Fanfic: Virtue of the Shield Hero Ch 164, Rising of the Shield Hero/盾の勇者の成り上がり

Chapter Eleven: Darkness of Zeltoble

The trip through the side tunnels and the plaza on the way to the meeting location was quiet. Not a word was spoken between the two individuals.

At least, not at first.

Motoyasu studied his escort as they walked and recalled what he could from Emerald Online. He knew panda demi-humans were another rare race that didn't appear often in his game, and it was even rarer for them to be able to use a therianthrope form. For some reason, he could have sworn they were supposed to live somewhere in Siltvelt, but then maybe that was wrong since Larsa was here.

The Spear Hero also recalled that Larsa's race had an affinity for bamboo magic, which he knew involved having the ability to cast earth magic, as well as one other type. But he couldn't recall what the latter type was at the moment.

As for her appearance, Larsa's monstrous form easily towered over the Spear Hero. She looked like a panda, but it'd be a mistake to compare her to the cuddly creatures you'd see at the zoo in his old world. She stood tall and stiff as she walked. Her beady eyes constantly scanned their surroundings and the people they walked by for danger. Under the visible parts of her fur that weren't covered by armor, Motoyasu could see the ripple of muscle.

Larsa was constantly on alert and was dressed for battle. She didn't hesitate to put a hand on the hilt of her sheathed blade and exude a threatening aura around her whenever suspicious individuals stood in her way.

It was somewhat excessive in truth, as everyone they came across was quick to disperse from the security chief's general line of sight wherever they went.

Overall, Motoyasu pegged her to be a no-nonsense kind of person. Someone who you definitely didn't want to get on the bad side of.

…

"Go left here." The imposing panda woman suddenly broke the silence and gestured with her chin toward one of the side tunnels. A couple of armed slave guards stood by the entrance, but they quickly stepped aside at Larsa's approach.

Motoyasu glanced at it and the main road. "Hickwaal went through the main road last time." He cautiously pointed out in an even tone.

"It's a shortcut. Only guards and maintenance workers are allowed to use it. Now move." The panda woman roughly slapped the Spear Hero's back, which made him wince as pain from his recent wounds flared up.

But more worryingly, she actually managed to push Motoyasu forward, much to his surprise. This woman's looks were not just for show, her stats were very high too.

Figuring that if this was a trap, it wouldn't be that obvious, Motoyasu obediently went forward, with Larsa following close behind him.

…

The path ahead was dark and narrow. The air felt heavier here too as they walked along single file, with Motoyasu in the front and Larsa trailing behind him. Her bulk only seemed to make the tunnel feel that much more suffocating to the Spear Hero.

…

"So... you're the mercenary that Nadia hired to help her, huh?" Larsa spoke up from behind after some time.

It felt like there was a certain tension in her words, but Motoyasu didn't dare to turn around and look. "I beg your pardon?" So instead, the Spear Hero played dumb to buy some time to figure out this woman's angle. The words of Sebas about being careful around her echoed in his mind.

"Nadia doesn't just talk to anyone in private. Least of all two randos with less than a week's worth of experience here in the pits. You didn't just run into her and catch her interest. You were specifically invited to this city by her."

It wasn't a question, but a definitive statement. The tension in her voice grew with each sentence. Motoyasu could feel her breathing down his neck as they walked through the darkness.

"That much should be obvious, no?" The blonde man chose his next words carefully. "You have her confidence, otherwise she wouldn't have entrusted you with escorting me."

…

Motoyasu heard a low rumbling growl followed by the sound of sharp teeth gritting from behind him. A swing and a miss. Damn. Maybe it was time for plan B then.

Motoyasu wordlessly brought up his portal spear skill on his HUD without breaking stride.

"If I really had that alcoholic wretch's confidence then she would have asked ME to help her instead! Gods damn it all!" Motoyasu heard a dull thud behind him and to his right, as something very heavy slammed into the tunnel's wall.

"Who are you, really? And don't bull ^&*$ me. I have to deal with every kind of scum down in this godsforsaken city on a daily basis. I can smell when someone is lying."

…

Motoyasu weighed his options while keeping his Portal Spear ready and primed just in case.

"I am Sir Bubba." He began. "A knight on a mission. And someone whom Nadia trusts to help her… So why don't you trust me?" Motoyasu pressed on the guilt slightly at the end as he finally turned his head back to look at her.

Another growl. But muffled this time. He saw the panda woman had turned her head to the side.

"Knight on a mission he says." Larsa snorted derisively. "What? Gonna tell me that you're one of the Cardinal Heroes next?"

…

It took all of Motoyasu's willpower combined with his recently gained self-confidence to not teleport out at that moment and to maintain his walking pace while staring back at her through the slots of his visor.

…

"Pfft. Yeah, right." Larsa snorted again. "As if any one of those big wigs would ever visit this rotten hellhole of a city. They don't even bother to show up for the Waves here. Hell, if I didn't have friends trying to survive here, I wouldn't either. This place deserves to burn."

Motoyasu internally sighed in relief.

"Whatever." Larsa breathed out, some of the tension leaving her voice. "Just... tell her to ask me, if I can do anything to help out her with her predicament. I know these cubs are supposed to be from her hometown or something, but she's gotten into some deep $%^& to try and round them all up on her own. It's not as big of a secret as she thinks it is. And if you start trying to smuggle them out, even in small groups, all hell is gonna break loose."

"Duly noted," Motoyasu responded in a noncommittal fashion.

The rest of the way was spent in silence until light finally appeared at the end of the tunnel and the two of them exited it on the opposite side of the plaza that they entered it from.

It wasn't a shortcut, but it was not meant to be one as Motoyasu now understood.

"Come, everyone! Come all and listen! Oh, foolish sinners and lost lambs!"

Just across the street as soon as they came out of the tunnel exit, Motoyasu spotted a group of black-robed individuals who instantly made his mood sour even more.

"Brothers and sisters, hear me speak, for I am one of god's chosen Speakers! The one who carries their orders! Their commands! Their words! Their will!

"What you have been taught by your fathers and mothers is a lie! The supposed 'Gods' of this world, the Weapons meant to protect us, they don't care about you! They never have and they never will, for they are just that, weapons! Mere tools to be used on behalf of those who wield them!"

A small crowd surrounded the group of cultists, mostly comprised of slaves. They held small bundles of bread in their hands while patiently listening to the preacher. Hadn't Keel mentioned them before?

Motoyasu could only associate these shady individuals with his first encounter with them when he saw a group of them dragging some young slave girl away into a shady alley. Was this man the same one who carried the knife last time? Motoyasu couldn't recall. He just knew that listening to them made him feel nauseous.

"Urgh. More of these Cult of the Waves loonies." Larsa scowled. "Come on, I'd rather not hear any more of their drivel than I have to.

Larsa continued to scowl as the two of them walked past the slowly growing crowd.

"These 'heroes' as they're called do nothing on behalf of the world or its inhabitants! That is why the Waves have been sent by the true gods! It is wrong to call them Destructions and Catastrophes when they're meant to be our divine punishment, a way to remind us who we are to believe in!

"My brothers and sisters, please, join me in rejoicing! For the Waves won't lead to our destruction, but rather, to our salvation!"

Motoyasu grimaced as the nauseous feeling in his stomach grew. "Isn't that kind of talk dangerous? I'm surprised you aren't trying to arrest them." The Spear Hero said.

"Zeltoble guarantees freedom of religion and expression as part of its numerous services. As long as you pay for the license to preach and make regular 'donations' to the City Council of course." Larsa added at the end bitterly.

"The Waves only strike down sinners! To those who do not heed to the truth! But the righteous, the pious, the humble! All of you will be saved from God's Wrath if you join us! We will be the ones who will inherit the world, once it's cleansed of its vile corruption!"

The preacher continued speaking to the people, but by then, the two were out of earshot. The tension immediately left the panda woman's shoulders. And the sense of nausea that'd gripped the Spear Hero's stomach began to dissipate.

…

While he'd rather forget that encounter entirely, however, he had some questions he wanted answers to. He knew he didn't study the lore of his game too closely, much like the others. However, he knew he would have remembered a group of people had they worshipped the Waves.

That had not existed in his game.

"... what did they mean by true gods?" Motoyasu asked.

"I wouldn't know. I've never stopped to listen to their preaching." The panda demihuman rolled her eyes. "If these supposed gods are behind the Waves of Catastrophe, however, I wouldn't mind decking them in the face for their 'divine punishment'."

