I am not the shield hero

Dante yawned as he awoke. He felt well rested. Much more than he had for a while. He'd been feeling better these past few mornings.

A slight movement caught his eye and he looked to his chest. A pair of weasel ears twitched. The owner of those ears stretched herself out before turning to look at him. A pair of golden eyes gazed at him from a furry face.

"Good morning, Mister Dante." Rifana said with a smile.

"Good morning." Dante brought his hand over, scratching around her ears. It earned him a pleased hum.

"Oh my~. Aren't we looking happy this morning~." Sadeena said as she lay next to him, her arm used as a pillow for the Shield Hero.

Both women were in their therianthrope forms. Rifana had gained hers just a couple days ago. Dante's reaction to that was…

~Two days earlier~

Rifana stood there, the puff of smoke quickly dissipating. The clothes she got from the tailor had shrunk a little to fit her new size. The shirt and skirt actually came together now and the skirt reached past her knees, appearing more like a short witch's robe.

Rifana looked over her new form. Her hands and feet became paws, and her face had grown a bit longer into a snout. Slick, golden fur lined her back and sides while her front appeared a brilliant white. She was a few inches taller than Keel, but much more lithe than the dog boy.

Excited, she immediately bounded over to Dante. "Mister Dante! How do I look?"

"Ah, yeah…" Dante turned to the side. "You look nice…"

Smiling, Rifana grabbed his hand and placed it on her head. Dante jolted at the notion.

"Don't I look cute~?" She asked, mimicking Sadeena.

"…Yes." Dante could barely contain himself.

"Is that all you have to say?" Rifana tilted her head side to side playfully, causing Dante's hand to rub against her head.

"Rifana…If you move like that…" Dante barely got out.

"It's okay." She said, still smiling up at him. "I don't mine. Please."

She held her arms out to him, waiting. With that, the last remnants of his restraint shattered.

"Ah!" He yelled out, swiftly scooping her up and spinning her around. "You look so cute!"

Rifana laughed as her hero continued to hold her.

~The present~

Dante was handling himself much better now.

As they got up, Sadeena held Dante's head in her hands. She looked over his face, turning it from side to side.

"Your eyes look normal now." She said, letting him go.

"Seriously?" Dante felt around his eyes, trying to find a difference.

"Yeah." Sadeena transformed back to her demi-human form. "I really don't understand your condition."

"You're telling me."

Yesterday morning, they had found that Dante's eyes were in much better condition than they had been. Really, closer to how they were before they rescued Raphtalia and Rifana. They had a few ideas as to what it was.

The day before, Rifana had slept with Dante and Sadeena like she had been before, except she stayed in her therianthrope form. That's when his eyes improved. With Sadeena transformed too and his eyes even better, there was no denying the treatment. Sleeping next to therianthropes helped.

It was strange, but no weirder than some of Dante's other conditions. After all, having his shoulder stump touched didn't get a reaction out of him unless Sadeena did it. Even then, it was when they were being at least somewhat intimate. That one was getting a bit better, thanks to Sadeena, though it still got a reaction out of him.

This is a strange condition. Was the only symptom really bags under my eyes? No wonder Reichnott's doctor didn't notice it before. Hell, neither did Simmond or Agatha, or the apothecary in Ronota. If I could, I'd ask them what the hell this is. Then again, it might just be some psychological thing. It's not like this world doesn't have those kinds of ailments.

There was only one more day until the wave. Dante was confident they would be ready for whatever happened. To that end, they had returned to Reichnott's territory.

With all the materials they had, they wanted to see what could be done to improve their equipment. Unfortunately, they didn't have access to Erhard's talent, so they had to settle for the next best thing.

"Sorry, I don't think I can make anything better, at least not with the time I have."

When they returned to Reichnott's yesterday, they found Rokkar there with his son. The blacksmith had been allowed to stay, provided he stayed on his best behavior. Fiadia had made sure that was clear to him. So far, that seemed to be the case.

Rokkar wasn't a bad blacksmith. Dante viewed some of his work. They ranged from average to good. But, it was clear that Erhard was much better. The man did create Dante's armor in a short amount of time, something Rokkar said would take him at least three times as long, if he could make it at all.

On the plus side, there was someone else there who could help them. A certain tanner woman who knew a thing or two about magic clothing. It turned out that she joined Rokkar in his travels to Reichnott's. As with Rokkar, she behaved herself well.

"If you overlay parts that are enchanted, they'll join with the clothes when they transform."

She was quite helpful in adjusting Raphtalia's clothing. Of course, she could only provide the instructions. By her own admission, she had little talent with such a thing, but had a few former associates who came across that issue. Luckily, Dante had another source of help.

A few shields Dante revealed, including an Alchemist's Shield from Rolf's reagents, gave Dante recipes and insight into alchemy. In addition, he had numerous job levels in dozens of skills. After all, he did have a lot of human and demi-human parts he could use from his monster drops. It wasn't as if the job level power up couldn't be used across multiple jobs in day. The only limit was one level in each job per day. They were the tiniest of tiny bonuses, but they added up.

The skill bonuses didn't exactly provide knowledge to him, but he did have some intuition on what to do when he set about doing something. It was a little funny. With all the cooking skill bonuses, he was confident he'd be able to wield knife better in combat, if he was allowed to.

He'd gotten to working on Raphtalia's clothes with Kaethe, the tanner, trying to enhance them along with the modifications to transforming. Dante would do the enchanting while Kaethe attached the pieces.

"How does it look?" Raphtalia asked.

"I don't exactly know what I'm doing, but I'd say good." Dante almost felt like he was acting with muscle memory.

They opted for leather strips that basically acted as a second skirt. For the chest, a bit of light metal that Rokkar shaped into something like a breastplate. Dante also worked the clothing directly, trying to change the shape of the transformation.

The light metal, of course, was mined from Lute. They went there as sort of a final test for Raphtalia, Rifana, and Keel. Dante had gone in the cave with them to make sure they could handle fighting the wave monsters, and that their trauma could be overcome. When the two-headed dog appeared, they were a bit worried, but they fought all the same. In the end, the monster posed no threat to them. He was quite proud of them.

