Chapter 28
New
Obloquy
CrossMyHeart And HopeToDie, StickANeedleInMyEye
- Location
- the Physical Realm
Day 27, morning
Motoyasu had surprised his teammates that morning with tickets to a spa, saying they deserved the best for all their work preparing for the Wave, and the party could regroup for lunch.
Honestly, he just wanted them out of the way for another Four Heroes meeting about the situation, but he didn't have the heart to leave them or lie to them.
He'd only ever believe the best of Myne, but with the other three all suggesting that it was kinder to keep her uninvolved from their planning so she wouldn't feel guilty.
Better that I feel guilty than that I make her feel guilty, that's what Itsuki said, he sighed. Then he heard his name. "Sorry?"
Itsuki rolled his eyes like the kid he was. "I was checking whether all three of the new empowerment methods are working for you. Are they?"
"Right, right. They're all on my Menu, RP and GP and the revision option..." Motoyasu quickly bought a Faust Flare I upgrade with 1 RP and then cringed at the monetary cost in GP for other improvements. 'Micro'-transactions my ass! "Looks good, though I'm not eager to lose any Levels this close to the Wave."
"Given the prevalence of monsters for experience," Yumiella noted, "losing a few levels during the Wave might be best once we establish whether we are over-leveled enough to not be threatened."
"Heads up, it's expensive, but it looks like GP can buy some improvements to the Growth Revision power," Naofumi added from across the table.
Motoyasu checked those prices, winced, and started looking for some more affordable options instead. Hmm... actually , buying off a Tempering fail-and-reset looks way more affordable. Wouldn't cost much GP to have a safety net for trying to get a bigger upgrade without losing out.
"Huh. It looks like the cheaper options involving buying off upgrading failures or upgrading skills' efficiency or cooldown," Itsuki assessed, "while actual improvements are far more expensive. Huh. Buying off an Awakening or Tempering failure is pretty cheap, but I haven't had Awakening fail much for me anyway."
"Yeah, and Tempering is- huh? Oh, hey," Motoyasu realized, "the Status Enchantment Specification actually looks pretty affordable too! Yeah, when you make a status enchantment, it lets you narrow the results of the random improvement by selecting an option from a list that the enchantment won't affect."
"I'm checking Ore Equip to see if there's a way to improve- hah! I've got something, it'll improve the bonus on a weapon if I equip ores all of one type," Naofumi declared with odd satisfaction. "Sounds perfect for me to pour in a bunch of copper, heh."
Motoyasu almost made a snide comment about the selection, reminded himself that Naofumi was very plausibly Not Guilty of assaulting Myne, and then checked the Microtransaction option in his own Menu to see what it was.
"Copper ore? Why would you bother using copper?" Itsuki wondered. "That's one of the weakest Ore Equip options there is! It's not even a percent, it's a flat +1 bonus! Please tell me you have better options and are just going for something cheap to start."
"No, I get it," Motoyasu disagreed. "Improving the +1 attack per copper ore equipped to +2 attack each or whatever means he can equip 20 or 30 coppers to one shield and get an actual attack stat. ...That means you don't need slaves to fight for you anymore, right?" he added tightly.
Naofumi snorted at him. "Raphtalia and Sadeena are both carrying flasks of the removal potion, they'll come or go as theyprefer."
Motoyasu winced, as that verbal barb hit him in his soft heart. Comrades coming and going... You talk about that like it's no big deal, Naofumi.
He brooded on how many people had entered and then left his party for a few minutes, letting the conversation flow around him, before he finally got his courage up.
"Hey, Yumiella, I..." He trailed off as he realized that all three of them were now eyeing him. "Uh, never mind."
"Naofumi," Itsuki declared, "how about we go to the other room to compare notes about potion compounding."
"Huh? Why move?"
"Because, I think Motoyasu has a private question he wants to discuss with Yumiella," Itsuki grit out.
I can't believe I'm so transparent that a high-schooler can see through me. Once they were alone, he gathered his courage again. "I... want to ask about parties."
"I see."
"Party dynamics. About... About my party, and if I'm a good leader," he admitted.
"Please, tell me more."
"I've gone though almost twenty party members who joined and then left, usually just a few days later."
"That's amazing."
"Hah! Yeah, but not in a good way," Motoyasu agreed. "I'm worried there's something I'm doing that keeps putting them off. A few people said they would leave because of a 'family emergency' or something, but mostly either they say 'I feel like this is a bad fit' or they don't stay anything, they just leave a letter and head out without talking to me. So I have no clue what I'm doing wrong, and I'm terrified that I'm somehow imposing on the three girls who are with me, like they don't want to stay but they're worried to leave me alone. I... Do you...?"
He trailed off helplessly, not really sure what he wanted from her.
"I have an idea," she told him.
Day 27, noon
"Do you know how to use that?" Rino teased the doofus man who was flirting with her in the Adventurers' Guild hall.
Magic weapons -- like the sword she'd recently purchased to celebrate rising to Level 20 -- had become more popular since the waves began and everyone started remembering the old tales of the Cardinal and Seven Star Heroes, so it wasn't a surprise that this guy also had a spear that could change shape.
Still, he was handsome and he had an air of strength, even if he also struck her as an airhead, so Rino decided she could go for a team-up with him.
"OOOH! Are you the Spear Hero? Neat!"
She wasn't actually expecting the answer to be affirmative, but then a redhead with a scroll -- she wore a sword on her belt, but she carried herself like a sorceress with revealing armor, mediocre balance, unmuscled limbs, and unmarred skin -- dashed over to intervene between them.
"Mister Motoyasu, we have a guild request!"
Rino paused a moment, preoccupied first with the idea that these people were important enough for the Guild to make a request of them instead of vice-versa, and then his name...
Stars of steel! Is he actually Spear Hero Motoyasu? I thought he'd be hanging out in the palace and dining with the Pope, not here in a Guild Hall getting work!
I so want in on this now. It's a chance to help save the world, what woman in her right mind would pass it up?
"Sorry, lady," the redhead continued in a darker tone, "but Mister Motoyasu has important work, so you'd better get on with your day."
Rino pouted and made her eyes wide, almost teary. "But... he asked me to join him for a mission? I know swordsmanship and support magic."
That was when another girl in a skimpy (but magically enhanced) outfit showed up. "Oh, you want to be in Mr. Motoyasu's party too?"
"As I've been telling Sherry, it's a difficult job, you might not be able to keep up," a third woman noted as she appeared.
Beside her, a fourth woman wearing a lot of cloth wraps, including in her pale blonde hair, gave a wave.
"Oh? And who is Miss Sherry? Sir Motoyasu," the redhead cooed, "are you bored and replacing us?"
"What? Nonono!" the Cardinal Spear Hero babbled. "Myne, Lesty, Elena, no one could ever replace any of you in my party or in my heart, you're my precious comrades!" Rino blinked at the cheesy bit about his heart and wondered if the Spear Hero was forming a harem like several of the historical heroes had done in old stories. "It's just, we've been having turnover you know, and with the Wave coming up more hands makes lighter work to get ready for it. You really want to come, Miss?"
