Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

IMPORTANT NOTE: I will mention this ahead of time. This fic will be using info from not just the light novels, but from Reprise of the Spear Hero, as well as their web novel associates. Needless to say, spoilers for anyone intending to read any of that.

The smell of iron filled the air. Iron and smoke. The smoke was from the man in the room, Dante MacRory. He'd just lit a cigarette after he sat in his recliner. Relaxing after a long day was important, after all. As for the smell of iron…

"Grr…" He clenched his stomach as he tried to stand. The fridge still had some beer in it, and Dante really wished he grabbed a bottle before he sat down. He brought his hand up to his face and saw it coated in blood.

Guess that's not happening.

Dante had been shot. Movies try to glamorize the protagonist fighting through a gut shot to save the day. Honestly? Big enough round sitting in your stomach will keep you from moving around. Dying really sucked.

"Bet you know all about that, don't you?" Dante turned to the other person in the room, who lay on the ground, staring back at him. The fear and anger still plastered on his face as blood ran down his forehead to the floor. "Probably not. Lucky bastard."

It wasn't all bad. He was able to kill the man before he did Dante in. I should feel at least a little good about that. However, he couldn't help but turn his head to see the two bullet holes in his wall. One of said holes was made after the bullet had passed through some metal tubing he'd set on the table.

"Who the hell can get their hands on armor-piercing pistol rounds and miss two shots at fifteen feet? 'The hell did you get that stuff anyway? Eh, doesn't matter."

Dante wasn't really in any position to judge. Sure, he killed him in one shot after the man missed two and hit him in the gut with the third, but…well, that didn't matter either.

In a few minutes, he would be at peace.

…Thank god.

His vision had started to blur. It started to feel like things slowed down. One last drag on his cigarette, then—oh. He dropped it on the ground.

Damn. Oh well. I guess that's it then.

Darkness finally covered his vision.

And then…

Dante felt his body was moving. It felt as if he was falling. I suppose that's confirmation of where I'm headed.

But then, he slammed into the ground. He let out a groan as he tried to move.

"The summoning ritual was a success!" A voice called out.

He shifted on the floor to see who was talking. Several robed figures stood before him. Dante immediately reached into his jacket for his pistol, only to find it missing.

Right. I dropped it before I sat down. But…what exactly is going on here?

"Where are we?" A voice next to him called out.

He looked over and saw three men with weapons in their hands. No, not men. Two of them looked to be teenagers. They all seemed to be eastern as well. Maybe Japanese?

It was the boy with a sword in his hand who had spoken. He had short black hair and wore a blue jacket. The sword had some sort of blue gem near the hilt. Wait, why does this seem familiar?

"Oh heroes, please save our world!" The robed man in front said.

Dante began to stand as the man continued.

"Our world stands at the brink of destruction. We summoned you four heroes to help us in our time of need."

"Summoned?" The blonde man with a spear voiced Dante's thought. He wore a red jacket and the gem near the end of his spear held a similarly colored gem.

Wait a minute. Dante looked to the last one standing with them and, sure enough, it was a boy with short blond hair and a bow. Then, for me…

Dante had a shield connected to his arm.

This…This is Rising of the Shield Hero…

What the hell is this? Is this my brain shutting down and remembering this book series?

…Or is this actually hell…

Either way, maybe I should go with it. I can figure this out later.

"Yes, Sir Hero. Please, lend us your strength."

If Dante remembered correctly, then…

"I don't think so." The boy with the sword, Ren, said.

"Yeah, me neither." Motoyasu voiced next.

"We can go back to our world, right? We'll talk about your problems after that." Itsuki said.

Yeah, there it was. Really, the arrogance on these guys was something else. Those three died to get here, so what would they be going back to? Aside from their corpses.

Well, Dante died too, but he wasn't the one making a fool of himself. Most people would be thankful to have a second chance at life. Most people.

Ren pointed his sword at the lead robed man. "Don't you feel any guilt for calling people into your world without their permission?"

"Besides," Itsuki added in, "even if we save you and bring peace to your world, you'll just send us back home, right? That just sounds like a job to me."

Motoyasu gave a quick twirl of his spear. "I wonder how much you've considered our opinion on this. I wonder how it could be worth our while. Depending on how the conversation goes, keep in mind that we might end up enemies of your world."

Dante couldn't recall exactly how the conversation went in the books, but that sounded about right. Ah, Naofumi initially said he would listen to them, right? Should Dante? Well, it probably wouldn't make a difference.

"We would like you heroes to speak with our king." The robed man said. "He will discuss your compensation."

The other three gave their half-hearted responses and they were all escorted out of the room.

As they made our way down the spiraling stairs, Dante took a look out the window. A sprawling city in a medieval setting was what greeted him.

Yeah, I really am in Shield Hero, huh?

Wait, was that a circus tent? Ah! That's right! What's his name…Beloukas! That's his monster and slave tent. Well, I know where I'll be going tomorrow. Or the day after. I should start thinking of a plan.

They arrived in the throne room, where Aultcray sat on his throne. The Queen's empty throne sat next to him.

"So, these are the four holy heroes?" He said, gazing at them. "My name is Aultcray Melromarc the Thirty-Second, and I rule these lands. Heroes, name yourselves."

Well, here we go.

"My name is Amaki Ren, sixteen years old, high-school student."

Huh. Dante heard his family name first. The holy weapons translated for them, but English had the given name before the family name. Was it because he knew how Japanese names are said? Thoughts for later.

"I'm Kitamura Motoyasu, twenty-one, and a university student."

"I'm next then. I am Kawasumi Itsuki, seventeen years old, and a high-school student as well."

Well, I might as well.

"I'm-"

"I see." The king said over him. "Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki."

Dante saw that coming a mile away.

"Excuse me, your highness. You've forgotten me."

The king looked down at him. It wasn't quite with disdain, more like indifference. "Ah, yes. Pardon me."

"Dante MacRory, twenty-eight, bodyguard." He almost didn't bother. It would be pretty weird when the four of them talked later and they didn't know his name. Actually, that might have worked in his favor. Crap.

The king, however, gave him a strange look for a moment before returning to address everyone.

"Now then, I will explain our situation to the four of you."

The story was about what Dante remembered. The waves brought monsters that attacked everything in sight. One village was already destroyed and the knights and adventurers were only barely able to fend it off. The dragon hourglass predicts when the wave will appear.

It was a good refresher.

"Alright, I think we get the gist of it." Motoyasu said. "But what's in it for us?"

Ren took a step forward. "You don't expect us to work for free, do you?"

"I wouldn't want to do all this work and then be sent away when I'm done." Itsuki finished.

Yep. The novelty of their antics finally wore off. The king promised to support them financially and reward them when the waves were defeated. The others gave their self-important agreements. He had them check their status to confirm their standing as heroes.

It was a bit strange to see this information pop up like it did.

Dante MacRory
Class: Shield Hero LV 1
Equipment: Small Shield (Legendary Weapon), Otherworld clothes, Otherworld armor, Otherworld item, Otherworld item
Skills: None
Magic: None

Huh. Neat.

After they confirmed their status, and the fact that they couldn't form a party with the four of them, the king told them to rest for the evening and set out with provided party members tomorrow.

A maid came forward and escorted them to their rooms. On the way, Dante noticed the other three giving him a strange look. Well, I am the only American with the others being Japanese, so it isn't really unexpected.

After being shown their rooms, they decided to meet in Motoyasu's to talk about everything that had happened. They sat around and ate the food the maid had brought them for supper, if his terminology was right.

I have to say, it was pretty good, if not a little strange. The others voiced similar things.

"Man, I can't believe we're actually here." Motoyasu said. "To be in Emerald Online like this is crazy."

"Emerald Online?" Ren looked over at him. "This is Brave Star Online."

"What? I've never heard of that game. This is definitely Emerald Online!"

"This looks more like Dimension Wave to me." Itsuki added in.

Right. These three played games that were similar to this world before. Dante wasn't sure what he should say.

"What about you, Dante?" Motoyasu asked. "Doesn't this game seem like Emerald Online to you?"

Well, guess I need to talk now. Damn. I need to come up with a plan.

"Sorry, I don't know about any of those games. Honestly, I'm still a little shocked I'm not dead."

Maybe he could lead with this.

"Oh, you died too?" Itsuki asked.

"Wait, both of you died too?" Motoyasu looked between the both of them. "Then, Ren?"

Ren gave a nod.

"Man. So, how did everyone die?" Motoyasu asked. He continued before anyone could answer. "I had a couple of girlfriends who found out about each other and, well…" He gave his side a quick rub.

Yeah, that sounded right.

Itsuki began next. "As for me, I was on my way home from school when a truck came racing down the road. Next thing I know…"

Again, that's about what Dante remembered. As for Ren…

"I got caught up in a murder case on my way home. I was able to save my friend, but…"

None of them were exactly happy about how they got here. Not that Dante was surprised.

"How about you?" Motoyasu turned to face Dante.

Well, here goes nothing.

"Someone was waiting for me when I got home. He shot me in the gut before I shot him back in the head. I sat in my recliner as I bled out over the next few minutes."

The look of horror on their faces was pretty funny.

"Americans are scary." Motoyasu concluded.

"You think so?" Dante asked. Was it really that bad?

"Is it true that all Americans carry a gun?" Itsuki asked. Dante wasn't that surprised by the question. Didn't America have more guns than people?

"Maybe in more rural areas, but some states have more restrictions than others. I think New York City takes a few months to get a license to carry, while other areas don't have any requirement, aside from passing a background check. Where I lived, I could go into a gun store and be out with a gun and ammo in under fifteen minutes."

They looked even more frightened than before. If Dante came from a country with really strict gun laws, he'd probably be scared too.

"It's still weird that you owned a gun." Motoyasu said. "Don't you have to be twenty or something?"

"I think eighteen is the adult age in America." Itsuki added. "Still, for you to own one…"

Was Dante missing something here? "What are you guys talking about? I'm twenty-eight, and I said I'm a bodyguard." Former bodyguard, at any rate.

There it was again. The strange looks.

Ren shook his head. "I don't know why you're making that up."

"Maybe it's an American thing?" Motoyasu chimed in.

"What is?" Dante felt like they were talking around what they meant.

"You look to be my age, maybe slightly older." Itsuki pointed out.

Have they never seen an American before? No, that can't be it. They must have seen Americans on TV before. Even considering different ethnicities, there's no way he'd be confused with a teenager.

"Is this some Japanese joke I'm not understanding?" Dante wouldn't say he's well versed in Japanese culture, but he knew a decent amount.

Motoyasu looked at the other two. "I think he's serious. Maybe he doesn't know?" He stood from his bed and walked to the nightstand. He brought a mirror back with him. "Here."

One look in the mirror was all it took for Dante to understand. His face wasn't how he remembered it. Well, it was, but much younger. He looked to be a teenager, maybe seventeen, like Itsuki said. Hell, his hair was about as long as it was back then too, going down just past his shoulders. Mom always liked that. Said I looked like her brother when he was young.

Dante set the mirror down and gave his arms a flex. While he couldn't see the muscles under his jacket, they were definitely there. Not as big as before, but bigger than when he was this age.

"Well, this is pretty strange." Was there some sort of age limit for summoned heroes? Another thought for later. Or never. Of all the things he needed to think about, his age was near the bottom of the list.

But wait…seventeen. It was around that time that…yeah, really don't want to think about that.

"Guess I have no real way to prove it, but I am twenty-eight. Maybe being murdered in my own home got me a small bonus?" He did feel a bit more energetic since he arrived here, but he assumed it was the shock of it all.

"I suppose it doesn't matter either way." Ren concluded. The cool guy act was a bit annoying, but Dante was happy enough to move the conversation along.

"Anyway, about this new world we find ourselves in." Dante wanted to steer the conversation in the right direction. "Any of you have any tips for someone completely new to all this?" Really, he just wanted some XP farming areas. He could be like Naofumi and stick to the fields and forest, but he wanted to be a bit more prepared.

"I think I can help you with that, little guy." Motoyasu joked. Dante could already tell this would be a reoccurring thing with him. That was, until two days from now, when he was framed for rape.

The three of them preceded to tell Dante of a few hunting grounds for monsters, as well as a few other bits of information, like possibly going to an adventurer's guild or town message board for quests. He was a little surprised Ren and Itsuki helped. Dante was under the impression they'd be a bit more arrogant about it, though he supposed that was when they all had their hero meeting. That was, what, three months after being here? They would probably be set in their ways by then.

"Got it. Thanks, this will really help."

"Of course!" Motoyasu beamed. "Besides, we can't have you falling too far behind us, what with you being the shielder and all."

There it is.

"What do you mean?" Dante decided to play along.

"Well, you see, the shielder class is good at the beginning, but, well…"

Dante nodded in understanding. "It plateaus or drops off, right?"

"Yeah."

Dante looked to Ren and Itsuki. They both nodded.

Motoyasu went on. "You see, your defense should be really good right now, and it will stay good for a while, but monsters will start overpowering your defense before too long. By late game, you won't be able to do much."

"It's the same in Brave Star Online."

"Dimension Wave has that problem too."

"I see." The shield wouldn't be much of a holy weapon if it was that useless in the end. Dante didn't think he should say that here, but maybe…

"In that case," Dante stood from his chair, "I'll just have to do more than defend."

"What, like attack?" Motoyasu held back a laugh.

"Not at all. There's more to combat than simply attacking and defending. There's skills and magic, if my status magic is to be believed. Also," he gestured towards Motoyasu, "there's combat techniques and strategy. Can I give a demonstration?"

Motoyasu stood as well. "Alright. What do you want me to do?"

"Thrust your spear at me."

That got a reaction out of him. "You sure?"

Dante smiled. "Positive."

A little unsure, Motoyasu took a simple stance with his spear. When he thrust forward, Dante quickly moved out of the spear's path and got right in front of him. He grabbed ahold of his right arm and patted him on his shoulder.

"Done."

Motoyasu raised an eyebrow at Dante. "Done?"

"Done."

Motoyasu shook his head. "I don't get it. All you did was grab my arm. All I have to do is-"

When he tried to pull away, Dante followed with him. After a couple more attempts, he pushed against him with his other arm, until Dante grabbed that as well.

"What are you doing?" He was starting to get annoyed.

"Two things. First, I'm proving a point that shielders can be useful in other ways than just defending. Second…" He slipped behind Motoyasu and put his arms around his and behind his neck. "To show you your weapon's weakness."

"Come on, let go!" Motoyasu wriggled around, but Dante's hold stayed firm.

"The spear is a good weapon." Dante explained. "There's a reason it was used from ancient times until gunpowder, even then changing to a pike. Being able to hit enemies from a farther distance is a great advantage, but it's also a weakness. Once someone or something gets past the danger zone, the spear suddenly becomes a stick."

Dante released him from his hold. He didn't look to happy about the whole thing.

"I'm not trying to make fun of you. I just wanted to show you what I could do later on if taking hits was no longer an option. If my party and I are fighting a group of monsters, I can single out the most dangerous one while they deal with the rest."

"I can do that too!" Motoyasu all but yelled.

"True, but as I just demonstrated, I prevented you from moving. Unless you're willing to get that close, and give up the primary benefit of using a spear, whatever you're fighting will have the option to move around and change targets, or run away if it's smart enough."

"Yeah, okay. Fine." Damn, he was still sore about it.

"Hey now, don't take it too hard. Just consider it a bit of ribbing from a fellow easy weapon wielder. If anything, I'm more concerned about Itsuki and Ren."

"What's that?" Ren snapped up. Was it really that big of a deal?

"What do you mean by that?" Itsuki added.

"I mean no offense." Dante said as he raised his hands. "The sword is a more difficult weapon to learn, and the bow even more so. I suppose you'd be fine if you took archery or…what is it called, Kendo?"

Itsuki nodded along. "I was in archery club at school for a time, so I should be fine."

Not really the same as hunting monsters, but Dante didn't want to say anything like that.

Ren just crossed his arms. "I was one of the top players in Brave Star Online. I'll be more than fine."

Dante gave him a shrug. "I mean, wasn't that just a video game?"

He just shook his head. "It's a VRMMO."

"VR…Ah, I see. Maybe you are the best off out of the four of us."

That got a smile on his face. It was small and it disappeared after a moment, but it was there.

"Wait, VR?" Motoyasu perked back up. "As in, virtual reality? You have something like that."

"Huh, what do you mean? Isn't that pretty common?" Ren asked.

Well, this seemed like a good time to head off. Dante said goodnight to the boys and headed for his room. While that wasn't really a masterful deception, he did get some good information out of them. He thought he ended with a somewhat positive standing with them. Motoyasu may be annoyed, but he should get over it.

Eddy would definitely have something say about how I handled that.

With that done, Dante could check out a few things. First, he took off his leather jacket. He felt around the bullet proof vest he was wearing. Dante couldn't feel where the bullet had passed through, so it might have repaired itself before he was summoned here. His status magic didn't give him any bonus to defense from the armor, so it was probably useless. Still, he might be able to sell it. I think Erhard worked on some things from Glass' world, so there's that.

Next, Dante took out his cigarettes from his jacket pocket. He looked inside and saw his remaining twelve sticks.

This is going to be a shitty next few weeks. And I'm about to make it even shittier.

He pulled one of the sticks out and fed it to the shield. It didn't seem to have enough material, so he fed it another. Then another.

You're killing me, Shield!

After the fourth stick was fed to it, he got a notification. Two shields were revealed to him.

Leaf Shield (LV locked)
(abilities locked) equip bonus: gathering skill +1

…Well, fuck you too, Shield. Had I known, I wouldn't have wasted four cigarettes. Wait, what was the other shield?

Filtration Shield (LV locked)
(abilities locked) equip bonus: poison resistance (tiny), skill "Detect Poison"

…I'm pretty sure cigarette filters don't actually protect you in any way, but I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Anyway, Dante couldn't remember how Naofumi got that skill before, so this was very much welcome. Now to give it a try.

When he willed his shield to change, he got a notice.

Insufficient level

That was odd. Now that he thought about it, Dante didn't recall Naofumi saying the names of shields he couldn't use. Just that he wasn't high enough level. Maybe he could see them, but didn't bother saying anything since he couldn't use them. Well, Dante could see them, but he didn't see a level requirement.

There was one more shield he could unlock. He reached inside his jacked and pulled out the extra magazine he had. Dante detached a few bullets and fed them to the shield. After the third one, he got a notification.

Bullet Shield (LV locked)
(abilities locked) equip bonus: attack bonus (tiny)

He was a little surprised that worked. The stats on the shield weren't too great, but just like the Leaf Shield and Filtration Shield, he cared more about the equip bonuses.

Speaking of which, didn't the equip bonuses look a little strange? Dante thought they were supposed to give a number, not 'tiny' or anything like that. Wasn't that just for equipment and such? Maybe I'm remembering that wrong.

Now then, on to the main issue. What do I do about the trial?

Honestly, there isn't much he could do. Even if he somehow got the others on his side, that wouldn't end well for them. The king could just kill them all and summon new heroes, if the Reprise web novel was any indication. Man, I'm glad I read through all that. Really, he wished he had a spear wielding madman to help him going forward. That could really make his time here that much more-

Wait. Sadeena! How could he forget about that harpoon wielding juggernaut?! Wasn't she supposed to be in Lurolona around this time? Okay, this changes things.

First thing he did should be to find and recruit her. If he mentioned Raphtalia, that should be enough to at least get her attention. But with the rape accusation happening in a couple days, when should he search her out? Maybe he could travel there real quick and leave a note. A note written by someone who spoke Melromarc's language. How far was Lurolona from here anyway?

This could have a lot of moving parts. Dante thought he should sleep on this. Whatever the case, he definitely had a leg up on the other three. Aside from a high level fighter, he had access to all the power up methods, including the vassal weapons.

Wait…how did those three power up their weapons again?

…Crap. I need to figure a lot of shit out.

Chapter Text

Darkness surrounded Dante. In the distance, an orange light flickered. It gradually got closer, the orange light changing into dancing flames. A figure began to take form in the fire. When it was almost ten feet from him, he could make it out.

It was a woman. Her long hair was dyed red from the flames. Her eyes were empty sockets, burned from her scarred flesh.

She stared at Dante, her mouth opening.

“It’s all your fault.”

Dante woke with a start. It was that dream again. The same dream he had for the past two weeks. It was a reminder of his failure.

He looked to the window and saw it was still dark out, the sun only barely beginning to brighten the outside world.

That’s enough sleep.

With that, he slid out of bed. Dante gave his left arm a quick rub, tracing his fingers over the scarred flesh. He glanced down at the similar scars on his right before standing. He got dressed, bullet proof vest and all, and continued where he left off yesterday.

Dante had already come to an understanding with this world the day before. To him, this was probably hell, possibly his mind shutting down, and a small chance it was all real. Assuming it was hell, he was going to be in for a rough time. If he just let himself die, he might end up in another place far worse, so death wasn’t an option. If it was his brain shutting down, then nothing really mattered. However, if this was all real…

Then I can have my wish granted. He remembered as much from the novels. Once the world was saved from the waves, one option was to return to his world with a wish granted. Or was it several? It didn’t matter, there was only one wish he wanted granted. If there was even a chance that was the case, he was going to take it. He was going to fix what he broke.

That was his main goal here. One he would go to any length to achieve. However, that wasn’t the only thing that weighed on his mind.

There are people here that could really use some help. Despite not knowing them personally, Dante wasn’t about to let some children he knew about suffer and die, like Raphtalia and Keel. Not when he could do something about it. And if he could help them out? Maybe he wasn’t as much of a bastard as he thought himself to be.

After processing the events that happened, Dante had lay awake before going to sleep to recount the power up methods of the weapons.

Most of the vassal weapons were easier to remember than the holy weapons. Aside from only having one power up method, they didn’t have too much overlap with one another. The only question was how useful each one would be to him, and when. A few came to mind.

The Axe gave points to modify his stats. This was going to help him the most early on. He already put a few points into his defense and agility, and played around with their placement to get the distribution he wanted. He’d forgotten that this power up method was also part puzzle-game. It wasn’t much, but it was something. A three day timer appeared afterwards, letting him know when he could change them again.

The Carriage provided bonuses based what monster drops were in the shield. Or was it items? The bonuses weren’t supposed to be anything amazing, but starting out may be very beneficial.

The rest of the vassal weapon power ups would take time to be able to use well, especially the staff and projectile, with the hammer and whip following after.

With the vassal weapons sorted, he had turned his mind to remember the shield, sword, bow, and spear.

The Shield was easiest to remember. Trust empowered companions, and vice versa. Power up methods could be shared. The heroes gained EP, though the actual letters appeared after he recalled it was an energy boost similar to that martial art form the old lady taught people. Hengo something-or-other.

The rest of the power up methods were, well…

He recalled the Sword based things on hero level, and could also use the energy from unlocked forms to increase rarity.

The Spear could upgrade the weapons with ore, with a chance of failure. He could also use monster souls to place in slots.

The bow focused on rarity of weapons; the rarer, the more powerful. It also could increase stats from monster souls, and it could equip ores into slots.

So that’s how it was. He remembered all the vassal weapons, with some effects useless for the time being, and some of the holy weapons. Two from the spear and sword, and three from the bow.

There were more to each of the other three holy weapons, and possibly the vassal weapons that weren’t explored that much, but this was a pretty good start.

He also recalled some of the general abilities of heroes, like having an inventory system, crafting and weapon copy. He would definitely need to copy the shields at Erhard’s.

Then came time to make his plans. He didn’t have much beyond the initial outline: leave a note for Sadeena, buy Keel, then Raphtalia. He couldn’t remember when Raphtalia was sold to Beloukas, but it was a bit later. Fortunately, he’d be able to keep his starting silver. He could just place it into his shield’s inventory. Although, if Malty knew he had the silver and she couldn’t find it, she might try to make things more difficult. He’d have to workshop that plan.

If Eddy were here, he’d have a grand plan all set.

Putting aside those thoughts, Dante rested in bed. He let ideas float around in his head as he pieced together his next move.

~The Wrong Hero~

Morning eventually came, and Dante and the others were called to breakfast.

Once seated with their food, Dante looked over to Motoyasu.

“Hey,” he said, getting the spear wielder’s attention, “are we good from yesterday?”

Motoyasu gave him a smile. “Yeah, we’re good, man. It actually gave me some ideas about how to fight.”

“That’s good to hear.” Dante nodded. He turned to Ren and Itsuki. “How about with you two?”

Ren paused in his eating. “No offence taken.”

Itsuki nodded. “I took it as you doing your job as the shielder and watching out for others.”

Dante gave them a smile before digging in. They’re much more mature about this than I thought. That, or they think so little of me that it doesn’t bother them. Either way, probably won’t last long.

Before long, they left the food hall and were standing before the king. All the adventures and knights that were supposed to follow them stood between them and the king.

“As I promised, we have gathered those willing to serve the heroes in their quest.” Aultcray said as he gestured to the people in the throne room. “Now, adventurers, choose the hero you wish to follow.”

What happened next was what Dante expected. All the adventures went to the other three heroes, with none left for him.

“Hmm, how strange.” The king said as he stroked his beard.

Yeah, I’m sure it is.

One of the ministers leaned over to whisper to Aultcray. “I see. So there are rumors.”

“What seems to be the problem, your majesty?” Dante asked as if he had no clue.

“It seems there’s a rumor in the castle that the Shield Hero knows not of our world.”

Well now, is that what was said? I only recall saying I didn’t know about the others’ games. Oh, wait, I did say I was new to this place, didn’t I?

“There are also concerns about the Shield Hero’s mental state. It seems he picked a fight with the Spear Hero last night.”

Ah. Yes, I definitely did do something like that.

Motoyasu leaned closer to Dante. “Looks like someone was eavesdropping on us last night.”

“Seems so.” He responded. Dante refocused himself to the king. “That was just a short spar with Motoyasu to demonstrate my abilities in combat. I asked him and he agreed. There’s no bad blood between us.”

The adventurers with the others looked between themselves but stayed put.

“Though I suppose that won’t change anything now.” Dante was pretty sure no one would have volunteered even if that ‘rumor’ hadn’t spread. He was pretty sure Ren’s party members mentioned at one point something about not getting on the king’s bad side by following the shield hero. Maybe he was remembering that wrong, but given the country’s religion, there was a fairly good alternate reason.

“Will no one volunteer to join the Shield Hero?” The king asked. Again, none of the adventurers made a move. “So be it then. The Shield Hero will have to recruit members on his own. I will provide you all with your starting funds. Since the Shield Hero has no party, he will receive a larger starting amount to aid in his recruitment.”

“I thank you for your generosity.” Dante bowed to the king. He didn’t seem to care about the show of respect.

“Sorry about that, man.” Motoyasu rested a hand on Dante’s shoulder. “I knew you’d have it rough, but not this bad starting out.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Dante gave him a shrug. “It’s like the king said, I’ll just have to do some recruiting myself.”

“Excuse me.” The woman Dante was waiting for said. “I would be willing to join the Shield Hero’s party.”

Dante looked over at the woman with her hand raised. She had most of her long red hair pulled into ponytail, with some flowing locks falling down her face on either side. Her bright green eyes seemed to radiate as the morning light passed through the windows. She wore a set of leather armor that seemed to push up her lovely breasts-

Damn, I’d forgotten what it was like being a teenager. Dumb teen hormones.

“Are you sure?” Motoyasu asked her.

“Of course. Rumors or not, a hero shouldn’t have to go it alone.” Malty said as she smiled at Dante.

So you say. Wait, I just got an idea!

“Actually, maybe I should go alone for now.” Dante said, earning a shock from both Malty and Motoyasu.

“Wait, really?” The blond man asked.

Dante nodded. “Just for now. Besides, I wouldn’t want any of the adventures to feel like they couldn’t go with their chosen hero.”

“O-Oh. But still, I can’t bare knowing that one of our country’s saviors didn’t have anyone to aid them.” Malty said, trying to find the right words to say.

“I appreciate it, but it’s not necessary.” Dante said, then he placed his hand on his chin, as if in thought. “Although, how about this? I wanted to explore around a bit and get a feel for this new world, and I don’t want to deprive an adventurer of gaining XP with a hero for our quest. So, you can stay with Motoyasu for the day while I adjust to this place and we can all meet at an inn this evening. Let’s say…one closest to the castle entrance. If you still want to join my party then, I’d be happy to accept you. Of course, if Motoyasu is alright with that?”

Dante looked to the spear wielder, who gave a shrug with a smile. “Works for me. I should warn you, Dante, she might not want to join you after adventuring with me.” He finished by giving a wink to Malty.

“That sounds reasonable, Sir Shield Hero.” Malty said with a slight bow.

Dante nodded in turn and everyone turned back to the king as he spoke. “Now then. Heroes, you will each receive six hundred silver as your starting funds, with Mr. Dante receiving eight hundred. Now, begin your journey and save our world!”

With shouts of agreement, the heroes and their parties left the castle with their funds. Once they passed the gatehouse, Motoyasu patted Dante on the shoulder.

“Have fun on your sightseeing, little guy. Don’t take too long, or you’ll fall too far behind the rest of us.” He said as he ran off with his three other party members.

Right. And what’s with the whole ‘little guy’ thing anyway? I’m, like, two inches taller than you.

Ren and Itsuki gave their farewells before heading off with their parties as well. With all said and done, Dante began his plan.

He held his coin bag and took out a silver coin. He wanted to test using his inventory with a single piece, just in case the Projectile’s power up method decided to eat it all.

However, when he held up the coin, the gem in his shield didn’t react. He tried to will it into his inventory, but the gem remained the same.

That’s weird. I was certain the weapons had an inventory. Naofumi loudly complained after he learned about it.

No matter how he tried, the shield wouldn’t accept the coin. After about a minute, he decided to try a different method. When he thought to absorb it for the Projectile power, the shield immediately responded. He was greeted by a jingle and a popup in his status.

100G

After seeing that, he willed his shield to return the silver piece, but nothing happened.

Am I doing this wrong? There is an inventory, I know there is. Or, wait…

He realized his error when he thought back to Ren and Malty. She had tricked him into believing her, then she stole everything he owned while he slept. But Dante also knew there were times when Naofumi and Motoyasu had pulled things from their weapons.

Ah. That’s right. I remember now. It was monster drops and item drops. And with crafting, I could probably put components in and store what they made. Well, damn.

That put a dent in his plans. He would need to improvise somehow. Maybe leave his silver somewhere no one would take it. That was for later.

His first stop was a shop that sold adventuring gear. Backpacks, bedrolls, rations, that sort of thing. He asked around and was quickly able to find the shop attached to the Adventurer’s Guild. It made sense, if he thought about it.

When he went inside, he was greeted by a woman at the counter. After a short exchange, he was able to find most of what he was looking for. Aside from the mentioned equipment, Dante got a small pot and flint, a few pouches, a couple waterskins, and a few miscellaneous items. One thing he was sure to buy was a bundle of rope. It all came to just over twenty silver.

As Dante left the store, he fed a bit of rope to his shield.

Rope Shield (LV locked)
(abilities locked) equip bonus: skill “Air Strike Shield”
equip effect: rope

Glad that’s out of the way.

Thinking about it, the information it provided was strange. He could see the stats of shields he couldn’t use due to his level, but not what level was required. Seemed like it should be the opposite.

Next was to be Erhard’s. He didn’t know exactly where it was, possibly somewhere on the main street in the capital.

After about twenty minutes of walking and asking for directions, Dante was able to find the blacksmith. He saw Erhard behind the counter as he stepped into the store. Various armors and weapons lined the shelves and stands, including a number of shields.

“Welcome!” The bald man called as Dante approached. “What can I do for you?”

The man was about as friendly as Dante thought him to be. “Morning, good sir.” Dante returned in kind. “I’m looking for some starting equipment for my adventure.” He already moved to one of the shields and held it up, letting his weapon copy do its work.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place! Best weapons and armor in the capital!” Erhard boasted, though Dante knew this was likely true. He was trained by that pervert savant.

“Glad to hear it.” Dante had already moved on to his second shield. “Sorry to say, you might be a little disappointed with my order.”

“Oh?” Erhard leaned on his counter.

“Right now, I’m just looking for some cheap armor. Padded or leather, most likely.” Dante said as he picked up the third shield. A gambeson, he believed it was called. That’s basically what padded armor was in things like D&D, though he never got too into those games. What he did take a small interest in was medieval warfare, specifically in Europe. While padded armor was the lowest in the game, it was a pretty functional bit of armor in real life. It wasn’t super easy to cut through and bludgeoning was cushioned a bit, but arrows and spears could do the job well. Kind of funny, considering how common spears were.

“Leather, eh?” Erhard scratched his chin. “I do have some, but if it doesn’t have much metal, it won’t protect you well.”

“That’ll be fine.” Dante moved to the next shield. “It’ll only be for the short term. Need to figure out what my future party members might need.”

“Planning something big?” The bearded man asked as he began gathering the armor.

“You could say that.”

It took a little over two minutes for Erhard to bring the armor pieces to the counter, just long enough for Dante to finish copying the shields out front. It got faster as he went, needing to only touch the shields to copy them part way through. He didn’t find the shield that would give him the Shooting Star skill. It might have been in the back, and Dante didn’t want to ask for a shield he was only going to hold for a second. Even if he looked to be inspecting it, it would seem a bit off and he didn’t want to make any weird requests. Not yet, anyway. Besides, it would likely be a while before he was a high enough level to unlock it.

“Well, here’s the armor you wanted.” Erhard said as Dante approached the counter.

Dante looked over the armor. It was about what he expected from a fantasy-like world. “Alright, I’ll go try this on. In the meantime, I have something you might be interested in.” He unzipped his leather jacket to reveal his bullet proof vest underneath.

“That’s a strange bit of armor you got there.” Erhard said, giving it a look as Dante removed the straps. He moved around the holster so as not to drop it, though it probably didn’t hold much value. Although, if he sold some bullets to a gunsmith in Faubrey—after the whole Takt thing—he might be able to make a fortune.

“It’s a form of armor from my world.” Dante set the vest on the counter as he gathered up the leather replacement.

“Your world?” Erhard repeated.

Dante just gave him a smile. “Let me go try this on and then I’ll explain. Feel free to inspect that.” He walked over to the changing area, leaving Erhard confused.

The armor was simple enough to work with. The straps were easy to figure out and it was pretty straightforward what went where. In a couple minutes, he was all armored up. There was even a shirt and pants to go with it, and he threw in a pair of boots as well.

Dante stepped out carrying his old clothes in his hands. He’d stashed those with his jacket, holster, and cigarettes in his backpack. He returned to the counter, where Erhard was still examining his vest.

“So, what can you make of it?” He asked the blacksmith.

“Well, it is rather interesting.” Erhard set the vest down to look at Dante. “What is it exactly?”

“A bullet proof vest. It’s designed to stop bullets from penetrating it.” With a few exceptions, of course, but Dante didn’t need to mention the specifics. “Although, with the physics of this world, it may not be of much use.”

“This world…” Erhard let the words linger there for a moment. His eyes brightened as a smile formed on his face. “You must be one of the heroes the king summoned.”

Dante held the shield up to him. “I am. The name’s Dante MacRory, the Shield Hero.”

“Hah! Well, I’m glad one of the heroes chose my shop to get there gear!” He said with his hands on his hips as he laughed.

“Well, if you are the best blacksmith in the capital, I imagine the others will show up here sooner or later.” Dante said. No doubt to copy your weapons. I wish I could tell you, but I don’t want to open that can of worms at the moment.

“Well then, good to meet you, Sir Hero!” Erhard held out his hand, which Dante gladly shook.

“Now then, about that vest.” Dante said.

“Right.” Erhard scratched his head. “Honestly, I can’t really understand it, but it is rather light, and I can tell it’s very well made. Tell you what, that armor you’re wearing is worth about twenty silver. You keep that, I’ll take this vest off your hands, and I’ll give you another one hundred silver for it. Sound good?”

It did. The vest was worthless to Dante, but Erhard might be able to make use of it. What’s more, this was a good time for the next part of his plan.

“That sounds reasonable to me.” Dante said. He leaned on the counter and gestured for Erhard to do the same. “I’ll need a cloak that covers my head as well.” He whispered.

Before Erhard could say anything, Dante held a finger to his lips. “You think I could get that as a gold coin?” He asked nonchalantly.

Erhard nodded and pulled a dark cloak off one of the racks. Dante put the cloak on, pulling his black hair fully under the hood and stashing the gold coin Erhard handed him next.

“I think I’m being tailed. Mind if I sneak out the back?” He whispered again.

Erhard looked to think for a moment before he nodded.

Good. He probably understands the Shield Hero isn’t exactly welcome in the capital of the place that follows the Three Heroes Church.

“I think I’ll browse a little bit before leaving.” He said normally before he whispered again. “Thank you for your help.”

“Thanks for your business, and take your time.” Erhard said, gesturing to the back of his store.

With that, Dante snuck out and began making his way to his next destination. Honestly, he didn’t know if any church shadows were following him this early, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Given the abilities of shadows, however, it may be pointless.

With another thirty-some minutes of going down alleyways, and finding a number of dead ends, he found what he was looking for. The circus tent seemed bigger when he saw it from the castle. He pulled back the flap and was greeted by the smell of animals. And rot.

It took only a moment for the man he was looking for to spot him from behind one of the cages. He strode up to Dante with a smile on his face.

“Ah, good sir. How can I help you on this day?” Beloukas asked.

Let’s see what I can do here.

“Well, good sir, I’m looking to place an order for some of your more…discreet goods.”

The smile on the well-dressed little man grew wider. “Of course, of course. Why don’t we take this inside?” He gestured for Dante to follow. They passed a few rows of cages and through another flap, the cage contents changing from monsters to therianthropes and demi-humans. Seeing the people in there like that, Dante wanted to do something, but he had his priorities.

They ended up at a small wooden desk. Beloukas took a seat on one side and Dante sat opposite.

“Now then, what can I do for you?” Beloukas folded his hands together on the desk.

Dante followed his example. “Right. Well, I’m sure you heard about the wave that happened in Lurolona, correct?”

“Of course! It was the talk of the town for quite a bit.”

“Good.” Dante nodded. “My order will be the residents of that village.”

“I see.” Beloukas took a sheet of parchment and a quill. “And which residents were you looking for?”

“All of them.”

Beloukas looked up from the parchment. “All of them?”

Dante nodded again. “Yes. All of them.” He retrieved his coin bag from his backpack and started counting out silver. “Now, I won’t be able to pay for all of them, or even most right away. However, I plan on taking jobs around the capital to earn enough for them. Consider this a small down payment to get started.” Dante slid five stacks of ten silver to the slave trader.

“Hmm.” Beloukas hummed as he looked over the silver. “This is quite irregular.”

“It’s about to get more so.” Dante continued. “I’m looking for a few slaves in particular to start with. Their names are Keel and Raphtalia…and Rifana.”

Dante almost didn’t add the last name. He was fairly certain there was nothing he could do for the weasel girl, but…well, it didn’t hurt to try.

“They are all demi-humans. Keel is a dog, Raphtalia a raccoon, and Rifana a weasel. All three are girls, though Keel looks like a boy. I believe they’re all around ten years old.”

“Most irregular indeed, yes sir.” Beloukas started writing the names and descriptions.

“I’m unsure of Keel’s whereabouts, but she may be in the city. You can ask around and find her. Raphtalia and Rifana should be in the possession of Lord Idol Rabier. Others may be there as well.”

Just saying his name made Dante want to spit. To do that sort of thing to children was just sickening.

“Idol Rabier…I know who you are talking about, but I don’t have any connections with him.”

“You don’t?” That was odd. Although, maybe Idol had sent for Beloukas to make the sale. Beloukas didn’t know about Raphtalia early on in Motoyasu’s loops, so that seemed likely.

“Of course, I can send one of my men to his territory to ask about buying these demi-humans for you, yes sir.”

It was as good a plan as any. “Have them ride there as quickly as possible. I’ll pay extra for the…expedite fee.”

Beloukas grinned further, if that was even possible. “Ah, it’s good to know Sir Hero understands how these things work.”

Dante couldn’t help but let a smirk form on his face. “And you’re just as cunning as I thought you to be.”

“Do you have any other names for the former residents of the village? It would help in my search, yes sir.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t.” If any of them were named in the books, Dante didn’t recall them.

“Well then, I’ll begin making inquiries.”

“You do that.” Dante said as he stood. “And, to show that this isn’t some elaborate waste of time, I’d also like to buy some monster eggs from you.”

Beloukas grinned as he rubbed his hands together. “Sir Hero knows his stuff. What can I interest you in?”

“Filolials. Two of them.”

“For those, and the incubators I’m sure Sir Hero would want, that will be two hundred silver.”

“Seems a bit high, don’t you think?” Dante prodded. “Don’t fully grown filolials go for around two hundred by themselves? At only half that value for an egg…”

In truth, he wasn’t sure what the cost of an egg was. One hundred was the price for the lottery, and some of those probably contained balloons, or duds.

“Surely you jest!” Beloukas held his hand to his chest in fake outrage. “For the incubators, the monster seal, acquiring the eggs. Why, one hundred silver is a steal! Yes sir.”

“Hmm, I suppose you’re right.” If he had better knowledge, Dante might have been able to lower the price. Perhaps not. “Also, I’d like to rent a filolial, if possible.”

“Rent, you say?” The slave trader rubbed his chin. “I don’t normally rent out steeds to my customers.”

“Then how’s this? I’ll pay you for the eggs and then you keep them here as collateral. I’ll take a filolial you’d sell for, say, around one hundred ninety silver. When I return, you get your filolial, plus ten silver from me, and I get the eggs. If, for some reason, I don’t bring your filolial back, you keep the eggs and make a ten silver profit from the missing product.”

Beloukas chuckled. “I like your style, Sir Hero. To have me store your purchase while you travel around. We have a deal.”

Cunning indeed. Slave trader or not, Dante found him to be quite charming.

With that, they exchanged silver and registered the eggs to Dante. He was even able to get some ink for his shield.

Slave User Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: slave maturation adjustment (small)

Slave User Shield II (LV locked)
(abilities locked) equip bonus: slave status adjustment (small)

Huh. The first shield is usable at level one, but something like the Leaf Shield isn’t. This world doesn’t make sense. This better not become a pattern.

“By the way, I need directions to Lurolona.” Dante said.

“Of course, Sir Hero. Do you have a map?”

Beloukas pointed out the village on the map Dante had bought. It was one of the more expensive items from that store. He also had the slave trader write a note he could leave for Sadeena, probably tacked to a surviving door.

His plans in the capital complete, Dante set out for Lurolona village. He made sure to keep his face covered as he rode atop the green filolial he rented. The guards at the gate didn’t even bother looking at him. Once in the fields, he had the filolial move at what he assumed would be a gallop for the bird. He’d heard filolials were fast, but it was still a bit surprising.

Feels like I’m back on my motorcycle. It wasn’t going that fast, but the experience felt similar.

According to the slave trader, Dante should reach the remains of the village in about five hours or so, depending on how many breaks he took. It would take less if he took a straight path, but that would lead him through forests and fields that would have monsters in them. With both him and the filolial being level one…nothing more really needed to be said.

After about two hours, they came to a crossroad. Dante took a look at his map to figure out which way to go. Beloukas wrote Lurolona’s name in Melromarc’s language on the map, but the letters didn’t match what was written on the signpost. Of course, being a demi-human village, it probably wouldn’t. Either for the demi-humans, or because it was a small village. The letters on the signpost were a bit worn, so it was difficult to make out which towns they led to.

Fortunately, he spotted a lone, cloaked traveler coming from one of the roads.

“Excuse me!” Dante said as the traveler approached. “Which way to Lurolona?

“Hmm? Why would you want to go there?” The traveler, a woman, said.

“I’m looking for someone.”

“Well, you won’t find them there. Lurolona was destroyed in the waves.” She said, somewhat sadly.

“I know. It’s a long story, but I’m sure it’ll work out.”

“Oh my. Well, if that’s the case, it’s down the path I came from.” She said as she continued where Dante rode from.

“Thanks, I…” Dante stopped. “Oh my?” It couldn’t be. He looked at the traveler as she passed. A bit of black hair stuck out from her cloak and there was a spear across her back. No, not a spear. A harpoon.

“Sadeena?” He called out to her.

The traveler stopped. She slowly turned around and pulled back her hood. Her face looked somewhat Japanese, with flowing black hair disappearing down her cloak. Partway down her arm was what could easily be mistaken as a tattoo.

“Oh? Do you know me?” She asked with a smile.

Dante sat on his filolial and stared at her.

Two gift horses in two days. Should I be concerned?

Chapter Text

Dante sat on his filolial as he gazed at Sadeena. Needless to say, it was quite unexpected.

What is she doing here? She shouldn’t be here for another few weeks. I know that! That’s how it happened, I know it! She meets Naofumi around the time he would have bought Raphtalia. That’s what happened in the web novel. The Spear Hero web novel. That’s in Motoyasu’s point of view. Who was in a time loop. And is crazy.

Dante realized a very important flaw is his plans.

Okay, I need to start accounting for this sort of thing. Overreliance on a crazy person’s retelling of events could lead to some seriously bad outcomes. Though this does bring up the question of which version of the story this world is most like. Light novel or web novel, or manga, or anime? Wait a second. Wasn’t Sadeena just a slave in Zeltoble in the Shield web novel, not even a gladiator? I could have been waiting for help that would never come!

“Is there something on my face?” Sadeena asked, tilting her head to the side.

Right. Sadeena. She’s here now, and I need to talk to her.

…I am totally unprepared for this conversation.

“Sorry about that.” Dante said as he turned his filolial around. “I just wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Hmm.” Sadeena looked Dante over. “I wasn’t expecting to see you at all.”

“Oh, right.” Dante slid off the side of the filolial and held its reins. “I’m Dante MacRory, the Shield Hero.” He shifted his shield from the dark violet, tanned leather of the Slaver User Shield to his metallic Small Shield, then back again.

“The Shield Hero…” Sadeena walked closer to Dante, a smile still on her face. “Well, I’m Sadeena, but you already know that.”

“Ah, yes, I knew a couple things. Know a couple things.” Dante couldn’t get his thoughts in order. It didn’t help his confusion that an incredibly beautiful woman was walking towards him.

Dammit, hormones, now’s not the time!

“Oh my. I’d like to know a couple things too.” She stood a few feet in front of him, arms behind her back. Her cloak was pulled back, revealing her wrapped chest. Dante had a hard time not looking, which earned him a small laugh from the woman.

He cleared his throat before he began. “Right. I have a few things I wanted to talk with you about. When we are alone.”

Sadeena glanced to her side. “Are you afraid your filolial will tell someone?”

“Gweh!” The bird made a noise.

“No, not her…him?” He never asked Beloukas which it was. “I just wanted to make sure there was no one else around. That it was just us.”

Sadeena must have picked up on what he meant. The smile on her faced dropped ever so slightly. “We’re alone.” She confirmed.

Dante let out a breath. “Good. I been worrying about that for a while. Let’s have a seat, this will take a bit.” He gestured over to the grasslands next to the road and Sadeena followed.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure if and when he lost any shadows. If it was at Erhard’s, or during his ride, or if they were ever there. Or, maybe Sadeena couldn’t detect these shadows. There were more than a few things he needed to know.

“Okay, uh…” Dante didn’t ask for the filolial’s name either. It just came up as ‘Filolial A’ in his status. “Filolial, sit. We’ll be here for a while.” The bird complied, nestling into the grass beneath it.

“So,” Sadeena started, taking a seat as well, “how do you know about me?”

“About that,” Dante sat next to the filolial, reins still in his hand, “could you tell me why you were out here?”

Sadeena hummed. “You want to know more about me when I know so little about you~?”

“It actually has to do with why I came out here. Please?”

Sadeena tapped her chin with a finger. “Well, I just came back to my village to find it in ruins. The lord was apparently killed when a Wave of Catastrophe happened there. I saw many heavy footprints and arrows on the ground and assumed it was attacked and raided. So, I was going to the capital to see if I could find any of my friends as slaves there.”

There was no real edge in her voice, but Dante could tell there was a great anger there.

“I see. Well, like I said, I’m the Shield Hero, and I came to this world with a bit of knowledge about it.” Dante wasn’t sure how much he should reveal. He’d have to play it by ear. “One of the things I knew was you’d be around Lurolona village, though I thought it would be about three weeks from now.”

“Even though I lived there?”

“Yeah.” Dante nodded. “If I recall correctly, you were out at sea for some rare fish that Lord Seaetto asked you to find. It was going to be for some celebration for Princess Malty. Am I close?”

“Hmm.” Sadeena continued to look Dante over. “Lord Seaetto did ask me to catch a rare fish, but he only said the king wanted one. He had to come back to his lands until I was able to find one.”

Yeah, that sounds familiar. Probably an excuse to get him out of the capital so Aultcray could run things.

“But how do you have this knowledge?” Sadeena asked.

“It’s a bit of hero knowledge.” He explained. It was pretty amazing how Sadeena could keep her face practically the same while it also clearly expressed “I don’t believe you”. Dante rubbed his eyes, more to give him a moment than anything. “Look, I’m not really sure how to explain this without completely crushing your worldview.”

“Take your time~.” Sadeena leaned back, resting her hands in the grass behind her.

If Dante had his way, he would take three weeks of time to figure this out. How does one tell someone their existence is from a storybook? Well…by basically saying just that.

If someone told him he was a character in a book, he’d probably think they’re crazy. But this was a world with monsters and magic and tears in reality that threatened to destroy everything. Surely the bar for craziness was raised a bit.

“Alright. All of the heroes came to this world with knowledge about it. The other three got theirs from games they played. Think of it like an interactive story where they make and control a character to interact with and explore the world. From what I understand, most of it is the same as this world, but more than a few differences.”

“Okay.” Sadeena had her elbows on her knees, her head resting on her folded hands.

“I, on the other hand, know about this world through a series of books. I know about some past events the characters talked about, and some things to look out for.”

Sadeena nodded along. “So, you know the future?”

“Partially.” Dante gave the filolial—Greenie, as he temporarily named it—a scratch around its neck. It almost seemed to purr in response. “I’ve already done a few things differently, and I don’t remember all the details. Some things also weren’t how I remembered, like you being here now.”

“I see. I have another question for you.” Sadeena let her hands fall into her lap. “Do you know who I’m looking for?”

Dante paused. “Yeah.” He reached for his pack to pull out the note Beloukas wrote for him. Sadeena took it from his offered hand and quickly read it. A real, earnest smile spread on her face.

“Do you have her?” Her voice was so full of hope, Dante felt badly for shaking his head.

“Not yet. I put in an order with a slave trader. If all goes well, she should be here in a few days.” He held up a hand before Sadeena could speak up. “I know you want to see her as soon as possible, but I believe it’s best to wait.”

Setting the note to the side, Sadeena returned her hands to her lap. “To wait.” She repeated. “All I need to do is wait and you’ll bring me Raphtalia?”

“More or less, yes.”

“And what did you want in return?”

“I’d like you both to travel with me.” If he had more time and was better with negotiations, he’d probably come up with a better pitch. As it was, he had to make do. “I have a number of ways to increase the fighting power of my allies. Using them, I could make it so no one could take Raphtalia away again.”

“Like what?” She leaned forward.

“The first is merely gaining levels while in a party with me. As I understand it, people in a hero’s party gain experience faster and more stats per level.” He remembered reading that at one point, but wasn’t sure where. Sadeena could confirm it later on.

“Oh my, that is quite good!” She said enthusiastically. “I do need to gain quite a few levels~.”

“Huh?” That wasn’t something Dante was expecting to hear. A thought creeped into his mind. “Just for my reference, what level are you?”

“My, asking a lady her level~?” Sadeena held a hand to her cheek. “Well, I suppose it’s alright if it’s you. I’m level twenty-seven.”

“Twenty…” Well, that somewhat ruined his plans. Perhaps he was a bit optimistic. “Okay, no problem. That does, however, mean one of my methods may need to wait. I can lower your level to…well, I’m not entirely sure. It will increase your potential, that much I know.”

In truth, he didn’t really remember the Whip’s method ever being used. It probably was with Motoyasu, but he couldn’t recall how.

“The third is for when you class up and requires a certain type of filolial king or queen, so that’s a ways off as well. The last two require a bit of trust, so I’ll work at gaining that from you.”

“Hmm. But telling me what they are would help me trust you more, no?”

“It’s more literal than you think.” This could go really well or…well, he supposed not that bad. He tapped the Slave User Shield. “This shield here, plus others from its series, grants bonuses to slaves under my command, increasing their growth. There’s a series for monsters I’ll be getting in a day or so. The last method is literally being trusted and trusting in return. Not something that’s easily done, unfortunately.”

“Oh, that is more difficult.” Sadeena stood and held out a hand to Dante. “But I think we’re on the right path.”

Dante pulled himself up with her help. “I’m glad to hear it.” He gave her hand a shake.

“Well then, what should we do next?” She pulled her harpoon from her back and gave it a twirl. “Maybe gain a few levels while we wait?”

“Sounds like a good start. I’ll be able to unlock more shields as we go. Up you go, Greenie.”

“Gweh?” The filolial didn’t seem to take to its nickname.

~The Wrong Hero~

From there, they headed in the direction of the capital. Of course, they opted for the more straightforward route, where monsters would be waiting to supply them with XP. With Sadeena in his party, gaining levels wouldn’t be an issue for some time. They quickly fell into a rhythm, with Sadeena slaying any monster unlucky enough to get in their path and Dante trying to keep up with her. He tried to offer blocking attacks for her, but with the large level gap, he would just end up slowing them down.

Dante would feed what he could to his shield and unlock various forms. He also kept an eye on any drops they had, though most of the weak mobs didn’t have much. The usapils and balloons never dropped any items, and about one in every ten mushes gave an iron ore. He got a few other drops from the other monsters, including a bit of rope, and fed most of it to his shield for unlocks. Most of the monster corpses went into his shield, but he had to spare a few usapils for Greenie. As pretty as the bird was, seeing it tear into the flesh of the round rabbit creature was something else.

Once he had reached level 2, Dante opted for the Leaf Shield to be what he unlocked first. The timer on the Slave User Shield said it would take just under a day to unlock, but the Leaf Shield would be ready in just over four hours. It was a neat feature he’d nearly forgotten about. If he remembered right, the more weapon forms he unlocked, the faster it would be to unlock others. Besides, it didn’t hurt to start collecting herbs now. He would need them.

By the time he did unlock the Leaf Shield, he had a couple dozen shields revealed from all the monster corpses and item drops Sadeena got him. She worked quite fast. About half of them were what he remembered Naofumi getting early on, though he couldn’t remember what bonuses they provided in the books. Appraisal, cooking, plant appraisal, a few tiny and small bonuses to defense, he even revealed an Iron Ore Shield from using the ore from the drop items, so he could gain a metalworking skill as well. Not to mention all the defense increasing shields he copied from Erhard, most of them small, but three provided a medium bonus. And, of course, there was the Iron Shield.

Iron Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: skill “shield bash”

It was pretty self-explanatory. He could bash someone or something with his shield. It would deal little damage, but it would stun them for a couple seconds. It would definitely be one of the first combat shields he unlocked, after Rope Shield and Pipe Shield, whenever he revealed that one.

One shield that did catch his attention, mostly because he picked the flower on a whim and it only had an equip effect.

Sunflower Shield
(abilities locked) equip effect: detox

It sounded like it would remove a poison effect from either himself or whoever he used it on. Which could turn out to be a really good thing, considering his party member loved to drink. It seemed a bit strange to unlock a shield with no equip bonus, but since it had a shorter unlock time than the Leaf Shield, he would put it at the top of his ‘non-urgent’ list.

Speaking of lists, his next shield to unlock would be the Blue Mush Shield for its compounding recipes. While equipped, he did have the recipes in his mind, but he couldn’t have the shield automatically create anything without unlocking it. If this were a game, that seemed like a reasonable limitation.

It was a similar situation when he gained enough levels to use the Rope Shield. With the Gauntlet’s power up method, he could spend points to increase the power of his skills. However, when he tried to power up Air Strike Shield, a popup informed him of the unlocking requirement.

As dusk started to approach, they decided to end their hunting for the day. Sadeena had gained one level, while Dante gained seven. Sadeena took a rest as Dante lit a fire and cooked up some small fish she caught in a nearby river. He took the time to disassemble the usapil for the meat and bone shields it would unlock.

“You’re pretty amazing, you know that?” Dante said as he finished skinning the rabbit.

“Oh Dante, flattery will get you everywhere~!” She teased.

“Yeah, yeah.” After several hours of working with Sadeena—or, more accurately, chasing after her—he’d gotten used to her antics. They’d talked here and there, mostly about what plans Dante had for the future. A part of all those plans was to not appear too powerful, or the church might decide to take action against him. That was easier said than done, considering he had Sadeena, plus however many kids from Lurolona that Beloukas could find. Ideally, they would need to meet with that one lord who was friendly with demi-humans and arrange housing there.

After a few minutes, the fish were finished. He brought a few over to Sadeena and sat with her. She took a bite out of a fish before pausing.

“How is it?” He asked. With her default facial expression being that easygoing smile, it wasn’t exactly easy to figure out her thoughts. Instead of replying, she took another small bite. “At least tell me it isn’t terrible.”

“It’s better than I thought it would be.” She finally said. “You used some plants to add flavor to it, yes?”

“What I could find.” Dante confirmed. “Nothing here is really familiar, so I used a shield with plant appraisal to figure something out. Just wait until I get cooking bonuses from my shields.”

“Oh my, a hero and a cook~!” She took a larger bite, finishing off the first fish.

“Oh, I’m not. Not really, anyway. You spend enough time with someone who cooks for a living, you learn a few things.” That, and you eat enough bad food in front of them and they might just force you to eat something better.

“Dante, stop eating that jerky! I’m making enchiladas, have some!” Eddy would get so mad over the silliest things.

“You haven’t talked much about yourself.” Sadeena turned her attention to her next fish.

“Yeah…” He took a bite out of his own fish.

“And you don’t want to talk about yourself.” Sadeena concluded as she watched him eat.

Dante shrugged. “I will if you want me to.”

“That’s alright.” She leaned back against the log she had claimed earlier. They sat in silence for a moment before Sadeena spoke again. “Those books you read about our world? How much of the past did you read about?”

“Mostly things that were relevant to whatever was happening at the moment, and usually just enough to understand the current situation. Melromarc and Siltvelt’s war, Cal Mira Island activating, just to name a few.”

Sadeena nodded, finishing her second fish and starting on her third. She hesitated before taking a bite. “Do you know about me?”

Dante grunted in response. He supposed this would come up sometime. “Enough to know it really isn’t fair for me to not talk about my past.”

“I see.” She let the fish rest against her lap. “And you aren’t frightened of me?”

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little.” Dante admitted. “It’s a bit hard not to be worried around someone who could probably kill you in a single thrust.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.” Dante looked her in the eyes. “I’m not worried about your past at all. You did what you had to do. And now? Here you are, working to get back your friends and family. That’s all that matters.”

Sadeena gave him a soft smile. “Wise words for someone so young. Or maybe just naive.”

Dante nodded before he looked towards the setting sun. “We should get back to castle town. I need to start my next plan.” He stood and patted himself down. “By the way, I’m twenty-eight.”

“Oh my, you look so good for your age~.”

~The Wrong Hero~

They returned to the capital before the sun set and the gates were closed. They separated before they entered, Dante coming in the same way he left, Slave User Shield on his arm, with Sadeena going some minutes after. His first stop was the slave trader’s tent to drop off Greenie and the silver, and to collect his eggs. He confirmed with Beloukas that he was indeed making inquiries about the villagers. The flying dragon he was to send out would be returning this night, so he’d send his man to Idol’s in the morning.

With that done, Dante left to meet Sadeena at Erhard’s. He made sure to keep his face covered, as well as the eggs, just in case there were any prying eyes. When he arrived, he saw Sadeena chatting with the blacksmith. Erhard saw him as he entered and gave him a wave.

“Ah, Shield Kid.” He greeted, waving him over. “Your friend’s been waiting for you.”

“Hey, Erhard.” Dante set the eggs on the counter and shifted his shield back to the Small Shield before pulling off his cloak. “Sorry to use your place of business as our meeting place.”

“No problem, kid.” Erhard leaned forward on his counter. “Say, about that issue from before…”

Dante looked over at Sadeena and gave her a wink. She nodded back to him.

Good. No one hiding around.

“Looks like I was mistaken.” He said, returning to the blacksmith.

“Well, that’s good.” Erhard said. He turned his attention to the eggs. “Going to be raising some monsters, I see.”

“Yeah, two filolials.” Dante pulled off his backpack and began rummaging through it.

“They’re pretty handy.” Erhard nodded. “Just make sure you get them a wagon or something to pull, otherwise they’ll get restless.”

“Will do.” Dante pulled out a pouch and slid fifteen silver coins into it. He also pulled out the gold coin from Erhard and slipped it behind his shield.

“What are you doin’ down there?” The blacksmith asked, looking over his counter.

“Just preparing for tonight.” He said, standing up. “Unfortunately, I’m going to be walking into a trap tonight.”

“You are?” Erhard looked between him and Sadeena. “Is this about earlier?”

“In a sense. I’m going to be framed for a crime in the morning. And have all my possessions stolen.”

Erhard scratched his head. “And you’re just going to walk right into it? What crime?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan. You’ll hear what happened come morning, I’m sure.” He was pretty sure word would be spread around as he was being taken to the castle. “Of course, not everything will be taken.” He hands the backpack and cloak to Sadeena.

“Kid, how do you know what’s going to happen?”

“Just a bit of hero knowledge.” He repeated what he said to Sadeena. It was technically true both times, Sadeena was just more cautious about it. “Besides, I’m the Shield Hero in Melromarc. I think we all know what that means.” The other two would draw different conclusions from that, but Dante knew they’d be similar.

Erhard merely sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I hope you’ll be careful.”

“I will be.” Dante fully faced Sadeena. “I’ll be going to the inn closest to the castle. You’re free to rent a room there and observe, if you wish. Just don’t interfere.”

“I think I might have a look at what’ll happen.” Sadeena gave a nod.

“Good.” Really, this would help show he was telling her the truth about these things, in case she needed proof. He thought for a moment before he spoke next. “Also, about the villagers…”

“Yes?” She tilted her head to the side.

“The man I’m working with is Beloukas. His tent is nestled in the alleys down a few streets. Raphtalia should be at the estate of Idol Rabier.”

Sadeena’s eyes widened for a moment before resetting. “Why are you telling me this?”

“To show you that I trust you. I still have a gold coin, just in case, but you have everything else. Of course, if Erhard would be willing to hold the eggs for me…”

The man in question held up his hands. “Fine, fine. I’ll keep them in the back. But I want to know what’s going on tomorrow, understand?”

“Perfectly.” Dante turned to leave. “If I’ve screwed things up and end up imprisoned, I would really appreciate a rescue.”

Without another word, Dante left for the inn. He passed a couple on the way, but managed to find the right one near the castle.

Once inside, he immediately found Motoyasu and most of his party. He made his way over to greet them.

Time to see if this works out.

“Motoyasu.” He said, sounding a bit worn out.

“Hey, Dante.” Motoyasu greeted with a smile. He soon lost that after seeing Dante’s expression. “How was your look around?”

“Not so great. Is Myne around?” He asked, trying not to make eye contact.

“Yeah, she’s over there at the bar. You alright?” Motoyasu gestured to him. “You don’t look so well.”

“I don’t really want to talk about it. Later.” Dante turned and moved to where Motoyasu had said. He was quickly able to find Malty in the crowd with her red hair.

“Oh, Sir Shield Hero.” She saw him as he approached. She, too, took notice of his demeanor. “What’s troubling you?”

“Are you still interested in joining my party?” He asked, not meeting her eyes.

“Well, I did enjoy my time with Sir Motoyasu, but I did offer to join you. What’s happened?” She motioned for him to take a seat next to her. A glass of wine sat in front of her.

“If you’re joining me, then I should tell you.” He slowly raised his eyes to hers. In a hushed tone, he spoke. “I was robbed.”

“Y-You were?” She held a hand to her mouth. Dante had to admit, seeing that confused look about her lost income would have put a smile on his face. “What happened?”

Dante took a deep breath before he continued. “While I was looking around in the fields, some bandits came upon me. They stole my pack and most of my silver, but I was able to hide some when I ran away.”

“That’s terrible!” Malty yelled. Dante looked around before held a finger to his lips. Malty calmed herself before going on. “Did you tell the guards?”

“No.” He replied. “What kind of hero gets robbed on his first day out? I couldn’t bare telling anyone. I didn’t want to tell you, but if you’re going to adventure with me, you need to know how badly I screwed up.”

Perhaps he laid it on a little heavy, but he wanted to make it convincing. If she believed he lost his silver, she wouldn’t try looking for it when she robbed him that night. The most that would happen would be her taking his very cheap armor and the coins not spent on the room.

“I see.” She kept her face neutral after that, probably trying not to rip her hair out. “Well, I’ll still adventure with you, Sir Shield Hero.”

Dante slumped onto the counter. “You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that.” He said with a huge smile on his face. “Thank you, Myne.”

“Of course, Sir Shield Hero. It’ll be an honor to work with you.” She gave him a reassuring smile as she placed her hand on his arm.

There was a small urge to pull away from her, but he needed this to seem natural.

“Anyway, it’s been a rough day. I think I’m going to sleep this experience off. I’ll see you in the morning, Myne.” He stood from his seat. “Also, you mind not telling anyone about me…you know?”

Myne gave him a nod. “Not at all. Have a good night, Sir Shield Hero.”

With that out of the way, Dante made his way to the innkeeper and rented a room for the night. He got to his room and started taking off his armor, relieved at the situation.

Okay. There’s no way Malty would want to spend a single day adventuring with me if she can’t get anything meaningful. She’ll most definitely stage the rape tonight. I’ll just have to wait and see how she changes things.

He made sure all his equipment was on the table before he slid into bed.

~The Wrong Hero~

“We will now hear the charges against the Shield Hero!” A minister called from next to the king.

The morning happened about how Dante expected it. His equipment and silver was missing and, soon after leaving his room, castle knights showed up and arrested him. Since it was just outside the castle, they didn’t bother with a carriage, though they did push him a bunch. When he was brought before the throne, the other heroes and their parties were already there, with Malty hiding behind Motoyasu.

“What charges!?” Dante called out. He had his part to play here. Honestly, it wasn’t too difficult to seem upset. He actually was. Turned out that knowing you were about to be falsely convicted didn’t make you feel any better about it.

“Myne, my dear, you would please repeat your testimony?” The king said evenly while glaring down at Dante.

“I-I went to the Shield Hero’s room to talk about our plans for today when he suddenly grabbed me and threw me onto the bed.” She said as tears fell from her face. “He said ‘I’m glad you decided to join me for some fun’ and then he tore my clothes off and…”

“That’s a lie!” Dante yelled, earning the butt of a spear to the back of his head.

“You’re the only liar here!” Motoyasu yelled back. “How could you do that to Myne? And right after she agreed to go with you!”

“Indeed!” The king slammed his fist onto his throne. “To rape someone in my kingdom, the only punishment is death!”

“But I didn’t do it! What proof do you have?” Dante demanded.

“Excuse me.” A knight said as he approached.

Ah, this must be the flimsy evidence. I didn’t know if they would try the underwear, but-

Dante’s thoughts were quickly thrown out when he saw what the knight was holding. In his hands was a light colored bedsheet…with a bloodstain near the center of it.

Malty immediately hid behind Motoyasu when it was presented.

“We found this when we searched the Shield Hero’s room.” The knight said, looking aside.

“This is undeniable proof!” The king yelled, pointing at Dante. “What say you now, Shield?”

Dante didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. His mind swam with questions.

What the hell is this? Did I cause this to happen? How did it go from nothing or torn underwear to a bloody sheet? He looked over to Malty. She continued to hide behind Motoyasu. Did she actually bleed for this? No, it’s probably from a monster or knight. Hell, they may have killed someone for this.

“Nothing to say?” The king said. “As I thought.”

“T-This is a setup! I didn’t do anything!” Dante found his voice.

“I knew there was something wrong with you.” Itsuki said, looking down his nose at Dante.

“He probably thought he was better than everyone around him.” Ren concluded with his arms crossed.

“I can’t believe I trusted you for even a moment!” Motoyasu finished, grinding his spear into the ground.

“But I didn’t do it!” Dante yelled futilely.

“Enough!” Aultcray’s voice boomed throughout the room. “Your guilt is clear for all to see!”

Dante dropped his head. “Fine. Since no one will believe me anyway, why bother talking?” He glared back up to the king. “So, you going to kill me now?”

“As much as I want to, you are here to fight the waves. I wish we could summon a new Shield Hero, but my researchers tell me that new heroes can only be summoned once all four have died.”

The other heroes voiced their concerns, but the king continued. “However, you won’t go unpunished. Your crimes are already known to my people. You’ll never live a good life here. That will be your punishment. You will return in a month to fight the waves. Now, leave my castle!”

“Fine!” Dante called out, giving the heroes one last look. When he did, he saw something even more unexpected. Malty wasn’t taunting him. She barely looked at him, keeping behind Motoyasu all the while.

A shove from a knight got Dante moving. He left the castle without another word. His thoughts from before returned to him.

This Malty…She’s much more cautious than I thought she’d be. More cunning. This makes it look like I stole her first time. She didn’t even need to say I was drunk, since they all think I’m a violent thug anyway from my spar with Motoyasu. And as I just saw, she’s not about to risk her plan for the throne just to make sure I knew she framed me. A short-sighted, belligerent Malty is something I can handle. But this…

Dante reached the gatehouse to the city, continuing down the road.

I don’t know if I’m prepared for what she might plan.

Chapter Text

Dante walked down the main road of the capital, still stuck in his thoughts. People pointed at him and whispered as he passed, but he paid them little mind. Malty and the church were going to be bigger problems than he initially believed. He needed to rethink his plans.

Of course, focusing on any particular topic was somewhat difficult. Between waking up in the middle of the night from his nightmare, to pretending to be asleep as his room was robbed, missing breakfast and having the trial…

God, I need a smoke.

He used another two sticks yesterday, one during a short break with Greenie, and another after supper with Sadeena. After he explained what it was to her, she confirmed there was something similar in this world. It wasn’t really sold in towns, mostly something farmers grew on the side to have after a long day’s work. It also didn’t sound like that stuff was as detrimental to one’s health as his cigarettes, so that was something to look forward to. Hopefully it would help with cravings while he got off it completely. He had planned to quit for a while, but kept falling back into it.

“Hey.” A voice pulled him from his addiction thoughts as he found himself near Erhard’s. It was the man himself who called to him from between a few stalls.

“Erhard.” Dante looked the man over. He didn’t seem too pleased.

Erhard walked over to him and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. “Did you do it?”

“Wha-” Dante was at a loss for words. “What are you…Why would I tell you about it yesterday if I was actually going to—”

“Did you do it?” He asked again, his hold firm.

“…No.” Erhard stared at him a moment before letting him go.

“Alright.” He said as he turned. “Come to my shop. Through the back. I want that explanation now.”

Dante nodded as he moved to the alley. It wasn’t too strange, he supposed. Looking into the eyes was a decent way to tell if someone was lying. He’d done that plenty before.

When he reached the back of the shop, he found the door unlocked. Almost immediately after opening the door, his head was pulled down. He felt his face collide with something soft. Two somethings.

“Oh, Dante, how could you~!” Sadeena had her arms wrapped around his head as she pressed it into her chest. “There are better ways to relieve yourself than to take advantage of some poor girl!”

“…Well, I’m glad someone is enjoying my situation.” Although, currently, he was also enjoying it.

She let him up and ruffled his hair. “Just a bit of fun.”

“Right. Wait, are you wearing my jacket?”

Sadeena gave a quick pose, showing herself off. “Looks good, don’t you think?”

It did. With the leather jacket, her long hair, and her wrapped chest, she looked like she was a delinquent straight out of an anime. Aside from the sash-thing around her waist, anyway.

“Oh my, if you stare any harder, you’ll make me blush~.”

Dante gave his head a quick shake. “R-Right. Just take it off before we leave.” He looked past her and saw Erhard down the hall, arms crossed. “Alright, I owe you an explanation.” He came into the shop area and stood opposite of the blacksmith.

“That you do.”

It didn’t take long to tell the man what he knew. How he knew of this world through books and stories, who some of the key people early on would be, the destruction of Lurolona and the plot of Malty and the church. He had to say, Erhard took the news pretty well. Though, he didn’t seem to believe Dante at first, but once he mentioned how Erhard’s former blacksmithing master chased girls as much as he made weapons, Erhard’s expression began to change.

Sadeena corroborated his story. Apparently, after Dante went to his room and Motoyasu’s party retired, Malty left sometime in the middle of the night. About twenty minutes later, a man came back, snuck into Dante’s room, and left with his equipment and silver.

Smart. It might have looked bad if I caught her in my room and called for help. Unlikely, but not a risk she likely wanted to take.

Of course, Dante made sure to first check with Sadeena for eavesdroppers.

“I still can’t believe the princess would do something like this.” Erhard shook his head.

“Not surprising.” Dante nodded. “She’s good at manipulating people. She also seems more careful and cunning than in the books. Something I’ll need to watch out for.”

“There’s something I don’t understand, though. If you knew this was going to happen, why not try to prevent it? Stay out of the city for a while and get stronger, or try to prove your innocence.”

Dante simply shook his head. “Too risky. I have no idea what would have happened if I stayed away. If I somehow got the other heroes on my side, the king could have decided this batch was no good and summoned another. Any proof I brought forward could have just been dismissed anyway. This outcome, while irritating, is quite manageable.”

Erhard leaned on his counter. He thought for a moment before speaking. “I suppose you did the best you could with what you had.”

“I’d like to think so too.” Naofumi survived without any help for weeks. Dante had Sadeena on day one of his adventuring, and revealed a large number of shields. He liked his odds. “Oh, right.”

Dante shifted his shield to the Blue Mush Shield to continue unlocking it. He didn’t want people seeing a different shield form before, even while sleeping, just in case some church members got any ideas.

“That’s a pretty neat shield, kid.” Erhard gave the shield a glance. “Mind if I inspect it?”

“Go for it.” He said as Erhard chanted to himself. “By the way, I don’t think I told you my age, did I?”

“You look seventeen or eighteen.” Dante watched as a small ball of light extended from Erhard’s hand and harmlessly bounced off his shield. “Well, it’s definitely powerful, but I can’t get any other information about it.”

“I thought as much.” Dante leaned on the counter and pointed to his face. “Twenty-eight.”

Erhard raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Dante shrugged. “Magic or something.”

“Right. Anyway, where will you go now? I doubt you’ll be too welcome in town.”

Dante nodded towards Sadeena. “I have a guy looking for her friends and neighbors. We’ll be buying them up and grinding levels.”

“Right…the village.” Erhard looked over to Sadeena as well. “I’m sorry that happened. The queen’s been trying to change how people treat demi-humans in this country, but…”

“It’s alright.” Sadeena pulled Dante over by the shoulder. “I have little Dante here to help me find them all.”

“What’s with people calling me little? ‘Kid’ I get, but I’m taller than you too.”

Erhard chuckled at their display. “This one seems like she’ll be a handful.”

“I don’t doubt that at all.”

“Oh my~!”

“Anyway,” Erhard pointed to the egg incubators sitting in the corner behind the counter, “you want to take these off my hands?”

“In a little while.” Dante said, pulling himself from Sadeena. “If I remember right, Beloukas should have one kid from the village today. I want to get her armed before leaving, so I’ll be bringing her by later.” According to the slave trader, the timers on the incubators were set to end about an hour or so from now. Plenty of time to do what he needed before they hatched.

“You’re going to have kids fight for you?” Erhard did not look at all pleased by that.

“Possibly, if they want to. However, if not, then at least they can defend themselves and they’ll be leveled up to take on any slavers that come their way.”

“I suppose you’re right…”

Erhard never liked the idea of slavery in this country, that much Dante knew. But even he couldn’t argue against this plan.

“Before that, I should probably get some armor.” He looked over a few pieces on the stands.

“Hmm, if you’re going to be defending multiple people, you’ll want something strong but light.” Erhard walked over to one of the stands. Dante almost laughed when he did. “How about some chainmail? I could sell it to you for one hundred twenty silver.”

How fitting.

Once he got armored up, and set with another pair of boots, he donned his backpack and cloak and set out with Sadeena, also in her cloak. It wasn’t long before they were at the circus tent again. When they went inside, Beloukas was inspecting some of the monster cages. He turned when they entered, his signature smile on his face.

“Ah, Sir Hero. So good to see you again.” He rubbed his hands together. “Especially after hearing about your escapades with that adventurer.”

“News travels fast around these parts, eh?”

“Hah! Indeed. You’ll be pleased to know I found one of the children you were looking for. And I see your friend is back with you this time.”

Dante stole a glance at Sadeena, who was turned away from him. “Yeah. I figured it would be this quick. Go ahead and grab them and we’ll meet at your office.”

“Certainly!” Beloukas went off as Dante and Sadeena went to wait.

“Listen…” Sadeena started when they reached the short man’s desk, “I…”

“It’s fine.” Dante said without turning. He never mentioned any friend to Beloukas, so Sadeena must have come here at some point before this morning. “I’m still earning your trust. If this helps, then confirm what I say as much as you can. I really don’t mind.”

She simply gave him a nod as Beloukas returned. Just as Dante thought, a girl who fit Keel’s description was with him, being pulled along with a chain.

“Here is one of the slaves you specifically requested, yes sir.” Beloukas stopped at his desk.

“I-I won’t do anything you tell me to!” Keel shouted, still pulling at her chain.

Yep, definitely Keel.

“As you can see, this one has a problematic personality. Luckily, one of my colleagues recently purchased her, so I was able to get her rather quickly.”

“H-Her?!” Keel yelled. “I’m a boy!”

“We’ll get to that.” Dante waved her off. “So, the price? I can’t imagine she’s all that expensive, if she’s this difficult.”

“Hey, listen to me!”

“Well, good sir, she is in rather good condition.” Beloukas rubbed his chin, ignoring Keel’s outburst. “I think seventy silver is a good price, yes sir.”

“Forty seems adequate, given our ongoing business dealings.” Dante countered.

“Sir Hero is fond of his jokes, yes sir. Sixty for the girl.”

“I’m not a girl!”

“Fifty, and I’ll be sure to consider you first for all my monster needs.”

“I would think that’s a given already, Sir Hero. Fifty-fi—”

“Hey!” Keel yelled a final time as she lifted up her rags. “I’m a boy! See?!”

Dante was about to speak before he noticed something very important about Keel.

“Oh my~! Children shouldn’t be doing such things.” Sadeena said with a laugh.

Dante turned his head away, waving his hand at Keel. “Okay, okay, you’re a boy. Just cover yourself!”

“Ah, that was unexpected.” Beloukas said. “My colleague didn’t clarify her…his sex. Fifty silver it is.”

Keel lowered his rags as they agreed on the price.

How many of these ‘what the hell’ moments am I going to have? At least this one isn’t a big deal. Why is Keel a boy? Although, thinking about it, I vaguely remember hearing that Keel was originally a boy before the author changed his gender. Maybe they got all the correct information and just changed things for narrative effect and to fit into different tropes?

Beloukas started preparing the ink as Dante counted out the silver.

And I really don’t like how he stopped haggling when he realized Keel wasn’t a girl.

The slave trader handed Dante the knife.

“Ah, Dante, a moment?” Sadeena tapped his shoulder before he started.

“What’s up?” He looked over at her.

“About the slave seal…”

“Ah.” Dante understood. “You don’t want her…him registered to me.”

Sadeena nodded. She was trying to trust him, but he supposed seeing this was a bit much.

“With the bonuses I can provide, he’ll be much better off under me.”

“I understand that.”

“Hmm.” Dante thought a moment. How could he convince her? He supposed the biggest issue was being able to kill slaves with a thought. Maybe there was something there. “Beloukas.” He turned to the round man. “Slave seals can kill the slaves, correct?”

“Of course! It’s to insure loyalty from the slaves.”

“And how long would it take? Is it instantaneous?”

Beloukas tapped his desk. “That would depend on the slave seal. High grade slave seals can do it instantly, though higher level combat slaves will take a bit of time. For this basic seal on, for instance, this demi-human child…about ten seconds or so at full strength.”

“And I assume that, should the slave holder die, the kill effect will stop?”

“Yes sir. In fact, the ink will turn black, so anyone could tell the slave is without a master.”

Dante gave Sadeena a smile. “Sounds good, yeah? Worst comes to worst, if you don’t think you could kill me outright, you can always take me out in my sleep.”

Sadeena gave him a hesitant nod. A bit morbid, perhaps, but effective. Dante let a few drops of blood fall into the ink bowl as Beloukas prepared the brush. When the slave trader approached Keel, he backed up.

“Stay away from me!” He yelled.

Beloukas was about to snap his fingers to activate the seal, but Dante grabbed his hand. “None of that, now.” He said, turning back to his companion. “Sadeena, I think you should try to convince him first.”

“Sadeena?” Keel looked at the woman, clearly confused.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea here, Dante.” She said. He looked at her a moment before realizing what she meant. He gave her a wink, but she shook her head. “No, not that. I meant in this place.”

Dante looked around at the few cages present in the room. “Is it uncomfortable for you?”

“No, it’s…” She gestured to Beloukas, a confused look on his face as he tilted his head.

Don’t do that. That is very much the opposite of cute from you!

“Don’t worry about him.” Dante said, ignoring the slaver. “He’s slated to earn over a thousand silver, probably thousands of silver, from our deal. I doubt he’s going to do something to screw that up. And I don’t think he’s in the business of selling out his customers.”

“Perish the thought, madam!” He held a hand to his chest. “I pride myself on my excellent customer satisfaction!”

Sadeena gave a shrug before she dropped her cloak. In a puff of smoke, she changed into her therianthrope form. Keel stared at her, slack jawed. Dante gave her a once over as well. She really was quite big, as tall as Greenie, in fact. Even Beloukas seemed surprised.

“S-Sadeena…” Keel took a step forward. Then another. He lunged at her, grabbing hold of her leg. “Big sis Sadeena! It’s really you!”

“It’s me, Keel. Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” She pat him on his head. Keel cried into her leg, clinging to her for dear life.

“Quite the interesting companion you have, Sir Hero.” Beloukas remarked.

“She is, isn’t she?” That seemed to confirm what Dante thought. If Beloukas, a slave trader, didn’t notice what Sadeena was, then he had nothing to fear with her walking around the city.

Sadeena kept stroking Keel’s head until he calmed down, wiping away his tears before he spoke again. “What are you doing here, big sis?”

“Looking for you, and the other children from the village.” She said and pointed towards Dante. “This man knew where to find you all.”

Keel peaked around her leg to glare at him. “The man who wants to buy me?”

“Yes.” She patted him on the back. “Little Dante here is actually the Shield Hero.”

He looked back up at Sadeena. “The…Shield Hero?”

“See, now it makes sense for you to call me ‘little.’” Dante held his hands to his hips.

Sadeena chuckled at his complaining. “He seems like a trustworthy young man. I think you should let him put a seal on you.”

“A-Are you sure?” Keel didn’t seem too keen on the idea. If Dante remembered correctly, then…

“Do you want to be stronger?” He asked the dog boy.

Keel’s ears perked up at that. “Stronger?”

Dante nodded. “Being a party member of a hero grants you power. Some of my shields will grant slaves more. I have some other tricks as well. If you want, I can grant you this power. You won’t have to be afraid of slavers or the waves ever again. And you’ll be able to protect your friends once we find them.” He took a knee next to the boy and outstretched his hand. “What do you say?”

Keel stared at his hand. He scrunched up his face in a complicated expression. His mouth moved to form words, but none came out. Dante stayed kneeling all the while.

Finally, Keel gave his answer.

A loud rumble from his stomach.

Dante laughed before he pulled off his backpack and took out some of his rations. “I also have food.”

Keel quickly snatched the offered food and tore into it. It was mostly dried meat, but he was finished within seconds. Dante looked over to the slave trader.

“What, you couldn’t even get him some gruel?” He asked.

“Okay.” Keel said, regaining Dante’s attention. “I’ll do it. But don’t think I trust you yet!”

“Of course.” Dante stood. “That comes later.”

With that, Beloukas completed the ritual and a popup appeared in Dante’s vision.

Slave Acquired
Keel – Dog Demi-Human
LV 1

Neat. As a slave, I can see his stats as easily as I see mine. With Sadeena, all I have is her name, HP, and MP. Oh, right!

“By the way, Beloukas,” Dante had nearly forgotten to ask, “at what level does the basic slave seal no longer work?”

“Hmm. Well, it depends on the stat growth of the slave. On average, after they receive a class upgrade at level forty is the latest, some even if it’s done earlier. After that, the seal can still activate, but it isn’t likely to harm the slave. That’s why most combat slaves get a high-grade slave seal, yes sir.”

Interesting. That would help explain why Sadeena was unaffected by that greedy merchant’s seal. Or, was that a high-grade seal, and Sadeena is just that badass? Either or, doesn’t matter.

“Then that should be one of your goals, Keel.” Dante looked down at the dog boy. “Now, I have to keep a condition checked on the slave seal. The only one will be that you can’t lie to me. That means you can disobey me, but I still expect you to listen to me. However, I’ll never ask you to do something I wouldn’t do myself.” He looked up at Sadeena. “From either of you.”

Sadeena gave him a nod before he returned his attention to Keel. “That said, I can’t wield weapons. That’s where you two come in. From here on, we’ll be fighting monsters to get stronger, so you need to follow my and Sadeena’s instructions. Understood?”

“Y-Yeah.” Keel said with a nod.

“Good.” Dante turned back to Beloukas. “Seems like our business is done for today. Your money is on the desk. I’ll be in tomorrow to check on your progress. Also, the man you sent to Rabier’s?”

“Yes sir, he departed this morning, before you arrived. He should be back sometime tomorrow night, so I’ll have an answer the next day.”

Dante nodded. “Excellent.” He looked over to the orca woman. “Sadeena, I need you to grab a few things before we start monster killing again.”

“What is it?” She transformed back into her demi-human form.

“Some…Beloukas, what do baby filolials eat?”

“I believe bean paste works best, yes sir.” He responded.

“Some of that. Also, a blank notebook, ink, some sort of pen, and an easy to read book. Since I have the opportunity, I want to observe Keel’s growth to understand some of my shields and abilities. And I should start learning how to read this country’s language.”

“You can’t read?” Keel asked.

“Technically, I can’t speak either. The shield translates speech for me, but not writing. Wait, can you read?” Dante asked in turn.

“A little bit.” He answered.

“That’s great! Then, after we finish for the day, you can help me learn this country’s language while Sadeena rests.”

“Why do I have to do that?!” Keel demanded.

“Well, Sadeena can’t.” He gestured to the person in question. “She’s the primary fighter in our group. It wouldn’t be fair if she does so much during the day, then spends her evenings teaching me.” Dante tapped his chin before continuing. “Although, once you get stronger, then you won’t have to do that as much.”

“Hmph!” Keel pouted. “Fine! I’ll get stronger, then I won’t have to teach you anymore!”

“Oh my!” Sadeena laughed at our little back and forth. “You have such a way with children~.”

“I know a few things.” He said. “We’ll meet up at the edge of the forest outside the south gate.”

~The Wrong Hero~

Sadeena went off to get the supplies while Dante and Keel returned to the weapon shop. Erhard made a face at seeing Keel, but quickly got to arming and clothing him. Even knowing the circumstances, Erhard didn’t like seeing slavery in practice. Dante’s purse became twenty silver lighter, an iron dagger for Keel and a rusty shortsword for Dante’s disguise, plus a pair of whetstones. He absorbed one for his shield and would unlock it at a later point. Dante and Keel each grabbed an egg and made for the gatehouse. Dante moved his shield to his back and kept his hood up. The guards, like before, didn’t pay him any mind. Either they were bad at their jobs, or they didn’t care to look at a demi-human slave and his master.

Once in the forest, they met up with Sadeena. She handed over the supplies and the remaining silver and bronze. It ended up costing around twenty silver, with the traveler’s fountain pen making up almost half the cost, and the written book coming in second. He almost thought the ink would be the most expensive, but he supposed there were probably monsters that could easily provide a form of ink. Sadeena also thought to buy another pair of backpacks, bedrolls, and waterskins, costing another twenty silver. It was a good buy, especially since Dante had forgotten.

Before they began their hunting, the eggs started to crack. Dante watched as the filolials broke out of their eggs. One was a brilliant yellow with red eyes while the other was a deep blue with blue-green eyes.

“Well, aren’t you two just the most adorable little things!” Dante said as the birds jumped into his waiting lap.

“Wow.” Keel looked down at the birds in awe. “We had a rancher at the village, but I never saw a filolial hatch before.”

“Do you have any names in mind?” Sadeena asked before her smile grew. “Or will you be naming them ‘Yellow’ and ‘Blue’?”

“Cut me some slack.” Dante turned away from her. “It wasn’t my filolial and I forgot to ask!”

Though, she did have a point. They needed names, not just ‘Filolial A’ and ‘Filolial B’, like they appeared in his status. Really, naming things wasn’t something he was particularly good at. When he was a kid, he had a cat that he named ‘Honey Bee’, and his naming sense hadn’t improved much.

He thought back to some of the people he knew from his world. A few names popped into his head, but nothing really stood out to him. Perhaps something simple, like Bell, or Cherry, or Mary—

No! Not that! I can’t do that to myself…

Dispelling the creeping thought forming in his head, he looked back at the filolials. Maybe something with their colors. Yellow with red eyes, blue with blue-green eyes…

Wait a moment, that sounds almost familiar.

He held a filolial in each hand and looked at them. The yellow one almost seemed to have a fierce, yet playful look on its face. The blue one had a more calm, but stern expression.

Since they hatched at the same time, they may as well be siblings. That means…

He tilted his head back and laughed.

Wow. Even in another world, JoJo is popping into my head. I’m holding Dio Brando and Jonathan Joestar. That would be pretty funny. Dio the filolial. I don’t think I should—

“Ah, crap!” Dante shouted.

“What?” Keel jumped back, startled from his outburst.

Dante saw the change happen in his status.

Dio – Filolial

Dammit, why did I have to go and think that?

He looked to the blue filolial, still with its temporary name.

Oh well. In for a penny…

“Well, I’ve named the filolials.” He turned to show his party members. “This one is Dio, and this one is JoJo.” He gestured to each filolial as he called their names.

“Cheep!” The filolials chirped, seemingly approving of their names.

“Those names sound kind of strange.” Keel said, earning a slight glare from the filolials.

“Maybe just a little.” Dante confirmed, moving a filolial to each shoulder. “I guess they’re more like shortened names, but I thought they’d work well.” And that’s the story he’s sticking with. Sadeena gave him a knowing look, but at least she didn’t know the why.

“Well then, are we ready to start?” She asked, moving past the topic.

“We are.” Dante stood. “I think the same plan as yesterday will work, if you’re good with it. Keel, you’ll stay next to me. Anything gets past Sadeena, I’ll grab it and you stab it. Think you can do it?”

“Y-Yeah, I can do that.” He said. He was a bit nervous, but Dante was confident he could handle it.

“Alright, let’s get going then.”

~The Wrong Hero~

The monster hunting went about as well as it had the day before. Sadeena cut down most everything in her path. The few things that got past her, Dante held for Keel to stab. The first time he caught an usapil, Keel refused to stab it. So, Dante merely held it up for Dio and JoJo to peck to death. In hindsight, that wasn’t the best idea, as blood then sprayed onto his face. After that, Keel gladly killed any usapil he caught, if only to not see Dante looking like he just came from a slaughter.

At some point, the Blue Mush Shield was unlocked, so Dante moved to the Rope Shield to get an active skill. Fortunately, it would only take about eight hours to unlock. Something he noticed while looking over his shields was the timer on the Slave User Shield had changed, even though he hadn’t switched to it since yesterday. He figured it meant his level was also a factor in release times. It wasn’t much, just a few minutes shorter when he noticed, but it would help. He pulled some ingredients he stashed in his pack into his shield and began making some healing potions.

They stopped partway through for a meal, with Dante cooking the usapils. He decided to use some of the monster souls to increase his cooking skill by 1, and used a shield with a cooking bonus. He’d forgotten to use that shield yesterday, much to his embarrassment, but at least he had increased his defense by 1 with monster souls.

Speaking of, it looked like the soul energy used for the Spear was different than the Bow. For the Spear, the souls were automatically collected after absorbing monsters, but the Bow used the energy in monster pieces. He’d need to play with this a bit more.

Needless to say, his food was greeted quite warmly.

By the end of their hunting, they all made some pretty good level gains.

Dante: LV 16
Sadeena: LV 29
Keel: LV 12
Dio: LV 10
JoJo: LV 10

The filolials had also changed a bit. They were a bit bigger, Dante no longer able to encircle one with his hands. Their feather colors didn’t change much, but they did start making a ‘piyo’ sound, which Dante found adorable. They also made quick work of the beans, but were able to start eating usapil meat before the beans ran out.

He skinned a number of usapils and crafted over a dozen healing potions using his shield. He found it strange that they came automatically in a bottle and thought those could be used as another source of income, but that thought was quickly dispelled. Sadeena had actually taken a small amount of damage when a large pack of usapils came running from a burrow. He had her use a potion and found the bottle disintegrated after being used.

With the sun setting, they decided to return to the city and sleep in an inn for the night. Dante figured Keel hadn’t been in a proper bed for some time, so it would be best to let him have that before they began camping out. Sadeena knew about a demi-human inn she’d heard of from some travelers. Dante believed he remembered hearing about that in one of Motoyasu’s loops.

However, before they even got close to the gate, Keel hid behind Dante’s cloak.

“Something wrong?” He asked the boy, who was trembling fiercely.

“T-That man.” He shakily pointed to a pair of knights that were patrolling the nearby pathway around the city. “He…He was at the village.”

Dante looked over at the man Keel indicated. He caught a glimpse of a scar above his right eye. “In Lurolona? He was part of the raid?”

Keel nodded as he clung to his cloak. Dante looked over at Sadeena. Her gaze was hard as she pulled it from the knights.

“What do you want to do?” He asked her.

Her grip on her harpoon tightened. “Why, I would think that would be obvious.”

Dante nodded. “Agreed, but I hear them talking. Let’s see what the other one is about first.” He gave Keel a pat on the head. “Keel, take Dio and JoJo and go to the edge of the forest. Keep out of sight. We’ll be there shortly.”

Keel hesitantly let go before running off, the filolials trailing behind him. Dante and Sadeena began tailing the guards, getting just close enough to hear their words. After a few minutes of talking, the scarred knight’s partner said something interesting.

“Hey, I heard a rumor you came into some silver recently.” He said. “Got any good leads?”

“Heh, what, and lose out making money myself? Go find your own leads.” The scarred one replied with a laugh.

“Come on, you’ve got plenty of work. Throw me a small bone here. It doesn’t have to be as big a Lurolona.”

“That was the luckiest break of my life!” The knight bellowed. “I don’t think I could ever get something like that again.”

Dante and Sadeena shared a look. The both knew what these two were.

Slavers.

Dante moved closer and whispered to her.

“I’ll take the scarred guy alive. We can get rid of his friend.” Sadeena nodded and they looked towards the town. They were far enough away that no one could make out what they were about to do, especially since the sun had already moved below the town’s walls.

Dante switched to his Iron Shield, since it currently had the best stats. They picked up their pace slightly before they sprinted forwards. By the time the guards reacted, Dante already held the scarred knight, one arm locked around his throat while the other arm kept his spear arm from moving.

“What the—” The buddy was knocked to the ground from Sadeena’s harpoon slamming into his head. Before he could get back up, she thrust it down and into his throat. Gurgling was heard as he desperately tried to stop the blood from spewing from the hole.

“You—Damn—Geh—” The scarred knight tried to get the words out, but Dante tightened his grip on the man’s throat. Try as he might, he couldn’t shake Dante off. He brought his free arm back into Dante’s side, but with no real leverage, it harmlessly bounced off his armor.

It seems my defense does impact grappling. Naofumi was able to drag a whale through the water, so I’m not exactly surprised. Wishing I played around with the power up methods more, but I didn’t imagine we’d have an encounter like this. He’s flailing, but he isn’t breaking my grip. Bet he’s wishing his chest piece extended up to his neck right about now. Still, though…

“Sadeena, this is taking too long. Just knock him out.” He thought he could hold him until the man passed out, but maybe his stats let him go without air for a longer period. Or, since Dante had little attack, he wasn’t able to choke out someone. He’d need to experiment when he had the time.

“As the source of your power, I command you! Let the true way be revealed once more! Lightning! Paralyze the one before me! Zweite Paralyzing Thunder!”

Dante released the knight as Sadeena’s spell struck. The man convulsed for a few moments before falling to the ground. Dante switched back to his Rope Shield and started unwinding rope, allowing Sadeena to start binding him.

“What do we do about the other one?” She asked. “We could carry him to the forest and bury him there.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Dante moved over to the other knight. When he grabbed him, the jewel on his shield began to shine. “What the…”

“What is it?”

“I think…” Dante held the gem against the knight, absorbing him into his shield, equipment and all. He looked at his status as several popups appeared.

Human Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: defense bonus (small)

Reinforced Iron Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: defense bonus (medium), skill “cleave bash”

Well, that’s terrifying.

He didn’t expect to reveal a Human Shield, though he did recall Naofumi once unlocked a Raccoon Shield, but he didn’t remember what it did. He’d need to get some blood from Sadeena and Keel later. The Reinforced Iron Shield looked to branch from the regular Iron Shield. It had better stats and an improved skill. It looked like the iron breastplate the guard had worn was a component for it. Speaking of, he saw all the guard’s possessions in his item drops, as well as the knight’s clothed remains in his monster drops.

Odd, but fine. Seems if something dies with an item on it, I can put it in my item drops. I feel like it shouldn’t work like that, and I don’t really want to accept any more gift horses, but here it is.

“Okay, I have the knight tied.” Sadeena stood and looked around her. “Where’s the other one?”

“Right here.” Dante tapped his shield. “I think I just discovered every serial killer’s most desired item.” He stood before the bound guard, looking down at him. “Well, grab a leg. This guy is going to have a shit time tomorrow.”

Chapter Text

Warning: Brief depiction of torture.

“Good morning, sunshine.” Dante said to the knight.

“Wha…” The knight took in his surroundings. He tried to, but he found himself completely restrained. His arms, his legs, even his head was completely immobile. He was pinned to a long log they’d found, and was propped against another log, with his legs elevated and his face toward the sky.

“You…How dare you attack a knight of Melromarc!” The knight bellowed.

“You said that already.” Dante replied, rummaging through his backpack.

In truth, the knight had woken up during the night. Since Keel was still shaken, Sadeena took first watch. After a few hours, the knight started yelling at them to release him. Dante had already awoken, stirred from yet another nightmare, and figured then was a good time to figure out his question from yesterday. He held the knight’s throat until he passed out, which did take longer than he thought, but not incredibly so. He had Sadeena repeat her spell, just to make sure the knight stayed out. Dante kept watch after then, until the sun rose and they had breakfast.

“What are you planning, Shield?!”

“Well, first, I’m glad you recognized me. So many knights seem to be bad at their job.” They weren’t the only ones. Sadeena had yet to spot a single shadow, or anyone else spying on them. Guards not looking at cloaked travelers is one thing, but what are the church shadows doing? Hopefully, they aren’t as numerous as I feared.

Dante stood above the knight, hands behind his back. “Second, I have some questions for you.”

“I’ll tell you nothing, devil!” The knight spat.

“You say that…” Dante gestured to Sadeena and Keel to come over. “But, really, you will. I want you to look at these two first.”

The knight’s eyes shifted between the two. “A dog brat and your girlfriend. So what?”

Sadeena held her harpoon and gripped it tightly.

Wow. No joke about that? She is pissed.

“Look at the boy. Do you recognize him?” Dante prodded, but the knight remained silent. “He was a resident of Lurolona”

“Hah! One of those beast—” His exposed head was swiftly met with the butt of Sadeena’s harpoon. Keel shook slightly, but he kept standing.

“Yes. Now, I want you to think hard about what you say next.” Dante knelt next to the man, putting his face right in front of the knight’s. “Who else raided the village, and where did you sell the children?”

Dante got his answer in the form of spit on his face. He simply stood up and wiped it off.

“Rude, but I’m so glad you feel that way. Otherwise,” A cruel grin spread on his face as he looked down at the knight, “I wouldn’t be able to test out a few things.”

“Go to hell, devil!”

“No need to worry about that.” He turned to Keel. “Go wait with the filolials while we deal with this.”

“No, I want to be here.” Keel said, standing firm.

“This isn’t something a child should see.”

“I said—” Keel stopped when Sadeena placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Wait for us over there.” She said simply. The dog boy stood still for a moment before nodding.

Once he disappeared through the foliage, Dante reached behind him. “Do you see what this is?” He asked, holding a knife in his hands. “I’ve used this to skin dozens of usapils in my short time here.”

He twirled the knife in his hand. “But, you see, my shield is a bit particular.”

He slowly brought the knife lower. “I can’t use any weapon other than my shield.”

The knife inched its way closer to the bound knight. “But that only applies to combat.”

“Stop!”

It was inches from his face. “This isn’t combat. You aren’t an enemy. You are simply a piece of meat.”

The knife made contact with the knight. “So…”

In an instant, the knife was flung from Dante’s hand, the remnants of the shock dissipating from him.

“Well, it was worth a shot.” Dante looked over at the knife, embedded in the ground. “No matter, I have a more realistic idea.”

Dante knelt down and picked up a couple items. In one hand was a large piece of cloth. In the other was a waterskin.

“I’ll be placing this cloth over your face. It was from your buddy’s shirt, in case you were wondering.”

“Bastard!”

When he lay it over the bound man, Sadeena held it tight on either side.

“Will this really work?” She asked.

“Do you not have this here?” Dante returned. Sadeena shook her head. He supposed in a world with magic and levels, some torture techniques might be more obscure than others. “Ah, well, yes. This will work quite well. Assuming, of course…”

He opened the waterskin and began to pour. The water hit the cloth, but the waterskin stayed in his hand. He continued to pour a little at a time.

Interesting. It’s indirect enough that the shield will let me do this. Of course, this would either be something like environmental damage, where I would gain no XP, or it’s the equivalent of me handing a weapon to Sadeena, since the soaked cloth is doing the work. Either or.

It was barely ten seconds before the knight started shaking violently against his restraints. His ungloved hands desperately scratched against the log he was bound to in a vain attempt at escape. He sputtered as he tried to gain a single breath of air.

“Okay, take it off.” Dante said.

The second Sadeena lifted the cloth, the man coughed uncontrollably. His face had begun to turn red.

“So, ready to talk yet—”

“It was Davon Mallory! He led us to the village after the wave! There was Karta, Ballan Nate, Adler—”

“Slow down a second!” Dante fumbled with his notebook on the ground and began writing.

Over the next fifteen minutes, Dante had a list of twenty-four names with descriptions of the knights and slavers, their usual hangouts, approximate levels, and who likely handled the transactions with the slave traders.

God, he just doesn’t shut up. I could barely keep up with the bastard. I know it was bad, but it wasn’t that bad. Didn’t even get the chance to threaten refilling the waterskin in the river over there. Got to say, I’m not impressed with these knights.

“Is that everything?” Dante asked, glancing down at the knight through slit eyes.

“That’s all I know!” The man pleaded.

Dante hummed to himself before nodding. “Good. I suppose we’re done here then.” He took the knife and cut the ropes binding the knight to the log, but not releasing him entirely.

“Y-You’ll let me go?” He tentatively asked. There was actual hope in his voice.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Dante pulled the man by his legs. He began walking towards the small river as Sadeena followed. “I just tortured you, albeit barely, and we killed your friend. Can’t really leave any witnesses, can we?”

“Wait!” The man called as he was dragged along, thrashing around. “I-I know other things! I’ll tell you if you let me go! I swear I’ll never breathe a word of any of this!”

“I highly doubt that. Both of those things.” They were a few feet into the river, the water coming just above the knight’s shoulders.

“The church! I can tell you what the church is planning!”

That got Dante to stop. He figured the man was just a slaver, not in on whatever the church had going on. If he knew something, it might be useful.

“This had better be good.” Dante looked down at him, not letting go of his leg.

“The princess! They plan on stirring up problems for you and making it look like Princess Malty’s doing! They want you to kill her in anger!”

Well…that was certainly something. If Malty was more cunning, there was no reason to believe the church leaders weren’t also. Hoping he died in the waves was an option, but if they could trick Dante into killing a princess, well, that would give a good excuse to kill the Shield Hero and start a crusade.

This also muddied Dante’s thoughts on what Malty might have planned for him. If she wasn’t going to screw with Dante, then was framing him and ensnaring Motoyasu the bulk of her plan in the early stages? Was she aware of the church’s plans to remove her? Was she aware of their theocracy plan? The knight that presented the bloody sheet could have been loyal to Malty and not the church.

Hell, the framing might even be the full extent of their interactions, but Dante wasn’t going to hold his breath. There were more moving parts than he was comfortable with.

“So…do we have a deal?” The knight broke him from his thoughts.

Dante smiled as he looked down at the knight. “That was a very nice piece of information you gave me.”

“Then…”

“However.” Dante pulled the knight a few more feet, submerging his head. He placed a boot on the knight’s chest, keeping his writhing head underwater. “I’d be a fool to let you live, no matter what knowledge you can provide me. I do appreciate it, though.”

The knight kept struggling to get out from under Dante, but being bound and under Dante’s stats, his fate was sealed.

A harpoon thrust to his throat was what did him in, however. XP and a level-up flashed in his vision.

Dante jerked his head toward Sadeena. “Why did you do that? He was going to die anyway.”

Sadeena shook her head. “I didn’t want to do it like this.”

“Like what? I told you, I wouldn’t have you do anything I wouldn’t do myself. I was proving that.”

“And you did.”

Dante ran his hand through his hair. “Look, the other guy was one thing, but this was basically an execution. You didn’t have to—”

Sadeena gestured to the side with her head. When Dante looked over, he saw Keel watching them from behind a tree, terror written on his face.

Shit.

Dante gave the knight one last look before he stepped out of the water. “Keel, would you come over here a moment?”

The dog boy huddled closer to the tree.

“I’m not mad at you.” Dante said, beckoning him closer.

Keel slowly stepped beyond the tree and made his way over. He kept his head down as he stood before Dante. The man placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to flinch.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to see that.” He said, giving Keel a light squeeze. “Are you okay?”

“I-I wanted…I thought I could watch…I’m…” Tears threatened to burst from his eyes.

Dante knelt down, meeting Keel at eye level while keeping his hold. “You didn’t like watching that.” He stated. Keel shook his head, tears starting to fall. “That’s good. You shouldn’t, and I don’t want you to. Sometimes, I might need to do things like this. When I do, I want you to stay away from it. I don’t want you to have to see any of this. Understand?”

Keel gave him a short nod, gripping his shirt all the while.

“Good.” Dante stood again, giving Keel a pat on the shoulder. “Run along. We’ll be over shortly.”

Keel quickly ran off through the forest yet again, leaving Dante and Sadeena with the dead knight. He scratched his head as he walked back over.

“Sorry. I should have paid more attention.” He said to the orca woman. He pulled the knight from the river and back onto dry land.

“No, I should have as well.” Sadeena admitted. “I was too focused on watching…”

“I can’t blame you for that.” He cut the ropes and began unstrapping the chest piece. “He attacked your village and helped steal away Raphtalia. So, you watched him suffer. If anything, I’m impressed with your restraint. You could have done all this yourself.”

“Yeah…”

“But you didn’t, and that’s good too.” He finished removing the heavy armor and set it aside. He stood up before continuing. “We haven’t really talked about what you used to do, but if I had to guess, you don’t want to do those sorts of things anymore.”

She remained silent at his assessment. Being an executioner, torturer, and whatever else the Heavenly Emperor needed, especially at such a young age, likely damaged her more than she would be willing to admit. At least right now, to him.

“Then I will handle the…interrogations we might need to do. You just give them a quick end when it’s over. Deal?”

Sadeena gave him a shallow nod. “Deal.”

It wasn’t ideal, but in all likelihood, they may need to get more information out of people in the future. Now, Dante knew he had a method to do so.

“And, thank you.” He said, earning a confused look from her.

“For what?”

“For not taking my silver and running. You could have and you chose to stay. I never thanked you before, so, thank you.” He said earnestly.

Sadeena gave him a smile. “You’re welcome.

“One last thing.” He pointed to the relatively exposed limb of the knight. “I’m sorry to ask, but can you remove his arm from his body?”

“What for?” She was again confused at the request.

“For my shield. I’ll come back over to you all when I’m done.” That was all he said, signaling for her not to watch. Sadeena gave the arm a quick thrust, piercing the chainmail covering it and severing it. After that, she went back to camp.

Dante readied the knife and got to work.

~The Wrong Hero~

Once he was finished butchering the arm, he absorbed the components and the rest of the body and equipment. He thought it strange the shield required him to disassemble monsters, or a human in this case, to get the individual component shields, even though he absorbed them combined before. Though he thought it stranger that the bodies of people had their clothes on in his monster drops.

Human Bone Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: HP bonus (tiny)

Human Skin Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: defense bonus (tiny)

Human Meat Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: cooking skill +2

The fact that the Human Meat Shield gave a cooking bonus was really something, but he didn’t pay it much mind. He did get a drop of blood from both Sadeena and Keel, but only Keel’s blood gave him anything, that being the Slave User Shield III. He’d reached the level for the second shield, but the third was still greyed out.

