Shield Hero, but hopefully Heroic

One Thousand Steps
[X] In the end you settled on William Blackwood, an aging monk seeking enlightenment.

You were William Blackwood, a simple man who's travels brought you into almost every city on the continent. You were old, your hair was graying, your body weakening but you still walked. You've been to countless temples, places of worship and met countless wise masters and philosophers. You weren't arrogant enough to say that you've seen everything, but there was very little that could surprise one such as you. Then the demons and the waves happened, and killed your student Victor. You weren't blind with vengeance or grief when he died in your arms, Victor died accomplished with a smile on his face and that's when you knew your student was a much better man then you were. So much closer to enlightenment, maybe even reaching it during his last moments.

So you continued to walk, it didn't matter the destination you knew now. No, enlightenment wasn't achieved through the hoarding of knowledge it was the use. You wish you knew that earlier, perhaps Victor would still be alive. You also felt fear, when you died would you smile like that? Or would you die a sad useless death despite all of your work? Then a miracle occurred the Four Heroes were being summoned in the Country of Melromarc so you walked on, eager to just meet the heroes. You wondered who they'd be like? Knightly? Wise?

There was very little that could surprise one such as you, but seeing two of the heroes recruiting commonfolk in the open was a shock. The bigger shock was the small girl with the shield, the over sized green outfit, the unruly long black hair and the mangled body supporting it all.

"Good afternoon! I am the Shield Hero, Yukihime Sakura! This is my associate and fellow Hero of the Spear, Motoyasu! We wish to recruit able bodied men and women to accompany us on our quest to save the world effective immediately!"

You were suddenly humbled again from the younger generation. You felt admiration. Despite the disadvantages, the injuries, the prejudice from the Church of Three Heroes this girl was still going to be a hero... To save the world. You also felt great sorrow, children shouldn't bare the weight of the world or suffer so young. Without even thinking, you stepped into the relatively short line to meet with the Shield Hero. Time flew by and eventually we met face to face.

The young girl, Yukihime who's name you could see from the sign looked at you, saw through you. She spoke up first, "You're the first person who hasn't thoroughly disappointed me here. Tell me, why would you support me above Motoyasu? What are your skills if any that I should bother dragging you along?"

She's an acerbic one. You don't bother using any of the little tricks to put people on ease you learned from your travels, she's going to know if you even slightly mislead her. Her eyes rip away any defense you could put up so you tell her the truth.

"I'm a simple monk named William Blackwood. I've accumulated knowledge from the entire continent, I am quite average with my staff and I know a few medical tricks. As for why I want to go with you in particular... My student... He was greater than me. He learned faster, was wiser, could see the world clearer... I knew he'd be dissapointed in me if I didn't try reaching out to you, to help you when you're so clearly in pain. Who knows, maybe this is the true path to enlightenment."

You politely ignore the way she looks like she swallowed something sour, you know your chances of successfully reaching her was low so you turned ready to walk off.



You watched the monk, William Blackwood walk off.

"Wait!" You're not sure why you stopped him, maybe it was the way he was suffering that reminded you of yourself. Maybe it was his skillset that you desperately needed to survive in this land, maybe it was a fit of madness. After seeing him stop, you continued "You haven't dissapointed me yet, Blackwood. I hope you will continue to do so." You spat out those words in slight agony, but you accepted him into your employ no matter how much it hurt. There were people you needed to protect, and you weren't strong enough to do it on your own.

Seeing Motoyasu still busy with his recruitment, you decided you needed to eat something. "Well, Blackwood? How about we discuss the terms of your employment over a meal", you ignore his amused look he gave you after you failed to conceal your own interest in eating something. We traveled in silence, and for that you're grateful. You're very socially awkward when it comes to meeting people who aren't your enemies in some way you've been realizing. You chose a cheap looking place, according to Blackwood.

Haggling it over, and Blackwood being someone who didn't use much money, you've determined that you will pay for food, room and board and a wage 25 Copper (after a brief explanation of the currency) after you insisted on paying him beyond taking him on the journey.

You ordered a small cheap meal, due to your knowledge that someone starving may kill themselves by accident through overeating. It was an interesting experience, eating something someone else prepared. You smiled kindly at the server and thanked her, leaving a tip of 1 silver on top of the 15 copper cost of the food which Blackwood helpfully paid for seeing you only have Silver coins that you endeavored to pay back.

This has left you with a bit of a problem however. You have no income, and you will eventually run out of coins. Deciding that as the knowledgeable one between the two, you brought up the problem with Blackwood who is proving himself to be a reliable retainer.

You can choose multiple options, your investments will be under William Blackwood's name to avoid obstruction from the government. Profits from bounty hunting will depend on what's available.

[X] Invest into local industry.
-[X] Low Risk
-[X] Medium Risk
-[X] High Risk
-[X] 100 Silver
-[X] 200 Silver
-[X] 300 Silver
-[X] 400 Silver
-[X] 500 Silver


[X] Bounty Hunting will rack in a pretty penny.

[X] Monster Slaying will be enough for now.
 
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Investment
[X] Invest into local industry.
-[X] Low Risk
--[X] 200 Silver
-[X] Medium Risk
--[X] 100 Silver
[X] Monster Slaying will be enough for now.


You vaguely knew what an investment was. But you were mostly relying on the Monk to handle things but he wasn't much more knowledgeable than yourself. Things were different in the age you lived in, you didn't even think 'Stocks' as you knew them even developed yet. The economy of a long bygone era was something of mysticism to you.

However, business partnerships for mutual gain? You knew all about those, you've staked your life on one after all. This was much less cut throat than the deals you were used to making with the only danger being losing out on currency. You however, wasted a lot of time looking for a central bank that controlled some sort of 'Stock Market' before realizing you'd have to deal with business owners directly which was annoying but productive learning experience in mapping out the area. You've decided to disregard high risk investments for now, things that you determined that come from large distances, oversea, and generally trade goods of questionable value simply because you don't trust the political climate, or the chances of the workers delivering the goods and making a profit.

So you decided to start with some safe options for investment, while it wont bring in much it'll help. You met with a oldish looking man named Corneli in a Glassware Shop named Glasshopper interested expanding his shop and was looking to leave his son something bigger than the original store when he passed. After an hour of debate, haggling you came to an agreement to fund him 200 Silver Pieces for 2% of his total earnings for the next year. The return rate looks like you will safely bring in at least 50 copper a week. This looks bad, however that was due to the nature of it being a construction project. Once the structure is complete you will revisit the accounting. You had Blackwood sign the paperwork... Er parchment-work?

You were quite comfortable with that investment, barring a fire or some other disaster wiping out the shop you think you got a good deal. It wasn't very profitable and you can't support yourself and Blackwood alone on it, but it was a start. You were pretty sure that the Glassworker wouldn't try to fuck you over either, simply because it'd be bad for business and you could ruin him. After a few more hours of being met with fabulously bad deals and people refusing to even see you, you finally met Gus. A larger than life figure, as in very fat in a comical chef get up. He owned the restaurant 'Gus's Old Wine and Dine', a semi popular location who wanted to expand the attic into rentable real estate. Unlike the Glassblower you and Gus reached an agreement in fifteen minutes, you would give him 100 Silver Pieces in return for 4% of his earnings for Six Months and a Lifetime Discount. You have a feeling he was just using this as an excuse to reel the other heroes in, but cheap food is good food. Bringing in the other heroes wouldn't be too bad actually, it'd benefit you as well as his business partner. You determined that this deal will net you around 20 - 60 copper a week. This is again, pretty bad but this is another construction project and will take time for profit to actually show.

Finally you decided that monster slaying will be enough for covering your expenses and that you didn't need to start bounty hunting. You also considered that Blackwood is a bit too useful as an aide to lose against a brigand so until you can afford another companion, or get strong enough it's not an issue you shelved that idea. It gives you peace at mind however, that you're able to secure some sort of income just in case to afford food and potentially medicine in the future.