"Yes! I'm- I'm Rino," she said, accepting his Party Invite and joining the party of the Holy Spear Hero! (Squee!!)
They did proper introductions -- the redhead was Myne, the skimpily dressed one was her friend Lesty, the third was Elena, and then the fellow blonde was another new recruit Sherry Atric -- and Rino grimaced upon realizing that being Level 20 still left her the lowest in the party, after Sherry at 25, but she mentally swore that she would put forth her utmost effort to earn her place!
...As it turned out, though, the only things Rino really strained that day were her vocal chords, her common sense, and her patience.
The Guild Request assignment was for the Spear Hero to escort a caravan of relief supplies to a village suffering a famine, but the caravan didn't leave until the next morning, so Motoyasu suggested they all go hunt some monsters to raise their levels.
Rino was pretty sure that the fiction stories of Holy Heroes rising 10 or 20 levels in a single day of epic battle were just stories, but as Sir Motoyasu led them to a watering hole where monsters often gathered she was still excited to show off and rise to the occasion.
When an Azure Wing showed up -- a bird monster that couldn't fly but could still jump and glide, with a wicked beak -- Rino had her sword out and was moving to flank it when Motoyasu gave the order to stand back.
"You girls aren't suited to bloody battles, so just hang back and cheer me on," was what he said.
He killed the first two or three pretty quickly, and Rino set herself to cheering appreciatively as he showed off, but more birds showed up and it took him longer to slay them, even if he never really got overwhelmed, and after about half an hour of this Sherry was bold enough to confess that she was bored and wanted to stretch her legs, and'would Motoyasu like her to flush some more monsters toward him for hunting?
"But if you go off alone, what if you're attacked and hurt?"
"I know buff magic, so I can climb a tree and outrun them, right? But Miss Myne and Miss Lesty know attack magic, so they can probably wipe out a big bunch of monsters if I get them grouped up, and then we can all get a bunch of experience!"
There was a bit of an argument, since Myne and Lesty weren't sure it was safe while Sherry said it ought to be less dangerous than the risk that a monster might attack them while Motoyasu was preoccupied, and Rino sided with Sherry since she wanted to finally do some fighting even if her woodcraft was sub-par.
Once the fighting kicked up a notch, Rino just let herself get into the swing of things, although Myne's wind-empowered fire magic was impressive enough that the redhead got a lot of kills with area attacks, and Rino was impressed to watch several of her enemies get roasted faster than she could take their heads off.
She thought Myne needed more practice with her aim, as Rino ended the afternoon with a few scorch marks, but her Magical Resilience was pretty high after growing up with a brother who liked magical pranks, and she thought she'd done pretty well for herself!
Yes, she'd stumbled once or twice and her head had been swimming a bit, but she'd contributed even if she might not have gotten a finishing blow, and while she'd lost the accessory she used to check her stats she hoped that she might have hit Level 21 after all that fighting!
Sir Motoyasu wouldn't stop apologizing that he'd gotten them sweaty and dirty, as it "doesn't suit such beautiful flowers," and Rino laughed a bit when Sherry asked him whether flower gardens were usually full of dirt or not, which made Lesty get snappish.
As they were heading back to town at the end of a good day, with Myne, Lesty, and Sherry bickering, Elena matched stride with Rino and slipped close beside her.
"You should leave our party," Elena murmured to Rino's confusion.
"Huh?"
"Quiet," the stoic woman whispered. "Myne and Lesty are rich noble daughters who like to get their way no matter what, and they won't tolerate competition, especially not someone who makes them work more instead of cheering on Sir Hero. I get by brown-nosing and acting as our quartermaster, but they'll start harassing you in a day or two to drive you away."
Rino frowned. Both girls had been a bit sharp, but nothing that couldn't be explained by them resenting that a less-experienced girl was stealing EXP. "If I'm hunting monsters too, it's more experience for them, right? they're not going to do anything that would risk Sir Motoyasu's disappointment, will they? You're useful, can't I be?"
"I'm useful at things they don't want to do, and they can write my family if I buck the reins," Elena answered softly as Myne squawked and stomped irately, nearly stumbling before Motoyasu caught her. "They don't have that kind of handle to rein you in, and your actions are making them look lazy."
"They are," Rino countered irately. "Why aren't you warning off Sherry, she's the bigger fuss?"
"I talked to Sherry twice today, but she's a thrill-seeking airhead who won't listen. You risk getting pushed in front of a monster when Sir Hero's preoccupied, so Myne can save you with fire but accidentally burn your pretty face, thereby reaffirming the Spear Hero's desire to keep us off the front lines."
"Tough. Her reflexes are shit despite her stats; I can take her," Rino decided.
"Rich. Noble. Daughter."
"Spear. Hero. Watching," Rino countered.
"Huh? Watching what?" Sir Motoyasu checked, which keyed the girls in that the bickering had died down and they were at the edge of town now.
"We were discussing symphonies, Sir Motoyasu, and whether it's better to listen with your eyes closed or to watch the musicians at their playing," Elena lied smoothly, changing stride to move beside Lesty with a dismissive look at Rino.
Lesty similarly looked down her nose at Rino, but Myne mostly looked distracted and thoughtful, so Rino found herself wondering if Elena had projected her own manipulativeness and hostility onto the redhead. Myne didn't really strike her as intelligent enough to plot anything nasty that wasn't blatantly obvious; the girl wore her feelings on her face for everyone to see, and her brain was only large enough to do one feeling at a time.
Rino would keep her eyes open just in case, but once she got Sir Motoyasu to understand that she wanted to contribute, she thought this ought to be a pretty sweet opportunity.
"It's not yet sunset, so I want to do some shopping," Motoyasu declared once they'd made it back to town. "Meet up at the in once it's dark?"
"We'll be at the spa, my treat," Myne offered. "It's always to good wash off our sweat before we eat and sleep."
Rino wasn't usually able to afford those luxuries, so she washed with a cloth and a kettle, but if Myne was offering... "That sounds lovely, thank you."
Myne beamed joyously, while Elena broke off alone for some shopping instead of a wash, so the four of them headed to a spa Myne knew and had a membership at.
It was not quite in the seedy part of town, but still close enough that Lesty's disparaging comment about its other clientssuggested it was convenient for courtesans finishing their shifts...
Well, the actual scrubbing areas were all neat and clean, with hot and cold running water and flowery soaps, so the business overall honestly could have passed for being in a much fancier part of town. They even had good security and a solid client recording processes, as Rino & Sherry had to sign some papers as new clients promising to obey the spa rules, and Myne shelled out some extra silvers for all of them to get "the works" to celebrate new teammates.
Rino stripped, scrubbed, and soaked in scented steaming hot water as a bathhouse worker applied a thickly smelling paste to her face that would help her relax and sleep well that night for the trip tomorrow.
