go to the wave with you guys? I'm tough enough for it!" Amber asked as she didn't get why they weren't going to let her join them in the wave, she was tough and strong enough, maybe not as much as the rest but certainly above anyone else, so she should be there as a extra powerhouse to rely on
"It's not about you being not strong or strong enough, it's just that as heroes, we are quite literally forced to go and fight the waves, you don't have that burden" Pomni explained, if it wasn't for them being literally teleported to where the waves happened they probably wouldn't even go to them to fight it, after all fighting hordes of monsters with the risk of death wasn't exactly appealing to them
"... I -- We raised you ever since you were a little egg, we have a bond with you. If something happened to you there I don't know how I might react..." Pomni said as although everyone in the group minus a certain purple rabbit helped raise her, Pomni was the one who had spent the most time with it and the one it had imprinted on when it hatched out of the egg, she was Amber's "Mama" and that meant she had gotten all too much attached to the bird and if something were to happen to it... She might abstract, even if it wasn't possible in this world
"Alright mama... I'll look after the carriage then" Amber said as that was the least she could do, even if most of them didn't fit inside anymore, specially all of them at once
"Good girl" Pomni said as she patted Amber in the head, smiling as the jester hoped to see her after returning from the wave, or else she would rip the world a sender herself and kill god
[Author's Notes]
One thing, the people of Melromarc don't know Ragatha and the others are heroes, their weapons are kind of glossed over with their appearance. After all, would you note the silver shield in the arm of your savior when they are a giant living doll who currently is bigger than most people? So the church and public don't know that the shield is in Melromarc
To build on that, the circus gang is known more like folklore and myth like big foot or ghost stories, as I alluded to