By the time you make it back to your inn, it was pretty late.

What do you do?

[X] Ask for advice from William Blackwood. You need to deal with your issues and grief, and so far he seems trustworthy and most importantly genuine.

[X] Resolve yourself. Saki isn't dead, she's just very far away. You don't deserve to call her your daughter anyway, such is the life as a failure. This is your punishment for failing so utterly.



Oh god, if it looks messier than usual I've been pretty stressed lately. Also if my math doesn't really make sense for how much you should be earning please call me out. I've been researching for this for the past two days but I'm really dumb so I'm pretty sure I messed up a lot. Expect me to update the inventory soon.

Also finally we get to deal with the tone of how the MC deals with the stress of dying and losing all contact with her daughter.
 
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Grief
[X] Ask for advice from William Blackwood. You need to deal with your issues and grief, and so far he seems trustworthy and most importantly genuine.

You were self aware, so much that it hurt. You knew you were slowly collapsing, and you were exhausted.

You gave a shuddering breath, Bla... No, William, looked in concern and for a brief moment another man was in his place. Your father briefly looked at you with sad eyes under his glasses, stress lines running down his face. His immaculate suit ruined by bullet holes and blood. You felt sick. Before you knew it you started talking.

"I died alone you know." You said this, almost in a terrified wimper. You were so pathetic. How dare you tremble in your boots? "I was afraid at the end. I wanted to live, just to see the sun one more time, to eat new foods, to have fun, just to live beyond surviving. It was only after I woke back up did I realize how selfish I was, I should have died in that ditch alone". You were quiet, but your voice didn't waver. William let you continue silently and for that you were grateful. "I find it almost laughable that I'm supposed to be a hero in this world you know? I'm quite possibly the worst failure there is, I couldn't protect anybody let alone myself." You paused suddenly to give a bitter laugh. "It's ironic being the Shield Hero in a cruel way. My first enemy, a warlord named Aoi, found perverse pleasure in torturing me. Deliberately breaking me down. Don't get me wrong, it started at just being business but for both of us it got personal really fast, long story short I broke him, smashing him apart. I felt joy, breaking his body before I felt deep shame and ended his suffering. What a hero I am, a crippled mess who cant help but feel joy in the act of murder." You grimaced at that. The permanent damage in your mind; your bloodlust seeping through the cracks of your self control.

You were avoiding speaking about the thing that's ripping you apart. "I had a daughter you know... She wasn't my real daughter, but she saw me as basically her mother so it fit. She was a shelter kid, abandoned by her real family who couldn't afford to take care of her. I met her completely by chance as she took refuge in a building I randomly decided to scope out. She started stalking me really clumsily after our first meeting where I didn't... Give off the best impression. I felt horrible so I took pity on her more and more to the point where I took her in, fed her, taught her she was my daughter in all but blood." You started to visibly tremble, as the full weight of your failure crushes you.

"I was pretty infamous for taking out Aoi. People avoided my 'territory' like the plague, and it made me arrogant. I thought I was safe, until someone finally came to challenge my dominance. I failed, and my challenger went after the thing that would hurt me the most. Saki, my precious daughter. While I did eventually make it through and escaped with Saki my failure showed itself in its horror. They blinded my daughter, and I was showed how weak I really was. I couldn't protect my daughter or myself. Now they want me to protect the world here, what a sick joke." You were depending on a Warlord even now to see to her needs. Truly you were worthless beyond measure, who's even to say Takami would even hold up his end of the deal now that you're no longer there. You were oh-soo sure, but you were deluding yourself weren't you? Truly you are the worst.

You were suddenly embraced by William. "I have no words. My life, my travels and even my spiritual knowledge fail me here but I know one thing. It wasn't your fault it ended up this way. Children shouldn't suffer at the hands of adults. I'm sorry Yukihime, I'm so sorry. The pain of losing a loved one isn't something that just goes away, but it wasn't your fault. I'm sorry that the Gods keep placing these burdens upon you my child. It's... It's not going to be alright, but you're still so young Yukihime, things will get better I promise even if it takes a while... Oh Victor, what should I do?"

You haven't cried since your dad died, but all this made you sob and weep like a little kid. You didn't believe him entirely, that things weren't your fault and that you weren't worthless trash but... Even if he was telling you lies (which you know he wasn't) it made you feel... Better. You haven't felt truly good in a long time but having someone believe in you like this was... Nice. It reminded you of dad.

Truthfully... You were so... Tired.

You fell asleep in the slightly panicking monk's arms. He's a very safe and trustworthy individual you found out.

[X] You dream of the War.

[X] The last time you saw Father.

[X] Saki wants to play.

[X] You dream of Aoi's death.



Man, you guys really are hitting all the 'Hurt/Comfort' options here. It's sweet, I was really expecting more people to go with the Confucius removal of attachment route. On a less happy note, you know that your character hates two people more than anything in the world! Herself and Aoi.
 
A Wistful Dream
[X] Saki wants to play.

"Wake up! Yuki~ wake up!" You groggily open your eyes, groaning as you get up. Saki always liked waking you up super early, "I'm up, I'm up.". You put on a simple black t-shirt, a brown coat, some slightly oversized pants and your boots. You knew what day it was, you've been excitedly waiting for it for a while after all. It was October 24th, Saki's birthday. You promised to do something really special for it after all and you'd like to think that you planned the day to perfection.

Saki herself was in what you think used to be a schoolboy blazer and simple blue pants that luckily fit her. Her hair however was a mess... "Saki come here, let me fix you up a bit before we go outside." Saki's not the type to be able to ignore that her hair was a mess of knots so every once in a while you brushed it for her. You didn't keep that up for yourself, you could barely touch yourself before becoming a shaking mess over feeling the scars over your body and at this point it was too difficult for Saki to take care of it and as time went on you stopped caring.

"Okay Yuki! Let me find the brush... Hm... Ah here it is!" Triumphantly coming with the brush was Saki, obediently handing it over. You cringe a bit on the inside but compliment her for it all the same "Very good job Saki, now please sit in front of me while I brush okay!" Saki was abandoned by her parents... Her obedient attitude came from fear that you would abandon her at the slightest provocation and you never felt such dislike for individuals since Aoi. You started methodologically, softly, using your only positive trait in your mind to detect the discomfort from your brushing that Saki wouldn't complain about and soon her shoulder length brown hair was tamed under the wrath of your brush. It was somewhat therapeutic and relaxing for yourself as well. Here it was just you and your daughter, no enemies, no threat of the winter, no food or clean water problems... Just the mundane task ahead of the two of you.

Getting up, you offered your hand to Saki who took it to help stand up. "Ahh... Yuki, I forgot my coat!" Off she went, coming back with a over sized green coat that was silently amusing to look at. There was other more fitting clothes for her around the house, but Saki was something of a tomboy that refused to wear 'girlygirl stuff' as she put it. You were the same, so you couldn't complain. You grabbed her hand and started walking out the door, leading to land of cracked asphalt, broken buildings and the destroyed remains of the dreams of Old Japan. Looking into the distance you could see remnants of skyscrapers and the rare determined one still standing proudly in the sky. You remember a picture of Old Tokyo your father once showed you, how pretty it was and you feel a sense of sadness. Saki tugged on your hand and you smiled.

"Today is your day Saki? What do you want to do?" You were determined to at least let Saki enjoy this day. "Hmmmm. I know! I want to play some hopscotch!" Dutifully you took out a piece of chalk from your pockets. Chalk was a useful substance in plentiful supply to easily mark places you've been before and it can be used to help entertain children with simple games. You drew out the traditional hopscotch game for several minutes, and constructed more advanced variations for her and after you were done surprisingly yourself to enjoy the simple game. You soon both got bored of the game however, and you embarrassed yourself in Hang Man before you suggested to do something else.