Before Motoyasu could ask something else, Larsa continued. "Look, I'd rather not talk about them more than I have to, so here's what I know." The panda woman's sarcasm melted away as her tone became serious. "Their leader is some weirdo called 'The Listener' who can apparently communicate with their gods. And those preachers are 'The Speakers' because they spread the divine messages that the listener receives."

"They believe that everyone sinned too much by believing in false idols, or the Cardinal Weapons. And that's why the Waves are happening right now. But, if you join their cult, you'll be spared from the wrath of the gods."

"And people buy that?" Motoyasu quirked an eyebrow under his helmet.

"You'd be surprised by what people are willing to believe in when free food and the promise of freedom from slavery are involved. Those cultists regularly buy up slaves who frequent their sermons. They don't set them free or anything though. Not right away anyway. You have to prove that your faith is genuine.

"Still, they don't work their slaves to the death and they feed them well, so some people decide that it's worth it. And besides that..." The panda woman paused. "There is their whole shtick of being able to predict where exactly the next wave will hit."

"Wait, what?" Motoyasu stopped dead in his tracks. "You can't be serious."

"Believe me, I wish I was full of it myself. But these bastards somehow always predict the exact spot on the map where the next wave will open up. That's also part of the reason why the City Council keeps those nutcases around, and why I haven't tried to put them down in private." Larsa turned around and clicked her tongue while glancing at the shady crowd the two had left behind.

"As much as I hate to admit it, they're the reason why we're still managing to keep the waves under control. Since we know in advance when and where they'll happen, we're able to set up ambush spots, choke points, fortifications, and the like. There's even been a few times where we made a bit of a net gain, after processing all the monster parts."

"Still, they can go to hell with their salvation bullcrap. They always scream about saving everyone from the top of their lungs, but I've never seen any one of them fighting in the damn waves."

"Have you fought in them?" Motoyasu couldn't help but blurt out. He didn't mean it to sound accusatory like that, but fortunately, it didn't seem like the panda woman took it that way.

"... yes," Larsa answered after a moment when a troubled look crossed her face. "I've had to fight in several. Each one has been worse than the last."

"Is it alright if I ask what that's been like here?" Motoyasu pressed on.

…

"Hmph. What does it matter? That's not what you're here in this city for." Larsa scoffed.

"It matters to me since I've fought in a few myself, with Hero's help." Motoyasu clarified.

…

While the chief's facial expression didn't change, her silence proved that she had Motoyasu's attention. "I also fought against the Spirit Tortoise and its minions. I've… seen a lot, these last few months." Motoyasu continued honestly. "There's a good reason why the Waves are called the Waves of Catastrophe or the Waves of Destruction by everyday people. Because that's what they do. If left unchecked, they destroy, everything, they touch.

"Villagers protecting their town with staves and pitchforks. Knights in full armor fighting on behalf of their nation. Nobles and leaders who hid in their mansions or fought alongside their men for their lives as monsters rained down around them.

"I've seen a lot, including good men and women who died in those disasters… people I relied on and were friends with.

"In my opinion, if something like that is supposed to be considered some form of divine punishment for believing in a good group of people, then I'd want to whack those supposed 'gods' upside the head myself."

…

Larsa didn't respond at first. She simply turned around and continued to walk.

Motoyasu followed suit as well.

…

The silence between them stretched for a while. Motoyasu almost thought that Larsa would remain silent till they reached Nadia.

…

However, after that minute had passed, Larsa began to speak again. "Where they appear has varied. Sometimes twenty miles away, sometimes fifty. There was one that was seventy-five miles out and another that was only five miles away from the city proper.

"Ironically, the closer the Waves are to the city, the easier of a time we have getting out there and dealing with it. I've heard that nations being assisted by the Heroes have their men teleported to the site of the Wave alongside those Heroes, but I have not seen such a thing myself." Larsa looked to Motoyasu as if asking for verification.

"Yeah, it's true. I've gotten to see it and experience it for myself." He admitted, not explaining how or why.

"... heh. That makes our leaders even bigger incompetents then since that is something they should know about." The panda woman shook her head. "Why they'd rather make enemies of the Heroes by trying to enslave more of their people, I have no idea."

Under his helmet, Motoyasu grimaced. Did Larsa just indirectly reveal that the City Council here had backed the nobles who were slaughtered two nights ago?

If so, he'd have yet another excuse to come back, I say.

The two continued their discussion on the Waves for a bit. The info on them wasn't anything new to Motoyasu. At the very least, however, he was learning how normal people without hero help had to deal with them. And it was, to quote, very different, and not in a good way.

While knowing exactly where the wave would hit helped, the logistics of getting everyone there in advance was still a challenge. Protecting and evacuating the nearby towns. Fighting off all the monsters on the way there and back. Gathering Larsa and the strongest warriors when the Wave Boss was located.

What made it worse was how the downtime between Waves shortened bit by bit. Right now, one Wave is happening every three weeks. Hero help alone would have handled so many issues from the logistics of bringing a lot of supplies to bringing everyone to the Wave as soon as it started. But as Motoyasu knew, Cardinal Heroes participating in a Wave helped to suppress Waves from hitting an area for a longer period. Forty-five days, to be precise.

Melromarc only had to deal with one thirty-seven-day wait in the past, but had forty-five days of relative peace to prepare for each wave since. Zeltoble had less than half that time now between each wave. That was a big difference.

Had they had more time, Motoyasu would have asked a lot more about the struggles Larsa vented about to him. The panda woman seemed to realize she'd been ranting, however, and she calmed down as they entered a familiar narrow tunnel.

"Sorry to unload… it's just, those cultists will never truly understand what it's like for us out there." She muttered bitterly.

"..." Motoyasu almost opened his mouth to say he was sorry. But realized how strange that would sound coming from his current persona and changed the topic to something else instead.

"It's alright. Shared sorrow is half a sorrow after all. There is something else I want to ask though. The way you're describing things, it makes it sound like you and the men and women fighting under you are being forced to fight in the Waves."

At the Spear Hero's observation, Larsa's panda face twisted in a bitter smile. "Yes, you could say that applies to most of those beneath me."

"But in that case, why doesn't everyone leave? Are the salaries that good? Or is there some kind of long-term contract in place that everyone is forced to abide by?" Motoyasu asked.

"Contract... yes. Slavery is a type of contract." Larsa answered.

"... my hunch was right then," Motoyasu responded quietly before looking around the street, taking note of the guards around them in a new light. "But I don't understand. Why is it called Zeltoble's mercenary army instead of Zeltoble's slave army?"

"The name's partly a relic of the past, from the times where Zeltoble's standing army was comprised of numerous mercenary companies working together." Larsa shrugged. "It's also our brand, I guess. Before the waves came, Zeltoble's army could be hired by any third party to assist them. And 'Slave army' doesn't quite make for an appealing name when somebody is looking for elite soldiers to help them out.

"From what I understand, there used to be certain practices that were upheld in the past. There was even a degree of prestige and honor involved in being part of Zeltoble's mercenary army. But these days, around ninety percent of it is made out of debt slaves, drug addicts, washed-out gamblers, arena fighters who couldn't make it, or just people who crossed the wrong person or were at the wrong place at the wrong time. For many of us, it is what it is."

...

"Who owns all these slaves then?" Motoyasu asked after a moment of thought.

"The army is collectively owned by the City Council." Larsa shrugged again. "It's a precaution and a balancing factor to ensure that none of its members can use the army to take Zeltoble over for themselves or kill each other.

"Also, before you ask, no, I am not a slave. Those of us who are strong and smart never had to go through that experience. My position involves training and managing the forces. I and my lieutenants, who also aren't slaves, can order them around, but the Council has the final say in everything and can override any orders I or my subordinates make."

"I see... Thank you for telling me all this." Motoyasu said after another pause. "After my business with Nadia is done, I'll see what I can do about having the Heroes help out here."

"Ha. How? Do you know them or something?" The panda woman scoffed at him.

"... in a way." Motoyasu smiled, feeling pride for his younger brothers. "You said you can tell if I'm lying earlier, right?

"I have connections with the Heroes from the time I fought against the Spirit Tortoise and its minions. When I'm done with my business in this city, I'll make sure to use those connections to bring them here.

"I agree that this city isn't a nice place, and they'd certainly agree with that statement. But from what I've seen, this place does have some good people in it. And they don't deserve to suffer and live in fear… Or rely on some shady cults to save their lives."

"..." Larsa remained silent to his statement.

...

