Chapter Seven : What I Can Do

)))—)—)—) ✢ (—(—(—(((

The battle had been decided, and the victory went to the Spear Hero. Applause roared the room, having their favoured hero secure the win over the hero that nobody favoured. The world around him had started to collapse as the wager goes to the victor. The nobles and spectators whispered and clamored as the preparations were in check, as the two of us watched from the balcony above, reserved for the Cardinal Heroes.

"You saw that too, right?"

It completely unbelievable how the king allowed such an action to pass. None of the audience made an attempt to bring up the disruption that decided the match in favour of the Spear Hero. The Shield Hero was obviously flanked by a stray magic attack, whether or not it was intentional. The fact that the King didn't say anything about that was somewhat odd, as he poured the blame onto Naofumi's attempt to weasle himself out of the fight. None of the nobles or any of the spectators were going to say anything after that declaration. Some of them were unsure as to what they would say if they would speak up, but the audience ultimately went silent on that topic, concerning themselves with the results of the fight.

"Does it even make a difference if we say anything?" my fellow hero spoke. "Besides, we shouldn't be trying to help out criminals. It'll look bad on us."

He had a point. Naofumi had been a criminal in the eyes of Melromarc for his attempt at sexual assault against his first companion. It only made sense that Motoyasu would be wary of Naofumi's new companion, especially after hearing that she was his slave. Though, that assumption would have been a pleasant wish. I would say that it was more of the lustful emotion that Motoyasu had been harboring, considering his current harem of females in his party.

It's kinda sad. Does the guy even realize that at least half of them aren't in it to be with him, but for the money and status? I'm leaning on the side of no. He had been smiling triumphantly over an enemy that didn't have a means of attacking, focusing on trying to pull out enough gimmicks to make the Spear Hero surrender. Every attack up to the point of interruption had been properly dealt with by Naofumi, showing that his strength isn't as what he thought it was.

Honestly, if I was in Motyasu's place, I would have ended the battle in a few minutes, but that was only due to his high defenses. The way that Motoyasu was going with brute strength, he would have ran out of SP before Naofumi did, leaving him at a greater disadvantage. Defense-oriented classes were garbage, but if I have to say anything in their defenses, the cost for their skills were relatively lower and their SP pool was much greater. The best Naofumi could possibly commit for was a stalemate.

We watched as they held the slave back, so that they made preparations to remove the slave crest. They didn't even bother trying to move Naofumi off the battlefield, letting him be bent over with his face just above the ground. His fist were crunched up and shivering, but I'd say it was out of hatred more than anything.

So, he was angry that the slave was being released? It might have been true that he wanted to try something with her after all. That manipulation spell might have been undone once the slavery binding disappeared, but as I thought about the accusation that led to the slave's mouth to be covered by a rag throughout the entire fight, something started to mismatch.

How come someone, whose only boon is defense, has access to something as strong as mind manipulation? Did it have to do something with the slave mark directly? If that was the case, then the country would be a shitshow over the monopoly of this accessible magic. Whether it's for evil or not, something like mind manipulate is too overpowered. And if it did have to do something with the Cardinal Heroes, why didn't I unlock something as strong as that yet? There are definitely uses that I could figure out with that, but it landed on Naofumi instead.

Something about that accusation was wrong.

I leered over to my fellow hero, to see the reaction on his face as the crest on the slave's chest began to disappear during the ceremony. He looked pleased to see Naofumi be put in his spot, and I had to admit, there was something enjoyable about poetic justice being served.

As the crest faded away, the soldiers released her and something surprised everyone as the next few seconds unfolded. Both of us were in shock, widening our eyes once it happened.

The slave slapped Motoyasu cleanly across the face, as tears were driven across his eyelids.

She wasn't crying out of happiness of being freed. It was the opposite. She didn't have the intention to be freed from the crest at all, but that wasn't all that the tears were wept for.

After the slave and Motoyasu finished talking, with the slave getting the last word in, she started to walk towards the solitude of Naofumi. She tore down the invisible barrier that people dared not to cross and came closer to him. Naofumi was scared of her initially, backing up and even pushing her aside, but she ultimately won. She embraced him, crying out harder.

"... Hey. Do you really think that slave is brainwashed?"

"... If it is, then it's one hell of an act. It's sincere, as far as I'm aware at least."

"To think that Naofumi was able to find someone that is willing to be by his side, despite his notoriety. I honestly don't care who or how the two of them met, but I suppose the results of the match is clear now."

As Naofumi extended outwards to hold her back, finding himself in similar tears, it was time to make our entrance while everyone was distracted by the scene. It was time to privately inform Motoyasu about his loss, whether he knew it or not.