"Ahhh, what else to play, what else... Ah, Yuki can we play some of that uhhh... Basketball-like game?" Ah, she wanted to throw a basketball at some hoops. Specifically she wanted to make the trek to the nearby park to throw the basketball at the child sized basketball hoops. You didn't know anything about basketball but tossing a ball at a hoop was something easy to figure out. So you went inside, grabbed the orange ball (you were pretty sure from pictures you've seen that this was called a 'Basketball'). You clumsily dribbled it before embarrassing yourself in front of your daughter again by it hitting your shoe and rolling off a few meters.

Recollecting the ball, you brought Saki to what you think used to be a elementary school. You carefully positioned yourself and your daughter's path to avoid what you knew would be the remains of the school children. You always felt sick going here, sometimes you can forget the devastation of World War Three but in a place such as this? You felt sick. On the outside however, you smiled as you brought her far away from the bodies to the small park that you cleaned up before you ever even thought of bringing her here. You smiled more genuinely as she took the ball and started having fun throwing it around, even if she wasn't that successful of actually scoring. Sometimes you'd be dragged in to throw it in too.

Knowing that Saki will get bored, and that she wouldn't complain about it you called her over to go to your next destination. "Ah, Yuki where are we going?" You smiled, pretty excited "It's a surprise. You'll love it.". You haven't been excited about something in a long time. You had a really stupid grin on your face, as you led her deeper into Old Tokyo than you usually allowed. You walked at a brisk pace, you didn't want to be out here longer than you had to. Eventually you made it to --- Pi-za-ria. An authentic pizza restaurant, but more importantly somewhere with a genuine wood stove pizza oven. You've found a can of irradiated tomatoes, preserved in a MRE you've found a bunch of useful long term storage prepared items that included cheese and the materials to make the dough were easy enough to find and trade for with some useful electronics and batteries you found a few months ago. While you didn't have any meat or other items to put on the pizza you planned on making you still are going to be one of the few people in the world dining on such food.

You sat her in a booth, and you prepared the pizza. It took a while to make, and even longer to cook but when it was done you were able to simulate a slice of Pre-War life. She cautiously took a bite of the strange food item and found it (un)surprisingly delicious. You both gorged yourself on this pizza and you thought that just seeing her enjoy the pizza you made was worth the months of effort it took to gather all the materials. You wish you had the ability to make her some sort of cake for her birthday but this would have to do. Finally you were both ready to go back.

"Ahh... Yuki I wish we could do things like this forever.", Saki said this softly, "Yes, it'd be nice wouldn't it... Old Tokyo... I wish I could see how it was like back then." You felt that wave of melancholy again, but soldiered on. You couldn't let that end on a bad note, "But as long as I am with you I'd take this place over anything, I wouldn't trade you for anything kid. You got me for life." You said this confidently.

"But is that really true though?" Your eyes widened, as a large crack went through the air. You were wearing your uniform, and pooling around your chest was red. Crumpling to the floor, vomiting blood you crane your neck to look at Saki. Saki's visionless stare pierces your heart, the scars around what used to be her bright brown eyes bleeding and pooling underneath her. Saki continued, "Didn't you die? Didn't you leave me to Takami in your self pity?"

"That... That isn't true. I was dying... Ever since that fight I was crippled beyond repair. I couldn't take care of you anymore, I couldn't even take care of myself... Please... I didn't a-" you vomited blood onto the floor. You could feel your vision start to blur, using your famed strength you rolled over to look at Saki's desecrated face before returning to your original position. "Damn it! FUCK!" Your fury brought your fist down, and you pushed. Fucking get up. Fucking GET UP. Then, you stood.

On wobbly legs you stood tall against this apparition blood pooling out of your chest and mouth. You fucking walked. Stumbled. Then you lunged and you brought Saki into the biggest fucking hug you could ever do. "I fucking missed you so much. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I couldn't even save one girl... Then I got fucking picked off in this stupid war. Stupid Haruka you IDIOT YOU KILLED ME! Why couldn't you just listen..." You bled and sobbed all over her as you held your baby girl.

"...Yuki. It wasn't your fault. Please don't listen to your mind when it betrays you like this. Living with you... It was the best time of my life, I just wished it lasted longer." Saki's sightless eyes looked up at you, hugging you back "It wasn't your fault Yuki... It really wasn't please believe me!" Soon your vision went completely black, and you stopped being able to process what she was saying...

Then you woke up. You dried your tears, and you prayed. Please God, whoever will listen. Please look after my dear Saki, please let her find happiness without me.... Please, strike Takami down with the force of over a thousand suns if he so much as breathes wrong in her direction while he takes care of her. A thunderclap goes off in the distance, then the puttering of rain. You were pretty sure it had nothing to do with your prayer but it made you giggle slightly and lift your spirits even a tiny bit. You felt marginally less worthless after that dream, of better memories of your daughter and how happy she was just to be with you.

William was snoring on the ground, and you realized that he must have carried you into this inn room. You resolved to trust William as your... Friend. He seemed like such a nice man and he reminded you of Father in a positive way. You gently woke him up, and after a bit of a start he got up. "Wah! Hah... Where am I now? Ohhhh, I see the Inn. Ah Yukihime you're awake. What should we do today young Hero?"

[X] You need to start actually hunting monsters. Ah... You mean literal monsters William and not Metaphorical? Oh... I see.

[X] You're in good spirits today (for you). Let's go find a hobby!

[X] Go shopping? You're not really sure if you needed anything aside from new clothes. William would probably be too humble to accept anything without extreme effort.

Fixed some issues with perspective.
 
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Hero Business
Right before this my fucking headset broke. Yeeted that shit at the wall soon after, ordering a new one. Fuck off with these unique charger bullshit, literal micotransactions in my electronics.

[X] You need to start actually hunting monsters. Ah... You mean literal monsters William and not Metaphorical? Oh... I see.

Thus with a little skip in your step you went outside. Obviously you couldn't hunt monsters for the entire day without some basic equipment. You bought basic camping equipment, or rather you sent William in your stead to buy basic camping equipment as your aide-de-camp and someone not despised by a good third of the people here. You suddenly closed your eyes and thinned your smile a tiny bit, there's literal fucking Ninjas. You've been noticing people following you every once and a while, and at first you thought it was curious townsfolk or some thugs... But there wasn't mistaking it, you saw a cliche portrayal of a fucking Ninja just appear in your peripheral vision. You won't give any outward response to detecting them, you had no idea if you could handle beating a Ninja with your fists. But you had a feeling that people are going to know William is your aide now, which is bothersome. It shouldn't hinder the legal fiction that William controls your lending, but you suspect it'll be much more difficult to do business in this city.

Man, it's only been a day yet your enemies seem unending. But it's necessary for now to play the game. The more capital you rip out of this city with your teeth the more power you have over yourself. Soon enough William came back with the supplies, two small tents and a small amount of food. Consequently you are 10 silver lighter. Like that you were off. "Ah... William I was so excited about beating up some monsters face to realize I don't actually know where we're going!" You said this stoically, you were totally not embarrassed! "Oh! Yes, I should have told you, but most monsters keep clear of cities and roads. We should be nearing the outskirts of the city soon... Hmmm. I think I saw the signs of a monster group somewhere around a half an hour walk away from the outskirts... All told an hour or so of walking from our current position." Considering you barely passed Gus's place you think his estimate is a bit generous but at the same time you were making good pace, William really did walk most of the known world huh.

"Hey William... What's the deal with people here?" William is pretty staunchly your ally, so you can hopefully trust him with accurate information... "Hrm..." William cupped his graying goatee in thought for a few moments. "King Aultcray... He didn't used to be like this you know. He was a wise, good person. He ruled fairly in absence of the Queen, and given powers to govern even as a mere King-Consort. It started slowly, some bans of Demihuman business, some public speeches. Then he suddenly embraced the Church of the Three Heroes and basically called open season on Demihumans... Slavery which was basically outlawed here suddenly became a lucrative business, pirates and slavers became legitimate businessmen overnight. It was disgusting, I left around that point and only came back to see the legendary heroes." William spat on the ground clearly disgusted to be in Melromarc.

