Chapter Three: Beast Spy
“My Lord Shield Hero! Please! Calm down!”
The Siltveltian representatives had their heads down. As they should.
Father imposing his will—what a magnificent scene!
“Great. Is everyone out of the way now? Motoyasu, can you finish off the person who attempted this careless assassination?”
“Leave it to me, I say!”
I took a proud step forward.
“I, Motoyasu Kitamura, will do whatever Father commands!” I roared.
“Then take aim outside the castle . . . Aim for that mountain over there and do the magic that you did when we were at the Melromarc border. Of course, don’t kill anyone.”
“Anything for you, Father!”
I looked out the castle window and noted the location of the mountain Father was referring to. I wasn’t sure if there would be any people over there or not. Well, even if there were, it would be a good warning for them to not mess with Father.
“Liberation Firestorm X!”
Concentrating, I condensed the magic and blasted it against the mountain with all my might.
I drew the sphere of magic out into a flowing stream and directed it toward the mountain. A river of fire bounded over the castle walls as I pulled and twisted it into a whirlpool of flames sweeping toward the mountain. I adjusted its speed to draw out its power even more, and when it arrived at the heart of the mountain, it grew into an enormous tornado of fire and exploded.
Everything in its path had turned to magma.
“I can destroy the whole mountain, if you like,” I told Father.
“That’s fine,” Father said, turning to the Siltvelt leaders. “Destroying the mountain would be a good next step.”
They audibly gulped.
Father hit them with his piercing gaze again, and they all took a step back nervously. Others in the crowd started to bow in reverence to Father.
Father turned to me. “We can’t let them keep doing these terrible things to us. I don’t intend to let us get thrown off track, and of course, I won’t let them kill us either. To that end, Motoyasu—you’re incredibly strong, but I also want you to use your head.”
“And by that you mean . . . ?”
“Even though you’re incredibly powerful, I heard that you lose your life in a future wave.”
“W-what in the world!?”
But after a moment of thinking about it, I understood Father’s objective. If in the past I ended up dying despite my strength, Father intended not simply to use power to force our way to victory. Rather, he wanted to use our strength to instill a fear in our enemies that will help us win in the long run!
“When I even mention that I’m a Shield Hero, they try to kill me. So I need to find some way to make sure we stay safe,” Father told me. “Since it seems like we’re going to get caught up in other battles besides the waves, I want you to be ready to use all of your strength to help us get through them. Right, Motoyasu?”
“I got it! If it’s your command, I, Motoyasu Kitamura, will completely and thoroughly eradicate our enemies, no matter who, what, where, when, or why!”
Normally this is the part where Father would say something like, “What on earth are you saying, Motoyasu?” But this time, the fun just kept on going.
“A Shield Hero can’t defeat anyone on his own,” Father called out to the Siltvelt leaders. “So my policy is to avoid war at all costs. If you don’t like it, go out and fight on your own. If you all want to fight, then I’m out, because the role of the Shield Hero is to guard—to protect.”
There was a pause.
The immense gravity of Father’s words—the whole room seemed to grasp it.
“So until we defeat the wave, there won’t be any more marriage proposals or interruptions to our life here in any way,” Father told the crowd.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!!”
And that was how Father drove out any possibility of further assassination attempts and the like.
“I think everyone understands that it’s impossible to assassinate us,” Father said.
“Y-yes!” The shusaku representative whispered.
“So is the seven star hero on his way?”
The seven star hero . . . A memory tugged at me. Oh? Father appeared in the back of my mind to explain.
“We believe it’s a possibility that those on the side of the seven star hero are aiming to kill the Shield Hero as well,” the shusaku told Father.
“If that’s the case . . .” Father trailed off. “Hm, well, let’s at least talk to him first. What kind of person is he?”
“He’s dedicated to honing his strength,” the shusaku said. “Nowadays he rarely leaves the mountains to make public appearances of any kind.”
“A martial-artist type,” Father said. “He’s not too different from us. I think we’ll be fine.”
The Siltveltian leaders finally left us alone. I still wasn’t sure what they were planning in their heart of hearts, but at the least they probably wouldn’t do anything rash. Surely they realized they had no chance of killing us with something as rudimentary as poison and that even if they were to attack us by surprise, it would have no effect whatsoever.
Father exhaled deeply and leaned back on the throne, looking exhausted.
“Well, I did it.” He sighed.
At that point, Éclair and the old genmu opened the door and came in.