The next shield he would work on was the Monster User Shield II, as he already unlocked the first one during the night. Despite not knowing what level was required for the shield, it took much less time to unlock than the Slave User Shield would. In fact, he had switched to the Monster User Shield II throughout the previous day whenever JoJo or Dio were about to gain a level, as well as the Slave User Shield II for Keel. He figured doing this would be pretty efficient in the short term while he worked on other shields, though it did appear the maturation bonuses affected XP gains. It all depended on how the Whip power up method worked, but there would be time for that later.

The filolials had grown quite a bit during the night, just shorter than Dante come morning. With their newfound size and strength, they could aid in the monster hunting, as well as carry Keel in between areas, though they were still too small for Dante and Sadeena.

Before they began, they went to town to check on Beloukas’ progress. Even with Sadeena and Keel providing details about the villagers, the slave trader didn’t have any new information. It wasn’t entirely surprising, they may have been sold in an entirely different town and Beloukas’ colleague just happened to pick up Keel when they did.

After that, they—or more accurately, Sadeena—sold many of the usapil pelts, along with a number of the item drops from the other monsters that were basically useless. In truth, the usapils never dropped items, but they would sometimes drop a few bronze coins. Dante had tried pulling those coins from his shield, mixing in a few of his own, and putting them back, but his coins only bounced off the shield’s gem.

With the large number of pelts, items, and a few healing potions, they made over one hundred silver. In fact, Dante had sold the potions to the apothecary in town. He remembered Naofumi had good interactions with him early on, and Dante wasn’t disappointed to find he had the same. Impressed with his potions and with a bit of bartering, the apothecary took a few herbs and a potion for some old equipment, though Dante would absorb them soon after for the shields.

One item Dante made sure to keep was an otherwise useless piece of pipe. The Pipe Shield would take around sixteen hours to unlock, whenever he got around to that. He’d also need to unlock the Blue Egg Shield he got for the appraisal bonus, but using the Bow’s power to give a point to that skill would suffice for now. He also remembered to absorb a potion and a few of the other Blue Mush Shield recipe items for the shields they would reveal.

Something Dante had noticed when entering and exiting the city was the guards at the gate sneering at him. He supposed they final got around to learning his face. He made sure not to be seen with Sadeena and the others there, making it look like he came and went alone, though that would only work for so long.

Finished with their business in town, they’d set out for more grinding in the forests. With a number of levels under their belts, Keel, Dio, and JoJo were able to do more of the fighting, with Sadeena observing and Dante running interference when needed. They slayed a number of balloons, eggugs, and usapils on their way to Lute village. They even killed a few giant frogs near some swamps.

Of course, one issue they encountered persisted throughout a number of the fights.

“Dio, don’t chase that!” Dante yelled to the filolial.

Compared to JoJo, who was more content to stay in the group, Dio preferred charging into battle. Most of the enemies were weak, so it wasn’t too dangerous, but the bird’s current target had one problem.

“Those quills are sharp, don’t attack it from behind!” The porcupine took advantage of Dio’s recklessness. After surviving the initial kick, the porcupine started to run away from the bird, keeping its protective quills towards its target.

“I think you might need to use the monster seal again, little Dante~.” Sadeena watched as Dio tried and failed to catch the monster.

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Dante shifted his shield to the Pipe Shield. “Dio, I order you to stop!”

When the bird refused, it was shocked from the seal and fell to the ground.

“Gweh!”

The porcupine saw this and decided it was time to go on the offensive. Of course, that wasn’t going to work.

“Shield Prison!”

As the porcupine was surrounded by the glowing shields, Dante released Dio from the seal. “When I say, attack the monster from the front.” He told the filolial. The bird stared at the ball of shields, ready to pounce. “Now!”

In an instant, the Shield Prison dissipated and Dio lunged at the porcupine, sinking its claw into its head. An XP notification confirmed the kill.

“Gweh!” With a proud look, Dio stood on the porcupine in victory.

“Alright, enough of that. Come here.” Dante pointed at the ground in front of him. Dio trotted over and bumped heads with Dante, nuzzling into him. Dante pulled the filolial back and looked into its eyes.

“You need to follow instructions better.” He said. “If I need to use the seal on you during combat, it could be very dangerous. Got it?”

“Gweh…” Dio looked at him with wide, pleading eyes.

Dante closed his eyes as he continued. “This is important. If you do something dangerous and I’m not ready to defend you, you could get seriously hurt.” He looked back at the filolial, his heart melting at the display. “Alright?”

“Gweh!” Dio nodded and began to nuzzle him again. Dante scratched the bird’s neck in return.

“I swear, I think all Shield Heroes really like animals.” He said, moving his hands to the wings.

“Animals?” Keel asked. After a bit of hunting, he was able to calm down from this morning. He finished wiping off his blade when he came back over.

“Monsters.” Dante clarified. “I’m more a fan of cute and fuzzy, but fluffy birds are good too.”

“But what does that have to do with being the Shield Hero?” Keel wasn’t really getting it.

Of course, Dante hadn’t mentioned anything about the books to Keel, much less the Shield Hero of the past. He had even less of an idea on how Keel would react to it all, though it would probably be more negative.

“Well,” he started, “the Shield Heroes tend to favor demi-humans, correct? And demi-humans have monster-like qualities, like their ears and tails, not to mention therianthropes. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that’s part of the initial reason. Hell, I always enjoyed the company of animals more than most people. Within a minute, a dog could come up to you and let you scratch its head and rub its belly.”

Keel seemed to think over his words for a moment. “So…when we first met, you wanted to pet me?” He asked, his expression wary.

Dante looked at him for a bit. “…Well, the thought did pass through my head, but I figured it would be a little weird.” He gave a shrug. “Although, if you want me to…”

“No!” Keel held his ears on top of his head protectively.

“Then, no, I won’t pet you.” He returned his attention to Dio. “I’ll just have to content myself with the filolial boys here, at least for now.”

“Huh? But Dio’s a girl.” Keel said.

“Huh?” That was news to Dante. To be fair, he didn’t check…again. “How do you know?”

“You see how the feathers on her chest point differently than on JoJo?”

Dante looked at where Keel was pointing. “…No?”

“Well, that’s how you tell.” Keel looked up in realization. “Wait, are you bad at telling if someone is a boy or a girl? Is that why you thought I was a girl before?”

“That’s not…okay.” It was honestly easier than explaining the book thing.

“Gweh!” Dio didn’t seem to mind the confusion, more than happy with the petting.

“We should probably stop for the day.” Sadeena pointed out. The sun was starting to get close to the horizon, and they did make some good gains already.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Dante agreed. “Lute village isn’t far from here. Let’s stay there for the night and travel back to castle town early in the morning.” Beloukas should have Raphtalia and, possibly, Rifana by then.

Within forty minutes, the group made it to the village, after a quick stop by the river to bathe. Monster killing was sweaty and bloody work. With some bronze coins spent on their entry, they made their way to a nearby inn. Dante paid for some room in the stable, dropped a few usapil remains for the filolials, and went in with Sadeena and Keel.

Dante made sure to order a good amount of food for Keel, the first proper meal since he was enslaved. He remarked that Dante’s food was almost as good as the inn’s. A few more bonuses from Dante’s shield would change that soon enough. Of course, Sadeena also took the opportunity to order a healthy, or unhealthy, amount of ale. Dante could use one as well, not having a drink since the meal at the castle.

When they finished, Dante went to get some rooms for them.

“We’ll take two rooms for the night.” He said to the innkeeper.

“That’ll be two silver.” The burly man replied. He didn’t show any hostility to Dante, same as the guard at the village entrance. News about his supposed crimes mustn’t have reached here yet.

“Two rooms?” Sadeena asked, leaning in next to him. “Wouldn’t one be enough?”

“I thought I should give you some privacy, plus to have enough beds. Or, if you rather, you and Keel can share a room.”

“Nonsense~.” She waved him off. “The bedrolls are comfy enough. Save your silver.”

It really wasn’t that big of a deal, especially with all the monster killing they’ve done. But, he supposed she did drink a lot this evening.

“Alright, one room it is.” He gave in.

They got to the room and found two beds inside, along with a small desk. There was more than enough room to roll out one of their bedrolls.

Keel immediately dropped his pack and leapt onto the closest bed. “This is the best…”

“Heh, yeah. Enjoy it, you’ve earned it.” Dante took off his cloak and draped it over the same bed. By the time he pulled his armor and backpack off, Keel was already snoring.

“Oh my~. He really worked hard today.” Sadeena likewise removed her cloak, pack, and harpoon.

It was similar to yesterday. When they took a break during the day, Keel had nearly passed out before he could eat his meal. They ended up letting him nap for almost an hour before they continued.

“He’s not the only one. JoJo and Dio got used to fighting real quick, and you made sure they all worked together. Well, for the most part.” He would need to keep a close eye on Dio.

“What about you?” She gave him a nudge. “Running around, making sure no one took a hit? Especially Keel.”

“It’s my job.” Dante shrugged. “Besides, I don’t like seeing kids getting hurt.”

“And you did a great job.” She pointed to the bed.

“Oh, you can take the bed. You still do more work than any of us.”

“Not that.” She walked over to the bed and gave it a pat. “Lie down, on your stomach.”

“Okay?” He did as she requested, pulling off his boots as he got on.

In the next moment, he could feel her hands pressing against his shoulders.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“Giving you a massage.” She said evenly.

“But why? Like I said, you do most of the work. If anything, I should be the one who—Ah!” Right there. That really hit the spot.

“Hmm. You’re really tense. Just let big sis here work out all your muscles.”

“This is…you really don’t…h-hah…” The words just wouldn’t come out properly. How long had it been since he really relaxed like this? Sure, he’d slept well before…well, he wasn’t going to stop this anytime soon.

Minutes passed as every muscle in his body gave way to Sadeena’s work. Every muscle that he’d been working hard to keep his party safe was rejoicing at the massage. It felt like this could go on forever.

Of course, in what seemed like no time at all, Sadeena had finished.

“All better?” She played with his hair that had splayed out on the pillow.

“You’re the best, Sadeena. Don’t ever forget that.” He said lazily.

“Oh my~. You really are a charmer.” She moved from the bed and extinguished the lamp in the room. “Get some sleep. We have an early start tomorrow.”

Dante had no complaints with that. After they got done at Beloukas’ place, Sadeena would really get into grinding. Raphtalia and Rifana could ride one or both of the filolials as they went to rest and recover their strength. Then, Dante could start empowering them with the Whip’s method. He wasn’t sure how it would affect demi-human children, since he hadn’t used it on Keel yet, but there was time enough to figure it out.

~The Wrong Hero~

The flames burst from the apartment in front of Dante. Glass shattered from the sudden force, littering the ground with shards. A lone woman stood in the doorway, her face melted by the flames.

“You did this.” She said, pointing a hateful finger at Dante.

“Stop it…” He looked away from the woman.

“How could you do this?” She asked, stepping out of the doorway.

“Stop it.” He took a step back at her approach.

“Did you ever care at all?” She demanded, standing right in front of him.

“I always cared…” Dante shook as her gaze pierced him.

“Look at me.” She said. “Look at what you did.”

Dante stood frozen, tears leaking from his eyes.

“Look at me!”

With a jolt, Dante woke in his bed. His head twisted around to get his bearings. He was at the inn. He wasn’t there. He was here.

Dante ran his fingers through his black hair as he gazed out the window. It was still dark out, the moonlight spilling into the room.

Quietly, he rose from his bed and pulled from his pack. Carefully stepping around Sadeena sleeping on the floor, he slipped out the door. He made his way downstairs and out of the inn.

He found the filolials sleeping in the stables. Even in the short time they were in the village, he could see they’d grown some more. Not wanting to wake them, he leaned against the inn and lit a cigarette. He likely wasn’t going back to sleep this night.

The moon was strange to look at. It didn’t have the patterns he was used to, and the stars were all off. He never asked if this world had an equivalent to the North Star, but he imagined it did.

“Still can’t sleep?” He snapped his head to the side to see Sadeena step out of the inn.

“…No.” He replied, looking back to the moon.

“I was hoping the massage would help keep you asleep the whole night.” She leaned against the inn with him. “This will be the third night in a row you woke up like that.”

“Third?” Hadn’t they only been out like this for two?

“At the inn near the castle. I rented the room next to yours.” She answered. “I heard you wake up and talk to yourself a little, though I couldn’t make out what you said.”

“Ah.” That did make sense, now that he thought about it. She did mention she saw someone go out of his room before.

She turned to face him. “Do you want to talk about it? It might help you sleep.”

Dante played with his cigarette in his hand. With what he used the past two days, and losing one to a balloon that snuck up on them, he had one left in his pack.

“You don’t have to.” She clarified, reading his hesitation. “But I’m here to listen if you want.”

Dante didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t want to think about it. But Sadeena was placing her trust in him. He should try and do the same.

“I made a mistake.” He started, letting his arms hang from his sides. “A series of mistakes. And because of that, I lost…”

“I see.” She looked up at the moon with him. “It’s not easy going on when the people you love die. Sometimes, I almost wish I didn’t have to. But I need to. There’s still someone that needs my help. That’s how I go on.”

He didn’t want to go on. Not really. But he had to. For his wish. For a chance. That’s all he had, really. A chance at a wish. For all he knew, the shield couldn’t or wouldn’t grant it, but he had nothing else to go on other than that odd bit of information he could remember from the books.

So, he would go on. Until or unless the shield couldn’t grant his wish, he would fight for this world. And if he found that the shield couldn’t grant his wish, well…

They could always summon new heroes.

~The Wrong Hero~

After assuring Sadeena he would be fine for the night, she returned to the room. Before the sun could fully rise, they had their breakfast and made for the castle town. The filolials were now able to carry them, making their trip that much faster. They did the same as before, with Dante going in separate from them, much to the filolials’ displeasure.

He made his way to Beloukas’ tent while Sadeena and Keel sold some of the pelts and items they had from yesterday. It would have been nice for the kids to see Sadeena first, but they wanted to move out as soon as they could. They probably wouldn’t be spending too much time in the city from then on anyway.

However, once Dante met with Beloukas, he was told something he was not expecting.

“I’m sorry, Sir Hero, it seems Lord Rabier doesn’t wish to sell.”

“Huh?” That…couldn’t be right. “What do you mean?”

“I’m afraid it’s as I said. Lord Rabier has no interest in selling his slaves, yes sir.”

This definitely wasn’t right. Idol was a sadist who enjoyed breaking slaves and selling them off. Was there something he was missing? Some detail he overlooked?

“Ah!” Dante remembered. “He’s renting them, right? That’s why he won’t sell.”

“Renting, sir?” Beloukas clearly didn’t understand.

“Yeah. He rents slaves, tortures them, then returns them to whatever slave dealer he got them from. We just need to find—”

“Forgive me, Sir Hero, but that practice has been made illegal some time ago.” Beloukas interrupted. He shook his head as he continued. “Any slave merchant caught knowingly renting slaves for such a purpose would be lucky to only lose their product, if not their freedom.”

Dante was lost. Wasn’t that why Idol took in slaves? Why else would he?

“Did your man not offer him enough? What price did he give?” He needed to get to the bottom of this.

“I wasn’t sure how much you were willing to pay, so I had set a limit of two hundred silver for each. Even then, if Lord Rabier was still unwilling, my man would bring back the price he would accept for your approval, yes sir.”

Four hundred?! Idol still refused four gold coins for two children? I don’t believe that. There must have been some mistake.

“Another thing, Sir Hero.” Beloukas continued. “I fear you may be misinformed about the man.”

“What do you mean?” Clearly he was, if even this amount wasn’t enough.

“While making inquiries, I happened to make mention of Lord Rabier. He did indeed buy the children you were looking for, as well as number of other slaves. But a rather concerning rumor has been spread about the man. As it turns out, Lord Rabier usually buys a number of slaves from different dealers, and he never sells any slaves back.”

That made Dante’s heart drop. “You mean…”

“It would appear that Lord Rabier kills the slaves he buys.”

“I…see…”

“Ah, Sir Shield hero?” Beloukas called after him as he walked from the tent.

Dante’s thoughts swam in his head. If Idol was killing his slaves, did that mean the girls were dead? No, Beloukas would have said as much. He doubted the pompous lord would have talked with the slave trader’s man long enough to reach that price if they were gone.

The real question was: what would he do now?

Paying a large price was one thing, but to try and rescue the girls? It would be incredibly difficult, if not suicidal. They were as good as dead. Which meant…

“Ah, Dante.” Sadeena greeted him. He’d somehow made his way to the market area. “Where’s Raphtalia?”

Dante looked her in the eyes. What could he say to her? To give up? She would never. Should he lie? She would see through it. No, the smartest course would be to tell her what he knew, then dissolve their partnership. She would run off to try and rescue Raphtalia, only to be killed. It wasn’t something he wanted, but what other choice was there?

“Dante?” She prodded, concern growing on her face.

Yes, that would be the best option. She would likely demand Keel, and she could have him. He could make do with Dio and JoJo.

He didn’t want to see children being hurt or killed, but that wasn’t his responsibility. He had his own goals. He had his own wants. He didn’t owe them anything. It was a choice between Sadeena and possibly Keel dying, and all of them dying. It was a simple decision.

“Dante, answer me. Where’s Raphtalia?” Panic started to leak into her voice.

But…could he accept this? Would he hate himself? Would he be able to look himself in the mirror? And, if he got his wish…would he be hated?

“I was wrong.” Dante broke his silence. “Raphtalia and Rifana’s lives are in danger. We need to save them.”

Having a conscience was a bitch.

Chapter Text

“What?” Sadeena stared at Dante. “What do you mean? What happened?”

There was no easy way to explain this.

“Idol Rabier, the man who has Raphtalia and Rifana. I thought he only tortured his slaves, but it seems he kills them too.”

“What did you…” Keel looked up at him, shocked.

“He what?!” Sadeena grabbed Dante by the collar of his chainmail. “He’s been torturing Raphtalia? And you knew this?!”

“Sadeena…” Dante looked around him. Some people were starting to take notice of them.

She pulled him by the arm into a nearby alley, Keel and the filolials quickly following after. Once there, she pushed him against a wall.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Her hands were gripping tightly to his armor.

“Gweh!” The filolials squawked and moved closer, but Dante waved them back.

“If I had told you, would you have waited?” He asked.

“You had no right to keep this from me!” She yelled in his face.

“Yeah, I did.” Dante said back to her. “If I had told you, you would have run off to get them right away and gotten yourself killed. Remember when I asked you what your level was? I knew there was no way you could have taken on Idol, let alone break into his mansion and get past all his knights. If you were as high a level as I thought you’d be, I would have done things differently.”

Sadeena pushed him harder into the wall. “Are you saying it’s my fault?!”

“No!” This wasn’t going anywhere. “Look, the point is, you were too weak, and I definitely was. But now you have allies to help you, and one of them is a hero. We can do something about this now.”

She continued to glare at Dante. “I could have hired mercenaries. There are demi-human adventurers here.”

“Yeah, some. But with what money? I know you have some…reserves hidden away,” he didn’t want to mention her secret base out loud, “but who’s to say those adventurers would have been strong enough? Or, hell, even loyal enough to take on a lord of Melromarc?”

“You…” Tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

Dante gently placed a hand on her arm. “Look, you want to hate me? You don’t want to trust me? That’s fine, that’s fair. But right now, those girls need our help. Let’s all calm down and come up with a plan. We can figure out what happens between us after.”

Sadeena held him in place for a moment before releasing him, turning to wipe the tears from her face. JoJo and Dio nuzzled up against Dante as Keel tried to console Sadeena.

The orca woman took a deep breath before facing him again. “So, what ideas do you have?”

“Hardly any.” Dante responded, dragging his hand through his hair. “Okay…we can try sneaking in and smuggling them out, but if Idol notices, he could activate their seals and kill them. We’ll need something to remove the curse marks.”

“That slave trader should have something.” Sadeena said, looking in the direction of the circus tent. “Some demi-humans that buy their friend’s freedom get the seals removed on the spot.”

“Okay, good, that’s a start.” Dante nodded along. “However, if we’re caught, we’ll have to fight our way out. If I had to guess, your clothes are made from magic thread, yes?” Sadeena gave him a nod. “Then we should talk to Erhard and get me some better armor.”

“What about me?” Keel asked, stepping forward.

“Absolutely not!” Dante squashed that idea immediately.

“What?!” Keel yelled. “Why not?!”

“You’re a child. There’s no way we’re taking you in there.” Dante held up a hand to stop him from speaking up. “I know you’re growing, but you don’t have the combat experience to do this yet. This will primarily be a stealth mission, so the fewer people, the better.”

Keel didn’t seem to like that answer, if his glare was any indication, but he didn’t speak out again.

“Good. Then…wait.” Dante had another idea. There was something else he could do, some other resource he had that would otherwise be inaccessible. “A crystal ball. I could get one and learn a spell to aid us. Sadeena, which do you think would be better? Armor or a spell?”

Sadeena held a hand to her chin, pacing back and forth in the alley. “It would depend on your affinities. Do you have healing or support magic?”

“Probably both.” He said. He was the Shield Hero, after all. “We can confirm that first before we go to Erhard’s.”

“Let’s go then.” Sadeena started towards the slaver, Dante and the others following behind her quickened pace.

They made it back to Beloukas’ tent in short order, moving through the flaps.

“Ah, back so soon, Sir Hero? You left rather—”

“We need slave seal remover.” Dante said, cutting off the slave dealer.

“…To what end?” The slave dealer asked.

“I would think that’s pretty apparent, don’t you?”

Beloukas’ smile faltered as he continued. “I’m afraid what you’re asking for is illegal. If I were to provide you with the remover, knowing what you intend to do with it, well…” He let the sentence trail off, implying what the consequences were. While certainly not death, it was probably severe enough in this human supremacist country.

Sadeena pulled her harpoon from her back and approached the man. Dante stepped in front of her before she got too close.

“Our intentions,” he quickly said, “are to prevent another crime from being committed. To keep slaves from being tortured and murdered. Surely that is no crime, right?”

It was really a stretch, one that Beloukas didn’t seem to accept. Dante had another thought that was fairly low risk.

“If anyone questions you, tell them you were threatened by the Shield Hero. I’m sure that will gain you some sympathy here, and it’s not far from the truth.”

Dante didn’t want to be making threats to the man who was helping to retrieve the other villagers, and he was sure Sadeena didn’t want to mess that up either. Honestly, they were low on options. They might have been able to find a more willing slave peddler, or tried the church for holy water, but that would either take too much time or was far too unlikely to work.

“I see…” Beloukas tapped his fingers on his cane. “Well, I suppose I don’t have much choice.” He pointed his cane towards a crate sitting off to the side. “But, I can’t very well sell you any vials of that remover over there. It’s too bad, since I would be making fifty silver per dose.”

“Yeah, that is too bad.” Dante said as he walked over to the crate. He slid the top over and pulled out two of said vial. After he closed the lid, he reached into his pack and pulled out the gold coin he had, leaving it on the cover.

“Well then, is there anything else I might be able to assist you with, good sir?” Beloukas asked, his smile back on his face.

“Yeah.” Dante pulled out his map for the man. “I need a few locations marked on here.”

Once they updated the map, they left the slave tent. The next stop was the magic shop. Dante remembered it was somewhat close to Erhard’s place, so they headed in that direction. Sadeena pointed out the shop and both she and Dante entered, having Keel wait just outside with JoJo and Dio.

“Welcome.” The old lady in the shop greeted. She wore what could easily be described as a witch’s outfit, hat and all. “How may I help you today?”

“I’m looking for a crystal ball. Do you have any in stock?” Dante asked, noting the various tomes and apparatuses lining the shelves.

“Oh, I’m sorry dearie, but I’m all out.” The old lady shook her head. “The king ordered a shipment for the heroes over a week ago. But, wait, aren’t you the Shield Hero?”

Well, that sucks. I was hoping the order didn’t happen until later, but that’s that. Oh!

“What about the one on your table there?” He gestured to the crystal ball set in a holder. “How much for that?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t sell you that. I use that for my business.”

“Hmm.” Dante figured they might be able to threaten her, but if she called for the guards, that would put a stop to their rescue real quick. Plus, he knew she was a decent person. “How much does a crystal ball go for normally?”

“Well, it depends on where they’re sold.” She hummed in thought. “I would normally sell them for three hundred silver.”

That was cheaper than Dante expected. Though, if learning from a crystal ball wasn’t as beneficial—if he remembered right—then it wasn’t too out of the question. Possibly, it’s to do what he’s basically doing now: having at least one spell in his arsenal to make use of his otherwise pointless MP.

“Then, how about four hundred?” He asked. “It’s an emergency.”

“I’m sorry, but even then, I can’t—”

“Five.” Dante went higher. That would basically eat up their entire savings.

“Five…Dearie, what could be so urgent that—”

“Five hundred, plus another one hundred later. I don’t have much as collateral, but—”

“Dearie, please wait.” The old lady held up her hand. She cast a worried look at him. “Is it really that important to pay double what the normal price would be?”

“Very.” He said simply.

The old witch let out a breath and shook her head. “Well, you seem like the honest sort, despite what’s been said about you.” He glanced at her crystal ball before she continued. “I suppose I could order another and go without for a little while.” She turned back to the Shield Hero. “Four hundred silver, and I’ll give you an affinity reading too, to let you know what you might get.”

“Thank you.” Dante pulled off his pack and began counting the silver with Sadeena. “You have no idea what this means to me.”

Once they had the silver counted, Dante placed it in another bag and set in on the table. The old woman beckoned him closer and had him place his hand on the crystal ball. The colors in the crystal swirled.

“Hmm.” The old woman gazed into the ball. “It seems you have affinity for support and fire magic.”

“Fire?” That was unexpected. “Not healing? Are you certain?”

“Quite.” She responded, looking up at him.

That wasn’t ideal. Not for right now, or the future. “There are healing spells with a fire affinity, correct?”

“Well, yes, but,” she gestured to the crystal ball, “the spells contained in a crystal ball tend to be at the Faust level, and…”

“And fire-healing spells are at least Zweite, right?” Dante asked, and the witch confirmed. “Very well.”

“Now then, hold the crystal ball and feel the intent to absorb the spell within.” The witch instructed. Dante did as she said, trying to feel the magic. It was a strange sensation, like learning about a limb he never had before. After a few moments, the crystal shattered and the spell appeared in his mind.

Spell acquired – Faust Guard

Perfect!

While a healing spell would have been good, it could be compensated for with healing potions. The defensive spell could help not only him, but Sadeena as well.

“Thank you for your help.” Dante said with a slight bow. “You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”

“You’re very welcome, dearie.” The witch replied, a slight frown on her face. “Whatever you plan on doing, I hope you’ll be careful.”

“Yeah, me too.” He said before they left the shop.

Once back on the main street, they had only one more stop before they left for the girls. They needed to visit the blacksmith. With not a lot of funds left, Dante wasn’t going to bother, but he thought to at least thank the old man for his help.

Wait a minute, Erhard used to be an adventurer! A really high level one at that! Maybe we can recruit him.

Once inside the smithy, they quickly approached the counter.

“Hey, shield kid. What’s—”

“Erhard, I want to hire you.” Dante got straight to it.

“Sure. What kind of armor are you looking to have made? If you—”

“No, not that.” Dante interrupted. “I want to hire you as an adventurer.”

“Adventurer?” Erhard scratched his head. “Kid, I’ve retired from adventuring.”

“I know, but this is important. It’s about freeing some slaves.” Dante went on, pulling out his sack of coins. “I don’t have much right now—”

“Hold on.” Erhard held up his hands.

“—But I can pay you about one hundred silver up front. If you give us a few weeks—”

“Kid, wait a second.” The blacksmith tried to get word in.

“—We can get you a dozen times that. The noble, Idol Rabier, has some kids that—”

“Kid!” Dante looked up at the man, stopping his rant. “Just wait a moment. What’s this about?”

“Ah. Right, um, some villagers…wait.” Dante looked over at Sadeena and gave her a wink. He really should have thought of that before. She gave him a nod and he continued. “Some of the villagers from Lurolona are being held by the noble Idol Rabier. The man tortures and kills his slaves. We need your help to rescue them.”

Erhard put his hand on his head and sighed. “Kid…do you realize what you’re asking me?”

“I’m asking you to help free some slaves.” Dante responded.

“You’re asking me to help you steal from a lord of Melromarc, and a powerful one at that.”

“But you’re very high level, right?” Unless, of course, that also was different from what he thought.

“I am, but that’s not the point.” Erhard shook his head. “Look, helping you out is one thing, but to do this? I can’t be involved.”

“That’s…yeah.” Dante stopped to actually think about what he was asking. Sure, selling to the Shield Demon might not look incredibly good, but Erhard was running a business, and refusing to sell to a hero would be its own sort of bad. But this was stealing from a lord, possibly fighting one if things went bad.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. This is…far too much to ask of you.” Dante relented. He’d only been getting favors from him so far and hadn’t given anything back in return, minus some business.

“I’m really sorry.” Erhard continued. “I can sell you some weapons and armor, but that’s all I can do.”

“You’ve done plenty.” Dante waved him off. “Actually, there is one other thing you can do.”

“What’s that?” The blacksmith asked.

“You have a shield in the back made from…a meteorite, I believe? Can I see it for a moment?” Dante almost forgot about that too. If he could copy and wield that, things would turn in their favor should a fight break out.

“Uh, yeah, I have something like that. More of your hero book knowledge?” He called back as he went into the back of his shop.

“More or less.” Dante said.

The blacksmith brought back a somehow rough and glossy looking shield. If he didn’t know better, Dante would have said it was some kind of iron shield.

Erhard handed it to him, and his weapon copy activated.

Siderite Shield (LV locked)
(abilities locked) equip bonus: skill “Shooting Star Shield”

Damn. I hoped I’d be high enough level, but it was a longshot.

“Thanks.” He said, handing the shield back to Erhard.

“Sure.” Erhard placed the shield on the ground behind the counter. “What’d you want to see it for anyway?”

“That’s…I’ll tell you when we get back.” Dante said. If we get back, that is.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.” Erhard said somberly. He knew what they were about to do was probably incredibly dangerous.

“Oh, one last thing.” Dante rummaged through his coin purse and pulled out a pile of silver and slid it over to the blacksmith.

“What’s this for?” He asked, confused.

“It’s for you.” Dante said, stowing the rest of his coins again.

“I see that, but what’s it for?” He asked again.

“For everything you’ve done for us until now.” Dante said as he turned from the counter. Sadeena followed after him.

“Kid, you make it sound like you’re—”

“We’ll see you in a few days.” Dante waved behind him as he left, ignoring what the blacksmith was about to say. He already knew it, he just didn’t want to hear it out loud.

With that done, they mounted the filolials, Dante on Dio, Sadeena and Keel on JoJo. They passed the city gate, ignoring the look the guards gave them as they passed, and started making their way west.

They had a job to do.

~The Wrong Hero~

Several hours had passed on their ride. Dante spent the majority of the time cycling through his shields, comparing all theirs stats to one another, both locked and unlocked. He found he had the option to improve any shield he had the level to use. It was only a question of which one.

Most of the shields he revealed at Erhard’s were good, some even a contender for the one to boost for the possible fight. However, despite other recently available shields having a few stats higher, and one even having all stats higher, Dante ended up choosing the Reinforced Iron Shield. He had two major reasons for this.

First was the Sword’s rarity increasing ability. One of the first things he did was reset the mastery levels—the energy gathered from wielding the shields, again due to the Sword—and looked at the costs for all the shields. He didn’t gain much, considering he only kept shields equipped long enough to unlock them. However, the Reinforced Iron Shield was the second strongest shield he could upgrade.

The second was the Spear’s smelting ability. The only ore he had plenty of was iron, which the Reinforced Iron Shield used. He did get a silver from the porcupine and two copper from the giant frogs, but that wasn’t enough to upgrade any good shields. It seemed multiple ore was required for smelting.

With what he had available, the Reinforced Iron Shield was his best option. With a 95% success rate, he confirmed his choice for upgrading rarity.

Success! Rarity increased.

Next, he’d smelt the shield. The first bonus had a 90% success rate.

Success! Shield refined.

He looked at the cost and odds to smelt again. The ore requirement was twice as much as the +1, and the rate dropped to 80%.

Failure! Shield smelting reset.

Damn it! Seriously?!

He tried again, spending the ore required. This time, he was able to get it to +2. When he looked at the cost, he simply shook his head.

It seems the ore cost increases linearly with the smelting level, but the success rate dropped down to 65%. If this fails, I won’t have enough ore to get it back up to +2. This will have to do.

Then again, he did have the Projectile’s ability to help with the chance. He looked to that power, and…

Yeah, not even close to enough money.

If he hadn’t given the silver to Erhard, he might have considered it, but the chance wouldn’t have increased that much.

All that was left was using monster souls for stat boosts and abilities in the shield, and equip some ore into the slots. There weren’t any relevant special powers the souls could give the shield, but he did use an usapil soul to slightly increase his agility. He dumped the rest of his ore into the equip slots. For this shield, each iron gave a slight bonus to his defense, the silver a small magic boost, and the copper a slight agility boost.

He had his weapon ready.

Reinforced Iron Shield +2 (9/20) UC
(abilities locked) equip bonus: defense bonus (medium), skill “Cleave Bash”
status enhancement agility up (tiny)

These bonuses are…decent. I was hoping for more. Much more. Based on my stat growth per level, my defense with this shield is looking to be around…level 33.

He took a look at everyone’s levels, and recalling Sadeena’s.

Dante: LV 22
Sadeena: LV 31
Keel: LV 18
Dio: LV 19
JoJo: LV 18

A 50% bonus was nothing to scoff at, but with what they were walking into, Dante wanted more. He still had the Axe power up, since he hadn’t fiddled with it since he arrived. The cooldown was off, but that only freed up the points he had at level 1. He put half into his defense, a quarter into agility, and another quarter into magic. Moving around the pieces in the weird puzzle, he got bonuses he was satisfied with.

Okay, now I’m around level 38 for defense. This is close to Naofumi’s level, but he still had dozens of shields unlocked, with quite a number of them increasing defense, if I’m not mistaken. He also had much better armor, plus the stats of whatever shield he used, and was much more used to fighting with this world’s rules. But I still have more I can use.

With the Gauntlet’s power, he spent points to upgrade Air Strike Shield. There didn’t seem to be a hard limit on how much he could power up a skill, aside from the maximum level of X, but it seemed increasing a skill beyond the 10’s number of his level increased the cost dramatically. He was able to increase it to IV, but if he wanted to increase Shield Prison to that point when he unlocked it, he would need to gain another level.

With the Staff, he put every point into Faust Guard. Again, another level was needed to increase it to V.

For the Claw, the moment the Rope Shield was available, he had been using Air Strike Shield as often as his SP regeneration would allow. Currently, the proficiency was at 40%. That was good, he guessed, as it did reduce the cooldown and SP cost a little, but he hadn’t noticed any other effects yet. Hopefully, it also made it stronger. He was doing the same for Faust Guard, so far with a proficiency of 5%. He was glad the Claw worked for magic as well.

There was no point using the Hammer’s power, as most of his shields didn’t have an equip effect. The same could be said for the Carriage, as the bonuses it provided were more for different monsters, plus a small increase in bronze coin drops.

This is…acceptable. I’m not going to look for a fight with the man, but I think we stand a half-decent chance if it comes to it.

The only other way to quickly gain power was through one of the curse series. Dante wasn’t dumb enough to willingly do that, though. Wrath was the most likely one he could unlock, but he would be just as likely to kill his allies as his enemies with that, not to mention everyone in the area.

Sadeena was strong, but only a few of her levels came with Dante’s hero bonuses, and none with the Slave User Series. Her years of experience would definitely play a big roll.

Dio and JoJo…might be strong enough to assist. Half of Filo’s level, and with no accessories, they were at a big disadvantage. Keel was right out for a variety of reasons, the biggest one being he was still a child. With no maturation bonus, and no special lineage, he looked to be about twelve years old.

As far as shield equip bonuses, Dante was working on the Pipe Shield, with the next giving the biggest defense bonus he had time for. At their current rate, they would make it there by tomorrow evening.

By this time, however, the filolials were starting to slow. They knew the urgency, and had pushed themselves for nearly three hours straight, but they desperately needed a break.

“Sadeena!” Dante called to the woman ahead of him. “Let’s stop by the next stream we see!”

“No! We need to keep going!” She returned, not looking back.

He understood her desire, but that wasn’t going to happen.

“The filolials need rest! They’re slowing down!”

“They’ll be fine!”

Okay, this is ridiculous.

In a few minutes, Dante spotted a small river. He spurred Dio to catch up with JoJo.

“JoJo, stop at the river.” He said to the bird.

“No! JoJo, keep going!” Sadeena replied.

JoJo, however, obeyed Dante’s order and went to the river. He dunked his head into the water and drank greedily. Dio followed suit immediately.

“Damn it!” Sadeena yelled as she jumped off JoJo. “Dante, what are you doing?!”

“I could ask you the same thing.” He stood next to Dio, meeting Sadeena’s gaze.

“We need to get to Raphtalia!” She was right in his face, hers twisted in rage.

“I know, but we won’t get there any faster if Dio and JoJo collapse from exhaustion.” Dante calmly replied. He knew Sadeena understood this, but she wasn’t thinking straight, even hours after learning about Raphtalia and Rifana.

“If you won’t help, then I’ll keep going without you! Come on, Keel.” She walked past Dante.

“Keel, stay. I’ll order it if I must.” Dante told the dog boy before he could move.

Sadeena spun on her heel and drew her harpoon. “Don’t make me kill you, Dante.”

“You’ll kill me?” Dante raised his hands and faced her. “The only one here able to help you? Keel is a child and the filolials follow me. What are you going to do by yourself when you get there?”

“I’ll save Raphtalia! I’ll do whatever it takes!” She pointed the harpoon at his throat.

“You’ll die. Alone. With Keel, if you bring him along.”

“Then I’ll die alone!” She turned again and continued west.

“Damn it, Sadeena! Think about it for one minute!” Dante yelled, losing his patience. “Once Dio and JoJo have rested, we’ll start again. We’ll pass you on the way anyway, so you might as well wait. Better yet, go hunting for a bit.”

“Why?” She stopped and looked over her shoulder. “To gain you more levels? Is that all I am to you? Someone to make you stronger?”

“For fuck’s sake, Sadeena, I’m helping you here!” He knew she cared deeply for Raphtalia, willing to die for her, but this was just stupid. “Every level we gain makes it more likely for us to survive whatever is waiting for us, and, therefore, saving the kids.”

She turned to fully face him. “And what if Raphtalia is already dead when we get there? What will your waiting have done then?

“If they’re dead, you can kill me!” Dante yelled.

It took a moment for him to realize what he said. The orca woman was similarly shocked, as she couldn’t seem to form any words. Dante decided to double down.

“If we’re too late, by a minute or by a week, you can do what you want with me and I won’t try to stop you.”

Dante didn’t want to die, not when he still had hope for his wish. But…he also didn’t want to see Sadeena get herself killed. And, if he couldn’t even save those kids from such a fate, maybe he didn’t deserve to have his wish granted.

“…Fine.” Sadeena walked off, heading towards the nearby woods.

Dante let out a breath and turned to the filolials. They’d just raised their heads from the river. Were they drinking this whole time?

Behind JoJo, Dante spotted Keel’s shaking form. He approached the boy, noting his eyes were still on Sadeena’s retreating form.

“You okay, kid?” He asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I’ve…never seen Sadeena that mad before…” He responded, easing his tremors.

“Yeah…” Dante couldn’t recall any time Sadeena acted like that in the books. She always had an easy going attitude about her. The only time she really showed any strong emotions was when Raphtalia had worn that priestess outfit.

Well, there was one other time. In Motoyasu’s loops, when she learned that Raphtalia was most likely dead, she basically lost the will to live and was letting her body die.

But this? This pure rage? Maybe it was because she knew Raphtalia was being tortured, or because it was too close in time to learning she lost the rest of her family.

“Look, Keel, I’m sorry you had to see all of that.” Dante said, trying to at least comfort the boy. “Just let her blow off some steam on some monsters.”

“Yeah…” Keel looked up at Dante. “Did you mean what you said to her?”

“I did.” He replied, giving Keel a quick pat. “I’m staking my life on this.”

In more ways than one.

After about twenty minutes, Sadeena returned with a number of dead monsters. Dante absorbed them into his shield and they continued again. They stopped several more times during the day, each break shorter, but with shorter travel times as well.

Once dusk arrived, they set up camp for the night. Dante prepped the food while Sadeena went out to grind some more experience. The filolials had eaten some stored usapil meat from Dante’s shield on their breaks, with the others digging in to their rations, so a good meal was in order. It turned out that meat stored in the shield would decay and rot, but at a slower rate. He would need to keep tabs on that.

By the time Sadeena returned, Dante and the others had gained another level. The Pipe Shield was unlocked, so he upgraded Shield Prison to IV, as well as Faust Guard to V.

Sadeena and Keel had talked while they ate, her trying to apologize for scaring him like she did. Keel seemed to understand and forgave her.

Once night finally fell, Keel and the filolials went to sleep. They ended up in a small pile centered on Keel’s bedroll, but only after Dante promised the filolials he would join them later. They were really getting attached to him.

Now, it was just Sadeena and Dante left awake. The flames from their fire were starting to dwindle, so Dante put some more wood on.

It didn’t really help the awkward air around them.

“Dante.” Sadeena said, gaining his attention. “I…wanted to apologize for my…outburst.”

“It’s fine, I get it.” He said, stoking the fire.

“No, it isn’t.” Sadeena sat next to him on the log. “You’re helping me…us, and I’ve been ungrateful."

“It’s not like I haven’t gotten anything from our arrangement.” Dante folded his hands on his lap.

“Yes, but still…” She didn’t meet his eyes.

It really did look like all she needed was to take her frustrations out on some unsuspecting monsters. A decent short term fix, but not something for the long term. She needed to save Raphtalia.

More than that, right now, she needed a friend. Someone who knew what she was going through.

“My whole world was taken from me two weeks before I was summoned.” Dante said as he stared into the fire. Sadeena finally looked over at him. “When it was…I yelled, I cried, I broke whatever was around me. At first. Then, my thoughts turned to revenge.”

He pushed the branches in the fire around. “I knew who was responsible, so I took my revenge. It didn’t take long, and it wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t enough. I then turned my attention to the people in their group, who all had their own sins. After that, I went after anyone I could that had any connection to them at all.”

The flames danced as they consumed more of the kindling. “Of all the people I killed in my spree, maybe half of them deserved it. Some of them deserved imprisonment, and the others…”

He turned to Sadeena and looked her in the eyes. “But I didn’t care. Not then, and not at my death before being summoned. My only regret was losing what I loved, and the choices that directly led to it, nothing more.”

Dante placed his hand on Sadeena’s, making sure to hold her gaze. “I know what it’s like to lose yourself in grief and rage. To lose everything you hold dear. But, please, if nothing else, don’t become like me.” He gave a slight shrug. “If we are too late, there are things to do before you kill me. We have a list of people responsible. We can take care of them, and only them. We can raise Keel’s level and prepare him to face the world. Whatever you want.”

Sadeena looked into his eyes. There were no lies to be found there, that much Dante was certain of. She turned her head to the side and let out a small laugh. “My, this turned into a real serious conversation, didn’t it~?”

Dante gave a soft laugh of his own. “I definitely prefer seeing you like this. Just don’t feel like you need to force it.” He stood from his seat on the log and walked over to the filolials. “I’m sure I’ll wake up in a few hours. I’ll take over then.”

“You’re a good man, Dante.” Sadeena said as she stood. “You’re helping us, after all.”

“No, not good. Not for a long time now.”

“Nonsense~.” Sadeena gave another laugh. “You know what I used to be, and you think I’m good for who I am now.”

Dante shook his head. “You were forced to do what you did. Me? I always had a choice.” Dante laid down against Dio, her wing instinctively covering him.

~The Wrong Hero~

After another unrestful sleep, Dante took watch as Sadeena slept. In the morning, they quickly ate and started again.

Hours seemed to pass more slowly as they approached their destination. There wasn’t much to say on their travels, so they mostly passed it in silence. Dante had his shield continue to produce healing potions, plus some medicine and nutritional pills for when they rescued the girls. There was no telling what state they would be in.

By late afternoon, they arrived. A few plots of farmland greeted them with a small mansion sitting in the background. Demi-humans worked the fields, some chatting with one another as they worked.

They continued down the road until they reached the mansion. A pair of human guards stood at the door, but no particularly heavy defenses.

One of the guards approached as they dismounted their filolials, now in their filolial queen and king forms.

“What business do you have here, sir?” The guard asked. He carried himself with authority, but not overly so.

“I need to speak with Lord Reichnott.” Dante said to the guard. “It’s about some demi-human slaves that are in need of help.”

The guard exchanged looks with his companion. The second guard opened the door to the mansion and went in. “Wait here.” The first guard said, returning to his post.

In a few short minutes, the doors to the mansion opened again. A kindly looking man with dark blue hair and small spectacles came out, followed closely by another. His follower was a rabbit demi-human woman. Dante quickly noted that her left ear was missing, along with her right forearm. She wore a simple piece of breastplate and had a shortsword strapped to her right hip. She was slightly taller than Reichnott, but both shorter than Dante.

“Greetings.” Reichnott said with a small smile. “I understand you’re looking for help?”

“We are.” Dante said, casting a glance at Sadeena. “We know of a few demi-human slaves who are being tortured and are likely to be killed.”

“Ah.” Reichnott’s smile instantly faded. “Perhaps we should discuss this inside.”

They followed the man and his bodyguard inside, though she made sure to keep herself between them. Dante tried to keep the filolials outside, but they were fairly insistent in going with him. Reichnott waved it off and they were allowed in.

Once in the dining area, Reichnott took a seat at the head of the table. He gestured for the others to sit as well. Dio and JoJo stood behind Dante, and the rabbit woman behind Reichnott.

“So,” Reichnott began, “I believe I know what you’re referring to.”

“That’s not as comforting to hear as you may think.” Dante said. At least they all seemed to be on the same page. “I was under the impression such things were made illegal here. For you to know about it…”

Reichnott nodded solemnly. “Lord Idol Rabier. He was known for his cruelty to demi-humans after the war. About ten years ago, the queen passed a law prohibiting the torture of demi-human slaves. Of course, not everyone agreed with this, given the nature of the war.”

This type of hatred runs deep. Who knows how many loved ones were lost in that war.

“Has the queen not cracked down on this since then?” Dante asked. Of course, he knew the queen wasn’t all powerful, but even she should’ve been able to do something with her shadow network.

“She has.” Reichnott confirmed. “Unfortunately, like I said, not everyone agrees with her edict. That includes some officials who investigate claims of torture.”

Bureaucracy at its finest. Some things never change, no matter the world.

“Well, that doesn’t really matter right now.” Dante moved past that point. “What we need is a way into Idol’s mansion to rescue a few slaves he has.”

“I see.” Reichnott nodded with a frown. “However, I cannot be involved in this sort of thing. My own position in this country has taken a hit recently, so aiding you in this is impossible.”

“There’s nothing you can do?” Sadeena asked.

“I’m sorry to say, I cannot help you.” The noble stood from his seat. “Now, I believe I shall take a walk around my estate. Please, rest for a moment with my companion.”

He calmly walked through the door to the dining area, closing it behind him. All eyes turned to the rabbit woman in the room.

“What do you plan on doing with that bastard?” She asked as she sat down. She clenched her fist on the table as she glared at them.

Dante and Sadeena exchanged a look before he spoke. “Ideally, kill him. Realistically, avoid him and rescue our friends.”

The rabbit woman hummed. “And how do you plan on doing that?”

“We were hoping for some help in that regard.” Dante gestured to his group. “We don’t have many with us, so fighting our way through isn’t really an option. If we had a way to draw guards away from the mansion, it would be a good start.”

That was partly what allowed Naofumi’s group to get in. The guards were distracted by a riot, and Filo was able to jump across rooftops. JoJo and Dio were becoming stronger, but they weren’t there yet.

“I have something for that.” The rabbit woman nodded. “The forests in the bastard’s lands. They’re one of his main exports. Set fire to those, and he’ll send his guards running.”

That was a very good start. It hit a little close to what Malty did in the books, but so be it.

“Of course, that would mean traffic in the town would be higher as well.” She continued.

That was also true. Ignoring the moving soldiers, a lot of people would be woken up from the commotion. A lot of eyes.

“I don’t suppose you know of a way to sneak in, do you?” Dante asked, hopeful.

A wicked grin spread on the rabbit woman’s face. “As a matter of fact…”

As it turned out, there was a secret escape route from the mansion. It was built atop a plateau, and sometime after the war, Idol used slaves to dig out a narrow passage through the ground and into the forest below. The rabbit woman drew a rough map of where the exit should be. It was on the western side of the plateau, so they would need to set fire to the eastern forests.

“This is incredible.” Dante said, marveling at the map. “How do you know about this?”

The rabbit woman grimaced. “I was a slave of his at the time. Not one of the workers, but one for his…personal pleasures.” She rubbed the stump on her right arm. “After it was completed, he killed all the slaves who worked on it. The ones who didn’t die from exhaustion and starvation, anyway.”

“I see.” Dante gave her a look. “I’m sorry that happened to you. I don’t suppose you’d be interested in getting a little revenge, would you?”

She shook her head. “No. My level was reset when I became a slave, and my fighting days are long past me. Besides, I don’t want to do anything to put Lord Reichnott in harm’s way. He’s been good to me these past ten years.”

Dante took a closer look at her. He hadn’t noticed before, but there were a few grey streaks in her hair. Her face also had a few wrinkles on it. If he had to guess, she may have once been a soldier for Siltvelt. Reichnott even may have been the one to free her.

“This much, I can do. I’ll also provide some torches for your mission.” She lowered her head. “It’s the least I can do for the Shield Hero.”

Well, it wasn’t like Dante was trying to hide it. A sparkling gem in the center of his shield was a good indicator.

“This is plenty.” Dante stood. “Thank you for your help. We’ll leave once night falls.” Dante extended his left hand to the rabbit woman.

Her eyes seemed to glow for a moment before she stood as well and grasped his hand. They shook, a small smile plain to see on her face. When he tried to pull back his hand, her grip on his stayed. Dante merely smiled and drew her into a hug. A small gasp escaped her as she wrapped her arms around him, stump and all.

Yep. Definitely from Siltvelt.

Dante stepped back from the rabbit woman. “I’ll need to speak to Lord Reichnott again before we leave, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“Of course, Lord Shie—I mean, Sir Shield Hero.” The rabbit woman quickly corrected herself and left the room to get the supplies and inform Reichnott.

“Oh my~” Sadeena laughed in her seat. “I didn’t know you were interested in older women~.”

“Hush, you.” Dante waved her off. He wouldn’t lie, there was a certain attraction to women who could throw a good punch. There would be time for such things later. “Alright, let’s get a plan together.”

“Right.” Sadeena agreed. Dante took his seat again. “If you and I are going in, perhaps Keel should set the fires.”

“Yeah.” Dante nodded and looked to Keel. “How about it?”

“I…Yeah, I can do it.” Keel quickly agreed.

“Good. We’ll travel north together and split once we’re close. You’ll take one of the filolials to cover more ground and escape any pursuit. We’ll take the other and have it wait outside the exit.”

“Gweh!” Both Dio and JoJo squawked, clearly unhappy.

“Look, I’d like to take one of you with me, but you heard…” He’d forgotten to ask for a name again. He really needed to get better at that. “…her. The passage is narrow, and both of you changed forms recently. Besides, you’d be too easy to spot and are too identifiable if we’re witnessed there.”

At his comment, both filolials erupted in a puff of smoke. When it cleared, they both looked as they did the previous day.

“…Okay, I’m glad you both can do that, but you may still not fit.” Dante placed a hand to his chin. “Unless, of course, either of you can shift into a smaller form. Perhaps similar to when you were chicks?”

JoJo and Dio looked at each other, then at Dante in deep concentration. They looked like they burst at any moment.

Dio let out another plume of smoke and emerged as a chick. JoJo continued to try, only to give up when nothing happened.

“Gweh…”

“Well, that’s that then.” Dante said as he gave JoJo a quick stroke. “JoJo will go with Keel, Dio with Sadeena and I. Rest up. Come sundown, we’ll move out.”

~The Wrong Hero~

Night was quickly approaching. Dante had expected it to take longer, but he supposed his potential death sped up the clock a little.

Of course, before night fell, Dante had another meeting with Fiadia, the rabbit woman, after talking with Reichnott. She was writing two letters for him, one in Melromarc’s language, and the other in Siltvelt’s.

“This is all fascinating.” The rabbit woman observed, looking over the contents of the letters. “How did you come across this information?”

“It’s a hero thing.” Dante said simply. He wanted there to be a record of some of the things to come, or potentially come. The plot of the church, the Spirit Tortoise, Kyo, Takt, the true meaning of the waves (as far as he knew). If he died tonight, he wanted the next set of heroes to be prepared for what was to come. Hopefully, the king and church wouldn’t try to summon all the heroes again. But, of course, that would be wishful thinking at best. The letters may never even reach the heroes, if the church had their way.

“Well, I don’t know much about that, but I’m happy to help.” She said as she sealed the letters, after he signed them.

He considered asking Reichnott to write it, but he was still a lord of Melromarc. Telling him about all that directly might be a bad idea. Still, he didn’t want to leave him out to dry, and Fiadia would keep him safe.

Dante stored the letters in his pack. “There’s one more thing I need from you before we leave.”

“Of course, Sir Shield Hero. What is it?”

“Another letter. This one, make sure the words aren’t too difficult.”

Dante said what he wanted written in the letter. As he dictated the words, Fiadia’s smile slowly disappeared.

“Sir Shield Hero…” She gave him a sad look.

“I know. It’s just in case.” He said as he took the third letter.

“Well, I’ll pray for your success.” She said with a slight bow.

“Thanks.” Dante could use all the help he could get. “Before I leave, is there anything I can do for you? I’d rather not leave anything unfinished if I can help it.”

Fiadia perked up at that. “Actually, Sir Shield Hero, if it’s not too much trouble…” She held out her hand.

Dante smiled and grasped it, giving it a firm shake.

He gave her a knowing look. “You sure you don’t want another hug?”

Fiadia retreated her hand. “Ah, ahem, that would be incredibly improper to ask of you, Sir Shield Hero.”

“If you say so.” He said with a wave, leaving the room. He made his way out of the mansion, pulling from his pack. Once outside, he lit his last cigarette.

He took a drag from it and looked up to the moon near the horizon. Yeah, still weird to look at.

“Hey.” He looked over at Sadeena as she walked over.

“Hey.” He returned.

“Are you ready?” She asked, noting the setting sun.

“No.” Dante pulled in another breath of smoke before he put out the cigarette on the ground. He puffed out the smoke as he started towards where the others were waiting.

“Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

The group traveled under the cover of night. It was a rather short ride to the point where they would break off, less than an hour, even with Dio pulling a cart. Given the condition the girls were likely to be in, Reichnott offered them a small cart to carry them.

Before they split off, Dante gave some last minute instructions to Keel and JoJo.

“Don’t stay in one area too long, and stay ahead of the flames. If anyone spots you, immediately run away. Lose any pursuers and wait at Reichnott’s when you’re finished.”

While the lord couldn’t aid them too directly, he at least offered a place to return to when they finished.

“Got it!” Keel affirmed.

“JoJo.” Dante looked at the ostrich shaped filolial. “Listen to Keel and stay in that form. The fewer identifying marks anyone can make, the better. You can transform once you get back.”

“Gweh!” JoJo gave Dante a quick bump on the head.

“One last thing.” Dante pulled a parcel from under his armor. He and Sadeena left their packs at Reichnott’s, as they would only weigh them down with what they were about to do. “If we aren’t back by morning, read the note I left you. It has instructions for what to do next.”

“Okay.” Keel said, grabbing the parcel. Dante held onto it for a moment.

“I mean it. Don’t read it until morning.”

“I-I got it!” Keel pulled the parcel away from him and stored it in his pack.

“One last thing.” Dante brought his hand up to Keel’s cheek. The boy’s eyes widened for a moment before Dante brushed back his hair, revealing the side of his head.

“Huh. So, that’s what it looks like.” Dante gave an approving nod.

“H-How what looks like?” Keel stammered out.

“It’s not important.” Dante said, ignoring his concerns. “Alright, get going.”

Truthfully, he was curious what it looked like on demi-humans where humans would have their ears. He didn’t really have any expectations, but it was interesting to see the appendage missing.

Keel gave him one last look. “Bring them back safe, okay?”

“Of course.” Dante said. With that, JoJo took off to the eastern forest.

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Sadeena asked as they set off for the western side of the hill.

“I’m sure he will. JoJo should be fast enough to outrun most anything they send after them.”

Sadeena looked over the map Fiadia made them and directed Dio on where to go. They found a few of the landmarks indicated on the map and spotted the exit. It was covered with some strange sort of sheet that camouflaged it, making it appear the same as the cliff face surrounding it. Even with the map, it would have been hard to find without Sadeena. Her echolocation made finding the hole much easier.

They dismounted, pulled the cart to the side, and started moving through the narrow passage. Dio walked easily in her chick form, while Dante and Sadeena went through with a few inches of room on either side. With no natural light from the moon, Dante led the way with the glow from his shield’s gem.

After about twenty minutes of walking, they came to a small enclosure with a metal door. The hinges were on this side, and there was enough room in the open space in front of the door to fit a little over a dozen people, if they stood shoulder to shoulder.

Sadeena approached the door and gave it a listen.

“I don’t hear anyone directly on the other side.” She said.

Dante nodded and began casting in a quiet voice. “As the source of your power, I command you. Let the true way be revealed once more. Protect my ally from attack. Faust Guard V.”

A light shimmered over Sadeena before disappearing. With that, they should be more than able to handle any guards they come across. With his current MP and no potions to restore it, Dante didn’t want to cast it more than necessary. Sadeena pulled at the door, only for it to remain still.

“It’s locked.” Sadeena pulled off her harpoon. “It’s a little early, but I might be able to break it without making too much noise.”

“A good backup plan.” Dante moved past her and pulled a pair of picks from his shield. He’d gotten them as drops from one of the giant frogs. He began to fiddle with the lock.

This isn’t really the time for jokes, but I kind of feel like Batman right now.

“Quite handy~.” Sadeena said, observing his work.

“I’d like to think I’m a jack of all trades.” That was one of the lessons he was always glad his father drilled into him. Be a jack of all trades, and a master of one.

However, within ten seconds of working the lock, it clicked.

My skills are wasted on these medieval locks…

It was either that, or the constant use of EP from his shield aided him. He’d tried using it with his shield skills, and they did seem stronger, but he couldn’t tell by how much, and he always spent too much. He figured it was similar to driving a small nail with a sledgehammer: he could do it, but he’d be better off with a more precise method.

Dante equated having EP like this with the difference between learning a spell through a crystal ball versus learning from a tome. He had it readily available, but he would need more practice and training to do it right.

With the door open, the three of them stepped through, Dio perched on Dante’s shoulder. No guards were positioned near them, like Sadeena said. They did spot a few on the walls, the guards themselves looking over at the eastern forest.

Keel must have already set some fires.

They kept to the shadows as they made their way around the courtyard. The large obelisk did catch Sadeena’s eye, but they kept going. Dante had already warned her about it before coming in.

While they were looking for a stairway underground, Sadeena spotted a door with bars at eye level. No guards were around to spot them, so they approached. They glanced inside and were barely able to make out any details, but they did see it led underground a little.

“This must be it.” Dante said, readying his picks.

“Wait!” Sadeena held out her hand. “This lock…I can feel a bit of magic from it.”

“Magic?” Dante gave the lock a once over. It didn’t appear any different, but he took Sadeena at her word. “What does it do?”

“I’m not sure. Some magic locks make it more difficult to pick, others will sound an alarm without the key.”

“Damn.” That was some pretty bad news. “Can one with an alarm be picked without tripping it?”

“It’s possible, but difficult.”

So much for channeling Batman.

While Dante had no doubt he could pick this lock, he imagined it took quite a bit of training to avoid the alarm. They wouldn’t be able to get in, grab the girls, and get out without having to fight their way through. That was especially true if Rabier came with the remaining guards, which he likely would. There didn’t seem to be any other openings to the dungeon either, not even a window.

“I guess we’ll need the key.” Dante said as he looked to the mansion. “And I have a pretty good idea where it is.”

It seemed a fight with Rabier was inevitable. They prepared themselves for this outcome, but that didn’t make the task any less daunting.

Dante found a good spot to break into the mansion. It was an unlit room that seemed to be a storage space. Between him and Sadeena, they were able to pull off the metal bars that acted as a window and slip in. They relied on Sadeena’s echolocation to find any guards as they made their way around.

There were a few two man patrols, but they were dealt with in a fairly similar way each time. Dante would grab one and keep them silent while Sadeena quickly brought down the other before returning to the first. Dante absorbed the guards into his shield to keep anyone from spotting their handiwork, and for the drops.

They came to their first abnormality when they reached the second floor. A pair of guards were stationed in front of a strong looking metal door. There didn’t seem to be any way around them, so they had to kill them to progress.

Sadeena had a nice idea for that.

“Cheep!” Dio chirped, walking around the corner they hid behind.

“What the…” One of the guards looked over at the filolial chick.

“How the hell did that get in here?” His buddy asked.

“No idea.” The first guard walked over, only for Dio to scurry back around the corner.

“Well, get rid of it and come back.” The buddy said.

When the guard walked around the corner, Dante and Sadeena stepped out from an open doorway. The man was bleeding from the neck and dead within seconds.

“Hey, Martin, what was that?” The other one called out, his footsteps growing closer. “You better not be screwing around aga—”

Dante had his hand over the guard’s mouth before he finished rounding the corner. Sadeena’s harpoon quickly found its way into his upper chest. With both guards dead and stored in Dante’s shield, the three of them took a look at the metal door.

Dante gave Sadeena a look and she placed an ear to the door.

“I don’t hear anyone inside.” She said. “And I think this lock has the same magic on it as the dungeon.”

“So it’s something Idol wants kept safe.” Dante concluded. It could be a vault, or possibly another torture room. “Once we have the key, we should stop by on our way out. It’s not like he’ll be needing what’s inside when we’re done.”

From there, they didn’t come across any more guards. Until, of course, they saw a pair standing outside another door on the fourth floor. This door was made of wood, like many of the others, but much more ornate. It looked as much, from what they could tell around the corner.

They deployed the same strategy as before, Dio luring in a guard before Sadeena killed him. The same happened to the other guard.

With all the guards they killed, Dante and Dio had gained another level. He left the new points from the Axe power up alone, since he didn’t want to spare the time with the puzzle.

Before anything else, Dante cast Faust Guard V again. He applied it to Sadeena, then Dio, then himself. Another drawback of using a crystal ball was not having the ‘All’ variation. He tried using some EP in the castings, but ended up depleting about half of his supply.

“Are you two ready?” Dante asked.

In response, Sadeena transformed into her therianthrope form, with Dio assuming her filolial queen form. Both Sadeena and Dante had a few healing potions attached to their hips. Dante had his Reinforced Iron Shield out and ready.

“I’ll go in first and stun him, Sadeena will strike after, and Dio will be on standby in case he evades or survives.”

“Got it.” Sadeena nodded.

“Gweh.” Dio did as well.

“Alright.” Dante faced the double doors. A quick look at the locks told him it could be opened immediately. He placed his hands on the handles and took a breath. He thrust open the doors—

Dante immediately threw up his shield.

The crack of a whip boomed in the hallway as Dante was thrown back, slamming into the wall behind him. He stumbled from his position, hand on leg as he tried to remain standing.

“Dante!” Sadeena called out.

“Hmph. You have good reflexes.” A voice sounded from the room. A rotund man with short blonde hair retracted the whip from his outstretched hand.

Dante stepped forward on shaky legs. His arm started going numb.

85% HP?! After all that preparation, he took away 15% with a hit I blocked?!

“How did you know we were here?!” He yelled at the fat man.

“Hah! You thought it would be that easy to sneak up on me?” Idol snapped the whip in his hands. “I saw my door guards’ names disappear from my sight.”

Damn. That’s smart. I feel like all the guards should have been in a party, though.

“So, who graces the halls of Lord Idol Rabier?” The man asked, a cocky grin on his face.

“Doesn’t matter who we are.” Dante stood in front of the door, Sadeena and Dio on either side of him. “You’ll be dead soon anyway.”

“Ah.” Idol twirled his moustache with his free hand. “Perhaps you are the Shield Devil?”

Dante narrowed his eyes.

“You are, aren’t you?” He chuckled, shaking his head. “It truly is providence that you are here.”

“Oh yeah?” Dante crept his way into the room. Sadeena and Dio slid in on either side as well. The walls were lined with books and scrolls. A desk with documents spread on it stood in the corner. It appeared to be his study. “What makes you say that?”

“A vision.” Idol stated. “A vision from God. I saw it as clearly as I see you now. The Shield Devil challenged me to a duel to avenge the beasts who worship him.”

“God, you say?” Dante laughed. “He and I have a bit of a strained relationship.”

“It is only natural for a devil to shun what is holy.” Idol let the length of the whip fall loose behind him. “Shall we have our duel, Shield Devil?”

“If you want to call it that.” Dante pressed his feet into the ground. “We’ll see which of us your god actually favors.”

He launched himself at Idol. The fat noble sent his whip forward, narrowly missing Dante as he jutted to the side.

“Cleave Bash!” Dante swung his shield at Idol, only for the man to duck beneath it.

“Far too slow!” Idol slammed his boot into Dante, knocking him back.

Sadeena lunged her harpoon towards the man’s unarmored chest. With speed that was unexpected from a man of his size, he sidestepped the thrust and shoved her, letting her momentum throw her forward. He brought back his whip again and swung it at her back.

“Air Strike Shield IV!” The glowing green shield intercepted the whip, and immediately shattered. “What!?”

This is insane! With all the power up methods, that should have held out! How high is his level? How powerful is that whip!?

It didn’t help that Dante poured too much EP into the Cleave Bash, emptying his bar. The only consolation was that the Air Strike Shield broke the momentum of the whip, saving Sadeena.

In that moment, Dio jumped at Idol, claws at the ready. Idol drew his sword from his hip. He blocked the strike and sent Dio flying back. He then spun the whip around and aimed it at the filolial.

“Shield Prison IV!” Encased in the prison, the whip slammed into the sphere and threw it back. It held, but the section it hit was cracked considerably. The prison could take one, maybe two more hits. Dante, however, released the skill, allowing Dio to jump back. Sadeena stayed at the side, just getting her bearings back.

“I expected the Shield Devil to put up a better fight!” Idol said, repositioning himself to keep his three opponents to his front.

“We’re just getting warmed up!” It was a complete lie. Dante already showed him all his skills, and there was no way Sadeena would have time to cast one of her spells. And Dio… “Dio, stay back!” Dante moved in front of the filolial.

“Protecting one of your beasts, eh? It won’t change anything.” Idol again sent his whip at Dante.

“Cleave Bash!” Unable to evade in time, Dante tried deflecting the whip with his skill. It connected, straining his arm even more, but with some improvement.

Down to 75% now. We won’t win a battle of attrition.

Sadeena came at Idol again. With his whip too far out, he had to parry with his sword. Dante ran forward to capitalize on the moment, but Idol was too quick and too skilled. Without him noticing, the whip had wrapped around Dante’s leg and tripped him. Idol deflected every blow from Sadeena’s harpoon, backing up as the orca woman advanced.

By the time Dante had gotten back on his feet, Idol had pushed Sadeena back too far. He brought his whip back and slammed it into her stomach with a shortened length, launching her at Dante.

He was barely able to stop her with his whole body. She looked winded, and had a deep cut on her stomach, but she was still conscious. Before he could try feeding her a potion, Dio was already in the air.

“Dio, wait—”

Idol had already brought his whip back again. The whip head connected with Dio, sending her flying into the wall. Panic gripped Dante as he quickly brought up his status.

20% left…

“One beast down.” Idol said, turning his attention back to the enemy of his faith. “Now to finish off the devil.”

“Shield Prison IV!” Dante brought up his skill as the whip slammed into it. He quickly uncorked a potion and fed it to Sadeena.

“What do we do?!” Sadeena called out, placing a hand over her slowly healing wound. She must have known just how outmatched she was against the man.

“I…” Dante didn’t have time to think. Didn’t have time to plan. Idol was much faster and much stronger than them.

Idol was far too agile to be pinned down. His reach with that whip meant he could keep them back, and he was handy with a sword as well.

They needed a distraction.

The whip slammed against the sphere again, cracking it even further.

They really need to keep him from using that whip.

Dante lifted Sadeena up.

I have an idea…a really stupid one.

“Break left when the prison breaks. I’ll charge him, draw his attack, and prevent him from switching the whip to you or retreating. Take the opening, no matter what.”

Sadeena gave him a worried look but nodded all the same.

The third whip strike smashed open the barrier. Dante ran forwards and Sadeena split off to the side. Idol was already bringing back his whip. There was far too much distance for Dante to reach him. His whip hand was just overhead.

Now!

“Air Strike Shield IV!” He let loose his skill.

The whip slammed into Dante’s chest.

He flew through the air, slamming into the book lined walls, knocking dozens to floor as he fell.

The world spun around him. His vision blurred. His ears rang.

Dante landed on the ground, vaguely looking towards Idol on his side with hazy eyes. He saw a green light. There was Sadeena. There was another light, white and flickering, blinding him for a moment.

His vision cleared slightly. A small grin formed on his face. Sadeena held Idol up with her harpoon, his body pressed against the Air Strike Shield Dante erected behind the noble.

He knew the skill wouldn’t survive a single attack. If he used it to stop the whip, Idol would have just turned it to Sadeena immediately after. So instead, he took the hit. Then, when Idol went to strike out at Sadeena with his whip, he’d find it stopped by the shield behind him. Surprised, unable to bring his greatest weapon forward and with nowhere to evade, Sadeena was able to run him through and pin him down.

Dante saw Sadeena slam the fat, slightly charred man into the ground, knocking his whip from his hand. She brought her harpoon up and thrust it down into him again and again. She didn’t stop until XP flashed in Dante’s vision.

Oh. I gained another level…

“Dante!” Sadeena ran over to him. She knelt next to him and brought him up. There was a strange sensation Dante never felt before. Pulling a potion from her sash, Sadeena poured it down his throat.

Up to 15%...no, 14%...it’s dropping…

Sadeena pulled another from her sash and fed it to him. “Come on, Dante, stay with me!”

His vision was still slightly blurry, but he didn’t feel any pain. He didn’t feel anything since taking that hit. He must have been in shock. His HP went up from the potion slightly, but it kept going down.

“Gweh…” Dante could hear Dio, but she was barely in his peripherals. “Gweh!” She shouted and ran over to him, blood dripping from her chest feathers. There was a large gash across her chest and a number of her feathers were torn off.

“Dio…you’re okay…” His body convulsed, blood sputtering from his mouth as he coughed.

“Dante…you’re going to be okay. You hear me?!” Sadeena yelled, pulling a potion from Dante.

“My HP…keeps dropping. What’s happening…?” He could barely get the words out.

“Dante…” Sadeena looked to her side. Dante followed her eyes, craning his neck to see what was nearly behind him. There were chain links littering the floor, a large pool of blood underneath them. Dante found what she was looking at. There seemed to be a chunk of meat on the ground, wrapped in more closely knitted chains links.

He brought his eyes back to his left side. He could see Sadeena’s lap, but on top of her loincloth was…nothing. Dante’s eyes widened.

“My…my arm…” Blood leaked from the wound on his shoulder. No, even part of that was missing. Bones were chipped and muscles were ripped.

Sadeena poured the potion over the wound. Dante arched his back as the wound hissed slightly. His HP went up less than when he drank it, and it continued to decline.

“Dante…I need to stop the bleeding.” Sadeena said in a sad tone.

“Can you…reattach my arm? Can it be done?” Dante asked, hopeful.

Sadeena shook her head. “I don’t have the magic to do something like that. Even if I did, your arm…”

Dante knew what she meant. Idol’s whip was too powerful. Assuming that part of his body didn’t receive some sort of curse damage, whatever was left of his arm was probably too mangled to be reattached.

“…Then burn it. Cauterize the wound.” There was plenty of kindling in the room. A bunch of torn pages and one of the candles was all that was needed. Of course, this was going to hurt like hell.

Sadeena set him down and went to get the fire ready.

“Gweh!” Dio was standing above him, fear plastered on her face. “Gweh! Gweh!”

“Dio.” Dante brought his hand up. Dio instantly lowered her head into it. Dante scratched the side of her head affectionately. “I need you to grab Idol’s whip. Can you do that for me?”

Tears were in Dio’s eyes as she nodded and walked around him. A few seconds later, he heard another ‘Gweh’, followed by a squelching noise. Dante turned his head to see Dio walking back, one of her claws coated in blood. Behind her, Idol’s head had been smashed in.

Heh. That’s my girl…

Dio brought the whip back over in her beak and set it in Dante’s outstretched hand. Sadeena brought back over a book, just lit aflame.

“Are you ready?” She asked, the fire starting to take over the book.

Dante nodded. “Dio, hold me down. I’m going to thrash around.” He placed the whip handle in his mouth, clenching down on it with his teeth.

The filolial queen did as he asked, placing her clean claw on his chest. Sadeena lowered the burning book to his stump.

Immediately after, every nerve in Dante’s shoulder lit up at once. He tried to move away, but Dio kept him down. The smell of burning flesh assaulted Dante’s nose.

After what felt like an eternity, Sadeena knocked the book away. She inspected the wound before nodding, casting a simple water spell to cleanse the wound and put out the book.

“Can you stand?” She asked, offering her hand.

“Yeah.” Dante grasped it and let himself be pulled up. His legs wobbled beneath him, but he’d manage. The battle may not have been long, but it got desperate real quick. If he had managed to unlock and upgrade the Shooting Star Shield, it might not have been so bad. Then again, if he had the levels to do that, things would have been different regardless.

“Both of you, drink some healing potions.” Dante pulled his remaining potions from his belt. He handed one to Sadeena and uncorked one for Dio.

“What about you?” Sadeena asked after drinking hers.

“I have some more in my shield, but I’ll save a couple for the girls.” After Dio drank hers, Dante inspected her wound. Despite taking more damage at once, it didn’t seem to be bleeding, though her exposed flesh looked almost dented. He supposed the location and bleed damage on him ended up making his worse.

Dante surveyed the room next. There seemed to be little overall damage to it. He looked down at what remained of his bloody arm.

“Is there magic to find people from their blood?” He asked Sadeena. The last thing they needed was someone linking what happened here to them.

Sadeena shook her head. “No, but we should take the…arm.” Sadeena didn’t want to mention it any more than Dante did.

“Yeah.” He slowly walked over and reached for it. The gem in his shield reacted to the bit of flesh. “Really now?” He gestured to Sadeena and she came over, tepidly placing the limb in his shield’s gem.

Shield of Sacrifice (LV locked)
(abilities locked) equip bonus: stat allocation, HP endowment

Well, that looks promising.

“What did you get?” Sadeena looked down at the shield.

“I’m not sure. We’ll have time later to figure that out.” He looked over the broken pieces of his armor. “Can you grab the links? I’ll clean up the body.”

They made quick work of the room. With the glaring evidence of their actions in this room either hidden away by Sadeena or absorbed by Dante, they made their way out. The key they were looking for was in Idol’s possession and, thus, now stored in Dante’s shield, along with his whip.

They slowly walked down the halls of the manor. Dio kept trying to get Dante to ride her, but he kept refusing. She was just as wounded as him, though a few more potions helped fix that, and he didn’t want to burden her more.

Once they reached the second floor again, they came across the metal door. Dante ejected the key from his shield and let it drop into Sadeena’s hands. She placed the key into the lock and heard a distinct clink, unlocking the door. When she opened it, they were greeted by a wide room filled with various trinkets, artwork, and other valuables. Dante didn’t know exactly how such things were valued here, but he had to guess there was several hundred gold coins worth of treasure here.

An idea formed in Dante’s head.

“Try putting that painting into my shield.” He spotted what he thought may have been a portrait of Idol’s father, or some other ancestor. Sadeena pulled the painting from the wall and held it to the shield, but it didn’t react.

“Figures.” He hoped that, since this manor belonged to Idol, all that lay within would be considered a possession for the shield to absorb. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Most of what was here would be too cumbersome to carry.

“We should get Raphtalia and Rifana now.” Sadeena said, looking to the door.

“In a minute.” Dante said, looking at a chest on the floor. “Actually…” He turned to Sadeena and extended his hand. “Let me carry the key. You go and make sure no guards get in our way. I’ll get the girls when I’m done here. We can meet up at the passage entrance.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? We’d be better off staying together.”

Dante shook his head. “I’m no longer in a position to fight today, and Dio isn’t much better off, but we should be fine against any random guard we find. If you take care of anyone who might get in our way, we won’t have to worry about any more large conflicts. Plus, we’ll need some money for whatever comes next.”

Sadeena held the key in her hand, looking down at it. After a few moments, she handed it over to him.

“Don’t take too long. We don’t know how long Keel’s distraction will last.”

“Judging by the flames we saw, we should still have some time.”

From Idol’s study, they could clearly see the eastern forest. The fire’s growth was…surprising. JoJo must have been moving fast for Keel to light up as much as he did.

“Alright then.” Sadeena drank another potion and Dante recast his spell on her. She left the room, leaving Dante and Dio.

In truth, there was little they could take. Dante grabbed a few pendants and put them in a sack he pulled from his shield, another drop item. He dropped a pick from his shield and worked the chest sitting in the corner. After about a minute of twisting and pulling, the lock clicked. Inside, he found the chest filled with coins and gems, plus a few other items.

Hmm. I’d say about a quarter is silver, the rest bronze. Most of the gems are uncut as well. Might have been an offering or tribute from a vassal. There are a few nice things in here as well.

Dio and Dante scooped as much as they could into the sack. Dante clumsily tied the end in a simple knot and set it on Dio’s back. With that done, they set out for the dungeon.

The walk there was mostly quiet. He heard a guard or two make a muffled noise, but there was no yelling. Sadeena was hard at work, it seemed, if the XP notifications were any indication.

At the dungeon’s door, Dante pulled the key from his belt and unlocked it. Dante pulled a torch from outside the door and they slowly descended into the prison. The layout of the room was not what he was expecting.

The room was circular, cells made of iron were separated by walls of stone, each one facing the center of the room. There appeared to be a spot on each dividing wall to place a torch, should anyone care to. Near the center were a few chains hanging from the ceiling, likely for when Idol tortured his slaves. It seemed he wanted everyone to see what he was doing.

In the very center of the room was what surprised Dante the most. A wooden table sat there with a chair on two sides, facing one another. The table itself had blood splattered on it, but not in an excessive amount.

What the hell is this? Why would Idol—

“AH!” A voice cried out from one of the cells. “P-Please, don’t take her from me! She’s all I have left!”

Dante whirled around and saw the source of the voice. A small, raccoon-eared demi-human girl. Raphtalia. She was huddled over something…no, someone. She held on to the other for dear life.

Dante approached the cell slowly, Dio walking right behind him. “Don’t worry, I’m a friend.” He said softly, placing the torch in the holder next to the cell. “My name is Dante MacRory. I’m the Shield Hero. I’m here to rescue you.”

Raphtalia’s pink eyes took in his form. Her quivering lips tried to let words flow. “T-The Shield Hero…?”

“Yes.” Dante shifted the form of his shield to the Small Shield before changing it back. “I was summoned here to fight the waves. But right now, I’m here to save you two. Sadeena is outside, making sure it’s safe.”

Her eyes shined with hope. “Sadeena…S-She’s here?” Tears poured from her eyes and she shook the body she was covering. “Rifana! Sadeena’s here! And the Shield Hero! They came for us!”

“Shield…Hero…?” Dante saw Rifana turn her head slightly. Her voice sounded so weak.

“That’s right.” Dante said softly. “You’re safe now. That man will never hurt you again.” He pulled out the key and opened the door to their cell. When he stepped in, he saw just how worn their clothes had become. And bloody. Raphtalia’s was in bad shape, but Rifana’s was basically nonexistent. Her rags barely covered her body at all. The parts that did were soaked with blood. The poor girl was covered in lashes and cuts.

Dante knelt next to the girls. He dropped a healing potion next to him from his shield and picked it up. “Can you lean her up? I can help ease the pain.” He said to Raphtalia, who quickly propped up her friend. Dante changed to the Small Medicine Shield in hopes it would boost the healing potion he fed the heavily wounded girl. He brought the potion to her lips, a soft glow surrounding her body as the healing took effect.

Once the glow faded, she opened her eyes just a little bit more. She looked up at Dante with a small smile on her face. “I knew you would save us.” She said weakly.

“Of course.” He said, a smile on his face. It was strained, given where they were and what everyone went through. “Raphtalia, do you need healing too?”

She shook her head quickly, but it was mostly a rhetorical question. Dante had already dropped another potion and had it in his extended hand. Raphtalia took it and drank the contents. Despite their injuries, Dante noticed they seemed to be in decent health, given their surroundings.

“Can either of you stand?” He looked down at Rifana. She tried to lean up further, but quickly fell back down, barely caught by Dante. Raphtalia stood up, her legs slightly unsteady.

Dante looked back to the filolial. “Dio, come in and sit. I’ll put the girls on your back. Okay?”

“Gweh!” Dio stepped through the cell door and sat down.

Dante turned back to Rifana. “Grab on to me. I’ll pick you up.”

The frail girl did as he said, lightly gripping his chainmail as he scooped her up with one arm. He cautiously lifted himself off the ground and placed her on Dio’s back. He turned again and picked up Raphtalia, placing her right behind Rifana.

Dante looked through his drops and pulled out a pair of shirts that didn’t have any blood on them. He showed them to the girls. “Here, put these on. It’s not much, but it will do for now.”

After dressing them and making sure Dio could stand properly, they exited the cell. Before leaving, Dante noticed a door on the opposite side of the exit. He walked over to—

“No!” Raphtalia shouted, startling him. He turned back to see her shaking in terror. “P-Please. Don’t take us…” Her eyes were wide as she stared at the door.

What could possibly be scaring her so much?

Dante gave the door another look before he spoke. “Dio, wait by the stairs with the girls. I’ll be right there.”

The filolial walked away as Dante approached the door. There was no lock, so he was able to pull the door open without issue. He immediately wished he hadn’t.

Inside the room was a table with various tools on top of it. The most prominent was a meat cleaver stuck into a heavy cutting board. A dripping noise caught his attention. When he turned to the source, he saw a trough on the floor filled with blood. His gaze turned upwards. Bound by the wrists with chains, a small body hung there.

A body…with no skin on it. Exposed muscles, fat, and bones was what he saw. The center of the body was already open, the organs removed and sitting in a large bowl to the side. He couldn’t even tell what type of demi-human it used to be, or even if it was a boy or a girl.

Dante’s eyes widened further as his gaze shifted behind him. Back to the table in the center of the room.

Idol…what have you done…

It started to make sense. Dante didn’t notice it before, but there was a lack decay in the air. The cells themselves looked reasonably clean. There weren’t any rats or corpses in any of the other cells either.

Dante looked back up to the bled out corpse, a sad look in his eye.

“I’m sorry this happened to you.” He said. “I don’t know who you were or where you’re from, but I’ll at least give you a burial.”

He held his shield to the body and pulled it in. A notification popped up, but he promptly dismissed it. Closing the door behind him, he walked to the waiting filolial and children.

“Let’s leave this place.” He said, ascending the stairs.

Once they reached to top and passed the door, Sadeena was waiting for them. She immediately wrapped the girls in a hug, rubbing their backs and holding them close. One look from her told Dante what he needed to know: all the guards in the area were dead. At least, the ones that could get in their way.

They made their way to the hidden passage. Once there, Sadeena transformed and carried Raphtalia and the sack, while Dante carried Rifana. He had to assure Sadeena he was well enough for the task. It took longer to travel through this time around, but they eventually got to the bottom. They set the kids in the cart and hooked Dio up to it.

“Okay, hop in.” Sadeena said, turning to Dante.

“What?” Dante cocked his head to the side. “No, I can walk.”

“None of that, now.” Sadeena shook her head. “You took a hard hit in there and need some rest.”

“You did too.” He pointed out. “I had the shield to protect me, and I know my potions didn’t bring you back up to full HP. I’ll just—”

“Dante.” Her tone still had its usual looseness, but there was a small edge to it. It probably wouldn’t be good to argue in front of the kids right now.

“…Okay.” Dante surrendered, stepping onto the cart with Sadeena’s help.

“Good.” Sadeena nodded with a smile. “I’ll jog alongside the cart. Let’s get going, Dio.”

“Gweh!” The filolial began towing the cart behind her.

With her reduced speed, the wagon ride back took longer than before. That was fine, since Raphtalia and Rifana would have likely gotten motion sickness from it otherwise. The girls stole a number of glances at him as they rode, and every time Dante gave them a reassuring smile. It took all he had to stay awake at this point. The adrenaline and shock had worn off and his body was craving sleep, but he needed to stay alert, just in case they had any pursuers. The girls, on the other hand, began to doze off.

It was unnecessary, as their ride back was devoid of any interruption. They pulled into the manor of Van Reichnott, a few of the rooms still lit.

“Dante!” He heard Keel call his name as they approached. He was sitting in front of the main door, JoJo lying beside him, and a different pair of guards standing at attention.

“Gweh!” JoJo got to his feet in a hurry and ran to the cart in his king form. “Gweh! Gweh!” He started squawking more when he saw Dante’s missing arm.

“Hey, JoJo. We’re back.” Dante tried calming the bird by stroking his head, but JoJo kept moving it around to see his arm. “We’re okay, I promise.”

Dante slid off the wagon. Before he could take a single step, Keel was before him, slamming his fists into Dante’s gut.

“You…You jerk…” He cried as his fists hit Dante. “You were…you thought…”

“Yeah…” Dante placed a hand on Keels head and gave it a stroke. “You read it, huh?”

He figured Keel might read the note before they got back, but he hoped he hadn’t.

“Keel, if you’re reading this, it’s morning and we haven’t returned, or the slave seal turned black. In either case, we failed. I’m sorry I didn’t prepare you for this better, but I wanted to make sure at least one of us made it back. I’m sorry we couldn’t save Raphtalia and Rifana, and you may have lost Sadeena as well. We knew the risks, but you know how important it was to try and rescue them.

With this note are two letters. They detail a few things I believe will happen in the future. If you can, please give these to Queen Mirellia Melromarc and any emissaries from Siltvelt. I know this is a lot to ask. If you don’t think you can, you may ask Reichnott to deliver them. He has also agreed to let you live on his lands, if you want to. My pack also has the rest of my money and equipment. It’s yours now.

Be well, watch over JoJo, and live a good life.

Dante MacRory, the Shield Hero”

Dante felt it somewhat cruel to leave things like that, but there was only so much he could do. He wasn’t even sure who he should give that information to. He hoped that, given the warning from their god, Siltvelt would postpone any ideas about going to war. For now, at least. The next set of heroes would have to make do.

“I thought I was going to lose you too.” Keel said, the tears not stopping.

“I’m sorry.” Dante continued to rub Keel’s head.

“Promise me you won’t leave again.” He gripped the chainmail at Dante’s waist.

“I promise.”

“And promise you won’t talk about dying again.”

“I promise.” Dante didn’t realize Keel cared so much. What had he truly done for the boy? Yes, he bought him from the slave trader. He reunited him with Sadeena. He fed him good meals and made him stronger. He caught one of the slavers that attacked his village and learned of the rest.

…Dante was a fool. In the short amount of time they were together, he actually had done more for the kid than he realized. To him, it was enacting a plan and helping out a kid. To Keel, it must have meant the world.

Keel looked up at him with red eyes. His sight quickly focused on Dante’s missing limb.

“Your arm…”

“Hush.” Dante gave Keel’s head one final stroke. “There’ll be time to worry about me later.” He turned Keel’s attention to the cart, to his friends.

“Keel?” Raphtalia said, waking from her dozing.

“Raphtalia! Rifana!” Keel scrambled into the cart and hugged the two girls, his crying starting up again. Dante smiled at the display.

“I see you were successful.” A voice said. Dante saw Reichnott approach, Fiadia following behind him. “Though it wasn’t without sacrifice.”

“You could say that.” Dante rubbed the stump where his shoulder used to be. “Thank you for all you’ve done.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Reichnott kept his innocent smile on his face. “Please, rest for the night in my manor.”

“After what we’ve done?” Dante was happy for the offer, but he didn’t want to put the kind lord in any more danger than he has already.

“For rescuing slaves from an unjust fate, I believe a night’s stay in my home is the least I can offer.”

Dante nodded. “Thank you.” He turned to Sadeena and beckoned her closer. “I think I’ll go straight to sleep. Raphtalia should be having night terrors, so keep her close.”

“Of course~.” He didn’t need to tell her that. She was probably going to keep all three of them close.

“We can talk about what happens next in the morning.” With that, he made his way inside.

Fiadia escorted him to an empty bedroom, along with JoJo and Dio, who refused to leave his side. A look at his arm indicated there wasn't much risk of infection, which he was thankful for. He thanked her again for her help and bid her goodnight. Dante gave the bed a glance and decided against it. His two filolials would no doubt want to be as close to him as possible, and the bed wasn’t likely to hold all three of them.

Shirking off his ruined chainmail, Dante lay next to his royal filolials on the floor. Their feathers really were quite soft. Within a minute, he was fast asleep, happily enjoying the first restful sleep in a long while.

Chapter Text

Dante woke with the morning sun pouring into the room. He’d almost forgotten what it was like to sleep throughout the night. He didn’t exactly have pleasant dreams, but no unpleasant dreams either. Dante expected to wake up screaming in the middle of the night, or be woken by Raphtalia’s. Neither was the case.

He wasn’t even sure what the cause of his good sleep was. Was it helping Raphtalia and Rifana, the good deed easing his mind? Was it the aftereffect of the shock of losing his arm?

Or was it the horror of seeing that demi-human child’s skinned corpse? Was that enough to push his mind full circle?

Whatever the case, he had a lot of issues he should probably work out in his head.

Speaking of, he recalled the shield he got when he absorbed the child’s body. It was another unpleasant thought, but one he couldn’t ignore.

Savage Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: minor HP regeneration
equip effect: cannibalize

Dante had suspected what was happening in that dungeon, and now he was sure.

Forcing them to eat each other, then killing them? How could anyone become that deranged?

He’d seen some pretty messed up things in his time, but that was likely the worst. That shield wasn’t something he particularly wanted to unlock, but the equip bonus was too good to ignore. Unfortunately, like his cigarettes from before, things used to reveal shields couldn’t be retrieved. It seemed the entire body was required to reveal the Savage Shield, so…

I’m sorry I can’t bury you now. I hope avenging your death with Idol’s is enough.

As he went to get up, he found he was held down by something. Two somethings. Two small children, clinging to either side of him, sleeping. One had blonde hair while the other had blue.

They were also completely naked.

Well, this isn’t ideal, but it’s not unexpected either. That thought alone is also far from ideal.

He first shook Dio, who was attached to his right side, then shook JoJo on his left.

“Hey, you two. Time to wake up.”

Dio awaked from her sleep, sitting up to rub her eyes. JoJo did the same, stretching out with a yawn. Dante was able to lean up on his arm.

“Mmm, morning, Master.” Dio said, lazily opening her eyes.

“Morning.” JoJo scratched the back of his head.

“Good morning.” Dante gave his back a small twist, letting out a pop. Despite sleeping on the floor, he didn’t feel sore at all. His defense probably helped with that.

He gave a good look at his transformed filolials. Dio’s hair was fairly long, reaching halfway down her back. It seemed more wavy than spiky, though there were a few shorter parts near the top that seemed to spike out more. JoJo’s seemed to stick out a bit in the front, tapering down. It was also somewhat long in the back, stopping just above his shoulders. If he had to describe it, it would take parts from both Jonathan and a younger Joseph Joestar.

If nothing else, their names somewhat matched their physical descriptions. Though, Dio seemed to have a somewhat more innocent expression than he was expecting, and JoJo less so.

“How did you two sleep last…” Before Dante could finish, both filolial children turned to face him fully. Their eyes began to tear up.

Wait. They’re crying. Why are they—

“Master!” The both yelled, jumping at Dante and knocking him back to the ground. They clung to him as they cried into his shirt.

This is even further from ideal.

“What’s—”

“I’m sorry, Master!” Dio cried out. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen! You got hurt because of me! I’ll never disobey you again!”

“Sorry, Master!” JoJo followed suit. “I should have been there! I could have helped! I’ll never leave your side again!”

Dante lay there as they continued apologizing and crying on top of him. He was really touched they cared as much as they did, but he needed to set them straight. And he definitely needed them to not cling to him while naked.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” He said, giving Dio a pat on the back before moving on to JoJo. “This isn’t either of your fault.”

“But, Master…” The cried.

“Hush now.” Dante wrapped his arm around both of them, his hand settling midway on JoJo’s back. “I made the decision of who went where. I’m the one who decided we should go there. The fault is mine and mine alone.”

They continued to look at him with pleading eyes, clearly not convinced.

“Alright, let me up a little.” Dante removed his arm and pushed himself up. He turned to JoJo first, resting a hand on his shoulder. “JoJo, your job was to help Keel and lure out the guards. If not for that, we wouldn’t have been able to move around in there at all. You did good.”

He still had tears in his eyes, but he nodded all the same.

“Dio.” He turned to the girl, cupping her face. “Our group had a more difficult task. Facing Idol was a risk, one that I didn’t prepare us for properly. Despite that, we made it out alive. That’s what’s most important.”

Dio grabbed hold of his hand. “But, you were hurt really bad.”

Dante nodded. “I was. It hurt a lot. But still, I’d rather it be me than…” His eyes widened. They trailed down her face and to her chest. A large, diagonal scar went from her left collarbone all the way down to the right side of her abdomen. “Dio, your chest…”

Dio looked down at herself. “It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt.” Dante placed a hand on the scar, earning a wince from the girl. “Much…” She muttered.

Dante wrapped her in a one-armed hug. “I’m so sorry.”

“But, Master. You lost your arm!” Dio yelled, returning the hug.

“I did what I had to so we’d all survive. That’s all.” Dante continued to hold her until she stopped crying.

“Oh my~. Am I interrupting?” Sadeena called from the doorway, changed into her demi-human form. Dante didn’t even hear it open.

The filolials turned to look up at her. Dante let go of Dio. “Just talking about yesterday. I think we’re good now, yeah?” He asked the pair.

Tears still fresh in their eyes, they each gave him a short nod.

“Good.” Dante made to stand, but Sadeena was already next to him, pulling him up. “Thanks. I’ll need to get used to this.” He said, giving his missing limb a glance.

“Of course~.” Sadeena gave him a meaningful look. “Is now a good time?”

Dante looked her in the eye. He did say they would speak about what happened next in the morning, and here it was. “Yeah.” He gave Dio a quick pat on the head. “You two go say hello to the kids, and introduce yourselves properly. I’m sure they’ll be surprised to see you.” He said, gesturing to the door.

Before they could take a single step, Sadeena held out her hand. “Dante, aren’t you forgetting something?”

He cocked his head to the side. “What do you…oh, crap, right.” He dropped a pair of shirts from his shield. Like the others, they had no blood on them, though there was only one more like that. The rest had quite a bit, but at least they wouldn’t smell. He transferred them from the corpses they were on and into the item drops, like they probably should have been all along. Though, perhaps that was the shield being considerate. Now, whenever he opened his monster drops, he had to look at their mostly naked bodies. At least he left their undergarments on them.

“Put those on and don’t transform with them.” He said to the two kids. “We can get you some transforming clothes later.”

“Okay!” They both said in unison. The tunics reached down just below their knees. They quickly ran out of the room.

Dante laughed at their display. Glad they changed their moods so quick. Kids.

“So, how are they?” Dante asked.

“They’re managing.” Sadeena sat down on the unused bed. “I used the remover to get rid of their deactivated slave seals. It helped a little. Lord Reichnott’s doctor looked them over and found no permanent injuries. A few good nights’ rests and a few good meals from you and they should be good physically. Emotionally…they’ll need a little time. How about you?”

Dante rubbed the missing limb. “I think my cooking career will suffer greatly.”

Sadeena gave him a smile. “You seem to be in good spirits~.”

“I suppose so.” He was partially deflecting from the thought of missing an arm, but it wasn’t necessarily permanent. There were alchemists in this world, so there was hope.

“What happens now?” Sadeena patted a space on the bed.

Dante joined her on her left. “That’s entirely up to you.”

“Hmm? What do you mean~?”

“I assume you’ll want to take Raphtalia, Rifana, and Keel, right? I can get by with Dio and JoJo. We can split the coins from Idol’s.”

“Oh? But I thought, for finding Raphtalia, we would all travel together? Are you going back on your word~?” Sadeena asked playfully.

It was apparent to Dante that she didn’t know what was going on in that dungeon. He changed to the shield he got last night. “This is called the ‘Savage Shield’. I got it from absorbing a skinned demi-human corpse from that dungeon. The special effect it has is called ‘cannibalize’. I’m not always sure why certain things unlock shields, or why they have the powers they do, but I think it’s pretty obvious what Idol was doing down there, and what those girls witnessed.”

Sadeena winced at his words and he continued. “First, they lost their homes and families to the waves. Then, they lost what was left because of the knights and slavers. They were tortured and forced to witness such a thing and, if Raphtalia’s words were any indication, Rifana was going to be next.”

“All the more reason to travel with you and make them stronger.” Sadeena looked him in the eye. “I believe you said you’d make it so no one could take them away again.”

“That’s…I…” Dante was flabbergasted. “Sadeena! We’re going to be fighting monsters! We’re going to be fighting the waves! Hell, we’ll probably end up fighting people, too!” He seemed to be trying his best to shoot himself in the foot.

Sadeena shook her head. “But, if I take the kids and run away, will that help them? Will that heal them? You once mentioned that Raphtalia became strong by working with that man, Naofumi, right?”

“I’m not Naofumi.” He said, bitterly. “He was a good man who was tainted by this world. I was tainted long before coming here. I’m not a good man, despite what you may think.”

“And yet, you bought Keel, you gave me hope, and you risked your life to save Raphtalia and Rifana.” He laid her hand on his back. “You think that doesn’t make you a good man?”

“How do you know I didn’t do that for selfish reasons? Do you know what I stand to gain from defeating the waves?” Dante couldn’t help but keep shooting himself in one of his remaining limbs. “I get a wish granted. I can bring Mary back…” And he said more than he meant to.

“Oh~. You can bring the woman you love back to life?” Sadeena gave him a smile. It didn’t have any malice in it; it was sincere.

“What, no!” Dante waved his hand in front of his face. “No, no, it wasn’t like that. I…” He already went this far, he might as well explain it better. “No, I did love her, but not romantically. She was my whole world. And…I’d give almost anything to see her again.”

“So, you’ll return to your world once the waves are done?” She asked.

Dante shook his head. “I said I didn’t regret being who I was in my world, and I meant it. My wish is to bring back all that I lost, make sure their lives will be peaceful, and then never be in their lives again. This world here? This is where I belong.”

Naofumi may have only looked for the worst in people during most of his time in this world, but that filth was still very present. This was certainly the world he deserved to live in.

“They died because the people who wanted me dead went through them. Those people may be gone, but others will come into existence if I go back.”

“Because of what you do.” Sadeena stated. “You said you always had a choice, right? Why not choose to be different?”

Dante let his hand fall into his lap. “I did try that. I tried to go straight. It worked, for a little while.” He looked Sadeena in the eye. “But what I did before…I was good at it. It gave me purpose. Made me feel like I was living. But, I see now that they’ll never be safe if I continue like that. If I go back, I know I’d go back to doing what I was before, and they’d be in danger again. But here? With this shield? I have no choice but to change who I am.” He gave a sarcastic smirk. “Can’t exactly go around threatening and drowning people with one arm, now can I?”

“I think you’ll find a way~.” She gave him a playful push. “In any case, I still think it’s best if we all travel and fight together.”

“But why?” Dante pressed on, his feet already riddled with holes and moving up his legs. “Why do you think being around me is a good idea?”

“Because you’re the Shield Hero, and the Shield Hero protects.” She said simply.

“But—”

“Dante.” She pulled him close to her, her arm resting on his opposite shoulder. “I want to ask you a few questions.”

“Okay…?”

“When you learned Raphtalia and Rifana were stuck in that man’s dungeon, was the smart thing to do go and rescue them, even though you knew he was strong?”

“Well…no, but I considered leaving them there. That can’t possibly—”

“And yet, you decided to save them. When the difference in power between Idol and us was so obvious, instead of trying to run, you risked your life for a chance to kill him. Was that evil?”

“I…” Dante had to pause for a moment. “Even if I got away, I would end up hunted down.”

“I think you could have made it. You still had JoJo, and you could have just forced Keel to work for you. But, I don’t think you would have done that to him. Now here you sit, missing an arm.” Dante turned away, but Sadeena pulled his head to face her. “What could telling me your so-called selfish wish possibly gain you?”

Dante said nothing, letting his silence answer for him.

“You told me these things because you felt guilt. You saved the girls because you wanted to do good. I may not know as much about the cardinal weapons as you, but it seems to me that the Shield chose the right man to be a hero.”

Dante wanted to protest. He wanted to tell her she was wrong. That he was a vile man who killed people for a living. She must have known that’s what he thought of himself, but she seemed to completely disagree.

“Just because you have selfish thoughts, it doesn’t make you a bad person. From what I’ve seen of your actions, you have plenty in you to do good. You’ve more than earned my trust. That’s why I want to keep working with you.”

Dante couldn’t help it. A few tears fell down his face. “Damn teen hormones.” He muttered.

Sadeena wiped the tears from his face with a smile. “I don’t think that’s what it is~.” He knew she was right, but neither one needed him to say it aloud.

He didn’t realize how much he wanted to hear those words before. For someone else to know what kind of person he was, and still think he had goodness. Deep inside, he knew he could do good, but it wasn’t always apparent. He could be kind and funny, especially so with his family, but everyone else was always a potential mark. Or a potential danger. Someone that he could kill.

“Alright.” He said, sounding more confident. “I guess we’ll continue working together.”

“I’m glad to hear that~.” She said back to him. “Though, if we’re going to do that, I feel like I should be honest with you, too.”

“What do you mean?” When had she been dishonest with him? Despite her playful attitude, she seemed to give him any information he needed. Sure, she looked into Beloukas, but that wasn’t something unexpected.

“Well…I had planned on manipulating you from the start~.” She said, her tone just as playful as always.

“How’s that?” Dante was thoroughly confused now.

“When I met you, and you told me some of the things you knew, I thought I could use you to get back Raphtalia and the kids and then leave you. Maybe have you strengthen us for a while, maybe convince you to use your influence with demi-humans to set up a new home for us in Shieldfreeden. And, well…”

Sadeena grabbed his arm and pulled it into her. She nestled it between her breasts, with his hand just above her loincloth. A fierce blush formed on Dante’s face.

“Maybe I’d…convince you to keep us safe forever~.”

“What are…” Dante started, but then he realized what was going on.

The signal!

Sadeena nodded, reading his thoughts. “Outside the mansion, close to the forest. I sensed two, but there’s likely much more. I think they’re taking measure of us before they observe more closely. I assume you know who it is that’s out there. This may be the last time we can talk freely about many things.”

“Right.” Dante agreed. They were most likely Q’ten Lo shadows. “We should—” Sadeena trailed her fingers up and down his captured arm, making him stutter.

Sadeena laughed as she continued her stroking. “That was the reason I chose this as the signal. Though you are a hero, you’re still a young man, if in body and not in mind. If nothing else, I could always use my body to convince you to help us how I thought best. I admit, when you told me how you were going to be framed, I did feel some guilt. But, when I saw what happened in my village, I vowed to do anything to protect what I had left.” She looked him in the eye, placing her right hand on his cheek. “You’ve said and done more than enough to earn my trust. I’m telling you this in the hope you’ll know you weren’t wrong to place your trust in me.”

The blush had spread across his ears by this point. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. And his arousal. “You know, I just assumed this was your normal personality. Maybe not quite this far, but most of it was about what I expected.”

Sadeena smiled at him. “That was the plan. You knew about me, how I acted, so I played into it. I hope you aren’t too upset by this~.”

Dante shook his head. “The opposite, I’m really impressed. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were serious right now.” Sadeena pulled his head closer to hers, her other hand letting go of his arm to cup his face. “Sadeena…?”

“Who said I was still acting~?” She brought his lips to hers. Dante’s eyes widened before he closed them. Sadeena ran her fingers through his hair as she kissed him. Dante’s mind raced as he gripped she bedsheet with his hand.

When she pulled back, Dante took in a sharp breath. He opened his eyes to see her face, a light, almost invisible dusting of pink on her cheeks. “I thought…you wanted a man who could outdrink you?”

“Oh~.” Sadeena held a hand to her cheek. “Is that what you thought~? Maybe you remembered wrong from your books~?”

Dante laughed as he shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

Sadeena place a hand on his thigh, eliciting a slight moan from him. “Well, your shield gives you a lot of different abilities. Maybe one of those will let you drink more~?” She asked, letting her hand slide down his leg.

Dante’s breath hitched. “I-I suppose enough poison resistance will d-do that…”

“Then there’s no problem~.” She slid closer to him on the bed, their hips touching. “I hope I didn’t make you too uncomfortable. I felt I had a good read on your physical reactions, but not really your emotional ones.”

“No, I’m fine.” He said, his blush barely receding after all of that. “I just…never thought this type of love was for me.”

“Oh my~” She playfully held both hands to her face as she turned away. “Does this mean I’ll be your first~?”

“Ah, well, not my first time, but my first romantic love.” He did have urges, after all. In that long ago life, he always had money to spend on that sort of thing. Even after the more active part of his career, he could still take care of it himself. After all, love had its own danger. “In my line of work, I never really tried pursuing love. It can make you stupid.”

“True, but it can also make life worth living.”

Yeah, that was the thing, wasn’t it? Eddy would have agreed with her. That’s why he got out of the game, but Dante didn’t. At least, not fully.

Eddy was always much smarter than me. I listened to him about a lot of things, but never this. No, that’s not right. I did listen, I just thought my way of doing it worked for me.

But, right now, he needed to not be stupid.

“We can put a pin in this for now.” He shook his emotional thoughts out. “The most pressing thing at the moment are the Q’ten Lo shadows.”

“Of course.” She agreed, ceasing her antics, though still remaining close. “How much do you know about that country?”

“I know the most important bits. The Heavenly Emperor is in control. Their warriors are skilled and powerful, they have weapons that are effective against heroes, and they have something to block hero powers entirely. The shadows observing Raphtalia are making sure she doesn’t pose a threat to the emperor. So, the most important thing we can do is not look threatening to them. Similar to the plans with the church.”

Sadeena nodded along with his explanation. “I didn’t know about the weapons, but the rest is right.” That old womanizer must have gone back there after Sadeena had left. “And do you know how to do that?” She prompted.

Dante gave her a smirk. “Don’t have her wear the clothing of the emperor, and don’t have a child with her. I think I can manage that.”

“Good.” Sadeena gave him a smile. “Also, you will put a slave seal on her, as well and Rifana and myself.” That got Dante to pause. “Also, I expect you to use that level lowering power you mentioned.”

“Not that I don’t agree with you, because I completely do, but are you sure you’re okay with—”

“Dante.” She held her hand to his face again. “I told you, I trust you.”

“Right. Sorry.” Having this sort of trust from someone outside his family, and for it to be completely genuine, was a bit strange for him. That thought, however, prompted him to look at his status. He pulled up his stats, and…“Wow.”

“What?” She asked.

“I’m seeing the increase from my trust method.”

Humming, she fixed her vision on a point in the room. “Oh my~.”

“Yeah.” While he wouldn’t call the increase ‘significant’, it looked like a small percent increase for all his stats, probably XP gains too. That meant, the more powerful he became, the more this method would boost him.

Her reaction was also a bit of an eye-opener for him. Despite his efforts, if she was only now seeing the increase, then he didn’t fully trust her before. Well, he did hide away a gold coin when he gave her the rest of his stuff. Still, that was before. Now, they both knew where they stood with each other.

A gentle cough from the doorway grabbed their attention. “Am I interrupting something?” Fiadia stood there, her eyes slightly averted.

“No, of course not.” Dante said. “We were just having a chat. Come in.”

Fiadia stayed where she was. She seemed to be purposefully looking away from them.

“What is it?” Dante asked.

“Ah, Dante.” Sadeena grabbed his attention. When he looked at her, she had a light blush and gestured behind herself. Dante looked over and down, seeing his hand firmly planted on her soft, wide—

He instantly threw his hand into the air. God damn teen hormones! How long was that there?!

Fiadia cleared her throat. “I wanted to inform you that breakfast was ready, if you wished to join us.”

“Y-Yes, that would be great. I mean, we would like to join you.” Dante’s words fumbled out of his mouth. He stood from the bed and swept is arm before Sadeena. “Shall we?”

“Of course~.” She said, standing and taking his arm in hers. Fiadia led them out of the room and down the hall. Dante kept a light blush on his face the whole time.

This was so much easier when I thought she was just being flirty.

