Chapter Text
Naofumi wished he could say that after the last Wave, everyone immediately got their crap together, boarded a ship, and went home.
However, because of the recent Wave of Catastrophe, a major storm had formed out over the ocean. It was so bad that none of the sailors were willing to risk sailing it, even if it was for one of the Cardinal Heroes.
Ren and Itsuki, remembering the last storm that they'd sailed through, weren't willing to leave either.
Tch. How annoying could those two get?
Slap! "Ow!" Naofumi rubbed the back of his head in annoyance.
"Sorry, your rude thoughts are incredibly loud and annoying today," Raphtalia told him smugly.
"Yeah, Daddy needs to be nicer with his thoughts!" Filo commented next to her mother. "Why can't Daddy do that?!"
Naofumi rolled his eyes at their antics. Was it his fault they needed to get things straightened out at their village? Not to mention, seeing the Queen and informing her about what had happened while they were at Cal Mira?
Two days had passed since the Cal Mira Wave. And he'd been forced to spend that time relaxing on the beach, getting a tan, watching the others play around and…
Honestly, he'd had plenty of time to do all of that before the Wave. He couldn't believe he was thinking this, but he wanted to get back to work in the village as soon as possible.
The people here had become too nice since he and the others had saved their lives.
"Sir Naofumi, you really should work on your image," Eclair spoke up next to him as they walked. "The last thing you want is to alienate these people after the kindness that they've shown us."
"Tch. I just want to go home. We have plenty of things to do." Naofumi muttered.
"Like getting my class-up?!" Dou-Lon asked excitedly.
…
"Lord Naofumi, you didn't forget about that, did you?" Dou-Lon asked, sounding unsure after seeing the look of realization cross Naofumi's face.
"Oh, um, of course not." Naofumi coughed into his hand. "I was planning on that after we talked with Mirellia, of course." Naofumi lied through his teeth.
"Really?!" Dou-Lon brightened up.
Huh. Maybe him being so zealous did have its perks. The Hakuko was surprisingly gullible-
"Of course he forgot, stupid hakuko!" Eclair lightly chopped the back of Dou-Lon's head. "Sir Naofumi has had far more important things occupying his mind lately."
"Ow. I was only being nice..." Dou-Lon crossed his arms with a pout. "You're just jealous that I killed more monsters than you during the last Wave even without my class-up."
"Wha- I'm not jealous!" Eclair yelled at him.
"Are too."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Please, don't flirt with each other on the streets. Wait till we're on the ship at least." Naofumi rolled his eyes at them.
"We're not flirting!" Dou-Lon and Eclair both yelled at Naofumi.
"I would never flirt with such a weak Hakuko." Eclair hmphed, turning her head to the side.
"And I know better than to lower my standards to such depths as to go out with a crazed battle junkie like her." Dou-Lon crossed his arms, rolling his eyes.
"I'm not a crazed battle junkie!" Eclair yelled at him.
"And I'm not weak! My stat total is higher than yours" Dou-Lon yelled back at her.
"And yet you can't land a single hit on me when I'm barely trying. Those grossly inflated stats are completely wasted on a talentless hack like you!" The rose-haired swordsman announced smugly.
The argument resumed in earnest.
Wow, it was really hard to believe one was a noble lady while the other was from a proud warrior clan. Looking at them, it was almost like watching two kids playing in the mud, throwing giant clods of it at each other.
Could they possibly get more immature?
"Naofumi," Raphtalia told him threateningly.
"What? You agree with me, right?" Naofumi asked as she called him out on his rude thoughts again.
She blushed lightly at that, looking back at the other two. "They've certainly developed a unique bond, that's for sure."
It was most likely because the two were on the outer fringes of his party. They'd had no choice but to bond with each other.
"I know you're agitated about wanting to get home, but at least try to stay calm," Raphtalia told her boyfriend. "We prefer it a lot more when you're being nice."
"It's hard to stay calm when we've been holed up here while…" Naofumi sighed as he already felt Raphtalia hugging his side, her tail lightly hitting against his leg. "That's not fair. Why can't you just let me worry about doing my job?" He muttered.
"Because you might be worrying over nothing, and worrying too much is bad for your health." Raphtalia smiled for him. "Feeling better now?"
"Much better." He admitted. "I'm sorry."
She let go and continued to walk beside him. He gave her a side look as she started talking with Melty.
He seriously had to wonder at times what his life would be like if he didn't have Raphtalia beside him to help him out.
If he was somehow still alive at this point and not dead in a ditch somewhere, he probably wouldn't be anywhere near as happy as he was now.
Yeah, as long as she was around, he could be happy...
...