“Hey, Eclair,” Father said. “Were you able to get in contact with the Melromarc queen?”
“We’re making preparations,” Éclair said. “But before that, Mr. Iwatani, are you all right?”
“I’m sorry,” Father said. “They tried to poison Sakura and the filolials and I completely lost my cool.”
“Poison? I’d probably lose it too,” Éclair said. “You had the right to get angry, so don’t worry about it. It takes a lot to make someone like you that mad.”
“Lord Shield Hero, you mentioned that you don’t want there to be war in our country,” the old genmu said. “Just saying that might be enough to help your cause. Even the radicals should calm down after that. In the meantime, we ought to seek reconciliation with our neighboring countries.”
“Definitely,” Father said. “It’s not that I want to unify the world into one nation or anything like that . . .” He paused. “So I’m not sure the best way to say this, but if you look around this world—well, I don’t think I know enough to achieve my goals. I want to know more about the world. Since being summoned here, it’s like a dream come true to travel with friends like you, Motoyasu, Eclair, Sakura, and the filolials.”
Father glanced at me and Éclair and stroked Sakura’s feathers.
What a glorious dream! I, Motoyasu Kitamura, would work even harder than I already was, I say!
“It’s a bit sudden, but if I may, can I explain the preparations we have in place?” the old genmu asked.
“Ah, sorry,” Father said.
“No, surely we’re the ones at fault,” the old genmu said. “Anyway, we have been working to help you face the coming wave unhindered.”
“Thank you very much,” Father said. “About what just happened though—I feel like I kinda overdid it. Sorry about that.”
The old genmu waved Father’s apology off as one of the Siltveltian leaders returned to the throne room and explained the schedule for the day.
“So,” Father clarified, “is the seven star hero on his way to the throne room?”
They were in the middle of talking about how the seven star hero had just arrived for his official audience with Father.
“What kind of person is he?” Father asked.
“He is a capable citizen of Siltvelt,” the leader responded.
Now that they mentioned it . . . had I even met this seven star hero? I was trying to remember before, but I couldn’t bring him to mind at all. All I had was a bad feeling about the whole thing.
“I was asking before, but you said he’s kind of the martial type?”
“That’s correct.”
“What race is he? Is he from the same world as us?” Father asked. “He’s not from this world, at least, right?”
“Actually, he’s a citizen of Siltvelt,” the leader explained, “specially selected and trained as the seven star hero.”
“Oh really? I thought since he was from Japan we’d be able to talk about a lot of things,” Father said, glancing over at me.
That’s true. If he were from Japan, it would be much easier to bond with him.
“I suppose you can call him a wanderer. As for his race, he’s a wolfer—not one of the four holy beasts of this land, but he’s a tough, experienced fighter. We think that, together, you’ll be able to achieve many military victories.”
“A real warrior, huh?” Father said. “I’m excited to meet him.”
As they kept on talking on and on, a soldier entered the throne room.
“The Claw Hero has arrived!”
The door burst open with a slam and the man known as the Claw Hero entered.
He looked like a muscular wolf covered in blue fur. Despite his intense, bulging muscles, he had a light, gentle step. He had scars all over his body. But rather than being ugly, they seemed to highlight his experience, to the point where they looked like medals of honor for his achievements on the battlefield. He wore pants but was shirtless. He looked nimble and sure of his movements.
“Claw Hero here,” he said, “reporting before the Shield Hero. I’ll change my shape.”
Keeping one eye on the shusaku representative, he inclined his head deeply and transformed into a demi-human.
I couldn’t tell how old he was. But I could tell he knew a thing or two about fighting and that he also had a piercingly sharp gaze. Still, the first thing you’d notice about the guy was definitely his blue fur.
He had a nice face too. Maybe he was in his late twenties or early thirties. Rather than looking young, he was more refined, a silver-fox type. I knew plenty of pigs that would go wild for that kind of guy.
I couldn’t stop staring at his massive claws.
This seven star hero . . . my memory was so hazy—I still couldn’t remember anything about him, but a voice whispering in my ear told me to be careful. I suddenly realized that my spear was shaking and clacking against the floor of its own accord.
All of a sudden there was a high-pitched shrill. What the . . . ?
I checked my status and I noticed that my weapon book was responding to something. I looked into it and it said that my spear was using a move called “Beast Spy.”
Had I ever heard of Beast Spy before? I didn’t remember in the slightest.
My weapon book said that Beast Spy automatically identified and attacked enemies. But why was it starting to happen now?
