Chapter One: The Heroes’ Teammates
We took a carriage back to the castle, and when we arrived everyone was bustling to prepare the large hall for a feast.
“What’s up with all this?”
“We are preparing a feast for Mr. Iwatani and the other heroes. In celebration of their swift and decisive victory.”
“Hm . . . .”
I had been able to prove my innocence, and at least one major domestic dispute had been settled. I suppose that was worthy of celebration.
The hall was filled with long dining tables. Judging by the size and number, this feast was looking more expansive and impressive than the last feast—the one I’d fought Motoyasu at.
It had taken so long. I reflected on how long I’d been framed and persecuted. It felt like it had taken forever to prove my innocence.
I was ruminating on the past few months when the queen passed by. She was in deep conversation with a group of soldiers, nodding gravely.
“What’s going on?”
“Oh . . . .”
I went over and asked her what was up. She cradled her head in her hands and whispered an explanation, clearly distraught.
Apparently during the preparations, Bitch had shown up in the kitchen. She’d wanted to be the one to bring me my meal at the feast.
She felt bad. She wanted to repent. She felt, apparently, that delivering my food would be a step on her path to reconciliation.
Then she forcibly took my meal from the kitchen and came marching out into the hall.
However, the queen had been prepared for any potential mishaps and had given orders ahead of time to deal with any issues Bitch might cause.
In the end, it was Bitch who ended up suffering.
Before Bitch could serve me my meal, she was required to sample it for poison.
“So what happened?”
“She was taken to a hospital.”
Only a few hours had passed since she’d been read her punishment. How stupid was she to try something like that so soon?
My shield had given me resistance to poisons, so I’m sure I would have been fine. Still, recreationally imbibing poison wasn’t one of my favorite pastimes.
Bitch didn’t understand what “repent” even meant.
What was she thinking? Attempted assassination could get her the death penalty.
“How will she be punished?”
“I will see to it that she is. Bitch will only reap further hardships until she learns her place.”
“How are you supposed to punish someone so unrepentant?”
“At least we stopped her before she got too far. Had she pulled off her plan, I would have lost your trust—and I’ve spent too long trying to earn it.”
“Whatever. It was almost a sure thing that she’d try something. She never looked repentant anyway.”
She wasn’t very smart, but I suppose there was something I could admire in her stubborn persistence. What could get her so ruffled?
I could have gotten angry, but I decided to praise the queen for her foresight instead.
“Better keep a good eye out. If anything happens to me or my friends, that will be the end of our agreement.”
The queen had stepped in to help me, so I’d decided to trust her for the time being.
I was really hoping that that trust would not turn out to be misplaced.
“I intend to keep you safe. You do not even know how important you are to Melromarc and the world—but I intend to show you that as well.”
The queen, as befitting one in her position, apparently had the foresight to order a 24-hour watch over Trash and Bitch.
“You’ve got a watch on Trash? Even as he sits encased in ice?”
“Naturally. Until the two of them settle down and cease their foolish plotting, I’ll be receiving reports from my ears on the ground.”
“Good.”
The guests had begun to arrive. Once the hall was full, the queen began to make an announcement—full of royal bombast.
“I am Milleria Q. Melromarc. I would like to welcome you all to this feast, which is held in celebration, and to honor those of you who worked so tirelessly to end this painful chapter in our collective history. Please enjoy all that we have prepared for you.”
The gathered crowd broke into uproarious applause. This feast was nothing like the last one.
“Wow . . . .”
Filo’s eyes sparkled with unbridled anticipation as all the food was carried out from the kitchen and lined up down the center of the tables.
The room was divided into halves. One half was served buffet style, while the other half was waited on as if it were a restaurant.
The most important guests were seated on the full-service side of the room. If they were still hungry by the end of the meal, they were free to move to the buffet side and continue eating.
Some servants appeared with shining plates of food for our table, and it all looked so good I couldn’t stop smacking my lips.
I’d spent the last feast huddled in a corner, begrudgingly snacking on scraps. From where I sat now, that whole experience seemed like a joke.
“When we’re done eating here, you can still go to the buffet and eat.”
“REALLY?!”
“That’s what they say. You can eat all you want. But you have to stay in human form, okay?”
“Okay!”
We finished our expensive and refined plates of food. Filo quickly cast her gaze at the buffet and, receiving permission, jumped up and skipped over to it.
