by Aneko Yusagi
“What do you think?” I asked.
“Umm . . . I’m not sure what to think,” Raphtalia replied.
“Well, my intuition is telling me he doesn’t have ill intentions. He doesn’t seem to be lying, at least,” Sadeena said.
“Didn’t something like this happen to you before?” Gaelion asked me.
That reminded me. Something similar did happen when I was getting ready to go fight the second wave. It had been the young soldier from Riyute that time, but Gaelion was right. This guy did seem to be acting the same way.
“It wouldn’t hurt to hear what he has to say, would it? I’ll make quick work of him if anything goes wrong,” Sadeena said.
“I have a feeling this is going to turn into a big headache, but fine,” I said.
I knew that getting access to the lighthouse was going to be a headache anyway. “Make quick work of him” made it sound like she was planning on doing something really violent, but I guess it would be best to see what the guy had to say, regardless.
“Alright then. Cancel the concealment, Raphtalia,” I said.
“Understood.”
Raphtalia canceled her concealment magic and we reappeared in front of the prostrated samurai warrior.
“What do you want from us?” I asked.
Even though we had showed ourselves and spoke to him, the samurai warrior remained motionless. What did he want? I tried asking him, but he didn’t move. I wondered if he was waiting for me to tell him to raise his head or something.
“Get up from there and tell us what you want,” I said.
When I said that, he finally lifted his head off the ground. But what he did next was unexpected. He looked at Gaelion first, and then Raphtalia, and then placed a hand over his heart and bowed his head.
“We humbly ask for thy assistance, soon-to-be Heavenly Empress,” he said.
“Huh? What? Umm . . . uhh . . .” Raphtalia stammered.
“Explain yourself. Otherwise, I don’t know what this drunkard companion of mine here is going to do to you, but I’m sure it’s not going to be pretty,” I said.
“Oh, you!” Sadeena exclaimed.
When I pointed at her, the samurai warrior shook his head several times as a sign of submission.
“U-understood! Please accompany me to the town mansion, where it should be safe to talk. If that’s not possible, then I’ll just give you a summary here,” he replied.
“Following you could lead us to a trap. Give us the short version now. And tell us who you are too,” I said.
The samurai warrior nodded, stood up straight, and began to talk.
“My apologies. I came searching for you by order of my father, who is the mayor of this town,” he said.
He was the mayor’s son? I wondered if he could prove that. And what was with his crazy outfit, anyway? He looked like a samurai warrior on his way to the battlefield.
“I assume Her Divine Majesty, the next Heavenly Empress, and those of you who accompanied her from Siltvelt have begun to understand the situation here in Q’ten Lo,” he continued.
“Yeah, I’m guessing you mean the law against killing monsters,” I replied.
“Yes. It has garnered nothing but criticism from all throughout Q’ten Lo, and that includes from my father. But as the mandate comes from the Heavenly Emperor himself, the government continues to oppress the people. However, one of our aquatic agents delivered a message from the water dragon earlier, informing us that he had brought the next Heavenly Empress to Q’ten Lo. I was sent to receive you,” the man explained.
Ah, now I understood what their objective was.
“Is this how you found us?” I asked.
I pointed at the straw rope around Gaelion’s neck and the samurai warrior nodded.
“We understand that ye still have other companions from Siltvelt that ye wish to get into Q’ten Lo. I believe we can help you do that successfully, but we should return to the town mansion to discuss our strategy,” he said.
Hmm, I couldn’t deny he had information that we hadn’t provided. He had all the facts straight too. But there was always a possibility it could still be a trap. What to do?
“Sadeena. Gaelion. If worse comes to worst, can we just burn this town to the ground and run?” I asked.
“Why do you just assume we’ll have to burn the town down?!” Raphtalia snapped.
“This guy clearly has connections with agents. I’m just considering the possibility that this could still be a trap,” I said.
“Oh my!” Sadeena exclaimed.