“I’m glad to see you are well, Sir Shield Hero.” Fiadia said over her shoulder. “When I saw your injury…”

“Ah, yeah.” He gave a light shrug. “It’ll be a pain going forward, but I’m sure there’s at least one alchemist who can grow an arm.” He was pretty sure Rat was capable of doing something like that. She was more interested in modifying monsters, but he was confident she knew something about homunculi, even if it wasn’t her specialty.

“It’s good to see your spirits raised.” She nodded at his words.

It may take a while, but he’d be fine with one arm for now.

A funny thought popped into his head. He gave Sadeena a subtle wink before speaking. “I’m sure you’re feeling a bit silly right now, though.”

“I’m sorry?” Fiadia looked back at him.

“For not taking that hug when you had the chance.” Dante said matter-of-factly. “With only one arm, I can’t give a proper one now.”

Fiadia nearly tripped over herself at his words. “S-Sir Shield Hero! You shouldn’t say such things, especially when you are with another woman!”

“She’s right, Dante.” He looked over at Sadeena. The woman had a knowing grin on her face. “I’m sure you can make her feel appreciated with one arm just fine.”

This time, Fiadia did trip, landing face first on the ground.

Dante stopped in his tracks, halting Sadeena with him. “Are you—”

“I’m fine!” She hastily pushed herself off the ground with her good arm and stood again.

“Sorry, sorry.” Dante said soothingly. “I just wanted to tease you a little. Seeing your reaction yesterday, I thought I’d have a little fun.

“Really, now.” Fiadia shook her head. “Teasing an old woman like me?”

Dante chuckled. “If it makes you feel better, it helped alleviate my mood from missing an arm.”

She gave him a deadpan look, clearly not believing him. To be fair, he had apparently been fondling Sadeena’s ass and hadn’t even been aware of it, which she saw, so his mood was already pretty alleviated.

“As you say, Sir Shield Hero.” She said, continuing to lead them down the hall.

Dante and Sadeena shared a laugh. God, it’s like I’m back in high school with Eddy. I’ve missed the ribbing we’d give each other. Maybe that’s why I acted like I did with Motoyasu. His personality is pretty similar to Eddy’s from high school, minus the woman worship.

He continued his pace, but his face became more solemn.

…I really do miss him. I must, if I was looking at Motoyasu of all people as a surrogate.

They finally reached the dining area. The food was already spread out on the table. Reichnott sat at the head, his expression a tad exasperated. It was understandable, seeing as two small children were digging into the food with fervor.

JoJo and Dio sat on one side of the table, with the three demi-human kids sitting on the other. The kids looked at the filolials with a bit of concern, likely wondering where the food was actually going.

As they went in, Fiadia went to sit near Reichnott. Sadeena moved to the spot next to Raphtalia and Dante saw his spot next to Dio.

Before he could move around the table, Rifana had gotten up and run up to him.

“Mister Shield Hero!” She said, her hands shaking in front of her chest in excitement.

“Good morning, Rifana. You’re looking better.” Dante said. Both she and Raphtalia were wearing plain dresses, possibly bought from some of the denizens of Reichnott’s lands. With better lighting, he could see her face had a couple scars on it, both across her left cheek. He hoped her other wounds would fade, but he wasn’t confident. Didn’t Naofumi once mention Raphtalia’s scars? He couldn’t quite remember what he said.

“Uh, Mister Shield Hero?” Her voice had lost some of its enthusiasm. She knitted her fingers together in front of her.

“Is something wrong?” Dante asked her.

She seemed to gain some resolve as she looked back up at him. “Will you marry me?”

“Oh my~”

Dante blankly smiled at the girl.

Ah. That’s right. She wanted to marry the Shield Hero, didn’t she? I feel like I should have remembered that, but I’ve had more pressing matters on my mind.

~The Wrong Hero~

After sidestepping her question, they enjoyed their breakfast in relative peace. Reichnott tried to ask a few things about the letters Dante had written. Fiadia must have told him a few things. He merely waved him off, but was able to give him a subtle message: ‘not out loud’.

After breakfast, he had a small meeting with the lord. The only thing he told him was to watch out for the church, which he was already cautious of. And, as far as Reichnott and the demi-humans there were concerned, the Shield Hero and his party were never there. With that, Dante took out the letters and burned them in the fireplace, making sure they were completely burned to ash. They were a last resort type of thing anyway, and if some shadows got ahold of them, it could be really bad.

Once they were finished, Reichnott offered them a cloth-covered carriage to take with them. It was in decent condition, nothing noteworthy enough to arouse suspicion. Reichnott tried to refuse payment, but Dante was quite insistent. They settled on one of the lesser gems Dante took from Idol’s holdings.

They loaded into the carriage, with Dante sitting at the front to steer, though it wasn’t really needed. Dio and JoJo played a quick game to decide who would pull the carriage first, with JoJo being the winner. Dio pouted as she sat next to Dante.

Bidding Reichnott and Fiadia farewell, they set out for the capital. The next part of the plan was simple: raise their levels, don’t piss off the Q’ten Lo shadows, and don’t look too strong for the church shadows. Given his missing arm, the last part wouldn’t be too difficult.

The thought of the church and his arm brought what Idol said to mind. He mentioned a god giving him a vision. Was that another action those behind the waves would take, was it the ravings of a madman, or, god forbid, was Medea a thing? Perhaps it was some fourth option. His knowledge had been getting less accurate as time went on. Who knew what the truth would be? Only time would tell.

Still, they had a long road ahead of them.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9 – Arming the Party

JoJo pulled the carriage down the dirt road at a decent pace. At their current rate, they’d make it back to the capital by the evening of the third day, assuming Dio switched with JoJo from time to time. Any faster and the kids would get more motion sick than they already were.

Dante made sure to keep his cloak’s hood over his face as they traveled. His beard was coming in slower than he thought, so that didn’t help. He did have some concern with JoJo being recognized, but Fiadia had reassured him. Apparently, Idol had a few rivals near his territory who could be a bit belligerent. They would dispute land ownership and, occasionally, burn down parts of the forest. Those lands would be where Idol’s knights searched for the arsonist and murderer, if they were searching at all.

All the same, he kept both filolials in their average filolial forms when they pulled the carriage and their human forms while sitting in the carriage. That was more to avoid more attention in the short term. He’d worry about shadows gaining intel about their transforming later.

Of course, Dante and Sadeena discussed the shadows a bit before leaving. Until Dante gained the ability to teleport, they would assume the Q’ten Lo shadows were always around. She would only focus on the queen’s and church’s shadows, claiming they were unlikely to be using the exact hiding abilities the Q’ten Lo shadows were using.

When they broke for meals, Sadeena would hunt a few usapils for later while Keel skinned a few they had and Dante cooked them. Even without an arm, Dante was still able to apply his cooking bonuses. He just needed to have a non-insignificant roll in the cooking process.

“This is really good!” Raphtalia had said.

“It’s the best!” Rifana agreed.

“Master makes super tasty food!” JoJo chimed in.

“It feels weird to be praised for, essentially, holding meat over a fire.” Dante lamented.

He also took the time to try some of the non-tobacco Fiadia had gotten him. Sadeena mentioned his fondness of the plant to her and she bought some from the local farmers as a gift. It had a rather smooth flavor to it, and he felt like a wizened old man with the pipe he smoked it through. He’d have to thank her the next time he was there.

During one of their breaks, Dante had Sadeena help him test out a few things with his shield skills. He wanted to see why his skills seemed to break so easily, despite all the bonuses he had. After about ten minutes of testing, he had his answer. It turned out his armor and Faust Guard didn’t affect his skills. They only affected his personal stats. Further, Sadeena was able to heavily damage his Air Strike Shield IV with a single strike from Idol’s whip while in her demi-human form. She was strong, but Idol still had a class upgrade and surely levels beyond that. Conversely, her harpoon took three or four strikes in her therianthrope form to do the same damage.

That whip was a serious weapon. Hopefully, one of the kids might be willing to use it. If not, well, he could always save it for a rainy day. Both of the girls seemed terrified of it.

One thing Dante was happy about, as well as Keel, was that Rifana knew how to read very well. While they traveled, she showed Dante the alphabet of Melromarc’s language and had him read along in the book Sadeena had gotten, something they didn’t really have time for before. It was a little disorienting learning this way, as all the words she spoke were English to him and not Melromarc’s language. Still, he did learn enough Spanish and Russian to hold a conversation, and more than enough Italian to anger his mother with his profanity, so he was confident he could learn this. Rifana, of course, seemed to love every moment she spent teaching him.

And, of course, Dante continued unlocking shields and having it make potions. He’d given both Rifana and Raphtalia a nutritional supplement and a bit of medicine to be safe. He unlocked a shield for intermediate recipes and started making healing salves next. They were quite a bit stronger than the potions, but they had to be applied directly to the wound, making them far more impractical in combat. Still, for the ingredients they used and time to make, let alone the price he would likely get, they were well worth it. He had Sadeena apply some to Rifana and Raphtalia, healing them the rest of the way and hopefully preventing more scarring.

By the end of the third day, they had made it just outside the capital. Since returning to Reichnott’s, he’d unlocked the Monster User Shield III, Blue Torrent Shield (for the recipes), as well as all three Slave User Shields. The final Monster User Shield was unlocked during his sleep at the manor, the Blue Torrent Shield quickly on their first day on the road, and the Slave User Shields during the rest of the travels. He’d already spent a few hours on the first Slave User Shield, and it turned out unlocking earlier ones sped up the time on later ones in the series.

He was confident he would be able to handle any enemies they were to encounter with his beefed up Reinforced Iron Shield and boosted skills and spell. More self-stat boosting shields could come later.

When they entered the capital in the evening light, Sadeena was driving the carriage with Dio pulling it. They had a few stops to make before they rested for the night and began anew.

Dante opened the door to the first shop. The old woman looked over at him and his party, including the human-shaped filolials.

“Welcome to…oh dearie…” The old magic shop lady held a hand to her mouth as she looked at Dante.

“Good evening.” Dante said cheerfully. “Is now a bad time?”

“No, now’s fine, but…” The old lady walked over to Dante to get a closer look at his arm, or lack thereof.

“It looks worse than it is.” He said. He didn’t bother keeping it covered with the cloak. He’d hide it around town, but he had nothing to hide from the witch.

The old woman gave him a sympathetic look. “Dearie, you’re missing—”

“My arm, yes, I have been told.” He said with a chuckle. It didn’t really bother him hearing that, they just had a few places to be before turning in for the night.

“Well, it’s good to see you again.” She gave him a soft smile before looking around him. “And I see you have a few more people with you this time.”

“Yeah. They were…in a bit of a situation.” He really couldn’t say more than that. “Anyway, I have something for you.” He gestured to Sadeena, who opened up her pack. Dante reached in and pulled out a crystal ball.

“My goodness!” The old lady looked over the sphere. “Where in the world did you get this?”

“Just something from our travels.” And from the chest Dante looted. “Since you sold yours to me, I felt it only right to sell one back to you. For a smaller price, of course.”

“Well, I do appreciate it, dearie.” The witch headed over to her counter, pulling out a small lockbox. “How much did you want to sell it for?”

“How’s 250 silver?” He said.

“Oh, no, that’s far too low. I’ll give you 350 for it.” The witch haggled.

“You’re doing that backwards. 300, the price you would sell it for.” Dante said. He really didn’t think he’d have trouble selling this for a lower price, but here he was.

“350, dearie. I simply couldn’t go lower.” The witch held her hands to her hips.

“…Is it the arm? It’s the arm, isn’t it?” Dante shook his head. “Okay, look, two of the kids need magic thread for transforming clothes, and all of them need affinity readings. Do that, and 300 silver. Sound good?” While he wasn’t averse to making money, the witch basically saved their lives by selling the crystal ball to them in the first place. He had to repay her somehow, while still earning enough to equip his party.

The witch hummed to herself, rocking back and forth in thought. “Alright, I’ll accept that.” She finally agreed.

They exchanged goods and Dante had the kids line up for their magic reading. Raphtalia had what he expected: light and shadow. Both Dio and JoJo only had wind. Keel had water and beast, while Rifana had fire and light. Dante almost thought it odd, but he vaguely remembered Rifana casting some sort of illusion spell in the Reprise web novel.

Perhaps it was a fire spell? A fire-illusion spell? Well, no matter. It was the story of a crazy person, after all. More concerning is none of us have healing as an affinity. Rifana and I will have to make do with that fire-healing spell, whenever we learn that.

“Now, then.” The witch brought them over to a spindle. “You can use this to spin the thread. The crystal is a bit worn, but I think it should have enough for two children. Which ones will be using it?”

“These two.” Dante said, gesturing to Dio and JoJo.

“Hmm. I don’t think I’ve ever seen demi-humans quite like them.” She said, looking over their wings.

“They’re filolials.” Dante said.

“Really?” The witch looked up at him.

“Yep!” Dio said, transforming on the spot. It was a bit crowded in the area.

“Ah, Dio!” JoJo called out, staring up at his transformed sister. “Why’d you do that?”

“What~?” Dio clearly didn’t see the problem.

“Dio, I told you not to transform while wearing that tunic.” Dante said, seeing the shredded remains on the ground.

“Oops.” Dio transformed again, appearing mostly human. “Sorry, Master.”

“And now you’re…never mind. Here’s a spare.” Dante dropped another shirt on her head. “Keep that one on until we get your clothes made.”

“Such delightful kids.” The old woman said, leading Dio to the spindle first.

“They are.” Dante agreed. “Would it be okay for them to stay here a bit while we go to a few more places?”

“That should be fine.” The witch said.

“What?” Dio and JoJo said together. “But, Master!”

“None of that, now.” Dante put a stop to that quickly. “I’ll be fine. I have Sadeena with me, remember?” He gestured to the woman in question, who threw up a peace sign. “It won’t be that long. Just spin the thread and wait here when you’re finished. We’ll come back to get you, okay?”

JoJo and Dio had worried expressions on their faces. Dio hadn’t even started spinning her thread yet.

Dante sighed. “We’ll eat something tasty at the inn before bed.”

“Okay!” The agreed. If they were normal children, Dante would feel a bit bad bribing them with food. As it stood, that would probably be the best motivator for a while.

The witch laughed at the display. “I’ll see you when you return.”

“Got it.” Dante held out his hand to the old lady, which she grasped. “I can’t thank you enough for selling the crystal ball to us in the first place. It really saved us, uh…” Dante hadn’t asked her name. He was becoming like Naofumi.

The witch laughed at his hesitation. “Agatha.” She said. “And, you’re welcome.” She leaned in a little closer to Dante. “The girl’s scar, your wound, and the extra children in your care, I have a pretty good guess at what happened.”

Dante froze at her words. The witch, Agatha, simply shook her head.

“It’s none of my business, and I say the less slavery, the better. Just be careful.” She said.

“We will.” Dante affirmed. Saying goodbye to Dio and JoJo for now, they left the shop.

Next, they decided to pop into the smithy and let Erhard know they’re still alive. Once the door opened, they saw the blacksmith bringing a piece of armor onto the floor.

“Kid!” The man yelled, nearly dropping the armor. He quickly set it on the rack and strode over to the group. “You’re alive!”

“Last I checked.” Dante grinned at him. “And I lost some weight.”

“Geez, kid…” Erhard held a hand to his head as he looked at Dante’s left side. “…You’ve ruined my chainmail.”

Dante gave him a hearty laugh. “That’s my chainmail now. You wanted it in one piece, you shouldn’t have sold it to the guy who specializes in getting hit!”

Erhard shared a laugh with him. Dante was happy the man adapted to the situation so quickly. It was nice not having people giving him a pitying look. Although, perhaps he should enjoy it while it lasted. He’s likely to receive some mockery from the good people of Melromarc for missing an arm.

“So,” Erhard went on, “you’re back here, alive, and with a few new faces.” He noted the two extra kids hiding behind Sadeena’s legs. “Aside from the flesh wound and damage to my armor, it looks like things turned out well.”

“Exceedingly so.” Dante confirmed. “Speaking of, I’d like some equipment for my new companions.”

“Might want some equipment for your old companion too.” Erhard quipped. “The clothes on the boy are looking a bit tight.”

Dante turned to Keel. He was right. Dante hadn’t noticed, but Keel had grown some more. If he had to guess, he’d say Keel was around 14 years old now. Well, he did end up getting a few levels from the whole Idol thing. He must have still been close enough to gain XP. Once they got to grinding tomorrow, Dante could test out how de-leveling without a reset worked on growing demi-humans.

“Something light, I think. He’ll grow some more before too long, simple clothing should be fine. I’ll be doing the defending, anyway.” Dante said. He was also curious how much the maturation bonus would affect him. Keel might end up looking 16 by the end of it all.

“I’ll get him and the girls fixed up.” Erhard nodded. “You want something else yourself?”

“Nah, the chainmail’s still good.” Dante said. “Besides, my shield does most of the work. I can upgrade later.”

“Right, that shield.” Erhard looked at Dante’s arm. “You mentioned a reason for wanting to see that siderite shield before. What was it?”

Ah. Dante had forgotten about that. Well, he might as well tell the man.

“Okay, so, don’t get angry, but…”

He got angry. It was short-lived, however, as Erhard didn’t want to frighten the girls. Also, Dante promised to have Erhard as his go-to blacksmith, which would be arms and armor for at least four people, if not five. Since nothing was actually lost from the store, Erhard did see reason, though he was still a bit annoyed by it.

Keel ended up getting a slightly larger version of the outfit he was already wearing, being shorts and a shirt with an exposed midriff. Erhard actually had the red and brown outfit Dante remembered Raphtalia wearing from the show, so he got that for her. For Rifana, Erhard had a somewhat similar dress. It was a deep blue with long white sleeves. Like with Raphtalia’s, they cut a hole in the back to let her tail pass through.

“How’s it feel?” Erhard asked the girls.

“G-Good, Mister Erhard.” Raphtalia said, moving behind Sadeena again.

“Thanks, Mister Erhard!” Rifana beamed, sounding a bit braver now.

They didn’t bother getting any weapons for Raphtalia or Rifana. Dante had daggers from the knights they killed, and Keel could use a shortsword they got as an actual item drop from one of the knights.

Dante just had Erhard look over the chainmail and make sure it wasn’t going to fall apart on him. It didn’t seem likely, since he had been sparring with Sadeena a bit as they traveled from Reichnott’s. Dante needed to be sure he could still handle defense. His reflexes were…good, but he lost his balance a number of times. He had all three kids spar with him a bit, too. The girls were a bit nervous at first, but after seeing Keel hit Dante with no wound to speak of, they tried as well. It wasn’t much, but it was a good first step.

After Erhard’s, they went with Sadeena’s suggestion and met with Beloukas. The slave trader seemed all too happy to see him again.

“Ah, Sir Shield Hero.” The short man greeted as they entered. “I was beginning to think our business arrangement was concluded.”

“Glad to see you so concerned with my wellbeing.” Dante returned, a smirk on his face. “You know why I’m here?”

“Of course.” Beloukas nodded. “Unfortunately, I have no news about the villagers.”

“Seriously?” That was a bit hard to believe. He had four more days and nothing to show for it?

“I’m afraid so, Sir Shield Hero. I’ll be expanding my search to more of the neighboring towns tomorrow. If you have any more information, I might be able to find them faster, yes sir.”

That was something they didn’t have. The only thing that knight gave them was the names of the slavers who likely handled the transaction. Dante would need to find them and make them talk.

“We’ll work on that later.” Dante changed the topic. “For now, I need you to apply a slave seal to three of my party members.”

“How exciting!” Beloukas rubbed his hands together. “Will that be a high-grade seal then?”

“No, a basic seal.” Dante said.

“Hmm, very well.” Beloukas went to fetch the ink.

Dante nodded to Sadeena, and she knelt down to Rifana and Raphtalia.

“Okay, it’ll be just like I said.” Sadeena clasped the girls’ hands in hers. “We’ll all have a seal with Dante acting as our master. But, he won’t treat any of us as slaves. This is only so no one will think to take any of you, and to make us all stronger. It’ll hurt for a moment, but then it’ll be over. Okay?”

“Okay!” Rifana nodded immediately.

“O-Okay.” Raphtalia was a bit more hesitant, but she trusted Sadeena.

“One more thing.” Dante added, gaining the girls’ attention. “I’ll need to keep a condition active for the seals to work. Right now, the one I have for Keel is no lying. I can do the same for all of you, but if you’d rather it be something else, that’s fine.”

“Yeah!” Keel interjected. “The seal never went off since he bought me. I never had to worry that it would.”

As if taunting fate, the seal went off, shocking Keel. Dante sighed and brought up his status magic, changing the conditions of the seal. “Seriously, Keel, are you trying to scare them?” Keel held his chest, the effects wearing off. Sadeena patted Raphtalia on the head to keep her calm. Rifana still seemed fine.

I’m not really surprised. Even with Sadeena, I was just some guy. Of course he’d be nervous around me. Bravado aside, I’m glad he trusts me more now.

“I changed it to attacking me in my sleep. A little specific, but the seal accepted it. I’ll do the same for you three.” Dante explained.

“Oh my~.” Sadeena slid close to Dante. She whispered in his ear. “So you don’t want me attacking you in your sleep~?”

“I…” Dante’s face burned. “I’m not answering that.”

“Oh my~.”

She’s enjoying this too much.

Beloukas soon returned with the ink. Sadeena went first to show Raphtalia and Rifana there was no need to worry. Rifana went next, slightly nervous. Raphtalia took the longest, staying next to Sadeena as she encouraged the young girl. While holding Sadeena's hand, she let the slave trader paint the seal on her chest. There was a small amount of pain, but she withstood it well. Dante gave both girls a pat on the head to try and reassure them, and one to Sadeena when she prompted him, much to his embarrassment.

With that, Dante could now see everyone’s levels and stats easily.

Dante: LV 25
Sadeena: LV 32
Keel: LV 21
Rifana: LV 3
Raphtalia: LV 3
Dio: LV 22
JoJo: LV 21

Dante had noticed an XP penalty for having a party of seven. He seemed to gain about 5% less than what he normally got from usapils previously. Not too bad, and the maturation bonuses from the shields more than made up for it for his companions. He imagined it would have been a bigger penalty without the trust bonus from his shield.

Dante paid the slave trader a silver for each seal and they set out to the magic shop.

When they arrived back, Dio and JoJo had finished spinning the thread. Agatha also had something waiting for them.

“These are beginner books for the affinities your party has, Shield Hero.” Agatha showed them the books sitting on the table. “I have light, shadow, fire, support, wind, and water. No beast, unfortunately, though I’m unsure if there’s a spell tome for that.”

Dante turned to Sadeena, who nodded. He was a little surprised. He figured beast magic was a more natural magic, like what filolials did. Once Keel learned to transform from Sadeena, they could worry about finding him a tome for that.

“We’ll take everything but wind. JoJo and Dio should be able to learn that on their own. How much for it all?” Dante had a feeling it wouldn’t be cheap. While it was a bit early, it wouldn’t hurt to have the books on hand for when everyone was ready.

“50 silver per tome, but I’ll give a discount for all of them, so 200 in total.” Agatha said. He was right, not cheap at all. Although, considering what weapons and armor cost, it was actually pretty good.

“That works for me.” Dante said, handing over the coin. If he’d thought about it before, he would have just included the books in his price for the crystal ball.

“Excellent.” Agatha clapped her hands together. She gave him the spools with the thread and Dante placed them and the tomes in his pack. He thanked her again and they all left for the last stop for the evening.

The witch had given them directions to a tailor she knew could work magic thread. Dante had a feeling who it was and he wasn’t disappointed.

“Ah! Look at these cute angels!” The tailor woman said. She had sandy blond hair and a pair of glasses. Really, she was pretty much exactly what Dante was expecting.

“Good evening.” Dante said. “I heard you can make transforming clothes.”

“That I can!” The woman said, a bright smile on her face. “Who needs the clothes? I can get started immediately if you have thread.”

“We do, and it’s for those two angels.” At Dante’s words, the woman’s eyes began to sparkle.

“Oh, what a day!” She seemed to bounce as she took out a measuring tape. “Let me get your measurements.”

The filolial kids glanced at Dante. He gave them a smile and said it was fine. Honestly, if he didn’t know what he was walking into, he’d be a bit put off as well.

After finishing, the tailor woman turned back to Dante. “What type of design were you thinking of?”

“I’ll leave that to them.” Dante pointed to the filolial kids.

“Really?” Dio bounced, excited.

“It’ll be your clothes. Just don’t make it too crazy.” He said.

“Okay!” JoJo joined in. He seemed pretty excited too.

They told the tailor what kind of outfits they wanted. More accurately, they whispered to her. It seemed they wanted it to be a surprise, given how they kept glancing over at the rest of the party.

They went back and forth with the tailor for a few minutes before settling on something.

“Alright, that should be everything.” The tailor said, taking the spools from Dante. “How soon do you want them by?”

“Tomorrow morning, if possible.” He said.

“Hmm. I’ll have to work through the night, but for these angels, I think I can do it!” She was a strange one, but Dante wasn’t going to complain. “But, for this much work in such a short time, it’ll cost a little more. How does 50 silver apiece sound?”

“Reasonable.” If this was all an act for more coin, something Dante highly doubted, then it was a good one. Either way, he didn’t have many options, but he did like how it worked out pretty close to the money he just made that day. One look to Sadeena told him the price was fair.

He gave the coins to the tailor, but she continued to look at Dante after receiving the money.

“Something wrong?” He asked the woman.

“Well…” The tailor looked between Dante and Keel. “Would you two like matching outfits?”

“I…what?” That was a bit of an odd question for Dante.

“You two look cute next to each other!” The tailor explained. “If you want, I can whip something up that’ll draw out your best qualities! For colors, I’m thinking—”

“W-Why do you want to dress us up?!” Keel shouted. He had backed up a bit from the tailor’s rant.

“Can’t you see it?” She asked. “A young man with a dark expression paired with a pretty boy. Ah, what a wonderful image!”

“…We’ll see you in the morning.” Dante said, ushering everyone from the crazy tailor’s shop.

The hell was that about? She wasn’t that crazy, was she? She didn’t really do anything outside of making that one outfit, right?

Dante gathered his thoughts on the strange woman they just encountered.

Actually, I think there was something in the web novel. Let me think…ah! That’s right, she went to his village, or the nearby town. There was a time she was watching Naofumi…sleep with Fohl. Huh…And is my expression really dark?

Well, crazy or not, Dante wasn’t too worried about her. Just a little caught off guard. And he was trying not to rely too much on his book knowledge. It did cost him an arm, after all. He’d use them more as guidelines. This just seemed like a low-risk thing.

Crap. I forgot to get her name, too.

With all their errands done, Sadeena led them to the demi-human inn she knew about. It wasn’t in the best shape, but it was far from run down. They sat at a large table in the corner and ordered their food, as well as alcohol for Sadeena and Dante.

“I’ll have an ale, too.” Keel said to the waitress.

“Aren’t you a bit young?” Dante asked.

“I’m a man now! Besides, I’m not much younger than you.” Keel argued.

“I’d say you’re wrong on both accounts, but…” Dante glanced at Sadeena. She merely gave a shrug. Whatever the actual culture here was for drinking, he figured Keel could at least try, especially after all they’ve done. Besides, his own body was about 17 now. “Sure, go for it.”

The waitress left to put in their order, leaving them time to talk.

Dante took the initiative. “Okay. Starting tomorrow, we’ll really get to leveling. Rifana and Raphtalia, you two will stick by me. Once we get you a few more levels and grown a bit, we can work on practical combat. Sadeena, if I recall correctly, the sea has high XP monsters. How far into the water would you find them?”

“Hmm. I think there are a few spots within a mile of the shores of Lurolona.” She said.

“And can you handle them by yourself?”

“With your spell, I should do alright.”

“Good. If not, you could take JoJo or Dio. I’m pretty sure filolials are good swimmers.” They had an outline of a plan. Depending on how much XP those monsters provided, they’d figure out what to do next. If they gave a much greater amount than the land monsters, Dante would focus most of his attention on learning more support spells for Sadeena. Otherwise, they’d return to land fighting and get more combat training for everyone.

The waitress returned with their assortment of food and ale. Amusingly, Keel took one sip and instantly regretted it. Sadeena and Dante shared a laugh before sliding the drink to the orca woman. The food was good, still better than Dante’s. He hadn’t the chance to unlock any more cooking bonuses, and he’d been using monster souls to increase his other stats and skills. Still, there was time enough later.

Dante, however, noticed something during their meal. “Raphtalia, are you alright?”

“Ah! Y-Yes, I’m fine!” She blurted out.

“You sure?” Dante looked down at her plate. “You haven’t eaten that much. Did you want something else?” They’d ordered a kid’s plate for both her and Rifana. It had a nice assortment of food, which was good, considering they mostly ate usapil meat the past three days.

“No, this is good. Thank you, Mister Shield Hero.” She said quickly.

“Is there something on your mind?” He tried. “Feel free to tell me anything that’s bothering you.”

“It’s nothing.” She said in a quiet voice.

Dante turned to Sadeena. She finished her mug and nodded towards Raphtalia.

Dante sighed, thinking about what he talked about with Sadeena before.

“I don’t really know how I can help those girls get through this.”

“Just talk to them. Be there for them. You’re the Shield Hero, after all.”

If that was all he needed to do, then he would. “Well, it’s not nothing, if it’s spoiling your appetite.” He eased back into his chair. “If something’s bothering you, or if I did something, please—”

“You didn’t do anything wrong!” Raphtalia shouted, earning a few looks from the other customers before they returned to their own meals. Raphtalia slid down in her chair, clearly embarrassed.

“Okay.” Dante motioned with his hand. “Then, what is it?”

“I…” Tears formed in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” Dante looked at Sadeena, but she shook her head. She didn’t know what was wrong either. “Sorry for what?”

Raphtalia sniffled before continuing. “If it wasn’t for us, you wouldn’t have lost your arm.” She wiped the tears from her face. “You told the magic lady you were missing your arm after you saved us. It’s all our fault.”

Dante reached over to her. She flinched and kept her head down, but Dante simply placed his hand on her head. He rubbed it a bit, letting his fingers run through her hair and soothe her.

“Do you think I blame either of you for that?” He asked. “Did I ever tell you that?”

Raphtalia looked up and shook her head. “But, your arm…”

Dante chuckled. “You and everyone else are more concerned about my arm than I am. I was freaked out for about a minute before I got over it.” He was in shock at the time, but she didn’t need to hear that. “In exchange for my arm, I got to save you two. It was a good trade.”

Raphtalia sniffed again, trying to hold back new tears.

“Okay, how about this?” Dante tried again. “I hadn’t slept properly for about three weeks before saving you two. After that night, I’ve slept peacefully. Helping you did that for me. How does that sound?” Dante ruffled her hair a bit, scratching around her ears. “I get to have sweet dreams now.”

The raccoon girl giggled, batting away Dante’s hand. “That tickles!”

“There, that’s better.” Dante gave her a smile. “I don’t want to hear any more guilty talk from you about that. It was in no way your fault. Okay?”

She held her ears as she nodded. “Okay, Mister Shield Hero.”

“And you can just call me ‘Dante’. We’re party members, after all.”

“Okay, D—Mister Dante.” She said.

One battle at a time, I suppose.

“And Rifana?” Dante turned to the weasel girl, who was enjoying her meal. “You don’t feel guilty, do you? I want to make sure.”

She let her fork droop to the side. “Yeah.” She perked right back up. “But, if I marry you, then I can make it up to you!”

“That’s…” Dante had no words. Child logic could be pretty strange at times. “That’s absolutely something that can be discussed later.”

They finished up their meal and decided on sleeping arrangements. It was going to be girls in one room, boys in another, but Dio insisted otherwise.

“I want to sleep with Master.” She said.

“I…suppose that’s fine.” Dante said. “But what about the girls? They won’t be able to sleep with you if you’re with me.”

During the two nights they were on the road, they all basically slept in a pile, Dante and Sadeena taking turns at watch. Dante had found the filolials’ feathers to be far too comfortable, and the kids certainly enjoyed them too.

“Then we should all sleep in the same room.” Dio said, as if it was obvious.

“I don’t think there’s enough space in a single room.” Dante pointed out.

“What~?” Dio’s confusion was pretty adorable. Dante was sure she’d say something like “let’s just sleep outside then.”

“That’s okay!” Raphtalia said. “Rifana and I can sleep with Sadeena tonight.”

“Alright. Looks like they saved you, Dio.” He said to the filolial.

“Yay!” Dio hugged the girls.

“Aw, you don’t want to sleep with me~?” Sadeena said with a clearly fake pout. “Little Dante, it feels like you’re pushing me away~.”

Dante shook his head with a slight blush. “If I didn’t have these hormones, you would be so much easier to deal with.”

“But then it’d be less fun!”

After giving her a quick peck on the cheek, Dante paid for their rooms for the night. They would be right next to each other on the next floor.

Just as they were about to head upstairs, a man grabbed their attention.

“Excuse me.” He said. Dante turned around to face him. “Are you the Shield Hero?”

Dante was on guard, but then he saw the man’s features. He had a dark cloak on, as did his two female associates. He also had a pair of cat ears on the top of his head. No, tiger ears.

Well…I suppose I’d forgotten about them.

Chapter Text

“I am.” Dante said to the emissaries from Siltvelt. He was a little surprised to run into them here, but he supposed if there was anywhere to gather information on the Shield Hero’s whereabouts, a demi-human bar was a good place to start.

The three cloaked individuals bowed deeply at the hip to him.

“It is an honor to meet you.” The man said as he raised himself up. “We are emissaries from…by the Shield…”

The tiger man was staring at Dante’s left side. He looked down and saw his cloak had shifted slightly, revealing his missing limb.

“Lord Shield!” The tiger man yelled. “What has happened?! Who did this to you?!”

“Hey!” Dante yelled back before stepping forward. He lowered his voice. “Don’t cause a scene here.”

The man’s eyes were narrowed in righteous anger, but he nodded all the same. Dante turned back to Sadeena.

“Take the kids upstairs and then come back down.” He said.

“Of course~.” Sadeena spun about and ushered the kids on. They protested, wanting to know what was going on, but Sadeena kept on going. Dante had the emissaries follow him back to the corner table they used. They sat down, waiting for Sadeena to return.

“Please, Lord Shield.” The tiger man said. “What happened since your arrival here?”

“I ran into a bit of…unexpected trouble.” Dante shrugged. “It was difficult, but we managed. Sadeena there actually saved my life.”

It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it wasn’t really a lie either. More like, true from a certain point of view.

“I see.” The tiger man said.

“Would you elaborate, Lord Shield?” The dog demi-human woman next to him asked.

“I was in a fight I couldn’t win. Sadeena found me and killed the person responsible for my injury. We’ve been traveling together ever since.” That was even more of a lie than before. “As I understand it, there are ways to regrow limbs in this world, so I’m not terribly concerned. I must simply be patient.”

No one actually verified that, but they didn’t say it was impossible either. If nothing else, there was that Yggdrasil Elixir. Dante was pretty sure that would do the trick, though it was probably ridiculously expensive. Actually, he could probably get some from some Siltvelt nobles.

Nah, better not. Besides the numerous reasons not to go to Siltvelt at the moment, I’d be greatly indebted to whoever provided it to me.

“I see.” The dog woman said. “But, could you provide us with any more details? For instance, who was it that injured you?”

“I never caught his name.” That was completely a lie. Even if he didn’t know Idol’s name before, the pompous lord gave his name to Dante. However, it was better not to give that information to these people. If they knew a powerful Melromarc lord injured Dante, there would likely be war. Sure, it was in self-defense, but he was torturing and killing slaves for who knows how long. Either way, no good would come from revealing it.

“But, please,” Dante followed up before the demi-humans could, “let’s move past this. We can talk about whatever you want after my companion returns. Ah, speaking of which…”

Sadeena just appeared from the stairs.

“Sorry it took so long~.” She said, grazing her hand over Dante’s shoulder before sitting to his right.

“No problem.” He gestured to the emissaries. “Now then, you had something to discuss with us?”

They looked between themselves for a moment. There seemed to be a silent agreement, possibly to do with his missing arm, though he couldn’t say for sure.

“Please allow us to introduce ourselves, Lord Shield.” The tiger man said. “I am Tahrin. This is Daila and Nero.” He gestured to the dog and cat demi-human women. “We’ve come to invite you to Siltvelt.”

“Siltvelt, eh?” Dante relaxed in his chair. “I’m not too familiar with this world. What kind of place is it?”

He didn’t want to clue them in to how much he knew. It was already rumored that he didn’t know much about this world, assuming that had actually spread around from the castle. Plus, there might still be more differences from what he knew.

“Siltvelt is a country that worships the Shield Hero.” Tahrin said. “There, you would be revered as you should be, not ridiculed and framed like you have here.”

“Ah. I see you’ve heard of my arrest.” Dante said.

Tahrin shook his head. “All lies, nothing more. Any convictions made by the Queendom of Melromarc against the Shield Hero hold no sway in Siltvelt.”

“Well, that’s good to know.” Dante nodded. He knew that, of course, but he had to play his part. “But why should I go to Siltvelt and not one of the other countries?”

Daila spoke up next. “Our main religion is the Shield Faith. Like Tahrin said, you would be worshiped as a god there.”

“So you say.” Dante eyed her. “But I don’t know any of you. How can I verify what you’re saying?”

“Actually,” Sadeena leaned in, “what they say is true. Although, Siltvelt can be a bit…extreme in their religion.” She said it loud enough for the emissaries to hear. They seemed to give her a soft glare.

Nero had something to say about that. “I wouldn’t expect a human to view our faith positively.”

Dante raised an eyebrow. “I think it has more to do with me being an outworlder than me being human.”

Nero’s eyes immediately widened. “No—Apologies, Lord Shield! I was speaking about your companion.”

Dante cast a glance at Sadeena. While he realized the average Melromarc human wouldn’t recognize what she was, he was surprised these emissaries didn’t. Then again, she still had her cloak on. It wasn’t covering her face, but still.

“Sadeena is a demi-human.” He said. She pulled back her cloak and revealed her arms to them.

“Ah…” Nero grew quiet.

“Please forgive our rudeness.” Tahrin lowered his head slightly. “We noticed some of the children in your company were slaves, so we assumed your companion was human. We didn’t see the seal on her chest.”

“That said,” Daila continued, “why do you have demi-human slaves?”

“It’s not as if I could get the people of Melromarc to help me, given the circumstances.” Dante answered. He hadn’t tried, of course. There was no need when he had Sadeena.

“But what about demi-human adventurers?” Daila asked. “Surely, you could have found some willing to aid you.”

“Possibly.” Dante nodded. “However, I’d already met Sadeena.” The woman in question wrapped her arms around Dante’s. Shadows, or someone else not wanting to be seen, were nearby. “From there, we went to a slave trader and acquired a slave seal for her. Apparently, demi-human slaves have more protection under the law here than free demi-humans.”

It wasn’t a foreign concept to Dante. Free demi-humans were second class citizens at best, targets for slavers at worst. Slaves were property, so stealing or damaging them held consequences.

“After that, we picked out a few demi-human children to train and level up. I hear demi-humans grow with their level, so they’ll be adults soon enough.”

Despite his plans, that was something he wasn’t happy about, but would do all the same. He knew it probably wasn’t shortening their lives, but it was still taking away their childhoods. Though, considering what they’ve all gone through, it was hardly the worst thing to do. Certainly, it had more pros than cons.

“…Lord Shield, would it be possible to continue this conversation in private?” Tahrin asked. He was giving Sadeena an appraising look.

“Something you don’t want to say in front of Sadeena?” Dante asked. “She was the first companion who didn’t betray me, and she saved my life. I’ll trust her more than three strangers.”

The three emissaries looked between each other. Sighing, Tahrin continued. “Very well. Forgive me, Lord Shield, but I believe you are being deceived by this woman.”

“That’s quite the accusation.” Dante glared at the tiger man. “Would you care to explain yourself?”

Incidentally, he wasn’t wrong. Sadeena had admitted as much. Still, he needed to put on a show for them and whoever was watching.

“Of course, Lord Shield. Please, tell me, who’s idea was it to use slaves?”

“Sadeena’s.” Dante could already tell where the man was trying to lead him. Well, Dante was accidentally leading Tahrin to lead him, so of course he knew.

“And when you went to purchase these slaves, did she suggest which ones to use?”

“Yes, she did.”

Tahrin nodded, a frown on his face. “It seems to me that she was looking for specific individuals.”

“I see.” Dante looked towards Sadeena neutrally, who was still attached to his arm. “Do you have anything to say about that?”

He would let Sadeena decide how to proceed. She did know a thing or two about Siltvelt, if their talks earlier in the week were any indication. She would know best how to interact with these people. Additionally, they both knew who was likely watching them right now. He trusted her judgement on how the Three Heroes Church would react to any information she handed out.

“Well, what’s there to say~?” Sadeena cozied up to Dante more. “I already told little Dante about my plan to find my fellow villagers.”

Dante gave her a smile. “That you did.” He turned back to the emissaries. “I assume you heard where Melromarc’s first wave struck?”

“Yes, Lord Shield.” Nero said with a confused nod. “It was the demi-human district of the Seaetto territory.”

“And do you know what happened to the surviving villagers?” Dante asked.

The eyes of all three emissaries widened. Tahrin found his voice. “You don’t mean…”

“Yeah.” Dante confirmed. This would work well. They would know he wasn’t being tricked, so that made up for his poor phrasing earlier. Additionally, the spy—or spies—wouldn’t get any important information. It’s not as if slavers raiding Lurolona wasn’t going to be found out, so there was no real harm there. If anything, he just sped up the time they figured it out, nothing more.

“I understand.” Tahrin said. He gave a slight bow to Sadeena. “My condolences for your loss, and please forgive my earlier accusation.”

“It’s fine~.” She waved him off.

“Hearing all this, I hope you can understand why I can’t leave at the moment.” Dante concluded. “I owe her too much to not assist her.”

Tahrin sighed. “We understand, Lord Shield. However, we would like to keep in contact with you, should you change your mind. Is that acceptable?”

Dante hummed in thought. The real question was what the church would do with that information. The emissaries shouldn’t be in too much danger, assuming they check in with their leaders every so often. Their lack of response would mean trouble, and the church wasn’t stupid enough to pick a fight this early. Probably.

The real problem was about the former villagers. If the church saw Dante gathering them up, it would be a visible clock to him leaving. Worse, they might intervene. Then again, if Beloukas was any indication, finding the villagers wasn’t an easy task. If it was, he’d have found more than just Keel by now.

“Sounds fine to me.” Dante said. “How often were you thinking?”

“We would check in with you every day. That way, the moment you are finished here, we—”

“I think that would be a bit much, yeah?” Dante said with a slight laugh. “How does once a week sound?”

“…Yes, that’s reasonable, Lord Shield.” The tiger man seemed so deflated from that. Well, if his black and white striped ears were any indication, he was a Hakuko. Weren’t they supposed to be fervent supporters of the Shield Hero?

“Excellent.” Dante gave him a bright smile. “By the way, how did you get here so quickly? From what I saw from my map, Siltvelt seemed weeks away.”

“We were present in a nearby country.” Nero answered. “We received a message through a crystal ball to meet with you.”

Ah. That would explain it.

Dante couldn’t exactly remember how long range communication was done. He knew crystal balls could record things, so them transmitting messages wasn’t too out there.

“I see.” Dante nodded. “Now then, was there anything else you wanted to discuss with us?” Tahrin shook his head, as did his two companions. “Then I believe we’ll be turning in for the night.” Dante rose from the table with Sadeena. “We’ll see you here in a week.”

“One last thing.” Daila held up a hand to Dante. “Please, get some rest, Lord Shield.”

“Okay?” Dante tilted his head.

“Forgive me, Lord Shield, but you look exhausted. I understand you wish to help the people of Lurolona, but please don’t run yourself ragged.”

“Ah, of course.” Dante said to the dog woman. The emissaries bid them goodnight and left the inn. Dante turned to Sadeena after they left. “Do I really look that tired?”

She gave him a slightly strained smile. “It does look like you haven’t slept in a few days.” She said.

“Really? I’ve been sleeping like a baby.” Though, this did lead him to his earlier thoughts about his more restful sleep, his mind going full circle and all. Maybe he was so stressed that he didn’t feel stressed. He didn’t recall ever hearing that too much stress made it easier to sleep. Then again, he was able to sleep through the night, so he really didn’t care. If he looked like a zombie, so what?

Oh. Maybe that’s why Raphtalia was concerned. She saw my haggard look and thought I was in pain. Such a sweet kid.

With the meeting done with, Dante and Sadeena turned in for the night. They would have, that is, if they hadn’t found the kids spying on their conversation from the stairs.

“Weren’t you all supposed to be in bed?” Dante asked playfully.

Dio and JoJo grabbed onto his pant legs. “You aren’t going to leave us, are you?” Dio asked.

“…Never.” Dante replied, petting her head. “I’m staying with you all. Don’t ever forget that.” He looked at each of the demi-human kids, meeting their eyes.

“Mhmm.” Dio nodded her head into his leg.

“If you go, you have to take us too.” JoJo said.

“Of course.” Dante moved his hand to his head next. “That goes without saying.”

“Even me~?” Sadeena leaned on his shoulder, one arm around him.

“I doubt I could get rid of you if I tried.” Dante remarked.

“Oh, you~.” Sadeena gave him a quick peck before stepping away. “Alright, now, it’s time for bed. We have a busy day ahead of us.” She ushered the kids up the stairs once again.

Dante laughed at the sight. She very much acts like the big sister of the village. It wouldn’t be that far off to say she acts like a mother—

Dante paused at the thought. If she was the mother, then that would make him…

His pause turned into a blush. He had to push those thoughts aside. Sure, they were both clearly interested in each other, as if their kissing wasn’t an indication. They both decided getting much more physical wouldn’t be a good idea at the moment. Aside from the fact that they had a bunch of kids around them, Sadeena getting pregnant while fighting the waves was a recipe for disaster. And if she were to have a child…

I’d be a father…

That thought made his face blush excessively hard, if the burning sensation in his cheeks and ears were anything to go by.

A father…I’d become a father. I’d have a child of my own. With Sadeena.

“Dante.” Sadeena called from atop the stairs. “Is everything okay?”

Dispelling the thoughts in his mind, Dante climbed the stairs. “Y-Yeah.”

Sadeena’s wide smile greeted him when he reached the top. “Oh~. What were you thinking about~?” She followed him down the hall, hands behind her back.

“I…spicy food.” He deflected. “Very spicy food.”

“Oh, you like spicy food~?” Sadeena slid her arms around his waist before he could open the door to his room. She set her chin on his shoulder and whispered in his ear. “I think I have some spicy food in my room, if you—”

“Goodnight, Sadeena!” He broke from her embrace and slammed the door shut after running into his room.

“Goodnight, little Dante~.” She called from beyond the door.

Dante held his back to the door, his hand covering his face. Damn that woman. Does she always have to zero in on me like that? Despite what he was thinking, he had a pleasant smile on his face. I’m so glad I met her.

“Master, is something wrong?” JoJo asked. “Your face is all red.”

“Ah, no, I’m fine.” Dante moved more into the room. “I just…” He paused when he saw the beds. They had been pushed together. Keel was off to the side, seeming embarrassed.

“Is there a reason you moved the beds?” Dante asked. He didn’t even hear the beds being moved around. Did they do that before coming down to spy on the meeting? Or, did they do that when they came up a second time? How lost in thought was he?

“We wanted to sleep together.” Dio said, stating the obvious to her.

“But…okay, but what about Keel?” He tried a different approach.

“Huh?” Dio cocked her head to the side. “He can sleep with us too.”

That got a small laugh from Dante. “Alright, and how does Keel feel about this?”

Keel kept looking at the ground. “I’ll just use a bedroll.” He said.

“Really?” Dante prodded. “We’ve all slept together in Dio and JoJo’s feathers before. What’s the problem?”

“They were…you know.” Keel pointed at the bird children. “And now they’re…you know.”

“They’re still the same people they were before.” Dante reasoned, a smile on his face. He was being a complete hypocrite, he knew, but it was fun to tease.

“Come on, big bro!” JoJo said, grabbing onto Keel’s shirt. “It’ll be just like when we were outside.”

“Big bro…” Keel repeated, his eyes star struck. He noticed Dante smiling at him and cleared his throat. “I guess it can’t be helped.”

Dante held back a laugh and pulled off his chainmail. “That’s the spirit.” They climbed onto the beds, Dio snuggling next to Dante and JoJo lying next to Keel.

Dante turned off the lamp and drifted off into sleep.

~The Wrong Hero~

Dante had yet another peaceful night’s sleep. That was, until he heard a scream during the night. He shot up in his bed, throwing Dio to the ground. Sometime during the night, she must have climbed onto his chest.

“Mmr…Master, that’s too rough.” She said, rubbing her eyes.

Dante ignored her comment and rushed for the door. Before he could pull it open, he heard another voice.

“Shhh, it’s okay, Raphtalia. It’s okay.”

Sadeena was comforting her. A night terror, Dante realized. He’d nearly forgotten about that.

Strange. I don’t remember waking up to Raphtalia at all while we traveled. What changed?

The crying quieted down to Raphtalia softly calling for her parents. Dante opened his door and stepped out. He found the innkeeper at the top of the stairs, assuring him one of his companions was only having a nightmare. He slowly nodded and went back downstairs.

Dante went to the girls’ room and gave it a light knock. “It’s me.” He said.

Rifana opened the door shortly after. “Sorry if we woke you.” She said.

“Don’t worry about it.” Dante pat her on the head as he entered. When he looked around, he was slightly amused. It appeared that the girls had the same idea as Dio and JoJo. The two beds in the room were pushed together. Dante saw Sadeena holding Raphtalia to her chest, rocking her sobbing form.

“What happened?” He asked.

Sadeena shook her head. “I don’t know. She just woke up screaming. This didn’t happen before.”

Dante sat next to her, placing his hand on the tanuki girl’s head. “What was different?”

“Nothing.” Sadeena said. “I held her like I did the first night we found her. She didn’t cry out then.”

“Master…” Dio walked into the room, yawning. “Is Raphy okay?”

Dante looked at the filolial girl. When he turned back to Sadeena, he knew she understood.

“Dio, would you transform and sleep in here tonight?” He asked.

“Huh?” Dio woke up a bit at that. “But, I want to sleep with you.”

“I know, but this is important.” Dante pointed at Raphtalia. “She’s having a bad dream and needs your help.”

Dio stood in the doorway, rocking back and forth on her feet.

“It’ll be like when we were traveling. Just pretend I’m keeping watch right now. After tonight, I think we’ll be sleeping like we were, okay?”

“Okay…” Dio didn’t sound too enthused, but she transformed anyway. Sadeena stood from the bed and placed Raphtalia in Dio’s feathers. As she slowly sank into the filolial, her cries became whimpers, then completely vanished.

“Amazing.” Sadeena looked at the spot Raphtalia disappeared.

“Filolial feathers are really comfy.” Dante pointed out. “Let’s get back to sleep.” He made his way back to the door.

“Master…” Dio let out.

Dante sighed and looked over his shoulder. “I’ll grab JoJo and Keel, then we’ll all sleep in here tonight.” It’d be a little cramp, but they’d fit.

“Okay!” Dio chirped.

When Dante went back to the boys’ room, a smile formed on his face. He saw them both still asleep, Keel lying on his back with JoJo spread across him, both snoring loudly.

I wish I had a camera.

He grabbed his chainmail and closed the door, locking it behind him and sliding the key under the door. He returned to the other room and slept in Dio’s feathers with the others.

~The Wrong Hero~

When morning came, Dante woke up refreshed. The others seemed well rested too, though Raphtalia was slightly panicked to find herself surrounded by feathers. She apologized for waking everyone, but no one really minded. Well, Dio did, but she got thrown off of Dante, so she had a good reason.

Keel seemed a little embarrassed when he stepped out of his room, but JoJo seemed fine. In fact, he seemed to follow Keel at his heels like a baby duck. Dante’s soft laughter didn’t make Keel feel any better.

After breakfast, they went straight to the tailor’s place. The store was open when they arrived, so they went right in.

“Welcome back!” The tailor called out. She had massive bags under her eyes, yet she still sounded chipper. Dante almost felt bad for having her make the outfits so quickly, but she probably enjoyed it.

“Good morning.” Dante greeted her. “Do you have the clothes ready?”

“Of course!” She waved over the filolial kids. “Come on, come on. The clothes are waiting in the changing room. I want to see my creations at work!”

With a bit more encouragement than before, Dante had the two kids follow the tailor. After a few minutes of waiting, Dio and JoJo stepped out of the changing area to show everyone their outfits.

Upon seeing JoJo, something immediately clicked for Dante. He looked over at Keel, who had his head turned away slightly and a smile adorning his face. JoJo wore a pair of loose fitting shorts, coming down just below his knees. They were the same deep blue as his hair. His shirt, on the other hand, was white. It had a very wide collar and it left exposed more than half a foot of midriff. The back was open enough to let his wings through. Honestly, it was almost like looking at a smaller version of Keel.

Dio, on the other hand, had something like black unitard shorts as the base for her outfit. It went down just above her knees and up to and around her neck, covering part of her shoulders. She wore a small, golden-orange vest that went less than halfway down her torso and definitely wouldn’t close. Her wings went through the unitard and just under the vest. Around her hips looked to be a cross between some sort of short-shorts and a long loincloth, also a golden-orange color. It seemed strange at first, until Dante turned to look at the other demi-human the filolials spent more time with. Sadeena hid it well, but there was a definite dusting of pink on her cheeks as she looked at Dio.

Was I just blind? When did they start looking up to those two so much?

“What do you think?” The tailor asked, beaming.

Dante stepped forward, smile on his face. “If my companions’ reactions are any indication, you did fantastic.”

“Do we look good, master?” Dio asked, bouncing up to him.

“You two look great.” He said, patting her on the head before moving to JoJo. “And I believe those two think you look great as well.” He pointed over towards Keel and Sadeena.

The two filolials went over to their obvious sources of inspiration.

“Keel, Keel, look!” JoJo said, grabbing one of Keel’s hands. “We match!”

“Haha, yeah, we do…” Keel rubbed the back of his head, clearly embarrassed, and clearly very happy.

“Sadie!” Dio jumped up at Sadeena, prompting the woman to hold Dio to her chest. “Don’t I look cute?”

“Ah, yes, you look wonderful.” Sadeena let out, her cheeks rosy.

Oh my god, she’s actually flustered! And not in that flirty way of hers!

Sadeena noticed Dante staring at her with a huge grin on his face. She tried to cool her features as she set Dio down.

“This woman is clearly very good at her craft.” Sadeena said. It was a bit too stiff and didn’t sound like something she would normally say, but Dante let her have it.

“Yeah, you did good.” Dante told the tailor. “You should probably get some sleep, though. You look exhausted.”

“Art knows no sleep!” The tailor shouted. “You don’t look so well, yourself.”

“So I’ve heard.” Dante sighed. “We should be off then—wait, crap, no.” Dante caught himself and pointed at the tailor. “Name. What’s your name?” He wasn’t going to forget again.

“My name? Ann.” The tailor said.

“Ann. Got it.” He held out his hand. “Dante.”

She shook his hand with a tired smile.

“If we need any more clothes made, we’ll be coming to you first.” Dante said.

“I’m glad to have more loyal customers.” Ann said happily.

“Alright, let’s get going.” Dante told his party, moving out of the shop. “Ann, get some sleep!”

Finally done with their preparations, supplies gathered and equipment ready, they collected their carriage and set out of the capital.

Everyone had their own thing they did while on the road to Lurolona. Dio was pulling the carriage with a cloaked Sadeena holding the reins, Raphtalia sitting next to her. She had the beginner book open and was practicing reading with Sadeena’s help. Dante was in the carriage with Rifana, doing something similar. He had gotten decent at sounding out the words and was working more on their meaning. Rifana would trace words out on the carriage floor and Dante would say the words, occasionally referring to his notebook. Surprisingly, they didn’t need to stop at all for motion sickness, though Raphtalia and Rifana weren’t feeling 100%.

Keel and JoJo, on the other hand, were out earning XP. They travelled through the nearby woods and fields, killing any monsters they found and carrying back the remains for Dante. Every so often, Dante would cast Faust Guard on JoJo or Keel, or both if they found a tougher monster. They were careful not to fight anything too dangerous, though they did lure back a couple monsters that Sadeena or Dante had to help with. They were either too agile and needed containment, or too hardy and needed a magical strike. One dropped a nice looking longsword for later.

Dante realized that they never had to worry about Keel getting motion sickness. After all, he did set those fires in Idol’s forests. Dante figured Keel helped out on boats a lot, so he was used to the motions.

By the way, while in their filolial forms, Dio’s clothes transformed into a pair of orange and black bands around her neck, while JoJo’s became a blue collar. When they were out a ways, Dante checked with Sadeena if there were any shadows present. With none nearby, he asked Dio and JoJo why they chose the outfits they did.

“Keel looked so cool when he was riding me and burning down those trees!”

“Sadie protected Master from the fat man when I couldn’t. She’s the best!”

That was about what Dante expected, which was why he asked away from prying eyes. He reminded them not to mention Idol’s name or description unless he said it was okay.

When they reached the village remains after a little under five hours of travel, the kids’ expressions were grim. Dante could see why. The buildings were burned down, broken foundations were all that remained. The docks were smashed and the few boats that were ashore were burned as well. The building that looked to be a church had parts of its walls broken in and the doors missing.

It was something out of a medieval fantasy story, but so much more real.

Before they started their leveling, they came up a cliff. There, a small stone monument stood. The ground underneath was undisturbed, meaning no bodies were likely buried there.

Dante understood what that was. He stood to the side with Dio and JoJo, making sure they stayed quiet while letting the others visit the marker. In all honesty, with what attacked this village, there probably weren’t too many intact bodies. If Dante had to guess, the remains were either all buried together or burned together. That stone was probably the closest they had to a grave.

They each stood before the marker, saying something to the dead.

“Hey mom, dad. You don’t have to worry about me, or any of us. We got Sadeena, and the Shield Hero.”

“We’ll find all the others and rebuild here. With Mister Shield Hero, we can do it.”

“Thank you for saving me. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep smiling, but I’ll do my best from now on.”

Once the kids were finished, Sadeena stepped forward. “Mother, father, I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you. I’m sorry I failed to protect the village, to protect Raphtalia. I won’t fail you again.” She knelt down in front of the marker and prayed.

She very much is the big sister of the village. I figured she viewed Raphtalia’s parents as her own.

After a short while, Sadeena stood. She looked over to Dante with a smile.

“Do you want to say anything?” She asked.

“Me?” Dante looked at the other demi-humans. Their eyes seemed to want him to. He walked up to the monument, looking down at it.

“I, uh, I’m Dante, the Shield Hero.” He began. “I was summoned here to fight the waves, so this sort of thing doesn’t happen again.”

He really didn’t know what he was supposed to say. His faith had been a subject of scrutiny for a few years now, and the past few weeks had shaken that much further. Now he was a religious figure, and a god to at least one faith. He had to say something.

What would Eddy say at a time like this?

That thought…didn’t bring him any answers.

“Fuck. Look, I’m sorry you’re dead.” He said plainly. “You didn’t deserve what happened to you. Either time. But I’m here now, and I can do something about it. We’ll find the other villagers. I’ll make them strong, so no tragedy like this will ever happen again. And I’ll make sure those responsible are punished, be certain of that.”

It probably wasn’t the comforting words the kids were expecting, but it was what Dante had. He wasn’t just talking to the dead villagers, either.

If I’d held a funeral for them before, I probably would have said something similar. Instead, I did what I did.

He turned around and rejoined the others. “Sorry if that wasn’t what you wanted me to say.” He said.

“It seemed like a ‘you’ thing to say.” Sadeena said.

“Yeah.” He looked over the village from the cliff. This was a place Naofumi had rebuilt. Dante had changed a number of things already, but he hoped he’d still be able to do that.

Chapter Text

It was time for them to start preparing for the waves, and whatever else anyone could throw at them. Dante already felt like they lost a lot of time, but circumstances as they were, it couldn’t be helped. Besides, at the rate they were going before, they would surpass what Naofumi accomplished many times over.

The problem was people who were going to make thing difficult for them. On the smaller side, it was slavers, bandits, greedy merchants, and monsters that were actually able to cause damage that required healing. Dante could make plenty of healing salves, but that was to be one of their main sources of income. On the larger side, the church and their knights and shadows.

Piecing together the vague recollections he had from the books—which were not worth much anymore—and what he was told by that knight he tortured, Dante had a general idea about the levels of their enemies. The knights that guy mentioned were mostly around level 30, though the man who led them, Davon Mallory, was apparently around 60. Dante sort of recalled those two numbers for knight levels, standard and elite. Shadows were likely higher, but also probably much less plentiful.

Speaking of, the shadows were much slower than Dante thought they’d be. Sure, they had ridden in a carriage driven by a filolial queen, but they had to go slower to avoid heavy motion sickness. Were Mirellia’s shadows dealing with them? If so, he’d have to thank them for being so on top of the situation.

Other than outside influence, the biggest concern was the level cap. Since he knew the church wouldn’t let him class upgrade his party, and any attempt to cross any border would be met with church knights, the Whip was his way to circumvent that hurdle. And now, it was time to test that method out.

“Keel.” Dante said, gaining the boy’s attention. “You will be the first to go through a special power up technique.”

“Okay!” He said, standing ready. Everyone watched in anticipation.

“Now, I will lower your level. In doing so, your potential will increase. However, I don’t know how this will affect your age. Are you prepared to be a little smaller?”

“I can handle it!” He shouted. Whether that was bravado or resolve, Dante wasn’t sure, but he had his answer.

“Alright then.” Dante opened his status and looked over the power up method. He selected Keel and a popup showed itself.

Keel: LV 21
Levels to sacrifice: __

He entered ‘20’ into the box and confirmed.

Levels sacrificed!
Keel: LV 1

It worked. He looked Keel over. “How do you feel?” He asked.

“Strange…” Keel checked out his arms, flexing them and moving them around. His body didn’t seem to shrink at all. Dante waited a few moments for any change, but nothing happened.

“Alright, it looks like your age won’t decrease from using this method.” It was a nice bonus. He brought up Keel’s stats to see if there was any visible bonuses that would tell him what he got from the Whip. Everything looked the same as it was before, minus his reduced stats.

Wait…his stats look off.

Dante pulled out his notebook and flipped through it, bringing up the page that had Keel’s stats at level 1. It was precisely for this sort of thing he bought the notebook, and now it was paying off. Keel’s stats were indeed quite a bit higher than they were before, and there was no indication he was affected by the trust power.

The increases for each stat looked different. He checked Keel’s stats at his other levels, except the one Dante missed while at Idol’s. The increases in any particular stat was pretty consistent, seeing a bump when he started using the Slave User Shield II, but the gains increased slightly after he reached level 10, and again after level 20.

Looking at Keel’s stats now and the normal increases he got, there was a connection. A rather simple answer popped into Dante’s head. He looked at Keel’s stats at level 21 and subtracted what they were originally at level 1. He then compared those numbers to the difference between his new level 1 stats and the old ones.

Yep, there it is, plain as day. The Whip gives 10% of the stats gained from the sacrificed levels. Essentially, every 10 levels sacrificed is a permanent level up.

He told everyone his findings. There was a slight difference, likely due to Keel’s physical age now. It was pretty good for what they were going to be doing now, but less so for the future. He was hoping it would be a growth increase that would let their stats skyrocket. How it was did have the bonus of not leaving them defenseless when it was used, but it would take a lot to see significant gains.

Then again, who knows how much would have been needed to greatly increase the growth. Ignoring the gain increase every 10 levels, one could be as strong as a level 100 after sacrificing 1,000 levels, making them level 200 at level 100. What would the growth bonus have been, anyway? 1% per level? 0.1% per level? Less? And would it affect all stats, or just one at a time? This is actually really good.

“Dante?” Sadeena roused him from his thoughts.

“Ah, yes.” Dante refocused at the task at hand. No sense worrying about unreachable hypotheticals. “Now then, since we aren’t likely to get class upgrades anytime in the near future, level 40 will be our limit. We’ll make up the difference by doing what I did to Keel repeatedly. So, we’ll need to sacrifice 200 levels to reach the level of elite Melromarc knights.”

“200…” Keel stared at Dante like he’d asked for the moon.

“It’s entirely doable.” Dante assured him. “The XP bonus from being in a hero’s party, combined with the two maturation bonuses my shields give, will gain you all much more XP than ordinary adventurers. If we can learn to fully trust each other, your growth will be even quicker.”

Sure, having seven party members gave a slight XP penalty, but it was easily made up for. One down side was being a hero’s companion didn’t increase stat growth, as he found out from Sadeena. However, also thanks to Sadeena, Dante found another growth bonus shield. By happenstance, Dante absorbed a bit of her hair. After that…

Slave User Shield IV
(abilities locked) equip bonus: slave status adjustment (medium)

He absorbed hair and blood from the kids, but nothing else came. He also absorbed some hair and blood from JoJo and Dio, and he got the Monster User Shield IV, which had the same bonus. He didn’t wonder much about the reason. After all, he did absorb an entire demi-human corpse, which was most likely a slave. That was likely a component. He figured all the monster corpses were plenty for the Monster User Shield IV, and he just needed some blood or hair from a special monster.

With all that out of the way, it was time to get started.

“We’ll be testing something to see how things will work. Sadeena will go with either Dio or JoJo into the ocean to fight some monsters. The rest of us will hunt on land, practice with one another, or attempt to learn from our tomes.”

Dante and one filolial should be enough to handle most of what comes there way, especially with Dante’s highly improved Reinforced Iron Shield. He wasn’t too worried about being too far away. Dante figured if Keel was able to keep gaining XP during the cleanup at Idol’s, the party share range should be a good distance.

“What if there’s a problem on land?” Sadeena asked.

“I’ll activate the seal on Dio or JoJo.” He said, beckoning the two. “Can I try that real quick?”

Both filolials nodded in their royal forms. With a few eye movements, the seals activated. The purple lightning jumped from their seals.

“Itchy…” JoJo said, scratching his chest with his wing..

Dante turned both off. “I’ll do that to whoever is with Sadeena. It should be harmless, so you won’t get hurt if you’re in a fight. Both of you will come back to the village and look for us in whatever direction we go that day. We’ll hold out until you arrive, if necessary. Any other questions?”

He looked between everyone, seeing no confusion. Raphtalia seemed a bit worried, but Rifana was there to encourager her.

“Alright then.” Dante walked over to the two filolials. “You two try swimming in the water real quick. Dive a little and see how your movements work underwater. Sadeena, watch over them.”

The three of them walked into the sea, Sadeena transforming beforehand. Once they all disappeared into the water, Dante turned to the kids.

“Now, for today, I’ll let Raphtalia and Rifana’s level get as high as possible. I’m hoping you two will grow a bit throughout the day and night, making it easier going forward. That way, when I eventually start working on Sadeena, Dio, and JoJo’s levels, you three will be ready to step in right away and help get them leveled quickly. Understood?”

“Yes!” The three shouted together.

“Good.”

After a few minutes of swimming, diving, and barely seen underwater attacks, JoJo and Dio jumped from the water. Sadeena walked out after them. The filolials shook themselves off before approaching.

“How did it go?” Dante asked, though to no one in particular.

“They seemed to handle themselves well.” Sadeena confirmed.

“And staying underwater?” He asked the filolials. “You think you can hold your breaths long enough to fight with Sadeena?”

“Mmm, I think so.” Dio said.

“Yeah, it’ll be easy.” JoJo agreed.

“I’ll scout ahead and bring whoever down when I find some monsters.” Sadeena said. “They’re fast, but I’m still faster.”

“Sounds like a good plan.” Dante nodded. “All that’s left is deciding who will go.”

He figured it might be a little hard for them to choose. After all, Dio wanted to sleep with Dante last night, and JoJo was certainly the same. He may just flip a coin to—

“I’ll go!” Dio volunteered, breaking Dante out of his musings.

“Oh. Really?” He asked.

“Yeah! I want to have fun with Sadie today!” Dio beamed at him.

“That settles that.” Sadeena walked over to the kids and knelt next to them. “Listen to Dante and stay safe.” She said.

They gave their okays and they each hugged her. Dante smiled at the exchange. She stood and faced Dante.

“Meet up in the village in an hour?” She asked.

“Yeah. I’ll reapply the spell and we’ll see how it goes.” It wouldn’t last a full hour, roughly 20 minutes, but that should be enough to gauge the undersea monsters. “Faust Guard V! Faust Guard V!” He chanted the spell and gave Sadeena and Dio the enchantment.

“You stay safe too.” Sadeena gave him a pat on his good shoulder.

“Hey, you know what I lived through. I’ll survive anything.” Dante gave her a laugh.

Sadeena gave a wave as she made for the sea.

“Bye, Master! See you soon!” Dio flapped her wing at Dante’s group.

“Bye, Dio. Have fun with Sadie today~!” Dante called out the last part.

Sadeena flinched and gave him a glance over her shoulder, but quickly dove into the water.

Dante chuckled. He helped Raphtalia and Rifana onto JoJo before Keel stood in front of him.

“Are you making fun of Sadeena?” He asked, his tone serious.

“Mild teasing.” Dante corrected. “You’ve seen how she acts with me, right?”

“I guess. Still, seems a bit mean.”

Dante slid forward and lowered his voice. “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that, ‘big bro’.”

Keel stiffened, similar to Sadeena, a light blush on his face. He pushed past Dante to climb on JoJo, getting on in the back. “Let’s go raise our levels!”

“Good idea.” Dante hopped on in front of them all.

JoJo set out in the direction they had planned. It wasn’t a particularly long ride, less than ten minutes, until they got to their destination. It was a small wooded area that was close to the coastline. Sadeena said she remembered weak monsters being there, a good place to practice with Raphtalia and Rifana.

They all hopped off of JoJo and followed Dante. It was only a few steps into the woods until Dante saw a mush. He crouched down behind some foliage and had the others do the same, JoJo transforming to do so.

“Okay, this will be an easy one.” Dante told the girls. “You’ve already gained a few levels from being in a party. Now we’ll have you earn some XP yourselves. I’ll go in and distract it, then one of you will stab it with your dagger. Who wants to go first?”

Unsurprisingly, Rifana was the one to speak out. “I’ll do it!”

“Alright. Raphtalia, watch close.” Dante stood with Rifana. “Go to the left. When I give the signal, attack it.”

Rifana nodded and moved to the side. Dante stepped forward. The mush took notice of him and began to lurch towards him. Dante held his shield up, ready for the attack. The mush leapt through the air.

“Now!”

The mush collided with his shield, bouncing off harmlessly. Rifana rushed forward with her dagger and skewered it. It squirmed around on her blade.

“Slice it, quick!” Dante ordered.

With a swipe of her arms, she cut out a wide gash in the mush, killing it.

“Nice work.” Dante pat her on the head, eliciting a giggle from the girl. “Your turn, Raphtalia.” He said.

Raphtalia audibly gulped as she stepped forward. Dante tapped the dead mush to his shield, absorbing it. He looked around and saw another mush through the trees. Jerking his head towards it, he and Raphtalia walked over. The others followed behind to watch.

“Same as with Rifana. Go to the left and wait for me.” He told her. She nodded shakily. Before she could leave, Dante placed his hand on her head, startling her. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He reassured her.

She bobbed her head and moved out. Dante stepped towards the new mush and raise his shield. Just as before, the mush slowly made its way over to him. It then sprang into the air when it was close enough.

“Now!”

The mush fell off of his shield, but this time, there was no attack. He looked to his left and saw Raphtalia standing there, dagger in hand, shaking. The mush jumped at him again, this time going for his legs, but it caused the same amount of damage: none.

“Raphtalia?” Dante observed the girl. She tried to take a step forward, but she quickly brought her foot back down.

Sighing, Dante grabbed the mush by its head piece after its third jump at him. He walked over to Raphtalia with it squirming in his grasp. She took a step back as he approached.

“Raphtalia.” He lowered himself to the ground and held the mush in front of her, keeping its ‘face’ towards him. “Stab it.”

“N-No…” She slowly lowered her knife.

“What’s wrong?” He kept a firm grip on the wriggling mushroom thing.

“I can’t…” Her eyes were quivering as she stared at the mush in his hand.

“If you can’t, how can you fight? How can you protect yourself? I won’t always be nearby to protect you. You must learn to fight for yourself.”

He moved the mush closer to Raphtalia, causing her to quickly take a step back. Dante sighed and lifted himself off the ground.

“JoJo.” He called, tossing the mush towards the filolial king. In one swift kick, the mush was torn in two. He took the pieces in his mouth and swallowed them.

Dante looked back at Raphtalia. “I’m here to help you get used to fighting. We’ve sparred with each other a little, now you need to learn to kill.”

Killing before her growth spurt was Sadeena’s idea. Supposedly, demi-human children that have learned to kill before leveling into adults have an easier time in battle. Good concept, learning at a younger age is easier. Sadeena, however, couldn’t bring herself to make Raphtalia kill, despite knowing the benefits.

That’s where Dante came in. They gave the girls a bit of time to recover from Idol, not doing too much leveling. Now, with Sadeena not having to watch, Dante would have her fight. It didn’t need to be a lot. A few monsters here and there would be sufficient. Just enough to get used to it, if even a little. That was another reason they were meeting every hour: to check on the girls’ progress.

Rifana seemed like she’d be fine. Raphtalia would need a little convincing. Dante had an idea, but held off for now.

“Let’s move on.” He said, leading everyone forward.

~The Wrong Hero~

The hours passed by. Rifana had progressed wonderfully. She killed many monsters. Balloons, eggugs, mushes, even usapils. They even fought a giant crab on the beach, with the word ‘giant’ being relative. It was a little bigger than a golden retriever. Still, with Dante holding one pincer in his hand and the other pathetically trying to crush his chest, Rifana was able to repeatedly stab it in its softer underbelly and kill it.

Raphtalia, on the other hand, was barely able to kill a few balloons, and that was only in the last hour.

It wasn’t entirely her fault. Aside from the obvious trauma she went through, Dante was having a hard time playing the villain with her. Of course, her trauma was a factor in his difficulty. While he had experience dealing with children, traumatized children were far from his expertise.

Still, dusk was approaching. They had gained a number of levels, enough that Sadeena knew Raphtalia and Rifana were due for a growth spurt during the night. He promised Sadeena he would get Raphtalia prepared, and he would do it this hunting session.

Of course, it wouldn’t be through hunting.

“Alright.” Dante got the attention of the kids. “We’ll be splitting up for this next part. Raphtalia will be with me. Rifana, Keel, and Dio will hunt in the woods for a bit.”

“Okay!” Dio said, flinging Keel and Rifana on her back before running off. The filolials had switched a few hours ago. Dio had come back, giggling about something she wouldn’t talk about, and JoJo went with Sadeena since.

Dante had Raphtalia follow him along the coast for a bit. There weren’t any monsters present, as their past few sessions cleared out anything making its home there.

Dante stopped. He took a deep breath and prepared his mind.

Let’s get this over with.

“Raphtalia.” He turned to face the girl. She’d grown a couple inches during the day. That was another reason for their breaks: getting Rifana and Raphtalia food for their growth. He learned from Keel’s growth and cooked usapil meat ahead of time. Either because it was still monster remains, or since he ‘crafted’ it, he was able to store it in his shield for later.

“Y-Yes, Mister Dante?” She was nervous from his expression.

“I think it’s about time I stop trying to fool you. There’s no point.” He said, shaking his head.

“What?” A bit of fear leaked into her voice.

“Since you can’t fight, I can’t use you. Oh well, I’ll just have use the others as I please.” Dante gave a dark laugh as he explained.

Raphtalia stood there, her eyes widening.

“Oh, do you get it now?” He asked her, a smirk on his face. “I tricked you all into becoming my slaves. With the seals on you all, there’s no way you can refuse me. It’s just better to use praise than threats, but I guess neither will work on you. You’d just fall apart if I forced you, so that’s that.”

Raphtalia shook her head, tears coming down her face. “No…No! Y-You’re lying! You rescued us! You—”

“I did that to keep Sadeena.” He scratched his chin. “Although, that was a pretty close fight.”

He didn’t want her to talk too much about how they first met. Sadeena said there wasn’t anyone around, but better safe than sorry.

“Really, you’re the only one I can’t use. But that’s just fine.” Dante put on the cruelest smile he could. “I can just use Rifana.”

Raphtalia’s head jerked up. Her mouth moved, but no words could be heard.

“Have you seen how she acts towards me? She’ll do anything I tell her to. All I have to do is pat her head and tell her she’s a good girl, and she’ll follow me anywhere. It’s funny, really. She sees how I act with Sadeena, and she still wants to marry me. What a joke!”

He was laying it on a little thick, but Raphtalia seemed to be buying it all. Her hands were tightly clenched. Her eyes were pinpricks. Her tailed puffed up.

“No…” She let out. It wasn’t a whimper. It was pure anger.

“What was that?” Dante held his hand to his ear and leaned down. “You got something to say?”

“No!” Raphtalia yelled, pulling out her dagger. “I won’t let you do anything to Rifana!”

“Oh? And what are you going to do about it?” Dante placed his hand to his hip. “You’re too afraid to kill anything with blood. I don’t have to be afraid of you at all!”

“Rah!” Raphtalia lunged at Dante with her dagger. He blocked it with his shield and stepped to the side, letting her continue on.

“What was that?” Dante taunted.

Raphtalia dug her foot into the ground and sprung back at him. She slashed wildly with the dagger, Dante blocking it each time.

“I won’t let you! I won’t! I won’t! I won’t!” With each yell, the sound of metal scraping against metal sounded on the beach. Dante let her push him back until they were nearing the woods.

“Is that all you got?” It wasn’t easy keeping up this persona, but it got Raphtalia to attack, so he kept at it.

Once they were in the woods, Raphtalia did something to surprise him. She drove her dagger into his boot. It didn’t hurt much, even with him using his weakest shield for the fight, but it was enough to break his pace. When he pitched back, Raphtalia dove into him.

They lay on the ground, Raphtalia on top of him, her left hand pressed against his good shoulder, and her right hand clenching her dagger. The blade was against his throat, threatening to draw blood.

The anger in her eyes shone as she glared down at him. “I won’t let you hurt Rifana. I won’t let you hurt any of my friends.”

Dante stared up at her, eyes wide. They softened as a smile grew on his face. “I won’t hurt any of them.”

Raphtalia shook as she continued glaring at Dante. Her hand began to shake.

“Good job, Raphtalia. I knew you could do it.” He told her.

The dagger fell from her grasp. The tears from before began pouring out of her. “I…I…”

Dante quickly pushed himself up and wrapped his arm around her. “Shh. It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m sorry for scaring you.” He held her tight as she bawled into his shoulder.

Minutes passed as she continued to cry. He held her close, patting her on the back and rocking side to side to comfort her. Eventually, the cries calmed down.

“Feeling better?” He pulled her back and looked her in the eyes.

“Mhmm.” She nodded, wiping her eyes. “Why did you do that?” She asked, her voice strained.

“I had to get you ready to fight.” Dante said, continuing to rub her back. “We were running out of time. With all the levels you gained, you’ll go through many years in your sleep. It’s better if you’re used to it when you’re a kid before leveling.”

“What about Sadeena?” She asked, her hand still on his chainmail.

“What about her?”

“Why couldn’t she help us?”

“She had to get you XP. We have to prepare as quickly as possible.” Dante laid his hand on her head. “And…she didn’t want to be the one to do that to you. Please don’t be mad at her. Forcing a child to do something like that…is a job more suited to someone like me.”

If Dante had to do that to someone he considered family, even knowing the benefits it would bring, he didn’t know if he’d be able to.

“Think about it like this. Would you still look at Sadeena the same way if she forced you to kill? I can handle you hating me. I don’t think she could.”

It probably wouldn’t go that far. Sadeena would have kept trying, but she wouldn’t need to resort to what Dante did. He probably didn’t need to either, but he didn’t really have any alternatives. He could have had Rifana continue to encourage her, she’d been doing it for hours, but that hadn’t gotten anywhere. He could have used the slave seal on her, but he’d be about where he is now, only having also caused her physical pain.

There was surely a proper way to ease Raphtalia into fighting, but they didn’t have the luxury of time.

The girl in question wrapped her arms around his neck, closing the distance between them again.

“I don’t hate you.” She said softly. “And I’m sorry I hurt you.”

Dante pat her back firmly. “No. Don’t be sorry. I threatened your friends. Never be sorry for protecting who you care about. You must protect them from anyone, even me.”

“Ain’t that the truth?”

Dante’s eyes widened. He rolled on the ground with Raphtalia and quickly rose to his feet. He kept Raphtalia behind him as he looked to who spoke. He saw two men and a woman, all wearing light leather armor. They had different weapons at their hips, but they each carried a bludgeon.

“Who are you?” Dante asked, reading his shield in front of himself.

The man in front laughed. “Don’t you know it’s rude to ask for someone’s name before giving your own?”

“What do you want?” Dante said instead. He brought up his status magic and gave a quick ping to Dio and JoJo. He was pretty sure he knew what these people were.

The grinning man exchanged looks with his comrades. “We want that demi-brat you got there. Oh, and everything you own.”

“Neither is going to be happening.” He shifted to the Reinforced Iron Shield. “You have any idea who I am?”

“The criminal Shield Hero.” The lead man stated. “Like that matters. You’re the weakest hero, and you’re looking a bit lopsided.” His buddies had a laugh at that.

“Cute.” Dante gave him a smirk. “You think you can handle all of us?”

“Hah!” The bandit/slaver swept his arm around. “Who are you talking about? You sent your friends away. All that’s here is that bed warmer of yours. Once you’re dealt with, we’ll take the others too.” He and his two fellows drew their weapons and bludgeons.

“What are you talking about?”

“Isn’t it obvious? We’re going to kill you, then we’ll—”

“No, not that.” Dante let his arm drop to his side. “The bed warmer thing.”

“What?” The man cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t know what a bed warmer is? How stupid are you?”

“I know what that is.” Dante shook his head. “I just don’t know why you said it.”

“Wha…You’re the Shield Hero! Demi-filth worship you! What don’t you get?”

“Why you used that phrase. You could have said anything, but you chose that. Why?’

The bandit actually lowered his weapons as he stared at Dante. “Are you serious? We’re about to kill you, and you want to know—”

The man immediately shut his mouth and looked down. A small black sphere rolled up in front of him. In an instant, the three of them were covered in a thick black smoke. Dante picked up Raphtalia and took off running.

Glad to see people in this world are that stupid as well. Eddy would pull that misdirect crap so often, I was actually surprised it kept working. Every time he talked about some weird turn of phrase or something nonsensical, it meant the same thing: “Dante, I fucked up. Kill these guys.” Glad I figured out smoke bombs.

It was actually with some help from Sadeena that he figured it out. Turned out that some components for gunpowder and acidic water could make smoke bombs. He’d made a poor one, then had his shield make a few more after he figured out the recipe. He showed everyone what they were and how they were used. Luckily, Raphtalia figured out his plan when he had one stick out of his shield. She had a good throwing arm.

However, his luck started to run out. Four more bandits blocked his path, all brandishing more lethal weapons than bludgeons. He tried to double back, but the other three were already there.

“Nice try.” The guy from before said. “Just because you’re the weakest hero doesn’t mean we didn’t come prepared.”

Dante looked around. They were surrounded. The only direction not barred was the sea, but he doubted he could outswim them. Raphtalia might be able to swim long enough for Sadeena to return, but he couldn’t risk it. He needed to stall.

“How the hell did you know we were out here anyway!?” Dante yelled at who he thought was the leader. He did do all the talking, after all.

“Heh. We heard a rumor in town. The Shield Hero came this way with a bunch of demies.”

“In the capital?” Dante asked. If so, then he took back everything nice he was going to say to Mirellia’s shadows.

“Hah, no. Ronota, the former seat of House Seaetto. Heh, if that demi-human lover could see what happened to his home…”

Ronota, eh? Dante didn’t know the name of the other town near Lurolona from the books. Sadeena had told him before, but they hadn’t planned on going there. She’d swung by before, but there was no one there. Apparently, that had changed.

That was for later. Right now, he had to entertain these bandits.

“But enough about that. Time to die, Shield Hero.” The leader said, holding up his axe.

Well, so much for that.

The man charged at him. With axe in hand, he brought it down with great force. Dante shifted his stance, taking the hit on his deformed shoulder. With no pain to speak of, Dante swiftly kicked the man, sending him skidding back.

It was one of the tricks he learned since coming here. If he tried that as an attack, his foot would have basically bounced off the man. However, if he did that with the intent to push the man, the results were much different. Holds, trips, disarming, general grappling, these were all thing influenced to some degree by his massive defense. He would use them to the fullest.

Of course, he was down one arm, and the other one was holding Raphtalia. With that last attack, he was confident he could take most strikes they could deal to him. He didn’t feel that way about Raphtalia.

The others had moved forwards as well. Even if he wanted to run, Dante would need to make some distance between them. As things stood, he didn’t think he could outrun them. The man he kicked was already back on his feet and charging forward. Another bandit thrust her sword into Dante’s back, but that did nothing as well. Still, it was closer to Raphtalia, something he couldn’t have.

“Shield Prison IV!” He wrapped himself, Raphtalia, and the woman who attacked him in his barrier. He dropped Raphtalia and grabbed the woman’s sword arm.

“Damn Shield, let go!” She bellowed.

“Not a chance!” Dante called back. The woman smashed her free fist into his face, but he didn’t budge. A head-butt produced a similar result, but then she went for his eyes. He tried to keep his head away from her, fearing his defense wouldn’t protect his eyes as much.

“When I’m through with you, you’ll be begging for death!” The woman howled. Right after, she let out a different howl. Dante looked down and saw Raphtalia had plunged her dagger into the woman’s exposed shin. “You little—”

Dante used the distraction to bring the woman down. He kept his grip on her arm, one knee on her chest.

“Raphtalia!” He called to the girl. She was next to him in an instant, dagger in hand. She rushed forward, digging it into the woman’s exposed throat. Blood sprayed the both of them, likely from a severed artery. The woman tried to give one last yell, but her throat was already filling with blood. Her hold on her sword diminished, letting it slide down the inside of the prison.

Raphtalia shook slightly, staring down at her blood soaked hands. Dante released the bandit and put his hand on her head.

“Good job.” He told her. “Very good job. I’m proud of you.” Despite the bad situation they found themselves in, he still needed her to be okay with this sort of thing. In fact, it was especially because of their situation. Someone from a town they hadn’t visited told them to come here. They needed to look into that.

Metallic strikes continued to sound outside the prison, but with no discernable damage. Dante continued petting Raphtalia, trying to keep her steady.

“The Shield Prison won’t last forever.” He said. “When it times out, we’ll need to move. If you can hold onto my back, I’ll carry you out of here. Okay?”

Raphtalia took in a deep breath. She grabbed her dagger from the corpse and looked up at Dante. There was fear in her eyes, but also resolve. “Yes!”

She sheathed her dagger and climbed onto Dante’s back, wrapping her arms around his neck. Dante looked through the small gaps in his prison. It looked like the direction of the village had the fewest bandits, and they could use the sea as a side they needn’t protect from.

The timer on the prison was running out. Dante made his move.

“Air Strike Shield IV!” He summoned the shield near his right and back as the prison broke apart. The bandits there were put out from the summoned barrier.

“Cleave Bash II!” Dante rushed forward, swiping his shield at the bandits before him. He hit three of them, stunning them for a few seconds as he ran past them.

“After them!” The leader called, running around the Air Strike Shield.

Dante had a decent head start, the bandits needing to move around their stunned allies.

They chased the pair down the beach for several minutes, slowly gaining ground. When they got close, Dante would slow them down with an Air Strike Shield or trap one in a Shield Prison. Currently, there were five chasing them, one still trapped in the prison.

“Get down!” When he heard that voice, Dante promptly hit the ground. “Zweite Chain Lightning!” Electricity shot overhead, hitting the bandits in sequence. When Dante looked over his shoulder, he saw four of them fall over. None had died, as there was no XP messages. The leader remained standing, if barely.

JoJo rushed past him and slammed into said leader, knocking him to the ground. A low groan emanated from the man.

Dante heard footsteps to his side. He looked up and saw Sadeena holding a hand out to him. He grabbed it and pulled himself up, standing next to her and the already dismounted Raphtalia.

“What happened?” Sadeena asked, observing her handiwork.

“We were being watched.” Dante said with a hint of annoyance.

“Hmm.” Sadeena looked down at Raphtalia, eyes widening at her bloody clothes. “Raphtalia…”

“I’m okay.” Raphtalia said, bringing up her fists. “Dante protected me.”

“No ‘mister’, eh?” Dante said with a smile.

“Ah!” Raphtalia covered her mouth. Dante just laughed and pat her on the head again.

“I prefer it without the mister.” Dante stroked her hair a bit, earning a giggle.

“When did they approach you?” Sadeena jabbed at the bandit closest with her harpoon.

“After Raphtalia and I separated from the others. If we were being watched, and no one noticed…”

“Yeah.”

They both knew what that meant. Someone who knew enough about Sadeena’s race instructed them on how to avoid her. It was entirely possible one of these bandits knew about her, but they could learn that soon enough. One was already dead, but they still had—

“Oh, crap!” Dante said, looking in the distance. His Shield Prison just opened up, letting loose the bandit trapped inside. He took one look at his fallen comrades and ran in the opposite direction. “JoJo! Stop that guy from…”

From the nearby woods, Dio rushed in and slammed into the man with Rifana and Keel still on her back. The bandit got barreled over. Dio stood with a claw on his back, posing.

“Pft! I love that kid!” Dante yelled. “Someone look suspicious? Knock ‘em over. Ask questions later.”

Sadeena held back a laugh with her hand. “You probably shouldn’t encourage that sort of thing~.”

“Probably not.” Dante brought out his Rope Shield. “JoJo, there’s a dead one down the beach a bit. Go grab her for me. We have a bit of work to do.”

~The Wrong Hero~

After tying up the living bandits, and collecting the dead one, they went back to village ruins. There they began interrogating the bandits. Of course, they all started yelling at once to be the one to give the best information.

“I’m a little disappointed.” Dante said, watching as the tied bandits fought over one another.

“What did you expect~?” Sadeena said, gesturing to the clothes and leather armor at his feet.

On Dante’s arm was a shield that looked to be made of bones. It extended beyond his forearm and was roughly oval shaped. The bones went across the narrow side, splitting in the middle. The ends in the center of the shield appeared sharper than at the outer edges.

Of course, the worst part of the shield was the blood stains it gained near the center.

“Shut up, all of you!” He yelled at the bandits. “I want some clear answers, or I’m feeding another of you to my shield!”

The center of his shield opened up. In the center was a black void, one where the body of the slain bandit went. The shield had spat out the equipment she had on her, including a small bit of rations.

The Savage Shield. It devoured the entire body of that bandit, like his monster drops, but more gruesomely. Instead of putting it in his inventory, the Savage Shield consumed the whole body. It still provided Dante with any item drops, but he couldn’t use the body as monster pieces for his power ups. However, with that corpse consumed, he did gain a point in HP, plus another in defense. The HP went straight to his personal stats, but the defense point was tied to the shield. It didn’t have particularly amazing stats, but if cannibalize could be improved and used repeatedly…

There would be time for that later. He needed information. JoJo and Dio played with the kids to keep them from seeing what was going on.

“Now, start talking.” Dante stepped forward, his shield’s mouth opening wider.

“W-We don’t know anything else!” The so-called leader cried out. Turned out that none of them were exactly in a leadership position.

“Are you sure about that?” Dante inched forward.

“Yes!” He cried again.

With a look from Dante, Sadeena thrust her harpoon into the man’s chest. When she pulled back, his body came with it. Dante lowered himself to the freshly made corpse and activated his shield. The maw of the shield gripped the man, pulling him in. It consumed him inches at a time as the teeth chomped further and further down his body.

Eventually, the man disappeared into Dante’s shield. It spat out his equipment on the ground. Dante saw his HP went up by one again, as well as the defense and agility for the shield.

“Now, then.” Dante stood tall, facing the five remaining bandits. “Let’s try that again.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 12 – Alternative Farming System

Killing the bandits one after another turned out to be mostly a waste of time. After killing the second one, they didn’t get any new information. Well, they still fed them all to his Savage Shield, so it wasn’t a complete waste, just time inefficient. Night had fallen by the time they were finished.

The bandits did just overhear about Dante’s party being near Lurolona in the town. They didn’t ask the people who were discussing it, they just heard Dante had some demi-human slaves and decided to go claim them. The woman Raphtalia killed apparently knew about orca demi-humans, so that’s why they kept their distance for a while until they saw a pattern.

The only lead they had was some unidentifiable person in Ronota. Of course, they were still going to check it out. Someone there wanted them dead, that much Dante was certain of. Ronota wasn’t on the way to Lurolona from the capital. Rather, Lurolona was roughly on the way to Ronota. They didn’t even pass by anyone on the carriage ride. If it was a shadow that spread the information, there was little they could do, outside of killing every bandit and slaver they could find. That was certainly within the realm of possible—indeed probable—actions to take.

That would be their plan come morning. For right now, Dante had another problem, though much smaller in scope.

“You guys…I need to cook the food…” Dante was sitting on a log in front of the fire, with a filolial child clinging to either side of him. They shifted slightly, allowing him to lean forward to stir the pot he was cooking from, but still held firm.

“You two know I was in no real danger, right?” He asked the pair.

“Yeah.” “Yep.” JoJo and Dio said at once, not loosening their grips at all.

“I got hit in the shoulder with an axe and stabbed in the back with a sword. No damage either time.”

“You’re strong.” “Very tough.” They each patted him on his lower back.

Dante sighed. He stirred the pot a bit, then turned the skewers over the fire. Sadeena brought back some sort of octopus monster and a large fish creature for dinner, plus an assortment of less edible looking monsters for absorption. Interestingly, one of the bandits had something like an onion as an item drop, so Dante chopped it up and put in the octopus stew.

“What about Raphtalia?” Dante tried to shift their attention to the raccoon girl. “She was in much more danger than me. She could use the comforting.”

“Ah, no, I’m okay.” Raphtalia said, waving her hands in front of her. Dante gave her a pleading look, but she just smiled sympathetically back to him.

“She seems fine.” “Sadie is comforting her.” They wrapped their arms around Dante tighter.

Accepting his fate, Dante stirred the pot a bit more before easing back. Turning his thoughts to the future, Dante wasn’t pleased. The plan they had got flipped on its head. It was pretty simple: Sadeena and either Dio or JoJo would fight in the high XP sea while the rest hunted and learned on land. They had a great start, but they tripped up near the end. It was incredibly disappointing, considering the gains they made.

Dante: LV 29
Sadeena: LV 35
Keel: LV 20
Rifana: LV 20
Raphtalia: LV 19
Dio: LV 28
JoJo: LV 28

It was infuriating, really. In a single day, they earned so much XP, it made all their previous work look pathetic by comparison. Of course, Dante had two maturation bonuses helping, but still! They played with the idea of everyone going into the water, but they didn’t have a great way to go about it. They didn’t have a boat, couldn’t make a boat themselves, and Dante doubted they could purchase one at a fair price, if at all. Even if they could, when they finished for the day, that was just another thing they had to keep an eye on, lest it be destroyed during the night. He hinted to Sadeena about using her secret base, but she wasn’t for it. The more it was used, the more likely it was to be found.

Dante couldn’t reasonably expect Dio and JoJo to carry them all in the water. The two filolials did float like a pair of ducks, but they couldn’t bring them underwater to fight, and one of them wasn’t enough to hold up four people. Dante had hoped one of the sea monsters would have given a bubble shield, but that hope was dashed. He couldn’t remember where Naofumi got it.

The only other option they had to stick together was to travel on land. That, of course, is why Dante was thinking about Ronota. They would swing by there, try to find whoever was hassling them, and then continue leveling. On the plus side, humans gave pretty good XP. It was a dark thought, but those humans did just try to murder him and enslave his party. He allowed himself this depraved joy.

It wasn’t as if they had nowhere to go. The other three heroes gave Dante plenty of locations to grind XP at. They likely wouldn’t be as plentiful or beneficial as the ocean, but it would do. Besides, Dante had another realization, one he should have really thought more of before: the levels gained for his slaves and monsters were much better than for regular adventurers. The two status adjustments greatly boosted the stats they gained. Looking over the stat gains of Rifana and Keel and comparing them to what Sadeena said she got before the seal, they were increases that looked to be for Sadeena in her 30s. That meant, for Keel and Rifana going from level 5 to 6 with a slave seal, it was a similar increase as Sadeena going from level 35 to 36 without one. That was pretty amazing, considering Sadeena herself was a cut above normal adventurers. She and Raphtalia would be gaining a lot from this, considering their lineage. There was also the percentage bonus from Trust to look forward to.

One drawback was that, like the stat gains increasing slightly after every 10 levels, the XP needed increased at those intervals as well. It was at a larger incline compared to the stat gains, so it was much less efficient at higher levels. Dante wished he could use the Whip power to bypass that, but it seemed there was a cooldown for using it, only usable once per day.

Still, all that meant was they needn’t sacrifice 200 levels. Really, it would have been overkill anyway, so they weren’t in too bad a spot.

“What do you think we’ll find in Ronota?” Sadeena asked, grabbing Dante out of his thoughts. She gave him a wink, letting him know she checked for any nearby eavesdroppers.

“Possibly a lot of soon to be dead people.” Dante said with a smirk. “You said you checked that place out before we met, and it was abandoned. It hasn’t been two weeks since then. I doubt most people there are supposed to be.”

“Hmm.” Sadeena scratched her chin in thought. “I believe most of the people there were demi-humans. Any humans that were there probably fled during the wave, if not after.”

“How many is ‘most’?” Dante asked. “Ronota is a town, right?”

“A small town. I’d say…about four or five times the size of Lurolona. Maybe 1% of the people were human.”

That is pretty small. “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected much. Still, something that size, I’m impressed 25 people were able to kill or round up the residents. Sure, they had armor and probably much higher levels, but it seems like it would cause too many problems.”

Sadeena shook her head. “It wouldn’t have been as much of a problem as you think. Ronota was hit harder than Lurolona. When I was there, I saw so many…” She paused, looking at Raphtalia.

The girl looked up at her and smiled. “It’s okay.”

Sadeena smiled back at the girl before she went on. “There were so many dead littering the roads. Some may have been killed by those knights and slavers, but I saw enough torn bodies and dead children to know how bad it was.”

“I see.” Dante hummed. He took a look at the food and patted the filolials on their arms. “Food’s ready, I need to get up now.”

That was enough for the filolials. Dante was sure they’d fill their bellies and then get right back to clinging. Rifana was the one to help serve the stew, pouring everyone a bowl. They each took a skewer of fish as well and dug in. Rifana snuck in next to Dante while the filolials were absorbed in their food.

“Here.” Rifana held out her hands to Dante. She’d set her food next to her on the log and was pointing to Dante’s bowl.

“I can feed myself—” Dante saw the look on her face. It was a similar look to what Sadeena gave him when he tried to walk next to the wagon at Idol’s. “Fine.”

He handed his bowl over, skewer sitting in the stew. Rifana scooped out a bit of stew and blew on it. She lifted it up to Dante. “Ahhh.” She held the spoon in front of his mouth.

Dante shook his head with a smirk before allowing her to feed him. “I know how to accept food without a prompt, you know.” He said.

“But’s it’s more fun this way. Ahhh.” She scooped another bit of stew for him.

Dante took another bite. He held up his hand before Rifana could get any more for him.

“Okay, I think it’s about time we had a talk about this.” He said, motioning for her to put down the food.

“About what?” She asked, following his silent instructions.

“About the whole ‘marrying me’ thing.” He said plainly. “You can see how that’s a bit strange for me, yes? You’re a child.”

“But I’ll grow up soon.” She pointed out. “It should only be a few days.”

“True, but you see how I am with Sadeena, right?” He pointed at the woman in question. “Don’t you think that means I want to be with her?”

Surely that wasn’t a difficult concept for a child to understand. Rifana must get that. It was also part of the reason Dante openly kissed Sadeena, to deter Rifana. Of course, kissing felt nice too. So did sex, but they weren’t about to do it in front of the kids to prove a point.

“Well, yeah…” Rifana tilted her head to the side. “But what does that have to do with me?”

“Come again?” Dante cocked an eyebrow. He didn’t exactly like where this was going.

“You’re a hero. You can have more than one wife, and you can have a harem.” She said with a straight face.

“How do you know about that?!” Dante yelled. “And why do you know what a harem is?!”

“I read about it in a book about the Shield Hero.” Rifana was pretty calm about it. “I didn’t know what that word meant when I read it, but I asked Sadeena one day and she told me.”

“Sadeena!” Dante turned to the orca woman, who was completely unabashed about the situation.

“Yes~?” She gave him an easygoing smile.

“Don’t tell children what harems are!”

“Oh~? But she wanted to know about the Shield Hero.” She reasoned. “If she wanted to marry him one day, she’d need to know about that~.”

“You…I can’t even begin to…forget it.” Really, this woman. He was pretty sure the holy heroes could only be summoned for the waves, or some other catastrophe. What were the odds of something like that happening? Sure, it was happening, but still.

Dante refocused on the girl before him.

“Okay, look.” He would go about this another way. “Right now, you’re still a child. I refuse to do anything like what you may be thinking with a child. Once you become an adult, we can discuss this further.”

“Really?!” Rifana stood up, her tail wagging.

“Yes.” Dante nodded. “However, you must be an adult by my world’s standards. That’s 18 years old, understand?”

“Yes, Mister Shield Hero!” She nodded vigorously.

“Alright then.” He gave her a pat on the head, which she gratefully accepted. It was a little mean of him to use that condition. From what he recalled, most demi-humans would only grow to about 15 or 16 years old. She probably didn’t even know that. There were exceptions, like Raphtalia and Sadeena’s families, as well as the Hakuko, but that was the general rule. Technically, it was his country that had that age for adulthood, though most others had that as a minimum. Really, most states had the age of consent at 16, but he wasn’t about to tell her that.

“Go ahead and eat your food.” Dante said, grabbing his bowl. “I can handle mine. And, please, just call me Dante.” He brought the bowl to his slips and slurped some down. He could drink what was there, and then scoop out the octopus chunks afterwards.

Rifana went along with it and started eating her supper, a content smile on her face. Dante shot Sadeena a quick glare, only for her to return it with closed eyes and a smile.

Dante spotted both Dio and JoJo getting a second bowl from the pot. He was thankful they got a larger one while in the capital, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to make enough. Technically, he didn’t. The filolials ate some of the octopus raw, as well as some of the not-so-edible fish monsters.

Once they were finished, Keel, Rifana, and Raphtalia rinsed out the bowls and pot in the river they set up camp by. The two girls had gained a few inches during the day, with Keel gaining less. Sadeena said most of their growth would happen during their sleep, and a longer rest was better. For that reason, Sadeena and Dante would be the ones keeping watch again, starting with Sadeena.

As Dante went to get ready for bed, he saw the strange layout of bedrolls. “What’s this about?” He asked. Three of them were all right next to each other, and another three were more spread around the fire.

“We wanted to sleep with you tonight!” Dio said, still in her smaller form.

“We sleep together every night.” Dante countered.

“No, we want to sleep with you like this tonight.” JoJo grabbed Dante’s hand and pulled him towards the grouped up bedrolls.

“What about the others?” Dante looked to the three demi-human kids.

Keel waved him off, a smirk on his face. “We’ll be fine tonight.” Dante didn’t like how he said that. It felt…off. Dio joined JoJo in pulling Dante.

“Seriously, what’s up?” Dante asked as they reached the bedrolls.

“Isn’t this okay?” Dio looked up at him. “We just wanted to be with you like this, Papa.”

Dante looked back down at her. His mouth moved silently.

“Yeah, Dad. We thought it’d be nice.” JoJo agreed.

Dante’s head slowly looked over to JoJo.

“Oh my~.” Sadeena had slid over to him without him noticing. She stood to his left with her arm around his right shoulder. “They seem to see you as their father~.” She brought her face close to his and whispered to him. “I suppose this is payback for—oh!”

She immediately pulled back and stood before him. She held his face in both of her hands. “Dante, are you okay?”

“Pa—Master!” Dio pulled at his arm. “I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to make you sad!”

Dante shook his head. “I’m not…this is…” His mind couldn’t process the words he wanted to say.

“Sorry, Da—Master.” JoJo held onto his shirt. “I won’t call you that again.”

Dio tried to lead him to the bedroll. “Me neither. We can just—”

Dante fell to his knees. He pulled Dio close to him, with JoJo getting squished in next to her.

“No.” He felt the tears going down his face. “You can call me dad.” He held onto them tightly. “Please, call me dad.”

The two filolials reciprocated, awkwardly wrapping their arms around Dante from within his grasp on them. Dante felt his body move, being pulled along the ground. He found himself kneeling on the bedrolls. Without another word, he lay down, JoJo and Dio following after him. Not even a minute passed before he was fast asleep.

~The Wrong Hero~

Dante slept. He slept for a while. Near the end of that sleep, he had a dream. A dream he didn’t want to remember. A dream of something lost. Parts of that dream were hazy, so it was easy to push it from his mind.

When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Sadeena lying next to his left.

“Good morning~." She said with that smile of hers.

“Morning…morning?” Dante looked up and saw the sun already over the horizon.

“I thought you could use the sleep.” Sadeena answered his confusion. “Dio and JoJo took turns watching.”

“Ah…thanks.” When he went to get up, Dante felt something on his side. Dio was there, arms wrapped around him and a smile on her face.

“Good morning, Papa!” She beamed at him.

He fell back down and pulled her up more. “Good morning.” He said, a happy expression on his face. She snuggled up to him more, arms around his chest.

“Oh my~” He glanced over at Sadeena and saw her grinning at them. “You’re doing better.”

“Yeah.” He really wasn’t expecting that last night. Thinking about it, it wasn’t that strange. They hatched from eggs and he was the first person they saw. He named them, raised them, fed them, it’s no wonder they viewed him as their parent. Of course, Sadeena had a hand in that. Dio looked like she had a secret when she switched with JoJo. Sadeena must have told her to call him that, same as JoJo.

“Ah! Dad’s awake!” JoJo ran over to them, smothering Dante and Dio with his feathers as he jumped on them. Sadeena laughed as she moved out of the way.

“Hey, JoJo.” Dante moved his feathers around to breathe.

JoJo got off of them and transformed into his child form. He and Dio helped Dante as he pushed himself off the ground. A large fish monster was on the ground near them, still wriggling.

“I see you found us breakfast.” He looked over the catch. “You all should have woken me up sooner. I could have had food ready for everyone.”

“You needed to sleep.” JoJo looked up at Dante, his expression showing his concern. “You don’t look any better…”

“Still look dead to the world, eh?” Dante nodded. “Well, I feel great, so don’t worry about it.” He rubbed JoJo’s head, ruffling his hair.

Sadeena wrapped her arms around his midsection, bringing him closer to her. “You sure you’re good?”

“Yeah.” Dante hummed. “Not tired at all. Do I look worse than I did yesterday?”

She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “A little.” He saw a growing smirk on her face. “Maybe I just need to help you relax a bit more~.”

“Heh. That’s a bad idea for a number of reasons.”

“Oh~?” She trailed her hand up his chest. “I think it would be fine.”

Dante grasped her hand, locking their fingers together. “Nice try.” He turned around to face her fully. “You’ve done that sort of thing too much to work on me like this. We’re out in the open with children standing right next to us. There’s no way anything is going to happen.” He leaned in close to her ear. “Besides, I know I’m not the only one who can get a bit flustered, Sadie. I’m sure I can—”

He jumped back and freed his hand, holding it to the side of his head.

“What’s wrong~?” Sadeena asked, licking her lips. “Weren’t you just saying something about that not working?”

“Haha!” Dio pointed at Dante with a giggle. “Papa’s all red!”

“D-Don’t mention that!” Dante turned down to the girl. How could he not be blushing at a time like this? He could still feel the light bite on his ear from that woman.

Dante had his head pulled back to face Sadeena, a lascivious smile on her face. “There’s more where that came from, little Dante~.” Her arms snaked around his neck, bringing him in close. “I might pounce at any time, in any place~. If you ever drop your guard, I’ll—”

“Sadeena!” Raphtalia yelled from behind her. Sadeena lazily looked over her shoulder. “Stop flirting with Dante! You were supposed to tell us when he woke up!”

“Aw~.” She let go of his burning face, but not before letting her hand rub against her mark on him.

Dangerous. That woman is incredibly dangerous. How does she keep doing that?

“Dante!” Raphtalia called out to him. He broke free from his thoughts and looked over at her. It was then that he realized what the issue was.

Her dress didn’t fit anymore.

It wasn’t as if he could see it. She covered herself with Sadeena’s cloak, but she was standing at around mid-chest height to him. With a slightly reddened face, it was pretty obvious what the issue was.

“Well, huh. That was faster than I expected.” Dante said as he walked towards Raphtalia.

“That’s all you have to say?!” Raphtalia pulled the cloak tighter around herself.

Dante hummed to himself, cupping his chin with his hand. “You sound a lot more confident now!” He gave her a large smile.

“Dante!”

“Alright, alright.” He held up his hand. A pair of pants dropped from his shield’s gem, along with a non-bloody shirt. He’d gotten the tunics back from Dio and JoJo when they got their own clothes. Thinking about it, he probably should have washed the other tunics from all the knights. What he gave Raphtalia, however, was from one of the women from yesterday.

