Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter, and providing feed backs.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
Inside the engine room of Faubley Air Battleship Gerard the Golden, a strong and foul stench can be picked up by anyone who hasn't had their nose completely clogged. Yet, the many engineers and mages who specialize in magical devices still work tirelessly in an attempt to get Faubley's pride and joy airborne once again. Still, the severe looking expression on their collective face would clue in to anyone who isn't the most dense of mind that things don't look well. General Ironwood isn't so arrogant as to consider himself a genius, especially when it comes to arcane matters that he has little to knowledge about. But he can still read the room to know things must have been very bad. "What's the damage, Minister Weasley? Doctor Richtofen?"
"To tell you the truth, it's bad, General. The wind crystal which serves as the core of Gerard the Golden'sflying engine has been completely shattered." Doctor Edward Richtofen isn't what one would imagine a mage would be, even standing besides mage mavericks like Arthur Weasley. He would never be caught wearing one of those thick, elaborate robes that makes a mage look mysterious but also easily restrict their movement. Instead, the Germanian prefers well-tailored shirts and pants that are favored by either explorers or mechanics. Then again, he always presents himself as a doctor (who is studying in an academy to discover the secret of the world kind, not the healing of the sick and infirm inside a hospital kind (although he did have a medical degree as well) who specializes in the manipulation of Ether than a traditional mage. Even the research mage kind.
Right now, the Germanian doctor is holding about a dozen broken pieces of the green wind crystal which previously acted as the centerpiece of the elaborated magical circle which allows a giant warship like Gerard the Golden to defy the law of nature and stay in the sky. Each one of the fragments is about the size of a grown man's thumb, which as far as a pure wind crystal goes, is nothing to scoff at. But considering it was originally the size of a grown man's torso, it's very apparent that these fragments can no longer keep Gerard the Golden in the sky. "There are only a handful of naturally formed, pure wind crystals the size large enough to act as the core of an air battleship. That's the reason why the other nations haven't gotten some similar programs off the ground yet. And with this one completely destroyed... I'm not sure we can get a replacement, General. Gerard the Golden might not fly again, unless that artificial magical crystal program my mentor Doctor Maxis headed manages to bear fruit."
"It would be a shame to lose Gerard the Golden among the fleet. Especially if what the Shield Hero... and even the Mirror Demon said about the Burning Legion were true. But for now, do what you can with the repair. I'll worry about everything else-" The general suddenly caught the sight of one of his soldiers half run, half fall his way down the stairs towards him. "Get a hold of yourself, man! You are a properly trained soldier of the Faubley army, not a newly raised civilian levy or conscript! What is the problem?"
"An island just appeared on the horizon, General! One moment, there was nothing. And then all of sudden there's a dark landmass in the distance. Caught by our scout on the crow's nest with a scope!" The soldier's reply makes the general exchange puzzled look with the technomancy minister and the doctor. Quickly, they all follow the soldier up the deck, wanting to see this mysterious landmass that appeared out of nowhere.
Chapter 62: New Horizon
"You are the Shield Hero's adopted child, aren't you?" Raphtalia was taken by surprise by a completely unfamiliar voice, although the tone of the voice is something she is very much used to. It carries with a confidence that whoever it's addressing can't refuse, or ignore it born from generations of a pampered, yet well-educated life. The voice of a high noble who has the history to back up their arrogance. Raphtalia's body instantly reacted before her mind did, darting right behind Yatsuhashi's body as she carefully peeked out towards the sound's direction.
"I see you carry your mother's teaching well, my lady. You made a child squirm without any threat of starvation, or riding crop whipping." The male voice is spoken with jest, which consider the words make it even scarier. It suggests what the young man said has happened often enough for him to joke about it. Raphtalia takes the moment to look at the pair standing in front of her. The woman wearing an elaborate, golden thread trimmed cloak was on the shorter side, probably slightly shorter than her if she takes her adult form. The young man standing beside her is likewise, also not has nothing to brag about in height and looks especially small standing in front of a giant like Yatsuhashi. He wears the kind of neat military uniform that's more popular in Faubley than Melromarc, yet his face has the soft, flat feature of a Kyutenrou man like Raphtalia's family. The pair of canine ears on his head reveals his possible origin: An Okami clan warrior, whose ancestors likely have held the rank of a samurai in some noble's court.