It was sort of odd that Myne and Lesty hadn't come in to soak yet, but Lesty had mentioned maybe getting a foot rub because she'd been on her feet all day, and the face cream smelled so nice, she didn't understand why Sherry was trying to wipe it off and shaking at Rino's shoulder, but it was probably bad that Sherry was taking a nap in the pool, no wait the worker had fished her out so she wouldn't drown, that meant Rino didn't have to worry and could just float along in this daze...
Hands were moving her, but she didn't have to walk, and she got towed off with something warm and fluffy so she wasn't really complaining, though the air as they took her downstairs was a bit chilly, maybe they were underground?
"-don't know about their virginity, but healing magic can fake-..."
"-till costs money for magic... need to check for diseases... call it ten gold for both?"
"Two no-name adventurers no one will miss? You owe me for diminished risk, no one will look for them, no need to move them outside the city," Myne argued dismissively as Rino blinked slowly in the chilly dark room, only to realize that she was... was somewhere, but she felt funny, she had trouble moving, and she didn't have her clothes or her things. "Thirteen gold."
"Muh- Myne?" she managed, blinking heavily eyelids as she she tried to stir, to stand, to cover herself.
Myne and the other one turned to look at her.
"Both are waking up, it will take more effort to keep them under controlled, s'why lower levels are better. Eleven gold."
"Eleven, deal." Myne held out her open palm to accept payment of more money than Rino had ever held at one time, and then turned to Rino.
Something was wrong, several things were wrong, but Rino's head felt thick and heavy and her mind was trying to race through knee-deep mud.
"Buh-bye, Sherry and Rino," Myne called sweetly as she sauntered toward the door. "You're no good as adventures, but with meals and a warm bed I hope you enjoy your new jobs as Henhouse Tavern's newest prime whores! You've even got a contract, thanks to a switcheroo with your membership papers, and soon you'll have a lovely new slave crest and a line of hungry customers out the door, isn't that grand!"
With a winsome smile, Myne sauntered out the room and vanished into the gloom.
Rino's heart was beating as she began to understand that she was in trouble as more people entered the room, but her head was so muffled and her limbs were like lead and she just... couldn't... move...
...
...
...
She hadn't been moved since Myne left, but other people were moving around the room, she smelled magic and chanting and acrid stuff, but she could barely turn her head to see or struggle when someone finally grabbed her and moved her around.
The magic hummed louder, and she felt something cold swish across her collar bone and she realized, It's ink, they're painting a slave seal onto me. I need to fight back.
"Such-suh-stahp. Ahm furry," Rino moaned, only to find her arms were tied. "N-not...!"
"Furry? Not to worry, we'll shave you nice and clean for your first customer," a voice answered from the edge of the glowing diagram on the floor.
"Spray some perfume, add some lace, put some makeup on that-!"
There was a thud, a shout, a pained grunt, and then doors started slamming, there were a bunch of rapid footfalls, and someone made the diagram stop glowing and hurting Rino, which was such a relief she just had to... close her eyes... for a minute...
Day 27, afternoon
Naofumi swallowed the Soul Healing Water, hit Y to spend SP as it was going down, and back pedaled fast as the giant Pekkul Boss tried to knock his head off.
"Zweite Lightning!" Sadeena cast to blast it back (and hopefully paralyze it), immediately lunging forward to grapple it as Naofumi sucked down another SP potion.
"Shield Prison!" Naofumi cast, trapping three of the Pekkul mobs (which looked much closer to deranged penguins that the musclebound boss) as they tried to flank Raphtalia while she focused on cutting down two more. "Air Strike Shield, Second Shield!"
The flat barriers sandwiched two more Pekkul for Raphtalia to slice through, and then he dismissed the Shield Prison so she could eliminate the Pekkul trapped inside.
Sadeena was above Level 90, which meant she was able to handle the Karma Penguin thing single-handed, though Raphtalia still ducked in and out to swipe and stab as Naofumi kept an eye out for more Pekkul or other monsters to show up, and Firo stomped a remaining Pekkul or two.
"Pui~!"
"Yeah, more food," Naofumi huffed as he tossed some cooked meat to Firo and set to absorbing the Pekkul bodies as Sadeena wore down the boss.
He was just feeding the last Pekkul to his Shield when Raphtalia gave a triumphant shout and he got a large EXP notice that pushed the three of them up a few levels (though not Sadeena).
"Right, that's done. Any stragglers?" Sadeena checked.
"Nee-chan, I don't leave stragglers," Raphtalia complained in a huff.
Naofumi smirked at Raphtalia's form of address: apparently, terms like "nee-chan" had been used by summoned heroes enough that they had trickled down into common use in some places, even if no one really knew they context for what they meant.
"Right, we had a good day and we won't be able to get it to spawn again until tomorrow-," And that's assuming that one of the others doesn't want to spawn the Bosses to train. "-so we should get heading back to town before sunset." Yumiella might be crazy enough to train all night with her birds, but I'm going to enjoy my warm bed while I have one. "Firo, ride time."
"Pyui!"
"It's hard to believe she hatched a few days ago, and now she's carrying us on her own," Raphtalia mused.
"First they're walking, next they're talking, next they're sneaking out of the house to hook up on the sly," Sadeena chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah. Sweet, we got one of those Penguin Outfit armors," he realized as Firo began towing their makeshift carriage and he checked his Drop Menu.
"C'mon, I barely understand what half of these do," Naofumi grumbled. "Any idea what the Cardinal Shield has against offering numbers?"
"Hmm?" Sadeena made a sound, so Naofumi toggled a mental switch and showed her the description on his screen, Raphtalia peering at it as well.
"Oh! That looks very warm and happy," Raphtalia declared.
"I don't know which numbers correspond to which label, but I half-remember some childhood counting rhyme that they increased by half again: half and three is five, plus half is seven then ten, up to fifteen, twenty-two to thirty-three, half one-hundred half again is seventy-five," Sadeena sang, and Naofumi felt several moments of discombobulation as his ears registered a lyrical rhyme while his mind insisted on parsing the words into a very clunky meaning that utterly butchered the original rhythm.
"Erg," Naofumi shuddered, "let's avoid the poetry, okay? That felt weird to hear."
"Oh? Ah, yes, the holy translation magic doesn't do well there," Saddeena remembered.
"...Did Yumiella talk to you about that? I don't think I told you much?"
"I mean, I was there when she mentioned that grimoire stone with magical Nihongo," Sadeena reminded him. "Other than that, my birthplace had a lot of old stories hanging around... But maybe I should start you on your magic lessons before the sun sets?"
Naofumi checked the sky. "Alright, fine." I want that hero spell before the next Wave anyway, so I need to buckle down like it's midterms come early.
"Master Naofumi! Since we'll be out of the forest soon, you should reapply your disguise," Raphtalia reminded him.
"Oh? Good catch," he commended her, using one of the magic belts Yumiella had given him -- she'd snagged several off the handful of secret agents following them around that she'd intercepted at various points -- to change his hair color, nose shape, and jaw line as well as to give himself a disfiguring scar, just in case anyone was looking for the Shield Devil.
