by Aneko Yusagi
So by flying, we could ignore troublesome terrain, but fuel efficiency would drop. Yeah, it would probably be best to have Raphtalia and a few of the others stay back at home while we were on the move, although it’s not like there weren’t monsters up in the sky. In fact, Sadeena had already dropped several of them out of the air with her lightning magic.
“Should we return to the village and feed him? Or should we just go kill some random monsters and feed him here?” I asked.
Gaelion was a dragon, right? If I didn’t need to cook the food, then it would probably be quickest to just kill some monsters in the area and he could eat those. If I got lucky, I might even end up getting some new shield materials.
“You want to hunt?” asked Raphtalia.
“Sure, why not?” I replied.
“Then hunting time it is!” Atla shouted. “Do your best, Brother! Let’s give Mr. Naofumi a reason to praise us!”
“A-Atla! Wait! Ugh!” Fohl moaned.
Atla just up and ran off all of a sudden, and Fohl went chasing after her.
“I guess we might as well look for monsters while we’re waiting on Gaelion’s magic power to regenerate,” said Raphtalia.
“Sounds like a plan. Should I go look too?” Sadeena asked.
“I guess it’s settled then, although we could use magic water to forcefully regenerate it,” I said.
I had been making life force water for our training. It restored magic power too, but we needed a lot of it for our training, so I was always worried about my stock. It required more materials to make than one might imagine, and it sold for a pretty good price too. Since I’d taken on Itsuki’s debts, I wanted to avoid being wasteful. It had only been several hours since starting our journey, after all. It probably wouldn’t be good to push too hard right from the start.
“Alright, Gaelion and Wyndia, you two rest and save up energy for the remainder of our flight,” I said.
“Wh ——— ”
“You’re coming too, S’yne. Other than that, we need to think about the weight. From an offensive perspective, I’d like to take Sadeena, but . . .” I trailed off.
“Oh? But?” Sadeena asked.
Hypothetically speaking, if Sadeena lost it and attacked me, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to restrain her with just Gaelion and Wyndia. Wait, why was I worrying about Sadeena anyway?
“Sadeena, surely you wouldn’t attack Mr. Naofumi at a time like this, right?” asked Raphtalia.
“Of course not!” Sadeena replied playfully while shaking her head.
Yeah, I couldn’t believe a word she said. But messing around could’ve gotten us killed, so I’d like to think even Sadeena wouldn’t do anything like that. To be honest, this flying around thing was more troublesome than I’d expected. We had to deal with people getting sick. Also, flying for long stretches was a problem too.
Hmm . . . Maybe it would be better to bring Filo or her underling and travel by carriage, after all. That’s how we’d gotten around in Zeltoble. I guess getting around was still a headache even with a portal skill. I mulled over our options as we headed out to hunt monsters.
“Hmm . . . The monsters around here are different than the ones in Melromarc,” I commented.
“Yeah, they are,” Raphtalia replied.
We’d just killed a monster that resembled a hedgehog. It had a ridiculously long name: zenith blue needle rat. We’d also seen some indigo lizards and a bunch of other monsters that I’d never seen in Melromarc.
Of course, I’d implemented numerous power-up methods, so none of the monsters we ran into presented much of a challenge. Our current party was kind of like an all-star lineup of my best fighters. It would have been worrisome if we had been struggling. And we were still in the fields, so it wasn’t like this was an area where powerful monsters would show up.
Regardless, even weak monsters could unlock new shields with stat boosts. It would be foolish to ignore that. All of the tiny +1 bonuses added up over time. I had a feeling the time was coming when I would need to just travel around the world gathering new monster materials to raise my stats. But for now, I needed to gather materials whenever I had the chance. I absorbed the monster parts into my shield.
“I should have Ren and Itsuki travel around the world, defeating monsters and gathering materials like this too,” I said.
Heroes couldn’t share experience points, but materials were another story. That was another way we could cooperate to help each other.