When he was done adjusting her clothes, Dante had Raphtalia change into her therianthrope form with them on. Of course, they did so in private. The clothes seemed to hold well. The leather strips combined with her skirt, somewhat reminding Dante of Roman armor, albeit a little short. Her shirt moved about a little, exposing her stomach but still covering her chest. The light metal breastplate provided protection over the top of her chest, like it should.

"What do you think?" Dante asked.

"I-It looks good." Raphtalia said. Dante couldn't see it under her fur, but he was confident she was blushing.

"We can get you some proper armor for you once we get where we're going." He told her. This was a patch job at best. It wasn't as if she would be using her therianthrope form a lot anyway. Both she and Rifana preferred their demi-human forms in combat for now. Keel had a strong but light breastplate from Dante's item drops. Rokkar resized it for him. Rifana continued to wear the armor piece from the mercenary. Anything much heavier would actually lower her magic stat.

They mostly spent the rest of the day relaxing. They'd been on the road, hunting monsters and fighting often. With all the work they did, now was a good time for a break.

The same wasn't true for Dante, however. With so many shields revealed and unlocked, he had a lot to go over, and a lot to plan for. One of the biggest things was how to keep improving his party's strength.

He did unlock a shield that allowed him to craft some accessories, but it wasn't at all like his Brewing Shield. No matter what he tried, the quality wouldn't be any better than slightly poor. When he tried to enchant them, they would break half of the time. The other half resulted in a very poor accessory and an enchantment that did almost nothing.

Not all was lost, though. The Alchemist's Shield, Brewing Shield, and another shield he unlocked revealed a Potion Maker's Shield. Like the Brewing Shield, he could use the Potion Maker's Shield to craft potions he had recipes for, make adjustments to those recipes, and they could be made better than average. He'd already done so a few days prior.

While traveling and selling medicine, they found a village that happened to be home to a sick old woman. Her son had actually approached them and asked for the best medicine they had. One thing led to another, and Dante discovered the old woman was the master of Hengen Muso.

It was a lucky find—one that Dante was confident would be repaid negatively later—and Dante did all he could to help. He offered to administer the medicine himself and to do so at no cost. The son was skeptical, but Dante revealed what he knew about her.

"This woman is one of the greatest fighters in the world. I won't allow her to die yet."

To further earn his trust, Dante admitted to being the Shield Hero. Additionally, he would take any potion he gave to the man's mother. Seeing Dante's commitment, the son allowed his help.

It seemed he was looking for Yggdrasil Elixir to give to his mother. While Dante didn't have a recipe for that, he had a number of others, plus the bonuses his shield provided. After a number of attempts, they were able to find something that worked a little. The old woman, Elrasla Ragnarok, was able to stand from her bed with the help of her son.

The party spent a few hours there for Dante to make more medicine and potions for her before leaving. He only asked that she consider teaching him and his party her martial art in the future.

Near Reichnott's, Dante continued to make potions with his shield. Restoring HP, MP, SP, stamina, or giving a temporary boost to stats, Dante crafted them all. He continued to do so until night fell.

Like usual, he cooked dinner for his party. Reichnott had offered to let them stay the night, but they declined. His hospitality was appreciated, but both he and Dante knew that the Shield Hero being there too much was a risk.

Dante did most of the cooking for supper and they all dug in. With the bonuses from his shield, he had long surpassed restaurant food. It did seem like the skill bonuses were part intuition, part automatic enhancement.

As they ate, Dante shifted to his Humming Shield. He had things to say to the group.

"I want to talk to you all about what I know." He began, gaining their attention. "That is, why I know so much about your world."

They all gave him their full attention.

"I've already told Sadeena this, but I wasn't sure when I should tell the rest of you. There are things I can't really explain now, and some of the reasons need to stay hidden too, but I'll say what I can."

He had a lot of time to consider his words. He learned from telling Sadeena and verified what should and shouldn't be said.

"The other three heroes know of this world from games. They are like stories they can add a character to and interact in the story with. My knowledge comes from stories as well, but more what you would be used to. If I were to describe them, it would be two normal book series, one picture book series, and something like a play on a recording crystal."

They all seemed to understand what he meant, so he continued.

"However, a number of things from those stories haven't been what I found to be true here. I found Sadeena when she shouldn't have been around until weeks later. The first princess who framed me seemed more cunning. Eclair wasn't imprisoned in the castle dungeons. Idol Rabier was crueler than I imagined. Raphtalia…would have been broken and sold off to Beloukas. Rifana…would have been dead before we could have rescued her."

It wasn't exactly easy to explain this, but he kept going.

"Other things are a bit different too. Rolf was never mentioned in any source. Neither were the mercenaries in Ronota. Going forward, I don't know what else could be different. The waves may be easier, or they may be harder. The people who are against the Shield Hero in this country may use unknown tactics. The possibilities are limitless. I don't know what the future holds. I want you all to understand that."

He let his words sink in. He wasn't sure how they would react to all this information—

"But…that doesn't really change anything." Keel spoke up. The others nodded their heads.

"It doesn't?" Dante asked the group.

"Not really." Keel continued. "I mean, you told us you knew these things before, so it's not that weird." He scratched his chin with his paw. "Wait…was I a girl in those books?"

Dante stared at Keel for a moment. Then, he laughed. "Of all the things you could have asked, the revelations you may have had, it came back to something from the first day we met?"

Keel continued to look at him.

"…Yes, you were a girl."

From there on, the conversations weren't too heavy. They mostly revolved around what happened in the future, and in broad strokes. Dante told them as much as he could, and from what he could remember. The plots of Malty, the king, and the church. The vassal weapon invaders. The emergence of the guardian beasts. The fall and rise of the other heroes.

Of course, anything involving Q'ten Lo was omitted. Sadeena didn't want to take a chance of Raphtalia acting differently, and Dante agreed. When the time was right, they would tell her everything they knew about it.

~The Wrong Hero~

The night passed, as did the morning. The wave would appear soon. As a precaution, they got ready at Reichnott's estate. If the carriages hooked up to Dio didn't come with them, they would be kept safe there.