It wasn't likely, but it was possible, so he changed the Cardinal Shield to an inconspicuous form as they emerge from trees onto the island's beach. Sadeena chanted a quick spell that turned a large stretch of ocean into a stable platform, and Firo cheerfully stepped on it to begin pulling them to the central island.
As Sadeena maintained the spell, Raphtalia and Naofumi began drilling each other with magic alphabet flashcards, first single characters and then combining them with Sadeena to check they got it right.
Naofumi wasn't certain if he'd learn Yumiella's Imbue or another heroic spell, but he needed every trick he could get, and he had enough RP from the Cane's empowerment method to buff several spells to their max as soon as he learned them.
They made it back to the main island without incident and headed to a tavern near the cottage they had rented to get dinner.
Bellies no longer rumbling, Sadeena left to go barhopping for a bit -- Naofumi wasn't sure if she really liked booze or if she was drinking to cope with Lulorona's destruction -- while Raphtalia tried to see if she could get Firo talking like Yumiella's two birds.
Lacking access to a forge, Naofumi set to work experimenting with carving some wooden shields that he could Weapon Copy to get a few new forms. They weren't likely to have great stats, but any Equip Bonus was better than none and he might be able to eventually make himself something really impressive.
It was a pity my Balloons got popped by the Karma Squirrel; I'll probably miss out on two or three opportunities for Mastery and Proficiency tonight without them chewing on me all the time, he reflected with a sigh. I still don't have Teleportation access, so I need one of the others to come give me a ride... Actually, I wonder if there's any kind of local clam or leech that could bite me like those balloons did to grind my shield proficiency. Something to ask Sadeena when she gets back.
It wasn't quite midnight when someone knocked on the door. Sadeena would have just walked in, so Naofumi switched to one of his better Shield forms, crept carefully toward the door as the knocking continued, and opened it to find himself facing Itsuki.
"I searched half the inns on this island before I found you," the younger boy huffed. "Let me in, I've got news."
Naofumi let him in, still wary just in case. "What news?"
"Yumiella's dueling Motoyasu."
"Right now?" Am I missing it?
"No. Tomorrow, or maybe the next day. It's one of those ancient honor duel challenges, they've got formalities to go through. ...Also, Myne has proven beyond reasonable doubt to be an untrustworthy, conniving schemer who needs to be stopped."
Naofumi shut the door, switched to his Interdimensional Cerberus Shield form for its enemy detection skill just in case, and said, "Tell me everything."
Itsuki told him.
Motoyasu had been worried that he was mishandling his team due to the high turnover rate, so Yumiella had offered her for teammate to go undercover and quest with them, same as she'd done to investigate Naofumi.
WhereCarrie Farrie had been totally safe with Naofumi even when she pretended to get drunk, paw at him, and fall asleep...
Well, after a single day of hunting monsters with Motoyasu's team, Myne had taken the girls to relax at a spa to celebrate their new team, only for 'Sherry' and an unrelated new recruit named Rino to end up drugged, sold to traffickers, and about a minute from being branded with control crests beforeSherry Farrie managed to snap out of it enough to knock out the slavers and get them to safety.
Myne, meanwhile, had gone back to Motoyasu and claimed that the two girls had left of their own accords, to search for a better fit with another party. Given that 'Sherry' was supposed to stay with him until the Wave to check his party management, Motoyasu was very confused and tried to press Myne about it, but he couldn't get a straight answer beyond her shrugging, so after dinner he had gone out to search from them at an inn or find Yumiella to ask about where Farrie had gone.
Still half-drugged, but way tougher than the slavers, Farrie had flagged Motoyasu down from the criminals' den as they were staggering out while he was walking past, and he quickly intervened and got the guard involved on his heroic authority and having all the criminals arrested.
The problem was that Myne had pulled out crocodile tears, and Motoyasu refused to believe that she had sold them to the slavers, insisting that it must have been impersonators using a magic belt, or a hallucination caused by the drug.
"I'd say he even has a good argument about it, if not for how she's done this shit before," Itsuki fumed after laying out the situation. "Farrie and Rino both remember a discussion about how girls with lower levels were easier to control, and Rino was 20 while Farrie posed as 25, so Motoyasu was asserting that the slave-takers clearly went after the two weaker girls and tricked the stronger girls into not noticing to avoid a losing fight."
"Wow. I bet you can't believe you ever agreed with him on anything," Naofumi joked. That traitorous bent finally overstepped herself and will get her just desserts! Yes!!
"Hey! I was raised to believe women about predators, and that's why I'm believing Farrie about this. Don't joke about that or you might get sexually assaulted and need to report it, you ass!" Itsuki snapped.
Naofumi shrugged. "Sure, maybe I can even fill out a Bad Things Bingo card and win a prize at this rate. So it's some honor duel to determine the truth?"
Itsuki worked his jaw for a moment before growling. "Rrrrrrrgh...! That senile dunce on the throne is refusing to believe that Myne could be involved in this at all, pressing Farrie and Rino to recant their 'slander'. He says since the actual sex traffickers are under arrest and facing the death penalty for the other times they've done this, and there's 'no reason to throw mud on the good names of adventurers helping the Cardinal Heroes when everyone involved was fooled by a nefarious trick'."
"Piece of trash," Naofumi snorted. I can't believe he's still defending her, though. You'd think the trash would cut her loose. "Why's he so obsessed with Myne, anyway? Think she's his bastard daughter he's indulging while the wife is out of town?" He'd meant it as a joke, but spoken out loud it sounded plausible, and they both frowned thoughtfully.
"You might have a point with that, actually. I guess I can add nepotism to his list of offenses," Itsuki griped. "But Yumiella responded to that slight against her comrade's honor by getting involved, especially with the observation that Motoyasu's party has had a lot of turnover so they ought to be able to track down and interview the former members, and if they can't then that suggests something very suspicious. But she also insisted that teammates who would fall for this type of trick with such high stakes and evil consequences are a dangerous detraction to someone as important as a Cardinal Hero, and that she wanted Motoyasu to switch up his party."
Apparently, Itsuki explained further, Motoyasu had balked at 'abandoning' his teammates with the Wave coming up, Myne had thrown a hissy fit of tears protesting the 'injustice' of her suffering, the King had tried to side with her but had utterly failed to meaningfully mediate the meeting, and in the end it had shaken out to an Honor Duel between the Spear and Sword with stakes of Farrie recanting her testimony against Myne to drop the charges versus Motoyasu restructuring his party by Yumiella's suggestion.
There was a bit of general worry about them dueling prior to the oncoming Wave, but precisely because of that the duel was likely going to be rushed a bit and occur tomorrow or maybe the next day.
"It probably wouldn't be wise of you to show up in person with your name still slandered," Itsuki advised, "but at the same time neither of us should miss this, so if you can come in disguise...?"
"Oh yeah, totally easy," Naofumi dismissed. "But Itsuki, you still have meta-knowledge of this world from your game, right? I need you to tell me something vitally important."