You were pretty fucking shocked you're not gonna lie. It didn't even occur to you the levels of barbarism that could be present, you didn't even know that Demihumans existed. Were you just passing by the oppressed with your eyes closed? Were you just ignoring it because to face it would make you inflame into unholy rage? Perhaps you were a bit self centered... But you could excuse yourself, you've only been here for a bit more than 24 hours... You were powerless now... But that won't always be the case won't it? Perhaps if you bide your time... Angrily flailing about won't solve anything, no... Even if you did free them with force, they'd die on the streets without a copper to their name. What you need is power, political, capital, and more pure strength... Perhaps you were too hasty in the past when you discarded some of Fathers teachings...

Enough of that for now, you could focus on that later when you aren't readying for combat. Suddenly you stop, narrowing your eyes at a shadow in the trees... It's a balloon with a stupid face on it. Your deadpan face at William made him feel a bit self conscious but he doesn't really understand why. You see, when you were summoned to fight you were expecting... Like, Oni or something. Suddenly it launches at you with the speed of a... Slow moving baseball toss? And you catch it and crush it. +1 Exp.

"Are you for real?" You sounded actually a bit frustrated. This wasn't satisfying at all. "Uh... Think of it this way? Each skin is around 5 Copper, seeing how you effortlessly... Slaughtered... That one, you can make quite a bit of money from this." William helpfully pointed out the goodside of this one sided massacre. You guess it's a bit unfair to expect much out of these basic monsters if the leveling system works like you think it does. You've been fighting your entire life after all. So then you went, doing the boring task of smashing monsters all day for money. Eventually you decided to make a bit of a game out of it, mimicking a baseball throw at William who got impressively good at hitting them. It made it a bit less dull. Eventually you slapped the shit out of one with your shield and the motherfucker absorbed it remains. Your shield turned into a wooden buckler with a balloon skin stretched across it. "The Balloon Shield... Can be used to store corpses... WELL FUCK, we wasted money on that big ass bag if I can just slap em in here." Curious you slapped your coins in it, it didn't change shape but the coins appeared in your 'currency tab'. Pushing like, fifty of the fuckers into the shield (it helpfully counted them) you decided that you didn't care if it was efficient money making you were fucking done.

Apparently, William became level 5, you were almost level 9. You wasted a good few hours here, seeing that you woke up sometime early in the morning you determine it's around... Three-ish? "Oi... William... You really only know this spot huh?" William sheepishly nodded. You gave out a long suffering sigh. Wondering if you should just head back, but you decided to explore a bit. Spotting an appropriately big ass tree, you started climbing. Once you got to a high enough height you looked around for weird ass shit... Giant ass bees, meh... Giant ass Spiderdemon, maybe later without William... Some evil looking dog things... More fucking balloons... Sentient Jello?

Aight you decided you were going to tussle with those evil dogs. Saki loved bees, so you don't think you could touch them without feeling sad. Then maybe you'll wrestle that big ass spider who knows... Carefully you descend the tree. Those dog things... "Yo William! What are the evil dog looking things called!" You yelled over the clearing, "Ah... Direwolves? Maybe Black Dogs? Did they have more than one head?" You felt a feeling of vertigo and almost tripped... More than one fucking head? "No... Aight, lets go slay some wolves"

More fucking walking. A plant tried eating you so you clobbered that shit with your boot, oh hey +5 exp. Now fuck off. You waved William over to hide behind some trees and you dived your ass into a bush. There was your prey, just walking about. Three 'Direwolves'. You weren't sure how you felt just beating up and looting some innocent ass animals, but on the other hand you didn't really give a shit. As soon as one got close enough to your bush you pounced on him bringing your index and middle finger stabbing right into it's eyesocket, quickly tearing said eye out. Wolf 1 and 2 finally discovered that their buddy was in trouble, Wolf 1 launching at you eating your shield to its dumb face. Wolf 2 tried turning around only to eat William's staff in the head. Wolf 3 looked like it was about to recover so you kicked it in the face. You turned just in time to catch Wolf 1 pouncing on you. You struggled with it a bit, before throwing it off of you.

William was just effortlessly beating the shit out of his wolf, having only one opponent and a reach weapon after all. You decided to use your theory of trying to use your shield as some sort of Tonfa. You failed, merely applying your elbow to the Wolf's neck instead of the shield... Considering the loud crack that went through the air, you'd consider Wolf 1 out for the count. Wolf 3 was similarly dispatched when you ended its suffering via applying your boot to its neck. William finally landed a decisive blow when the last wolf got distracted by the death of its comrades.

That was a bit more satisfying that leveling had nothing to do with. But it was sorta dimmed by the cruelty of it all, these guys were just minding their own business until you came along. But that's life ain't it? Ha~, you were pretty worried there for a second. You only rarely got into conflicts with animals, you didn't want to waste the valuable corpses but you didn't really know what to do with most of the wolf anyway so you brought the shield onto the corpse, and a new 'Direwolf Storage Shield' was made.

You shrugged your shoulders when you got back to your still unpitched tents and rations... You decided to go back into town. You thought that you and William would be able to keep duping the shopkeepers that didn't like you for longer, and you kinda felt like getting the best deal possible after your first monster slaying expedition. There has to be a more efficient way to do this too, maybe there's some sort of notice board or something. Or maybe you need to directly ask people for work? Maybe advertise that your open for monster slaying business? Something, because you just wasted an entire day even with the valuable combat experience you got out of it.

Eventually you and William made it back to town, from what you can tell it was sometime in the evening. Doing some looking around you finally found a decent place to sell your Balloon corpses. "You accept Balloon corpses right? Like, 20 a piece correct?" the Merchant nodded, "The corpses can be refined into an alchemical ingredient necessary for some potions and perfume. Specifically I use it for perfume, so I'll purchase any amount as it's cheaper to buy from locals than to import it" he said explaining his interest. "Ah I see... So would you mind buying them in bulk... Let's say fifty or so?", You pressed on, you didn't want to bother selling in small amounts. "That'd fix my supply issue actually. Not many people actually bother to collect them, and it's pretty expensive to hire people specifically to get them for me... Usually I'd give you ten silver coins for it, but the labor involved and to keep you interested in supplying me I'll give you twenty." Charlie's Perfume Emporium apparently needs them, and is interested in hiring your service to supply Balloon corpses in bulk for a relatively large amount for the labor involved.

After a few hours of searching, you finally found a tannery interested in buying your wolf corpses. The offer was 25 Silver for each body, considering you had two bodies after you used up the third to make your storage shield you got 50 Silver. Coming back to the Inn pretty tired you ate a meager meal of 25 copper pieces worth of medieval salad, and rerenting your room and one for William for the next few days costed 75 copper. In total today was a win, netting you 69 Silver Pieces. You collapsed onto the bed exhausted and experienced a dreamless night.

The next day you:

[X] Went looking for monsterslaying work. There has to be some streamlined system here that you're missing.

[X] Ran the numbers in your head, you think that if you hired a cheap adventurer you can run a profit sending them out to do Charlie's request. Perhaps it's possible to throw your status as a Heroic Weapon user to start a business taking all the shit jobs nobody wants?

[X] You really want to fight that Spider now. It looks like fun. Dangerous but fun.
 
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Big Trouble in Little Spidernest
Everyone gangsta until the big spiderboy walks in.

Usually I'd post a short segment to say which sort of shield you wanted her to use. But you literally only have on useful combat one and I cant imagine the other ones being used at all.

[X] You really want to fight that Spider now. It looks like fun. Dangerous but fun.

You get up pretty restless. You've been thinking about that giant ass spider... You want to fight it, it looks like it'd be something that would really let your blood sing. You got up, walked to William's room and knocked a few times. Finally it opened to reveal the monk. "Hm? Ah, Yukihime. What are we gonna do for today?" he looked excited, unfortunately you had to burst his bubble for this one "You're getting the day off, I'm going to go do some live target training" you flicked a silver coin into his bewildered hands and walk down the hall to the exit "Oh I see, have fun... Wait, what do you mean about 'Live Combat Training?' Yukihime!?". You giggle as you walk off, this will be fun!

