I am not the shield hero

Dante walked down the main road of the capital, still stuck in his thoughts. People pointed at him and whispered as he passed, but he paid them little mind. Malty and the church were going to be bigger problems than he initially believed. He needed to rethink his plans.

Of course, focusing on any particular topic was somewhat difficult. Between waking up in the middle of the night from his nightmare, to pretending to be asleep as his room was robbed, missing breakfast and having the trial…

God, I need a smoke.

He used another two sticks yesterday, one during a short break with Greenie, and another after supper with Sadeena. After he explained what it was to her, she confirmed there was something similar in this world. It wasn't really sold in towns, mostly something farmers grew on the side to have after a long day's work. It also didn't sound like that stuff was as detrimental to one's health as his cigarettes, so that was something to look forward to. Hopefully it would help with cravings while he got off it completely. He had planned to quit for a while, but kept falling back into it.

"Hey." A voice pulled him from his addiction thoughts as he found himself near Erhard's. It was the man himself who called to him from between a few stalls.

"Erhard." Dante looked the man over. He didn't seem too pleased.

Erhard walked over to him and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. "Did you do it?"

"Wha-" Dante was at a loss for words. "What are you…Why would I tell you about it yesterday if I was actually going to—"

"Did you do it?" He asked again, his hold firm.

"…No." Erhard stared at him a moment before letting him go.

"Alright." He said as he turned. "Come to my shop. Through the back. I want that explanation now."

Dante nodded as he moved to the alley. It wasn't too strange, he supposed. Looking into the eyes was a decent way to tell if someone was lying. He'd done that plenty before.

When he reached the back of the shop, he found the door unlocked. Almost immediately after opening the door, his head was pulled down. He felt his face collide with something soft. Two somethings.

"Oh, Dante, how could you~!" Sadeena had her arms wrapped around his head as she pressed it into her chest. "There are better ways to relieve yourself than to take advantage of some poor girl!"

"…Well, I'm glad someone is enjoying my situation." Although, currently, he was also enjoying it.

She let him up and ruffled his hair. "Just a bit of fun."

"Right. Wait, are you wearing my jacket?"

Sadeena gave a quick pose, showing herself off. "Looks good, don't you think?"

It did. With the leather jacket, her long hair, and her wrapped chest, she looked like she was a delinquent straight out of an anime. Aside from the sash-thing around her waist, anyway.

"Oh my, if you stare any harder, you'll make me blush~."

Dante gave his head a quick shake. "R-Right. Just take it off before we leave." He looked past her and saw Erhard down the hall, arms crossed. "Alright, I owe you an explanation." He came into the shop area and stood opposite of the blacksmith.

"That you do."

It didn't take long to tell the man what he knew. How he knew of this world through books and stories, who some of the key people early on would be, the destruction of Lurolona and the plot of Malty and the church. He had to say, Erhard took the news pretty well. Though, he didn't seem to believe Dante at first, but once he mentioned how Erhard's former blacksmithing master chased girls as much as he made weapons, Erhard's expression began to change.

Sadeena corroborated his story. Apparently, after Dante went to his room and Motoyasu's party retired, Malty left sometime in the middle of the night. About twenty minutes later, a man came back, snuck into Dante's room, and left with his equipment and silver.

Smart. It might have looked bad if I caught her in my room and called for help. Unlikely, but not a risk she likely wanted to take.

Of course, Dante made sure to first check with Sadeena for eavesdroppers.

"I still can't believe the princess would do something like this." Erhard shook his head.

"Not surprising." Dante nodded. "She's good at manipulating people. She also seems more careful and cunning than in the books. Something I'll need to watch out for."

"There's something I don't understand, though. If you knew this was going to happen, why not try to prevent it? Stay out of the city for a while and get stronger, or try to prove your innocence."

Dante simply shook his head. "Too risky. I have no idea what would have happened if I stayed away. If I somehow got the other heroes on my side, the king could have decided this batch was no good and summoned another. Any proof I brought forward could have just been dismissed anyway. This outcome, while irritating, is quite manageable."

Erhard leaned on his counter. He thought for a moment before speaking. "I suppose you did the best you could with what you had."