"Must you embarrass me in front of everyone, at every chance you get? I'm trying to have a serious conversation here." The noble woman gives her male servant (and likely her protector like Yatsuhashi to Naofumi) an annoyed, yet non-hostile glare. The man returns her with a toothy grin, but quickly schools his expression to take a grim serious expression Raphtalia remembers her family's servant and guards often takes before the Wave destroys everything. The pink-haired Faubley lady turns to her next. "I meant no harm to you, young miss. I only wanted to learn more about the Shield Hero's companion, particularly those who are more adept at magic than martial prowess. I am a bit of a mage myself, and at a grim time like this, we need to be more open about our discoveries to help each other grow stronger."
"Ah, Lady De La Valliere. Perfect timing! I was going to come find you!" An energetic, yet slightly more reserved than usual voice comes from behind Raphtalia. She turns to look, and sees Malty's Faubley cousin running towards them with his clockwork mask wearing servant (and once again, likely her protector) trailing behind in what seems like a leisurely pace. Yet the distance between them never increases. Raphtalia has to admit that she's a little scared of the much older man. Both for his intimidating-looking mask, and how silent he is most of the time. "Finally had enough of the wise headmaster looming over your head? Your talent is wasted working for him."
"Educating a new generation of mages to make sure they have the proper guidance to develop their ability is a reward in itself. Especially since there's so much need fixing within the Hero Academy. And I don't mean the recent plague bomb the Mirror Demon detonated." The two Faubley ladies share a brief hug with each other before parting ways, their male servant also exchanging a distant nod with each other. "Although I have to admit that it's exhausting working with the headmaster. It feels like every time I, or anyone else, starts to make headway to reunite the four orders back together, he would come up with something to drive them further apart in the name of 'promoting healthy competition'. I don't know if it's his age catching up to him, or all the sweets he stuff his face with. But there's nothing healthy about the divide between the four orders."
"Well. You wouldn't find the kind of shite Dumbledore likes to throw around here with the rest of the summoned heroes. They only care about stopping the wave and other kinds of threat to our world and protecting the innocent. And they can use all the help they can get right now with the Mirror Demon killing the Sword Hero recently." Lady Emily's eyes cast on Raphtalia, making her quickly pull her head right behind Yatsuhashi's legs once again. "I'd introduce you to my cousin Malty, but she's not here right now. So I'll do the next best thing and introduce you to her adopted daughter. Come on out, little Raphtalia. Don't be afraid of Louise. She might have her mother's face, but she actually likes to help out the younger generation to help them achieve their full potential unlike the Heavy Wind."
Raphtalia slowly edges her head out from behind Yatsuhashi's legs to look at the pair of Faubley nobles once again. This Lady Louise hasn't squinted her eyes, or turned her nose up at her yet, so that's obviously a good sign. Still, she would rather not drop her guard around a noble simply because they don't immediately bare their fangs towards her. The pederast of House Consevatie also has a friendly demeanor after all, but the children who died because of him are enough to fill an entire grave. Lady Louise slightly turns her head around, seemingly addressing her attendant next. "Hmm... She doesn't have the name of the Kyutenrou people. But something tells me she is your kinsman, isn't she, Saito?"
"From a broader sense of the word, she is a descendant of the nine heavenly pillars. Although I doubt she would consider herself the same people as a lowly samurai like my own family. If you look at her twitching ears, my lady, you would find they take a more rounded shape than a pointed shape. That means she is a tanuki, the highborn of Kyutenrou similar to you, my lady. And considering how the Kyutenrou noble families only marry other nobles and with there only a handful of them even before the fall... she's probably related to the royal family in some capacity." The Okami warrior's guess hit dangerously close to home, although Raphtalia isn't going to blurt out the truth to him. That she isn't related to the Divine Emperor through family marriage. Her great grandfather was the last Divine Emperor, Kajiro himself.
"Well. That makes things interesting. I hear they are all natural-born illusionists, and considering the legendary heroes' ability to unlock their follower's full potential, I wouldn't be surprised if she's already achieved her greater transformation. What were they called again, Saito? One of the hard-to-pronounce words from your people's language?" Lady Louise looks at Saito. Raphtalia isn't sure she likes the way Louise is talking about her like she's some kind of exhibit in a museum, or an art gallery. But she knows better to say it out loud.
"Gyoubu Danuki, my lady. A literal translation would be something like a raccoon dog of the Justice ministry. I suppose you can call them magistrate raccoon dogs for short, if the name of my native language is too hard to be committed to memory." The Okami Clan warrior shakes his head in disapproval.