You forgot how fucking far away everything is. More fucking WALKING. You needed a cane or some shit, your right leg is still pretty fucked up. Shit hurts. You wave at Gus as you pass by his restaurant, looks like they're finally starting the renovations. Oh hey, the Ninjas that were following you finally fucked off after you reached the outskirts of the city. It was pretty cute how they think they're hiding from you. Ahh... Nature.

You fucking hate Nature. You went to sniff a sun flower and it almost bit off your nose, well fuck you too. You're gonna need to keep your guard up on this world huh, flowers can kill you. Fuck it, you were sure out there that the very blades of grass want you dead. Trees can be evil too, and that's fucked you love trees. What fucked up deity made a world where cute ass plants want to murder you. This shit sorta makes you a bit pissed off, maybe you should yell at God?

Ahhh, you're not sure you want to waste your breath. Now, you've been walking for like a few hours. Munching on some bread you start to think... Where was the Spider Nest again... Ah shit you're gonna have to climb a fucking tree again, please don't eat me Mister Tree! So after carefully prodding it a bit, you were pretty sure it wont eat you. So up you went, this one was a bit of a more difficult climb then you're used to. You made it appropriately high enough to view into the distance. Hmm. Gross Oooze monsters, no. Balloon... A patch of angry flowers... Giant Frogs... Some nonelucidian geometry monster... Ah there it is! Slightly to the North West you could see a mess of spiderwebs and a single massive spider.

It was not titanic in size... Around the size of a school bus at most, ah how scary~. You started smiling, you couldn't help yourself. You started the slow trek towards the beast, you felt like one of those legendary figures of the wasteland... Like the probably mythical wasteland samurai Hikaru, legendary beast killer from Kyoto. You frown for a second... Hikaru might be real, you had no fucking clue what fucked up shit Japan got up to before the war but there was a reason Japan was hit with warheads in relatively isolated areas of Japan father refused to talk about. Hikaru's whole legend came from mythical tales of monsters roaming the Kyoto region, and now that you've seen some fucked up shit you're not completely dismissing mythical shit anymore.

You stop a few yards from what you're pretty sure it's detection range is... You have to think. You doubt you can punch this enemy to death as easily as the others due to its massive size. You suddenly smile, pick up a rock and start to climb another tree dangerously close to the Spider but remain undetected. Annoyingly you aren't close enough to pull what you think the Old World called 'The People's Elbow', so you leaped and aimed your shield in such a way that the pointed tip would take the force of your fall. You weren't that heavy, you think at most you were barely over 90 or so pounds but combined with your velocity you were able to pierce the carapace on its back... You just didn't expect the force to stun you as it traveled up your arm, but thankfully your shield's mystic effects took most of the damage you'd usually get from this sort of stunt. Thank you Wasteland Samurai for the inspiration.

That was probably really stupid of you huh. Twisting your body in a way that let you use your feet to assist you, you wrenched your shield (and thus your hand) out of the back of the now screeching monster. Now what the fuck are you gonna do genius? You release a squawk of surprise as the spider moved. Sending you tumbling until you grasped the fur of the angry arachnid. Through the forest it ran, crushing small trees in its way and generally making a nuisance of itself. You felt awesome, but you also felt really fucking tired of being thrown about on its back. Now how exactly were you going to get out of this situation?

The spider started fucking climbing up a cliff face. "Are you shitting me...", with a grunt of effort you climbed to your initial impact strike and using your shield like really shitty brass knuckles you slam it into said wound, over and over again. It started getting easier the more you broke off the hard shell, and you were pretty sure you were harming something important... Make that you were hitting something REALLY important, as the spider suddenly seized crawling up the cliff face... Then started falling, with YOU on the back. "Well shit."

Fuck, you don't really know anything to escape what you think is probably your coming demise. With no other option you let go of the spider, kicking off in the direction of the trees. You were nowhere near skilled enough in parkour to make a nice save, but smashing your body on the branches were to slow your descent so you didn't flat out splat on ground. The spider landed with a resounding 'CRASH' and you, a much more elegant 'thud'. Shit, your everything hurts. Suddenly you hear a small clicking and cracking sound...

The spider was still fucking alive. "You really gotta be fucking kidding me." Your right leg was fucked, you were bruised all over but the Spider was much worse off. You grab a stick of appropriate height to use as a cane to stand your ass back up to clash with this big ass fucker. First it tried spearing you with one of its legs, reading it's body language you're able to use your deceptively strong body and it's velocity against it, breaking it with a chopping motion with your shield. You ready to hit it with your cane only to feel a massive shocking pain in your hand.

Contract Violation: Heroes can only use the Legendary Weapons

But you need to hit it.

Contract Violation: Heroes can only use the Legendary Weapons

But you need to hit it.


Contract Violation: Heroes can only use the Legendary Weapons

But you need to hit it.

Contract Violation: Heroes can only use the Legendary Weapons

B҉u͓t̰̝̙͖̀ ͇͘yo̠u̦̙̯̳̙͕̙ ̛̥n̹̦̙̼͞e̵e͚̪̫͝d̴̞ ̭̜t̷̘̗o̬̹̺ ͖̟͓̟͢ͅh͏̻̬̭i͍̯̯̩͜t̤͙̥͈ ̨i̸̻t̷͍͙̫ͅ.͍̙̻̼̮
You giggle at the fact that the Shield thinks that a little pain would stop you from crushing this bug. Your smile stretches almost impossibly wide across your face as you crush the other offending limb the spider weakly brings up to defend its broken body. Crush! Splatter! You ignore the feeling in your hand, your ankle for your scars burn, your blood
sings! Behold a TRUE WORK OF ART! Soon enough, your stick breaks but you don't think you're satisfied just yet... Come on, get back up. Hit me! Fight me! Shoot out a web! Try to bite my fucking head off!

No...? How disgusting.

Level Up.


Soon the bloodlust recedes to the back of your mind. Then you see the state of your hand, charred, burnt all around fucked... Yeah you weren't using that for a while. Despite that you can't wipe the grin off your face at the pulped remains of what used to be such a frightful creature of the woods... You start ripping the eyes out, then the teeth some of which were scattered all over the ground... Curious you push one of the fangs into the shield. Squishy's Venomous Bite, which you've figured out gives you what venom the spider had... Then an eye, Squishy's Spider Sense which amplifies your abilities to sense figures via vibration and touch...

You were curious, why did the Shield name the beast Squishy? You let out a squawk as the Shield gave a reply; The Shield takes the name you associate with the monster you slay for the name if no official one is given. You giggled... He was quite a Squishy wasn't he now!

Picking up a stick, firmly in your shield hand now you hobble back to town... You're going to need to heal a long while after this you're not going to be combat ready for a while. Ahhh, what a sight you must make! A mangled girl covered in blood... This isn't good you need to clean yourself off so you can calm your heart rate down...

By the time you arrive back at town, it's already dead at night.

[X] You go back to the inn... You need to relax for a bit and sleep. The next day you:

- [X] Ran the numbers in your head, you think that if you hired a cheap adventurer you can run a profit sending them out to do Charlie's request. Perhaps it's possible to throw your status as a Heroic Weapon user to start a business taking all the shit jobs nobody wants?

-[X] Went shopping? You're not really sure if you needed anything aside from new clothes. William would probably be too humble to accept anything without extreme effort.


[X] Went looking for monsterslaying work. There has to be some streamlined system here that you're missing No, your body is way too broken to look for work at this time.

[X] Sleep can wait, you're having fun. You'll savor this moment a bit longer.


[X] You don't think you're done playing just yet...

Welcome to the option where you almost died. It was VERY narrow, the planning ability and gymnastics saved your ass. Welcome to reactive planning 0 by the way. Your mild bonus from having enough hate to kill just made it so you almost lost your hand and your leg! Yay victory!

