Sword and Shield

Journey 1

Several coins clinked on the countertop. Several gold coins, 12 in total.

"Uh, not that I want to throw accusations around or anything, Shield Boy, but might I ask where you got all this money from?" the Old Man of the Weapon Shop asked, wide eyed. "I'm having a little trouble believing you managed to make so much money since the last time I saw you. You…didn't rob some noble, did you?"

"Who do you take me for? Of course not," Naofumi huffed.

"A man who has gotten a raw deal, and who has proven himself to be the definition of cutthroat when needed," the Old man said, deadpan. "I can think up a few scenarios in which you would resort to stealing without feeling an ounce of guilt."

Naofumi smirked. "I can't really deny that with a straight face, but no, I didn't steal this money. It was legitimately earned. Besides, Shirou and Raphtalia would stop me if I tried to pull a stunt like that, and then lecture me for several hours. The potential rewards are not worth the hassle."

"Damn straight I would stop you," Shirou grumbled. "And the fact that you did not even try and deny it makes me think you require that lecture anyway."

"That's right, Naofumi-sama. Hero's don't steal unless absolutely necessary," Raphtalia added in.

Naofumi chuckled. "But what falls under 'necessary' is subject to interpretation. I'm certain I would be able argue my case, considering our circumstances and the Waves and all that," he said, jabbing at his companions with his words.

The less than amused looks he got from Shirou and Raphtalia elicited another chuckle from him.

"Oh, oh! I'm sure Master wouldn't steal from people who didn't deserve it! He's too kind for that. He would only steal from rich and mean people!" Filo said, hopping in place.

"Naofumi is a lot of things," Shirou said drily. "And his outfit would fit the stereotype now that I think about it, but I wouldn't describe him as Robin Hood."

Raphtalia blinked as that elicited yet another chuckle from Naofumi. Who was Robin Hood?

"And who is this little miss?" the Old Man leaned over the counter, looking at Filo. "Please don't tell me you bought another slave and came here to brag…"

"I wasn't aware monsters could be considered slaves in this world," Naofumi said dryly.

The Old Man blinked, narrowing his eyes at Filo. "A monster?"

"Filo here is a Filolial that somehow attained the ability to take on a human form," Shirou cut in as he wanted to get to the point of their visit. "That's one of the reasons we came back here. Filo rips any clothes she's wearing whenever she turns back into a Filolial, so we were wondering if you might have any clothes that can transform with the wearer? We were told clothes like that are common for races that can take on another form."

"Clothes like that do exist," the Old Man said, scratching the back of his head. "But I don't deal in that kind of merchandise. You'd have to ask a dressmaker or maybe the owner of the Magic Shop. I'm sure that one of those people will be able to hook you up with what you need."

Naofumi sighed, annoyed. "I see. In any case, we would also like to buy some new gear."

"With the amount of money you have, you'd definitely be able to buy some high quality pieces," the Old Man said.

"And I'd also like to upgrade my Barbarian Armor," Naofumi added.

"Sure. Do you have the materials?"

Several pouches filled with monster parts were dropped onto the counter top, together with a couple bars of Mithril. "We kept an eye out for the materials you listed we'd need to upgrade the Barbarian Armor, and we bought what we couldn't find ourselves before coming here."

The Old Man checked everything over and nodded. "That's everything I need. Just leave your armor here when you leave and I'll get right on it. I'll have it finished in an hour or two. That will be 480 pieces of silver."

"A little less then 5 pieces of gold," Naofumi grumbled. "I want to keep 3 pieces of gold in order to buy Filo's transforming clothes, so that leaves a little over 4 gold coins worth for other gear," he said, mentally debating what the best course of action would be. He turned towards Shirou and Raphtalia. "Is there anything you two would want in particular?"

"I think just sticking to a higher quality set of armor and a new sword would be best for me, Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia gave her opinion.

Shirou mulled it over briefly. "Better armor never hurts, but I'd much rather buy a higher quality bow and arrows over getting a better sword. I'm the only ranged attacker, so…"

"Hmm," the Old Man mused. "For four pieces of gold, and prioritizing like that…"

The Old Man began bustling around his shop, collecting equipment. Two new sets of armor, a silvery longsword, a composite bow and arrows tipped with steel were deposited on the counter top.

"Here, these pieces would be perfect for you," the Old Man gave a confident grin. "First, two sets of Mithril supplementary armor. They are basically the same as your current Iron supplementary armor, but with higher defence and being a bit lighter to boot."

They studied the pieces making up the two armor sets: Mithril Vambraces, Mithril Hip Guards and Mithril Greaves. They had the exact same design as the iron set, but the metal, instead of a dull grey, was a gleaming silver with blue highlights.

"Sounds good," Naofumi said, checking the armor's values with his Status Magic. "How much?"

"100 pieces of silver for both armor sets," the Old Man said, then indicated the gleaming longsword. "And this fine piece is a Mithril Longsword. A favored weapon for seasoned adventurers."

Raphtalia picked it up and did a few test swings. The blade was light in her grip, exceptionally so, but the sword felt solid and robust. "I like it."

"We'll take it, then. And the bow and arrows?"

"Steel Arrows and a Magic Willow Longbow. A step up in both categories, compared to what your lad currently has. This combination can hit hard and far," the Old Man boasted. "That will be 280 pieces of silver, all told."

That would be 380 pieces for everything together. In the end, they decided to go with the Old Man's recommendations. The Weapon Shop owner hadn't steered them wrong yet, and his recommendations were sensible. They also traded in their old armor and weapons, getting back 60 pieces of silver.

"Now that I think about it," the Old Man said after they'd finished the transaction. "Why not also buy a weapon for the little miss?" he said, pointing at Filo.

Filo blinked and pointed at herself with a clueless expression. "A weapon for Filo?"

"Hmm," the Old Man nodded. "If she fights as a Filolial, a pair of claws for on her feet would give her kicks some extra oomph to them."

"Sounds like a good idea," Naofumi agreed. "What's the best we can get for 80 pieces of silver?"

"I don't know. I don't deal in equipment for monsters," the Old Man admitted, chuckling sheepishly. "There's a shop down the road owned by an old acquittance of mine. I'm sure he will be able to hook you up with what you need."

"We'll check the place out," Naofumi nodded. "If that's everything, I'll just leave my armor here and we'll head out."

"I'll see you guys later, then."

"Magic Thread?" the Magic Shop Owner blinked her eyes.

"Yeah, the dressmaker said that we need Magic Thread if we want to make clothes that transform with the user. She said you could make some for us," Naofumi said.

"That's correct. But why would you need transforming clothes?" the Magic Shop Owner asked.

"Filo here," Naofumi patted Filo's head. "Is a monster that can take on a human form, but whenever she changes back, she always rips her clothes."

"Ah, I see," the Magic Shop Owner nodded. "But I do feel the need to correct a false assumption you seem to have. Transforming clothes aren't really clothes in the traditional sense."

More than a few eyebrows were raised at that sentence.

"Transforming clothes are made from Magical Thread that in turn is made out of the wearer's own magical energy," the Magic Shop Owner explained. "The process of making Magical Thread changes a little bit of the users magical energy and inscribes a mildly complex spell into it. Once the Magical Thread has been made and fashioned into the desired form, the wearer can then put the clothes on. The spell inscribed into the Magical Thread then forges a connection between the wearer and the clothes, which causes said spell and the transforming clothes to become a part of the wearer. The spell and the clothes are literally inscribed on the wearer's own Magic Circuits."

"I'm not sure I follow," Naofumi admitted.

"In simple terms," the Magic Shop Owner continued. "The transforming clothes are themselves a spell that is acquired by putting said clothes on. Once 'learned' the wearer can simply will the clothes into existence when required."

Ah, now he understood. When Filo wasn't human, the transforming clothes would be magical energy that dwelled inside her body. When she assumed human form, she could materialize the clothes when needed. Transforming clothes were really more a spell themselves than actual clothes.

"That makes sense," Naofumi nodded. "Then, shall we make some Magic Thread?"

"I would like to so yes, but…" the Magic Shop Owner sighed, then pointed to a contraption that looked like a spinning wheel. "This device is used to turn magical energy into Magic Thread, but the jewel that extracts a person's magical energy, inscribes the spell on it and transforms it into thread broke recently. Without that, I can't make any Magic Thread for you."

Naofumi let out an annoyed sigh. "Of course it's like that," he grumbled. "And let me guess, said gem is expensive and hard to find."

"That's exactly it," the Magic Shop Owner nodded. "If it had been easy to replace, I would have done it already."

"What is this gem called, then?" Raphtalia asked. "If we know what it's called, we could maybe find it on our travels and keep an eye out for it."

"It's called a Sodalite Gem," the Magic Shop Owner asked.

Shirou slowly raised his hand. "Didn't we find one of those in the caves we discovered close to Riyute Village? Second to last day, I think."

Naofumi accessed his Item Box and took out the gem in question. It was a large round gemstone that was a deep blue and streaked with white veins. "Is this it?"

The Magic Shop Owner blinked, then smiled widely. "Yes, that's the gemstone in question. It must be my lucky day. I'd thought it would take me at least several more weeks before tracking one down."

"We will sell it to you at a reduced price if you make the Magic Thread for free," Naofumi began the haggling immediately.

"Gladly. I could also check out little miss Filo's Element and Origin if you'd like? We can then include a couple of grimoires into the deal…"

Naofumi frowned in thought. "I'm not sure if that's needed. The Monster Breeder back in Riyute Village said that Filolial Queens like Filo instinctively know how to perform magic. Is traditional study of magic even needed for Filo?"

