I am not the shield hero

It was nearing evening the day after meeting Fitoria. With the power up from Fitoria, both Dio and JoJo were able to travel longer and faster, keeping their pace easily. In addition to the medicine book and Zweite fire tome, Dante spent a bit of time going over his newly acquired shields. Fitoria had given him one of her special cowlicks before leaving, revealing and unlocking every filolial shield.

Right now, though, Dante was dealing with something else. He had lost focus while sitting in the front with Rifana. It was easy to relax knowing that the Q'ten Lo shadows were probably trying to figure out where they were, leaving them unobserved by hostiles. His eyes had been watching the scenery and he had simply enjoyed the calm sound of the carriages going across the dirt road. It was at this time that he made his mistake. It wasn't terrible. In fact, it was similar to something he did before, though back then it was intentional. Still, the consequences of his actions made themselves known.

"What's wrong, Mister Dante?" Rifana asked, happily swaying from side to side as she sat on his lap.

"Yes, little Dante, what's the matter~?" Sadeena cooed. She had her arms wrapped around Dante from behind, her head resting on his good shoulder.

"I'm sorry…" He repeated the same words he had been saying for the past few minutes. He had his hand over his face, trying to ignore what just happened.

Maybe he was a little too relaxed while watching everything pass them by. Maybe he forgot the creature sitting on his lap was an intelligent being and not like a pet. Maybe, just maybe, he kissed Rifana on the back of her head near her ear. It was just one. Or two. Or three. It was a small number of kisses before he realized what he was doing. Of course, by then, it was too late. And, of course, Sadeena just happened to be looking over at them from inside the carriage.

"Why are you sorry, little Dante~?" Sadeena asked, rubbing her cheek against his.

"I don't want to talk about it." Dante lamented.

Rifana giggled. "Now I know why you want me to stay in this form."

"Pease stop…" His voice grew quieter.

"Hey, Papa!" Dio came up through the carriage interior to the front. "Raphy says you better take responsibility. What does that mean?"

"Why are all of you like this?"

It was really something. He had sex with Sadeena in Melromarc Castle, and he only got a few words said about it. Give a few kisses to the back of Rifana's head? You'd think the acts were reversed. Well, he did wake up with her pressed against his chest with his arm wrapped tightly around her. If anything, he was asking to get teased.

"JoJo, I think it's about time we set up camp." He told the driving filolial.

"Okay, Dad!" He replied, bringing the carriages near the small river Dante indicated.

Dante supposed that, after a long day of nothing really happening, teasing him was their source of entertainment. They mostly kept the same travel plan as before, trying to reach their destination quickly. Every so often, someone would spot a monster they hadn't fought yet. If it looked weak, whichever filolial not on pulling duty would run out and kill it for shield reveals. If it looked stronger, more appropriate measures were taken.

"Don't think this is over yet, little Dante~." Sadeena released him and stood, stepping off of the carriage.

"Believe me, I know." Dante said, following after her with Rifana. Once they were set for the night, he knew he'd be hearing a lot more.

With the creaking of wood, Dante saw Raphtalia step out of the rear carriage, with Eclair soon after. The giant therianthrope had a massive grin on her face as she loomed over him, arms crossed.

"Why don't you take some time to think up some good ones?" Dante preempted her. "Dio and I have somewhere to be."

It was part of their plan. Dante would need to get to Zeltoble eventually, so why not sooner rather than later? The filolials didn't need to switch out as often, since their stats were greatly enhanced, thanks to Fitoria. Whoever was pulling the carriages for the day would take a rest while the other one would go with Dante. Using Portal Shield, they would teleport to where they last were en route to Zeltoble and travel as quickly as possible until the ability came off cooldown. After that, they'd return to the others.

"I just want to say that you need to be considerate of Rifana." Raphtalia said.

"She seems happy enough." Dante pointed at the weasel girl, who was practically floating in the air.

"But what about later?" Raphtalia continued. "Make sure you don't take too long before doing that with Rifana."

"That, you say?" Dante gave her a look. "Ignoring the relationship requirements of that, doing it comes with its own dangers. It's not something to do lightly."

"What do you mean?"

Dante's look was even more pointed. "What do you mean, what do you mean? If it's timed wrong, she won't be able to fight for quite a while."

"Wha…" Raphtalia looked dumbfounded. "How could that happen?"

"How could…" Dante realized an important detail he was forgetting. "What do you think that is?"

Raphtalia shifted from one foot to the other. "Hugging really tight? While naked?"