“Where’s…ah, there she is.” Dante spotted Rifana a short ways away, bringing over some kindling for a fire. Her dress was pretty tight on her. She too came up around mid-chest. If he had to place her age, it was probably around 14.

“Ah, good morning, Mister Dante.” She said, setting the sticks down and running over to him. “Look!” She twirled around, showing herself off. “See how much I’ve grown?”

“Yes, yes, you’re growing nicely.” He said with a smile, patting her on the head. With a small laugh, Rifana grabbed his hand and brought it to her ears. It was a little strange to him, but he gave them a scratch all the same, earning a pleased sound from her.

“I’ll be an adult in no time~.” Her voice was wavy as her ear was scratched. “Then we can get married.”

“Then we can talk about marriage.” Dante clarified. “A lot of things are going on right now. Marriage can be talked about, but isn’t something to do during the waves.”

I admit, it’s still a little weird for someone so young to be talking about marrying me, but it’s still kind of sweet. Almost reminds me of…

“Dante?” He turned to look at Raphtalia again. She was holding the clothes he gave her in front of her, a frown on her face. “I’m…we need to go to town and get what I’m missing.”

“You’re missing something?” He tilted his head. “Pants…shirt…what else? Oh, right, boots. I have—”

Raphtalia shook her head. She shifted in place, her face reddening slightly. “You know…”

“Underwear.” Sadeena said the word Raphtalia couldn’t.

“Sadeena!” Raphtalia turned to the older woman with a pout.

“What~?” Sadeena stuck out her tongue. “He wouldn’t have gotten it if you didn’t say it.”

“Why not just say it?” Dante asked her. “Besides, look at Sadeena. She’s practically wearing only underwear.”

“See what I mean?” Sadeena gave a laugh.

“I get the difference.” Dante pointed out. “It just doesn’t bother me. I mean, I could go around in my underwear fighting monsters and I’d be fine with it, aside from my lower defense stat.”

“Ah, now I get it.” Raphtalia nodded at Sadeena. They seemed to be having a hidden conversation about Dante.

He really did get it. Women tended to care about that sort of thing more than men. Then again, most of the women who were involved in his life, who weren’t also prostitutes, didn’t care too much. Actually, the prostitutes didn’t care much either.

Ah, that’s right. What was that crazy bitch’s name…Mia, that’s it! She posed as a whore for that gang, had sex with their boss, and then murdered about a dozen people in that house in the dead of night while completely nude. She was supposed to deactivate the alarm and let me in to help, but she went ahead and did her own thing. Then, when she did let me in, she still didn’t have any clothes on and acted like I was the one who didn’t want to help. She was a bitch, but she was damn good at her job.

“Well, if you want something to wear right now, I have some undergarments in my shield you can—”

“No!” Raphtalia shouted.

“Relax, I wouldn’t give any of the ones from before. Just the ones from last night.” He hadn’t thought of it earlier, so a few pairs of pants were stained from when the dead knights released their bowels. It was weird to think of them doing that in his shield. Same with meat rotting, really. “Three of them were women, right? It’s not that bad. You can wash them out in the river if you feel the need, then we can replace them later.”

They may have a few hole in them from when his shield ate the bodies they were attached to, but they’d work for now. If Ronota was in the state Dante thought it was in, finding replacements wouldn’t be too difficult.

“Alright…” Raphtalia hesitantly agreed. Sadeena, however, continued to look at Dante with half-lidded eyes, an annoyingly happy smile on her face.

“Got something else to add?” Dante asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sadeena playfully covered her mouth and pointed at him. When he turned back around, Dante realized he was still scratching Rifana’s ears. The girl in question had a fully red face and an ecstatic smile.

Dante quickly yanked his hand back. “S-Sorry…”

Rifana gently rubbed her ears. “It’s okay, I really liked it.” She gave him a quick wink. “And I heard you liked cute and fuzzy things.”

“Sadeena!” Dante yelled at the woman. “Stop telling her things!”

~The Wrong Hero~

After clothing Rifana and Raphtalia, they ate their breakfast and set out for Ronota. Keel looked to be around maybe 15, so his clothes were still fine, just a little less baggy. It took less than an hour to arrive at Ronota. When they did, they found many of the initial buildings in ruin. Walls were collapsed, carts were broken down at the sides of the roads, and the dead seemed to have been piled outside the town and burned in a mass cremation. A pair of armed guards stood on the main road at the entrance of the town. There was little in the way of a town wall, but it was still partially in existence.

However, as Dante looked at the town…

“Wow, Papa looks really happy.” Dio said in front of their carriage. She pulled it in her queen form, Dante no longer seeing the need to hide that.

“Dad’s eyes are all sparkly~.” JoJo sat next to him in the front.

“Every time I think I understand you, you show me something interesting~.” Sadeena leaned forward from the back. “What is it about the town you like so much?”

Dante turned to her, a wide smile on his face. “Can’t you see it?” He asked excitedly.

“Hmmm. It’s a mostly destroyed town, there are armed thugs at the entrance, and we’ll probably have to watch our backs the whole time we’re here.”

“You can’t smell it?” Dante looked ahead again.

“Smell what?”

“Money!” Dante shouted. “There is money to be made here!”

Sadeena gave a somewhat stifled laugh. “That’s quite the nose you have~.”

“Ah, you don’t get it. I learned a lot over the years in my world. One of those things was how to smell a massive profit that’s there for the taking.”

“How so?” Sadeena took a seat on Dante’s free side.

“You mentioned the thugs over there, yeah?” Dante pointed to the armed men. “With the governor dead, someone’s likely taken over this place. Whoever that is isn’t supposed to be here. That means they have no real recourse for whatever we end up doing. It’s not like they can bring in any knights to enforce their rule, unless they’re in on the take. Of course, if they are, it’ll be fine to…remove them.” He gave her a nudge.

“My, what a thing for a hero to say~.” Sadeena held a hand up, acting aghast.

“While I sympathize with whoever used to live here, if their property hasn’t already been looted, it will be before long. We might as well get in on it.”

“I don’t think whoever’s in charge here will like that.” Sadeena gestured to the guards, who started making their way over.

“Don’t worry.” Dante stepped around JoJo and got off the cart. “I know how to speak their language.” He nodded towards them. “I’ll act as your interpreter.”

Sadeena shook her head as she dismounted. “That’s a terrible metaphor.”

They stood in front of Dio as the guards approached.

“Halt!” One of them said. “There’s a toll to go into town.”

“Of course.” Dante gave Sadeena a glance. “How much is it?”

The second guard grinned at them. “20 silver.”

“Oh my, that’s a lot~.” Sadeena joined in the little game Dante wanted to play.

“Surely you can lower it?” Dante asked the man.

“For you?” The first one spoke again. “19 silver and 50 bronze.”

“How generous.” Dante gave a laugh. He pulled back his cloak, which was barely a cloak after all the monsters taking a swipe at him, and revealed his shield. “What about for the Shield Hero?”

The two thugs looked between themselves and started laughing. They pulled out their weapons, an axe and a sword, and pointed them at Dante and Sadeena.

“Thanks for telling us that.” The axe wielder said. “We’ll be taking everything you have, including your demi-human whore.”

“Oh my~.” Sadeena gave her harpoon a twirl. She didn’t bother with a cloak, seeing as whoever was watching them knew what she was. Besides, Dante said it wouldn’t matter if his assumptions about the town were right. And it looked like they were.

“Bad move.” Dante said, shifting his shield to his best one. “Then again, you probably thought I was too weak for a pair of glorified highwaymen.”

“Hey, Dante!” He heard Raphtalia call from the carriage. When he looked behind him, he saw more bandits approach. It looked like some came from a worn down cottage and some from over a small hill. Including the two in front of Dante, there were 11 bandits in total.

Raphtalia, Rifana, and Keel already exited the back of the carriage. They had their weapons drawn and ready. They were all armed with the swords he got from the knights. Rifana used a single shortsword, Raphtalia had a shortsword and dagger, and Keel wielded the longsword from the item drops.

“Looks to me like you are that weak.” The axe guy said. “Any last words, Shield Hero?”

Dante looked over at Sadeena.

“What do you think?” She asked.

“Not sure. Maybe these two are the strongest?” Dante turned back to the pair. “Are you two the strongest? Or the weakest? Or in the middle?”

The eye on the sword guy twitched. “You making light of us?”

“Sounds like something a weak guy would say.” Dante said. “Although…” He took a quick glance at the others’ equipment. “I’d say these two have the shiniest things. In a criminal group like this, I think better equipment correlates to better fighters.”

“Then I’ll go fight the other ones.” Sadeena turned and walked towards the carriage.

“Hey, what do you think—”

“Dio, JoJo!” Dante ignored axe guy’s outburst. “Go help beat up the guys around the carriage. I’ll support you all from here.”

“Okay!” Dio detached herself from the carriage as JoJo jumped off and transformed.

“Bastard!” Axe guy lunged forward and brought down his axe. Dante held it back with his shield, not budging at all from the impact. “What?!”

“Shield Prison IV!” He pushed the man off of him and pointed at a group of three closely packed bandits, encasing them.

Sadeena sped forward, catching one of the remaining bandits off guard and piercing his leather chest piece. He dropped his sword and tried to pull out the harpoon, but his arms went lax. She spun her harpoon and threw the man at the bandit in front of Raphtalia, knocking him over. The raccoon girl saw her opening and thrust her sword at the downed bandit.

Rifana and Keel went after a woman with a spear. As the bandit thrust forward, Keel sidestepped it and forced the tip into the ground with his longsword. Rifana went around and stabbed the woman in her arm.

Dio and JoJo…didn’t have any trouble. Before the bandits could make any moves, their armor was torn off with their claws and they were left bleeding on the ground. The last bandit there outside of the prison tried to run for it, but Sadeena threw her harpoon into his back.

The two who were with Dante had tried attacking him, but Dante’s defense was too high. Even without using his shield, he could hold back their attacks. The worst damage he got was from the axe, and even then it was minor scratches on the palm of his hand.

“Screw this!” The sword guy yelled. “We need more guys!” He tried to turn around, but—

“Cleave Bash II!” Dante stunned the both of them. He tripped them and knocked their weapons aside with a kick each. “Dio!”

When called, she rushed over to him. Without a moment of hesitation, she dug her claws into the former axe guy before turning to the former sword guy. With all of the bandits outside of the prison dead, all that was left were those three.

“Zweite Chain Lightning!” Sadeena let loose her spell when Dante dismissed the prison. After the initial attack, Keel, Rifana, and Raphtalia finished them off.

“Oops.” Dante looked over the newly made corpses. “I should have said to keep one alive. Oh well.”

After that, it as just a matter of collecting drops. Dante absorbed all the bandits normally, not using his Savage Shield. The three younger demi-humans might be okay with it now, but he didn’t want to push it. He found that any humans absorbed into the shield like this couldn’t be expelled and devoured later, but he wasn’t concerned. It wasn’t as if there was going to be any shortage of people trying to kill him, either in the nearby future or in the long run.

There were some decent item drops, but none of it was any better than what the bandits actually wore. Dante inspected the weapons of the two he dealt with.

Vicious Axe
quality: good
special effects: attack up (small), critical bonus (cleave)

Gilded Sword
quality: good
special effects: agility up (small), swordsmanship up (small)

Those were indeed good weapons. If Dante had to take a guess with the axe, he’d say getting a critical hit would let the wielder cleave into another enemy, like the Cleave Bash did automatically.

After checking who wanted what, Keel took the axe while Raphtalia took the sword. Rifana was looking to become the group mage, a decision Dante wholeheartedly supported. Her attack and agility were decent, but her magic stat was by far her highest. He hadn’t gotten any staffs or wands as drops, but they might just find a mage bandit in this town.

After gathering their loot, Dio pulled the carriage into town as the rest followed on foot. They wanted to get a good look around, unobstructed from the carriage. It looked worse on the inside than from the outside. Buildings were completely demolished, either smashed in or burned to the ground. There were a few in the center of town that seemed relatively fine, some with broken walls but still usable. They even had people working outside them. There was someone doing metal working, a tanner, what appeared to be a food vendor, thought it was a very wide assortment, so it was likely taken from somewhere.

Just like before, Dante had a twinkle in his eyes.

“This is Panama all over again.” He said in an elated voice.

“What’s that?” Keel asked, trying walk while marveling at his new axe.

“A country in my world.” He said over his shoulder, stars in his eyes. “Eddy took me there once because he heard there was money to be made. I was against it, but he had a certain sparkle in his eyes, likely the same one in mine now. Seeing how we made out like bandits there…Hah!” Dante covered his mouth, a deep laugh escaping him. “I can’t believe I just made a pun.”

“Oh Dante~.” Sadeena tapped him on the shoulder. “I think we have some curious onlookers.”

He looked over to where she was pointing. The blacksmith had stopped hammering, the tanner stood up from her rack. The food vendor…was nowhere to be seen. Other people around town seemed to be observing them from around corners and behind windows.

“Well, that’s strange.” Dante walked over to the blacksmith, seeing as he was the closest. The man in question slowly moved his arm to the side, gripping a long hafted axe. He didn’t have much on in terms of armor, just a thick smock and some sort of bandana around his face. Dante stopped and raised his hand. “Easy, we aren’t here to fight. Unless, of course, you wanted to start something, then we’re definitely here to fight.”

The man looked him over a moment before relaxing his arm. “You aren’t with the Pale Fangs, are you?” He asked.

Dante shook his head. “No idea what that is.”

“It’s the mercenary group that’s running this town.” The blacksmith said.

“Mercenaries?” Dante looked around at the buildings from where he stood. From what he could tell, there was little of value inside, at least from what he could see through the windows. “You sure you don’t mean bandits?”

“Seems that way, don’t it?” The man nodded. “They showed up a week ago, a few days after we did.”

“Really? I thought this place was abandoned.” Dante said, recalling Sadeena’s words.

“It was. We heard it was it by the wave. We thought we could set up here and join the town, but no one was around when we came.”

Dante gestured for his party to come over. A few of the new townspeople came over as well.

“Why would you want to come to a town that was attacked by the wave?” He asked.

The blacksmith looked over at the tanner. She dipped her head and the blacksmith sighed. He pulled down his bandana, revealing brands on his cheeks. The tanner pulled back a sleeve, revealing a different type of brand. A few of the others did the same.

Dante turned to Sadeena. “Thieves, brigands, murderers…” She pointed out a few before settling on the blacksmith. “Rapist.”

The man grit his teeth. “I didn’t do it.”

“No?” Dante looked the man over.

“The lord who branded me wanted my daughter. I refused. He had me convicted and ran me out of town after taking her.”

“You singing that same old song?” A man from the crowd jeered.

The blacksmith brought up his axe. “You want to say that again!?”

The man had run off before the blacksmith had even grabbed his weapon.

“Assuming that’s true,” Dante eased the blacksmith back, “why set up with these people? They framed as well? And isn’t rape a capital offense in this country?”

The blacksmith put his axe back down. “Don’t know about them, and don’t care. We’re all traveling with our families, so we all have something in common at least. I’m not from this country, so I didn’t know that.”

Dante looked to the building the blacksmith worked in front of. Before he disappeared behind the broken window, Dante caught a glimpse of a boy with features similar to the blacksmith’s. He couldn’t have been much older than eight.

“Well, if that’s all true, I’m sorry for your circumstances. I’m not really in a position to call you a liar, since I was framed myself.” Dante held up his shield. “Shield Hero, convicted of raping his only companion on his second night in this world.”

The people murmured to each other. Raphtalia gripped her new sword, pushing it slightly from its sheathe.

“Easy.” Dante told her. “No need to worry.”

“I don’t know what they’re saying.” She said, looking all around her.

“You don’t…oh!” Dante looked back to the blacksmith. “The language you’re all speaking, it’s not Melromarc’s?”

“No.” The blacksmith shook his head. “It has a similar alphabet, but different words. You couldn’t tell?”

“The Shield translates spoken words for me.” Dante told him. “Anyway, you set up here because the wave took out the inhabitants?”

“We came here because we heard the lord was friendly to demi-humans in a country that hated them. We thought he might let us stay.”

Dante could see the logic in that, if barely. Convicted criminals were different from racial enemies, but it may have worked out. Of course, these Pale Fangs seemed to put a dent in that plan.

“And what can you tell me about these mercenaries?” Dante asked. “They legitimate?”

“You have to ask?” The blacksmith crossed his arms.

“Thought I should, just in case. Tell me everything you know about them.”

~The Wrong Hero~

After hiding the carriage down an alley and disguising it, the blacksmith, Rokkar, told Dante what he knew. The Pale Fangs were indeed a mercenary group, but the lack of recent wars had put a dent in their pockets. From what Rokkar knew, they were selling their services to whatever lord they could, bypassing the adventurer’s guild and their regulations. Dante figured the lords that hired them could have them do less reputable tasks.

When the waves started, any ongoing conflicts between any smaller nations were put on hold, likely pushing this smaller band out of whatever land they were working for. They probably came here after hearing the wave hit the area, thinking they could either work for the lord or, more likely, loot what they could. Seeing as the lord was dead, they decided to set up here. The blacksmith’s group was about 50 people, plus another 50-odd people from various walks of life. Travelers, hunters, traders, just to name a few, all mostly from Melromarc. The mercenaries numbered about 48, minus what Dante's group killed.

When asked about the rumors concerning Dante’s party, the blacksmith did mention hearing them, but he didn’t know who had started spreading it. He would ask around his group to see if they knew, and would also have someone ask the other groups if they knew. It was a show of thanks for killing the mercenaries Dante’s group came across.

One concerning piece of information was that, apparently, a Melromarc knight was seen in town yesterday morning. He didn’t do anything to the people there, just spoke with one of the lieutenants of the mercenary band. Rokkar heard them talking, but couldn’t understand them. Whatever it was, they had a laugh about it, in a way that made Rokkar’s skin crawl.

After their talk, Dante needed to discuss with the party what they were going to do next. Rokkar let them stay in his house for now, to keep prying eyes away from them.

“What do you all think?” He asked. He translated for Rokkar as he spoke, making sure everyone was on the same page and to not let any details go.

“Hmmm.” Sadeena tapped her hand on the table. “Assuming he’s telling the truth, and knights are letting this happen, it doesn’t seem like there’s any legal reason we can’t do something.”

“Dio, JoJo?” Dante looked to the filolial kids. “Do either of you think he was lying?”

“Well…he seemed scared, but not of us.” Dio rocked her head around. “I couldn’t really tell what he was saying, but he looked like he didn’t want anyone to hear him.”

JoJo nodded along. “Yeah, there were a couple times where he didn’t really want to say something, and he looked around when he did.”

“That’s what I was thinking.” Dante confirmed. Their instincts were pretty good. “He seemed to talk the same about how they all ended up here. If he’s lying, he’s really good at it.”

“And then there’s that knight.” Keel pointed out. “Rokkar’s description sounded like one of the knights that sold us into slavery.”

Rifana nodded along. “There might be more in the mansion they’re using as a base.”

“Quite possible.” Dante said, scratching his chin. “We might even find some slavers too.”

“Should we help them?” Raphtalia asked. “It feels like the right thing to do.”

“Well, that’s just it, isn’t it?” Dante smiled. “We find ourselves in a very strange situation. I was expecting to find a bandit camp. Instead, we have a mercenary stronghold. I’d say it’s more dangerous, but we made pretty short work of both groups we came in contact with.”

“Mm, true~.” Sadeena rest her head against her propped up hands on the table. “But it didn’t seem like they were high up in the group.”

“I suppose so.” Dante agreed. “The ones from yesterday were likely trying to make some quick coin, and I doubt the best of the best would be acting as glorified highwaymen.”

“But if Rokkar is right, there should only be about 30 left.” Rifana said.

“And he said there’s another group at the opposite side of the town, waiting for people to pass by.” Raphtalia added.

Honestly, the plan these mercenaries came up with wasn’t bad. Any travelers coming this way could be forced into town to work for them. Repairing weapons and armor, gathering food, emptying buildings, whatever the mercenaries wanted. The entrance fee was probably some sort of joke for the guards. When they were done, they could kill the inhabitants and move on, possibly to another country. It had great short term gains without massive risks. With the wave damage, there likely wouldn’t be too many witnesses to worry about. They’d see a host of enemy knights coming and they apparently had horses to retreat with. There were enough openings that they needn’t use the main road, so they could escape in any direction.

Their execution of said plan, however, was terrible. They didn’t have anyone in the center of town to watch over the residents, leading to Dante’s party arriving without further issue. They seemed to rely solely on fear, as they already murdered the kid of the tanner without provocation. They were quite belligerent, as drunken shouts could be heard most nights from the mansion.

In short, it was circumstances just begging to be exploited. Dante was happy to oblige.

“I got a real simple plan all ready to go.” Dante told his party. “We take care of the second ambush group first, reducing their numbers further. Afterwards, we have the people here cause a commotion and draw out some of the mercenaries from the mansion. We ambush them, kill them, and then move on to the mansion and take out whoever’s left.”

“That is pretty simple~.” Sadeena said. “But shouldn’t we come up with a stronger plan if we want to do this?”

“If we do that, we’ll lose the element of surprise.” Dante countered. “We haven’t been here too long, and there hasn’t been any alarm, so we can still take out the other group before anyone realizes what’s happened.”

“Well, it would get rid of our immediate problem of not being able to level up freely.” Sadeena conceded.

“And we’d gain some levels from the mercenaries.” Keel added on.

“Exactly!” Dante slapped the table with his hand. “We’ll be killing two birds with one stone.”

“What…” Dio looked up at Dante in fear. “Why would you do that?”

“Huh? Oh, no, not you two!” Dante clarified. “It’s a proverb. It means accomplishing two goals with one action.”

Dio tilted her head to the side, clearly not getting it.

“It’s like…a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. It’s—” Dio grabbed his hand and continued to look up at him. Dante turned to the others. “Is this not translating?”

“Well, we understand what you’re saying.” Rifana said. “But I’ve never heard those before.”

“I got them.” Sadeena said. “The words are just different here. Anyway…”

“Right.” Dante said, freeing his hand and patting Dio before continuing. “So, the plan. We good with it?”

Everyone nodded along. They’d find positions in town once they took care of the other group. From the first one today, almost everyone gained a level. By the end of it all, they were likely looking at two or three more. Humans, it seemed, gave much more XP than land monsters.

Really, if they didn’t want to be used as fodder, they shouldn’t have come after Dante’s party in the first place. It was only fair.

Chapter Text

The first part of the plan was easy enough to enact. They went to the opposite end of town and took out the two mercenaries posted at the entrance. Sadeena rode on Dio while Keel was on JoJo, both chasing down the hidden members of the ambush group. It was a bit anticlimactic seeing them get run down like that. Dante didn’t know what level these guys were, but it couldn’t have been over 20. Or, maybe they were, and the stat gains were better than he originally thought. Whatever the case, everyone had gained a level from those 10 mercenaries.

When they returned to the town center, everyone there was ready. Rokkar and the ones who had combat experience took up positions for the ambush. There were only 11 warriors among them. Dante’s party hid nearby, keeping a view of the roadway to the mansion. Some of the civilians started making a ruckus to draw out the guards. After a few minutes, men and women on horses came down. There were 10 in total, galloping rather close together.

With a formation like that, Dante altered the plan. Originally, they were going to wait for them to come right to the center and then surround them, cutting off their escape. But, if they wanted to pack so close together like that…

“Air Strike Shield IV!” Dante loosed his skill parallel to the ground. He had it a couple feet in the air, obstructing the path of the horses. The first four riders tumbled to the ground with their mounts, with another one not changing course in time and trampling one of his comrades. The others were able to continue to the center.

Arrows flew through the air at the downed mercenaries. These ones were better protected, having more metal in the armor, plus a few had helmets. However, even with that, they still took noticeable damage. Dante saw one in particular get an arrow through the eye, courtesy of the tanner.

When the arrows stopped, JoJo ran towards them with Rifana and Keel. The rest went after the ones that were surrounded in the center of town.

The axe Rokkar used was no halberd, but he was still able to hook a mercenary from his horse and throw him to the ground. He and two others hacked at the dropped mercenary, killing him in short order. When Rokkar turned around to find more enemies, a mercenary was almost upon him with her longsword drawn.

“Shield Prison IV!” The metal cage appeared between Rokkar and the mounted mercenary. She was flung from her horse as it collided with the prison. Rokkar gave a nod as he brought his axe down on this one as well.

Sadeena launched from Dio, harpoon in hand. “Zweite Thunderbolt” She finished her chant, striking a mercenary with her spell before finishing him with her harpoon.

As they rode by, Raphtalia slashed at another mounted mercenary as they tried to turn their steed around. He was knocked from the horse and held a hand to his side, trying to slow the bleeding. One of the townsfolk took a spear and thrust it into the mercenary’s chest.

With their numbers being cut down so quickly, the remaining mercenaries tried to escape, but were unable. Any that were still on horses had their mounts killed from under them with arrows. Those on foot were run down by either Dio or JoJo.

The battle was already over. In the party, no injuries. For the townsfolk, a few injuries, no deaths. As for the ten mercenaries, nine were dead and one was injured with his wrists and ankles bound. Dante looked down at him.

“Listen,” he began, taking a knee next to the bound man, “I’ve killed and tortured a number of people since coming here. A lot more than I thought I would. What do you say we skip the torture for you and you just tell me what I want to know, yeah?”

The man stared back at him, grimacing. He slowly nodded his head.

“Smart man.” Dante stood. “So, about your friends…”

The bound mercenary spilled everything Dante wanted to know. Number of remaining mercenaries, their approximate levels, weapons and armor, spells, general tactics. He even gave a bit of extra information. The man in charge actually only gained that position about three weeks ago. He and a few buddies had a disagreement with the original boss and his lieutenants. It seemed to settle down, but then the new boss killed the old one the next day. It was a surprise to everyone else, seeing as the old boss had a class upgrade and the new one didn’t, though he was close to the level. But they saw the old boss was moving much slower than normal, so they figured he and his lieutenants were poisoned. After that, the band split in half. These were the ones who followed the usurper.

“That’s interesting and all, but not too relevant.” Dante said. It kind of was, seeing as that gave him some insight into the leader. He was a coward, and would use any trick he could to survive. “You have anything else to barter for your life with?”

The man shook at that remark. “K-Knights! There are two Melromarc knights in the mansion!”

“Knights, you say?” Dante gave Keel a quick glance. “Do these knights have names?”

“Karta! One was named Karta! I don’t know the other!”

“Karta, eh?” He recognized that name. It was on the list that other knight gave him. “That’s a nice bit of information there.” Dante looked over at the rest of his party. “Any other questions?”

“I think we have enough.” Sadeena confirmed.

“Then…am I free to go?” The mercenary asked.

Dante smiled at him. “Sure.” The mercenary’s face lit up. “To be more precise, you successfully bargained for my share of your life. Good luck getting the rest from these people.” Dante took a step back, letting the man get a full view of the townsfolk he helped terrorize.

“W-Wait!” He yelled. “You said you’d let me live if I told you what you wanted!”

“I said no such thing. I may have vaguely implied it, but that’s on you for misinterpreting.” Dante gave him a laugh. He turned to the rest of the townsfolk. “We’ll finish off the mercenaries in the mansion. You can take the equipment off these guys, but leave the bodies.”

There were some small discussions between the people, mostly on who was getting what. The tanner stepped forward, her bow in hand. She stood in front of the bound mercenary.

“Need…something…?” Dante’s voice trailed off as the tanner shot an arrow into one of the mercenary’s kneecaps. Then into the other. He screamed as the tanner placed a foot on his arm and shot another arrow into his elbow.

“…Right, then.” Dante turned and signaled for his party to follow along.

He must have been the one to murder her son. Glad she’s getting her revenge.

They walked up the road to the mansion. It looked to be a similar size to Reichnott’s, perhaps a bit bigger. The gate had been broken down, likely from the wave. The damage they could see on the outside was bad, but not terrible. There must not have been enough people around for monsters to gather too heavily. A few windows were broken, a wall smashed in, and various claw marks, but that was the extent of the damage. It was a little strange, but what was stranger was not seeing any lookouts.

Dante cast his spell on everyone, including himself. If they were laying a trap, he wanted to be prepared.

Dante went up to the door and leaned against it. It wasn’t even properly closed. He slowly pushed it open more and peered inside. Books, trays, broken plates, numerous objects were simply scattered on the foyer floor. He waved everyone forward, moving silently. Dio and JoJo were in their child forms for this part.

It didn’t take long to find the mercenaries. Sadeena pointed them in the right direction. Nine of the ten were gathered in what looked to be the dining room. He guessed that, since the long table that was in the room was on its side and chopped to pieces. The mercenaries themselves were scattered around the room, lying on the floor. The closest one to the door was snoring loudly, his face slightly red.

Dante drew his hand across his face.

They’re drunk. These dumb bastards are drunk and sleeping it off. It’s not even noon. What, the ones that went out just weren’t piss drunk at the time? Come to think of it, I thought I smelled alcohol on the one I interrogated.

Dante looked to everyone behind him and placed a finger over his lips. He then held up his hand, as if he was holding a knife, and drew it across his throat. The armed ones nodded. Raphtalia seemed to grimace a bit, but she went forward all the same. Dio and JoJo stood with Dante, ready to jump to action if any of them woke up. Of course, none of them did. There was a moment of panic as their throats were slit, but nothing outside of a gurgle was heard.

When they were finished, they went back to the foyer. Dante checked over everyone. Sadeena seemed fine. Raphtalia and Rifana were a bit shaken, but they waved him off. Keel, however, kept his eyes to the ground as he rubbed his arm.

“Hey.” Dante whispered, placing his hand on Keel’s arm. “You okay?”

Keel clenched his eyes shut before quickly nodding. Dante moved his hand up to Keel’s head and kept it on top for a moment.

“You saw what they were doing here. You heard them at the town entrance. You did nothing wrong.”

“I know…”

Dante lowered his arm and brought the boy in for a one-armed hug. Keel flinched at the action, but didn’t try to move away.

“Sorry. Killing helpless people is different from a life or death fight. I shouldn’t have had you do that, any of you. I wasn’t thinking.”

“No.” Keel shook his head and stepped back. He had a hard look in his eye as he faced Dante. “You said you’d have to do things like this. I want to be able to. Besides, they would have made us slaves if they could. That guy at the entrance called Sadeena…”

Dante smirked at him. “Well, she’s trying her best to sleep with one person, at any rate." That earned him a light smack from the woman in question. “With that settled, all that’s left is the leader and a pair of knights. Sadeena?”

She led them down the halls of the mansion. It was seeming like they’d get to cross off two names from the list today.

They’ve already got looting, kidnapping, enslaving, and murder on their rap sheets. Why not add extortion to the list, and whatever else they helped these mercenaries do?

They came to a large kitchen, which looked ransacked like the rest of the rooms they passed. An open door seemed to lead downstairs, and—

“Hah, I still can’t believe this!” They heard a man’s voice bark out. “You knights know how to treat your friends, huh!”

“Of course.” A woman’s voice followed after. “Anything to disgrace this land once cursed with those beasts.”

“You should bring Davon Mallory here with you next time! I’m sure he’d love what we’ve done with the place!”

“Unfortunately, Sir Mallory is quite busy with his duties.”

The voices were getting closer, coming from a nearby staircase from the second floor. There was room to hide underneath, so Sadeena, JoJo, and Keel hid there. Dante and Raphtalia ducked into the kitchen, while Rifana and Dio passed the doorway they just came through.

Once hidden, Dante peered around the doorframe. He saw two people coming down the stairs. The woman was dressed like the other Melromarc knights he’d seen. The man, however, was in much more casual clothes than he thought a mercenary boss would be wearing. He had on pants and a tunic, with no armor, and only a dagger at his hip.

They were headed right for the kitchen.

“Well, if he doesn’t come soon, he won’t be able to have any enjoyment himself.” The boss said.

The woman chuckled darkly. “Trust me, knowing what you’re doing is enjoyment enough.”

“Hah!” The mercenary boss passed through the doorway. “I love how such a twisted man became—”

“Air Strike Shield IV!” Dante’s barrier covered the doorway, cutting off the boss from the knight. “Take them alive!”

“What the hell?!” The knight drew her sword and swung it at the barrier, merely receiving a clang for her effort. In the next moment, her body was slammed against the shield, held in place by a large group of feathers.

“What is—” The boss had little he could do. With only a dagger, Raphtalia was able to quickly overwhelm him. She stuck him to the wall with her new sword through his shoulder. When he went to retaliate, she trapped his hand with her dagger.

With the fight already over, they went about tying up the mercenary and knight. Once again, Dante was incredibly disappointed.

“I’d like to say we won because we’re so competent, but it’s more that they are exceedingly less so.” He lamented.

“It’s fine~.” Sadeena said, finishing tying up the knight.

“Hardly.” Dante shook his head. “If we don’t find more competent people to try and kill me, my instincts will dull.”

“Let me out of these ropes, and I’ll arrange that.” The mercenary boss said, gritting his teeth.

“I said competent.” Dante retorted. “Not some coward who splits his group in half because he wants to call the shots.”

“Hmph. Looks like someone has a big mouth.” The boss turned his head.

“Don’t worry, he’s probably dead by now. Speaking of which…” Dante looked around. He found a basin on the floor near the stove. There were a couple unbroken mugs scattered around. As for cloth, the mercenary’s shirt would do.

“Oh, Dante~.” Sadeena leaned in next to him. “Let me handle the questioning.”

“You sure?” Dante looked her in the eye. “You don’t have to.”

Sadeena nodded. “I am. This one let his little band attack my family.” She pointed at the mercenary with her harpoon before pointing it at the knight. “And this one betrayed that family.”

Dante looked over the knight—Karta—as she glared up at Sadeena. “Well, I suppose so. Knights are supposed to protect the people.”

“It’s more than that.” Sadeena stepped forward, her harpoon inches from Karta’s throat. “She was a knight in Lord Seaetto’s service.”

“Really~?” Dante held his hand to his chin. A smile grew on his face. “Girly, you’re about to experience hell.”

It was amazing, really. How could someone who hated demi-humans be in service to the lord who was friendly with them? Maybe it was one family serving another, and this generation changed its views.

“I’m not afraid of some beast!” She bellowed.

“We’ll see about that. I’m looking forward to seeing you and your friend—oh!” Dante just realized what he was forgetting. “Sadeena, let’s do this right. We need that other knight here for this.”

The mercenary laughed, and the knight joined in.

“Did I tell a joke?” Dante asked the giggling pair.

“Heh, no, not at all.” He said, smirking.

“Well, where is he? Or she?” Dante asked.

“Where? I wonder…” The mercenary looked around the kitchen, as if the knight was hiding around.

Keel, however, didn’t seem to be in the mood for games. He swiftly brought his axe down, severing the mercenary’s foot from the rest of his body. The man let out a blood curdling scream.

“Where is the knight!?” Keel yelled at the screaming man.

“AH! C-Cellar! In the cellar! Ahhhh!” The guy at least had enough sense to stop screwing around.

“Good work, Keel.” Dante said, dropping some healing salve from his shield. “Go ahead and patch him up. I’m sure the people outside will want a word with him. Sadeena and I will grab the last knight. The rest of you watch these two.”

“Can we look around the big house?” Dio asked, JoJo standing behind her.

“Well...sure.” Dante said, sending them off. There was only one knight left, Dante and Sadeena could handle them.

They walked over to the staircase at the other side of the kitchen, the man’s yelling quieting down as they descended the stairs. Once they reached the bottom, they saw a row of sideways barrels lining the wall, likely filled with some form of ale. On the other wall was a rack of wine bottles.

“Oh my~.” Sadeena marveled at the abundance of alcohol.

“Now I know why the mercenaries were so drunk.” Dante gazed at the barrels. “And I know what we’ll probably be doing tonight.”

“Oh my~. Planning on getting children drunk? That’s not the sort of thing a hero should do~.”

Dante shook his head as he took point. “I don’t think a big sis should let a child pursue someone nearly three times her age, though physically similar at this point. That’s a bit worse, yeah?”

Sadeena hooked Dante’s arm in hers as they walked. “Demi-humans grow up as they level. Not just physically, but mentally. You know this.”

“Yeah, but it’s still a little weird to see it. She was 10 just yesterday, you know. Shouldn’t we be looking for the knight?” Dante tried to get them back on track.

“I suppose humans do find it a little off-putting, more so for people not from this world. As for the knight…” She pointed with her free hand. Around the corner, there was a wider area with less in it. She pointed to a few stacked crates, indicating the knight was behind them.

Dante nodded and freed himself. If the knight was preparing to ambush them, Dante would be the one to take the hit. His spell was still active, his level was higher than when they fought Idol, and he had more shields unlocked. Granted, only a couple of those shields increased his stats, but he was more than confident he could take a single knight, especially if they were on the list. Davon Mallory was the only knight with a high level, the rest were low 30s.

He rounded the corner, shield up and ready.

The dim lighting briefly showed him a human form.

In an instant, a swirl of pink filled his vision.

Hands grasped a jagged piece of metal and thrust it towards his chest. With lightning speed, the metal came into contact with his chest…and instantly broke.

“No!” The person, a woman, yelled. She brought up what remained of her weapon and brought it down on Dante. He blocked it with his shield, more out of reflex than conscious choice. He was too focused on what he was seeing. “Die, die, DIE!”

“You…” Dante looked the woman over. Her hands were bound together with a thick rope, a small length sticking out where she was likely tied to something. Her face was bruised, bloody, and looked crazed. Aside from a shirt that was shredded and barely covered her at all, she wore no clothing. And she had long, strawberry-blond hair that went down to her hips.

“Die, you bastard!” She screamed, slamming her shiv into Dante’s shield, completely shattering her weapon.

“E-Eclair! Stop!” Dante regained his senses. “I’m not with those mercenaries!”

“Rahhh!” Eclair continued her assault, smashing her fists into Dante. He’d already lowered his shield, letting her hit his face to no effect.

“Eclair Seaetto, please! You’re safe now!” He tried to grab her arm, only for her to knock it away and keep swinging.

“Bastarrrrd!” She screamed as her hands continued to slam against Dante. Blood started to gather on her hands, but it wasn’t Dante’s.

“Sadeena!” Dante called behind him. “Stop her before she seriously hurts herself!”

Sadeena quickly came around the corner and grabbed Eclair from behind. The bound woman tried to kick Dante as Sadeena pulled her back, only for her to suddenly go limp.

“Please…” Her voice sounded so broken, losing all of its vigor from a moment ago. “No more…I can’t…”

Dante held up his hand again. “It’s okay, you’re safe now.”

Eclair flinched at his movement. He slowly took a step back and lowered his arm.

“We aren’t here to hurt you. We’re friends.” Dante took a hard look at the woman. In addition to her face, there were bruises all over her body. Cuts, gashes, a few burns, this woman had seen hell. Dante’s eyes trailed down her body. When they reached about midway down, he turned his head away.

Goddammit. What’s wrong with this fucking country?

He slowly lowered his body to the floor, letting a few items drop from his shield.

“I have a few thing that can help you.” He said softly. “If you’re okay with it, I’ll apply them myself. I have a shield that boosts the effects of medicine I administer.” He kept his eyes on Eclair, seeing no reaction to his words. “I’m the Shield Hero, Dante MacRory.” Even with his introduction, she said nothing.

Dante raised himself up and took another step back. “What do you think?” He asked Sadeena.

She eased Eclair down, the woman sinking to the ground. “I’ll give those to her.” She said. “If we need more, I’ll come get you.”

“Right…” Dante dropped a tunic and pair of pants for her, turned around, and went back upstairs.

How long was she here? Since the mercenaries arrived? Longer? Why wasn’t she locked up at the castle?

Once he reached the top of the stairs, he heard laughing. The other knight had a shrill, dark laugh as she looked Dante’s way.

“Guess you found the honorable knight! Was she all that you thought she’d—”

Dante slammed into the knight. His hand wrapped around her throat as the woman started gasping for air.

“Someone gag this piece of shit before I choke the life out if her!”

~The Wrong Hero~

It wasn’t too long before Sadeena came back upstairs, maybe fifteen minutes. Eclair was still in the cellar. Sadeena was able to give her some medicine, but it was clear there was more wrong with her. Aside from the obvious trauma these people inflicted, she was most likely drugged.

It didn’t take long to get the information out of the boss. Dante retrieved a mostly empty bottle of what they’d been using on Eclair from the boss’s person. He looked it over with his appraisal skill. It seemed to dull some senses and heighten others. Dante had a feeling which ones they were.

He had Sadeena lead him back down into the cellar. Sadeena approached Eclair first, easing her. She sat in the corner and was wearing the clothes Dante left her, though they were a bit off, like Raphtalia’s and Rifana’s. Her face was a bit better now than it was before, but it still looked worn out. Once Sadeena made sure she was calm, Dante switched to his Sunflower Shield.

“Detox.” It didn’t seem like that activated the skill, but saying it did bring up a help box. It indicated that the detox ability automatically removed poison from his body while steadily using SP. He could actively use it on someone else while in contact with them, though at an increased rate of consumption.

He slowly held up his hand to Eclair, who was seated against Sadeena. “For my ability to work, I need to hold onto you. Is that okay?”

Eclair looked up at him, her eyes barely focused. Sadeena softly placed her hands on the woman’s shoulders. She eased back further into Sadeena and gave a light nod.

“Alright.” Dante knelt down and gently placed his hand on Eclair’s arm. She flinched at his touch, but remained sitting. Dante could see his SP lowering in his status. He thought about it for a moment, then tried adding some points from the Gauntlets to the ability. It didn’t seem to work. Either this wasn’t a skill he could upgrade, being unique to the shield, or he needed to unlock it first.

He continued letting his shield do its work, the petals dropping from the shield as Eclair began to look a little better. When the last petal fell off, a popup appeared to Dante.

Detox Complete

The whole process took about five minutes. Dante wasn’t sure if that was long or not for this shield. However, it did take up about half of his remaining SP.

“Alright, I’m done.” He said, rousing Eclair. She blinked her eyes open, as if she’d just woken up. “How do you feel?”

Eclair looked at her hand. Her fingers twitched. “Like I’ve woken up from a nightmare, only to realize I’m still in one.”

“I see…” Dante looked at her hand as well, trying to understand her meaning.

“Ah, forgive me!” She hastily bowed her head. “My mind is much clearer than it was. You have my deepest thanks. What is your name, sir?”

“You really were out of it, huh? Dante MacRory, the Shield Hero.”

“Shield…” Eclair looked back up at him in panic. “H-How long was I here?”

“We’re not sure.” Dante shook his head. “Do you remember what happened before you were imprisoned?”

Eclair placed a hand to her head. “I remember…the wave occurred. I wasn’t present for it, but I hurried back to my father’s lands as quickly as I could. It was the next day that I arrived and saw knights from the capital and those in my father’s service hunting down demi-humans to sell as slaves. I tried to stop them, but there were too many.”

Dante sat down fully as Eclair continued. “I was taken prisoner and brought before the king. I was tried and convicted of treason, and was sent to have my level reset. However, instead of being brought back to the castle dungeons afterwards, I was handed off to one of the castle knights.”

Dante cursed under his breath. “Let me guess. Davon Mallory?”

Eclair perked up at that. “You know him?”

“No, just his name, and some other things he’s done. Please, continue.”

“Very well.” Eclair ran a thumb over her wrist. “I had known him to be an honorable man. When I learned he was part of the slaving group, I couldn’t believe it. With my level reset, there was nothing I could do. When those mercenaries showed up at my father’s territory, he let them take over and sold me to them. I’ve been down here ever since…”

Lord Seaetto would be horrified to learn what his knights were a part of. Dante shook his head, dismayed at the corruption these knights seemed to relish in.

“To answer your question,” Dante said, “one of the new residents here said the mercenaries showed up a week ago.”

“One week.” Eclair’s gaze fell to the floor. “It felt so much longer. Like months, perhaps.”

“The drug they had you on seems pretty intense.” Dante recalled the information he received, and all the information that was hidden. If he had to guess, his appraisal wasn’t high enough to get that information, and that didn’t strike him as a good thing for anyone who was forced to take it.

“Ah, yes. The drug.” Eclair moved off of Sadeena. She got to her knees and lowered her head to the ground. “I cannot apologize enough for attacking you before. I may not have been in my right mind, but that’s no excuse for—”

“Are you shitting me?!” Dante yelled, causing Eclair to snap up. “Eclair, you were imprisoned for more than a week, drugged, tortured, and raped! Good god, you get a fucking pass!”

Eclair stared at him. “I…yes, of course. Thank you.” She lowered her head again, only slightly this time.

“You’re welcome.” Dante rubbed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. Seriously, this woman. I know she takes her duty seriously, but still!

“If I may ask, Sir MacRory,” Eclair glanced up, “what has happened since my imprisonment? How did you come to be here? And…what hardships have you faced?” She said that last bit as she gazed at his missing arm. “You have the face of a man who’s seen horrors unimaginable.”

“Heh, I’ll buy some makeup for my eyes.” Dante gave a soft laugh before he looked over at Sadeena. Without even needing to wink, she gave him a nod, letting him now they were alone. “Even the others?” He mouthed to her. She shook her head. Figures they’re still here.

Eclair looked between them, not understanding the message.

“Those are all somewhat connected.” He said, regaining her attention. “Some things, I’m not entirely comfortable telling a knight of Melromarc, especially one so honor bound as yourself.”

“Please, Sir MacRory.” Eclair placed her hand over her chest. “For what you’ve done for me, I owe you a huge debt. One I doubt I’d be able to repay. Whatever you may have done until now, I will overlook it.”

That was probably as close to a vow of silence as he was going to get. Really, if she was going to let him explain his actions, there wasn’t too much to worry about. And, in a more morbid sense, he had little to fear. She was level 1 and a criminal to the person currently in charge.

I think this world is making me more of an asshole than I realized.

“What do you think?” He asked Sadeena. She was greatly involved in this, so her opinion was paramount.

“I think we can trust her.” She said.

“Alright.” It wasn’t as if they had much to lose. Besides, after all she went through, she deserved a few answers. “As a summoned hero, I came to this world with certain knowledge. Part of that knowledge was what happened recently around Melromarc.”

“Is that how you knew to find me?” She asked him. “Your hero knowledge?”

Dante made a face and shook his head. “No. My knowledge has been...lacking. People have been different, both in description and in location. I thought you would be imprisoned in the castle. I didn’t know you would be here, being...well, you know.”

“I see...”

“I’m sorry if you’re disappointed with that.”

“Ah, no, I’m not.” Eclair waved her hand. “Please, continue.”

Dante gave Sadeena a look. She returned it with a nod. “One thing I knew would happen was being framed for rape.” Eclair’s eyes widened at that. “I was thinking of ways to work around that when I found Sadeena. We agreed to help each other, her helping me gain levels and me finding her fellow villagers. So far, we’ve helped each other quite well.”

“Who was is that framed you?” Eclair asked.

“I’m not sure if you’ll believe me, but it was Princess Malty, working under the adventurer name Myne Sophia.”

Eclair’s mouth hung open. “Princess Malty...”

“Yeah, I figured you’d have a hard time believing that.” Malty was less open about her true personality here. Likely, only the people directly affected by her would know. “That does bring up a question, though. Her sister, Melty, is first in line for the throne, correct? Do you know the reason?”

Eclair shook herself from her thoughts. “That’s right. However, there was never much reason given for that. It was something that was spread around the knights as a rumor, until it was confirmed about one year ago.”

Interesting. The queen seems to know her personality, but can’t point to anything in particular. At least, nothing she can prove. If that’s the case, Malty should have an easier time gaining power and allies. I’ll need to keep a watch out for that.

“But still...to think Princess Malty would do such a thing.” Eclair shook her head.

“I understand if you don’t believe me. Verify it for yourself, but do so with caution. She is quite crafty, and she likely has the church’s backing.”

“The church? Ah, of course...those knights were all devotees.”

“Yeah, they’re an ongoing problem.” Dante said. “We’re keeping watch for any church shadows, but we haven’t had too much issue with them yet. One may have heard us planning to come to Lurolona and spread a rumor in town about it so the mercenaries would come, but I’m not sure.”

It was entirely possible it was all a coincidence. However, the knight that was there yesterday wasn’t Karta. He might have come to spread the rumor, but he could have simply told the mercenaries about Dante’s party. Rokkar said that knight and lieutenant shared a laugh, and given Eclair’s condition, it wasn’t hard to imagine what it was about. Dante would just have to wait until the townsfolk figured out where the rumor started.

“It seems you’ve had a hard time too.” Eclair gestured to his arm again. “But what happened with your arm?”

“Ah, that.” Dante grimaced. “You may be less inclined to overlook that, but I’m going to hold you to it. The man who was holding two of the villagers, Raphtalia and Rifana, was a lord of Melromarc, Idol Rabier. He tortured his slaves and forced them to eat each other, possibly eating them himself as well. We killed him in his own manor, but at a cost.”

A look of horror spread across the lady knight’s face. “How could...To do that...”

“I’ve been finding that the people here are far worse than my knowledge led me to believe. However, we’ve been slowly fixing that.” Dante gave her a grin. “We have a list of all the knights and slavers who attacked Lurolona. We killed one and have another upstairs. If you’d like, maybe you could get some revenge, or justice, from her and the mercenary boss?”

Dante tilted his shield to the side and let a shortsword fall from his item drops, scabbard and all. Eclair looked at the blade for a moment, then lowered her head.

“I can’t.” She said quietly.

“I know you are a knight of Melromarc and wish to do things right, but—”

“No.” She shook her head. She held her hand up to Dante, limply. “I can no longer hold a blade. Davon Mallory...he cut the tendons in my hands. I could only hold the shiv I used against you because my hands were bound like they were.”

“Oh...” Dante reached out for her hand, only for her to quickly pull it back. She held it close to her chest.

“I-I’m...”

“No, I’m sorry.” Dante held up his hand. “You’re holding yourself together so well...Sorry.”

It wasn’t that he forgot what she went through. How could he? Despite that, she seemed so put together, it was almost as if it hadn’t happened. But it did. Even Eclair wouldn’t be able to bounce back immediately from that.

“In that case, we’ll take revenge for you.” Dante said as he rose from the ground. “I hope you have no issue with that, though we’ll kill them however you see fit, provided it isn’t out of the way.”

“...Yes, that’s for the best. I doubt they would face any punishment for some time.” Eclair said. Sadeena helped her to her feet, making sure to hold her steady. “Thank you, Miss Sadeena.”

“Of course~.” Sadeena said with a smile.

“Huh.” Dante looked between the two of them. “Did you two know each other?”

“I’ve sparred with Miss Sadeena in the past.” Eclair said. “She’s quite the warrior.”

“That she is.” Dante agreed.

They made their way back upstairs, Eclair taking the stairs slowly. Without the drug in her system, she seemed more tired than before. Perhaps a more accurate way to describe it was she realized how tired she was. Dante would need to study the drug more once he had a higher appraisal. There was no telling what sort of lasting effects it might have on the lady knight.

“Well, here they are.” Dante pointed out their two bound and gagged prisoners.

Eclair slowly walked over to the pair, Sadeena helping her the whole way.

“Dame Eclair?” Raphtalia looked over at the knight.

“You know her too?” Dante asked her.

“She would visit the village occasionally and speak with my father.”

“Miss Raphtalia.” Eclair lowered her head to the girl. “I’m sorry for what happened. To all of you. Knights ought not behave in such a manner.” She fixed her gaze to the bound knight. “A knight should know better.”

Karta struggled against her restraints, her voice muffled.

“So, how do you want to do this?” Dante asked, standing over the pair.

“What would you recommend?” Eclair asked in turn.

“Me? Well...” Dante brought his hand to his chin. “If we had the luxury, I’d say impalement would work well. Put them up on stakes in front of your home and let them slowly be impaled by them. Done right, they could be up there for a few days.”

Silence reigned.

“What?” Dante looked around. “I said if we had the luxury. It would send a pretty good message to the other knights who attacked the village. But, as much as I’d love to emulate Vlad the Impaler, announcing to the king that Eclair is alive, free, and killing knights isn’t a good idea. Although, once the knights involved in this little operation here realize the mercenaries are dead, he’ll probably be told so anyway.”

Sadeena stood next to him. “I thought you wanted to change what kind of man you were~.” She whispered.

“This country is telling me quite clearly that I should hold off on that.” He whispered back. “Besides, don’t you think this punishment would be fitting?”

Sadeena hummed and stepped away. “So, how should we do this?” She asked everyone, though she looked at Eclair when she did.

“Let’s not drag it out.” Eclair said. “A quick beheading should do fine.”

Everyone nodded along. Except…

“Where’s JoJo and Dio?” Dante asked.

“They’re still looking around the mansion.” Rifana said. “They came back a moment ago, but they said they didn’t find anything to make your eyes sparkle again, so they went back to looking.”

“Heh, those kids are funny.” Thinking about it, Dante realized his senses were a bit off when it came to gaining wealth here. Were he back in his world, he could have sold the bodies of all those mercenaries for their organs. As it was, most of the wealth seemed to be with the alcohol in the cellar, with perhaps a few other items in the manor. The town likely had a lot to sell, but there was likely too much to carry around.

Dante looked to Eclair. “Well, you should probably find something to wear, seeing as this is your home.” Dante took a quick look at everyone. “Let’s see...Sadeena, I guess keep helping Eclair. Rifana, go find the kids and bring them back. Raphtalia and Keel, continue watching these two. I’m going to grab up the remaining mercenaries. Once we’re all gathered, we’ll take these two to the center of town and execute them there. Give the people they’ve been terrorizing some closure.”

“Okay!”

They all went about their tasks. Dante returned to the dining room, looking over the dead bodies of the mercenaries. He changed to his Savage Shield and got to work. He went to the first mercenary and activated his shield. It grabbed ahold of him and began dragging him in. After just under a minute, the man completely disappeared into Dante’s shield. With a small adjustment, the armor and items on the man appeared in Dante’s item drops, instead of being spat back out.

He continued on to the next one, then the one after that. Since he had the chance, he wanted to see if there was any pattern to the stats the Savage Shield gained. From what he could see, every corpse the shield consumed gave one point to HP. The rest depended on the type of person it consumed. If the person was agile, he’d gain agility. If they were strong, he’d gain strength. If they were a mage, Magic. Most bodies also gave a point to defense. That was another thing: only defense was tied to the shield. Everything else went to his own stats. It was a slow buildup, much like the Bow’s method, but the cost seemed to always be the same. Sooner or later, it’d be more efficient to use the Savage Shield to gain stats, provided people kept trying to kill him.

Dante was confident that would continue for some time.

Once he finished with the last mercenary, he stood from his spot and went to leave. Standing in the doorway, however, was Rifana.

“Oh.” Dante stopped. He wasn’t prepared for anyone but Sadeena to see that. They were coming along well, but this was a bit much.

Rifana gripped her tunic. “I...found Dio and JoJo.”

Dante nodded. “Good, good.”

They stood there, both averting their eyes.

“Listen, Rifana—”

“Are you ready?” She quickly asked.

“...Yes.”

“Okay.” Rifana scrunched up her shirt a bit more before releasing it. She looked at Dante. “Then let’s get back to the others.” She had a smile on her face as she held out her hand.

Dante walked over to her. She took his hand in hers and led him out.

“Are you okay?” He asked. “You saw...”

“I am, and I did.” She responded. “You were making your shield stronger, right?”

“And myself.” He corrected. “Are you...unbothered by that?”

Rifana shook her head. “It was a little scary to see, but I know you wouldn’t do something like that without a good reason.”

Dante stopped her, shaking his head. “How do you know that?”

“I just do.” She beamed up at him.

Sighing, Dante continued. “I appreciate the trust you put in me, but you don’t know that. You believe it, but I’m afraid it’s your crush on me talking.”

Rifana shook her head again. “You saved me and Raphtalia. You lost your arm because of it. You’re a good person.”

“I’m a terrible person who’s trying to do a little better. There is a difference.”

“Does that matter to the girl whose life you saved?” She brought his hand up and held it to her face. “You could be the worst person in the world and I’d still follow you. You’re the Shield Hero, after all.” She kissed his hand and looked him in the eye. “But do you really think I’d want to marry you if I thought you were a bad person?”

Dante stared at her, before barking out a laugh. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t. You’re much too smart for that.” He leaned down towards her, making her eyes widen. He brought his face close to hers, barely avoiding touching her. Their lips were mere inches away from each other. Rifana closed her eyes and leaned up. But…

“Sadeena’s been teaching you how to talk to me, hasn’t she?” Dante said, standing up straight again.

Rifana’s eyes shot open, a blush on her face. “M-Maybe a little...”

“I need to have a talk with that woman.” He pulled his hand free and gave Rifana a quick pat on her head.

They made their way back to the others. Sadeena and Eclair had returned by this point. Eclair had on a well-made shirt and coat fitting for a noble, with white pants and a pair of boots as well. Sadeena had secured the shortsword to Eclair’s side, a deterrent if nothing else.

Once spotted, Dio and JoJo bounded over to Dante. Dio found a full bottle of the drug used on Eclair, so Dante absorbed the whole thing.

Toxic Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: poison resistance (medium)
equip effect: haze

That ability looked interesting. Dante would have to take a look at it later. JoJo, on the other hand, brought an expensive looking piece of jewelry. Dante gave it a look with his appraisal.

Silver Ruby Brooch
quality: very good
special effects: magic up (medium), magic resistance up (medium)

“Wow, now’s that’s impressive.” Dante said, holding the brooch in his hand. “This gives magic power and resistance. Good work you two.” Dante said to his kids. “However...” He looked over at Eclair.

The lady knight shook her head. “Please, feel free to take anything here that you may be able to use. First it was my fellow knights, and then it was the mercenaries who plundered my father’s home. I’d much rather Sir MacRory make use of what’s left than some other looter.”

“We’ll do just that then.” Dante handed the brooch to Sadeena.

“Oh my~. What a lovely gift!” Sadeena gushed at him.

“Yeah, I’m a real romantic, giving you someone else’s jewelry.” Dante rolled his eyes.

“But are you sure you want to give this to me? There’s another girl who would love to receive a gift from you~.” She said, giving Dante a wink.

Dante raised an eyebrow. “Oh, we’ll be having a chat about that later. Anyway, you have the most magical potential. My spell increases magic resistance in addition to defense, just not as much, and we’ve yet to deal with any enemies that can use magic.”

“Wasn’t one of the mercenaries in town a mage?” Raphtalia asked. True enough, there was a magic user among the mounted mercenaries. Incidentally, he was the one trampled by his comrade.

“So were two of the drunk mercenaries.” Dante countered. “None of them were particularly threatening. But, once Rifana learns some magic, she can use the brooch.”

“You’d give your gift to me to someone else~?” Sadeena gave a very fake pout.

“I’m not addressing that.” Dante deadpanned. “Anyway, we have a few executions to perform, don’t we?” He looked down at the two prisoners. The mercenary was much more subdued now, likely from losing his foot, and a lot of blood, if the mess on the floor was any indication. The knight, on the other hand, was still trying to yell through her gag. Dante grabbed the mercenary by his remaining foot. “Let’s go take care of this.”

~The Wrong Hero~

They brought their prisoners to the center of town. There, they tied the two over a pair of barrels with their heads hanging over the edges. Rokkar recognized the knight as one of three who were with the mercenaries. Another fit Davon Mallory’s description. It seemed either Karta or the third knight would come by once every few days to collect some money the mercenaries either extorted from travelers or looted from their corpses.

After a few minutes of denouncing and rock throwing from the townsfolk, it was time to execute the pair. Sadeena was going to take care of them, but Keel insisted he do it.

“I can handle it.” He’d said.

Dante needed to check with Sadeena about the boy’s emotional state. Going from being shaken about killing sleeping people to offering to execute helpless ones probably wasn’t good.

Dante removed their gags to allow them their final words. The mercenary boss broke down immediately, begging for his life. The knight held strong, denouncing the people there as savages. That is, until the mercenary’s head came off and rolled in front of her view. Her tune quickly changed to begging after that, but her fate was the same.

Once that was done, Dante checked with Rokkar about the rumor being spread. Since it only started a day ago with about a hundred people in town, they were able to figure out the first person to hear the news. Or, rather, the first person there to spread it. It was someone from Rokkar’s group, but when asked about it…

“I don’t remember where I heard it.” He’d said.

Dante, Sadeena, JoJo, and Dio had listened to him. All he remembered was it was something he knew to be true, but he couldn’t remember why he knew it. He simply started telling people he heard that bit of news. None of what he said seemed to be a lie.

It was troubling. Perhaps a shadow infiltrated the town, only to tell this man in his sleep this news and somehow get him to spread it, but that seemed unlikely. It could have been a form of mind control, albeit weak, but Dante felt that sort of thing could have been used more widespread against him. Though, it might have been costly or time consuming to do so. Still more questions he wasn’t getting answers to.

That did, however, help push up his timetable. If people were going to keep messing with them like this, they needed to leave Melromarc sooner rather than later. That meant his level sacrificing plan was going to be reduced further, since they would need time to travel around the kingdom. There were a few locations he needed to visit before leaving, and doing it before the wave rather than after seemed more and more like the way to go.

To that end, they decided to spend the evening hunting some monsters around town. Dante sent Eclair an invite to gain her back some levels. Even with the group penalty, she noted an increase in XP.

Once they were finished, they spent the night relaxing in the manor. Sadeena, Eclair, and Dante were discussing their plans over drinks in a den-like room while the others slept in one of the bedrooms.

“You should come with us.” Dante told Eclair after finishing his mug. “It’d be lot safer than staying here.”

“I agree with you, Sir MacRory, but I must inform the queen of what’s been happening.” Eclair said, taking a sip of her wine, holding the glass with both hands.

“Let the shadows handle that. It’s their job, after all.” Dante got up and poured himself another mug from the barrel they brought up. “Then again, we haven’t seen any of them, have we?”

“Nope~.” Sadeena responded, finishing off her eighth mug.

“Strange.” Dante sat back down. “Eclair, do you know anything about them?”

“I’m afraid not. At least, no more than you. I know they’re spies and assassins with similar training in a number of nations, but I don’t know how much they’re used.”

Interesting. I thought the shadows were only in Melromarc. Or, maybe Faubrey too? I think Takt had a shadow at one point.

“In that case, perhaps we could send a message to the queen?” Dante offered. “Lord Reichnott might be able to send someone, unless you know anyone trustworthy.”

Eclair shook her head, a frown present. “After Davon Mallory, I don’t trust my judgement on who is honorable or not.”

“Then stick with us. We could use someone like you in our group.”

“How?” Eclair asked, showing her wrist to him. “I can’t use a sword anymore. I can’t help you fight.”

“No, you can’t fight personally.” Dante told her. “Just because I can’t deal damage doesn’t mean I’m useless in a fight. Similarly, your skills can be used to train our teammates. Having two instructors is better than one, especially when one of those instructors earns us the most XP.”

“Praise me more, little Dante~!” Sadeena leaned on him from his left, sloshing her ale around, yet still managing to keep it all in her mug.

“Your skill and tenacity is nothing to scoff at.” Dante ignored the orca woman’s antics. “With us, you’ll have your old level back in no time. And, if you’re willing, you can take a slave seal as well. Slaves belonging to me get increased XP and stat gains. I can also use a technique to lower your level to increase your stats. Something to consider.”

“That…is something needing much time to think over.” Eclair slowly nodded. “Regardless of any additional improvement, I think I will travel with you for some time. As I’m unable to fight, I wouldn’t be able to prevent my capture again, should any knights or shadows loyal to the church wish to apprehend me.”

“Well, then, welcome aboard.” Dante said, holding out his hand. Eclair drew back from the gesture. “Ah, sorry, I’ll be sure to—” Eclair thrust her hand forward, grabbing Dante’s before he could pull back. She stared at their joined hands, eyes wavering.

“This…is something I need to be okay with.” She said, sweat starting to gather on her forehead.

“No need to rush this.” Dante said, trying to take back his hand.

“No.” Eclair held firm. “I must recover from my time here.” She looked up and held his gaze. “If you are a hero, Sir MacRory, then you must help me do so.”

Dante let out a breath. “This is very outside my area of expertise, but I can’t really refuse. Okay, I’ll help however you want me to.” He agreed.

“Thank you for your cooperation.” Eclair released his hand and stood. “I think I shall retire for the night. I look forward to working with you, Sir MacRory, Miss Sadeena.” She gave a quick bow and left the room.

“Strange, isn’t she?” Dante asked.

Sadeena took the opportunity to lay in his lap. “We all are, aren’t we~?”

“Yeah. I seem to be able to attract that sort of people, huh?” He looked at Sadeena, who was staring at his face. “You’re drunk.”

“Hmmm~? You think this is enough to work on me~?” She leaned over the armrest of the chair.

“Yeah, probably not. Well, enjoy this while you can. We probably won’t be able to come back here for more.”

“Aw. Can’t you store some in your shield?” She asked, tapping it.

“Not unless a barrel was strapped to someone when they died, no.” Dante glanced at his shield. “Damn, I really should have tested that out, huh?”

“But you absorbed a bunch of things before. Maybe you can get a shield that stores alcohol~.”

“I…suppose that’s possible.” Dante leaned over Sadeena and picked up the glass Eclair left. He handed it to Sadeena and she poured the contents into his shield.

Wine Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: poison resistance (small)

“Well, that’s nice, but not what I was looking for.” Dante said.

“Here, try this.” Sadeena leaned forward and poured her drink into the shield’s gem.

Brewing Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: simple brewing recipes
equip effect: brew

Dante stared at the information in his status.

“What is it?” Sadeena asked.

He shifted to the shield he just received. It looked to be half of a barrel cut long ways, the flat side against his arm with the round part away from him. Like the barrel they brought up from the cellar, near his hand was a tap that looked like it would dispense ale.

Sadeena looked at the new shield with a smile. She wrapped her arms around Dante’s neck and leaned into him. “Have I told you how much I love you recently~?”

“I’m going to be making a lot of alcohol, aren’t I?”

Chapter Text

To give Sadeena a nice reward, Dante went ahead and unlocked his Brewing Shield last night. It had nothing to do with the fact that she kept asking him about it until they went to sleep. Honestly, he was a little curious about the shield’s equip effect. Since his shield could make anything he had a recipe for, he wanted to know what the difference would be.

That, however, was a problem for later. His current problem stood before him, reaching a little below his chin. The clothes she got from one of the female mercenaries was more filled out now, actually seeming a little tight. Her blond hair now reached just below her shoulders, much like his own. Her golden eyes shone as she stared into his.

And, of course, she had a huge smile on her face.

“Mister Dante!” Rifana said, her voice excessively chipper. “Look! I’ve grown!”

“I…can see that.” Dante looked at the girl…woman in front of him. At least, he thought she was a woman now. It was a little hard to tell. He wasn’t exactly familiar with demi-human height averages and builds. “I think you might have a little growing left to do.”

“Nope!” She smiled, showing her teeth. “Now we can talk about getting married, right?”

“Uh…” Dante looked over at Sadeena. Damn it! I can see you laughing behind your hand! She was obviously going to be no help to him. “Maybe we should talk about this later?”

“Right now seems good.” She said. “Actually, we can talk while we prepare breakfast!”

“Good idea~.” Sadeena came over and wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders. “Doesn’t that sound good to you, Dante?”

He sent a glare Sadeena’s way. She returned it with her signature smile. Rifana clasped Dante’s hand between hers, regaining his attention.

“Listen,” he spoke before her, “I’m not really prepared to have this talk yet. I wasn’t expecting your growth to happen so quickly.” Or at all. I thought most demi-humans grew to around 15 or so with levels, with some exceptions. Rifana might have been one, but I see Keel over there.

The boy-turned-man stood about the same height as Rifana. Perhaps he was a tad younger physically, but Dante couldn’t tell for certain. His hair did grow out a little, but still looked much like it was before. Raphtalia grew as well, reaching about the same height as both of them. Keel looked at Dante with a smirk on his face, while Raphtalia had an expectant look, like she was waiting for him to have this talk.

Seriously, what the hell? I mean, overall, this is a better situation. With these three all adults, they can more easily function in combat, but it was wholly unexpected. I relied on my book knowledge again to my detriment. And—Sadeena, stop smiling at me like you know I messed up!

Rifana brought Dante’s hand up and held it to her face, as if he was cupping it. “I can wait until you’re ready to talk. But, until then, I still want to stay close to you. So, when we sleep, I want to be next to you. I’ve finished learning a spell, so I can stand behind you while I cast.”

“You learned a spell?” Dante asked. “Really? That fast? I’m impressed."

“Thanks!” She let go of his arm and stepped forward, embracing him. “I meant what I said. I want to be close to you.”

“Y-Yeah.” Dante looked to Sadeena, who had taken a step back after Rifana moved in. Her smile hadn’t faltered for even a moment.

“Oh, one thing.” Rifana said, looking up at Dante. “You should think about which of us you want as your first wife.”

“What?” Dante let his jaw hang open after saying that. He looked at Sadeena again and would swear he saw her eyes sparkle.

“If I remember right, there’s something about which wife is first for a hero.” She held her head against the top of his chest. “I know you like Sadeena, but I’d really like it to be me, if she doesn’t mind. I know it’s something we all need to discuss together.”

“Sadeena!” Dante shouted. “Support!”

“Oh my~.” She joined the hug, her arms around their midsections. “It’s okay, little Rifana, I wouldn’t mind being the second wife.”

“I meant support me!”

“Isn’t that what a wife does~?” Sadeena winked at him.

“Keel!” He looked over at the dog man, only to see him dealing with his own thing now. JoJo was looking up at him, stars in his eyes, marveling at the height of his ‘big bro’. His adoptive son likely wouldn’t be any help either.

“Raphtalia!” The woman gave him a bright smile.

“I think it’s great!” She said, clapping her hands. “I hope you all are happy together.”

“Eclair!” He turned to the swordswoman.

“I don’t quite understand the problem.” She had watched the whole display from the moment she came in to wake them.

“…Dio?” He turned to his last hope.

The girl in question looked up at the three of them. Her gaze shifted between all three before settling on Dante. “Does that mean Riffy will be Mama? I still wanna call her Riffy.”

“…” Dante simply accepted his fate. At least for the short term. A proper talk could happen later.

After that, their morning preparations went quickly. Dante used some drained deer-like meat the mercenaries had and cooked it for breakfast. With everyone’s heights finished changing, they were able to use more of the armor from the knights and mercenaries they killed. Keel and Raphtalia wore the chainmail from the knights’ armor at Idol’s mansion. It was lucky he didn’t equip them all with full plate, though that may be out of the norm. Few knights Dante saw wore full plate armor, mostly using a chainmail-breastplate combo with a few extra pieces here and there. Rifana wore the robes with a leather half-chest armor piece from the mage mercenary. She also had the wand he used, as well as her dagger, and now the magic brooch. Dante, Sadeena, Dio, and JoJo kept their own clothes.

Finally, Eclair. With her appearance as a knight too memorable, she wore the plate armor from one of the mercenaries. It was a little big, but it had a property on it known as “air wake”, so it would feel lighter by using her MP. A little padding made up for the size difference. The helmet had some room in it, so she was able to tie up her hair. For a weapon, another mercenary had a sword that was similar to Raphtalia’s, so she took that. She didn’t see the point of it, until they went into town.

Near the center, the party met with the blacksmith.

“Rokkar.” Dante greeted the man. He had a cart loaded up with his son sitting in it. Others from his group had the same idea in a number of other carts. They had gathered up the horses still alive, and those at the mansion, and had prepared to leave this morning. As Dante had said, they took the weapons and armor from the mercenaries, but left him the bodies. He’d devoured them when no one was around.

“Ah, Sir Shield Hero.” Rokkar shook his hand. “I was waiting for you. Is this the one?” He gestured to Eclair.

“She is.” Dante nodded. Rokkar went to the cart and started rummaging through it.

“What’s this about?” Eclair asked, watching the man warily.

“I had him make something for you. Got the idea from when you tried to stab me.”

Eclair stared at him with a flat look.

“It’s a good idea, I swear!” Dante held up his hand. Rokkar came back over, carrying a gauntlet with him. “And here is my idea.”

Eclair looked at the piece of armor presented to her. “Dante, I already have gauntlets on.” She pointed out.

“Yeah, and the fingers on them move, don’t they?” He asked rhetorically.

Rokkar turned the gauntlet over, letting the palm face up. The fingers were curled in, as if a hilt sat in them. There was an additional plate of metal around the fingers, reinforcing them, plus a few other attachments.

“I was able to whip this up last night from Sir Shield Hero’s suggestions.” He explained. “With this, you’ll be able to wield a blade, though not as you have before. You won’t have the same dexterity. Your wrist will be pretty locked in, so you’ll need to get used to that.”

He held the gauntlet out to Eclair. She looked it over appraisingly. She picked it up with both hands and moved it around her right hand, having Sadeena help her fit it on.

“If you release that mechanism there, the fingers will relax a little. Then, when you have the sword in, move it in again to secure it.” Rokkar instructed. Eclair and Sadeena did as they were told, placing Eclair’s new sword into position. Once set, she moved her arm about and gave it a few practice swings.

“How is it?” Dante asked.

The lady knight turned to him, her eyes shimmering. “I can fight?”

“Well…yes.” Dante replied. “That was always the plan. Eventually, anyway. This is just temporary. Once we get access to better healing, better potions, or an alchemist, we can fix you up completely.” The apothecary they found in town had told them as much. The church in the capital should have the resources and ability to heal Eclair, but that wasn’t going to happen. “I’m going to have my arm restored, I wasn’t about to leave you with slashed tendons in your hands.”

Eclair gave him a bow, keeping her blade at her hip to not have it stick out. “I thank you again for your kindness.”

“Of course.” He gave her a smile. “I’m just glad you liked this. I had an idea for a sword-gauntlet, but it would’ve taken too much time to make.”

“This is plenty, Sir MacRory.” Eclair stood tall, inspecting her new battle attire. “I will make use of this armament until I am healed.”

“I look forward to seeing you in action.” Dante turned to face the blacksmith. “Where will your group go now?”

Rokkar scratched the back of his head. “We’re not too sure. Not too many places around here that would accept a group like ours. Many of us are thinking of breaking away.”

“Well, if you’re one of the breakaways, you may be able to try Lord Reichnott’s territory. He has demi-humans living there peacefully. You do speak Melromarc, right?”

“A little. You think he would take us in?”

“Maybe.” Dante shrugged. “I still don’t fully understand your reasoning for picking Ronota, but I may as well point you in a similar direction. Just go in peace there. Lord Reichnott helped me out, and I’d hate to hear I caused him any trouble.”

“Of course!” Rokkar nodded, clearly understanding the hidden threat.”

“One more thing.” Dante added. “Make sure not to tell anyone—”

“—That the Shield Hero was involved here. No worries.” The man knew what kind of situation they were in. As far as everyone who was held there was concerned, the mercenaries left with a few knights as prisoners, heading north. With no chance of bodies being found, the knights would have to believe that. Especially since the group of various Melromarc citizens had traveled north first to indicate as much.

“Good.” Dante held out his hand and Rokkar shook it again. “Safe travels, then. Oh, and in case Reichnott doesn’t believe you, tell his rabbit demi-human bodyguard that you’re there to give her a two-armed hug from me as a proxy.” He shot the blacksmith a smile. “Don’t actually do it, she might knock your teeth out.”

“Hah! I’ll keep that in mind!”

With that, the caravan made its way out of town. Dante’s party left as well, determined to improve themselves more.

~The Wrong Hero~

One of the first stops in their travels was to be a small mining complex about an hour from Ronota. From what they gathered, it was still in operation, but there was less traffic there now. They could get some good ore there, plus kill any monsters on the way. Eclair provided them with a pass to mine from it, as it was part of Ronota’s holdings. She was also able to find a merchant pass for them. It didn’t need Dante’s name, only her father’s seal, which she found as well. It was a good thing to have, should they require it. She also showed them another hooded carriage from the manor, like the one they had. Using only a single carriage was doable, but a bit cramped. What’s more, due to the filolials’ strength, they could hook both carriages together to one of them while the other went hunting. Needless to say, both kids were all for that idea.

Dante needed to visit a few places before Melromarc’s next wave, but he needed to go at the right time. With Sadeena and Eclair’s help, he was able to remember the names of the villages on the map. The first would be Mirso village. He would warn Gaelion about the kill quest on him. Of course, they needed confirm the quest was made, and they had to gain some more levels first.

Dante: LV 31
Sadeena: LV 15
Keel: LV 26
Rifana: LV 26
Raphtalia: LV 26
Dio: LV 32
JoJo: LV 32
Eclair: LV 12

Even with the XP penalty, they were able to make significant gains. Quickly moving between areas on filolials really sped things up, though it still would have been better at sea. Before they went hunting yesterday, Sadeena had Dante lower her level down to one so she could more greatly benefit from his shields. Given the bonuses they provided slaves, as well as her riding out with Dio to land the finishing blows on monsters, she was able to climb up fairly well. Eclair was quite impressed with Sadeena’s progress, no doubt more greatly considering taking the slave seal.

While traveling, Rifana was helping Dante with the fire tome. She learned Faust Fire Shot yesterday evening, and was helping him learn it now. It wouldn’t really do him any good to cast, if he even could, but learning it should help him learn higher level fire spells, like that Zweite fire-healing spell. And, if he could cast it, he may be able to light fires with it on his own, instead of waiting for someone else.

They would arrive near the mines in a few more minutes, so they decided to stop studying. Dante stretched as he looked out the back of the carriage, watching the changing scenery beyond the attached carriage. Many trees filled his vision. The mining complex was deep in the forest. Apparently, someone had found a really rare ore near the surface once upon a time, so the mining complex was set up.

Still, with little to do, Dante recalled something of a favorite pastime. Something he wished he still had two hands to do.

“I wish I had my bagpipes here.” He let slip out.

“Bagpipes?” Eclair looked over at him. She and Rifana went in the front carriage while Raphtalia and Keel were in the back carriage. Sadeena was out with JoJo today while Dio pulled the carriages.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Dante looked her way. “It’s an instrument from my world. Pretty fun, and has a nice sound to it, though I’m sure many would disagree.”

“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of it.” Eclair rubbed her chin in thought.

“What’s it like?” Rifana asked from her spot on the floor. She’d lied down after they finished their studying.

“Well, as the name suggests, it’s a bag with pipes attached to it. There’s one to blow air into the bag, one to play notes like any wind instrument, and one or more pipes that give off a constant noise. Squeezing the bag produces the sound, so it can play constantly while you take a breath.”

It wasn’t a perfect explanation, but Dante thought it got the point across.

“Interesting.” Eclair nodded along. “Is it an instrument that’s part of your country?”

“Eh, more my heritage.” Dante shrugged. “My father is Irish. While the Scots are more known for playing them, the Irish are their neighbors across the pond, and they enjoy a good bagpipe song.” That, of course, was what he told anyone who asked. It wasn’t entirely wrong, since his father was Irish, but he didn’t learn the bagpipes to show off his cultural heritage. Of course, he wasn’t going around telling people he learned to play the bagpipes as a kid because of a certain futuristic samurai cartoon.

“When you get your arm back, will you play a song for us?” Rifana asked.

“If we can find someone to make one for me, sure.” Dante agreed. Rifana beamed up at him.

Aside from being able to do a lot of things by himself again, playing the bagpipes was definitely something to look forward to. Of course, he was confident most of the people in his party wouldn’t care for his musical talents. He was no master, by any means, but he knew a few songs. The bagpipes were just a bit of an acquired taste.

“Hey, Papa?” Dio called from the front of the carriage. “There’s something weird in the sky.”

“Hm?” Dante got up and shuffled up to the front. He peaked out and looked up. There was something round and red floating in the sky. “Is that a balloon? A big one? Maybe a king?” He somewhat remembered them. More specifically, that they were a thing, no other details.

“Mmm…I don’t think so.” Dio tilted her head from side to side. “I see horns on it.”

Eclair stepped into the front with them. “We’re close to the mines. It looks like it’s floating above it.”

The forest around them had been getting sparser, eventually opening into a small field before the mines. The strange balloon thing continued to hover almost 200 feet in the air. Whatever it was, it looked to be about the same size as Dio and JoJo.

As they continued to approach, the red ball turned around. A loud hiss filled the air, causing Dante to instinctively bring up his shield. He got another look at the ball. There was a single green eye near its center. Its wide maw went from one end to the other, and it almost looked like it was grinning as it stared down at them.

“I’ve never seen something like that.” Eclair placed her hand on her sword.

“Is that…” Dante continued to look up at the strange creature.

The red sphere opened its mouth, its eye turning a shade of yellow. In an instant, a ball of fire shot out from its gaping maw at them.

“Dio, stop! Air Strike Shield V!” Dante summoned his barrier above the carriages. The flaming ball impacted the shield and dispersed, leaving them undamaged.

The three of them quickly exited the carriage, with Raphtalia and Keel coming out of the second. “What’s going on?” Keel yelled, looking up at Dante’s barrier. “What is that thing?”

“Something that shouldn’t be here.” Dante replied as he watched another fireball impact the Air Strike Shield V. It held strong, but it wouldn’t last forever. Unfortunately, that thing didn’t want to stay in one spot. It lazily floated around in the air, firing down at them often. “Rifana, start casting. I’ll cover for you.”

“Yes, Mister Dante!” She held her hands up and began her chant. “As the source of your power, I command you! Let the true way be revealed once more! Ignite my foe with deadly flames! Faust Fire Shot!”

Rifana leaned outside the protective area of Dante’s skill as she finished her spell. The ball of fire raced up towards the flying monster and exploded upon impact. It shuddered from the hit, but it kept on floating. It fired several more balls down at the party, all impacting against the barrier. It began to crack under the assault. Of course, that didn’t matter. The skill finally timed out.

“Damn it. Behind me, everyone! Faust Guard VI!” Dante called out. His Reinforced Iron Shield was out and ready, and he was protected with his spell. He was pretty sure the fireballs this thing was shooting out were magic. His magic resistance wasn’t particularly high with this shield, but it still gave him the most thanks to all the strengthening he did previously. He’d never been hit with a magic attack until now, so he was curious how defense and magic resistance interacted.

The monster seemed to accept the premise that, since Dante was the closest, he was the target. It launched another volley of fireballs down at him. Dante took them all on his shield, the flames spreading around him. He saw his HP go down, but not substantially.

“Faust Fire Shot!” Rifana cast her spell again and sent it up. The monster swayed in the air after getting hit again. Dante couldn’t tell how injured it was. Its insides very well could be the same color as its skin.

“It seems to be resistant to magic.” Eclair noted. “This may take some time.”

“Yeah, I had a feeling.” Dante grit his teeth as another fireball struck his shield. “This isn’t going to kill me, but it is kind of annoying. Do any of you besides Rifana know how to use a bow?”

“I do.” Dante looked back at the speaker. He saw Eclair give him a straight look. The beginning of a smile was present on her face.

“Heh. Glad to see you’re making jokes.” Dante turned back. A larger fireball came down at him. He tried to bat it away by infusing his shield with EP, but it only seemed to blow a little fire away from him. He swung his arm back, throwing out a pair of bows and quivers to the party, curtesy of the dead mercenaries. “Mini training arc. Raphtalia and Keel, start shooting. Eclair, instruct them. Rifana, keep casting. Dio…” He looked back at his daughter. She stood in her filolial queen form, waiting for something she could do. “…Can you create wind with your wings?”

The bird girl shook her head. “Sorry, Papa.”

“It’s fine. I’m sure it’ll come later.” Another barrage of fireballs landed on Dante’s shield as Rifana shot the floating annoyance again. “Just keep watch and make sure nothing tries to sneak up on us.”

“Okay, Papa!” She trotted to the other side of the carriages, shifting her head around as she looked about.

Raphtalia and Keel seemed to grasp how to load a bow and fire, thanks to Eclair’s quick direction, but their aim was way off. Dante didn’t expect them to become master marksmen anytime soon, but he figured shooting arrows that missed often was better than nothing.

Once his skill came off cooldown, het erected another Air Strike Shield V. It couldn’t have come at a better time. The fireballs were starting to hurt more. He wasn’t sure if it was some sort of stacked damage from the fireballs or what.

“Zweite Thunderbolt!” The electric spell slammed into the floating monster, dealing noticeable damage. Blue blood leaked from the side of impact. Sadeena rode in on JoJo from the forest to the right of where they came from. The monster turned to them and let out a volley of fireballs, but JoJo was easily able to avoid them.

“Perfect timing!” Dante called out to her. JoJo came over to the shield barrier and let her off. She began casting again.

With even more magic being pumped onto it, as well as a few of Raphtalia and Keel’s arrows hitting their mark, the monster dropped from the sky. It made it easy, as the monster kept coming closer as it attacked. It made a satisfying blubbering noise as it fell. Dante held his head in his hand.

Even dead, it looks just like it. I swear, if that’s what I think it is, someone is going to die a painful death.

He turned to the rest of his party.

“Good work, everyone.” He said. His party, however, had varying expressions. Raphtalia and Keel had their eyes averted. Rifana held her hands over her mouth, her cheeks bright red. Eclair was completely facing the opposite direction, pushing into Dio’s feathers. His daughter…just stood there normally, though she did have a wing over Eclair.

“Uh, what’s—”

“Oh, Dante~!” He felt himself be picked up and spun. Sadeena had transformed, her rubber-like skin cool to the touch. “This isn’t the time or place for that! But, if you really want to…”

“What are you—” Dante realized what was wrong. He felt her skin not just on his arm, but his front, back, and legs. He looked down and confirmed what he thought. “Ah. I’m naked.”

“You are~.” Sadeena set him down, keeping his body from view of the others with hers. It seemed his shield’s power protected his whole body, but not what he was wearing.

“Why does that matter?” JoJo asked, tilting his head to the side. “I’m mostly naked right now.”

“That’s…” How to explain that to a kid, Dante wondered. “It’s impolite to be naked in human form.”

“Oh.” JoJo looked at Sadeena. Now that Dante got a look at them side by side, they really were the same height transformed. “Does that mean Sadeena can walk around naked when she looks like this?”

“Oh my~.” The orca held a hand to her cheek. “I don’t think I could do that.”

“I could, but I’m sure I’d get a lot of drama for it.” Dante said, dropping some clothes and armor from his shield. Even his boots had been destroyed.

It’s not like Mia was the only one to do a job while nude. I just don’t fuck the guy before I kill them. Killing someone at a nudist beach was the weirdest job I accepted.

“They’d have a lot more to say about you in the capital.” Keel said, his eyes still turned away.

“They have lot to say about a lot of things.” Dante countered. He and Sadeena had explained to everyone what he was accused of when they took them there from Idol’s. Well, they explained it to Keel during the first day Dante bought him. “What are you acting all embarrassed for, anyway?” Dante called out to the dog boy, as he was currently acting like one. “As I recall, at our first meeting, you lifted up your shirt and showed me—”

“S-Shut up!” He yelled.

Dante let out a small laugh and looked up at Sadeena. “Mind helping out?”

“Of course, cute Dante~.” She gave him a wink and grabbed the pants.

“Funny.”

Within a couple minutes, Dante had this spare set of clothes and armor on. The chainmail was the same as Raphtalia and Keel’s, taken from Idol’s knights. His clothes were basically the same as before, just a simple pair of pants and tunic with leather boots. He was lucky he used the Savage Shield on those mercenaries before, otherwise he wouldn’t have any useable underwear. Once they finished, Sadeena transformed back.

“Well, that’s done.” Dante looked over his party again. They seemed good, and his status said they took no damage. Eclair, however, was still turned away. “You okay, Eclair?” He called to her.

“I…yes.” She turned her head slightly. “Seeing you like that was…difficult.”

“I see. Was burying yourself in Dio’s feathers helpful?” Eclair shot him a glare, but he merely held up his hand. “I’m not making fun of you.”

She hesitated, then gave him a short nod. “It was comforting. Soothing.”

“Good. Dio!” He called out to the filolial girl, gaining her full attention. “If you would, give Eclair a hug whenever she needs one.”

“Okay, Papa!” She gave a salute and pulled Eclair back in with her wing. “Don’t worry, Berry. I’ll help you feel better!”

“I-wha-Berry?!” Eclair called out, her body being consumed by Dio’s feathers.

“Ah, yeah.” Dante chuckled. “I may have called you ‘the strawberry knight’ in front of everyone.”

“Why?!” Eclair’s voice became muffled. “And what’s a strawberry?!”

“Yeah, they asked that too. It’s a fruit. Your hair color is what I’d call ‘strawberry blonde’. Fitting, yeah?” He didn’t get a proper response. Eclair was too engulfed to respond, or likely even hear him.

While Dio was helping Eclair, JoJo got to the carriages and started to pull them. Everyone else walked over to where the monster landed. Since it had slowly floated closer to them as they fought, it didn’t land in the mining complex.

Dante looked down at the felled monster. He really didn’t want to verify what he thought it was, but it was better to know for sure. Lowering his shield, he absorbed a large chunk of its flesh and guts. A popup proved him right.

D. Cacodemon Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: fire resistance (small)
equip effect: levitate (minor)

“Hah…” Dante let his head hang down.

“Didn’t get what you thought?” Sadeena asked.

“No, I got exactly what I thought I would.” Part of him thought it was funny that something like this was here. It behaved a lot like he remembered, down to the sounds it made. Even the name was the same. It wasn’t hard to figure out what the ‘D’ stood for.

“What is it?” Keel asked, pushing a bit of its insides with his foot.

“Still something that shouldn’t be here.” Dante looked to Sadeena. “I’m guessing you’ve never seen something like this either?”

“Nope.” She shook her head.

“Damn.” He was hoping that another creative person had found a muse from the apparent multiverse, but that was wishful thinking. “This is most likely a created or modified monster.”

“Modified?” Rifana perked up. “Like, from an alchemist?”

“Yeah.” Dante scratched the back of his head. “An alchemist…who shouldn’t know what this thing is.”

“What do you mean?” She continued.

“This is a cacodemon. It’s something from an old game, er, interactive story from my world.” He still hadn’t explained his source of knowledge about their world. The most he said to any of them, aside from Sadeena, was that he had ‘certain knowledge’. With the Q’ten Lo shadows nearby, he didn’t want to say any more about that.

“Does that mean this alchemist is from your world?” Raphtalia asked. “As in, another summoned hero?”

“Possible, but unlikely.” Dante shook his head. “Most likely…they are reincarnated from my world.”

“What’s that?” Dio asked, still holding onto Eclair, though the knight could see now.

“It means they died and were reborn here with their memories intact.” Dante explained. “And, from what I know, most of them cause problems.”

Eclair nodded. “This alchemist seems to be no exception.”

It was really unfortunate, but also really strange. From what he knew, the reincarnated, or vanguards of the waves, were powerful and dangerous. Sure, the flying tomato here would have killed most people coming through, but it wasn’t difficult for a hero’s party. Dante was sure any of the other heroes could have dealt with this, even at lower levels. They each would likely have had a dedicated archer and had hero skills to use, doubly so for Itsuki. Maybe they would have lost a member, but they probably had healing magic to prevent that.

The problem was, how many more of these were there? And, what other ones were created?

“It seems like whenever one problem gets miraculously solved, another one pops up.” Dante complained. “I’d like to postpone dealing with this one.”

“What?” Eclair gaped at him. “Sir MacRory, if an alchemist is creating these things, they must be dealt with.”

“I agree, just not right now. The one creating them may be more powerful than us, and have more tricks up their sleeves.”

“Many people could be killed before they are stopped.” Eclair held up her hand, barely forming a fist. “The honorable thing to do would be stopping them.”

“Tsk. Honor.” Dante was about to tell her exactly what he thought about honor in this queendom, but he saw the looks everyone was giving him. Raphtalia and Rifana clearly wanted to do something about this. Keel held his axe against his shoulder, probably wanting to fight something not 200 feet in the air. Sadeena, at least, looked somewhat indifferent to it. Dante supposed it was a miracle that Raphtalia and Rifana still wanted to help people, given what they went through. Eclair too. Then again, it wasn’t farmers and fishermen that were to blame, but knights and slavers. Knights with honor.

“Yeah, alright, fine.” Dante relented. “We came here for ore, and now we’ll be gaining XP too.” That cacodemon did provide a nice amount of XP. It was a larger amount than its difficulty would suggest. Whatever this alchemist was doing, it was avoiding the XP loss for land monsters, if that was indeed a thing here. Sea monsters still provided more than land ones, and Dante’s party was in no position to go off and fight what may or may not be a living computer in the desert that suppressed land monster XP, if it was even there. The Spear web novel got weird later on.

The point was, if this cacodemon was any indication, they would be gaining a lot of XP from this little adventure. Hopefully, whoever made them wasn’t too strong.

Whatever happens, I better not unlock some sort of Romero Shield from all these demons.

Chapter Text

The mining complex looked like it was some sort of small excavation site. Every level was a square ring, starting at around 150 feet long near the top and getting smaller as it went down. Five layers down, there were tunnels that went off in four directions. If Dante had to guess, after finding a large amount of ore near the surface, the miners went down further in hopes of finding more. There were smaller deposits further in, according to Eclair, but nothing like what was first unearthed.

The tunnels seemed to go forward at a decline before turning, if the western tunnel was any indication. It was the one with the most sunlight pouring into it.

Of course, the dead monsters on the ground were more concerning.

“It doesn’t look like that thing was responsible for this.” Eclair said, pointing out the slash wound on the dead dog monster. It looked like it had been left out to rot.

“That was from the wave…” Raphtalia stared down at the beast.

“I thought you might say that.” Dante leaned over and absorbed the monster into his shield.

Black Dog Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: agility bonus (small)

Dante looked around the site. There were several more dogs around, but no other monsters.

“Were there any other monsters that came in the wave?” He asked as he went around absorbing more of them.

“Ah, yeah.” Raphtalia snapped herself from her thoughts. “There were skeletons, too, and dogs with two head. The largest one had three. That one…”

“You don’t need to say it.” Dante gave her a look. Raphtalia had told Dante and Sadeena what happened to her parents while on the road from Idol’s. Of course, Dante already knew, and he’d told Sadeena ahead of time to prepare her.

What Dante wasn’t aware of before was what happened to the other two. Rifana lost her mother to a dog and her father to one of the knights. Keel’s father died to a dog, but his mother had died when he was younger. Neither one was happy being around these monsters.

“I don’t see any people around.” Sadeena noted. “And I’m not hearing anything from the tunnels.”

“So they’re all gone?” Dante asked, absorbing a pickaxe that was underneath one of the dogs. The mining bonus was sure to be helpful here.

“Hmmm.” Sadeena looked toward the tunnel closest to her. “It’s more like I’m hearing nothingness.”

“I don’t follow.” Dante said.

“I mean, I don’t even hear the echoes from our voices.”

“Oh.” That could mean something was suppressing the sound. It was good for keeping nosy people away, and for disrupting Sadeena’s echolocation.

“How should we do this?” Eclair looked towards the tunnel.

“One tunnel at a time.” Dante said. “Although, eight of us going in at once will probably be a bit much.”

“Agreed.” Eclair nodded. “Who will be going in?”

“Not you. You’ll stay out here with Sadeena.”

Eclair shook her head. “Sir MacRory, I can fight now. I’m not here to be put on the side.”

“That’s fair, but you only recently regained that ability, not to mention everything you’ve gone through already.” It hadn’t even been a full day since they found her. A good night’s sleep helped, but Dante knew she’d need more than that, even with the healing items they used on her. She hadn’t practiced much with her gauntlet either, seeing as she spent most of her time riding in the carriage.

“Very well.” She conceded. “Then I shall take this opportunity to spar with whoever remains.”

“Good.” Dante looked at everyone else to figure out who would stay. Honestly, it wasn’t a difficult thing to figure out. “Raphtalia, Rifana, and Keel will go with me. Dio and JoJo will stay out here.”

“Whaaaat?” Both Dio and JoJo were displeased with that.

“Look, the tunnel isn’t that big. You’d have little room to move around.” Sure, the cacodemon took up about the same amount of space, and it looked like it could fit, but it could also attack without a lot of movement.

“We can be smaller.” JoJo said as he transformed into his child form. Dio did the same.

“Can either of you fight like that?” He asked the pair. He did note that their stats did drop a bit, similar to the difference in Sadeena’s stats when she transformed.

“Yeah! We just have to punch real hard!” Dio said, holding up her fists. Well, it wasn’t the worst idea, and their stats were about the same as Raphtalia and Keel’s, and those two had armor and enhanced weapons.

“Alight, how about this?” Dante tilted his shield and ejected an iron mace from his item drops. “Whoever comes in will use this weapon. It’s easy enough to wield without training, so there shouldn’t be any issue.” The more damage they could deal, the better.

“Mm, I don’t want to use a weapon…” Dio whined. “I’ll stay out here with Sadie and Berry.”

“Please don’t call me that, Miss Dio.” Eclair said with a sigh.

“It’s a term of endearment.” Dante said with a smirk. “To keep the tunnel from being too cramp, why don’t you stay out here as well, Raphtalia.”

“Are you sure?” She asked, looking at the tunnel.

“Yeah. If it doesn’t open up more, then too many people will make it more difficult to move around. Besides, you can practice with Eclair while you wait.” Dante also wanted to keep another higher level person out here, just in case any monsters, bandits, or whatever decided to become a problem.

“Okay.” The raccoon girl went over to Eclair, drawing her sword. Sadeena was already helping Eclair into her gauntlet.

JoJo picked up the mace and the group of four went to the nearest tunnel. A few torches lay on the ground near the entrance. Dante held them in his hand as Rifana lit them with her spell. There was one for each adult, plus one for Dante to absorb. JoJo didn’t want one.

Torch Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: low-light vision bonus (small)
equip effect: torch light

As nice as it would be to use now, Dante decided to keep out his strongest shield. Hopefully, the cacodemon was the strongest thing here, but he’d rather be safe than sorry.

Once inside the tunnel, they did indeed go down a decline. The walls and ceiling were supported by wooden beams, the ceiling itself being curved. If Dante had to guess, he’d say two cacodemons side by side might be able to fit, but with no room to maneuver. Definitely not somewhere to have a pitched battle, but it could work in their favor. With Dante in the front, he would stop any attack that came at them, especially if the other monsters were as smart as that cacodemon.

After going straight for about a minute, the path split, going in opposite directions. Not sure how many twists there would be, Dante decided to follow the right hand rule and led them right. They would eventually find every part of the mine if they kept along the wall on their right. Unless, of course, the tunnels were connected. Then they’d find themselves heading towards the surface sooner rather than later.

They continued along for several more minutes, finding discarded mining and digging equipment. Anything Dante could, he absorbed into his shield. A shovel, a hammer, another pickaxe that he stuck in his belt, plus a decent amount of ore on the ground from a spilled wheelbarrow. It looked to be mostly copper, with a few iron mixed in, all of which got stored in his item drops. Turned out that ores for his power ups could be stashed there, even if they didn’t come from a monster. He’d say whoever was here left in a hurry, but the dried blood on the ores told him otherwise.

They kept walking and found more equipment and loose ore, but no bodies. There was enough blood on the ground to indicate a number of deaths, but there should still be some bones left.

As they rounded another corner, they heard a number of high pitch roars. In front of them was a wider room with almost a dozen figures in it. They had brown skin, spikes lining their upper torsos, and glowing red eyes. At such close range, Dante’s appraisal skills he picked up showed him what he thought them to be.

D. Imp

“Behind me!” He called, raising his shield. The imps closest to him swung their claws, connecting with his shield. A pleasant clang noise sounded, indicating no damage.

Keel swung his axe around Dante, splitting the closest one’s skull open. Dante was quite pleased with the amount of XP they got from it. Likewise, JoJo swung his mace at the second imp, breaking its knee and knocking it to the ground. Another swift strike smashed in its skull as well.

“Well, these things are pretty weak.” Dante said. The sound of soft explosions echoed in the room, accompanied by flashes of light.

“Hey, Dante, are they doing what I think they are?” Keel asked, chopping at the next imp to step up to Dante.

“Yeah…” Dante could see past the ones in front to those in the back. They were hurling fireballs…at the imps right in front of them. “While I can appreciate the dedication it took to mimic their behavior from the game…well, I’m a little disappointed they did. Plus, that’s XP we won’t be getting.”

“Faust Fire Shot!” Rifana cast her spell, striking one of the imps in the back. Dante turned to look at her, the imps in front clearly not requiring his attention. “What? You said they wouldn’t give us XP.”

Dante gave her a smile. “Smart girl.” He said, earning a smile from her. With the imps’ simple attacks and friendly fire, the fight didn’t last long. At the end of it, they had killed all but one of them, gaining a good amount of XP.

Dante tapped one against his shield, absorbing it.

D. Imp Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: defense bonus (small)

Not very exciting, but Dante could always use more defense. Thanks to the nature of the imps, he only received claw attacks. Thus, he took no damage. The others were perfectly safe as well. Dante looked about the room before trying to absorb the others. The walls in this room didn’t have the same type of supports as they saw earlier. Come to think of it, neither did part of the tunnel they went through.

“What were they doing in here?” Dante pondered aloud.

“They were mining.” Keel answered.

“They were?”

“Yeah.” Keel nodded. “They had these pickaxes in their hands. Didn’t you see?”

“I must have missed that.” Dante said. He was a little blinded by the nostalgia of seeing these things here.

The room itself wasn’t that large, maybe 20 feet long and wide. The walls had some ore still in them. “Hey, JoJo, hold this for a second.” Dante handed off his torch to the bird boy and pulled the pickaxe from his belt. He switched his shield over to the Pickaxe Shield and readied himself. A target appeared in his vision on the wall. He swung the pickaxe at it, knocking down a large section of the wall. The visible ore fell, along with a fair amount more that wasn’t visible. He stored the pickaxe again and let his shield absorb some of it.

Spellcobalt Ore Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: magic bonus (small)
equip effect: magic absorption

“Ooh, nice.” Dante looked over the stats of the shield itself. It was similar to the normal Iron Shield, but the defense and magic resistance were practically swapped. Even powered up, the Reinforced Iron Shield couldn’t compete with this one’s magic resistance. What’s more, with the equip effect, those cacodemons would probably just end up feeding him MP. Of course, knowing how these things went, he probably wasn’t going to encounter another one. He might be able to try it with the imps, but he’d likely be clawed to hell before one of them managed to hit him with a fireball.

Actually, this is an ore shield. If it’s this good, I wonder what a proper shield made from this would be like. I didn’t find one at Erhard’s.

“Hey, dad?” JoJo pulled Dante from his thoughts.

“What’s up?” Dante asked.

“Something’s weird with these monsters.” JoJo pointed the torch at the closest imp.

Dante switch to his newly acquired Torch Shield. It was a bit comical, looking like a torch stuck on a wooden plaque. The light, however, was brighter than the torches the others held, so that was something. He held it close to the imp, looking it over.

“What do you see?” Dante glanced at JoJo.

His son walked around the imp, holding the torch over it. “Look at the blood.”

Dante did so. Despite not being pixilated, it looked like what he remembered from the game. Of course, the corpses didn’t all lie in the same position like the game, but he didn’t see anything irregular.

“What about it?” He asked.

“It smells weird.” JoJo said.

“Weird how? Poisonous?” Dante wasn’t really surprised if that was true.

“No, it doesn’t smell like monster blood.” JoJo touched the blood with his free hand, having already fit his mace in his sash. He brought it close to his nose for a better whiff. “It smells kinda like those guys from the big house.”

Dante looked down at the body of the imp again. It was about as tall as Keel and the others. Five fingers, five toes, basically a normal looking body up to the head, with the spikes added on. Dante gripped the mouth of the imp, opening it to look inside. The teeth did look human, just with slightly larger canines.

Of course, there was a quick way to be sure. He switched to his Savage Shield. It wouldn’t react at all to monsters. Only people. Looking up, Keel was going through the supplies on a nearby table. He was the only one that he had to worry about for now, as Rifana saw this yesterday and JoJo probably wouldn’t care, being a monster and all. He brought the shield closer to the imp. The mouth on the shield opened.

XP flashed in Dante’s vision.

He quickly stood and shifted his shield back to the Reinforced Iron Shield. When he looked around, he didn’t see anything. The others prepared themselves too, clearly not having made any attack.

XP popped up again.

With a quick look between each other, they ran from the room, Dante shifting to his Torch Shield. He brought up his status to look at the rest of his party. None of them had taken any damage…no, Raphtalia just did. It was incredibly small, but it was there. Sadeena just did as well. Raphtalia again. Now Eclair.

“Move, quickly!” Dante yelled, leading the group. JoJo had enough room to transform, but the ceiling was a bit too low at points. He’d need to duck down if he really wanted to run, and he definitely couldn’t carry anyone.

The HP of his topside party members kept ticking down, but in very small increments. Likewise, many XP notifications continued to pop up. They were a bit smaller than the imps, but the sheer volume was concerning.

After several minutes of running, they finally reached the surface. Sound from the outside world returned to them. Dante was greeted by a swarm of men and women attacking his party. Dozens of bodies already littered the ground, but there was over a hundred still alive. What Dante took notice of quickly was that all of them had strange looking right arms. After the elbow, it looked as if they had crafted tubes made from their bones.

A few of them turned to face the group, pointing their right arms at Dante. A familiar sound rang out, the same sounds as the other people present. Several small objects harmlessly bounced off his body, looking like bullet-shaped bones. In that instant, he fully understood what they were, confirmed with his appraisal.

D. Zombieman.

Dante ran towards the mass of moving bodies, forcefully pushing through them. The sounds of fake gunfire were all around him. Once in the center, he stopped.

“Hate Reaction II!” He yelled, gaining the attention of the enemies around him. He unlocked that shield in the past few days and was waiting to use it. He didn’t expect a situation like this to unfold, though.

The good news was that the range on his skill encompassed the entire lower level of the site, which meant every one of these guys was attacking him now. The bad news was that they seemed to be aiming their shots better than the imps. Dante wasn’t seeing any friendly fire, though there were a lot of them shooting, so he might not be noticing it. That same clanging noise from before repeated in his ears constantly. If anyone was saying anything, they’d have to wait for him to respond.

As expected, the HP of his party stopped decreasing, and the XP notifications increased.

I’m happy that they aren’t getting hurt anymore, but now I’m both deaf and blind. Well, as long as they’re safe, I can deal with…why does that one look different?

Dante noticed one in the back. No, there were a few scattered around. The bone-gun things looked longer and darker, as if—

The shot impacted on his shoulder. No, it was multiple shots, like a shotgun.

Dammit! Well, of course those ones would be here. I can’t really defend against all of them, but a least the damage isn’t too bad. I’ll just—oh, fuck no!

“Air Strike Shield V!” He threw up his barrier between him and the more dangerous looking zombie. A loud boom went off, dozens of pellets impacting against the barrier. It had a small crack in it, but it held. The zombie that shot at him had two long tubes sticking out of its arm. After it fired, the tubes snapped down. Two shells were ejected and another two were being put in, the flesh where the tubes connected to its arm moving around to push them in.

Oh, that is bullshit! Zombies did not have that in the game!

“If anyone can hear me, kill that one over there!” Dante yelled out to his party. “Faust Guard VI!” He cast his magic on himself.

It shot at his barrier again, producing another crack on it. Dante was pretty sure it would survive, but once it timed out, he’d need to take action. If he put himself in a Shield Prison, it might disrupt his Hate Reaction. He’d be better off putting that one in the prison, especially since it was mowing down the zombiemen in front of it, denying them the XP. Truthfully, he wasn’t worried about himself. He was worried what that thing would do to his party members, with their significantly lower defense.

After the third shot, his prayers were answered. Raphtalia had managed to get around the zombies and cut him down. She continued her assault on the zombies in front of her, killing these weak things in one hit each.

A few seconds later, his Hate Reaction timed out, letting the zombies turn to their nearest targets. This time, everyone’s HP started ticking down, as they were more spread out and drawing their own groups. Fortunately, the zombies moved about more, instead of all of them firing at once. They were able to heal up during his distraction, but they’d likely heal just as fast as they lost HP with the time it took to take out a potion.

“Don’t stop attacking!” Dante called out.

He had a solution for that as well. While he didn’t have healing magic, he did have another way to replenish the HP of his teammates.

HP Endowment.

From the Shield of Sacrifice, he was able to transfer HP from himself to anyone in his party. He tried it out yesterday with Sadeena, since she took a small amount of damage after her de-leveling. As the Shield Hero, he had plenty of HP to spare. Of course, healing seven people wasn’t going to be possible with his HP alone. He dropped a potion from his shield and caught it before it fell, quickly drinking part of it before the rest was shot from his hand.

He continued that for nearly a minute, watching his party’s HP to make sure it didn’t get too low, until he used Hate Reaction II again. With the zombies’ focus fully on him again, the rest of the party was able to cut through the rest of the enemies.

It was a pity, really. Under different circumstances, he could have lowered the level of all but one of his party members and had them gain a ridiculous amount of levels. In a matter of minutes, they got almost as much XP as they did with Sadeena and one of the filolials at sea for that whole day.

Someone or something is doing this and laughing, and I am not happy about that.

Dante looked around the slaughter field. At least 150 bodies were amassed on the ground, all in varying degrees of bloodiness. He was really glad his Hate Reaction didn’t seem to have a target limit, only a range limit.

“Everyone okay?” He asked. Dante could see the HP of everyone through his status magic. Currently, they all had higher amounts than him. They were around 70% while he sat around 40%. The HP loss was one thing, but his body was incredibly sore. When he transferred the HP, it was more like he was taking the damage away from them and applying it to himself. His body was riddled with puncture wounds.

Of course, he was more concerned about their mental wellbeing. JoJo and Dio, while young, were monsters. This likely wouldn’t affect them too greatly. Sadeena has seen and done her fair share of killing, so he wasn’t worried there either. The other three demi-humans, the ones who were kids not that long ago, those were the ones he was most worried about.