"...certainly."
"Where," Naofumi asked seriously, "do I go to buy some popcorn?"
Heck yeah! This is gonna be GREAT!!
Motoyasu had surprised his teammates that morning with tickets to a spa, saying they deserved the best for all their work preparing for the Wave, and the party could regroup for lunch.
Honestly, he just wanted them out of the way for another Four Heroes meeting about the situation, but he didn't have the heart to leave them or lie to them.
He'd only ever believe the best of Myne, but with the other three all suggesting that it was kinder to keep her uninvolved from their planning so she wouldn't feel guilty.
Better that I feel guilty than that I make her feel guilty, that's what Itsuki said, he sighed. Then he heard his name. "Sorry?"
Itsuki rolled his eyes like the kid he was. "I was checking whether all three of the new empowerment methods are working for you. Are they?"
"Right, right. They're all on my Menu, RP and GP and the revision option..." Motoyasu quickly bought a Faust Flare I upgrade with 1 RP and then cringed at the monetary cost in GP for other improvements. 'Micro'-transactions my ass! "Looks good, though I'm not eager to lose any Levels this close to the Wave."
"Given the prevalence of monsters for experience," Yumiella noted, "losing a few levels during the Wave might be best once we establish whether we are over-leveled enough to not be threatened."
"Heads up, it's expensive, but it looks like GP can buy some improvements to the Growth Revision power," Naofumi added from across the table.
Motoyasu checked those prices, winced, and started looking for some more affordable options instead. Hmm... actually , buying off a Tempering fail-and-reset looks way more affordable. Wouldn't cost much GP to have a safety net for trying to get a bigger upgrade without losing out.
"Huh. It looks like the cheaper options involving buying off upgrading failures or upgrading skills' efficiency or cooldown," Itsuki assessed, "while actual improvements are far more expensive. Huh. Buying off an Awakening or Tempering failure is pretty cheap, but I haven't had Awakening fail much for me anyway."
"Yeah, and Tempering is- huh? Oh, hey," Motoyasu realized, "the Status Enchantment Specification actually looks pretty affordable too! Yeah, when you make a status enchantment, it lets you narrow the results of the random improvement by selecting an option from a list that the enchantment won't affect."
"I'm checking Ore Equip to see if there's a way to improve- hah! I've got something, it'll improve the bonus on a weapon if I equip ores all of one type," Naofumi declared with odd satisfaction. "Sounds perfect for me to pour in a bunch of copper, heh."
Motoyasu almost made a snide comment about the selection, reminded himself that Naofumi was very plausibly Not Guilty of assaulting Myne, and then checked the Microtransaction option in his own Menu to see what it was.
"Copper ore? Why would you bother using copper?" Itsuki wondered. "That's one of the weakest Ore Equip options there is! It's not even a percent, it's a flat +1 bonus! Please tell me you have better options and are just going for something cheap to start."
"No, I get it," Motoyasu disagreed. "Improving the +1 attack per copper ore equipped to +2 attack each or whatever means he can equip 20 or 30 coppers to one shield and get an actual attack stat. ...That means you don't need slaves to fight for you anymore, right?" he added tightly.
Naofumi snorted at him. "Raphtalia and Sadeena are both carrying flasks of the removal potion, they'll come or go as theyprefer."
Motoyasu winced, as that verbal barb hit him in his soft heart. Comrades coming and going... You talk about that like it's no big deal, Naofumi.
He brooded on how many people had entered and then left his party for a few minutes, letting the conversation flow around him, before he finally got his courage up.
"Hey, Yumiella, I..." He trailed off as he realized that all three of them were now eyeing him. "Uh, never mind."
"Naofumi," Itsuki declared, "how about we go to the other room to compare notes about potion compounding."
"Huh? Why move?"
"Because, I think Motoyasu has a private question he wants to discuss with Yumiella," Itsuki grit out.
I can't believe I'm so transparent that a high-schooler can see through me. Once they were alone, he gathered his courage again. "I... want to ask about parties."
"I see."
"Party dynamics. About... About my party, and if I'm a good leader," he admitted.
"Please, tell me more."
"I've gone though almost twenty party members who joined and then left, usually just a few days later."
"That's amazing."
"Hah! Yeah, but not in a good way," Motoyasu agreed. "I'm worried there's something I'm doing that keeps putting them off. A few people said they would leave because of a 'family emergency' or something, but mostly either they say 'I feel like this is a bad fit' or they don't stay anything, they just leave a letter and head out without talking to me. So I have no clue what I'm doing wrong, and I'm terrified that I'm somehow imposing on the three girls who are with me, like they don't want to stay but they're worried to leave me alone. I... Do you...?"
He trailed off helplessly, not really sure what he wanted from her.
"I have an idea," she told him.
Day 27, noon
"Do you know how to use that?" Rino teased the doofus man who was flirting with her in the Adventurers' Guild hall.
Magic weapons -- like the sword she'd recently purchased to celebrate rising to Level 20 -- had become more popular since the waves began and everyone started remembering the old tales of the Cardinal and Seven Star Heroes, so it wasn't a surprise that this guy also had a spear that could change shape.
Still, he was handsome and he had an air of strength, even if he also struck her as an airhead, so Rino decided she could go for a team-up with him.
"OOOH! Are you the Spear Hero? Neat!"
She wasn't actually expecting the answer to be affirmative, but then a redhead with a scroll -- she wore a sword on her belt, but she carried herself like a sorceress with revealing armor, mediocre balance, unmuscled limbs, and unmarred skin -- dashed over to intervene between them.
"Mister Motoyasu, we have a guild request!"
Rino paused a moment, preoccupied first with the idea that these people were important enough for the Guild to make a request of them instead of vice-versa, and then his name...
Stars of steel! Is he actually Spear Hero Motoyasu? I thought he'd be hanging out in the palace and dining with the Pope, not here in a Guild Hall getting work!
I so want in on this now. It's a chance to help save the world, what woman in her right mind would pass it up?
"Sorry, lady," the redhead continued in a darker tone, "but Mister Motoyasu has important work, so you'd better get on with your day."
Rino pouted and made her eyes wide, almost teary. "But... he asked me to join him for a mission? I know swordsmanship and support magic."
That was when another girl in a skimpy (but magically enhanced) outfit showed up. "Oh, you want to be in Mr. Motoyasu's party too?"
"As I've been telling Sherry, it's a difficult job, you might not be able to keep up," a third woman noted as she appeared.
Beside her, a fourth woman wearing a lot of cloth wraps, including in her pale blonde hair, gave a wave.
"Oh? And who is Miss Sherry? Sir Motoyasu," the redhead cooed, "are you bored and replacing us?"
"What? Nonono!" the Cardinal Spear Hero babbled. "Myne, Lesty, Elena, no one could ever replace any of you in my party or in my heart, you're my precious comrades!" Rino blinked at the cheesy bit about his heart and wondered if the Spear Hero was forming a harem like several of the historical heroes had done in old stories. "It's just, we've been having turnover you know, and with the Wave coming up more hands makes lighter work to get ready for it. You really want to come, Miss?"
