by Aneko Yusagi
“Don’t worry, Motoyasu isn’t going to show up. And if anything happens, I promise I’ll protect you,” I told her.
“Buuut you didn’t protect me from the spear guuuuy,” she complained.
“That’s because you acted on your own that time,” I replied.
I was ordering her to sing this time, so I’d take responsibility if something happened.
“Okaaay, then I’ll do my beeessst,” Filo said.
“Sing something that will get stuck in their heads,” I said.
“Okaaay!”
Filo started to sing into the megaphone on my shield. Her singing was always a real crowd-pleaser, even at the taverns.
Would the people of Siltvelt be able to retain their ability to think rationally after hearing Filo’s bewitching song? I’d have her sing something addictive and then crush their strong-arm tactics and force them to agree to have a trading ship sent to Q’ten Lo. Of course, there was always the possibility that the song could be too effective. If things went downhill, I’d give Raphtalia and the others a signal before barging into the crowd and taking advantage of the confusion to escape.
Filo was singing her heart out. When she really got into it, she always entered a kind of trance-like state. It was obvious that she was incredibly focused. Her voice rang out through the hall.
The people in the audience who had the best hearing began to stagger over and gather in front of the stage, mesmerized by the song. That meant things were going well, right? She must have been singing a brainwashing song. It probably applied some kind of seduction-type status effect or something. I could just imagine Motoyasu showing up out of nowhere. The thought of it scared me.
Filo finally finished singing her song. Several people in the audience started clapping, and before long the roar of cheers filled the hall.
“And there you have it. A little something to liven this party up, courtesy of the Shield Hero. Now enjoy yourselves, unless you try anything sneaky. Then don’t expect to enjoy yourselves. Alright, later,” I said.
I told Filo to go back to the others. As she made her way back, the audience crowded around her. I could hear them all showering her in praise.
“Our sincere gratitude to the Shield Hero for his gracious words!” the emcee shouted.
“Rafuuu!”
Raph-chan squeaked, almost as if she were greeting the crowd. The Siltvelt leadership must have thought they would piss me off if they tried to get in the way, because they backed off. I got down off the stage and headed toward Raphtalia and the others. People crowded around, trying to get a better look at me, but they were held back by a rope that blocked them from actually getting in my way. Good, that was how it should’ve been.
I finally came to where Raphtalia and the others were standing.
“How’s it going? Have they caused you any trouble?” I asked.
“Nothing so far. But it’s scary not knowing what they may try next,” Raphtalia replied.
“Raph-chan told me they were asking about your adventures with me,” I said.
“Yes. They made me explain how we met and recount everything we’ve been through so far. They did pretty much the same thing with everyone else too,” she replied.
“I see.”
“Sadeena and Atla apparently made it sound like they had physical relations with you and ended up getting treated really suspiciously.”
What the hell were those two trying to do? Atla, especially — she still looked like a little girl, for goodness sake! Then again, there were people in this country who were convinced I had a thing for little girls, apparently.
“Do you think they’ll let us return to the village after this?” I asked.
“Do you want to go back?” Raphtalia replied.
Honestly, I wanted to leave immediately. How the hell was I supposed to relax in a situation like this?
“Well, all we’re going to do after this is sleep anyway. We need to ask them to arrange for the ship to Q’ten Lo tomorrow for sure, so I guess it doesn’t hurt to stay the night here. Just don’t let your guard down even for a second,” I said.
“Understood.”
Now then . . . I wondered what was next as I turned around and looked behind me. The Siltvelt leadership was watching me like I was a dangerous animal that required extreme caution. I could tell they were worried about me saying something that might cause them trouble. If that were the case, they should have just given in to my demands and sent me away already.
I was eating food off of the buffet while thinking about their stupidity. They had prepared a special meal just for me, but I just ignored that.
“So this is Siltvelt food, huh?” I muttered.
A lot of the flavors lacked refinement. You might even say there was something foul about the taste, but you could also argue that it was a chance to enjoy some unusual food.
“Hmm . . . I’d have to adjust the seasoning if I were going to serve this to the villagers. Coming up with a recipe shouldn’t be too difficult, though,” I said.
I analyzed each dish as I ate the food. I figured the villagers would make a fuss about wanting to try the food when I told them about it. It’d be best to go ahead and think about how to recreate it to some extent.
“You really think so? This is some really strange fare,” Raphtalia said.
There was something shaped like a little pouch that seemed like a fruit. I slit it open to analyze it. Maybe it was just me, but something about it seemed really raunchy.
“Making something that looks similar shouldn’t be too much of a problem. The ingredients themselves seem to be contributing to the flavoring a lot, though,” I replied.
There weren’t many dishes that had really been given a distinct added flavor. But the natural flavors of the ingredients themselves, on the other hand, were pretty peculiar. I could make something similar but still different for the villagers.
“They have something that resembles ratatouille too,” I said.
“What is that?” Raphtalia asked.
“It’s a dish from back in my world. It’s more of a country home cooking dish where I come from. But it’s common in prisons and stuff, since it’s cheap to make. The dish has some pretty tasteless nicknames like ‘stinky slop,’” I explained.