00:05

With the last few minutes before the wave, they checked their equipment and went over the plan. Potions and salves were tucked away. They were as ready as they were going to be. Dante cast All Faust Guard VI on everyone.

00:00

The sound of shattering glass echoed around them. In an instant, they were brought to the location of the wave. The sky was dyed red and filled with cracks.

When they looked around, they saw Lute village in the distance. They also saw the other heroes and their parties running in the opposite direction. A flare shot up from one of them.

"You all know what to do!" Dante called out.

"Right!"

Sadeena and Raphtalia were atop JoJo and they headed in the same direction as the heroes. The rest were in the carriages being pulled by Dio.

They arrived at the village before the monsters. The villagers were desperately trying to evacuate. Everyone in the party knew their role. Dante and Eclair—being called Berry to not alert anyone—would go around and kill every monster they came across. Keel, Rifana, and Dio would take all the villagers they could find and bring them to the mines. That was another little bonus to coming here earlier.

"Hate Reaction IV!" He pulled the attention of every monster in sight, and many that weren't. Eclair got to work cutting down every single one of them. She'd gotten more used to fighting with the gauntlet. Not only that, but one of Dante's potions helped give her a little more use of her hands. It wasn't enough to wield a sword, but it was a start.

The monsters in the area were dead long before his skill wore off. They moved on to the next area. Here and there, they found people under attack by monsters or pinned by broken houses. They dealt with each problem as it arose quickly. Before long, Dio made it back to them, carrying Keel and Rifana. They had found a few adventurers and knights present in the village and Keel had them guard the cave.

"Good work everyone." Dante told them as they continued moving throughout the village.

"Yeah…" Keel looked around.

"Something wrong?" Dante asked.

"It's just…not as scary as I thought. And not as hard."

"It's because you worked hard." Eclair told him. "You trained, you grew stronger, and you mentally prepared yourself."

"She's right." Dante agreed. "With everything you all have been through, this is nothing."

"Still…" Eclair looked in the general direction the others went off to.

"They'll be fine." Dante told her. "If she doesn't think they can handle it, Sadeena will have them all pull back.

For people in their position, the waves weren't that dangerous. At least, no more so than everything else. This wave demonstrated that. If they got careless, they could get swarmed, but even that wasn't an issue when they had a sturdy hero to take all the attacks for a time. If Dante had to liken this to something, it was completing a bunch of side quests before working on the main story. Not a good mentality to have, but not entirely inaccurate either.

Bright lights from above caught their attention.

Ah, here we go.

Dante shifted his shield to the Spellcobalt Shield and held it up.

"Tower Shield III!" He called out his skill and the others gathered close. Dio transformed to get smaller, not that it was entirely needed. The shield spread out quite long, easily covering everyone. Fire rained down on them and the scattering of nearby monsters, as well as the houses.

When it stopped, they looked around. What had been minor damage to the village became a disaster in this section.

"What are you doing?!" Eclair yelled at the approaching knights.

The knight commander clicked his tongue as he drew near. "I see that the Shield Hero bothered to show up."

"What a warm reception I'm being given." Dante said, looking over the knights. He dismissed his skill, shrinking his shield.

"Dante…" Keel shook his head.

"What…oh." He just realized that he made a pun. "Anyway, the hell are you idiots thinking?"

"You…" The commander grit his teeth but regained his composure. "We are here to fight off the monsters of the wave. What is the criminal Shield Hero doing here?"

"Rescuing people." Dante answered plainly. "And fighting monsters, and we didn't need to burn down part of the village to do either one."

"I'll not be questioned by a rapist!" The knight commander bellowed.

"Sure." Dante continued to smile at the man, angering him further.

"Sir MacRory." Eclair placed her free hand on his shoulder and leaned in.

She's gotten much better over these past couple weeks. Even shaking my hand was a huge strain for her before.

"I recognize some of the people in his company." She whispered.

"You saying what I think you are?" He whispered back to her. She nodded in response. Sure enough, Keel was gripping his axes tightly in his paws. Rifana likewise held her rod in her hands, waiting for a reason to rush forwards.

"Well then," Dante addressed the knights, "why don't you knights go off to aid the other heroes? No need to stand around here with a criminal and demi-humans, right?"

It wouldn't do to attack them here. There might still be villagers around, and he didn't want to deal with the fallout from that. Plus, it probably wasn't all of the knights here who were assholes. Dante seemed to recall that some may have been the ones to aid Naofumi later.

"I don't take orders from you, scum!" The commander, however, saw things differently.

"A suggestion, really." Dante tried again. "Surely there's more glory to be had with the other heroes."

"I don't fight for glory, I fight for Melromarc!" He announced.

Yeah, that's why you're burning houses down.

Movement caught Dante's attention. His eyes widened for a moment before a small smirk formed on his face. "Wow, is this a scripted event or something?"

"A what?" Eclair asked. She had moved her hand from Dante's shoulder to Dio's, who looked ready to transform and pounce at a moment's notice. Like Dante realized at his trial, knowing something was going to happen didn't really change how you felt about it.

"It's a game term." Dante explained. "Basically, no matter what actions you take, the event will take place. Usually in the same way every time, but the ending might be different."

"What are you babbling about?" The commander asked.

"Oh, nothing." Dante said, beaming. He tilted his head to the side. "Come on…a little to the left…"

"What are…" The commander began to say, before spinning around. It seemed he finally heard the lumbering footsteps of the giant zombie behind them. "To arms!"

The zombie brought down its axe on the mages in the back. Two of them fell. Dante might have felt bad, but he saw them readying a spell the moment they approached with their commander. The zombie brought its axe up again and looked to the commander. Dante leaned forward, watching what happened next. The zombie brought down its axe.

It stopped. The commander's sword held back the monster, shaking slightly from the strain.

"Mages!" He called. The remaining mages in the group unleashed their spells on the monster, lighting it aflame and dropping it to the ground.

Dante watched as more monsters came into view and started attacking the knights. "Well, that was disappointing." He said.

"Are you okay with this?" Eclair asked.

"Eh. I was hoping he'd be cut in half, but he might still die." Dante answered.

"No, with the others being attacked."