Anyway, Raphtalia was right, it wasn't like the storm was the only thing that was keeping them here. Because of its massive size, it'd taken some time for the sailors to tow the giant whale boss carcass behind the ships and bring it to the harbor. After that, Count Hadenburg had some of his people get to work on dissecting it and cutting it apart.
Now, Naofumi had been informed that it was ready to be absorbed by the Heroes. This meant they could finally get their new weapon forms from the Wave Boss.
It was perfect timing too. The storm out at sea had finally lessened enough to allow them to travel back to Melromarc.
It would still be hell for the other Heroes, but at least they could head back.
Looking up, Naofumi still saw the black line of clouds out at sea, but they looked less threatening than before. They really were fortunate that this storm stayed out at sea instead of hitting the island chain. Otherwise, they would have been kept in their rooms all day from how bad it looked during the previous two days.
And listening to Eclair and Dou-Lon argue for all that time would not have been a fun experience. So as bad as their situation currently was, it certainly could have been a lot worse.
"Mel! Come look at this!" Filo gestured for her best friend to see a shiny accessory on display.
"Oooooh!" Mel's brown eyes, courtesy of Raphtalia's illusion magic, widened in awe beside her best friend. "It's so pretty!" She agreed.
Naofumi was once again reminded that he really needed to recruit more party members. Hopefully, having more numbers would give his immediate party members chances to bond with other people.
And give Melty something besides his daughter to corrupt.
"What's the point of all your fancy footwork if your attacks can't even hurt anything that isn't a trash mob?!" Dou-Lon said with disgust.
"What's the point of having strong attacks when you can't even land a single blow?" The swordswoman replied.
Yeah, those two definitely needed more people to interact with. This probably wasn't a healthy way to start their lifelong relationship together.
Wait... was he shipping them together? Crap, he really needed more people to interact with. Either that or they needed to grow up so their relationship would actually make sense.
"Oooh, do you like the accessory pretty ladies?!" The merchant behind the counter asked.
Naofumi stopped, turning his head. Didn't that voice sound familiar?
"It's made from the ores of this island, so it should help you to- oh my!" The accessory merchant stopped speaking in surprise when he noticed Naofumi appear behind Filo and Melty. Any thoughts he'd been pondering beforehand went flying out of his mind.
"Hey, is that rumor still working for you?" Naofumi asked curiously.
"Gah! To think it was the Shield Hero who gave me the key to my success!" The man said, however, instead of sounding disgusted, he sounded excited. "Indeed, you knew my business was already booming before the Wave hit, and now it's better than ever! I've had to open up several more stalls just to keep up with the demand!" The man laughed.
Naofumi swore he could see the glint of gold coins reflecting in the eyes of this man.
It was weird seeing the parallels he had to the Slave Trader Beloukas. Maybe if he wore glasses, a pimp outfit, a tophat, and ended his sentences with "good sir", Naofumi wouldn't be able to tell the two apart.
"That's good to hear." Naofumi examined the necklace on his HUD.
Sapphire Necklace: Magic Up (Medium)
Quality: Good
Price: 100 Silver Coins
What do you know, the man actually was capable of making good accessories. It wasn't terribly expensive either. It was a little more than what Naofumi would have sold it for, but not terribly so.
Hmmm...
"You wanted an accessory too, right Melty?" Naofumi suddenly asked.
The girl blinked up at him in surprise. "H-Huh?"
Naofumi pulled a gold coin from his shield, handing it to the accessory merchant. "I'd like to buy this necklace," He said, pointing to it.
"Of course! Thank you for your kind patronage, Sir Shield Hero!" The merchant bowed his head, accepting the gold coin.
Melty still looked shocked when Naofumi grabbed the necklace off the display and handed it to her. "Huh?"
"Make sure you don't lose this, okay? I'm not going to buy you another one any time soon." Naofumi stated.
Melty stared at it for another moment. Had the Shield Hero actually remembered her complaining about not having an accessory before…?
"Hmph! Like I'd ever do something as ridiculous as that!" Melty angrily stated.
However, she looked undeniably happy as she put the necklace on herself and looked down at the sapphire hanging from it. "It's so pretty!"
"Wow Mel, that looks great on you!" Filo said happily.
"Y-You think so?!" Melty blushed.
Raphtalia gave Naofumi a proud smile and then looked down at 'their' daughters. "Remember, what do we say when we receive something nice from somebody?" She asked them.
"Thanks, Daddy!" "Uh, thanks Naofumi!" Both Filo and Melty yelled at the same time.
Okay, Naofumi couldn't deny that both kids looked adorable smiling innocently at that moment. Filo's amber hairpin matched her hair just as Melty's new Sapphire necklace would match her hair and eyes after Raphtalia got rid of her illusion magic on the girl. Naofumi smiled a little at the sight as Raphtalia proudly rubbed both the girl's heads, causing them to giggle happily.
