by Aneko Yusagi
Chapter Sixteen: Appointment Arrangements
“Hm…”
I was hiding in the shrubs, observing the situation.
It had been a few hours since we picked up the young princess. We went to nearby village, and now we were hiding out to see what would happen. The village wasn’t far from the village where we had fought with the Zombie Dragon.
Turns out, those knights were telling the truth.
“The Shield Demon, Naofumi Iwatani, has savagely murdered a group of royal guards, abducted the princess, and is running lose. He is wanted dead or alive. A reward…”
There were already bulletins pasted around town detailing my crimes and the promised rewards for my capture. There were soldiers walking through town and shouting about it.
It had only been a few hours, so it was impressive that they had managed to pull all this off.
They had said that everything had been set up from the beginning. People that came after us were volunteer soldiers, and they did so thinking they would be captured or killed. Back in my own world, I’d heard there were people who would wrap themselves around bombs and attack people—thinking they would go to heaven for it. So this world didn’t have a monopoly on crazy fanatics.
“What became of those knights is recorded in a crystal ball, taken at the end of their lives. The soldiers that brought this recording to the castle died from their wounds shortly after delivery.”
And that wasn’t all. The recording they spoke of worked something like a hologram.
They’d manipulated my face into an aggressive frown, made it look like I was covered in blood, and paused the scene at one particular moment so that it looked like I had my arm hooked around the princess’s neck.
They were capable of some impressive forgeries.
Even though they had scampered off like rabbits with that crystal ball, here they were making it sound like I’d butchered them.
They looked pretty healthy last I saw.
Still, it wasn’t like they could completely fabricate the data. If you looked close, the princess’s face didn’t look like I was chocking her—more just that she was surprised by something. But still—if they could make up a forgery like this, why did they go through all the trouble of trying to kill her in front of me? I didn’t get it.
“He is moving with a large carriage, which he has pulled by an evil, strange bird-demon. If you see him, immediately contact the nearest official guards.”
Filo was in the hologram too. They’d manipulated her face so she looked like an angry hawk, and they’d made it look like she was spitting poison. Well good for her. In this forgery, she could spit poison—just like she’d always wanted.
But if people were looking out for Filo, that would make it harder to get around. On second thought though, maybe I could use Filo to draw the attention away from the rest of us.
“Understand what I mean, Filo? We’re traveling separately from here on out.”
“No!!
I finished checking out the village, and went back to see everyone. I told Filo that she stood out too much, so we were going to have to split up. Filo would pull the carriage and draw everyone’s attention while the rest of us snuck away. Then Filo could ditch the carriage and catch up with us at her natural speed. She wouldn’t have a carriage or any luggage, so she’d be able to run pretty fast.
I explained my plan to her, but all she did was complain.
“There’s no other way, you stand out too much.”
All I meant was that she was a pretty rare kind of monster. She was known around the country as the bird-god, so she was practically a target.
“I just have to look different when people are around, right? I can do that!”
“How are you…”
But before I could finish speaking Filo started to glow, and she began to transform.
Why did she bother? She was just going to have some stupid idea, like pulling the carriage in her human form. That’s what I was thinking anyway, but her neck and legs started stretching.
“Gweh!”
She looked something like a large ostrich—or actually, she just looked like an ordinary Filolial.
Though she was still larger than a normal Filolial.
“So you can turn into one of them?”
“Gweh!”
She gave a heavy nod.
“Why are you clucking like a bird?”
“Gweh!”
“I guess she can’t talk when she’s in that form.”
Hm… I guess that meant she didn’t like being stuck in a normal Filolial body.
“Wow, Filo! That’s amazing!”
The princess was very excited, and her and Filo were practically jumping up and down.
“Gweh.”
You know, if she was spitting poison, maybe it meant that I wouldn’t have to listen to her shrill cries anymore.
“Stay like that from now on. Then we can enjoy the quiet.”
“Gweh!”
Slam! She raised a foot and wrapped her claws around my head. Filo and Raphtalia basically never broke any of my rules, so I’d forgotten all about them, but attacking me was definitely breaking a rule. Before I could even move or think, the monster control spell on her began to activate.
“Gweh?!”
“Filo?!”
“Oh come on, what is it now?”
“Don’t be mean to Filo!”
“I’m not. She attacked me, so the monster spell activated. That’s it.”
In a way it was much cuter than having to listen to her whine as a human. I don’t know what Filo wanted, but I would have to say I preferred her new form. The reason pets help people relax is because they don’t talk. If that pet turned into a person and never shut up, well—I don’t think many people would keep pets.
“But it’s hurting her!”
“You reap what you sow.”
“Uh…”
The princess had taken a weird interest in Filo. Was it really just because they could talk as friends?