“I’m sure I could burn the town down if it came to that. Is that what you want to do?” Gaelion asked.
“Only as a last resort. I’m hoping we won’t have to,” I said.
The samurai warrior started trembling.
“P-please stop thinking about such terrifying things! We’ll never get anywhere if ye don’t trust me!” he pleaded.
“Yeah, yeah, alright. But you better not forget—we wouldn’t rule out doing something like that,” I replied.
“Alas, ’tis etched into my brain!” he exclaimed.
What was with this guy’s speech? Surely my shield was translating it properly. But “ye”? He was using some strange word choices.
“Fine. But before anything else, take that helmet off and show us your face,” I said.
“As you wish!”
The samurai warrior took his helmet off and looked up at us. Hmm . . . He was a bird-type demi-human. His hair reminded me of a falcon—not quite feathers and not quite down. He was young, perhaps in his early twenties, and had a Japanese air about him. He wasn’t quite what I would have called handsome. He seemed more like the warrior type. I guess you could say something about his face made him look like a brawler. Kind of like a rough-looking samurai.
“Do you have a tail? Or would that be tail feathers?” I asked.
I circled around behind him and looked at his back. He quickly covered something with his hands.
“F-forgive me!”
The trembling samurai warrior took his hands away to reveal something that resembled tail feathers.
“Why are you worried about something like that, Mr. Naofumi?” Raphtalia asked.
“I was just wondering what kind of demi-human he was,” I replied.
“He’s a shoon,” Sadeena said.
I stood there thinking while looking at his tail feathers. “Shoon”? That sounded like another pronunciation for hayabusa, which was Japanese for falcon. So he was a falcon, after all.
“So if he’s a bird-type demi-human, does that mean his arms are wings?” I asked.
Surely he didn’t have a pair of wings on his back like Filo did in her human form. I remembered the shusaku demi-humans in Siltvelt having wing-like arms and hands. I bet he had strong legs too. Kicking was probably his primary mode of attack when fighting.
“Umm, how long are you going to spend analyzing his racial characteristics?” Raphtalia asked.
I snapped back to reality and suddenly realized that staring at this guy’s tail and analyzing him wasn’t going to accomplish anything. I coughed nervously.
“Uhh, yeah, I’m done. Let’s go,” I said.
We followed the faintly blushing samurai warrior and he led us to the town mansion. It was definitely a big house. It had a Japanese feel to it, like a big samurai residence with a traditional Japanese garden. I could hear the quiet thumping sound of one of those Zen fountains—the ones with a bamboo tube that fell against a rock every time it emptied itself of water. Hearing that sound in a world other than my own just felt strange. There was even a rock garden. This place felt even more Japanese than Kizuna’s world had.
We were taken to a room with tatami-mat floors. And oh yeah, the samurai warrior’s father was a therianthrope, so I guess their race could use therianthrope forms. I tried to guess how old the father would be based on the son’s appearance. Demi-humans grew at different speeds depending on their levels, so there was really no way of knowing.
Still, I could tell he was getting old even when he was in his bird, or therianthrope, form.
“Welcome back to Q’ten Lo, child of the Heavenly Emperor’s rightful heir. Should I call you Miss Raphtalia?” the man asked.
He prostrated himself before Raphtalia, almost as if he were praying to her. She seemed really uncomfortable.
“My name is Raluva. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance,” he continued.
“I’m Naofumi Iwatani. I’m not sure it matters here, but I’m the Shield Hero. You seem to know my companion, Raphtalia. And there’s Sadeena. She’s kind of like her big sister. The dragon is Gaelion,” I said, introducing everyone.
Raluva approached Raphtalia and hesitantly tried to peer in at her face through the makeshift cloak.
“Would you mind showing me your face?” he asked in a whisper.
“Uh, umm . . .”
Raphtalia glanced over at me. I sighed and nodded. She removed the sheet and showed Raluva her face and tail. He gasped and bowed his head.
