Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (LN) - Volume 12 - Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Knock and Run 

At breakfast, once all of the slaves had gathered, I made a quick adjustment to the slave seal settings and then addressed them. 
“I want whoever has been causing mischief lately, when I’m at home, to come forward now.” 
Nobody responded. On top of that, none of the slave seals activated. Did that mean it wasn’t one of the slaves? In that case . . . I glared at Ren and the soldiers that were stationed at the village. They all shook their heads in denial. Who the hell was it, then? 
“Hmm . . .” 
“What’s wrooong, Master?” 
“Rafu?” 
Filo was eating breakfast with us today. Raph-chan was sitting on top of her head, like usual. What was so great about her head, anyway? 
“Someone has been knocking on my door and then running away whenever I’m at home alone.” 
Whoever it was would be gone by the time I could open the door, which meant that the person had to be really fast. That was true even if they were hiding somewhere. I could try having Atla or Raphtalia keep watch, but the culprit seemed to have really sharp intuition and didn’t show up when someone was standing guard. The worst part was that they came in the middle of the night too. 
“Oh? Should I stand guard?” asked Filo. 
“Rafu?” 
“The person doesn’t come when someone is standing guard. I’ll just have to lure them out. I’m going to catch them no matter what.” 
Filo didn’t give a reaction to my show of determination, which meant that she wasn’t the culprit either. 
“Okaaay!” 
“Listen up, Raphtalia and Atla. I’m going to catch the culprit this afternoon, so I want you to stay away from my place after lunch.” 
“Understood. I’ve been wanting to ask the master about using life force, so I’ll go do that,” said Raphtalia. 
“But, Mr. Naofumi, I want to be with you,” Atla replied. 
“Didn’t you just hear me say I was going to lure the culprit out? That goes for all of you. Don’t come knocking on my door today, no matter what.” 
 
“Okay!” shouted the slaves. 
Of course, if the culprit didn’t show up, that would make all of them suspects. Either way, after I finished my late morning training, I headed back to my house to lure the culprit out and waited for a knock. 
Knock, knock. 
I warned everyone to stay away from my place that morning. That had to be the culprit. I wasn’t going to let them get away today. Even if it wasn’t the culprit, I was going to catch whoever just knocked! 
“Shield Prison!” 
I trapped whoever had knocked on the door in a cage of shields and then opened the door to see who the prankster was. The prison was shaking as someone crashed around inside. The trap had been a success. 
“What’s going on, Count?” 
“Oh hey, Rat. What are you doing here at a time like this?” 
“I’m just taking a walk for a change of pace. What’s going on here?” 
“I mentioned that some prankster had been knocking on my door and running away this morning, right?” 
“I guess you did. So the prankster is in there? I wonder who it is.” 
We waited for the prison’s effect to wear off so that we could see who was inside. 
“Kwaaaa!” 
I’m pretty sure Rat and I both had the same look of bewilderment on our faces. I guess it did make sense to suspect the monsters if the culprit wasn’t a slave. But I never imagined that one of the monsters would be doing something like knocking on doors and running away. Gaelion the Knock and Run Dragon flew away as soon as he was free from the cage of shields. Without hesitation, I brought up the monster seal settings and delivered him a punishing jolt. 
“Kwaaaaaa?!” 
Gaelion fell out of the sky and writhed about on the ground. 
Including his tail, Gaelion was around two meters in length now. He looked pretty much like what someone might expect a dragon to look like. I guess his tail was a bit on the fat side though. He had big eyes and still looked cute. He seemed a bit overweight too. His growth had finally started to level off to a certain extent. He hadn’t gotten as big as I imagined he would. 
 