Eclair did what he wanted to do and covered her eyes with her hand. Looking over, Dante could see Sadeena holding back a laugh.

"Rifana, do you know what that is?" He asked the woman at the center of it all.

"Hugging while naked?" She tilted her head to the side. "Also, a lot of kissing."

Dante sighed before turning to the final therianthrope.

"I think there's also a weird dance?" Keel added his nugget of information.

Well, I shouldn't be that surprised. They were kids a month ago. It's not like aging automatically gives them knowledge. Still, Rifana knew what a harem was, but doesn't know what sex is? Is that really what she thinks happens?

"Are you talking about mating?" Dio asked, gaining everyone's attention. "That's not it at all. Mating is—"

"Dio!" Dante stopped her before she went too far. A blunt explanation was fine, but it could be done better. He turned to Sadeena. "While we're away, please…educate them about this."

"Hmmm~. I don't know." She held a finger to her chin, grinning all the while. "I think the Shield Hero would be a better match for this topic."

Dante went back to the carriage and pulled out a mug. Switching to his Brewing Shield, he poured one of the concoctions he made. He had plenty of time to practice making them, in addition to his studies. It wasn't as if all the farms around Ronota were barren or burned. Dante was able to gather up a lot of grains before leaving the town.

"I'll need a bit more than this, little Dante." Sadeena said, swirling her mug before gulping done the brew.

"I'll fill up a few, then give you more when we get back." Dante promised. He really didn't want to deal with all that.

"I think I'll go with you this time." Eclair said, jumping into the conversation.

"Really?" Dante turned to her. "Are you sure you can do it?"

"If I can't hold onto you, then I'll fall off and be left behind." Eclair said. "It'll be a good test for me."

"Riding in a carriage for hours on end, only to ride on a filolial after doesn't sound that comfortable." He pointed out. He himself was used to these kinds of long days from his various jobs. She had come a long way from where she started with her trauma, but if she wanted to push herself, Dante supposed that was fine.

"It's no trouble." Eclair said. "But, I suppose if you don't want me to go, I could always stay here. I'm sure there will be some interesting conversations here before your return."

"…Fine." Dante only had himself to blame. Tell someone honor isn't all it's cracked up to be, and they might listen.

With that settled, the others began getting their supper ready. The bioplant was a handy thing to use, but it was better to not use it if possible, at least this version Dante modified. It was good for making quick crops, but it killed the land about 10 feet around it.

"Portal Shield!"

In an instant, Dante, Eclair, and Dio were teleported away. They reappeared where Dio had gotten them last. They hopped onto Dio, Eclair holding onto Dante, and they set off.

"To do such a thing out in the open, you're quite bold." Eclair quipped, obviously still thinking about Dante and Rifana.

"I'd threaten to leave you here, but I'm sure Dio wouldn't let me." Dante retorted.

All in all, they had been making good progress. As things stood, they would reach Zeltoble before Siltvelt. That was partially due to the slight detour to the hourglass country between Melromarc and Siltvelt. Dante didn't have much information about it, either from the books or from his party. Eclair knew it was a human majority kingdom, but it didn't practice the Three Heroes Faith. There were a good amount of demi-humans there, maybe about one-quarter of the population.

They spent a few minutes riding before Eclair spoke again.

"I have a question for you." Eclair said. "It's been on my mind for a couple days, since before we met the Filolial Queen."

"What is it?" Dante asked.

"It's about your past."

"Ah…" Dante figured someone would directly ask sooner or later. If he was honest, he thought it would be Keel. "You can ask, but I might not answer." That little slipup when talking about Aultcray was the most he revealed about his darker past to anyone, except for Sadeena. It basically paved the way for anything less terrible to be talked about. Dante could only hope that's what Eclair was going to ask.

"Have you ever raped anyone?"

Dante jerked his head to the side, glaring at Eclair.

"It's a fair question, is it not?" Eclair asked. She didn't bat an eye at his reaction.

"…Yeah, I suppose it is, given everything else you've seen me do." Killing, defiling dead bodies, slavery, not to mention admitting to torture, drug dealing, and weapon smuggling. Rape seemed to fit right in there. "In answer to your question: no, I've never raped anyone. Not that I haven't been accused of it before."

"You have? Aside from here?"

"Yeah."