"Um, if it wouldn't inconvenience you, would you please follow me, Sir Shield Hero?" The merchant hesitantly asked.
"What is it? We're kind of busy-" Naofumi started to say.
"Of course! But there's something I wish to give you!" The merchant quickly said. "I just left it in my tent! If you'd follow me..."
Naofumi raised an eyebrow. He followed the weasely man into the tent behind the stall though while the rest of his party waited outside.
He wasn't really worried about the man trying anything. Naofumi doubted that a normal person would have any means to break his defense at this point. And if something did happen, three of his party members had incredible hearing.
The merchant wouldn't even know what hit him if he attempted anything bad.
But the short weasely man didn't attempt to attack him and began digging through one of the many crates he had. Naofumi, taking a chance to look in another one, found all sorts of bracelets and bangles in it.
Either he'd gotten a lot of work done, or this merchant had hired others to help him make accessories. If so, then he'd not only made a lot of money helping adventurers but had also created jobs for some of the local populace.
Damn, Naofumi was good.
"Here!" The merchant said happily as he finally pulled a sphere-like object out of the crate and gave it to Naofumi. The Shield Hero examined it on his HUD.
Shield Accessory: Defense Up (Large)
Quality: Very Good
Naofumi blinked several times looking it over. The merchant grinned widely. "As thanks for helping me make a lot of money, consider it a freebie. This should be more than suited for a hero such as yourself, hmm?"
"..."
Naofumi fit it on the gemstone over his shield and watched as his already insane defense went up even further on his HUD. Naofumi looked the weasely man over again. "What caused you to make this?"
The man shrugged. "Oh no, I didn't make it. That was part of my original shipment from Melromarc. I didn't think I'd sell it so I left it in my inventory, but then I saw you on the street and remembered I had it." The merchant said happily. "I believe you could put it to much better use than some random adventurer."
"I will. Thank you." Naofumi simply said. He hadn't even thought of making an accessory for himself. He'd been too busy working on accessories for the others to remember that.
"I should be the one thanking you… er, you're not planning on reporting me to the guild master anymore, right?" He hesitantly asked.
"Not as long as you don't try to make a repeat of what you did before," Naofumi answered honestly.
"Thank the gods. To think the guild master had connections with the Shield Hero." The merchant said in relief.
"Just remember that being honest is far better than being fraudulent unless your purpose is to save people's lives. But don't take it too far even then." Naofumi told him.
That probably sounded really bad. Was he actually excusing bad business practices if it meant saving people's lives?
In hindsight, many of the adventurers probably wouldn't have fared as well during the Wave if not for the motivation to buy accessories that boosted their stats. So it was probably excusable.
Probably.
"You have my word, Sir Shield Hero!" The weasely man gave him a salute.
He'd have to watch out for this weasel in the future.
After that, Naofumi and co continued on to the docks.
When they finally got there, Naofumi found the large whale, now cut up and dissected into many pieces that were resting inside of large crates. Itsuki and Ren were there too, pulling out and absorbing various chunks into their weapons, so Naofumi got started as well.
They didn't absorb everything, as that'd be greedy. But Naofumi absorbed enough from each pile to unlock a new shield.
Whale Shield Unlocked!
Whale Skin Shield Unlocked!
Whale Meat Shield Unlocked!
Whalebone Shield Unlocked!
Whale Eye Shield Unlocked!
Whale Magic Core Shield Unlocked!
Etc.
'Wow, it's been a while since I've gotten this many shields from one monster.' Naofumi looked over the list, focusing on three shields in particular.
Whale Shield (0/50) C: abilities locked: equip bonus: skill "Dritte shield,": mastery level 0
Whale Magic Core Shield (0/45) C: Abilities locked: equip bonus: skill "Bubble shield," naval combat 2: mastery level 0
Whale Horn Shield (0/60) C: Abilities locked: equip bonus: Undersea battle ability 3: mastery level 0
Looking up Dritte Shield on his HUD revealed that it was the third shield in the chain of shields starting with Air Strike Shield and Second Shield. 'So I can summon three of these things consecutively to protect people.' The lack of attack didn't even anger him in the slightest. An extra shield to protect others was a boon he would gladly accept.
Bubble Shield was an underwater-only skill. It created a bubble of air around the wielder, allowing them to fight and breathe underwater for a limited time. It couldn't be used consecutively, however. The wielder had to surface before being able to use it again.
As for Undersea battle ability, it looked like it'd boost his stats whenever he fought underwater in the future. Well, all his stats except his attack...
Hah! Right, as if he'd fight underwater again anytime soon.