"Instinctive knowledge of magic," the Magic Shop Owner mused. "The few species off monsters that have that trait learn magic as they grow stronger. Monsters like that have a kind of genetic memory concerning magic. The higher Level they become the more spells they learn and the more well versed they become with magic. Monsters like that a vanishingly rare…are you sure little miss Filo here truly possesses such a trait?"

"I'm not sure. From what I'm told, there isn't much known on Filolial Queens and their abilities," Naofumi hesitated.

"Ah, does Master want to see Filo perform magic? I'd be happy to!" Filo singsonged happily as she raised and cupped her hands together. "Faust Wind Sphere!" A sphere of swirling wind manifested in Filo's hands, a sudden breeze picking up and rustling the pages of the many books in the shop.

"…That answers that question, I guess," Shirou said, a little wide eyed.

The Magic Shop Owner was equally wide-eyed. "Yes, it does. Moreover, the spell she just used has excellent piercing qualities, one that I would rather not see used inside my shop. Little miss Filo, could you, uhm, dismiss your spell?"

"Aww, do I have to?" Filo whined, throwing the Wind Sphere from hand to hand, playing with it as if it was an ordinary ball.

Naofumi lightly chopped Filo on the back of the head. "Filo, please don't go around making trouble for other people. She asked you nicely, so you have no reason to refuse."

Filo continued to sulk. Moreover, she hadn't yet dismissed her spell.

"Filo, if you don't dismiss that spell this instant, I won't cook for you anymore."

Filo's eyes widened in abject horror. "No, Master! Anything but that! I'll be a good girl, I promise!" she shouted, the Wind Sphere disappearing from one blink to the next.

Naofumi smirked inwardly. Filo was headstrong and wilful, but he'd found the perfect way to control Filo: through her stomach. She was the very definition of a glutton, and he felt no remorse exploiting that fact to his own benefit.

Shirou barely held back a laugh.

The Old Man of the Weapon Shop looked up as the door to his establishment opened. "Ah, Shield Boy and kids! You're back. Good timing. I've just finished up upgrading the Barbarian Arm…" the Old Man trailed off, eyes glued to small a figure that filed inside behind Naofumi.

It was Filo, but now she was wearing her new set of transforming clothes: a white dress with plenty of blue ribbons and frills. The dressmaker had likened Filo to an angel, so she had gone the extra mile to create a dress to underscore her angel like appearance, and it appeared she had succeeded.

Filo noticed the Old Man's stare and did a little twirl to show off her new dress. "How do I look, Nice Old Guy?"

"Very good," the Old Man answered honestly.

"Old Man, are you sure you aren't a lolicon?" Naofumi deadpanned.

The Old Man developed a tick mark on his brow. "That's the second time you have asked that, and you are the last guy I want to hear that from. Your entire party is made out of children…No offence," that last bit was directed at Shirou and Raphtalia.

"None taken," Shirou said.

"Humph," Raphtalia huffed, crossed her arms and looked away with a pout.

Naofumi snorted. "So, you were saying that you've finished upgrading my armor? It better be a major step up. Those dragon materials we had to buy for the upgrade were expensive… and that is not even mentioning that the Chimera materials we threw in are difficult to come by."

"Oh, I'll think you will be surprised. Let me get it for you."

The Old Man briefly disappeared into the back of his shop, before returning with the armor. He laid the Barbarian Armor pieces on the countertop, and Naofumi used his Status Magic to appraise it.

Barbarian Armor +1: Base Defence: 85 / Attack endurance (medium) / Fire resistance (strong) / Shadow resistance (strong) / Air Wake (strong) / HP restore (small) / Magic up (medium) / Magic Defence processing / Automatic recovery function.

Visually, the Barbarian Armor had changed little. The denim-like fabric that formed the under layer of the armor had been replaced with dragon skin, something that looked like glossy black rubber, and the metal pieces, chest plate included, now had a silvery sheen with blue highlights instead of the previous dull grey. This was thanks to the fact that those armor pieces were now made out of Mithril instead of plain iron. On the whole, though, the Barbarian Armor retained its previous aesthetics and look.

In short, the Barbarian Armor looked basically the same as it did before, but its Base Defence was now more then double what it what once was and it came with a buttload of resistances and extra features. The automatic recovery function was self-explanatory: the armor would fix itself if it were to be damaged, a highly useful feature.

Still, Naofumi found himself a little dissatisfied. "You are really sticking with this outlaw vibe, aren't you?"

"If the shoe fits," the Old Man gave a shrug, as if saying 'what can you do?'

That earned him a stink eye from Naofumi.

Shirou none to gently slapped the Shield Hero on the back. "Stop pouting and go put the armor on. It is a good set of equipment, so don't bother pretending you aren't going to make use of it."

"I'm not pouting," Naofumi grumbled. Nonetheless, he gathered the armor pieces and retreated to a changing booth to don the Barbarian Armor. He emerged a moment later, looking even grumpier then usual.

"Looks good on you, Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia, as always, was enthusiastic.

"Like the Old Man said, it fits your vibe," Shirou added with a shrug.

"Yeah, yeah! It suits you, Master!" Filo finished with an enthusiastic hop and bob of her head.

If anything, that made Naofumi look even grumpier then before. With a longsuffering sigh, the Shield Hero let go of his misgivings and turned to the Old Man. "Thanks for the new armor, Old Man."

"Don't mention it. I'm sure it will serve you well," the Old Man gave him a thumbs up.

"Yeah," Naofumi chuckled. "With all that you've done for me, it almost makes me feel guilty for what I am about to do next. Almost."

The Old Man blinked. "Eh?"

Naofumi's hand reached out and came to rest on a nearby shield. The shield in question was alone on a raised pedestal, propped up on a stand in plain view of the display window, obviously meant to draw the eye of any would be costumer and entice them into entering the shop.

Weapon Copy – Complete [Sederite Shield Unlocked – Base Defence: 40 – Equip Bonus: Meteor Shield (unmastered)]

[Meteor Shield – A defensive barrier made out of light encloses the Hero. Only the Hero himself, his party members and their attacks can freely pass through the barrier. Meteor Shield's Defence = Hero's Defence/5]

The copy successful, the Legendary Shield took on the form of the Sederite Shield.

"…What?" was the only word that slipped past the Old Man's lips.

Naofumi smiled widely, which freaked the Old Man out a bit, as Naofumi smiling was an oxymoron to him. "Ah, did I forget to tell you? I recently learned that the Legendary Weapons can copy other weapons so long as they are of the same type. And well, since we're here and you have a whole shop full of useful shields…" he trailed off, already reaching out for another shield.

"Wait, that's not- HEY, I SAID WAIT A MOMENT DAMMIT!" the Old Man shouted as Naofumi copied a Steel Shield, not giving heed to the Old Man's protests.

"Consider this your punishment for making me look like a common bandit, Old Man!" Naofumi countered as he reached out to touch and copy every shield in reach. Soon, the Old Man was chasing the maliciously cackling Shield Hero around his shop, trying but unable to stop him.

"Uh," Raphtalia blinked at the scene playing out before them. "Should we…do something?"

"It's alright," Shirou said, even as he averted his eyes from the spectacle in embarrassment. "It's not like we're stealing anything or that we would have bought any of these shields if Naofumi didn't have the ability to copy them. Just let them have their fun and stay out of it."

Raphtalia was unsure, but heeded Shirou's advice and stayed put. A short while later, a disgruntled looking Weapon Shop owner was back behind his counter, slumped and clearly exhausted. Naofumi, on the other hand, looked satisfied and refreshed, idly going through his Menu.

"Thanks, Old Man," Naofumi grinned. "That's another 60 shields added to my collection."

"Yeah, yeah. Just laugh it up," the Old Man grumbled. He then let out a sigh and straightened up, the exhaustion just seeming to seep out of him. "I guess this concludes our business for today. What will you guys be doing now?"

"I'm not sure," Naofumi said, closing his Menu. "We hadn't made any plans yet…"

"I say we go to Zeltoble."

More then a few eyebrows shot up. All the eyes in the room swivelled to the person who had made the sudden suggestion: Shirou.

"Hoh," the Old Man let out a hum of thought. "Zeltoble, huh? That might not be a bad idea."

"What brought this idea on, Shirou?" Naofumi crossed his arms.

"Thanks to my…insight into the Legendary Weapons, I know that both the Spear Hero and the Sword Hero have visited Zeltoble at different points in the last month," Shirou began to explain.

"Probably because of their game knowledge," Naofumi mused. "So there must be something pretty useful in Zeltoble if both Motoyasu and Ren went there. So, what is it?"

"Equipment and money," was Shirou's frank answer. "There are dozens of shops in Zeltoble with high level gear. Both the Spear Hero and the Sword Hero got their most powerful Weapon Forms and Skills in Zeltoble. Moreover, both of them participated in tournament style matches in the colosseum in order to win large amounts of money."

"Ah," Raphtalia made a noise of understanding.

"Equipment and money, huh?" Naofumi rubbed his chin. "How long would the journey take to get to Zeltoble?"

"By foot it would take well over a month," the Old Man cut in.

"And by carriage?" Shirou asked. "The people of Riyute Village gave us one after we helped them a bunch of times. And Filo is a very fast runner, so…"

"Hmm, hmm," Filo nodded her head in agreement.

"By carriage it would usually take a little over two weeks," the Old Man answered.

Shirou nodded. "And, I also wanted to ask, is there an Hourglass of the Dragon's Era in Zeltoble?"

"Of course," the Old Man nodded. "You would be hard pressed to find a country that didn't have one."

"Why is that important?" Raphtalia asked.

