I am not the shield hero

What?" Sadeena stared at Dante. "What do you mean? What happened?"

There was no easy way to explain this.

"Idol Rabier, the man who has Raphtalia and Rifana. I thought he only tortured his slaves, but it seems he kills them too."

"What did you…" Keel looked up at him, shocked.

"He what?!" Sadeena grabbed Dante by the collar of his chainmail. "He's been torturing Raphtalia? And you knew this?!"

"Sadeena…" Dante looked around him. Some people were starting to take notice of them.

She pulled him by the arm into a nearby alley, Keel and the filolials quickly following after. Once there, she pushed him against a wall.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Her hands were gripping tightly to his armor.

"Gweh!" The filolials squawked and moved closer, but Dante waved them back.

"If I had told you, would you have waited?" He asked.

"You had no right to keep this from me!" She yelled in his face.

"Yeah, I did." Dante said back to her. "If I had told you, you would have run off to get them right away and gotten yourself killed. Remember when I asked you what your level was? I knew there was no way you could have taken on Idol, let alone break into his mansion and get past all his knights. If you were as high a level as I thought you'd be, I would have done things differently."

Sadeena pushed him harder into the wall. "Are you saying it's my fault?!"

"No!" This wasn't going anywhere. "Look, the point is, you were too weak, and I definitely was. But now you have allies to help you, and one of them is a hero. We can do something about this now."

She continued to glare at Dante. "I could have hired mercenaries. There are demi-human adventurers here."

"Yeah, some. But with what money? I know you have some…reserves hidden away," he didn't want to mention her secret base out loud, "but who's to say those adventurers would have been strong enough? Or, hell, even loyal enough to take on a lord of Melromarc?"

"You…" Tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

Dante gently placed a hand on her arm. "Look, you want to hate me? You don't want to trust me? That's fine, that's fair. But right now, those girls need our help. Let's all calm down and come up with a plan. We can figure out what happens between us after."

Sadeena held him in place for a moment before releasing him, turning to wipe the tears from her face. JoJo and Dio nuzzled up against Dante as Keel tried to console Sadeena.

The orca woman took a deep breath before facing him again. "So, what ideas do you have?"

"Hardly any." Dante responded, dragging his hand through his hair. "Okay…we can try sneaking in and smuggling them out, but if Idol notices, he could activate their seals and kill them. We'll need something to remove the curse marks."

"That slave trader should have something." Sadeena said, looking in the direction of the circus tent. "Some demi-humans that buy their friend's freedom get the seals removed on the spot."

"Okay, good, that's a start." Dante nodded along. "However, if we're caught, we'll have to fight our way out. If I had to guess, your clothes are made from magic thread, yes?" Sadeena gave him a nod. "Then we should talk to Erhard and get me some better armor."

"What about me?" Keel asked, stepping forward.

"Absolutely not!" Dante squashed that idea immediately.

"What?!" Keel yelled. "Why not?!"

"You're a child. There's no way we're taking you in there." Dante held up a hand to stop him from speaking up. "I know you're growing, but you don't have the combat experience to do this yet. This will primarily be a stealth mission, so the fewer people, the better."

Keel didn't seem to like that answer, if his glare was any indication, but he didn't speak out again.

"Good. Then…wait." Dante had another idea. There was something else he could do, some other resource he had that would otherwise be inaccessible. "A crystal ball. I could get one and learn a spell to aid us. Sadeena, which do you think would be better? Armor or a spell?"

Sadeena held a hand to her chin, pacing back and forth in the alley. "It would depend on your affinities. Do you have healing or support magic?"

"Probably both." He said. He was the Shield Hero, after all. "We can confirm that first before we go to Erhard's."

"Let's go then." Sadeena started towards the slaver, Dante and the others following behind her quickened pace.

They made it back to Beloukas' tent in short order, moving through the flaps.

"Ah, back so soon, Sir Hero? You left rather—"

"We need slave seal remover." Dante said, cutting off the slave dealer.

"…To what end?" The slave dealer asked.

"I would think that's pretty apparent, don't you?"

Beloukas' smile faltered as he continued. "I'm afraid what you're asking for is illegal. If I were to provide you with the remover, knowing what you intend to do with it, well…" He let the sentence trail off, implying what the consequences were. While certainly not death, it was probably severe enough in this human supremacist country.

Sadeena pulled her harpoon from her back and approached the man. Dante stepped in front of her before she got too close.

"Our intentions," he quickly said, "are to prevent another crime from being committed. To keep slaves from being tortured and murdered. Surely that is no crime, right?"

It was really a stretch, one that Beloukas didn't seem to accept. Dante had another thought that was fairly low risk.

"If anyone questions you, tell them you were threatened by the Shield Hero. I'm sure that will gain you some sympathy here, and it's not far from the truth."

Dante didn't want to be making threats to the man who was helping to retrieve the other villagers, and he was sure Sadeena didn't want to mess that up either. Honestly, they were low on options. They might have been able to find a more willing slave peddler, or tried the church for holy water, but that would either take too much time or was far too unlikely to work.

"I see…" Beloukas tapped his fingers on his cane. "Well, I suppose I don't have much choice." He pointed his cane towards a crate sitting off to the side. "But, I can't very well sell you any vials of that remover over there. It's too bad, since I would be making fifty silver per dose."