"Oh." Dante watched as the knights battled the monsters. It wasn't as if they couldn't handle themselves. Well, for the most part. A few of them looked a bit young. "Air Strike Shield V!" He brought up his skill to block another larger zombie's blade from cleaving into one of the young knights.

Dante rushed forward. He ran past the knights to where the zombies were. A few locust monsters began to descend on them as well. He pointed his shield in the direction of the largest amount of monsters. "Release!" A torrent of flames shot from his shield, incinerating the monsters. It was the spell the knights had cast on them previously. His Spellcobalt Shield didn't need to deflect magic right away. It was able to hold it in and shoot it back out, though he could only hold the magic for a couple minutes. There was a limit, and improving the shield did increase it, but it could be filled to the point where magic couldn't be deflected until it was all released. Part of him was hoping the commander would have instigated a fight so Dante could unleash the flames on the man.

"There!" Dante said to the knights. "I've reduced the enemy! Regroup and kill the rest!"

"You dare order my troops!?" The commander bellowed.

"You all are free to stand around and get your heads chopped off." Dante answered. "It makes little difference to me."

He returned to his party, who were more than ready to jump in. Dante shook his head. "Later." He told them.

Despite getting their ranks broken from the zombie before, the knights were able to handle themselves well. Dante made sure to throw out a skill to protect a few of the knights before they could take a hit. He had his party quickly point out which ones were at Lurolona, so he wouldn't accidently protect them. He was glad he did. One of those knights got hit by an attack, but it didn't look fatal.

Once the wave monsters were killed, the commander whirled on Dante. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"What do you mean?" Dante asked innocently.

"You let those monsters sneak up on us!"

"You shot fire at us. Also, you probably could have heard them if the flames weren't roaring." Dante pointed out.

"I should arrest you for this!" The commander pointed his blade at Dante.

Some of the other knights readied their swords and approached as well. Dante's party prepared themselves. "You go ahead and try that." Dante taunted. He wasn't looking for a fight, but he wasn't about to hide from one either. Not that his earlier interaction indicated as much.

Thankfully, they wouldn't get the chance. Dante spotted a green fireball hurdling toward him. He brought up his shield to absorb the blast. A second fireball slammed into the commander, knocking him to the ground and melting part of his armor. He screamed as the molten steel spread over him. Several more fireballs came at them, prompting Dante to cast his Shooting Star Shield V. He cast Air Strike Shield V in front of the knights and mages that stayed back. The fireballs impacted against his barriers with little effect. The same couldn't be said for the knights that stood next to their commander. One by one, they fell to the ground, green flames pouring over them. The remaining knights and mages had gotten in a defensive formation.

Dante turned to face the source of the attack. Approaching from the village outskirts were half a dozen monsters that stood nearly seven feet tall. They had cloven hooves, green flames surrounding their hands, horns sticking out the sides of their heads, and muscular torsos made of pink flesh. Dante instantly recognized them.

"Oh shit." The voice that said that wasn't Dante's. Behind the barons of hell stood the hunchback demon with an orange-haired fox boy sitting on top of it.

"Rolf?" Dante stepped forward, moving around the knights so his barrier didn't push them back. "The fuck are you doing here?"

"Uh…" The boy seemed to shrink back on his mount.

It was clear to Dante that Rolf hadn't expected to see him there. Dante gave a short laugh before he turned to the remaining knights. "You all should get out of here." He told them.

"We can't leave our commander." One knight said, never removing his eyes from Rolf. This knight had a horizontal scar across his nose. He almost seemed familiar.

"He'll be dead soon anyway." Dante said. He looked over at the commander, who had already stopped moving. The man didn't even appear to be breathing. He did suffer a few more fireballs, after all. "Do you really want to risk the lives of your fellow knights for the man who was about to attack a hero?"

The knight turned his gaze to Dante, then to his fellows. After thinking for a moment, he nodded to the Shield Hero. "We're moving out!" He called, signaling for the remaining knights and mages to follow him. The others seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before complying. Before long, it was just the Shield Hero's party, and Rolf and his monsters.

"How ya been?" Dante asked, completely ignoring the tone of their surroundings.

Rolf stuttered. "I…good…" Rolf said, his eyes darting between everyone.

"You want to fight?" He asked the boy.

"No…?" Rolf looked around, as if Dante was asking that question to someone else.

"Good. Me neither." Dante gripped the horn on his helmet and slowly lifted it off. "You like the armor?"

Rolf shifted on his demon a bit. "Seems a bit…extra."

"Right?" Dante laughed. "The aesthetics of this world are strange."

"Sir MacRory?" Eclair stepped in, sword still at the ready in her locked gauntlet. "What are you doing?"

"Talking." Dante said. He gave the helmet to Dio, who held it in her hands.

"Shouldn't we be trying to capture him?"

"We could, but I'm in a good mood." Dante said. He looked over to the other three with him. "You all did finish evacuating people, right?"

"Yes, Mister Dante." Rifana answered, still keeping an eye on Rolf and his monsters.

"Good." Dante gestured to the fox boy. "Tell me, what is it that Pahadron wants you to do?"

"Huh?" Rolf shifted on his mount again.

"The god that reincarnated you. What does he—or she—want you to do?" Dante had thought about what he'd do if he saw Rolf again. He wasn't expecting it to happen this soon, but he still had a few ideas he could put into place, and get some information.

Rolf tilted his head to the side. "Pahadron didn't really tell me to do anything."

"Hm…Then, what can you tell me about him?"

"Nothing." Dante gave him a hard look. "Really! He gave me that power and said I could do whatever I wanted. Nothing else, I swear."

Dante looked over to Dio, who nodded. "He's telling the truth."

"Alright then." Dante walked closer to the fallen knights, signaling for his party to come with him. He even waved Rolf closer, who did so slowly with his minions. "Just to verify, of these five knights, which ones were at Lurolona?"

The three witnesses hesitantly looked over the bodies as Dio stood close to her father. Rolf stopped about a dozen feet away.

"These three." Eclair said after confirming with the other two.

"Were there any that left in that group?" Dante asked.

"Yeah, one." Keel said. "She was the one closer to the back."

"Hm." Dante turned to Rolf again. "I think you can have these five bodies, plus the two mages."