"I know you don't want to talk about them anymore, but may I ask one last thing about those cultists?" Motoyasu spoke again.

"... fine. But make it quick, we're almost there." Larsa shrugged.

"Do they perform live blood sacrifices?" Motoyasu asked seriously.

…

The panda woman grimaced. "Yes."

"... And that's permitted here?" Motoyasu asked.

"... as long as the ones who get killed are slaves that the killer owns, then yes." Larsa gritted her teeth and looked away. "I take it you saw it happen."

…

Motoyasu remembered the scared-looking girl again. He felt his blood begin to boil as he clutched his weapon.

A few murky gaseous wisps escaped from his naginata but no one else noticed it. Motoyasu put those cursed thoughts of his back into the box he'd locked them into in his mind. "Yeah... Thank you. That's all."

…

It wasn't long after that when the pair finally stopped in front of a familiar door. Larsa set herself against the wall next to it.

It didn't feel like it'd taken that long to get here. But they'd certainly talked about quite a few things on their short trip.

"Whoever you really are, Sir Bubba, make sure your conversation with Nadia is quick. The last thing she needs is more trouble." Larsa commented in her usual stiff tone.

"Of course." Motoyasu nodded his head, his voice still rough from suppressing his fury. He moved to open the door.

"Also, be careful about whom you choose to associate with here," Larsa added, making him stop. "You've already started to garner unwanted attention. The City Council ordered me to run a more in-depth background check on you and figure out if you have some kind of hidden agenda here in Zeltoble."

"... is there a reason you're telling me that?" Motoyasu asked.

"I still don't understand why Nadia decided to put her trust in some sellsword with a suspicious backstory to help her out, instead of one of her old friends. But even if you're hiding something, you don't smell like a liar." The panda woman narrowed her eyes at the disguised Spear Hero. "You do have some connection to the Heroes, don't you?"

"... yeah, I do. So go ahead and tell your useless money hogging superiors that I'm just a regular soldier of fortune with no ulterior motives." Motoyasu's voice relaxed as he grinned behind his visor.

"... heh. Careful. I could report to them about you saying that."

"I get the feeling you aren't going to." Motoyasu lifted his visor, revealing his handsome, smirking face as a sign of trust.

…

The large panda woman looked briefly caught off guard by Motoyasu's handsome features, but she composed herself quickly. "Hmph. You have a spine, Knight of Sworn. I'll give you that much." Larsa muttered, however, she was smirking just a little. "Good luck in there."

"Thanks." Motoyasu entered the room, closing the door behind him. And Larsa stood guard outside, pretending to listen to what was being said in the room.

Ah, her bosses wouldn't mind if she fantasized about all the ways she'd torture those cultists if she was given the chance, right? Not like they could blame her for being unable to listen through foot-thick concrete walls anyway. What did they think she was? A bat demihuman?

They really were idiots. How the city hadn't crashed and burned under their leadership yet, Larsa didn't know.

…

Soon after Motoyasu closed the door behind him, a voice spoke up from the seats ahead.

"Ah, Motoyasu, I'm glad you arrived. Your friend's match is about to begin.

"I take it Larsa didn't give you too much trouble on the way over, did she?"

Motoyasu took off his helmet. It looked like there was just him and one other individual in the room.

"Not really. I only think I felt like running out of danger once, but that's all." He teased.

Sadeena smiled flirtatiously while twirling a bottle of wine in her hand. She sat in the best seat, looking down through the one-way window of Hickwaal's observation suite. "I'm glad. You're lucky in a way, she has a hard time trusting strangers due to her line of work.

"Given that she did decide to escort you here in the end, I have more reason to trust that you're here to help."

…

Wait, was that the reason why Larsa escorted Motoyasu here instead of Sebas?

This orca woman might have played herself off as a drunkard for the most part, but she was far more clever than she let on. He wondered if Larsa had made that connection earlier as well or not.

"Well then, shall we share a drink as we watch your partner's match?" Sadeena asked, holding up two wine bottles in her hands. She let out a drunken giggle after she spoke.

Motoyasu gave the orca woman his best roguish smile as he sat next to her. "I think I've already made it clear that I don't drink while I work."

"Darn, a pity. To think I'll have to share these with myself again." Sadeena sighed.

"That and the other twelve bottles next to your seat." Motoyasu pointed out.

The orca woman giggled again in response. "I started with twenty-four. Hickwaal knows how to stock his snack and drink cabinets with the best stuff." After saying that, she brought both bottles to her lips and began drinking them simultaneously.

Yep, there was no way the Spear Hero could ever hope to beat this woman in a drinking contest. But despite that, he still swore to himself that he would take her out for a drink at least once after they were done with their current task.

But before he could even imagine how a date with Sadeena would go, the image of the silver-haired girl from earlier passed through Motoyasu's mind again.

"Something wrong?" Sadeena asked, noticing distant mellow look on the Spear Hero's face.

"Huh? Oh, no, it's nothing."

…

The two were silent as the gates down below opened up at last.

Amber looked around the large and spacious fighting pit curiously while the gates opposite her opened up. The layout of the pit was a bit different than usual today. Besides the now familiar floor of sand, there were a bunch of large boulders and stones scattered around the place.

She was surrounded by roaring crowds. A translucent dome barrier covered over the entire field, allowing her to see the faces of everyone there. Yet, she looked up, only caring if she saw one face.

'Wow, Amber really can't see if Blondie is up there or not.' The Royal Filolial thought with a twinge of melancholy as her eyes spotted the observation windows where her Hero was supposed to be viewing her fight.

He and that Whale Lady were going to watch Amber's fight, right? Amber didn't get the feeling that the alluring woman wanted to make Blondie her mate anymore. But she knew that Blondie was going to need a mate soon enough.

Someone who was kind, yet loyal. Someone close to his age, though that was pretty hard to tell when it came to humans. Someone who could help him to feel happy, and not lonely, like whenever he didn't have anything or anybody around to keep him busy.

He tried to downplay it so others wouldn't notice, but Amber had still noticed it in the past. Whenever the Spear Hero found a rare moment of calm solitude, he seemed to prefer spending it in the town's church or behind it at the town's Memorial. Sometimes for a minute, sometimes for over an hour. Then he'd move on and pretend that he hadn't been depressed or crying when surrounded by others.

This only became more common after Rino had left on her solo mission to track down the red-haired witch.

…

Amber had also noticed how Blondie had a really hard time making lasting, genuine connections with other people, especially those of the opposite sex. The filolial had some suspicions that it might have been related to Blondie's old life in his original world. But whether that was the case or not was difficult to tell. Blondie didn't like to talk about it much unless it was related to his interest in medieval history.

Rino had felt like Blondie's first attempt to make a genuine connection in Amber's eyes, but then things didn't work out, and it just hurt Blondie more, even though none of it was his fault. And while he had friends and brothers to rely on, he still didn't have anyone he could lean on for support when life became too tough for him to handle.

Amber loved that Blondie cared so much about Rino and Amber and Elena and Fitoria and Filolials in general as well as so many others. Her Blondie had a big heart. But what he needed right now was a mate. Someone who could be there to care for him like what the other Heroes had with their mates.

However, something seemed to have changed with Blondie after his latest match. And there was also that weird shiny pin that he tried to hide from Amber. Hmmm...

…

Amber was so lost in thought that she almost didn't notice when her opponents finally came out onto the field. There was a different, considerably less energetic announcer working today whose voice droned out so much that when he announced the start of the match, it barely registered over the murmurs of the crowd.

"Grah!"

The Filolial's eyes widened in surprise.

"Grah! Grah!"

Three large beasts stood in front of her. Their bodies, tails, and back legs were that of a lion, while the head and wings were that of a bald eagle. Only their front legs had talons, their back legs retaining claws and paws.

Griffons.

They stood tall and imposing, towering over the Filolial Queen's smaller human form as their bird-like eyes glared hungrily at their prey. These monsters were intelligent, unlike most monsters. They knew that their opponent was, in reality, a Filolial. And they, like the rest of their species, hated Filolials and wanted them and their stupid Queen dead.

What a treat. Their talons began pawing at the sand in anticipation as they readied themselves to charge.

Amber, however, continued to stare at the three monsters as they began screeching and cackling in delight.

Griffons…

…

AMBER HATED GRIFFONS!

Screw what she was thinking about before! This was WAY more important!

The lead griffon monster was still laughing when Amber's first punch landed solidly against its beak.

The other two were shocked out of their reverie as their high-level leader slammed into one of the boulders on the ground.