"Yes! I'm- I'm Rino," she said, accepting his Party Invite and joining the party of the Holy Spear Hero! (Squee!!)
They did proper introductions -- the redhead was Myne, the skimpily dressed one was her friend Lesty, the third was Elena, and then the fellow blonde was another new recruit Sherry Atric -- and Rino grimaced upon realizing that being Level 20 still left her the lowest in the party, after Sherry at 25, but she mentally swore that she would put forth her utmost effort to earn her place!
...As it turned out, though, the only things Rino really strained that day were her vocal chords, her common sense, and her patience.
The Guild Request assignment was for the Spear Hero to escort a caravan of relief supplies to a village suffering a famine, but the caravan didn't leave until the next morning, so Motoyasu suggested they all go hunt some monsters to raise their levels.
Rino was pretty sure that the fiction stories of Holy Heroes rising 10 or 20 levels in a single day of epic battle were just stories, but as Sir Motoyasu led them to a watering hole where monsters often gathered she was still excited to show off and rise to the occasion.
When an Azure Wing showed up -- a bird monster that couldn't fly but could still jump and glide, with a wicked beak -- Rino had her sword out and was moving to flank it when Motoyasu gave the order to stand back.
"You girls aren't suited to bloody battles, so just hang back and cheer me on," was what he said.
He killed the first two or three pretty quickly, and Rino set herself to cheering appreciatively as he showed off, but more birds showed up and it took him longer to slay them, even if he never really got overwhelmed, and after about half an hour of this Sherry was bold enough to confess that she was bored and wanted to stretch her legs, and'would Motoyasu like her to flush some more monsters toward him for hunting?
"But if you go off alone, what if you're attacked and hurt?"
"I know buff magic, so I can climb a tree and outrun them, right? But Miss Myne and Miss Lesty know attack magic, so they can probably wipe out a big bunch of monsters if I get them grouped up, and then we can all get a bunch of experience!"
There was a bit of an argument, since Myne and Lesty weren't sure it was safe while Sherry said it ought to be less dangerous than the risk that a monster might attack them while Motoyasu was preoccupied, and Rino sided with Sherry since she wanted to finally do some fighting even if her woodcraft was sub-par.
Once the fighting kicked up a notch, Rino just let herself get into the swing of things, although Myne's wind-empowered fire magic was impressive enough that the redhead got a lot of kills with area attacks, and Rino was impressed to watch several of her enemies get roasted faster than she could take their heads off.
She thought Myne needed more practice with her aim, as Rino ended the afternoon with a few scorch marks, but her Magical Resilience was pretty high after growing up with a brother who liked magical pranks, and she thought she'd done pretty well for herself!
Yes, she'd stumbled once or twice and her head had been swimming a bit, but she'd contributed even if she might not have gotten a finishing blow, and while she'd lost the accessory she used to check her stats she hoped that she might have hit Level 21 after all that fighting!
Sir Motoyasu wouldn't stop apologizing that he'd gotten them sweaty and dirty, as it "doesn't suit such beautiful flowers," and Rino laughed a bit when Sherry asked him whether flower gardens were usually full of dirt or not, which made Lesty get snappish.
As they were heading back to town at the end of a good day, with Myne, Lesty, and Sherry bickering, Elena matched stride with Rino and slipped close beside her.
"You should leave our party," Elena murmured to Rino's confusion.
"Huh?"
"Quiet," the stoic woman whispered. "Myne and Lesty are rich noble daughters who like to get their way no matter what, and they won't tolerate competition, especially not someone who makes them work more instead of cheering on Sir Hero. I get by brown-nosing and acting as our quartermaster, but they'll start harassing you in a day or two to drive you away."
Rino frowned. Both girls had been a bit sharp, but nothing that couldn't be explained by them resenting that a less-experienced girl was stealing EXP. "If I'm hunting monsters too, it's more experience for them, right? they're not going to do anything that would risk Sir Motoyasu's disappointment, will they? You're useful, can't I be?"
"I'm useful at things they don't want to do, and they can write my family if I buck the reins," Elena answered softly as Myne squawked and stomped irately, nearly stumbling before Motoyasu caught her. "They don't have that kind of handle to rein you in, and your actions are making them look lazy."
"They are," Rino countered irately. "Why aren't you warning off Sherry, she's the bigger fuss?"
"I talked to Sherry twice today, but she's a thrill-seeking airhead who won't listen. You risk getting pushed in front of a monster when Sir Hero's preoccupied, so Myne can save you with fire but accidentally burn your pretty face, thereby reaffirming the Spear Hero's desire to keep us off the front lines."
"Tough. Her reflexes are shit despite her stats; I can take her," Rino decided.
"Rich. Noble. Daughter."
"Spear. Hero. Watching," Rino countered.
"Huh? Watching what?" Sir Motoyasu checked, which keyed the girls in that the bickering had died down and they were at the edge of town now.
"We were discussing symphonies, Sir Motoyasu, and whether it's better to listen with your eyes closed or to watch the musicians at their playing," Elena lied smoothly, changing stride to move beside Lesty with a dismissive look at Rino.
Lesty similarly looked down her nose at Rino, but Myne mostly looked distracted and thoughtful, so Rino found herself wondering if Elena had projected her own manipulativeness and hostility onto the redhead. Myne didn't really strike her as intelligent enough to plot anything nasty that wasn't blatantly obvious; the girl wore her feelings on her face for everyone to see, and her brain was only large enough to do one feeling at a time.
Rino would keep her eyes open just in case, but once she got Sir Motoyasu to understand that she wanted to contribute, she thought this ought to be a pretty sweet opportunity.
"It's not yet sunset, so I want to do some shopping," Motoyasu declared once they'd made it back to town. "Meet up at the in once it's dark?"
"We'll be at the spa, my treat," Myne offered. "It's always to good wash off our sweat before we eat and sleep."
Rino wasn't usually able to afford those luxuries, so she washed with a cloth and a kettle, but if Myne was offering... "That sounds lovely, thank you."
Myne beamed joyously, while Elena broke off alone for some shopping instead of a wash, so the four of them headed to a spa Myne knew and had a membership at.
It was not quite in the seedy part of town, but still close enough that Lesty's disparaging comment about its other clientssuggested it was convenient for courtesans finishing their shifts...
Well, the actual scrubbing areas were all neat and clean, with hot and cold running water and flowery soaps, so the business overall honestly could have passed for being in a much fancier part of town. They even had good security and a solid client recording processes, as Rino & Sherry had to sign some papers as new clients promising to obey the spa rules, and Myne shelled out some extra silvers for all of them to get "the works" to celebrate new teammates.
Rino stripped, scrubbed, and soaked in scented steaming hot water as a bathhouse worker applied a thickly smelling paste to her face that would help her relax and sleep well that night for the trip tomorrow.