"So, what amazing abilities did you all unlock this time?" Naofumi sarcastically asked the other two.
"I got some bows that'd extend my underwater breathing and increase my stats in water," Itsuki mentioned. "I also got a new skill called Rebound Arrow." He was frowning though as he looked at it on his HUD.
"Is that a good skill?" Naofumi asked.
The Bow Hero sighed. "Not unless we're in a cave or some kind of enclosed space."
"Alright, what about you Ren?" Naofumi asked.
…
The Sword Hero looked awkwardly to the side. "I got swords that'll increase my magic capabilities, and help with my swimming."
"Oh, great, maybe you'll be able to-" Naofumi started to say.
"But, um, my weapon says I lack the skill level to use the swords that'd help with my swimming."
…
…
Ooooooooooooooooof.
Now Naofumi knew what it was like to watch one of the other Heroes get cheated by their weapon.
It was kind of funny, actually. He started chuckling in amusement.
"Come on, it's not funny." Ren pouted.
"I mean, it's sort of funny." Itsuki started laughing as well. "So if Naofumi's weapon restriction is low attack, is yours the inability to swim?"
Ren looked like he wanted to retaliate, then his shoulders slumped in defeat. How could he refute what was the honest truth? He couldn't swim at all.
Naofumi and Itsuki continued to laugh at his expense.
"It's okay, Ren." However, their moment was interrupted by Ren's dog girl appearing behind him. "They're only jealous of the fact that you split the wave boss in two again."
"Wh-Wha?! I'm not jealous!" Itsuki said in indignation as he stopped laughing.
"Your tone says otherwise," Wyndia told him in a flat voice.
"Hey, I couldn't exactly damage it. Besides, I was the one holding it up-" Naofumi started to say.
"We all know of your inability to do damage, Sir Naofumi," Wyndia stated flatly to him too. "It's been quite obvious for some time."
... Wow. He felt his eyebrow twitch at that statement.
"Well is it my fault I didn't want to hurt Naofumi since he was so close to it?!" Itsuki tried.
"And you couldn't have aimed at its upper half?" Wyndia asked with a quirked eyebrow.
Itsuki had to blink in surprise. "Well, um, uh…"
Naofumi rubbed his eyes in confusion. Was Ren's dog girl actually standing up for the Sword Hero instead of berating him for once?
Itsuki and Naofumi were both at a loss for what to say. They never thought they'd be on the receiving end of one of Wyndia's verbal smackdowns. The dog girl rolled her eyes again. "Honestly, you both have some maturing to do. Come on, Ren. We already have your room ready on the ship."
"Oh, ok." Ren glanced at the other two Heroes before following Wyndia towards the ship they were taking back. "We still have some nausea medicine from Naofumi, right?"
"Of course." Her voice sounded nicer as they walked off. "We'll do everything we can to make this voyage better than the last one. You'll have nothing to worry about..."
…
"Do you understand what just happened?" Itsuki asked Naofumi.
"I think you got raked over the coals by Ren's party member." Naofumi deadpanned.
"Hey, you got roasted too! And it's not like I wasn't serious! I really didn't want to risk hurting you!" Itsuki said in indignation.
"It's fine. The boss still died." Naofumi clapped a hand on the Bow Hero's shoulder. "Let's just forget this ever happened and move on."
"B-But…" Itsuki's pride had taken a major hit there! He had to get back at her in some way… He sighed and slumped his shoulders. "Fine." Staying mad about it wouldn't do him any good.
Naofumi gave him a nod of approval.
Before they boarded, Count Hadenburg appeared one last time to thank them for everything they'd done. Naofumi accepted his gratitude but made it clear they had to get going. The count understood and didn't try to hold them any longer. Only saying he hoped that they'd be able to visit Cal Mira again in the future, hopefully with the Spear Hero in tow.
Again, the Count was a really good man. Naofumi wished he could have his help running their village.
They boarded their ship, and within the hour, they rode the tide out to sea and finally began their trip home.
Naofumi sat in the large Captain's quarters he and his party had been given for the voyage. Yet even here, he could feel the ship tossing and turning from the storm going on outside. As well as the occasional creak as the wood of the ship groaned.
Ren and Itsuki along with their parties had been given the first mate's quarters. He hadn't had to go visit them yet. Hopefully, their parties were doing well enough treating them.
Naofumi spent most of the rest of that day with his Portal Shield equipped. Every now and then, he tested to see if his portal skill was working yet or not.
It didn't.
Even hours later, they were still in the island chain's experience event, preventing him from activating the teleportation skill.
And when he wasn't testing the skill to see if it'd activate or not, he had his own party to worry about.