)))—)—)—) ✢ (—(—(—(((

「Memory Fragment Recovered亅
「Resurgence of Recollection Successful亅

It happened again, and my body was trembling to a greater extent. The girl that was now sleeping on the ground again and the girl in that memory… It was hard to believe they were the same person, but the back-and-forth nature that my mind had been undergoing made me confused on what I should be trying to do. That begged the question though.

What the hell triggered that memory!? Besides from my first sight of Raphtalia, there was nothing that could have correlated the two events, like that one memory with Malty! I didn't even know what Raphtalia looked like in her child-like form! It was only because of the memory that I was able to piece the two faces together as one!

I wanted to help Naofumi, and being alone with him was the perfect opportunity to reveal my true intentions, but this recollection came out of left field and it started to mess with my words quite a bit.

As Naofumi watched for any sudden movements, his expression had snarled at me with a severe influence in check. He disliked trusting people, and he really didn't like being around the other Cardinal Heroes. After such an unfair trial, he had no reason to trust Motoyasu, Ren, or me. In his eyes, we were just like the poison that was Melromarc's king, and nothing else.

"What else do you want to take from me? Or do you want to revel in my misery?" The snarl in Naofumi's voice was hostile. I knew that Naofumi could only play on the defensive, but that wasn't what I was scared about. I wanted to be careful with my words during this conversation, but I was in no state to do it.

"T-That's not it, Naofumi. I just… I just heard a scream while I was around here, and…"

"And what? Are you going to try and take her away from me? Are you going to say that I'm doing something to her!?"

"T-That's…"

"Like hell I am If you want her, it'll be over my dead body. I paid all of my earned money for this slave, and I'm going to use her to get out of the shithole you three sent me into."

The reasoning for that fight between Naofumi and Motoyasu was over Raphtalia, who Motoyasu took as a slave against her will. Ren and I saw the aftermath of the situation and we became convinced that Raphtalia was with him out of his free will, though we were still believing in the fact that he was guilty for the previous crime.

If I never met Naofumi here, I would have completely forgot that Naofumi was all by his lonesome for the next period of time. With no one to turn to, the money that he earned had blood and sweat poured into them. Pounding away at the monsters would have been no easy feat, but I wondered if Naofumi had already discovered the technique of using monsters as part of his attack power. I was only reminded of the old fighting style thanks to the recovered memory, where he unleashed its might onto Motoyasu.

Perhaps if Naofumi hadn't discovered this style yet, I could give him the idea in exchange for some amount of trust.

"Naofumi, there are things that I shouldn't be telling you—"

"What else is new?"

"—but I could try and help you out—"

"Don't take another step closer!"

As I tried to close the gap unconsciously, Naofumi's arm tossed itself underneath his cloak, causing me to realize that I lost my only bargaining chip into his domain. I halted my inadvertent approach the moment he snarled. I didn't realize how aggressive Naofumi was, especially towards the other Cardinal Heroes. That was to be expected, since we had abandoned him at the trial.

… Man, seeing Naofumi like this makes my tongue taste sour. Getting him to trust me is difficult, but considering the circumstances, I don't think it's even possible.

We were the ones that sent Naofumi into his uneased self. Ren, Motoyasu and myself… We were all guilty of sending an innocent man into his despair, one so deep that he began to close his innocent heart off.

It was one thing to hear about his hardships before we became united, but it was another thing to see it before my eyes. It was terrible. Was this the justice that I previously wanted to seek out?

A rustling noise came off our side, as both of our attentions were drawn to it. Out of the bushes, a few balloon monsters had jumped out. They were probably attracted to Raphtalia's screaming.

… Wait, why was she screaming anyways?

It didn't matter now. Naofumi prepared his shield out of a reflex, but I hadn't been too worried about them. They were merely balloons after all. I neatly shot arrows at each of them, defeating all of them with ease. A few of them needed multiple shots, since my stats were nerfed back to baseline as I returned, but landing a critical shot was good enough to almost kill them in one blow. I didn't even move away from where I was standing, shooting like some sort of turret. They didn't grant me any experience since Naofumi was in the area, and to an extent, Ren might be nearby too. I honestly don't remember the range on that limit.

Naofumi simply stayed still as I kept them away, gritting his teeth as if he didn't like my assistance.

Hated or not, I didn't realize that being mad removed any sense of gratefulness.

"... You're not going to say thanks or anything? If I let you alone with them, you would probably be dealing with them until the morning."

"Like I have any reason to thank you."

Yeah, that's fair.

I could kinda understand this version of Naofumi. As hatred blinded him, I was blinded by my justice, even going as far to hurt those who didn't need to be hurt and trust those who shouldn't have been trusted.

… Yeah, but you could still be grateful for saving your time.