It was sort of odd that Myne and Lesty hadn't come in to soak yet, but Lesty had mentioned maybe getting a foot rub because she'd been on her feet all day, and the face cream smelled so nice, she didn't understand why Sherry was trying to wipe it off and shaking at Rino's shoulder, but it was probably bad that Sherry was taking a nap in the pool, no wait the worker had fished her out so she wouldn't drown, that meant Rino didn't have to worry and could just float along in this daze...
Hands were moving her, but she didn't have to walk, and she got towed off with something warm and fluffy so she wasn't really complaining, though the air as they took her downstairs was a bit chilly, maybe they were underground?
"-don't know about their virginity, but healing magic can fake-..."
"-till costs money for magic... need to check for diseases... call it ten gold for both?"
"Two no-name adventurers no one will miss? You owe me for diminished risk, no one will look for them, no need to move them outside the city," Myne argued dismissively as Rino blinked slowly in the chilly dark room, only to realize that she was... was somewhere, but she felt funny, she had trouble moving, and she didn't have her clothes or her things. "Thirteen gold."
"Muh- Myne?" she managed, blinking heavily eyelids as she she tried to stir, to stand, to cover herself.
Myne and the other one turned to look at her.
"Both are waking up, it will take more effort to keep them under controlled, s'why lower levels are better. Eleven gold."
"Eleven, deal." Myne held out her open palm to accept payment of more money than Rino had ever held at one time, and then turned to Rino.
Something was wrong, several things were wrong, but Rino's head felt thick and heavy and her mind was trying to race through knee-deep mud.
"Buh-bye, Sherry and Rino," Myne called sweetly as she sauntered toward the door. "You're no good as adventures, but with meals and a warm bed I hope you enjoy your new jobs as Henhouse Tavern's newest prime whores! You've even got a contract, thanks to a switcheroo with your membership papers, and soon you'll have a lovely new slave crest and a line of hungry customers out the door, isn't that grand!"
With a winsome smile, Myne sauntered out the room and vanished into the gloom.
Rino's heart was beating as she began to understand that she was in trouble as more people entered the room, but her head was so muffled and her limbs were like lead and she just... couldn't... move...
...
...
...
She hadn't been moved since Myne left, but other people were moving around the room, she smelled magic and chanting and acrid stuff, but she could barely turn her head to see or struggle when someone finally grabbed her and moved her around.
The magic hummed louder, and she felt something cold swish across her collar bone and she realized, It's ink, they're painting a slave seal onto me. I need to fight back.
"Such-suh-stahp. Ahm furry," Rino moaned, only to find her arms were tied. "N-not...!"
"Furry? Not to worry, we'll shave you nice and clean for your first customer," a voice answered from the edge of the glowing diagram on the floor.
"Spray some perfume, add some lace, put some makeup on that-!"
There was a thud, a shout, a pained grunt, and then doors started slamming, there were a bunch of rapid footfalls, and someone made the diagram stop glowing and hurting Rino, which was such a relief she just had to... close her eyes... for a minute...
Day 27, afternoon
Naofumi swallowed the Soul Healing Water, hit Y to spend SP as it was going down, and back pedaled fast as the giant Pekkul Boss tried to knock his head off.
"Zweite Lightning!" Sadeena cast to blast it back (and hopefully paralyze it), immediately lunging forward to grapple it as Naofumi sucked down another SP potion.
"Shield Prison!" Naofumi cast, trapping three of the Pekkul mobs (which looked much closer to deranged penguins that the musclebound boss) as they tried to flank Raphtalia while she focused on cutting down two more. "Air Strike Shield, Second Shield!"
The flat barriers sandwiched two more Pekkul for Raphtalia to slice through, and then he dismissed the Shield Prison so she could eliminate the Pekkul trapped inside.
Sadeena was above Level 90, which meant she was able to handle the Karma Penguin thing single-handed, though Raphtalia still ducked in and out to swipe and stab as Naofumi kept an eye out for more Pekkul or other monsters to show up, and Firo stomped a remaining Pekkul or two.
"Pui~!"
"Yeah, more food," Naofumi huffed as he tossed some cooked meat to Firo and set to absorbing the Pekkul bodies as Sadeena wore down the boss.
He was just feeding the last Pekkul to his Shield when Raphtalia gave a triumphant shout and he got a large EXP notice that pushed the three of them up a few levels (though not Sadeena).
"Right, that's done. Any stragglers?" Sadeena checked.
"Nee-chan, I don't leave stragglers," Raphtalia complained in a huff.
Naofumi smirked at Raphtalia's form of address: apparently, terms like "nee-chan" had been used by summoned heroes enough that they had trickled down into common use in some places, even if no one really knew they context for what they meant.
"Right, we had a good day and we won't be able to get it to spawn again until tomorrow-," And that's assuming that one of the others doesn't want to spawn the Bosses to train. "-so we should get heading back to town before sunset." Yumiella might be crazy enough to train all night with her birds, but I'm going to enjoy my warm bed while I have one. "Firo, ride time."
"Pyui!"
"It's hard to believe she hatched a few days ago, and now she's carrying us on her own," Raphtalia mused.
"First they're walking, next they're talking, next they're sneaking out of the house to hook up on the sly," Sadeena chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah. Sweet, we got one of those Penguin Outfit armors," he realized as Firo began towing their makeshift carriage and he checked his Drop Menu.
"C'mon, I barely understand what half of these do," Naofumi grumbled. "Any idea what the Cardinal Shield has against offering numbers?"
"Hmm?" Sadeena made a sound, so Naofumi toggled a mental switch and showed her the description on his screen, Raphtalia peering at it as well.
"Oh! That looks very warm and happy," Raphtalia declared.
"I don't know which numbers correspond to which label, but I half-remember some childhood counting rhyme that they increased by half again: half and three is five, plus half is seven then ten, up to fifteen, twenty-two to thirty-three, half one-hundred half again is seventy-five," Sadeena sang, and Naofumi felt several moments of discombobulation as his ears registered a lyrical rhyme while his mind insisted on parsing the words into a very clunky meaning that utterly butchered the original rhythm.
"Erg," Naofumi shuddered, "let's avoid the poetry, okay? That felt weird to hear."
"Oh? Ah, yes, the holy translation magic doesn't do well there," Saddeena remembered.
"...Did Yumiella talk to you about that? I don't think I told you much?"
"I mean, I was there when she mentioned that grimoire stone with magical Nihongo," Sadeena reminded him. "Other than that, my birthplace had a lot of old stories hanging around... But maybe I should start you on your magic lessons before the sun sets?"
Naofumi checked the sky. "Alright, fine." I want that hero spell before the next Wave anyway, so I need to buckle down like it's midterms come early.
"Master Naofumi! Since we'll be out of the forest soon, you should reapply your disguise," Raphtalia reminded him.
"Oh? Good catch," he commended her, using one of the magic belts Yumiella had given him -- she'd snagged several off the handful of secret agents following them around that she'd intercepted at various points -- to change his hair color, nose shape, and jaw line as well as to give himself a disfiguring scar, just in case anyone was looking for the Shield Devil.