"Lord Naofumi… if I die… please, make sure my ashes... are spread among the mountains of my homeland," Dou-Lon said in agony.
The poor Hakuko, again, wasn't taking the sea trip very well.
Raphtalia rolled her eyes. "You're not going to die from seasickness."
"Yes, if this kills you... then you never had any right to fight by Sir Naofumi's side." Eclair said weakly from her hammock nearby.
The rose-haired knight didn't look so great herself. In fact, she put a hand over her mouth and quickly raced a container over her face.
The sounds that came after that were better off not described.
"Urghhhh…" Melty didn't look good either, even though most of her was resting in Filo's feathers.
"Is Mel still not feeling better?" Filo asked her worriedly. She was, at least, unaffected by the tossing ship.
"No, Mel is feeling a lot better," Melty said in a woozy voice.
"Don't puke in her feathers, Second Princess," Naofumi told her.
She was too seasick to respond. Naofumi sighed as he once again checked his skill to see if it'd started working yet or not.
It was not.
Besides him, Raphtalia, and Filo, everyone else in his party was very seasick. This storm really was much worse than the last one.
He sighed as he leaned back in his chair, beginning the wait once again.
The ship continued to rock up and down, left and right. The objects all around shifted variably depending on the intensity of the waves.
...
As time passed, Raphtalia started moving from person to person, checking to make sure they were still alright. Naofumi was in the middle of checking his skill again when his girlfriend spoke up.
"Eclair and Dou-Lon have finally passed out."
"They have?" He asked, looking up. He'd wondered why he didn't hear arguing anymore.
"Mhm." She then walked over to Filo and Melty to check on them. "These two are asleep too."
"Huh. It's strange seeing everyone being so quiet." Naofumi said, looking over their sleeping faces. A frown crossed his lips. "Maybe we should go check on the others, just to be safe-"
"I think you gave their party members enough medicine to help them get by," Raphtalia said. "They'll come to us if there's a problem."
… He really hoped she was right. He still remembered what they were like after their last trip…
Then again, Ren's dog girl must have been having the time of her life taking care of the Sword Hero. And Rishia was most likely enjoying Itsuki's company. So maybe it'd be better not to earn their eternal fury by interrupting the moments they were likely having now.
"Hmmm…" Raphtalia was giving him a suspicious look.
"I'm seriously just worried about how the other Heroes are doing," Naofumi told her.
"I could have sworn you were thinking about something besides that," Raphtalia mentioned.
"Oh, well… I'm also wondering if Ren and that girl of his will get together anytime soon." He told a half-truth.
She sat down across from him. "You've noticed it too?" She asked in surprise.
He nodded. "Yeah. You'd have to be blind not to notice."
"Well, it's just that… you didn't seem to notice my feelings for you before." She admitted.
He chuckled. "That was because I was dealing with a lot. The world was against me, the only girl I thought I could trust was planning to betray and kill me…" He grabbed her hands and held them in his. "And then, taking care of you, I didn't feel like I deserved to be happy. I didn't…
He looked up, smiling at her. "Now that I'm past that, I can notice Ren and Itsuki going through similar boats…" He chuckled at his pun. "Itsuki's too damn stubborn to admit he has feelings. And I just wish Ren would recognize that Wyndia also likes him so they can get together already." He rolled his eyes.
She smiled back at him. "You're one to talk. It took you an awfully long time even after learning that I loved you before we kissed." She reminded him.
"It was only like what, a little over a month after that duel with Motoyasu?" Naofumi asked with a chuckle.
"That was still a long time for me," Raphtalia admitted with a blush.
"It felt like a long time for me too. So much happened between all that…" Naofumi said softly.
"And anyway, as you said, we're past that." She said.
"Yeah, we are." His gaze moved to the lantern lighting the room. It moved side to side with the rocking of the ship. "So I want Ren to-"
He felt a chill go through his bones.
The dancing lantern continued to move. However, the flame inside burst in intensity. The shadow cast by it on the wall laughed. The red flame that seemed to match her hair grew a face underneath, a horrible, scarred, laughing face that-
"-fumi! Naofumi!" Raphtalia shook his shoulders, bringing him back to reality.
The Shield Hero gasped, being pulled from the sight. He was breathing heavily and his heart was beating fast in his chest. It took only a few seconds for his mind to realize what had just happened.
He was having another panic attack.
"It's her again, isn't it?" Raphtalia asked him angrily. "Where?!"
"Th-There!" He shakily pointed towards the lantern. She looked back at it with a scowl.
Before he could stop her, she got up, rushing over to the lantern. She extinguished the flame in it, before pulling it off its hook and shattering it on the floorboards. The room was put in darkness.