"I'd like to think so too." Naofumi survived without any help for weeks. Dante had Sadeena on day one of his adventuring, and revealed a large number of shields. He liked his odds. "Oh, right."

Dante shifted his shield to the Blue Mush Shield to continue unlocking it. He didn't want people seeing a different shield form before, even while sleeping, just in case some church members got any ideas.

"That's a pretty neat shield, kid." Erhard gave the shield a glance. "Mind if I inspect it?"

"Go for it." He said as Erhard chanted to himself. "By the way, I don't think I told you my age, did I?"

"You look seventeen or eighteen." Dante watched as a small ball of light extended from Erhard's hand and harmlessly bounced off his shield. "Well, it's definitely powerful, but I can't get any other information about it."

"I thought as much." Dante leaned on the counter and pointed to his face. "Twenty-eight."

Erhard raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Dante shrugged. "Magic or something."

"Right. Anyway, where will you go now? I doubt you'll be too welcome in town."

Dante nodded towards Sadeena. "I have a guy looking for her friends and neighbors. We'll be buying them up and grinding levels."

"Right…the village." Erhard looked over to Sadeena as well. "I'm sorry that happened. The queen's been trying to change how people treat demi-humans in this country, but…"

"It's alright." Sadeena pulled Dante over by the shoulder. "I have little Dante here to help me find them all."

"What's with people calling me little? 'Kid' I get, but I'm taller than you too."

Erhard chuckled at their display. "This one seems like she'll be a handful."

"I don't doubt that at all."

"Oh my~!"

"Anyway," Erhard pointed to the egg incubators sitting in the corner behind the counter, "you want to take these off my hands?"

"In a little while." Dante said, pulling himself from Sadeena. "If I remember right, Beloukas should have one kid from the village today. I want to get her armed before leaving, so I'll be bringing her by later." According to the slave trader, the timers on the incubators were set to end about an hour or so from now. Plenty of time to do what he needed before they hatched.

"You're going to have kids fight for you?" Erhard did not look at all pleased by that.

"Possibly, if they want to. However, if not, then at least they can defend themselves and they'll be leveled up to take on any slavers that come their way."

"I suppose you're right…"

Erhard never liked the idea of slavery in this country, that much Dante knew. But even he couldn't argue against this plan.

"Before that, I should probably get some armor." He looked over a few pieces on the stands.

"Hmm, if you're going to be defending multiple people, you'll want something strong but light." Erhard walked over to one of the stands. Dante almost laughed when he did. "How about some chainmail? I could sell it to you for one hundred twenty silver."

How fitting.

Once he got armored up, and set with another pair of boots, he donned his backpack and cloak and set out with Sadeena, also in her cloak. It wasn't long before they were at the circus tent again. When they went inside, Beloukas was inspecting some of the monster cages. He turned when they entered, his signature smile on his face.

"Ah, Sir Hero. So good to see you again." He rubbed his hands together. "Especially after hearing about your escapades with that adventurer."

"News travels fast around these parts, eh?"

"Hah! Indeed. You'll be pleased to know I found one of the children you were looking for. And I see your friend is back with you this time."

Dante stole a glance at Sadeena, who was turned away from him. "Yeah. I figured it would be this quick. Go ahead and grab them and we'll meet at your office."

"Certainly!" Beloukas went off as Dante and Sadeena went to wait.

"Listen…" Sadeena started when they reached the short man's desk, "I…"

"It's fine." Dante said without turning. He never mentioned any friend to Beloukas, so Sadeena must have come here at some point before this morning. "I'm still earning your trust. If this helps, then confirm what I say as much as you can. I really don't mind."

She simply gave him a nod as Beloukas returned. Just as Dante thought, a girl who fit Keel's description was with him, being pulled along with a chain.

"Here is one of the slaves you specifically requested, yes sir." Beloukas stopped at his desk.

"I-I won't do anything you tell me to!" Keel shouted, still pulling at her chain.

Yep, definitely Keel.

"As you can see, this one has a problematic personality. Luckily, one of my colleagues recently purchased her, so I was able to get her rather quickly."

"H-Her?!" Keel yelled. "I'm a boy!"

"We'll get to that." Dante waved her off. "So, the price? I can't imagine she's all that expensive, if she's this difficult."