"Because it's related to the most useful Skill that both the Spear Hero and Sword Hero have," Shirou said. "Teleportation."

Naofumi's eyes bugged out. "Seriously?"

"Yeah it is," Shirou answered affirmatively. "Apparently, the weapon Series that grants access to that Skill is unlocked with the sand inside of the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era."

"But, if that's true, we can just visit the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era in this country," Naofumi said.

"Naofumi, I think you are forgetting the fact that the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era in this country is controlled by the Church of the Three Heroes," Shirou countered. "Do you really think they'd agree to hand over a bit of that sand if you asked nicely?"

The Shield Hero's sudden sour expression answered that question. "Yeah, you're right. Those bastards would sooner set me on fire then help me," Naofumi sighed. "Maybe we could steal some."

"Too risky," Shirou dismissed that option immediately.

"He's right, Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia jumped in. "As the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era is of vital importance, both for the country and the Church of the Three Heroes, there must at least be several layers of protections on it. If they caught us in the act of trying to steal a bit of that sand…"

"They might us that as an excuse to get rid of us permanently," Shirou finished.

"Okay, okay. I get the point. Sheesh," Naofumi raised his hands in surrender.

The Old Man seemed thoughtful, looking at them with his Status Magic. "Not only that, but you guys are nearing the Level where you will need a Class Up if you want to progress further. If the Church of the Three Heroes probably won't allow you to Class Up, going to another country would be best."

"Class Up?" Naofumi blinked.

"Shield Boy, you really should take the time to learn a bit more about this world when you have the chance," the Old Man sighed, deadpan. "There's a Level cap of 40. Once you hit that Level you won't be able to Level Up anymore, unless you perform a Class Up. And a Class Up can only be done with the use of an Hourglass of the Dragon's Era."

"I see," Naofumi nodded, deep in thought. "Money, equipment, the teleportation Skill and getting a Class Up. It seems we have plenty of reason to go to Zeltoble," he mused. "What do you guys think?"

"I think it's a good idea, Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia chipped in.

"You know what I think," Shirou said with a shrug.

"I can't wait to pull the carriage," Filo added joyfully.

Naofumi gave a decisive nod. "It's settled, then. We will go to Zeltoble," he said, then let out a breath. "It's about time we left this rotten country behind anyway."

"Normally, I would rebuke you for speaking less than kindly about my home, but I honestly can't fault you," the Old Man said drily. "Instead, I'll just wish you success out there."

Naofumi shook hands with the Old Man. "I may be done with this country, but once I have that teleportation Skill, I'll make sure we come visit every once in a while. I have a sneaking suspicion that the shops in Zeltoble still won't quite be able to match yours."

"Heh," the Old Man smiled. "Thanks, Shield Boy. I'll endeavour to not let you down."

Filo, in her Filolial Queen form, was humming a song to herself as she pulled their carriage along the dirt path towards Zeltoble. Naofumi was in the driver's seat, reigns in his hands. Inside the carriage, Raphtalia and Shirou were busy studying, trying to learn magic and practicing reading. They were progressing, with one having more success than the other.

"Urp," Raphtalia covered her mouth with her hand, looking a little green in the face. She had already thrown up twice before from motion sickness caused by the bumpy ride. The dirt path they were traveling was anything but comfortable, especially with the speed Filo was traveling at, making them constantly jostle around inside the carriage.

This made studying more difficult, and slowed them down as they had to periodically stop and give Raphtalia a chance to recover. Still, there was nothing for it but continue. Hopefully, Raphtalia would acclimatize soon and stop being motion sick.

Shirou gave Raphtalia a concerned look, but seeing that she wasn't about to throw up, he turned his attention back to the book he had been reading.

They were still learning the basic fundamentals of learning magic. Concepts like Equal Exchange, how to feed magical energy into a spell and the art of self-hypnosis. Shirou already had a firm grounding in these concepts because of his father's previous education, lacking as it was, but going over these concepts again with a fine-tooth comb couldn't hurt. It would suck if he developed another bad habit because he didn't take the time to study everything in depth.

With the basic operation of his Circuits mastered, once he had developed a firm understanding of the fundamentals of magic, he could start learning the Magic Alphabet. And once he had finished all that, he could start learning magic proper.

Shirou had already decided what he would be focusing on when the time came: Applied Sword Magic, as this would be most immediately useful in battle. Applied Sword Magic was an odd branch of magic that were more like techniques that incorporated magical energy in their execution. Flying slashes and extending the reach of the blade. Things like that. Of course, because of how a person learns magic through a grimoire, these techniques can and will very widely between users, even to the point that 'spells' learned from the same line of text would look and act completely different.

Besides that, he'd also continue to practice his Projection and Reinforcement magic. Now that he knew the proper way to access his magical energy and feed it into a spell, said spells had become much easier to perform. For Reinforcement magic, a spell that was easy in theory and difficult in execution, continued practice would be key. For Projection he would have to continue to experiment, but he'd also start to learn from the grimoire concerning Material Transmutation as soon as possible, as some of the material contained in that grimoire might be useful for his experiments with Projection.

Even as he thought this, his hand closed around the hilt of the Monohoshi-zao, which was sheathed beside his Magic Steel Sword. The motion was a reverent one. When he first laid eyes on the blade, he couldn't believe the information streaming into his mind. He still had trouble believing it. Somehow, someway, a blade that was from his own world, or at least a version of it, had found itself in the list of drop items Naofumi had collected.

Unlike what people who knew a little about Japanese history would suspect, the Monohoshi-zao he was currently carrying with him wasn't the blade of the famous Sasaki Kojirou, the rival of Miyamoto Musashi. This blade just happened to share a name with its famous counterpart recorded in history.

But that was a minor detail. The how, why and what were inconsequential. It was what the Monohoshi-zao represented, what it carried inside of it, that truly mattered: incomparable, god-like skill.

The owner of this blade had been ordinary farmer who grew up alone in the mountains. The man in question had lived alone virtually his whole life, the only contact of note he had with other people being an old master swordsman who taught him the basics of swordsmanship before dying a month after their first meeting of old age. Having nothing better to do besides farming, the man had thrown himself into mastering the blade after the death of his teacher, all the time not spend farming and taking care of his bodily needs being dedicated to swordsmanship and honing a single skill.

Eventually, the man had wanted to be able to cut down a swallow in mid-flight. This would normally be impossible to do for an ordinary human. Swallows are ridiculously fast birds that could move either in a horizontal or vertical fashion in an instant. A slash from a sword is always a straight line. Such an attack would never be able to hit a swallow mid-flight. Then, logically, the only way to hit a swallow mid-flight would be multiple slashes. One slash as a first attack, a second slash to cut the swallow down and a third vertical slash to stop the swallow from escaping upwards.

The only problem was that the speed required to hit the swallow with multiple slashes was beyond human. The slashes wouldn't have to be just fast, but they would have to occur at virtually the exact same time. It was flat out impossible, even with enhanced speed and strength.

But the man had nothing better to do. So he kept at it, practicing swordsmanship and trying to learn the impossible skill of hitting a swallow mid-flight. And, eventually, after decades of trying to learn that singular impossible skill, he had succeeded. Somehow, his swordsmanship had grown so refined that, even without the capability of magic or even the knowledge of its existence, the man could flat out break reality with pure skill.

When the man swung his blade, through his swordsmanship alone, three slashes would slice the air even if he only seemed to swing once. His godlike skill somehow allowed him to transcend space and time, the slash reflected through dimensions to become three simultaneous cuts.

Somehow, someway, through a method that Shirou would never be able to explain, the man had achieved the impossible. And for someone who, at some level, understood that he was chasing after an impossible dream, he couldn't help but be inspired by someone who had similarly strived for, and achieved, the impossible.

That's why he had decided to make the man's skill with the blade his own. Even if he didn't take into account the sheer grace of what the man had attained in his swordsmanship after decades of practice, what the accumulated skill of the man represented was simply too beautiful for him to ignore. Too beautiful and too potentially useful to leave unused. He would make that skill that made the impossible possible his own, and use it to pursue his own impossible dream.

It was all there, in his head. How the man had practiced day in day out and how he had achieved his impossible level of skill. With that knowledge, it should be possible to dissociate the skill of the man from the Monohoshi-zao and make it his own. It would more than likely than not take decades, and maybe he would never succeed, but even a minor improvement in his swordsmanship would be beneficial. Right now, Shirou swung his sword like a caveman: with more than enough strength and speed to sever flesh, perhaps, but utterly lacking in skill and grace.

In that regard, the knowledge and history contained in the Monohoshi-zao was the best teacher he could have ever asked for.

He'd already resolved to practice every night before going to sleep, and get up two hours earlier than normal each day to practice swordsmanship. Combined with the time spent learning how to read fluently, his studies into Magecraft and everything they had to do in order to prepare for the Wave of Calamity, he would have to cut into the time usually used for sleeping if he wanted to make decent progress on all fronts.

Shirou was used to functioning on very little sleep, but even he knew he was pushing it with such full and unpredictable a schedule, but he was determined to increase his abilities on all fronts as much as he could before the next Wave. How many people he could save was, after all, reliant on his own capabilities. He would have to push himself to the edge to maximize his abilities, but also know when to step back, so that he didn't fall over said edge. He would be good to nobody dead.

He just had to trust himself to know where his limits were, and act accordingly.

"Watch out, Naofumi-sama!"

Even though the warning wasn't necessary, Naofumi still appreciated Raphtalia's gesture as the large ant-like monster's claw bounced off his shield. It's attacks weren't effective against him, so he did not have to worry about fighting the monster, but Naofumi was loath to let his guard down.