Before they could even process the shock of seeing their leader felled in one blow, Amber let out a loud, terrifying roar.

"ALL GRIFFONS DESERVE DEATH!"

"GRAH!" "GRAH!"

Those were no longer calls of superiority.

The monsters were terrified of the young Filolial Queen.

And so the massacre began.

"Oh my… We better not dawdle. It looks like this is going to be a short fight." Sadeena commented.

"Yeah… holy crap," Motoyasu said, staring in awe at his Filolial comrade.

"DIEEEEEEEE!"

He'd never seen her look so angry before. Not even when her flock had been attacked by those strangers whose bodies disappeared. But the cute teenage Filolial Royal was dominating her match with the three griffon monsters.

Actually, you couldn't even call it a match at this point. The lead griffon was already dead from that first punch she threw. And the other two were trying to fly around the pit's boundary, desperately searching for a way out of the barrier with visible terror.

Part of the crowd was booing at the Griffons, while others were laughing as Amber launched large fire spells or threw large boulders over twice her size at the terrified flying monstrosities. The glow of debuff magic began to surround the young royal, while the glow of buff magic surrounded the Griffons, but it didn't matter as a boulder exploded against the barrier, its shards piercing one of the griffon's wings.

The poor beast screeched as it was grounded. And Amber pounced on it with unrestrained savagery, making the rest of its life hell while its comrade flew in the air, too scared to intervene.

It was only because of the debuff and buff magic that Amber didn't kill the second griffin as quickly as the first one. But the magic only seemed capable of delaying the inevitable.

'Note to self: Filolials really didn't like Griffons. And vice versa.'

At least Motoyasu knew of another monster race that could be completely exterminated now, I say!

As the orange-haired blood-covered girl looked up at her third opponent, two more portcullises opened, releasing another pair of griffons into the arena. These specimens had already been buffed before joining the fight.

"Didn't they already start with- ohhhh, these are the paid reinforcements." Motoyasu realized.

"Heh, you're catching on to the logic of this place." Sadeena chuckled as she began to down another bottle of wine. "I'm glad some idiot did that. I was almost afraid we wouldn't have enough time to chat."

"About how we're going to free those kids, right?" Motoyasu decided to skip the formalities and get to the point, in case Amber wasted the reinforcements as quickly as the initial batch of monsters.

Sadeena didn't acknowledge his question at first as she finished downing the whole bottle, before setting it next to all her other empty ones. "Yes."

Her eyes focused with stark clarity as she began to explain her situation to the Spear Hero.

To summarize the important details, Sadeena had arrived here a while ago, around one month after the first Wave had hit Lurolona. She came to Zeltoble because of its role as the world's central trading hub for everything, including slaves, and because the orca woman had next to no luck tracking Lurolona citizens down in Melromarc since she was a demi-human herself. She thought her best chance of finding Raphtalia and the other kids would be here in Zeltoble, where she did have friends and connections from years ago.

At first, she had a difficult time due to the size of the city, lack of funds, as well as the number of public slave auctions she could attend. Eventually, however, her pitfighting exploits managed to catch the attention of a rich sponsor named Mr. Saxon. He was Zeltoble's largest arms trafficker, as well as a member of the City Council that ran the place.

With his backing, Sadeena dethroned the former champion of the arena in a deathmatch and obtained far more influence underground than what she'd previously had.

Saxon's support and influence had allowed the orca woman to preview all available slaves before auctions and gave her the funding and opportunity to either buy them before or during said auction. To say that her sponsor had helped her out a great deal would be an understatement. Sadeena currently had twenty of these kids in her safehouse in the upper city, where she was taking care of them, and after today, there'd be one more kid joining them.

"What…" Motoyasu trailed off in confusion.

Sadeena smirked. "You got my warning about debuff magic in my letter, correct?"

"I did, but then… …!" Motoyasu's brain clicked. "You were the one who paid for that."

"Indeed, I got quite a few extra Zenis from it too." Sadeena laughed, rubbing the back of her neck at being outed. "I had faith you'd win even with the stacked odds, so I thought I'd take advantage of the way the betting system works here."

"..." Motoyasu didn't respond. He'd already heard how expensive the kids were. Honestly, even if it had made the fight surprisingly difficult on his part, it'd still been a fun fight. And knowing it'd helped Sadeena gather the funds to save another ridiculously expensive child, made him feel good.

"Twenty-one though… that's only half of who's still listed as missing," Motoyasu said next.

…

"..." Sadeena's face fell. "You said something about census papers last time. How many people are still listed as missing?" She asked.

"Forty-six last time I checked," Motoyasu said.

"... I see, Tulip will be the last one then," Sadeena said with a sad smile.

Before Motoyasu could ask, the orca woman clarified. "The City Council keeps a meticulous track of all new arrivals to the market. Their names, race, age. As well as who buys them and when. When someone gets released and..."

Sadeena's face fell. "When a slave dies."

…

Motoyasu didn't say anything. He simply rested a hand on the orca woman's arm. And Sadeena rested one of her hands over his, accepting the silent comfort the Spear Hero was giving her.

…

Eventually, after several seconds, Sadeena shook her head. "This'll just mean that after tonight, these lil' ones will be the last needing to be freed. My work here will be done."

"Yeah." Motoyasu nodded. Not to mention, since Sadeena had said the girl's name, he recognized Tulip's name. Just another reason he had to trust her. "I'm going to guess by your tone of voice earlier that it's Mr. Saxon who is the problem?" He'd ask about her emotional state and all that, but felt that such a thing should wait till after they were back in Lurolona. When they could properly have that drink together.

"Yes, he was the one who helped me originally. But now, he is holding the lives of those kids hostage to force me to keep fighting."

Sadeena explained further. Essentially, she thought her sponsor had been genuinely trying to help her from the start. And maybe he was, at first. Mr. Saxon had lost his family originally to a group of slavers, so she hadn't expected him to turn on her.

At least, not as quickly as he had.

Perhaps it'd been because of the news of the Hero Nation being set up in Lurolona. Or the fact that they were actively searching for all the former residents. Either way, the market for Lurolona Slaves exploded almost overnight. And with it, Sadeena's sponsor exploded with greed, just like the other members of the City Council.

One day, Sadeena came home after another arena match to read the kids a bedtime story, only to find Mr. Saxon in the process of painting slave crests on the kids one by one.

Had she been there just a moment earlier, she would have killed him on the spot. But with half of them already re-enslaved, he'd threatened that he could kill those kids if the orca woman so much as made a move to strike him.

She could have killed him then and there, but it would have cost some of the lives of her precious brood. Those she'd vowed to save after failing to be there and protect them in the past.

It'd been an impossible impasse, one which she ultimately had to surrender to. She already felt guilty for those she'd failed to save. She couldn't bear to let one more child die under her watch.

The way it was now, she and Mr. Saxon were at a stalemate. She couldn't make a move against him, because of the slave crests he had on her children. But neither could he make a move against her, since he still wanted to keep her around as his personal prized fighter.

He could keep an eye on her and her movements, the kids were also placed somewhere where only Sadeena, Mr. Saxon, and those whom they had guarding the residence knew about. The only fortunate thing in this scenario was that her sponsor didn't have 100% control over the orca woman's life, since she never had gotten a slave crest. However, that could easily change in the coming weeks when he would realize that there were no other Lurolona kids that'd be making their way to Zeltoble's auction system. So there would be no need to keep Sadeena around to identify them either.

Still, with each passing day, the value of those kids rose higher and higher in the eyes of others. Motoyasu was surprised when Sadeena said this like it was a good thing.

"Isn't that bad though? It already sounds like it'll be hard enough getting them out." He'd already thrown out several plans in his mind by this point, based on what Sadeena had told him.

A direct approach was out of the question. The guards were likely in Mr. Saxon's party system. They'd run to tell him if Sadeena brought anybody with her and if they died or got hurt, he'd see it and either punish the kids through the crest or kill one to get Sadeena to behave. Whatever the case, it was too risky to try sneaking in without an illusionist like Raphtalia or Itsuki's sneak skills to help them out.

Even if that did work, Sadeena also mentioned that these were high-class crests Mr. Saxon had used. This means they'd need twenty-one Seal Remover vials mixed with his blood to free all the kids. A difficult task, since the man in question was paranoid and never risked staying in the same room as Nadia without an armed escort. Any plan that didn't account for how they got his blood without his knowledge would be trashed.

The last option Motoyasu thought of was using his portal skill. If he did somehow find a way to sneak in, he could get the kids out by using it. Slave seals had an effective range limit on them beyond which they stopped working.