Quantity over quality, I suppose. It was a very Filo way to see the world. Or should I say she cared about the quality in addition to the quantity. She was insatiable in every sense of the word.
She reminded me of a younger Raphtalia in a way. I looked over at Raphtalia. “What is it?” Raphtalia caught me staring at her, and she flushed, embarrassed. “You’re still hungry too, aren’t you? Go get some more if you want it.” “I can’t eat that much anymore!” “You better think more about your health. With all the daily fighting and
hardship, you’d better get as much nutritious food as you can—when we have
the opportunity.” Raphtalia sighed deeply. What did she want? “Hey, Mr. Naofumi, what kind of girls do you like?” “What?” That came out of nowhere. But I didn’t have any girls that I liked at the
moment. Actually, the whole topic just made me think of Bitch. I wish she’d stop
bringing up topics like that. “I mean . . . is there a girl waiting for you back in your own world?” “What are you talking about? Of course not.” Did she think that was the reason I wanted to get back to my own world?
What was she thinking?
The reason I wanted to get back to my world was simple enough: I hated this place.
They’d framed me for crimes, forced me to fight when I didn’t want to, and the knights that were supposed to be on my side tried to set me on fire. Who would want to stay in a place like this?
Raphtalia sighed heavily, again.
“I don’t know what you’re getting at, but I’m going back home because I want to. That’s all.”
When all this was over, I’d go back home as soon as possible. Did she really need a reason?
Suddenly I remembered how’d I felt on the day after my arrival here. It had all seemed so great—I really did think I could have stayed forever.
The desire to stay had evaporated the moment Bitch had betrayed my trust.
I’d already known that, but working through those emotions again made me want to go home even more.
“Shield Hero!”
“Huh?”
I turned to see who’d called for me and saw the volunteer soldiers I’d worked with calling to me.
These were the guys that had come to me of their own accord before the last wave. They’d wanted to help me fight.
“It’s so good to see you again, sir!”
“And you’re all safe. That’s good to know.”
“Yes sir!”
One of them nodded, apparently very happy.
He even flushed bright red. This kid might have worshiped the Shield Hero as a member of the reformed Church of the Holy Four.
“Until we meet again.”
“Yes sir!” they shouted in unison.
Just then, the other heroes filed into the hall.
Ren Amaki, the Sword Hero, came in first, followed by his retinue.
Ren was a teenager who always came off as cool and aloof. He was always dressed in blacks and dark colors.
He came off as the cool swordsman type. He was 16 years old, the youngest of the heroes.
He chatted with his team members for a little while before parting with them and sitting off on his own. I sensed some sort of distance growing between them.
The next to enter was the Bow Hero, Itsuki Kawasumi.
He seemed like he thought himself a real hero, traveling the world and righting wrongs. He was insufferable.
He called on the authority of the Bow Hero to cast himself as a friend of justice. He was so just—at least TWICE as just as everyone else.
He looked like he was younger than Ren, but he was actually 17. He had naturally curly hair that flopped about agreeably. People would probably find him charming . . . I guess.
He looked to me like the type of guy that played piano, sensitive and suffering and all that.
But his sense of justice was so all-encompassing that he never listened to what anyone had to say. He seemed a lot nicer than he actually was, I guess.
I didn’t have a very firm grasp on his character yet.
Motoyasu hadn’t arrived yet. Maybe he had followed Bitch to the hospital to check in on her?
Regardless, he was the only one that hadn’t yet shown up: Motoyasu Kitamura, the Spear Hero.
He traveled around with Bitch, and until I had completely proved my innocence, he treated me as if I were guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt.
Among the four heroes he was undoubtedly the most attractive. I didn’t like him very much, but I’m obligated to admit that much.
He was a self-proclaimed feminist. He loved the ladies.
He never listened to what anyone had to say. Back when there was a bounty on my head, he completely ignored the dubiousness of the charge, decided I was guilty, and dedicated the majority of his energy to hunting me down.
They say he’s loyal to his companions, which I suppose sounds quite lofty and nice. In truth, however, he was a fool to never doubt the suggestions delivered to him by his “friends.”
It was his fault, in my estimation, that it had taken so long for the country to come to its senses and expunge the true evil from its lands.
Anyway, all three of the other heroes came from some alternative version of Japan—just like I had—and all three of them had experience playing a game that intimately resembled the world we had found ourselves transported to.