The ant-like monster, called a Green Fire Worker Ant and about the size of a large dog, clicked its mandibles in annoyance as its attacked bounced off harmlessly.

Naofumi grabbed hold of one of said mandibles and halted the monster in place. Filo took the chance to quickly jump in and crush the bug with a well-aimed kick to its midsection.

"That's the last of them," Shirou said, lowering his bow. All around them, over three dozen slain Green Fire Worker Ants laid still on the ground. The monsters all looked basically the same, but they varied in size from cat-sized to lion-sized.

Ever since setting out from Castle Town, a little less then a week ago, they had fallen into a routine. They would get up early in the morning and immediately set out as soon as they were able. They would take turns driving the carriage to give everyone the chance to continue to study magic and, in Naofumi's case, practice and learn more about potion making. Shirou had also begun practicing swordsmanship with the aid of the knowledge and experience contained in the Monohoshi-zao before they set out each morning and when they stopped traveling in the evening, dedicating several hours each day to it.

Raphtalia had joined his morning and evening practice sessions almost immediately after he'd begun, though Shirou couldn't say he'd been surprised by that. He did his best to impart on Raphtalia what he had learned from the Monohoshi-zao and they often sparred with each other, honing their skill in the use of blades together, day in day out.

But they would stop once every day at around midday. Constantly studying and traveling would wear on them and probably work counter-productively, so they would hunt monsters for an hour or two each day. This way they could blow off some steam and continue raising their Levels. And as they were constantly traveling, each location had wildly differing monsters, which translated into many and varied Weapon Forms and Equip Bonuses for Naofumi to Master.

"Good job, Filo," Naofumi praised.

"Thanks, Master!" Filo cried energetically in her Filolial Queen form. "I really like this gift you bought me. It makes fighting monsters even easier."

Filo kicked her feet as if she was kickboxing. Said feet were adorned by Steel Claws. On the Old Man's suggestion, they had bought the weapon off of one of his acquaintances. It was a fairly mundane piece of equipment, as by the time they had gone to buy it they had already spend most of their cash on other things, but it still raised Filo's offensive ability by a good margin.

"I'm glad you like them," Naofumi said honestly. "Let's gather all the corpses."

They did just that and the Shield Hero absorbed them whole into his shield. He fiddled with his Menu and instructed the Legendary Shield to break the monsters up into pieces and absorb each piece one at a time. The fact that they longer had to do that manually was a boon and a half. The time they saved was substantial, and it meant they no longer had to do the rather unpleasant task themselves.

Requirement met: [Green Fire Worker Ant Shield Unlocked – Base Defence: 8 – Equip Bonus: Defence +4 (mastered)]

Requirement met: [Green Fire Worker Ant Claw Shield Unlocked – Base Defence: 3 – Equip Bonus: Attack +2 (mastered)]

Requirement met: [Green Fire Worker Ant Meat Shield Unlocked – Base Defence: 5 – Equip Bonus: Cooking +2 (mastered)]

Requirement met: [Green Fire Worker Ant Plate Shield Unlocked – Base Defence: 10 – Equip Bonus: Defence +7 (mastered)]

Requirement met: [Green Fire Worker Ant Pincer Shield Unlocked – Base Defence: 4 – Equip Bonus: Agility +5 (mastered)]

"Good, that's done," Naofumi said. "Let's continue. Where to?"

"I'd imagine they might have a nest somewhere around here like regular ants," Shirou mused. "That would be a good hunting ground, if we can find it."

Filo sniffed the air, doing a passable impression of a hunting hound. "This way," she pointed with her wing to the north. "I can smell that the bugs came from this direction."

They followed after Filo, trusting her to guide them to their next quarry. They'd ended up in a forest which was, in a word, crawling with Green Fire Worker Ants. Every few paces they would run into one or a group of the buggers. More often then not, Naofumi had to react quickly or make use of his Skills in order to defend himself and his party from a sudden attack launched from behind a tree or a bush, or an assault from the air as the ants dropped from the canopy.

Still, after the first attack by the ants had been weathered, the danger had effectively passed. The unusually large green ants weren't particularly fast, their attack was average, and while their defence was above average thanks to their chitinous armor, Filo's, Raphtalia's, and Shirou's attack power was high enough that a good hit or two would kill the monsters, or at least render them unable to fight.

"Master, over here," Filo beckoned them over, and they settled behind some bushes.

They cautiously peered through the shrubbery. On the other side was large open clearing, ringed by trees. A large hill, free of grass or any green dominated the clearing. Said hill was decorated with over a dozen holes. A large horde of monstrous ants were streaming out of those holes and assembling in the clearing.

These ants appeared a little different compared to the ants they had been fighting until now, though. A quick look with their Status Magic answered the unasked question.

[Green Fire Soldier Ant Lv: 16]

"Soldier ants," Raphtalia mused. "They must have gotten warning that we were approaching and are gathering here to protect their nest."

"What do we do?" Shirou asked. "There's a whole lot of them, and in such an open field, they'd have the advantage. They could gang up on us twelve to one. A fight in the forest would not be particularly better either. They are more at home there then we are."

"…I've got an idea," Naofumi said, hand dipping into his satchel. "Here's what we'll do."

The Shield Hero handed out multiple items to his party and briefly discussed his plan. After that, they quickly split up, using the surrounding greenery to move about unseen. The only one to stay put was Naofumi, who simply counted down the second. After he had finished counting, he stepped out from the shrubbery.

And immediately became the focus of a small army of Green Fire Soldier Ants.

Immediately, one of the lead soldier ants screeched and led the charge towards the stationary Shield Hero.

Naofumi raised his shield. "Meteor Shield."

A barrier of light extended from the Shield Hero in every direction, enclosing him a protective sphere that covered 5 meters in al directions. But he wasn't done yet.

"Air Strike Shield. Shield Prison."

An ethereal shield manifested outside the barrier of light, a sphere of shields tied down by chains following a moment later. Both were outside the Meteor Shield, one on the right and one on the left. These obstacles restricted the soldier ants area of approach and restricted the surface area of the Meteor Shield they could attack, funnelling them directly towards Naofumi instead of spreading out and attacking the Shield Hero from all directions.

The tide of the soldier ants slammed into the Meteor Shield, some of them crawling over each other in an effort to reach their target. They slammed their heads against the barrier in a wild frenzy, struck it with their claws, bit at it with their mandibles, trying to tear down the barrier as quick as possible. And they were doing significant damage. Unfortunately for them, they just weren't fast enough.

Shirou, Raphtalia and Filo erupted from the treeline in three different directions. With quick, looping strides they closed the distance, all three of them clutching something spherical. Some of the soldier ants noticed their approach, but by then it was too late.

Knowing what was about to happen, Naofumi quickly pulled out one of his concoctions and threw it on the ground in front of him. A wall of thick ice erupted into existence, a physical shield for what was about to happen.

"Now!" Shirou shouted and threw whatever it was he was carrying.

Filo and Raphtalia copied his actions. Three spherical Incendiary Bombs, an special kind of concoction that Naofumi had made, arched in the air and disappeared into the mass of writhing soldier ants. Three consecutive explosions of force, heat and fire detonated inside of the ranks of the soldier ants, the sheer explosive force blowing off limbs and sent the shattered remains of the soldier ants flying through the air. Those that didn't get sent flying were cooked inside their chitinous armor, their flesh rupturing as their internal juices boiled and swelled grotesquely.

The Meteor Shield shattered instantly. The Air Strike Shield and the Shield Prison had focused the explosions from the Incendiary Bombs inward and towards the wall of the Meteor Shield, but the ice barrier shielded Naofumi from the heat and concussive force.

Ice, after all, was much harder to break then most people gave it credit for.

Naofumi would have used the Incendiary Bombs himself, but the explosive force of such contraptions was depended on the Stats of the user. The higher one's Attack Stat, the more explosive force a bomb could produce and the more damage it did. If Naofumi himself used the Incendiary Bombs he'd barely be able to produce a firecracker worth's of explosive force. Again, this world's asinine rules made a solution that could have made one of Naofumi's problems moot unusable.

On the other hand, Shirou, Raphtalia, and Filo had very high attack power. In their hands, the bombs were deadly weapons.

Once the fire and smoke of the explosions disappeared, a mess of blown off body parts, blood and scorched earth was revealed. They didn't give themselves the chance to feel queasy at the sight, they still had the nest, and whatever still dwelled inside of it, to deal with.

Luckily, they had a plan for that as well.

They rushed for the nest next, after a quick rendezvous with Naofumi who quickly handed out more of his contraptions and concoctions. They rushed towards the nest and threw these contraptions and concoctions into each and every hole before reinforcement could emerge, and quickly made distance again.

And what exactly did they throw into the ant's nest? The first object was a poison mist concoction, one that was made from a choice mixture of herbs, bushes and mushrooms that were fairly common in the wild. The separate parts weren't all that dangerous on their own, but together they made a deadly concoction.

And the second object? That was another Incendiary Bomb, meant to light the underground tunnels ablaze and collapse them, trapping the ants inside with the poison gas. It would be a fatal one two punch that would hopefully destroy the entire colony in one fell swoop.

Both these objects were hurled down every hole leading inside the nest, and moments later several loud thumping sounds were heard and the ground underneath their feet trembled a little. For a brief moment nothing happened, then in the corner of their vision numbers started appearing, their Status Magic showing them their EXP gains. These numbers appeared rapid fire, one after the other, a mass amount of EXP being gained as underneath their feet the Green Fire Ants died en masse, stuck as they were inside of their nest with collapsed tunnels, fire and poison gas.

"It's working, Master!" Filo said joyfully. "We're gaining a lot of EXP! I think I'm about to Level Up!"

