Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (LN) - Volume 22 - Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Selecting the Hammer Hero

It was a few days later. Mamoru had received word from the Water Dragon and was leading us to meet up with Natalia. It was all connected to her search for the hammer vassal weapon.

It turned out that the holder of the hammer vassal weapon had been killed by the ones who assume the name of god, and the Hammer Spirit had fled to escape being used for evil. After we killed one of the ones who assume the name of god, the signal from the hammer had increased in strength again, allowing her to locate it. Now Mamoru needed to go check it out, and with as powerful a party as possible. Raphtalia, Ruft, the Raph-chans, and I were tagging along to see how they handled things. We were going to stay completely in the background. We couldn’t have one of us being selected as the vassal weapon holder in this time period—the ramifications for the future were insane. It wasn’t worth the risk to even experiment with such an idea.

We’d left Ren forging with Filolia. Eclair had informed me that he was complaining a lot, but actually doing some good work. However, he had also started to act a little strangely—a little more like the old Ren. When called out on it, he returned to normal, but he had started saying odd things and striking odd poses. Being around Eclair and Wyndia wasn’t a problem for him, but maybe all that teenage angst was getting out of control with Filolia around.

Holn and R’yne weren’t with us either. Holn was busy with her research and R’yne was still training S’yne.

“There you are,” Natalia said in greeting. We were in the forest of the nation where we had first met Natalia, that nation where that nine-tailed fox monster had been controlling the king. Natalia had killed the fox, but even after the king returned to his senses, he had ordered his men to kill Natalia, leading in turn to the Water Dragon obliterating the ruler.

“You found it faster than expected,” I commented.

“Yes. There were already some rumors about it, and a steady stream of people have been coming to try and claim it. But it’s in a spot that only those of a certain strength can reach,” Natalia explained.

“It wants the future bearer to display their strength,” I pondered. “Not suited to performing the ritual for summoning from another world.”

“And what if someone from a world already experiencing the waves is called? That’s a possibility,” Natalia said. That was a good point. If such a thing happened, I could easily imagine the issues that would ensue. Shildina and Filolia were good examples of this. I wondered what I would do myself if these “death games” taking place in other worlds were matched to the world I was born in—like if we were matched with Japan. When I first came here, the answer would have been clear—screw this world over and protect my real home. Luckily for me, there were no waves in Japan.

Shildina had a harsh outlook on the world and so might have done better living in a completely different one. And yet, she had still wanted to go home. That might suggest some changes in her mental makeup—and that her meeting us had been good for her. She seemed closer with Ruft than before. If Sadeena was Raphtalia’s “big sister,” then Shildina was Ruft’s.

Any changes in her personality certainly weren’t because she wanted to drink with me.

“Let me show you,” Natalia said, leading us to the location of the hammer vassal weapon. We proceeded together through the foggy woodlands. Visibility was poor around us. There was a certain romanticism to the idea of a legendary weapon slumbering in a forest. I also loved the conceit that you needed to be a certain strength to even get there. When the weapon was located in a safer place, like with the gauntlets, there was a constant stream of people trying to get picked, plenty of whom didn’t handle rejection well.

We finally came out into a wider space, and I saw a spot ahead with sunlight falling onto it. That was where the hammer vassal weapon was placed. It looked a lot like the gauntlet seven star weapon had, embedded into something like the Rosetta stone but for hammers.

“Okay. We don’t have the bow holy weapon holder here, but can I ask the Shield Hero?” Natalia turned to face Mamoru. “Do you want to perform the summoning ritual and call a holder for the weapon or try and see if anyone in your group is suited to using it?” We still needed to meet our original goal of increasing our fighting strength before the ones who assume the name of god made their next move. If Siltran successfully got the hammer vassal weapon holder on their side, the situation between the nations would shift in their favor and Piensa would be unable to talk back so openly. That would be the time to open negotiations with the Bow Hero and prepare to fight the ones who assume the name of god. That was the plan. Things were already going better for Siltran, but this would settle it.

“I’d like to try with the people I know first. If that doesn’t work out, we’ll have to summon someone. I’d rather not drag someone from an unrelated world into this, if possible,” Mamoru said.

“Understood,” Natalia replied. “That does sound like the best approach.” Each of Mamoru’s companions then proceeded to attempt to take the hammer vassal weapon. Cian and others from among the kids Mamoru looked after were there too. Cian failed to take the hammer, falling back onto her butt as she pulled. She made a pained expression for a moment, then wiped her face and returned to Mamoru as though nothing had happened.

“No good, huh?” Mamoru said to her.

“Nope, no good,” she replied. She sounded so much like Atla in that moment it reminded me of when Atla had attempted to take the gauntlet seven star weapon. We were going to be fighting powerful monsters and the ones who assume the name of god in the future, so I wanted as few casualties as possible. With that in mind, I watched the proceedings, hoping that someone would get picked to bolster our forces, but in the end, none of those Mamoru brought along were able to take the hammer vassal weapon.