"Hey, listen to me!"

"Well, good sir, she is in rather good condition." Beloukas rubbed his chin, ignoring Keel's outburst. "I think seventy silver is a good price, yes sir."

"Forty seems adequate, given our ongoing business dealings." Dante countered.

"Sir Hero is fond of his jokes, yes sir. Sixty for the girl."

"I'm not a girl!"

"Fifty, and I'll be sure to consider you first for all my monster needs."

"I would think that's a given already, Sir Hero. Fifty-fi—"

"Hey!" Keel yelled a final time as she lifted up her rags. "I'm a boy! See?!"

Dante was about to speak before he noticed something very important about Keel.

"Oh my~! Children shouldn't be doing such things." Sadeena said with a laugh.

Dante turned his head away, waving his hand at Keel. "Okay, okay, you're a boy. Just cover yourself!"

"Ah, that was unexpected." Beloukas said. "My colleague didn't clarify her…his sex. Fifty silver it is."

Keel lowered his rags as they agreed on the price.

How many of these 'what the hell' moments am I going to have? At least this one isn't a big deal. Why is Keel a boy? Although, thinking about it, I vaguely remember hearing that Keel was originally a boy before the author changed his gender. Maybe they got all the correct information and just changed things for narrative effect and to fit into different tropes?

Beloukas started preparing the ink as Dante counted out the silver.

And I really don't like how he stopped haggling when he realized Keel wasn't a girl.

The slave trader handed Dante the knife.

"Ah, Dante, a moment?" Sadeena tapped his shoulder before he started.

"What's up?" He looked over at her.

"About the slave seal…"

"Ah." Dante understood. "You don't want her…him registered to me."

Sadeena nodded. She was trying to trust him, but he supposed seeing this was a bit much.

"With the bonuses I can provide, he'll be much better off under me."

"I understand that."

"Hmm." Dante thought a moment. How could he convince her? He supposed the biggest issue was being able to kill slaves with a thought. Maybe there was something there. "Beloukas." He turned to the round man. "Slave seals can kill the slaves, correct?"

"Of course! It's to insure loyalty from the slaves."

"And how long would it take? Is it instantaneous?"

Beloukas tapped his desk. "That would depend on the slave seal. High grade slave seals can do it instantly, though higher level combat slaves will take a bit of time. For this basic seal on, for instance, this demi-human child…about ten seconds or so at full strength."

"And I assume that, should the slave holder die, the kill effect will stop?"

"Yes sir. In fact, the ink will turn black, so anyone could tell the slave is without a master."

Dante gave Sadeena a smile. "Sounds good, yeah? Worst comes to worst, if you don't think you could kill me outright, you can always take me out in my sleep."

Sadeena gave him a hesitant nod. A bit morbid, perhaps, but effective. Dante let a few drops of blood fall into the ink bowl as Beloukas prepared the brush. When the slave trader approached Keel, he backed up.

"Stay away from me!" He yelled.

Beloukas was about to snap his fingers to activate the seal, but Dante grabbed his hand. "None of that, now." He said, turning back to his companion. "Sadeena, I think you should try to convince him first."

"Sadeena?" Keel looked at the woman, clearly confused.

"I don't think that's such a good idea here, Dante." She said. He looked at her a moment before realizing what she meant. He gave her a wink, but she shook her head. "No, not that. I meant in this place."

Dante looked around at the few cages present in the room. "Is it uncomfortable for you?"

"No, it's…" She gestured to Beloukas, a confused look on his face as he tilted his head.

Don't do that. That is very much the opposite of cute from you!

"Don't worry about him." Dante said, ignoring the slaver. "He's slated to earn over a thousand silver, probably thousands of silver, from our deal. I doubt he's going to do something to screw that up. And I don't think he's in the business of selling out his customers."

"Perish the thought, madam!" He held a hand to his chest. "I pride myself on my excellent customer satisfaction!"

Sadeena gave a shrug before she dropped her cloak. In a puff of smoke, she changed into her therianthrope form. Keel stared at her, slack jawed. Dante gave her a once over as well. She really was quite big, as tall as Greenie, in fact. Even Beloukas seemed surprised.