They’ve killed people, they’ve killed monsters, and they’ve killed monstrous people in the mercenaries. But, to see so many people moaning and howling at them, looking like something out of a mad scientist’s workshop while using strange weapons, that was something that would leave a lasting impression.

Dante saw Raphtalia first. She was shaking, holding one arm at her side with her other. Her eyes were downcast, taking in the bodies around her.

Next was Rifana. He’d seen her cast her spell a number of times, looking for the zombies that were more powerful. She’d taken out a number of the ones with the shotgun-like weapon, the ones that actually hurt him. Currently, she was holding onto JoJo like a lifeline.

Finally was Keel. He…

Slash!

Keel slammed his axe into a zombie on the ground. It didn’t give any XP, since it was already dead. He brought it up again and then down again. The blood from it splattered, spraying on his face. His eyes were focused on the corpse. Pinpricks. He lifted his axe again.

“Hey, Keel?” Dante called out to him, approaching Keel from the front. “You okay there?”

Keel slammed his axe down again, not responding. He didn’t even look up at Dante.

“Keel? Buddy?” Dante reached him, just as the axe was brought up again. Without looking at him, Keel slashed at the corpse once more.

As he tried to retrieve his axe again, Dante placed his hand over Keel’s.

“You did it.” Dante said in as calming a voice as he could. “You got him. You can set the axe down now.”

Keel pulled at the haft of the axe, but Dante kept it down. His eyes shuddered a moment before looking up at Dante. Tears leaked out from the corners of his eyes.

“I…” Before he could say another word, Dante pulled Keel into a hug. Keel clung to Dante’s ruined armor, trying to hold him closer. The ruined chains fell to the ground and Keel tried to grab onto his shirt, only for the same thing to happen.

“You’re okay.” Dante said, patting his back. Keel whimpered, digging his hands into Dante’s back. “You’re good. You did good.”

Dante could feel the tears fall onto his chest. Keel’s body started to go limp, so Dante eased him down to the ground, making sure he wasn’t right up against one of the corpses. Once his grip on Dante lessened, Dante stood back up.

Keel kept his eyes on the ground. “You okay?” Dante asked him. He got a slight nod. Dante placed his hand on Keel’s head, giving it a quick pat. He didn’t respond much to it.

“Hey.” Sadeena said from next to Dante. She’d made her way over, bringing Raphtalia with her, the younger woman’s hand held in hers.

“Hey.” Dante returned. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Sadeena nodded to the side. Dante looked over and saw Eclair sitting on the ground, her knees to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. The blade was still in the gauntlet. Dio had a feathered arm blanketing her. “She isn’t responding to me. Can you give her a try? I’ll watch over the others.”

“Sure.” Dante gave Keel one last pat before stepping away. He tried to move around the bodies, but there were too many. He ended up walking around the entire outer area to avoid them.

When he reached Eclair, her eyes instantly snapped up to him. She pointed her sword his way, prompting him to take a step back.

“Easy, easy.” He soothed, holding up his hand. “It’s over. You’re safe now.”

Eclair held her gaze on him. The blade shook in her grasp. Dio’s wing spread over her arm, helping to lower it to the ground. “S-Sorry…” She let out.

“It’s fine.” Dante said calmly. Looking at her, she had hardly any blood on her armor. As he thought about it, he had to replenish her HP the least. If she was in the back like this for the most part, that would explain it. “You froze up.” Dante said. He wasn’t accusing her, only stating his opinion.

“Yeah.” Eclair nodded. “Those two…” She loosely pointed at a pair of the zombies that were close by. “They attacked Lurolona. One was a slaver. The other was a knight who…”

Dante didn’t need her to finish that sentence. Just looking at one told him it was the same knight that was at Ronota a few days ago. He looked at the two and pulled out his notebook, sitting on the ground with it. He glanced over at Eclair as he flipped through the pages. When he landed on the intended page, he matched their descriptions to what was written. He read the notes on the slaver that he got from the knight.

“Fuck.” He crossed off their names and closed the book, returning it to his pack.

“What?” Eclair looked over at him. Her bladed hand was fully on the ground. Dio wrapped a second wing around the woman.

“One of them was the slaver who would’ve had information on where the kids were sold.” He said as he stood.

“Oh…” Eclair looked down again. She stroked Dio’s feathers with her free hand. “Fuck.”

Dante yelled, kicking the former slaver and startling Eclair. “What the fuck good are you now, huh!?” He kept kicking the dead man, with little effect. “You couldn’t even live long enough to tell us what we wanted to know! When I get to hell, the first thing I’m going to do is kill you again!”

“Papa…” Dante stopped at hearing Dio’s voice. He turned to his daughter, his voice softer.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He said, trying to give her a smile. Even in her filolial form, he could see a frown on her face.

“Are you okay?” She asked him.

“Yes, sweetie, I’m okay.” He told her.

“Why are you lying?”

Dante sighed before he spoke next. “Because I didn’t want you to worry, but I suppose lying to you wouldn’t work. Sorry.” He pointed to the slaver. “That man might have known where Sadeena, Raphtalia, Keel, and Rifana’s friends are, but now we won’t be able to ask him.”

“Oh…” Dio looked over at the body of the dead slaver. She scrunched up her face in thought before she turned back. “I’m sorry, Papa, I don’t know how to help.”

“That’s quite alright, Dio. You don’t have to worry about that.” Dante smiled at his daughter.

“But I can give you a hug. Would that help?”

Dante paused for a moment before laughing. “I think it would, but finish hugging Eclair first.”

“No, Sir MacRory.” Eclair patted Dio’s wing before moving out from under them. “Please, hug your daughter. I’d be a poor knight if I stood in your way.”

Dante shook his head. “Really, if you’re—”

Dio—the moment Eclair finished talking—transformed and ran to Dante, jumping up at him. He held his arm under her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him closely.

“Everything will be okay, Papa.” Dio comforted him.

“I know, sweetie.” Dante said, swaying in place. “Thanks for reminding me.” He saw Eclair stand up and give him a smile from under her helm. “How are you?”

“Better.” She looked over at the dead knight-turned-zombie. “What happened to him?”

“The same thing that happened to the monsters we found in the mines.” Dante said. “Only, these guys still look human. Or, rather, demi-human.” As he passed the numerous bodies, he saw that many still had animal-like features on them. “I don’t really want to think about it, but the cacodemon from earlier…”

“Could have been human too.” Eclair finished his thought.

“Or several humans.” He wouldn’t put it past whoever this alchemist was. Reincarnated had severely twisted personalities, but this was a bit much.

“Maybe we should have waited.” Eclair reasoned. “The kids…well, former kids, weren’t ready for something like. And, neither was I.”

“Maybe.” Dante looked over at the rest of his party. Sadeena was consoling Keel on the ground. Rifana still had a hand on JoJo, but she and Raphtalia were talking to each other. “But, we might have let this alchemist build up a huge army. These were the weakest of the things they could have created, with the exception of that cacodemon. Even one step higher could have been devastating.”

If the alchemist had made even a single heavy weapon dude, Dante wasn’t sure where they’d be, let alone a hell knight, and god forbid a cyberdemon. All those enemies, plus one of those… Frankly, he was lucky guns—and their equivalent—operated with stats in this world.

“We still have something to do here.” He said, setting Dio down. “We need to kill this alchemist before they escape and make any more of these things. Who knows how many people they’ve killed already, let alone how many more they’ll kill.”

“I agree.” Eclair pointed her sword to the farthest tunnel. “This horde of monsters came from that mine entrance.”

“Then that’s where we’ll all go.” Dante started heading over there.

“Should we bring everyone?” Eclair hesitantly asked. “I do wish to prove I can still fight, but I’m worried the same thing will happen again.”

“Better all together than separated.” Dante said. “I thought we would be fine slightly broken up like this, but it’s sea fighting all over again. From now on, we all stick together. No more breaking into groups to hunt.”

He tapped his shield against a couple of the zombies as he passed them, revealing a few shields.

D. Zombieman Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: HP bonus (small)

D. Shotgun Guy Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: SP bonus (small)

He tried absorbing that special shotgun guy, but it revealed no other shield. He walked over to Sadeena and the others. She nodded at him, clearly having heard what he said. “Are you all ready?” Dante asked them.

“We’re ready.” Keel said, shouldering his axe.

“I want you in the back of the group.” Dante told him.

“But—” Dante held up his hand before Keel could argue.

“You handled yourself well, but I don’t want you to be in the front. Same goes for Raphtalia and Rifana.” He turned to the girls. “You will stay in the back with JoJo. Eclair will be in the middle. Sadeena, Dio, and I will be in the front.”

Keel looked like he wanted to protest, but he gave a nod anyway.

“Good.”

Sadeena quickly helped Dante into another stored shirt and set of chainmail. They got into formation in front of the tunnel, having drank a few potions from Dante’s shield. Dante cast his spell on the three frontliners, with himself standing at the very front. They had a couple more torches here, plus the few they dropped when they exited the last tunnel, and had Rifana light them all.

They walked down the decline into the mines. A short walk down opened into a very wide area. It must have been where all the zombies had stayed, and where the miners found a good vein of ore. The entrance to this tunnel was a bit wider, so they were able to swarm out faster. At the far end of the room, another tunnel took them further in. It twisted around a few times, possibly chasing after larger deposits the miners were finding.

Eventually, it opened up into a small living quarters that looked recently dug out. The ceiling was much higher up here. A mat sat in the corner of the room. There was a desk that had some books or journals on top of it. Next to that was a long table with beakers, test tubes, and various plants and ingredients on it. Another open journal lay next to one of the apparatuses. There was a shelf in another corner, filled with even more ingredients and reagents, as well as a few more books.

Dante stepped further into the room. He let the light from his torch wash over everything. A sudden bump caught his attention. He quickly turned to see a small table in front of the bookshelf. Underneath, he saw a small boy, probably no older than 10. He had his knees up to his chest, shaking as he looked up at Dante.

“A-Are all the monsters gone?” His quivering voice asked.

Dante looked over at the rest of his party and waved them over. “Yeah, they’re gone.” He said, handing off his torch to Sadeena. He held out his hand to the boy, who quickly grasped it. Dante took notice of the orange fox ears on the boy as he pulled him up. “What happened?”

“I-I don’t know.” The boy stuttered as he spoke. “The weird man who was here sent out all his monsters, then ran out of the room.”

“We missed him?” Eclair asked. “Damn it!”

“We still killed all of the monsters he made.” Raphtalia pointed out.

“All the monsters he sent up.” Rifana countered. “There might be some more in the other tunnels we need to get rid of.”

“Hm, yes.” Eclair nodded. “We should go there afterwards to make sure.”

“That sounds like a good plan.” Dante said. “Only, there’s one problem.”

“What is it?” Eclair asked him.

“The boy is lying.” Dante looked down at him.

“W-What?” The fox boy looked up at him. “No, I’m not!”

“Oh, I see it now.” Sadeena stepped forward.

“Yeah.” They had just gone through a rather horrifying battle, so it was no wonder the others hadn’t noticed. Dante and Sadeena, however, were still in a good state of mind.

“I’m telling you, the man just ran out of the room. You need to go find him!” The boy cried out.

“We could do that.” Dante nodded along. “Or, you could answer some questions. For instance, why do your clothes look so nice?”

The clothes the boy wore were by no means extravagant, but they also weren’t damaged. They were the kind of clothes one might expect on the son of a decent merchant or craftsman. Better than what Dante saw on the farmers of Lute, but not quite as good as some of the merchants in the capital.

“I-I found them after I ran from the wave!” The boy answered.

“He’s lying now.” Dio said, looking at him. “But I don’t think he was lying earlier.”

“I know he was.” Dante gave her a pat on the head, eliciting a giggle. “I’ve had people lying to me for years, and people wanting me dead just as long. See, I tend to like animals more than people, so I might not always be able to tell when someone is lying, but I can always sense bloodlust.”

“But I’m not lying!” The boy cried out. “Please, you have to believe me!”

Dante smirked. “And you just tipped your hand.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you hear anything strange about what I just said? About animals?” Dante asked.

“W-What about them?” The boy looked nervous.

“People here don’t use that word. They’re called monsters here.” Dante remembered Keel’s confusion at the word. “Though, that does bring up an interesting thought. Did you hear most of what I said in your old language, or in Melromarc’s? I’m thinking the latter, since you’ve been here for—”

A glass vial shattered against Dante’s chest. Smoke started to rise from the point of impact.

“Go to hell, you piece of shit!” The boy yelled, producing another vial from his sleeve. “I’ll kill you all, and then—”

“Cleave Bash III.” Dante casually swung his shield in front of him, knocking the boy to the side and throwing him to the floor. He let out a low groan, not moving from his spot. Dante looked down at his armor, a large hole now present in both it and his shirt. “I don’t have an unlimited supply of chainmail, you know.”

He switched over to his Rope Shield and let a little fall from it. “Let’s get this unpleasantness over with.”

Chapter Text

“This little ‘mad scientist’ thing you had going on cost me three sets of chainmail.” Dante spoke as he examined the table of components. He’d brought out another tunic and set of armor to wear. The boy alchemist had his hands and feet tied and was sitting on the ground. “You’ve greatly injured my party, taken over land that wasn’t yours, and—oh, right—killed over a hundred people. Am I missing anything here?”

“I didn’t kill them!” The boy yelled.

“He’s lying, Dad.” JoJo informed him, standing behind the boy. He and Dio were watching him as the others looked about the room for anything of note.

“I didn’t kill all of them!” The boy changed his wording. “Most of them were killed in Ronota, or were bandits or something.”

“That’s true.” Dio said, with JoJo nodding.

“I suppose the army was just to watch over this mining area, huh?” Dante asked. He looked at the journal and was able to read parts of it, but not all. A lot of words were too big or obscure.

“I made them to protect me.” The boy turned his head to the side. “I don’t have anyone else to help me.”

Dio and JoJo nodded, showing he was telling the truth.

“I can empathize, but I don’t think that’s all there is to it.” Dante examined a vial filled with some liquid. Whatever it was, his appraisal wasn’t high enough to identify it. He set it down and absorbed it into his shield, leaving checking the revealed shield for later. “The cacodemon and imps attacked us on sight.”

“You aren’t supposed to be here!”

“And you are?” Dante turned to the boy.

The young alchemist glared up at Dante before his face suddenly softened. “Wait, you know what they are?”

“Yeah.” Dante pulled over the chair from the desk and sat in it. “Looks like we’re from the same world, or at least ones that both have Doom in it.”

“That’s awesome!” The boy cried out. “Wait, how long have you been here?”

Dante raised an eyebrow. “You’re trying to distract me.”

“No!” He adjusted himself to face Dante fully. “I just…haven’t had anyone to talk to about this stuff…”

Dante looked down at the boy. He isn’t really a child. He died and was reborn here. He might very well be older than me. One look at his kids told him the alchemist was telling the truth. …fine, dammit.

“I was summoned here less than two weeks ago.” Dante said.

“Summoned? Oh…” The alchemist looked down. “Then you aren’t like me.”

“No, far from it.” Dante shook his head. “I was chosen by the Legendary Shield to fight the waves, while—”

“Wait, you’re the Shield Hero?” He laughed, falling back onto the ground. “You got the worst weapon!”

“…While you were chosen because you’re a destructive asshole.” Dante stood from his chair. “And I think I’ve indulged you enough. Time to die.”

“W-Wait!” The boy seemed to realize how much trouble he was actually in. “I’m just a kid, you can’t kill me!”

“He’s right, Sir MacRory.” Eclair said as she approached him. “The thing to do would be to turn him over to the guards.”

“What guards?” Dante asked. “Ronota is gone. In the capital, we’re criminals, and the rest of my party members are demi-humans or monsters. He’s a 10-year-old boy here. Demi-human or not, no one in power would believe us over him.”

“You’re a criminal?” The boy asked. “What did you do?”

“Framed for raping the princess.” Dante said to him quickly before returning to Eclair. “Better to kill him and be done with it. Besides, he was reincarnated. He had a life before being born here. He knows right from wrong, he has no excuse.”

“That’s not fair!” The boy cried out. “You got to start with weapon, even if it was a shield. I only got a power that doesn’t work right. You’re way better off than me!”

Dante turned to him. “That right? I was framed for a crime I didn’t commit, I lost my arm, this country’s religion denounces me as a devil, and I’m wearing someone else’s underwear. How well off do you think I am?”

“What?” Raphtalia snapped up. “But you told me to wear someone else’s underwear!”

“Yeah, but you had time to wash yours. I mean, it’s not like either of ours were covered in shit, so it could be worse.”

Raphtalia just made a disgusted face, shook her head, and went back to looking over the alchemist’s things.

“I have problems too!” The boy yelled. “I had a shitty life in my world and got killed by a mugger. Then, when I thought I’d have a cool power in this new world, it didn’t work right and I was born in a country that hated my race! My home town even had the wave happen so close to it! It’s not fair that I’m going to die twice like this! I never even got to have a boyfriend before…” He immediately shut his mouth.

“Boyfriend?” Dante looked him over. “Wait, are you a girl?”

What the hell? Did I actually become bad at determining someone’s sex since coming here? Either that, or he’s gay. Can’t be faulted for not seeing that.

“I was.” He said. “When I was reborn here, I was a boy.”

“Huh.” Dante scratched his face. “I guess there’s no reason why that couldn’t happen.”

It did, of course, bring up the question of what exactly a soul was, but Dante didn’t have the time or energy to look into something like that.

“Well, guess I’ll be saving you from going through puberty twice.”

“I barely went through it once—stop making me say these things!” He turned his head away from Dante, completely red.

“Hold up.” Dante looked to his kids for confirmation. The alchemist didn’t seem to be lying. “How old were you when you died?”

“…13.” He said, quietly.

“13?” Dante rubbed his eyes. “God, who mugs and kills a middle school girl?”

“I told you I had problems.”

“No kidding.” Dante looked back over to Eclair. “Fine, I suppose we can’t really kill him…her.”

“Really?!” The alchemist shot him an ecstatic look.

“I’m glad you changed your mind, Sir MacRory.” Eclair smiled.

“Yeah, well, killing a kid would have left a bad taste in my mouth anyway.” Dante said. Sure, she/he lived for 23 years, but none of that was with a fully developed mind or body. “Anyway, if you aren’t dying, I suppose I should get your name.” He told the alchemist.

“Rolf.” He said, lifting up his hands towards Dante.

“Rolf.” Dante nodded. “I suppose you’re fine with me calling you a boy, all things considered. Just for curiosity’s sake, what was your name in your past life?”

“Nagashima Reiko.”

Dante hummed. “Japanese? How do you know about Doom, then? Was it popular over there, or did you live in a western country?”

Rolf shook his head. “My father worked oversees before he died. We built a computer together when I was nine and he sent me old games he heard were fun.” Rolf laughed a little. “He wasn’t very good at checking them out first.”

“Heh, clearly.” Dante looked at Rolf’s outstretched hands. “I’m not releasing you.”

“Huh?” Rolf’s eyes widened. “But…you said—”

“I wasn’t going to kill you. That doesn’t mean I’m letting you go.” Dante shook his head. “Everything else you did aside, you very much tried to kill me.”

“I thought you were a slaver!” Rolf yelled. “You have a bunch of slaves with you right now!”

“Mm, he’s not saying everything.” Dio said.

“…I thought you were someone like me, okay? Pahadron told me not all of us would work together.”

“Oh?” That was a nice bit of information. If Dante recalled correctly, Takt exploded when he tried talking about the people behind the waves. If Rolf could talk about it so freely…

“You’ll be staying with us.” Dante announced. “Ignoring what you did here, you clearly have valuable information and I can’t risk you getting killed by some asshole. So, I’ll be putting a slave seal on you.”

“You’ll make me your slave?!” Rolf scooted away from him. “You can’t!”

“It beats being killed.” Dante pointed out. “Besides, you’ll have greater protection as my slave then by yourself.”

“Y-You just want me as part of your harem! That’s what the Shield Hero does!”

“There is so much wrong with what you just said.” Dante pinched the bridge of his nose. “JoJo, would you pick him up for me?”

“Okay, Dad!” JoJo transformed and lifted the fox boy onto his back.

“You named your filolial after that old—”

“Yes!” Dante quickly cut him off. He really didn’t want to explain all of that now, or ever. “Now, I have a guy in the capital who can give you a seal. We’ll go to him, get you one, and be on our way. You’re free to make a scene when we get there.” Dante shrugged. “Of course, people would probably believe you over the criminal Shield Hero. You can test your luck with what comes after, being in the capital of the country that views demi-humans as lesser beings.”

Rolf continued to glare at him, tears threatening to run down his face.

“Look, kid, you screwed up. Maybe you did only kill bandits, or tried to, but there was a knight up there. And a slaver we needed information out of, but that’s beside the point. Anyone comes around and sees this, and sees what you can do, you’ll be in a world of hurt. I imagine a demi-human killing and experimenting on humans and a knight won’t be put to death nicely, if you catch my meaning.”

The boy sniffled on JoJo’s back, tears starting to come out.

“I won’t treat you badly. You have my word, for what it’s worth to you. You’ll be fed, taken care of, and get a few levels out of…wait.” Dante noticed a problem with this situation. “What’s your level right now?”

“What do you care?” Rolf turned away from him.

“It matters.” Dante pressed on. If he was still a kid, that meant he didn’t gain enough levels to grow.

Rolf kept looking to the side.

“…”

“What?” Dante asked. He couldn’t hear what Rolf mumbled.

“…Untie me and I’ll tell you…”

Dante sighed. He figured a 10-year-old kid wasn’t going to outrun any of them, especially two royal filolials. Rolf probably wanted a small sense of control. Besides, they already searched him for any more vials of acid or anything else.

“Rifana?” He called to the weasel girl. She came over and cut the restraints with her knife. While she was there, she fed a few things to his shield, revealing a couple more.

Rolf rubbed his freed wrists before looking back at Dante. “I can’t form a party with my creations.”

“You can’t?” Dante asked, hand on his hip.

Rolf shook his head. “No. They’re sorta part of me, but also not. I can give them orders in my head, but they don’t always work right. I can’t party with them and this world doesn’t consider them to be me enough to give me the XP. That’s why…I’m only level 3.”

“Level 3…” Eclair repeated. “You did all that at level 3?”

Rolf nodded. “The power Pahadron gave me doesn’t use any stats. At least, it doesn’t have to. If I want to make something stronger or smarter, it uses MP, or other things. It would have taken weeks to make that cacodemon, but I learned how to make simple MP potions. I just use my power on the dead bodies until they rise up again.”

“But why use humans and demi-humans?” She continued. “Even if you needed to use a few at first, you could have used monsters afterwards.”

“I…” Rolf rubbed his arm. “I didn’t really like most people growing up. When I was killed, I was really angry at everything. When Pahadron offered me a power…”

“You told Pahadron you wanted to create monsters using people.” Dante guessed. Rolf nodded again in response. If Dante had to guess further, he’d say Doom was Rolf’s favorite game. Being able to take revenge by proxy with monsters from the game he enjoyed might have felt nice, though it would have been long delayed. Though, being born a demi-human in Melromarc would have led to a life of discrimination or slavery. With the timing of the waves, he was somewhat close to the age he originally died. He was even living in the area where the wave would occur.

Maybe Pahadron set him up for that. Maybe Pahadron was an asshole who liked to fuck with kids, and gave Rolf exactly what he asked for with no variation. If Pahadron was helping in causing the waves, such a thing would be so small in comparison.

“Well, I’m sure we can find something for you to do.” Dante said. He walked over to JoJo, causing Rolf to flinch. “This is your best option. You hate people? You want to kill them? That’s fine, that’s fair. Just make sure you’re killing the right ones. I won’t lie, plenty of people in this country probably wouldn’t give a dying demi-human kid a second glance. But…” Dante stole a quick glance at Eclair. “Some will go above and beyond to do what’s right, even to their own detriment.”

Rolf didn’t say anything. He just clung to JoJo, nestling into his feathers a little.

With their interrogation done, they collected what they could from the room. The ingredients that Dante could use to make potions were stored in his shield. The rest were put in one of their packs for later. It was a bit strange that only recipe components could be stored like that, but Dante was getting used to his shield’s weird rules.

The books were what Rolf could carry from his teacher’s lab. It was all in Melromarc’s alphabet, even the journal Rolf had been writing in. It was mostly magical or alchemical notes, plus the recipes he devised for his power. Dante would take a longer look at them later with Rifana for practice.

After collecting everything of use, they left the living quarters. Dante told Rolf to send all his remaining minions to the surface so they could be killed for XP. They were fairly weak, gave a lot of XP and—according to Rolf—couldn’t gain XP for themselves. They were perfect for them

Of course, that ended up not happening.

Rolf walked right behind Dante, as there wasn’t enough room for JoJo and Dio to be transformed. As they walked through the winding tunnel, a section of wall burst open just as Rolf was passing it. A grey-brown arm reached out. Dante turned to see Rolf be pulled in. When he went after the boy, the same arm came back out and slammed Dante’s head to the ground. It emitted a noise not dissimilar to an elephant, if highly distorted. It had a pig-like face with horns sticking out of its head. With brown goat legs, cloven hooves, and now flaming green hands, Dante didn’t need his status to tell him what it was.

D. Hell Knight

Just past the hell knight’s legs, Dante could see Rolf riding on a pink creature that looked either hunched over or like its head was part of its torso.

D. Demon

“Rolf!” Dante called after him. The boy glanced over his shoulder before he and the demon he rode on disappeared around a corner. Once barely out of sight, part of the ceiling in that tunnel collapsed. His escape was unfortunate—and pretty well done, Dante admitted—but the hell knight before them was a more pressing issue.

The tall creature stepped over Dante towards the rest of his party, but was held back as Dante grabbed its foot. It spun around and tried to crush him with its other leg, only for Dante to let go and bring up his shield.

“Someone kill it quick while I distract it!” Dante called out.

JoJo slammed his mace into one of the hell knight’s knees while Dio smashed her fist into the other. It stumbled off of Dante, but remained standing. Its fists glowed brighter as it brought back its arm.

“Hate Reaction II!” Dante pulled the hell knight’s attention, earning a chest full of green fire and a chunk of missing HP as a result. He scrambled to get to his feet, wanting to engage the hell knight in proper melee to avoid more magical blasts.

Sadeena, however, rushed forward with her harpoon. She pinned the hell knight to the wall with it by its left arm, giving Dante the chance to grab its right. Eclair sprung up behind them and swiftly slashed it in its chest repeatedly. After several swings and a thrust to its skull, it let out its dying breath and fell to the floor.

Dante looked at the blocked pathway where Rolf disappeared into. If it was a wall in his way, he might have been able to knock it down with his pickaxe and mining skill, but there was nowhere else for these fallen rocks to go.

“To the surface, quickly!” Dante ran down towards the entrance with his party right behind him.

They came out of the winding path, through the open area, and up the incline to the outside world. There, nearly two dozen imps greeted them. Within moments, they launched fireballs at the party. Dante brought up his Air Strike Shield V to absorb the blasts while he changed to his Spellcobalt Ore Shield.

“I can find him, Papa!” Dio called out as she transformed.

“No, stay with the group!” Dante yelled as he ran around his barrier. “We stay together now. Kill these first.” He kept his shield up, letting the fireballs harmlessly bounce off and be partially absorbed with its effect. Once he made sure all the imps would be in his skill’s effect, he activated it. “Hate Reaction II!”

~The Wrong Hero~

Cutting down the imps didn’t take long. However, the time it did take, combined with the unknown direction of the hidden tunnel, allowed Rolf to escape. Neither Dio nor JoJo were able to pick up any scent. The blood from all the bodies on the surface was too strong.

Dante was annoyed by his mistake, but it wasn’t as if he couldn’t understand it. Become a slave and hope the man talking to you isn’t a liar, or set off on your own? Dante would have made the same choice.

Really, he was thankful the hell knight wasn’t part of the large group that attacked the others on the surface. If it was, Sadeena and the others may not have survived. It acted a bit smarter than the others, not just mindlessly attacking its nearest opponent. Dante wondered how long Rolf spent making it.

In a way, they were lucky they came here when they did. Rolf himself was quite lucky to not only survive the wave, but to also gain such a large amount of resources. His luck did run out, of course. He likely wouldn’t be able to create such a large force again.

They went through the tunnels as a group, Dante not wanting another group of Rolf’s monsters to ambush them. They gathered up more ore from the ground, plus what a few of the imps were mining. Dante got those from the walls quickly. They also found what was keeping sound from getting to the surface. It was a stone the size of Dante’s fist, etched with runes and enchanted with magic. Dante let his shield absorb one.

Humming Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: hearing bonus (small)
equip effect: silence

It seemed like he’d be able to make a similar effect with that shield. He whispered as much to Sadeena. Once they were finished clearing out the mines, they returned to the surface to deal with the dead. Dante had Sadeena and Eclair look over them. They confirmed what Rolf said: most of these people were likely from Ronota, from the few either of them could identify. Most did still have demi-human features on their modified bodies.

After confirming that, Dante had something he wanted to do. Something he decided not to hide from the others. With the time it would take, he’d likely not be able to hide it anyway.

“You want to eat their bodies!?” Eclair yelled at him.

“My shield will eat them.” Dante corrected, holding up his Savage Shield. “Every corpse consumed increases this shield’s defense and one or more of my stats.” Since the shield still considered them people, it could devour them.

“These are citizens of Melromarc! Their families need to be informed of their deaths.”

“Normally, I would agree, but most of those families are likely dead, either here or back at Ronota.” Dante swept his arm to the bodies around him. “Besides, they’ve been modified. Even if we found survivors before the bodies began to rot, would you really want them to see this?”

Eclair grit her teeth and turned her head. “It’s not right. I know you know that.”

“Unfortunately, that doesn’t matter. We are in this to survive. The dead get no say in the matter.” He turned to the others. “If anyone has anything they want to say about this, feel free. I’m going to do this regardless, but I’ll still listen.”

Raphtalia, Rifana, and Keel looked over the area. The silver lining is that there didn’t appear to be any children here, though they couldn’t say for sure. Rolf didn’t mention what all his power did, but it might have given XP from the world to them. After all, some of his monsters gave more XP than others. Either that, or the stronger enemies were higher level to begin with.

Raphtalia gave Dante a hard look. “Will doing this help prevent other towns and villages from suffering from the waves?”

“It’ll give me more power to fight the waves.” Dante said.

“I’ll hold you to it.” She said, stepping back.

Rifana said nothing, only nodding to him. She’d seen his shield eat the mercenaries in Ronota, and she seemed to have made peace with it.

Keel merely said he didn’t want to watch and went back to the carriages. Raphtalia joined him, as well as Rifana after Dante’s prompting. Dio and JoJo didn’t see much of a problem with it. They recognized that they were people before, but were now just smelly meat. They went to the carriages with the others. Sadeena had helped feed mercenaries to his shield before, so she was well equipped to handle this.

Dante and Sadeena went about absorbing the bodies into the Savage Shield. Eclair watched for a short while. She looked like she had something to say, but she kept her mouth shut. Of course, Dante wanted her to say whatever it was.

“I won’t be mad if you hate me.” He said. “Just say what you’re thinking.”

Eclair watched as another body quickly disappeared into the shield before speaking. “I don’t think I can continue to be a knight after this.”

“Seriously?” Dante moved his shield to the next body. “Is it that honor crap you were talking about before?”

That got her attention real quick. “Honor is everything to a knight!” She declared.

“Honor should be everything to a knight.” Dante corrected. “Honor, duty, loyalty, all of that. Too bad honor isn’t worth that much.”

“You…then tell me, Sir MacRory, what is honor worth to you?” She strode up next to him and Sadeena.

“Honor…” Dante looked between her and Sadeena. “Have I told either of you about my friend, Eddy, from my world?”

“Hm.” Sadeena thought for a moment. “I believe you mentioned him and the country of Panama before. I take it you worked with him in you…illicit activities?”

“He’s the one who got me started. Or, rather, we started together through his suggestion.” Dante gave a subdued laugh. “Man, it felt like such a long time ago. Back when I was 17.”

“Was?” Eclair looked him over. “How old are you?”

“28, but my body regressed for some reason.” Dante laughed again. “It’s really funny, given how old my body looks now, but I’ll get to that later. I believe I was speaking of honor and Eddy.” He got a nod from Eclair. “You see, Eddy’s smarter than me. He knew how to do business, how to work people, how to avoid getting killed…”

Dante let his arm go lax for a moment before he continued. “And he learned a lot during our time doing that sort of work. He’s the one who told me what honor truly was.”

Eclair crossed her arms. “I’d love to hear a criminal’s take on honor.”

Dante smiled. “Honor is what keeps the world running.” Eclair’s expression stiffened before softening. “It’s what society thrives on. It’s what keeps people from turning on one another. It’s what you use when faced with overwhelming odds to continue the fight and achieve victory, in battle and war. It can lead to such greatness that all of the world would acknowledge its worth.”

“Oh…” Eclair stole a quick glance at Sadeena. “That’s a rather good view of honor.”

“I know.” Dante agreed. “Eddy’s smart like that. However, that’s only half of what honor is. The second half is more of a saying, but I can translate it to this world’s terms.”

Dante let his shield finish eating its current body before he stood up fully. He turned to Eclair and looked her straight in the eye.

“Honor and five bronze will get you a cheap mug of ale.”

Dante would have laughed at her expression if he wasn’t being fully serious. “The truth is, honor and all that is only worth what everyone else says its worth. On any given day, honor can be worth a single bronze piece, or it can be worth all the treasure in the world.”

“…If people see you acting without honor, they will treat you accordingly.” Eclair said.

Dante shook his head. “If you and your allies fight against a common threat, only for one of your allies to conquer all of you immediately afterwards, their lack of honor will mean little.”

“…”

“Look, I’m not saying honor is worthless. But just consider, what has honor done for you recently?” Dante brought his shield down to the next body. “When you tried to protect the demi-humans of your father’s land, you were captured. When you were tried for treason, the king found you guilty. Did he even bother searching for the truth in that?” Dante looked to Eclair, but her expression told him what he already suspected. “Believing in honor is well and good, but you have to understand that corruption is everywhere. The lord of the land, the knights sworn to protect the citizens…” His gaze fell to the ground. “Even town guards you knew since you were a boy.”

Even now, more than a decade later, he recalled the scenes that set his life on that path. Two bloody bodies in an alley, both older women. Him and Eddy standing in the coroner’s office, identifying the bodies. The police officer, a man who knew Dante’s mother from before he was born, speaking to them.

“We don’t have any leads on who did this.”

The lies told to them with a straight face. Dante and Eddy didn’t know who did it, but they knew he did. Their mothers went out for the evening, saw something they shouldn’t have, and it turned far uglier than it needed to.

“Dante?” Sadeena stirred him from his thoughts. He shook his head and gave her a smile.

“I’m fine.” He told her. He turned back to Eclair. “Once the queen returns, I imagine you’ll become the lord, or lady, of your father’s land. It’s important you understand what honor really is before then.”

“I see…” Eclair slowly nodded. “You’ve given me more to think about.”

“I’m sorry honor isn’t some unbeatable thing. If it were, all of our lives would be much different.”

“I suppose my view on it is a bit idealistic.” She admitted. “Though I believe continuing to hold honor in a high regard is what I should do.”

Dante gave a light chuckle. “Because if you don’t, who will?”

“Sir MacRory, you may not believe it, but there are other honorable knights and lords in Melromarc.”

“I do believe it. I’m just practical about…oh.” Dante’s gaze led him to the top of the mining area. There, five heads peaked over the edge of the higher ground, though three of them disappeared and two were left confused.

“Oh my~.” Sadeena looked where Dante did.

“Yeah, guess it was a matter of time before they heard some of my less savory thoughts.” Dante said. Of course, knowing he had his shield eat corpses was a bit of an indicator to his personality. This was more like confirmation. “I guess demi-human ears aren’t just for show.”

“It’s because you barely talk about yourself.” Sadeena said, giving him a nudge.

“I talk about myself.” He argued.

“To me, you do.” Sadeena pointed out. “Didn’t you notice how they looked at you when you talked about Panama?”

“…No?”

“They were happy to learn something new about the Shield Hero, the man who saved them.”

“Hm.” Dante knew she was probably right. With his actions, they were starting to understand his personality more, but they didn’t have all the context of why he was the way he was. Torturing knights, absorbing bodies, basically announcing his intention to loot what remained of Ronota, it was a wonder they still followed him.

~The Wrong Hero~

They continued to let Dante’s shield devour bodies for a little while longer. Eventually, a popup appeared in Dante’s status. A new shield appeared before him.

Stout Shield
equip bonus: skill “Tower Shield”

The shield was already unlocked when it was revealed. He tried out the skill and found it made his current shield multiply in size and greatly increase its defense, with a moderate increase in magic resistance, while also greatly reducing his agility. It very much made his equipped shield into a tower shield.

The Stout Shield itself had decent stats, and it seemed to also have the defense bonus gained by the Savage Shield’s devouring. He figured it was revealed after devouring enough bodies that gave a defense bonus. It was, after all, connected to the Savage Shield in his list of shields, and he didn’t gain any more defense bonuses from devouring more enemies. However, after absorbing a few more that gave bonus HP, another shield was unlocked.

Vitality Shield
equip bonus: moderate HP regeneration
equip effect: HP boost

It wasn’t enough to never need healing ever again, but combined with the Savage Shield, it would fully replenish his current max HP in a little over an hour. The effect seemed to give him a large amount of temporary HP, which quickly ticked down over a few minutes.

After unlocking those two shields, most of the bodies in the mines couldn’t be devoured, since most of them would provide only defense or HP. While equipped with the Savage Shield, Dante could actually see which bodies were still edible now. He devoured those, then absorbed the remaining bodies like any other monster corpse.

Their business at the mines concluded, they moved out a small ways to a nearby river. Despite all they did that day, it was only a little after noon. Dante had a proclamation that was widely accepted by the party.

“We’re going to get ourselves cleaned up, drink heavily, and sleep this whole day off.”

They’d get closer to Melromarc’s capital before setting up camp for the evening, but they desperately needed a bath. Blood coated most of them, though most of the gear they wore had a blood clean coating. The chainmail three of them wore was an obvious exception, but Dante was beginning to suspect most of it was garbage anyway. Erhard’s held up to a lot, but the knights’ armor from Idol’s seemed to break like paper mache.

They took turns bathing, girls first, then the boys. Once they were cleaned and changed, they continued on towards the capital. Dante took the time to play with his Brewing Shield. It seemed that it would make any alcohol he had the recipe for, like his shield would create automatically, but the quality could be better and he could make modifications. He used some of the grains and fruits that were available in Ronota to make a few different ales and wines. There was a separate inventory available when he had the Brewing Shield equipped, and he could dispense any alcohol he made and stored from the shield’s tap, which he could open with a thought. He tried them against the few casks they took from the Seaetto mansion and found the quality to be comparable.

Once they found a good spot, they started to set up camp. It was a small matter to gather up kindling for a fire and a few monsters for dinner, as it was early evening by then.

Sadeena, however, kept Dante in one of the carriages. He used his new Humming Shield to keep sound from escaping. Interestingly, they could still hear what was going on outside the field it created.

“That’s a very nice shield.” Sadeena said, looking around the carriage. It seemed like she could feel the distortion of sound.

“Fair compensation for what we’ve been dealing with.” Dante said. He sat down against the side. Sadeena sat opposite of him.

“So, what’s the plan?” Sadeena asked, not talking around it.

“I have a few places to visit around the country before the wave.” Dante explained. “We’ll continue to level as we travel, but we’ll stick closer together from now on.”

“I understand your concern, but I don’t think it’s necessary.” Sadeena said. “We haven’t had any problems while on the road, only when we went somewhere. Besides, won’t we all be drinking soon? Isn’t that not safe~?”

“My poison resistance will keep me from getting drunk.” Dante said. The imps his shield devoured helped increase that a bit.

“Oh my~.” Sadeena gave him a wink. “You’re becoming more and more my ideal man~!”

“Back on topic for now.” Dante steered the conversation. “The mines demonstrated what can happen even if we’re somewhat close.”

“The mines that were occupied by a mad alchemist child.” Sadeena explained with a smirk. “Dante, we’ll be fine. If someone wanted to attack us, they’d have done so already.”

“Like the mercenaries near Lurolona?”

“That was an exception.” Sadeena shook her head. “We just need to not spread out so much and keep several people at a higher level, that’s all.”

Dante let out a long sigh. “Fine. We’ll do that.” He lay his head against the side of the carriage. “I just wish our victories weren’t so mixed or backhanded.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it. At Idol’s, I lost my arm and the girls witnessed something horrible. In Lurolona and Ronota, we beat the mercenaries because they acted incompetently. Even when we won, they’d already tortured Eclair. We nearly lost at the mines against the alchemist, there were so many dead townsfolk there, and he even managed to escape afterwards.” Dante shifted on the floor. “What I wouldn’t give for a victory with no strings attached.”

Sadeena wore a frown. She moved over to the other side of the carriage, sitting at Dante’s right. “I think you’re just focusing on the negatives. We saved Raphtalia and Rifana from death, defeated a band of mercenaries who occupied a town, rescued an honorable knight, and destroyed an alchemist’s army. Doesn’t that sound better~?”

Dante chuckled and shook his head. “I didn’t realize you were an optimist.”

“I wasn’t.” She wrapped her arm around Dante’s side. “But, when the Shield Hero starts bringing you miracles, you start to change your mind~.”

“Glad I could help with that.” He turned his head to her. She brought her free hand to his face and pulled him close.

“I wanted to talk about something else.” She said, her face nearly against his. “About Rifana.”

“Ah, right.” Dante hadn’t forgotten. Things just kept popping up. Sadeena did have a lot to drink last night, and she went hunting with JoJo before the alchemist. “You should probably tone down whatever you’re teaching her.”

“Do you like her?” She asked.

“In what way?” Dante asked in turn. One look from Sadeena and he knew exactly what she meant.

“I’m asking if you want to marry her.” She continued. “Or, are you opposed to it? If you are, I can help you tell her.”

“Sadeena, you have to realize that this whole ‘hero’ thing is still pretty new to me.” Dante said. The concept of multiple wives wasn’t exactly unheard of, but it wasn’t something that happened around him. “I’m…not exactly opposed to it. I’m just not sure how to go about it.”

Sadeena nodded along. “Well, for a hero, it’s common to be married in Faubrey, though for the Shield Hero—”

“No, not that.” Dante held up his hand. “Sadeena, you know about me, about who I am. At least, a little bit. Marrying Rifana means revealing parts of myself to her. She may have grown up, but there are things even adults shouldn’t know.”

Sadeena pulled him in and gave him a quick kiss. “She’s more than prepared to accept that. She and I have talked a little bit.” She held a finger to Dante’s lips before he could interject. “No details, just some ideas. Also, I believe she’s the same age as you right now~.”

“Oh.” That could easily solve this little problem. “In that case, if she’s not—”

“Dante…” Sadeena’s tone, however, suggested otherwise.

“Yeah…” He should have known better than to get out of it like that. “Tell me, do demi-humans normally grow that much? I thought only a few races did.”

“It is only a few races.” Sadeena confirmed. “But, you do have a few shields that change that, right? Raphtalia is about where I would expect her to be, but not Keel or Rifana. Though, it looks like Keel is about a year younger than them.”

“He seems to be handling that well.” Dante mused, but then he thought better of it. “Is he…okay?”

Sadeena shook her head. “I’m not sure. We’ll need to keep a watch on him.”

“Yeah.” His emotional swinging with the mercenaries from in shock to wrathful was concerning, as was his mutilation of the alchemist’s monsters after their deaths.

“By the way,” Sadeena spoke up, “you didn’t really answer my question. You’re not opposed to marrying Rifana, but do you want to?”

“That…” Dante had thought about it on and off for the past few days, ever since she asked to marry him at Reichnott’s. He wasn’t sure how persistent she would be about it, so he thought it best to actually consider it. “She’s a sweet girl, kind, thoughtful, and quite beautiful. She’s eager to be useful, and obviously cares about those around her. Anyone would be lucky to have her.”

Sadeena leaned her head against him. “I’m sensing a ‘but’.”

“But,” Dante went on, “it’s too early. At least to actually get married. I’m more than willing to—how did she put it—be close to her. Little by little, I’ll tell her, and the others, more about myself and see what they all think of me.”

Sadeena hummed to herself. “Well, that should be enough for her.” She looked up at Dante and gave him a smile. “Your first wife will be happy to hear all that~.”

“Oh, she isn’t going to be my first.” Dante said, snaking his arm around Sadeena’s hip. “You are.”

Sadeena grimaced a bit at that. “Dante…that isn’t such a good idea.” She leaned away from him. “As much as I’d like that, you know who’s watching us. Just because it’s not Raphtalia doesn’t mean they won’t take any action. If the former miko priestess to the water dragon were to be the first wife of the Shield Hero, while also protecting the former heir to the heavenly throne, then—”

“I don’t care.” Dante grabbed her full attention.

“What…?”

“I don’t care what they think.” He reiterated. “No matter where we end up, by the time marriage is actually feasible, I’ll marry first whoever I damn well please. That will be between me and my would-be wife. Not the king of this nation, not some councilors in Siltvelt, and certainly not a foreign nation across the sea. Besides, who could stop us?” Dante gave her a large smile. “If they try anything, we’ll kill them first. If they keep at it, we’ll just have to burn their country to the ground or take it over ourselves. I’ll protect you, Raphtalia, everyone from them. We’re in the business of fighting the waves, a single country won’t stand in our way.”

Dante found himself flat on his back. He looked up to find his vision partially obscured in a sea of black hair. Sadeena stared down at him, hands on either side of his head.

“Do you mean that?” She asked, her voice soft.

“I do.” Dante brought his hand up to Sadeena’s face. She leaned into the touch. “You helped pull me from my self-loathing. How could I want anyone else before you?”

Without another moment passing, Sadeena slammed her lips onto his. One hand grabbed his while the other took hold of his tunic as she pulled herself closer to him.

After a bit of pleasure, Sadeena pushed herself up to catch her breath. “You saved my family from death. I think I want you a little more than you want me~.”

Dante spun them around in the carriage, placing him on top of her. He beamed down at her as she gazed up at him. “We’ll see about that.”

Dante brought his face closer to hers. Specifically, down to her throat. His teeth grazed against her soft skin. Hot breath made her skin visibly tingle. He placed his lips against her neck, and—

“Dante! Sadeena!” Raphtalia called as she pulled back the sheet in the back of the carriage. “What are you…two…” Her face flushed red at seeing the pair. “Excuse me!” She let the covering fall back as she ran off.

Dante and Sadeena looked at the back of the carriage, then at each other. They shared a laugh at what just occurred.

“That’s probably for the best.” Dante said, leaning back. “I’m not sure how much I’d be able to control myself if we kept going.”

“Oh~?” Sadeena pushed forward, knocking Dante back to the floor again. “Then I’ll just have to lead. That’ll keep you from doing anything too naughty~.”

She brought their lips together again. The others would have to wait for dinner.

Chapter Text

As much as Dante enjoyed their lovemaking, they still had a bit to do before resting for the night. When they exited the carriage, Raphtalia looked at them, then quickly turned away with a blush. It didn’t seem like she told the others, since they didn’t start bombarding them with questions. Although, they were all doing their own things.

Dio came over to them in her child form. “Papa? Sadie? Why do your necks have those marks on them?”

That got the attention of the others. The shield’s power was very unhelpful here.

“It’s nothing to worry about.” Dante said as he rubbed Dio’s head. It wasn’t as if they were going to try and hide it, but having it pointed out was a bit much.

Keel and JoJo had already prepped the food, so Dante just had to cook it for his bonuses. After a bit of stewing and a number of glances from the others, the food was ready. They all took a portion, Raphtalia obviously keeping her head facing away from him when she took hers. Rifana, however, seemed even happier than normal. Dante could only wonder what was going through her mind.

After their meal, they got to sleep. Dante took first watch with Rifana, wanting to explain things properly to her. Of course, Sadeena’s warning about Q’ten Lo didn’t fall on deaf ears. He told Rifana that he wasn’t going to decide who was to be his first wife at this time. That, of course, made Rifana quite happy. Dante didn’t understand at first, but quickly realized he basically told her that he would marry her, just not necessarily first.

They continued their magical studies until it was time to switch. Sadeena and Dio were up next. When Dante went to lie down, Rifana patted the bedroll next to her. Dante wanted to protest, but Sadeena waved him on.

Well, as long as we’re only sleeping.

Dante lay on the bedroll, with Rifana immediately snuggling up next to him. Without another word between them, they slept for the night.

~The Wrong Hero~

The air in the room was cold. The rain from earlier had cooled everything down, and this house was very much at the sway of the elements. It was a bit more resilient back in the day. The house was rather cheaply made, but what made it worse now was the broken windows and smashed up door.

A grunt came from the floor. A man clutched his stomach as he tried to crawl. A boot ground his hand into the floor, eliciting a shout from him.

“We aren’t done yet.” The owner of the boot said. The man on the ground looked up at him. His attacker had raven black hair tied in ponytail behind his head. He glared down at the prone man.

“Fuck you…” He drawled out. Blood leaked from his mouth.

The man above pointed his gun at the prone man’s head. “This is your doing. You should have known better.” He pulled back the hammer on his pistol. “Mister Melero sends his regards.”

A loud bang echoed throughout the room. The prone man’s head dropped to the floor. The raven haired man removed his boot from the dead man’s hand.

“I hope the message was clear.” He said, turning to the man sitting against the wall. His face was bruised and he held his shoulder, trying to keep the blood from spilling out further.

The man against the wall spit out a bit of blood. “Yeah…” He pulled his hand from his shoulder wound and gave it a look, only to put it back on again.

“Good.” The raven haired man said, turning to the broken door. “Don’t make me have to come back here.” He stepped over the dead man and walked towards the exit.

“Go to hell, Dante.” The wounded man said, groaning as he tried to stand.

~The Wrong Hero~

Dante awoke from his dreams. It wasn’t one he had in a while, a memory really. It was from a time when things weren’t as complicated, when their business was small. Of course, Eddy made sure they didn’t stay that small for long. He’d known lots of people growing up, being the people person he was. Finding someone with connections wasn’t too difficult for him.

A snore stirred Dante from his reminiscing. To his right was Rifana, still cuddled up next to him. To his left, Sadeena snored loudly above his head. It was nestled against her chest, pulled closer with her arms as she curled against him.

Are you an orca or a cat?

Even if she wasn’t gripping his head, Dante wouldn’t have been able to get up. From his position, he could see Dio lying on his stomach. She seemed to be out just like the others. A little further away, Dante could see Keel with a somewhat similar problem. He was lying on his back, JoJo sprawled out on top of him. He wanted to tease Keel about it, but it wasn’t as if he was in a better position.

With a bit of shaking, he was able to wake up his sleeping companions. Rifana got up without a fuss, but Sadeena took the opportunity to pull him on top of her. Dio fell off, woke up, got up, and lay back on Dante again.

It took a bit more effort, but Dante was eventually able to free himself. They had a quick breakfast from the meat they still had from last night and got ready to head out. Eclair and Raphtalia had stayed up last, the former instructing the latter on sword forms.

Once on the road again, it took less than half an hour to reach the capital. Dio pulled one carriage with Sadeena at the reins, while JoJo pulled the other with Rifana. Both filolials were in their average filolial forms, and both demi-humans had cloaks on. Dante didn’t want to gather too much attention.

After entering the city, they parked the carriages near Erhard’s shop. In an alley, the filolials transformed and walked out with Dante, a cloak over his head.

“Sadeena,” Dante looked at the orca woman from under his hood, “watch over the carriages while we’re going around. We’ll be a bit.”

“Okay~.” She said with a wave.

“You two stay as well.” Dante said to the two filolial kids. “The less people seen walking around with me, the better.”

“Okay, Papa!” Dio said, climbing onto the carriage seat.

“Hey, dad?” JoJo looked up at Dante. “Can I come inside?”

“Any particular reason?” Dante asked. “I won’t be in any danger or anything.”

“No, it’s…” JoJo fiddled with his hands. “I wanted a weapon too.”

“You do?” Dante looked at his side. Sure enough, the mace from before was still there. “Well, that’s fine. Let’s see what we can get you.”

“Okay!” JoJo said, dashing to be next to Keel.

The six of them entered Erhard’s shop. The man himself was inspecting one of his weapons.

“Hey, Erhard.” Dante called to the blacksmith.

“Kid.” Erhard greeted him back. “It’s been a few days.”

“Feels like it’s been longer.” Dante nodded as he removed his hood.

“Are those…” Erhard moved from behind his counter to look at the demi-humans in his shop.

“Yep.” Dante said, sweeping his arm towards them. “Raphtalia, Rifana, and Keel. They grow up so fast, don’t they?”

Keel stuck his chest out with pride. “See how much of a man I am now?”

“I do.” Erhard has his hands on his hips. “And I see the two girls grew into such lovely ladies.”

“It’s good to see you again, Mister Erhard.” Raphtalia said with a slight bow.

Rifana beamed up at the blacksmith. “Hey, Mister Erhard, guess what? I’m going to marry the Shield Hero!”

“Oh?” Erhard stole a glance at Dante, who held a hand over his eyes. “Well, congratulations. I hope you have a happy life together.”

“Thanks!”

“Erhard, please, don’t encourage her.” Dante said. “We’re a long ways from marriage.

“Well, don’t keep your fiancé waiting too long.” Erhard said with a laugh.

“Ugh.” Dante liked the blacksmith. He did help him out without knowing anything about him, only with Dante’s say so that he was being followed. At the same time, he was lucky he was the best blacksmith around. “I liked you better when you were complaining about the chainmail.”

“Well, I…hey.” Erhard was about to say something when he took a look at Dante. Specifically, the armor he was wearing. He looked over at Raphtalia and Keel as well. “What is this?” He gave Dante a hard look. “Why are you all wearing such shoddy armor? And wear’s the armor I sold you?”

“Funny you should mention that.” Dante pulled a bag from his pack. He brought it over to the counter and set it on top. Erhard looked in the bag and pulled out a few slabs of iron. “I don’t suppose that’s worth anything to you, is it?”

“Kid…” Erhard lowered the slab and stared into Dante. “This better not be the armor I sold you.”

Dante looked off to the side, scratching the back of his head. “It might have been.”

Erhard slammed the metal onto the counter. “What the hell have you been fighting at your level?”

“A few things.” Dante avoided his gaze. “A few of which could throw fireballs. In my defense, my level isn’t exactly low.”

“Kid…” Erhard had a dangerous look in his eye.

“Also!” Dante said quickly. “That armor went through quite a few fireballs before it quit on me. I went through three sets of this chainmail after losing it.”

“Of course you did.” Erhard pulled at the chainmail Dante currently wore. “This armor is crap. Where did you even get this?”

“From someone incredibly cheap, apparently.” Dante had looked at the stats on the armor before he gave them to Raphtalia and Keel. They seemed to be good, just with a bit lower defense than Erhard’s. The mercenaries’ armor was better, but also heavier. Of course, the chainmail seemed to have very little in terms of durability. Then again, they broke after taking a lot of damage. The first one from hundreds of bone-bullets, the second from a vial of acid, and the third a strong monster’s fireball, and a dozen or so lesser fireballs.

Maybe chainmail just sucks. Since chainmail was what he suggested to me when I was a lower level, it’s probably a good starting armor here and nothing more.

“Well, I can buy it off you if you want to upgrade.” He said, fingering the slab on his counter. “This here won’t be worth much.”

“I’ve got more chainmail, and some other armor, in my shield.” Dante said, dropping the remaining chainmail from his inventory.

Erhard looked at the pile of iron. “Hey, kid…” He walked over to the door and made sure no one was on the other side. “Make sure you don’t go showing any of this stuff off. There’s been news of a certain lord and his knights going missing lately. You come around and show a bunch of identical looking armor, well…”

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t have shown you if you didn’t already have an idea.” He did, after all, basically announce to the man he was going to kill a lord of Melromarc. Well, steal from him, but it was pretty much implied.

Erhard sighed. “Well, I can take those off your hands, as well as any other equipment you won’t be needing.”

“Well, I do have more equipment.” He dropped a number of swords, maces, spears, shields, and various bits of armor. All of it was from the knights and mercenaries, with a few of them being generated drop items. Most of the monsters Rolf made had little in terms of item drops.

“Do I even want to know where all this came from?” Erhard gestured to the very large pile, his face slightly paling.

“That depends. How do you feel about rogue mercenary groups?”

“Never mind.” Erhard stepped around the equipment. “It’ll take me a while to give you a price on all of this.”

“That’s fine, we have a few other stops today.” Dante said.

Erhard crossed his arms. “It feels like you’re just going to leave all your junk here for me to sort through while you go off.”

“Not at all!” Dante said with a smile. “My companions are in need of equipment. They’ll stay with you while I take care of my business in town.”

“You make it sound like I’ll be watching over them.” Erhard shook his head. He turned to face the rest of Dante’s party. “I’m sorry, I got caught up in Dante’s nonsense. I don’t believe I’ve met you two.” He gave Eclair and JoJo a look.

“Ah, right.” Dante said before either one could. “The boy is JoJo. He’s a filolial king that can transform.”

“That right?” Erhard looked down at him.

JoJo looked to his father and got a nod. In a puff of smoke, he transformed into his filolial form. Erhard looked up at him before JoJo changed back.

“You’re showing me some pretty crazy things, kid.” Erhard looked over at the man.

“Yep. And the one in armor is an adventurer we met in another town.” Dante gestured to the lady knight. “Her name is Berry.” He could feel her glare through her helm.

“Berry, eh?” Erhard gave Eclair a once over. “Well, it’s good to meet the both of you. Your armor’s looking a bit oversized. Want me to adjust it for you?”

“Ah, no thanks.” Eclair said quickly. “It’s air wake armor, so I believe that would be difficult."

“Yeah, that it is.” Erhard nodded. “To modify air wake armor, at least the type you’re wearing, well…it’d almost be better to buy another set.”

“That’s quite alright.” Eclair said. “This armor is good as is.”

“Alright, then.” Erhard looked to the filolial boy. “And how about you?”

“I want a big mace!” JoJo said excitedly.

“A mace, huh?” The blacksmith scratched his chin. “How big did you want it?”

“Really big! Like, as big as me!” JoJo was practically jumping.

“Hah! I like you, kid!” Erhard bellowed.

“And you three.” Dante pointed at his other party members. “Find some better equipment as well. Berry and I will finish our other tasks while you’re here.”

“Okay!” The others said, looking over the equipment.

“You really are having me watch them, huh?” Erhard said with a sigh.

“We’ll be back soon. Also, I’ll probably have a commission for you.” Dante said as he and Eclair left.

Next was the apothecary. Dante had loads of potions, salves, medicine, and other things he had his shield craft for him.

“Did you want any other armor?” Dante asked Eclair as they walked. “I’m guessing air wake armor is expensive, but we could have gotten something for you.”

“You’ve done more than enough for me, Sir MacRory.” Eclair said. “And you’re continuing to help. I couldn’t ask for more.”

“Well, not to paint myself in a poor light—at least, no poorer than what I have—but you having better armor is as good for me as it is for you, let alone everyone else. A good sword as well.” Dante pointed out.

“My current equipment is more than enough, given my level.” Eclair said. “But I will let you know when I outgrow it.”

“Alright, good.”

When they reached the apothecary, the old man greeted them with a smile. That is, before it grew to concern.

“What happened to your arm?” The apothecary asked.

“Huh? Oh.” Dante had forgotten. He didn’t visit the man after battling Idol, so he wouldn’t know. “Lost it in a fight. Although, now that you mention it…”

They discussed what could be done about his missing arm and Eclair’s hands. The apothecary, Simmond, told them basically what they already heard. Higher grade healing was required for Eclair to regain the full use of her hands, while Dante’s arm would need to be regrown. An alchemist could be used for both. Of course, even with a slave seal, Dante didn’t think it would have been a good idea to have Rolf do that.

Simmond did say that the church might be able to do both, but all three of them knew it wouldn’t be a good idea, given that he was the Shield Hero and all. That did, however, fit in with Dante’s new plans. If they left the country, they might be able to use another church’s healers for them both.

Simmond also told him he looked like death, and should probably get some sleep. Dante wondered if this world had the equivalent of coffee, and if that would help his appearance at all. Probably not for both, but it also probably wouldn’t hurt.

Dante sold what he had—that they wouldn’t need themselves—and they headed out. After that was the adventurer’s guild. Dante wanted to see what quests were available. He couldn’t remember everything that happened from the books, but he knew there was a dragon slaying quest for Ren, and a famine in a village for Motoyasu.

When they arrived at the guild, Eclair went in alone while Dante kept away from the building. She was inside for only a couple minutes before exiting again. When she returned, she immediately held herself up against a nearby wall.

“You alright?” Dante asked, though he kept his distance from her.

“Yes…just more men than I thought would be there.” She said, her hand over her chest. “I just…need a moment.”

“No problem.” Dante leaned against the wall, keeping away from her.

After Eclair collected herself, they set off again. There were a number of quests available, including the two Dante mentioned. The dragon slaying quest in Mirso had been there for a while, but the famine relief quest in Lerno was more recent.

“You don’t want to take either one?” Eclair asked.

“Not that they would let me, but no.” Dante answered. He had checked in briefly last time they were in town if there were any quests he could take, and he was met with fierce refusal. He wasn’t surprised. He was pretty sure the king ordered the guild to not give him any quests. “We can circumvent the dragon issue, but we’ll let…someone else handle the famine.” He didn’t think anyone was around, but better safe than sorry.

“More of your hero knowledge?” She asked as they rounded a corner.

“Basically. Although…” Dante debated telling her about what would happen to that village. That is, if anything. Many things were already different, so that might be as well. Dante wanted the seed, and the village needed a fix.

Well, this would be a decent thought experiment. Let’s set the stage for Ethical Dilemma Theater here.

“Okay. That village is going through a famine. Someone will collect a seed that will supposedly bring them great harvests. However, the seed is basically cursed. It will produce a lot of fruit very quickly, but it will also infest the village with vines, making it unlivable. Without the seed, the village won’t survive. What should we do?”

Some of it was speculation, but most of it had a strong basis. Most villages in medieval Europe were farming villages. If one of those villages couldn’t survive without food assistance, it would quickly be abandoned. Of course, there was magic here, but the point remained.

“Hm.” Eclair held her hand to her chin as she thought. “Should I assume that you want this seed?”

Dante smiled. “You should.”

“And when will this quest be fulfilled?”

Dante thought about that one.

Let’s see…There was an extra story in Motoyasu’s point of view in the first book, so it happened before Melromarc’s second wave. What all happened there?

He racked his brain back in forth to recall the details.

Ah, I can’t remember. All I can think of is it was the same place that Agatha brought Naofumi to for the magic thread crystal.

“The best I have is before Melromarc’s next wave.” He answered.

“And how long before the seed takes over the village?” She continued on.

“Hmmm. Maybe a couple weeks? I don’t think it was a matter of days.” If it was, Motoyasu probably would have gone back right away. That is, if Malty didn’t hear about it first and dismiss it. No, as twisted as she is, she probably wouldn’t do something to damage her chosen hero’s reputation. That’s far too stupid and self-sabotaging. She’s clever enough to wrap the heroes around her fingers, she wouldn’t…

Dante stopped.

“Dante?” Eclair looked back at him.

She is clever. Not just in the books, but even more so here. Then…why didn’t she stay in my party? Isn’t that something Mirellia chastised her for at her trial? That she could have manipulated Naofumi to her liking and gained the throne?

…No, she’s more clever here. I don’t think anyone really knew what the church was capable of before, but here might be different.

“Hey, how powerful is the church?” Dante asked.

“Huh? Where did that come from?” She asked back.

“Sorry, a bit of a realization. It’s about…a certain someone.” He hinted.

“Ah.” Eclair nodded, understanding his meaning. “Well, it wouldn’t be wrong to say they’re one of the most influential forces in the queendom. Many knights are part of the church.” She held herself with one of her arms.

“Fuck.” Dante’s eyes widened at that. “Sorry, I didn’t think—”

“It’s fine.” Eclair waved him off. He hadn’t even thought of how she might react to talking about that sort of thing. Hearing it is conversation is one thing, explaining it is another. “What did you need to know?”

If she was willing to continue, Dante wasn’t about to stop her. “Outside of more…recent events, how active were they politically and militarily?”

Eclair seemed to think over his words before realization struck. She closed the distance between them and whispered. “You don’t think they’re a threat to the queendom, do you?”

“You have a sharp mind.” Dante whispered back. “I just want to know what was heard of among knights and nobility.”

“I understand.” She nodded.

Eclair told him that, outside of spreading their beliefs about demi-humans and the Shield Hero, the church wasn’t too active. Sure, they provided healing, raised funds to aid those involved in disasters and such, and they had their own knights, but they didn’t do too much with them in terms of military action. At least, not publicly. It was mostly what she remembered hearing from her father, but many powerful nobles were also heavy contributors to the church. They, in turn, may send priests to the noble’s lands for whatever purpose. Of course, the priests didn’t go alone. Knights were also dispatched.

“So, they may have acted as enforcers or thugs?” Dante asked. If it involved demi-humans or propping up donating lords, it wasn’t out of the question.

“I wouldn’t have believed it before, but that might be the case.” Eclair said.

“I see. That helps. Thank you.” He said to the knight.

“Of course, Sir MacRory.” Eclair gave a slight bow before they continued on.

If the church has backing from powerful lords, something I really should have known or assumed before, then I have no reason to think a more cunning Malty wouldn’t find out. That’s especially true if someone like Eclair knew about it, given she’s more focused on the martial aspect of things. If Malty tried to marry me to gain the throne, then it would have caused a number of problems for her. Whether or not she knows the church is against the royal family, or if those plans have even been fully formed, marrying the church’s enemy wouldn’t be good for her in this country.

Damn. Even in the books, she was right, just for the wrong reasons.

They continued on to their final destination in town.

“Ah, welcome back, Sir Hero.” The fat slaver said as the pair entered the tent.

“Beloukas.” Dante nodded to the man. “I’ve had a shitty past few days. I could really use some good news.”

“I see…” The slave trader wore a frown on his face.

“That’s not the face of someone who has good news.” Dante said.

“My apologies, Sir Hero, but my investigations haven’t turned up anything new.”

“Seriously?” Dante clenched his fist. “Four more days and you have nothing?”

“Three since I sent out my men to different towns.” Beloukas corrected him. “Still, it is quite odd. Are you sure these villagers were sold to a slave trader?”

“As sure as I can be.” Dante recalled what the knight he tortured told him. Of course, the man didn’t witness the transactions himself, but he was still paid for it. Only Keel got a look at which slave dealer bought him. Raphtalia and Rifana were too scared at the time to remember anything. Based on what Dante found out, the slaver who sold Keel was indeed the same one they found at the mines. The slave dealer Beloukas got Keel from didn’t have any other kids from the village. “I don’t think I can provide any more useful information to you either.”

“I see.” Beloukas swiveled his cane on the ground. “In that case, we’ll just have to wait and see what my men uncover, yes sir.”

“I guess you’re right.” Dante said. He turned to leave, but Eclair remained standing there. “E—Berry?”

Eclair looked over at Dante. “I’ve decided.” She said.

“Decided?” Dante wasn’t sure about the look she was giving him.

“I’ll take a slave seal.” She said.

“Oh.” Dante looked between her and Beloukas. “Are you sure.”

“Yes.” Her tone told him there was no doubt in her mind.

Dante shrugged and looked over at the slave trader. “You heard her.”

“Yes, well…I’m afraid you’ll be putting me in a bit of a situation, Sir Hero.” Beloukas said.

“Why’s that?” He asked.

“Well, this woman is human, is she not?” The slave trader pointed out.

“What makes you say that?” Dante questioned. “You thought Sadeena was human before, didn’t you?”

“Hmmm.” Beloukas studied his face, no doubt searching for the truth. In an instant, a smile formed on his face. “Of course, Sir Hero! I’ll be happy to place a slave seal on your demi-human companion. Certainly, though, this seal will be a bit special, and will cost 10 silver, yes sir.”

“I thank you for your accommodation.” Dante said, agreeing to his terms. The slave trade went to gather the ink. “What made you decide this?” He asked Eclair.

“I owe you my life, Sir MacRory.” She explained. “If not for you and your party coming to Ronota, I might be dead, or close to it.”

Dante shook his head. “I didn’t save you to make you a slave.”

“And,” she continued, “me taking the seal and gaining more power would also benefit the rest of the party, like upgrading my equipment.” She gave him a small smile. “10 silver is a lot less expensive than a good sword or armor.”

“Using my own words against me.” Dante smiled back. “Well, I can appreciate the cleverness in that.”

Beloukas soon returned with the ink. With Dante’s help, Eclair was able to loosen her armor enough to expose part of her chest. The slave dealer marked her with the seal, getting a small hiss from her from the pain, and then it was done. With that, her stats became visible to Dante in his status.

Huh. Those are rather good. The others were better at her level, but I believe overall she’ll surpass a few of them with the seal.

“There we are.” Beloukas said as he set down the bowl and brush. “That will be 10 silver, Sir Hero.”

“I’ll take a dose of the remover as well.” He said.

“Certainly. 20 silver, then.”

The man certainly upcharged them before, but they were operating quite outside the law. Dante handed over the silver to the man and got the remover from him.

“Why?” Eclair asked, pointing to the vial.

“For when you decide you don’t want to be a slave anymore.” Dante said. “I’ll remove it in an instant.”

“Sir MacRory, I—”

“Berry.” He got closer and whispered, though not too close. “I know what you went through. Now you’re putting yourself at the mercy of a man.” He let his words sink in for a moment before speaking again. “I will take off the seal the second you ask me to, and not a moment later.”

He never had to deal with this sort of thing before. He wasn’t a big people person. If someone had a problem, the solution they wanted was either killing it or hitting it until it went away. Of course, some of the people who hired him went through what Eclair did, though at a much smaller degree. He saw how they acted, huddling in on themselves as they described his soon-to-be target. Eclair was strong, but having a shock collar with a kill switch on her would likely be too much eventually.

Eclair held his gaze. “Alright.” She agreed.

“Good.” Dante stepped back. He looked again at Beloukas. “We’ll be back again soon. Keep up the search.”

“Of course, Sir Hero.” Beloukas gave a tip of his hat as they left.

They headed back to Erhard’s to see what everyone wanted to get, and how much Dante would be making from the equipment he was selling. About half way there, Eclair spoke up.

“We never finished talking about the village with the famine.” She said.

“Ah, right.” Dante nodded. They had gotten a bit distracted. Well, Dante did. “Do you have an answer?”

“Almost. If the village needs it to survive, and you want it anyway, I assume there’s a way for both to happen, as well as make it safe for the villagers.”

Dante gave a soft laugh. “You assume right again.”

“Then, I think I have the answer you came to.” She said. “Let the seed be delivered to the village, have it grow and become a problem, then come in and take care of it. The fruits it will produce will likely have more seeds for you, and whatever needs to happen to make it safe can be done.”

Dante stopped again, prompting Eclair to do the same. “And here I was worried you wouldn’t have the cunning to be a lord.”

Eclair smirked. “I did say you gave me things to think about, did I not?”

“You did.” They continued their journey to the blacksmith.

“That said, I have another question.” Eclair said. “Do you know where to find this seed?”

“Yes.”

“Then I have a rather obvious answer.”

“If I bring the seed to the villagers, I’ll have caused a problem.” Dante pointed out. “As the Shield Hero, I can’t afford to do that.”

“I’m not suggesting that.” She said. “Take the seed somewhere uninhabited to let it grow, take the fruits it produces, then take care of the original. You’ll have more seeds to do what you want, and you can do something about the famine too. It will put you in a good light for Melromarc as well.”

“Very clever.” Dante said. He hadn’t thought of that. He might have if given the time, but perhaps not. Having Motoyasu see what his reliance on his game knowledge did would be a good wakeup call, but that would again be relying on Dante’s book knowledge. He was doing that anyway, but this was letting something bad happen in the hopes that he could fix it later.

Letting this happen to the village also gave him mixed feelings. On the one hand, he was pretty sure the village knew about the dangers of the seed, but accepted it anyway. They deserved whatever happened to them. On the other hand, there were plenty of people there who didn’t have a real say in it. Specifically, the children in that village. Dante had done many terrible things in his life, but one thing he never did was intentionally put kids in harm’s way. That was one of the big reasons for going to Mirso to stop Ren from killing Gaelion and spreading a plague. Besides, of course, sparing a relatively peaceful dragon from death and his adoptive daughter from slavery.

“I think that will be the next thing we do after Mirso.” He told the knight. Honestly, there were a bunch of things he knew about that he might be able to fix or prevent. Of course, changing too many things may very well come back to bite him in the ass. Too many things were different as is, but some things were the same. Some of the people in Ronota mentioned an issue up north, where a king had recently increased the taxes on his people. That reminded Dante of Itsuki’s Robin Hood activities, and that reminded him of Rishia. Of course, Dante didn’t really have a hero’s standing in this country, so he wouldn’t be able to pull any crap like Itsuki did. Killing the lord was a possibility, but Dante didn’t really want to push that. One was enough for now. Dante did want to keep the girl from being taken, but he figured her short time as a hostage, or slave, or whatever she was, wasn’t going to be too—

“Ah, crap!” Dante said, spinning on his heels.

“Wha-Dante?” Eclair quickly followed after him.

“I forgot something at Beloukas’s.” He walked briskly back to where they came from.

~The Wrong Hero~

After a short walk back, he gave the slave trader the information. There would be a girl, a human, sold to a slave dealer in the town. At least, he thought it would be here. He didn’t have a description or good timeframe, but he had a name.

Rino. Or, Lyno. Whatever her name here was. Of course, Dante had to pay a hefty deposit to find the girl. 100 silver, twice what he paid to look for all the villagers. Beloukas was pretty clear on his stance about human trafficking in a human supremacist nation.

It was entirely possible that this girl didn’t even exist, or that Malty would remove her in a less heinous way, but it was another potential way to show how twisted Malty was to Motoyasu. Dante would need all the help he could get, since Motoyasu would likely believe Malty over him about anything. He didn’t really know when Mirellia would find and recruit her into her service anyway. Besides, if Beloukas wasn’t able to find her, he said he’d return half of Dante’s investment. Searching for human slaves was still a risk, after all.

With that done, they went back to Erhard’s. The others had their new equipment picked out and Erhard had the stuff Dante left sorted and priced.

Raphtalia kept the sword from the mercenaries and chose a light breastplate with hardened leather around her arms and skirt. Her legs were mostly covered by her boots, and she had light greaves reinforcing them.

Keel likewise kept his axe. He opted for slightly heavier armor, taking chainmail with steel breastplate, bracers, and greaves. He also took a second, smaller axe from Dante’s item drop pile. He wanted to either use it as part of dual-wielding, or as a thrown weapon. Dante figured either would work. His main axe seemed to be a bastard version, so he could use it either one-handed or two.

JoJo, comically, ended up with a long hafted hammer. For someone JoJo’s size, it looked like a pole-hammer. Well, JoJo looked happy with it, so Dante didn’t have a problem.

Rifana, however, didn’t get any new equipment. Her reason was that the mage gear she had on was a good mix of defense and magic power. Sure enough, not a lot of armor in Erhard’s shop increased one’s magic stat. At least, nothing that wasn’t also very expensive.

Dante made sure the gear they wore could be worn at lower levels. Most of it could be, though not nearly as effectively. Of course, the people who would be getting their level lowered weren’t going to fight right away. It was more of a precaution, in case anyone else decided to come along and cause problems.

Finally, Dante talked with Erhard about commissioning armor. He had one detail that was pretty important.

“You want it to be immune to fire?” Erhard asked.

“Or as resistant as possible. Being set on fire hurts.” He explained. He’d had enough of that here.

“Hm. I think I can make you something for that, if you have materials.”

Dante grinned. “That I do.”

Dante let out a bunch of monster drops onto the ground, after laying out a sheet, of course. In addition to the normal monsters, he showed off the remains of the cacodemon, imps, and hell knight. Erhard looked over the parts with a puzzled look, but said nothing. Dante also set a number of ores on his counter. Some of those did get a response.

“Where in the world did you get these?” Erhard asked, holding one of the spellcobalt ores.

“The same place I was set on fire.” Dante answered.

“Well, I’ll be able to make something really nice with these.” He said. “The skin from that red thing, those brown ones too…yeah, I’ve got something in mind for you.”

“That’s what I like to hear!” He gave Erhard the components he’d need for the armor, plus a little something extra Dante had in mind, and they left the shop. They ended up making quite the profit from the equipment alone, including the deductions from what they bought for everyone.

With everything settled, they returned to the carriages. Dio was talking away with Sadeena, sitting on her lap. Dante would have tried teasing her, but he was certain the woman would make him regret it later. They loaded in and set off for Mirso. With the time it would take to get there and back, Erhard should be finished with his work, and they’d have time to meet again with the emissaries.

Now all Dante had to do was wait for the other shoe to drop. He knew it would sooner or later.

Chapter Text

Chapter 18 – Dragon Mountain Adventure

They were making good time as they traveled to the eastern village. As they traveled, they switched out who rode out on a filolial to hunt. Dante was still a little uneasy, but he admitted it was better than doing nothing. The day passed quickly, with Dante making more progress on the fire tome with Rifana’s help. With any luck, he’d get to understanding the spell soon. Once he figured out one spell, he’d switch over to the support book to study on his own. 

Late morning of the next day, they arrived at the village. It was about what Dante expected: a village near the base of a mountain. Of course, with no dragon corpse polluting the air, the place was fairly lively.

With a small amount of searching, they found a path up the mountain. A few of the villagers they checked with had asked what they were going to do.

“I’m here to solve the dragon problem.” Is what Dante told them. Of course, he and they had different views on what that meant. They gave him directions on where to go.

They were part way up the mountain before Dante had his kids pull the carriages over. Everyone gathered around between the carriages.

“Okay, here’s the plan.” Dante said. “I don’t really know his personality, so it’s best not to seem too aggressive. I’ll go up the mountain myself, maybe one other person with me. Everyone else will stay here.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Raphtalia asked. “That’s sounds really dangerous.”

Dante nodded. “Maybe a little, but I think you all should be able to handle anything that comes along.”

“I meant for you.”

“I know.” Dante smirked. “I have a good amount of skills and shields. I’m confident I can take whatever this dragon can throw at me until he hears me out.”

From what Dante remembered, Gaelion wasn’t actually aggressive. He remembered the dragon was referred to as the weakest dragon emperor multiple times. Ren and his party were able to fight him in between the second and third wave. It was hard to guess when exactly, but Dante figured Ren was around level 50 or so at the time. With his current level and power up methods, Dante was sure he’d hold out just fine.

“Who will go with you?” Eclair asked.

“I will!” Dio raised her hand.

“Absolutely not.” Dante shot that idea down immediately. “Dragons and filolials are enemies.”

“I-I’ll behave! I promise!” She looked up him with pleading eyes.

“I’m sure you would, but I’m still not taking you.” Dante patted her head, calming her slightly. “Gaelion doesn’t know me. I have some knowledge of him, and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be happy with a stranger and a filolial showing up to his home.”

He probably wouldn’t be happy with just a stranger, but he’d get over it.

“I’ll be taking Sadeena with me.” Dante said. “The two of us should be able to handle Gaelion if he wants to fight.”

Sadeena pulled Dante close by the hip and held her harpoon up. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep little Dante safe~.”

While her level wasn’t quite as high as it was before, she was still more than capable of fighting. Naofumi’s group handled themselves well enough, and that Gaelion was an undead and supposedly stronger, if memory served.

“I’ll signal you on how it goes.” Dante told them. The filolials’ monster seals were still useful for that. “But first, I’m going to bathe in that small lake over there.”

That earned several looks of confusion, plus a few noises indicating as much.

“I smell like a filolial. I don’t mind it, but I feel like a dragon would.”

~The Wrong Hero~

Dante took his bath, changed into one of his spare sets of clothes and chainmail, and set off for the top of the mountain with Sadeena. The villagers had given them directions on where they thought the dragon lived. Of course, it would have been faster on Dio or JoJo, but that likely wouldn’t have ended well.

“Are you sure it’s safe to leave them alone?” Dante asked Sadeena as they walked.

“Do you really think I’d leave little Raphtalia and the others if it wasn’t safe~?” Sadeena responded.

“Right, sorry. Still just nervous from the past few days.”

After a bit of walking, they came across what looked to be a wolf with dragon scales. His appraisal told him it was a dragon hybrid. The dragon-wolf growled at them as they approached.

Let’s see if it’s smart.

“Hello. My name is Dante MacRory. I’m the Shield Hero, and—” Before he could finish, the wolf lunged at him. Dante brought up his shield, but the wolf latched itself to his leg. He didn’t have much protection there, but both he and Sadeena were covered by Faust Guard VI.

Dante looked down at the wolf. It continued to growl as it tried to bite through his defense. “As I was saying, I’m here to speak with your father. Will you allow us to pass?” The wolf gave no response, outside of more growling. “I promise that we don’t mean any harm.”

Dante had thought the monsters that were sired by Gaelion would have some intelligence. He was sure that was what he remembered from works of fiction involving half-dragon creatures. No one in his party had any experience with dragons, except Sadeena with the water dragon. Of course, they were entirely different entities, as far as Dante could recall. Or, perhaps they were very similar. Whatever the case, it didn’t matter much right now.

“I can see you aren’t one for talking.” Dante said as he leaned down. When he went to pet the wolf, it let go of his leg and bit his arm instead. “That’s cute.”

“I don’t think your monster skills will work here, little Dante~.” Sadeena looked at the wolf with a soft smile. She could clearly see it was no threat to them.

“Sadeena, please, animals love me.” They loved to bite him, in any case. Animals from his world were much friendlier with him. “But, yeah, you’re probably right.” He threw his arm back, launching the wolf from his body. “Shield Prison III!”

Once the wolf was encased, they continued up the mountain. Dante would replace his spell when it wore off, try to communicate with Gaelion’s kids when they came around, and trapped them for a bit when that failed.

They soon came to a large cave. It was about where the villagers said it would be. A low rumbling emanated from the cave.

“Well, here we go.” Dante said as he stepped forward. Sadeena stayed far back to not seem aggressive.

The rumbling got louder as a dark blue dragon emerged, standing at least 30 feet tall. Again, Dante wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it was probably a red dragon, maybe black. Blue seemed…well, unexpected, really. It just wasn’t the color he was thinking when he thought of Gaelion.

Huh. Actually, I think he was blue in the anime…right? Whatever, it doesn’t really matter.

“Hello!” Dante called out. “I am—”

Again, he didn’t get the chance to finish his introduction before Gaelion let loose a gout of flames at him.

“Shooting Star Shield V!” He activated his skill to absorb the blast. One of the benefits of fighting Rolf’s monsters was that the experience they gave was similar to that of a human’s. Meaning, they gained a number of levels that day. It was more than enough to allow Dante to unlock the Siderite Shield.

With the boosted skill, as well as Dante having already equipped his Spellcobalt Ore Shield, Gaelion’s magic flames washed over the translucent barrier with no lasting effect.

“As I was saying,” Dante tried again, “my name is Dante MacRory, the Shield Hero. I am here to—”

Once again, flames spewed forth from Gaelion as he roared. The barrier barely even flickered.

“I am here to warn you about people who want you dead. If we could talk…for…” Dante shifted his shield to the Reinforced Iron Shield. Gaelion had stomped from his cave and brought his claw down onto Dante. The barrier seemed to crack, but it still held.

That was something Dante had tested out further with Sadeena. It turned out that, while it wasn’t using the full stats of the shield, the currently equipped shield affected the skills’ strength. The skills themselves did have their own defensive strength, but also a significantly smaller amount of HP, or what counted for HP.

Bringing his attention back to the fight, Dante looked up at Gaelion’s outstretched claw.

“Look, I can do this for quite a while. It’d be far easier to listen to whatever I have to say, then I’ll be out of your territory.” He was really glad he didn’t bring either filolial with him. His kids would have already charged at Gaelion and tried clawing his eyes out.

Gaelion put his front claw back on the ground. He stood tall, glowering at the human before him. “Speak.” He said in a loud, booming voice.

“I am Dante, the Shield Hero. I’m here to warn you that a quest was submitted to have you killed.”

“Hmph.” The dragon snorted. “Many have come for me. All of them have died, or fled in failure.”

“I doubt a hero has tried.” Dante said. Gaelion narrowed his eyes at him. “Not me. I’d say within a month, the Sword Hero will come for you.”

“Hm. So, have all four heroes been summoned to fight the waves?”

“They have. All to the same country, too.”

“Is that significant?”

“Is it not?”

Dante was pretty sure the summonings were supposed to happen in the major countries. Or, would they all happen in Faubrey, and the heroes would disperse from there? Didn’t they each get a turn to try and summon one? Details, details.

“In any case,” Dante went on, “I’m here to warn you about the Sword Hero. You will lose to him.”

Gaelion loudly growled. “You think because I cannot harm you that I will be no match for one weak hero?”

“True, I’m a bit of an exception right now, but the point remains.”

“And how do you know this?”

Dante smirked. “I have knowledge of the future.” He’d made sure with Sadeena that no one was following them up the mountain. The Q’ten Lo shadows stayed behind to watch Raphtalia.

“And you would tell me this? To what end? To sabotage your fellow hero?” Gaelion clearly didn’t understand.

“No. I want you to leave this place. Go somewhere else.” That was the simplest solution.

“You expect me to flee?!” Of course, Gaelion was less than willing.

“I expect you to protect your daughter.” Gaelion paused at Dante’s words. He looked like he was about to attack again. “Otherwise, you will die, the children you made with other monsters will be killed, and Wyndia will be enslaved.”

Dante hoped that would be enough to convince the dragon to leave the mountain. There weren’t a whole lot of options on what to do now that Dante came to talk with him.

“If the Sword Hero means to put my daughter in chains, he will know a dragon’s wrath.”

“That’s not his plan.” Dante said with a sigh. “As far as I remember, he’ll only come to fulfill a quest and gain XP. It’s the village below, the ones who put in the quest, who will do that.”

“Then it would be best to wipe them out.” Gaelion said.

“You wouldn’t be entirely wrong, but I can’t let you.” Dante stepped forward. “There are too many innocents down there. Too many children. I didn’t come to you to have their blood on my hands.”

“I don’t take orders from you, human.” Gaelion growled. “This is assuming I believe anything you say.”

“I’d rather you believe me.” Dante said with a smile. “It would make things so much easier.”

“What if I stay and prepare for the Sword Hero’s arrival? What if I kill him when he comes, and ignore your so-called solution?”

“That would cause a problem for me. I can’t have any of the holy heroes dying. If you plan to do so, then…” Dante lifted his shield, facing it towards the dragon. “I’ll have no choice but to kill you myself.”

“Bold of you, little human.” Gaelion lowered his head to the ground, looking straight at Dante. “Even with your power, do you think you can defeat me so early after being summoned?”

“I have allies.” Dante pointed out. “My job is defense. I’m quite qualified for it, as you’ve seen.”

“I can see your ally over near the trees.” Gaelion nodded towards Sadeena. She didn’t really keep out of sight, just didn’t get too close. “Do you think she’s enough?”

“If not, I have more, closer to the base of the mountain.”

“And they will survive without you?”

“I don’t know. Would your daughter survive up here without you?”

That was likely a step too far, as Gaelion’s claw came smashing down on Dante’s barrier again. It cracked further, but it was still holding.

“This is pointless.” Dante said. “We can’t kill each other, and we can’t go after each other’s family without allowing our own to be attacked.”

“Family?” Gaelion questioned.

“Oh…” It was a little Freudian slip for Dante. He obviously saw Dio and JoJo as his kids now. While he wouldn’t go so far as to call Sadeena his beloved, she was growing heavily in his heart. Well, he did say she would be his first wife, but he hadn’t thought that part of it through at the time. With the other three demi-humans in his party, there was something there. Maybe it was part of being the Shield Hero, knowing their backgrounds, or simply seeing what they went through, but Dante just had the urge to protect them. He wanted to protect Eclair too, given what the poor woman went through.

Dante lowered his shield. “Look, I didn’t come here to fight with you. I knew—or had a good reason to believe—that you dying would cause a lot of problems for a lot of people. I’m sure you don’t want to give up your home, but I’m also pretty sure you want to protect your daughter more.”

If nothing else, Dante knew that parents would do anything to protect their children. Maybe not the other monsters Gaelion sired, but definitely Wyndia.

“…Where would you have me go?” Gaelion asked.

Dante sighed and lowered his barrier. He waved Sadeena over. She was the one who came up with the idea.

“I know of a few islands near the coast. There are settlements not too far from them.” Sadeena said. Dante recalled Gaelion wanting to be near humans to avoid other dragon emperors. He didn’t really get it, but it didn’t matter to him.

After a little back and forth, Sadeena figured out an island that worked for Gaelion.

“What else is there in this little arrangement of ours?” Gaelion asked.

“What do you mean?” Dante cocked his head to the side.

“Do you expect to be rewarded for this?”

“Oh. Not really…wait, can you give me a blessing?” Dante nearly forgot about that important detail.

“A blessing?”

“Yeah. I want to be able to cast Dragon Vein magic.” If he could gain that…well, he was a long way from doing anything remotely powerful with it, but it was a good step. He was pretty sure it was a difficult magic system to learn.

Gaelion, however, shook his head. “I don’t have the ability to give such a blessing.”

“Ah, well, that’s fine.” Dante supposed Gaelion would need more dragon emperor fragments to do something like that. “In that case, maybe a favor for later?”

“I do not like owing favors to humans.” Gaelion said, though it sounded more like a grumble.

“I think this would be a good exception. If you think I’m lying, verify it somehow so you don’t owe me anything. Or, you know, just say you don’t owe me anything. I came up here to avoid future problems, not gain anything out of it, but I’ll take whatever.”

If he got Gaelion to leave, he’d consider this a complete success. Anything else would be a bonus.

“Actually, there is one thing you could do.”

~The Wrong Hero~

After the talk with Gaelion, and actually meeting Wyndia, surprisingly, Dante and Sadeena traveled back down the mountain. He’d signaled the others to let them know they were fine.

On the way back down, they encountered fewer monsters. That was Dante’s favor from Gaelion. While he couldn’t bestow a blessing to grant access to dragon vein magic, he could make it so his children knew that Dante and his party were not to be considered enemies. Of course, there was the odd child that decided to attack anyway. Gaelion said that any who attacked them could be killed without consequence.

Naturally, Dante took him up on that offer. New shield forms and XP were important, after all.

Once they regrouped with the others, JoJo and Dio ran up to them. Facing a dragon without them did worry them a bit. However, seeing as they had no injuries, the two filolials stopped several feet before Dante and Sadeena.

Both kids held their noses.

“What’s up?” Dante asked the pair.

“You stink, Papa.” Dio said. JoJo nodded.

“Really?” Dante looked himself over. It wasn’t as if he had come into contact with Gaelion. He did, however, get a few old scales from him for the shield. Though, he supposed Gaelion’s cave did have a rather strong smell to it.

“I don’t want to smell like a dragon.” Dio complained.

Dante laughed. “So, what, you won’t hug me until I clean up?”

“I really don’t want to…” She said, swaying back in forth.

“JoJo?” The filolial boy shook his head. “Well, alright. Guess I’m bathing again today. Any problems while we were gone?” Dante asked as he approached one of the carriages.

“A few monsters came by, but no actual fighting.” Eclair said. “We mostly practiced while you were up there.”

“Good, then.” Dante grabbed his old clothes and headed back to the lake. He took off the dragon smelling clothes—if they even really smelled—and stepped in.

Honestly, this was almost a letdown. I mean, I’m glad things went well, but I was almost expecting…I don’t know, something stupid happening again. Maybe some other west loving otaku with a deep love for cowboys or something. Maybe they’d be wearing a Stetson hat or something.

Dante scrubbed his body, making sure the kids didn’t have anything to complain about. His thoughts turned to what he said before.

Family, huh? Yeah. Dio and JoJo are my kids. And the rest of them…Do I really think of them as my family? Surely it’s just Dio and JoJo. But…the idea of something happening to any of them…

Dante stopped his cleaning.

“Damn. When the hell did that happen?” He wasn’t even that confused. He knew the reason. It was probably a combination of all three reasons he thought of before with those three, plus a really big one. At one point, Dante saw everyone but Sadeena and Eclair as children, and children need to be protected.

And…he really did want a family again.

“When did what happen?” He heard Sadeena behind him.

When he turned, he saw she was only a few feet from him, already in the water.

Damn, my senses are going.

“Nothing. Just thinking.” Dante returned to his cleaning.

“Oh~.” Sadeena crept forward. “Thinking about your family~?”

That was something she teased him about the whole way down the mountain. He wasn’t mad about it. Anymore.

“You here to help, or to distract me?” Dante asked.

“As a matter of fact…” Sadeena came into the water and held out her hand. “Don’t want to do a bad job cleaning, right?”

Dante raised an eyebrow at her, but shrugged and handed over the soap. Sadeena, in turn, looked him up and down.

“What is it?” He asked her.

“You really don’t mind it, huh?” She said as she got to work. “You really could fight naked without a problem.”

Dante hummed. “I did go to a place where clothing was prohibited to kill a man once.”

“What a strange world you come from.” Sadeena laughed.

“Besides that, I’ve literally crawled through shit before. Being covered in grime, blood, or being completely nude just doesn’t bother me.”

Sadeena scrubbed around his right shoulder. “And yet, if I whisper a few things in your ear, you get all embarrassed.”

“That doesn’t really happen anymore.” Dante said. Sadeena leaned closer to him, only for Dante to hold up his hand. “Never mind.”

Sadeena laughed. She continued washing around his right side.

She isn’t wrong. Hell, kissing and all that isn’t much either. But, hearing her say those things to me…

“I’m just not used to that sort of thing.” He said. “At least, with it being genuine.”

“Hm.” Sadeena draped her arms over him.

“What?”

“I can’t decide if I should tell you those things more for all the times no one said them, or to hold back a little to keep it being special to you~.” She said, placing a kiss on the back of his neck.

Dante shuddered. The idea of responding was lost as she left a trail of kisses along his shoulders. After getting caught by Raphtalia a couple days ago, they hadn’t really done anything like this. There was the occasional kiss, sure, but nothing more.

Sadeena continued to his left, nearing what remained of his shoulder—

“Ah!” He let out and jerked away from her.

“What’s wrong?” Sadeena reached out for him. “Did I…?”

“N-No…” Dante held where his arm was missing. It was a strange feeling. He didn’t understand. She’d held him there before. Hell, she was basically snuggling against it the other day.

Sadeena walked through the water, getting closer to him. “May I?” She held her hand near his shoulder.

With a nod, she placed her hand there. He gave a light wince, but didn’t shy away. She slowly moved her hand over the scars. Dante’s breath came out in short bursts. Sadeena placed her other hand on his missing shoulder and brought her head closer. “You’re pulling away.” She said.

“I…am?” He looked over, realizing his head was turned away, and seeing his body was leaning back. “I don’t…I’m not trying to.”

Sadeena let go and he moved back up. “I don’t understand. What happened?” She asked him.

“I don’t know either.” He placed his own hand on the missing limb and felt nothing wrong. “People have touched there before, and I’ve taken hits there too.”

Sadeena nodded. “This is the first time I’m seeing you act like that. It was right after I…” Slowly, a wide smile grew on her face.

“What?” Dante looked at her. She was grinning heavily.

“Oh, I just figured it out~.” She said, swaying her hips as she walked closer. She draped her left arm over his right shoulder and her right around his waist. “I’m going to kiss you there again, okay?”

Dante found his breathing became shallow, but nodded anyway. The second her lips touched the scar, he felt a pressure on his back. It was pushing against him. His body seemed to have a mind of its own. When she brought her face back to him, he realized it was him trying to move away, and her arms keeping him in place.

“What…What was that?” He asked her. His voice sounded quiet in his head.

“How did you feel?” She asked, leaning her head against his.

“I felt…scared?” He answered. “Like I was trapped, I guess. I don’t really know how to describe it.”

She pulled his head down and kissed him on his forehead. “It might be trauma.”

“Trauma?” Dante raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t that, I don’t know, happen whenever anyone touched me there? Or, you know, when some asshole hits me with an axe?”

Sadeena shook her head. “Why would it? Normal attacks don’t hurt you much, and you aren’t worried about just anyone touching you there. But…” She slid her arm over his shoulder again, eliciting a quiver from him. “When someone you’re intimate with does it, someone you’re okay feeling vulnerable around, it’s different.”

Dante held her around her waist tightly. “Okay, I get it.”

She laughed softly and moved her hand away. “Sorry, I don’t mean to laugh. It’s just a little amusing to see you afraid of me like that.” She brought her hand against his face. “And you know I care about you, right? You know I wouldn’t try to hurt you?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Good! Because, if I do it light enough, the way you squirm around is really cute!”

Dante let her go and stepped back, hand on his hip. “Geez, I’m glad my supposed trauma is so much fun to you.” He pouted, but he wasn’t really upset. “You almost make it sound like it’s a turn on for you.”

“Maybe a little~.”

He sighed, shaking his head. “Well, I suppose it’s fine to…do that a little bit. Just when we’re alone!” He clarified. He really didn’t want the others seeing that, despite not really being able to articulate why. Besides, it didn’t hurt. And, it was better to get used to that sort of thing.

“Aw, how sweet of you~!” Sadeena cooed.

“Yeah, well, I guess I’m fine doing uncomfortable things for the person I love—”

Dante’s hand slapped against his mouth. Sadeena looked at him, her mouth slightly open. Her eyes stared into his, and he could swear he saw them sparkle.

Well, I guess there’s no question about how I feel about her now. Definitely not just lust anymore, and much more than thankful.

True, he never actually told her he loved her. He talked of pursuing love with her, but not actually being in love with her. She never did either. At least, not without a joke.

Her mouth twisted into the widest grin he’d seen on her. “What was that~?” She slid closer to him, hands behind her back. “Say that again, please~?”

“I…” Dante turned his head. “You heard what I said…”

“Hmmm~?” She leaned over to look up at him. “I wasn’t listening~.”

It was obvious, what with him thinking of having a child with her. Or, her seeming like a mother to the others when most of them were still kids. He’d just pushed those thoughts aside.

“You already know what I said.” He refused to meet her gaze. He could feel his face starting to burn. “Besides, I already said you would be my first wife. I all but said it then.”

“I just want to be sure~.” She slid her arm around him and brought him close. He could feel the coolness of her normal skin and rubbery flesh against his bare body.

“Fine.” He looked her in the eyes, the heat rising on his face becoming unbearable. “I…love…you.”

Sadeena’s face shined as she squeezed him tight. “Aw, I knew you could say it!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Despite his tone, he was happy being held by her right now.

“I love you too!” She cried out. Dante couldn’t stand how hot his face felt right now.

Still, the optics of the situation wasn’t totally lost on him. “Y-You know, if one of them comes over here right now, they’re going to be all embarrassed.” Dante was still in the middle of bathing, after all.

“Let them!” She said, lifting Dante from the water and spinning him. “You said you love me!”

“Of course I do.” He said as she set him back in the lake, as if he wasn’t just agonizing over saying it. “I told you, you’d be my wife.”

Sadeena gave him a look. “Are you saying every marriage in your world is happy and loving, and never just for politics?”

“Mm, point taken.” He supposed that may have been in the back of her mind. Maybe he should have said something sooner. Maybe he should have figured himself out sooner.

“Anyway,” She held his face, giving him a wink, “I think we should celebrate this~.”

Dante held his hand against hers. “If you’re saying what I think you are, maybe we shouldn’t.”

“Oh?” She gave him a quick kiss. “I just want to have a nice drink with my loving fiancé. What were you thinking~?”

“I…” Dante face burned again.

“Embarrassed? I thought you could handle that type of talk~.”

“Shush!” He just about had his fill of this for today. “We’ve been gone a bit, so we should get back to everyone.”

“Alright~.” She stepped away, trailing her hand along his chin. “Rinse off before…” She paused and looked down.

“Yes, I get it, I thought you were talking about sex.” Dante shook his head.

“Dante.” She pointed down into the lake. Dante followed along and saw what she did.

“…Is that an alligator?” The monster in question was latched onto his leg under the water. He thought that, even if he didn’t take any damage, he’d notice being attacked. Then again, he was a little distracted. His appraisal told him it was an indigo gator.

“It looks young.” Sadeena pulled her harpoon from her back. It looked as long as Dio or JoJo were tall in their child forms.

“It’s adorable.” Dante leaned down to give it a stroke. The gator swiped at him, but he pushed past it and ran his hand down its back.

“It’s trying to kill you.” Sadeena loosely leveled her harpoon towards it. “Young or not…”

“Right, right.” Dante turned to the side to give her a better angle. While he would have liked to keep it, it was probably better to raise a monster from an egg.

Just as Sadeena brought back her harpoon, the surface of the lake exploded in a shower of water. Another gator, this one much larger, latched onto Dante’s abdomen. He cried out as the gator pulled him down.

“Dante!” Sadeena yelled. She thrust her weapon down, embedding into the monster. It thrashed in the water, but it kept its hold on him.

Dante kept being dunked in the water. His voice was muffled. “Sadeena! Gah!” Another gator bit onto his flailing arm. As he was pulled under again, he could make out more coming under the water’s surface. Red filled his vision as the blood from one of the gators and himself spread through the water. Another one chomped his leg.

When he surfaced again, he gave his order. “Magic! Fry them!” He was pulled down again, water threatening to pour into his lungs. He focused on his shield, shifting it to the Spellcobalt Ore Shield. He had a much weaker shield equipped before, working to unlock it when the gator grabbed him. Without any solid surface to push against, his higher defense—and, thus, grappling ability—wouldn’t be as useful. That was especially true if these gators were trying to drown him, which fell in line with what he knew about their earthly counterparts. He couldn’t call out his skill to activate it, not that he’d want to. He was pretty sure the barrier would force the gators away, while also tearing a chunk out of his stomach.

The thrashing continued. Then, his body convulsed. Pain shot through him, though less than what the gators were causing him. The gators released their hold on him. His body sank further into the lake before he was pulled up by his arm. Sadeena held him up, helping him as he coughed the water from his lungs.

“Are you okay?” She asked, keeping him from falling over.

“Yeah…” His voice was weaker. His status told him he lost over 35% of his HP. Again, he was reminded of alligators from his world. Unless he got some good leverage on them, those gators weren’t going to let go of him. He looked over his body from his position and saw several sets of teeth marks, more than he thought. “You didn’t notice them approach?”

Sadeena shook her head. “Sorry. Unless I’m underwater too, I wouldn’t sense them.”

Makes sense. Sound waves change as they go through different mediums.

“Are you two okay?” He heard Keel yell out. He was followed quickly by the others. “We saw a lot of XP in…Oh god…” Keel stopped when he saw Dante.

“Papa!” “Dad!” His two kids cried out.

Yeah, it must look pretty bad.

“I’ll be fine.” He reassured them. He concentrated and activated one of his abilities: stat allocation. It was the other ability he gained from the Shield of Sacrifice. With it, he could convert HP to either MP or SP, and vice versa. Converting HP gave an equal amount of either MP or SP, but doing the reverse cost four points of each per one HP restored. He drained somewhere around half of each stat to replenish a small amount of HP. The wounds closed slightly. “I’ll heal the rest on my own.”

He tried to walk to the shore, but Sadeena held him back. She transformed into her therianthrope form and scoped him into her arms.

“S-Sadeena!” Dante actually squeaked out.

“I’ll carry you.” She said as she moved into shallower water.

“I can walk on my own!” If this was some sort of joke, Dante was not happy about it.

“Dante.” Her tone, however, reminded him of when they left Idol’s territory. It told him she was quite serious about this.

“Alright…” He didn’t really want to fight it anyway. Admittedly, it was rather nice to be carried like that. Plus, it wasn’t like she was showing him off.

“Rifana, grab his clothes, please.” Sadeena said as she passed the weasel girl.

“Y-Yes.” Rifana replied, her face turned away slightly. Dante noticed a light blush on her face.

Hah! I see my near death experience didn’t put a damper on that.

~The Wrong Hero~

Sadeena had set Dante in one of the carriages as he continued to slowly heal. She tried to have him drink a potion or take a salve, but he refused. Not even her stern insistence persuaded him. After all, at his rate of healing, it would only be a few minutes before the pain subsided, and another 20-ish before he was completely healed. His equip bonus HP regeneration, plus some job level increases—as he learned the Bow’s stat increasing power up was referred to as—had him healing nicely.

Of course, his party kept fussing about him, even after he was healed. It wasn’t so strange, if he thought about it. The Shield Hero is supposed to have the highest defense, yet a few monsters were able to damage him so quickly. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit scared. Despite using a much weaker shield, he still had the power up from the Axe increasing his defense.

Unbelievable. I challenge a dragon without a problem, but a dozen alligators nearly kill me? This world doesn’t make any sense. I know the stats on my Reinforced Iron Shield are really high, but does it make that much of a difference?

Of course, he also wasn’t wearing any armor, and his support spell had run out. Still, if one of the others was grabbed, he didn’t know if they’d have survived. Sure, the gators thrashed around, so that probably ate away at his HP, but it was still a concern. The indigo gators didn’t seem to have any dragon parts on them, so they likely weren’t sired by Gaelion. Most of his other children seemed to take the hint.

With his body back to full strength, they decided to have a meal before leaving this part of the mountain. They didn’t let him help in the preparations, however, having him sit on a fallen log. Dio sat in his lap while JoJo held him from behind, partly to keep him from getting up, and partly because they were still worried. It started to seem like they’d do this every time they weren’t around when he was attacked.

The gator meat was brought over, already cut, and Dante was finally allowed to work on it. His kids still clung to his pant legs as he did, though. He placed some of the gator into his shield, revealing a few forms. They were okay stat-wise and gave stat increases; cooking, defense, underwater combat, and swimming. Once the food was cooking, it was back to comforting the kids.

“You two worry too much.” He told them.

“Papa, you got really hurt again.” Dio said, sitting in his lap once more.

“Yeah, but Sadeena was there again, so it’s fine.” He pointed out.

“You have to stay near us.” JoJo said. “We have to protect you.”

“No, I have to protect you. That’s my job.” Dante reached over his shoulder and ruffled his son’s hair.

“We’re just glad you’re okay.” Raphtalia said, though she frowned as she said it. “But, please, don’t flirt with Sadeena while were in monster infested areas.”

“Now, where’s the fun in that?” Dante joked, but he knew she was right. He was a little too lax, trying to unlock another shield while in a place like this. “Still, when I die, it’ll be from a superior opponent, not some stray gators.”

“Tell that to the monsters.” Keel quipped. He was cutting some meat from the cooked gators and passing it out.

“Please, that was a one-time thing. I make it a habit to avoid gators anyway. That’s why I never go to Florida.”

“What’s that?” Rifana asked from her seat next to him.

“It’s a state in my home country. They have a few animal, ah, monster problems there, and one of them is alligators. Like they say, Disney World is the happiest place on Earth until you get eaten by an alligator.”

Dante took his meat from Keel and took a bite out of it. Clearly, this version of alligator didn’t taste like chicken. It was closer to salmon, really. Not that he ever ate alligator before, just read what people thought of it. Dante did find that some of the job levels he increased, like cooking and such, did also give a few abilities. One of which was keeping things in his inventory fresh longer. They’d probably be able to enjoy these gators for a few days with that.

Without falling too deep into his thoughts, Dante found that Keel was still standing before him. His eyes had a look of anticipation in them. In the corner of his eyes was Rifana with the same look. Raphtalia had a similar look across from him.

Oh yeah, they wanted to hear more about me, didn’t they? I even told Sadeena I would talk more about myself.

He did just that. He spent some time talking about some of the things in his world. The concept of a theme park was a bit much for him to try and describe, so he focused more on his travels. Where he went, some of the sights he would see, and a few of his lighter criminal activities. Eclair found a few of them strange, like bringing weapons from one area to another, while something like buying drugs was met with a fiercer clash than he thought needed. Given what happened to her, he supposed it wasn’t too out there.

Their merriment didn’t go unnoticed. Some of the dragon-monsters made their way near their encampment. They didn’t get too close, but they did seem to eye the dead gators. Dante waved them closer, much to the filolial children’s displeasure, and gave them a bit of the cooked parts. They almost seemed to beg for more. Dante got an idea. He had them bring parts he could put into his shield in exchange for food. From there, they brought an assortment of items. Most of them were very minor bonuses, but there were a lot of them. Every time, Dante would give out a little food and they’d scurry off to collect more.

“See, Sadeena? Monsters love me!” Dante proclaimed.

“Mm.” Sadeena nodded as she took a bite of her meal. “These indigo gators really liked you.”

“Ah, they totally did. They were just bad at expressing themselves.”

“Maybe that’s why they liked you.” Sadeena gave a light laugh.

Once they finished, and collected the remaining gator corpses into Dante’s shield, they set out. Dante told the village leaders that the dragon was dealt with, but he took the corpse. They were livid at that, but Dante didn’t really care. Sure, they did say part of the quest was to leave the corpse, but Dante never accepted the quest. He made sure to tell them as much. They’d get the money they sent for the quest fulfillment back, and they didn’t all die, so Dante figured they got off light. Of course, they wouldn’t know he saved most of their lives, but that wasn’t his concern either.