The book I’d been reading at the library, The Records of the Four Holy Weapons, had given terse descriptions of their character.
The Sword Hero was attractive and active, the Spear Hero was loyal, and the Bow Hero was a warrior for justice.
All that was well and fine for the sake of a story, but in reality the whole lot of them were pretty miserable to be around.
“Where’s Motoyasu?”
The queen asked them as they filed in.
“He was very worried about your daughter’s condition, so he went to the hospital to check on her. We’ve already sent for him.”
“You don’t say . . . .”
The queen waved a greeting to Ren and Itsuki.
Soon everyone had finished eating, and the hall was filled with dancing and song.
But the feast was . . . well it was certainly more festive than the last feast had been. I couldn’t help but notice that it seemed to be attended by an entirely different set of people. There were less members of the nobility than I’d expected to attend, and a greater portion of the crowd seemed to be adventurers and soldiers.
It also looked like there were quite a few people from neighboring countries attending. I caught them trying to look at me from time to time.
The queen led Ren and Itsuki over to where I was sitting before she climbed the stairs to the stage.
“Huh? What’s going on?”
“The queen wants us all together.”
“I wonder why? Motoyasu hasn’t even arrived yet.”
“Apparently he’s visiting the woman who tried to poison me.”
“Poison?!”
“You know who I’m talking about, right?”
“Yeah. So it was true?”
“Maybe the queen made her drink poison?”
“No. I was with the queen at the time. She came in with a plate of food, and she was forced to take a bite of it. That’s all.”
“Really . . . ?”
We were still whispering back and forth when the queen turned dramatically and shouted.
“Now then, heroes! How did you enjoy the feast?”
“Wasn’t bad.”
“Very much. Quite a success.”
“Now that my name’s been cleared, it's a weight off my shoulders.”
“How wonderful to hear.”
Really though, it felt like all the hardship and absurdities I’d faced were finally being dealt with.
The queen stood there, nodding subtly to herself before she snapped her folding fan shut and began to address the room.
“In these regrettable times, members of our country have unfortunately done all they could to hinder the heroes’ progress. I would like to do what I can to make reparations for this.”
What did she mean by that?
“In the sea that borders our land lies a group of islands known as Cal Mira. They are in the midst of an impressive activation event. I would like to request our heroes participate in these activities.”
What kind of island was she talking about? What did she mean by “activation?”
“Really?!”
Ren was so excited he jumped forward and nearly shouted.
“What’s that?”
“Do you really mean there’s a bonus field?!”
Now Itsuki was excited too. He stepped forward to stand in line with Ren.
“What are you talking about?”
I didn’t know as much about this world as they did. Why wouldn’t anyone tell me what was going on?!
“It seems that Mr. Iwatani is not aware of what I’m speaking of, so I will explain. ‘Activation’ refers to a phenomenon that visits these lands once every 10 years. While it is occurring, the normal bout of experience earned through battles is doubled.”
I picked the important parts out of her speech. Here’s the gist of it:
The Cal Mira islands were famous as a resort, but at the same time it tended to attract hoards of monsters in its more remote areas, where they would quickly acclimate to their new environment.
The islands were also famous because adventurers that wanted to level up would make for the islands in large numbers to fight these monsters. Every ten years, when the “activation” occurred, adventurers would descend on the land in even greater numbers.
In order to make up for the leveling experience I’d been denied by the actions of Trash and Bitch, the queen was offering us participation in the activation.
“Naturally, your boarding and transport costs have already been covered. I hope that you will all participate.”
Had this been an online RPG, this would be equivalent to some kind of special event where players’ experience gains were doubled.
So she was talking about double experience for simple enemies. It was the sort of thing any gamer would flip out for.
“Now then, before you heroes make your way to the islands, I was hoping you would participate in a friendly exchange of information. Please come with me.”
“Information exchange?”
“Yes. In preparation for the increasingly difficult and dangerous waves, I believe the only way forward is to ensure more cooperation between the heroes.”
“Is that really necessary?”
Ren spat the question as if he considered her suggestion absurd.
What was his problem? What did he think was unnecessary? Unlike the others, I didn’t already know everything about this place. Didn’t he know that by now?
“I believe so. I’ve heard that the heroes had difficulty coordinating their efforts during the last wave. I think it would be beneficial to discuss this.”