"I will try, but I don't make promises. I'm not so arrogant as to think I would perfectly remember the word from a language I don't personally speak, and isn't spoken around me that often. Hmm... regardless, I would certainly like to see a master illusionist in action. Their act is always a pleasure to the eyes so long as they aren't trying to blind you. Although I'm not sure I can help the little lady in any way. Illusion magic is the kind I'm not even an amateur of because of my lack of fine control." Louise turns to address Raphtalia, and stops acting like Raphtalia isn't standing right in front of her. "Now, little lady. Do you mind showing me what you are capable of? I want to see how you work your magic."
"Well... sure. I guess." Raphtalia doesn't want to outright refuse, not knowing if there'll be consequences for her, or more importantly, for Malty and Naofumi if she does so. Out of instinct more than anything else, she immediately begins to conjure up an illusion. In the flash of an eye, the image of Malty appears, standing among them.
"Ah, that's my cousin I've been telling you, Louise. Oh mine... this looks just like her standing among us." Lady Emily turns her head left and right. She even begins to walk circles around Raphtalia's illusion, seemingly trying to find any flaw to her creation. In the end, the Faubley noble woman probably didn't find any, since all she does is continue making impressive sounding noises from her mouth and nose.
"So that is the skill, or rather, the instinct of a natural born illusionist. Incredible. Truly incredible." Lady Louise also nods her head, sounding equally as fascinated at Raphtalia's achievement as Malty's cousin. But she still can't shake away the feeling like she's some kind of monkey, playing tricks on the noble woman. Not to mention it reminded her of the one time when Fuckboy had her making an illusion to capture Naofumi and Malty. Well, that's why she's not going to volunteer about showing them her shapeshift magic. It's not a secret, but she would rather only use it to help her family and friends. "Since you seem to be doing this on your instincts rather than with your mind, have you tried to use it together with some other spells?"
"What do you mean, Lady Louise?" Raphtalia looks up, not too sure what the Faubley noble woman is talking about. In all honesty, she hasn't thought about magic, let alone her own innate illusion magic or not much recently. She's devoting most of her time practicing with Granny, honing her reflexes, parkour skill, and generally acts as a training partner for Katarina as she mostly focuses on dodging the unarmed fighting prodigy's attack.
"If you are a natural born illusionist, that means you would at least have adequate ability in other kinds of spell work as well. Do you know any offensive magic?" Raphtalia hesitantly nods her head. She did learn a few very basic attack spells from Malty. Although she didn't use them a lot since others fighting for Naofumi are much stronger than her, she's probably out of practice with them. "The illusion you created is good enough to be mistaken for the real thing. So you should be able to use this to misdirect your enemy with either your allies, or your own attack. Think about it - Most spells have different affinities with each other. What if you try to hide a water attack spell behind a fire spell illusion? You would completely throw off your enemy's attempt at creating a counter spell. Or you can draw their attention from one direction, while attacking them from another angle. There's a lot of ways for you to use your illusion to gain an advantage."
Raphtalia blinks her eyes. She's so used to being the kid who hides away from danger, and maybe sneak around and steal something for Naofumi and Malty, she never considered using her innate spell offensively, to help them. But now she thinks about Lady Louise's suggestion, she finds they make a lot of sense. She'll have to bring it up to Naofumi and Malty when they come back, since she'll probably have to practice with them to see what kind of illusion goes well with them. But that's another new way for her to develop her ability if she reaches limit with what she's currently working on. She quickly nods back to the Faubley noble woman, her opinion towards Lady Louise quickly changing in spite of her previously insensitive comments. "Yes. Thank you for your suggestion, Lady Louise. I will think about what you said, and try to incorporate this training into my usual exercises."
"You are very welcome, young one. I was a teacher at Faubley's Hero Academy before this whole incident with the Mirror Demon, after all. Teaching the newer generation what I learnt from experience is my job and duty." Louise returns a smile back to Raphtalia. She may carry the usual hubris of a noble, but she seems to also care about other people. "And while we are at it, can you talk a bit about your surrogate parents? I'm interested in what the heroes, and their companions are like, especially those who are adept at using magic."
"Oh, of course. Naofumi is like my father after my father died from the First Wave. He's really good at using miracles. I... I actually don't know how he got that good at it. I knew he first learnt it from that priest called Logarius, but then he got really, REALLY good at using miracles after I got taken by the Three Heroes' Church after the Third Wave. Maybe he found another teacher in between. And Malty... she's like my mother, and I learnt the basics of my spellcasting from her." Raphtalia was a bit surprised at how easy, and how much she's willing to tell the Faubley noble woman. Maybe she had buried too much of her thoughts in her own mind, and was dying to talk to someone. Anyone about it. Well... she might have talked with Keel more, but Keel isn't exactly friendly towards Naofumi, Malty, or any other human. She doesn't want to just get into a fight with the only friend she has left from Port Harp. "She's a very powerful fire magic user, and she's been learning how to use water magic too after she read a book Lord Malfoy gave to Naofumi. She can combine them both to use steam magic too."