"Sir MacRory!" Eclair yelled. "Did you forget what this boy has done?!"

"No, but like I said, I'm in a good mood." Dante said.

"But we can't just allow him to do as he pleases! He already has six more monsters under his control. You know what that means, right?"

"That he killed up to six people, yeah." Dante looked at the fox boy. "Be honest. How many people did you kill?"

Rolf shook his head slowly. "No one."

"Hm." Dante watched Rolf's movements. He turned to Dio, who nodded again.

"He's not lying." She said.

"Really?" Dante faced Rolf as the boy nodded. "Damn. I'm impressed. You show restraint against killing people?"

"Is this really what we should be doing right now?" Eclair asked.

"The villagers are safe. We did our job. Right now, we need something done, and we have someone with the skillset to do something about it." Dante dismissed his Shooting Star Shield and stepped closer to Rolf. "And, the one with that skillset just killed a few more people I needed." Dante stood before the fox boy, his minions ready to attack should he give the signal. "How are you going to make this up to me?"

Rolf sat there, trying to make his body as small as possible on the demon. "W-What do you want?"

Dante smiled. "Let's make a deal."

~The Wrong Hero~

The cracks in the sky disappeared as it returned to its normal blue color. The wave was over. Of course, the large XP notification and level up were good indicators of that.

It seems Sadeena and them landed the killing blow on the boss. It's weird, I'm far enough away from the heroes to not lose out on XP, but close enough that I gain the party XP. I'm sure there's a documented distance for all these things, but so long as it works, I don't really care.

They brought back the villagers from the cave. The village chief went around to find who was left. When he came to Dante's group, he was ecstatic.

"Everyone's here!" He rejoiced. "Thank you, Shield Hero!"

"You're welcome." Dante said, waving his party members forward. The lord took his time thanking them all.

JoJo came back carrying Sadeena and Raphtalia.

"How did it go?" Dante asked as they dismounted.

"I think I've been spoiled." Raphtalia said.

"Oh?"

"You being in combat to draw the enemies' attention really helps."

Dante smirked before he turned to Sadeena. "I think she's flirting with me."

"Oh, shut up." Raphtalia gave him a light push, a smile on her face.

"No issues then?" Dante wanted to make sure.

Sadeena hummed as she handed Dante a small sack. "The other heroes were…well, about how you said~."

"Thanks. Yeah, I figured as much." Dante nodded. He may not have had any interaction with them after the trial, but it was still possible they would be different. It was wishful thinking at best.

"The Spear Hero wanted Sadeena and I to stay back while he fought." Raphtalia crossed her arms.

"And the Sword Hero wanted us to stay out of his way." Sadeena added.

"Heh, yeah." Dante set the sack on the ground and looked inside. Parts from the chimera were inside, already butchered for him. He held his shield to them, absorbing the parts and revealing a number of shields. The prize shield was the Chimera Viper Shield.

Odd. I can't change to this shield unless I unlock a few of the other Chimera shields first. The third and fourth Slave User and Monster User shields were the same, and the Potion Maker's Shield and Reinforced Iron Shield were kind of similar. Most shields don't have a requirement like that. Maybe it's an advancement thing?

It was a good shield, but not outright the best one available to him at the moment, even ignoring the upgraded ones. That might change when he improved it. He found that the shields don't all upgrade the same amount.

"Aside from the other heroes, I'm guessing things went well. Your HP didn't go down by much." Dante stood back up.

"We didn't even transform." Sadeena stated.

"Really?" Dante could see the proud faces on both Raphtalia and JoJo. If Dante understood her meaning, JoJo fought in his less powerful child form. "What can I say? Great job you three. You've trained hard."

"That's not the only reason." Sadeena approached and wrapped her arms around him. "You've played quite the role yourself."

"Sure, but I wasn't going to mention it." Dante smiled at her.

"Because you knew I would~?" Sadeena leaned into him.

"What I knew was irrelevant." Dante took a quick kiss from her.

"Do you two really need to flirt right now?" Raphtalia covered her eyes with a hand. She didn't even look embarrassed. More like she was done with them.

Dante just smirked at her. "Well, after a hard battle, there is something that people tend to do, and it's a bit more than flirting."

"Dante…" Raphtalia just shook her head as she walked toward the others with JoJo.

"Oh my~." Sadeena laughed. "So, is it finally time? Will we be having a bit of fun at the castle tonight?"

"Yeah, that's still not…the castle?" Dante nearly missed what she said.

Sadeena nodded and continued. "One of the knights said there would be a banquet for the heroes and their parties. Rewards would be given out in the morning."

"Hm." He figured someone would have to tell everyone that. The commander was dead and gone, so he couldn't. There were a number of ways this could go, and a number of things that could be shown to everyone by going. "You think we should?" He asked.

"I think we can manage." Sadeena said, breaking from Dante after giving him another peck. "It can't be more difficult than the wave."

"I suppose you're right." They had discussed some of what Dante remembered from the books and show. Combined with Eclair's knowledge of Melromarc politics, it would probably be better to go. The king might try to spin Dante not showing up as a slight of some sort, and he didn't want to give the man any reason to be in the right. Besides, they still needed to figure out how involved he was in the whole 'threatening shopkeepers' thing. They might get a hint about that.

Plus, the king needs to act like an asshole if he's going to get removed from power later on. They had one battle down, and one to go.

~The Wrong Hero~

After a short trip back to the capital, they arrived at Melromarc castle. Eclair opted to stay away for the evening, concerned that someone might recognize her. Dante agreed. She went to the demi-human inn for the evening.

"Will you be alright?" Dante had asked.

"I'll be fine. I can set the gauntlet on my own now, and use a dagger if necessary." She'd told him.

Aside from not wanting to be recognized, she wanted time to think over Dante's latest actions. Strictly speaking, letting Rolf go like that wasn't the worst decision he made. Besides, what had Rolf done that Dante hadn't? He killed a few people who probably deserved it and defiled some bodies. The mines Rolf took over were already abandoned, considering the dead wave monsters that were found there. He tried to kill some people that weren't supposed to be there, and then fled to avoid being enslaved. Nothing Rolf did were things Dante hadn't or wouldn't do.