There were two other times in his past that he was accused. The first time was in his first year of high school. There was a girl in one of his classes he'd seen. He never spoke to her, or anyone really, but could recognize her in a crowd. One day, midway through the school year, she told her friends that he raped her. Dante didn't hear about it until days later, when the principal brought him to the office, where police were waiting for him. He couldn't recall too much about the incident, only that the girl ended up confessing to lying about a week later. He had Gloria to thank for that. She and Eddy were a year ahead of him and had been dating at the time. Apparently, she was able to dig up some dirt on the girl and blackmailed her into admitting she lied. She even got the girl to announce it to the whole school over the intercom. She ended up moving away soon after.

The second was a few years into his work with Eddy. Some woman accused him and got him arrested. She was the sister of some gang member that wanted Dante out of the away for a while. The cops were in on it, as they had some connections with that gang. Eddy, however, wasn't having it. With a few connections of his own, he found out who the woman was and where she lived. Two weeks later, Dante was released.

"What happened to the woman?" Eclair asked, having listened to his stories.

"She was found dead." Dante told her.

"Your friend Eddy, I take it?"

"Who knows?" Dante shrugged. "When I asked Eddy how she died, he told me mysterious circumstances. He's whimsical like that. Eddy knew a lot of people, at least one of which knew how to make a death look like an accident. Besides me, that is. He also had a connection to the police and used that to throw out the accusation, now that the accuser was gone."

"You've lived quite the sordid life, huh?" Eclair said.

"I have. Done a lot of bad things. However, I do have rules." Dante explained. "One of those rules is not to mess with children. Another is not to take any incredibly stupid jobs or actions, hence no rape."

"I see…"

"There is some morality there." Dante went on, sensing her displeasure. "Rape is self-indulgent torture, causing pain for pleasure. If I need information out of someone, I'll break their fingers until they talk. If I need to make a point, I'll break their kneecaps. On the practical side, it leaves additional opportunities to leave behind evidence. Plus, it's too personal, and too much work. Besides, anyone cowardly enough to request that is cowardly enough to squeal when questioned."

Dante did get a few of those people. It amazed him every time someone asked him for that. There was more than one time he read the news and saw his potential employer arrested, along with whoever they roped into doing the deed.

"Hm. Your reasoning is strange to me, but it's acceptable." Eclair said. "But there are other reasons people do that." Eclair pointed out.

"Are you telling me there are no brothels in this world? I'm certain I've seen one near Beloukas's place."

Eclair shook her head. "There are, just not many to be found in Melromarc. At least, not ones with humans."

Dante didn't need any further explanation on that. He was pretty sure he understood what she implied, given the country in question.

"In any case, the women who framed me are removed from my life, one way or another. This time, however, I don't need someone else to do it for me." With offensive spells he's apparently able to cast, Dante would have no trouble taking out Malty before she goes through with whatever she had planned.

"Right…about that." Eclair hesitantly said. "I know Princess Malty accused you, and that set about your conflict with the king, but I would appreciate it if you postpone any vengeance—"

"Yes, yes, I'll wait for the queen to return to handle it." It wasn't as if killing Malty was an option that was on the table anyway. At least, not without a lot of legwork beforehand. Takt, the King of Faubrey, Aultcray, Mirellia, even the Three Heroes Church would use that against him, no matter what their plans with Malty were. The point was, he could get rid of her himself if he wanted to.

"Thank you." Eclair said, shifting on Dio. "I do have some questions about Princess Malty as well."

"Oh?"

The conversation that followed was about what Dante knew of the first princess, both from his knowledge and his interactions with her. He explained both to Eclair. He stopped around the time of Cal Mira in the books, though he did summarize Malty's actions after the heroes went into hiding, as well as her involvement with Takt. He also added her would-be betrothal to the Pig King.

"That the queen would consider such a thing…" Eclair had to take in all that he said. She did confirm that the King of Faubrey was as bad as Dante remembered. Which, of course, was disgustingly horrible.

"My memory is a bit fuzzy about that." Dante added. "It might have been pressure from Faubrey's king in one source and the queen willingly selling off her murderous daughter in another. She had caused numerous problems over the years, including…the poisoning of her younger brother."

"She…" Eclair shook her head. "I can't believe that."

"I'm having trouble believing that one myself." Dante admitted. "Even if she was around 10 at the time, I can't imagine someone doing that to their family for fun. Reading it in a book is one thing, but when real people are involved…"

Really, setting up or aiding some Siltvelt nobles in the poisoning of her brother would be entirely too risky, and pointless. The prince would have been second in line to the throne, likely third after Melty. This Malty was smarter. Would she really do something that dumb? Then again, this might have been why Mirellia moved her down the line of succession.