"Raphtalia!" He cried. The dark… it was suffocating! He couldn't breathe! He couldn't-
"Zweite Light." Then, a ball of light appeared over the table, bringing light to the room once again. Naofumi covered his eyes, still shaking in his seat.
...
Raphtalia took a deep breath, sitting back down in her chair opposite Naofumi. "Is this better?" She asked, her voice more soothing despite what she'd just done.
He didn't answer, still covering his face with his hands. He tried the portal skill again, almost praying that it'd work so he could escape the memory of what'd just happened. Only, he still got the error message about being in the Activation Event. He continued to shake.
Raphtalia scooted her chair to the opposite side so she could be beside him. He quickly reached out, putting his arm over her back and resting his head on her shoulder while continuing to shake in fear. Tears of frustration, anger, and fear leaked from his eyes.
They didn't say anything for a while. He cursed himself inside his mind.
First, she'd appeared in his dreams. Then, she'd appeared when making out with Raphtalia. Now, she was appearing out of nowhere…
...
"So it can trigger even when we're not… being intimate." She finally asked.
"It… yes." He said, wishing he could scowl if not for how afraid he felt. "You always tell me to relax, but to be honest, this is why I don't like to relax for too long. It's not so bad when I'm tense and worked up since I see it coming when it happens, but when it takes me off-guard like this…"
Raphtalia rested her head on his hair. Kissing his forehead every now and then while whispering that everything would be alright. Worry sprouted in her mind at what he'd said though. If that was why he liked to keep himself busy... was his trauma a more reoccurring problem than she'd been led to believe?
For how long she did this, he didn't know. Only that the ship continued rocking. Some of his party members moaned in their sleep.
Yet the ball of light above the table stayed constant. And she felt so nice and warm...
…
"You were talking about Ren and Wyndia before, right?" Raphtalia asked.
"What about them-" Naofumi started to ask when he realized Raphtalia was simply trying to get his mind off of what had happened. "Oh, yeah… I really hope that they get together soon... They'd make a cute couple."
"They seem much happier around each other lately," Raphtalia said. "I think Cal Mira has been a good experience for them."
"It was a good experience for all of us…" Even with everything bad that had happened, it'd been a good thing for all of them. Physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Ren looked more confident than before. Itsuki was a little more humbled by his experiences. Even Naofumi took to calling Melty by her real name every now and then.
…
"I still have a lot of room to grow, don't I?" Naofumi realized.
"Yes, you still have a long ways to go," Raphtalia smirked. "A very, very long way."
He pouted where he rested on her shoulder. "Come on. I'm not that bad."
"You're not that bad. You're just not that good either." Raphtalia chuckled.
"... Wow, thanks for the honesty." He muttered sarcastically.
"You're definitely better than the day I met you though." She smiled into his hair. "Much better."
"... But not good enough?" He asked. He was smiling a little too now. His breathing had steadied, and his heart wasn't racing nearly as fast as before. He just had to focus on the light. He just had to focus on her.
"I still have to call you out whenever you're having rude thoughts about people." Raphtalia pointed out.
"I still don't understand how you always manage to do that," Naofumi muttered.
"Your face is very easy to read. It doesn't take long to guess what's on your mind." Raphtalia smiled.
"Funny, I could have sworn you had some crazy mind-reading powers or whatever." He rolled his eyes with a huff.
"That could also be part of the reason."
...
He actually did look up at her in surprise at that. "Are you serious?"
However, he was met with her smirk, and his look of surprise turned to a frown. "Are you messing with me now?"
"I don't know, am I, Mr. Iwatani?" She asked him, innocently batting her eyelashes at him.
The way she said that…
Oh no. He wanted to kiss her then and there and-
"Is it some sort of inside joke between you two to get lovey-dovey in the same room as me while I'm bedridden?" Eclair groaned from her hammock.
The swordswoman's comment immediately broke the atmosphere. Naofumi and Raphtalia both groaned. "I'll check on everyone again." The half raccoon girl said as she got up.
"Wait, but… Alright." Naofumi sat back in his chair.
Damn it. Of all the times for that pesky swordswoman to interrupt-
"And no rude thoughts about this, Naofumi," Raphtalia said, even though he was turned away from her.
"But I…" He hmphed and crossed his arms.
Maybe his girlfriend actually did have mind-reading powers after all.
He looked down, seeing the shards of the lantern on the floor. He frowned but pushed those thoughts down and looked away.
Hopefully, the ship's captain wouldn't be too angry about losing a single lantern.
The thought that he wasn't improving from his trauma still haunted his mind.
But as long as he had Raphtalia close by, he could deal with it… hopefully.
Later that night, he tried using the portal skill again, almost expecting it not to work.
On his HUD, a list suddenly popped up. His eyes widened in shock, and then his expression turned to glee!
