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Shield Hero, but hopefully Heroic

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[X] Knights of the Rose. An all female knight group. They're usually used as an elite bodyguard for high ranking female nobility.
 
[X] Knights of the Rose. An all female knight group. They're usually used as an elite bodyguard for high ranking female nobility.
 
[X] Knights of the Rose. An all female knight group. They're usually used as an elite bodyguard for high ranking female nobility.
 
[X] Knights of the Rose. An all female knight group. They're usually used as an elite bodyguard for high ranking female nobility.
 
Sword of Mars said:
"Being a monk isn't merely just someone who collects knowledge. Nor is there only one path to enlightenment, but all paths will eventually lead together or so is my belief. In that end I have cultivated my wisdom, my strength and my mind. However I am getting old, I will soon die and my knowledge will go with me to the grave. I have created my own martial art style, that I believe would benefit you greatly. I didn't come up with the name, my enemies in my misspent youth did, 'The Cruel Mountain Style'... I think that's a bit dramatic, I call it the Blackwood Sect Martial Art in my head. I didn't think you were compatible with the Art for a long bit...
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Oh god, William is a Tankmonk.
One who favors brutal beatdowns apparently, if his enemies called it that.
Sword of Mars said:
William pointedly looks at your hand, with quite the impressive deadpan expression. It wasn't your fault that you didn't know you couldn't use other 'weapons' with the Shield!
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How would it take using body as weapon anyways?

Sword of Mars said:
What a load of crap. What did you care if some robber baron got shot somewhere... But on the other hand... You knew exactly what happens when you cut the head off the snake, it's not pretty. After you killed Aoi, his band didn't simply go away they splintered into warring factions for the scraps of what was Aoi's small empire. It's why you haven't simply decapitated Aultcray, it simply won't help. The clean up of the various would be warlords from Aoi's old territory was gruesome on its own without there being any real civilians... Itsuki's causing similar issues even if the hierarchy here is much more robust, they're simply causing worse problems that not having an administrative leader. For example there's no longer a crown authority in the lands, no longer is the local lord a threat to bandits and the lord is no longer there to request support from disaster or monster attacks.
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I'm sure the King would be most reassured by that :p
Voice of Real Life Experience here.

How much of it is the crucible of life and how much from her childhood upbringing?

Sword of Mars said:
He sounded approving, even if that wasn't your intention you just had things to do that was more important then talking to Aultcray.
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I think that makes it an even bigger snub lol.

Sword of Mars said:
At the same time however, you're supposed to be a hero so you repeat in your head: 'punching stupid people isn't heroic' in your head until you enter the alchemy shop.
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Kamijou Touma: "Its true, people should stop calling me a hero!"
Saitama: "Okay."
Sword of Mars said:
Unable to even take one more word or insult as soon as 'Lord Kentway' looked at your direction you fucking grabbed him by the scuff of his stupid robe "Look here, fuckface, I don't fucking give a shit about your stupid ass title Count Dickhead. Some people have some actual business to take care of now fuck off" You quite literally threw him outside like he was yesterday's trash. You were in pain, and you had no plan on accommodating idiots.
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Note the bolded.
Sure, she has the pain under control for combat purposes.
But it grates.
It colors everything you do because when you do it you're in agony.
Your mind files everything good AND bad as "causes pain, you don't want this".

Sword of Mars said:
"Yukihime, welcome back. The type of treatment we have to do is through the back room... The extent of your injuries requires ritualistic alchemy which is much more expensive then capsules or serum just so you understand why it cost you so much. Luckily I've finished the preparations in advance, the ritual will fix the extensive damages you had in your skeletal structure from old injuries that healed improperly so hopefully you'll be in less pain from now on..."
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Scarred trait mitigation!
Magic is awesome.
Sword of Mars said:
It's bright as fuck, like almost flashbang levels. You also feel like you were dumped in ice cold water and a slight itchy-tingly sensation all over. You don't really understand what's happening but you assume it's working... Then it's over after about a minute. Your hand isn't blackened anymore, merely slightly discolored and a bunch of pain you had in your back and shoulders vanished and more importantly you could actually walk without feeling pain. You give her a thumbs up with your newly healed hand "This was fantastic Priscilla. Worth every coin." She looked genuinely happy you praised her work, and that you weren't in pain anymore. "You're welcome Yukihime... The ritual isn't complete though... It will take a few days to completely heal the damage in your body so please take it easy for now" The irony is that you just got summoned by the king to do the opposite. "We'll see" You respond, you hope you're not sent out immediately you'd like to recover before getting into a big brawl...
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...we're SO gonna get fucked up again.
At least Itsuki probably causes puncture wounds, which won't break bones. Might need to replace some organs.
Sword of Mars said:
You say your goodbyes to each other, and you leave towards Vivian's clothes shop. The place is as adorable as you remember it being, though Vivian herself is in a different cute ass dress, this time in a gothic style with a cute hat. "Ah! Yukihime! Welcome, I stayed up all night making your... What did you call it... Military Outfit? I haven't started on your Prince outfit yet but... Please try your first order on!" Okay it was much cuter than you thought it was going to be. As you wanted it's basically the same as the uniform you wore right now, but this one was black, had a gold trim and a cute little shield over your heart. She removed the belt thing from the design and all the pockets which you'd usually be mad about but the Shield was basically a giant ass pocket. You're not gonna lie, if your face wasn't mostly scar tissue and your eyes weren't empty you'd be very fucking cute. You love it. "I love it. It's regal enough that it fits what I want to project as my ideal of a hero, yet I can fight in it." You were glad you got your hair fixed before you wore your new outfit. "Ahh I'm glad you liked it! I tried to make it as combat withstanding as possible... It won't protect you much like real armor would but it should clean itself and repair itself barring destruction of over 70% of the outfit... I took some liberties when making it after your speech about wanting to be the Prince... I thought that you'd need to look regal in battle as well at no extra cost! See Yukihime... You're a real prince!" You didn't really hear that last part, but from what you think she said has you sort of embarrassed. "W...Well, I gotta go... The King needs me to do things and I uhh... Gotta go bye!" You didn't retreat, you bravely ran away! Stop laughing William!
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:3