"S-Sadeena…" Keel took a step forward. Then another. He lunged at her, grabbing hold of her leg. "Big sis Sadeena! It's really you!"

"It's me, Keel. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner." She pat him on his head. Keel cried into her leg, clinging to her for dear life.

"Quite the interesting companion you have, Sir Hero." Beloukas remarked.

"She is, isn't she?" That seemed to confirm what Dante thought. If Beloukas, a slave trader, didn't notice what Sadeena was, then he had nothing to fear with her walking around the city.

Sadeena kept stroking Keel's head until he calmed down, wiping away his tears before he spoke again. "What are you doing here, big sis?"

"Looking for you, and the other children from the village." She said and pointed towards Dante. "This man knew where to find you all."

Keel peaked around her leg to glare at him. "The man who wants to buy me?"

"Yes." She patted him on the back. "Little Dante here is actually the Shield Hero."

He looked back up at Sadeena. "The…Shield Hero?"

"See, now it makes sense for you to call me 'little.'" Dante held his hands to his hips.

Sadeena chuckled at his complaining. "He seems like a trustworthy young man. I think you should let him put a seal on you."

"A-Are you sure?" Keel didn't seem too keen on the idea. If Dante remembered correctly, then…

"Do you want to be stronger?" He asked the dog boy.

Keel's ears perked up at that. "Stronger?"

Dante nodded. "Being a party member of a hero grants you power. Some of my shields will grant slaves more. I have some other tricks as well. If you want, I can grant you this power. You won't have to be afraid of slavers or the waves ever again. And you'll be able to protect your friends once we find them." He took a knee next to the boy and outstretched his hand. "What do you say?"

Keel stared at his hand. He scrunched up his face in a complicated expression. His mouth moved to form words, but none came out. Dante stayed kneeling all the while.

Finally, Keel gave his answer.

A loud rumble from his stomach.

Dante laughed before he pulled off his backpack and took out some of his rations. "I also have food."

Keel quickly snatched the offered food and tore into it. It was mostly dried meat, but he was finished within seconds. Dante looked over to the slave trader.

"What, you couldn't even get him some gruel?" He asked.

"Okay." Keel said, regaining Dante's attention. "I'll do it. But don't think I trust you yet!"

"Of course." Dante stood. "That comes later."

With that, Beloukas completed the ritual and a popup appeared in Dante's vision.

Slave Acquired

Keel – Dog Demi-Human

LV 1

Neat. As a slave, I can see his stats as easily as I see mine. With Sadeena, all I have is her name, HP, and MP. Oh, right!

"By the way, Beloukas," Dante had nearly forgotten to ask, "at what level does the basic slave seal no longer work?"

"Hmm. Well, it depends on the stat growth of the slave. On average, after they receive a class upgrade at level forty is the latest, some even if it's done earlier. After that, the seal can still activate, but it isn't likely to harm the slave. That's why most combat slaves get a high-grade slave seal, yes sir."

Interesting. That would help explain why Sadeena was unaffected by that greedy merchant's seal. Or, was that a high-grade seal, and Sadeena is just that badass? Either or, doesn't matter.

"Then that should be one of your goals, Keel." Dante looked down at the dog boy. "Now, I have to keep a condition checked on the slave seal. The only one will be that you can't lie to me. That means you can disobey me, but I still expect you to listen to me. However, I'll never ask you to do something I wouldn't do myself." He looked up at Sadeena. "From either of you."

Sadeena gave him a nod before he returned his attention to Keel. "That said, I can't wield weapons. That's where you two come in. From here on, we'll be fighting monsters to get stronger, so you need to follow my and Sadeena's instructions. Understood?"

"Y-Yeah." Keel said with a nod.

"Good." Dante turned back to Beloukas. "Seems like our business is done for today. Your money is on the desk. I'll be in tomorrow to check on your progress. Also, the man you sent to Rabier's?"

"Yes sir, he departed this morning, before you arrived. He should be back sometime tomorrow night, so I'll have an answer the next day."

Dante nodded. "Excellent." He looked over to the orca woman. "Sadeena, I need you to grab a few things before we start monster killing again."

"What is it?" She transformed back into her demi-human form.

"Some…Beloukas, what do baby filolials eat?"