"Good plan, Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia added, relaxing a little.

"Guys," Shirou jumped in, a weary edge to his voice as the ground underneath their feet started to tremble more and more. "I don't think we're quite done yet."

The nest of the Green Fire Ants started to shake, bits of dirt falling and sliding of from the bare anthill. Then the top all but exploded, and a massive green ant appeared. It looked the same as the ants they had been fighting so far, but it was much bigger, almost the size of a house, and while it's head an torso appeared fairly normal, its hindquarters were relatively much bigger compared to the rest of its body. The chitinous armor plating covering its body also appeared much thicker, covering even more of its body than it had on the soldier ants.

[Green Fire Queen Ant Lv: 30]

"Of course it wouldn't be that easy," Naofumi hissed to himself. "Everyone, come back here! Meteor Shield!"

Everyone quickly ran back to the Shield Hero, taking shelter underneath the barrier of light that had been deployed.

And not a moment to soon. The Green Fire Queen Ant manifested insectoid wings and took flight, releasing a screech that caused an ache in their bones. The Boss Monster opened its mouth wide and showed why it and its kin were called Green Fire Ants as it spat a pillar of green fire at them.

The Meteor Shield tanked the attack head on admirably, even as the air inside started to heat up. The green fire dissipated after a long minute, having done no harm, but seeing that it's ranged attack had failed, the Green Fire Queen Ant decided to charge at them.

"Air Strike Shield!"

The Green Fire Queen Ant struck the ethereal shield head on with a resounding gong, but the barrier held, even as cracks webbed throughout.

Shirou ran to the side, remaining under the Meteor Shield, but allowing him to shoot around the Air Strike Shield. He pulled back the bowstring, notched an arrow and fired into the Boss Monster's side. The Steel Arrow, shot by the Magic Willow Longbow, was a powerful weapon. It punched through the chitinous armor of the Green Fire Queen Ant with relative ease, sliding in deep and releasing a spray of vicious looking blood.

The Green Fire Queen Ant shrieked and flapped its wings, climbing high into the air in an effort to get outside of Shirou's firing range.

"Filo!" Raphtalia shouted.

"Get on, Onee-chan!" Filo crouched down and allowed the demi-human to mount her.

Raphtalia drew her Mithril Longsword. "Let's go!"

Filo immediately took off running, strafing to the side, leaping into a tree before jumping once again to gain even greater height. "Master, give me a foothold!"

"Shield Prison!" Seeing as the cooldown for Air Strike Shield hadn't run its course quite yet, Naofumi defaulted towards Shield Prison.

Said prison of shields manifested in mid-air. Filo landed on it and promptly leaped again, and with a few flaps of her wings they now soared above the Green Fire Queen Ant. Filo came down on the boss monster with bone breaking force, her Steel Claws stabbing in deep.

Shirou, meanwhile, hadn't halted his attack. Arrow after arrow tipped with steel punched into the abdomen and side of the Green Fire Queen Ant, doing damage with each hit and wearing the monstrous queen ant down.

The Green Fire Queen Ant, however, did not react as expected. Instead of trying to shake Raphtalia and Filo off or try and rise in spite of the enemies on its back, it allowed itself to drop like a rock and slammed into the ground.

At that moment, the soil developed sharp spikes.

"Shit!" Shirou swore. "Everyone, watch o-"

The spikes of hardened rock erupted out of the ground like lances. It was an indiscriminate attack that targeted everything around the Green Fire Queen Ant. Mimicking the shrapnel in a hurricane, the earthen spikes decimated the surroundings, shredding said surroundings in a gruesome display.

Shirou dove behind Naofumi, which ended up being a wise decision. The Air Strike Shield and the Meteor Shield, both having already received significant punishment, shattered almost immediately in the face of the sudden barrage.

The Shield Hero protected his body as much as he could behind his shield, but more than a few of the earthen spikes struck his body directly. Lances of pain erupted all over him. His Defence was strong enough to keep him mostly safe, but he still took damage. Even if the spikes did not manage to pierce his flesh, the sheer force they hit him with still managed to hurt him.

"Raphtalia! Filo!" Naofumi ignored the pain and shouted into the curtain of dirt the attack had thrown up. "Are you two all right!"

"We're fine!" Raphtalia shouted back, which was followed by the sound of flesh being pierced and an unholy screech.

The screen of dirt parted to reveal Raphtalia, having stabbed the Green Fire Queen Ant in the back of the head with her sword. Said monster was trashing and screeching wildly, but the demi-human merely stabbed her sword deeper and viciously twisted the blade. Filo added to its misery by kicking the Boss Monster's back again and again, the hits strong enough to crater its chitinous armor.

Luckily, the Fire Green Queen Ant's attack had targeted everything around it. So, Raphtalia and Filo, who were on its back, had been safe.

Not succeeding in shaking off Raphtalia and Filo with its trashing, the Fire Green Queen Ant rolled onto its back. Raphtalia and Filo were forced to vacate their position lest they be crushed underneath the monster. Rolling back onto its feet, the Fire Green Queen Ant spat out another pillar of flame.

"Meteor Shield," Naofumi quickly deployed the barrier of light again, Raphtalia and Filo running back and getting underneath its protective envelope. The green fire washed over the barrier harmlessly.

"Anyone wounded?" Shirou asked, trying to take stock of the situation.

"I'm fine," Raphtalia answered.

"Me too!" Filo added.

"A few scratches, but nothing serious," Naofumi said last.

The Green Fire Queen Ant stopped its attack, its green flames cutting out. The Green Fire Queen Ant had once again taken to the air, but they noticed something else more alarming.

"More enemies," Raphtalia hissed. Indeed, various classes of Green Fire Ants were clawing their way out of their destroyed nest. There were only a dozen now, but more and more kept appearing. Most of them also appeared injured, but she very much doubted that would halt them from attacking. She was proven right a moment later when the Green Fire Queen Ant released another screech, the underlings taking it as a signal to rush towards them.

Naofumi made a split second decision. "I'll distract the big one, you three try and down the small fry as quickly as possible!"

In the middle of a battle, there was little time for strategizing. More often then not, you had to think on your feet, and as the others didn't have a better idea, they nodded their heads and agreed to the rather sudden change in tactics. The sudden change in the situation warranted it.

Shirou, Raphtalia and Filo charged towards the small army of Fire Green Ants. Naofumi, meanwhile, ran to the other side, raised his shield over his head, using a Skill he'd gained from one of the shields in the Old Man's shop. "Hate Reaction!" Energy that was faintly tinged red lashed out in every direction from him. In game terms, it would be a Skill that drew aggro from surrounding enemies and made them focus on the user. Its effective range was fifty meters, and because Naofumi had run in the other directions from the horde of smaller threats, the only enemy that was effected by said Skill was the Green Fire Queen Ant.

Said queen monster reacted instantly. It gave another bone aching screech and started chasing after the Shield Hero, spitting its signature green fire.

"Meteor Shield," Naofumi refreshed the barrier of light. It had fast become his favourite barrier Skill in his arsenal. Not only was it every bit as strong as the Air Strike Shield, it would remain in effect until it broke, and said barrier would move with him as he himself moved. The fact that it allowed him and his party members to attack from inside of it without impediment was just the icing on the cake.

The green pillar of fire washed over the Meteor Shield, doing little. The Fire Green Queen Ant made a noise of surprise as its target unexpectedly started running straight through its attack.

As he ran, Naofumi's hands dipped into his satchel. His attackers might be busy dealing with another threat, but that didn't mean that he was helpless to strike back. "Open up, you ugly bug!" he shouted, pulling out and flinging a glass bottle filled with red powder the moment he broke through.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the clearing, close by the destroyed nest, Shirou and Raphtalia stood back to back, guarding each other as a small army of Green Fire Ants surrounded them. Filo was running all over the battlefield, using her incredible speed to dart in, kill one of the ants with a single kick before darting back to safety with the self-same speed. The sheer speed she was moving at gave her kicks incredible weight. To the point that the Green Fire Ant hit by it would all but explode.

Shirou and Raphtalia didn't have that advantage. They were quick, yes, but not Filo levels of quick. But their swordsmanship had improved markedly over the last week of travel now that they used actual stances, footwork, practiced sword swings, blocks and very basic combos. It was still very much rudimentary, but as they deflected the ants haphazard attacks and struck back with confidence, no one could deny that their practice, little as it had been, had been beneficial.

"Yah!" Raphtalia let out a battle cry. She shifted out of the way of a claw strike, before slicing off the offending limb. The Green Fire Soldier Ant gibbered angrily, before the return slice split open its forehead and killed it. Behind her, Shirou's sword moved blindingly quickly, striking the Green Fire Ants before they had properly even begun to attack. They approached, found the limb they went to strike with severed, before receiving a solid strike in return that either crippled or killed them. Those few who actually managed to attack found their attacks blocked before suffering a similar fate.

With the two demi-humans guarding each other's back, restricting how many enemies could gang up on them at once, and protecting the other's blind spots, they should be perfectly fine so long as they didn't tire or made an egregious mistake.

Keyword being should.

It happened in a split second. One moment, Raphtalia was swinging her sword, the next, there was a whooshing sound followed by a dull thunk. "Ah!" Raphtalia let out a cry of alarm, a thin length of metal sticking out of her elbow. It was like a needle, and it had stabbed in deep. It didn't do a lot off damage, but Raphtalia's arm lost all power in an instant, and her sword fell from her nerveless fingers.

The Green Fire Soldier Ant she had been facing, one she had been moving to block, found its attack to suddenly be unobstructed. Its swinging claw stabbed into her stomach with a squelch.