And yet it must be the hands of fate working in my favor once again. I decided to use Beast Spy and see what happened.
I gasped. As soon as my spear activated Beast Spy, it targeted the Claw Hero and flew right at him.
“Spear Hero! What are you doing?” someone shouted.
“Motoyasu!” Father yelled.
They hurried to stop me, but my spear had already launched into Air Strike Javelin.
The Claw Hero roared furiously and burst into a sudden attack, rushing directly into the full force of my spear. It was a noble effort, but my Spear blew his head straight off.
The spear had activated skill enhancement without even asking for permission, and in its powered-up state, it managed to strike down the Claw Hero in one fell blow. Yikes. One-hit KO!
The attack had been so powerful there had literally been no point in trying to take it on. My spear continued to pulse and vibrate, as if Beast Spy had a heart and mind of its own.
“The Spear Hero’s gone insane!” the shusaku announced.
“What do we dooo!!” someone yelled.
“Motoyasu, what the hell is going on!?” Father shouted.
Everyone around me kept prattling on.
“Wait!” the old genmu said.
“Wait—look!” The shusaku—what was his name? Werner?—and the old genmu were shouting at me. Even though we had gotten into quite the pinch, they seemed relatively calm. As they should be. They were representatives, after all. Werner, was it? Man, I really can’t remember. Anyways, he kept pointing at the Claw Hero’s dead body, which was beginning to transform before our very eyes. The blue fur and a foxlike tail were growing out rapidly.
“Huh?”
“What the . . .”
“Is the Claw Hero transforming into a fox beast?”
“It seems as if the Spear Hero realized that the Claw Hero was an imposter,” the old genmu muttered, stroking his chin. “That’s why this is all happening. The body is returning to its original state.”
“So the Spear Hero ended up saving us?” the shusaku announced.
“And that fox beast, what in the world . . . Where could the actual Claw Hero possibly be?”
“We need to investigate immediately,” the genmu said. “But everyone should apologize to the Spear Hero first. He saved us.”
Everyone started praising me for some reason. I can’t say I disapprove of people recognizing my many good deeds. But it doesn’t compare to praise from Father or my beloved Filo-tan!
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I can’t believe it! He disguised himself down to the smell!”
“Incredible. Just how did he transform like that?”
Everyone in the room was talking about it, I say.
“Regardless, I’m worried about the real Claw Hero. Could this be because of the wave?” Father asked.
“I couldn’t say,” the old genmu responded.
“I don’t like this at all. What is happening to this world . . .” Father trailed off.
The old genmu and Éclair were poking at the fox beast’s dead body with their swords. The fox beast looked to have been completely and utterly annihilated. After all, with the might of Motoyasu Kitamura, such a small fry can be easily disposed of, I say!
But still, I thought, why? Looking at the dead fox beast, I started to remember one of the heroic sagas that Filo-tan’s older sister told me about. I had this memory of Filo-tan bursting with pride. But wait, wasn’t Filo-tan’s older sister a tanuki demi-human? How dare I lump her in with a fox beast like this?
Eventually, the meeting was suspended and they decided to investigate the whereabouts of the actual Claw Hero and the origins of the mysterious fox beast.
“We must report this to the diplomatic meetings of nations immediately,” the old genmu was saying. “Lady Seaetto, I presume we can beg your assistance?”
“Of course,” Eclair said. “I planned to help from the beginning.”
The old genmu and Eclair were having a pretty serious discussion, I say.
“We’ve begun our search for the Claw Hero’s whereabouts all across the country, but as to whether we’ll find him or not . . .”
“This is pretty disturbing,” Eclair said. “I can’t believe that someone impersonated the Claw Hero.”
“It’s almost unthinkable,” the old genmu agreed.
You could almost see a shadow fall across the throne room.
I, Motoyasu Kitamura, was assailed by a deep fear that I could not put into words. But that fear was exactly why I needed to keep fighting for Father. The world was on the road to ruin. Just as Father had warned me, my godlike strength alone wouldn’t be enough to get us through it.
I had chosen this path—to achieve the world peace I had promised to my beloved Filo-tan. To make a better world for all filolials!
The only thing that kept me going through it all was a shining light in my heart known as Father. And the hope that we could make it through the battles to a better future!
“Regardless, Shield Hero and Spear Hero,” the old genmu said. “The wave is coming. I have no choice but to ask for your assistance.”
“That’s the plan,” Father said.
“That’s the plan!” I echoed.