"I believe bean paste works best, yes sir." He responded.

"Some of that. Also, a blank notebook, ink, some sort of pen, and an easy to read book. Since I have the opportunity, I want to observe Keel's growth to understand some of my shields and abilities. And I should start learning how to read this country's language."

"You can't read?" Keel asked.

"Technically, I can't speak either. The shield translates speech for me, but not writing. Wait, can you read?" Dante asked in turn.

"A little bit." He answered.

"That's great! Then, after we finish for the day, you can help me learn this country's language while Sadeena rests."

"Why do I have to do that?!" Keel demanded.

"Well, Sadeena can't." He gestured to the person in question. "She's the primary fighter in our group. It wouldn't be fair if she does so much during the day, then spends her evenings teaching me." Dante tapped his chin before continuing. "Although, once you get stronger, then you won't have to do that as much."

"Hmph!" Keel pouted. "Fine! I'll get stronger, then I won't have to teach you anymore!"

"Oh my!" Sadeena laughed at our little back and forth. "You have such a way with children~."

"I know a few things." He said. "We'll meet up at the edge of the forest outside the south gate."

~The Wrong Hero~

Sadeena went off to get the supplies while Dante and Keel returned to the weapon shop. Erhard made a face at seeing Keel, but quickly got to arming and clothing him. Even knowing the circumstances, Erhard didn't like seeing slavery in practice. Dante's purse became twenty silver lighter, an iron dagger for Keel and a rusty shortsword for Dante's disguise, plus a pair of whetstones. He absorbed one for his shield and would unlock it at a later point. Dante and Keel each grabbed an egg and made for the gatehouse. Dante moved his shield to his back and kept his hood up. The guards, like before, didn't pay him any mind. Either they were bad at their jobs, or they didn't care to look at a demi-human slave and his master.

Once in the forest, they met up with Sadeena. She handed over the supplies and the remaining silver and bronze. It ended up costing around twenty silver, with the traveler's fountain pen making up almost half the cost, and the written book coming in second. He almost thought the ink would be the most expensive, but he supposed there were probably monsters that could easily provide a form of ink. Sadeena also thought to buy another pair of backpacks, bedrolls, and waterskins, costing another twenty silver. It was a good buy, especially since Dante had forgotten.

Before they began their hunting, the eggs started to crack. Dante watched as the filolials broke out of their eggs. One was a brilliant yellow with red eyes while the other was a deep blue with blue-green eyes.

"Well, aren't you two just the most adorable little things!" Dante said as the birds jumped into his waiting lap.

"Wow." Keel looked down at the birds in awe. "We had a rancher at the village, but I never saw a filolial hatch before."

"Do you have any names in mind?" Sadeena asked before her smile grew. "Or will you be naming them 'Yellow' and 'Blue'?"

"Cut me some slack." Dante turned away from her. "It wasn't my filolial and I forgot to ask!"

Though, she did have a point. They needed names, not just 'Filolial A' and 'Filolial B', like they appeared in his status. Really, naming things wasn't something he was particularly good at. When he was a kid, he had a cat that he named 'Honey Bee', and his naming sense hadn't improved much.

He thought back to some of the people he knew from his world. A few names popped into his head, but nothing really stood out to him. Perhaps something simple, like Bell, or Cherry, or Mary—

No! Not that! I can't do that to myself…

Dispelling the creeping thought forming in his head, he looked back at the filolials. Maybe something with their colors. Yellow with red eyes, blue with blue-green eyes…

Wait a moment, that sounds almost familiar.

He held a filolial in each hand and looked at them. The yellow one almost seemed to have a fierce, yet playful look on its face. The blue one had a more calm, but stern expression.

Since they hatched at the same time, they may as well be siblings. That means…

He tilted his head back and laughed.

Wow. Even in another world, JoJo is popping into my head. I'm holding Dio Brando and Jonathan Joestar. That would be pretty funny. Dio the filolial. I don't think I should—

"Ah, crap!" Dante shouted.

"What?" Keel jumped back, startled from his outburst.

Dante saw the change happen in his status.

Dio – Filolial

Dammit, why did I have to go and think that?

He looked to the blue filolial, still with its temporary name.