After that, they continued to talk as they traveled. All the while, Dante was rethinking what he knew about Malty. While here he had no doubt she framed him to get in good with the church and Motoyasu, that wasn't the case in the books. If he recalled correctly—and that was a big if—she had framed Naofumi for the fun of it, and, of course, getting closer to her true chosen hero. In fact, most of her interactions with Naofumi seemed to be because she liked causing trouble. It wasn't until her sister returned to the capital that she started on with the whole 'Shield Demon' thing.

There was that, plus a few other inconsistencies that even Eclair was able to point out in his analysis of Malty. She seemed less inclined to believe Malty was the way Dante described than how he viewed Aultcray, and he couldn't really blame her. After all, there was only one instance Dante could point to where Malty actually did something wrong here. One thing, however, piqued his interest.

"She visited your territory before?" Dante found that hard to believe.

"Yes, twice with her mother. I believe the first time was about five years ago, and the second was two years ago." Eclair said.

"Five years. That was long before Melty became first in line." Dante stated, and Eclair nodded. "How did she react?

"I didn't show her around myself," Eclair explained, "but my father did. She didn't leave much of an impression on him. She did come to our home with her mother before leaving, so I saw her then."

"Hmmm. So, not completely hate filled like her father, but also not fully in favor of peace building like her mother?" Dante reasoned. "What was your take on her?"

"She seemed uncomfortable being there." Eclair said. "But that wasn't unexpected. I mean…"

"She was a young woman in a territory filled with people that her country feared, vilified, and despised." Dante said. It wasn't that hard to figure out.

"There were also a few therianthropes that lived in Ronota." Eclair pointed out.

That was a more practical reason, though still rooted in prejudice. It was something Beloukas told him about, and he observed it firsthand with everyone's transformations. As a whole, humans were stronger than demi-humans in terms of fighting power. However, therianthropes outclassed humans by a wider margin. A level one therianthrope wasn't going to be knocking around level 30 knights, but less leveling was required to get on the same level as one. It was a big reason why he wanted Raphtalia and Rifana to get used to those forms.

Dante had to admit, Malty's concerns were reasonable. Growing up with a father who likely spoke about his hatred of demi-humans, living in a country that denounced them as monsters, and the admittedly possible assassination of her younger brother by Siltvelt alone, there was plenty to be afraid of. Still, every bit of information he could obtain about her would only help determine what she'd do next.

By the end of their discussions, the cooldown for his ability timed out. Dante saved their location in his shield and brought them all back to the others.

At the camp, JoJo and Sadeena seemed to be sparring while the other three watched, likely having already finished their talk. Once they saw Dante, it was clear to him what they were thinking about, based on their reactions.

Raphtalia avoided eye contact, murmured something under her breath, and walked off with Eclair for a bit of training. Keel hid his ears under his paws, saying he'd never let Dante pet him again—not that Dante did in the first place. The boy made it perfectly clear he didn't want to be petted. Rifana stood there, but she avoided eye contact too. Dante could easily see she was embarrassed. Her blush showed even from under her fur.

"How are you feeling?" Dante asked, trying to break the ice.

"F-Fine." She responded stiffly.

"You realize we're a long way from doing anything Sadeena told you about, right?" Dante wanted to make sure there wasn't any worries about that.

"Y-Yeah, I know." Rifana nodded. "Um…"

"What is it?" Dante asked, taking a knee in front of her.

Rifana rubbed her paws together nervously. "Is that…something you want to do with me?"

Dante gave her a smile. "I'm not opposed to it. However, I know you're not ready for that."

Rifana nodded again. "When I am…" She had to pause to steady herself. When she did, she met his gaze. "When I'm ready, will you have…with me?"

Dante held back small laugh. Despite her not being able to say the word, he clearly misunderstood her predicament. Regardless, Dante nodded. "When you are ready."

Rifana beamed at him. Well, as long as she isn't worried about it, that's good. As he went to stand, Rifana placed her paws on his shoulders. She stared into his eyes. Her mouth moved, trying to form words, but nothing came out.

"What's up?" Dante asked.

Rifana swallowed whatever hesitation she was having. Instead, she closed her eyes, leaned forward, and placed her lips against Dante's. She held them there, drawing out the kiss she was giving him. When she finished, she pulled back and took a breath. When she opened her eyes, they were wavering as she gazed into his.

"T-That's payback for b-before." She made out before turning and walking towards the carriages.