"Raphtalia!" Shirou immediately noticed his party member's distressed state, shoved away the duo of Green Fire Soldier Ants he had been tangling with, and moved to aid his companion. But there was another dull sounding whoosh and thunk sound, and Shirou slipped and fell as another needle found its mark into the side of his knee.

The Green Fire Ants surrounding them took the opportunity for what it was, and pounced on them as one. The two demi-humans disappeared into the mass of angry, gibbering insects.

"Onii-Chan! Onee-Chan!" Filo screamed and moved to aid, but before she could do so a spherical object rolled into her path.

And then exploded.

In the distance, where Naofumi had been fighting, there was yet another explosion.

In the mass of Green Fire Soldier Ants, Shirou had thrown himself atop of Raphtalia who'd managed to free herself from the claw stuck in her stomach. Blows rained down on them constantly, deep and bleeding gashes springing into existence on Shirou's back and limbs as he tried to protect Raphtalia as best he could.

"Shirou!" Raphtalia cried, but her eyes widened when Shirou's arm closed around her stomach.

Shirou gritted his teeth at the pain as he braced himself onto the ground. His Magic Circuits spun up, producing magical energy, which he then forced into his leg muscles. That was the only thing that actually made it possible for his nerveless leg to move. And then he leaped, the ground underneath them cratering a little as he jumped with all his might.

The Fire Green Ants atop of them were blown away as the two all but erupted out of the horde of monstrous ants. They soared higher and higher, and Raphtalia looked on wide-eyed as they'd gained quite a bit of air and distance, the Green Fire Ants ten feet below them.

Shirou pulled out one of his last Incendiary Bombs out of his bag and unceremoniously let it drop towards the ground. "Brace yourself!" he shouted, hugging Raphtalia close to him, who similarly held on to him as they began to drop again.

The Incendiary Bomb detonated the very second it reached the mass of Fire Green Ants, their death throes and screeches lost in the concussive explosion and the roar of the flames. The shockwave sent Shirou and Raphtlia, who had been falling towards the ground, tumbling in mid-air. The explosion was not strong enough to sent them flying, but the demi-humans were displaced by the up and close shockwave as insectoid body parts, flames and dirt scattered through the air.

The wind whistled in their ears and the ground approached quickly. Instinctively, Shrou tucked and rolled the moment they struck the ground, taking Raphtalia with him in the movement, slowing them down and shedding momentum in a way that saved them a few broken bones.

Both Shirou and Raphtalia coughed and hacked for air as they came to a sudden stop, trying to orient themselves. Scrambling to get his feet under him, Shirou pulled out a Healing Potion out of his bag that miraculously hadn't shattered. Quickly looking around to make sure that there were no enemies close enough to attack them, he was about to offer the Healing Potion to Raphtalia, only to see that she had already pulled out one of her own Healing Potions from her bag and was downing it, her free hand yanking the needle out of her arm.

Thankfully, her armor had protected her from the worst of it. The claw had only managed to sink in about an inch or so into Raphtalia's stomach before halting, not hitting anything important. It was a wound that a good quality Healing Potion could deal with, and with relative ease.

Seeing that she was fine, he chugged his own Healing Potion as quickly as possible and pulled out the needle stuck in his leg. The cuts all over his body started to mend rapidly. Moreover, he could feel his damaged leg muscles start to heal just as quickly. Using Reinforcement on his own body instead of on an object was something he had barely even practiced, and had been a move of desperation. The fact that he got away with only some damaged muscle tissue, instead of ruptured muscles was lucky to say the least.

"We must meet back up with Filo and Naofumi-sama!"

Shirou agreed immediately and handed over his Magic Steel Sword to Raphtalia. "Here! I will use my bow instead," he said, pulling out his bow and notching a Steel Arrow.

They had just suffered a sneak attack obviously meant to lead to their deaths. Some quick thinking and equally quick action had saved them, but Filo and Naofumi had, if the explosions they had heard weren't their imagination, also been attacked by their unknown assailant. They had to make sure that they were alright and render aid if needed. Besides that, Naofumi's abilities were the only thing that could realistically keep them safe from further sneak attacks.

Understanding each other's thoughts and the best course of action, they started running to where they had last seen their other party members.

"Out of our way!" Raphtalia shouted as a duo of lion-sized Green Fire Soldier Ants moved to attack them. The last Incendiary Bomb had killed most of the remaining Fire Green Ants, which had already been significantly reduced before then, but it hadn't killed all of them. A few of them remained, having been scattered over the clearing by the explosion.

One of them died before they could even get close, a steel tipped arrow punching through the roof of its mouth as it was about to release a screech. Said arrow punched straight through its skull, and the insect monster collapsed like a morbid doll.

And the other one? That one was crushed like, well, like a bug as something heavy came down on it from above and squished it. Something that was large, round and covered in white feathers.

"Filo!" Shirou shouted, relieved. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Onii-chan!" Filo gave a salute with her wing, even as her front bore black scorch marks. "There's no way some little explosion could ever hurt Filo! And you two? I was soooo worried when I saw those nasty ants swarm all over you both."

"We're fine. Shirou got us out of there and we've already drank some Healing Potions," Raphtalia assured. "But never mind that. We need to get to Naofumi-sama!"

"Get on, then," Filo turned around and crouched, and Shirou and Raphtalia quickly clambered onto Filo's back. She was by far the fastest, after all.

The sped off towards Naofumi, ever watchful for more sneak attacks, but none seemed to be coming. A few of the remaining Green Fire Ants tried to waylay them, but Filo literally ran them over as she headed towards the location Naofumi had been fighting.

Said Shield Hero came to a rolling stop in front of them a second later.

"Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia cried in alarm, only for Naofumi to clamber to his feet and raise his shield.

"Meteor Shield!" he activated his favourite Skill, and the barrier of light enclosed all of them, keeping them save, for now at least.

"Are you all right, Master?" Filo asked as Raphtalia and Shirou dismounted from her.

It was a good question. Naofumi's armor, limbs and face all bore scorch marks and burns, and he was panting something fierce, but Naofumi didn't answer immediately. Instead, he pulled out a Healing Potion and downed it. "The damn bug hits like a truck," Naofumi swore as the burns covering his face and limbs started to heal.

"What happened, Naofumi-sama?" Raphtalia asked, looking a little pale.

"The exact same what I am guessing happened to you guys. Someone just tried to get me killed," Naofumi snarled. "Meteor Shield was keeping that green fire at bay, but someone used an explosive, maybe even several, to destroy the barrier and leave me vulnerable. Thank god I still had my other Skills on standby, or it could have been much worse."

"What do we do now?" Filo asked, worried. "We could be attacked at any moment and from any direction without any warning. It's totally unfair!"

"We must first take out all the ants. If we take out the other threats first, it will be safer to search for and defend against whoever just attacked us," Shirou reasoned, already aiming an arrow at the quickly approaching Green Fire Queen Ant.

"You heard him," Naofumi said, quickly agreeing with Shirou. "Filo, Shirou, you two are the only ones with ranged attacks. Take out the Green Fire Queen Ant as quickly as possible before the Meteor Shield breaks! I'll keep a lookout for anymore sneak attacks and defend all of us. Raphtalia, you make sure that the small fry don't bother us!"

"I'm on it," Raphtalia acknowledged, running towards the edge of the barrier. Unnoticed by anyone, she was sweating heavily.

"Shirou, here," Naofumi handed Shirou another Incindiary Bomb. "You've got the best aim. Use it when you see an opening."

Shirou nodded at the instruction and secured the contraption to his belt before drawing his Magic Willow Bow and notching a Steel Arrow.

Filo opened her beak wide, air gathering in front of it. "Faust Wind Sphere!" she intoned as a swirling sphere of piercing wind formed in front of her beak. She fired it straight at the Green Fire Queen Ant, Shirou firing arrow after arrow besides her. One of said well-aimed arrows struck the Boss Monster in the eye, which screeched at the pain, and only started to screech even louder as Filo's spell struck its torso, its chitinous armor doing little to defend it as the sphere of wind dug deep into its flesh.

Enraged at the pain, the Fire Green Queen Ant dropped to the ground, spikes erupting like darts out of the soil. Not done yet, the Boss Monster opened its mouth and spat its signature green flames as it charged straight towards them, following after the veritable wave of spikes.

Wind Sphere after Wind Sphere and arrow after arrow struck the Green Fire Queen Ant, piercing in deep and blowing of chunks from its body, but the monstrous ant showed little signs of slowing down or stopping.

"Air Strike Shield! Shield Prison!" the two barrier Skills formed in a single line, the Shield Prison in the front and the Air Strike Shield in the back, both barriers having manifested in front of the Meteor Shield. The earthen spikes mostly glanced off the Shield Prison's curved surface. Even as more than a few struck the Air Strike Shield and Meteor Shield, the damage was superficial. At full strength, the barrier Skills could take it no problem, but then green fire washed over the Shield Prison, and the first barrier started to buckle underneath the strain.

And it did buckle when the Fire Green Queen Ant smashed into it full force, the Boss Monster bashing its way through. But then it struck the Air Strike Shield, and its forward momentum was halted. And all the while, Shirou and Filo continued with their ranged attacks, wearing the Fire Green Queen Ant down with each solid hit.

Shirou was about to fire another arrow, but a sudden wave of dizziness halted him. Reaching up, he realized that his forehead was matted with sweat and that he was burning up something fierce. His eyes widened in realization. "Raphtalia! Those needles, they were-"

"Poisoned, I know!" Raphtalia shouted back. She had realized it just a moment ago as well when her footing suddenly faltered as she was warding the few remaining Green Fire Soldier Ants away from inside the Meteor Shield, stabbing her sword through it and remaining safe underneath the barrier of light. If it hadn't been for that, she might have taken another nasty injury. "Quick, drink an Antidote!" she advised, she herself having one in hand and pulling out the stopper.