“Don’t you think we should probably get this Q’ten Lo business taken care of first?” Sadeena asked.
“I th ——— ”
S’yne said something and nodded.
“I guess so. But we need to make sure to do little stuff like that too, or who knows when we’ll end up regretting it. Time is limited, so we can’t afford to waste what little we have,” I said.
S’yne was clapping now. Whose side was she on anyway?
“Being a hero sure is tough,” Sadeena said.
“Yes, those have been my thoughts exactly, ever since I started to use the katana vassal weapon. Just like Glass said, ‘With great power comes great responsibility,’” Raphtalia replied.
That did sound like something Glass would say. I hated to break it to her, but great power was for making sure you got your way. But if I said something like that, it’d just make Raphtalia angry, so I kept my mouth shut.
“In any case, should we go ahead and take what we’ve gathered back to Gaelion and then some of us can head back home?” she asked.
“I guess so. And then I think I’ll have him take us a bit further today. It’s not like he can’t fight while in the air. I’ll just take Wyndia and continue on with the three of us,” I said.
“Understood . . .” Raphtalia replied with a hint of regret in her voice.
“I’d like to stick around and make sure you’re safe since the enemy is after you, but . . .” I added.
“You leave little Raphtalia to me, little Naofumi,” said Sadeena.
She tapped her hand against her chest in a show of confidence. I probably could trust her to keep Raphtalia safe too. Plus, Ren and Itsuki were still back at the village. Raphtalia would probably be a lot safer there than alone with me.
With that in mind, we took the monsters back and fed Gaelion before continuing on with fewer people to make flying easier on him.
It had been around two days since resuming our journey, and there hadn’t been any attacks on the village so far. We’d made it about two-thirds of the way to Siltvelt. At our current pace, we’d probably end up in Siltvelt by tomorrow. We’d basically managed to squeeze a two-week trip into four days. That was fantastic. Gaelion’s flight speed and our portal skills made for a pretty great combination. Of course, Siltvelt wasn’t our final destination, so it wasn’t like our journey had come to an end.
“Kwa! Kwaaa!”
Gaelion had been in a really good mood lately. According to Wyndia, it was because I was giving him more attention.
“Alright, I guess that’s far enough for today. Let’s go ahead and head back to the vil — ”
Just then, I noticed something stirring up a cloud of dust as it barreled toward us from the rear. What now?
“Kwaaaaa!”
Gaelion got into a defensive stance. I shifted my gaze toward the source of the cloud of dust. I was considering using my portal to flee, depending on how things turned out, but . . .
“Aha! I knew that was you, Masteeerrr! Heeeyyy!”
Filo waved to me as she came running up in her filolial queen form.
“Rafuuu!”
Raph-chan was still riding around on Filo’s head, like usual. Seeing her made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. That’s what I was thinking when all of a sudden —
“As the source of your power, I command you! Let the way of the universe be revealed once more! Wash away the abomination that stands before me!”
“Drifa Aqua Blast!”
A magical attack came flying towa
rd me from just behind Filo. Almost completely by instinct, I threw my shield up and batted the attack right back at the caster.
“Whoa!”
The person who had cast the spell dodged their own spell by a hair’s breadth. I’d figured out who the caster was the moment I heard her voice.
“What are you thinking?!” she screamed.
“That’s my line, Melty,” I replied.
“Do you really think that spell was cast for no reason?!” Melty continued.
“Pretty much. Especially with you being the caster,” I said.
“What does that mean?!” she shouted.
Melty glared at me and went on making an annoying fuss. She was the second princess of Melromarc, and she had gone out to level up with Filo. Anyway, my reaction had been spur-of-the-moment, but I’d actually managed to deflect back a magical attack with my shield. Only being able to block got depressing, so maybe that was something I should practice until I could use it at will.
“What are you three doing here?” I asked.
“Hm?” Filo responded, not quite seeming to understand the question.
Had they gone out leveling and ended up running all this way? They sure had come a long way.