“So while we’re trying to level up anyways, should we try to find the Claw Hero?” Father asked.
“Before something as dangerous as a wave, I would ordinarily recommend that you prepare in a safer place,” the old genmu said. “But given the situation at hand, I would like to formally request your help in searching for the Claw Hero.”
“No need to be formal,” Father said. “Would it be . . . would it be better to assume that the Claw Hero is already dead?”
“No, we believe that he’s still alive. We’re able to verify whether or not the heroes are living or dead, and his death has not yet been confirmed.”
“Well that’s at least one piece of good news,” Father said. “Do you think he’s being held captive somewhere?”
Father has such a kind heart. So we were going to be searching for the Claw Hero, I supposed. I wondered where he could possibly be. In the previous go-around, did I ever meet him? No, I didn’t . . . I think. But I still felt uneasy.
“Most likely,” the old genmu said.
“So until the wave comes, we’ll make it our mission to level up while searching for the Claw Hero,” Father said.
“Got it!” I declared. “I, Motoyasu Kitamura, will embark on the search for the Claw Hero so long as Father commands it, I say!”
“Let’s do this,” Father said. “We should head out now. I want to figure this out as soon as we can.”
We explained our plan to Eclair and set out from the castle.
As we left, Father turned to me. “In order to get stronger, I’d also like to learn some magic if I can.”
“To learn elementary magic, first we’ll need a crystal ball,” I told him.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to learn it from a tome or something?”
“That might be true. If we use a tome, it’ll be easier to increase the power of the spells, and you can even keep the magic power consumption in check.”
“But I also heard that the best place to start is with magic that you can sense on your own, without using a tome.”
Hmmm. That very well may be true. I remembered when I, Motoyasu Kitamura, had obtained a crystal ball and launched my first magical attack. I could still feel the magic coursing through my veins, I say!
“In that case, let’s have you learn your first spell from a crystal ball, and if we have time after that, we’ll use a tome, I say!”
“That works,” Naofumi said.
And that’s how, while in our pursuit of the Claw Hero, we decided that Father should learn a bit of magic.
Soon after we set out from the castle, we were approached by one of the Siltvelt leaders.
“Spear Hero, if there’s anything at all you need, we’ll do everything in our power to help. You helped escort the Shield Hero to Siltvelt, after all. Is there anything we can do?”
“As a matter of fact, there is,” I declared. “I would like lots of money.”
Father had quite the look on his face.
“Motoyasu, rather than asking for money, why don’t you tell them what you actually want it for?” Father said.
“Various items, I say. Specifically, to buy more filolials, I say!”
“Uh . . . Then why don’t you ask Siltvelt for filolials instead?” Father asked me, that strange look still on his face.
“Of course,” the leader said. “If the Spear Hero desires filolials, we’ll have ones to your liking sent straight away.”
“That won’t do.”
It wouldn’t do, indeed. My original objective was to become the master of my beloved Filo-tan, after all. In the first go-around, before Father started to raise Filo-tan, he had purchased her from a monster trainer. So if I were to go to the same monster trainer, there was absolutely no doubt that I would be able to obtain Filo-tan as well!
To that end, I needed tons of money. And I intended to get it from Siltvelt.
“Even though we’re focused on searching for the Claw Hero, you’re still stuck on filolials . . .” Father sighed. “You’re really quite the character, Motoyasu.”
“This search will be a real challenge,” I proclaimed. “So if we have a lot of reliable filolials, it will be that much easier!”
“So that’s what you’re thinking?”
“Therefore, I, Motoyasu Kitamura, want more filolials, I say! I’ll send Yuki and the others to go class up with you, Father,” I told him.
“That works,” Father said. “So today I’ll go out with the filolials to level up. Motoyasu, have fun shopping.”
“Father, I leave you in the wings of the filolials!”
“Yaaay!” said Kou. “We get to go out with Iwatani! I was so bored, and now we finally get to play!”
“I’m going to try my best and get stronger too!” chirped Sakura.
Filolials, I leave Father to you, I thought. After I got a fat purse of coins from the Siltvelt leaders, I set out as well.
With this much money, I’d have no trouble getting my hands on Filo-tan!
My God, in just a little bit longer, I’d be able to meet my precious Filo-tan. Just the thought of meeting her made my heart swell.
“Well, I’ll be back after buying some filolials,” I declared.
“Take care,” Father said.
“Bye Motoyasu!” the filolials called.
Waving at them from the castle garden, I activated my Portal Spear. Destination: Melromarc castle town!
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