Sadeena had nodded when she heard Raluva’s name.
“I know who you are. You were close to little Raphtalia’s father and helped him escape,” she suddenly spoke up.
“You must be the water dragon’s former miko priestess. Do you not remember seeing me?” he asked.
“I remember meeting you right before we left the country,” she said.
Raluva met eyes with Sadeena and nodded. He must have originally been one of Raphtalia’s father’s followers.
“So let’s get straight to the point. What is your objective?” I asked.
Raluva raised his head and looked at me.
“Are you asking what we would like from you all? That goes without saying. We would like Miss Raphtalia to take her rightful place as the true Heavenly Empress of Q’ten Lo. The responsibility of the throne is clearly too great for the branch family to bear. These senseless laws are causing our people immense suffering,” he replied.
Hmm, from the way the conversation was going, our interests seemed to be aligned for the most part.
“My family and the people of Q’ten Lo are prepared to provide any assistance needed in order to make that happen,” he continued.
“And are you already familiar with our situation?” I asked.
Raluva shook his head. Ah, so he’d only gotten orders from the water dragon to make it clear they were willing to do what we asked.
“Let’s start by clearing that up. So you have no idea why we came here in the first place, right?” I continued.
He probably just assumed that Raphtalia—the orphaned child of the man he once knew—lamented the current state of her country and that’s why she had returned. If we didn’t make our situation clear to him, they might try to put Raphtalia on the throne. Then they might just continue on with their policy of isolation, even after we managed to overthrow the current rule.
The negotiations had begun. I had to consider the possibility that someone who was now an ally could still become an enemy once we’d won the fight.
“You may not know this, since this country is cut off from the rest of the world, but the outside world is dealing with some complicated issues right now,” I said.
“I know that much. This town does trade with Siltvelt and I am the mayor, after all,” he replied.
I guess that meant he knew about the waves too.
“I also know that you are the one known as the Shield Hero outside of Q’ten Lo,” he continued.
“Well that should make things easier. We came to this country to defeat the people who are after Raphtalia’s life. We intend to leave once we’ve accomplished that,” I said.
Raluva and his friends might not want to hear that. But giving it to him straight and risking a breakdown of negotiations now would be better than ending up fighting about it later on. Actually, leaving things in the hands of someone they favored after we’d resolved our issue was an option too.
“We are aware of that. Indeed, the Heavenly Emperor or Empress exists for the people and for the world. The rotten puppet government we have at present pushes the boundaries of foolishness. Now more than ever, I understand why Miss Raphtalia’s father felt that way,” Raluva replied.
Oh? I liked the sound of that answer. I didn’t know what his true intentions were, but it should still be easy to use him.
“The barrier around this country is our point of contact with the outside world. We wish to dispose of the government officials who have recently seized control of that barrier,” he continued.
The officials had apparently been using their authority to mess with the barrier that was blocking the entry of the Siltvelt ship. Raluva didn’t like those officials, so he was proposing Raphtalia lead a revolution. That meant that malcontent among the citizens, and this mayor who represented them, had grown unbearable and they were ready to explode.
“Mr. Naofumi, you’re smiling,” Raphtalia said.
“Look Raphtalia, your miko outfit is ready!” I exclaimed.
“Why are you so excited?!”
I’d asked them to prepare a miko outfit for Raphtalia, and Raluva’s son had just brought in the clothes.
“This miko outfit is designed to resemble the one said to have been presented to the Heavenly Emperor by the water dragon in ancient times. I hope it pleases you,” Raluva said.
I unfolded the outfit and looked it over. The colors were a bit different, but it was still a miko outfit.
Miko Outfit of the Water Dragon
impact resistance (small), slash resistance (small), water resistance (medium), dive time up, magic defense processing, parry
The stats weren’t quite as good as the White Tiger Miko Outfit from Kizuna’s world, but it was still a really nice piece of equipment, although it didn’t offer much in the way of defense. Maybe the assumption was that the user wouldn’t get hit.