However, that plan had its cons as well. For one, Motoyasu could only teleport eight people at a time including himself, with a one-hour cooldown between each use. This meant it'd take two hours to get a group of seven to safety before coming back and being ready to get the next group of seven out.

If he and Ren were here together, they could use a more powerful ritual teleport spell, like what Ren and Itsuki did once in the past. But Motoyasu was not confident in Ren's performance at the moment.

Another problem was the fact that the skill was bright and flashy. Even if the Spear Hero were to successfully sneak in, using that skill would alert anyone outside of something wrong going on inside the building.

And lastly, even if the Spear Hero did manage to get one group out without the guards noticing, Mr. Saxon would be alerted of those kids being moved out of range, which would make him and his guards come to investigate. And that could result in the man either killing or moving the other children before Motoyasu could come back for the rest.

Motoyasu couldn't see a feasible way of freeing such a large group that didn't involve… … …

"Oh." Had Sadeena settled on that simple of a solution? He decided to ask, just in case. "Does your plan involve me killing your sponsor?"

"No, you won't be killing him. I wouldn't dare to ask you to sully your hands like that. Besides…" Sadeena looked out the window at that moment. "You and your companion will likely be busy fighting me in a death match later this week."

Four of the griffons were dead.

The last one hid at the edge of the pit behind a boulder, terrified of the massacre it'd witnessed.

"HA!"

Amber's punch caused the boulder to explode into a shower of gravel, and the griffon squawked in terror as it tried to keep the Filolial girl at bay. But besides a couple of cuts on her arms, she looked perfectly fine.

"DEATH TO ALL GRIFFON MONSTERS!" Amber punched it in the face, cutting it off mid-squawk.

"..." Motoyasu's eyebrow raised.

Sadeena giggled. "Just think, Murder Pierrot, the opponent that Saxon was training up to eventually replace me… and she was incinerated by Sir Bubba in a one-on-one match. Not only that, but it happened despite Sir Bubba being debuffed from the start.

"His companion then went alone into a pit with five high-leveled griffons and won. Not only won, but won with just her fists."

Someone in the crowd threw what looked like a Morningstar into the fighting pit. They wanted Amber to beat the last griffon to death with it to make their merchandise look good. But Amber took one look at the weapon before her face twisted with disgust and she continued pommeling the last surviving griffon barehanded.

"The fight between us will be the biggest event Zeltoble has had in decades. With people upset thanks to the Waves and the abandonment of outside settlements, it'll be the perfect thing for the City Council to organize to improve the local mood and advertise the country's might and prestige. And because it'll be such a big match, Mr. Saxon will have to attend since he is still my sponsor." Sadeena smiled. "Which means we'd know where he will be, at what time he'd be there, and could arrange to have him killed in one fell swoop."

"Hmmm…" Motoyasu pondered her words for a second. "Who's going to assassinate him if me and Amber will be too busy fighting you?" He regretted that Itsuki wasn't around right now either. He would have been the perfect candidate for putting an arrow in that scumbag's forehead from a mile away. He'd be in and out before anyone realized what'd happened.

"... I'll do it. I'll kill him." Sadeena said. There was no teasing lilt to her tone. No drunk haze on her face.

She was completely serious. And her expression didn't waver as she stood up from her chair and stood in front of the window.

"Look at this magic barrier," Sadeena said. "It makes a perfect dome over the fighting arena strong enough to repel any attack from the inside while allowing the audience to throw stuff through and participate… at least, from what I've seen, no attack thrown against it by any fighter has been strong enough to break through the blasted thing."

"..." Motoyasu thought about it. His stray attacks hadn't scratched it either, though it was possibly because of how much he was handicapping himself and because he hadn't been trying to attack the barrier. Still, if Sadeena wanted to take a shot at Mr. Saxon herself, then… "Can it be turned off?"

"Yes." Sadeena nodded with a smile, pleased that the Spear Hero figured her plan out. "Any time I'm around, he's always on his guard. But whenever he has this barrier between us, he makes himself vulnerable, almost as if to taunt me.

"Turn this off mid-fight, he wouldn't have the time to realize what was going on. I could kill him before he had the chance to harm my kids…"

Sadeena's face darkened as she said those words. But after a pause, that darkness vanished, replaced with a look of melancholy. "I'm sorry to want to go about it in such a roundabout way. I suppose it'd be more sensible to ask you or your friends to do it. But due to my background, I know what it's like to be asked to execute somebody.

"My hands are already dirty. I'd rather kill him myself than ask you or anyone else to dirty your hands on my behalf. I just need the opportunity. That's what I need your help for." Sadeena said as she turned to face him again. Her expression made it look like she was pleading for his help.

"... if that's all you need, we'll help. How do the barriers here work and how do you disable them?" Motoyasu asked.

Sadeena relaxed, remembering to let a drunken giggle into her hand. Motoyasu was able to tell how forced it sounded by this point, however. "I have the details for how the barrier works written down here. I could tell you, but it'd be better for you and your companions to study this yourself in the time we'll have before our match."

The orca woman handed the Spear Hero a sheet of paper as he stood up. Motoyasu gave it a quick once over, noting that the instructions were written in Melromarcian. He then put it away into his Spear's Gem.

Down below, Amber stood over the beaten, charred remains of the last griffon. Much like Hou-Lon had in his fight against the beasts. She wasn't one for roaring though, so instead, she waved cheerily to where Blondie was watching her from and looking super proud of herself for killing five members of such a detestable species.

Those who'd been supporting the griffons were angry and disappointed that their favorite monsters had lost, again. Their boos and cries were drowned out by the cheers coming from the rest of the crowd, however.

Those heathens would soon learn the glory of Filolials for themselves soon enough.

"Motoyasu, just one last thing, if you could, since Larsa showed that she trusted you." Sadeena reached behind her chair as she said this.

The Spear Hero wondered if she wanted to offer him a drink again, but instead of a bottle, the orca woman pulled out a rather sizable briefcase that looked incredibly out of place with its modern design. More hero influence?

Either way, she set the briefcase on her lap and clicked it open, revealing the contents to Motoyasu.

Stacks upon stacks upon stacks of neatly arranged and packed paper bills became visible to the Spear Hero.

"Are these...?" He began hesitantly.

"Zeni. Yes. Three hundred thousand to be precise." Sadeena elaborated.

"... What for? I'm not charging you for anything." Motoyasu said, eyeing the woman suspiciously. He couldn't read the words on the paper money, but he was able to recognize these bills had a few 0's at the end of a number starting with 1.

"Those are some of my bettings from today, as well as some of what I have saved up. It's worth around 3000 gold coins at the current exchange rate."

…

Motoyasu stared. This time, he couldn't guess why she was doing this. The orca woman closed the briefcase and handed it over to the Spear Hero.

"I'd… I'd rather be able to save all the kids, at once, of course… but." Sadeena inhaled deeply before speaking again. "I haven't informed Mr. Saxon about Tulip. She'll be for sale at the eastern side auction outside the plaza tonight.

"Please, I need you to bring this money to Hickwaal and ask him to buy and free her. Then you can move her somewhere safe, in case… in case things go wrong, and-"

"They won't." Motoyasu breathed in deep. He was holding a lot of money in his hands right now. He pushed the temptation of how he'd use it out of his mind. "I'm not all-powerful, but I promise, I won't let you or those kids die before I get all of us out of here."

Sadeena frowned. "Still, if something does happen during the match and killing Mr. Saxon becomes impossible, reach out to Larsa immediately. I didn't want to involve her, since helping me would risk jeopardizing her position in the city and possibly even getting her killed. But she should be able to at least lead you to where the kids are before Mr. Saxon gets to them and moves them somewhere else and-"

"Again, that won't happen," Motoyasu repeated, this time with more resolution in his voice. "Even if we're put in a death match, I'm not killing you. I will guarantee you that much."

…

"... heh." Sadeena chuckled. "You might not have much of a choice, since my kids' survival might hinge on how well I fight."

Motoyasu smirked confidently. "You watched my match today, and that was me holding back a lot. Think you could take me on in a serious match?"

"Don't…" Sadeena's serious facade faltered for a moment before she relaxed and an easygoing smile appeared on her face again. "Don't say such things. I like my men strong." The orca woman admitted.

Motoyasu opened his mouth to tease back, only for the words to freeze on his tongue. The image of Murder Pierrot went through his mind again.

…

He shook his head. "I already promised that whatever happens, I won't kill you. Even if they try to force it. I'm not going to break a promise that important after everything I've done to change for the better.