You don't know the powers of your shield beyond vague terms, simply because you haven't used them yet.
 
Start of Day Three
Someone fucking broke into my house last night at like 2 AM. I was awake so I scared them off before they could take anything, and they left a piece of wood behind... Weird ass shit dude, but now I gotta find an alternative way to lock my window after they broke it.

Also my door handle is fucked thanks. Also, there seems to be a consensus to just chill out...


[X] You go back to the inn... You need to relax for a bit and sleep. The next day you:
-[X] Went shopping? You're not really sure if you needed anything aside from new clothes. William would probably be too humble to accept anything without extreme effort.


You think you were done for now. This wasn't for mere pleasure... This was your duty! You mustn't forget such important things, else you may lose yourself. You light a cigarette, calmly walking towards the Inn. The spider, it was a danger to the nearby roads and villages. It was powerful enough to challenge you and give you a good idea on the threat of this world. This was a learning experience... The fact that you had so much fun was irrelevant. By the time you got back to the inn, you finished your cigarette and your smile dimmed as you started cutting away at your own attachment to the event. What a pretty work of art it was though... You ignored the startled waitress who looked horrified at the state of your hand, trekking to your room without a word. You collapse onto your bed, it was unexpectedly comfy.

You wake up in slight agony. Yeah, the Shield isn't playing nice huh. "I'm sorry baby~ I won't cheat on you again!" You give a half-manic laugh at the accursed thing, how obsessive. You'd pat it, but you didn't want to move your hand all that much. You get up, grab your makeshift cane and walk over to your aide's room. You knock on the door, and out came William wearing a knitted hat. "Ah. Yukihime I've decided to take up knitting. I've made myself this hat you see and- What... What happened to your hand Yukihime!" Ooops, you forgot William actually cared about your well being. "Uhm, well you see funny story. Here I was fighting this massive spider... One thing led to another and ahhh this happened. You could say it was a training accident!" Hah... You think you might have messed up... "Yukihime... You... I see, yes. I think I understand. It's alright Yukihime, it's alright." William started patting your head. Why wasn't he angry? What insight could he have gotten from this... You slightly shook your head to remove your thoughts about it before you start to feel awful.

"So, I've decided we need to go shopping, mostly because my clothes are starting to get ruined... I also need to get some medical supplies, and I haven't really shopped aimlessly before." You were curious how many shop owners hated you too. "That sounds wonderful Yukihime. I haven't really browsed myself yet either." Like that, we were off. Walking without any real time limited objective in the city was sorta strange. It was actually making you pretty irrationally nervous. You haven't really seen so many people in one place just peacefully getting along more or less... Of course there's always rot, such as the slaves you can now see. Beggars lined the streets as well... The more you thought of the city the more you started to like and hate it in equal measure.

The first shop you went to was Gregory and Ricardo's Alchemy Shop, real creative name. William suggested we check alchemy shops simply because most of them doubled as apothecaries. You weren't really sure what he meant, but you think that meant 'doctor'. You entered, it was surprisingly clean with only the small scent of lemon... "Welcome, welcome... Oh! The Shield Hero. Big fan, big fan... So young too.. Ahh I remember when I was just a boy, why that was 50 years ago! Why in fact-",the older gentlemen, a man in a large white lab coat and grayish spectacles with messy white hair was suddenly interrupted "Master Ricardo, you're doing it again." A blonde girl, a bit older than you came out from the back, she wore a similar get up but with a leather apron, gloves and safety goggles. "Oh! Ah... This is my student, Priscilla... I'm hoping you'll accept her services... You see, someone needs to inherit the store and the only way to get experience in this field is by practical work! Now excuse me, I have to go and prepare an order from Count Kentway" Ricardo... Awkwardly left you three in this room stumbling over a chair as he did so.

"I'm sorry about my teacher's behavior... Master Ricardo might act a bit senile and silly, but he's one of the few masters of Alchemy still alive. I might not be anywhere near as good as him, but please accept my service." How humble, you didn't have a problem with it... "Ah, you sure Yukihime? I chose this place specifically for Master Ricardo... But I suppose his student must be better than most of the people here in this city..." William spoke up, clearly worried about you. "I'm sure Miss Priscilla will do fine, I was merely going to crudely do it myself anyway it's not like she could do worse than the alternative." You felt helpful today, if working on you will advance Priscilla's craft then why not? William was right there, and you were pretty sure you could snap her like a twig if she tried anything anyway.

"Thank you for trusting me. Your hand and your... Leg I think, is the reason you came here right? We can't do anything about the scarring unfortunately..." Despite the stoic way she talked, you can detect relief in that you decided to trust her, and sadness at the lack of ability to help with your scars... You smile genuinely at this, "Don't worry about it. I've had them for a quite a while, I'm not too fussed about it anymore. They're part of me now." She nods happy she didn't offend you. She wipes her hands in front of her, an energy manipulating into impossibility in front of you as small magic circles form in front of her safety glasses. She scanned your entire body, badly hiding a cringe of horror as she probably got way too much information from whatever mystic technique she just performed, you don't hold it against her. She looked sorta blue in the face "W-well! The cost for the... Full treatment we can offer is around fifty silvers... But due to my inexperience I'd be willing to do it for twenty five..." You had a feeling she felt bad for you. You gave her the coins.

"Usually we'd have what you need in stock, but the extent of your injuries means that our potions and healing creams aren't... Useful, we will need to make more powerful potions. By midday tomorrow we should have what you need..." Priscilla fidgets a bit, thinking... "Ah I know! We do have a bunch of pain relieving medication, and other things you can get today?" She helpfully pointed out at the advertised stock. Hmm, your shield absorbs things, and gives you either a storage shield or a ability shield... Using what little knowledge you have, you'd reckon that the shield would create storage for things that didn't have an immediate use as an ability shield so it should absorb medicine and create unique shields.

By the end of this you have 543 silver.

[X] Buy some pain relief potions. One to take, one for the shield? 5 Silver.

[X] Buy miscellaneous medication to make shields out of. 25 Silver.

-[X] and the pain relief potion to take immediately. 5 Silver.

Next up is clothes shopping, a lot less interesting. Then some miscellaneous shopping votes.
 
Life Sucks
[X] Buy miscellaneous medication to make shields out of. 25 Silver.
-[X] and the pain relief potion to take immediately. 5 Silver.

You weren't really that interested in self medicating. That way went towards madness, especially as pills dried up years before you were born leaving you with... Opiates and marijuana. You were sure that taken in moderation both those things weren't dangerous, but they killed (or so you believe anyway) productivity, effected the body in strange ways, disadvantaged people where a misstep could mean injury or death. Cigarettes? You didn't see one until you joined 'the army', it was a way to keep conscripts under control. Before you died they were trying to push opiates, alcohol and some weird ass experimental drug they got a ton of from cracking the old local Tokyo Police headquarters. So you were a bit fucking wary of medication.

But you weren't fucking stupid either. Even if your first thought is to burn it, you know that medicine had a purpose beyond getting high at some point. Also, William has been fucking looking at your hand when he thinks you're not noticing and it's irritating. "I'll take some of... Basically everything on this shelf, and two of these", Priscilla lit up in surprise "Uh... Of course, that'll be thirty silver... But uh... You know you cant mix them all right, that isn't how-", "I fucking know that isn't how medicine works. I ain't chugging a fucking mixed medicine surprise smoothy here, I'm shoving them into my magic bullshit shield." You feel a bit guilty snapping at her, because there's probably some idiots who think that they CAN mix them all and be cured forever or some shit. "Ah... I see...?" She clearly doesn't.