“ . . . .”
Ren was silent.
She was right though. When the last wave came, the other heroes hadn’t even joined forces with the knights. So they were left all alone at the site of destruction.
Apparently if the heroes registered a group of reserve soldiers as part of their party’s back-up battle formation, those soldiers would be automatically teleported to the site of the waves, whenever and wherever they occurred.
But none of the other heroes had taken advantage of the system.
So in the end, aside from the group of soldiers that had approached me, there were no other back-up troops around to help when the last wave had come.
“Aside from that concern, I wonder if it might not benefit you heroes to coordinate your efforts, combine your strengths and knowledge, and move forward together, as a unified body.”
“You’re right. If we want to survive the coming waves, we need to do as you’ve indicated.”
Itsuki immediately agreed with the queen. But he was just saying what she wanted to hear.
If anyone were to protest at this point, they’d look like the bad guy.
Or, if anyone were to protest, they’d end up dying alone in battle.
I realized that I needed to agree as well.
Besides, Fitoria had told me that the heroes needed to cooperate if they wanted to stand a chance against the waves.
Before some of my recent experiences, I probably would have dismissed the possibility of cooperation outright.
They wouldn’t have believed a word I’d said anyway.
But Ren and Itsuki had listened to what I’d said. They’d analyzed the church’s story and found it suspicious.
If they’d done that for me, I could at least return the favor.
“Very well then. Let's set up a place to talk, here in the great hall. Heroes! Introduce yourselves and follow me.”
We looked at one another.
“You heard her.”
“We need to coordinate our efforts. What should we do first?”
“Why don’t we introduce our teammates?”
“Good idea. Very well, I’ll go first.”
And Itsuki led us over to his other party members.
“These people have been traveling with me as party members.” Itsuki waved his hand at a group of people there, motioning so that Ren and I would understand.
“This is the first time we’ve officially met. Shield Hero, and . . . yes, Sword Hero—though we’ve spoken before.”
“ . . . Yeah.”
Itsuki’s party members each stepped forward and introduced themselves.
It all felt natural and casual enough. In the middle of a feast there was no sense of tension or nervousness. The soldiers were ordering whatever they wanted from the waiters as if it were any other day
“I’m Naofumi Iwatani—the Shield Hero. Pleasure.”
We introduced ourselves, and I made a mental note of each of Itsuki’s friends.
So there were . . . five of them? One of them wore some flashy armor and kept his arms authoritatively crossed.
When he noticed my eyes moving in his direction, he quickly uncrossed his arms. It gave me the creeps.
“Ah, yes. Pleased to meet you. I am Master Itsuki’s bodyguard, and I intend to fight for the good and safety of the world.”
“Bodyguard?!” Ren and I shouted in unison.
That wasn’t a word I was expecting to hear. Ren seemed to be just as surprised as I was.
What’s wrong, Ren? You didn’t know either? Ha! I had to keep myself from bursting out laughing.
Just who did Itsuki think he was? It took all my willpower to suppress a grin.
“Yes!” They all shouted together. “All five of us are Master Itsuki’s bodyguards!”
“Excuse me! I’m terribly sorry it took so long to get this food to you!”
I turned to see a young girl carrying a tray piled high with various foods.
She better be careful. She looked like she was about to drop it.
“Ah . . . .”
Damn! I reached out and quickly snatched the tray to keep it from falling.
“I’m so sorry!”
This kid . . . she seemed kind of young.
She probably wasn’t a day over 14. You could feel the immaturity.
She had a refined bearing though—and a pretty face. She must have come from a good family. She was pretty cute.
She probably had a weak resolve. Had Motoyasu been there, he’d have probably already been hitting on her.
She was a small girl. I guess she was part of Itsuki’s party, but what did she do? Maybe she was a magic-user or something like that.
“You’re so slow, Rishia! Go on, introduce yourself.”
“Fu, Fueeeee! Okay!”
Then all spoke together again. “The SIX of us are Mr. Itsuki’s bodyguards!”
Ren turned to me and whispered, “Didn’t they just say there were five bodyguards?”
That’s what I’d heard too, but there was no use in pointing fingers at this point.
“Don’t say anything, just watch what they do.”
The whole thing made me a little uncomfortable, honestly. But until their behavior became an issue, I would assume that Itsuki knew what he was doing.
“What do you think? Quite the dependable lot, these guys.”