“What about you and your allies, future Shield Hero?” Natalia asked me.

“It could be a massive pain in the temporal ass if any of us got chosen,” I cautioned. We may even have to leave that person here in this time.

“That depends on the hammer vassal weapon, surely,” Natalia replied, showing more forbearance than I’d been expecting.

“Dafu!” said Dafu-chan.

“Raph!” added Raph-chan, both of them chirping about something. Dafu-chan could use hammers.

“Maybe we should let this little one try,” I suggested, picking Dafu-chan up.

“Dafu!” said Dafu-chan. “Dafu, dafu, dafu!” She was going wild. It looked like she really didn’t want to.

“It’s rare to see a Raph species that doesn’t want to be held by you, Mr. Naofumi,” Raphtalia commented.

“I guess so,” I replied. We knew Dafu-chan was the past Heavenly Emperor, so there had to be some reason for this. “Okay . . . maybe let Ruft have a go. Even if he gets picked, when we go home, we’ll persuade the hammer to release him.” Ruft had looked pretty good swinging that axe around, so giving him a hammer could be a big attack boost for us.

“If you want me to, Shield Hero,” Ruft said.

“It is highly unlikely that a Heavenly Emperor would ever be selected without extreme extenuating circumstances,” Natalia said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“We’re here to watch over the heroes. What do you think would happen if one was selected to actually become a hero? Do you think the spirit implements—the vassal weapons—have not considered this?” Natalia asked. I could see her point. If the ones who were meant to stop abuse were given the power to cause the abuses they were meant to stop, that could definitely be a conflict of interest, and one easy to give into.

“What does that mean about me?” Raphtalia asked, a frown on her face. She was the holder of the katana vassal weapon.

“That’s a vassal weapon from another world, so it’s not the same thing. The hammer vassal weapon is from this world,” Natalia replied. Raphtalia was the holder of a vassal weapon from another world, so this rule didn’t apply to her.

“That means Ruft is off the table,” I said.

“Really? That’s a shame,” Ruft said. He seemed to want to give it a go, but not if Natalia wasn’t going to allow it. I wanted to avoid contravening any of the rules of Q’ten Lo at the moment.

“You want to ask anyone else before the summoning, Mamoru?” I asked.

“I do have some other ideas. People I’d like to ask. Can we wait on the summons a little longer?” Mamoru replied. It sounded like he might have someone else he could ask—and it seemed like he was saying we were finished here for today. As we started to withdraw—

“Seriously . . . I hope we find someone soon,” Natalia said.

“Dafu!” said Dafu-chan intently. But it was too late. Natalia reached out and stroked the hammer vassal weapon. With a popping sound, the weapon freed itself from the Rosetta stone and stuck to Natalia’s hand. Dafu-chan’s fur was raised, and she was growling. She’d tried to warn Natalia before she touched it!

Natalia could only gasp. She was staring at the hammer in her hand while the Rosetta stone turned into light and vanished. Everyone who had been getting ready to leave turned to look at Natalia.

“Oh my. The hammer vassal weapon has made a strange choice. Does it have any idea what this means?” the Water Dragon said, sounding bemused. Natalia had told Ruft not to try and then been picked herself! The hammer vassal weapon was sparkling in Natalia’s hand. She was the holder now, no doubt about it. Natalia herself had a hand pressed against her forehead and was shaking her head.

“Choosing a pacifier as its holder! What is the spirit of the hammer vassal weapon thinking?!” Natalia started raging at the hammer, but of course, it didn’t reply.

“For better or worse, you’ve been selected as a vassal weapon holder. Now you will need to set an even better example for all heroes. Natalia the Hammer Hero! Redouble your efforts to maintain an honest heart!” the Water Dragon said.

“Silence!” Natalia raged back. “I feel like cursing this world and my fate, cursing everything! We’ve found a potential way to end the waves! Is this kind of exception to the rules even required?” She’d just become a holder and I was already worried about her getting cursed. She was setting the perfect example of what a hero shouldn’t do, which was highly conflicting, given that she was also a pacifier.

“I think you might be suited to the role from a combat perspective,” Mamoru said, trying to calm her down. His approach was quite different from the one I would have taken.

“Ah . . . good luck,” Raphtalia said.

“Wow, this is amazing!” Ruft added.

“Raph!” said Raph-chan. They all seemed pleased for Natalia.

“I’m not happy about this,” Natalia said with a sigh. “How did this even happen?” Having both the power of a hero and a pacifier could be powerful. She could use a hero’s power while also holding the power to seal it.

Natalia looked even more exasperated than before as she followed us with the hammer vassal weapon on her back. We left the clearing.

Then something caught my eye deep among the trees. Something was moving in the underbrush with what looked like a golden tail.

“Mr. Naofumi?” Raphtalia asked.

“No, it’s nothing,” I replied. Probably just a monster watching what was going on. I set off after the others.