Dante continued to kneel on the ground for a moment before he stood. In that time, Sadeena came and wrapped her arms around him.

"Oh my~. Aren't you the popular one?" She said from behind him.

"That was entirely your doing, you know." Dante said, not turning to face her.

"Maybe~." Sadeena slid around him, standing at his front. "So, what was it like~?"

"A bit strange." Dante admitted. "First time I kissed someone with fur on their face."

Sadeena placed her hand on his face, rubbing her thumb against his cheek. Her hand felt cool to him. "I could tell you liked it though."

"It was a kiss from a cute girl, what's not to like?" He asked rhetorically.

"True, but~," Sadeena smirked at him, "your cheeks are all red."

"Shush, woman!" Dante ignored her laughter as he went to prepare for sleep.

~The Wrong Hero~

A few days later, Dante had another stop to make. This time, it was teleporting back into Melromarc to meet with Rolf. He saved the spot at the top of the pit as one of his locations to portal to. When he arrived with JoJo, he noticed two things right away.

First was the vegetation that was growing from the center. Spreading across the bottom layer of the mines with about five feet along the edges to walk around, green vines and red fruit were plentiful. Dante had given Rolf a modified bioplant seed that was meant to produce enough food for about seven or eight people a day. It was a little overkill, since Rolf's monsters apparently didn't need to eat, but Dante wanted to do something with the points his Bioplant Shield allowed him to modify with plant reform. Really, he had to. He couldn't leave the points unspent. The seed would have produced more, but he added a special trait to it so the fruit would be seedless. No need to risk the plants going out of control. Despite it being a detriment—biologically, anyway—removing the seeds took up a decent number of points.

Then there was the second thing he noticed. It was less impressive than the growing bioplant in the mines, but more comical. One of the barons of hell stood watch over the growing bioplant. This one, however, wore a straw hat on its head, one that a farmer might wear.

Huh. Like something out of Minecraft, assigning villagers a job. I don't see a composter around any—wait, there it is. I'd say he drew inspiration from Minecraft, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the game 10 years ago.

"Look at all the food!" JoJo shouted, marveling at the bounty. This crop seemed to be something like oranges, though they grew off the vines. Dante wasn't really sure how they ended up like that, since he couldn't really change the fruit to his desire that much.

Dante and JoJo approached the baron of hell standing guard at Rolf's cave. It let them pass and they descended into the mine. It was a short walk until they came to the large open area before the chambers they first found the fox boy. Once there, Dante saw him and some more of his creations. Dante did his best not to groan and cover his face. He failed.

"Ah, Dante!" Rolf exclaimed, running up to greet him. "I was waiting for you. Come on, take a look!"

Rolf was tugging at his red leather sleeves as he pointed to his newest additions to his guard. The first was a bipedal creature with an elongated head, standing almost as tall as Dante. Its knees were bent, as were its ankles, somewhat similar to how Keel, Raphtalia, and Rifana's legs were in their therianthrope forms. While its head was a greyish color, the rest of its body was covered in a yellowish chitin-like material.

The second creature stood on four legs and resembled a small raptor mixed with an insect, reaching just above his hips. Hard brown scales covered its body, and another set of limbs extended from the top of its shoulders and over its head.

"…This isn't what I meant when I said you should branch out." Dante said with a sigh. While he didn't play the games much, he easily recognized two of the most well know units from StarCraft.

"T-They're still good, right?" Rolf asked. He didn't seem afraid of Dante, at least not like he was before. It was more like he wanted his approval.

"Yeah, it's fine." Dante said as he looked them over. "So, how do they fight?"

Rolf explained their capabilities. The zergling was pretty straightforward. It was fast moving and had a decent attack, but it was lacking in defense and HP. Though, after a bit of experimenting and alchemy, Rolf figured out a way to make two zerglings from one body with almost as high stats if he had only created one. The zealot was a bit higher spec. All its stats were higher, and it had shielding around its body. It would use its MP as a second HP bar that would deplete first. That was a pretty nice ability. MP recovered much faster than HP naturally.

"I have to admit, these are pretty good, kid." Dante said, earning a huge smile from Rolf. He brought his hand close to Rolf's head, but quickly pulled it back.

Rolf grinned at the gesture. "You were about to pet me, weren't you?"

"Anyway," Dante sidestepped the question, "has anything else happened since we last met?"

"Oh!" Rolf scurried off down the passageway to his sleeping area. About a minute or so later, he came back with someone. It was a mole therianthrope, a bit shorter than Rolf. They wore a slightly torn dress, so Dante assumed it was a girl. She had a pair of simple sunglasses resting on her head, though the lens of one side was cracked.