YES! They could end this stupid voyage at last!
He'd read the instructions over more carefully later, but it seemed like he could teleport to a spot where he'd been to in the past, but only if he could remember the place. It also had to be saved to the list for him to teleport there. Right now, he could only save three places to teleport to. He also couldn't use it to travel to where he hadn't been before.
Somehow, he had two places already saved. The castle. And the village.
"Raphtalia, wake everybody up." Naofumi shook his girlfriend awake.
"Huh, what for?" She groggily asked.
He held his shield up with a wicked grin on his face. "I'm going to save us from dealing with the rest of this crappy voyage."
Raphtalia blinked several times, then understanding lit up in her eyes. She quickly got up, rousing Dou-Lon, Filo, Melty, and Eclair.
"What is it this time, Naofumi?" Melty tiredly asked.
"We're going home is what it is," Naofumi said. "My portal skill's ready when you all are."
Just like that, the three seasick teammates' heads moved to attention.
"Really!? You mean we can escape this hell at last?!" Dou-Lon excitedly asked. He got on his knees and raised his arms in reverence. "Praise be to the great Shield God and his infinite mercy-"
Eclair karate chopped the back of his head, cutting off the rest of his zealous praise. "Get us out of here. I need to get back to training on solid ground." She said seriously.
"And I want to be out of this storm," Melty said, holding her tummy with her hands.
"Alright, just one more thing." The Shield Hero hastily wrote something on a piece of paper and put it on his bed. "There, so the others won't panic when they wake up and find us gone. Now, gather round!" Naofumi commanded.
His party members gathered around him, and he smiled as he chose to teleport to the village.
"Portal Shield!"
Finally, they were going home.
Bright light surrounded them all, and he briefly wondered if the other Heroes were doing this too. He also wondered if he'd come back to their home to find it in good shape or be met with a burned-out ruin left in the wake of Motoyasu's brief governance.
He really hoped that wouldn't be the case. It'd suck if that'd happened while they were gone.
He felt a familiar pull in his gut, like a hook grabbing him by the spine, and then…
He was standing in the area in front of his house. The sky was shaded orange by the evening sun, with no hint of the storm they'd teleported away from in the distant horizon.
He didn't get much time to think about it though as he heard a loud "-ing Thrust!" to the side.
"Wha-" Motoyasu's spear slammed into his side, and while it didn't penetrate him, Naofumi collapsed in pain.
"Naofumi!" The rest of his party gathered around him worriedly, helping him up.
"Huh- Oh! Hey Naofumi!" Motoyasu said excitedly. He planted one end of his spear into the ground and wiped the sweat from his face.
"Urgh…" Naofumi groaned. What the hell? His HUD showed he'd actually taken damage from Motoyasu's attack. Even though his Defense was so high now that taking damage from Motoyasu should have been impossible.
He glared at the Spear Hero. "What the hell was that for?!"
"My apologies, Sir Naofumi." Granny's voice answered from behind them. She moved next to Motoyasu. "My pupil and I were in the middle of a duel when you appeared between us."
Motoyasu chuckled. "Yeah, I thought I was finally going to get one on Granny there. Then you got in the way of my defense ignoring attack…"
Defense ignoring attack? Since when did Motoyasu have a skill like that under his belt?
"Hey, wait a minute, you're two days late!" Motoyasu suddenly shouted. "Do you have any idea what I've had to go through while you were gone!?"
Okay. Maybe he somewhat deserved the hit then.
"I have been eager to see how my other apprentice has progressed since her departure." Granny smiled widely. "Is she with you, by any chance?"
Another apprentice, what... seeing his look of confusion, the old lady's face darkened while retaining her smile. "She'll be back soon, right?"
"Oh, um, yes, of course," Naofumi muttered confusedly, even though he had absolutely no idea who she was talking about. He also felt fear sprout up in his chest. He quickly turned to Motoyasu so as to find a way to escape the old lady's impending wrath.
"Yea, sorry about being late. In my defense though, you would not believe the %^&* that we all went through the last few days. Speaking of which, here's a souvenir." Naofumi muttered apologetically before pulling a long twisted black object out of his shield and handing it over to Motoyasu.
"Huh? Interdimensional Whale's Horn? What the hell is this?" Motoyasu eyed the object suspiciously on his HUD.
"One of the drops that we got from the Cal Mira Wave's boss. I have a feeling it'll unlock a good spear." Naofumi shrugged.
...
"What?" Motoyasu blanched.
"As I said, we had some stuff of our own to deal with," Naofumi muttered.
"It appears you did," Granny said, smiling widely. Any trace of her anger from before was gone. "If that's the case, how about we end our training today Sir Spear Hero? I'm certain you both will have much to discuss with one another." Granny said, slapping a hand against Motoyasu's back. "And I have another apprentice to wait for, it seems."