Shirou was already chugging an Antidote down, even as his mind wandered briefly. A sudden sneak attack in the middle of a battle, with a dose of slow-acting poison on top of that. In the event they had survived said sneak attack, they might still lose their lives if they were still fighting and the poison kicked in full force at an inopportune moment. Or if their Antidotes weren't capable of curing them. And that wasn't even mentioning the explosives. Whoever was behind all this, they really wanted all of them dead.

He discarded the now empty bottle, immediately starting to feel better as the Antidote did its work. Before he could start firing again, though, the Fire Green Queen Ant flapped its wings and retreated a little, clearly intent on gathering its strength and attempting another ramming manoeuvre.

"Naofumi, the moment it charges, drop the Air Strike Shield!" Shirou shouted as a sudden idea struck him.

"What?! Are you mad!" Naofumi exclaimed, though he didn't take his eyes off of their enemy.

"Trust me! I need a clean shot!"

Naofumi's eyes briefly darted to Shirou, and then seemed to realize what the demi-human had in mind. "Fine, but if this goes wrong, I'm holding you accountable! Get ready! Here it comes!" his eyes shifted back to the Fire Green Queen Ant just as it began its charge.

Closer and closer the Boss Monster came, building up more and more momentum as its insect wings propelled it forward, speeding up with each repetition. A bulldozer would have been sent flying if it had been struck by the Fire Green Queen Ant's charge.

"Now!"

Which made it all the more surprising for it when the barrier it was intent on ramming and flattening abruptly disappeared. It made the oddly human gesture of opening its mouth in surprise.

"Yah!" A battle cry escaped Shirou as he flung the Incendiary Bomb Naofumi had given him. With his dead on aim, said spherical device disappeared into the open gullet of the Fire Green Queen Ant. The result was obvious.

The Fire Green Queen Ant exploded in a shower of blood, viscera, gore and fire. Its entire head and torso had been completely shredded, laying in meaty chunks all over the clearing, dripping off of the Meteor Shield. The Fire Green Queen Ants hindquarters laid on the ground, the few remaining limbs twitching even in death.

"Ugh," Naofumi looked away from the grisly display.

"Gross, Shirou," Raphtalia joined them, having finished off the remaining small fry. "Good job, but gross."

"Looks yummy," Filo licked her beak.

Naofumi felt his stomach roil, but decided to focus on other matters. "Quick, let's search for whoever just attacked us. If they're still here, we might be able to apprehend them."

"Wouldn't it be better if we left and avoided confrontation?"

"If we did that, we will just be giving them a chance to try and get us killed later," Naofumi countered as his eyes darted across the treeline. That, and if they just left, he would lose the chance to absorb the monster corpses and further improve on his shield. It was a minor factor in his reasoning, but it still was valid. "So long as we remain underneath the Meteor Shield and stay on our toes, it should be fine."

"That's true," Raphtalia agreed. "Can we first get my sword back? I lost it in all the chaos, and I'd feel better if I had it back."

"Naofumi-sama, everyone, over here," Raphtalia beckoned them over.

They had been cautiously searching their surroundings for their attacker for the last twenty minutes, remaining in the protective envelope of the Meteor Shield as they searched. This slowed them down, but searching quicker at the expense of safety was not an option. Not with would be assassins around.

Still, their search had paid off, because they had found their would be assassin. The group peered over the shrubbery the person had been hiding behind, and found a person in the exact same get-up as the ninjas they had seen back in Riyute Village. This person was the exact same, decked out in all black clothing that hid their face and body to such an extent that it was impossible to tell if they were male or female.

The only difference was that this ninja was most definitely dead.

He or she laid stock-still on the ground on their stomach. The cause of death was obvious: a fist sized circular hole in the person's back at chest height. The body laid in a massive pool of blood that painted the entire forest floor crimson.

"All this blood," Shirou said grimly. "Whatever did this must blown their heart clean out…"

"What does this mean? What happened?" Filo asked, tilting her head quizzically.

"Impossible to tell," Naofumi said, shaking his head.

"Maybe…the person that tried to assassinate us was themselves assassinated?" Raphtalia suggested.

"It's useless to speculate. We simply don't know enough," Naofumi reiterated. "We don't even know if this is the person that tried to get us killed in the first place."

"What do we do, then?" Raphtalia switched mental tracks.

"…Naofumi, absorb the body into the Legendary Shield," Shirou suddenly suggested.

Naofumi blinked. "What? Are you serious?"

Shirou was adamant. "We can't just leave the body here. It might hold some clues. And I'd rather not stay here longer then necessary. I know that its distasteful, but it's the best option. We can do the same with all the monster corpses and then book it out of here."

Naofumi frowned. "Fine," he relented, reaching for the corpse. Said corpse disappeared in a flash as the Legendary Shield absorbed it. Still, even if he understood the logic, Naofumi felt dirty treating the corpse of a human the same as a monster's. "Done. Now, let's go back for those monster corpses and get the hell out of here."

When they got back to the carriage, they first checked if everything was in order. Shirou in particular was worried that whoever it was that attacked them might have messed with the structural integrity of their carriage in order to cause an accident. Thankfully, they found nothing to be amiss, and the few belongings they had laying around in the carriage were still there. It wasn't a lot of stuff, as their most important belongings they either carried on them or were stored in Naofumi's Item Box, but it was a relief all the same.

They quickly hooked Filo up the carriage and went back on the road. Naofumi, meanwhile, as he was in the driver's seat, had a particular shield equipped. Its Base Defence was low, but its Special Ability Detection (medium) would immediately give a warning if a person or monster came in fifty meters of them if they weren't part of their party.

Inside the carriage, Shirou and Raphtalia sat with their study books in their laps, but one other object laid in between them held all their attention: a pendant made out of a sword, spear and bow. It had been one of the objects that had been on the body of their would be assassin. Naofumi had checked and manifested the items from the Legendary Shield the would be assassin had been carrying.

This pendant in particular painted a likely suspect and motive.

"So," Raphtalia grumbled. "The Church of the Three Heroes is now trying to kill us?"

"I wonder why they waited until now?" Shirou questioned. "Considering their views, I'm honestly not sure why they didn't kill Naofumi the moment they summoned him."

There was a moment of silence.

Naofumi released a sigh from the driver's seat, having been listening in. "Ever since learning about the Church of the Three Heroes I've been asking myself the same thing. If I am the literal devil in their minds, it would make sense to dispose of me immediately, but they didn't do that."

"It's the same as with that assassin," Shirou said. "We simply don't know enough to speculate."

"That's…not completely true," Raphtalia offered hesitantly. "I think I might know why Melromarc and the Church of the Three Heroes didn't kill Naofumi-sama right after summoning him."

Shirou's raccoon ears perked up and Naofumi let out a noise of interest. "Oh, do tell."

Raphtalia squirmed. "I can't be certain, but…I think the reason why they let Naofumi-same live up to now might have been purely political."

"Political?"

Raphtalia nodded. "I don't know all the details, but…Just as how in Melromarc the Sword Hero, Spear Hero and Bow Hero are deified and the Shield Hero is cast of as the devil, there are countries in the world where the situation is reversed. In those countries the Shield Hero is worshipped and the other Heroes are the ones seen as devils."

"Really?" Naofumi asked, his tone of voice indicating his interest.

"Yeah, the Shield Hero is seen as the singular true god in demi-human nations. At least, that's what my parent's always told me," Raphtalia confirmed.

"I see where you're going with this," Shirou mused. "I can't imagine Melromarc having good relations with demi-human countries. The fact that they summoned the Shield Hero, their god, alone might be enough to cause hostilities. If they just outright killed the Shield Hero…"

Raphtalia nodded. "It would probably lead to a war if they had killed Naofumi-sama. But if the Shield Hero died on his own without outside interference…"

"Tch," Naofumi made an angry sound. "So, they were really trying to set me up to die from the start. I mean, the fact that not one of the adventurers that the Trash King provided would party with me, the denial of funds, that Bitch's accusation, it was all in an effort to get me killed," he hissed. "What a load of bullshit."

"That still doesn't quite add up, though," Shirou said, appearing thoughtful. "They still could have got Naofumi killed early on through similar means that they tried today. They didn't have to wait for that until he was capable of defending himself. We have a possible motive for letting for Naofumi live at first, but they had ways around that. I do believe we are on the right track, but there must have been more to it than that," he said, then sighed. "But I have no idea what those reason might be, or why they suddenly changed their mind and are now trying to kill us."

"…Maybe they didn't think Naofumi-sama was a threat?" Raphtalia suggested. "From what Naofumi-sama told us, nearly everyone he met seems to have a low opinion of the Shield Hero and his abilities. If they had something to gain by letting Naofumi-sama live at first, and they didn't think he was a threat, they would have no reason to kill him. But now that Naofumi-sama has proven that he can rather convincingly beat the Spear Hero…He must have become a genuine threat in their eyes."

"That's…damn," Shirou swore, rubbing his temple. "That makes a scary amount of sense."

Naofumi chuckled in self derision. "In hindsight, curb stomping Motoyasu might not have been the best idea."

"I'm sorry, Naofumi," the male demi-human said. "I shouldn't have-"

"Don't you even start, Shirou," Naofumi cut him off. "You might have suggested that duel, but I was the one that agreed to it. And-," he himself was cut off as his shield released a low pitch, grating squeal. The Special Ability Detection (medium) had just been triggered. "We'll continue this talk later. There is someone close by."