Wyndia heard Gaelion squealing and came running over. 
“What’s wrong with Gaelion?!” 
“He’s the prankster I mentioned this morning. I caught him in the act.” 
“Huh? Gaelion was the culprit?!” 
Wyndia looked at me and seemed to be contemplating whether or not to try and protect Gaelion. I guess even she knew better. 
“Don’t try to stick up for him. Wrongdoing must be punished.” 
“Fine. Bad Gaelion! Causing mischief is not okay!” 
“Kwaa . . .” 
“What’s going on, Master?” 
Filo and Raph-chan heard the ruckus and came over. I guess Filo wasn’t off playing with Melty today. Or maybe she had gotten curious after this morning and stuck around the village. 
“Ohhh! He’s getting scoooolded!” 
Filo started dancing around happily when she noticed Gaelion was being scolded. 
“Gaelion is getting scoooolded! Take thaaaat, dragon! Maaasteeer’s only gonna ride Fiiiloooo!” 
“Kwaaaaa!” 
Gaelion clearly became upset when Filo mocked him. 
“Rafu! Rafu rafu!” 
Raph-chan was smacking Filo lightly with her hands and tail as if trying to scold her for behaving in such a way, but Filo went on dancing completely unfazed. I decided to punish Filo too. 
“Akyaaaa! Wh . . . why meee?” 
“Don’t laugh at others’ misfortune.” 
“B . . . buuuut Master does!” 
Hmm . . . She had a point there. I immediately deactivated the monster seal. 
“Did you just let her win the argument?!” Rat snapped. 
“I do laugh at the misfortune of others. So I have no room to talk.” 
“Rafu!” 
Raph-chan’s squeak was timed perfectly. That’s right. I had no room to talk. I’d take pride in that. 
“Really?” 
Rat held her head in her hands. She had a look of bewilderment on her face. I’d laughed at the misfortunes of Witch and Trash, and I’d laughed at Glass when she got scolded by Kizuna. Even if there was merit to my objection, my words would hold no weight. 
 
“Umm . . . Just because you two are rivals doesn’t mean that you can treat him like that,” said Wyndia. 
“Boo!” 
“You know what will happen if you make me mad, right?” I taunted. 
“Nooo!” 
What was this farce? 
“Sheesh . . . Why would you do such a mischievous thing anyway?” Wyndia asked Gaelion. 
She stroked his face gently. Gaelion squeaked meekly. 
“He says he wanted the Shield Hero to play with him,” she said. 
“Huh?” 
“You haven’t spent much time playing with him, have you? But you spend plenty of time with that bird,” she went on. 
“Hmph!” 
Filo and Wyndia glared at each other. 
“Hold on, now. Are you saying that Gaelion is going to cause problems like this if I don’t play with him?” 
“Kwa!” 
He nodded! Was he a little attention-seeker? Sheesh . . . I looked over at Rat. 
“Physical contact and spending time with your monsters is important. That’s true for both of them,” she said. 
Oh, really? What a hassle! Raph-chan never acted selfish like that. 

“Alright then. Filo. Gaelion. I’ll make a little bit of time to play with each of you on alternating days. But if either of you interfere with the other’s time, you lose your play time.” 
“Hmph!” 
“Kwa!” 
The two of them glared at each other and made complaining noises. 
“Okay, fine. Neither of you get play time.” 
“F . . . fine!” 
“Kwa! Kwa!” 
They both gave in and agreed to my plan. Raph-chan would get more play time than either of them, of course. I’d play with her all day long if she wanted me to. 
 
“Alright, today is Gaelion’s day.” 
“Kwaaa!” 
“Whaaat?” 
“You’re older than him.” 
“Hmph . . . Fine. I’ll be back later, theeen. Come on, Wyndia. Let’s gooo!” 
“Okay.” 
Filo took Wyndia with her and went out to level. 
“Alright, Gaelion. What do you want to do? I’ll play with you until the end of lunch break.” 
“Kwa!” 
Gaelion wagged his tail happily like a dog. He had good reaction times, so I figured we could spend some time playing with my Frisbee Shield. I transformed my shield into a frisbee and threw it. Gaelion flapped his wings and dashed off after the shield gaily. 
It didn’t make much sense getting caught up on how things worked in a fantasy world, but the little guy sure could fly. I chucked the frisbee and when he caught it, it disappeared for a brief moment and then reappeared in my hand. Gaelion was in good spirits. He flew back over to me and licked me all over my face. Unlike a certain bird that never shut up, his innocence sure was refreshing. 
I continued to play with Gaelion for a bit, and after a while, Raphtalia and Atla showed up. 
“Mr. Naofumi, did you catch the culprit?” asked Raphtalia. 
“Yeah, it was this little fella.” 
“Kwa!” 
“Huh? Gaelion was the culprit?” 
I nodded to Raphtalia. 
“He was sad because I hadn’t been playing with him.” 
“Well, I guess you had left him completely to Wyndia and Rat.” 
“I can sympathize!” Atla interjected. 
“Kwa!” 
Atla and Gaelion shook hands firmly. Why the hell were they getting along so well now? 
“Since Raphtalia and Atla are here, that means break time is over.” 
“Kwa . . .” 
Gaelion sounded incredibly sad when he squeaked. But that wasn’t going to make me keep playing with him. Raphtalia rubbed him on the head and made a suggestion. 
 
