Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (LN) - Volume 19 - Chapter 3

Chapter Three: The Work of Men and Monsters 

“The time has finally come to return to the realm of my dominion!” 

“Boo!” 

A few days had passed since we returned from the head temple of Glass’s style and started our training. The Demon Dragon, who had been leaving in the mornings and coming back late at night every day, had finally reached the vicinity of the territory she used to rule. We were therefore all now riding on the back of the super-sized Demon Dragon, flying through the sky as we headed toward this new destination—the place we hoped to recover whatever trinkets the dragon had squirreled away and investigate Glass’s roots. 

The party comprised me, Raphtalia, Raph-chan, Kizuna, Glass, Chris, the Demon Dragon, Filo, the killer whale sisters, and S’yne—who was as quiet as ever. Filo had been complaining that I was giving the Demon Dragon too much attention, and so I’d brought her along as well. Itsuki, Rishia, and Ethnobalt were along too, but they were caught up in talk about training, translation of their texts, and possible hidden codes. So they were at a distance from the rest of us. L’Arc and our remaining allies were back at the castle, training with the old lady and the old man. They had wanted to come along, but we needed to leave some defenders behind. If something happened, they could quickly call us back. 

Still . . . we definitely had quite the gathering. It was like some kind of crazy school trip. 

“So this is the land you once ruled?” I asked. The terrain looked pretty imposing. We had been flying over barren wastes with strange spiky rocks sticking up from the ground for a while. This place had its own unique ecosystem, and once we cleared the wilds, we came to fields of cross-shaped trees standing like grave markers. I first thought they were made of stone and was surprised to learn the truth. 

When you looked at it on a map, this place seemed pretty big. Big enough for the other nations to squabble over, that was for sure. 

“Impressive, isn’t it? This is a marsh called the Graveyard of Death,” the dragon said. 

“As opposed to what? The Graveyard of Life?” I quipped. 

“I can use my magic to create a mist here,” the dragon continued, ignoring me, “turning it into a maze with no escape.” 

“It wasn’t easy to get through, I can tell you. The mist was thick right up into the air, so we couldn’t use the ship vassal weapon like we did with Kyo’s hideout,” Kizuna recalled, sounding almost wistful. I didn’t need to ask how she crossed it, anyway. 

“Beyond this, there are the magma flows, and then we come to my castle,” the dragon said. 

“Wow, okay. Just the bare necessities, huh?” I said. 

“It is not as bad as it looks. With my permission, all may pass with ease. With my permission, that is,” the dragon repeated. So it was a barrier that required some kind of verification. 

“Something like the barrier in Q’ten Lo,” I mused. 

“Hmmm . . . based on the route you took, Shield Hero, it could indeed be said to be similar to that. When I was making use of the residue found in this land, such a concept was indeed in my head,” the dragon admitted. 

“With all the fighting among the other nations over control of this place, I guess you’ve got bigger fish to fry now,” I said. 

“For a while the people were free, and this was a place they could live their own lives . . . but they soon got caught up in the conflict. L’Arc led the way in taking in the refugees, saving many of them, but some surely remained here in their ancestral lands,” the dragon explained. Kizuna hadn’t made the same mistakes as the Church of the Three Heroes, then. That was good to hear. Immigrants too . . . It sounded like L’Arc was getting things done. He was a king, after all. I kept on forgetting that. 

“Still, my demise certainly caused issues for the towns and villages under my control,” the dragon commented. 

“Have you let people know you are back?” I asked. 

“I decided to save that until I reach the castle. The humans appear to have failed in their own foolish attempts to rule and returned to being governed by monsters,” the dragon explained. 

“They have?” I asked. Glass narrowed her eyes and nodded in response to my question. 

“After we lost Kizuna, I paid a visit here and someone told me that the enemy of the humans hadn’t been monsters after all . . . It had been other humans,” Glass told me. 

“That’s tough to hear,” Kizuna said. “Everyone had seemed so willing to work hard and make this a better place.” 

“Kizuna, our journey was not a complete waste. Lots of people have come to join us. We simply respected the wishes of those who wanted to stay behind,” Glass explained. 

“Yeah, I get it . . .” Kizuna said. 

A bunch of people had decided for themselves to become the slaves of monsters. Other nations had been too aggressive, and those originally living here had not been permitted to establish their own nation. From the perspective of those on the attack, taking what they wanted had probably seemed like a better option than letting tomorrow’s enemies get a foothold today. 

I could see how some would, when faced with such selfish invaders, choose the monster masters they had known all along over new rule. Those people had probably come to the conclusion that humans would hurt them and monsters would protect them. 

Taking risks on new things could pay off for some people. But supply was never infinite—as one gained the upper hand, another must face some disadvantage. 

“Still, I was surprised to learn of such a nation within my lands,” the dragon said. The Demon Dragon had been more than puzzled to see the materials on Amachiha that Glass and the others had found. 

“You don’t remember it?” I asked. 

“You know how the Dragon Emperor operates, don’t you? If fragments are lost, whatever they contain is lost with them,” the dragon said, explaining the situation to everyone. “I also didn’t rule all this land all the time. Over very long time periods, borders can shift and change.” 

“So was the nation shaped by external factors?” I said. 