Bravely ran away she did~~~
Also I think if we have 30% of our clothes left we were probably bathed in acid or fire.
Sword of Mars said:
"This is the information we have on hand about Itsuki, who he killed and speculation of motive and where he's headed next. It also includes some information on his companions, who have been charged with treason." You silently go through the stack of papers. Lord Connery was the first of the lords killed, he owned a small part of land outside the capital and primarily used demihuman slaves to run his vineyard. Itsuki must have come across him when he was commanding his slaves, and executed him. You think Itsuki's the good guy personally, it's just that it's shitty that without their master the slaves who only know how to farm will either go back into slavery or die of hunger. The person who's the real criminal is sitting beside you, who allowed this dynamic to happen. Lord Weatherby raised harsh taxes against the villages in his domain, Itsuki must have come across one and then decided to go after him as well. Unfortunately the harsh taxes was to deal with emergency repairs to the flood control systems and if it isn't fixed soon will flood the area. Lord Rodgers was a decadent count who was legitimately corrupt and needed to die. He took women as taxation, allowed his subjects to be enslaved for money and you think if you had been in the same room as him you'd have broken him in two. Itsuki needed to be stopped, no matter how justified his killings because it simply isn't helping anyone. The pressure from one person simply wasn't enough to change systemic problems. Even if you largely agreed with Itsuki... It also doesn't help that he's destabilizing the political situation already teetering off its axis.
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...so typical RPG quest targets?
Itsuki is a speedrunner isn't he? He just fastforwarded through all the exposition.
Sword of Mars said:
Itsuki's followers were pretty uninteresting. He had when he left a cute witch girl, a no nonsense soldier type, a priest and what looked to be like a viking. After his first murder, the witch, and the soldier left him, but he gained a few Demihuman followers. They mysteriously died, likely to the Priest from the religion that hates Demihumans with all their might and recruited two mercenaries, a crossbowman and a spearman. You had next to no intel on them either.
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Hey...any chance of looting the witch girl?
 
[X] Knights of the Rose. An all female knight group. They're usually used as an elite bodyguard for high ranking female nobility.
 
Time to Tally the Votes.

Hedge Knights it is.
Adhoc vote count started by Sword of Mars on May 16, 2019 at 11:33 AM, finished with 47 posts and 37 votes.
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The First Lesson: Part One
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    • [X] Hedge Knight Association. If you're reading this correctly, this is a loose organization of hedge knights. Quality will vary.

    You decided after a bit of thought between the Rose Knights and the unaffiliated Hedge Knights to choose the Hedge Knights. You didn't seriously consider the Holy Paladins, they'd likely betray you and bring your head to Itsuki who would escalate and likely die fighting them. From what you could tell, Itsuki was in a really bad head space when he arrived in this world. You met people in the army like that before, usually they dealt with it by being high off their kite... But Itsuki is way too active to be an addict. You hope that's still the case when you meet him... It will be bad if he's deteriorated and unable to be reasoned with. You aren't really against using violence it's just a bad look.

    Usually you'd want the strongest most elite you can get for a mission like this... But you can't trust the Rose Knights, and you can't trust Itsuki to not just try to murder them straight out. The Rose Knights are mostly relatives of aristocrats with the occasional prodigy... You'd not only be signaling your status as an attack dog of the crown to Itsuki, you'd be doing it to everyone else. The Hedge Knights will be the best bet to show Itsuki that we're still on the 'same side' as it were, and willing to talk... Even if you doubt he will surrender all you need is to meet him face to face and you can stop meaningless deaths on both sides... You were banking on a duel of honor to save your knights and Itsuki's retinue from cutting each other down. The knight's will be insurance, to distract and kill if needed the followers Itsuki gained if they do not cooperate... You hope it doesn't come to that.