They rode out of the village and towards the capital again. Dante needed to meet with the emissaries again, and collect his armor. Checking in with Beloukas was another thing to do.

A thought appeared in his mind.

Since the village wasn’t devastated with a plague, the church won’t have a reason to be mad at Ren. I wonder how this will affect things down the line. Hopefully, I’ll be able to deal with the church before they make any moves against me. Aside from not being too powerful, I need to not look so benevolent. If I recall, Naofumi’s medicine selling and the others’ screw ups were what led the church to moving. That, and Ren and Itsuki investigating things. I’ll need to keep an eye out for anything that could make things worse.

Chapter Text

“They’re late.” Dante said, looking through his car window.

“They’ll be here.” The tanned man sitting next to him said.

“They should have been here 15 minutes ago.” Dante checked over his shoulder, looking out the back.

“Would you relax?” The tanned man shook his head. “They’ll be here. It was a good tip.”

“Bullshit it was.” Dante pointed at him. “You heard this from Gloria.”

“Yeah, it’s a good tip!”

“Eddy, you’re a smart guy. You shouldn’t be thinking with your dick. That’s what you always tell me not to do.”

“Hey!” Eddy turned to look him in the eye. “First of all, Gloria knows what she’s talking about. I got a lot of tips from her before, and most of them turned out good. Second—”

“Eddy.”

“Second! I don’t think with my dick.”

“Eddy!”

“What?”

Dante pointed out the front window. The alley they were parked in just got blocked off by a car on the street. They looked behind them and saw another car blocking that exit too.

“You were saying?” Dante pulled a .45 from his holster and started the car.

Eddy pulled out his 9mm. “Tell me you were right when we get out of this.”

Tires squealed as the car shot forward.

~The Wrong Hero~

Another dream of days long past, Dante awoke in a similar way he did a few nights before. In addition to the three sleeping companions from then, Keel and JoJo joined him. It was more that JoJo wanted to sleep near Dante and Keel was fine with being that close, though that didn’t stop the dog boy from ending up over Dante’s legs. JoJo, of course, was on top of Keel again. Rifana, Sadeena, and Dio were in basically the same positions as they were the last time, with Sadeena being slightly more over him this morning.

When people fantasize about having a harem, they probably image being surrounded by women and fucking them as much as they want. What they don’t think about is waking up with multiple bodies attached to them. This is probably what that would feel like. Sure, we pretty much slept together when we traveled earlier, but we all slept on Dio and JoJo’s feathers. This time, I’m the filolial.

Thankfully, he was able to rouse everyone with little fuss, and avoid being pulled on top of Sadeena again. He recooked some of the gator from the day before and they all had a quick breakfast. Raphtalia gave him a look when he sat down to eat it.

“What’s up?” He asked her.

“Oh, nothing.” She said, continuing to smile at him. “You seem to be popular with everyone.”

“Yeah, I’m irresistible.” Dante rolled his eyes.

He wasn’t really bothered by it, though being furniture wasn’t something he aspired to. Still, it was nice being that cared for.

Sadeena took the opportunity to wrap her arms around him from behind, squeezing his head against her chest. “Oh, you very much are, my love~.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Dante took another bite of his gator.

“No need to get all embarrassed.” Raphtalia said.

“Who said I was?”

“Your red face did.” Raphtalia chuckled as Dante turned his head to the side.

“He’s not embarrassed.” Sadeena said, sliding her hand across his face. “He just wanted to hear how fast my heart beats when I’m near him~.”

“I-It’s too early for this!” Dante yelled. Sadeena just laughed as she released him.

“Now, now, Dante. No need to act like that.” Raphtalia just kept on smiling. She rest her chin on her hands as she closed her eyes. “It must be nice to be young and in love.”

“Yeah, well, it is.” Dante replied as nonchalantly as he could. “What’s with that, anyway? You’re acting like you’re past that part in your life.”

“Aren’t I?”

Dante gave her a raised eyebrow, then a second one. He realized what she was saying then. “Did you get taller?”

“I did!” She said happily. “And I’m not the only one.”

Dante looked around him. Sure enough, Rifana was taller by a few inches from what he remembered. She looked like she’d reach just above his chin now. Keel…looked about the same. Rifana was, supposedly, part of some sort of special weasel race, after all.

“When did that happen?” Dante asked. “No, dumb question. How did that happen? I thought you three were finished growing.”

“I was surprised too.” Sadeena said as she sat next to him. “Those monster from yesterday gave them another couple of levels. Maybe that was all they needed.”

The gators did provide a good amount, plus the hunting they did as they traveled helped. Dante was going to lower their levels after meeting with Gaelion, but he got distracted. Alligator attacks would do that. And, of course, he got a few more scars from that little adventure. It turned out his higher HP regeneration didn’t prevent scarring. Healing magic and potions would, however, according to Sadeena. He supposed he would just add them to his collection.

“Isn’t this great?” Raphtalia asked as Keel sat next to her. “You can call me ‘big sister’ if you want.”

“Yeah, you can rely on us, l-little Dante.” He looked up at Rifana, who had her mouth covered with her hand and a slight blush on her face. Dante couldn’t tell if she was embarrassed or amused by it.

“I am both taller and older than all of you. You know that, right?” Dante sighed. If they didn’t hear it at the mines, he definitely told them during his stories from yesterday. “Come on. Let’s eat up and head out.”

“Of course, little Dante.” Rifana said with a smile.

Yeah, definitely amused.

Dante chalked their aging to meeting some sort of threshold of levels. Sadeena had once mentioned that Raphtalia might grow a little more once she gained a few more levels. Apparently, the same was true for Rifana.  

After their meal, they set out again. At the rate they traveled, they’d reach the capital before nightfall. Dio pulled the carriages while Keel went hunting with JoJo. It was a little difficult for her starting out, as Dante lowered her level, along with Raphtalia and Rifana’s. With Dante’s level and abilities, plus Sadeena and Eclair at a relatively high level, they were confident they could handle anyone they’d likely come across until the hunting duo raised everyone’s levels again.

During their travels, Raphtalia and Eclair were in the second carriage, continuing their swordplay discussions. Dante was learning from the fire tome with Rifana in the first carriage. Sadeena, however…

“It might be more beneficial for you to help Eclair with instructing Raphtalia.” Dante said from his seat.

“Hm? But it’s more comfortable here~.” Sadeena replied, arms wrapped around his sides.

During Dante’s training, Sadeena made it a point to stay close to him. It made it a little distracting to learn, but he wasn’t going to make more than a half-hearted effort to stop her.

I suppose if the situation was reversed, and Sadeena had just gotten mauled the day before, I’d be where she is now.

They continued on for a couple hours, JoJo and Keel returning to refresh Dante’s spell on them every so often, until they broke for a meal. At that time, Dante was quite excited. After all the time he spent reading over the tome with Rifana, he finally had something to show for it.

“As the source of your power, I command you! Let the true way be revealed once more! Ignite my foe with deadly flames! Faust Fire Shot!”

The ball of fire shot from Dante’s extended hand and struck the downed log nearby. It was quickly set ablaze.

“Good job, Mister Dante!” Rifana clapped as she watched the display.

“Yeah…” Dante looked at his hand.

“Is something wrong?” She asked, walking over to him.

“Maybe…” Dante looked over his shoulder. “JoJo, would you bring me a monster? Something stronger than a balloon, please.”

“Okay!” He said, running off into the nearby forest. It wasn’t long before he came back, carrying a rather angry looking usapil. Dante had him prepare to throw it up.

“Faust Fire Shot!” Dante cast his spell again. The usapil was launched into the air. When the spell struck it, it burst into flames. By the time it landed on the ground again, Dante had already gained XP.

“Very strange.” Dante looked over his status. “I didn’t think I’d be able to damage it.”

“Is that bad?” Rifana asked, standing next to him.

“No. It just changes my view on my abilities.”

When he thought about it, things started to make more sense. His attack stat was abysmally low, but his magic was fairly good, even without being boosted with the Axe’s power up. His defense was, of course, the highest stat he had, but it wasn’t unsurmountable. When he trained with Raphtalia or Keel, there were times he’d take some damage, even if he blocked the attack with his Reinforced Iron Shield. He originally believed that was due to their increased stats, but now he thought differently.

Yesterday’s indigo gators was another thing. Even with his high defense, they did some serious damage to him. Even if he was using a weaker shield, half the points from the Axe power up were funneled into his defense. Not only that, but Sadeena was able to take them all out with a single casting of her Zweite Chain Lightning spell. It was by no means a weak spell and they were all under the water, but he thought it should have taken more to kill things that wounded him like that.

Finally, his thoughts turned to some of the later books in the Shield Hero series. He recalled the Shield Hero of the past had some attack potential, even if it wasn’t massive. Something else he remembered from somewhere was the reasoning for Naofumi’s incredible defense and lack of attack.

Didn’t the Shield Hero die early on many of the other times he was summoned? I think I remember that being a reason he got such a high defense. The Shield was protecting its hero from an early death. So, maybe that didn’t happen as much here?

He definitely recalled there being an offensive healing spell that Naofumi wasn’t allowed to cast. He complained about it during the fight with Takt, and actually used it then. But here Dante stood, not only able to cast an offensive spell, but for it to deal real damage. He could boost the spell further with the Staff’s power up, and keep casting it to improve it with the Claw’s power up. The MP cost was lower than the cost for Faust Guard, even with the proficiency from the Claw power up maxed out for Faust Guard.

As an aside, he noticed the Claw power up not only reduced the MP for the spell, as well as help him cast it a little faster, but it increased its power and duration. Of course, the power granted by the Staff was still more than what the Claw provided. He saw the difference between 0% proficiency and 100% with Faust Guard, and the difference between a base Faust Guard and level VI. The Claw definitely provided more versatility, while the Staff was raw power.

Of course, in the end, it changed little.

Even with an offensive spell, I’m still best suited for defending everyone. Assuming I’ve already cast Faust Guard on everyone, the most I would do is cast an All Faust Fire Shot at the start of combat. After that, any time I spend trying to cast offensive spells is time wasted not defending my party. I can cast offensively as an opener, and maybe as a final attack to finish off an already weakened opponent. Or if were only fighting opponents out of melee reach. Unless we’re fighting mindless enemies, doing otherwise would put my…family at risk.

Dante would, however, get to join in on the hunting. That was something JoJo and Dio enjoyed immensely.

They continued on, Dante figuring out the All variant in the spell after a bit more studying with Rifana. He went out with a modestly leveled Dio, adjusted the points on his spells, and was able to lay waste to the monsters they encountered. Or, at the very least, weaken them enough for Dio to get the last hit and most XP. His stat allocation ability combined with his HP regeneration afforded him a healthy supply of MP for his spells. It was some nice father/daughter bonding, something he’d repeat with his son.

By the time they reached the capital, Dio and JoJo had switched multiple times and were extremely happy about the whole experience.

“Papa was so cool!” Dio had said.

“It was so much fun!” JoJo agreed.

“I’m glad you think so, but let’s not talk about that so much.” If any church shadows got word of his spellcasting—or, more worrying, his amplification—that might be an annoyance to deal with later. Not that they had any church shadows following them, according to Sadeena. There might have been one once, but that’s undetermined. It was bad enough that Dante slipped and said Sadeena would be his first wife yesterday, but she’d assured him it was fine. The Q’ten Lo shadows shouldn’t act unless the marriage actually occurred.

They donned their usual disguises as they entered the capital. Everyone in Dante’s party was in agreement about staying at an inn that night. While his food had become better than what a restaurant would serve, it was still only monster meat. Food was an extremely rare item drop, and everyone wanted a little more variety once in a while.

They opted for the demi-human inn again.

“Ah, Lord Shield. It’s good to see you again.” Tahrin and his two associates were at the inn when they arrived.

“Hey. You’re here early.” Dante said, requesting a few rooms for his party.

“We were staying the night here so we could meet you at any time tomorrow.” Tahrin informed him as he approached. “We also wanted to be here in case you arrived early.”

“Well, you’re certainly thorough in your job.” Dante said.

They discussed Dante’s progress on finding the villagers. Or, rather, the lack of progress. No one there was happy about that. Dante would visit Beloukas in the morning, but he didn’t have high hopes.

They also talked a little about what he’d been up to since their last meeting. Dante didn’t give too many details, mostly because saying anything more about Lord Seaetto’s territory being attacked wouldn’t end well. Knights allowing mercenaries to hold his main town like that might actually lead to war, no matter what Dante did. He was thankful that everyone who knew were either dead, indebted to him, in his party, or had an interest in keeping their activities secret.

Incidentally, Dante had asked Eclair why her father had a town of demi-humans as the seat of his power. He was under the impression it was only small villages with demi-humans, and the main area was populated with more humans. That could have been another difference from the books, or Dante just didn’t remember correctly. Regardless, Eclair told him her father moved his main residence there to show more support for demi-humans in this country.

After that, the emissaries retired to their room, but not before again asking Dante to take better care of himself. Apparently, his eyes continued to look horrible. The party had their supper and went to their rooms. Dante got three rooms for them, considering how full their party had become. However he thought they’d be divided was thrown out the window, as Sadeena dragged Dante into one of the rooms. Dio and JoJo quickly followed suit, leaving everyone else to decide the remaining setup.

Before Dante could say anything, Sadeena pulled him into a fierce hug.

“What’s wrong?” Dante asked, trying to wrap his arm around her, but finding it somewhat pinned against himself.

“You could have died yesterday.” She said, not loosening her grip.

“That’s what this is about?” Dante tried to get a view of her face. “Sadeena, it’s been a whole day.”

“That doesn’t mean I stopped worrying.”

“We were next to each other for most of the day.”

“It wasn’t enough.”

“What about when I went out hunting?”

Sadeena pulled at his chainmail. “It terrified me.”

“It’s true, Papa.” Dio chimed in. “Whenever I was pulling the carriages, Sadie would sit up front and watch with me for when you got back.”

“Yeah, Dad.” JoJo added. “We kept looking at our status. It was scary whenever you or Dio lost HP.”

The filolials clung to his pants as they said this.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” He asked. If they were worried, they should have said something.

“You were having fun.” Sadeena said. The filolial kids nodded. “With everything that’s been going wrong, I thought you could use this.”

“I thought you were being optimistic about things.”

“Not when the people I care about get hurt. What would you do if I had nearly died?”

Dante sighed. “I’d hold you tight and never let go.” He wrestled his arm from her hug and brought it around her. “Okay. I’ve been a bit overconfident about my defensive abilities. I’ll be more careful in the future. Just promise you’ll tell me when something like this is bothering you, okay? I don’t like causing you to worry.”

“Mm.”

Dante tried to move them to the bed, but Dio and JoJo just transformed. Dante and Sadeena sunk into their feathers to sleep, barely letting Dante take off his chainmail beforehand.

~The Wrong Hero~

The first stop in the morning was Erhard’s. Dante wanted to pick up his commissions and see how they turned out.

“I knew this was going to happen, but I came to you anyway.” He said to the blacksmith.

“What do you mean?” Erhard asked as he showed off the armor.

Looking at it, Dante almost preferred the Barbarian Armor Erhard had made for Naofumi. The center breastplate was made of glistening silver, which was partially obscured near the top with the red leathery skin of the cacodemon. That skin came over the upper chest and shoulders, flowing down over the back like a short, demonic cloak or cape. Each shoulder was covered in a trio of small spikes from the imps, as well as one large one from the cacodemon. The right arm was covered by red cacodemon leather and a few spellcobalt plates. The hips were surrounded by what he thought were bones from some of the shark monsters Sadeena hunted, as well as steel banding. The legs were covered in hide looking to be made from the hell knight’s legs. The boots, fortunately, were a rather plain brown, but they seemed to have the hell knight’s hooves made into part of the bottoms.

Dante was confident this was strong armor, but the only reason he would actually wear it was because he technically was a teenager at the moment.

He changed into it and showed it off to his party.

“You look so cool, Papa!”

“Yeah, when can I get armor that cool, Dante?”

“Oh my. You look very strong now~.”

“You look like a true hero now, Mister Dante.”

I just don’t understand the aesthetics of this world.

“Oh, and there’s one more piece to this.” Erhard said. He brought over a helm made of spellcobalt ore. His eyes and the middle of his face would be visible through the opening…and it had the hell knight’s curled horns on the sides.

“…” Dante was at a loss for words. He really didn’t want to put that on, but he knew he’d have to.

With him fully armored up, he got another round of approval from everyone. Even Eclair admired Erhard’s work.

“So, how is it?” The blacksmith asked.

“…It’s very powerful armor. Good job.” Dante said blandly.

“Geez. When you say it like that…”

Style differences aside, the armor was very nice. Dante was impressed Erhard was able to create it so quickly. The stats were far above what nearly everyone else had on, let alone his old chainmail. He wasn’t crazy about the name Erhard gave it, but it fit with all the different monsters that it was made from.

Chimera Armor
defense up (medium), fire resistance (immunity), slash resistance (small), impact resistance (medium), magic resistance (medium), MP recovery (small), magic up (small), automatic self-repair.

“This is indeed good armor. The stats are good and the effects are as well. It’s worth every bronze coin I paid for it.” Dante told the blacksmith. If he’d thought about it earlier, he would have asked for lightning resistance too.

“Well, I’m not done yet.” Erhard scratched the back of his head and pulled two more items from behind his counter.

The first was a rod made from spellcobalt ore with lines of silver going up and down its length. It was about two feet in length and had enough weight to function as a mace if needed.

Spell-Strafe Rod
quality: good
special effects: magic up (medium), counter-spell up (medium)

Dante took the rod and handed it to Rifana. The woman looked up at him, slightly confused.

“You didn’t get anything new when we came here last.” Dante told her. “This certainly beats the wand you have now.”

“Thank you, Mister Dante!” She said, hugging him with the rod in her hand.

“Save your hug for the end.” Dante laughed. “There’s something else you might like.”

The final item in Erhard’s hands was a shield. It too was made out of spellcobalt. It was a round shield slightly bigger than his forearm and had a glossy blue shine to it. Dante made a copy of it before letting Erhard hand it over to Rifana. Seeing the difference in the copied shield versus the shield itself was strange.

Spellcobalt Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: magic resistance bonus (small)
equip effect: magic redirection

Round Spellcobalt Shield
quality: good
special effects: magic resistance up (small), partial spell deflection

 It seemed like his shield could redirect all magic, while the crafted shield was only for spells. The stats were similar for both, but the attack stat on his was almost nothing. His defense with the shield was decent, and the magic resistance was even higher than the Spellcobalt Ore Shield. It felt almost pointless since it said it could redirect magic, but he supposed he couldn’t defend from all sides at once. It wasn’t as if the Spellcobalt Ore Shield fully absorbed magical attacks either, and he was certain he only got a fraction of the MP they would have cost to use.

“Thank you so much.” She said happily, holding both items to her chest.

“It really isn’t that big of a deal…but, you’re welcome.” Dante rubbed the back of his head.

After that, Dante and Sadeena went to Beloukas’s tent to check on his progress. Of course, he had nothing more for them. They made sure he was offering good rates for the villagers and was asking the right questions. It was troubling, but they may have been sold outside of Melromarc already. As unlikely as that was, if that was the case, they’d have a harder time locating them.

Like everyone else they seemed to meet, Beloukas commented on Dante’s worsening appearance.

“Maybe I should just buy a pair of sunglasses or something. That should…” That statement caused Dante to remember another bit of information. He told Beloukas to keep an eye out for anyone selling a group of mole people, or lemo. He couldn’t remember when, but he was pretty sure slavers would find Imiya and her people somewhere in Melromarc before the wave with Glass. Of course, that slaver group may very well be the same one responsible for Lurolona, and three of them are already dead. Who knew if they’d do anything?

With another possible future event being looked into, the pair went on to the magic shop. They went with the pretense of needing more magic thread for some of the kids. It was technically true, too, as they’d need it eventually for Keel. And Rifana, if memory served.

Agatha told them the crystal she had was cracked, and using it any further would break it. Luckily, she knew about a place she could collect a new one instead of buying it, just like Dante assumed. He offered to take her there and collect the crystal, in exchange for making more magic thread. She heartily agreed.

~The Wrong Hero~

The cave was farther away than Dante realized. While Mirso village was a little over a day away, the alchemist’s temple—and Lerno village—took almost two days to reach. They were basically there at the end of the second day, but decided to camp out for the night and waited until morning to enter, when everyone was fresh.

The temple the alchemist had used was easy enough to spot, but the cave took a little searching. Once they found it, they decided who was going to go in.

“I don’t think we’ll have any problems here, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Dante said. “Still, some of the monsters here can be difficult to deal with. Agatha, do you know about them?”

“Yes, Shield Hero.” Agatha said, stepping forward. “The monsters here are known to use illusions on people. They’ll obscure your vision and make you hear terrible things from the people you want to hear them from the least. If you can see past the illusion, the monsters themselves aren’t very dangerous.”

Dante nodded at her explanation. “If any of you think you might be susceptible to this, please stay out here.”

With that, they decided on who was entering. It was Dante, Sadeena, Agatha, and Rifana. The rest would stay with the carriages. Dante was rather impressed with how many decided to stay outside. Or, more accurately, he was impressed with their self-reflection.

Dante and Sadeena had talked to Keel a bit about his outbursts before, so he knew something like this would affect him. Raphtalia, while no longer suffering from night terrors, still thought better than to test the cave. JoJo and Dio seemed to understand what kind of things they might hear, especially in Dante’s voice. Eclair wisely chose not take on her own demons yet, likely the mercenaries from Ronota.

Dante led the way, Torch Shield equipped and ready. He learned his lesson from the gators and upgraded it to +3 smelting level. The ores required were easy enough to come by, so it was no issue. He’d cast Faust Guard V on everyone, just to be safe.

They traveled through the cave for a short while before they came across a passage that was made of paved stones and climbed upwards. Dante figured this was the route to the alchemist’s temple, so they made a slight detour there.

“I thought the temple and the caves were connected, and it looks like I was right.” Dante told Agatha. “It might be worth looking into this place.”

“We should be careful.” Agatha warned. “An alchemist’s lair is nowhere to be lax.”

“Trust me, I’m fully aware.” Dante sighed.

The temple seemed to be a type of labyrinth. There weren’t any enemies to speak of, but they kept running into dead ends. Dante had started marking the ground with the correct way to get back to the original tunnels.

After about 10 minutes of walking around, and a healthy application of the right-hand rule, they were able to find the room. An ornate chest sat at the opposite end from where they entered. They made their way over to it.

Agatha read the inscription on the pillar next to the chest. “To whomever would break the seal on this seed, I pray it never again sees the light of day. It will grant the people’s desire to be free of starvation, twisting it in the worst possible way.”

“No need to worry about that.” Dante let a lock pick fall from his shield and began his work. “I know of a way to alter the seed and make it—oh.” The lock on the chest clicked seconds after Dante started. He reabsorbed the pick. “Huh. I thought that’d be more difficult.”

Agatha hummed as she looked over the inscription. “It said there’s a seal on the chest to prevent it from being opened. I didn’t realize you were a master locksmith.”

“I don’t think there was a seal.” Sadeena added. “I didn’t sense any magic from the chest.”

“What the…” Dante opened the chest. Inside…was nothing.

“It was taken?” Rifana asked. “Did some adventurers take it?”

“I have a good idea who it was.” Dante lamented. He thought he had more time, but he guessed wrong. Still, all that meant was they’d need to keep tabs on Lerno so the Bioplant didn’t get too crazy. With nothing left to do there, they left the room.

Midway to leaving, however, rocks fell from the ceiling. Before anyone could do anything, the rocks quickly clumped together. In the room stood a 10 foot tall golem. It seemed to growl at them as it brought up its fist.

Dante shifted to his Reinforced Iron Shield and met the attack. Upgraded or not, he had no reason to take a physical hit with his Torch Shield. Besides, Rifana carried a torch in her shield hand, so they wouldn’t be blind.

“Bring it down, quick!” Dante called. The three women in the group cast their spells.

“Faust Fire Shot!”

“Zweite Thunderbolt!”

“Zweite Fire Blast!”

The spells collided with the golem. Though he couldn’t see the monster’s HP, he could tell it wasn’t faring well. It tried to swipe at him again, but its strike was much weaker. Dante didn’t take any damage this time, not that he took much before. With another round of spells, the golem fell to the ground.

“That was unexpected.” Dante said as he looked over the golem. A stone embedded in one of the larger rocks glowed, so he let his shield absorb it, gaining a nice shield.

“You didn’t know?” Sadeena asked.

“I feel like I might have read about that, but I can’t say for certain.” Dante rubbed his chin. Was there a golem in that side story? It’s been too long, and I don’t think it was really relevant, so maybe I just forgot.

“Well, this has been exciting.” Agatha laughed softly. “Perhaps we should return to the cave?”

“Yeah. Sorry about all that.” Dante said in agreement.

A rumbling in the room put that idea on hold. The floor began to quiver before opening up, dropping everyone into it. They tumbled against the carved stones, separating as they went down what seemed to be stone slides.

“Dante!” Sadeena tried to reach out, but they were already too far apart.

“Everyone be careful and—” Dante tried to give his last bit of advice while they could still hear him, but he was certain the falling rocks drowned him out.

After sliding down for a bit, Dante landed roughly on the ground. The area around him was pitch black. He changed to his Torch Shield and looked around. There was only one path out, so that’s what he took.

Dante moved quickly through the tunnels. He didn’t want to stay separated from the others for too long. Even weak monsters can whittle them down over time.

“You were the worst friend I ever made.”

Dante paused at the voice. Smirking, he shook his head and continued on.

Yeah, sure I was, ‘Eddy’.

“I never should have reached out to you as a kid.”

Dante laughed at the poor attempt. He could still see down the path, so he continued on. He couldn’t see where the monsters were, though.

“You’re the reason we’re dead.” Next was the voice from his dreams. Dante didn’t even slow his pace. If he’d come here a few weeks ago, it would have been quite effective.

As he rounded a corner, he caught a glimpse of a rat-like creature before his vision began to darken.

“Fat lot of good that’ll do you.” Dante raised his hand. “I know magic too—”

“Why did you replace me?”

Dante’s voice hitched. That quiet voice…he didn’t want to hear that. He shook his head and tried to focus.

“…As the source of your power, I—”

“Didn’t you love me?”

“…I…I command you. Let the true way—”

“Why didn’t you protect me?”

“Let the…true way…”

“Why did you let me die?”

“Shut up!” Dante yelled down the tunnels. With only one hand, he couldn’t block out the voice.

“I hate you.”

“I SAID SHUT UP!”

Without a second thought, Dante ran through the caves. He had to get away. He couldn’t hear that voice anymore.

“Are we replacements, Papa?”

“I thought we were your kids, Dad.”

“Who could love a failure like you?”

In his panic, he slammed into a wall. He fell back on his ass, trying to get his bearings. The passage went off to the right from where he was.

“You should just die.”

Having had enough, he leveled his hand in the direction he came from. “As the source of you power, the Shield Hero commands you! Let the true way be revealed once more! Ignite my foes with deadly flames! All Faust Fire Shot V!”

Eight orbs of fire shot out from his extended hand. They spread through the cave like a shotgun, impacting all around.

“All Faust Fire Shot V! All Faust Fire Shot V!”

He cast his spell again and again, trying to hit what he couldn’t see. Eventually, the voices stopped and his vision cleared. The light from his Torch Shield spread throughout the cave. The lightly glowing remains of the charred rats and bats came into view.

Dante gasped for air, falling back on the ground. He stared blankly at the ceiling.

“That…was terrible.”

Knowing what was going to happen and experiencing it were two very different things, a concept that proved itself time and again. Still, the immediate threat was dealt with. Now, Dante had to find the others. He looked at his status.

“Sadeena!” He quickly got to his feet. Her HP was still very high, but it kept flashing. She must have taken damage from the fall, because he couldn’t even see the difference when it flashed.

He hurried along the path to find her. Rifana had all her HP and Agatha had most of hers, so he wasn’t too worried.

Dante rounded another corner, when—

“I don’t want to marry you at all. I just want you to protect my friends.”

“Shooting Star Shield V!” He brought up his barrier. What he thought would happen did. The darkness that threatened to consume his vision was kept outside the field, and no more voices entered his head.

If I hadn’t panicked before, I could have just done this.

He began to walk down the passage, only able to see a few feet in front of himself. As he walked, rats and bats began to bounce against his barrier. Some were repelled backwards while others got to the sides and passed through the openings between his barrier and the walls. If he didn’t need to find Sadeena, he’d take the time to burn them.

As if in answer to that thought, he found her. She quickly came into view, her harpoon thrusting towards him.

“Shit!” Dante adjusted this shield to intercept the hit, taking damage from its lower stats. “Sadeena!”

“Dante?!” She took a step back, her harpoon still at the ready. She looked around the inside of his Shooting Star Shield. “Is that really you?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” He extended his hand towards her. “What happ—”

In an instant, he was held in her arms. Her harpoon hit the floor with a clang.

“Dante…” He could hear the tears in her voice.

Dante held his hand against her back, rubbing it up and down. “You’re okay. You’re fine.” He said soothingly.

Sadeena shuddered against him. He couldn’t imagine what those things said to her to get her like this.

“We need to find the others.” Dante said, giving her a quick squeeze. “Rifana and Agatha are still lost down here.”

“…Alright.” She said hesitantly. She removed herself from him, but kept a hand on him. “I’m sorry.”

“Please. That wasn’t even close to the worst hit I’ve taken.”

“No.” Sadeena lightly shook her head. “I mean, yes, I’m sorry about that too. But…I need to keep holding you right now.”

“Oh.” Dante looked around. The bats and rats still surrounded them. They looked as if they might be trying to use their magic, but it wasn’t even close to strong enough to pierce his skill. Dante willed his shield to move a little on his forearm and grasped Sadeena’s hand. “Okay.”

“Thank you.” She picked up her harpoon with her free hand.

“Of course. Also, don’t apologize for needing this.” Dante gestured with their hands. “I was ready to flood this whole place with fire.”

Sadeena shook her head. “If I hadn’t panicked, I might have interfered with their magic.”

“If I hadn’t panicked, I would have used this skill from the start.” Dante started leading them through the cave. “We…should probably talk about what we heard after we’ve finished here.”

If a few words could hurt the both of them so much, they really needed to work themselves out.

They walked on, hand in hand, watching as the monsters harmlessly bounced off the barrier. Dante checked his status as they walked. Agatha now had her HP full again. Dante hadn’t thought to hand her a healing potion, so she must have cast healing on herself.

But, wait, she was down after my outburst. Wouldn’t she have cast it right away?

He heard a muffled voice in the darkness. It almost sounded like an incantation.

“Faust Revealing Light!” He heard the last words spoken. The darkness around them vanished. Past a small group of the monsters stood Rifana and Agatha.

“Mister Dante!” Rifana called out.

“Rifana! I’m glad you’re safe.” Dante returned. They continued walking, Sadeena letting go of him and moving to the edge of the barrier to kill the few rats that stood in their way. Once they were next to each other, Dante noticed it was Rifana’s rod that was glowing. “Did you cast that spell?”

“Yep!” She beamed at him. “You were always worried about being followed by hidden people, so I wanted to learn this spell next.”

“When did you find the time?” Most of it was spent instructing him on how to cast his spell.

“I learned it during the carriage ride here.” She said.

“That’s really impressive.” Dante said. “Your second spell, and a different affinity too. That is really good, right Agatha?”

“Third…” Rifana mumbled.

“I’m sorry, what?” Dante wanted to make sure he heard her right.

“It’s my third spell.” She said. “I learned another fire spell the other day. Faust Resist Fire.”

“You did? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It was the day you told Erhard how you wanted your armor. I had already started learning it after fighting Rolf and was close, but it still felt like a waste of time.” Rifana said, dejected.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Dante grabbed her attention. “You learned three spells in such a short time? Agatha, please tell her how amazing that is.”

“I didn’t think she’d learn one so fast, let alone three.” Agatha smiled. “That is incredibly fast. You might have found a prodigy, Shield Hero.”

Rifana blushed at her comment.

“More than that, she taught me a spell.” Dante piled on. “She’s incredibly gifted.”

She blushed even further. “P-Please, that’s enough.” She stammered. “Don’t we need to find the crystal?”

“Hah! Yes, we do.” Dante led them through the cave, his barrier staying strong.

After a few more minutes of walking, they found themselves in an area Agatha recognized. She took the lead after that and showed them to the cavern that was filled with crystals.

Dante noticed right away that there was no monster there. He was certain that something was there in the books, but perhaps it came later. Or, maybe it never would. Regardless, Dante used the pickaxe he brought with him to break off some of the crystals from the walls. He let his shield absorb some and had Agatha pick out one that would work for her, plus a few extras.

Once finished collecting, they left the cavern. Before they even made it outside, Dio and JoJo ran up to Dante the moment they came into view. They had been waiting at the entrance the moment they noticed everyone’s HP go down, and had thought about running in if it continued. Dio nearly bolted when Sadeena’s HP bar kept flashing.

Dante gave Rifana another couple potions, as she used one for herself and another for Agatha, and they set out. First thing they wanted to do was to check on Lerno. Agatha was fine with the detour, saying that a cursed seed shouldn’t be left alone.

As they traveled on, Dante thought of the voices he heard in his head.

I’ll fix what I broke.

~The Wrong Hero~

Dante trailed his hand along the railing as he climbed the stairs. He reached the second floor of the apartment building, finding the door he was looking for and knocking twice. After a few moments of waiting, he saw a shadow move over the peephole. The lock on the door was released and it opened.

Standing before Dante was a woman with long, blonde hair. Her eyes had a playfulness in them that was always nice to see. It was a treat to him when he visited, and he tried to do so often.

“Hey, Gloria.” Dante said.

“Dante.” She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, a smirk on her face. “Has it already been a month? I wasn’t expecting you here.”

“That’s part of the problem. Where’s Eddy?” He asked.

Gloria rolled her eyes. “Well, my husband—”

“Uh oh.”

“—left yesterday without telling me where he was going, only saying he would be back in a few days.”

“Typical.” Dante shook his head. “The smartest guy I know, and he can’t even remember to pick me up at the airport. I can’t guard his body during his escapades if he does stuff like this.”

“You’re telling me. I’m his wife.” Gloria nodded her head inside. “Well, you’re here. You better pay her a visit.”

“Like you need to tell me.” Dante stepped in around her. “Besides, I knew him since grade school. I think I know him a little better than you.”

“Yeah, keep falling back on that.” Gloria laughed. Before she could say anything else, quick footsteps could be heard down the hall. “Looks like she heard you.”

A moment later, a little girl came out of the hall. She looked up at them, a bright smile on her face. “Dante!”

“Huh?” Dante looked down at her. “Who’re you?”

The girl seemed confused, but undeterred. “I’m Mary!”

“What~?” Dante put his hands on his hips as Gloria closed the door behind him. “That can’t be. Mary is a little shorter than you, and she’s always wearing a hat. You can’t fool me.”

A look of realization appeared on Mary’s face. She ran down the hall again.

“No one would think you’re good with kids.” Gloria said, nudging his side as she passed him.

“Please, I’m a real people person.” Dante laughed.

“Biggest lie I ever heard. Coffee?”

“Please.”

Mary could be heard running back down the hall. When she came around again, she had a green knitted hat on her head. One side was taller than the other, and it had a face stitched on it. Red eyes with yellow eyebrows, nose, and mouth, and a smile on its face.

“Mary!” Dante exclaimed, opening his arms as she ran up to him. “There you are! There was a little girl who was pretending to be you, but she didn’t fool me!” He tickled her side, eliciting a squeal from her.

“Dante, that was me!” She cried out, trying to squirm away.

“It was?” Dante asked, easing off. “It’s just been so long, I didn’t recognize you. You have to tell me all about what you’ve been doing since last time.”

“Okay!” She said. Dante carried her over to the kitchen, Mary talking all the while.

Chapter Text

Chapter 20 – Handle with Care

The ride to the village wouldn’t take long. By carriage, it was maybe 30 minutes. Dante, however, wanted to resolve the issue from the caves as soon as possible. Under the premise of a quick hunting session, he, Sadeena, and Dio separated from the others. With a decent amount of distance between them and the carriages, he gave Dio a casting of Faust Guard V and let her go off while they talked. Dante used his Humming Shield to give them extra privacy, just in case any Q’ten Lo shadows escaped Sadeena’s detection.

“I can go first if you want me to.” Dante told her.

Sadeena held one arm to her side. “Could you?”

“Yeah…” He did want to get this out of the way, but he knew it wouldn’t be comfortable. “I…heard the voices of my dead family. I’ve told you a bit about them before. The first voice was Eddy’s, a man who was like a brother to me. Hearing his voice wasn’t difficult. Neither was the second voice, his wife, Gloria. I’d seen her in my nightmares constantly until our fight with Idol. But, after that…”

This was the part he really didn’t want to say. He knew Sadeena wouldn’t react badly to hearing it. He knew that. She didn’t think of him as a failure.

“…It was the voice of their daughter. Mary’s voice. She—”

Dante found himself wrapped in Sadeena’s arms.

“W-What?” He asked. It was rather sudden.

“You’re crying.” She said, rubbing his back.

Dante brought his hand to his eyes, feeling the fresh tears around them.

“You don’t have to continue.” She said. “I can—”

“No.” Dante pulled back, holding her arm. “I can finish.” He knew if he didn’t get this out, if he tried to keep this back, it would probably eat away at him. “I told you before that she was who I wanted to bring back. If no one else, it has to be her. Eddy and Gloria would never forgive me if I brought back one of them instead. Ideally, I want all three of them alive again.”

Dante took a deep breath before he continued. “There were some people I killed. Others in their group wanted revenge. They figured out where I would go, where I would lower my guard, and found a time to act.” Another deep breath. “There was an explosion, but the timing was wrong. I had already exited the building. Eddy and Mary were killed immediately. Gloria received severe burns, but died not long after. With her dying breath, she blamed me for it. She was right to do so.” Dante could feel the tears start again. “Mary was nine years old.”

Sadeena held him close. “I’m so sorry.”

Dante returned the hug. They stood there for several minutes, Dante just letting it out.

“Am I…” Dante tried to speak. “The kids…do I…”

Sadeena traced her hand up and down his back. “What is it? Ask me anything.”

Dante swallowed. “JoJo and Dio…I treat them well, right?” He asked. “I treat them like they were my own kids, right? Not like…they’re replacements?”

“That’s…” Sadeena pulled back to look at him. “Dante, one of the first things I saw you do after they transformed was comfort them. I heard the guilt in your voice over Dio’s scar.”

Dante’s eyes widened slightly before he gave a soft laugh. “You heard a lot of that, huh?”

“Just a little.” Sadeena smiled. “They were your kids long before I had them call you father. You all just didn’t realize it.”

“Hm.” Dante returned her smile. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Thanks.”

“I’m only telling you the truth.” Sadeena said. Her expression darkened as she let go. “I guess I need to tell you what I heard now.”

“Only if you want to.”

Sadeena shook her head. “I don’t. But, I need to.” She held his gaze. “Do you…think I’m a failure?”

“What? Of course not.” Dante held his hand to her face. She leaned into it. “Is that what you heard?”

She placed her hand over his. “From my father. I mean, Raphtalia’s…”

“I understand.” Dante remembered what she said at the grave marker.

“I’m not weak?”

He cocked his head to the side at that. “No. If anyone calls you weak, they won’t be thinking that for long.”

“Even though my level was so low when we met?” It was her turn for tears to threaten to break out. “If I was stronger, I could have killed Idol Rabier myself. I could have returned from hunting sooner to protect my village from the waves, from those slavers.”

“That wasn’t your…” He remembered. It was the first time she got mad at him. She thought he blamed her for her level being as low as it was.

Dante couldn’t remember all the specifics from the books, and the web novel was a little inconsistent regarding Sadeena. When she was in Zeltoble, he remembered her level was extremely high, possibly north of 90. Of course, that was something like four months after the first wave. Who knows how many of those levels she gained there?

However, if he considered what happened in the Reprise web novel, Sadeena would have been able to thrash the knights in the castle at the feast. That was a good reason to believe her level was always high.

There was only one real question to ask.

“It wasn’t your fault.” He said. “The waves happening wasn’t your fault. Those slaver bastards attacking your village wasn’t your fault. My arm wasn’t your fault.”

“I could have done something.” She argued. “I could have prepared better.”

Now was the time to ask. “How?” Dante ran his thumb across her cheek. “How do you think you could have done better?”

Sadeena shook her head. “You know how. I could have raised my level more.”

“Then…” Dante sighed. “I’m simply asking, not accusing. Why didn’t you?”

Sadeena kept his hand against her face, breathing slowly. “Because…my father wanted me to have a normal life.”

“I see…” They had talked a little about her life in Q’ten Lo before the three of them came to Melromarc. It was mostly bits and pieces, but basically what Dante remembered from the light novels. A condition for the three of them leaving was having their levels reset. Dante had assumed they leveled up a little before venturing out, but perhaps Sadeena didn’t. If Raphtalia’s father wanted her to have a normal life—or, in this case, have an actual childhood—then it would make sense for her level to remain lower. In that case, it would have stayed low until she reached adulthood.

She was offered a childhood, and she accepted. Sadeena confirmed his thoughts.

“Clearly, you aren’t to blame.” Dante told her. “Not that Raphtalia’s father is either. Hell, if all this wasn’t going on, I’d want Raphtalia, Rifana, and Keel to all have normal childhoods too.”

“But now, they can’t.” She said.

“No, they can’t.” Dante agreed. Apparently, an aged-up demi-human having their level reset did revert their age, but not entirely their mind. Sadeena described it as a haze of sorts. The Whip’s power up seemed to subvert that. “You aren’t weak. You’re likely the strongest in our group, including me, a hero. And you aren’t a failure. Raphtalia and Rifana are alive because of you.”

“Because of you.” Sadeena said. “I never would have found them if it wasn’t for you.”

“I couldn’t have gotten the girls without you.” Dante pointed out. “I had the knowledge, you had the power. And now, thanks to that power, they are both alive and well.” Dante pulled her to him, giving her a quick kiss. “You just need to accept that you aren’t weak or a failure.”

“I could have been stronger.”

“You could have.” Dante said. “And the wave could have happened somewhere else, or not at all. And now, you will be stronger. I’ll help you become the strongest non-hero in the world. Hell, you might become stronger than the vassal heroes. No one will be able to harm your family again.”

Sadeena nodded. “But you’re still crippled.”

“Eh.” Dante shrugged. “Could be worse. Could be a leg. Sure, I miss being able to do a bunch of things myself, but it’s only temporary.”

“What if it isn’t?” Sadeena asked, her voice gaining a worried tone. “What if you can’t regrow your arm?”

Dante smirked. “Well then, I guess you’ll just have to spend the rest of your life with me.”

Sadeena blinked. Then, she regained her usual smile. “So you do know how to flirt~.”

“I’ve done it once or twice.” Dante said, fighting the growing blush on his face. “So, are we good?”

“Almost.” Sadeena separated from him. “There’s just one more thing we need to discuss.”

“What’s that?”

“Rifana.” Sadeena stated. “I think we should reward her.”

“Hah!” Dante laughed. “For which thing? Learning three spells so quickly, or for being the most collected in our group during our cave searching?”

“She did handle herself quite well.” Sadeena said. “Raphtalia and Keel have been progressing with Eclair and me training them, and Rifana has participated in that as well. She seems to be doing everything she can to improve herself. We should make sure she knows how well she’s doing.”

“Don’t worry, I intend to.” Dante said. “I may even try getting her to slow down a little. Her growth is great, but I don’t want her to get reckless.”

Between learning those spells, teaching Dante, practicing melee combat, and dealing with everything else that happened to them, Dante wanted to make sure Rifana kept going strong. He wanted all of them to keep up their morale. Keel was an ongoing concern, but he at least seemed to stay calm now. Rewarding Rifana was likely to be the quickest he could resolve.

With their talk over, Dante pinged Dio and they all rejoined the others. Not long after, they arrived at Lerno village. However, they soon noticed a problem.

“This village is starving.” Eclair noted.

“How?” Dante gazed around.

It was strange. The seed was missing, but the village didn’t have it. The quest was still at the guild, but that was a few days ago. Dante figured they just missed Motoyasu’s party, and they could check on the progress of the bioplant when they arrived here.

“What should we do?” Raphtalia asked.

“There’s nothing for us to do.” Dante answered. “No seed, and we couldn’t take the quest. We should start searching for it.”

“What about the village?” Raphtalia continued.

“What about it?”

“We can’t just leave it like this.”

Dante sighed. “The quest should still be available in the capital. We should let whatever adventures take the quest handle it.”

“But we can do something to help.” Raphtalia said with conviction. “Isn’t that what a hero should do?”

“If I could do it without any of them spitting in my direction, that’d be one thing.”

“Have any of them done that?”

“…Fair point.” They had a look around the village, but no one seemed to mind them. It wasn’t as if Dante was advertising that he was the Shield Hero. He had his shield over his back as they walked, and he doubted anyone would look at a one-armed man and think he’s a hero, regardless of fancy armor.

“What about all the gator meat we have?” Rifana asked. “We could give some of that to them.”

“Those are our provisions, Rifana.” Dante pointed out. “Besides, that’s some really good tasting meat.”

“Yeah…” The way she said that made Dante think otherwise.

“You don’t like it?” He asked.

“It’s not bad, but…”

“Really?” Dante looked to his other party members. They all wore similar expressions, and it wasn’t positive. “Do none of you like it?”

They, in fact, did not. Apparently, the flavor was good, but the texture was terrible. Dante had cooked it several different ways, but it made little difference. They had it with other collected foods from the forests, plus a few things they bought in town. It was meat and good to have when they fought and leveled as much as they did, but that was it. The only two who did like it, besides Dante, were Dio and JoJo. Besides the fact that filolials basically ate anything, they liked the fact that they were eating monsters that tried to eat their father.

Dante sighed as he took another look around them. “Alright, I suppose there’s something I can do here.”

It was simple enough to come to an agreement with the village chief. In exchange for most of the indigo gator meat, the village would give them a small amount of coins and all the monster remains they had. It wasn’t anything edible, at least not directly. Bones, rotten meat, anything Dante knew his shield could absorb for shield reveals or power ups. Dante’s party took off as much of the scales as they could for crafting. The villagers were a bit concerned when they saw everything going in and out of his shield, but it wasn’t like they had room to complain about where their food came from.

After they finished exchanging goods, they set off for the capital once again. They needed to bring Agatha back and get their thread made. Keel would need it for when he learned to transform. Rifana too, as Dante recalled and Sadeena confirmed, as well as Raphtalia, though Dante didn’t remember that one. He recalled that Ruft had gained a therianthrope form, though that may have been from Raph-chan’s influence.

During their first night traveling back, Dante took Rifana aside.

“What would you like as a reward?”

“Huh?”

Dante wanted to cut to the chase. He figured asking her by herself would get the best answer out of her, so she didn’t feel like the others were judging her. Not that that was likely, given they were all friends.

“For your work in the cave, and for learning so many spells so quickly.” Dante informed her. “Plus, for teaching me a spell. You’ve done exceptionally well. I want to make sure you know that. We can tell everyone what you chose afterwards, if you want. I just wanted to hear it from you first.”

Rifana smiled. “That’s okay. I don’t need any reward.”

Dante shook his head. “I wasn’t asking what you needed, I’m asking what you wanted.”

“I already have everything I want.”

The conversation already wasn’t going how Dante wanted. “If I don’t somehow reward you, I feel like I’ll be setting a bad precedence. Someone who goes so far above and beyond like yourself needs to be recognized. I’m not accepting ‘no’ for an answer here.”

If he had to be a bit forceful here, so be it. Accomplishments needed to be recognized.

“Mister Dante,” Rifana said, “do you know how much you’ve done for me already? For all of us?”

“I’m know what I’ve done, but—”

“I don’t think you do.” Rifana adjusted the top of her robes, opening the front.

“What are you doing?” Dante turned his head to the side.

“I wanted to show you what I’m talking about.” She explained as she continued removing her robe.

“Rifana, I’m not going to watch you undress.”

“Look at me.” She said, standing before him. Dante could see out of the corner of his eye that she at least covered her breasts. “Consider it my reward. Please?”

Dante sighed. He slowly turned his face to her. His expression slowly changed from hesitancy to concern. “Rifana…”

He saw what she wanted to show him: her scars. The pair on her face had faded a little, and there were only a few around her wrists and hands, so he hadn’t thought much of them. But, all around her stomach, chest, and shoulders were numerous lines. Understanding what he was doing, Rifana turned to the side, allowing him to look her over and see dozens more scars on her back. Had she removed her lower clothes, he likely would have seen many more.

Damn it. That doctor said there wouldn’t be permanent injuries. Was it the leveling and growth? Or, did he not consider scars injuries?

“I’m sorry.” He told her.

“For what?” Rifana asked, turning to face him again.

“Your scars.” He said. “Maybe…I should have been the one to apply the healing salves. I had Sadeena do it because you were girls, but…maybe I could have prevented them.”

“I don’t mind them.” Rifana stood closer. “The wounds were given to me by a cruel man. But the reason they were able to become scars, the reason I’m still alive, is because the Shield Hero saved me.” She looked up into his eyes. “If you don’t like seeing the scars, I’ll take whatever healing you want me to.”

“Rifana…” The conversation turned so far from what Dante intended. “They’re scars. Your scars. Whether or not you want them removed is entirely up to you. If you do, I’ll do what I can to help, but you can’t possible think I’d want you to keep them. Even if I did, you shouldn’t listen to what I—”

His voice was cut off. Rifana had moved next to him and wrapped her arms around him. It was hard not to think about how her large chest was pressing into him. He already had Sadeena help him out of his armor for the night.

“Can I tell you a story?” She asked, the side of her head pressed into his chest. “There once was a girl who dreamed of marrying the Shield Hero. She lived in a peaceful village with her family and friends. One day, disaster struck. Monsters fell from the sky and killed so many of her friends. Her mother was killed by one of those monster. When it was over, the people who remained tried to rebuild.”

“Before they could, evil men and women of the kingdom attacked her village. Many of the adults were killed, including her father. The women and children were sold into slavery. The girl and her best friend were sold to an especially cruel man who would torture his slaves every night. The friend tried to keep up hope, but the girl…had already given up.”

“One night, it was the girl’s turn to be tortured. She had seen how the cruel man did it. On the first night, he would beat his slave extra hard. On the second, he would force that slave to eat another demi-human with him, and then kill the slave after. After she was beaten, she knew the end was near. Even the girl’s friend had lost hope. The friend lied on top of the girl the moment she was returned to her cell, hoping she could protect the girl.”

“Then, the second night came. The girl was tired. She was in pain. She could barely focus. She wanted it all to stop. The friend was still holding her, but she’d fallen asleep. The girl didn’t want to leave her friend, but she knew it was over. Once the cruel man opened the door, the girl knew she would be forced to eat someone, be killed, and then her friend would be tortured.”

“The door to the dungeon opened. The friend cried out and clung to the girl. But, instead of hearing the cruel man’s laugh, she heard a gentle voice. I’m the Shield Hero. I’m here to rescue you. The friend held the girl up and she drank what the Shield Hero gave her. When the girl opened her eyes, she saw the kind face of the Shield Hero. He glowed like a light in the dark dungeon, a shining, golden filolial behind him. He picked up the girl and placed her on his filolial, with her friend joining her. They were reunited with their friends from the village, and the girl knew she would be safe from then on.”

Dante stood still, listening to Rifana finish her story. It was a little different from what he imagined. But, so was her interpretation of events. “Rifana…you think a little too highly of me.”

She squeezed him tighter. “You’re the man who saved my life. How could I think less of you?”

“Because I nearly left you and Raphtalia to your fates.” Dante admitted. “With my knowledge…I knew Idol was strong. I wasn’t sure if Sadeena and I would survive a fight with him. We almost didn’t. I almost let Sadeena go off on her own to get killed.”

“But you didn’t.” Rifana refuted. “You, Sadeena, and Dio fought Idol to save us. If anything, I still have to thank you and Dio. You both got badly injured.”

“Dio’s scar is…fading.” Dante said. That injury he had been treating himself. “If anything, she thinks I’m too worried about her while I’m still missing an arm. That, of course, will be fixed eventually too.”

“Still, I—”

“Didn’t I once tell you and Raphtalia not to worry about that?” Dante was certain that came up once before.

“…Okay.” Rifana leaned back slightly to look up at Dante. He turned his head to the side, not forgetting the situation they were both in.

“Good. Now then, get dressed.” Dante said. “If you’re truly satisfied with your reward, then we can move on. Just, you know, maybe don’t mention this to the others?” Sadeena would have a field day with her teasing, and he felt Raphtalia may join in too. She seemed pretty invested in him getting with Rifana.

“Before that…” Rifana moved her hands to Dante’s face, turning it to have him look down at her. “Would you hug me?”

Dante gaped at her request. “I…like this?”

“Mm.” She nodded.

“This is a bit much, don’t you think?”

“Is it more than what you did with Sadeena before?” She asked. “She had kiss marks all around her neck and going down—”

“Okay, I get it!” There would be no winning this discussion for him. “I assume this will be part of your reward, yeah?”

She smiled up at him. “Yes!”

“Alright…” He brought his arm around her, earning a shiver as his hand moved across her back and held her close. She let out a tiny squeal as her arms wrapped around his neck.

I was making this out to be worse than it is. It’s just a hug, after all. Besides, it’s not like she’s a child anymore. I wonder if Keel is jealous, since he still looks 16, while both of his friends look older.

“Hey, Mister Dante?” Rifana brought him out of his musings.

“Yes?”

“Can I…be a bit more selfish?”

“How so?”

“I…can you…um…” She barely spoke above a whisper.

“What is it?”

“…”

Dante couldn’t hear what she said at all. It was mostly mumbling. However, given the situation, he had a pretty good idea what it was. He brought his hand from her back to the left side of her face. He tilted her head back so he could clearly see her face. Her cheeks were flushed from her trying to speak her request. Dante smiled, leaned down…

And kissed her on her forehead.

He gave her a grin as he pulled back up. “Next time, say what you want properly, otherwise I might misunderstand your—”

Rifana instantly slumped down, barely held up by Dante’s quick movement. Her eyes basically swirled as he set her down.

“Rifana? You okay?” He asked the weasel girl.

“I…uh…” She couldn’t even talk right.

“Well, I guess you’ve been properly rewarded now.” Dante said. He picked up the robe from the ground and draped it over her. He made sure she was covered up. “So, uh, maybe don’t mention this to—”

“Oh my~!” He heard the voice he didn’t want to right now. He looked over his shoulder and found Sadeena standing there, her hand barely covering her massive grin.

“Uh…” Like a deer caught in headlights, Dante didn’t know what to do. Unfortunately, Sadeena did. She immediately turned around and started running back to camp.

“Hey, everyone~!” She called as she ran. “Guess what Dante just did~!”

“Are you a fucking child?!” Dante yelled as he chased after her.

~The Wrong Hero~

The rest of the night and the next day went about how Dante expected it would. Raphtalia congratulated her friend on her progressing relationship, while turning around to tease Dante about it. Everyone but the filolials got in on it. Even Agatha and Eclair chimed in. The old witch found the whole thing amusing.

While they weren’t teasing Dante, he had Sadeena, Eclair, and Agatha look over the map with him. If the bioplant seed was out there somewhere, his party needed to find it. However, they couldn’t devote all their time to it. He had the three of them mark every village location they could think of. There were…a lot. Of course, being a medieval-esque world, there would be many farming villages. The most Dante could figure was there was some hidden quest Motoyasu knew of for the seed. Of course, that was assuming he was the one who found it. For all Dante knew, that seed had been gone for years.

Still, they could search for it a little while they leveled. Dante still had the areas the other three heroes told him about. He had them marked on the map as well. They could travel around to those areas, grind XP, and search for the seed nearby. For the places away from monster hunting areas…well, hopefully the seed wasn’t there.

Once they made it back to the capital, Dante had the former demi-human kids spin their thread. They could take it to Ann to make clothes for them. Sadeena had been teaching Keel how to transform, and she knew he was close. Of course, they’d leave the clothes there for a bit to continue grinding.

They stopped by the slaver trader’s tent again. Of course, there was still no news. They could expand to other slave merchants, but Dante didn’t know where to find them, and Beloukas wasn’t about to help his competition.

After that, it was time for Dante to do what he probably should have done earlier.

“You must be the Shield Hero, correct?” A nun at the church said.

“That’s right. I’m here to register with the hourglass.” Dante replied. He and Sadeena went to the church. He figured he should have an accurate time until the next wave, just in case they accidentally missed it.

The nun didn’t seem too pleased as she looked him over, but she did smirk when she saw his missing arm. “Right this way.” The nun said with little emotion in her voice.

She led them deeper into the church until they were before the giant hourglass. It was over 20 feet tall and looked about as gaudy as Dante imagined it would. He held his shield up to the hourglass and a beam of light went into his shield. Then, a clock with a timer appeared in his vision.

15:01:23

From what Dante could tell, it looked like the wave would be a little after noon when it arrived in 15 days. Plenty of time to level up an acceptable amount. There was only one thing left to do here.

“Excuse me.” He said, adjusting his footing as he looked to the nun. “I understand the dragon hourglass has other uses besides predicting the waves.”

“…What did you hear?” The nun asked. She clearly didn’t want to say anything that Dante didn’t already know.

“That people can get something called a class up once they reach a certain level.” Dante told her.

“Ah, yes, that’s right.” The nun hummed. “You can get a class up as early as level 30.”

“I see.” Dante nodded. “Is there some sort of limit to the class up?”

“You won’t be able to level up past 40 unless you receive a class up.” The nun said. “Some adventurers like to class up as early as possible so they can continue to grow without interruption.”

“That’s good to know.” Dante said. Of course, he already knew that getting a class up earlier would stunt your growth, as confirmed by Sadeena. “And, if we wanted to have that done, how would we go about it?”

“Your…companion is level 30?” She asked, clearly not happy about it.

“Oh, no, not at all.” Dante said, lying through his teeth. “We still have quite a ways to go.”

“I see.” The nun seemed to look around a moment, as if searching for an answer. “The class up ceremony will cost 15 gold coins.”

“That much?” Dante asked. “Even though I’m a hero?”

“I’m afraid so, even for a hero.” Dante could hear the obvious tone shift when the nun said that.

“I see.” Dante felt a light pinch near the bottom of his leg. “In that case, we’ll be off. Thank you for your time.”

The pair left the church, their task there complete. He gave a small amount of information to the church, but he found it acceptable. After all, what was a demi-human or two going to accomplish? That was, of course, assuming they were completely inept and didn’t receive word about any of his other companions.

After passing a few buildings, Dante and Sadeena went into an alley. There, Raphtalia was waiting for them.

“How did it go?” She asked the pair.

“See for yourself.” Dante said, adjusting the armor on his legs. A soft ‘plop’ sounded. With a wave of Raphtalia’s hand, her spell was dismissed. Dio stood there in her chick form.

“Chirp!” Dio flapped her tiny wings before she transformed into her child form.

“Well?” Dante looked down at her. “Did you get it?”

“Yep!” Dio beamed, producing a small bag for Dante. He knelt down next to her and she poured the contents into his shield.

Dragon Hourglass Sand Shield (LV locked)
(abilities locked) equip bonus: skill “Portal Shield”

Dante smiled. “Good work, Dio.” He gave the girl a head rub, which she greatly appreciated.

“You know, I could have done that too.” Raphtalia said.

“Too risky.” Dante rose from the ground. “You’d make more noise that a filolial chick. Besides, if they happened to have something to dispel invisibility, at least Dio is small. Even if they saw her, what are they going to do about a baby filolial? A demi-human, on the other hand…”

“Right.” Raphtalia nodded.

“So, what’s left?” Sadeena asked.

“Once the others have finished making their thread and we place our order with Ann, we head out. We can stock up a bit in the meantime.” Dante said.

They had more time before the wave than Dante realized, and not many tasks remaining. All that was truly left was finding out where that seed went. Besides that, they would continue to train. Gaining levels, learning spells, practicing combat formations and maneuvers, whatever they needed to prepare for the waves, and whatever anyone else could throw at them.

Oh, and searching for a certain martial artist. If Dante’s time in this country was limited, which it may very well be, he’d need to find that Hengen-something master and help her out. He couldn’t very well hope to find her son, or grandson, randomly running down the road.

That was assuming, of course, she was actually here, and not something else that was different. But, if they were looking around for the seed, they may as well search for that old woman. The more advantages they could get, the better.

Chapter Text

The next phase of the plan was pretty simple. While waiting for Ann to make the clothes for the demi-humans, the party would again travel to Lurolona. This time, they would keep more leveled up party members on land. Sadeena, Dio, and JoJo would go into the sea. Sadeena would scout out a monster, then guide Dio and JoJo to assist with the kill.

With more studying, and a good amount of help from a wise witch, Dante was able to decipher part of the support spell tome, gaining a greater understanding of Faust Guard. With that, he was able to cut down the MP cost and increase the power and duration of the spell, as well as gain the All variation of it.

There was a quirk he noticed when he learned Faust Fire Shot. While the Claw seemed to increase the proficiency of the spell if it was cast normally or as an All version, the Staff treated them separately. Due to his level, he was able to keep three spells at the V level, so he simply moved the points from the standard Faust Guard to the All variant.

Something else he noticed was that the All variant could actually cost more MP than casting the spell repeatedly. It wasn’t so strange, if he thought about it. It was a balance between power, time, and MP. For All Faust Guard, he could target all three of them, spreading it evenly at one-third power and it would cost about the same MP if he cast it full power on one of them. Or, he could target all three at full power, cutting the total casting time by a third than if casting it repeatedly, while more than tripling the MP cost.

Of course, this wasn’t a huge concern for Dante at the moment. If his plan for spellcasting worked like it should, he’d only be casting once at the start of combat. Still, it was good to know. He cast All Faust Guard V on the trio of sea hunters and sent them on their way. Of course, he always had food prepared for them whenever they returned, and alcohol for Sadeena.

On land, the remaining five would spend more time practice fighting with each other, like they did while they traveled. Sometimes it would be the demi-humans against Dante while Eclair watched their forms. Sometimes it would be running through combat maneuvers. Sometimes they practiced their teamwork. And sometimes, they would practice combining spells with hero skills.

“Faust Fire Blast!”

“Combo Skill, Shield Explosion!”

The flames from Rifana’s hand quickly enveloped the shields that formed around the giant crab on the beach. The glowing orange shields pulsed for a few seconds, red cracks spreading from the center. Then, a small, fiery explosion shattered the shields and sent the remains out about a dozen feet in all directions. The crab was reduced to ash.

“Wow…” Rifana looked at the result of their combination with a sense of amazement, and slight fear.

“That was pretty violent.” Raphtalia said, looking over what was left of the monster.

“When can I do stuff like that?” Keel asked, eyes sparkling.

“I’m not sure what kind of combo skills are available with water or beast spells.” Dante said. “They probably won’t be as flashy, especially when paired with my shield, so don’t get your hopes up.”

Needless to say, their time spent near Lurolona was well used.

It wasn’t all directly related to combat and levels, however. Eclair had some very specific training in mind.

“You want me to what?” Dante had to make sure he heard her right.

“I want you to hug me, Sir MacRory.” Eclair said.

“Would you care to explain?”

She was pretty straightforward in her reasoning. Whenever she interacted with men, she didn’t handle it well. She’d mostly gotten used to Dante, but she found herself acting too defensively with other men. If they found themselves in a situation where they were surrounded my men—something that seemed all too likely, given Dante’s predictions and track record—then she needed to prepare herself.

Therefore, getting over her trauma was paramount.

“It’s not like I don’t understand, but are you sure this is how you want to go about it?” Dante asked.

“I must be able to act when around men, especially with the wave approaching.” She reasoned.

“Well, I did promise to help however I can.” Dante accepted her request.

The first time they tried it, however, didn’t go well. Eclair couldn’t move closer to Dante, and she continued to back away at his approach. She suggested he come at her from behind. When he did, he managed to wrap his arm around her stomach. Immediately after, she did everything in her power to remove him. Elbowing, headbutting, she even tried to bite him, not that any of it would work. He did end up releasing her, much to her relief and annoyance. They would continue to try many times throughout their stay.

Dante asked if she should start with JoJo or Keel, but she declined, saying Dante would be a stronger hurdle for combating her trauma. He wasn’t particularly offended by that. Ignoring all he did before coming to this world, she did witness him devouring numerous people with his shield.

Sadeena asked why he would agree to something that looked like it might worsen her condition.

“Of course it’s a bad idea.” He told her. “But, it’s a bad idea that I would have come up with, so of course I’ll help her with it.” It was similar to his own issue with his missing limb, though it was under entirely different circumstances.

They spent three days there. They trained, earned XP, lowered their levels, and earned it again. On the morning of the fourth day, they traveled back to the capital. They would complete a few tasks there, then be off to search for the seed and old martial artist.

They first went to Erhard’s. With a new surplus of monster materials, they could get some nice things made. Sure, they would have a bit of a nautical theme, but that was fine. Some of the item drops were pretty good, so they only needed to get things they were lacking. Really, they were only there for estimates, given that Ann was making clothes for them. Once the others learned to transform and got their measurements , they could get outfitted.

However, the moment Dante entered the shop, an issue presented itself.

“Hey, Erhard!” Dante called to the man.

Instead of being greeted back, Erhard stepped from behind his counter and started shooing Dante and the others. “Get out.” He said.

“Huh?” Dante watched as the blacksmith approached. “What are—”

“Out!” He yelled, pushing Dante. With his defense and strength, even Erhard would have some trouble, but Dante let himself get handled anyway. Once they were out of his shop, Erhard held his shoulder for a moment. “Sorry…” Was all he said before he went back inside.

Dante looked between Raphtalia, Keel, and Eclair. It was a bit strange.

Soon after, they found that others would turn them away as well.

“I can’t buy from you.” Simmond the apothecary told him.

“Sorry, dearie, I can’t provide you any services.” Agatha said.

As they walked around town, they found that none of the shops or vendors would deal with them, whether or not Dante was present.

Well, some people finally got their heads out of their asses and started messing with us. Seems like everyone here knows our faces and descriptions.

The only silver lining was that, while they didn’t serve her, no one tried to apprehend Eclair. It seemed they only knew what the Shield Hero’s armored companion wore, not who was underneath the armor.

When they came to the tailor’s shop, Ann was working on another piece. She looked up as Dante entered, fear clearly present on her face. “You can’t be here!” She quickly said.

“I see.” Dante nodded and turned to leave. Quick footsteps had him glance behind himself.

“After sunset.” Ann whispered. “Knock at the back door.”

Dante nodded again and left the building. He was glad she would at least give them what was already paid for.

With no more reason to stay separated, Dante’s whole party traveled down the road with the carriages. They stopped at the alley that led to the slaver’s tent. Dante hopped off and went in with Sadeena, leaving the others to guard the carriages.

When they entered the tent, they saw Beloukas, still with his signature grin.

“Ah, Sir Shield Hero! It’s good to see you.” The man said, rubbing his hands together.

“Well, at least someone’s happy we’re here.” Dante sighed. “What the hell happened? We were gone for three days.”

“Why, whatever do you mean?” The slave trader asked, still grinning.

Dante groaned and pulled off his pack. He pulled a silver coin out and tossed it to the slave dealer, who grinned even further.

Beloukas pocketed the coin. “It appears that many knights went around warning various shop owners not to conduct any business with the Shield Hero. A rapist shouldn’t be allowed to live decently, or so they say.”

“Three heroes knights or castle knights?” Dante asked.

“I wouldn’t speculate to their religion, but they all wore Melromarc’s sigil, yes sir.”

Dante thought about that, though he didn’t need to think too deeply. This happened after I went to the church and talked to that nun. No way that’s not connected.

“I suppose you received this warning as well?” Dante asked the businessman before him.

“Why, of course.” Beloukas continued to grin. “But, I have little to fear. After all, my business has many patrons, including those with a fair amount of influence in the affairs of the crown.”

“Good.” Dante nodded. “Glad all that’s cleared up. While I’m here…”

Sadly, Beloukas shook his head.

“I see.”

“Are there truly no more details you can provide for the search?” Beloukas asked.

“None, but I might change that soon.” They already gave as many details about the villagers as they could. Names, races, descriptions, nothing seemed to help. The only slaver they knew who could say for certain where the villagers were sold was already dead. Of course, they had other slavers and knights they could…forcefully question. Maybe they’d pay one of those people a visit.

Or, maybe not. With people on higher alert for Dante and his party, problems arising in town might lead back to them. Knights start getting picked off and vanishing, a few clever people might wonder if Idol’s disappearance is related.

“Then I look forward to hearing from you.” Beloukas said.

With their discussions over, Dante and Sadeena returned to the carriages.

With a lot of time to spare, they went to the demi-human inn to hopefully meet with the emissaries. When Dante and Sadeena entered, they were met with worried glances from the staff. The bartender, however, waved them over. He was also the innkeeper that went to check on them when Raphtalia had her night terrors. He was also a seven foot tall bear therianthrope. If Dante had to guess, he also functioned as a bouncer of sorts.

“Seems you’re in a bit of trouble.” The bear man said.

“You could say that.” Dante nodded at his words. “We don’t want to cause you any trouble. There should be a few travelers here. A male hakuko, a female cat demi-human, and a female dog demi-human. If you could tell them to meet us at—”

“No.” The barkeep said. Before Dante could say anything, the man jabbed his thumb to the stairs. “Third door on the right.”

Dante looked to the stairs before turning back. “Is that okay?”

The bear man placed his hand/paws on the counter. “Son, I’ve had to deal with a lot of things in this country. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let some humans in metal suits tell me who I can and cannot serve.”

Dante gave a short nod at the man’s words and headed to the stairs with Sadeena. “We’ll try to keep it short.” He said.

Once on the second floor, Dante knocked on the emissaries’ door. The hakuko, Tahrin, greeted them.

“Lord Shield!” The man sounded ecstatic to see him.

“Tahrin. Daila, Nero.” Dante greeted him and his companions. “Seems I’ve caused a bit of a stir in town.”

“This is all that Melromarc vixen’s doing!” Tahrin proclaimed.

“You think the princess did this?” Dante asked. That wasn’t necessarily the vibes he was getting. He knew the church wanted to pin things on Malty, but they weren’t doing that good of a job. He was confident that was the plan, seeing how he got that information from a knight he had tortured. Well, that also depended on what exactly that knight knew.

“No, Lord Shield, it’s the queen!” Tahrin clarified.

“Ah.” Dante understood. They probably would see it that way. Her country did hoard all the heroes and started discriminating against their enemy’s god almost immediately.

“Please, Lord Shield,” Daila cut in, “allow us to take you to Siltvelt.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m still looking for the villagers from Lurolona.” Dante reasoned.

“Please reconsider.” Nero said. “There are lords in Melromarc that have good relations with Siltvelt. Let us contact one of them. Perhaps they can take over the search.”

“That’s not such a good idea.” Dante had thought of that before. The only lord he knew of that cared at all about demi-humans was Reichnott. Even then, Reichnott didn’t seem particularly wealthy, at least for a lord. “Would any of them actually be able to keep them safe? Most of the survivors are children.”

“Forgive me, Lord Shield, but where would you have them stay?” Tahrin asked. It was a fair question. After all, he was going to have them stay on Reichnott’s lands for a while. The lord had agreed to it before they left. Dante would make sure to check in to make sure everything was fine. It all depended on his teleport skill.

This, among other reasons, was why Dante wasn’t a diplomat: he couldn’t always think of the right thing to say.

“Well, there’s no real point in worrying about that now.” Dante tried another approach. “We haven’t found any, aside from the initial three.”

“All the more reason to leave this country and expand your search.” Tahrin said.

I can see why he’s leading the negotiations. The man’s quick with his words.

“Even if I wanted to leave, there’s a problem.” Dante said. “I’ve recently registered with Melromarc’s hourglass. When the wave comes, I’ll be teleported to the wave with my party.” He verified that with his help menu. Dante had a look at the map with Sadeena and Eclair before. They might be able to reach Siltvelt before Melromarc’s wave, but that would be without any real leveling. Assuming they got past the boarder wall without conflict—which was highly unlikely—Dante wouldn’t realistically be able to get back to Siltvelt again until their wave pulled them there, whenever that was.

At least, not without meeting the level requirement for Portal Shield first. Something he couldn’t do without hunting. Registering at a new hourglass may override the old one, but his help menu didn’t say, and he could only really recall that happening in the web novel. It was shaky information at best.

“Once Melromarc’s wave passes, I’ll be in a better position to leave. I’ll have abilities that let me travel quickly to where I’ve been.” Once he could use the Teleport Shield skill, he would come and go as he pleased. He couldn’t remember if the carriages could be teleported too, but that was an issue for later.

“If you think that’s best, Lord Shield, we won’t argue any further.” Tahrin gave him a short bow.

“Good.” Dante didn’t really have any other arguments he could make at the moment, aside from simply refusing. “With that said, I don’t want you three coming back to the city.”

“What?” Tahrin had concern clearly written on his face.

“Things are getting a bit more serious here.” Dante reasoned. “Regardless of who’s doing this, associating with the Shield Hero is clearly dangerous. I don’t want you three getting yourselves arrested—or, more likely, killed—because someone gets wise to what you’re here for.”

So far, Dante’s party didn’t have to deal with assassins from the church or anyone with any real power. Idol was the exception. The mercenaries from Ronota were still a bit of a mystery, but they were entirely incompetent. Things could change, but Dante wasn’t worried, considering all the leveling they were doing. The item drops also helped quite a bit.

Tahrin sighed. “If that is your wish, Lord Shield, then we shall stay away.”

“Thank you for understanding.” Dante said. “The wave is in 12 days. I’d be fine with meeting with you all then.”

They finished their discussions and Dante and Sadeena left the group.

They returned to the party to plan things out.

“What do you all think?” Dante asked everyone. They met in the least packed carriage to plan, with Dio and JoJo still attached to the carriages in their average filolial forms. Of course, his Humming Shield was equipped to silence their talks.

“Seems like there’s no point in returning to the capital.” Eclair said, shaking her head.

“Well, we still need to find that seed, right?” Raphtalia asked. “That will probably take a while anyway.”

“Searching around is a given.” Dante said. “I believe we’re more than ready for the wave. My concern is what comes after.”

“What are we looking at?” Sadeena asked. Dante knew what she meant, and figured he should divulge a bit more.

“From the knowledge I have, looking too powerful to the church causes problems.” Dante said. “I thought they were keeping better tabs on me, but I suppose they weren’t. That nun seemed surprised to see Sadeena.”

“We did wear cloaks almost everywhere we went.” Sadeena pointed out.

“Still.” The amount of time it took for the guards to recognize his face was one thing, but how did the church not have better information?

Did they really just learn about me having a companion? The fuck are those church shadows doing? What’s anyone doing? Or was it because I just committed to the wave? Or was it the armor I had on? Was it really that good looking?

He was starting to regret wearing that armor as much as he did. It could very well be that the church shadows were busy fighting the queen’s shadows in secret, but Dante had no way to verify. It’s not like Sadeena was sensing them, and she was quite confident she could. The Q’ten Lo shadows were getting easier to spot for her.

“Well, I can’t see us staying in Melromarc after the wave.” Dante said. “We’ll need to find a way to get to Siltvelt in secret, or at least in a way the church won’t notice right away. I’m thinking we go through another country and take a longer path. We can get another hourglass that way.”

Of course, that other country was going to be Zeltoble. The only other hourglass country in the somewhat general direction of Siltvelt that wasn’t beyond it was Faubrey, and that would be a terrible idea.

They continued trading ideas on what to do for a bit before leaving the capital. They kept a decent distance from the city to train and level until the sun began to set. Dante went back into town before they could close the gates for the night. He left his eye-catching armor with the party and had Dio in her chick form under his cloak as he made his way to the tailor’s shop.

With the sun down and less traffic on the streets, he went to the back door and gave it a knock. Ann greeted him and quickly let him in.

“I’m sorry about all this.” She apologized. “Guards came around the other day and—”

“It’s alright.” Dante said. “I got the gist of it. Vague threats if you dealt with me, right?”

“Yeah…” Ann said. “Still, it’s not right to treat a hero this way.”

“A hero accused and convicted of rape.” Dante pointed out. “I’ll be honest, it’s a bit strange for you to ask such a man to come to your shop at night.”

“Well, it’s not as if I couldn’t scream for help.” She said, guiding him to the adjacent room.

“I’m pretty sure not having the chance to do so is what allows rapes to happen.” Dante quipped.

“And, you don’t seem the type.” She said, grabbing a bag. “I’d like to think I’m a pretty good judge of character.”

Dante accepted the bag. “You’re a strange lady, but you have good insight.” He looked inside and found the three sets of clothing. “You’re sure these will work, right?” He asked.

“Of course!” Ann said proudly. “Even if I don’t know exactly what their forms will be, the magic thread will help compensate for it. The clothes for the dog boy and weasel woman will shrink to fit them, and the clothes for the raccoon woman should be able to adjust to her new form.”

“Excellent.” Dante wondered if Keel would be annoyed for being referred to as a boy and not a man. For Raphtalia’s clothes, Dante wasn’t sure what her therianthrope form would look like. It was possibly like Ruft’s, possibly like Raph-chan, or maybe like the other two. He was pretty sure Rifana’s form would be around the same size as Keel’s.

“Are you staying in the city?” Ann asked. “I don’t know where it would safe for you.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” Dante pulled the string on the bag, closing it. He slung it over his shoulder. “We’ll be just fine.”

“Cheep!” Dio agreed, peeking from beneath his cloak.

“Well, safe travels, Dante.” She bid him farewell.

Dante left the shop and made his way down the streets. With the sun fully below the horizon, the night provided the perfect cover to leave the city. He’d thought about maybe using the sewers to escape, but that would probably be more trouble than it was worth.

Instead, he approached an unobserved part of the city wall and let Dio off. She transformed into her average filolial form and Dante climbed on, shifting his shield to another form. She steadied herself and took off running towards the wall. Once close enough, she leapt to the air and Dante activated his shield’s ability.

Levitate.

It was the Cacodemon Shield he received from a very strange nostalgia trip. He played with this shield, as well as a number of others he received in their travels, and understood how it worked. At first, he thought it would allow him to slowly fly through the air, or at least let him move around. Instead, once activated, it would allow him to hang in the air, moving neither up nor down. He could still move around, provided was moving beforehand or he had a surface to move off of, but not on his own. He could climb a flat surface, provided he could brace himself in a corner, or use a pick to pull himself up slowly. He could also stop his decent in a fall, if he was able to change to the shield fast enough.

All in all, it was a shield with a very limited ability. That was probably why it was actually called levitate (minor).

For the task at hand, it was more than enough. Dio was able to jump to quite the height before the shield’s ability finally slowed their ascent. Once above the wall, Dante allowed their forward momentum to keep them going until they passed over it completely. He deactivated it to quickly descend and activated it again once they neared the ground, and then stopped it entirely. They made it out with no sign of gaining attention and continued on.

“Good job, Dio.” Dante scratched the side of her neck.

Dio transformed into her queen form mid-stride. “Thanks, Papa!” She said happily.

They made it back to the others some distance from the capital, camp already made for the night. Dante handed out the clothes to the three demi-humans. They made sure their designs could all be used with their current armor.

Keel’s was similar to how he had his clothes before growing. An open collar white shirt with exposed midriff, and shorts that went just below his knees. JoJo was quite happy they still matched. When he was told what his therianthrope form would likely be, he did what Dante half expected and wanted it to transform into a loincloth. Dio wasn’t the only one who wanted to emulate Sadeena, and who could blame them?

Raphtalia seemed fond of the colors and style of the clothes Dante first got for her, because her clothes looked pretty similar to those. It was a red and brown tunic with a slightly lighter brown undershirt. The skirt part, however, went farther down, a little above her knees. Her transformed clothes would basically be the same as they are now.

Rifana surprised Dante a little, and almost made him groan. Her clothes consisted of a dark blue shirt with a matching skirt. The shoulders were left exposed while the sleeves went all the way to her wrists. The bottom of the shirt reached mid-stomach, while the skirt went down just above her knees. The shirt also clung to her chest a bit, and combined with the exposed shoulders left a fair amount of cleavage showing. She did also have a hat similar to Agatha’s, adding a nice touch to it, as well as a short, hoodless black cloak.

“W-What do you think, Mister Dante?” Rifana asked. She was clearly embarrassed wearing it. Keel and Raphtalia were a bit embarrassed looking at her, Eclair even more so. Sadeena kept on smiling like she always did, but it was clear she was highly amused. On the plus side, neither Dio nor JoJo seemed to react much.

Dante didn’t think she thought out her outfit through enough, or maybe the tailor misunderstood something. Whatever the case, he wasn’t about to make it worse. “It looks good on you.” He said with a smile.

That perked Rifana right up. “Really?” She asked ecstatically.

“Yes, it’s very cute.” Dante told her. Her blush grew, but so did her smile.

After trying on their clothes, they turned in for the night, taking their shifts like normal.

~The Wrong Hero~

The next several days saw them falling into a decent pattern. Like Naofumi had, Dante opted to sell medicine as they traveled for the time being. It was a decent way to earn money, which they should still do, and it allowed Dante to use up his otherwise useless supply. The merchant pass Eclair got them worked without issue. He had been selling to Simmond in the capital, but that arrangement got squashed. He wore some decent clothes he got from his item drops and kept his shield on his back and under his cloak while dealing with customers. It was a decent way to unlock shields.

Raphtalia, having liked using the bow against the cacodemon, continued to learn from Eclair. She’d gotten the basics down before, and was more working on consistency. Plus, doing that repeatedly was going to really work out her muscles. That sort of training did improve one’s stats a bit.

Rifana would keep on with her studying, continuing to impress with her quick acquisition of new spells. Like with muscle training, casting spells as practice did increase her magic stat and MP slightly.

Whenever they stopped for a moment, Dio and JoJo would ‘play’ with each other. That’s what they called it, but they were using their magic to do so. They both learned High Quick around the same time and would zip around outside the village they stopped in, or one would throw a Tornado spell out while the other would either throw one back or counter it. Dante had to admit, it was rather fun to watch, and pretty cute how excited they were the whole time.

Keel had spent the first few days training with Sadeena, adamant to learn transformation. Finally, after much practice, he got his wish. When he transformed, his clothes compacted into a loincloth, just like he wanted. He looked down at his paws in clear excitement, eyes sparkling. Keel stood about two and a half feet tall and resembled a Siberian Husky.

“I did it!” He shouted, the smoke from his transformation already gone.

“Big bro…” JoJo looked down at the now much shorter Keel. “Little bro?”

“No! I’m still big bro!” Keel corrected that heinous error.

“How does it feel?” Sadeena asked.

“It’s like I’m so much lighter now.” Keel remarked. “And faster.”

“And cuter~.” Sadeena gave him a wink.

“No! Cooler! I look cooler now!” Keel was simply not having it.

He went up to everyone in the party, demanding to know if he looked cool. Both filolial kids thought he looked cool, but for different reasons. Dio liked how his transformed clothes slightly resembled Sadeena’s, and he was still JoJo’s big bro. The others, however, had less than pleasing reactions. Dropping his height by half didn’t instill the coolness he wanted in Rifana or Raphtalia. Eclair gave a half-hearted acceptance to his coolness, which he recognized immediately. Sadeena had already made her position clear.

At that was left was Dante.

“I look cool, right Dante?” Keel asked.

“Yeah, really cool…” Dante responded.

“Why aren’t you looking at me?”

“…No reason.”

Soon after Keel transformed, Dante had turned his head away from him. Even now, he refused to look.

“Look at me!” Keel darted around him, but Dante kept swiveling around.

“I already did. You look cool.” Dante said in a monotone voice.

“I don’t believe you!” Keel kept circling him. “Come on!”

They kept it up, Keel trying to get in front of him while Dante continued to spin.

“Are Keel and Papa dancing?” Dio asked.

Eventually, Keel double backed and leapt up at him. He stood on Dante’s chest and clung to Dante’s cloak as he stared at the man.

“There!” Keel yelled, trying to get into Dante’s vision. “Now, look at me!”

“I did. You’re cool.” Dante said plainly.

“Say it like you mean it!”

“You’re cool…”

“Do I look cool or not?”

“Yes, you’re cool.”

Keel latched onto his face, trying to turn it. “Then why won’t you look at me?!”

Finally, Dante faced Keel head on. His eyes widened as he spoke.

“Because I don’t think you look cool! I think you look cute! You look adorable! The moment I saw you transform, I wanted to scoop you up! I want to pet you and scratch your ears!”

Dante huffed as he finished his tirade. Keel stayed where he was, eyes vacant as he continued holding onto Dante. No one said anything.

“Oh my~!” Except, of course, the one person who dared. Sadeena slid up next to Rifana. “It looks like we have a bit of competition, Rifana~.”

“S-Shut up!” Both Keel and Dante yelled at the orca woman.

Keel jumped down while Dante turned away. So I really like animals, so what!?

Aside from their little comedy routine, their travels were peaceful. Keel did, however, bring up the question of why he didn’t get a nickname. Dio told him his name was already cool, and JoJo agreed. Despite not being called cool in earnest by anyone else, he was quite happy with the answer.

They kept at it for several more days, until they reached a certain village.

~The Wrong Hero~

“Sir MacRory…” Eclair looked around the village.

“I didn’t think it would be this bad.” Dante said, standing next to her.

They had found the village with the bioplant. Dante wasn’t even sure it was given out, but here it was, in a village they hadn’t even marked on the map. The village was actually nestled near a forest that was home to some strong monsters. All the other heroes had warned him not to go there, being a shielder and all. Despite their concerns, the party was able to handle the monsters.

That, of course, was beside point. The village itself was covered in vines. Numerous plant monsters roamed the streets, plantriwe, as they were called. They were killed with little effort, but they gave no XP, much to Dante’s annoyance. He prepared a decent amount of weed killer in case they needed it, but that didn’t seem necessary, except for maybe the bioplant itself.

What caught Eclair’s attention, however, were the things moving around that weren’t plantriwes. They moved about with vines wrapped around their appendages. Gaunt faces stuck in an expression of deep hunger looked their way as the bodies lumbered forward. Their eyes were stuck open, tiny vines spilling around the eyeballs.

These were the former residents of the village.

They came up as ‘plant puppets’ in Dante’s appraisal. The name fit them well. They moved around jaggedly, as if something else was forcing their bodies to move. When they did manage to shamble up and strike at Dante, they did no damage to him.

“Here.” Dante put his arm around one that got near him, holding it down.

Sadeena came forward with one of his weed killer potions. When she poured it on the entangled man, the vines quickly broke apart and fell to the ground. The man dropped too, as if his strings were cut. Dante held his fingers to the man’s throat, confirming what he thought.

“He’s dead.” Dante announced.

It was pretty bad. Dante only vaguely remembered the bioplant infecting people, but nothing to this extent. He was glad Eclair convinced him to search for the seed. If they waited, and the bioplant had spread, who knew how many more would have died from it?

They tried the same thing to a few more plant infested people, only to find the same result. After the fifth attempt, they no longer bothered. They cleared the way of plantriwes, mandragoras—stationary plants that spat poison—and plant puppets, making their way to the center of the infestation. Once closer to the large tree-like bioplant, they found something else disturbing: pods.

They were still far away enough that the bioplant didn’t look at them, so they were able to investigate. Sadeena and Raphtalia pulled back some of the plant matter near the top of one of the pods, revealing a woman inside. Based on how she and the plant puppets looked, she appeared to be in the later stage of becoming one of them.

Dante reached in and felt her neck. She, too, was dead.

“It feels like the pod is taking her energy.” Sadeena pointed out. It seemed the bioplant took nutrients from the ground and people alike.

“Well, only one thing left to do.” Dante pulled out some weed killer and approached the bioplant.

An eye opened on the trunk of it and the plant let out a loud screech, but Dante continued on. Vines tried wrapping around him, but his defense was far too high to be stopped. Once he got to the roots, he poured the weed killer onto it. The bioplant screeched again and writhed around, before stopping altogether. The vines and roots quickly rotted.

All that was left was the cleanup. It took a bit of time to find all the fruits the bioplant had produced. It was a bit of a strange thing, the bioplant. While it wasn’t truly a monster—giving no XP and allowing Dante to damage it like he had—the fruits and plant creatures it created could be absorbed into his shield as item and monster drops. He could go through everything he got later for their value as ingredients and monster parts for power ups.

“What should we do about the people?” Rifana asked.

“I’ll absorb them into my shield.” Dante said.

“Sir MacRory…” Eclair looked at him with a disapproving gaze.

“I’m not trying to be cold, just practical.” Dante said.

He knew it appeared heartless, but he also knew Eclair could see the bigger picture. Most people didn’t have expensive item drops, but many did have an ore on them, usually two, sometimes three. They were random, and their value seemed to depend on the level of the person. Higher level people did drop some good gear, like the knights. As a whole, for their levels, people were middle-of-the-road in terms of valuable drops compared to monsters.

Eclair sighed. “I suppose this is just another thing I’ll need to overlook.”

“I’m pretty sure I know who’s to blame for all this. You can chastise me with him, when the time is right.” It was most likely Motoyasu’s doing, though Dante supposed Itsuki might have been the one. There was no telling what else was changed from what he knew.

Honestly, after everything else they’ve gone through, seeing this wasn’t so bad. Disturbing, yes, but they were all getting used to seeing this sort of thing.

They finished cleaning up, then took a break after what they had witnessed. Afterwards, they went back into the forest they came from to hunt some more monsters, the reason they were in the area at all.

~The Wrong Hero~

It was a few days after dealing with the bioplant that the second demi-human in the party gained a therianthrope form. Dante thought it would be Rifana, but it turned out to be Raphtalia. He was a little surprised, in more than one way.

“Did you know about this?” Dante asked, observing his party’s various reactions.

“No, this is…unexpected.” Sadeena replied.

“Well, it’s not bad, right?” Dante wanted to confirm. If he didn’t know anything, he would see these circumstances as an absolute positive.

“I don’t think so.” Sadeena reasoned. “It’s just so…”

“Counterintuitive?”

“Exactly.”

“Would you two stop talking and help me?!” Raphtalia yelled, though in a somewhat deeper voice than they were expecting.

Currently, Raphtalia stood in her therianthrope form. She looked like what Dante would describe as a were-tanuki. Her feet had formed into paws, similar to Keel’s. She was covered in auburn fur, her face had grown a small snout similar to a raccoon’s, her tail grew twice as long and more greatly resembled a raccoon’s with the stripes, and her hands grew into a set of claws.

Oh, and she was about eight feet tall.

“Dante, give me a cloak!” Raphtalia bellowed at him.

“Ah, sure.” He swung his arm, ejecting a cloak from his item drops towards the giantess. Rifana and Eclair helped her.

The reason for her current duress wasn’t because she didn’t like her transformation. At least, not directly. Her problem was that her clothes were not equipped to handle her growth. It turned out that magic clothes needed to be treated for whatever transformations they would undergo. Keel’s would compact into his loincloth once transformed. Since they became large and didn’t require clothing, the filolials’ clothes would shrink and change into bands and a collar. Sadeena’s actually would expand, but it was designed to do so.

For Raphtalia, both Dante and Sadeena had thought she’d either stay the same size or get smaller. There was the possibility she would get a little bigger, from what Dante recalled of Ruft, but not to this extent. Needless to say, her clothes were greatly torn, close to being considered shredded.

“So much for transforming clothes.” Dante said.

“As long as they aren’t completely destroyed, little…big Raphtalia can repair them with her magic.” Sadeena couldn’t seem to help herself.

“This isn’t funny!” Raphtalia called out, still trying to wrap the cloak around herself.

“It’s pretty funny.” Dante said. Aside from the wardrobe malfunction, it wasn’t like Raphtalia had much to complain about. Dante could clearly see the muscle growth on her, and her stats complimented that greatly. Some of her other assets were enhanced as well, specifically her chest—

“Stop looking at me!” Raphtalia snapped at him.

“Sorry, sorry.” Dante turned his head and held up his hand, a smile still on his face.

“Oh~?” Sadeena slid around him. “I’m surprised you aren’t gushing about how cute she is~.”

“Don’t get me wrong, she is still quite beautiful—”

“Stop talking!” Raphtalia interrupted.

“—but I don’t usually consider people who tower over me like that to be cute.” Dante explained.

“Aw, not even me~?” Sadeena draped her arm over him.

“Sorry.” Dante shrugged with a smirk. “Not cute while transformed.”

“Does that mean you don’t think I’m cute, Papa?” Dio asked.

“You and JoJo are exceptions.” Dante said, patting her head.

This wasn’t terrible at all. If anything, it gave Raphtalia more versatility. Her attack stat was good before, but it couldn’t compare to JoJo, Dio, and Sadeena’s. With her transformation, that changed. Raphtalia was higher than Sadeena in her demi-human form, roughly the same as Dio and JoJo in their royal filolial forms, but still hedged out by Sadeena in her therianthrope form. All of her other stats saw a modest boost as well, except for agility. If she wanted to sneak around or be casual, her demi-human form was the way to go. For pure combat, her therianthrope form.

Dante did vaguely remember something from one of Motoyasu’s time loops from the web novel, for whatever that was worth now. He was pretty sure people of Raphtalia’s race could transform into something like a tanuki. That would most definitely increase her agility, and possibly her magic as well. It also didn’t hurt that she’d be a tanuki. Having another cute animal companion in the party did make him happy—

“I can see you thinking something rude over there!” Raphtalia called out.

It seems her new form increased her perception and insight. I don’t think she called out any of my thoughts until today. Either that, or she’s just gotten used to me.

“Just transform back.” Dante pointed out.

“I don’t know how! Besides, if I do, then you’ll see…”

“I can see a whole lot of you right now.”

“Shut up!”

With all the work they were putting in, their preparations were coming along nicely.

It wouldn’t be long until the wave.

Chapter Text

Dante yawned as he awoke. He felt well rested. Much more than he had for a while. He’d been feeling better these past few mornings.

A slight movement caught his eye and he looked to his chest. A pair of weasel ears twitched. The owner of those ears stretched herself out before turning to look at him. A pair of golden eyes gazed at him from a furry face.

“Good morning, Mister Dante.” Rifana said with a smile.

“Good morning.” Dante brought his hand over, scratching around her ears. It earned him a pleased hum.

“Oh my~. Aren’t we looking happy this morning~.” Sadeena said as she lay next to him, her arm used as a pillow for the Shield Hero.

Both women were in their therianthrope forms. Rifana had gained hers just a couple days ago. Dante’s reaction to that was…

~Two days earlier~

Rifana stood there, the puff of smoke quickly dissipating. The clothes she got from the tailor had shrunk a little to fit her new size. The shirt and skirt actually came together now and the skirt reached past her knees, appearing more like a short witch’s robe.

Rifana looked over her new form. Her hands and feet became paws, and her face had grown a bit longer into a snout. Slick, golden fur lined her back and sides while her front appeared a brilliant white. She was a few inches taller than Keel, but much more lithe than the dog boy.

Excited, she immediately bounded over to Dante. “Mister Dante! How do I look?”

“Ah, yeah…” Dante turned to the side. “You look nice…”

Smiling, Rifana grabbed his hand and placed it on her head. Dante jolted at the notion.

“Don’t I look cute~?” She asked, mimicking Sadeena.

“…Yes.” Dante could barely contain himself.

“Is that all you have to say?” Rifana tilted her head side to side playfully, causing Dante’s hand to rub against her head.

“Rifana…If you move like that…” Dante barely got out.

“It’s okay.” She said, still smiling up at him. “I don’t mine. Please.”

She held her arms out to him, waiting. With that, the last remnants of his restraint shattered.

“Ah!” He yelled out, swiftly scooping her up and spinning her around. “You look so cute!”

Rifana laughed as her hero continued to hold her.

~The present~

Dante was handling himself much better now.

As they got up, Sadeena held Dante’s head in her hands. She looked over his face, turning it from side to side.

“Your eyes look normal now.” She said, letting him go.

“Seriously?” Dante felt around his eyes, trying to find a difference.

“Yeah.” Sadeena transformed back to her demi-human form. “I really don’t understand your condition.”

“You’re telling me.”

Yesterday morning, they had found that Dante’s eyes were in much better condition than they had been. Really, closer to how they were before they rescued Raphtalia and Rifana. They had a few ideas as to what it was.

The day before, Rifana had slept with Dante and Sadeena like she had been before, except she stayed in her therianthrope form. That’s when his eyes improved. With Sadeena transformed too and his eyes even better, there was no denying the treatment. Sleeping next to therianthropes helped.

It was strange, but no weirder than some of Dante’s other conditions. After all, having his shoulder stump touched didn’t get a reaction out of him unless Sadeena did it. Even then, it was when they were being at least somewhat intimate. That one was getting a bit better, thanks to Sadeena, though it still got a reaction out of him.

This is a strange condition. Was the only symptom really bags under my eyes? No wonder Reichnott’s doctor didn’t notice it before. Hell, neither did Simmond or Agatha, or the apothecary in Ronota. If I could, I’d ask them what the hell this is. Then again, it might just be some psychological thing. It’s not like this world doesn’t have those kinds of ailments.

There was only one more day until the wave. Dante was confident they would be ready for whatever happened. To that end, they had returned to Reichnott’s territory.

With all the materials they had, they wanted to see what could be done to improve their equipment. Unfortunately, they didn’t have access to Erhard’s talent, so they had to settle for the next best thing.

“Sorry, I don’t think I can make anything better, at least not with the time I have.”

When they returned to Reichnott’s yesterday, they found Rokkar there with his son. The blacksmith had been allowed to stay, provided he stayed on his best behavior. Fiadia had made sure that was clear to him. So far, that seemed to be the case.

Rokkar wasn’t a bad blacksmith. Dante viewed some of his work. They ranged from average to good. But, it was clear that Erhard was much better. The man did create Dante’s armor in a short amount of time, something Rokkar said would take him at least three times as long, if he could make it at all.

On the plus side, there was someone else there who could help them. A certain tanner woman who knew a thing or two about magic clothing. It turned out that she joined Rokkar in his travels to Reichnott’s. As with Rokkar, she behaved herself well.

“If you overlay parts that are enchanted, they’ll join with the clothes when they transform.”

She was quite helpful in adjusting Raphtalia’s clothing. Of course, she could only provide the instructions. By her own admission, she had little talent with such a thing, but had a few former associates who came across that issue. Luckily, Dante had another source of help.

A few shields Dante revealed, including an Alchemist’s Shield from Rolf’s reagents, gave Dante recipes and insight into alchemy. In addition, he had numerous job levels in dozens of skills. After all, he did have a lot of human and demi-human parts he could use from his monster drops. It wasn’t as if the job level power up couldn’t be used across multiple jobs in day. The only limit was one level in each job per day. They were the tiniest of tiny bonuses, but they added up.

The skill bonuses didn’t exactly provide knowledge to him, but he did have some intuition on what to do when he set about doing something. It was a little funny. With all the cooking skill bonuses, he was confident he’d be able to wield knife better in combat, if he was allowed to.

He’d gotten to working on Raphtalia’s clothes with Kaethe, the tanner, trying to enhance them along with the modifications to transforming. Dante would do the enchanting while Kaethe attached the pieces.

“How does it look?” Raphtalia asked.

“I don’t exactly know what I’m doing, but I’d say good.” Dante almost felt like he was acting with muscle memory.

They opted for leather strips that basically acted as a second skirt. For the chest, a bit of light metal that Rokkar shaped into something like a breastplate. Dante also worked the clothing directly, trying to change the shape of the transformation.

The light metal, of course, was mined from Lute. They went there as sort of a final test for Raphtalia, Rifana, and Keel. Dante had gone in the cave with them to make sure they could handle fighting the wave monsters, and that their trauma could be overcome. When the two-headed dog appeared, they were a bit worried, but they fought all the same. In the end, the monster posed no threat to them. He was quite proud of them.

When he was done adjusting her clothes, Dante had Raphtalia change into her therianthrope form with them on. Of course, they did so in private. The clothes seemed to hold well. The leather strips combined with her skirt, somewhat reminding Dante of Roman armor, albeit a little short. Her shirt moved about a little, exposing her stomach but still covering her chest. The light metal breastplate provided protection over the top of her chest, like it should.

“What do you think?” Dante asked.

“I-It looks good.” Raphtalia said. Dante couldn’t see it under her fur, but he was confident she was blushing.

“We can get you some proper armor for you once we get where we’re going.” He told her. This was a patch job at best. It wasn’t as if she would be using her therianthrope form a lot anyway. Both she and Rifana preferred their demi-human forms in combat for now. Keel had a strong but light breastplate from Dante’s item drops. Rokkar resized it for him. Rifana continued to wear the armor piece from the mercenary. Anything much heavier would actually lower her magic stat.

They mostly spent the rest of the day relaxing. They’d been on the road, hunting monsters and fighting often. With all the work they did, now was a good time for a break.

The same wasn’t true for Dante, however. With so many shields revealed and unlocked, he had a lot to go over, and a lot to plan for. One of the biggest things was how to keep improving his party’s strength.

He did unlock a shield that allowed him to craft some accessories, but it wasn’t at all like his Brewing Shield. No matter what he tried, the quality wouldn’t be any better than slightly poor. When he tried to enchant them, they would break half of the time. The other half resulted in a very poor accessory and an enchantment that did almost nothing.

Not all was lost, though. The Alchemist’s Shield, Brewing Shield, and another shield he unlocked revealed a Potion Maker’s Shield. Like the Brewing Shield, he could use the Potion Maker’s Shield to craft potions he had recipes for, make adjustments to those recipes, and they could be made better than average. He’d already done so a few days prior.

While traveling and selling medicine, they found a village that happened to be home to a sick old woman. Her son had actually approached them and asked for the best medicine they had. One thing led to another, and Dante discovered the old woman was the master of Hengen Muso.

It was a lucky find—one that Dante was confident would be repaid negatively later—and Dante did all he could to help. He offered to administer the medicine himself and to do so at no cost. The son was skeptical, but Dante revealed what he knew about her.

“This woman is one of the greatest fighters in the world. I won’t allow her to die yet.”

To further earn his trust, Dante admitted to being the Shield Hero. Additionally, he would take any potion he gave to the man’s mother. Seeing Dante’s commitment, the son allowed his help.

It seemed he was looking for Yggdrasil Elixir to give to his mother. While Dante didn’t have a recipe for that, he had a number of others, plus the bonuses his shield provided. After a number of attempts, they were able to find something that worked a little. The old woman, Elrasla Ragnarok, was able to stand from her bed with the help of her son.

The party spent a few hours there for Dante to make more medicine and potions for her before leaving. He only asked that she consider teaching him and his party her martial art in the future.

Near Reichnott’s, Dante continued to make potions with his shield. Restoring HP, MP, SP, stamina, or giving a temporary boost to stats, Dante crafted them all. He continued to do so until night fell.

Like usual, he cooked dinner for his party. Reichnott had offered to let them stay the night, but they declined. His hospitality was appreciated, but both he and Dante knew that the Shield Hero being there too much was a risk.

Dante did most of the cooking for supper and they all dug in. With the bonuses from his shield, he had long surpassed restaurant food. It did seem like the skill bonuses were part intuition, part automatic enhancement.

As they ate, Dante shifted to his Humming Shield. He had things to say to the group.

“I want to talk to you all about what I know.” He began, gaining their attention. “That is, why I know so much about your world.”

They all gave him their full attention.

“I’ve already told Sadeena this, but I wasn’t sure when I should tell the rest of you. There are things I can’t really explain now, and some of the reasons need to stay hidden too, but I’ll say what I can.”

He had a lot of time to consider his words. He learned from telling Sadeena and verified what should and shouldn’t be said.

“The other three heroes know of this world from games. They are like stories they can add a character to and interact in the story with. My knowledge comes from stories as well, but more what you would be used to. If I were to describe them, it would be two normal book series, one picture book series, and something like a play on a recording crystal.”

They all seemed to understand what he meant, so he continued.

“However, a number of things from those stories haven’t been what I found to be true here. I found Sadeena when she shouldn’t have been around until weeks later. The first princess who framed me seemed more cunning. Eclair wasn’t imprisoned in the castle dungeons. Idol Rabier was crueler than I imagined. Raphtalia…would have been broken and sold off to Beloukas. Rifana…would have been dead before we could have rescued her.”

It wasn’t exactly easy to explain this, but he kept going.

“Other things are a bit different too. Rolf was never mentioned in any source. Neither were the mercenaries in Ronota. Going forward, I don’t know what else could be different. The waves may be easier, or they may be harder. The people who are against the Shield Hero in this country may use unknown tactics. The possibilities are limitless. I don’t know what the future holds. I want you all to understand that.”

He let his words sink in. He wasn’t sure how they would react to all this information—

“But…that doesn’t really change anything.” Keel spoke up. The others nodded their heads.

“It doesn’t?” Dante asked the group.

“Not really.” Keel continued. “I mean, you told us you knew these things before, so it’s not that weird.” He scratched his chin with his paw. “Wait…was I a girl in those books?”

Dante stared at Keel for a moment. Then, he laughed. “Of all the things you could have asked, the revelations you may have had, it came back to something from the first day we met?”

Keel continued to look at him.

“…Yes, you were a girl.”

From there on, the conversations weren’t too heavy. They mostly revolved around what happened in the future, and in broad strokes. Dante told them as much as he could, and from what he could remember. The plots of Malty, the king, and the church. The vassal weapon invaders. The emergence of the guardian beasts. The fall and rise of the other heroes.

Of course, anything involving Q’ten Lo was omitted. Sadeena didn’t want to take a chance of Raphtalia acting differently, and Dante agreed. When the time was right, they would tell her everything they knew about it.

~The Wrong Hero~

The night passed, as did the morning. The wave would appear soon. As a precaution, they got ready at Reichnott’s estate. If the carriages hooked up to Dio didn’t come with them, they would be kept safe there.

00:05

With the last few minutes before the wave, they checked their equipment and went over the plan. Potions and salves were tucked away. They were as ready as they were going to be. Dante cast All Faust Guard VI on everyone.

00:00

The sound of shattering glass echoed around them. In an instant, they were brought to the location of the wave. The sky was dyed red and filled with cracks.

When they looked around, they saw Lute village in the distance. They also saw the other heroes and their parties running in the opposite direction. A flare shot up from one of them.

“You all know what to do!” Dante called out.

“Right!”

Sadeena and Raphtalia were atop JoJo and they headed in the same direction as the heroes. The rest were in the carriages being pulled by Dio.

They arrived at the village before the monsters. The villagers were desperately trying to evacuate. Everyone in the party knew their role. Dante and Eclair—being called Berry to not alert anyone—would go around and kill every monster they came across. Keel, Rifana, and Dio would take all the villagers they could find and bring them to the mines. That was another little bonus to coming here earlier.

“Hate Reaction IV!” He pulled the attention of every monster in sight, and many that weren’t. Eclair got to work cutting down every single one of them. She’d gotten more used to fighting with the gauntlet. Not only that, but one of Dante’s potions helped give her a little more use of her hands. It wasn’t enough to wield a sword, but it was a start.

The monsters in the area were dead long before his skill wore off. They moved on to the next area. Here and there, they found people under attack by monsters or pinned by broken houses. They dealt with each problem as it arose quickly. Before long, Dio made it back to them, carrying Keel and Rifana. They had found a few adventurers and knights present in the village and Keel had them guard the cave.

“Good work everyone.” Dante told them as they continued moving throughout the village.

“Yeah…” Keel looked around.

“Something wrong?” Dante asked.

“It’s just…not as scary as I thought. And not as hard.”

“It’s because you worked hard.” Eclair told him. “You trained, you grew stronger, and you mentally prepared yourself.”

“She’s right.” Dante agreed. “With everything you all have been through, this is nothing.”

“Still…” Eclair looked in the general direction the others went off to.

“They’ll be fine.” Dante told her. “If she doesn’t think they can handle it, Sadeena will have them all pull back.

For people in their position, the waves weren’t that dangerous. At least, no more so than everything else. This wave demonstrated that. If they got careless, they could get swarmed, but even that wasn’t an issue when they had a sturdy hero to take all the attacks for a time. If Dante had to liken this to something, it was completing a bunch of side quests before working on the main story. Not a good mentality to have, but not entirely inaccurate either.

Bright lights from above caught their attention.

Ah, here we go.

Dante shifted his shield to the Spellcobalt Shield and held it up.

“Tower Shield III!” He called out his skill and the others gathered close. Dio transformed to get smaller, not that it was entirely needed. The shield spread out quite long, easily covering everyone. Fire rained down on them and the scattering of nearby monsters, as well as the houses.

When it stopped, they looked around. What had been minor damage to the village became a disaster in this section.

“What are you doing?!” Eclair yelled at the approaching knights.

The knight commander clicked his tongue as he drew near. “I see that the Shield Hero bothered to show up.”

“What a warm reception I’m being given.” Dante said, looking over the knights. He dismissed his skill, shrinking his shield.

“Dante…” Keel shook his head.

“What…oh.” He just realized that he made a pun. “Anyway, the hell are you idiots thinking?”

“You…” The commander grit his teeth but regained his composure. “We are here to fight off the monsters of the wave. What is the criminal Shield Hero doing here?”

“Rescuing people.” Dante answered plainly. “And fighting monsters, and we didn’t need to burn down part of the village to do either one.”

“I’ll not be questioned by a rapist!” The knight commander bellowed.

“Sure.” Dante continued to smile at the man, angering him further.

“Sir MacRory.” Eclair placed her free hand on his shoulder and leaned in.