“Umm, aaaactually, we were out leveling somewhere else. Buuut then Fitoria showed up! And then a bunch of stuff happened, and she asked us to go find yoooou,” Filo explained.
“What is ‘a bunch of stuff’?” I asked.
I had a feeling I was about to get tangled up in something really bothersome. I guess I’d hear her out and just refuse depending on what it was.
“Rafu!”
“And theeenn, Raph-chan said we would find you if we came this waaay,” Filo continued.
“Ah, I see. I guess Raph-chan can tell what I’m up to even from far away,” I said.
“Rafuuu!” Raph-chan squeaked and nodded.
So she had guided them to me, it seemed.
“Maaaster, Fitoria said she has a favor to ask of yooou,” Filo went on.
“That can wait. Right now, I have some really annoying business that I have to take care of before anything else,” I replied.
“B-but, Naofumi, Fitoria already did a bunch of stuff as advance payment for your help,” Melty said.
“Well, I’m busy right now so it can wait. And anyway, who the hell pays in advance without asking?! I never accepted any advance payment. Whatever it is, you take care of it, Melty,” I said.
Melty looked really fed up now.
“So what is it? I guess I can at least hear the request out,” I continued.
“I don’t know why you always have to act like you’re so superior, Naofumi, but whatever. It all started shortly after Filo, Raph-chan, and I headed out to level up,” Melty began.
She continued on, explaining everything that had happened up until they had found us.
Soon after Melty and Filo had left to go leveling — around the time of the attack on the village — Melty hit the level 40 cap, so they decided to head back. That night, Fitoria asked Filo to meet up. It had been a while since Melty had seen Fitoria too, so she was really excited.
“Long time no see,” said Fitoria.
“Yes, indeed! Thank you for all of your help stopping the Spirit Tortoise in Melromarc,” Melty replied.
“Don’t mention it. Taking care of that was partially my responsibility from the get-go.”
Melty was overjoyed by Fitoria’s kind attitude and the presence of all the surrounding filolials.
“. . .”
“Rafu!”
Raph-chan was still sitting on Filo’s head. For some reason, Fitoria glared at her for several moments.
“Hmph . . .”
“Rafu, rafu!”
Raph-chan was squeaking as if she were lecturing Fitoria and it left an impression on Melty. So she asked Filo what Raph-chan was saying later, and apparently it was something like:
“It’s only proper to make your request directly instead of trying to get what you want through manipulation that causes others trouble. I’ll make good use of the power you were using to try to manipulate the heroes, so don’t expect me to return it.”
Huh? Did that mean Fitoria had been using Filo to try to manipulate me?
Who knows whether it was actually because Raph-chan had lectured her or not, but Fitoria let out a deep sigh and began talking.
“Fine. The fact that my methods didn’t seem reasonable is a failure on my part, anyway. In that case, allow me to be more direct this time: I’ve come to request your help,” Fitoria stated.
“Umm, what can we do for you?” Melty asked.
Filo responded with a quizzical “hm?” and Fitoria went on to explain the details of her request to Filo, Melty, and Raph-chan.
“And then you came to find me?” I asked.
“Yeah. Fitoria wants you to help,” Melty replied.
“I see. Thanks for the details. But that will have to wait,” I said.
“Even after hearing the explanation, that’s all you have to say?” Melty asked.
“What else would I say? Things need to be handled in order of priority. Tell Fitoria not to come to me with annoying problems that she can’t solve on her own,” I replied.
I was guessing Fitoria had only come to me because she couldn’t solve the problem on her own, and I didn’t feel like obliging a demand like that. Not to mention, Fitoria was ridiculously strong. I couldn’t imagine myself being able to handle a problem that was too much for her.
“And besides, I’m right in the middle of working on improving relations between the four holy heroes, just like Fitoria asked me to do,” I continued.