Oh well. In for a penny…

"Well, I've named the filolials." He turned to show his party members. "This one is Dio, and this one is JoJo." He gestured to each filolial as he called their names.

"Cheep!" The filolials chirped, seemingly approving of their names.

"Those names sound kind of strange." Keel said, earning a slight glare from the filolials.

"Maybe just a little." Dante confirmed, moving a filolial to each shoulder. "I guess they're more like shortened names, but I thought they'd work well." And that's the story he's sticking with. Sadeena gave him a knowing look, but at least she didn't know the why.

"Well then, are we ready to start?" She asked, moving past the topic.

"We are." Dante stood. "I think the same plan as yesterday will work, if you're good with it. Keel, you'll stay next to me. Anything gets past Sadeena, I'll grab it and you stab it. Think you can do it?"

"Y-Yeah, I can do that." He said. He was a bit nervous, but Dante was confident he could handle it.

"Alright, let's get going then."

~The Wrong Hero~

The monster hunting went about as well as it had the day before. Sadeena cut down most everything in her path. The few things that got past her, Dante held for Keel to stab. The first time he caught an usapil, Keel refused to stab it. So, Dante merely held it up for Dio and JoJo to peck to death. In hindsight, that wasn't the best idea, as blood then sprayed onto his face. After that, Keel gladly killed any usapil he caught, if only to not see Dante looking like he just came from a slaughter.

At some point, the Blue Mush Shield was unlocked, so Dante moved to the Rope Shield to get an active skill. Fortunately, it would only take about eight hours to unlock. Something he noticed while looking over his shields was the timer on the Slave User Shield had changed, even though he hadn't switched to it since yesterday. He figured it meant his level was also a factor in release times. It wasn't much, just a few minutes shorter when he noticed, but it would help. He pulled some ingredients he stashed in his pack into his shield and began making some healing potions.

They stopped partway through for a meal, with Dante cooking the usapils. He decided to use some of the monster souls to increase his cooking skill by 1, and used a shield with a cooking bonus. He'd forgotten to use that shield yesterday, much to his embarrassment, but at least he had increased his defense by 1 with monster souls.

Speaking of, it looked like the soul energy used for the Spear was different than the Bow. For the Spear, the souls were automatically collected after absorbing monsters, but the Bow used the energy in monster pieces. He'd need to play with this a bit more.

Needless to say, his food was greeted quite warmly.

By the end of their hunting, they all made some pretty good level gains.

Dante: LV 16

Sadeena: LV 29

Keel: LV 12

Dio: LV 10

JoJo: LV 10

The filolials had also changed a bit. They were a bit bigger, Dante no longer able to encircle one with his hands. Their feather colors didn't change much, but they did start making a 'piyo' sound, which Dante found adorable. They also made quick work of the beans, but were able to start eating usapil meat before the beans ran out.

He skinned a number of usapils and crafted over a dozen healing potions using his shield. He found it strange that they came automatically in a bottle and thought those could be used as another source of income, but that thought was quickly dispelled. Sadeena had actually taken a small amount of damage when a large pack of usapils came running from a burrow. He had her use a potion and found the bottle disintegrated after being used.

With the sun setting, they decided to return to the city and sleep in an inn for the night. Dante figured Keel hadn't been in a proper bed for some time, so it would be best to let him have that before they began camping out. Sadeena knew about a demi-human inn she'd heard of from some travelers. Dante believed he remembered hearing about that in one of Motoyasu's loops.

However, before they even got close to the gate, Keel hid behind Dante's cloak.

"Something wrong?" He asked the boy, who was trembling fiercely.

"T-That man." He shakily pointed to a pair of knights that were patrolling the nearby pathway around the city. "He…He was at the village."

Dante looked over at the man Keel indicated. He caught a glimpse of a scar above his right eye. "In Lurolona? He was part of the raid?"

Keel nodded as he clung to his cloak. Dante looked over at Sadeena. Her gaze was hard as she pulled it from the knights.

"What do you want to do?" He asked her.

Her grip on her harpoon tightened. "Why, I would think that would be obvious."

Dante nodded. "Agreed, but I hear them talking. Let's see what the other one is about first." He gave Keel a pat on the head. "Keel, take Dio and JoJo and go to the edge of the forest. Keep out of sight. We'll be there shortly."