“Go on, Raphtalia,” I said.
Put it on! I thought as I handed her the outfit.
“Why do I feel like I’m being tricked into something?” she replied.
“You know this is the only way, right?” I told her.
“Well . . . Yes, I guess I do.”
“Come on, little Raphtalia. I’ll help you put it on,” Sadeena said.
Raphtalia went with Sadeena to go change in another room.
“In any case, if you say you want to start a revolution, then you need to be ready to put your money where your mouth is!” I told Raluva.
“Of course! We would not be making such a proposal otherwise!” he replied.
A group of fierce-looking warriors, ready for combat, entered the room. He must have instructed them to gather at the mansion beforehand. It would be foolish not to take advantage of this! I’m sure they had other objectives in mind too, but our interests were still aligned. If they tried to cause us any trouble later on, we could just deal with them when the time came.
“Good! Listen up, men! I’ll be commanding you on behalf of Raphtalia! We’re about to go full metal jacket on this oppressive government of yours! If you’re ready to do that, then join me!” I howled.
The men all roared out affirmatively. I was confident things were starting to go our way now.
“We’ll start by bringing reinforcements to the town from Siltvelt. After that, we advance at full speed!” I continued.
The men let out another rallying cry. They were itching to go to war. Gaelion climbed up onto my shoulder.
“They really took the bait,” he said.
“Sure did,” I replied.
This kind of thing was all about momentum. The country’s leadership foolishly assumed that Raphtalia intended to seize control of Q’ten Lo just because she happened to put on a miko outfit. They stuck their noses where they didn’t belong, and they did it at a time when their current Heavenly Emperor was already losing credibility because of his own foolish actions. They’d sealed their own fate. If they wanted us to seize control so bad, then we would. I would show them that it was their own
foolishness that brought about their downfall.
Driven by my determination, I was already cooking up a strategy when Raphtalia and Sadeena returned.
“We’re back,” Raphtalia said.
I looked at her miko outfit and nodded several times. Damn, that looked good on her.
“You sure do look good in a miko outfit, little Raphtalia. I guess it only makes sense that you would, though,” Sadeena said.
“Even so, I still think Mr. Naofumi likes miko outfits far too much,” Raphtalia replied.
She just had to get a complaint in. When the men I’d been rallying saw Raphtalia, their mouths dropped open and they fell to the floor and prostrated themselves before her. Huh? What were they thinking?
“Your Divine Majesty!”
“We are at your command!”
“Now I’m certain we’re doing what’s right for Q’ten Lo!”
“Risking our lives is the right decision! Yes!”
“As warriors, it is our duty to fight to the bitter end for Her Divine Majesty, Raphtalia, the Heavenly Empress!”
Things were starting to get out of hand now!
“I guess it’s your turn to be catapulted into the limelight, Raphtalia. Be sure to give Filo and Atla a run for their money,” I said.
Filo was actually pretty popular at the taverns. I wouldn’t mind seeing Raphtalia charm the audiences every now and then too.
“I don’t want to give anyone a run for their money! I know I have to do this, but why does everyone have to bow when I’m dressed like this?!” Raphtalia exclaimed.
I decided to ignore her whining.
“Come, Raphtalia, these men await your orders! They’ll happily leap headlong into the jaws of death for you!” I shouted.
“No thank you! I don’t want to bear that responsibility,” she replied.
“Warriors of Q’ten Lo, let us overthrow this rotten government of yours! In the name of God! For the people!” I roared.
I figured I’d stir them up a bit. This is exactly what I had to deal with in Siltvelt. I could totally sympathize with Raphtalia, but I felt like mimicking Atla at the moment.
“Proud citizens of Q’ten Lo! If you truly believe in the Heavenly Empress, then now is the time to prove your loyalty!” I continued.