Ren and Itsuki still had problems, but we’d resolved our differences. And as for Motoyasu, all said and done, I figured he’d be fine left alone. In fact, I preferred not having him around to deal with.
“I’ll take care of it for her once I’m done dealing with my own annoying problem. Until then, she’ll just have to wait,” I said.
“Hm? Okay. She wants to know how long that will take,” said Filo.
She must have received a communication from Fitoria.
“Who knows? I hope to get it over with as quickly as possible, but I have no idea,” I told her.
“She says that’s not helpful,” Filo replied.
“Hell if I care. Tell her to help herself, then,” I said.
“Umm, Naofumi, at least let us finish explaining first,” said Melty.
“I have no desire to hear what the actual request is. I’m sure finding out would just get me tangled up in a bunch of trouble,” I replied.
Melty let out a deep sigh.
“So what’s this advance payment you mentioned? Money?” I asked.
“All you think about is profit, Naofumi. No, it’s not money. Fitoria bestowed several helpful blessings on me and Filo,” Melty replied.
“Blessings?” I asked with a confused look on my face.
Filo and Melty both nodded.
“You can see Filo’s stats, right? Why don’t you take a look?” Melty said.
Just like she suggested, I checked Filo’s stats. I was at a loss for words. They had all more than doubled. Her stats were now just slightly below what they’d been when we faced the Spirit Tortoise.
“I’m not really sure, but she did something that raised our overall attributes in exchange for lowering our levels. She also took care of my class-up,” Melty explained.
“What do you think, Masteeerrr? There’s no way I’ll let Gaelion get the best of me nooow!” Filo exclaimed.
“Gyao, gyao, gyao!”
Gaelion started growling at Filo threateningly. I sighed. But Filo sure had come back a lot stronger, even though her progress had really just been thanks to the advance payment from Fitoria. I had a feeling it still wouldn’t be nearly enough to offset the hassle of whatever it was she wanted me to do.
“I’m sorry, but if she thinks I’m going to quietly give in because of a huge advance payment like this, she’s a fo
ol. I refuse! I refuse her advance payment!” I shouted.
“I find it hard to understand why you’re giving Fitoria a hard time,” Melty replied.
“Buuuut . . .” Filo moaned.
“Gyao, gyao, gyao!”
Gaelion was laughing at Filo in a ridiculing manner. With an advance payment this big, there was no doubt that the request was going to be a massive headache.
“Either way, it will have to wait! Filo, you understand that certain things take priority, right?” I asked.
“Yeah. Master decides what order things need to be done in,” Filo replied.
“Exactly. I knew you would understand. Good girl,” I said.
“Eh, heh, heh . . . I understand!”
“Seriously? You know what will happen if we refuse, right?” Melty asked Filo.
Melty was starting to panic, but that wasn’t my problem.
“I’ll accept the request, but it will have to wait. We have our own situation to deal with too. Fitoria will have to wait in line,” I said.
It only made sense to prioritize Raphtalia’s problem at the moment.
“If she absolutely can’t wait, then I can send Ren and Itsuki from the village to take care of it. Would that work?” I asked.
“Huh? Umm, she says it has to be you and me,” Filo replied.
I knew it. If she wasn’t willing to ask Ren and Itsuki, that probably meant there was some kind of personal circumstances involved. It might have been something that would benefit from a strong defense, but I was sure Ren and Itsuki would be able to handle pretty much anything with their attack power. Or it could have been something that didn’t require fighting skill at all.
“Then that settles it. I’ll take care of it later, so she’ll just have to wait until then. End of discussion!” I snapped.
I wasn’t going to let myself be taken advantage of by giving in to that selfish bird queen’s strong-arm tactics. I’d keep her waiting a while to make her pay for even trying such a thing.
“Or what? Are you going to say you’ll kill the four holy heroes over something like this too, Fitoria?” I asked.
I almost felt like I could hear her stamping her foot on the ground bitterly somewhere far, far away. Deep down, she might not have been all that different from Filo, after all.