Raphtalia decided to go with Eclair. Sadeena was a little worried about Raphtalia going off, but she accepted it. With her illusions, they'd be able to avoid any problems that sprung up.

Now, it was time to enjoy the party.

"Well done, heroes!" The king announced, holding a goblet in his hand. He stood on slightly raised section of the hall, his long table in front of him. "The damage from this wave was far less than the last!"

The people cheered as the banquet began. Musicians played as nobles surrounded the heroes to congratulate them on their victory. Most of the heroes, anyway.

Dante and the rest of his party stuck together near the side of the room. They shared a couple plates between them, but none were particularly enthused about it. Even Dante had noted the difference between what he was making and what was here. Dio and JoJo, on the other hand, kept returning to the food tables to pile more onto their plates.

"This is pretty boring." Dante complained as he surveyed the room. Most of the nobles that weren't talking to one of the other heroes were whispering to each other. If Dante had to guess, it was probably about him. A few of them definitely were, since they were snickering and slyly pointing at him.

"The food is pretty bad too." Keel said, biting into something that resembled beef.

"I think we just eat Mister Dante's cooking too much." Rifana said. She had put her fork down a while ago.

"We just need to put up with this, get our reward, and be gone." Dante said. He told them what he expected would happen here, and to not worry about it. It was just a matter of time.

Of course, Dante had thought about what would actually happen here. It all really depended on Malty's relationship to the church, and how vicious she actually was. Even if she knew they are her enemy, she might still instigate a fight. Looking like a potential pawn was much better than looking like an enemy. It wasn't like she had much to lose by harming Dante, at least from her perspective. Sure, the queen coming back would be bad for her, but if she could pull off whatever she was planning, it wouldn't matter.

Soon enough, a hero did approach the group. But, it wasn't who Dante imagined.

"Dante." Ren said as she stood before the shielder. He looked at Dante's missing arm, but didn't comment about it.

"Ren." Dante greeted in kind. Ren didn't have any of his party members with him, though Dante thought he saw one or two around.

"I see that really is your party member there." He said, gesturing to Sadeena.

"That's me~." Sadeena gave him a wink as she bit into another piece of food.

"She seemed to handle herself well when fighting the boss monster." Ren said neutrally.

"Really?" Dante asked. "I heard they were in your way."

Ren stiffened a bit at that. "I was mistaken. Even if she didn't use any skills, it was almost like fighting next to another hero." He admitted.

Dante was surprised to hear that. He didn't think Ren—or any of the other heroes—would admit to something like that.

"What about the others?" Dante asked him.

"The raccoon woman didn't seem as strong, but she was pretty fast. As for the…whatever he was, he was a lot stronger than he looked." Ren said.

"Huh." This was not at all what he thought Ren would be like. "Well, I'll be sure to tell Raphtalia and JoJo that. They were all pretty proud that they didn't need to transform."

"Transform?" Ren asked, looking to Sadeena.

"Yeah. Some demi-humans can do that. JoJo, and Dio, are actually filolials. They just gained a child form they can change into."

"I see." Ren held his hand to his chin. He seemed to be thinking things over when—

"You!" A voice yelled out.

Dante looked over and saw Motoyasu and Itsuki walking over. Itsuki was the one who spoke, pointing a finger at Dante.

Dante raised an eyebrow. "Can I help—"

"You're using slaves!" Itsuki declared, gaining much of the attention of the partygoers.

Dante just stared at him, blinking. Huh. Is Itsuki going to be the one to challenge me? I see Motoyasu here too, but he doesn't look enraged. More like…disappointed?

"What are you on about?" Dante asked.

"Don't play dumb." Itsuki looked over at Sadeena, quickly sweeping his gaze to Rifana and Keel. "All your companions are slaves!"

Dante slowly nodded. "I mean, technically speaking—"

"Don't even try to get out of it. I know it's true!" Itsuki yelled.

"What of it?" Dante asked.

"You admit it?!"

"Sure." Dante said simply. "But it's completely legal here, so what's the problem?"

"How can you be so heartless?" Itsuki crossed his arms. "You're a hero! You shouldn't have slaves."

"Is that it?" Dante asked. Itsuki stood there, mouth trying to form words. Dante continued on before he could. "If you have a problem with slavery, take it up with the ruler. Complaining to me won't solve anything."

He doubted anything would come of that. Itsuki would probably be fed some reason that justified it, though Dante didn't know what. It's not like Itsuki really did anything about demi-human slavery in the country, at least what Dante recalled from the books. Here, though, he may actually do something, so Dante probably shouldn't instigate too much.

Motoyasu, on the other hand, would just be told by Malty that there was nothing that could be done. He'd believe that in a heartbeat.

Speaking of, where is Malty?

Dante quickly glanced around and saw her standing next to Aultcray. She had on some fancy looking armor, leaving her upper chest exposed. It looked like she just finished saying something to him.

I can already see how this is going to end. Luckily, I planned for it.

"What about you?" Dante looked to Motoyasu before Itsuki could gather his wits.

Motoyasu looked more upset now, but still not as angry as he thought. "You have to know that slavery is wrong, even if it's legal." He said. "There are other ways to have companions than to use slaves. Maybe the adventurer's guild, or using monsters."

Dante watched Motoyasu give an actual good alternative. Am I in the Twilight Zone or something?

Of course, Dante had already dismissed any demi-human adventurers that approached him. A few had offered to help when they saw him in town when it was just him, Sadeena, and Keel. A few more came after the filolials hatched, and more again when they returned with Rifana and Raphtalia. After that, with an already good sized party, no one else approached.

"That's fair." Dante conceded. "A few of my companions are actually monsters, not demi-humans."

"Liar!" Itsuki yelled.

"Really? Which ones?" Motoyasu turned his gaze to the party members behind Dante. He must not have seen JoJo transform after the battle. Motoyasu did look a little too lecherously at Sadeena, something that irked Dante, but he held it back.

"As a matter of fact—"

"You actually believe him?!" Itsuki yelled at Motoyasu before quickly turning back to Dante. "It doesn't matter. Even if some are, he's still using slaves. That can't be allowed." Itsuki pointed at Dante again, striking as confident a pose as he could. "Duel me!"