"I'm bringing you and the rest of the Lurolona kids back home. And that's final."

…

Sadeena said nothing in return, but she nodded her head, a serious look returning to her beautiful features. "Let's get going then, Sir Bubba."

The two stood up from their seats and Motoyasu stored the briefcase in his spear's gem. They then approached the door. Before she opened it though, Sadeena looked at Motoyasu one last time. "Thank you, for helping me, Spear Hero.

"You have no idea how much this means to me."

…

She left the room first, but as Motoyasu was about to follow her out, he looked back and saw she'd left the rest of the wine bottles behind.

It seemed like a mess leaving it all there, so he gathered the empty bottles and stored them in his Spear. He could use them as energy for one of his strengthening methods later.

In gathering all the empty bottles, however, he found that the orca woman had left two of the bottles untouched.

…

'Good tasting wine, huh? Alright, I know what we'll use to celebrate after this is all over.' Motoyasu smiled as he stored the drinks in his weapon, before putting his helmet back over his head. Surely Hickwaal wouldn't miss those?

Friend dates were nice to have too.

He headed out of the room to meet up with Amber and Sebas and to explain what tonight's plan was going to be.

With that, the meeting between the Spear Hero and the orca woman came to an end.

"Hmmm…"

"Blondie, you shouldn't look so nervous," Amber said.

The pair were sitting in their room in Hickwaal's apartment complex/storehouse. Motoyasu hadn't gone to the auction, as he'd given the money to Hickwaal. The portly merchant was surprised at the request and wanted to refuse at first because he wouldn't have been comfortable at such an auction. But he'd eventually been convinced to go by Sebas, since they weren't buying a slave but saving a kid, much like how the merchant had saved a lemos slave recently.

Motoyasu would have gone himself in all honesty, but when Sebas explained how slave auctions always had a slave crest put on the slave to bind them to their new master after the purchase, he decided against it. Even if it'd only be for a moment, Motoyasu never wanted to have a slave registered to him.

Besides, he trusted the two of them by this point. Sebas had been nothing but helpful since meeting him. And Hickwaal, from what he'd seen, was also a good person, so he did not need to worry.

…

All of them were on his party system too, so he didn't have to worry…

…

"Should it be taking them this long?" Motoyasu broke the silence.

"Amber has no idea Blondie." Amber shrugged.

Motoyasu pulled up his HUD. Using the Wave Counter for Melromarc in the corner of his vision, he was able to pinpoint that it was around 11:45 at night.

The auction started at 9. It'd almost been three hours. He was going to be late to report to Melty again. If he did teleport back at all.

…

"Shall Amber go out and look for them?" The Filolial girl asked.

"... let's give them another fifteen minutes," Motoyasu said after a moment.

Amber ruffled her wings but otherwise sat back down. Studying the Spear Hero's expressions as he looked from his weapon to the door.

…

Ten minutes later, as Motoyasu was about to decide to head out early, the door finally opened.

Motoyasu's face filled with relief as Hickwaal and Sebas entered. The old butler was carrying a scared, little demi girl with bunny ears in his arms.

"See. We're safe now." Sebas said gently as he coddled the scared girl in his embrace.

Tulip lifted her head an inch at his words, only to immediately recoil and bury her head in the half-dragonewt's shoulder again as she noticed the armored figure and winged girl standing in the room.

Motoyasu stepped forward to say something comforting to ease the scared little girl, only to nearly recoil in horror himself at seeing the scars from whip marks exposed on the back of her arms that traveled under her rags to her back, where the dirty rags were tinged with red.

"Who was her previous owner?" Motoyasu asked Sebas as he immediately pulled out a spare vial of Yggdrasil's Elixir from his weapon.

Now, this was a situation where it'd be fine to use it.

"It doesn't matter," Sebas said, fury clear in his tone.

As little Tulip began trembling in fear, however, the old man softened his voice and began rubbing a hand between the ears on her head. "It is okay, little one. You are safe now. I promise no one here will hurt you."

"You will never have to go through that kind of pain again. This gentleman here will bring you back home to your friends. I swear it upon the honor of my clan."

It was… surprising, for Motoyasu to see that the scary butler that reminded him of Granny so much, had this soft side to him.

Hickwaal was strangely silent as he sat down in a nearby chair with a grim expression. Motoyasu began to try and help the girl drink the powerful medicine, but she wouldn't trust him no matter how much he tried to coax her.

In the end, he had to give the Yggdrasil's Elixir to Sebas, and he managed to get young Tulip to drink a little of it. It wouldn't have the increased potency effect, since Motoyasu hadn't been the one to give it to her, but as the world's most powerful medicine already, it was probably enough to heal all her injuries with just a few drops.

Eventually, seeing the little girl's wounds all clean and healed up, and seeing that she would remain in good hands, Motoyasu sat down next to Hickwaal, who still hadn't said a word. "What happened?"

…

"Huh? Oh, no, everything went well, relatively speaking." Hickwaal slowly shook his head. "I just… dislike attending auctions like these."

Motoyasu grimaced, but he pulled the seal remover potion from his weapon, before handing it to the merchant. "Thank you again for doing that for me."

The merchant nodded, but he still had a troubled look on his face. Motoyasu thought it was only because of the slave auction.

However, it was then he noticed that neither Sebas nor Hickwaal had the briefcase of money with them.

"What happened to all the money Sadeena gave you? Was that why it took so long to get back? Did you store the remainder at a bank or something?"

"... no. I spent it all, and then some to buy young Tulip there." Hickwaal admitted.

…

"What?" Motoyasu asked.

It'd been… an eye-boggling amount of money he gave them. And Hickwaal spent more than that?!

Hickwaal used a knife to cut the tip of his finger, dripping the drop of blood necessary into the seal remover. It was then that Motoyasu finally realized what was going on.

The short man was furious.

"I thought Tulip being from Lurolona wasn't public knowledge. Why did the price go that high?" Motoyasu asked.

"Another person kept trying to outbid me. Councilman Judas." Hickwaal began stating in an uncharacteristically angry tone. "The head of the Bookmaker's Guild, and the person in charge of gambling regulations here in the underground. I don't know if he somehow knew that young girl was the real deal, or if he brought the bidding so high to try and spite me. But the price of her freedom came to three hundred and fifty thousand zenis in the end."

Motoyasu clutched his chest. 35… 3500 FREAKING GOLD COINS FOR ONE SCARED FRAIL LOOKING BUNNY CHILD?!

"We were lucky, I suppose. The girl who was advertised as a resident of Lurolona at the auction was sold for around 4000 gold coins to someone else. Still, I had Sebas lead us down an alternate route to get back, in case Judas wanted to try anything funny." Hickwaal explained. "That's why we were late getting here. Again, my apologies."

…

Time, and time, and time again, Motoyasu thought the price for these kids couldn't possibly go any higher.

He'd underestimated just how expensive something could get under an economic bubble. Especially when said bubble was being fueled by corrupt people and their greed to keep it going far beyond its normal limits.

It didn't matter if it was under communism or capitalism. Economic bubbles were a natural part of any market, but they only became large only under one scenario. When greedy people prevented the market from correcting itself on the demand side and the supply side.

"I-It's fine." Motoyasu eventually sputtered. "Still, I didn't mean to make you spend that much!"

"Do not worry about that." Hickwaal shook his head. "Five hundred gold coins isn't enough to ruin me, even as I am now. I'm sure Miss Nadia will have no problem with paying this sum back to me eventually. She always pays her dues.

"Frankly, what I'm more concerned about is-"

Knock Knock Knock!

A distant pounding sounded in the distance.

"... $%^&." Hickwaal cussed. "Sounds like that big oaf followed us here after all!"

Sebas looked at the door to their room with disdain. "I shall deal with the trespassers at once then."

"No," Amber interjected, much to the butler's surprise. "Please stay here. Amber and Blondie will make the bad men leave. Old Butler Guy should stay to make sure no one harms Little Girl or Short Good Guy in the meantime, especially since Little Girl only seems to trust you right now."

Sebas opened his mouth to interject, only for the sound of a wooden door being torn from its hinges to be heard from outside. Tulip let out a gasp of terror, and the old man held the back of her head to his shoulder with a gentle expression as she began to cry for her parents.

The Filolial Girl approached the door. "Come, Big Brother, let's go."

Motoyasu was still surprised by the initiative that Amber was showing, but before he could say anything to her, the girl had raced out the door to their room out into the hallway.