She’s gotten much better over these past couple weeks. Even shaking my hand was a huge strain for her before.

“I recognize some of the people in his company.” She whispered.

“You saying what I think you are?” He whispered back to her. She nodded in response. Sure enough, Keel was gripping his axes tightly in his paws. Rifana likewise held her rod in her hands, waiting for a reason to rush forwards.

“Well then,” Dante addressed the knights, “why don’t you knights go off to aid the other heroes? No need to stand around here with a criminal and demi-humans, right?”

It wouldn’t do to attack them here. There might still be villagers around, and he didn’t want to deal with the fallout from that. Plus, it probably wasn’t all of the knights here who were assholes. Dante seemed to recall that some may have been the ones to aid Naofumi later.

“I don’t take orders from you, scum!” The commander, however, saw things differently.

“A suggestion, really.” Dante tried again. “Surely there’s more glory to be had with the other heroes.”

“I don’t fight for glory, I fight for Melromarc!” He announced.

Yeah, that’s why you’re burning houses down.

Movement caught Dante’s attention. His eyes widened for a moment before a small smirk formed on his face. “Wow, is this a scripted event or something?”

“A what?” Eclair asked. She had moved her hand from Dante’s shoulder to Dio’s, who looked ready to transform and pounce at a moment’s notice. Like Dante realized at his trial, knowing something was going to happen didn’t really change how you felt about it.

“It’s a game term.” Dante explained. “Basically, no matter what actions you take, the event will take place. Usually in the same way every time, but the ending might be different.”

“What are you babbling about?” The commander asked.

“Oh, nothing.” Dante said, beaming. He tilted his head to the side. “Come on…a little to the left…”

“What are…” The commander began to say, before spinning around. It seemed he finally heard the lumbering footsteps of the giant zombie behind them. “To arms!”

The zombie brought down its axe on the mages in the back. Two of them fell. Dante might have felt bad, but he saw them readying a spell the moment they approached with their commander. The zombie brought its axe up again and looked to the commander. Dante leaned forward, watching what happened next. The zombie brought down its axe.

It stopped. The commander’s sword held back the monster, shaking slightly from the strain.

“Mages!” He called. The remaining mages in the group unleashed their spells on the monster, lighting it aflame and dropping it to the ground.

Dante watched as more monsters came into view and started attacking the knights. “Well, that was disappointing.” He said.

“Are you okay with this?” Eclair asked.

“Eh. I was hoping he’d be cut in half, but he might still die.” Dante answered.

“No, with the others being attacked.”

“Oh.” Dante watched as the knights battled the monsters. It wasn’t as if they couldn’t handle themselves. Well, for the most part. A few of them looked a bit young. “Air Strike Shield V!” He brought up his skill to block another larger zombie’s blade from cleaving into one of the young knights.

Dante rushed forward. He ran past the knights to where the zombies were. A few locust monsters began to descend on them as well. He pointed his shield in the direction of the largest amount of monsters. “Release!” A torrent of flames shot from his shield, incinerating the monsters. It was the spell the knights had cast on them previously. His Spellcobalt Shield didn’t need to deflect magic right away. It was able to hold it in and shoot it back out, though he could only hold the magic for a couple minutes. There was a limit, and improving the shield did increase it, but it could be filled to the point where magic couldn’t be deflected until it was all released. Part of him was hoping the commander would have instigated a fight so Dante could unleash the flames on the man.

“There!” Dante said to the knights. “I’ve reduced the enemy! Regroup and kill the rest!”

“You dare order my troops!?” The commander bellowed.

“You all are free to stand around and get your heads chopped off.” Dante answered. "It makes little difference to me.”

He returned to his party, who were more than ready to jump in. Dante shook his head. “Later.” He told them.

Despite getting their ranks broken from the zombie before, the knights were able to handle themselves well. Dante made sure to throw out a skill to protect a few of the knights before they could take a hit. He had his party quickly point out which ones were at Lurolona, so he wouldn’t accidently protect them. He was glad he did. One of those knights got hit by an attack, but it didn’t look fatal.

Once the wave monsters were killed, the commander whirled on Dante. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“What do you mean?” Dante asked innocently.

“You let those monsters sneak up on us!”

“You shot fire at us. Also, you probably could have heard them if the flames weren’t roaring.” Dante pointed out.

“I should arrest you for this!” The commander pointed his blade at Dante.

Some of the other knights readied their swords and approached as well. Dante’s party prepared themselves. “You go ahead and try that.” Dante taunted. He wasn’t looking for a fight, but he wasn’t about to hide from one either. Not that his earlier interaction indicated as much.

Thankfully, they wouldn’t get the chance. Dante spotted a green fireball hurdling toward him. He brought up his shield to absorb the blast. A second fireball slammed into the commander, knocking him to the ground and melting part of his armor. He screamed as the molten steel spread over him. Several more fireballs came at them, prompting Dante to cast his Shooting Star Shield V. He cast Air Strike Shield V in front of the knights and mages that stayed back. The fireballs impacted against his barriers with little effect. The same couldn’t be said for the knights that stood next to their commander. One by one, they fell to the ground, green flames pouring over them. The remaining knights and mages had gotten in a defensive formation.

Dante turned to face the source of the attack. Approaching from the village outskirts were half a dozen monsters that stood nearly seven feet tall. They had cloven hooves, green flames surrounding their hands, horns sticking out the sides of their heads, and muscular torsos made of pink flesh. Dante instantly recognized them.

“Oh shit.” The voice that said that wasn’t Dante’s. Behind the barons of hell stood the hunchback demon with an orange-haired fox boy sitting on top of it.

“Rolf?” Dante stepped forward, moving around the knights so his barrier didn’t push them back. “The fuck are you doing here?”

“Uh…” The boy seemed to shrink back on his mount.

It was clear to Dante that Rolf hadn’t expected to see him there. Dante gave a short laugh before he turned to the remaining knights. “You all should get out of here.” He told them.

“We can’t leave our commander.” One knight said, never removing his eyes from Rolf. This knight had a horizontal scar across his nose. He almost seemed familiar.

“He’ll be dead soon anyway.” Dante said. He looked over at the commander, who had already stopped moving. The man didn’t even appear to be breathing. He did suffer a few more fireballs, after all. “Do you really want to risk the lives of your fellow knights for the man who was about to attack a hero?”

The knight turned his gaze to Dante, then to his fellows. After thinking for a moment, he nodded to the Shield Hero. “We’re moving out!” He called, signaling for the remaining knights and mages to follow him. The others seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before complying. Before long, it was just the Shield Hero’s party, and Rolf and his monsters.

“How ya been?” Dante asked, completely ignoring the tone of their surroundings.

Rolf stuttered. “I…good…” Rolf said, his eyes darting between everyone.

“You want to fight?” He asked the boy.

“No…?” Rolf looked around, as if Dante was asking that question to someone else.

“Good. Me neither.” Dante gripped the horn on his helmet and slowly lifted it off. “You like the armor?”

Rolf shifted on his demon a bit. “Seems a bit…extra.”

“Right?” Dante laughed. “The aesthetics of this world are strange.”

“Sir MacRory?” Eclair stepped in, sword still at the ready in her locked gauntlet. “What are you doing?”

“Talking.” Dante said. He gave the helmet to Dio, who held it in her hands.

“Shouldn’t we be trying to capture him?”

“We could, but I’m in a good mood.” Dante said. He looked over to the other three with him. “You all did finish evacuating people, right?”

“Yes, Mister Dante.” Rifana answered, still keeping an eye on Rolf and his monsters.

“Good.” Dante gestured to the fox boy. “Tell me, what is it that Pahadron wants you to do?”

“Huh?” Rolf shifted on his mount again.

“The god that reincarnated you. What does he—or she—want you to do?” Dante had thought about what he’d do if he saw Rolf again. He wasn’t expecting it to happen this soon, but he still had a few ideas he could put into place, and get some information.

Rolf tilted his head to the side. “Pahadron didn’t really tell me to do anything.”

“Hm…Then, what can you tell me about him?”

“Nothing.” Dante gave him a hard look. “Really! He gave me that power and said I could do whatever I wanted. Nothing else, I swear.”

Dante looked over to Dio, who nodded. “He’s telling the truth.”

“Alright then.” Dante walked closer to the fallen knights, signaling for his party to come with him. He even waved Rolf closer, who did so slowly with his minions. “Just to verify, of these five knights, which ones were at Lurolona?”

The three witnesses hesitantly looked over the bodies as Dio stood close to her father. Rolf stopped about a dozen feet away.

“These three.” Eclair said after confirming with the other two.

“Were there any that left in that group?” Dante asked.

“Yeah, one.” Keel said. “She was the one closer to the back.”

“Hm.” Dante turned to Rolf again. “I think you can have these five bodies, plus the two mages.”

“Sir MacRory!” Eclair yelled. “Did you forget what this boy has done?!”

“No, but like I said, I’m in a good mood.” Dante said.

“But we can’t just allow him to do as he pleases! He already has six more monsters under his control. You know what that means, right?”

“That he killed up to six people, yeah.” Dante looked at the fox boy. “Be honest. How many people did you kill?”

Rolf shook his head slowly. “No one.”

“Hm.” Dante watched Rolf’s movements. He turned to Dio, who nodded again.

“He’s not lying.” She said.

“Really?” Dante faced Rolf as the boy nodded. “Damn. I’m impressed. You show restraint against killing people?”

“Is this really what we should be doing right now?” Eclair asked.

“The villagers are safe. We did our job. Right now, we need something done, and we have someone with the skillset to do something about it.” Dante dismissed his Shooting Star Shield and stepped closer to Rolf. “And, the one with that skillset just killed a few more people I needed.” Dante stood before the fox boy, his minions ready to attack should he give the signal. “How are you going to make this up to me?”

Rolf sat there, trying to make his body as small as possible on the demon. “W-What do you want?”

Dante smiled. “Let’s make a deal.”

~The Wrong Hero~

The cracks in the sky disappeared as it returned to its normal blue color. The wave was over. Of course, the large XP notification and level up were good indicators of that.

It seems Sadeena and them landed the killing blow on the boss. It’s weird, I’m far enough away from the heroes to not lose out on XP, but close enough that I gain the party XP. I’m sure there’s a documented distance for all these things, but so long as it works, I don’t really care.

They brought back the villagers from the cave. The village chief went around to find who was left. When he came to Dante’s group, he was ecstatic.

“Everyone’s here!” He rejoiced. “Thank you, Shield Hero!”

“You’re welcome.” Dante said, waving his party members forward. The lord took his time thanking them all.

JoJo came back carrying Sadeena and Raphtalia.

“How did it go?” Dante asked as they dismounted.

“I think I’ve been spoiled.” Raphtalia said.

“Oh?”

“You being in combat to draw the enemies’ attention really helps.”

Dante smirked before he turned to Sadeena. “I think she’s flirting with me.”

“Oh, shut up.” Raphtalia gave him a light push, a smile on her face.

“No issues then?” Dante wanted to make sure.

Sadeena hummed as she handed Dante a small sack. “The other heroes were…well, about how you said~.”

“Thanks. Yeah, I figured as much.” Dante nodded. He may not have had any interaction with them after the trial, but it was still possible they would be different. It was wishful thinking at best.

“The Spear Hero wanted Sadeena and I to stay back while he fought.” Raphtalia crossed her arms.

“And the Sword Hero wanted us to stay out of his way.” Sadeena added.

“Heh, yeah.” Dante set the sack on the ground and looked inside. Parts from the chimera were inside, already butchered for him. He held his shield to them, absorbing the parts and revealing a number of shields. The prize shield was the Chimera Viper Shield.

Odd. I can’t change to this shield unless I unlock a few of the other Chimera shields first. The third and fourth Slave User and Monster User shields were the same, and the Potion Maker’s Shield and Reinforced Iron Shield were kind of similar. Most shields don’t have a requirement like that. Maybe it’s an advancement thing?

It was a good shield, but not outright the best one available to him at the moment, even ignoring the upgraded ones. That might change when he improved it. He found that the shields don’t all upgrade the same amount.

“Aside from the other heroes, I’m guessing things went well. Your HP didn’t go down by much.” Dante stood back up.

“We didn’t even transform.” Sadeena stated.

“Really?” Dante could see the proud faces on both Raphtalia and JoJo. If Dante understood her meaning, JoJo fought in his less powerful child form. “What can I say? Great job you three. You’ve trained hard.”

“That’s not the only reason.” Sadeena approached and wrapped her arms around him. “You’ve played quite the role yourself.”

“Sure, but I wasn’t going to mention it.” Dante smiled at her.

“Because you knew I would~?” Sadeena leaned into him.

“What I knew was irrelevant.” Dante took a quick kiss from her.

“Do you two really need to flirt right now?” Raphtalia covered her eyes with a hand. She didn’t even look embarrassed. More like she was done with them.

Dante just smirked at her. “Well, after a hard battle, there is something that people tend to do, and it’s a bit more than flirting.”

“Dante…” Raphtalia just shook her head as she walked toward the others with JoJo.

“Oh my~.” Sadeena laughed. “So, is it finally time? Will we be having a bit of fun at the castle tonight?”

“Yeah, that’s still not…the castle?” Dante nearly missed what she said.

Sadeena nodded and continued. “One of the knights said there would be a banquet for the heroes and their parties. Rewards would be given out in the morning.”

“Hm.” He figured someone would have to tell everyone that. The commander was dead and gone, so he couldn’t. There were a number of ways this could go, and a number of things that could be shown to everyone by going. “You think we should?” He asked.

“I think we can manage.” Sadeena said, breaking from Dante after giving him another peck. “It can’t be more difficult than the wave.”

“I suppose you’re right.” They had discussed some of what Dante remembered from the books and show. Combined with Eclair’s knowledge of Melromarc politics, it would probably be better to go. The king might try to spin Dante not showing up as a slight of some sort, and he didn’t want to give the man any reason to be in the right. Besides, they still needed to figure out how involved he was in the whole ‘threatening shopkeepers’ thing. They might get a hint about that.

Plus, the king needs to act like an asshole if he’s going to get removed from power later on. They had one battle down, and one to go.

~The Wrong Hero~

After a short trip back to the capital, they arrived at Melromarc castle. Eclair opted to stay away for the evening, concerned that someone might recognize her. Dante agreed. She went to the demi-human inn for the evening.

“Will you be alright?” Dante had asked.

“I’ll be fine. I can set the gauntlet on my own now, and use a dagger if necessary.” She’d told him.

Aside from not wanting to be recognized, she wanted time to think over Dante’s latest actions. Strictly speaking, letting Rolf go like that wasn’t the worst decision he made. Besides, what had Rolf done that Dante hadn’t? He killed a few people who probably deserved it and defiled some bodies. The mines Rolf took over were already abandoned, considering the dead wave monsters that were found there. He tried to kill some people that weren’t supposed to be there, and then fled to avoid being enslaved. Nothing Rolf did were things Dante hadn’t or wouldn’t do.

Raphtalia decided to go with Eclair. Sadeena was a little worried about Raphtalia going off, but she accepted it. With her illusions, they’d be able to avoid any problems that sprung up.

Now, it was time to enjoy the party.

“Well done, heroes!” The king announced, holding a goblet in his hand. He stood on slightly raised section of the hall, his long table in front of him. “The damage from this wave was far less than the last!”

The people cheered as the banquet began. Musicians played as nobles surrounded the heroes to congratulate them on their victory. Most of the heroes, anyway.

Dante and the rest of his party stuck together near the side of the room. They shared a couple plates between them, but none were particularly enthused about it. Even Dante had noted the difference between what he was making and what was here. Dio and JoJo, on the other hand, kept returning to the food tables to pile more onto their plates.

“This is pretty boring.” Dante complained as he surveyed the room. Most of the nobles that weren’t talking to one of the other heroes were whispering to each other. If Dante had to guess, it was probably about him. A few of them definitely were, since they were snickering and slyly pointing at him.

“The food is pretty bad too.” Keel said, biting into something that resembled beef.

“I think we just eat Mister Dante’s cooking too much.” Rifana said. She had put her fork down a while ago.

“We just need to put up with this, get our reward, and be gone.” Dante said. He told them what he expected would happen here, and to not worry about it. It was just a matter of time.

Of course, Dante had thought about what would actually happen here. It all really depended on Malty’s relationship to the church, and how vicious she actually was. Even if she knew they are her enemy, she might still instigate a fight. Looking like a potential pawn was much better than looking like an enemy. It wasn’t like she had much to lose by harming Dante, at least from her perspective. Sure, the queen coming back would be bad for her, but if she could pull off whatever she was planning, it wouldn’t matter.

Soon enough, a hero did approach the group. But, it wasn’t who Dante imagined.

“Dante.” Ren said as she stood before the shielder. He looked at Dante’s missing arm, but didn’t comment about it.

“Ren.” Dante greeted in kind. Ren didn’t have any of his party members with him, though Dante thought he saw one or two around.

“I see that really is your party member there.” He said, gesturing to Sadeena.

“That’s me~.” Sadeena gave him a wink as she bit into another piece of food.

“She seemed to handle herself well when fighting the boss monster.” Ren said neutrally.

“Really?” Dante asked. “I heard they were in your way.”

Ren stiffened a bit at that. “I was mistaken. Even if she didn’t use any skills, it was almost like fighting next to another hero.” He admitted.

Dante was surprised to hear that. He didn’t think Ren—or any of the other heroes—would admit to something like that.

“What about the others?” Dante asked him.

“The raccoon woman didn’t seem as strong, but she was pretty fast. As for the…whatever he was, he was a lot stronger than he looked.” Ren said.

“Huh.” This was not at all what he thought Ren would be like. “Well, I’ll be sure to tell Raphtalia and JoJo that. They were all pretty proud that they didn’t need to transform.”

“Transform?” Ren asked, looking to Sadeena.

“Yeah. Some demi-humans can do that. JoJo, and Dio, are actually filolials. They just gained a child form they can change into.”

“I see.” Ren held his hand to his chin. He seemed to be thinking things over when—

“You!” A voice yelled out.

Dante looked over and saw Motoyasu and Itsuki walking over. Itsuki was the one who spoke, pointing a finger at Dante.

Dante raised an eyebrow. “Can I help—”

“You’re using slaves!” Itsuki declared, gaining much of the attention of the partygoers.

Dante just stared at him, blinking. Huh. Is Itsuki going to be the one to challenge me? I see Motoyasu here too, but he doesn’t look enraged. More like…disappointed?

“What are you on about?” Dante asked.

“Don’t play dumb.” Itsuki looked over at Sadeena, quickly sweeping his gaze to Rifana and Keel. “All your companions are slaves!”

Dante slowly nodded. “I mean, technically speaking—”

“Don’t even try to get out of it. I know it’s true!” Itsuki yelled.

“What of it?” Dante asked.

“You admit it?!”

“Sure.” Dante said simply. “But it’s completely legal here, so what’s the problem?”

“How can you be so heartless?” Itsuki crossed his arms. “You’re a hero! You shouldn’t have slaves.”

“Is that it?” Dante asked. Itsuki stood there, mouth trying to form words. Dante continued on before he could. “If you have a problem with slavery, take it up with the ruler. Complaining to me won’t solve anything.”

He doubted anything would come of that. Itsuki would probably be fed some reason that justified it, though Dante didn’t know what. It’s not like Itsuki really did anything about demi-human slavery in the country, at least what Dante recalled from the books. Here, though, he may actually do something, so Dante probably shouldn’t instigate too much.

Motoyasu, on the other hand, would just be told by Malty that there was nothing that could be done. He’d believe that in a heartbeat.

Speaking of, where is Malty?

Dante quickly glanced around and saw her standing next to Aultcray. She had on some fancy looking armor, leaving her upper chest exposed. It looked like she just finished saying something to him.

I can already see how this is going to end. Luckily, I planned for it.

“What about you?” Dante looked to Motoyasu before Itsuki could gather his wits.

Motoyasu looked more upset now, but still not as angry as he thought. “You have to know that slavery is wrong, even if it’s legal.” He said. “There are other ways to have companions than to use slaves. Maybe the adventurer’s guild, or using monsters.”

Dante watched Motoyasu give an actual good alternative. Am I in the Twilight Zone or something?

Of course, Dante had already dismissed any demi-human adventurers that approached him. A few had offered to help when they saw him in town when it was just him, Sadeena, and Keel. A few more came after the filolials hatched, and more again when they returned with Rifana and Raphtalia. After that, with an already good sized party, no one else approached.

“That’s fair.” Dante conceded. “A few of my companions are actually monsters, not demi-humans.”

“Liar!” Itsuki yelled.

“Really? Which ones?” Motoyasu turned his gaze to the party members behind Dante. He must not have seen JoJo transform after the battle. Motoyasu did look a little too lecherously at Sadeena, something that irked Dante, but he held it back.

“As a matter of fact—”

“You actually believe him?!” Itsuki yelled at Motoyasu before quickly turning back to Dante. “It doesn’t matter. Even if some are, he’s still using slaves. That can’t be allowed.” Itsuki pointed at Dante again, striking as confident a pose as he could. “Duel me!”

“Huh?” It’s not that Dante didn’t expect to be challenged. It was just done in a very strange way.

“Duel me. If I win, you set free all of your slaves.”

“I see.” Dante nodded along. “And, if I win…”

“You can keep things how they are.” He said so confidently, Dante wanted to groan.

“Why would I agree to that?” He asked. “I stand to gain nothing, and what I’m doing is perfectly legal. Besides, it’s more for their protection than anything.”

“Unbelievable.” Itsuki shook his head, clearly disgusted.

“Dude…” Motoyasu was in agreement.

“It’s true.” Dante said. “Demi-humans are highly discriminated against in this country. Outside of adventurers, demi-humans have hard lives. Slaves, however, are more protected. Hurting someone’s slave is damaging property, and they care more about that than them as people.”

That was something he’d asked about before. Beloukas was very forthcoming in that regard. While murdering a free demi-human was punishable, if the right guards responded to the situation, it could be overlooked. Even if it wasn’t, it usually wasn’t as bad as killing a slave.

“I don’t believe you at all!” Itsuki declared. Dante recalled him being more stubborn than Motoyasu in the books.

“I don’t care.” Dante said plainly. He turned to the other hero confronting him. “What about you?”

“I mean…” Motoyasu began, actually seeming to give it some thought. Whatever he was going to say, Dante wouldn’t know.

“I’ve heard enough.” Aultcray called out. “For a hero to use slaves is unthinkable.”

A number of knights had already begun to approach them. Aultcray stayed at his table, Malty still standing next to him.

“I didn’t realize you felt so strongly about slavery.” Dante said to him from across the hall. “Surely, you could outlaw it, no?”

“That is not the matter at hand.” Aultcray swept his hand to the side. “I will not permit a hero to use slaves so freely.”

“Right…a hero…” Dante shook his head. Legalities about demi-humans wasn’t the only thing he got out of Beloukas. He assumed as much, but the royal family did indeed use a large number of slaves. Even if he couldn’t wield his staff right now, Aultcray was still a hero and a member of that family. There didn’t seem to be any slaves working in the castle itself, but it wasn’t as if this was the only place under their direct control.

“You will accept Sir Itsuki’s duel. If you refuse, your slaves will be taken from you by force!” The knights got close to the demi-humans, but Sadeena had already taken her harpoon from her back and loosely pointed it at the knights. Rifana had her rod out, as well as Keel with his axes. None seemed to want to approach them.

“There is a third option.” Dante said loudly, making sure all eyes were on him. “Let’s simply dissolve the slave seals on them right now.”

The great hall was silent. None of the knights moved. Even the nobles quieted their whispering. Well, it was mostly silent. Dio and JoJo were filling their faces at the food table, watching everything play out. Dante had told them not to worry about what was going to happen unless he called for them.

“W-What?” Itsuki was the first to break the general silence.

“Did I stutter?” Dante asked. “We can remove the slave seals right now. Of course, since you care so much, you’ll pay the bill for it.”

“Are you serious?” Motoyasu asked in disbelief.

“I meant what I said.” Dante told him. “The slave seal is to keep assholes from coming after them.” He gave the king a subtle look before turning back to Motoyasu. “We can always go back to a slave trader afterwards to get them reapplied. I mean, the only issue is that you think they’re being forced, right?”

“I suppose…” Motoyasu said slowly.

Wow. This is too strange. I can’t believe this is how it’s playing out. We planned out how this would go, but this is far removed from what I thought.

The king did not look happy, but he held back whatever it was he really wanted to say. "Very well.” He said. “In that case, your slaves will be taken to the church to have their slave seals removed.”

“No.”

Aultcray’s eye twitched at Dante’s word. “What did you say?”

“No.” Dante repeated himself, standing firm. “You aren’t taking them anywhere. The slave seals can be removed here.”

“You do not give me orders, criminal!” Aultcray bellowed.

“I don’t care. You aren’t taking them.” Dante responded. He knew that, if they were taken to the church, there would be problems. Whether or not they could be handled was something he didn’t want to test at the moment. Here, however, he was confident.

“Guards!” Aultcray yelled, a vein visible on his head, even from where Dante stood. “Apprehend the Shield Hero’s slaves.”

“Sadeena, if any of these knights so much as touches any of you, kill them.”

That was enough to keep the knights present from moving forward. Sadeena kept her harpoon aimed at the closest knight, a smile on her face.

“You dare threaten my knights!?” Aultcray roared. “I’ll have you in chains for this!”

“I’m not threatening your knights, I’m protecting my party members.” Dante clarified. He saw Itsuki take a step back and draw his bow, but Motoyasu just stood there.

If anyone was a real threat here, it would be the other heroes, but that would be it. Dante’s appraisal skill had gotten quite high from him increasing it with the job levels power up. He could see the levels of everyone in the room. The knights that approached them were in their mid-40s. A few of them were in their 50s, and only two were above 60. Meanwhile, the three heroes were spread across the 40s. Aultcray wasn’t as high a level as Dante thought he’d be, and he was certain old age diminished his stats. His lack of vassal weapon also diminished his potential.

On the other hand, Dante’s companions averaged around level 35, but that was entirely misleading. With all the levels they sacrificed, they were closer to around 50. Adding the bonuses his shield provided slaves and monsters, they would be in the mid-60s. Dio, JoJo, and Sadeena, being royal filolials or of superior lineage, as well as benefiting from the Trust power up, were more like mid-to-high-70s.

“Dante, let’s do this the easy way. There’s no need to make threats.” Motoyasu said. He hadn’t even aimed his spear to prepare an attack. “If you only have them as slaves for their protection, just remove their slave seals for now.”

“That was the plan.” Dante said. “However, I don’t trust the Three Heroes Church. If you knew anything about this country’s religion, you’d understand why.”

“This is all just a trick!” Itsuki declared, pulling back his bowstring and forming an arrow. “You just don’t want to lose your slaves!”

“Talking to you is pointless.” Dante shook his head.

“Hey!” Two voices yelled out. JoJo and Dio ran up to Dante, standing on either side of him.

“You kids, get away from him!” Itsuki warned, lowering his bow. “Wait…” He gave JoJo a closer look.

“Stop being mean to Papa!” Dio cried out.

“Yeah! Dad didn’t do anything!” JoJo joined in.

“Dad…” Itsuki looked confused for a moment, before his face turned to near fury. “You brainwashed these kids into thinking you’re their father!?”

“Where the hell did you get that idea?” Dante asked. It was far too early for the whole brainwashing thing. He was pretty sure that was only in response to Naofumi improving his image, and Dante didn’t really do that at all. At least, not to large groups of people. He didn’t spend that much time peddling. “Besides, I basically am their father. I raised them from eggs.”

“Liar!” Itsuki wasn’t having it at all.

In an instant, a burst of smoke filled the area. Then, two towering royal filolials stood before the Bow Hero. Itsuki stood slack jawed. At least, Dante assumed he did. He was currently sandwiched between the pair.

Dante slid out from between them, careful not to stab them with his armor spikes, not that they would do anything to either of them. “There you have it.” Dante said, brushing off a few feathers from himself. “These two are monsters with a human-like form.”

“That’s…I…” Itsuki was trying to find the right words. It seemed like he couldn’t process what he was seeing.

Did no one see JoJo transform?

Dante reached up to pet Dio. She tried to maintain her intimidating presence, but it was hard when she was having her neck scratched. “Look, if it’ll speed things along, we can have your little duel.”

The tension in the room seemed to deflate a little.

“However, since I’m not an attacker, I need to have someone fight in my place.” He gestured to the filolials.

“I will not allow it!” Aultcray called. “This duel will be between the Bow Hero and the Shield Hero.”

“You really want to force that?” Dante asked. He briefly looked around the room. “If you try to force a fight right now, well, a lot of people could get hurt. A lot of non-warriors, if you catch my meaning.”

Murmurs in the room grew loud as the nobles started to move back.

“You…” Aultcray grit his teeth.

“By the way, Motoyasu.” Dante turned to the spear wielder. “That was a threat. A justifiable one, since I’m sure many of these nobles have slaves themselves.” Dante snapped his fingers, another idea forming in his head. “Say, how about we have a two-on-two duel? Me and one of my companions versus Itsuki and Motoyasu? That way, I’ll still participate and actually stand a chance.”

“No way!” Itsuki refused outright. It didn’t seem like he would agree to anything Dante said.

“Indeed!” Aultcray agreed. “You will not dictate terms to me, Shield!”

“I see.” Dante nodded. “I suppose it’s to be expected. After all, why have a fair fight when you can rig everything in your favor. I have one arm and only a shield, why not fight alone too? I just didn’t realize the king and Bow Hero were cowards.”

“You bastard!” The king slammed his fist into the table. “I’ll have your—”

“I accept!” Motoyasu called out. Dante was again surprised. He thought of this plan on the fly, but he was hoping it would work out. Otherwise, they’d have to fight their way out of here.

“Motoyasu!” Itsuki turned to him.

“But!” Motoyasu went on. “I can’t fight either of them.” He pointed towards JoJo and Dio. “I won’t fight kids.”

“Hm.” Dante nodded. He didn’t particularly want Motoyasu to fight his kids either. “Alright. Sadeena?”

“Yes~?” The woman in question stuck her head around JoJo’s feathers.

“You can’t have her fight!” Itsuki said. “We’re fighting to free her!”

“That right?” Dante reached under his armor and pulled out a vial. He handed it to Sadeena, who quickly uncorked it. She poured the contents over her slave seal, making it sizzle and fade. In a matter of seconds, it completely disappeared from her chest.

“Did you…” Motoyasu watched the whole thing. He looked over to Dante and back to Sadeena.

The orca woman gave a quick twirl of her harpoon, her smile never leaving her face. “So, are we going to fight~?”

“Are we, Itsuki?” Dante chimed in.

“Fine!” Itsuki said, agreeing to the battle.

“One last thing.” Dante added with a smile. “Since you’re having me wager my companions, why don’t you wager something too? Say, your reward for fighting the wave?”

“Outrageous!” The king declared. “You think this is some common gambling hall?”

“I’m merely asking the Bow Hero to put his money where his mouth is, if you have that expression here.” He turned back to Itsuki. “Or, are you afraid to risk anything yourself? Maybe you truly are a coward.”

Itsuki grit his teeth at that. “Fine, I’ll accept!”

Dante smirked. He turned once more to the king. With a wave of his hand, the knights around Dante’s party backed off. He announced the battle would take place in the gardens.

“As for the Shield Hero’s companions, they will be kept under watch.” Aultcray declared.

“By the Sword Hero.” Dante said, ignoring whatever the king was going to say next. “You mind, Ren?”

The boy in question hadn’t said anything during the whole thing. In fact, he had distanced himself a bit from it all. He hadn’t drawn his sword, so there was that, at least.

“Sure.” He said nonchalantly.

The knights, not having been given orders and not looking to get into a fight, left Dante’s companions. With a nod from Dante, they stowed their weapons and went along with Ren. His own party members followed after. The nobles in the hall began moving to the garden as well.

Itsuki went off without another word, following a knight that would lead him to his waiting area. Before Motoyasu could leave as well, Dante had something to say.

“I’m surprised.” He told the blond man. “I didn’t think you’d be so reasonable.”

“Don’t think this is something it’s not.” He replied, a certain edge coming to his voice. “Just because Myne is willing to work past what you did doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you.”

“Really?” That was even more surprising. “What did she say?”

That got him a very hard look from Motoyasu. He held up his hand passively.

Motoyasu shook his head. “The heroes should work together. That’s what she said.” He turned and left with the knight.

Dante and Sadeena likewise followed a knight to their waiting area.

Huh. This is nuts. What the hell is Malty doing? It looked like she set up the fight to happen, but she asks Motoyasu to be civil? And Itsuki was completely belligerent. What is this?

The words of the knight Dante tortured came back to him. The church wanted Dante to kill Malty.

If she knew about their plan, having Motoyasu act civil makes sense. Then she wouldn’t appear as a target for me, or at least as much of one. Maybe it would get me wondering why she framed me. Well, it is, but for different reasons. But, then, why was Itsuki there? He and Motoyasu came together. Did she pass information to Itsuki about me having slaves? Did she plan for me to lose my slaves while looking like she tried to help? But she was talking to her father when those two came over. Who is she acting for? Is the church involved in this?

I have no idea what’s going on! God, I hate this 4D chess bullshit!

Chapter Text

Dante and Sadeena stood just outside the gardens. A pair of knights stood waiting at the doorway. They didn’t really look at Dante and Sadeena, but they didn’t look away either.

Dante was tapping his foot, waiting for things to be prepared. It hadn’t been long, just a few minutes, but it was still annoying.

Then, the guards allowed them to enter. The gardens had braziers around the pathways near the walls, but it looked like they set up more in the center area. On those pathways, as well as on the walls, stood various nobles, waiting for the battle to start. Dante noticed a few adventurer-looking types as well.

They made their way to the center area, Motoyasu and Itsuki meeting them there. Looking at them again, Dante could see they had on good armor. Well, it was about what he remembered from the manga and anime. He had a lot of time to look over what adventurers and knights wore, and compared that to what he got from those mercenaries, not to mention some bandits that got in their way at one point.

All in all, they’re about the same quality as the castle knights here. Unlike that cheap chainmail and breastplate from Idol’s knights, these ones had on good quality stuff, and more plate pieces. Ren seemed to have the best armor of those three, but Dante also remembered he was the type to grind a lot.

Of course, it looked like Dante’s was the best, as gaudy as it was.

“The battle of the Spear Hero and Bow Hero versus the Shield Hero and his companion will now take place!” The king announced. He stood atop one of the walls, a throne having been brought with him. “The battle will end when one side admits defeat or can no longer fight.”

Dante gave his good—and only—arm a stretch as he shifted his shield to the Stout Shield. The defense bonus on it was pretty ridiculous, considering he unlocked it from his Savage Shield devouring people that increased defense. It also didn’t hurt that it was one of the shields he powered up, like the Spellcobalt Shield.

Motoyasu and Itsuki likewise changed their weapons to their preferred forms. Dante didn’t know if either one had attacks that ignored defense, but he was confident he could take at least one from each of them and be fine. His HP was pretty high, after all.

“I’ll make sure you face justice for what you’ve done.” Itsuki said, taking his stance.

“If you say so.” Dante replied, rolling his shoulder.

Motoyasu didn’t feel the need to say anything, given that he was still ogling Sadeena. It was strange, being annoyed by that. It wasn’t as if Sadeena was going to jump into his pants, but Dante still didn’t like it. Not that it really mattered. The fight likely wouldn’t take long.

“Now…begin!” The king declared.

The moment Aultcray started the fight, Dante made a beeline for Itsuki.

He and Sadeena had already discussed who they’d fight. Since Itsuki could do less than Motoyasu in close quarters, he would be Dante’s target. Even if Dante was somehow unable to pin him down, having arrow fire focused on him was better than having it focused on Sadeena.

“Bunker Shot!” Itsuki fired off a skill quickly. It struck against Dante’s raised shield. Whatever it was supposed to do, it didn’t seem to.

Dante was already next to him. He thrust out his arm and grasped Itsuki’s bow hand. Dante smirked as he looked Itsuki in the eyes.

“You’re done.” He said.

“Done?” Itsuki sneered at him. “You haven’t done anything. I can just…” He tried to free his hand, but Dante wouldn’t budge. “Let go!”

“Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.” Dante raised his arm up, forcing Itsuki’s arm high above his head. He struggled in Dante’s grasp, but there was little he could do. “Now, let’s sit back and watch the others fight.”

“I’m not done yet!” Itsuki yelled. From where Dante stood, he very much was done. “As the source of your power, I command—”

Dante stopped that chant right away. He threw Itsuki to the ground, placing a knee on his arm and a hand over his mouth.

“Like I said,” Dante turned his attention back to Sadeena and Motoyasu, “let’s watch.”

“Your opponent’s over here~.” Sadeena called out, swiping at Motoyasu. He’d been distracted by Dante quickly rushing Itsuki.

“Sorry, Miss, I’d rather not hurt you, but…” Motoyasu’s spear began to glow, “Chaos Spear!”

Many spears formed around Motoyasu and launched at Sadeena. She was able to knock them away as she pulled back, avoiding damage.

“Not bad.” She said, twirling her harpoon. “So that’s what it’s like to defend against a hero~.”

“Air Strike Javelin!” Motoyasu launch a glowing spear at Sadeena. It flew quickly, but not quicker than Sadeena. She had more than enough time to dodge out of its way. Before it could make it to the crowd surrounding them, Motoyasu dismissed it.

“Careful now, Mister Hero~.” Sadeena teased. “You need to watch out for your surroundings.”

Motoyasu held out his hand. “As the source of your power…” He began to cast a spell. With that much distance, he would have enough time to cast against a normal opponent. Against Sadeena, not a chance. Of course, she didn’t move from her spot. “Faust Fire Shot!”

The flame leapt from Motoyasu’s hand. However, while he was chanting his spell, Sadeena had cast her own.

“Anti-Faust Fire Shot!” With her counter, Motoyasu’s spell fizzled into nothingness.

“A counter spell…” He was at a loss for words.

“What else can you do~?” Sadeena asked, walking towards Motoyasu. He took a defensive stance at her approach.

“Sadeena, what are you doing?” Dante asked as he watched.

“Hm~?” She looked over at him, a happy smile on her face. “Just sparing with the Spear Hero~.”

“Can you do that another time? I’m tired of Itsuki hitting me.” Since having one arm pinned, Itsuki kept up a constant stream of punches and kicks. They didn’t hurt, and likely wouldn’t even if Dante wasn’t wearing armor or using a strong shield. Still, it wasn’t exactly fun to hold him down.

“Aw…alright.” She started to approach Motoyasu in a serious manner. Well, as serious as she could be when she was still having a bit of fun.

Once close enough, she dashed forward. Sadeena clashed with Motoyasu, the two swiping at each other with their polearms, only for the other to deflect it.

Huh. He’s not that bad with it. Sure, Sadeena still isn’t really serious, but it’s not like he’s swinging his spear around wildly.

“Windmill!” Motoyasu spun his spear, creating a whirlwind at Sadeena. In response, she changed into her therianthrope form. Her added weight kept her grounded.

“Wha…” Motoyasu stared at her as his skill ended. Clearly, he wasn’t expecting a beautiful woman to transform into a whale person.

“Pay attention~!” Sadeena quickly swept his feet with her harpoon, dropping him to the ground. Before he could stand again, the tip of her harpoon was pointed at his throat.

Smiling, Dante looked over to where the king sat. He was fuming.

“Well?” Dante called out to him. “I believe this fight is over.”

He kept an eye out for any movement from the crowd, but he saw none. There was heckling to be sure, but no one seemed ready to interfere. He could see Malty standing in the back, unmoving.

Aultcray stood from his seat. “The winners of this battle…are the Shield Hero and his companion.”

Smart move. He realized we could just beat these two to a bloody pulp if it continued. He wouldn’t want to advertise that. Neither would I, for that matter.

Without another word, Aultcray turned and went back in the direction of the banquet hall. Malty seemed to look at Dante for a moment before turning as well.

And the plot thickens. No attempt to undercut our victory, no cheating, no nothing. I just don’t understand what her game is.

Dante removed himself from Itsuki, allowing the boy to stand up. He glared up at Dante’s outstretched hand as he stood. Motoyasu, on the other hand, took Sadeena’s hand, letting himself be helped up.

“What are you mad about?” Dante asked Itsuki. “You wanted this fight.”

“This doesn’t mean anything!” Itsuki shouted back. “If this were a real fight, I wouldn’t have to hold back!”

Dante laughed as he shook his head. “If this were a real fight, you wouldn’t be around to say that. Even if it was one-on-one, I could have held you until you passed out, then drowned you in a river.”

“Not if I kill you before you reach me!”

“Assuming you could.” Dante wasn’t impressed with his single attack. He had no clue what it was supposed to do, only that Itsuki used it when he was right next to him. “You shouldn’t have challenged me anyway. An archer has no business fighting alone like that.”

“Someone had to!” Itsuki turned his glare to Motoyasu. Dante watched as he seethed for a moment before stalking off. The other nobles and guests had already filtered back to the banquet.

Interesting. So Motoyasu really wasn’t going to do anything? I almost feel bad for dragging him into this now.

“Mister Dante!” Rifana called as she ran up to him, giving him a hug. The rest of his party was right behind her.

“That was so fast!” Keel said as he watched Itsuki leave.

“Yeah. Faster than I expected.” Dante nodded along. He meant what he said to Itsuki, but he thought he’d have some skills to escape a grapple or keep better distance. With any luck, he’d take what happened here as a learning experience.

Dante could have played things a bit better here. A lot better, in fact. He really didn’t expect Itsuki to be the one to challenge him like that. Of course, the king trying to bring his companions to the church was another wrinkle in the plan. Dante was a glorified thug, not a tactician or diplomat. Planning ahead was one thing, but redoing a political or social plan on the fly was a bit difficult.

Well, no sense in worrying about that now. We have a party to finish, then we get to sleep in the castle.

That was another thing that Dante had found a little strange. While he assumed the other heroes and their parties would have rooms here, he didn’t expect rooms for his own. Then again, if Malty wasn’t constantly trying to mess with him and egg on her father, that might explain it.

Truthfully, he just didn’t know.

“You fought quite beautifully this evening.” Dante heard Motoyasu say. He turned to see the man holding Sadeena’s hand in his own. She’d already changed back to her demi-human form. “Maybe you’d like to join my party going forward?”

“Oh my~. Aren’t you the charmer?” Sadeena said with a laugh.

It wasn’t exactly the pitch Dante was expecting from Motoyasu, but it was close enough. He would have thought more about it, but he was too irritated at what he was seeing.

“So, would you consider joining me? I’m sure it would be a pleasing experience.” Motoyasu put on his best smile.

“Well, you make it hard to say no~.” She said teasingly, laughing into her free hand. “However, I’m afraid—”

“She’s with me.” Dante said, wrapping his arm around her waist and holding her close. Motoyasu gave him a displeased look.

Sadeena, on the other hand, smiled at Dante with half lidded eyes. “Yes, I’m with little Dante.” She told Motoyasu.

“Are you sure?” He asked, concerned. “You know what he did, right?”

“Seriously?” Dante shook his head. “You just fought her. Do you really think I could force myself on her?”

“I also saw you take Itsuki’s attack like it was nothing.” Motoyasu pointed out. To be fair, it was a good point. “Besides, maybe she has a reason to stay by your side, like…them.” He pointed to Dante’s remaining party members. They had just come up beside Dante.

“That’s…actually another fair point.” Dante conceded. Motoyasu was really using his brain here. Dante had him figured as a gullible idiot from the books, but he kept finding reasons to ignore those sources. The slave seals on the others was something Dante brought up with Sadeena before, and how she could kill him in his sleep if she thought he was a danger to them.

Of course, that was completely irrelevant now.

“You all mind if I show him?” Dante asked his party.

With nods of agreement, Dante opened his status. With a few quick changes, their slave seals began to crackle with lightning.

“What are you doing?!” Motoyasu yelled as he took a step back.

“Proving a point.” Dante said. He let go of Sadeena and gestured to the seal on Rifana. “Right now, these are supposed to be causing intense pain. However, they’re barely doing anything. That’s because basic slave seals don’t work much past a certain level.” He turned off the slave seals.

With all their leveling and sacrificing, they could hardly even feel the seals anymore. They’d know they were going off as long as they didn’t close their eyes and cover their ears. All those levels also showed Dante another limit to the seals. Where before he could lower their levels without any input from any of them, now he had to get their permission. He imagined that’s how it was for non-slaves. It didn’t take long for that to start happening, especially when he let their levels grow too high. Their stats really overpowered their seals.

“Interesting.”

“Whoa, shit!” Dante whirled around to the source of the voice. Ren was standing behind him, watching the display. He had jumped back too at Dante’s exclamation. “When did you get here?”

“Wha…I came with your party!” Ren all but yelled. He looked a bit irritated at being forgotten.

“Right…”

From there, the rest of the banquet went by peacefully.

Motoyasu wanted to talk with Dante’s companions about how he’s been treating them, but when they were away from Dante. He must have figured that anything they said near Dante could just be lip service. Dante was fine with it, since Sadeena was standing nearby to make sure no one—specifically Dio and JoJo—revealed anything they shouldn’t. When they returned, Motoyasu was satisfied.

“I guess if you aren’t forcing them into anything, there isn’t really a problem.”

Motoyasu let them be after that, but not before giving Dante a strange look. He didn’t understand it, until Sadeena told him why. Dio, JoJo, and Rifana all told him that Dante liked to pet them while they were transformed. Even when not transformed, Dante would basically preen Dio and JoJo’s feathers a bit. It was something both of them asked him to do, but it still sounded weird when he heard it out loud.

Ren chatted with Dante a little about how he’d gotten strong enough to block Itsuki’s attack. He didn’t want to tell him about combining the other power up methods yet. There was still a decent chance he might have to fight them all, though who would be leading the charge would change. Dante did end up telling Ren about fighting powerful monsters in the sea, but Ren stopped that conversation immediately. Dante had forgotten that Ren didn’t know how to swim, at least until the boy got all anxious about the mere mention of water.

Itsuki would steal hateful glances at Dante throughout the night, but would turn away in a huff when Dante saw him. Aultcray looked over every so often, more to keep an eye on Dante, it seemed. Malty didn’t seem too invested in Dante’s presence.

Dante did look around at some of the heroes’ party members. He didn’t really recognize most of them, but he did find Armor. Dante only remembered the man’s name from the web novel, but he was easy enough to pick out. A large man with shiny armor acting like he was top shit, boasting about Itsuki and his heroism. He didn’t seem to consider Itsuki’s loss to Dante as relevant, since Dante only held him and didn’t really attack. A cowardly tactic, the man claimed. If Armor was anything like his book counterpart—something Dante suspected was very likely—he would enjoy watching the man die.

One of the knights from the village—the one with the nose scar—did approach Dante. He asked about the remains of the other knights, and Dante told him that nothing remained after the fight. Dante didn’t think he fully believed it, but he didn’t pursue it further. Dante did save his life, and the lives of his fellow knights.

As the banquet came to a close, servants showed the heroes and their parties to their rooms. Dante’s was shown to a more remote section of the castle. When they looked inside, the two rooms were still well furnished, but not nearly as well as Dante remembered on his first night here.

“This should be big enough.” Dante said as he looked around. “We don’t even really need to move things around.”

“Actually,” Sadeena said, grabbing his arm, “I think you and I should be in one room~.”

“Ah.” Dante had almost forgotten the signal Sadeena chose. It was almost never used. “Do you think they’ll be fine by themselves?”

“We can all take turns watching.” Rifana said with a smile.

“And it’s not like anyone can sneak up on you, little Dante~.” Sadeena added.

She wasn’t wrong. With the Two-Headed Dog Shield unlocked, he had Alert Shield active almost all the time. Since it wasn’t a skill, he couldn’t upgrade it, but it didn’t cost anything to keep active, so it was a nice extra layer of defense for both hunting and resting.

“Alright then.” Dante agreed. The other four left the room, leaving Dante and Sadeena. He shifted to the Humming Shield as Sadeena began taking off his armor.

“So, what did you want to discuss?” He asked. There weren’t too many things they had to talk in private about anymore.

“How do you think tonight went?” Sadeena asked, finished removing Dante’s chest armor. The helmet was already on a nearby table.

“A bit mixed on that one.” Dante said. “Itsuki took Motoyasu’s place, and things were a lot less crazy than they could have been.” Sure, the guards tried to apprehend them momentarily, but the duel went off pretty well. There was no interference, no outcry, and Dante’s side was declared the winner without issue. “Still, I could have gone about things differently.”

“Hm.” Sadeena hummed as she removed the bone pieces around Dante’s hips. “You probably could have shown off the slave seals when the Bow Hero challenged you.”

“Yeah…I wish I’d thought of that.” That might have gotten Itsuki to back off a little. It was entirely possible that Itsuki wouldn’t have believed what he was seeing, thinking it was some sort of trick.

Sadeena finished getting him out of his leg armor. He usually kept that on during the night, seeing as they didn’t bother him too much. He was left in his undergarments, which were basically a pair of shorts and a shirt.

“What else?” He asked. There were a lot of things to think of. Figuring out Malty’s plan, the king’s, the church’s, any outside forces. However, that could be discussed in the group. Though, he did generalize a bit when talking with the others about the books. They didn’t ask too many questions, surprisingly, leaving Dante to talk about a few of the major things for the future.

Sadeena turned back to him, having just locked the door to their room. He found her standing right in front of him, a smirk on her face.

“What’s—” Before he could say anything else, he found himself looking up. His back was on the bed with Sadeena above him, hands on top of his shoulders.

“Do you know how much I’ve held back these past weeks?” She asked, sizing him up.

“What do you mean?” Dante asked, not getting it. “We’ve…you know, made out a couple of times. And, we slept together every night.”

“Mm, yes.” Sadeena traced her hand over his chest. “We’ve slept next to each other.”

“It’s not that I’m not interested.” Dante tried to reassure her. “Far from it. But, you know it’s not really a good idea…to…” His voice trailed off as Sadeena removed her chest wrappings and vest.

“Were you saying something~?” She lowered herself to him, pressing against his chest. He must have been more distracted than he realized, since he hadn’t noticed her taking his shirt off.

“I…” He couldn’t get the words out. Especially since she silenced him with her lips.

He wouldn’t lie, this was a pretty great thing happening to him. The broader circumstances, however, complicated things.

“Sadeena…” He breathed out. She had already moved down to his neck. “This isn’t…we shouldn’t…”

“Don’t worry~.” She cooed. “It’s safe. Probably.”

“Probably?” He asked, trying to lean up, but his arm couldn’t to push himself up. More accurately, it was already wrapped around her toned waist. His body was betraying him.

“It is.” She traced her tongue across his jaw, which he’d shaved a few days ago. “Sorry, Dante, but I’ve tricked you again~. I used our more intimate moments to find out what you like, and…” She trailed off, biting lightly on the side of his neck.

Even through the fog his mind was quickly falling into, he knew that would leave a mark for a while. Even if he had a powered up shield—which the Humming Shield was, if only slightly—Sadeena’s attack was more than enough to get through his defense. Even if it wasn’t, he’d found that his shield thought it was funny to let these sorts of things leave marks on him. That was his theory, anyway.

“We shouldn’t do this.” Dante whispered. He could barely hear the words in his head.

“I’ll stop if you tell me to.” Sadeena said into his ear, giving it a quick bite.

This was a bad idea for a number of reasons. Dante, however, couldn’t think of any of them at the moment. He was sure he did before, but they didn’t come to mind. But really, was this such a bad thing? He mustn’t have thought so, since he found himself on top of Sadeena, instead of the other way around.

“Oh my~.” Sadeena looked up at him, a massive smile on her face.

Dante just looked down, still not quite sure how that happened. After a moment of thought, he lowered himself to her. “Fuck it.”

“So roman-ah!” Dante returned Sadeena’s bite with one of his own. His shield gave him so little attack, but it still allowed him to do things like this.

“I’m not the only one who likes that.” He said.

Dante pull off his shorts while Sadeena pulled down her loincloth.

“Damn, you really were waiting for this.” Dante observed her discarded loincloth, the undergarment having a bit of her juices on it.

Sadeena slid back on the bed, beckoning Dante. “Take me already, little Dante.”

Not wanting to keep her waiting any longer, Dante obliged. He moved over her, positioning himself right above her. She wrapped her arms around his waist, resting just above his ass.

“You ready?” He asked, though he already knew the answer.

“More than ready.” She replied.

When he slid into her, she let out a soft wince. Her arms tightened around him, pushing him further in. Once in fully, she leaned up and gave a harder bite on his shoulder. It took all he had to not pull back and thrust in.

“You okay?” He asked, not expecting that reaction.

“Yeah.” She whispered back, moving her arms up his back. “Can we stay like this for a bit?”

“Sure.” Dante said, glancing down. “Was that…are you…”

“I was.” Sadeena gave him a small smirk. “You knew I was waiting for someone to outdrink me, but you still thought I was that kind of girl~?”

“I, uh…sorry.” He didn’t really know what to say. It was a bit of a disconnect in his head, seeing how she normally acted.

“Well, I did say there were things I’d be willing to do for my family.” Sadeena said, reminding him of what they discussed at Reichnott’s. She fully admitted she intended to use her body to get Dante to keep them safe. “But that doesn’t matter anymore.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Dante gave her a kiss, which she returned. Her tongue played with his lips, before his danced with hers.

When they parted, Sadeena held his gaze. Her left arm had moved over his. “I’m ready.”

“Okay.”

~The Wrong Hero~

The night passed by rather quickly. Dante would have preferred it stay dark longer, but there were things to do. He and his party stood outside the throne room of the castle, along with the other heroes and their parties. They would swing by the inn later to grab Raphtalia and Eclair.

The others around them gave varying looks. Itsuki would glare at him and turn away whenever Dante looked at him. Ren kept glancing at him and turning away too, but it seemed far less hostile. Motoyasu didn’t turn away, but he kept a look of disapproval on his face.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out why. Sadeena was hanging off of Dante’s arm and was practically glowing.

“Do you really have to do this?” Dante whispered to her. They decided to change the signal for the day.

“It could be worse~.” Sadeena reminded him.

That was true. During their night of fun, Dante had left a number of…blemishes on her skin. Far more than he realized at the time. Sadeena didn’t share his shield’s impressive healing abilities. They had a water basin in the room to clean themselves off, and Dante still had plenty of healing salve to help. She insisted he apply it himself, not that he was complaining.

When they went to get the others, Rifana had an amused smile on her face. She showed them how the others were sleeping. His two kids slept in their angel forms on the bed. Between them, Keel slept on his back in his therianthrope form. Dio and JoJo both held onto him like a stuffed animal. It was another picture perfect moment.

With no issues during the night, they had a light breakfast in the dining hall. The guards had tried to turn them away, but Dante wasn’t having it. It wasn’t as if they could really do anything to him. They saw how Dante and Sadeena beat two of the heroes.

That was another thing Dante hadn’t really thought through too well. They didn’t really need to announce how strong they were, even if they planned on leaving Melromarc. It wasn’t just in the capital that shopkeepers weren’t buying and selling with them. By the end of their leveling, every town they went to had that problem, and a good number of villages too. Reichnott was a bit of an exception, though a few bandits did show up there. Dante and his party handled them quickly.

When the doors to the throne room opened, Sadeena released Dante. Flaunting their relationship right in front of the king would only add to the bad decisions they made.

The four heroes stood before the throne with their parties behind them. From the left side of the hall to the right, it was Motoyasu, Ren, Itsuki, and then Dante. Malty was in Motoyasu’s party, something Dante mostly expected. It was possible she had gone with Itsuki instead, but this showed otherwise. In a sense, it was a good thing. That was one less irregularity he had to think around.

“As thanks for battling the wave and your work in my country, the heroes will now be rewarded.” Aultcray announced from this throne.

Four attendants held bags in front of them. One bag was noticeably smaller than the others.

“Each of the heroes have performed valiantly during the wave. Additionally, they have strived to safeguard my country from other threats. For these acts, they are each awarded 3,500 silver.”

Three of the attendants stepped forward and presented the bags to their designated heroes. That was a little unexpected. Dante was pretty sure Motoyasu got a larger amount in the books. Then again, that might have been Malty’s doing. It wasn’t wise to favor one hero over the others, so treating them equally was a good move.

“As for the Shield, you have been found lacking. Your reward is only 500 silver.”

Now that sounds familiar. Just ‘Shield’, no ‘hero’.

“However,” the king added before the attendant could hand Dante the bag, “threats against my knights and nobles in my court are not taken lightly. Therefore, your reward is to be withheld.”

“That so?” Dante put his hand on his hip. “I seem to recall you threatening my party members before.”

“Watch yourself, Shield.” The king warned. “I wished to free your slaves from unjust bondage.”

“You could have done that any time before yesterday with a decree for all demi-humans.” Dante laughed. “Instead, you had knights going around and threatening shopkeepers to not deal with me.”

“You dare throw such an accusation at me!?” Aultcray bellowed.

Dante observed his reaction. From the way he looked, it didn’t seem like he was angry for being called out, just angry at the accusation. He may very well not have ordered any knights to do so. Then again, even if he was belligerent, he was still a political figure and has been so for decades. He was mad at the trial, but didn’t reveal any unnecessary details. Still, the facts remained.

“Then you should discipline some of your knights.” Dante said. “I have it on good authority that knights wearing Melromarc’s royal emblem were the ones making threats. I’ve also started being refused business in other areas of the country.”

“And who told you this nonsense?” Aultcray demanded.

“A man with a vested interest in being honest with me.” Dante responded. “As well as a few other witnesses.”

It looked like Aultcray wanted to argue further, but he held himself back. Barely. “Regardless, you allowed several knights to be killed in Lute village, where I heard you were instead of fighting the wave.”

“I was protecting the villagers, something the knights would have been too late to do.” Dante clarified. “Besides, are you saying that knights of Melromarc need me to defend them?”

It was cheap taunt, one that got the king to grind his teeth.

“Besides, I don’t make it a habit to protect people who rain fire on me and my companions.”

“The knights wouldn’t do such a thing!” Itsuki yelled out, seemingly done listening to what Dante had to say.

“They would and they did.” Dante said. He looked over to see the disgruntled hero. Itsuki looked indignant, but something else caught his eye. One of the knights lined up was grinning at Dante. He seemed a bit familiar. “Regardless, I had three of my party members follow the other heroes to fight the wave’s boss. You can ask the other heroes how they did.”

The king continued to glare at Dante for a moment before turning to the others. “Is what he says true?”

Red spoke first. “They were handling themselves well when we arrived to join the fight.”

Motoyasu nodded along. “Miss Sadeena there was actually the one to slay the boss.”

The woman in question had a smile on her face as she gave a light wave to the king. Aultcray grimaced.

“Very well.” He waved his hand and the attendant gave Dante his silver.

“Great!” Dante chirped, looking back to Itsuki. “Now then, I believe I’m owned something.”

“You are not.” Aultcray interjected. “I’ll not have gambling done in my castle.”

“I’m pretty sure you should tell that to the nobles.” Dante had noticed a few of them grumbling about losing silver on the match. In fact, it seemed like there was only one happy noble after that fight.

“My word stands.” The king declared.

“I see.” Dante gazed down at Itsuki. “And what of your word, Bow Hero? Did you not agree to this bet? Are you going against your word?”

It was Itsuki’s turn to grit his teeth. Without saying a word, he thrust his hands forward, pushing the bag into Dante’s chest. Dante quickly gripped the bag and handed it to Sadeena with a nod.

“I’m glad to see you being so reasonable.” Dante said, glancing at the king. He could almost hear the man’s nails scrape against his throne’s armrests.

“Hmph.” Itsuki crossed his arms and turned away. “Even though I could have beaten you in a real fight, I still lost that mock battle.”

“Of course.” Dante nodded. The knight that was grinning at Dante before now had a hateful glare on his face. Dante still couldn’t quite place where he knew the man.

“If you don’t change your ways, then we’ll have that fight.” Itsuki declared, pointing a finger at Dante.

“If you say so.” Dante shrugged. “In the meantime, I have a gift for you.”

 Dante gestured to Sadeena, who held a bag out to Itsuki. “For you, little Bow Hero.”

Itsuki gave her a hard look for a moment before he took the bag. When he looked inside, surprise enveloped his face. “What’s this?” He asked.

“About half the silver.” Dante answered. “Unlike you, I wasn’t about to leave you with nothing.”

Itsuki’s mouth moved a bit, trying to form words. In the end, he simply turned back to face the king.

“Now then, heroes, go forth! I look forward to your continued works in my kingdom.”

With the king’s declaration, the heroes and their parties left the throne room.

That went about as well as it could have, and better than Dante expected. He really thought the king would try to throw a fit about the silver, but he held back. It wasn’t as if the other three heroes were totally against Dante. At least, two of them weren’t.

As they were walking out, Dante approached Motoyasu, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I need to borrow you for a minute.” He told the spear wielder.

“What for?” Motoyasu asked, annoyed.

“Something private.” Dante said, nodding to a less crowded area.

Motoyasu sighed before turning to his companions, turning on the charm. “I’ll just be a moment, ladies.”

Motoyasu led the way, Dante following after him. They passed by some of the knights from the throne room. One of them was the knight that kept looking at Dante. When they passed each other, Dante got another look at his face. He turned to keep looking at the knight. Dante stood watching as the knight kept on, his eyes widening at his realization.

Davon Mallory!

That was why he looked familiar. He matched the description of the knight that organized the slave raid. According to Eclair, he didn’t attack Lurolona himself, but he did organize the men that did.

“Well?” Motoyasu’s voice brought him out of his thoughts.

Dante looked between the two before rejoining Motoyasu.

Damn. I’ll need to deal with that guy later.

“I needed to ask you something.” Dante started.

“Before that,” Motoyasu said, “you need to stop picking fights with the king.”

“Oh?” Dante tilted his head. “Is that what I was doing?”

“Yes!” Motoyasu exclaimed. “Look, Myne doesn’t like telling people this, but…the king is her father. You’re making it hard for her to bring all the heroes together.”

That opened Dante’s eyes a bit. Not necessarily the revelation, but the fact that he probably shouldn’t have known it to be true in the first place. As far as Malty was probably aware, Dante thought he was framed by some adventurer. That added an extra layer to how he had to perceive her actions. Or, it removed one. He’d work that out later.

“You arguing with him doesn’t help.” Motoyasu added.

“Neither does him trying to steal away my companions.” Dante pointed out.

“He thought they were your slaves. I mean, actual slaves.”

“That’s why he thought he could take them. If they were property, he could take them away from me. The royal family owns slaves, you know.”

“That’s not…You know what I’m getting at!” Motoyasu was exasperated. “You raped Myne. He must have thought you were using your slaves like that too.”

“First of all, the man hates demi-humans. He doesn’t care about them at all. If anyone else owned them, he’d be happy about them being treated that way.”

“That’s disgusting!”

“Second of all,” Dante continued on, “I didn’t rape anyone.”

“Yes, you did! There was a trial—”

“That was held by the supposed victim’s father.”

“The bloody sheet—”

“Was put there to frame me.”

If Dante could convince Motoyasu of this now, it would help out later. He wasn’t sure if it was even possible, but he thought the gears in his head were turning at least a little bit.

“Why?” Motoyasu asked. “Why would she frame you?”

“That’s…the real question here.” Dante couldn’t exactly pin down her motivations. He was thinking it was to get the church to view her positively and to manipulate Motoyasu. Also, just for the thrill of it. She wasn’t first in line to the throne, so that led to her still having a twisted personality.

“Forget it.” Motoyasu shook his head. “You don’t have any proof, and I can’t even begin to believe you without it.”

It seemed he was thinking about it a little bit, at least. “Then we’ll agree to disagree for now.”

“Fine.” Motoyasu crossed his arms. “What did you want, anyway?”

“Did you help a village with a famine?”

Motoyasu’s eyebrows shot up. “How did you know about that?”

“I hear things.” Dante responded, shifting his shield. “Did you bring them a seed from an Alchemist’s temple?”

“Are you spying on me?” Motoyasu asked, uncrossing his arms and stepping forward.

Dante shook his head. “I traveled to a cave attached to an alchemist’s temple to retrieve a crystal. We looked through part of the temple too, since we were there. We found a tablet that warned about the seed sealed inside the chest.”

“A warning…what are you getting at?” Motoyasu wasn’t getting it.

“This.” Dante showed Motoyasu his shield.

It was one he got from absorbing one of the crystals in the cave he mentioned. It wasn’t particularly strong, but it did have an equip effect called ‘Image Record’. It allowed Dante to store a few images inside the shield and project them on a screen that appeared before it.

The images that he showed Motoyasu were from the village. One of the massive bioplant in the village. Another was the controlled villagers and some plantriwes. The last was a villager in a pod.

Motoyasu looked on in shock. “W-What is this…?”

“That is what happened to the village after you left it.”

“But that’s…” Motoyasu turned away from the images. “That can’t be.”

“It is.” Dante confirmed, shifting his shield back. “We were in the area and saw what was happening there. I assume you understand everything you saw?”

Motoyasu nodded, turning back to Dante. “That’s not how it was supposed to happen. It was supposed to be a hidden quest that unlocked another one later.”

“Motoyasu, this isn’t a game.” Dante told him. “This is real. There are consequences to actions, as I believe you just got finished telling me.”

“That’s different!” Motoyasu yelled. “You knew what you did was wrong! Besides, I know these are people, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a game.”

I would love to listen to the mental gymnastics that statement requires, but I don’t think I’m smart or dumb enough to understand it.

“Whatever.” Dante shook his head. “Just be more careful in the future.”

It wasn’t as if Dante really thought he could convince Motoyasu of anything right now. It was a good seed to plant in his head, though. Ignoring the unsaid pun, they both returned to their parties. When they did, they found Malty standing off the side a bit. Rifana and Keel kept an eye on her. Two of Motoyasu’s companions were chatting with each other while the third was lowered to the ground, talking with Dio and JoJo. She seemed pretty animated, until Dante got closer. She almost seemed to scowl as she stood up.

Dante couldn’t really place who was who. He believed one of the chatting women was Elena, but wasn’t sure which. The woman talking with the kids seemed somewhat familiar. She had long, yellow-green hair and a sword at her hip. Definitely not the witch looking girl from the anime. When Motoyasu rejoined them, they quickly got on their way. Malty gave Dante a quick glance before following after.

“How did it go?” Sadeena asked, wrapping her arms around his.

“About how I expected.” Dante told her. “Anyway, did I miss something? That one woman seemed really happy to talk to JoJo and Dio.”

“She was really nice!” JoJo said, smiling.

“Yeah, the others didn’t really want to talk with any of us!” Dio added.

“She certainly looked that way.” Dante said. “What was her name?”

Sadeena’s smile faltered for a moment. “Rino.”

“Rino?” Dante looked towards Motoyasu’s group. “That’s…”

He really wasn’t sure what that meant. On the one hand, he figured Malty would fill Motoyasu’s party with people loyal to her. On the other, if Rino was useful, maybe she’d be kept around, especially is she believed Malty’s story. Whatever the case, he now had a description of her for Beloukas, in case she does get sold off.

“What now?” Keel asked as they made their way towards the castle gate.

“Now we meet up with Berry and Raphtalia.” Dante said, careful not to say Eclair’s name just yet. “After that, it’s what we talked about before.”

They were to meet up with the emissaries in a village to the east of here. From there, they’d travel to Zeltoble, and then north up to Siltvelt. They’d be able to get two hourglasses registered out of it, plus some good weapon copies from Zeltoble. Technically, they’d get three hourglasses. There was a country between Melromarc and Siltvelt that had an hourglass, but it was a little close to Melromarc. Dante still had to figure out how registering to multiple hourglasses worked. It might override the old one, but he didn’t want to risk that not happening and be pulled back in after crossing the border to Siltvelt once. At least, not without being able to teleport away.

Another thing to do was getting a letter of introduction from Beloukas. Dante wanted to at least meet with his relative in Zeltoble. He wasn’t prepared to buy the hakuko siblings yet, but he could at least meet them—and make sure they actually exist. He was fairly sure Atla needed Yggdrasil elixir for her condition, which he didn’t have. Besides, going to Siltvelt while taking care of two hakuko children might draw the wrong kind of attention.

The plan, however, wasn’t going to work out perfectly like that.

As soon as Dante stepped beyond the gatehouse, he saw the emissaries to his right. His mouth hung open, not quite processing what he was seeing. Each of them were held almost 10 feet off the ground. They had ropes around their necks as they swung from the battlements of the wall.

“Oh, fuck.” Dante let out as he stared up at them.

The others saw what he did and acted in a similar fashion. Dio and JoJo seemed more worried about Dante’s reaction than seeing the emissaries, while Rifana held her hand over her mouth.

“Oh my.” Sadeena said without a hint of her usual mirth. “Why would…oh.”

“Yeah.” She and Dante saw the same thing. Painted on their chests was the Melromarc word for ‘spy’.

That old man really is trying to start a war. I don’t think it would make much difference now if I stayed or went. If I don’t go, no one will tell them not to invade, or they might assume I’m being forced to stay or something.

“We need to grab the others.” Dante said. “And the carriages.” Fortunately, both were at the same place.

Things have just gotten much more dangerous in the capital.

“Excuse me?” A young voice called out. “Are you the Shield Hero?”

Dante looked to the source of the voice. His eyes widened at what he saw. A dozen knights stood in two rows. They had on good looking armor and were all in their upper 50s in level. That, however, wasn’t what concerned him.

In front of them, a girl around the age of 10 stood. She carried herself with a certain air of dignity and authority. She had on an expensive looking dress and had her blue hair tied in pigtails.

Why the fuck is Melty here?!

Chapter Text

Dante just stood there. He stared at the second princess of Melromarc with her retinue of knights.

What the hell is going on? It’s too early for her to be here. Is the church going to make a move now? I have been showing off a bit too much, and I’m sure at least one knight from Lute is loyal to the church.

A gentle squeeze of his arm from Sadeena brought him from his thoughts. He realized he hadn’t answered her yet.

“Yes, I’m the Shield Hero.” He said, gazing over her guards.

I just need to stay calm and think things through as they come. Nothing’s going to happen in the middle of the street in broad daylight.

“I see. It’s good to meet you, Sir Shield Hero.” Melty gave a short curtsy. “I am Melty Q. Melromarc, second princess of Melromarc. I look forward to working with you.”

“Ah, yes, me too.” He needed to get his thoughts in order. Simply reacting to whatever she said wasn’t going to help much.

“If you have some time, Sir Shield Hero, I would like to have a discussion with you.”

“I see…” That made sense. Dante recalled that Melty returned to Melromarc to stop Aultcray from discriminating against the Shield Hero. If he was smart about this, he could work this to his advantage.

That is, if he had the time to think everything through.

“Would you excuse me for a moment?” Dante said. “I need to discuss this with my party.”

“Of course.” Melty gave him a slight nod.

Dante turned his back to Melty, focusing on his party members. He freed his arm from Sadeena and changed to his Humming Shield, activating it.

“Papa, are you okay?” Dio asked, gripping his armored leg.

“You look like you’re about to panic.” Keel added.

“About to?” Dante had a forced smile on. “There’s a good reason for that, you know.”

“Mm.” Sadeena nodded. “That’s the princess the Shield Hero is later accused of kidnapping in your stories, right?”

“Yeah.” If he stopped and actually thought about it, that likely wouldn’t happen right now. He didn’t plan on fleeing from her and making her chase after him. Then again, he was planning on leaving the country right now. “I think we can avoid that issue.”

“She’s not bad, is she?” Dio asked.

“No, sweetie. She’s a nice girl, and she really likes filolials.”

“Really?” JoJo asked, peaking around Dante to look at her.

“I think so, yeah.” It was entirely possible that was another difference, but that’d be easy enough to confirm.

“What should we do?” Rifana asked.

That was the million dollar question. The obvious answer was to simply talk with her. Of course, the situation might be a lot more different than Dante thought. Many things already were, after all. It was best to be prepared.

“Keel and JoJo, go to the inn and get Raphtalia and Eclair, and the carriages. After that, wait outside the city walls for us.”

There were a couple other stops Dante wanted to make, but he might have to work around them. One of which was stopping by Beloukas’s tent. He wanted that letter of introduction, plus a replacement slave seal for Sadeena.

“You sure?” Keel glanced over at the knights. “Should we really split up?”

“I’m sure.” Dante nodded. “JoJo should be fast enough to get you two out of any situation that arises, and my group has enough power to handle things here. Just in case, take this too.” He handed Keel a potion he crafted using his shield. It was made to give an edge in combat, though they hadn’t needed to use it yet. Still, it was good to have.

“Okay, Dad!” JoJo said, transforming. Keel jumped onto his back.

“Stay safe, you two.” Dante said, bidding them goodbye for now.

As they sped off, Dante shifted his shield again, ending the silence effect. He turned back to Melty, seeing her face full of surprise.

“Did that boy…just turn into a filolial?” She asked him.

“That he did.” Dante responded. “In fact…”

Understanding his lead, Dio transformed as well. Dante watched as the second princess began to shake, her folded hands rising and lowering, trying to think of what to do.

“So pretty…” She said, settling on raising her hands.

Control the flow of negotiations. That’s what Eddy always said. I’m no seasoned diplomat, but I can at least handle this situation better.

“So, what was it you wished to discuss?” Dante asked, bringing the princess back into focus.

“Ah, yes.” Melty cleared her throat. “It seems there is some tension between Sir Shield Hero and the king. My mother, the queen, has tasked me with reconciliation between you. Also, she wanted to make sure your…injury wasn’t the result of the king’s actions.”

“Well, I’m open to reconciliation. And don’t worry, my arm is unrelated to the king.” Dante said. “This won’t be a simple thing. What did you have in mind?”

“I would like you to accompany me to see my father and speak with him.” Melty said. “We can sit down and discuss—”

“Ah, that’s not going to work.” Dante interjected. “He just gave out funds for fighting the waves, and he was less than agreeable. Not only was my reward far less than the other three heroes, but he tried to withhold it too. This all happened the morning after he allowed—and instigated—a fight between heroes.”

Malty’s involvement notwithstanding, the king certainly forced the fight.

“He…I see. Then, perhaps I can act as the go between for the two of you. Father will listen to my words.”

Dante stroked his chin. “I suppose that could work. However, I still don’t see him coming around anytime soon.”

“Hmmm.” It was Melty’s turn to hold her chin in thought. “Then…allow me to set the groundwork with him first. If you come alone with me, I can show father that you are open to discussion.”

“I’m afraid separating me from my party is a nonstarter.” Dante shook his head. “The fight yesterday was about freeing my party members from their slave seals.”

Melty’s eyes widened at that. “I didn’t realize you had slaves.”

“Technically, yes, but the slave seal is so other people don’t come after them. Are you aware that your country, as a whole, cares more about damaged or destroyed property than the lives of free demi-humans?”

“My mother is trying to change that…” Melty said, lowering her head.

“I’ve heard.” Dante nodded. “Regardless, now isn’t a particularly good time to meet with him.” He swept his arm to the walls. “Three dead demi-humans are hanging from the castle walls. While I don’t think he’ll be capable of harming my party members, I’d rather not give him another opportunity right now.”

“That’s going too far.” Melty protested. “Even if he has a conflict with you, father wouldn’t kill companions of a hero for being demi-humans.”

“I believe he would. He did have three emissaries killed, after all.”

Melty stood there, speechless. What even could she say to that? Dante didn’t know what the proper treatment for emissaries and diplomats were, but having them killed wasn’t exactly earning Aultcray any points.

“How do you know they’re emissaries?” Melty finally asked.

“They told me they were.” Dante said.

“You spoke with them?”

“A few times. They asked me to stay in their country, but I had declined. I still have things I need to do here.”

Dante could see Melty relax upon hearing that. He could easily understand why. Her country’s enemy receiving their god and telling him of their devotion, how he could order them to march on those who wronged him? It wasn’t a good image.

“Besides,” Dante continued, “I’m not too keen on being surrounded by royal knights.”

“What do you mean?” Melty asked.

“I haven’t had any good experiences with the royal knights of this kingdom. A group of them tried to set me and my party on fire.”

Melty turned her head to the side. She seemed to mutter something under her breath. “Then I will have to discipline those knights.” She said to him.

“Yeah, about that…” Dante looked over the knights she had with her. They had remained unmoving all while they spoke. “Who do those knights follow?”

“Huh?” Melty seemed confused by the question. “They are royal knights.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Dante explained further. “Assume I do see your father with you. Things may not go well. In fact, he may even order the knights to apprehend me. It’s not entirely unlikely, either. What I’m asking is this: if the king orders these knights to arrest me, and you order them to stand down, who will they obey?”

That was the big issue. Dante wasn’t concerned about fighting knights. At least, not for the most part. He was worried that a fight now would lead to him being wanted. If Melty was able to rein them in, then it could work out. Otherwise, it would be best to leave.

“These knights are part of my mother’s army.” Melty said. “They have been ordered to protect me and follow my orders. They will listen to me over my father.”

Well, I suppose that’s as good as it can get.

“What do you think?” Dante turned to Sadeena.

“Hmmm…” Sadeena hummed in thought. “It’s a bit tricky.”

“Hm. I think it will work out.” Dante said. “With the princess here, I don’t think it could end up much worse than it is right now.”

With that, Dante agreed to meet with the king. He and Melty would go in together, while Sadeena, Dio, and Rifana waited just outside the throne room. Of course, Sadeena knew to make a racket if someone tried to move against them. Similarly, Dante could ping the slave seals on Dio or Rifana to let them know to break in. Hopefully, neither case would happen.

Of course, on their way to the throne room, Melty started up an entirely expected conversation.

“What’s your name?” She asked Dio, who had transformed back into a child for the walk.

“I’m Dio!” She said happily.

“Nice to meet you, Dio! Please, call me Melty.”

“Can I call you Mel?” She asked.

Dante let out a soft chuckle. “Dio, she’s a princess.”

“That’s okay!” Melty declared, continuing her conversation with Dio.

Dante knew she’d be fine with it, but still felt like he should say something. It was still their first meeting, so a good impression was important.

Before long, they were before the door to the throne room. Sadeena, Rifana, and Dio stood back while Dante, Melty, and the knights entered. Hopefully, it would be a productive talk.

~The Wrong Hero~

The doors to the throne room opened quickly, allowing Dante to exit the room.

“Never show your face here again!” Aultcray roared from his throne. Dante scrunched up his face as the doors closed again.

“The talk didn’t go well?” Sadeena asked, taking Dante’s arm once more.

“It did not, no.” Dante said, leading them out.

It started about how Dante expected, with the king shouting at him when he entered with Melty. He let Melty do a lot of the talking for him, but Aultcray seemed more interested in talking down to him than actually communicating. He was a bit more belligerent than Dante thought he’d be. At one point, Aultcray did in fact call for his guards to arrest Dante, even go after his companions. True to her word, Melty ordered her knights not to follow that command, and to prevent the other guards from leaving the room. That was when Dante thought it best to end the conversation.

“Sir Shield Hero!” He heard Melty call for him as they were nearly out of the castle. “Please, come back and finish speaking with my father.”

“I think it’s best to put that on hold for now.” Dante told her. It wasn’t just the king that needed to cool off. If Melty hadn’t stepped in, Dante knew he’d say something he shouldn’t.

“I don’t want things to end like this.” She said. “Even after what you did to my sister, I…”

“What I did?” Dante asked. He saw Melty hold her hands to her mouth. It seemed Melty did know what Dante was accused of, and she seemed to believe it too.

Melty slowly took in a breath and let it out. “Yes. I heard…that you raped my sister. I don’t know why you would do that, but that’s not why I’m here. I am simply trying to help patch things up between you and my father.”

This was really something else. “What does your mother think about the accusation? Does she know I deny it happened?”

Melty folded her hands together. “She believes there is something more to it, but I don’t understand why. My sister wouldn’t lie about something like that.”

So, even Melty doesn’t know about her sister’s personality. To keep the trust of her sister like that is really impressive. I’m surprised the queen couldn’t convince her beforehand. Maybe the queen isn’t as clever as I assumed.

“I see.” Dante said. “Thing’s will have to stand as they are for the time being. We can try again in the future, but it will be a while. In the meantime, I’m going to do a bit of traveling.”

“Traveling?” Her face showed her concern. “If you plan on leaving the country, I recommend against it. That could be seen as fleeing from your situation.”

“You’re worried I’ll go to Siltvelt, aren’t you?” At the mention of that country, Melty flinched back. “I do know a thing or two about this world. Don’t worry. Tell your father I’ll be going to Faubrey. I hear they treat all the heroes there equally. It’s a better idea than trading one zealous country for another.”

Aultcray getting that information would likely lead to the church receiving it as well. Then, they could send all their troops to the wrong border, leaving the way to Zeltoble open to travel.

“Faubrey…” Melty made a face Dante didn’t quite understand. “Wouldn’t Shieldfreeden be a better choice for you? They favor the Shield Hero above the others, and they aren’t as fanatical as Siltvelt.”

Hmmm. Ignoring Takt’s connections, Shieldfreeden probably would be the best country for me to go to. Sadeena told me that the dragon faith is more popular there than the shield faith among the rulers, but I’d still be quite welcome. It’s interesting that she’d want me to stay away from Faubrey. Is she, or her mother, worried I’ll speak to all the nations present at the discussions about my treatment here? Or, it could be to keep me safe from the king there. He does have a twisted personality, and I sort of remember him being just as cunning as Mirellia.

Dante realized the likely reason.

Melty knows. She knows the king of Faubrey wants Malty. If I go there and start making a fuss, he could demand Malty be given to him. It’s not like Mirellia would be able to refuse, since her country tried to hoard all the heroes for itself. That, and Faubrey would have one holy hero, plus a number of seven star heroes as well, ignoring the obvious impossibility of that.

“I’ll go there eventually.” Dante said. “I plan on registering to as many hourglasses as I can. That is my role as a holy hero, isn’t it?”

Melty sighed before she spoke. “Very well. But, how will you speak with my father again if you’re going there?”

“I have my ways. If nothing else, I’ll be back for the next wave.” He responded. Before he turned to leave, he had something else to add. “I have to say, I’m a little surprised. Despite what you heard and believe about me, you tried talking things out. I respect that.”

“This much is expected.” Melty shook her head. “When you’re part of the ruling family, you have to set your own desires aside for the good of the country.”

“Wise words.” Dante nodded. “I hope you can convince your father of that.”

It wasn’t likely, but he supposed it was possible. It was funny. This 10-year-old child was more responsible and sensible than her much older and experienced father. Although, Aultcray did manage not to say that Myne was actually his daughter.

“One last piece of advice.” Dante said. “Watch out for the Three Heroes Church. Make sure to tell your sister to do the same. And keep your mother’s knights close to you.”

Whatever plans Malty had, they likely didn’t involve staying friendly with the church. Then again, perhaps they did. She could be a devote believer in that faith for all he knew. Perhaps her plan was for Dante to kill the king, then she could rule in his place to gain more support. Melty arriving would make that more difficult, and Dante leaving would likely prevent any attack on Melty.

If Malty and the church are or were to be enemies, having her focus on them instead of him was a net positive. If they were allies, maybe his warning would sew a bit of mistrust. If nothing else, it may cause a bit of confusion for her.

From there, they bid Melty farewell, after having her promise to take down the bodies of the emissaries and return them to Siltvelt. Once out of the castle’s gatehouse, they hopped on Dio and made their way to Beloukas’s. It was a short matter to have him apply another slave seal to Sadeena. It didn’t take long for him to write out a letter either. Dante would be able to take care of a few things with Beloukas’s relative.

After that, they made their way out of the city. It looked like one of the city guards wanted to stop them at the gate, but they kept on going. It was easy enough to find Keel and the others. However, when they did, there was another issue.

“You killed a knight?” Dante asked the dog boy. “Okay, when and why?”

It was the first thing he asked when he saw the body of the knight in one of the carriages. In fact, there were seven bodies, and one had his head chopped off. Dante saw the XP notifications pop up in his vision while meeting with Aultcray, but he assumed they weren’t an issue, since no one’s HP went down. He hadn’t really thought about how large the XP was.

“They were trying to take Raphtalia and Eclair!” Keel told him forcefully. “I had to do it!”

“I’m not blaming you.” Dante said. “I just want to know how it happened.”

Eclair explained the situation. The night before, Raphtalia caught a knight trying to snoop inside the carriages. She could have taken care of the knight herself, but the innkeeper came out to shoo him away. The next morning, several more knights came by with orders to seize the carriages. Eclair and Raphtalia had their weapons pointed at the knights when Keel and JoJo arrived. That was when Keel came up behind one of them and cut off his head. He attacked another with his throwing axe and cut deeply into his chest with his main axe. After that, the others joined in the fight and quickly took out the knights.

“That wasn’t smart, Keel. We were trying to keep our heads down.” Dante dragged his hand over his face. “But, I suppose you didn’t have many options.”

“The only good news to this is that they appeared to be church knights.” Eclair informed him.

“Well, that’s something at least.” Dante agreed. “Were there any witnesses?”

“Just the innkeeper.” Raphtalia said. “But since these knights are from the church, and with knights going around threatening people, he was more than happy to keep quiet about this.”

“Good, good.” Dante would have to thank the man the next time he was in town.

They had made sure to clean up when they finished. Keel used some of his magic to wash away the blood on the ground. He managed to learn a few spells, but only one was from a book. The others he gained from crystal balls that Dante got as drops. They were rare, but very useful, considering Keel had a hard time learning from the spell tomes.

Speaking of those books, Keel’s group ran into someone on their way out of town. He had on a cloak, but there was no mistaking it was Erhard. He didn’t say anything, just handing Raphtalia a bag before walking off again. In it was a note explaining how Agatha and Simmond had relatives in Lute they saved, and the two wanted to repay them. The bag had a book on potion making, as well as a Zweite level fire tome. Erhard also threw in a few accessories. Dante made sure he’d thank them all once everything blew over.

They got on their way, first heading north. That was only to show any guards from the city walls them leaving in that direction. After they got out of sight, they took a long course around the capital. They made sure no one was nearby on their ride to tip off anyone about their change in direction.

They had just one more stop before they started heading for Zeltoble. It was one that no one else in the party was particularly happy about, but they understood it enough to warrant its necessity.

“You know, you may want to branch off from Doom monsters.”

Dante stood in the carved out living area of Ronota’s mining complex, with Sadeena at his side. The mine’s current occupant sat in a chair before him, his knees brought up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. On either side of him was a baron of hell. On the table behind Rolf was the corpse of one of the knights, which was starting to look like a heavy weapons dude.

“I-I can do that.” Rolf said, his voice unsteady.

“Kid, I’m not going to hurt you.” Dante said. “Our partnership isn’t going to last if you’re terrified of me. Did I really do something to make you so scared?”

Rolf hid his face behind his knees. “I t-tried to kill you.”

“A lot of people have.” Dante quipped. “Most of those people also weren’t useful to me. You are.”

“What if I’m not useful too?”

Dante shrugged. “Then just don’t go around killing people and we won’t have a problem.” He really didn’t want to have to kill Rolf. Fortunately, he hadn’t killed anyone since their last meeting. He used a few of the intact bodies left out at Ronota. “As far as I’m aware, your only crimes are trespassing and desecrating corpses. Well, you also killed a knight, but he was an asshole who raided a village in the kingdom.”

Rolf looked up from behind his legs. “You mean Lurolona?”

“Exactly.” Dante turned to Sadeena. She held out a small notebook to Rolf, who accepted it. “This contains a list of all the knights and slavers involved in the raid. We’ve killed a few, confirmed the deaths of a few, and seen you kill a few in front of us.”

“S-Sorry!”

“I’m not mad. Never was.” He was mad once, but it was more at the slaver having the gall to die than it was Rolf’s monsters killing him.

“So…you wanted me to find these people, right?” Rofl hesitantly asked.

“That’s right.”

He gave Rolf a quick explanation at Lute, but he expanded on it here. It was simple. Rolf would hunt down the people on the list and hold them for Dante to question. Once a week, Dante would come to check on his progress. Once he got all the information he could out of the person, Rolf could use them however he wished. In exchange, Rolf could consider himself under Dante’s protection. That wasn’t worth much now, considering Dante’s reputation, but he would help take care of any problems that came Rolf’s way. Not to mention, he would give Rolf any drops Dante no longer needed.

“Okay, I think I get it.” Rolf said, nodding.

“Good. One last thing.” Dante made sure Rolf was paying attention to him. “Be careful of Davon Mallory. His level in in the 60s, as are the more elite knights in the kingdom. They’ll cut through your monsters like they’re butter.”

Outside of the initial surprise, the hell knight they fought before was easy to kill. Rolf, following his devotion to Doom, doubled the HP of the baron of hell compared to the hell knight, with no other stat changes. That said, it wouldn’t be difficult to kill them. Eclair’s attacks were enough to kill the hell knight, and she was a little above level 20 at the time, though she did have a good sword.

These monsters did seem a bit smarter than Rolf’s weaker creations, but it wouldn’t be enough. Their attacks were strong, but they weren’t all that resilient.

“Got it.” Rolf nodded again, seeming more at ease with Dante.

“Good. Then I think we’re done for now.” Dante gestured to Sadeena and they headed towards the exit. “By the way,” he added, “it’s not a great idea to hide in the place you were last found.”

“Did you look for me here afterwards?” Rolf gave him a smirk.

“Touché.”

Dante and Sadeena left the mines. Once they reached the surface, they rejoined the others. They waited outside the carriages, ready to fight if it came to it.

“Are you done here?” Eclair asked. She was by far the least happy about the situation, next to Keel. Those two handled the fight here the worst, and Eclair had to go against her ethics with Dante’s plan.

“For now.” Dante said, hopping onto the front carriage. JoJo got into position to pull while everyone else climbed into the back of the front carriage. Sadeena opted for the front with Dante.

Once they were set, JoJo began pulling the carriages, heading east to Zeltoble. According to Eclair and Sadeena, if they didn’t do any hunting and switched out Dio and JoJo to rest, they should arrive in about a week.

“Do you really think Rolf will only go after the people on that list?” Eclair asked, sitting near the front.

“I do.” Dante said, nodding. “He’s a bit misguided, but seems alright. A little surprising, really.”

If Dante had to guess, this Pahadron may not have been a big actor in the waves. He might be someone who just liked to watch people suffer. After all, if Rolf was meant to participate, he would have been older, or someone with more drive. Aside from a few people who deserved it, Rolf hadn’t really killed anyone. Well, one of the knights he killed at Lute wasn’t part of the raid on Lurolona, so maybe he was decent. Then again, Dante might have killed him anyway. He did step forward with the commander to threaten Dante and his party.

“I think you might just have a soft spot for kids~.” Sadeena said, leaning into his arm.

“That too.” Dante laughed. He looked over at Sadeena. “You’re really liking that arm, huh?”

Since after they woke up, she’s been clinging to him like that. Eventually, they removed the spiked armor from his right shoulder so she wouldn’t have to keep moving around it. They took off the left shoulder spikes too, mostly to keep both sides similar, and because the spikes were too distracting.

“Can you blame me?” Sadeena asked as she trailed her fingers up his arm. “We did have quite the night~.”

“You did?” Raphtalia popped her head through the carriage covers to look at them.

“We did.” Dante said to both of them. “It was very nice.”

“Oh, don’t be so modest.” Sadeena gave him a quick kiss. “You should have seen how he acted, little Raphtalia. Dante was so—”

“Why are you like this?!” Dante cut off her explanation. That was not the sort of thing to talk about with others.

“Aw, you love it!” Sadeena laughed.

“…Yeah, I do.” Dante acknowledged. It was certainly part of her charm.

“Anyway,” Raphtalia said through her hand, covering a small blush, “if you’ve already done…that…with Sadeena, does that mean you will with Rifana soon?”

“That’s…” Dante was somewhat impressed with Raphtalia’s concern for her friend’s love life. “Well, at some point, I suppose.”

“You suppose?” Raphtalia asked, looking annoyed.

“I-It’s fine, Raphtalia.” Rifana said, tapping her friend on the shoulder with her hand. A light blush was present on her face. “It’ll happen when it happens. I didn’t realize how important it was to you that I be with Mister Dante like that.”

“I-It’s not!” Raphtalia deflected, blushing heavily. “It’s just…I know how much you wanted to marry someone like the Shield Hero. I want you to be happy.”

“I am happy.” Rifana said with a smile. “I promise. I’m more than willing to wait for whenever Mister Dante is ready.”

“But when will that be?” Raphtalia asked, directed both at Dante and Rifana.

“I think it’ll be when he trusts me.” Rifana said.

Raphtalia gave her a look before turning to Dante. It took her a moment, but she seemed to understand what Rifana meant. After all, only three people in the party had Dante’s trust power with them.

“I don’t know when that will be…” Dante admitted. “I thought that, if I told you all enough about my past, the power would activate. It didn’t. That’s because…” There really wasn’t any good way to say what came next. “I don’t think I can trust you with knowing about me.”

“After all we’ve been through together?” Raphtalia asked. “Dante, you saved our lives. Everyone here whose life you saved doesn’t have that power you talked about. Is…that the reason?”

This wasn’t a conversation Dante wanted to have. Still, they deserved to know. “I know the kind of people you all are, and the type of things you expect out of me. I’ve done a lot of terrible things for money, and there aren’t many I regret. If you knew about them, some of you would probably hate me, and most of you definitely would. So…I won’t tell you any of it. I’m sorry.”

“What are you talking about?” Keel asked. “Some of the things you told us were wrong, but nothing really bad.”

“That’s my point.” Dante said.

While it was true he did tell them parts of his past, he said nothing about murdering people. He tried to find the courage to do so, but he just couldn’t. The three former kids looked up to him, and he didn’t want to ruin that. If he told Eclair, that would definitely ruin whatever trust he already earned from her. Dio and JoJo were monsters and his kids. It was easier to have that connection with them. Sadeena, of course, already knew more about his past. Dante knew she understood.

“I’ll give you small example.” It wasn’t much, just something to test the waters. “I didn’t really care about saving the villagers. You all cared, so I cared. That, and some relatives of Agatha and Simmond live there. I couldn’t very well let them die after all those two have done for me.”

“I know that’s a lie, Sir MacRory.” Eclair stated. “You do indeed have a soft spot in your heart for kids. You wouldn’t let them be killed, or end up as orphans if you could help it.”

“…Yeah, fine, that’s true.” Dante didn’t really want to admit that. “But my point remains. Just because I’m doing good now doesn’t meant I didn’t do terrible things before.”

“But that’s okay.” Dio said, slipping past the others. She sat on Dante’s other side. “That was before, and this is now.”

“Yeah, dad.” JoJo chimed in. “You said you threatened people before, but I only see you threatening bad people.”

It was nice to hear that from them, but that didn’t change anything. Still…

“And you tortured and tried to drown that knight.” Keel added. “It’s not like we wouldn’t understand.”

“He what?” Eclair looked between Keel and Dante.

Oh, yeah, I did do that.

“I understand what you all are saying. I’ll…consider this for the future.”

It wasn’t as if there was any real time limit to that power up method. There didn’t seem to be any accumulating effect either. There was an XP gathering increase, as well as a stat boost, but that was it.

Maybe one day, they’d be able to know what he was like before.

But more than likely, they wouldn’t.

Chapter Text

It was late evening of the second day on the road. So far, they hadn’t come across anyone looking to stop them. Well, not anyone actually effective. They did get stopped by a bandit group earlier that day, but they were so laughably weak that they were hardly worth mentioning.

It did, however, give them a chance to practice. And the interruption did give Dante a break from his thoughts.

He had spent a lot of time trying to figure out the various schemes going on in the kingdom. The church’s was the one he was most confident about. They wanted Dante to kill Malty so they could then kill him with justification. From their viewpoint, he had a good reason to kill her. To encourage him further, they could make it look like she was trying to torment him. That would line up with what that knight he tortured said. From what he saw at the banquet, it did look like Malty was instigating the fight when she talked with her father, but that might have been an optics thing.

The king’s plan was at about the same level of understanding to Dante. He believed the Shield Hero raped his daughter, so he wanted to punish him. However, the amount of involvement from Aultcray was arguable. It looked like it was royal knights that went around threatening shopkeepers to not deal with Dante, as far as he could tell. It may have been on the king’s orders, the knights were actually devoted to the church and followed their orders, they worked for Malty and followed her orders, or they were acting independently. The only things Dante knew for sure were the forced duel and the attempted retraction of funds, and only because Aultcray did as much right in front of Dante.

Malty was the biggest enigma. Dante tried looking at it as if he didn’t have any knowledge about this world. The morning after she agreed to join his party, she falsely accused him of rape. Afterwards, she joined Motoyasu’s party. His next real interaction with her was through Motoyasu, who claimed she wanted the heroes to work together, and, of course, that she was the daughter of the king. Looking at it like that, Dante had fewer answers than he’d like. At most, it could be said it was politically advantageous for her to frame him, given the country’s religion.

However, most other things he thought he knew about her were more speculation. It was confirmed through Eclair that Malty was no longer first in line for the throne. However, no real reason was given for that. Malty didn’t contest it either, according to Eclair. Perhaps the queen had something on her that Malty didn’t want exposed, and the queen couldn’t just let it out for some reason. Maybe it would put Mirellia in a bad light too. He had no real knowledge of Malty’s relationship to the church, aside from one knight who may not have truly known. Malty was more cunning and cautious, that much Dante was sure of. At the very least, she should be looking at the church as a potential ally or enemy.

With the introduction of Melty, another wrinkle in his thoughts occurred. He recalled that the king of Faubrey wanted Malty for his pleasures, in both the web novel and light novel. She was to be sent off to him, but she was able to postpone that by becoming a hero’s companion, if he remembered right. That was the wrinkle. It was possible that Melty didn’t want Dante to go to Faubrey because everyone might hear about how he was treated—however justly some may think it—but it seemed more likely it was to protect her older sister from the king there. After all, she seemed very poised and collected until he mentioned Faubrey. She was more worried about that than Siltvelt. Then again, if Melty knew Faubrey’s king wanted Malty, and being in a hero’s party prevented that, why wouldn’t she question the rape accusation? Certainly that wouldn’t be as bad as being a toy for the Pig King. Perhaps Melty didn’t fully understand what that meant. Or, maybe the king of Faubrey wasn’t that bad.

That also led him to wonder about Mirellia. She seemed to understand her older daughter’s true nature. Whether or not she would be willing to give her to Faubrey’s king was another thing, but still unlikely. She didn’t want Malty or Aultcray to be killed after the incident with the pope, so there was less reason for her to allow King Faubrey to take her oldest daughter. Then again, maybe her personality was different too. After all, she couldn’t convince Melty of Malty’s cruelty. She may even entertain the idea that Dante did rape Malty, and she might be pregnant. That would be good for Melromarc-Siltvelt relations, from a certain point of view, and keep Faubrey’s king from taking a woman pregnant with a hero’s child.

There was the chance, however slim, that Malty didn’t want any further conflict with Dante. If her main goal was to stay safe from both the church and Faubrey’s king, securing her position with Motoyasu was a good plan. Regaining her place as next in line could come next, perhaps after dealing with the church. Maybe her plan was to use the four heroes to fight the church, then leave the blame for any damage to Dante.

Or she might just be an idiot savant when it comes to screwing with people, and I’m way overthinking this.

However, without any more information, Dante wasn’t going to figure anything out.

“Okay, JoJo, let’s stop for the day. Pull off over there.” Sadeena called from the front of the carriage.

“Got it!” JoJo pulled the carriages over into the nearby forest, keeping it slightly out of view from the road.

Sadeena had been spending time with Keel to teach him more spells from his water tome. Dante didn’t get many crystal ball drops, so learning from the book was important. He put that into practice himself by reading the Zweite fire tome with Rifana.

Learning these spells was much harder than the Faust spells before. If Dante had to compare the two levels, Zweite felt more like he was reading a foreign language—which he basically was—but it had bad grammar and used a lot of slang or possibly leet speak. Currently, Rifana sat in his lap and held up the Zweite fire tome for the both of them to read. It was easy enough to do, since she was in her therianthrope form. Aside from his own thoughts, Dante tried not to distract the both of them by petting her in this form. Of course, that was easier said than done.

When the carriages were parked, the pair hopped out. Rifana was still getting used to her therianthrope form. It was something Dante told her to do, since it provided quite the stat boost to her. She wasn’t really opposed to it, given her happy hums whenever she was being pet by Dante. Keel was already used to his therianthrope form. He almost never changed back.

That just left one more demi-human.

Raphtalia slowly made her way out of the second carriage. With her size, and lack of familiarity with her therianthrope form, she had to basically crawl out of the back of the carriage. Eclair came out after her, having kept her company during their traveling.

“Dante…” Raphtalia looked over at him as she picked herself off the ground. “When can I change back?”

“After you’ve fully gotten used to being in that form.” Dante answered. It was the same case for Rifana, though she actually enjoyed her therianthrope form.

“How am I supposed to do that in the back of a carriage?” She asked.

“By simply being in that form.” Dante said as he dropped a seed from his shield. It fell into a small hole he quickly made with his boot before covering it again. “Even if you aren’t moving around, you can still get a feel for being in a larger body. Stretch out a little, lift your arms and legs, that sort of thing. We moved things around in the carriages for exactly that purpose.”

More specifically, they switched the fuller rear carriage to the lead one and moved everything into it. Only three people would be in it at any given moment anyway.

“Just obtain oneness with your form.” Dante added, pouring a bit of water from his waterskin onto the seed.

“You’re just making this up as you go, aren’t you?” Raphtalia deadpanned.

“Could be.” Dante gave her a smirk. “In any case, once we’re done traveling for the day, you can move about more and do some practice fighting. That’ll help you even more.”

It’s what they did the previous day, though Dante only had the two of them transform once they stopped for the evening. Neither one changed back into their demi-human form since, not even to sleep.

“Why don’t I just stay in this form at the end of the day?” She asked.

“Because then this form will be more like something you become instead of something you just are.” Dante countered.

“But I don’t want to become this!” Raphtalia declared.

“That’s why you need to just be it.” Dante said.

“You really are just making this up as you go!”

“No, I’m just not good at being poetic.” Dante shook his head. The modified bioplant had just popped a bulb out of the ground and started growing rapidly.

Raphtalia crossed her arms. “What if I just change back anyway?”

Dante, in turn, put his hand on his hip. “You mean, aside from going against what the Shield Hero requested of you? A request that, in addition to helping you become more accustomed to another aspect of yourself, will improve your combat potential and, thus, help keep innocent people safe from the waves?”

Raphtalia held his gaze for a moment before turning hers down. She knew he was right, given her stat increases in this form. With her abilities, she was one of the heaviest hitters in the group now.

“Well, if you don’t want to stay in your therianthrope form, I can’t force you.” Dante admitted. “However, as the party cook, I won’t let you eat anything I make. You’ll just have to settle for bioplant fruits.”

“What?!” Raphtalia yelled. That certainly got her attention.

“Sir MacRory, isn’t that a bit much?” Eclair asked. “There’s no need for Raphtalia to remain like she is all the time.”

“No need, but it’ll be much quicker this way. Speed is the name of the current game.” Dante said. That was why he had Dio and JoJo switch out to keep on the move. It didn’t seem like they were being followed—aside from the constant surveillance by Q’ten Lo—but that could always change.

“…Okay.” Raphtalia murmured. “Then…how will we determine when I’m used to this form?”

“When you can wrestle me to the ground and pin me.” Dante answered.

“I see…” Raphtalia adjusted her footing on the ground and brought up her hands. “Let’s do that now.”

“Oh~?” Dante’s smile grew wider as he moved away from the bioplant, which had already sprouted fruit. “You think you’re ready?”

“I know how much my stats have grown.” Raphtalia said, digging her clawed feet into the ground.

“Alright then.” Dante changed to one of his better shields and dropped into a fighting stance. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Raphtalia launched forward. She sped forward at a rate unbecoming of someone her size. Her arms were out and poised to grab hold of Dante.

Then…

“How!?” She yelled from her position on the ground. She found herself on her stomach, arm twisted behind her back with Dante’s boot on her shoulder.

“Whoa! Papa’s so fast!” Dio excitedly said, clapping.

“How did you do that?!” Raphtalia barked up at him. The whole fight, from the moment she rushed him, lasted under 10 seconds. “You barely lowered your level at all!”

That was true. While using the Whip’s power on him could be beneficial, other methods were currently better. That being, of course, unlocking shields. Having a higher level sped up the unlocking time. He also only reduced his level to verify he could still use skills he unlocked but since lowered his level below that shield’s level requirement, which he found to be true.

That also tied in with something else he learned about his stat growth. From what he learned from Sadeena and Eclair, both having gained levels before and after getting growth bonuses, his stat growth was comparable to an average or above average adventurer. The stat equip bonuses from his shield unlocks were what set him apart. Besides, of course, the easily learned skills, special effects from various shields, the power up methods, and every other feature a holy weapon offered.

“Two big reasons.” Dante told Raphtalia. “First, I know how much both of our stats have grown.” And that his defense, strength, and agility were all far higher than hers. “Second, you’ve been in that form for less than two days total, while I’ve learned to fight with one arm over the course of a whole month.”

He released her arm and stepped off of her, allowing her to stand again.

“Besides,” Dante continued, “is being in that form really so bad?”

“It’s uncomfortable.” Raphtalia slid one arm across her waist to grab the other. “My clothes don’t fit right and it feels like I keep getting looked at.”

Huh. That might be the Q’ten Lo shadows. Can she sense them? Or, maybe she’s just insecure about her appearance.

“Raphtalia, you’re eight feet tall, rolling in muscle, and look absolutely stunning.” Dante said. “You look like an amazon warrior. And if that didn’t translate, you look like you come from a race of warrior women.”

His previous thoughts of her Roman-esque attire came to mind. Perhaps Greek armor was more accurate. She didn’t have the sculpted bronze chest piece that looked like ab muscles. She had that already in this form, thanks in no small part to her physical training.

Raphtalia sighed. “Not everyone shares your tastes, Dante.”

“No duh.” Dante laughed. “All of you liked how my gaudy armor looks. Rolf is the only person I know who didn’t love it, aside from people who hate me.” He did remember the looks of disapproval at the banquet.

“I don’t think that’s the right way to look at it.” Raphtalia lamented.

“Fair enough.” It was a bit strange. It seemed as though someone like Rolf—or rather, Reiko—would have found the armor looking amazing. Dante was sure if he saw armor made from Doom demons as a kid, he’d absolutely love it. But, to each their own.

“In any case,” Dante went on, “if I could transform into an eight-foot-tall warrior, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

“Even if you became a woman?” Keel asked, joining the conversation.

“Yeah. Wouldn’t you?” Dante asked in turn.

“H-Huh?” Keel stuttered.

“If you could grow to be eight feet, but become a woman in the process, would you?”

“That’s…” Keel trailed off. It wasn’t really that surprising. That didn’t seem like a thing that really happened here. To Dante, however, it wasn’t a big deal. With everything he went through in his life, and after his death, losing his dick and growing a pair of breasts would be pretty low on his problem priority list.

“Well, to each their own.” Dante said. “All I know is, if I had a more powerful form based on my race that I could turn into, I know I would. I’m thinking it’d be a gorilla. I’d wear a red tie and everything.”

“Hmm~?” Sadeena looked over at him. “I don’t know why you’d become a gorilla therianthrope, but it sounds like you’re referencing something.”

Oh, so there are gorilla therianthropes here? Neat.

“Just a well-known character from my world. Now I can’t wait to check in with Rolf.” Aside from learning what other games Rolf played in his past life, Dante wanted to see what the boy would do with all the new bodies. Not just the knights from the village, but also the ones that tried to seize the carriages.

After that, the conversations stayed light. Raphtalia stayed in her therianthrope form, as agreed. They all ate their supper of bioplant fruit and dried meat from previous hunts. With the time they made, they’d make it to the border wall by mid-day tomorrow. The sooner they reached the border, the better. A few days in a small country and then they’d be in Zeltoble’s controlled area.

~The Wrong Hero~

The next morning, Dante awoke next to three sleeping therianthropes. On either side of him was Keel and Rifana, and behind him was Raphtalia. Behind her was as transformed Dio, and Eclair ended up sleeping on the other side of Dio. It was something Dante wanted to try, see if having more therianthropes sleep next to him did anything for his eyes. He didn’t feel any different, but it was worth a try.

“Alright, everyone, it’s morning.” Dante said, rousing the others. After a quick breakfast, they would be making it across the border.

“Oh, good morning, Dante~.” Sadeena walked over as the others were getting up.

“Morning.” He greeted her. “Do I look any different?”

She held his head in her hands, tilting it from side to side. “Hm~. You look the same.” She said, giving him a quick kiss.

“Maybe I’m cured.” Dante said with a laugh. “I wouldn’t bet on it, though.”

It wasn’t as if positive things like that would just randomly happen. That said, since it was largely inconsequential, there was a chance.

“Hey, who’s this guy?” Keel asked.

He was pointing at a man with his arms and feet bound by rope. The man sat with his back next to one of the fallen logs they used as chairs the evening before, JoJo standing next to him with his pole-hammer at the ready.

“Aw, you ruined the surprise~!” Sadeena said dramatically, spinning around and walking over to the man.

Dante walked over too, looking the man over. He didn’t seem familiar, not from the list of knights and slavers or anyone else they met.

“I found him watching us during the night.” Sadeena informed everyone. “He had these with him.” She produced a shortsword and a set of throwing knives. The man himself didn’t have any armor on, and there wasn’t any around him either.

“I see.” Dante stood before the bound man. “Am I to assume you are a shadow? Or, are you just an assassin?”