“Honestly I have plenty I’d like to say, but for now I’ll just say that everything looks good.”
I looked them over again, starting from the right, just to take stock. They all wore expressions of extreme self-confidence.
I’m sure they were all dependable enough, but I couldn’t help but remember our battle with the high priest—during which they hadn’t done anyone much good at all.
Itsuki was positively blushing with confidence, but I was still bothered by the guy in the flashy armor. There was something about the way he knit his eyebrows that didn’t sit right with me.
He looked somehow condescending, but then I took stock of the whole party and realized they all had that look.
As for the Rishia girl—she was casting awkward glances left and right, looking uncomfortable and unsure of herself.
“I hadn’t really met any of them before, but you’ve got a weird group of people together here.”
Ren chose his words with care. The group had given me the same impression. “You think? They all seem normal to me.”
What did he think was normal about them? Calling them “bodyguards” made the whole thing weird straight from the get-go.
I thought that Itsuki considered him some kind of world-weary general character, the sort that traveled the wicked world righting its wrongs. But here was his party referring to themselves as bodyguards.
I didn’t know what to make of it—it was all too strange.
Itsuki went on to tell me each of their names, but I wasn’t paying attention and immediately forgot them.
I was distracted by the guy in the flashy armor. He’d pointed his chin in my direction, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was looking down on me.
It started to really get to me . . . . I decided to mention it.
“Itsuki.”
“What is it?”
“Do something about this one. His face and his attitude are bothering me. He looks at me like he thinks I’m a criminal.”
“I suspect that has more to do with your own attitude than his, Naofumi. Nothing about his behavior is bothering me.”
“Mu!”
Itsuki . . . . That little word-dance was really obnoxious.
“Yeah, well. He makes a different face when you aren’t looking.”
“Shield Hero, you’re probably just imagining it, don’t you think?”
“We’re talking about YOU! Stay out of it.”
It sure looked like he hadn’t spent much time teaching his “bodyguards” proper manners. It’s probably Itsuki’s fault. I imagined him talking bad about me for the last few months. His friends probably just picked up on the general mood.
Actually, they were from Melromarc to begin with, which meant that they were probably prejudiced against the Shield Hero from the very start.
“I’ve been curious about something.”
Ren raised his hand.
“What?”
“You’ve been referring to Itsuki as ‘master’ but don't attach a title to either mine or Naofumi’s names. Why is that?”
“Because the Sword and Shield Heroes have clearly not been performing as well as Master Itsuki has. That should explain the difference.”
What did he just say?
I’m used to dealing with crazy people by this point, but that was just too much. What would make them think that? I looked around at the crowd, and each member of Itsuki’s party, save one of them, seemed to be in agreement.
It was Rishia that seemed to not share in their opinion, the girl that Itsuki treated like a servant. I couldn’t tell how she really felt, but she did seem stressed by the disagreement.
Ren sighed loudly.
“Just when I was wondering what you’d say . . . .”
I couldn’t believe he had the gall to even mention our “activities!” And this from Itsuki, who snuck around and did his work in secret. How did he think the rest of the country saw him?
He might have liked the idea of fighting for justice in the shadows—but no one knew who he was, and no one talked about his “deeds.”
“Activities? Is Itsuki, by far the most boring hero around, trying to act like he’s done more than we have? You know, I haven’t heard anything about what you’ve been up to. No one talks about it.”
“Well, maybe that’s because, unlike Ren and Motoyasu, I haven’t been running around trying to get people to praise me. The best work goes unnoticed—that’s just how it is.”
Itsuki shot back, apparently surprised that he was being challenged.
What was that supposed to mean? No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like Itsuki was the one concerned with his reputation.
Did he just like to fancy himself an angel? Oh Itsuki, so brave! So noble! Saving the world and not even looking for credit!
“You fool . . . . Are you berating Master Itsuki?
“What are you going to do about it? I’m not nice enough to stand aside while someone insults me to my face.”
Ren spat back, and I saw his hand move to the hilt of his sword.
“Fueeee!”
“Please stop that! Ren!”
Itsuki inserted himself between flashy armor and Ren.
“Itsuki, it looks like you still have some explaining to do.”
“ . . . .”
Ren spat angrily at Itsuki.
“Regardless, Ren and Naofumi are heroes just like I am, so please show them the respect they’re due.”
“Understood!”