“That’s right. I do have some ideas of where it might be, based on what I can recall. Sometimes I would even build cities on the seabed,” the dragon reminisced. I could understand the concept; the dragon was like some demon king who kept on coming back to life periodically. 

“We’re going to do a thorough investigation of all the ruins and endemic plant life we can find,” I said. 

“Excellent, Shield Hero. I will provide as much information as I can to guide you to what you desire. All I ask for as payment—” 

“Stop it with the sexual harassment. Considering how friendly you seem, are you sure Gaelion hasn’t corrupted you?” I asked. At this suggestion the Demon Dragon’s entire body twitched and she looked away from me. That seemed to suggest she had indeed been influenced. 

“Hah . . . even if he has caused some strange emotions within me, it does not change the fact that I like you, Shield Hero,” the dragon said. “Having been touched by your anger and rage, your desire to burn down the whole world, how could I not fall for you?” 

“Sure, sure, whatever,” I replied. I didn’t have feelings like that anymore. All I had right now was rage toward Bitch—however, I wouldn’t say I’d totally got over that other stuff. It was just that, thanks to Atla, I wasn’t as concerned by that anger—by that hatred—anymore. 

“One thing, Shield Hero. When are you going to copulate with the holder of the katana vassal weapon?” the dragon asked. “I have been watching through your window with bated breath, every moment expecting action to start.” 

“Hey! You can cut that kind of creepy stuff out!” I raged. Sexually harassing me was one thing, but I didn’t need Raphtalia to get dragged into it. 

“Don’t worry, Master! I always make sure to drive her off!” Filo reported, giving me a thumbs-up. I had been hearing some strange scuffles outside my window recently. This seemed to explain them. So were these two the new Atla and Raphtalia? 

“You won’t be around forever!” the dragon said with a laugh. 

“Boo! Master belongs to me! I’m not giving him to you, demon face!” Filo retorted, as articulate as ever. 

“Well done, Filo,” I told her. She’d been driving off this obsessed pervert without me even knowing it. That was worthy of some praise. 

“Thanks so much!” Filo said with a giggle. 

“Bah! I am about to receive all the praise your precious master can muster! Just you wait and see!” the dragon snarled. 

“Boo!” was the best Filo could manage. From the sidelines, I couldn’t help but think the two of them really did get along. 

Then I noticed Raphtalia looking over. I knew exactly what she was thinking. She didn’t need to make that face. 

“Hold on? Naofumi, I thought you and Raphtalia were getting it on every night!” Kizuna interjected. Why was she getting involved! 

“As I said upon reuniting with Raphtalia in this world—but I guess you weren’t there—I’m not going to start doing stuff like that when the worlds are all in such peril,” I said. I also pondered that not acting now might lead to regrets later, but that was a separate subject. 

“I understand. I don’t want to create anyone else like me . . . so I need to put my duty first,” Raphtalia added. Kizuna gave a long hum, while the dragon gave a chuckle. 

“Sit on your hands for too long and you’ll find I’ve taken your spot in his bed,” she said. 

“Shut up. You’re not getting into my anything,” I shot back. 

“Well . . . I also decided that setting a dangerous precedent might cause more trouble for Mr. Naofumi,” Raphtalia said, looking over at Sadeena and Shildina for some reason. 

“Oh my,” said Sadeena. Raphtalia had a point—if we crossed the line, the sisters were likely to show up and ask to get involved too. Or more likely they’d get so strong we wouldn’t be able to fend them off. That would eventually lead to the Demon Dragon trying to get involved too—but I’d never allow that. 

“Mr. Naofumi works so hard every day and every night, into the small hours, doing all sorts of things already . . . I must not add to those burdens,” Raphtalia said. It sounded like I needed to make some room in my schedule. I had my cooking, crafting, meetings to keep morale up, and my own training; throwing romance with Raphtalia into the mix would just be insane. 

Thinking all these thoughts made something twinge inside me, however. A pain in my chest. Oh, I certainly hadn’t forgotten the things I thought when I purchased Raphtalia. Was I pretending to be a good guy now—a guy who buys slaves, pretending to be good? Was any kind of romance with Raphtalia ever going to be permitted for such a guy? 

I could almost hear my own voice, talking to me, making these accusations. 

“Man, Naofumi, things are rougher for you than I thought,” Kizuna said. 

“Kizuna, perhaps you could take a leaf from his book and work harder yourself,” Glass suggested. 

“Hey, I’ve been working hard recently! I’m learning to cook, and I’m joining in with practice too! I’m far better at collecting materials than Naofumi too!” Kizuna stated. 

“Sure. I’ll give you that last one,” I admitted. She had really helped reduce the burden placed on me by cooking too, which had allowed me to focus more on my crafting. 

“Glass, I think we need to help Mr. Naofumi and Kizuna with their work, however we can,” Raphtalia said with a slightly admonishing tone. 

“You’re right,” Glass said after a pause. “We are relying on the holy weapon heroes too much. Fighting isn’t the only thing a weapon holder can do.” Glass really brought the conversation together. “I’m going to keep doing my best, so, Kizuna, please stop doing nothing but fishing.” 

“Ah . . . I know, I know. I’m trying,” Kizuna replied. Hopefully this would help keep her focused. It would be a major coup if it did. 

“Now then! I see it ahead. My castle!” the Demon Dragon crowed. I looked ahead to see a broken-down castle, just a crumbled old thing beyond the fields of magma.