"Huh?" It's not that Dante didn't expect to be challenged. It was just done in a very strange way.

"Duel me. If I win, you set free all of your slaves."

"I see." Dante nodded along. "And, if I win…"

"You can keep things how they are." He said so confidently, Dante wanted to groan.

"Why would I agree to that?" He asked. "I stand to gain nothing, and what I'm doing is perfectly legal. Besides, it's more for their protection than anything."

"Unbelievable." Itsuki shook his head, clearly disgusted.

"Dude…" Motoyasu was in agreement.

"It's true." Dante said. "Demi-humans are highly discriminated against in this country. Outside of adventurers, demi-humans have hard lives. Slaves, however, are more protected. Hurting someone's slave is damaging property, and they care more about that than them as people."

That was something he'd asked about before. Beloukas was very forthcoming in that regard. While murdering a free demi-human was punishable, if the right guards responded to the situation, it could be overlooked. Even if it wasn't, it usually wasn't as bad as killing a slave.

"I don't believe you at all!" Itsuki declared. Dante recalled him being more stubborn than Motoyasu in the books.

"I don't care." Dante said plainly. He turned to the other hero confronting him. "What about you?"

"I mean…" Motoyasu began, actually seeming to give it some thought. Whatever he was going to say, Dante wouldn't know.

"I've heard enough." Aultcray called out. "For a hero to use slaves is unthinkable."

A number of knights had already begun to approach them. Aultcray stayed at his table, Malty still standing next to him.

"I didn't realize you felt so strongly about slavery." Dante said to him from across the hall. "Surely, you could outlaw it, no?"

"That is not the matter at hand." Aultcray swept his hand to the side. "I will not permit a hero to use slaves so freely."

"Right…a hero…" Dante shook his head. Legalities about demi-humans wasn't the only thing he got out of Beloukas. He assumed as much, but the royal family did indeed use a large number of slaves. Even if he couldn't wield his staff right now, Aultcray was still a hero and a member of that family. There didn't seem to be any slaves working in the castle itself, but it wasn't as if this was the only place under their direct control.

"You will accept Sir Itsuki's duel. If you refuse, your slaves will be taken from you by force!" The knights got close to the demi-humans, but Sadeena had already taken her harpoon from her back and loosely pointed it at the knights. Rifana had her rod out, as well as Keel with his axes. None seemed to want to approach them.

"There is a third option." Dante said loudly, making sure all eyes were on him. "Let's simply dissolve the slave seals on them right now."

The great hall was silent. None of the knights moved. Even the nobles quieted their whispering. Well, it was mostly silent. Dio and JoJo were filling their faces at the food table, watching everything play out. Dante had told them not to worry about what was going to happen unless he called for them.

"W-What?" Itsuki was the first to break the general silence.

"Did I stutter?" Dante asked. "We can remove the slave seals right now. Of course, since you care so much, you'll pay the bill for it."

"Are you serious?" Motoyasu asked in disbelief.

"I meant what I said." Dante told him. "The slave seal is to keep assholes from coming after them." He gave the king a subtle look before turning back to Motoyasu. "We can always go back to a slave trader afterwards to get them reapplied. I mean, the only issue is that you think they're being forced, right?"

"I suppose…" Motoyasu said slowly.

Wow. This is too strange. I can't believe this is how it's playing out. We planned out how this would go, but this is far removed from what I thought.

The king did not look happy, but he held back whatever it was he really wanted to say. "Very well." He said. "In that case, your slaves will be taken to the church to have their slave seals removed."

"No."

Aultcray's eye twitched at Dante's word. "What did you say?"

"No." Dante repeated himself, standing firm. "You aren't taking them anywhere. The slave seals can be removed here."

"You do not give me orders, criminal!" Aultcray bellowed.

"I don't care. You aren't taking them." Dante responded. He knew that, if they were taken to the church, there would be problems. Whether or not they could be handled was something he didn't want to test at the moment. Here, however, he was confident.

"Guards!" Aultcray yelled, a vein visible on his head, even from where Dante stood. "Apprehend the Shield Hero's slaves."

"Sadeena, if any of these knights so much as touches any of you, kill them."

That was enough to keep the knights present from moving forward. Sadeena kept her harpoon aimed at the closest knight, a smile on her face.

"You dare threaten my knights!?" Aultcray roared. "I'll have you in chains for this!"

"I'm not threatening your knights, I'm protecting my party members." Dante clarified. He saw Itsuki take a step back and draw his bow, but Motoyasu just stood there.

If anyone was a real threat here, it would be the other heroes, but that would be it. Dante's appraisal skill had gotten quite high from him increasing it with the job levels power up. He could see the levels of everyone in the room. The knights that approached them were in their mid-40s. A few of them were in their 50s, and only two were above 60. Meanwhile, the three heroes were spread across the 40s. Aultcray wasn't as high a level as Dante thought he'd be, and he was certain old age diminished his stats. His lack of vassal weapon also diminished his potential.

On the other hand, Dante's companions averaged around level 35, but that was entirely misleading. With all the levels they sacrificed, they were closer to around 50. Adding the bonuses his shield provided slaves and monsters, they would be in the mid-60s. Dio, JoJo, and Sadeena, being royal filolials or of superior lineage, as well as benefiting from the Trust power up, were more like mid-to-high-70s.

"Dante, let's do this the easy way. There's no need to make threats." Motoyasu said. He hadn't even aimed his spear to prepare an attack. "If you only have them as slaves for their protection, just remove their slave seals for now."

"That was the plan." Dante said. "However, I don't trust the Three Heroes Church. If you knew anything about this country's religion, you'd understand why."

"This is all just a trick!" Itsuki declared, pulling back his bowstring and forming an arrow. "You just don't want to lose your slaves!"

"Talking to you is pointless." Dante shook his head.

"Hey!" Two voices yelled out. JoJo and Dio ran up to Dante, standing on either side of him.

"You kids, get away from him!" Itsuki warned, lowering his bow. "Wait…" He gave JoJo a closer look.

"Stop being mean to Papa!" Dio cried out.

"Yeah! Dad didn't do anything!" JoJo joined in.