"You! Girl! Tell us where Hickwaal is this- AHHHHHH!"

Motoyasu placed his helmet back over his head as he raced out to help his Filolial Companion, his weapon in hand.

"Stand firm, you worms! It's just one girl against-" The man speaking was punched in the face, sending him flying into a wall. His weapon, a spear, clattered to the floor by the Filolial girl.

"Huah!" Amber then ducked under two sword swings from two other slave soldiers. Her hands grabbed them by the wrists and she slammed their bodies into each other, breaking their arms while simultaneously knocking them out.

"Ahhhhh!" Another slave soldier swung down at her as he charged. One of Amber's hands grabbed the spear that'd been dropped.

It was almost like the man was standing still as Amber stood and knocked his weapon out of his hand, causing it to get stuck in the wood-paneled wall next to them.

The man was staring in stunned shock at his weapon when the back end of Motoyasu's naginata slammed into the back of his skull, dropping him to the ground like a sack of bricks.

"Halt! Any further aggression towards our place of residence will be met with force." Amber stated, holding the tip of the spear up to the next man's throat before he could garner the courage to attack. There was a dangerous glint in the girl's stormy orange eyes.

There'd only been eight slave soldiers in the hallway, with a handler pushing them to fight. But with Amber having knocked the handler out at the start, and seeing how quickly four of their comrades had fallen, the others began to step back, fear painted on their faces.

Before any more violence could occur…

"Ah, my apologies, I wasn't aware that this place housed Hickwaal's new gladiators too. Stand down, everyone."

A purple glow appeared on the chests of the slave soldiers, and they all fell to their knees, crying out in pain as another man stepped forward into the hallway.

He was an old-looking fellow with graying hair and an impressive physique. He wore a thick black coat with golden highlights on the trims. Despite his age, he stood tall and straight in a confident manner. A distinct scar ran across the right side of his face, cutting through one of his thick bushy eyebrows, a feature which added to his already intimidating appearance.

Motoyasu stepped up next to Amber. He looked at the writhing men on the ground, and then at the man in charge of them who continued to speak. "Sir Bubba, was it? Congratulations on your victory this morning. I hadn't expected you to be able to best Murder Pierrot, to be frank.

"But I digress, would you please step aside? My business here is not with you but with my friend Hickwaal."

"... No." Motoyasu had no idea why he sounded so calm at that moment. However, he spoke clearly and simply.

The scarred man narrowed his eyes slightly. "Ah. I see. You needn't worry about losing your job, Sir Bubba. I am not here to kill my fellow council member.

"I just want to take back what he stole from me, and then I will be on my way."

"I don't care what you're here for." Motoyasu continued to speak in a calm tone. "Leave, before I and my companion make you."

…

"..." A dark look entered the other man's eyes. "Sir Bubba. I understand you may be riding high right now, thinking that you are Zeltoble's hottest new thing. But do you have any idea to whom you are speaking right now?

"My name is Judas. I am a member of Zeltoble's City Council. And unlike Hickwaal, my position there is not just a label."

The older gentleman snapped his fingers, and the crests on the slave soldiers flared an even brighter purple. Those who were conscious began screaming as they experienced immeasurable pain beyond imagination.

"What these men are experiencing right now, I could inflict on you and your comrades tenfold if you refuse to cooperate."

"..." Motoyasu said nothing as he looked on one side of the hallway and then the other.

"That's right. Every man should know his place." Judas began to say with a smirk as he started to step toward Motoyasu. "Still, you've left quite the impression during your short stay here. I'm not usually one to offer sponsorships, but whatever Hickwaal's paying you, I could easily double it.

"I have an eye for talent, and you certainly-"

The tip of the Spear Hero's naginata appeared under the man's chin.

Motoyasu's movement was followed by a blast of wind going down both ends of the hallway. He'd moved too fast for the eye to follow.

"If you think the little show you just put on is how you intimidate someone, I think there's something you should know." Motoyasu glared hatefully at the man. Judas' eyes widened at the hate-filled orange eyes glaring at him from inside the helmet. "I have already seen countless men die in front of me, both comrades and foes. I am blessed to have it be more of the latter than the former.

"I have fought against the Waves of Catastrophes, done battle with the Spirit Tortoise and its minions, and fought many battles against other humans who didn't know better. So if you think you could even hope to intimidate me into doing whatever you want, then you are sorely mistaken.

"I don't have the time to listen to your drivel, nor do I have any desire to work for you. I don't even care what power you think you might have over me or those I care about.

"You are obviously trespassing on my friend's property. If you do not leave this instant, I will cut you down without a second thought on his behalf."

…

Judas slowly scowled in response. Impressively, he did not cower or beg for his life in the face of Motoyasu's intimidating aura. "That slave was supposed to be mine."

The tip of Motoyasu's weapon touched the man's neck. Amber also positioned her new spear to impale the man's stomach.

"I don't care.

"Do not interfere with that girl's life. Or I will kill you and all the people behind you.

"This is your final warning."

…

For another moment, the large, old man continued to glare hatefully at the disguised Spear Hero.

…

But after that moment passed, Councilman Judas finally stepped back. At the same time, the crests on his slave soldiers suffering on the floor stopped glowing and torturing them. "I see, very well then." He said in a cold, calculating voice. "If that's how it's going to be."

He turned around, putting a hand in one of his pockets. "Enjoy your stay in the city for now, Sir Bubba.

"It is going to be a pleasure to see our young Nadia squash your head like a bug."

…

Motoyasu and Amber continued to stand imposingly, not saying another word as the member of the City Council walked back up the way he came. His slave soldiers picked their unconscious handler and comrades up before running after their tall and imposing master.

And yet, Motoyasu and Amber didn't move from their positions for a minute. Making sure that no one else came down the hallway towards them.

…

"... Well, that could have gone better." Hickwaal finally said from the doorway behind them.

"..." Motoyasu turned around as the short merchant walked up. Sebas stood in the doorway with a frown. He was still petting the head of a now-sleeping Tulip. Somehow, he'd helped her to calm down and fall asleep while the two had been outside dealing with the Councilman.

"Yeah, maybe… but I didn't want to pretend I would ever consider betraying you or giving Tulip up.

"We made a deal. And I intend to follow through on my end of the bargain, no matter what." Motoyasu said with finality.

…

"Master Hickwaal, if I may speak." Sebas suddenly spoke up. "Up till now, I've only gotten to witness Sir Motoyasu and his friend fight in the arenas. I was… dubious, about what they could offer you in their home, I admit.

"But right now, I got to witness him use his power and put his life on the line to stand up for a defenseless young one.

"He has officially earned my respect as well as my trust. If this is the kind of protection we can expect of the Hero's Nation, then I am looking forward to moving there even more now." The old man bowed his head politely.

…

Hickwaal hummed in thought. "It is rare for you to praise somebody so, Sebas. But I agree with you. Let's not tell Nadia then that I spent an extra 500 gold coins purchasing Tulip in that case."

"Why?" Motoyasu lifted an eyebrow in confusion.

The small merchant shook his head. "This turn of affairs might not have been perfect. But you've more than proved your worth protecting me and that young girl."

Hickwaal looked up and sighed. "Still, I can't wait to leave this place. I could use a vacation after how stressful that was."

"Master Hickwaal, the last time you said that, you went to a resort in Faubley to relax, only to build a better one on the opposite side of the town because you were displeased with how bad the service there was," Sebas said, a stern tone in his voice.

"Uh… Heh, I only did that once Sebas." The small merchant finally smiled a little while rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"And yet we're still sent a portion of the resort's profits each month." Sebas continued to stare calmly at the plump merchant. "I've never seen you once take a proper vacation in your life."

"... right, well this time, I will follow through with it. Even I can reach the point where I can't handle the stress, you know!" Hickwaal stated in his more usual, jovial tone.

"I see, well, I'll make sure to have plenty of Zenis on hand in case you feel like buying up half of a town again," Sebas said, a slight smirk touching the corner of his lip.

"Don't wound me so, Sebas! We have company, after all!" Hickwaal winked to the Spear Hero and his Filolial Companion.

"Heh, sorry to change the topic, but... judging by that guy's last remark, my next match is going to be against Nadia, right?" Motoyasu decided to ask before he forgot.

"... Indeed." Hickwaal nodded grimly, his smile disappearing again. "I was just about to discuss it with you when Judas showed up.

"You see, Saxon was quite furious about losing his investments in Murder Pierrot. He wanted to use her death as an excuse to get rid of you, but there were too many witnesses in the stands who saw that it was an accident.