Flashy armor shouted and bowed deeply to us. I wondered what he was really thinking.
“Alright, I’ll introduce my people next.”
Ren clipped and stalked off without another word.
A feeling of malcontent remained in the air, but Itsuki and I followed Ren across the room.
“Welcome! Welcome! It’s good to meet you both, Shield Hero, Bow Hero.”
“Oh, um . . . .”
Ren’s party members were still eating, but when we approached they stopped and snapped at attention, treating us respectfully but looking nervous as they did.
After dealing with Itsuki’s crew, I wasn’t really sure what to make of it.
Anyway, there were four of them.
“I’m the Shield Hero, Naofumi Iwatani.”
“I am the Bow Hero, Itsuki Kawasaki. I believe we’ve met a few times before.”
I think I’d seen three of them before, on our first day after we were all summoned here. It looked like he’d acquired one more party member somewhere along the way.
“Pleased to meet you again, Shield Hero, Bow Hero.”
“Sure.”
The whole group was very polite and proper.
But I couldn’t help remember the way they’d avoided me on the first day here, the way they’d all run to hide behind Ren.
I couldn’t forget it.
I better stay on my toes—there’s no telling what they really thought.
“I apologize for my previous actions.”
“Huh?”
One of the men stepped forward, representing the group. He appeared to be a solider of some kind. He bowed to me.
“I’m sorry, under the previous king I, we . . . I didn’t know what would have happened to me had I aligned myself with the Shield Hero.”
The rest of them all followed suit, lowering their heads to me.
“I realize this is too little too late, but please accept our apology.”
“Uh . . . okay.”
They were all so . . . modest, I wasn’t expecting that and was thrown of balance.
Based on the way I’d been treated for the last few months, I couldn’t help but suspect ulterior motives.
“Mr. Ren, to what do we owe the pleasure?”
“They say they want us heroes to cooperate from now on, so we’re going around introducing our parties.”
“Is that so? Very well! However, I did want to confirm our plans for the coming days. What type of monsters should we focus our attention on?”
“What?”
Itsuki and I both exclaimed our suspicions at the same time.
“Apparently we are heading for the Cal Mira islands. We’ll do our leveling there. See to it that you are all prepared.”
Ren barked out the order as if it were the most obvious thing in the world—but that’s not what had surprised us.
“Wait a second—what are you talking about? I want to hear from you all, not from Ren.”
“Oh, well . . . um . . . We were thinking that we could split up and work on our leveling separately from Mr. Ren.”
Well that should be simple enough, except that I had no idea what they meant.
I got the gist of it, but . . . what did it mean? Was it just another method?
It looked like Itsuki was just as confused by this all as I was, but he chose not to say anything about it because of the incident we’d just been through with his party members.
“What?”
“Um . . . .”
I guess if Ren was okay with it, there wasn’t a problem?
“Do you typically operate separately from Ren?”
Itsuki’s curiosity got the better of him. In response, the whole party nodded.
They went on to explain themselves.
Ren’s plan was to introduce his party members to areas of the map where the monsters were in the ideal power range for effective leveling.
They were to battle monsters and raise their levels, collecting materials, ores, and tools along the way.
Sometimes they would come across monsters that were particularly strong, at which point they would team up with Ren to defeat them.
“Mr. Ren was also quite clear that we were to avoid taking any damage in our fights with monsters.”
I had a fare amount of experience with online RPGs, so I’d seen this kind of thing before. Stronger players in charge of guilds or other organizations would often recruit weaker players like this and let them in on secret leveling spots and rare item drops.
That seemed to be what was going on here.
“You don’t say? So that means that Ren is fighting on his own?”
Itsuki was glaring at Ren, his irritation evident. Ren didn’t seem to notice.
Ren’s party members were clearly interpreting his actions positively, but still—I could sense a lot of distance between them.
It was simple, I guessed. Ren didn’t think it was cool to be tied to a party. He wanted to be on his own.
He might have a lot of experience with online games, but could he have always been a solo player?
It was a play style I’d seen before. People that liked to do what they could on their own—only teaming up with others to take on large-scale events or to battle powerful boss characters.
Or it could be that he was the type that was part of a very small guild and would only recruit people that already knew of it, watching over their growth and managing them as a new style of play. I could understand playing with the system on a game, but would he really do that here in a completely new world?
I’d seen this online before, I knew the type.