While they had been talking, their carriage had been going up a mountain and was approaching a bend in the road. Once they had rounded that bend, they saw a man running up the mountain in the same direction they were going.

Raphtalia and Shirou had joined Naofumi at the front of the carriage. Naofumi, meanwhile, directed Filo to go around the man, but apparently the man had heard the clatter of their carriage's wheels on the road. The man turned around, his eyes went wide, and he stepped directly in the path of their carriage. The man started waving his hands frantically. "P-please!" the man began, heaving for breath and covered in sweat. "Give me a ride on your carriage!"

Despite his misgivings, Naofumi was forced to halt the carriage.

"What's the matter?" Raphtalia asked kindly. The man didn't notice how her hand rested on the hilt of her sword.

"I need to get past this mountain," the man explained, holding up a potion bottle. "I need to get this medicine to my mother as quick as possible. She is deadly ill, and I fear for her life. Please, I'll do anything, just take me back to my village as quickly as possible!"

The man pleaded, bowing his head, but became uncomfortable at the brief silence that followed and the suspicious look he got from Naofumi.

"…Lets take him along," Shirou suggested. "I'll keep a close eye on him."

I know that this might be a trap, but we can't abandon this man if it's not. I will make sure he doesn't pull anything.

Naofumi could practically hear Shirou's thought process. "…Fine," the Shield Hero said grudgingly. "If you try anything, you won't like the results. And I'd expect to be paid for this. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," the man looked faintly disturbed at the clear suspicion he was being treated with, but he did not hesitate getting on to the carriage. The eyes of Shirou and Raphtalia followed him constantly. When he sat down, Shirou and Raphtalia also sat down in such a way that both could constantly keep their gaze on the man. "Just hurry, please. My mother wasn't doing well when I left home…"

Naofumi merely grunted in acknowledgement and directed Filo to start running again. In the blink of an eye, they were speeding up the mountain again.

In the next village over, where they arrived about twenty minutes later, the man led the party to a small house on the outskirts of said village. Strangely, even if it was only late midday, they didn't see anyone out and about on the streets. After letting them in, Naofumi was strangely insistent on following the man into the room the man's sick mother was resting.

"Why don't you go boil some water," Naofumi suggested. "I'll administer the medicine."

"Is that okay?" the man looked faintly uneasy.

"Just go do it already," Naofumi pried the medicine from the man's fingers. "I'll freely admit I am not the kindest person around, but I won't harm or cause harm to a sick Old Lady just because."

After a moment of hesitation, the man stepped out of the room.

Naofumi turned back to the Old Lady laying in bed. Only her head peeked out from under the covers. She was old, at least in her eighties by Naofumi's best guess. Her skin was wrinkled and her hair was stark grey. More importantly, she was panting heavily and curled up in pain.

He held up the medicine, and several pop-ups drifted into his field of vision.

[Skill - Medicine Efficacy Up (small)]

[Skill - Medicine Efficacy Up (medium)]

[Skill - Medicine Efficacy Up (large)]

There was a reason Naofumi had insisted on administering the medicine personally. He had multiple Skills that increased the effectiveness of medicines and potions if he personally administered them. It made logical sense if he was the one to give the Old Lady her medicine. It was just the right thing to do. Moreover, happy customers were known to pay more and put up less of a fuss when paying their dues.

Naofumi carefully propped up the Old Lady and placed the vail of the medicine against her lips. "Here, drink. It will make you feel better."

The Old Lady didn't respond to his words, she simply drank the medicine down with careful sips. Apparently, whatever sickness she had, it was serious enough that responding verbally was too much for her. Still, no matter how serious the disease, the Shield Hero's Skills were not to be underestimated. The Old Lady briefly emitted a faint light, and the pallor of her skin immediately started to improve. Her breathing evened out, and she relaxed measurably, no longer curling up now that the pain had begun to ebb away.

"Thank you, young man," the Old Lady murmured to him, now sitting up on her own power. "I feel much better already."

"Mother!" the man stepped back into the room, a pot of boiling water in his hands. He looked at his mother with wide eyes, stunned at her rapid improvement. "Is the medicine already working?"

The Old Lady nodded and smiled at her visibly relieved son.

"I-I don't know what to say. It's almost like a miracle," the man said, turning to Naofumi and giving a grateful smile.

Naofumi hid his discomfort at receiving honest thanks behind his customary scowl. "We'll call it even so long as you pay up."

"I'll see what I can scrounge up," the man nodded, actually looking happy at having to pay.

Shirou, Raphtalia, and Filo in her Filolial Queen form had been waiting outside. The house they were at was on a fairly large hill on the village's outskirts, and because of this they had a good view of said village and its streets, which were conspicuously empty.

"I wonder where everybody is?" Shirou questioned.

"Maybe they are all eating?" Filo suggested. Leave it to a glutton to always be thinking about food.

Before Raphtalia could give her thoughts, Naofumi stepped out of the house.

"How did it go?" Raphtalia asked.

"Better than it probably had any right to. For an Old Lady, she sure recovered quickly," Naofumi shook his head. "I think that Old Lady scared her son half to death when she got up and started going through some kind of workout routine."

Shirou blinked. "Workout routine?"

"Like something a martial artist would do to warm up their body before training," Naofumi confirmed and nodded. "I think my Skills concerning medicines might be becoming a bit too effective."

"I don't think medicine can ever be considered too effective, Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia said drily.

"I'd have to agree, young lady," the Old Lady said as she stepped out of the house, surprising them.

"Mother, please go back to bed," the man, her son, followed her out of the house, looking a little bit desperate. "You may be feeling better, but there's no way your healthy enough to be moving about."

"Nonsense!" the Old Lady gave a hearty laugh and cartwheeled her arm in a show of vigour. "I feel a decade or three younger! I haven't been this healthy in years!"

"Huh?" the man appeared nonplussed. "But the potion I bought was just average quality medicine…"

"Of course it was. The reason it was so effective wasn't because of the medicine, but because of this young man," the Old Lady directed a smile at Naofumi. "Don't try and deny it. I heard you say as much just now. You have some abilities that make medicine and potions more effective than normal, don't you?"

The man's eyes widened. "So, that's why you insisted on administering the medicine personally?"

"…Yeah," Naofumi nodded. Like the Old Lady had said, there was no reason to deny it now that they had heard him confirm it. "I do have some training as an Apothecary, and I also have some abilities in that vein."

"Considering that, I am certain that there are more people in this village that would like to make use of your services, young man," the Old Lady said, then shook her head. "But before that, I would like to ask you all something important: did you run into a spot of trouble before arriving here?"

Several eyes widened at the same time.

"A sneak attack, perhaps?" the Old Lady continued to probe. Unnoticed by anyone, her foot was idly playing with a thin length of twig that laid on the ground.

"How do you...?" Naofumi started to ask, trailing off at the smile on the Old Lady's face.

"It's just an educated guess, young man," the Old lady said. "The clear suspicious looks that you in particular keep giving everyone and everything around you. The fact that you and your companion's armor seem to have some damage despite clearly being brand new. And…"

Abruptly, with a speed that startled everybody – even Shirou's eyes weren't capable of following the movements – the Old Lady kicked up the length of twig on the ground. The Old Lady's fingers closed around the twig as it briefly floated in mid-air, and with a spin she launched it towards the treeline that was well over 100 meters away, flinging it as straight as an arrow with all the force of a round fired from a railgun.

In the distance, there was a barely perceivable meaty thunk sound.

"What are you…!" Shirou exclaimed, taking a step back in alarm.

"I'll explain shortly, young man," the Old Lady started walking towards the treeline. Silently, she was telling them to follow her.

The man immediately started to follow his mother, naturally trusting her. They shared a look amongst themselves, briefly debating whether or not to follow, before deciding to head into the forest. They still kept a healthy amount of distance out of precaution.

"Ah, like I expected," the Old Lady said. Ahead of them, a person dressed exactly the same as the dead person they had found after their attempted assassination was up against a tree, the twig the Old Lady had thrown having somehow pierced the person's shoulder and also having pierced deep into the tree behind them, pinning them like a bug on a board.

Said person was struggling to escape, frantically trying to pull the twig out of their shoulder. But the twig had pierced so deep into the tree that it was futile. More noteworthy was that the person, ninja, whatever, was completely silent as they continued to try and free themselves.

The Old Lady let out a sigh. "You damn Shadows, always sneaking and skulking around where you are not wanted. Now, why are you troubling these nice people? Why do you wish them harm? Oh, and don't try and lie. If you had repressed your hostile intent from the start, I wouldn't have been able to perceive your presence."

The pinned so called Shadow remained silent.

"Not going to say anything?" the Old Lady appeared disappointed. "It's always the same with your kind. Not even the threat of death or torture will get you to talk, but I had hoped that I could still end up being surprised in my old age. What a shame."

The Old Lady reached out with her hand and poked at the Shadow's neck with but a single finger. Abruptly, the Shadow stopped struggling and went limp, either out cold or dead.

"I had hoped we might have been able to gain some information, but it appears that isn't in the cards this time," the Old Lady said and turned back towards them.

"Who are you?" Naofumi said without preamble, shield and guard raised.

The Old Lady smiled kindly, her cheeks dimpling. "Just an old woman who has seen and experienced much over her long life. If you and your companions want, I'll even tell you a few things I have learned, including about the people out to hurt you. What do you say? Will you give this old woman the chance to repay the debt I now owe you?"

There was moment of silence.

"…Deal," Naofumi said despite his misgivings. "Then, lets hear what you have to say."