"A warrior of the Okami clan, huh? I heard your people actually have a very similar fighting style as my own clan, even though we don't share our origin." While Raphtalia is running her mouth with Lady Louise, Yatsuhashi is trying to start a conversation with her protector. "Do you mind showing me some of your own techniques? I haven't learnt a lot about my clan's way, since the clan had been destroyed and scattered by a traitor. I only learnt what my father taught me, and I'm interested in seeing some other techniques that's been lost."
"Sounds like what happened to our own people after the Mikage destroyed our nation. The part where the clan got slaughtered and scattered, not the part where it got destroyed by a traitor from the inside." The much smaller bodyguards give a smile to Yatsuhashi before he continues. "Well... unless you count Emperor Kajirou a traitor, since he's the one who technically nuked the fatherland into a wasteland because he wanted to enact one last act of spite to the previous Shield Hero. He killed way more Kyutenrou people with that one last act than the previous Shield Hero, and his Siltvelt warriors combined."
Raphtalia feels her face heating up at the scathing words aimed at her own great grandfather. Well... it's not the first time she heard something like this, since her own father was a pretty harsh critic of her great grandfather. But then again, her father would have used more reserved word to talk about his own grandfather, not to mention she's more used to listen to her grandfather and the Kagura family constantly singing the praises of great grandfather as the last emperor who had the spine to stand up to the tyrannical Mikage Mikami.
"You are finding the wrong person if you want to see how an Okami clan warrior fights. Because I mix my own fighting form with different fighting styles from Faubley. I even use weapons that are not from Kyutenrou in origin." The shorter warrior lets out a chuckle as he splits his legs apart and lowers his body. Raphtalia has trained with Granny and Katarina enough to know that he's getting into a battle stance.
"Aye, shorty is right. You know. Even though we are partners, he still goes out seeking new love like they are wild flowers. A faithless horndog, this one is!" Without Saito pulling out his blade, it suddenly begins to jump on the sheath. Almost like a person is flapping their mouth.
"Oh, so now you are complaining about me getting a larger arsenal, Def? I seem to distinctly remember how excited you want me to rub your blade all over every new 'beauty' I come across." Saito stands back up to his full head, and crosses his arms in front of his chest as he looks down at the jumping blade he keeps on his waist with a smile.
"A talking sword, just like the one Lady Eclair uses? I thought I heard a weird voice yesterday while we were trying to subdue Miss Sadina." The surprise on Yatsuhashi's face faded as quickly as it appeared. "They are very rare. I heard the legend of blades that have drunk a lot of enemy's blood eventually developing their own soul... a kind of 'tool spirit', if you will. But I have never seen one that actively talks. Even the 'Demon Blade' our clan kept couldn't speak, only corrupt the mind of the wielders. Or are you a soul willingly, or forcefully being trapped inside the sword like Lady Eclair's runic bronze sword?"
"Hmm... that's a very good question. I was around for so long, I still remember my first partner being a companion of Brimir. I honestly couldn't remember if I was born a sword, or if I was once a human like you." The 'flapping' of the sword stops, and Raphtalia can almost feel the sense of sadness coming from the sheathed sword for a brief moment. But it quickly fades away as he begins to sound like a middle-aged, lecherous man once again. "Enough about my origins! I don't even care so long as I'm used by a competent swordsman, and I get to experience the pleasure in a sword's life. Tell me about this other talking sword you just talked about. Is she a beauty?"
"Well... the sword is ancient. Runic bronze, as I was saying. Although I suppose one can say it's more of a mace in the shape of a sword since it doesn't have an open edge, and Lady Eclair mostly uses it to bash people unless she pushes her magic through it to create a magic blade around it." Yatsuhashi's eyes seem to light up more than usual when he's talking about the make of the blade. Raphtalia doesn't know how she got the image in her mind, since she's still looking at a talking sword. But she can see a middle-aged man drooling from his mouth. "Not sure if I would call Lady Eclair's sword a 'she' though. Since the soul that's empowering it is her ancestor, King Ariona."
"Oh, oh... Well, don't lead me on next time! And here I thought I might finally find someone I can settle with!" The talking sword whines a little before it goes quiet. It doesn't seem to be able to do anything other than hopping in and out of its sheath. But from the tone of his voice, Raphtalia still gets the sense of depression from Def. She supposed it must have been a very lonely and sad life, to know he's one of the few talking swords in the world. And have been around for so long that he doesn't even remember how he came to be in the first place. The Founder of Magic, Saint Brimir, was a figure from legend, supposedly even more ancient than the first summoned heroes after all.