Well Itsuki was no different, traveling to appease his own sense of moral superiority. What a bunch of heroes these two were.
“It’s Naofumi’s turn.”
“Sure.”
I could only imagine how they’d react when I introduced Raphtalia and Filo.
I’d thought that Ren and Itsuki would understand, but after meeting their parties I wasn’t so sure anymore.
“Alright, this way.”
I led the two of them over to where Raphtalia was resting.
“Welcome back, Mr. Naofumi. What happened?”
“The queen wants the heroes to cooperate, so we’re introducing our party members.”
“I see, then allow me to introduce myself. My name is Raphtalia.”
“My name is Ren Amaki. I am the Sword Hero.”
“I’m Itsuki Kawasaki, the Bow Hero. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other. I look forward to it.”
“If you don’t hold us back, we might come to depend on you.”
Raphtalia’s mouth hung open in stupefied shock at Ren’s comment.
The way he said it made his position clear: he obviously assumed that she would only hold him back.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been a burden in a battle.”
“Ren didn’t mean to insult or disparage you. We’ve seen your true power in battle before.”
Itsuki jumped in to cover for Ren. He was only making it more confusing.
“He’s right. You’re stronger than I’d thought.”
“Very much so . . . though that reminds me. Where is the young girl with the small wings on her back? I think she was able to turn into a monster of some kind?”
“You mean Filo? She’s probably over there.”
Filo was . . . I think she was over at the buffet counter stuffing her face.
I picked her out of the crowd and called out to her.
“Filo!”
“Hm?”
Hearing me call, she finally abandoned her plate of food and came running over.
“What do you want, master?”
“Yeah well . . . I think you already know these two faces, but I’ve got to formally introduce you.”
“Why?”
Filo looked troubled and took a step back.
“Are they like the spear guy?”
“No, no. Compared to him, these two are upstanding guys.”
“Yes, I feel the same way.”
“Oh? They kind of look like they’d get along.”
We all seemed to be in agreement on that. No one was as crazy over women as he was.
“So go on and introduce yourself.”
“Okay! Filo’s name . . . MY name is Filo!”
She sounded so stupid . . . . Why slip into the third person to introduce yourself?
“My job’s to pull master’s carriage!”
She was very proud of herself for her work. What would a normal person think, hearing a small girl brag about dragging carriages down the street?
Both Ren and Itsuki winced awkwardly as they looked at me.
“My name is Itsuki Kawasaki. Pleased to meet you.”
“I’m Ren Amaki. Try not to hold us back . . . though I can see you won’t.”
“Yeah! Nice to meet you! Bow! Sword!”
After giving their full names, only to be called by their respective weapons, Ren and Itsuki shot me the same awkward wince.
With the introductions finished, the three of us fell to silence.
They might have thought it strange that I treated Raphtalia and Filo as other humans, instead of just treating them like subordinates.
“Raphtalia, weren’t you once a slave?”
“Yes.”
Itsuki’s mouth hung open. What was he implying?
“Is this a master-slave relationship? How do you think of Naofumi?”
“Now that you mention it, I suppose it was that sort of relationship. I never really think about it.”
Hearing Raphtalia’s response, Itsuki continued to look confused.
“Anyway, Mr. Naofumi has never given me any strange or uncomfortable orders. I know that he depends on me, and so I want to do what I can for him.”
“Have you ever thought that you hate fighting? Or that you’d like to be free?”
“I haven’t. If I were free, there’s nowhere for me to go. My old village is gone. All I want is to keep fighting with Mr. Naofumi.”
“Is that so?”
“Why do you only ask questions to get a complaint out of her?”
It’s like they’d taken this introduction as an opportunity to root out my weak points.
“I guess you already had made up your mind about this before Motoyasu challenged Naofumi?”
“Yes, I had . . . . I’m sorry about that.”
He seemed to mostly just let it all go, but something about Itsuki’s face betrayed his true feelings. He looked over at me.
What did he want from me? Raphtalia had been a slave, but now she was a trusted friend.
Was I imagining it? No . . . I could trust what she said.
“Let’s introduce our friends to each other and then go back to speak with the queen.”
“Good idea. Raphtalia, go introduce yourself to Ren and Itsuki’s teammates. We’re going to have to cooperate from now on. I know that it will make you a little uncomfortable, but do your best to avoid a fight.”
“Understood.”
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