"Normally, that alone wouldn't be enough to make him stand down, but the rest of the Council's greed greatly surpasses Saxon's thirst for vengeance. So I was able to barter for a compromise of sorts.

"Your next match will be against Nadia. But after the stunt, you just pulled here, I expect it will be more akin to an execution. You'll enter that arena, being put under the highest magnitude debuffs that we have to offer, while Nadia will receive the same level of buffs on herself.

"I can also tell you that the arena floor will be flooded too. I expected there'd be room for you and Amber to stand, but you could very well be forced to swim in the pit against an aquatic demihuman for an opponent after tonight…

"I wouldn't normally sanction my gladiators fighting in such a death match. But I won't argue if they do end up doing all that. I get the feeling either way you'll handle things just fine." Hickwaal began to smile again.

"What makes you so sure about that?" Motoyasu asked.

"Nadia's original plan involved you getting into a fight against her in the arena, no?" Hickwaal asked curiously.

"How do you know that? I haven't been able to tell you about it yet." Motoyasu asked.

"You had your meeting in my personal observation room, Sir Motoyasu." Hickwaal shook his head while chuckling. "I do hope the wine will be to your taste."

…

Before Motoyasu could respond, Hickwaal spoke up again.

"More importantly, we need to vacate this building immediately. Do you recall Beatrice? The woman I had in charge of this storehouse? She disappeared a couple of days ago.

"I feared that something had happened to her, but after tonight, I find it more likely that she sold me out to my competitors. Judas knowing exactly where this place was practically confirms it." He stated with a grim expression.

Nooooooo! Not the beautiful Fox Lady!

Oh come on Amber, now wasn't the time to pout at Motoyasu, I say!

"Amber told you Ugly Fox Lady was bad news." The Filolial Royal said.

…

Alright, Motoyasu could agree with her on that. He was suddenly really glad that he never revealed to that maid girl that he was the Spear Hero.

Plus, he'd already found someone way more beautiful than this Beatrice bitch anyway.

"We can't stay here anymore, my apologies," Hickwaal said. "Please grab whatever belongings you may have kept here and follow me. I still have a few more safe houses left in this city still."

Motoyasu nodded and looked at Amber, but the girl was back to admiring the new Spear she'd taken from their foes, completely oblivious to the mood in the room. Seeing her smiling face made him smile too.

Motoyasu gripped his weapon tightly. He didn't care if Sadeena's sponsor tried to stack the odds against him alongside the rest of his cohorts. He knew for sure now.

He was going to do what Itsuki almost did in that one country he helped out in, and ensure the leadership here would not live for a moment longer. And once he was finished with that, he'd help out with the aftermath to ensure this dead place and the people living within it would have a brighter future.

With better, more competent people leading the people instead of the greedy piles of &^%$ leading them right now.

Author's Notes:

Good news, the set-up for the climax of this arc is finally (almost) done. Two chapters from now, we will see the start of the Motoyasu vs. Nadia match and head into the final few steps of this arc. In fact, I am busy writing that part right now so I can see how long it'll be.

Before that, however, there will be one more chapter before the big event. I'm not going to spoil anything but… well, let's just say that this one has been requested of me on and off for quite some time. Vongola Ninja, I believe it was you who requested it long ago when I got back to writing this fic again. It's not Naofumi, but I think you're very much going to enjoy this upcoming chapter when I post it ;)

See you all again in two weeks when we get to experience a nice breath of fresh air on a certain bluette's soul. Until then.

Hero Clips!

What Could You Get With 3000 Gold coins?

"Hmmm, what's this?"

A familiar, gruff-looking panda woman found herself in an unfamiliar classroom. There was no one else there, however.

"This doesn't look like the training room." Larsa narrowed her eyes in confusion. She wondered if she'd accidentally stumbled on an old teleportation trap while patrolling the underground tunnels or not.

Rumor had it they existed in the past. However, Larsa had never come across one before. That seemed like the only logical explanation for why she was here.

But as she slowly made her way through the new room, she didn't find any threats. No hidden weapons in the desks. No persons hiding in ambush or anything.

In the end, the only thing she found was a pile of papers on the front desk. The notes were written in crisp clean Melromarcian.

"What could one buy with 3000 Gold Coins?" The panda woman's eyebrow perked at the strange title at the top. That amount of money was more, far more than she could have ever hoped to save up in her life, even with her prestigious position, which amounted to 20 gold coins a year.

She'd need to become a talented businessman like Hickwaal or a talented pit fighter/gambler with a rich backer like Sadeena if she ever hoped to accumulate that amount of wealth in her lifetime. Why something like this even existed, she had no idea.

She wanted to throw it out in disgust, but curiosity got the better of her. What could one buy with that amount of wealth?

Larsa read the list to find out.

3,000 Gold Coins = 300,000 Silver Coins = 30,000,000 Copper Coins

You could stay at the Inn Naofumi stayed at in Melromarc on the first day and get a meal each night for around 900,000 nights. 300,000 nights if you stayed at the inn in Lute. That was a long time.

With that much money, you could also buy one of the following from the list.

60,000,000 orange balloon scraps.

300,000 usapil hides.

100,000 to 150,000 vials of medicine.

50,000 low-level iron shortswords.

10,000 sick and frail Raphtalia's. 9,677.42 if you added a silver coin as a tip to Beloukas (just don't say what you did to get that final .42).

6000 times entering and leaving Lute under Bitch's insane tax.

3000-10000 enchanted accessories depending on how good they were.

Almost 2308 sets of low-level custom Barbarian Armor.

600 Barbarian Armor upgrades, not including the cost of materials.

300 Class Upgrades (if you paid the absurd amount given by the nuns of the Three Heroes Church).

6 down payments for the Oriekol Starfire Bracelet Therese got from Naofumi.

There's no actual cost given for this as far as I'm aware, but let's say you average 10 copper coins worth of food per day to feed a person in a city, all other factors held constant.

If we did it to scale, then you could feed a village of 1000 for 82 years. A town of 10000 for 8.2 years. A city of 100000 for almost ten months. Or a city of one million for 30 days.

Larsa slowly made her way to the end of the list. It was almost mind-boggling the amount of goods one could get with this amount of money. This was comparable to running a small high-level mercenary force. Or a low-level, yet sizable army. This was the kind of money you'd see to run a city's budget. This was the kind of wealth millionaires would have in our world.

This was what powerful individuals were throwing around in the hopes of acquiring a single-child slave from Lurolona here in Zeltoble. Just the thought alone almost made Larsa burn the documents to ash.

But then she read the last entry, which was circled, and written in bold letters.

3000 Filolial Eggs from Beloukas' Monster Gacha.

"Huh? Why is this one circled?" Larsa asked in confusion.

Little did she know that she'd just been used to set up the rest of the omake for the readers.

"Aaaah!" "Runnnnn!"

"Gwah!" "Gwah!" "Gwah!" "Gwah!"

The townspeople of the Hero's Nation fled in terror as a tsunami of Filolials charged through everything.

"This is the best day ever, I say!" The Spear Hero had hearts in his eyes. This was even better than the Filolial dolls he'd gotten to cuddle with earlier in the day, I say! He had a whole flock under his command now!

"Ack! There's too many of them!" Blue cried out in terror.

"Gwah! (No, Rikka's Tyrant Eye, can't hold them, back-) Gwahhhhhhhhh! (AHHHHHHHHH!)" The familiar black-feathered eyepatch-wearing Filolial friend of Blue disappeared under the onrush of Filolials.

"No! Noodle! Save yourselfffff!" Blue similarly disappeared under the tide of feathery monsters too.

In the distance, Ren gave his friend a salute as he held his sword up. In a flash of light, he, Wyndia, little Gaelion, and their friends disappeared.

"Yep, I'm not dealing with this mess." Rat also got on top of a slimy-looking creature as she rode out into the sunset.

Too bad everyone else wasn't able to escape this mess.

"Gwah!" "Gwah!" "Gwah!" "Gwah!"

In short, 3000 gold coins was enough to upend the entire Hero's Nation with just Filolials. Bankrupting them through the meal costs alone.

"THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFFFFE!"

But Melty didn't seem to mind that fact one bit!

"I knew you were the smartest one of them all, I say!" Motoyasu was now dressed in a rancher's outfit. Melty was quick to dress in a similar one too.

The two would go on to turn the former territory of the Hero's Nation into the largest Filolial Ranch in the world, I say!

Till Next Time

Allen

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