"Dad…" Itsuki looked confused for a moment, before his face turned to near fury. "You brainwashed these kids into thinking you're their father!?"

"Where the hell did you get that idea?" Dante asked. It was far too early for the whole brainwashing thing. He was pretty sure that was only in response to Naofumi improving his image, and Dante didn't really do that at all. At least, not to large groups of people. He didn't spend that much time peddling. "Besides, I basically am their father. I raised them from eggs."

"Liar!" Itsuki wasn't having it at all.

In an instant, a burst of smoke filled the area. Then, two towering royal filolials stood before the Bow Hero. Itsuki stood slack jawed. At least, Dante assumed he did. He was currently sandwiched between the pair.

Dante slid out from between them, careful not to stab them with his armor spikes, not that they would do anything to either of them. "There you have it." Dante said, brushing off a few feathers from himself. "These two are monsters with a human-like form."

"That's…I…" Itsuki was trying to find the right words. It seemed like he couldn't process what he was seeing.

Did no one see JoJo transform?

Dante reached up to pet Dio. She tried to maintain her intimidating presence, but it was hard when she was having her neck scratched. "Look, if it'll speed things along, we can have your little duel."

The tension in the room seemed to deflate a little.

"However, since I'm not an attacker, I need to have someone fight in my place." He gestured to the filolials.

"I will not allow it!" Aultcray called. "This duel will be between the Bow Hero and the Shield Hero."

"You really want to force that?" Dante asked. He briefly looked around the room. "If you try to force a fight right now, well, a lot of people could get hurt. A lot of non-warriors, if you catch my meaning."

Murmurs in the room grew loud as the nobles started to move back.

"You…" Aultcray grit his teeth.

"By the way, Motoyasu." Dante turned to the spear wielder. "That was a threat. A justifiable one, since I'm sure many of these nobles have slaves themselves." Dante snapped his fingers, another idea forming in his head. "Say, how about we have a two-on-two duel? Me and one of my companions versus Itsuki and Motoyasu? That way, I'll still participate and actually stand a chance."

"No way!" Itsuki refused outright. It didn't seem like he would agree to anything Dante said.

"Indeed!" Aultcray agreed. "You will not dictate terms to me, Shield!"

"I see." Dante nodded. "I suppose it's to be expected. After all, why have a fair fight when you can rig everything in your favor. I have one arm and only a shield, why not fight alone too? I just didn't realize the king and Bow Hero were cowards."

"You bastard!" The king slammed his fist into the table. "I'll have your—"

"I accept!" Motoyasu called out. Dante was again surprised. He thought of this plan on the fly, but he was hoping it would work out. Otherwise, they'd have to fight their way out of here.

"Motoyasu!" Itsuki turned to him.

"But!" Motoyasu went on. "I can't fight either of them." He pointed towards JoJo and Dio. "I won't fight kids."

"Hm." Dante nodded. He didn't particularly want Motoyasu to fight his kids either. "Alright. Sadeena?"

"Yes~?" The woman in question stuck her head around JoJo's feathers.

"You can't have her fight!" Itsuki said. "We're fighting to free her!"

"That right?" Dante reached under his armor and pulled out a vial. He handed it to Sadeena, who quickly uncorked it. She poured the contents over her slave seal, making it sizzle and fade. In a matter of seconds, it completely disappeared from her chest.

"Did you…" Motoyasu watched the whole thing. He looked over to Dante and back to Sadeena.

The orca woman gave a quick twirl of her harpoon, her smile never leaving her face. "So, are we going to fight~?"

"Are we, Itsuki?" Dante chimed in.

"Fine!" Itsuki said, agreeing to the battle.

"One last thing." Dante added with a smile. "Since you're having me wager my companions, why don't you wager something too? Say, your reward for fighting the wave?"

"Outrageous!" The king declared. "You think this is some common gambling hall?"

"I'm merely asking the Bow Hero to put his money where his mouth is, if you have that expression here." He turned back to Itsuki. "Or, are you afraid to risk anything yourself? Maybe you truly are a coward."

Itsuki grit his teeth at that. "Fine, I'll accept!"

Dante smirked. He turned once more to the king. With a wave of his hand, the knights around Dante's party backed off. He announced the battle would take place in the gardens.

"As for the Shield Hero's companions, they will be kept under watch." Aultcray declared.

"By the Sword Hero." Dante said, ignoring whatever the king was going to say next. "You mind, Ren?"

The boy in question hadn't said anything during the whole thing. In fact, he had distanced himself a bit from it all. He hadn't drawn his sword, so there was that, at least.

"Sure." He said nonchalantly.

The knights, not having been given orders and not looking to get into a fight, left Dante's companions. With a nod from Dante, they stowed their weapons and went along with Ren. His own party members followed after. The nobles in the hall began moving to the garden as well.

Itsuki went off without another word, following a knight that would lead him to his waiting area. Before Motoyasu could leave as well, Dante had something to say.

"I'm surprised." He told the blond man. "I didn't think you'd be so reasonable."

"Don't think this is something it's not." He replied, a certain edge coming to his voice. "Just because Myne is willing to work past what you did doesn't mean I've forgiven you."

"Really?" That was even more surprising. "What did she say?"

That got him a very hard look from Motoyasu. He held up his hand passively.

Motoyasu shook his head. "The heroes should work together. That's what she said." He turned and left with the knight.

Dante and Sadeena likewise followed a knight to their waiting area.

Huh. This is nuts. What the hell is Malty doing? It looked like she set up the fight to happen, but she asks Motoyasu to be civil? And Itsuki was completely belligerent. What is this?

The words of the knight Dante tortured came back to him. The church wanted Dante to kill Malty.

If she knew about their plan, having Motoyasu act civil makes sense. Then she wouldn't appear as a target for me, or at least as much of one. Maybe it would get me wondering why she framed me. Well, it is, but for different reasons. But, then, why was Itsuki there? He and Motoyasu came together. Did she pass information to Itsuki about me having slaves? Did she plan for me to lose my slaves while looking like she tried to help? But she was talking to her father when those two came over. Who is she acting for? Is the church involved in this?

I have no idea what's going on! God, I hate this 4D chess bullshit!