"As I was trying to say before I was interrupted, the best way to see the skill of a warrior is to experience action. Do you want to test yourself against me? This won't be something like a duel to the last blood, of course. Just a friendly spar to see how each of us fight if we are to fight side by side against monsters and demons in future battle." Saito turns to look at Yatsuhashi again, as he once again lowers his body down into a fighting stance.
"I would not turn down a chance to test myself against a fellow warrior. But I have a more important task on hand. My thane asked me to look after his surrogate daughter while he is away, attending the important meeting in the capital. I will not fail this task for my own desire." Yatsuhashi turns to look at Raphtalia before shaking his head.
"Don't worry about me, Mr. Yatsuhashi. I don't think anyone can hurt me with all the guards around. Not to mention I'll be watching you fight, and I'm sure you'd stop your spar and come help me if someone does try to harm me, won't you?" Raphtalia reaches over and gives Yatsuhashi's big hands a gentle pull with her small hand.
"Yes, of course. Miss Raphtalia. Although... Where has your friend gone too? She didn't think too highly of my thane, but I thought she wanted to keep you safe, and wouldn't leave you alone for any reason?" Yatsuhashi fully turns his body towards Raphtalia, and gives her a long and hard look.
"Oh... we, we had a bit of a disagreement after the Mirror Demon and Spirit Tortoise fight. I'm sure Keel will turn around pretty soon. She's a bit impulsive, so she wouldn't stay mad for too long." Raphtalia looks around, and starts to kick small, broken stones with her feet.
"...alright? If you think it'll be fine. I shall test myself against a warrior of the old Okami Clan to see how well the skill I learnt from my father would hold up." Yatsuhashi slowly pulls his big, curved blade out from his back as he settles into his own stance. Raphtalia quickly takes a few steps back to give them room. As does Louise and Malty's cousin Emily. For a while, the two of them simply stare at each other, seemingly gauging each other and to see who is the more patient one. After a while, Saito is the first to make a move as he takes a fast and heavy step forward, wraps his hand around the hilt of Def and pulls the talking sword out in a flash, cutting at Yatsuhashi at the same time.
"Are you mad at me, Malty?" Malty turns to look at Naofumi. It takes her a few seconds to figure out he is worried about his decision to go to Siltvelt to gather support. Is she angry at him for making the decision? Not really. Naofumi isn't a puppet she controls to only perform to her own whim, and she had learned a long time ago that he often has very different, sometimes completely opposite ideas from her on how to approach a problem.
"Why would I do that, Master Naofumi?" Malty immediately regretted the words she said, and also the tone she said it in. The way Naofumi looks down, it's clear that he takes it as she's being sarcastic and her meaning was completely opposite of what she said. So she grabs him by the shoulder, and forces him to look at her. "No. I'm not angry at you for your decision. From a rational point, it makes sense that you want to gather more able-bodied and experienced warriors to fight all the future threats. And Siltvelt has proven that they can provide. I wished that you had talked with me about your decision before that, so I could have been better prepared to support you when you threw the idea out there. Because as you saw back in the meeting, others will question your decisions. You got lucky this time that there's more support for you than objections against you, but you can't always rely on luck to have your ideas carried out. Especially when your idea happens to involve cooperating with the millenia-long enemy of the faction you are talking to."
"Yeah... in hindsight that was really stupid. And I got unbelievably lucky, didn't I? I suppose that's one thing I have to thank that Astaroth fucker for. If he hadn't thrown an entire mountain worth of dirt on everyone's head and probably traumatized them, I doubt there'd be an idea like getting a literal god of destruction to help us." Naofumi uses his finger to pull at his collar like he's having trouble breathing, or maybe getting too hot from the sense of belated worry. Malty has to remind herself that Naofumi is showing signs of brilliance in a lot of things, even in politics. He is still very inexperienced in a lot of fields. Of course, he would make mistakes especially in high-stress situations when he isn't thinking properly. She would have done the same if she hadn't spent most of her life observing the court of her parents. She did much worse than him during the battle against Astaroth and the Spirit Tortoise where she was so shaken by everything happening, she barely contributed to the battle other than lending her magical power to the final, ritual spell they used to destroy the turtle's heart.