Keel hesitantly let go before running off, the filolials trailing behind him. Dante and Sadeena began tailing the guards, getting just close enough to hear their words. After a few minutes of talking, the scarred knight's partner said something interesting.

"Hey, I heard a rumor you came into some silver recently." He said. "Got any good leads?"

"Heh, what, and lose out making money myself? Go find your own leads." The scarred one replied with a laugh.

"Come on, you've got plenty of work. Throw me a small bone here. It doesn't have to be as big a Lurolona."

"That was the luckiest break of my life!" The knight bellowed. "I don't think I could ever get something like that again."

Dante and Sadeena shared a look. The both knew what these two were.

Slavers.

Dante moved closer and whispered to her.

"I'll take the scarred guy alive. We can get rid of his friend." Sadeena nodded and they looked towards the town. They were far enough away that no one could make out what they were about to do, especially since the sun had already moved below the town's walls.

Dante switched to his Iron Shield, since it currently had the best stats. They picked up their pace slightly before they sprinted forwards. By the time the guards reacted, Dante already held the scarred knight, one arm locked around his throat while the other arm kept his spear arm from moving.

"What the—" The buddy was knocked to the ground from Sadeena's harpoon slamming into his head. Before he could get back up, she thrust it down and into his throat. Gurgling was heard as he desperately tried to stop the blood from spewing from the hole.

"You—Damn—Geh—" The scarred knight tried to get the words out, but Dante tightened his grip on the man's throat. Try as he might, he couldn't shake Dante off. He brought his free arm back into Dante's side, but with no real leverage, it harmlessly bounced off his armor.

It seems my defense does impact grappling. Naofumi was able to drag a whale through the water, so I'm not exactly surprised. Wishing I played around with the power up methods more, but I didn't imagine we'd have an encounter like this. He's flailing, but he isn't breaking my grip. Bet he's wishing his chest piece extended up to his neck right about now. Still, though…

"Sadeena, this is taking too long. Just knock him out." He thought he could hold him until the man passed out, but maybe his stats let him go without air for a longer period. Or, since Dante had little attack, he wasn't able to choke out someone. He'd need to experiment when he had the time.

"As the source of your power, I command you! Let the true way be revealed once more! Lightning! Paralyze the one before me! Zweite Paralyzing Thunder!"

Dante released the knight as Sadeena's spell struck. The man convulsed for a few moments before falling to the ground. Dante switched back to his Rope Shield and started unwinding rope, allowing Sadeena to start binding him.

"What do we do about the other one?" She asked. "We could carry him to the forest and bury him there."

"Sounds like a plan." Dante moved over to the other knight. When he grabbed him, the jewel on his shield began to shine. "What the…"

"What is it?"

"I think…" Dante held the gem against the knight, absorbing him into his shield, equipment and all. He looked at his status as several popups appeared.

Human Shield

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

Reinforced Iron Shield

(abilities locked) equip bonus: defense bonus (medium), skill "cleave bash"

Well, that's terrifying.

He didn't expect to reveal a Human Shield, though he did recall Naofumi once unlocked a Raccoon Shield, but he didn't remember what it did. He'd need to get some blood from Sadeena and Keel later. The Reinforced Iron Shield looked to branch from the regular Iron Shield. It had better stats and an improved skill. It looked like the iron breastplate the guard had worn was a component for it. Speaking of, he saw all the guard's possessions in his item drops, as well as the knight's clothed remains in his monster drops.

Odd, but fine. Seems if something dies with an item on it, I can put it in my item drops. I feel like it shouldn't work like that, and I don't really want to accept any more gift horses, but here it is.

"Okay, I have the knight tied." Sadeena stood and looked around her. "Where's the other one?"

"Right here." Dante tapped his shield. "I think I just discovered every serial killer's most desired item." He stood before the bound guard, looking down at him. "Well, grab a leg. This guy is going to have a shit time tomorrow."

Author's Notes:

You know, sometimes people ask me: "Grizzly, I hate you."

I was waiting to name those filolials since before I even started writing this fic. Hope no one here hates JoJo.

We'll start to see what kind of person Dante was in his old world.