I could imagine Keel looking disgusted right about now, if she’d been listening. She’d gotten really picky about smells ever since she started transforming into a dog. Honestly, someone who was used to Melromarc’s food probably would think it stunk and might not be able to eat it.
“And that’s something you eat?” Raphtalia asked.
“That it is. If you use quality ingredients, it can actually be pretty good. There’s another similar dish known as caponata too.”
“I noticed this a long time ago, but you sure seem to know a lot about cooking, Mr. Naofumi.”
“You think so?”
“Remember that time when the village children made something and they were so proud of it? You took just one bite and then made several adjustments that really improved it.”
“Oh yeah. And then the slave that had been in charge of cooking got all depressed.”
I’d just made a couple of tiny adjustments that I figured would make the dish taste better. But doing so apparently hurt the pride of the slave who’d been in charge of cooking. Even I realized maybe I’d gone too far. I felt bad about it, so I hadn’t meddled with the slaves’ cooking since. They deserved to do things their way, if they were going to do the cooking. But honestly, that kid glared at me like I’d killed her parents every time I cooked now.
“I should probably avoid doing any of the cooking, but they keep making requests. That kid who was handling the cooking that time will probably hate me until she dies,” I said.
“Hate you?” Raphtalia asked.
“Well, yeah. Haven’t you noticed she glares at me nonstop every time I’m cooking?”
“That’s just her way of making sure she doesn’t miss anything you’re doing!�
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“Ah, I see. So she just wants to see me make a mistake.”
“That’s not it. She’s doing her best to learn from you so that she can improve.”
“Then she doesn’t hate me?”
“On the contrary, she has the utmost respect for you!”
Raphtalia seemed completely sure of herself. It did feel nice to hear that, but I couldn’t really trust Raphtalia to be objective.
“Impressive as always, Mr. Naofumi! Why waste time capturing the hearts of the slaves when you can control them by capturing their stomachs instead?!” Atla exclaimed.
She sure knew how to make things sound bad. I’d heard people saying similar things in the village and the neighboring town. There seemed to be rumors that I made the slaves do whatever I wanted by feeding them food that was addictive.
“I know you like to cook too, Raphtalia. You should cook more often,” I said.
“Umm, Mr. Naofumi . . . Would you really want to cook for someone who is a far better cook than yourself?” she replied.
Huh? Was that supposed to mean that she had reservations about me eating her cooking because I was a good cook?
“That’s nothing you should worry about. Have I ever criticized someone else’s cooking like I was a food snob?” I asked.
“I guess you don’t really criticize others when it comes to food,” Raphtalia replied.
“I notice you made sure to specify food there . . .”
I suddenly recalled picking apart the way a crooked merchant was doing business on the Cal Mira islands once.
“Whatever. I’ll make sure to check out some of the dishes that Siltvelt is famous for later. Otherwise, I’ll never hear the end of it from Keel,” I said.
“Hm?” Filo muttered.
She started stuffing her face with food. It wasn’t going to last long now that she’d gotten going. The night wore on and the banquet ultimately ended without incident.
Chapter Five: Harem
I returned to my room after the evening party ended.
“Rafuu!”
Raph-chan looked out the window at the view and squeaked. I’d heard some demi-humans and therianthropes were nocturnal, and there was no sign of the lights dimming down below in the Siltvelt castle town. There were even some demi-humans that looked like bats flying around in the air.
“Shield Hero, it’s time for your bath. Please follow me,” said one of the maids.
“Oh yeah, they did say I would get to bathe after the party,” I said to myself.
“Rafu?”
Raph-chan had been made from a lock of Raphtalia’s hair, so that made her a female, right? Regardless, I didn’t like the idea of leaving her here in the room. I decided to take her with me. I picked Raph-chan up and followed the maid to the bathing area.
We walked down a hallway on the first floor of the castle that exited into the courtyard and then continued on to an area that looked like a shrine surrounded by trees. I could see steam rising, so that was probably the baths.
There were actually public bathing areas in Melromarc too. The people of this world seemed to take personal hygiene pretty seriously. But when I really thought about it, they summoned heroes from Japan on a regular basis. With the heroes telling them about their culture, it made sense that Japanese bathing habits might catch on. That was convenient for me.
I suddenly remembered all of those times rinsing myself off with cold water by the riverside after I’d been framed. I sure had come a long way when I thought about it.
As I reminisced, I took my armor and clothes off in what seemed to be the dressing area. The maid was staring at me, but I didn’t let it bother me. I’m sure that was just part of the job.
“Rafuu . . .”
Raph-chan seemed embarrassed. She put her hands over her eyes. She always had the cutest reactions.
“Alright. Let’s go, Raph-chan,” I said.
“Rafuuu!”
If I had the chance to bathe, I figured I might as well take my time and enjoy it. I walked toward the baths. The steam completely filled the air. I could make out the outlines of several figures when I looked over at the baths. I hesitated to say people, because the figures were so huge.
“We’re so glad you could make it, Shield Hero!”
Several girls who probably belonged to wealthy households stepped out of the bath and did their best to strike seductive poses.