"Don't worry too much about what has already happened. Take the lesson to heart, but don't let what could have happened break your back, or your mind. We still need to get through the mess the Mirror Demon left us before we face the Burning Legion." Malty gives Naofumi a few light pat on his shoulder, knowing that he'll be able to adjust and focus on the right thing after a little encouragement. At the moment, she's more worried about the heroes the not-too-bright admirer of Naofumi is bringing back. Considering all of the native Medea heroes have been filled out, and some of them are distinctively unhelpful (in which Naofumi's admirer is one among them), she isn't going to think too highly of these heroes he's bringing back. That's also ignoring the example of the Mirror Demon, and this Katana Hero they've been talking about. What if they have ulterior motives, and are secretly working with their enemies?
Mother clearly had similar worries, and that's why their 'welcome group' is being led by Father as they'll receive the Throwing Weapon Hero and everyone he is bringing back outside the castle wall. The defensive barrier of the capital is also standing ready to be erected at a moment's notice if they do turn out to be hostile.
"Stand behind me after we get out of the city, Malty. I have a bad feeling about this meeting." Naofumi leans closer to her and whispers into Malty's ears. Her fingers tightens around the Star Wand and nods back to Naofumi, who is currently raising his shield up to his face as he whispers to the turtle's spirit. "What do you think, Terapagos? Any idea what kind of people my number one fan is bringing back?"
"How am I supposed to know? I'm the guardian spirit of this world, Medea. Anything outside, I am as blind and deaf as any other mortal. Actually, some of the mortals who secretly worship outer deities might have more clues than I do." The transparent form of the turtle spirit slowly floats out of Naofumi's shield core. "I'd say be ready if they are bad. I got careless when the Mirror Demon's men came snooping around my sealed altar. And that's how I got myself shut out of my body. If they came from another world, it's likely they have more tricks than we know."
"Wait for us, Your Grace!" The voice of Iris makes Malty look back. Her always serene and confident friend sounds hurried, almost with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Sure enough, she sees Melty running at the front, while a group of knights led by noble ladies are chasing after her. "Your queen mother specifically asked you to stay within the palace, Your Highness!"
"If my queen mother isn't going to personally attend this meeting with the new heroes, I need to come." Melty isn't using her most commanding voice (and her ability) yet, but she is still using her mature voice to sound way more serious than usual. "Mother has already taken away the royal status of my sister and father. What if this new group of heroes see the lack of royal family presence as a sign of disrespect to them? That is why as the only other member of the royal family, it is my duty to attend in my mother's stead."
Melty's reasoning actually sounds logical, if one ignores the possible danger she puts herself in... or the way her eyes constantly wander towards Malty's direction. It's clear the real reason for her action is much more personal than she gives. Father stops his steps at the front, nearly making Motoyasu ram headfirst into his back. "Princess Melty makes a good point. But we can not ensure the trustworthiness of these interloping heroes based on a quick message from the Throwing Weapon Hero. That is why you shall be tasked to escort her up the walls, and ensure her safety, Duke Amelia. Can we count on you to hold down the fort?"
"Of course. I may lack the personal valiance or magical prowess of some of my fellow nobles, but even I would not give the gate to a potential enemy." The Duke of The Golden Coast and Malty's father both ignored the sour look on Melty's face. But Father and (to Malty's personal distaste,) Mother weren't wrong in being careful, especially when it comes down to the only royal heir. So Duke Amelia quickly leaves their group, and ushers the crown princess up the walls while all of them exit the front gate. Malty looks to the side, and sees the elite knights from the Four Heroes' Church, lead by Knight-Commander Cloud, are standing among everyone on the front. They don't have their weapons in their hands, but all of them look ready to fight or cast some kind of defensive spell at a moment's notice. No doubt, the act of the Mirror Demon has everyone spooked when it comes to 'heroes from another world'.
Their wait didn't take long, and pretty soon figures can be seen coming out of the tree lines in the distant north. They are walking at a leisure pace even by the standards of a normal traveler. And nobody is acting with any weird, sudden movement which is a good initial sign. But Malty's father doesn't look relaxed. He asks one of the warriors for a spyglass and he immediately puts it over his own eyes. Malty wants to get a better look too, but she can't command anyone with her officially being the Shield Hero's slave, so she'll have to wait like everyone else. As they start getting closer, Malty begins to count a dozen men among the group. There are the Throwing Weapon Hero and his companions, a few militia members from Lute Village including their leader Georg, and three figures clearly different from everyone else.
One of them is a fairly tall, slim figure completely wrapped in an old, dirty traveling cloak, not leaving anything to reveal if they are a man, a woman... or whatever else they might be. They trail behind everyone, even the Lute militia members who accompanied the Throwing Weapon Hero's group. Either because they truly didn't care about this meeting... or because they are cautious to the point of paranoia, and want everyone else to be in their sight.