“I know he can’t participate in our training, but surely you could let him watch.” 
“I don’t want to spoil him.” 
“That’s too bad, isn’t it? Off you go,” Atla snapped. 
“Kwa?!” 
Gaelion looked at Atla like he had been betrayed. Wasn’t she shaking his hand just a few moments earlier? 
“Why do you always have to be so extreme?” 
Raphtalia was staring at Atla in amazement. I felt the same way. After thinking for a few moments, Raphtalia looked at Gaelion and spoke to him gently. 
“How about this? You can watch us train, but you have to do your best to level quickly in return.” 
“Kwa!” 
Gaelion nodded enthusiastically. Hmm . . . He couldn’t speak human language, but he seemed to be pretty intelligent. Raph-chan was still cuter than him, but I’d have to give Gaelion props for being humble. 
“Well, leveling up and getting stronger is his job, so I guess if watching us will motivate him, then that can’t be a bad thing.” 
“There you have it,” said Atla. 
“What is that supposed to mean, Atla? You were ready to turn your back on him without a second thought just a moment ago,” Raphtalia responded. 
“Seriously.” 
“Kwa! Kwa!” 
And so Gaelion ended up watching our afternoon training nearby. I wasn’t playing with him, so it wasn’t like I’d breached the agreement with Filo. But eventually night fell, and Gaelion still hadn’t left my side. 
“It’s nighttime already, you know.” 
Gaelion had forced his way into my house. He was rather large, so that was a problem. I was trying to be tolerant, since I’d mostly just left him on his own since he had hatched. But I was starting to run out of patience. 
“You know, Gaelion might be just what you need, actually,” said Raphtalia. 
“What I need?” 
“To deal with the Atla issue. You could have Gaelion run her off before she gets in bed with you.” 
 
She was suggesting I use Gaelion as a guard dog, in other words. I was pretty sure I could have Filo do the same thing. But that sure was a bold suggestion for Raphtalia. 
“Little Naofumi! I’m here to pick up little Raphtalia!” 
Sadeena called out and then stuck her head in the door. 
“Oh hey, Sadeena.” 
“Oh? What’s this? Why is little Gaelion in your house?” 
“The little guy won’t leave my side. And now Raphtalia is suggesting that I use him as a guard dog to keep Atla out.” 
“I see. Well, the children who were most traumatized by their experience as slaves have started to get much better lately. Before long, Raphtalia should be able to start sleeping here again. It might not be a bad idea to have him deal with Atla until then.” 
Sadeena seemed to agree with Raphtalia’s idea. 
“Can’t we just talk Atla into stopping?” I asked. 
“I already tried that. Sadeena did too.” 
“Yeah, we did. And then little Atla said she wanted to marry you. That one surprised me,” added Sadeena. 
I sighed. Atla sure was brazen. Or something like that. She was just a bit confused after having been healed. It would pass. Either way, I wasn’t the kind of sicko that would marry a little girl like that. 
“I tried to make it clear to her. I told her you were a loser that wasn’t interested in anything like doing the dirty with a girl,” said Sadeena. 
“A los—you wench!” 
What was she thinking calling me a loser, of all things?! 
“Atla’s reply was even worse than Sadeena’s remark. She said, ‘It’s okay. Mr. Naofumi will lie with me when he is ready.’” 
I didn’t need Atla believing in me like that! Oh, hell! What a mess! I wanted to just run away from it all. 
“It would be best if you just outright rejected her, little Naofumi.” 
“I turned her away, of course.” 
That wasn’t enough to make Atla give up. She had an iron will. She added a lot to our offensive capabilities and she followed orders without complaining. Her excessive fondness for me was her only problem. I’d just leave it at that. 
“I guess all I can do is hope that Fohl will hurry up and grow stronger than her so that he can finally stop her from coming over here.” 
 
I had even considered selling her off to get rid of her. But she was stubborn enough to ignore the slave curse’s punishment, so it was plenty likely that she would just escape and end up right back here. Besides, I didn’t really want to go that far. We’d just have to come to some kind of agreement. 
While Raphtalia, Sadeena, and I were talking about dealing with Atla, Gaelion started digging around in my stuff that was lying around the room. Did he find something stinky? I could hear him sniffing at something. He had his head stuck in a bag that was full of materials meant to be used for new weapons and equipment. 
“Hey! Don’t mess around with that stuff!” 
Gaelion was a curious little guy. Filo did the same kind of thing every now and then. I was used to dealing with it. Or that’s what I thought, anyway. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that something in that bag would trigger the incident that was about to happen.