"A bunch of slavers attacked this girl's group a few days ago." Rolf told him. "She fell into the pit and one of my guards found her."

"I see." Dante lowered himself to her level. "I'm very sorry that happened to you." The girl huddled herself behind Rolf. "Don't worry. I'm the Shield Hero."

When he brought forward his shielded arm, the girl peaked around Rolf. "Shield Hero?"

"That's right." Dante smiled. "My name is Dante. Dante MacRory. What's yours?"

The girl stepped out from behind Rolf. "I-Imiya Leuthurn Reethela Teleti Kuwariz."

"Imiya?" Dante's eyes widened. "I see…Tell me, are there any others?"

Imiya let out a whimper and shook her head. Rolf patted her on the back and spoke. "She said her uncle told her to run. She didn't see if anyone else got away…or survived." He whispered that last part to Dante.

"Do you have any descriptions of these slavers?" Dante asked. He was more than happy to add to his list.

Rolf smiled at him. "Even better. I have three of them in another cave."

Dante returned the smile. "That's much better. Good work, Rolf."

Imiya perked up, looking at Dante. "Rolf?" She asked.

"Reiko!" Rolf quickly said. "He meant Reiko."

Dante looked between the two and nodded. "Right, Reiko, sorry." He stood up again, and looked to his son. "JoJo, Reiko and I need to go have a chat with these slavers. Would you play with Imiya for a bit?"

"Okay!" JoJo jump forward and grabbed Imiya's paw. "Come on! The plant outside has some yummy looking fruits on it!"

"I, uh, wha…" Imiya was lost for words. With Rolf's—or, rather, Reiko's—encouragement, Imiya went along with JoJo. Reiko had Dante start to follow him down another path in this part of the mines.

"So, 'Reiko', is it?" Dante asked as they walked.

"Y-Yeah." He said. "Well…My parents, my friends, everyone who knew me as Rolf is dead. And, well, Reiko could pass for a name around here. I didn't see anything wrong with it, and I don't think anyone would really notice it's Japanese like the summoned heroes, and—"

"Easy, kid, there's no problem." Dante waved his hand. "Reiko it is, then."

That got a smile out of the kid. It didn't matter to Dante either way, so he was fine with it.

"By the way, I never said how impressed I was with your journals, did I?" Dante asked. It was thanks to Reiko's notes that he was able to make some of those status boosting potions.

"Ah, well, thanks." Reiko seemed to waver as he walked, a goofy grin on his face.

Kid seems weak to compliments.

Reiko guided him down the passage to the slavers. The path was lined with torches, though Dante didn't feel any heat from them. He figured they were enchanted by Reiko, given his obvious knack for alchemy. Eventually, a baron of hell stood before them, next to what looked like a doorway blocked by a large rock. At Reiko's gesture, the baron moved the rock out of the way. Inside, there was another baron standing next to three prone humans.

There were two men and one woman. Dante noticed none of them had any chains or rope binding them. At his question, Reiko pointed at the legs of the closest slaver.

"They can't run if their legs are broken." He said.

Never a truer statement. They did seem somewhat strong, as Reiko showed him the two dead barons of hell next to them. Dante absorbed them into his shield.

Baron of Hell Shield

(abilities locked) equip bonus: magic bonus (small)

equip effect: howl

Well, that complements the Hell Knight Shield I got, since it gave me magic resistance. Glad I was able to remove the 'D' from the beginning of these shields. I'll have to test out howl later.

With that done, he turned to the slavers. From his list, he recognized one of them, though they didn't seem important. Still, it was always best to make sure of these things.

"I'm going to need the room for a bit." Dante told Reiko. "This isn't going to be pleasant."

"I'll stay." Reiko said. Dante was about to object, but Reiko continued. "Dante, I've raised bodies like I'm a necromancer. I'll be fine with whatever you do."

Dante wanted to argue, but Reiko did have a point. "Well, then, I'll need some cloth and one of your monsters to hold them down."

~The Wrong Hero~

After a bit of interrogating, Dante determined that these slavers, in fact, knew nothing. They had no information about the Lurolona villagers—at least, nothing that Dante didn't already know—and they didn't know where the other lumo were going to be sold to. With their usefulness depleted, Dante let Reiko kill them. The kid did show a little hesitancy, which Dante thought was good, but was able to stab them all through the heart. Dante saw Reiko's level go up twice, to a total of eight now. He must have gotten a bit of experience since last time, since he was level five before.