“Anyway, stay in that form at least for a little while. At least until we can be sure we are safe.”
I’d been able to keep her hidden up until now, pretending to be a saint and all that. I’m sure it would work itself out.
“Raphtalia, as for you, maybe you could mess up your clothes and, I don’t know… rip your hat or something?”
And so we all hid in the carriage that Filo pulled. Raphtalia changed her clothes, Filo changed her body, and Mel and I stayed hidden.
The carriage rattled down the road, and our straw-laden carriage began its journey to the northeast.
Chapter Seventeen: The Princess’s True Strength
A few days had passed. We spent the days traveling, having Filo in her Filolial form pull the carriage, and we did the best we could to avoid towns and villages on our way to the northeast. We usually slept in the fields or forests. Finally, we were nearing the border.
“Gweh!”
Filo’s cry came shrill and sharp.
Was it an enemy?! Mel and I peeked out from the bundles of straw to get a look.
“Heh, heh, heh… Leave your valuables and be on your way.”
I’d heard that voice before. Sure enough, it was the same group of bandits that attacked us back when we’d travelled with the accessory merchant.
“Can’t you hear? I said LEAVE YOUR VALUABLES! Wait now, what’s this? She’s kind of pretty…”
They were looking at Raphtalia, in her new, dirty clothes. But once they got closer to see her, their faces went white.
“You guys never learn, do you?”
There was no point in hiding any more. I jumped out of the carriage.
Filo, sensing it was okay for her to show her true form, morphed back into the Filolial Queen.
“Are you going to fight?”
The young princess looked very worried.
“We’ll be fine.”
“What? What’s wrong with you guys?”
About two thir
ds of the bandit group hadn’t been there the last time we met up. They were looking around at their pale friends and wondering what all the fuss was about.
“Uh… uh… uh… This guy has a bounty… on his head. If we kill him… we’ll… be heroes.”
The man at the front of the group was trembling and muttering in falsetto.
He looked very shaken, very uncertain.
“Back on your feet already? Considering you lost all your equipment, you’ve really made a quick comeback.”
After hearing what I had to say, the curious members of the group started checking their footing and getting ready for battle.
“You… You just shut up! This is all your fault! We’re working for someone else now, and we’re at the bottom of the barrel!”
“What a shame. Your little group was absorbed into a big, bad, bandit group?”
“Our boss went back to the countryside!”
“Good for him. He managed to wash his hands of your dirty profession.”
“Shut up! We’ll take care of you!”
Everyone readied their weapons and ran at us.
“Filo! Raphtalia!”
“Yes!”
“Okaaay!”
I fell back to protect the princess.
Neither Filo nor Raphtalia were weak enough to be actually threatened by a group of mere bandits.
“Take that!”
A bandit brandished his sword at Filo.
“Filo!”
The princess jumped from the carriage, threw her hands out before her and began chanting.
What? Could she fight?
“I am the source of all power, hear my words and heed them! Shoot a ball of water at them!”
“All Zweite Aqua Shot!”
A large ball of water materialized before her and then split into a number of balls before flying into the enemy. They were all knocked back.
Zweite… I think that meant it was a medium level spell, and the “all” must mean it was plural.
“Ugh!”
“Uwa!”
“Huff…”
All the enemies that were preparing to attack fell to the ground. The attack must have been very strong.
“I am the source of all power. Hear my words and head them! Attack them with a blade of water!”
“Zweite Aqua Slash!”
The princess immediately cast another spell. A ball of water appeared, then elongated in to a sharp blade that flew through the air and sliced through the group of men with a satisfying swish. The men didn’t fall, but a tree behind them split in two and fell with a loud crash.
“I’ll make sure it hits you next time.”
She was breathing hard. It must be difficult to cast magic in succession like that.
“They, they have a witch with them! And she’s powerful!”
“Filo!”
“Okaaaay!”
The bandits were momentarily stunned by Mel’s display, and Filo took the opportunity to rush over and kick them.
“I’m done over here.”
“Not yet!”
I turned to see a pale-faced bandit had snuck behind us in the confusion. He’d climbed onto the roof of our carriage, and was about to leap down onto the princess.
“Air Strike Shield!”
“Ugh!”
He jumped, but the shield appeared below him in mid air, and he fell right into it.
“One more!”
The last bandit standing, probably the weakest among them, ran for the princess.
“Second Shield! Change Shield!”
I called for another shield to appear, used them to stop the running bandit, and then used Change Shield to turn them into Bee Needle Shields. They had a poison effect, which wouldn’t kill the bandit but would paralyze him.
“Ugh… Uh…”
He fell to the ground, twitching.
“They’re still coming.”
Bandits were crawling toward the princess for a surprise attack.
“Nope, we’re done here.”