"Urk!" The Spear Hero forced a smile to hide the pain of the hit. "Of course, if you insist Granny!"
"Raphtalia, Dou-Lon, can you direct the other Heroes to Motoyasu's house when they get back?" Naofumi asked them.
"Of course!" Dou-Lon saluted. "Anything for you, Lord Naofumi!"
Raphtalia gave him a smile as well as a peck on the cheek. "See you later." She whispered in his ear.
With that, his party quickly separated. Filo rushed Melty towards the village. Raphtalia and Dou-Lon went back to his house. And Eclair rushed off towards the training fields, sword already in hand.
Naofumi took a moment to look everything over. Not only were their houses still standing, but the village was intact too. In fact, it looked bigger than he remembered. Was that a new line of houses that'd been built near the church? The training fields looked more proper too. It wasn't anything like what he'd seen at the castle, but it was getting there. There were actually lines of training dummies and weapon racks set up and everything.
"I'm surprised to say this, but it looks like you did a good job while we were gone," Naofumi said.
"Of course! What else would you expect from the one and only Motoyasu!" Motoyasu proudly stated, slamming a fist into his chest in salute.
… "Ow." He whimpered.
His HP bar was full, but… the Spear Hero had a good amount of bruises on his arms and legs. He probably had more under his armor too. Examining him more closely, Naofumi found a new scar on one side of his face. "You look like you've been through hell. Was that old lady's training that harsh?" Naofumi asked.
"It was harsh, but that wasn't the only thing I had to deal with…" Motoyasu clutched his spear tightly. "It'd be better if we talk about it in private though."
Naofumi nodded. "Alright, let's go inside and talk." Naofumi led the Spear Hero toward his home. "I want to hear what's happened since we left."
Hero Clips!
I can toss Mountains!
"Hurghhhhhhhh!"
"Is that the sound of constipation?" Ren asked.
"No, that's the sound of Naofumi trying to lift that mountain," Itsuki said, pointing in the distance.
The Shield Hero was straining at the base of a small mountain. He grunted, groaned, and made all manner of sounds as he tried to tear it from its base.
"And why is he doing this?" Ren asked.
"I mean, since stats rule everything in this world instead of physics, he wants to test and see just how far the bounds of those rules go," Itsuki said with a shrug.
They continued to watch as Naofumi strained and buckled. Perhaps it really was impossible for a person to-
"HAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" And then, to their great astonishment, Naofumi finally tore the mountain from its base and raised it high in the air above him. "YEAH! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO! TAKE THAT WORLD!"
"No way..." Itsuki rubbed at his eyes. There was no way he was seeing this correctly!
When that failed, he tried pinching his arm really hard. But nope, he wasn't dreaming either. Naofumi had, with his stats, tore the mountain out of the ground. Even though it should have been impossible.
"Okay, that can be beyond overpowered," Ren said.
"Finally, with something as big as this, I can attack others and-" Naofumi started to cheer.
ZAP!
The Legendary Shield on his arm zapped him, causing him to yelp in pain.
And to also drop the mountain he was holding.
Boom!
The mountain fell on top of Naofumi.
"Oh, um... that's bad," Ren said, paling at the sight.
"Is he..." Itsuki said, eyes wide with fear.
"You stupid &^%$ing Yandere shield! What the *&^% was that for?!" Naofumi's screams came from underneath. His DEF stat kept him from being squashed to a pancake.
Warning: Heroes can only use the Weapons attached to their bodies.
"HOW THE &^%$ IS A MOUNTAIN A WEAPON?!" Naofumi screamed.
ZAP!
Warning: Heroes can only use the Weapons attached to their bodies.
"&^%$ YOU YANDERE SHIELD!"
"I mean, if he can carry it, I guess it can be considered a weapon," Ren said, thinking it over in his mind. His Sword would do the same thing to him if he ever tried to attack someone with a mountain.
"Plus, there's also that Guardian Beast that... actually, we should probably be helping Naofumi out." Itsuki shook his head, cutting off the spoilery thought he'd been having.
"Yeah, probably." Ren shrugged. He'd found this interesting at the very least.
And so, both heroes began working on digging Naofumi out from the mountain he'd moved out of place with his humongous strength stat.
And so, the Heroes also learned that they would never have the chance for Naofumi to squash their enemies with a large, heavy object.
Then again, with how low Naofumi's Attack stat was, it was likely the object, even if it was the size of a mountain, would bounce off them like a giant squeaky toy.
Which would, if anything, confuse the hell out of whoever they were fighting in the future.
Till Next Time
Allen