Then to prove a point, you shove them in slowly one by one into the shield as she watches with a shocked face. "Magic Shield" You put extra emphasis on it. You glance at the pop ups Burn Cream Shield, Lice Removal Shield, Headache Relief Shield, Pain Relief Shield, Disease Resistance Shield. You then read the instructions on the bottle very carefully, cautious of 'medicine' in general... After pouring a correct amount into the cap of the bottle you drank. Your hand feels marginally less on fire, and the constant pain in your leg has died down... But you weren't really sure you cared about that. You weren't a masochist, but this was nothing. The injuries, the pain? It was all a bunch of nothing. There was no relief to be found in a store bought container, and you personally think you wasted your money aside from the Disease Resistance Shield, maybe the Lice one too... You can tell Priscilla is slightly sad that you didn't even react to drinking the medication, what a good kid. "We'll be back tomorrow" and with that you left. You drank it for William and Priscilla's sake, honestly you barely even noticed the agony of your injuries.

"William, we're going to do something that doesn't make me want to break something now." You said this stoically as possible. "Yes... That sounds agreeable... Breaking stuff is bad. So clothing shopping?" William is so helpful sometimes, reminding you of what you wanted to do since you got here... Get new fucking clothes. At least that was the plan. You were so fucking optimistic when you started. First shop? Went off without a hitch, kind looking girl running the store got you to strip to take measurements and then vomited. One guy quite literally put the closed sign up as you approached. Then, the next one a guy in a neat looking tuxedo, took one look at your face and told you to get lost as you were 'a hideous freak scaring away customers'. You left, you walked a few meters before SNAP. You broke your walking stick in half with your fucking grip.

"William. This was a bad fucking idea." You were fucking horrific you got that, but fucking come on. "DAMN IT! Damn it, damn it, damn it! I'm a fucking military veteran! Where's the fucking RESPECT! Where's the fucking GLORY huh? Where's the fucking reward? I'm treated like a fucking leper... William... I think I want to go home..." You devolve into a fit of empty laughter... "Man, I miss when the only people I saw wanted to kill me. Fuck, if this was how the Old World was like then fuck that too I'm glad they destroyed themselves." You glare at some of the people who stopped to watch your rant you raise your clenched charred fist "You got something to fucking say to me! Yeah, didn't fucking think so." You think you're almost ready to do something unheroic to this degenerate slaveholding disgrace of a nation. William gently puts a hand on your shoulder, "There's one last place we haven't checked out... Do you still want to go?"

Did you still want to fuck around for another hour as someone calls you disgusting, or vomits when they see your body? You think you might snap the next person who does that like a twig. Your eyes furiously locks with a nearby ninja. "You can't hide from me. I see you, I see through you. Stop following me or I'll break you." William looks shocked, so do nearby people as a Ninja quite literally falls on his ass in surprise and runs away. "Blackwood. We are going to this next place." You can see the people near you pale and look away at the pure amount of murderous intent likely surrounding you. William, too shocked to protest meekly brings you to your next destination. The Store's name is Vivian's Tailoring Bonanza. The store is cute. It has a bunch of childish things in it, like small dolls, bears, and even the mannequins look cute as fuck. You're so out of place that you think that the God of Cute might fucking smite you. There is a cute little girl manning the teller and fucking god damn it William. You sneaky bastard. Sure the girl is just a little bit younger than you (you know you're basically the same size because your stunted growth shut up) but she's fucking adorable. She was black haired, wore an elaborate frilly ass dress and sorta just looked like a very cute doll. You sorta wanted to awkwardly reverse-storm in the business because you don't think you could mentally handle being bullied here but you're committed now. But you rather get it done with now or not ever,

"Yo, you going to sell me some clothes or insult my face? Or vomit at the sight of me or something?" She seemed appalled at that idea, "No! What? That's awful", yeah but vomit lady thought so too when you implied seeing your body was a bad idea. "Well, I'm here to buy clothing. My body is pretty fucking horrific, I like what pretty much amounts to as men's clothes. I also need, like underwear and sleepwear and stuff like that." You'd die before you were caught in a dress or skirt. Then you would kill whoever buried you in a dress or skirt as a zombie or something. "Ah... Well then. Welcome to my store... Men's clothing huh? We'll take your sizes and then we'll see what you want made". "Wait hold on a moment, I'm Shield Hero. This means I'm actively outside and fighting monsters all the time. My sh- stuff needs to not break immediately." You need to make this clear, you're not dolling yourself up you're getting shit you need to wear while partaking in violence and sometimes outside of that. "Ah, don't worry. We can use some basic magic to make the clothes stronger. It'll come with a fee however." Holy shit, magic sure is fucking useful as all hell. Is that why you keep seeing only really old and young people working these jobs? Is it because they know fucking cheat ass magic spells that make them better and some people are just born stronger in one element or something? You rarely see midaged people work these specialist jobs... Which must be down to the talent in magic as it gives an unfair advantage to older people with much more knowledge and research and the younger upstarts with much more talent in magic.

You let her lead you to the back room, you took off your clothes for the measurement. You expected something else to happen other then her doing it, but you couldn't really gauge her reaction to your mangled body as you were busy counting the ceiling tiles. Finally you were done, put your clothes back on and ready to talk clothes shopping.

Welcome to William almost nearly doesn't stop you from murder in the street. Combined with your Post Apocalypse appreciation of Medicine, what Yukihime thinks was a bad impulse purchase, with the whole 'your body is a mangled mess of injuries and old scars' debuff coming out you're almost too furious to stop yourself from murdering your creepy stalker Ninjas.

Yukihime is buying herself:
Underwear
Sleepwear
Two Outdoor Outfits
This will cost you 150 Silver

What sort of clothes do you want.

[X] Just give me a outfit like I already got. Spice it up if you want I guess. But remove the fu- *sigh* just remove the FWJ off of it thanks.

[X] M...Ma...Make me look like a prince!

[X] R-really? You think? Oh okay maybe... Alright make me the frilly cute dress before I regret it.

[X] Write in.

SV I'm trusting you here with a write in since it's been a real ordeal and I feel I can trust that we've all gotten our characterization down.

To clarify you're only choosing what she's gonna be wearing outdoors.
 
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Sometimes Life is a Rubber Band
[X] Just give me a outfit like I already got. Spice it up if you want I guess. But remove the fu- *sigh* just remove the FWJ off of it thanks.
[X] M...Ma...Make me look like a prince!


Imagine fucking up your own acronym. Also look, I'm taking executive decision to go with the combined option here... Because well, the voting tally system didn't work as well as I wanted it to and mashed everything together oof, and well... It was pretty nearly a tie without the combined option, and including the combined option gives a hefty minority here. Now with the actual quest.
--

You had no sense for clothing. You sorta, just wore anything convenient that didn't look awful on you and wasn't girly before your conscription... "Just give me an outfit like I already got... Spice it up if you want I guess, but remove the fu-... Just remove the FWA from it" The army... It was part of you, you couldn't let it go. You were a soldier, even way before you were officially conscripted.

You also sorta, had a request in your head for a second order. Ever since you entered this cute store, you've been effected with some sort of illness... You sorta wanted to be this cute... You couldn't help it, even as you feel the blood rush to your face... "I uh... I have another request for my other outfit" You say this nearly inaudibly... "Huh? What's that?" Vivian (you assume from the name of the store) catches it anyway, now distracted from writing your order to listen to you "M...Ma...Make me look like a prince!" You almost shouted that out, you hope she wouldn't laugh at you. You knew you were horrific to look at and... Heroic Knights or Samurai didn't exist, there were no Super Sentai, no real heroes... No prince charming... You definitely didn't look like one... But was it so wrong to want to reject that sort of world? Was it wrong to want to be the Prince? Was it wrong to want to slay the beast before Hikaru? Was it wrong to want to save yourself? It was childish you knew... But if someone like you could be the Prince...

You only realized a bit too late that you were saying all that sappy shit out loud. William brought his hand on your shoulder, "When I first met you Yukihime... I had some doubts. But, your conduct... For someone as damaged as you to be willing to save the world... I believe it entirely Yukihime." William said this almost absently... Vivian meanwhile was almost in tears "Y-you don't think you're pretty Yukihime? You... Don't think yourself as a hero! Yukihime! You're the only Hero still here! You're the only one that actively interacts with us! You're a rising business inspiration! Even... Even the people who hated you see you as a rising star because you're the only one taking things seriously! Everyone... Everyone has almost given up. When King Aultcray stopped fighting... There was nothing but apathy in the world, just waiting for the death from the waves... You're a hero, because of those words you keep backing up that you said in your recruitment pitch in the square!"