I decided to suppress my urge to say that. I shouldn;t be making things worse with Naofumi as it already was. I tried to turn back to what I wanted to tell Naofumi originally. However, I thought it would have been more effective if I demonstrated with actions rather than words.

Words can deceive people, after all.

I took out some of my coins and tossed the bag towards Naofumi. He instinctively caught it as I turned around. It was going to be much easier if I spoke to Naofumi like this, where he didn't have the same luxury of throwing a bag into my hands.

"What are you doing?" he growled at me. "I don't want your damn money."

"It's not mine."

It actually was, but I couldn't think of another way to vaguely give him money directly. He'd thrown his pouch of coins at Motoyasu, so he couldn't have had a lot on him.

"Look, just listen, alright? I don't need any responses from you. It may have looked like I was acting against you in the trial, but it was only through the spur of the moment. I want to believe that you're innocent, Naofumi." Well, I already know that, but still. "That's why I'm going to try and find out the truth." Which I already knew about to some degree. "I'm not asking you to be involved in anything I do. I only wanted to let you know what I was going to be up to over the next few days."

"... What? Do you still expect me to trust you?"

Alright, this was getting slightly frustrating.

I knew that Naofumi had trust issues, but damn it! What even is this extent!?

Don't get mad, Itsuki. He has a valid reason to be mad. He has a valid reason to not trust anyone. Just telling keep reminding yourself about that, Itsuki. You owe him for helping you out in the future, after he put up with all of my shenanigans over those past few months.

Just pretend that you don't have any emotional weight to this specific problem.

… Huh?

Why did that seem familiar…?

I shook my head to chase away those random thoughts as I took my steps away from Naofumi and the dormant Raphtalia.

"Anyways, you should use that money wisely this time around. Don't go throwing it towards Motoyasu again, alright?"

I wanted to keep myself limited with how much I interacted with Naofumi. He definitely wasn't in the right state of mind now, and perhaps maybe that duel, he'd be in a better position to hear me out. That was, if I didn't get to the King first.

If I brought him the King's head, than he'd definitely be forced to trust me.

However, as I left the standing Naofumi and the dormant Raphtalia behind me, I could hear some sort of some mumbling underneath his breath. It was probably him cursing me inaudibly for trying to get close to him, all so I could backstab him. That was far from it though, but I wouldn't mind his thoughts to lay themselves out like that. It'll be changed soon enough, and I'll be able to bring Naofumi back into the ranks of Cardinal Heroes.

I didn't look back, returning to where Ren had took me to meet up.

…

…

"I didn't throw my money at Motoyasu though… How would I have bought the slave then…?"

)))—)—)—) ✢ (—(—(—(((

…

…

「Error亅
「Skill Failed亅

A pulsation rang at my head, as if I was trying to remember something. Like a fleeting dream, it disappeared in the next moment, leaving me to wonder what just happened. It felt like I passed a few minutes in the span of a single second. Ever since I was summoned to this world, I've been receiving these gnawing feelings at the back of my head. It happened once during the first morning in the castle, and once again when the adventurers were assigning themselves to the Cardinal Heroes.

There was a tap on my shoulders suddenly. I assumed that it was the presence of the being that was shadowing us, but when I turned around, nobody had been there. There wasn't even a sign of life anywhere, human or monster. Now that I thought about it, it didn't feel proper. It was like one of those instances where other people could tickle you while it was impossible to tickle yourself. Though, I never recalled myself tapping my own shoulder.

Digressing aside, my head conveniently turned over to where he should have been, as if that tap was supposed to warn me of something. I hated to go off my instincts without evidence, but I abandoned my sweep of the area to play check up. I was almost done, so it wasn't a big demerit.

Something was going on with Itsuki.

That was what the voice in my head was telling me.

The voice that sounded a lot like mine own.

)))—)—)—) ✢ (—(—(—(((

Afterword

… Yeah, uh… Hi.

I thought I would take this time to sneak in Chapter 7 here, but I don't know if this necessarily confirms the return of Recourse. You see, apparently most of Chapter 7 had already been written. I just didn't realize that until recently. So uh, I just cleaned it off and shipped it out.

Though, it's pretty short too. I wanted to beef out the interaction between Itsuki and Naofumi, but I mean, that's effort that I didn't have. It accounts to only 3k words, but I thought I might as well get something out there.

If no one has seen the notice of the status of [Recourse of the Bow Hero], it's on my profile bios.

For those who can't be damned, tl:dr [Recourse] is going to either have a hiatus or very long in-betweens for chapters for minimal results. (Only I would give 3k words to people that waited for half a year… Kinda feel like an asshle, not gonna lie…)

Anyways, sorry about that, but the full explanation is on the profile once again.