A woman who isn't very tall, yet is almost as wide as her height with her scars covered, stone-like bulging muscles, walks right in the middle with her arms crossed. Her cold demeanor, and aggressive posture makes everyone keep enough distance to walk another man or two depending on their size. The glare from her narrowed eyes cut like knives, making Malty want to avoid her gaze in spite of the distance between them. Unlike her wrapped-up companion, she has nothing on her body except a long fabric wrapping around her like bandages to keep whatever modesty she has left.
The last woman walks in the very front, has a warm smile on her face, and seems to be currently sharing a friendly conversation with the Throwing Weapon Hero judging by the way their lips move, and the way Naofumi's self-proclaimed fan animatedly moves his arms. The way Atla glaring her eyes on the woman a little distance behind them with an envy-filled gaze is also a good indication. She looks just as different between her two companions as they are to each other, even more so in a way that she looks less like a traveler, and more like a noble lady ready to attend some kind of banquet or ball. Her white skin is immaculate, but mostly hidden underneath an expansive and elaborated looking dress that's completely impractical to travel the wild (she likes to consider herself well-versed, if not an expert on the matter at the moment). On the surface this (possible) noble woman seems to be the easiest to get along with. But Malty would rather deal with the fierce looking, mountain-like woman. Or their mysterious companion who completely hides their identity underneath the traveling cloak. Because the woman looks too much like a typical noble lady who plays The Game, someone who will give a pretty boy a kiss on the cheek and a pat on the head, then send him to get mauled to death by a pack of bone dogs.
"I knew them. Well... two of them. Maybe." Naofumi's voice is low with a hint of trepidation. Malty turns her face to look at him, and sees his eyes slowly narrow. "Both of them came from novels and manga I know of. Although they look older. The one walking at the front is Yuri Neuer. She came from a villainess reborn story where originally she is the main character of a dating game. But the story is told from the perspective of the game's villainess who originally had her life ruined by her, and you know the villainess well. Well... sort of. It's your childhood friend Iris, although in the novel and the manga, it's about a modern incarnate who knew about the game replacing the original Iris and slowly rebuilt her own fortune after she had her betrothal broken... by that Edward guy we met at the end of the Three Heroes' Church rebellion."
Malty turns around and steals a glance at her childhood playmate who is currently looking down from the wall. Iris seems to notice her gaze, as she stops the conversation she is having with Melty to look down at her. The two of them merely exchanged a glance with each other, without any other gesture before Malty turns around to look forward at the slowly approaching group. Iris has put her family's fame, fortune, and power behind Malty's little sister now. Whatever 'friendship' they had with each other is now officially over, especially since neither of them really made an effort to become genuine friends unlike she had with Katarina and Bertia. Malty isn't sure about how to feel about knowing one possible end for her childhood playmate was having her marriage contract broken, and likely her life ruined because of some hero from another world. She... wouldn't say she is happy to hear about it in spite of the jealousy she felt towards the perfect noble lady, and brilliant stateswoman Iris. But she can't say she feels too sorry for her friend either, since that kind of ending is to be expected for Players of The Game like them. If anything... that Iris probably had it light when it comes to losing in The Game.
"The other woman is called Noriko Tatsumiya, and she came from a story kind of similar to the setting I'm in, called [Dungeon Seeker]. She was summoned alongside some of her classmates, because a sword and magic fantasy world is in crisis and in need of heroes. But after being summoned, all of them were considered to be too weak, so they were kicked into some remote village." Malty has to blink a couple of times from Naofumi's explanation. To summon a group of other world interlopers without knowing if they were heroes who can save the world... she would have asked what the nobles, and the mages from that world were doing. Those kinds of ritual magic are very hard to cast, not to mention the tribute they required. To make that kind of gamble and then throw away whoever they did manage to summon like they are a waste suggests the nation from that story was completely wasteful, or had no idea what they were doing. "And the villagers were going to feed one of them into a death dungeon to save them. Depends if this Noriko came from the novel, or manga. She was either mind controlled by one of her classmates to betray her friend Junpei, or she willingly sold her friend Junpei out to save herself from being sacrificed to the death dungeon."
"So you are saying this Noriko woman was not a hero in the story you read about her, and there are possible different ways for the story to unfold?" Naofumi nods his head at Malty's question as she refocuses on the more noble lady-like Yuri Neuer. "What about Lady Yuri? Was she a hero in the story you knew about her?"