You were honestly quite stunned at the vitriolic defense of your character and... You're not gonna lie you're pretty flattered. You weren't surprised that the others weren't taking this seriously at all... They came from much more peaceful times. You felt, nice... You had no idea that you had so many supporters. You suddenly felt revitalized, an exhaustion you didn't know you had lessening from your mind from knowing that people had your back in the most unlikely places. "Hey... Thanks. I appreciate it. Yes... I'd like to be the Prince, even if only for formal occasions. The military outfit... I won't mind if you pretty it up but keep it in mind it's for combat." You felt much better. "Hmm... Yes... I see. The 'military outfit' will be done by tomorrow, but the Princely one... It'll take two to three days.", "Ah no problem. It was a genuine pleasure meeting you... I might hang out here just for how cute everything is! But for now, I think I'll go." You allow yourself to gush a little. You felt safer around cute things.

You left the store, "William... I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier... Being treated like that and restraining myself is difficult..." William just nodded, "It's partly my fault. I had no idea it was going to be this way. I wouldn't have blamed you for getting a bit violent with the man in the tuxedo... Breaching social contract in such a way... He was trying to hurt you and get you to react, I'm proud that you restrained yourself." You gave a noncommittal hum in response. William truly sold himself short, you think with his patience and virtue that he's closer to enlightenment than he thinks.

You were in quite a good mood. Truthfully you didn't expect to reveal so much of your personal philosophy or people to take notice of your genuine attempt at being a hero...

Welcome to almost missing some philosophy from the MC. The Army outfit, was the one without risk. The post would be a lot shorter. The Prince... Well you're in the one store on the shopping table that responded well to it and would non-hostilely comply or dismiss you. If you weren't a scarred mess this would funnily spark in my notes a fight scene you didn't initiate between William and Tuxboy. The fluffy dress was the sad option. Like, the really sad option.

You think you can go into one more shop before you're exhausted and need to rest.

[X] Barber Jones Hairstyling.

[X] A shady ally door that had 'Terry's Legitimate Magic Business' crudely written on a piece of wood out front.

[X] Brown's Curiosities

[X] You think you had enough shopping for one night. Go sleep.

Interlude Options that will occur after the next shopping segment if you choose any.

[X] Headmaster Alfonzo

[X] Princess Malty

[X] King Aultcray

[X] Motoyasu
 
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Barber Jones and the Styling of Hair
[X] Barber Jones Hairstyling.
[X] King Aultcray


Okay neat. The interlude will be something I work on right after this update.

---

You were drawn to a barbershop. Specifically Barber Jones Hairstyling. You knew you could get service here without getting kicked out due to talking with him about investments earlier but you didn't get a good enough deal to justify the money he wanted you to lend him. You really needed to have someone fix your hair. Especially if you were serious about being in business. The more you respect yourself the more people will respect you as your father always said. "Huh? A customer this late... Oh Yukihime! Welcome, welcome take a seat! I knew you'd come back so I can take care of that mop on your head!" Jones was scarred, like you. He had a prosthetic leg and an eyepatch. More than that he was a big jolly fellow with a well groomed goatee and ironically bald. His main customer base were military veterans so you thought it was just right to go to him for your hair... "Yes, Mister Jones. I think... I think I want my hair tamed from the unruly mess it is right now... Please avoid cutting where you can, I am quite attached to it despite how it looks." It was sentimental, it was just hair after all but you liked your hair damn it. "Haha! I get that one all the time. Though I've never worked on something like this before... I'm going to need to head over to Charlie's Perfume store, he has some special hair treatment stuff he usually uses for his own hair I can buy off him. Sit tight kid, I'll be back." Jones put way too much trust in you, leaving his store unguarded with two relative strangers. You weren't going to do anything though you just thought it was sorta irresponsible. For a moment it was awkward just sitting in silence.

"So... William... Knitting?" You were bad at small talk. "Yes, I used to be really good at it in my youth. Though, when I was on the road there was very little opportunity for it... Now that I'm stationary in a place that sells supplies for my hobby cheaply I can do it whenever I want! Maybe I'll branch off into other parts of clothes making... Sometimes... Sometimes Yukihime, when you're walking towards a goal you start to forget the small things in life. I wish I treasured things like that before now..." Things puttered back into companionable silence. You liked William. He and you were basically on the same level of human interaction both of you able to see much more in each other in small quiet conversations like this. You were incorrect when you saw your father in him, William truly was a type of person you've never met before and you're glad to have met him.

"Huff, ahh... Give me a moment... Phew! I'm back kid. I'm out of shape! But I have the equipment I need." Jones finally came back. You were surprised at the small bottle in his hands, but you reserved your judgement. Things didn't work like you thought it did, the only thing you knew was that you knew nothing. Jones, didn't use magic. In fact you were pretty surprised, seeing the crazy amount of magic users as business owners. "Hey, Jones... Why is there so many magic users running shops?" So you asked him directly. "Oh that? That's easy. There's only a few institutions that professionally teach magic in Melromarc, the fee to enter one is absurd and the competition to stay inside is even more crazy. This creates the problem of 'Hedge Wizards' who fuck around in the countryside using unlicensed magic, and a large amount of people who don't bother to even try to learn magic outside of the craft they want. For example, Alchemy Girl... Pris... Pri.. Alchemy Girl, she was privately taught by Master Ricardo for the longest time before being sent to Melromarc's Magic Academy with the instructions to only learn things that would help in her chosen field. For you see, you only really need to have a year of being a student under your belt in these academies to get licensed for business pursuits. That being said, a lot of people don't bother to go at all and just illegally do magic as Hedge Wizards because it's really hard to enforce the ban even with most of the knowledge being hidden in some castle somewhere." Huh. Interesting. Brush, brush, brush, snip... This is giving you anxiety time for the next topic.

"That makes sense, but what's with all the business owners either being foreign, young or really old... No offense Mister Jones." The more info you get the more you can use it to your advantage. "Well that's simple too. A lot of the younger business folk are bastards, illegitimate offspring of noblemen. A lot of the last generation of businessmen had much of their wealth taken by the crown in the last war, and then the rest of it after the wave devastated the military. It's why there's so many poor folk in the capital, and also why you're slightly popular with the business folks because you got away with the greatest political beat down Aultcray has ever experienced in public. If he wasn't a war hero he'd probably have been experiencing a public revolt by now with how much he's favoring the nobility and the church over us and the common folk." So you just entered the fray in a political entity tearing at the seams in a economic depression. Snip... Snip snip... Brush. "Done!"

That was pretty fast and painless. You looked into the mirror, ignoring your mangled face and bloodshot eyes you looked good. Your hair was well groomed now, and led down to your lower back. You're going to need a brush and some hair ties. You were pretty tired now... "It looks great... How much do I owe you?", "Hah! Nothing kid. The fact that one of the Four went into my shop? I'll profit off that for months. Not to mention kid, it was an absolute pleasure working on that hair." You couldn't accept that charity... "Then allow me to tip you for your good work!" Jones looked apprehensive "I couldn't possibly do that... Keep your money, kid." No. You know what, you'll just conveniently leave some money somewhere for him to take then. So you left fifteen silver on his desk on your way out. You pay your debts in full, to not do so would make you less than an animal.

You got back to the tavern with William and you ate. You forgot to ask to exchange some silver to copper so William had to pay again, but at this point your finances were so linked together that you didn't mind anymore. Just as you were finishing up William asked you something.

"Yukihime, I've been thinking it over for a while. I would like you to become my student."

Do you accept?

[X] I'd be honored...

[X] No thank you.

I'll be working on the interlude.
 
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