It wasn't likely, but it was possible, so he changed the Cardinal Shield to an inconspicuous form as they emerge from trees onto the island's beach. Sadeena chanted a quick spell that turned a large stretch of ocean into a stable platform, and Firo cheerfully stepped on it to begin pulling them to the central island.
As Sadeena maintained the spell, Raphtalia and Naofumi began drilling each other with magic alphabet flashcards, first single characters and then combining them with Sadeena to check they got it right.
Naofumi wasn't certain if he'd learn Yumiella's Imbue or another heroic spell, but he needed every trick he could get, and he had enough RP from the Cane's empowerment method to buff several spells to their max as soon as he learned them.
They made it back to the main island without incident and headed to a tavern near the cottage they had rented to get dinner.
Bellies no longer rumbling, Sadeena left to go barhopping for a bit -- Naofumi wasn't sure if she really liked booze or if she was drinking to cope with Lulorona's destruction -- while Raphtalia tried to see if she could get Firo talking like Yumiella's two birds.
Lacking access to a forge, Naofumi set to work experimenting with carving some wooden shields that he could Weapon Copy to get a few new forms. They weren't likely to have great stats, but any Equip Bonus was better than none and he might be able to eventually make himself something really impressive.
It was a pity my Balloons got popped by the Karma Squirrel; I'll probably miss out on two or three opportunities for Mastery and Proficiency tonight without them chewing on me all the time, he reflected with a sigh. I still don't have Teleportation access, so I need one of the others to come give me a ride... Actually, I wonder if there's any kind of local clam or leech that could bite me like those balloons did to grind my shield proficiency. Something to ask Sadeena when she gets back.
It wasn't quite midnight when someone knocked on the door. Sadeena would have just walked in, so Naofumi switched to one of his better Shield forms, crept carefully toward the door as the knocking continued, and opened it to find himself facing Itsuki.
"I searched half the inns on this island before I found you," the younger boy huffed. "Let me in, I've got news."
Naofumi let him in, still wary just in case. "What news?"
"Yumiella's dueling Motoyasu."
"Right now?" Am I missing it?
"No. Tomorrow, or maybe the next day. It's one of those ancient honor duel challenges, they've got formalities to go through. ...Also, Myne has proven beyond reasonable doubt to be an untrustworthy, conniving schemer who needs to be stopped."
Naofumi shut the door, switched to his Interdimensional Cerberus Shield form for its enemy detection skill just in case, and said, "Tell me everything."
Itsuki told him.
Motoyasu had been worried that he was mishandling his team due to the high turnover rate, so Yumiella had offered her for teammate to go undercover and quest with them, same as she'd done to investigate Naofumi.
Where
Well, after a single day of hunting monsters with Motoyasu's team, Myne had taken the girls to relax at a spa to celebrate their new team, only for 'Sherry' and an unrelated new recruit named Rino to end up drugged, sold to traffickers, and about a minute from being branded with control crests before
Myne, meanwhile, had gone back to Motoyasu and claimed that the two girls had left of their own accords, to search for a better fit with another party. Given that 'Sherry' was supposed to stay with him until the Wave to check his party management, Motoyasu was very confused and tried to press Myne about it, but he couldn't get a straight answer beyond her shrugging, so after dinner he had gone out to search from them at an inn or find Yumiella to ask about where Farrie had gone.
Still half-drugged, but way tougher than the slavers, Farrie had flagged Motoyasu down from the criminals' den as they were staggering out while he was walking past, and he quickly intervened and got the guard involved on his heroic authority and having all the criminals arrested.
The problem was that Myne had pulled out crocodile tears, and Motoyasu refused to believe that she had sold them to the slavers, insisting that it must have been impersonators using a magic belt, or a hallucination caused by the drug.
"I'd say he even has a good argument about it, if not for how she's done this shit before," Itsuki fumed after laying out the situation. "Farrie and Rino both remember a discussion about how girls with lower levels were easier to control, and Rino was 20 while Farrie posed as 25, so Motoyasu was asserting that the slave-takers clearly went after the two weaker girls and tricked the stronger girls into not noticing to avoid a losing fight."
"Wow. I bet you can't believe you ever agreed with him on anything," Naofumi joked. That traitorous bent finally overstepped herself and will get her just desserts! Yes!!
"Hey! I was raised to believe women about predators, and that's why I'm believing Farrie about this. Don't joke about that or you might get sexually assaulted and need to report it, you ass!" Itsuki snapped.
Naofumi shrugged. "Sure, maybe I can even fill out a Bad Things Bingo card and win a prize at this rate. So it's some honor duel to determine the truth?"
Itsuki worked his jaw for a moment before growling. "Rrrrrrrgh...! That senile dunce on the throne is refusing to believe that Myne could be involved in this at all, pressing Farrie and Rino to recant their 'slander'. He says since the actual sex traffickers are under arrest and facing the death penalty for the other times they've done this, and there's 'no reason to throw mud on the good names of adventurers helping the Cardinal Heroes when everyone involved was fooled by a nefarious trick'."
"Piece of trash," Naofumi snorted. I can't believe he's still defending her, though. You'd think the trash would cut her loose. "Why's he so obsessed with Myne, anyway? Think she's his bastard daughter he's indulging while the wife is out of town?" He'd meant it as a joke, but spoken out loud it sounded plausible, and they both frowned thoughtfully.
"You might have a point with that, actually. I guess I can add nepotism to his list of offenses," Itsuki griped. "But Yumiella responded to that slight against her comrade's honor by getting involved, especially with the observation that Motoyasu's party has had a lot of turnover so they ought to be able to track down and interview the former members, and if they can't then that suggests something very suspicious. But she also insisted that teammates who would fall for this type of trick with such high stakes and evil consequences are a dangerous detraction to someone as important as a Cardinal Hero, and that she wanted Motoyasu to switch up his party."
Apparently, Itsuki explained further, Motoyasu had balked at 'abandoning' his teammates with the Wave coming up, Myne had thrown a hissy fit of tears protesting the 'injustice' of her suffering, the King had tried to side with her but had utterly failed to meaningfully mediate the meeting, and in the end it had shaken out to an Honor Duel between the Spear and Sword with stakes of Farrie recanting her testimony against Myne to drop the charges versus Motoyasu restructuring his party by Yumiella's suggestion.
There was a bit of general worry about them dueling prior to the oncoming Wave, but precisely because of that the duel was likely going to be rushed a bit and occur tomorrow or maybe the next day.
"It probably wouldn't be wise of you to show up in person with your name still slandered," Itsuki advised, "but at the same time neither of us should miss this, so if you can come in disguise...?"
"Oh yeah, totally easy," Naofumi dismissed. "But Itsuki, you still have meta-knowledge of this world from your game, right? I need you to tell me something vitally important."
"...certainly."
"Where," Naofumi asked seriously, "do I go to buy some popcorn?"
Heck yeah! This is gonna be GREAT!!