The man didn’t say anything. He didn’t even look up at Dante. Looking at the man with his appraisal, Dante saw he was level 52. It wasn’t what Dante expected from a shadow, but he truly didn’t know.

“It would be in your best interest if you answered me.” Dante said. “I’m well aware that, as the Shield Hero, I’m a person of interest in this country. And, I don’t recall pissing off too many people on a personal level to warrant having me killed, so your list of employers is really small.”

Again, the man simply sat there, giving no indication that he even heard Dante at all.

“Hmm.” Dante looked around at the others. “Any ideas here?” Waking up to a problem like this wasn’t what Dante wanted to deal with, especially with what it may imply.

“I don’t think there’s anything we can do.” Eclair said, shaking her head. “I remember hearing once that, should a shadow be captured, they’ll take what information they have to the grave.”

It wasn’t as if Dante hadn’t heard that before. Usually, it came from the people themselves, saying Dante wouldn’t get any information out of them. Most, however, would talk.

“I suppose we could still try torture.” Dante said evenly.

“Sir MacRory—”

“If we had the time.” Dante stopped Eclair’s protest. If he was being honest, he didn’t think it was possible for him to break a shadow, assuming the man was one. He knew a few techniques, but he wasn’t a professional in that field.

“Then what do we do with him?” Rifana asked.

Dante sighed and lowered himself to the man. “Look, depending on who you work for, we might be able to let you go. Maybe you’re an assassin, maybe you’re a shadow, I don’t know. Give me something here, yeah?”

Dante wasn’t above killing someone with no means of fighting back. Still, he’d rather not have to do that in front of the people with him now. Maybe he’d give some indication of who he worked for, or some piece of useful information.

The man slowly lifted his head. He looked Dante in the eyes.

“Do what you have to do.”

It wasn’t what Dante wanted to hear. Not by a long shot. Still, it left him with little choice. He stood back up held out his shield to Eclair, dropping a seed in her hands.

“Get breakfast ready with the others.” Dante told her. “Sadeena and I will join you shortly.”

Eclair gave him a nod and led the others away towards the carriages. Dante looked back down at the bound man.

“This is your last chance.” He told the man. Of course, he said nothing back. “Okay then.”

“I’ll make it quick.” Sadeena said, pulling her harpoon from her back.

“No.” Dante held out his hand. “I’ll do it. You don’t have to do that anymore.”

“…Okay.” Sadeena nodded. Dante dragged the bound man away from their camp and into a clearing.

Dante had picked up a couple things in the weeks leading up to the wave. Combo skills was one of those things. It was simple enough to combine a skill of his with a spell from someone in his party. To help his understanding of magic, he and Sadeena also practiced cooperative magic, though he wasn't actually able to cast any with her.

What he also learned was that he could use a combo skill…by himself.

It wasn’t easy to do. When casting a spell, the caster could halt the chant part way through and finish it later, assuming they were somewhat proficient. They could go through the entire incantation and hold on to the spell for a few minutes before completing it. A combo skill cast by himself, however, couldn’t be interrupted. He couldn’t stop the chant, nor move around, and then start up again. Even bringing up his shield to defend himself would likely break the chant, something he found he could do while casting a normal spell.

But, against an unmoving target, with no other enemies around?

“Faust Fire Blast V! Combo Skill, Shield Explosion!”

Orange shields surrounded the bound man, forming a barrier around him. The shields pulsed, red cracks spreading from their centers. A few seconds later, the shields exploded, scattering in all directions. Only ashes remained of the man.

With Faust Fire Blast empowered by the Staff and Shield Prison empowered by the Gauntlets, as well as both being improved by the Claw, the unarmored man stood no chance.

Dante absorbed his remains and went with Sadeena for breakfast.

~The Wrong Hero~

Even with the small delay that morning, they made good time traveling. Mid-day came soon enough and the border wall came into view. Once it did, they came to the second problem of the day.

“That’s a lot of knights…” Dante observed the walls from within the carriage. The plan was to have Rifana at the reins as a therianthrope and Dio in her average filolial form. Then, Raphtalia would cast her spell and make everyone inside invisible. They had everyone in the front carriage ready for that. It wasn’t a perfect plan, and they might get caught, but then it wouldn’t be any different from going across the border normally.

With the large amount of knights, however, that plan was shelved.

“That’s not normal at all.” Eclair said next to him, confirming his fears. It seemed someone sent knights to watch the border wall. Whether they knew where Dante was going or just increased security on all borders was unknown.

“What’s the plan?” Raphtalia asked, in her demi-human form to save room.

“South would be our best option.” Dante said, indicating to Rifana.

Going north would bring them in the direction of Faubrey and Siltvelt. While the end goal was to go to Siltvelt, border security was likely to be even higher there. The border towards Zeltoble should be the lowest, outside of going in the opposite direction altogether, but perhaps Shieldfreeden’s border would be lighter.

That was Dante’s thinking, at any rate. In a couple of hours, those thoughts were thrown out.

“It’s getting worse.” Dante watched the walls steadily get more and more filled with knights as they checked sporadically. They kept far enough away to not draw suspicion from any onlookers.

“What now?” Rifana asked, having Dio stop.

“Good question.” Dante sat back in the carriage, with Rifana joining everyone else. They didn’t have a lot of good options. There weren’t really any breaks in the wall, except for a single river. It flowed into Melromarc, was only about 20 feet wide, and it was covered by a metal gate where the wall went over it.

“Could we force our way through?” Keel asked.

“Not likely.” Dante responded. “If what I think is right, they’ll have people there capable of using ceremonial magic. My Spellcobalt Shield is pretty enhanced, but I don’t think even I could hold off a casting of Judgement yet.”

That likely was a step too far. After all, Naofumi had the Shield of Rage and Second Shield. While he wasn’t sure of the stats, he remembered Motoyasu had a problem fighting Naofumi, even while being a higher level and using his own power up methods against none from Naofumi. Air Strike Shield, and its second and third extensions, was stronger than Shooting Star Shield, if less mobile.

Of course, Dante had most of the power up methods at his disposal, and a shield that was practically designed to repel magic. However, he recalled his thoughts about his defense, about how it was likely weaker than Naofumi's. More so, without getting much closer, Dante couldn’t tell the levels of the knights, nor how many others may be hidden. If they started making a commotion at one of the heavily guarded gatehouses, he wasn’t sure if they could win. They also didn’t have the means to break through the wall itself, at least not quickly.

“I’m starting to think it wasn’t a good idea to tell Melty we were going to Faubrey.” Dante admitted. He thought a misdirection would make it easier, but it looked like that backfired.

“You think the king is responsible for this?” Eclair asked.

“Him or the church. It could be either one, honestly.” He had no idea how much Aultcray involved himself in these things.

“I can understand the church taking these actions, but I don’t think the king would go this far.” Eclair argued.

Dante switched to his humming shield. “The king would march an army to war with Siltvelt during the waves.”

“More of your old world knowledge?” Eclair shook her head. “You’ve admitted that hasn’t been reliable lately.”

“True, but a good amount is, and I’m willing to bet Aultcray’s history with Siltvelt is too.”

Eclair turned her head away. “So, you even know about that.”

“Yeah.” Dante nodded. “Having your family killed by fanatics to then lose your blind sister years later—”

“Huh?” Eclair looked up at him. “What are you talking about?”

“What?” It was Dante’s turn to look confused. “Are you saying that didn’t happen?”

Eclair shook her head. “I wouldn’t know. What I do know about His Majesty’s past is he quickly went up the ranks in the army, obtained the Seven Star Staff, and defeated the Claw Hero, a hakuko named Tyran.”

“Ah, right.” Dante nodded. “You’re talking about when Siltvelt tried to conquer the world, right? I remember bits of that. Tyran was the leader of Siltvelt, right? But, wait, what did you think I was talking about?”

Eclair grimaced. “If you don’t know…I feel like I shouldn’t say. Please don’t ask me to.”

That was a bit of a strange thing. Dante wondered what could possibly be something he shouldn’t know about involving the king. He knew about his dead family, so what else could…

“Oh.” Dante realized what Eclair meant. “His son.”

“Yes…” Eclair slowly nodded.

That was something Dante remembered from the spinoff. Aultcray and Mirellia had a son, the middle child between Malty and Melty. He died before Melty was even born, something around five years old at the time.

“From what I heard, the king watched his son drink poison right in front of him.” Eclair lowered her head. “I can’t imagine him recovering from that easily.”

“He didn’t, apparently.” Dante said. “Instead, he took his anger out on uninvolved people, like a belligerent idiot.”

“Sir MacRory!” Eclair yelled. “I know this situation is bad, but that’s entirely uncalled for.” It seemed that, despite all that she’d been through, she still had respect for the king.

“Maybe, but it’s true. Melty was able to act reasonable, despite what she believes I did to her sister. Aultcray blames all demi-humans—even his own subjects—for the actions of, what, a single race? The nobility? It’s hard to believe he ever held the title of Wise King.”

“How can you say such things?” Eclair demanded, facing him fully. “Do you know what’s it’s like to lose a child like that?”

“I know exactly what it’s like!” Dante yelled back at her. “Why do you think I’m…” His words died in his throat. He turned away from her, but a hand on his shoulder brought him back.

Sadeena looked at him and nodded. She wanted him to tell the others this part of himself.

He didn’t want to, but he went and let himself get this worked up.

“…Two weeks before I was summoned, I lost my family in an intentional explosion. A friend who was like a brother, his wife, and their daughter.” Dante started. “After that, I went after the people responsible. Then, I went for the other people in their group of associates. After those people…I killed anyone with any sort of connection at all, even if they never hurt another person in their lives. Some of them may have been good people, innocent people. I killed them all the same.”

It wasn’t an easy thing to admit, but he knew the truth about those two weeks.

“If I could do it all again, knowing where I’d end up, I know I’d try to kill even more. So, yes, I know what it’s like to lose a child like that, and to be a belligerent idiot that got himself killed.”

The reactions from everyone wasn’t what he thought they’d have. He thought they’d be horrified, even enraged. Instead, what he found was…fear, disappointment, even understanding. It wasn’t what he expected, and he was sure this wasn’t what they expected from the Shield Hero, or their savior.

“I would do that, Dad.” JoJo broke the silence. “If someone took you away from us…I think I would do the same thing.”

Dante looked at his son, a frown on his face. “I wish you wouldn’t, but…I don’t think I can tell you not to.” After all, that would imply that he wouldn’t do the same if the positions were reversed. He knew that wasn’t the case at all.

“Hey, Papa?” Dio called from the front. She’d changed back to her queen form to speak. “I, uh, I would too. But…there’s someone out here.”

“What!?” Dante rushed to the front of the carriage and looked around, changing his shield for battle. Dio was already pointing a wing in the right direction. However, instead of a person, he saw a light brown filolial.

“Gweh!” The filolial squawked.

“Oh.” Dante sighed in relief. “I was worried for a…oh.” He realized what this probably meant.

“He said we should follow him.” Dio said.

“Right, well…” Dante sat at the front of the carriage. He looked at those in the back. “Tell him to lead the way.”

It wasn’t good to leave things how they were, but it seemed like he was going to talk with someone he wasn’t expecting to for some time.

Chapter Text

Following the brown filolial left Dante with mixed emotions. Meeting Fitoria this early was unexpected, but not impossible. He did have two royal filolials, after all. While his relations with the other heroes wasn’t great, it wasn’t too bad either. Itsuki was fairly hateful towards him, but Motoyasu and Ren seemed neutral. Dante did plan on working with them all eventually too, once the whole rape accusation got taken care of.

His thoughts drifted in and out between meeting the filolial queen and listening to the conversations behind him.

“I hope you didn’t take my statements to mean I’m excusing any of the king’s actions.” Eclair said.

“No, of course not.” Raphtalia assured her.

“If he had any involvement in your village being attacked, I will condemn it wholeheartedly and see to it that he faces the queen when she returns.” Eclair continued on.

Dante had mentioned to Eclair that Davon Mallory was in the throne room while the heroes were being rewarded. Apparently, being stationed there was a step up from where he was when Eclair was imprisoned. Even if the king wasn’t involved, it was certainly looking like he approved of the outcome. After all, he did ignore what Eclair said about the knights enslaving the survivors.

“And Sir MacRory.” Eclair turned to the Shield Hero. “Until we know whether or not the king had any part in my territory’s destruction, I would ask you not to make any conclusions on it.”

“Fair enough.” Dante nodded. “He’s done plenty else for me to judge. And, it’s not as if the royal family doesn’t have slaves.”

“As do you.” Eclair pointed out. “My father did as well.”

“And I’m sure all those slaves were treated the same.” Dante glanced back her. “Of course, I’m not implying the king tortured any directly. He just wouldn’t care if they were.”

“You think he wouldn’t care if his wife, the queen, had her edicts ignored?”

“He tried to have Sadeena and the others taken to the Three Heroes Church to have their slave seals removed.” Dante reminded her. “Assuming he was honest about that—and that’s a big assumption—it would take an incredible amount of willful ignorance to think they’d be fine, and not enslaved or killed. Well, not that the church could pull that off anyway.”

It wasn’t as if he’d let them go alone. Dante would have gone with them to make sure that was all that was done, if they somehow lost the duel. If that caused a fight, then they’d have to deal with things a lot earlier. It’s not like they couldn’t escape.

“Since we won’t be able to agree on this, I suggest we postpone this discussion.” Eclair suggested.

“Agreed.”

For all Dante knew, the king would have made sure his slaves were properly freed. It seemed unlikely, given the hanged emissaries outside the castle walls. Eclair held that knights were responsible for that, since they could have done that without the king’s approval. Dante had to admit it was a possibility, given that they must have been put up at night, or early morning at the latest. Aultcray denied knowing anything about them, though he may have just been careful of what he said in front of his daughter. Still, finding Eclair guilty and doing nothing about the slavers was a pretty clear indication to Dante.

“Huh.” Rifana looked between the two of them, having retaken her position in the front of the carriage.

“What?” Dante look down at the weasel girl.

“It just…didn’t seem like you two made up at all.” Rifana said.

“We didn’t, because there was nothing to mend.” Dante stated. “Neither of us were proven wrong, and neither of us are sorry about what we said to each other.”

“Still…” Rifana looked back again at Eclair.

Dante smirked and glanced over his shoulder. “Sorry I raised my voice and sounded threatening.” He told the lady knight.

“Ah.” Eclair smiled, nodding to him. “My apologies if I brought up bad memories.”

“Hm.” Dante turned back to Rifana, still smirking. “Better?”

Rifana smiled and leaned into him. “Better.”

If nothing else, Dante was glad their fear seemed short lived. Eclair was the stubborn type, and that seemed to extend to giving the benefit of the doubt to people she respected. Until she spoke with Aultcray directly, she may not change her view. Dante did promise her that meeting would happen when Melromarc’s next wave occurred.

The carriages continued to rattle as they followed the brown filolial. They went at a decent pace, but made sure not to damage the carriages. From the fields and roads, they ventured into a light forest. Dante couldn’t remember where Fitoria’s sanctuary was, if it was ever revealed, but this didn’t feel like it. The only thing the brown filolial had told Dio was that they were going to meet ‘her’.

Eventually, they came upon a clearing. Numerous filolials of different colors were present. There didn’t seem to be any real organization, but there was a larger group further in. Before he even noticed it approaching, a fog had surrounded the area.

I’m pretty sure that’s the skill to keep people in—or out—of an area.

Once they got closer, they could see a girl standing in the center of the group. She had silver hair and looked about as tall as Dio and JoJo, and wore a nice looking red and white dress. There was no doubt this was Fitoria.

Dante and his party climbed off of the carriage and approached. The filolials present made way as Fitoria came closer to meet them. She had her eyes closed as she walked forward.

“You are the Hero of the Shield, are you not?” She asked, stopping in front of Dante.

“Yes. Dante MacRory, the Shield Hero.” Dante said.

“I am Fitoria, Queen of all filolials.” Fitoria said.

Sadeena held Dante’s hand as they talked. He was glad she did. Speaking with Fitoria was somewhat terrifying. He was a little scared when he first met Sadeena, since he thought she could kill him with a casual swing of her harpoon. Since he was the Shield Hero, it was fairly unlikely she would, but the possibility existed. It was the same with Fitoria, only she was much more likely to consider that option.

Of course, circumstantially, that option was still pretty far out there. So far, he hadn’t done anything to warrant her anger. He had a small spat with one other holy hero, had neutral relations with another, and a third expressed his willingness to work with Dante. Not to mention the fact that Dante raised two royal filolials.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Dante gave a light bow. “Is there something we can do for you?”

“First, I would like to ask what your plans are.” Fitoria gestured to the ground. She took a seat with her legs underneath her, so Dante sat down as well, though he simply sat cross-legged. Sadeena joined him on the ground.

“Well, my immediate plans are to travel to Zeltoble and register with the hourglass there, then move north to a few others.” He told her.

Fitoria hummed. “Good. However, my flock has told me you were heading south when you were spotted.”

“Ah, yeah…” Here came the tricky part. “The nation we’re in is interfering a bit with my travels. I’ll get across eventually.”

“I see.” Fitoria responded neutrally.

Well, this isn’t bad so far.

“Next, I would like to fight the two filolials you’ve raised.” Fitoria pointed behind Dante. Dio still stood in her filolial queen form, but JoJo was in his child form.

“Ah…” Dante nodded. “Right…”

“You disapprove?” Fitoria cocked her head to the side.

“N-No…” Dante knew this moment would come eventually, but now that it was here…

“What’s wrong, Dad?” JoJo asked, looking down at him.

“Dad?” Fitoria turned her head towards JoJo, then nodded. “Ah, I understand.”

It was hard to let his children fight someone he knew was far more powerful than them. He knew it was just a mock battle, but the hesitation remained.

“I can heal any injuries they get in our battle.” Fitoria assured him. “However, if you are still against it, I won’t force it.”

That was unexpected. He didn’t think Fitoria was the type to let something like that slide.

Dante turned up to his kids. “What do you two want to do?”

“We’ll fight!” Dio proclaimed, raising up her wing.

“Yeah!” JoJo joined her, raising a fist.

The flock of filolials made more room around them. Fitoria stood and went to one side while Dio and JoJo stood at the other. Neither of the kids changed their forms to match the other. The rest of the party stood behind the kids.

“Come at me in any way you see fit.” Fitoria said. “I want to test you at your best.”

“Can we drink a potion first?” Dio asked. Fitoria shook her head. Dio and JoJo pouted a bit. “Aw, we wanted to use one of Papa’s battle potions.”

“That’s not what they’re called.” Dante sighed at their antics.

He played around a bit with his Potion Maker’s Shield, and the alchemical recipes he unlocked. Dante was able to brew a number of different potions, ones that temporarily increased stats. A lot of those potions seemed to emulate different support spells he learned, like Guard for defense or Power for physical abilities. The most well-rounded potion increased everything, though not as much as the targeted potions.

Still, it was a decent work around to not having the Aura spell yet. The results spoke for themselves. A high quality potion like that could really tip the scales in a normal battle. It’s what Keel used when he killed those knights.

Pushing past their disappointment, Dio and JoJo took their positions. Dio had her claws at the ready and JoJo had his pole-hammer.

“You may come at me whenever you are ready.” Fitoria said, waving the filolial kids to her.

Both of them sprung forward quickly, activating High Quick while they ran. They dashed to either side of Fitoria and came at her from two angles. With a sudden burst of wind, their movements stopped. Fitoria stopped the head of the pole-hammer in her right hand and an outstretched claw in the other.

“Impressive.” She said, knocking the pair far away. “I wouldn’t think you’d be so strong after a month.”

Fitoria likely sensed when the heroes were summoned. That seemed like something she could do.

“Papa helped make us really strong!” Dio declared, charging at Fitoria again.

“It seems he did.” Fitoria agreed, knocking Dio’s claw strike to the side.

JoJo came in with another swing of his hammer, but Fitoria nimbly dodged to the side. She avoided and blocked their attacks easily, but that was expected. She had been around for hundreds of years, after all.

“Hey, Dante.” Keel pulled Dante’s focus from the fight. “Fitoria isn’t really trying, is she?”

“No, she’s not.” Dante hadn’t told them too much about Fitoria. Mostly just what Fitoria herself just told them, and that she was incredibly strong.

“If they drank a potion, or a few, would they stand a chance?” Keel asked.

“The effect doesn’t stack. Even if it did and they drank a dozen potions each, it might become a warmup for Fitoria.” Dante said.

The fight continued, but neither one was able to land a solid hit on Fitoria. JoJo channeled a Zweite Tornado spell while Dio kept her busy, but Fitoria was still able to counter it.

After a few more exchanges, Fitoria held up her hand. “That’s enough.”

JoJo and Dio stopped their attack. The Filolial Queen beckoned them closer, having Dio transform into her angel form. Once they were in front of her, Fitoria pulled a pair of cowlicks from her head and held one in each hand before the filolial children.

“You have both passed my test.” She said to the pair. “Therefore, I recognize you both as candidates to be the next filolial queen or king.”

The cowlicks jump from her hands and attached themselves to the kids’ heads. Before either can react, the tufts of hair burst into a puff of light. Then, each of the kids grew a cowlick of their own. They looked at each other and pointed at the new appendage.

“Ah!” They both yelled at once, then looking up at their own heads. “Ah!”

“Is it really that bad?” Dante asked as he walked closer with the party.

“It’s weird~!” Dio cried out, trying to flatten the bit of hair sticking up.

“Big Bro!” JoJo rushed to the small therianthrope and held his shoulders. “Do I still look cool!?”

“Eh?” Keel stared up at him, stuttering. “Uh, y-yeah, you still look cool.”

“Promise?”

Keel gave him a thumbs up. “Promise.”

“Yay!” JoJo picked him up and hugged him, squeezing a bit of air from his lungs. “Thank you, Big Bro!”

“Can’t…breathe…” Keel struggled against JoJo’s grip.

All in all, it wasn’t as worrying as Dante thought it would be. Still, something nagged at him.

“Shield Hero.” Fitoria called to him. “I would like to speak with you. In private.”

“Ah, of course.” Dante nodded. He let go of Sadeena’s hand, who had held him steady the whole time. Gesturing to the rest of his party, he followed after the Filolial Queen alone.

They put a good distance between themselves and everyone else. Once close to the fog that surrounded them, Fitoria turned to face him.

“It is good to meet a hero who has raised filolials again.” She started. “It has been quite a long time.”

“Ah, that’s good…” Dante wasn’t really sure how to interact with her. They followed her underling with little explanation, so she could assume they knew something about her. He didn’t know how much he should reveal to her. “You fought very well, especially since you never opened your eyes.”

Fitoria hummed, lowering her head. “Yes…I’ve had to learn to see without my eyes.”

“O-Oh…” That sounded like a landmine if Dante ever heard one. “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “It was such a long time ago. I’ve gotten quite used to it.”

“Haven’t you tried…no, sorry.” Dante began, but then thought better of it.

“Haven’t I tried healing magic?” Fitoria asked his question, causing a slight wince from him. “I have. I had the most powerful healing magic available cast on me, used every potion I could find, and nothing restored my sight.”

That was not what Dante expected at all. Then again, Atla couldn’t see, and not even Yggdrasil Elixir could fix that. But, that was some sort of magic-genetic thing, right? Surely that medicine could help Fitoria.

“What about Yggdrasil Elixir? Isn’t that known to cure any disease or illness?”

“You hero knowledge serves you well.” Fitoria said. “However, the Medicine of Miracles isn’t all powerful. It can’t bring someone back from the brink of death. And, it’s powerless in the face of a curse.”

“A curse?” Dante looked over the small woman. “Then…”

Fitoria nodded. “Twice over. First, I was negligent and allowed a curse to fester in me. Then, I received a deep wound on my eyes at the hands of a cursed holy weapon.”

Dante didn’t like that at all. In the books, he recalled Fitoria mentioning that the heroes needed to work together to fight the waves, as Fitoria wouldn’t be strong enough. But, the idea that any of the heroes in the books could become stronger than Fitoria…well, he supposed it wasn’t so strange. After all, Naofumi was able to withstand attacks from the Spirit Tortoise, even hold it in place. And Motoyasu…well, he was the prime example, wasn’t he?

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did it happen?” Dante asked.

“I don’t mind, but I will have more questions for you.” Fitoria responded. “It was after the last waves were repelled. The Sword Hero and Spear Hero came after me together. I don’t recall the reason why, but they decided it was best to kill me. They both unlocked the curse series and mastered one of the forms each. The battle was long and hard. I managed to kill the Spear Hero, but the Sword Hero took the opportunity to blind me. We were both exhausted by that point. I may have been able to defeat him, but the risk was high, and I was able to flee, so I did so.”

“I…” Dante was at a loss for words. To defeat the waves, only to go after Fitoria afterwards…

Then again, I don’t know what the previous set of waves was like. Besides that, I have a decent idea what the previous heroes may have been like, given the current ones. If they never got past the gamer mindset, they could have seen the curse series as a difficult power up to use, and Fitoria as a hidden boss of sorts. But, to unlock the curse series and still see this world as a game seems…contradictory.

“Now then,” Fitoria interrupted his thoughts, “I have some questions for you.”

“Oh, yes, please.” Dante said, gesturing to her, realizing after the pointlessness of that.

“And I would like you to answer honestly.”

Dante really didn’t like that modifier.

“How much do you know?”

It was a rather broad question.

“In regards to what?” Dante asked.

“To start simply, tell me everything you know about me.”

That would be quite the reveal. Dante didn’t want to say anything, but he doubted Fitoria would let him stay silent. Less imminent but still highly concerning, any Q’ten Lo shadows listening in would have that much more information.

Dante changed to the Humming Shield and activated it. Fitoria turned her head to the side.

“Hm. I think it’s been a long time since I’ve seen an ability like this.” She said. “Don’t worry. If you are concerned about being followed, you were not. No one else is here but my flock and your party.”

“Maybe, but I’d rather not risk it, if you don’t mind.” He had no idea if Fitoria could actually sense those shadows or not. They may have been kept out of her barrier, or they may have snuck in before they were closed out. Either way, he highly doubted the shadows would get within the range of Silence. That would be a bit too close to maintain their stealth effectively, according to Sadeena.

“As you wish.” Fitoria said evenly.

Now he had to tell her what he knew. “I knew about you being the Filolial Queen, and about the test you would be giving my kids. I also know you are extremely powerful.” He tried testing the waters with just that.

“Go on.” She prodded.

“I know you promised the hero who raised you to protect the world and keep the heroes from fighting each other. If I remember right, you’ve had to kill holy heroes in the past that couldn’t work together.”

Fitoria continued to face him, eyes closed. “Keep going.”

“I…remember the hero who raised you was the Shield Hero. Your world was the Shield and Bow, which later fused with the Sword and Spear world. I can’t recall too much of that part though.” Dante had gone through a bit of sleep deprivation at the time of reading those novels, so he didn’t retain as much.

Fitoria stood there, eyes slowly opening. Her dull grey eyes looked up at him. He couldn’t see any physical indication on her skin, but her eyes looked to have slash marks on them.

“I see…” Fitoria let the words out slowly. “I didn’t expect you to be the Shield Hero.” She walked towards Dante, who took a step back.

“D-Did I say something wrong?” If Fitoria was about to do something, he didn’t have a chance—

In an instant, she grabbed hold of him, arms wrapped around his waist. She held him tight, keeping him in place.

“I’ve waited so long to meet you…” Her voice was muffled, her face pressed into his armor.

“I…don’t understand.” Dante stood stiffly, afraid to make any move.

Fitoria shuddered against him. Her breathing hitched, and he heard her sniffle.

“I get to rest now…”

The implication of those words wasn’t lost on Dante. A similar sentiment passed through his mind before his death.

“Can you…tell me what you mean?” Dante hesitantly asked.

Fitoria nodded against him. “I don’t remember a lot. Bits and pieces from my past, sometimes more when I hear certain things. One thing I’ve held onto for all these years was a vision.”

“A vision…” It wasn’t the first time he heard something like that. “What was your vision?”

“A man came to me.” She started. “He told me old knowledge and was much stronger than expected. There would be a filolial with him, a queen or a king. They pulled a carriage that looked more beautiful than anything I’d ever seen, a gem shining brightly on it.”

“Fitoria…” It was just what he feared. He wanted to think otherwise, but there was little room for interpretation. Fitoria was waiting to die, so the vassal carriage could be passed on to another.

With that revelation in his mind, Fitoria hugged him tighter. “I couldn’t remember who the hero that raised me was. Now I can remember a little more. I’m so glad you’re the man from my dreams, Shield Hero.”

Whatever fears Dante had of the Filolial Queen vanished with her words of gratitude. It was heartbreaking to hear her thank him for her impending death. What words could he possibly offer her? Here she stood, having gone through countless years, waiting for her replacement to come along so she could die.

There were no words. He hadn’t lived hundreds of years. He didn’t even make it to 30 before getting killed. To watch those around you be born, grow old, and die again and again…it was something so far removed from Dante. The closest parallel he could realistically have from his world would be a family pet that had children he could raise and take care of, repeating the cycle into old age. Even then, Fitoria could communicate far more with other filolials than he could with cats or dogs. The best comparison he could hope to achieve with her situation wasn’t close by a long shot.

In the end, there really was nothing he could say to her. Nothing truly meaningful, anyway. Instead, he merely placed his hand on her head.

“I’m sorry.” He said. “I can barely begin to understand what you’ve gone through.”

She shook her head, ruffling her hair with his hand. “You don’t need to understand. You being here is enough.”

It was a nice sentiment, but not one Dante wanted to hear right now. “Are you sure that’s what your vision meant?” He asked, knowing both he and she believed it was. “Maybe…” Unfortunately, he wasn’t fast enough with his words to come up with anything meaningful.

“It’s okay.” She said, pulling her head back slightly, but keeping his hand on it. “I’m happy this way.” She looked up at him with a smile. “I’m happy you are the Shield Hero.”

Dante stroked her head a bit, a low grunt escaping him. “That’s a sentiment you share with everyone in my party, in one form or another.”

This whole thing did bring up some old thoughts for him. Dante always assumed he was summoned by mistake somehow, that the Shield was supposed to summon Naofumi instead. Now, he learned that a prophecy foretold his coming, apparently. Or, at least, someone who knew about the books and would raise a filolial.

Echoing his thoughts, Fitoria spoke up. “I didn’t know what to expect when you came with two filolials, but I see now the Shield chose someone good.”

“I think you’re bit mistaken.” Dante shook his head. “I’ve done plenty of terrible things. And…this wouldn’t be the first time my appearance has meant death for someone…”

“I welcome it.” Fitoria placed her hands on Dante’s arm, shifting his hand to the side of her head. “You earnestly comforted someone you’re clearly afraid of. I think that speaks for itself.”

“I was pretty obvious, wasn’t I?” Dante gave a small laugh. “Knowing what I know, can you blame me?”

“Not at all.” Fitoria closed her eyes and smiled brightly.

There was that feeling again. Seeing someone so happy about their own death, it reminded Dante of himself. The release from loss, from pain, it hurt to see that in someone who looked like a child.

But she wasn’t a child. She was a being far older than him. And this was something she really wanted.

“Well, I’m…glad you’re happy.” Dante said, straining to get the words out. “If it’s not too much trouble, I have a few things I’d like to ask you about.”

“Of course, Shield Hero.” Fitoria said, releasing his arm but staying close enough to keep his hand in place. “What do you want to know?”

~The Wrong Hero~

They talked for a while after the test fight. Dante had all manner of questions for her, but her biology proved itself a great hindrance. He wanted to know the power up methods of the other heroes, the ones he couldn’t remember, but Fitoria couldn’t recall either. He asked her about being teleported to the waves and being registered to multiple hourglasses, but she had little to say there too. Fitoria had gone to all the hourglasses she was in charge of, registering to all of them, but she couldn’t properly answer his question. She had a timer for every hourglass, but she wasn’t teleported to the location of the wave, even for the one she registered to last. Dante couldn’t guess at the reason, but Fitoria could. She assumed it was because her weapon was too old.

“I haven’t used it much before the waves, so I don’t know if it’s working properly.”

Dante recalled something similar from the books, but he couldn’t be sure. He knew vassal weapon holders should be teleported, unless that was another change in this world. It seemed the quickest way to figure that out would be to register to another hourglass.

In that regard, Fitoria could easily help. She connected the carriages Dante had to her own and had everyone get inside hers. It was much more spacious inside than what they thought it would be. In a moment, they were transported across space. Once out of the carriage, the found themselves in an open field.

Fitoria pointed out on Dante’s map where she had taken them. It was quite a bit northeast of where they had been. They were about equal distance between Siltvelt and Zeltoble and, according to Eclair, it would take about a week to reach either place at their current speed.

Dante thanked Fitoria for her help, both for the transportation and for empowering his kids. In response, Fitoria held out her arms to him. Dante lowered himself to her and wrapped his arm around her, wishing her well. Once they got stronger and were confident enough, Fitoria would bring them to the hourglasses in her domain. Even with her flock, Dante wanted to help the bird girl if he could.

After she left, Sadeena slid up next to him, teasingly asking about the hug the two shared. Dante, however, simply shook his head. He wasn’t ready to talk about it, and Sadeena picked up on his feelings.

They loaded up into the carriages, ready to set out. Well, almost everyone.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Dante asked the tanuki girl before him. She looked at him, confused. “It’s back to giant training for you.”

Raphtalia turned her head away, muttering something under her breath. “I was hoping you forgot.”

“Didn’t forget, just had more pressing matters. And now, those matters are solved.” She had gotten out of a few hours of being transformed, between trying to cross the border and meeting with Fitoria.

Sighing, Raphtalia took on her therianthrope form and climbed into the more spacious carriage. Eclair shook her head as she joined her. The silliness of it all wasn’t lost on Dante, but he appreciated it. After talking with Fitoria, he needed a bit of a distraction.

With the more loaded up carriage in the front again, Dante joined the others. Sadeena sat in the front, Keel sitting next to her with his water tome and JoJo pulling the carriages. Dante sat in the back, letting his mind drift off.

Before it could, Rifana sat against him, still in her therianthrope form. Dante placed his hand on her head, giving it a scratch. It was a soothing feeling. Dio sat on his other side, still fussing over her new cowlick. She hadn’t gotten over it like JoJo had.

With the border far behind them, they made their way towards Siltvelt.

Chapter Text

Chapter 27 – Small Friends

It was nearing evening the day after meeting Fitoria. With the power up from Fitoria, both Dio and JoJo were able to travel longer and faster, keeping their pace easily. In addition to the medicine book and Zweite fire tome, Dante spent a bit of time going over his newly acquired shields. Fitoria had given him one of her special cowlicks before leaving, revealing and unlocking every filolial shield.

Right now, though, Dante was dealing with something else. He had lost focus while sitting in the front with Rifana. It was easy to relax knowing that the Q’ten Lo shadows were probably trying to figure out where they were, leaving them unobserved by hostiles. His eyes had been watching the scenery and he had simply enjoyed the calm sound of the carriages going across the dirt road. It was at this time that he made his mistake. It wasn’t terrible. In fact, it was similar to something he did before, though back then it was intentional. Still, the consequences of his actions made themselves known.

“What’s wrong, Mister Dante?” Rifana asked, happily swaying from side to side as she sat on his lap.

“Yes, little Dante, what’s the matter~?” Sadeena cooed. She had her arms wrapped around Dante from behind, her head resting on his good shoulder.

“I’m sorry…” He repeated the same words he had been saying for the past few minutes. He had his hand over his face, trying to ignore what just happened.

Maybe he was a little too relaxed while watching everything pass them by. Maybe he forgot the creature sitting on his lap was an intelligent being and not like a pet. Maybe, just maybe, he kissed Rifana on the back of her head near her ear. It was just one. Or two. Or three. It was a small number of kisses before he realized what he was doing. Of course, by then, it was too late. And, of course, Sadeena just happened to be looking over at them from inside the carriage.

“Why are you sorry, little Dante~?” Sadeena asked, rubbing her cheek against his.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Dante lamented.

Rifana giggled. “Now I know why you want me to stay in this form.”

“Pease stop…” His voice grew quieter.

“Hey, Papa!” Dio came up through the carriage interior to the front. “Raphy says you better take responsibility. What does that mean?”

“Why are all of you like this?”

It was really something. He had sex with Sadeena in Melromarc Castle, and he only got a few words said about it. Give a few kisses to the back of Rifana’s head? You’d think the acts were reversed. Well, he did wake up with her pressed against his chest with his arm wrapped tightly around her. If anything, he was asking to get teased.

“JoJo, I think it’s about time we set up camp.” He told the driving filolial.

“Okay, Dad!” He replied, bringing the carriages near the small river Dante indicated.

Dante supposed that, after a long day of nothing really happening, teasing him was their source of entertainment. They mostly kept the same travel plan as before, trying to reach their destination quickly. Every so often, someone would spot a monster they hadn’t fought yet. If it looked weak, whichever filolial not on pulling duty would run out and kill it for shield reveals. If it looked stronger, more appropriate measures were taken.

“Don’t think this is over yet, little Dante~.” Sadeena released him and stood, stepping off of the carriage.

“Believe me, I know.” Dante said, following after her with Rifana. Once they were set for the night, he knew he’d be hearing a lot more.

With the creaking of wood, Dante saw Raphtalia step out of the rear carriage, with Eclair soon after. The giant therianthrope had a massive grin on her face as she loomed over him, arms crossed.

“Why don’t you take some time to think up some good ones?” Dante preempted her. “Dio and I have somewhere to be.”

It was part of their plan. Dante would need to get to Zeltoble eventually, so why not sooner rather than later? The filolials didn’t need to switch out as often, since their stats were greatly enhanced, thanks to Fitoria. Whoever was pulling the carriages for the day would take a rest while the other one would go with Dante. Using Portal Shield, they would teleport to where they last were en route to Zeltoble and travel as quickly as possible until the ability came off cooldown. After that, they’d return to the others.

“I just want to say that you need to be considerate of Rifana.” Raphtalia said.

“She seems happy enough.” Dante pointed at the weasel girl, who was practically floating in the air.

“But what about later?” Raphtalia continued. “Make sure you don’t take too long before doing that with Rifana.”

“That, you say?” Dante gave her a look. “Ignoring the relationship requirements of that, doing it comes with its own dangers. It’s not something to do lightly.”

“What do you mean?”

Dante’s look was even more pointed. “What do you mean, what do you mean? If it’s timed wrong, she won’t be able to fight for quite a while.”

“Wha…” Raphtalia looked dumbfounded. “How could that happen?”

“How could…” Dante realized an important detail he was forgetting. “What do you think that is?”

Raphtalia shifted from one foot to the other. “Hugging really tight? While naked?”

Eclair did what he wanted to do and covered her eyes with her hand. Looking over, Dante could see Sadeena holding back a laugh.

“Rifana, do you know what that is?” He asked the woman at the center of it all.

“Hugging while naked?” She tilted her head to the side. “Also, a lot of kissing.”

Dante sighed before turning to the final therianthrope.

“I think there’s also a weird dance?” Keel added his nugget of information.

Well, I shouldn’t be that surprised. They were kids a month ago. It’s not like aging automatically gives them knowledge. Still, Rifana knew what a harem was, but doesn’t know what sex is? Is that really what she thinks happens?

“Are you talking about mating?” Dio asked, gaining everyone’s attention. “That’s not it at all. Mating is—”

“Dio!” Dante stopped her before she went too far. A blunt explanation was fine, but it could be done better. He turned to Sadeena. “While we’re away, please…educate them about this.”

“Hmmm~. I don’t know.” She held a finger to her chin, grinning all the while. “I think the Shield Hero would be a better match for this topic.”

Dante went back to the carriage and pulled out a mug. Switching to his Brewing Shield, he poured one of the concoctions he made. He had plenty of time to practice making them, in addition to his studies. It wasn’t as if all the farms around Ronota were barren or burned. Dante was able to gather up a lot of grains before leaving the town.

“I’ll need a bit more than this, little Dante.” Sadeena said, swirling her mug before gulping done the brew.

“I’ll fill up a few, then give you more when we get back.” Dante promised. He really didn’t want to deal with all that.

“I think I’ll go with you this time.” Eclair said, jumping into the conversation.

“Really?” Dante turned to her. “Are you sure you can do it?”

“If I can’t hold onto you, then I’ll fall off and be left behind.” Eclair said. “It’ll be a good test for me.”

“Riding in a carriage for hours on end, only to ride on a filolial after doesn’t sound that comfortable.” He pointed out. He himself was used to these kinds of long days from his various jobs. She had come a long way from where she started with her trauma, but if she wanted to push herself, Dante supposed that was fine.

“It’s no trouble.” Eclair said. “But, I suppose if you don’t want me to go, I could always stay here. I’m sure there will be some interesting conversations here before your return.”

“…Fine.” Dante only had himself to blame. Tell someone honor isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and they might listen.

With that settled, the others began getting their supper ready. The bioplant was a handy thing to use, but it was better to not use it if possible, at least this version Dante modified. It was good for making quick crops, but it killed the land about 10 feet around it.

“Portal Shield!”

In an instant, Dante, Eclair, and Dio were teleported away. They reappeared where Dio had gotten them last. They hopped onto Dio, Eclair holding onto Dante, and they set off.

“To do such a thing out in the open, you’re quite bold.” Eclair quipped, obviously still thinking about Dante and Rifana.

“I’d threaten to leave you here, but I’m sure Dio wouldn’t let me.” Dante retorted.

All in all, they had been making good progress. As things stood, they would reach Zeltoble before Siltvelt. That was partially due to the slight detour to the hourglass country between Melromarc and Siltvelt. Dante didn’t have much information about it, either from the books or from his party. Eclair knew it was a human majority kingdom, but it didn’t practice the Three Heroes Faith. There were a good amount of demi-humans there, maybe about one-quarter of the population.

They spent a few minutes riding before Eclair spoke again.

“I have a question for you.” Eclair said. “It’s been on my mind for a couple days, since before we met the Filolial Queen.”

“What is it?” Dante asked.

“It’s about your past.”

“Ah…” Dante figured someone would directly ask sooner or later. If he was honest, he thought it would be Keel. “You can ask, but I might not answer.” That little slipup when talking about Aultcray was the most he revealed about his darker past to anyone, except for Sadeena. It basically paved the way for anything less terrible to be talked about. Dante could only hope that’s what Eclair was going to ask.

“Have you ever raped anyone?”

Dante jerked his head to the side, glaring at Eclair.

“It’s a fair question, is it not?” Eclair asked. She didn’t bat an eye at his reaction.

“…Yeah, I suppose it is, given everything else you’ve seen me do.” Killing, defiling dead bodies, slavery, not to mention admitting to torture, drug dealing, and weapon smuggling. Rape seemed to fit right in there. “In answer to your question: no, I’ve never raped anyone. Not that I haven’t been accused of it before.”

“You have? Aside from here?”

“Yeah.”

There were two other times in his past that he was accused. The first time was in his first year of high school. There was a girl in one of his classes he’d seen. He never spoke to her, or anyone really, but could recognize her in a crowd. One day, midway through the school year, she told her friends that he raped her. Dante didn’t hear about it until days later, when the principal brought him to the office, where police were waiting for him. He couldn’t recall too much about the incident, only that the girl ended up confessing to lying about a week later. He had Gloria to thank for that. She and Eddy were a year ahead of him and had been dating at the time. Apparently, she was able to dig up some dirt on the girl and blackmailed her into admitting she lied. She even got the girl to announce it to the whole school over the intercom. She ended up moving away soon after.

The second was a few years into his work with Eddy. Some woman accused him and got him arrested. She was the sister of some gang member that wanted Dante out of the away for a while. The cops were in on it, as they had some connections with that gang. Eddy, however, wasn’t having it. With a few connections of his own, he found out who the woman was and where she lived. Two weeks later, Dante was released.

“What happened to the woman?” Eclair asked, having listened to his stories.

“She was found dead.” Dante told her.

“Your friend Eddy, I take it?”

“Who knows?” Dante shrugged. “When I asked Eddy how she died, he told me mysterious circumstances. He’s whimsical like that. Eddy knew a lot of people, at least one of which knew how to make a death look like an accident. Besides me, that is. He also had a connection to the police and used that to throw out the accusation, now that the accuser was gone.”

“You’ve lived quite the sordid life, huh?” Eclair said.

“I have. Done a lot of bad things. However, I do have rules.” Dante explained. “One of those rules is not to mess with children. Another is not to take any incredibly stupid jobs or actions, hence no rape.”

“I see…”

“There is some morality there.” Dante went on, sensing her displeasure. “Rape is self-indulgent torture, causing pain for pleasure. If I need information out of someone, I’ll break their fingers until they talk. If I need to make a point, I’ll break their kneecaps. On the practical side, it leaves additional opportunities to leave behind evidence. Plus, it’s too personal, and too much work. Besides, anyone cowardly enough to request that is cowardly enough to squeal when questioned.”

Dante did get a few of those people. It amazed him every time someone asked him for that. There was more than one time he read the news and saw his potential employer arrested, along with whoever they roped into doing the deed.

“Hm. Your reasoning is strange to me, but it’s acceptable.” Eclair said. “But there are other reasons people do that.” Eclair pointed out.

“Are you telling me there are no brothels in this world? I’m certain I’ve seen one near Beloukas’s place.”

Eclair shook her head. “There are, just not many to be found in Melromarc. At least, not ones with humans.”

Dante didn’t need any further explanation on that. He was pretty sure he understood what she implied, given the country in question.

“In any case, the women who framed me are removed from my life, one way or another. This time, however, I don’t need someone else to do it for me.” With offensive spells he’s apparently able to cast, Dante would have no trouble taking out Malty before she goes through with whatever she had planned.

“Right…about that.” Eclair hesitantly said. “I know Princess Malty accused you, and that set about your conflict with the king, but I would appreciate it if you postpone any vengeance—”

“Yes, yes, I’ll wait for the queen to return to handle it.” It wasn’t as if killing Malty was an option that was on the table anyway. At least, not without a lot of legwork beforehand. Takt, the King of Faubrey, Aultcray, Mirellia, even the Three Heroes Church would use that against him, no matter what their plans with Malty were. The point was, he could get rid of her himself if he wanted to.

“Thank you.” Eclair said, shifting on Dio. “I do have some questions about Princess Malty as well.”

“Oh?”

The conversation that followed was about what Dante knew of the first princess, both from his knowledge and his interactions with her. He explained both to Eclair. He stopped around the time of Cal Mira in the books, though he did summarize Malty’s actions after the heroes went into hiding, as well as her involvement with Takt. He also added her would-be betrothal to the Pig King.

“That the queen would consider such a thing…” Eclair had to take in all that he said. She did confirm that the King of Faubrey was as bad as Dante remembered. Which, of course, was disgustingly horrible.

“My memory is a bit fuzzy about that.” Dante added. “It might have been pressure from Faubrey’s king in one source and the queen willingly selling off her murderous daughter in another. She had caused numerous problems over the years, including…the poisoning of her younger brother.”

“She…” Eclair shook her head. “I can’t believe that.”

“I’m having trouble believing that one myself.” Dante admitted. “Even if she was around 10 at the time, I can’t imagine someone doing that to their family for fun. Reading it in a book is one thing, but when real people are involved…”

Really, setting up or aiding some Siltvelt nobles in the poisoning of her brother would be entirely too risky, and pointless. The prince would have been second in line to the throne, likely third after Melty. This Malty was smarter. Would she really do something that dumb? Then again, this might have been why Mirellia moved her down the line of succession.

After that, they continued to talk as they traveled. All the while, Dante was rethinking what he knew about Malty. While here he had no doubt she framed him to get in good with the church and Motoyasu, that wasn’t the case in the books. If he recalled correctly—and that was a big if—she had framed Naofumi for the fun of it, and, of course, getting closer to her true chosen hero. In fact, most of her interactions with Naofumi seemed to be because she liked causing trouble. It wasn’t until her sister returned to the capital that she started on with the whole ‘Shield Demon’ thing.

There was that, plus a few other inconsistencies that even Eclair was able to point out in his analysis of Malty. She seemed less inclined to believe Malty was the way Dante described than how he viewed Aultcray, and he couldn’t really blame her. After all, there was only one instance Dante could point to where Malty actually did something wrong here. One thing, however, piqued his interest.

“She visited your territory before?” Dante found that hard to believe.

“Yes, twice with her mother. I believe the first time was about five years ago, and the second was two years ago.” Eclair said.

“Five years. That was long before Melty became first in line.” Dante stated, and Eclair nodded. “How did she react?

“I didn’t show her around myself,” Eclair explained, “but my father did. She didn’t leave much of an impression on him. She did come to our home with her mother before leaving, so I saw her then.”

“Hmmm. So, not completely hate filled like her father, but also not fully in favor of peace building like her mother?” Dante reasoned. “What was your take on her?”

“She seemed uncomfortable being there.” Eclair said. “But that wasn’t unexpected. I mean…”

“She was a young woman in a territory filled with people that her country feared, vilified, and despised.” Dante said. It wasn’t that hard to figure out.  

“There were also a few therianthropes that lived in Ronota.” Eclair pointed out.

That was a more practical reason, though still rooted in prejudice. It was something Beloukas told him about, and he observed it firsthand with everyone’s transformations. As a whole, humans were stronger than demi-humans in terms of fighting power. However, therianthropes outclassed humans by a wider margin. A level one therianthrope wasn’t going to be knocking around level 30 knights, but less leveling was required to get on the same level as one. It was a big reason why he wanted Raphtalia and Rifana to get used to those forms.

Dante had to admit, Malty’s concerns were reasonable. Growing up with a father who likely spoke about his hatred of demi-humans, living in a country that denounced them as monsters, and the admittedly possible assassination of her younger brother by Siltvelt alone, there was plenty to be afraid of. Still, every bit of information he could obtain about her would only help determine what she’d do next.

By the end of their discussions, the cooldown for his ability timed out. Dante saved their location in his shield and brought them all back to the others.

At the camp, JoJo and Sadeena seemed to be sparring while the other three watched, likely having already finished their talk. Once they saw Dante, it was clear to him what they were thinking about, based on their reactions.

Raphtalia avoided eye contact, murmured something under her breath, and walked off with Eclair for a bit of training. Keel hid his ears under his paws, saying he’d never let Dante pet him again—not that Dante did in the first place. The boy made it perfectly clear he didn’t want to be petted. Rifana stood there, but she avoided eye contact too. Dante could easily see she was embarrassed. Her blush showed even from under her fur.

“How are you feeling?” Dante asked, trying to break the ice.

“F-Fine.” She responded stiffly.

“You realize we’re a long way from doing anything Sadeena told you about, right?” Dante wanted to make sure there wasn’t any worries about that.

“Y-Yeah, I know.” Rifana nodded. “Um…”

“What is it?” Dante asked, taking a knee in front of her.

Rifana rubbed her paws together nervously. “Is that…something you want to do with me?”

Dante gave her a smile. “I’m not opposed to it. However, I know you’re not ready for that.”

Rifana nodded again. “When I am…” She had to pause to steady herself. When she did, she met his gaze. “When I’m ready, will you have…with me?”

Dante held back small laugh. Despite her not being able to say the word, he clearly misunderstood her predicament. Regardless, Dante nodded. “When you are ready.”

Rifana beamed at him. Well, as long as she isn’t worried about it, that’s good. As he went to stand, Rifana placed her paws on his shoulders. She stared into his eyes. Her mouth moved, trying to form words, but nothing came out.

“What’s up?” Dante asked.

Rifana swallowed whatever hesitation she was having. Instead, she closed her eyes, leaned forward, and placed her lips against Dante’s. She held them there, drawing out the kiss she was giving him. When she finished, she pulled back and took a breath. When she opened her eyes, they were wavering as she gazed into his.

“T-That’s payback for b-before.” She made out before turning and walking towards the carriages.

Dante continued to kneel on the ground for a moment before he stood. In that time, Sadeena came and wrapped her arms around him.

“Oh my~. Aren’t you the popular one?” She said from behind him.

“That was entirely your doing, you know.” Dante said, not turning to face her.

“Maybe~.” Sadeena slid around him, standing at his front. “So, what was it like~?”

“A bit strange.” Dante admitted. “First time I kissed someone with fur on their face.”

Sadeena placed her hand on his face, rubbing her thumb against his cheek. Her hand felt cool to him. “I could tell you liked it though.”

“It was a kiss from a cute girl, what’s not to like?” He asked rhetorically.

“True, but~,” Sadeena smirked at him, “your cheeks are all red.”

“Shush, woman!” Dante ignored her laughter as he went to prepare for sleep.

~The Wrong Hero~

A few days later, Dante had another stop to make. This time, it was teleporting back into Melromarc to meet with Rolf. He saved the spot at the top of the pit as one of his locations to portal to. When he arrived with JoJo, he noticed two things right away.

First was the vegetation that was growing from the center. Spreading across the bottom layer of the mines with about five feet along the edges to walk around, green vines and red fruit were plentiful. Dante had given Rolf a modified bioplant seed that was meant to produce enough food for about seven or eight people a day. It was a little overkill, since Rolf's monsters apparently didn't need to eat, but Dante wanted to do something with the points his Bioplant Shield allowed him to modify with plant reform. Really, he had to. He couldn’t leave the points unspent. The seed would have produced more, but he added a special trait to it so the fruit would be seedless. No need to risk the plants going out of control. Despite it being a detriment—biologically, anyway—removing the seeds took up a decent number of points.

Then there was the second thing he noticed. It was less impressive than the growing bioplant in the mines, but more comical. One of the barons of hell stood watch over the growing bioplant. This one, however, wore a straw hat on its head, one that a farmer might wear.

Huh. Like something out of Minecraft, assigning villagers a job. I don’t see a composter around any—wait, there it is. I'd say he drew inspiration from Minecraft, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the game 10 years ago.

“Look at all the food!” JoJo shouted, marveling at the bounty. This crop seemed to be something like oranges, though they grew off the vines. Dante wasn’t really sure how they ended up like that, since he couldn’t really change the fruit to his desire that much.

Dante and JoJo approached the baron of hell standing guard at Rolf’s cave. It let them pass and they descended into the mine. It was a short walk until they came to the large open area before the chambers they first found the fox boy. Once there, Dante saw him and some more of his creations. Dante did his best not to groan and cover his face. He failed.

“Ah, Dante!” Rolf exclaimed, running up to greet him. “I was waiting for you. Come on, take a look!”

Rolf was tugging at his red leather sleeves as he pointed to his newest additions to his guard. The first was a bipedal creature with an elongated head, standing almost as tall as Dante. Its knees were bent, as were its ankles, somewhat similar to how Keel, Raphtalia, and Rifana’s legs were in their therianthrope forms. While its head was a greyish color, the rest of its body was covered in a yellowish chitin-like material.

The second creature stood on four legs and resembled a small raptor mixed with an insect, reaching just above his hips. Hard brown scales covered its body, and another set of limbs extended from the top of its shoulders and over its head.

“…This isn’t what I meant when I said you should branch out.” Dante said with a sigh. While he didn’t play the games much, he easily recognized two of the most well know units from StarCraft.

“T-They’re still good, right?” Rolf asked. He didn’t seem afraid of Dante, at least not like he was before. It was more like he wanted his approval.

“Yeah, it’s fine.” Dante said as he looked them over. “So, how do they fight?”

Rolf explained their capabilities. The zergling was pretty straightforward. It was fast moving and had a decent attack, but it was lacking in defense and HP. Though, after a bit of experimenting and alchemy, Rolf figured out a way to make two zerglings from one body with almost as high stats if he had only created one. The zealot was a bit higher spec. All its stats were higher, and it had shielding around its body. It would use its MP as a second HP bar that would deplete first. That was a pretty nice ability. MP recovered much faster than HP naturally.

“I have to admit, these are pretty good, kid.” Dante said, earning a huge smile from Rolf. He brought his hand close to Rolf’s head, but quickly pulled it back.

Rolf grinned at the gesture. “You were about to pet me, weren’t you?”

“Anyway,” Dante sidestepped the question, “has anything else happened since we last met?”

“Oh!” Rolf scurried off down the passageway to his sleeping area. About a minute or so later, he came back with someone. It was a mole therianthrope, a bit shorter than Rolf. They wore a slightly torn dress, so Dante assumed it was a girl. She had a pair of simple sunglasses resting on her head, though the lens of one side was cracked.

“A bunch of slavers attacked this girl’s group a few days ago.” Rolf told him. “She fell into the pit and one of my guards found her.”

“I see.” Dante lowered himself to her level. “I’m very sorry that happened to you.” The girl huddled herself behind Rolf. “Don’t worry. I’m the Shield Hero.”

When he brought forward his shielded arm, the girl peaked around Rolf. “Shield Hero?”

“That’s right.” Dante smiled. “My name is Dante. Dante MacRory. What’s yours?”

The girl stepped out from behind Rolf. “I-Imiya Leuthurn Reethela Teleti Kuwariz.”

“Imiya?” Dante’s eyes widened. “I see…Tell me, are there any others?”

Imiya let out a whimper and shook her head. Rolf patted her on the back and spoke. “She said her uncle told her to run. She didn’t see if anyone else got away…or survived.” He whispered that last part to Dante.

“Do you have any descriptions of these slavers?” Dante asked. He was more than happy to add to his list.

Rolf smiled at him. “Even better. I have three of them in another cave.”

Dante returned the smile. “That’s much better. Good work, Rolf.”

Imiya perked up, looking at Dante. “Rolf?” She asked.

“Reiko!” Rolf quickly said. “He meant Reiko.”

Dante looked between the two and nodded. “Right, Reiko, sorry.” He stood up again, and looked to his son. “JoJo, Reiko and I need to go have a chat with these slavers. Would you play with Imiya for a bit?”

“Okay!” JoJo jump forward and grabbed Imiya’s paw. “Come on! The plant outside has some yummy looking fruits on it!”

“I, uh, wha…” Imiya was lost for words. With Rolf’s—or, rather, Reiko’s—encouragement, Imiya went along with JoJo. Reiko had Dante start to follow him down another path in this part of the mines.

“So, ‘Reiko’, is it?” Dante asked as they walked.

“Y-Yeah.” He said. “Well…My parents, my friends, everyone who knew me as Rolf is dead. And, well, Reiko could pass for a name around here. I didn’t see anything wrong with it, and I don’t think anyone would really notice it’s Japanese like the summoned heroes, and—”

“Easy, kid, there’s no problem.” Dante waved his hand. “Reiko it is, then.”

That got a smile out of the kid. It didn’t matter to Dante either way, so he was fine with it.

“By the way, I never said how impressed I was with your journals, did I?” Dante asked. It was thanks to Reiko’s notes that he was able to make some of those status boosting potions.

“Ah, well, thanks.” Reiko seemed to waver as he walked, a goofy grin on his face.

Kid seems weak to compliments.

Reiko guided him down the passage to the slavers. The path was lined with torches, though Dante didn’t feel any heat from them. He figured they were enchanted by Reiko, given his obvious knack for alchemy. Eventually, a baron of hell stood before them, next to what looked like a doorway blocked by a large rock. At Reiko’s gesture, the baron moved the rock out of the way. Inside, there was another baron standing next to three prone humans.

There were two men and one woman. Dante noticed none of them had any chains or rope binding them. At his question, Reiko pointed at the legs of the closest slaver.

“They can’t run if their legs are broken.” He said.

Never a truer statement. They did seem somewhat strong, as Reiko showed him the two dead barons of hell next to them. Dante absorbed them into his shield.

Baron of Hell Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: magic bonus (small)
equip effect: howl

Well, that complements the Hell Knight Shield I got, since it gave me magic resistance. Glad I was able to remove the ‘D’ from the beginning of these shields. I’ll have to test out howl later.

With that done, he turned to the slavers. From his list, he recognized one of them, though they didn’t seem important. Still, it was always best to make sure of these things.

“I’m going to need the room for a bit.” Dante told Reiko. “This isn’t going to be pleasant.”

“I’ll stay.” Reiko said. Dante was about to object, but Reiko continued. “Dante, I’ve raised bodies like I’m a necromancer. I’ll be fine with whatever you do.”

Dante wanted to argue, but Reiko did have a point. “Well, then, I’ll need some cloth and one of your monsters to hold them down.”

~The Wrong Hero~

After a bit of interrogating, Dante determined that these slavers, in fact, knew nothing. They had no information about the Lurolona villagers—at least, nothing that Dante didn’t already know—and they didn’t know where the other lumo were going to be sold to. With their usefulness depleted, Dante let Reiko kill them. The kid did show a little hesitancy, which Dante thought was good, but was able to stab them all through the heart. Dante saw Reiko’s level go up twice, to a total of eight now. He must have gotten a bit of experience since last time, since he was level five before.

Although, after Reiko killed them, Dante realized why he hesitated. Once he was done questioning the slavers, they begged him to spare their lives. Dante told them he wouldn’t kill them. Immediately after their sighs of relief, he turned to the fox boy and said, “Reiko, kill these pieces of shit.”

He didn’t think much of it. He didn’t even realize the reference until Reiko brought it up. Apparently, that was something from the movie Scarface. He hadn’t seen that movie in years, and Reiko even longer, yet here they were.

“You are just a treat to be around. Also, your parents really shouldn’t have let you watch that. Then again, my dad let me play Doom when I was 10, so I have no room to talk.” He ended up watching a lot of movies he probably shouldn’t have at a young age, much to his mother’s annoyance. “Speaking of games, did you know there was a second StarCraft game?”

“Ugh, I know!” Reiko threw up his hands. “I heard about it, but I wasn’t able to play it before I died!”

“Did you ever watch the Doom movie?”

“There was a Doom movie?!”

From there, the conversations were pretty light. They conversed about their plans moving forward and their next meetup. Reiko had three new bodies to work on, which he was quite happy about. Dante wanted to leave him with more, but it wouldn’t matter. They tried using a body he stored in his shield, but Reiko said it didn’t even feel like a person when he reached out with his power. Dante guessed the Shield interfered with his power.

Another thing they discussed was what would happen with Imiya. She could stay there with Reiko, but hiding out in a cave was no way to live. Reiko was fine either way, but Dante would be able to protect her and help find anyone else she traveled with. In the end, they all agreed to have her go with Dante.

On that note, Reiko had something to give to Dante. It was a small monster, able to fit in Dante’s hand, and was similar looking to a cacodemon if it was a plush toy. It could float in the air, but it had almost no attack. Reiko made it to alert Dante if he found anymore slavers, or someone like Imiya again. It would start chirping if Reiko needed something, and cry out if it was an emergency. Practically all of its combat potential was put into that ability. Dante told him it was a good idea and creation, but held back on how adorable he thought it was.

Once the timer for Portal Shield ran out, they said their goodbyes. Imiya gave Reiko a hug and thanked him for saving her. When they parted, Dante gave him a knowing look, but the fox boy just shooed him off.

Dante raised his shield and activated his skill. They had one more stop before returning to the party. In an instant, they left the mining complex and appeared outside of Beloukas’s tent. With the Staff’s power up on his Portal Shield skill, Dante was able to save more locations to teleport to.

“Whoa.” Imiya seemed a bit disoriented after taking the portal. “What are we doing here?” She asked, holding JoJo’s hand.

“There’s a slave trader I have an ongoing deal with.” Dante told her. He continued on before she could voice her concern. “He’s looking for the villagers from Lurolona.”

“Lurolona?” Imiya spoke up as they entered. “Isn’t that in the Seaetto area?”

“That’s right.” Dante remembered something from the books when Reiko brought up the lumos again. Imiya’s group was traveling to that area to live there. “Unfortunately, it was destroyed in the waves. The survivors were enslaved and sold off. I’ve been having this slave trader search for them.”

“Really?” Imiya had a hopeful smile on her face. “Then…are you going to search for my friends and family too?”

“I already am.” Dante explained. “I came to this world with certain knowledge. I thought your people might get targeted, but I didn’t know when or where, so I had the slave trader keep his eyes open for any lumos that get traded.”

Since he couldn’t recall when it was supposed to happen, he just had Beloukas keep his ear to the ground until the next wave or so. He figured it must have happened before then.

When they went inside, they quickly found the slave trader.

“Ah, back so soon, Sir Shield Hero?” Beloukas gave the trio a once over. “Are you here to sell, or…”

“I’m here for two things.” Dante told him. “I’m reasonably sure you know what they are.”

“Of course, of course.” Beloukas nodded with his toothy smile. “Well, for your original inquiry, I have no new information.”

“Damn.” Dante didn’t think the man would have found anything yet, given what he’d turned up so far. Once Dante got to Zeltoble, he’d expand there as well.

“However, I did recently acquire one lumo beastman. Yes sir.” Beloukas didn’t even wait before having one of his assistants fetch the slave in question. A minute later, the assistant returned with the lumo.

“Uncle Tollynemiya!” Imiya cried out. She rushed up to him.

“Imiya? No! Not you too!” Tollynemiya looked horrified.

“No, it’s okay. I’m with the Shield Hero.” She explained, calming him down.

Tollynemiya, or ‘Tolly’, as Dante remembered, looked him over. Dante showed him the shield on his arm and had it transform for him. “You really are the Shield Hero.” He said. “I can’t thank you enough for finding my niece.”

“I just reunited you two.” Dante waved him off. “Her savior was someone else, but let’s speak about that later.” Not that he didn’t trust the slave trader with this information…but he didn’t trust the slave trader with this information.

Beloukas gave him the price for Tolly and Dante recoiled at it. He brought enough funds to buy several children at once, just in case Beloukas struck big, but the price for Tolly would eat up all that, plus a good chunk of the money he stored in this drops from dead monsters.

“The price for these beastmen has risen recently, yes sir.” Beloukas pointed out. Dante figured those slavers would go after any demi-humans they found, not specific races, but regardless. He’d buy Tolly here, plus some slave seal remover.

“Ah, a moment, Shield Hero.” Tolly interjected. “I really appreciate you wanting to free me, but it might be safer to keep the seal on me.”

“Huh. I agree wholeheartedly, but I’m a little surprised you suggested it.” Though, Dante was pretty sure of the reason.

“A therianthrope in Melromarc isn’t going to be free to walk around, especially someone from my race.” Tolly said. Dante had to agree, since the only free therianthrope he could think of was that innkeeper. He never got a look at the man’s level, but he assumed it was high enough to not fear a few knights. “Besides, I don’t think you’re a bad person to be enslaved to. You just tried to free me, and you brought my niece to me.”

“I’d argue against that, but all the evidence I have agrees with you.” Dante joked. “Well, it does save me some silver. Actually, I have an idea.”

Dante put their discussion on hold for the moment told them his idea. Agreeing, Dante ventured out by himself, donning a cloak and stuffing the miniature monster under his hood. JoJo would stay with Imiya and Tolly, only coming if Dante pinged his seal. Dante kept to the alleys as long as he could, trying to avoid the main road. The fewer people that saw him, the better.

Once he reached his destination, he banged on the door. When it opened, a bald shop owner greeted him.

“Dante?” Erhard looked at him. He checked around to make sure no one was near the back door before he spoke again, softly. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to ask for a favor.” Dante said, explaining what, or rather who, he just came across. He remembered that this lumo was an apprentice to the same blacksmithing master as Erhard, and at the same time.

“Tolly was enslaved?” Erhard had a pained expression on his face. “Well…look, I can’t thank you enough for helping him, but I can’t let him and his niece stay here. Things haven’t gotten any better since you left.”

“Really?” Dante had mentioned to Melty about how knights had gone around to threaten shopkeepers. More accurately, he mentioned it in their meeting with the king. The conversation had already deteriorated by that point, and Dante started getting annoyed, so he figured he might as well bring it up.

“Princess Melty herself went around and asked many of us about the threats.” Erhard told him. Dante didn’t think the second princess would go that far. “She told us that any knights threatening us would be heavily disciplined. However, that night, a few shops were vandalized. They were ones people knew you went to.”

It seemed Dante and Melty had escalated the problem a bit, though unintentionally. Both Simmond and Ann had their shops broken into. Quite a bit was stolen from each. They spoke about it with the other shopkeepers, and everyone agreed not to inform the princess about it. They figured anything they did would make it worse, and Dante had to agree with that assessment. He'd intimidated a store owner or two in his day. At least Erhard and Agatha were spared, though Dante could see why. One was a retired adventurer, and the other was a reasonably strong witch. Neither was going to be a target for common thuggery.

With nothing left to say, they said their goodbyes. Dante began making his way back to the slave trader’s tent. He considered seeing Melty while he was here, but it didn’t seem to be such a good idea anymore. He didn’t want this topic to come up and him accidentally mention anything he shouldn’t. Not just for the shopkeepers’ sake, but hers as well. Is Melty showed too much sympathy to the Shield Hero, she’d probably be put in danger too.

Once back at the tent, Dante explained the situation to them. Tolly agreed with Erhard’s decision, wishing his friend well. Dante paid for Tolly to be registered under him. Imiya agreed to take the seal as well, mostly from Tolly’s talk with her while Dante was away. Even if they were able to stay, being marked as a slave would still be more beneficial. Dante also told them about the stat increases he could provide slaves under him, so that was a bonus as far as they were concerned. Plus, Siltvelt didn’t have a high opinion of lumos, despite being therianthropes. They likely wouldn’t blink at seeing them as slaves. It was a good temporary fix until a more permanent solution could be made.

With everything sorted for now and the skill off of cooldown, Dante teleported them all back to the rest of his party.

Chapter Text

Over the past few days, they had discussed what would be done with the two lumos in the carriage. While initially the idea of them going to Siltvelt with the Shield Hero sounded promising, Sadeena pointed out a problem. Neither one of them were particularly suited to combat. Dante remembered how Siltvelt had treated Naofumi when he initially went there, through multiple timelines too. While he had no doubt the majority of his party could handle themselves if an issue arose, the same couldn't said for Imiya and Tolly.

Another, smaller issue was that neither one could contribute much to the group. They were a dexterous people, but the work that would benefit Dante's group would require a more stationary workplace. Additionally, Dante was mistaken about Tolly's experience. While he did apprentice under the same master as Erhard, Tolly told him he had to leave to help care for his family.

Fortunately, Dante had an idea. One he should have considered before. He left a portal location in Reichnott's territory before the wave. That way, they could have quickly picked up the carriages if they weren't brought with them. He did discuss with Reichnott about leaving some of the village children there, if and when they found some, so adding a couple of lumos wasn't going to cause much of an issue. It was likely the safest place he could leave them.

Dante teleported the pair there, along with JoJo, and introduced them to Reichnott. The lord was more than happy to accept them, with one small condition. Since the death of Idol, bandit activity had increased. While the guards in his territory were enough to keep people relatively safe, venturing out was dangerous. Dante was happy to help out with that issue. He did cause it, after all, and he could always use more parts for the job level power up.

With Fiadia, the three of them were able to deal with a few small bandit gangs. Nothing big, just groups of six or seven that had camped out in the forests. The rabbit woman was a fairly good tracker, it turned out. While her level didn't seem that high, one of Dante's battle potions helped that. The dead bandits also provided her, Imiya, and Tolly some good XP gains, at least while the last two were in range.

With the mini-quest complete, Dante and JoJo set out. While Dante wouldn't get alerted if the two lumos were in danger, he had his status open often enough that he might see if they were injured. He also told them that he'd check with the slave trader if any more of their friends were found when he asked about the villagers. Dante likely wouldn't be back in Reichnott's land unless he found someone, or something urgent came up.

~The Wrong Hero~

"We're here." Dante said, sitting atop Dio with Sadeena behind him. His view was that of a sprawling city, bigger than that of Melromarc's capital. Of course, Melromarc didn't have nearly as many attractions as Zeltoble. Several coliseums were easily seen from where they stood.

One of the coliseums was their destination. They made their way through the lively city streets. So many of the people out there were armed and armored, Dante was pretty sure the adventurers and mercenaries outnumbered the average people. A number of shops did have shields on display. Dante had visited a few of them earlier.

At the coliseum, Dante followed the directions Beloukas gave them. There was a man guarding an entrance in the back, away from prying eyes. Dante showed the man the letter Beloukas wrote for them and they were allowed to enter. They walked inside for bit before coming to a set of stairs that led down under the coliseum.

A few more twists and guards later, they came to a large area that was filled with cages. Humans, demi-humans, and monsters were on display. A small room in the back had a few people speaking to one another. Dante, Sadeena, and Dio approached.

"Welcome, welcome!" The short, fat man said, turning from who Dante assumed was an assistant. The man was definitely a relative of Beloukas; he looked just like the slave trader, but with a slightly different outfit. It was pretty creepy. "How can I help you this fine day?"

"I'm looking for a few things." Dante told him. He held out the letter he showed the guards. "First, however…"

The slave merchant looked over the document. He had on what Dante would call a business smile before, what he saw every time he paid Beloukas a visit. After reading the letter, however, that smile grew further. It was even creepier.

"Ah, you must be the interesting customer I was expecting, yes sir." The slave merchant announced with the (apparently) family expression.

"I didn't realize I was expected." Dante said. He was under the impression that delivering letters to people in other countries wasn't happening that much since the start of the waves. At least, not for commoners. He supposed merchants could make it happen.

"My nephew sent a message through the guild, yes sir." The slave merchant informed him.

"Did he now?" Dante gave him a hard look.

"Oh, but there's nothing to worry about. He gave no details in the message, only saying I was likely to meet someone with a letter of his soon. And, of course, that we'd be doing business, yes sir."

"Good." That was much better than what Dante thought. He'd learned a bit more about this world's long range communication. Only certain approved places, like adventurer guilds, had access to the machines that could send messages. However, they could only really leave messages, not have conversations. That meant that someone could find out what message was left for someone else, if they had the means to do so. The church and the crown in Melromarc could easily do that. The crystal ball those emissaries used was like that, but it could only receive messages. It was apparently much cheaper to make those, but still an investment.

"I would love to hear what you're so secretive about, yes sir!" The slave merchant said, rubbing his hands together. Clearly, he was a man who could smell profit.

"We're looking for slaves." Dante said. "Very specific slaves, from Lurolona village in Melromarc."

Sadeena started giving the man the descriptions. That was the main reason she joined him this time. Dante had reached Zeltoble with Dio the last time they rested, letting them come here right away on the next break.

"I see." The slave merchant rubbed his chin. "And you think these slaves are in Zeltoble?"

"I don't know. We haven't had any luck in Melromarc, so we're expanding here." Dante said. He could still hardly believe that Beloukas couldn't find anyone, aside from Keel. The only other information he could gather was on Rifana and Raphtalia, and that was only because Dante knew where to look. He'd say that Beloukas was bad at searching, but he was able to find Tolly not too long after his capture.

There was one obvious answer to the where the villagers were, though Dante hardly entertained the thought. If there were more people like Idol in Melromarc…

"Just start a search." Dante told him. "I'll be able to check in on your progress every so often."

"Of course! I'll have some men looking into a few other merchants, yes sir." The fat man continued to smile. "Is there anything else I can interest you in?"

"As a matter of fact…"

The slave merchant led the way through the maze of cages. As they progressed, the people inside them seemed to get sicker and sicker. It got to the point where Dante had to focus solely on the slave merchant in front of them. Reminding her too much of Beloukas's tent, Dio stayed in that small area. She and JoJo never cared for being around the people in cages, not that Dante could blame them.

"Here we are." The slave merchant gestured to the cage in front of them. Inside, Dante could see a single person lying on a bed made of straw. Even without his knowledge, Dante could tell it was a child and a girl, despite her face being completely bandaged.

"And the older one?" Dante asked the slave merchant.

"Fighting in the coliseum today, yes sir." He replied. "Medicine for the younger one isn't cheap, after all."

"I can imagine." The slave merchant told him a bit about her condition, adding to his recollections. However, neither compared to what his appraisal revealed. He could see why the Yggdrasil Elixir was used to cure her.

"Hm…?" The girl slowly turned her head from where she lay, letting out a few coughs. "Is someone there?"

Her voice sounds so weak. It reminds me of Rifana.

"Yes, there is." Dante answered, before nodding to the slave merchant. "Well, I bought them. Let me in to see her."

"Of course, of course." The slave merchant chuckled, opening the cage.

Dante had spent no small amount for Tolly. However, that was just the silver he'd brought with him that day. He still had the rest of the silver he made from selling his medicine in Melromarc, plus his reward, plus half of Itsuki's reward. That didn't include all the weapons and armor they got from any bandits they hunted or got in their way, or the stat boosting potions he sold in the market when he first arrived on Dio. Some potions were like what he made before, but others were a bit more special. They could greatly increase one's stats for a time, but then lower them longer afterwards. He didn't work all the kinks out of it yet, so it had a few side effects. Namely, becoming somewhat berserk during the boost. Keel had tested one for him before. The bonuses were pretty impressive. It also seemed to be mildly addicting, but a quick use of his Sunflower Shield's detox fixed Keel right up.

When Dante stepped into the cage, he looked down at the girl, Atla.

"You are our new master?" Alta asked, her wrapped face gazing up at him.

"I am." Dante answered. "However, I won't be bringing you with me at the moment. There are sure to be some…complications." Siltvelt likely wouldn't be safe for the pair, especially Atla. "You also aren't fit for travel."

"No…I don't think I'll be able to…" Atla said with a hint of resignation. She obviously didn't believe she would be getting better.

"Not yet, anyway." Dante said, lowering himself to the ground. He allowed a potion to drop from his shield and gripped it. "This potion should be able to suppress a number of symptoms for a short while. I'll be making more specialized medicine for when I return."

The medicine he had was more of an all-purpose type. Based on the medicine book Simmond gave him, he'd be able to make decent specialized medicine with his shield. Of course, he knew he wouldn't come close to curing her. Not yet, anyway.

"You would do that?" Atla asked weakly.

"It wouldn't be a wise move to not maintain what I invested in, yeah?" Dante joked.

"Hm." It almost sounded like a laugh from Atla. "You're just like I thought you'd be."

"Oh?" Dante had almost forgotten. Atla could feel things others couldn't. It was a reason she would be so good at Hengen Muso after all, being able to more easily sense life force. "What did you think of me?"

Atla paused for a moment before she spoke. "I could feel kindness in your words, and strength." Dante nodded at her assessment. "But I also feel a deep pain. It's like…an old scar that was torn open."

"I see…" He hadn't thought of it in a while, but the deaths of Mary, Eddy, and Gloria certainly were like that. Another loss of family. Another loss that he…

"There's more…" Atla continued, but she trailed off. "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't say."

"Please, go ahead." Dante prodded.

"…I don't wish to upset you." Atla said softly.

Dante smiled. "I promise I won't be upset. Sadeena, would you come in and help prop her up?"

"Of course, little Dante." Sadeena walked over to Atla, gently lifting her head and back.

Dante uncorked the medicine bottle with is teeth and held it to Atla's lips, the bandages pulled back by Sadeena. He slowly poured it into her mouth, bit by bit so she wouldn't cough up any of it. A pleasing green glow enveloped Atla as she drank the medicine, before dimming again after she finished.

"How do you feel?" Dante asked as Sadeena let her back down again.

"Lighter." Atla sighed contently. "Thank you, Master."

"'Dante' is fine." He told her. "So? What else did you feel?"

Atla seemed to move her mouth under her re-bandaged mouth. "It's…more than just an open scar." She said. "You feel…damaged."

"Ah…" Well, she was right about that too. Both mentally and physically, he was indeed damaged. Regardless, Dante kept up his smile. "See? I told you I wouldn't be upset."

He stepped out of the cage with Sadeena, facing the slave merchant. "Is she well enough to place a slave seal on her?" He asked.

"I do believe so, yes sir." The slave merchant responded.

"Good. Register her to me, as well as Fohl. "

"About that, Sir Shield Hero." The slave merchant held up a finger. "If they are to remain here, I will need to keep the seal on the older one. For my own safety, you see."

"Hmmm. Yes, that's fine." Dante didn't think Fohl would try anything with his sister in this condition, but maybe he would. Dante didn't fully understand the siblings' situation, but he would soon enough. Really, he just wanted to make sure they weren't sold off to someone else. If the slave contract was terminated, he would know, and he was sure Beloukas's uncle understood that too.

"Of course, since I'm keeping the two of them here for you…" The slave merchant trailed off, though he kept rubbing his hands together.

"Once Fohl returns, move them to a better cage. Clean, bedrolls, good food, what you'll find at a halfway decent inn. You will be compensated, of course." After the rather large amount spent on their purchase, the cost of housing them didn't compare.

Once they were finished and Dante had Atla registered to him, they set out. He did leave another two vials of medicine for Atla, plus some dried meat for Fohl, a taste of what to expect from Dante in the future. They collected Dio on the way and made their way up and out of the underground market. Dante was glad to be out of there. There were two main differences between Beloukas and his uncle. The first was the inclusion of human slaves for sale. The second was for the rather large number of children that were there, of all races. Beloukas didn't have that many, but Dante didn't really want to think about what that might imply either.

"Alright." Dante began, once they were clear of the coliseum. "Were done here for now."

"Oh~?" Sadeena hooked an arm around him. "I think we still have something to do here~."

"We do?" Dante already went by the hourglass before, which was a bit of a hassle. He had to bribe one of the officials in charge of it to register without anyone else around. So far, it seemed only that person and Beloukas's uncle (and workers) knew the Shield Hero came to Zeltoble.

"We do." Sadeena confirmed. She placed a hand on his head and brought it close to her, pulling him into a kiss. "It's been far too long since we had a bit of fun~."

"It…well, I guess so…" It had been about a week and a half since the banquet in Melromarc. Dante had been pretty engrossed in his studies, so he hadn't really noticed the time flying by. He did manage to learn one Zweite fire spell, so he was pleased with that. "But, I don't think we should be doing this now. Dio is here with…"

When he looked over, Dio wasn't there anymore. Sadeena laughed as she brought Dante closer.

"Don't worry," she said, "Dio is fine. She's just sightseeing for a little bit, maybe getting a little food from one of the vendors. I did give her a bit of silver."

"She's a little girl." Dante reminded her.

"She's a filolial queen." Sadeena reminded him.

"She can be both." Dante said with a sigh. "Anyway, are you really…" Dante trailed off as Sadeena brought her lips to the side of Dante's neck. A few kisses later and he nearly forgot what he was saying.

"It's not fair, you know~?" She said playfully, moving to his other side. "You don't want me to pounce when the others are around, you make me all jealous with petting Rifana, and now you don't want to have a bit of fun? So mean~."

"That's not…why I…pet her…" He breathed out. He placed his hand on her shoulder to slow her down. "Besides, is it even safe to do it now? I don't want to risk you getting pregnant."

Sadeena smiled. "Oh, no worries. It became safe again a few days ago."

"Wait, what?" Dante raised an eyebrow. "Then we couldn't have done anything before—"

He was cut off with a quick nip of his ear. Dante pushed her off him again, looking her in the eye. She smiled all the while.

"Okay, fine, I get it." He said, his face flush. "I want to do it too."

"Great!" Sadeena beamed, leading him away.

It didn't take long to find what was basically a love hotel. It didn't cost that much either. Once in their room, Sadeena made quick work of his armor. He still wore most of it while traveling, just in case. Especially in a place like Zeltoble.

"Hey, uh," Dante spoke before they got started, "does the petting really bother you?"

"Hm?" Sadeena slowly pulled off her own clothes. "You want to talk about another woman right now~?"

"I mean it." Dante pressed on. "If it does, I can stop."

Sadeena stopped stripping, with only her loincloth remaining. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "No, it doesn't bother me. I think we all know why you pet her."

"Er…" She had a point there. It's not like he didn't pet that baby indigo gator. And some of Gaelion's offspring. And Dio and JoJo in their filolial forms. And them in their angel forms, with their wings. He'd pet Keel and Raphtalia too if they were okay with it.

That actually led to an awkward conversation a couple days back, after the embarrassing incident. Raphtalia had brought up Dante's somewhat excessive petting of Rifana. Dante mentioned how he liked animals and cute things, to which Raphtalia replied being glad he didn't find her cute.

"Well, your face is cute. And your fur. And your ears. And your tail. Now that I think about it a little, you're just pretty cute altogether."

Raphtalia actually tried to hide behind Eclair at that comment. She did stay in her therianthrope form, which Dante was proud of for her sticking with it. He did promise not to pet her unless she was fine with it, which she likely wouldn't ever be.

"That said," Sadeena continued, "I wouldn't mind a little petting myself~."

"That's a bit…" Dante wanted to say it was weird, but he supposed petting Rifana seemed a bit weird to everyone else and they barely said anything. "But you don't have ears and fur like her…"

"I have a tail." Sadeena said. "I've seen you looking at Rifana's tail before. Raphtalia and Keel's too."

"You have a tail while you're transformed."

Sadeena smirked at him. "I could always transform for you. I know you like this form more," she said, striking a pose, still mostly naked, "but I would like a little stroking."

"I'm pretty sure tail stroking is a bit more intimate than head patting." Dante said. He didn't really have much more than a feeling about that, but it seemed pretty intuitive.

"Oh my, I've been found out~!" Sadeena held her hands to her face, swaying side to side.

"Anyway," Dante gestured to the still unused bed, "I don't want to rush you, but the others will be expecting us. And, there's only so much Dio will be able to do in the city."

Without another word, Sadeena grabbed Dante and threw him to the bed. "So impatient~."

"Do I even need to point out the irony?" Dante asked, adjusting himself on the bed. As he was, a popping sound caught his attention. He looked over and saw Sadeena transformed. "Uh…"

"What's wrong?" She asked, getting closer. "Don't you want to have a bit of fun~?" The bed creaked slightly as she lowered herself onto it. She had one hand over his and the other against his face. "Or did you want me to transform back?"

"I don't really mind, but…" Dante gazed up at her.

"But~?" She cooed, kissing his cheek.

"With one arm, I'm going to be able to do even less than before." It was hard enough in her demi-human form at the castle.

"Oh my~." Sadeena positioned herself just right over him. "Well then, just let me handle everything this time~."

Dante did just that. He wasn't sure what he expected from the experience, but it was actually more pleasing in some ways than before, and less in others. Incidentally, his shield was still an aspiring comedian, since his back ached for the rest of the day and part way into the night.

~The Wrong Hero~

The next day, their main destination had just come into sight. The tiered capital of Siltvelt looked bigger than Melromarc's, and it was certainly taller too. Both were true about the castle itself as well, as far as Dante could see. They were still outside the city itself.

Before they entered, Eclair had some last minute advice for Dante: don't say anything stupid. She didn't say it quite like that, but Dante took her meaning. The Shield Hero was worshipped as a god here, and his word would be treated as such. If he wasn't careful, he might cause everyone a whole lot of problems.

"Additionally," Eclair continued with her advice, "you probably shouldn't act so…intimate with some of your party members." She didn't need to specify if she meant Rifana or Sadeena. It could be taken either way.

"Got it." Dante said. He just had to keep his hands to himself. It's not like he had Rifana close to him all the time every day. I'm a hired killer, I shouldn't need to sit next to a furry creature.

Of course, Dante had talked with Sadeena before about what Siltvelt would likely demand from him. That being, of course, to have as many children as possible with every noble daughter they brought to him. He actually was not looking forward to that. Practically, he would be exhausted. Romantically, he felt it would strain things with Sadeena. However, the orca woman assured him it was fine. After all, she was the one who told Rifana what a harem was. The girl in question was also okay with it, seeing it as something that was going to happen anyway.

Dante had some similar advice for everyone else. While their words wouldn't be taken as gospel, they shouldn't reveal anything important. Specifically, anything about the future. Dante already warned them about a few things he remembered from the books, namely the fanatical nature of some of the people here. Don't eat anything without Dante checking it first, don't go off alone (not that anyone did that anyway), that sort of thing.

"Well, let's get going." Dante said, sitting in the front. JoJo pulled the carriages towards the city gate.

Once they were near the entrance, one of the guards halted them. "What is your business here, human?" He asked.

"My business?" Dante asked with a smirk. "Do humans need any particular reason to be here?"

"Answer my question!" The guard barked. A fitting description, seeing as the man appeared to be a dog demi-human.

Dante merely raised up his shield arm, transforming the holy weapon into the Chimera Viper Shield. "Satisfied?"

The guard's mouth hung open as he stared up at Dante. The one standing opposite of him was in no better shape. "L-Lord Shield!" The man yelled, hastily kneeling. "Y-You're here! Your arm! You…"

"Yes to all of that." Dante said with a laugh, waving him off. "I'm a bit unannounced, I know, so I'm guessing someone should inform the people at the castle."

"At once, Lord Shield!" The second guard announced before he ran off in that direction.

"…I didn't mean one of the gate guards, but alright." Things were already looking to be exhausting. "Also, I have some business I'll need to do at the church, as well as the dragon hourglass. I assume both are at the same place?"

"Yes, Lord Shield!" The first guard said. "I shall guide you…I shall call for a guide to take you there!"

Well, that's progress, at least.

It wasn't even a minute before the guide showed up. Dante had the man climb onto the front of the carriage, much to his discomfort. Dante wasn't about to have the man literally guide them on foot while following in the carriages. His surprise overtook his anxiety, as Dante repeated the directions to JoJo and the filolial responded.

As they traveled, Dante tried to start up a conversation with the man, but the guide kept ending it quickly. Dante figured it was too nerve racking to start speaking with God in the flesh like that. Thankfully, they reached the church shortly. Everyone exited the carriages, though Dante noticed Raphtalia was back in her demi-human form.

"Sorry." She whispered. "It's just…there's so many people around…"

"I understand. We can pick that up again after we get you set up with some new clothes." Dante nodded. Sure, looking like a Greek/Amazon warrior in front of a few people was fine, but an entire city, plus nobility, was likely far too much. Of course, once she had proper clothing again, he expected her back in her therianthrope form nonstop.

"Right this way, Lord Shield." The guide said, showing them into the church. Dante gestured for the others to follow. He would be doing most of the speaking for the group, most likely. Sadeena knew the language, since it was apparently about the same language as in Q'ten Lo. Eclair knew enough to have a conversation, but nothing too in depth. Everyone else had no real experience with Siltvelt's language. Sadeena was able to teach them a few common phrases, but nothing too advanced. It wasn't as if they would be there all the time anyway.

They were brought before a dog therianthrope, probably a man, who looked to be a priest in long, flowing robes. He didn't look exactly pleased to see Dante, but once the guide explained who he was, that attitude shifted immediately.

"Before anything else," Dante said before the priest could begin, "I would like to have my allies class up. Is that alright?" The monsters and bandits that they dealt with had brought them up to level 40 a couple days ago.

"Of course, Lord Shield! Please, follow me." The priest took over for the guide, who would remain in the main area until they were finished.

They were brought before a large hourglass, similar looking to the one in the Three Heroes Church. Before they began, Dante held up his shield to the hourglass. A beam of light came from the top of the hourglass and into the shield, bringing up a new timer in Dante's vision.

8:22:48

Hmm. It's early evening now, so it looks like the wave will be in nine days in the afternoon. That's a bit close…

His hesitation came from the other two wave timers he picked up along the way. The country between Melromarc and Siltvelt, Othil, had a wave in six days, while Zeltoble had a wave in 11. He remembered having a holy hero present for a wave increased the time until the next wave, and that different hourglasses had different wave cycle times to begin with. Hopefully they'd be spread out a bit more once he fought in all three of them.

That was another thing. He noticed when he first registered at Othil a couple days ago. When the new timer appeared, it seemed more pronounced than Melromarc's. When he went back to traveling, it darkened slightly to a similar shade as Melromarc's. When he registered at Zeltoble, the same thing happened. When he returned to the city with Sadeena, the timer was brighter again. He had some ideas, but that could wait for now.

"I assume there's no charge for this?" Dante asked to be sure.

"Absolutely, Lord Shield!" The priest bobbed his head.

After that, he had everyone get their class ups. He warned them that the cowlicks from Dio and JoJo would likely interfere and choose for them, but that choice should double their stats. Anyone who didn't want that would need to wait until the end before getting their upgrade. It wasn't necessary, as everyone decided to take the special class up.

One by one, they each performed the class up ceremony. Dante declined to choose for them when a prompt came up, seeing as he was still technically their master, and the cowlicks interfered without fail. Seeing everyone's stats go up was truly something. However, he noticed two things.

First was that no one's stats doubled exactly. Judging by the amounts and what he remembered from his notes, it looked like the stats gained from the Whip power up weren't counted. Only the stats gained from leveling up seemed to count. The second was that Eclair and Keel didn't go up as much as the others. That also wasn't too surprising. Sadeena and Raphtalia had good lineage, and the royal filolials most definitely should gain the most from their own class ups. Rifana was somewhere in between the two groups. He'd have to check his notes to be sure, but it looked like the four most affected had their stats gained from their levels doubled, with everyone else around a 70 or 85% increase, depending on the specific stat.

"Well, that's a little disappointing, but still really good." Dante said. Then again, he supposed the purpose of the class up was more to allow further leveling. Having a way to greatly increase everyone's stats like that was just a bonus, albeit a rather large one.

"Is there anything else we can do for you, Lord Shield?" The priest asked, holding his hands together as if he were about to start praying.

"Yes, two things." Dante waved Eclair over to him. "As you have no doubt noticed, I am missing one of my arms." He gestured to the missing limb. "My companion here had the tendons in her wrists cut. I would like healing for the both of us."

"Yes, of course!" The priest quickly nodded. "Please, right this way."

Dante had everyone else wait in the main area with the guide while he and Eclair got themselves fixed up. Personally, he really couldn't wait. There were a bunch of things he wanted to do once he was healed. Some were as minor as cooking a proper meal himself instead of rotating skewers, while the more worthwhile ones were, well, a little embarrassing to say out loud. For a while, he wanted to be able to hold one of his kids in each arm. He wanted to pick up Sadeena and spin her like she did to him.

Not to mention, of course, making it more difficult for Raphtalia to pin him in their matches.

They met another priest, this one a female dog demi-human, who was the head healer in the church. With Dante's insistence—and a lot of it—the healer started with Eclair. He made sure they weren't going to treat her with any disrespect, human or not. Her armor prevented them from seeing her slave seal.

"Hmmm. There seems to be some repairs already made to your tendons." The healer noted. "What kind of healing have you had."

"Sir MacRory." Eclair answered, gesturing to Dante. "He made several potions that helped me regain some movement in my hands."

"Of course!" The healer exclaimed, startling both Dante and Eclair. "This could only be the work of Lord Shield!"

Coming to this country was probably our safest option, and I'm already wishing it wasn't. Maybe Zeltoble would be better. We could probably take care of any mercenaries the Three Heroes Church manages to hire, and I doubt anyone would blink if we started killing our assailants in the streets. Probably. Then again, that place is run by wealthy merchants. They're as likely to side with me as they are to sell me out.

"Are you able to heal her?" Dante asked, bringing the healer back from her near euphoria.

"Yes, Lord Shield." She bowed before turning around and rushing off. She returned shortly with a potion in hand. "I will cast healing magic over you first. Then, drink this potion over the next few hours. Your hands should regain their full mobility in about a day, provided you don't use them for much until then."

Eclair nodded at her explanation and the healer began casting her spell. "Drifa Heal!" A bright white glow enveloped Eclair's hands. Dante really liked the level of that spell; a very good sign. As the light faded, Eclair brought up her hands. Dante saw the brightest smile he'd seen from her then.

"This is…I can feel this. Truly feel this." Eclair hastily bowed to the healer. "Thank for restoring my hands, Miss." She turned and bowed again to Dante. "And to you, Sir MacRory. I wouldn't be here now if it weren't for your actions."

"Come on, we're past that already." Dante waved her off. "I told you I would get you healed."

"Nevertheless." Eclair brought herself back up. "I look forward to continue working with you."

"Same here." Despite their disagreements on a few issues, he did enjoy the lady knight's company. Plus, he looked forward to what her swordsmanship was like at its peak.

"Now then, Lord Shield." The healer gestured to his left shoulder.

"Ah, right." Dante nodded. "Should I remove my armor?"

"If you would, Lord Shield."

Dante had the therianthrope priest help him out of his upper armor. The dog man tried to refuse, saying something about not being worthy, but Dante squashed that nonsense in a hurry. He wasn't going to have Eclair help him out right after the healer told her not to use her hands. With his armor beside him, the healer took a look as his wound.

"Hmmm. This is rather extensive." The healer mused as she prodded his partial shoulder. "More bones seem to be missing or damaged than I thought. The wound looks like it was closed with fire before being healed, somewhat sloppily. Ah, forgive me, Lord Shield." She gave him a quick bow.

"No need for that. Please continue." It was a rather desperate situation they were in at the time, so a quick burning was all they could really swing.

"Let's see…" The healer held her chin in thought. "I do believe I can help with…hold on." She brought her face closer to his shoulder, right at his front. "This doesn't look right."

The healer pulled some sort of monocle from her chest pocket and looked through it.

"Oh my…" The look on her face was not a positive one. "Lord Shield, I'm sorry to say that I don’t think I'll be able to help you. An alchemist will be needed for this, but I'm not sure how effective they'll be."

"Back up a second." Dante said. "What's the problem? I was under the assumption that large churches like these had the resources for this."

He was a bit surprised, but not completely. It almost seemed to fit with his situation. Dante did end up asking Reiko if he could regrow his arm for him, but the fox boy said he couldn't. That was very advanced alchemy, and while he had a talent for it, most of it came in the form of his power to create monsters. So of course, since Reiko wasn't able to, now the church couldn't either. Then again, maybe Simmond mentioned the church as a possibility, rather than a sure thing.

"Well, it is possible." The healer explained. "For something like this, cooperative magic would need to be cast with Drifa Heal as the base for it. Even then, since the wound already healed and your body has adapted, it would take some time for the spell to regrow your arm. The problem is this."

The healer tentatively placed her hand on his chest, just below his missing shoulder. "There is a curse in your body." She said. "It's rather mild, but it has festered, and for quite some time too. It seems to be mostly concentrated in your left shoulder, with a higher than average amount near your eyes." She brought her head up and looked at Dante with concern. "Tell me, Lord Shield, have you come into contact with any cursed items?"

Realization dawned on him. The reason no one could identify what was wrong with his eyes. It was why they improved when he slept next to Rifana and Sadeena as therianthropes.

The whip. The cursed whip Idol Rabier used. The whip that, according to Dante's recollection, gained its curse from killing countless demi-humans.

"…FUCK!" He really should have gotten his hands on some holy water.

Chapter Text

Chapter 29 – Enlightenment

Even dead, Idol Rabier seems hell-bent on pissing me off.

Though if Dante were being honest, he knew he had no real excuse. He knew that whip was cursed. It was entirely possible it would inflict him with some sort of curse too. Reichnott's doctor checked him out and found nothing, and Dante didn't think to mention the whip to him.

He had to assure the two clergy members that he wasn't upset with them. Since he was in the presence of people with some experience with curses, though…

"This is what cursed me." Dante said as he dropped the whip from his shield on the table. "From what I understand, it's pretty potent."

Looking at it again, it was a much more dangerous weapon than he realized. He hadn't brought it out since he tested its power with Sadeena, considering how Rifana and Raphtalia reacted to it. The stats were pretty good, but the special effects were so much better. He couldn't see them all when his appraisal was lower, but now it made sense why the whip was so strong.

"My word…" The healer seemed to agree, at least about the curse. She picked up the whip to examine it more closely. "When were you cursed by this?"

"Over a month ago." Dante said.

"A month!?" The healer yelled, snapping her head towards Dante. "Lord Shield, you've had this curse for over a month!?"

"Y-Yes…" He didn't think it was that big of a deal, mostly because he felt fine. Hell, he felt better than before he lost his arm. That might have actually been a cause for concern, but he was content with his peaceful sleep.

"Lord Shield, do you know the damage a curse can cause if it's allowed to fester? Reduced healing is only the start of the problems it can cause!"

The healer launched into a whole lecture about the dangers of curses, and how they need to be treated immediately. Apparently, curses fester in about a week, some as early as a couple days. It went on for a few minutes, all while Dante, Eclair, and the priest stood by and listened. Once she was finished, she seemed to realize she was berating her country's god and started apologizing profusely. Dante refused her apology, saying that this was something he needed to know and he thanked her for her explanation. It wasn't something he was going to easily forget.

After storing the whip back in his shield, the healer wrapped Dante's shoulder in bandages soaked in holy water and cast a Drifa level holy spell over the area. She explained that the spell would remove the bulk of the curse while the bandages would basically siphon out the rest over time. In a few days, he should be curse free, in a sense, but the damage was already done. Dante thought back to Fitoria and asked if there was anything that could be done about the lingering effects.

"Unfortunately, there is no known way to reverse a festered curse like this."

Unfortunate, indeed. It was a longshot, but he hoped this healer would tell him something other than what Fitoria said. It wasn't for his benefit, Dante could still see an alchemist for his arm. He hoped that the restoration of Fitoria's sight might change her mind about wanting to die. He knew she was far older than him, but seeing someone so young looking accept death like that didn't sit right with him.

Finished with their healing, the priest helped Dante back into his armor and he and Eclair met back up with the others. The guide showed them from the church to the castle. Along the way, Dante got a better feel for Siltvelt's layout. More accurately, how areas were so different from each other. Eclair had explained how the different tribes used different architecture, but seeing it all was something else. He saw a lot more of it going to the castle than on the ride to the church.

Eventually, they arrived at said castle. It wasn't just the castle that was a bit bigger than Melromarc's, but its doors and bridges too. There were a number of other differences, but they seemed to be mostly stylistic.

They were handed off to a palace attendant then, who took them all to the throne room. There, a man with red feathered wings greeted them. The feathers extended across his arms and legs as well. His feet looked like a bird's claws, and his fingers were a bit pointed as well.

"Greetings, Lord Shield." The man said with a bow. "It is a great honor to meet you. My name is Werner, and I am the leader of the shusaku."

Huh. I'd forgotten what he looked like. Much more bird-like than I was expecting.

"I'm Dante MacRory, the Shield Hero." Dante said, before gesturing to the others. "With me are my companions. This is Sadeena, who has been with me almost from the start. With her are Keel, Raphtalia, and Rifana, all from Lurolona village. That's Eclair Seaetto of the Seaetto territory. These two are JoJo and Dio, a filolial king and queen."

Werner followed along as Dante introduced each member of his party, nodding along to them all. "I've heard reports from our emissaries. It's good to finally meet all of Lord Shield's retainers."

"Ah…about that…." That was something Dante had worried about. "Have you heard what happened to them?"

Werner grimaced and lowered his head. "A spy sent a monster messenger saying as much. We thought you would be going to Faubrey, so we sent a message to our diplomats there to greet you."

Huh. Something like carrier pigeons, I guess. Well, I suppose demi-humans trying to send a secret message to Siltvelt from a guild in Melromarc wouldn't be that easy. But, wait, if they knew that, then…

Dante realized what that statement might imply. "How did your spy know about that?" He asked.

"He didn't specify." Werner responded. "The messages can't be too long, I'm afraid. Only the most relevant details are shared."

"I see." Dante tried something else. "Did it mention my talk with Princess Melty?"

Werner's eyes widened ever so slightly at that. "Yes, Lord Shield."

Dante hoped the spy learned about his plans through someone at the castle, but if he heard it from that conversation…

"Did he mention my…comment about Siltvelt?" Dante probed. The slightly sullen look from Werner confirmed his thoughts. "My apologies. I didn't mean to offend the people of this country."

"Not at all, Lord Shield!" Werner said quickly. "Tahrin explained your concerns in his messages to us, as well as your reason for staying as long as you did. Indeed, there are those who take extreme actions due to their faith, but the people of Siltvelt wish only to serve you."

"Ah, well, that's good then." It wasn't exactly. If Dante recalled, Sadeena was the one to first mention Siltvelt's zealotry. He hadn't really thought about what the emissaries said in their reports. Something to watch out for. "Well then, what happens now?"

"If it pleases you, Lord Shield, I invite you to relax for the remainder of the day. We will prepare a feast in your honor for tomorrow. We will also gather as many tribe heads to meet with you as quickly as possible."

Well, they had arrived rather abruptly. Dante didn't want to stop in any villages on the way. The two biggest concerns were Melromarc—or, rather, the Three Heroes Church—sending people after them, and Siltvelt officials not wanting some outworlder coming along and rearranging things out of their favor. Really, making a big fuss out of things would be an issue, but hiding out wouldn't solve anything.

From talking with his party, the others wanted to relax as well. The constant rattling of the carriages, practicing magic or combat while they stopped, and only occasionally bathing in the river were starting to take a toll on everyone. It would be nice to have a properly cooked meal and a nice, hot bath.

"That sounds good." Dante said, already spotting a few approaching maids. "Also, I'll need to speak with an alchemist."

"We have already sent for several." Werner said. "We were unsure of the extent of your injury, so we thought it best to explore as many options as possible."

"Perfect." Dante nodded. "Also, we'll need some magic thread spun for Raphtalia here. Here clothes are…not as functional as intended."

"As you wish, Lord Shield."

The maids greeted them with a bow and Werner led them all through the castle. All throughout, Dante could see differences in the art and decorations, both between here and Melromarc, and just from the different races of demi-humans. He couldn’t tell which was from which race, but some did have some more apparent differences that even he could pick out.

They reached a room with quite ornate doors. It wasn't exactly gaudy, not like is armor at least, but it was fairly fancy. The doors were lined with gold, or at least gold plating, and the wood was a deep red. The room itself was what Dante could only describe as, well, a bedroom. Literally, the only piece of furniture was a large bed. That, and the wall decorations. On the opposite end was a terrace that overlooked the city. That area did have a chair and small table near the center.

"Please make yourself comfortable, Lord Shield." Werner said. "I will show your companions to their rooms."

"About that." Dante beckoned over Dio and JoJo, who were already in their child forms. "These two will stay with me."

"I'm afraid having others share your room can't be allowed." Werner said, bowing.

Dante figured he might say something like that. "Then I suppose I'll be staying with my companions for a bit longer."

"That, too, would cause issues." Werner said.

And around we go.

"It'll be one or the other." Dante said, hand on his hip. "Personally, I think having two filolials stay in the Shield Hero's room would be better than having the Shield Hero stay in guest rooms."

Werner looked like he wanted to say something to that, but held it back. "I believe having these two stay with you would be preferable."

"Good." Dante said with a smile. He wasn't really concerned with anyone's safety, at least for right now. He just didn't want to sit alone for however long he was going to be there.

The three of them entered the room while Werner took the others to their rooms. Dante specified to keep them close by, and on the same floor. They were on the top floor of the palace, after all. Over on the terrace, Dante could see almost the whole city below them. It was really something else to get a view of all the different designs from a distance.

Next, Dante looked at the assortment of decorations that lined the walls. Most of it looked to be similar to what they saw in the halls, but better quality. A few of the outliers were pretty impressive, like the skull of what Dante assumed was a large dragon that was mounted to the wall. There was also one practical thing on the wall.

Dante pulled the large shield from above the room's fireplace. It looked rather worn down, but still in useable condition. The front of it was covered in thick hides of various monsters. Dante copied the shield and looked it over, power up potential included.

Shield of the Beast King (LV locked) 0/80 C
(abilities locked) equip bonus: therianthrope abilities up (large), demi-human abilities up (large), skill "Beast Transformation Assist" "Territorial Reform"
equip effect: power of devotion

Wow. I'm not high enough level for it. Well, it is a pretty amazing shield.

Ignoring the boosted shields, this one had the highest stats. Its defense rating wasn't as high as the Stout Shield before being powered up, but it was in the ballpark. Dante would need to see what the shield could do once he was high enough level to use it.

"Hm?" JoJo turned his head to the side. Dio followed suit right after. Both stood next to Dante.

Dante looked in the same direction as his kids. "You would do well to show yourself." Dante spoke to the corner of the room. There was no sign of anything there. After a few moments, Dante began to approach, Dio and JoJo in tow. "Last warning. This is an order. Otherwise, I'll have to waste a spell on you."

A second later, a dark grey rat therianthrope revealed itself, standing about two feet tall and wearing similar colored clothing. Cloth covered its head, showing only its eyes. It looked like a black veil had been peeled away from the corner when the rat appeared. It prostrated itself before it spoke up. "My deepest apologies, Lord Shield."

Well, it's either loyal to the Shield Hero, or it knew I wasn't bluffing.

"Care to explain yourself?" Dante walked back to the bed and sat on the edge, a filolial child on either side of him. The rat therianthrope raised its head and Dante waved it closer. It came about a dozen feet away from the bed before it took a knee.

"I was tasked with observing Lord Shield and ensuring no harm came to you." The therianthrope stated.

"Observing me for who?" Dante asked.

The rat seemed to think for a moment before speaking again. "There was no single individual I report to."

"So the leaders of Siltvelt, then." Dante nodded. "That's fair, I suppose." He did spend over a month in Melromarc. Maybe they wanted to see what he was about.

"If Lord Shield pleases," the therianthrope continued, "how did your filolials notice my presence?"

"They have good instincts." Dante answered. It wasn't as if he didn't notice as well. His Alert Shield picked up the therianthrope's presence immediately. Even if it didn't, and Dio and JoJo didn't, Dante picked out the small spy after about a minute. His stats and job levels helped with that greatly, but Dante wasn't about to tell a spy that.

"I see." The rat therianthrope lowered its head. "I do hope you forgive this transgression."

"I suppose I will." Dante said, but then he thought to add to it. "That is, if you answer a question for me."

"What do you wish to know, Lord Shield?" The therianthrope looked up at him.

"Are you a shadow? And what is your name?" He asked.

"You are well informed of our world." The rat said. "I am a shadow of Siltvelt, and this one has no need for a name."

Well, that's reassuring. Dante had wondered for a while if he could pick out shadows with the shield's power and his experience. Normal people were easy enough, but who could say about magic ninjas?