Although, after Reiko killed them, Dante realized why he hesitated. Once he was done questioning the slavers, they begged him to spare their lives. Dante told them he wouldn't kill them. Immediately after their sighs of relief, he turned to the fox boy and said, "Reiko, kill these pieces of shit."

He didn't think much of it. He didn't even realize the reference until Reiko brought it up. Apparently, that was something from the movie Scarface. He hadn't seen that movie in years, and Reiko even longer, yet here they were.

"You are just a treat to be around. Also, your parents really shouldn't have let you watch that. Then again, my dad let me play Doom when I was 10, so I have no room to talk." He ended up watching a lot of movies he probably shouldn't have at a young age, much to his mother's annoyance. "Speaking of games, did you know there was a second StarCraft game?"

"Ugh, I know!" Reiko threw up his hands. "I heard about it, but I wasn't able to play it before I died!"

"Did you ever watch the Doom movie?"

"There was a Doom movie?!"

From there, the conversations were pretty light. They conversed about their plans moving forward and their next meetup. Reiko had three new bodies to work on, which he was quite happy about. Dante wanted to leave him with more, but it wouldn't matter. They tried using a body he stored in his shield, but Reiko said it didn't even feel like a person when he reached out with his power. Dante guessed the Shield interfered with his power.

Another thing they discussed was what would happen with Imiya. She could stay there with Reiko, but hiding out in a cave was no way to live. Reiko was fine either way, but Dante would be able to protect her and help find anyone else she traveled with. In the end, they all agreed to have her go with Dante.

On that note, Reiko had something to give to Dante. It was a small monster, able to fit in Dante's hand, and was similar looking to a cacodemon if it was a plush toy. It could float in the air, but it had almost no attack. Reiko made it to alert Dante if he found anymore slavers, or someone like Imiya again. It would start chirping if Reiko needed something, and cry out if it was an emergency. Practically all of its combat potential was put into that ability. Dante told him it was a good idea and creation, but held back on how adorable he thought it was.

Once the timer for Portal Shield ran out, they said their goodbyes. Imiya gave Reiko a hug and thanked him for saving her. When they parted, Dante gave him a knowing look, but the fox boy just shooed him off.

Dante raised his shield and activated his skill. They had one more stop before returning to the party. In an instant, they left the mining complex and appeared outside of Beloukas's tent. With the Staff's power up on his Portal Shield skill, Dante was able to save more locations to teleport to.

"Whoa." Imiya seemed a bit disoriented after taking the portal. "What are we doing here?" She asked, holding JoJo's hand.

"There's a slave trader I have an ongoing deal with." Dante told her. He continued on before she could voice her concern. "He's looking for the villagers from Lurolona."

"Lurolona?" Imiya spoke up as they entered. "Isn't that in the Seaetto area?"

"That's right." Dante remembered something from the books when Reiko brought up the lumos again. Imiya's group was traveling to that area to live there. "Unfortunately, it was destroyed in the waves. The survivors were enslaved and sold off. I've been having this slave trader search for them."

"Really?" Imiya had a hopeful smile on her face. "Then…are you going to search for my friends and family too?"

"I already am." Dante explained. "I came to this world with certain knowledge. I thought your people might get targeted, but I didn't know when or where, so I had the slave trader keep his eyes open for any lumos that get traded."

Since he couldn't recall when it was supposed to happen, he just had Beloukas keep his ear to the ground until the next wave or so. He figured it must have happened before then.

When they went inside, they quickly found the slave trader.

"Ah, back so soon, Sir Shield Hero?" Beloukas gave the trio a once over. "Are you here to sell, or…"

"I'm here for two things." Dante told him. "I'm reasonably sure you know what they are."

"Of course, of course." Beloukas nodded with his toothy smile. "Well, for your original inquiry, I have no new information."

"Damn." Dante didn't think the man would have found anything yet, given what he'd turned up so far. Once Dante got to Zeltoble, he'd expand there as well.

"However, I did recently acquire one lumo beastman. Yes sir." Beloukas didn't even wait before having one of his assistants fetch the slave in question. A minute later, the assistant returned with the lumo.

"Uncle Tollynemiya!" Imiya cried out. She rushed up to him.

"Imiya? No! Not you too!" Tollynemiya looked horrified.

"No, it's okay. I'm with the Shield Hero." She explained, calming him down.