“You let us take care of washing that body of yours, Shield Hero,” one of them said.
“Feel free to choose whoever you like best from among us . . . and we’ll be happy to accompany you back to your room,” said another one.
Umm, I was pretty sure I’d seen one or two of them at the slave market in Zeltoble.
“What do you think?” one of the girls asked.
Her breasts bounced as she sauntered over, and a chill ran down my spine. I’d been set up! They clearly planned on seducing me here and making me do something vulgar! Even if I was the Shield Hero, I was still a man. Somebody must have figured the sight of naked women would get me excited and came up with this plan.
The baths looked like a brothel. They were filled with everything from normal-looking women to massive therianthropes that were at least as big as Sadeena’s killer whale form. It was like I was supposed to be some kind of lecher who’d take any woman I could get my hands on. Or maybe they just prepared a wide variety of women and hoped that one of them would fit my preferences.
“Sorry, but I’m not interested,” I said.
I tried to leave the bathing area, but the women all got out of the water and surrounded me.
“Please don’t say that, Shield Hero!”
“Even if you think you won’t like it at first, you’ll be in ecstasy before you know it. You won’t be able to get enough!”
Blech! The chills . . . I felt sick. It made my flesh crawl. I mean, Sadeena had said things that made me want to throw up before, but this was on a whole different level. I’d settle for Sadeena a million times over before I touched one of these sluts. At least Sadeena gave me a choice. She always left me an escape route. Even if she did say things that made me sick, something about her attitude was comforting.
I never thought I would actually say something like that about Sadeena. I had no idea how absolutely repulsive it was when someone was actually serious about trying to seduce me. And not even really me, but the Shield Hero. I might even have to revise my opinion of Sadeena, even if only slightly. The same went for Atla.
“Please choose, Shield Hero! Which one of us do you most desire?”
“I want to give birth to your child, Shield Hero!” a small demi-human girl exclaimed.
She was practically an infant and she was saying things like that! It sent a shiver down my spine. It was like Melty trying to seduce me or something. I would’ve told her to try again in another ten years. I’m sure she would have yelled at me, though.
“Stop screwing around! Get out of here!” I shouted.
But the women didn’t leave. They inched closer to me, one step at a time.
“Come on, girls! Do your best to seduce the Shield Hero!” said one of the girls.
The women suddenly leapt at me and I calmly called out the name of a skill.
“Shooting Star Shield!”
The Shooting Star Shield barrier formed around me and repelled the women. The old weapon shop guy had saved my neck once again. Never before in my life had I been so happy to have this skill.
“Ugh . . . Come on, Shield Hero! Let’s have some fun!” one of them called out.
“No thanks!” I shouted.
“Oh really? Come on, everyone! We must break this shell for the sake of our beloved Shield Hero!” she announced.
“Yeah!” they cried out in unison.
“How about no!” I shouted.
I figured I would just ignore them and barge through, pushing them out of the way, but reinforcements kept showing up until the bathing area was practically overflowing with women. Dammi
t! This was bad! My chances of escaping were diminishing with each second! Even worse, they all started hitting my barrier in an attempt to break it!
Talk about how not to set the mood! The women were all crowded around my defensive barrier and punching at it. This was some next-level scary shit. I had an accessory that added a counterattack effect to my Shooting Star Shield, but it only worked in Kizuna’s world. I hadn’t been able to find a usable substitute here in this world yet.
“Raaaawwwrrrrr!”
What the hell?! Hey, elephant therianthrope! Stop trying to body slam me with your full weight, dammit! Wait a minute! Was that thing planning on trying to sleep with me too?!
This barrier had even been able to withstand one of the Spirit Tortoise’s attacks, but the women continued to crowd around it, intent on destroying it.
“Mwahahaha! All we have to do is break this thing and the Shield Hero will be ours!” one of them shouted.
“Grrrr . . .”
Shit. The barrier didn’t show any signs of breaking, but the whole thing was still scary for a multitude of other reasons. I had to figure out a way to get out of there.
“Portal Shield!”
I couldn’t use my portal?! Had someone leaked info about how to interfere with our portal skills?! It didn’t matter! I needed to focus on shaking these women and getting out of here! I could probably use the barrier to repel them and force my way through. But could I really make it all the way to Raphtalia and the others with a never-ending stream of women on my tail?
“Rafuuu!”
Raph-chan jumped up on my head and started squeaking. She began to focus her attention as if she were reciting a magical incantation. I wondered if it would be possible to cast cooperative magic with Raph-chan. If things went well, I might just end up making it out of this mess after all.
I focused my attention on Raph-chan’s squeaks. I had no idea what kind of magic we could cast. But given the situation, anything would have been better than standing around doing nothing. Raph-chan and I wove our magic together as I continued walking.
Oh? Those familiar cooperative-magic puzzle pieces gradually began to fade into view. Way to go, Raph-chan! She’d come from a lock of Raphtalia’s hair, so her magic felt similar to Raphtalia’s. I was sure we’d be able to use the same cooperative magic that Raphtalia and I had cast before.