"Not I know of. I... admit I didn't read it in its entirety, since it's really not very well-written. Most of the story is about how Iris effortlessly turns her life around while most of her enemies act like brainless idiots..." Naofumi's voice slowly begins to trail away lower and lower, almost like his mind is wandering to somewhere else. Malty turns her face to look at him again, and she sees him covering his head with both of his hands. "It sounds exactly like how Sato described that story where I was the protagonist. DAMNIT! I really was in a trashy, brainless, wish fulfillment fantasy!"
Iris was in a 'story' like Naofumi? Malty's mind immediately begins to wander away, to the possibility of the two of them getting together instead of Naofumi and herself. And she immediately forces her brain to stop that trail of thought. That what-if scenario makes too much sense, and is way too scary for her to entertain. "I think we can conclude that we should only use your knowledge about their fictional counterpart as a reference, and not take it wholesale. So was this Lady Yuri a hero, or not?"
"Yeah, you are right. And no. Yuri was not a hero in the story I read about. Not the kind with a self-growing weapon, or a hero in a more traditional sense. That story is mostly about building power in the more conventional sense - raising an army, starting businesses. There's no fantasy threat like the Wave they have to deal with, no level up and stats screen... Come to think about it, I don't even think they had magic in that setting." Naofumi's words make Malty briefly pause again. A world without magic, without levelling up? Sounds like a very dull world... one Iris would especially excel in.
"Okay, we are approaching the capital now. The way that's coming closer to you is the king- I mean the former king of this country. He had his royal status revoked by the queen for being an idiot and kept fighting Naofumi-sama. And speaking of the most competent hero you ladies should be working together with, he's the one with the shield on his arm. But be careful of the redheaded... woman besides him. I doubt she truly has turned over a new leaf, she's probably just biding her time to stab Naofumi-sama and everyone else in the back." As the group gets closer, Malty can hear the words the Throwing Weapon Hero is telling Yuri Neuer. She supposed she should have already expected him to be badmouthing her, not trying to kill her at a moment's notice, is probably the best they can get the stubborn idiot to do. "If you want to work with one of the royalty, the queen and her younger daughter, Princess Melty, are the ones you should go with. They are honest and competent, unlike the former king and the former first princess. Princess Melty is the young girl standing on the wall with blue hair."
"Yes. I shall take your warning into consideration. Sir Sato-" Yuri looks up at the wall, and the smile on her face quickly fades away. Her graceful and pretty face suddenly morphed into one that fits more on the face of a raging demon. "AMELIA!"
With her wrathful screech, the fabric at the edge of Yuri Neuer's dress and her sleeves grows, like a raging wave, or a crumbling avalanche as she sends them up towards the wall where Melty stands.
End Note:
Confession time, Saito's translation on Gyoubu Danuki being Raccoon Dog of Justice Ministry/Majestrate Racoon Dog is my personal broken translation from Gyoubu Danuki's Chinese translation name into English. Which has pretty high chance to be utterly bullshit. But at least it gives a bit more made up history and lore to the world. Slightly out of topic, while I'm not sure if this translation is accurate or not, the name of Gyoubu刑部's root comes from the ancient Chinese administration struture, Three Department and Six Ministries. In this case, the Justice Ministry or a more literal translation, 'Punishment/Penal Ministry' which is the ministry in charge of justice and penal affairs.
I thought an old perv like Deflinger would be pretty excited to learn there's another talking sword in the world. At least until he learns the other talking sword is also a boy. A shame he's not getting his personal harem of female spirit weapons like a certain other idea I had when I started this story.
For anyone who might be familiar with the story Yuri and Iris came from (aka Shilling of the Author's Pet, I mean Achievement of the Duke's Daughter). This version of Yuri would have been from the point before her execution, in which got indefinitely prostponed when the world she came from was invaded by The Burning Legion. And since that world (at least till I lost interest in reading further) doesn't have any native super natural element, would have easily been taken over by the Burning Legion without putting up any fight. For anyone who wonders why she hates Iris that much, the Iris from her own world is the one who (at least in Yuri's eyes) ruined her life, put her in jail and nearly had her executed even though technically it happened because she was manipulated and used by Towair from her own world (who is not a beast human) to cause chaos in the nation Iris is in. But since the original Towair manipulated her so well that she honestly thought he cared about her and would have saved her from death, she put all the blame on Iris who had more direct conflict with her of course.
This version of grown up Yuri only gained super natural power after Noriko and their 3rd companion saved her from death row and the Burning Legion, and there's another, younger Yuri (but NOT Noriko) currently in Faubley, native to the world of Medea.