Tollynemiya, or 'Tolly', as Dante remembered, looked him over. Dante showed him the shield on his arm and had it transform for him. "You really are the Shield Hero." He said. "I can't thank you enough for finding my niece."

"I just reunited you two." Dante waved him off. "Her savior was someone else, but let's speak about that later." Not that he didn't trust the slave trader with this information…but he didn't trust the slave trader with this information.

Beloukas gave him the price for Tolly and Dante recoiled at it. He brought enough funds to buy several children at once, just in case Beloukas struck big, but the price for Tolly would eat up all that, plus a good chunk of the money he stored in this drops from dead monsters.

"The price for these beastmen has risen recently, yes sir." Beloukas pointed out. Dante figured those slavers would go after any demi-humans they found, not specific races, but regardless. He'd buy Tolly here, plus some slave seal remover.

"Ah, a moment, Shield Hero." Tolly interjected. "I really appreciate you wanting to free me, but it might be safer to keep the seal on me."

"Huh. I agree wholeheartedly, but I'm a little surprised you suggested it." Though, Dante was pretty sure of the reason.

"A therianthrope in Melromarc isn't going to be free to walk around, especially someone from my race." Tolly said. Dante had to agree, since the only free therianthrope he could think of was that innkeeper. He never got a look at the man's level, but he assumed it was high enough to not fear a few knights. "Besides, I don't think you're a bad person to be enslaved to. You just tried to free me, and you brought my niece to me."

"I'd argue against that, but all the evidence I have agrees with you." Dante joked. "Well, it does save me some silver. Actually, I have an idea."

Dante put their discussion on hold for the moment told them his idea. Agreeing, Dante ventured out by himself, donning a cloak and stuffing the miniature monster under his hood. JoJo would stay with Imiya and Tolly, only coming if Dante pinged his seal. Dante kept to the alleys as long as he could, trying to avoid the main road. The fewer people that saw him, the better.

Once he reached his destination, he banged on the door. When it opened, a bald shop owner greeted him.

"Dante?" Erhard looked at him. He checked around to make sure no one was near the back door before he spoke again, softly. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to ask for a favor." Dante said, explaining what, or rather who, he just came across. He remembered that this lumo was an apprentice to the same blacksmithing master as Erhard, and at the same time.

"Tolly was enslaved?" Erhard had a pained expression on his face. "Well…look, I can't thank you enough for helping him, but I can't let him and his niece stay here. Things haven't gotten any better since you left."

"Really?" Dante had mentioned to Melty about how knights had gone around to threaten shopkeepers. More accurately, he mentioned it in their meeting with the king. The conversation had already deteriorated by that point, and Dante started getting annoyed, so he figured he might as well bring it up.

"Princess Melty herself went around and asked many of us about the threats." Erhard told him. Dante didn't think the second princess would go that far. "She told us that any knights threatening us would be heavily disciplined. However, that night, a few shops were vandalized. They were ones people knew you went to."

It seemed Dante and Melty had escalated the problem a bit, though unintentionally. Both Simmond and Ann had their shops broken into. Quite a bit was stolen from each. They spoke about it with the other shopkeepers, and everyone agreed not to inform the princess about it. They figured anything they did would make it worse, and Dante had to agree with that assessment. He'd intimidated a store owner or two in his day. At least Erhard and Agatha were spared, though Dante could see why. One was a retired adventurer, and the other was a reasonably strong witch. Neither was going to be a target for common thuggery.

With nothing left to say, they said their goodbyes. Dante began making his way back to the slave trader's tent. He considered seeing Melty while he was here, but it didn't seem to be such a good idea anymore. He didn't want this topic to come up and him accidentally mention anything he shouldn't. Not just for the shopkeepers' sake, but hers as well. Is Melty showed too much sympathy to the Shield Hero, she'd probably be put in danger too.

Once back at the tent, Dante explained the situation to them. Tolly agreed with Erhard's decision, wishing his friend well. Dante paid for Tolly to be registered under him. Imiya agreed to take the seal as well, mostly from Tolly's talk with her while Dante was away. Even if they were able to stay, being marked as a slave would still be more beneficial. Dante also told them about the stat increases he could provide slaves under him, so that was a bonus as far as they were concerned. Plus, Siltvelt didn't have a high opinion of lumos, despite being therianthropes. They likely wouldn't blink at seeing them as slaves. It was a good temporary fix until a more permanent solution could be made.

With everything sorted for now and the skill off of cooldown, Dante teleported them all back to the rest of his party.