“Ah…”
Filo’s large shadow fell over the bandits. They must have noticed too. They started crying.
In their hearts they were probably thinking of their last words, or waving white flags.
“I’ll save you, Mel!”
Filo plopped down heavily on the bandits.
“The sun is starting to go down. Perfect timing, guys. Tell us where your hideout is.”
We tied them all up for questioning.
“If we talk, then we’ll…”
“Filo.”
“Over here!”
“Hey! What are you doing?! Don’t tell them!”
Apparently there were still bandits that didn’t understand the situation they were in.
One of the bandits among them, one who we’d run into last time, started furiously trying to explain the situation.
“If you don’t tell them what they want to know, they’ll feed you to the bird!”
“You’re… you’re not serious!”
“You think he looks like he’s joking?”
One of them jerked his head in my direction and asked, “What’s with that one over there? What was with that magic?”
“You don’t know!? That’s the Shield!”
“What?!”
Once they all understood who I was, the whole lot of them turned pale.
“The one with the human-eating demon bird?!”
“Yes! That thing eats you—starting with the head. If it goes after you, you’re as good as dead!”
“Think of your lives! Just give him what he wants!”
I guess the rumors were building on each other now.
Raphtalia, flabbergasted, put her hands against her forehead and sighed.
“If you lie…”
“I know! Please, just let us live!”
They led us to their hideout. Obviously, we took it over.
We stayed the night in their hideout, and entertained ourselves with all their stolen valuables.
Most of it was food. Since we’d been on the road, and sleeping in the wild, our meals had consisted of monster meat—and I was getting tired of it.
When we first entered the hideout, the princess had looked pretty scared. But she warmed up soon enough. We found their gold and valuables, which was mostly money. We took that, rounded up the rest of their stuff, and burned it.
If we had done a less-than-thorough job of disposing of their equipment, they would just take it all back and come after us. The very thought annoyed me.
Though to be honest, I sort of enjoyed the look of disappointment on the bandits’ faces.
“Hey, Princess. I didn’t know you could use magic.”
“I can. I learned it to protect myself.”
“How good are you?
If Mel was able to fend for herself in battle, it would probably be a good idea to go ahead and add her to the party.
“And what level are you?”
“I’m at level… 18. As for magic, I can use pretty much all the mid-level water magic.”
Well that was lower than I had expected. She was a princess, after all. I’d hoped for a higher level.
But she could use mid-level magic.
“And you’re good with water magic?”
“Yes.”
Probably because her hair was blue, that must have something to do with it.
“And I can use a little earth magic too.”
“Really?”
She had a pretty wide repertoire.
“That reminds me—your sister could use wind magic, couldn’t she?”
I didn’t want to remember it. But I couldn’t forget how she’d attacked me from behind during my duel with Motoyasu.
Ugh, just thinking about it put me on edge. Better think about something else.
“My sister? She’s good with fire magic, but she knows a little wind magic too.”
I guess that made sense. She had red hair after all.
“Mother is goo
d at both fire and water magic.”
“Huh… Interesting. Anyway, I’m going to invite you to join the party. Accept it.”
“Okay.”
I wasn’t planning on depending on her in battle or anything. But she would be good insurance to have around. If she was capable of fighting, there was no reason NOT to add her to the party. Even still, I didn’t want to use her in battle if I didn’t have to.
“Um? I was wondering what you did to make father so angry?”
“I guess we never talked about it. It all started when your sister framed me for a crime…”
Over the course of the evening, I explained all the things that the Trash and the Bitch had done to me.
For some reason Filo sat next to me when I talked and followed the whole story as if I was putting on a play. I didn’t mention any of the mistakes we had made.
I didn’t lie about anything either. I just told her exactly what had happened.
I suppose a little of my hatred and irritation found its way into my telling, but I was fine with that. I considered it part of her education.
“Father and Sister are terrible! How could they complain about you after treating you that way?!”
“Right? I feel the same way.”
“Mother always told me to be as nice to you as I could.”
“Huh?”
What was she talking about? Wasn’t the Shield Hero considered a demon by the church? The queen wasn’t part of the religion?
“What’s wrong, Mr. Shield Hero?”
“Nothing. I was just wondering what your mother thinks of me.”
“Hmm… I don’t really know. But she did send a letter to father, asking him to treat the Shield Hero the same way he treats the other Heroes.”
I honestly didn’t know what to make of what she was saying, but it seemed like it was safe to assume that the queen was looking out for me in some way. Regardless, she didn’t actually end up protecting me at all, so in my eyes she was just as bad as the Trash.
“Master… A bunch of stuff happened before I was born, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh?”
The young princess suddenly looked very putout.
“Um… Filo? How old are you?”
“A month and three weeks!”