    You leave the palace dissatisfied. You were cleaning up a mess for a slaveholding kingdom in the name of a petty tyrant. You need more political and economic power to challenge the system directly... It's all you can do for now is to keep the status-quo from worsening as you slowly try to remove such an eyesore from your sight. Maybe you should be the one to rule? You shake your head to get the odd thought out of your mind. You were tired, you need to sleep.

    You wake up. You go to wake up your mentor William, he's surprisingly already awake sitting on the floor waiting for you. "Yukihime. We will begin your training immediately. Please drink this tea, it will help with unlocking your spiritual energy through meditation. I've seen you do basic meditation before, so let me lead you into a more advanced style of meditation." William brought a clay pot that was beside him in front of you after you accepted his tea. He directed you into almost a prayer position with both of your legs under you and put... Prayer beads? On you. "This pot contains the essence of a demon, it is mostly harmless to everyone but the drinker of the tea. Once I open the pot you will be forced to confront it, and if you win you will be able to access your spiritual energy... I'd have done more safe ways to get you to access it but we no longer have time. The Prayer Beads will help protect your body from the corrosive essence of the demon when it tries to possess you..." This was a fucking meditation technique? William looked at you sharply, more serious than you have ever seen him. "Yukihime, this is perhaps one of the fastest ways of doing this, and it's the most demanding and fatal. You may back out of this if you wish, I will not hold it against you."

    ...
    ...
    ...
    You drink the fucking demon tea, you didn't have a choice. William opens the pot instantly and a large black smoke comes and forces itself through your nose and mouth and you inhale that motherfucker. You felt a brief flash of agony like your skin is melting off your bones before you're forcibly made unconscious by William.

    You wake up.

    [X] You see the broken remains of Tokyo. Wailing wind and the puttering of rain, the distant sounds of gunfire.

    [X] You see an ocean of blood for as far as the eye could see. The smell of iron, sickness and death.

    [X] You are inside your house. Saki looks at you her sightless eyes, shining with malicious intent.

    You thought you were just gonna train under a fucking waterfall or something yeah?
     
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    • [X] You are inside your house. Saki looks at you her sightless eyes, shining with malicious intent.

    IF GAMES HAVE TAUGHT ME ANYTHING, IT'S THAT HIGHEST DIFFICULTY CONFERS THE GREATEST REWARDS!

    Plus, you know, it would be funny if William realises he underestimated our personal demons.
     
    [X] You see the broken remains of Tokyo. Wailing wind and the puttering of rain, the distant sounds of gunfire.

    Jesus Christ William!
     
    SVS said:
    [X] Knights of the Rose. An all female knight group. They're usually used as an elite bodyguard for high ranking female nobility.

    The knights from the Church are a flat-out bad idea with us being their faith's version of Lucifer, so that leaves us with professional all-girl knights, or the knights of the mystery box. Now, as some people might have pointed out, there may be complications with choosing the Rose knights, for one reason or another, while the nature of the mystery box knights means that we could, in theory, get at least one or two, possibly an entire handful if we're lucky, of knights that are even better than professionals.

    If we were just doing some ordinary mission and the knights were our regular backup, I'd say the hedge knights would be our best bet. But we're not; we're trying to capture another legendary hero, one who has the advantage of reach and possibly a pre-prepared position at his disposal. I'm not about to trust our luck to the hedge knights on the chance that we get stuck with the shitters. This mission calls for skilled professionals of guaranteed quality, and given the choice between the Church knights or the Rose knights, I pick the Rose knights because they aren't guaranteed to hate us right off the bat by merit of who we are.
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    Very well reasoned. I'm convinced.

    [] Knights of the Rose. An all female knight group. They're usually used as an elite bodyguard for high ranking female nobility.

    edit: Just saw the update. Sorry.
     
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    [X] You are inside your house. Saki looks at you her sightless eyes, shining with malicious intent.

    YOLO. Or twice, in this case.
     
    Okay so that purple 'Maybe you should be the one to rule' thought? THAT'S BAD NEWS! WHAT IS THAT!
    Maybe that's why William did the pot thing on us- he smelled that nasty and took immediate action...
    Oh yeah, anyone remember the bit about our body still healing the damage?
    Bit worried that corruption thing might cause problems...And I figure deepest trauma might mean fighting the Cursed Shield, and I don't want to risk that given how we fried our hand and leg doing that.

    [X] You see the broken remains of Tokyo. Wailing wind and the puttering of rain, the distant sounds of gunfire.

    Let's not play the game where we kill the one person we care about the most yeah?
     
    [X] You are inside your house. Saki looks at you her sightless eyes, shining with malicious intent.

    Wrath ALL THE DAMN WAY
     
    [X] You are inside your house. Saki looks at you her sightless eyes, shining with malicious intent.

    Face our fears
     
    [X] You are inside your house. Saki looks at you her sightless eyes, shining with malicious intent.

    Best deal with this now in a battle of the mind with spiritual protection before it comes up under not as good circumstances.
     
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