"Yeah, that is too bad." Dante said as he walked over to the crate. He slid the top over and pulled out two of said vial. After he closed the lid, he reached into his pack and pulled out the gold coin he had, leaving it on the cover.

"Well then, is there anything else I might be able to assist you with, good sir?" Beloukas asked, his smile back on his face.

"Yeah." Dante pulled out his map for the man. "I need a few locations marked on here."

Once they updated the map, they left the slave tent. The next stop was the magic shop. Dante remembered it was somewhat close to Erhard's place, so they headed in that direction. Sadeena pointed out the shop and both she and Dante entered, having Keel wait just outside with JoJo and Dio.

"Welcome." The old lady in the shop greeted. She wore what could easily be described as a witch's outfit, hat and all. "How may I help you today?"

"I'm looking for a crystal ball. Do you have any in stock?" Dante asked, noting the various tomes and apparatuses lining the shelves.

"Oh, I'm sorry dearie, but I'm all out." The old lady shook her head. "The king ordered a shipment for the heroes over a week ago. But, wait, aren't you the Shield Hero?"

Well, that sucks. I was hoping the order didn't happen until later, but that's that. Oh!

"What about the one on your table there?" He gestured to the crystal ball set in a holder. "How much for that?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't sell you that. I use that for my business."

"Hmm." Dante figured they might be able to threaten her, but if she called for the guards, that would put a stop to their rescue real quick. Plus, he knew she was a decent person. "How much does a crystal ball go for normally?"

"Well, it depends on where they're sold." She hummed in thought. "I would normally sell them for three hundred silver."

That was cheaper than Dante expected. Though, if learning from a crystal ball wasn't as beneficial—if he remembered right—then it wasn't too out of the question. Possibly, it's to do what he's basically doing now: having at least one spell in his arsenal to make use of his otherwise pointless MP.

"Then, how about four hundred?" He asked. "It's an emergency."

"I'm sorry, but even then, I can't—"

"Five." Dante went higher. That would basically eat up their entire savings.

"Five…Dearie, what could be so urgent that—"

"Five hundred, plus another one hundred later. I don't have much as collateral, but—"

"Dearie, please wait." The old lady held up her hand. She cast a worried look at him. "Is it really that important to pay double what the normal price would be?"

"Very." He said simply.

The old witch let out a breath and shook her head. "Well, you seem like the honest sort, despite what's been said about you." He glanced at her crystal ball before she continued. "I suppose I could order another and go without for a little while." She turned back to the Shield Hero. "Four hundred silver, and I'll give you an affinity reading too, to let you know what you might get."

"Thank you." Dante pulled off his pack and began counting the silver with Sadeena. "You have no idea what this means to me."

Once they had the silver counted, Dante placed it in another bag and set in on the table. The old woman beckoned him closer and had him place his hand on the crystal ball. The colors in the crystal swirled.

"Hmm." The old woman gazed into the ball. "It seems you have affinity for support and fire magic."

"Fire?" That was unexpected. "Not healing? Are you certain?"

"Quite." She responded, looking up at him.

That wasn't ideal. Not for right now, or the future. "There are healing spells with a fire affinity, correct?"

"Well, yes, but," she gestured to the crystal ball, "the spells contained in a crystal ball tend to be at the Faust level, and…"

"And fire-healing spells are at least Zweite, right?" Dante asked, and the witch confirmed. "Very well."

"Now then, hold the crystal ball and feel the intent to absorb the spell within." The witch instructed. Dante did as she said, trying to feel the magic. It was a strange sensation, like learning about a limb he never had before. After a few moments, the crystal shattered and the spell appeared in his mind.

Spell acquired – Faust Guard

Perfect!

While a healing spell would have been good, it could be compensated for with healing potions. The defensive spell could help not only him, but Sadeena as well.

"Thank you for your help." Dante said with a slight bow. "You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

"You're very welcome, dearie." The witch replied, a slight frown on her face. "Whatever you plan on doing, I hope you'll be careful."

"Yeah, me too." He said before they left the shop.

Once back on the main street, they had only one more stop before they left for the girls. They needed to visit the blacksmith. With not a lot of funds left, Dante wasn't going to bother, but he thought to at least thank the old man for his help.

Wait a minute, Erhard used to be an adventurer! A really high level one at that! Maybe we can recruit him.

Once inside the smithy, they quickly approached the counter.

"Hey, shield kid. What's—"

"Erhard, I want to hire you." Dante got straight to it.

"Sure. What kind of armor are you looking to have made? If you—"

"No, not that." Dante interrupted. "I want to hire you as an adventurer."

"Adventurer?" Erhard scratched his head. "Kid, I've retired from adventuring."

"I know, but this is important. It's about freeing some slaves." Dante went on, pulling out his sack of coins. "I don't have much right now—"

"Hold on." Erhard held up his hands.

"—But I can pay you about one hundred silver up front. If you give us a few weeks—"

"Kid, wait a second." The blacksmith tried to get word in.

"—We can get you a dozen times that. The noble, Idol Rabier, has some kids that—"

"Kid!" Dante looked up at the man, stopping his rant. "Just wait a moment. What's this about?"

"Ah. Right, um, some villagers…wait." Dante looked over at Sadeena and gave her a wink. He really should have thought of that before. She gave him a nod and he continued. "Some of the villagers from Lurolona are being held by the noble Idol Rabier. The man tortures and kills his slaves. We need your help to rescue them."

Erhard put his hand on his head and sighed. "Kid…do you realize what you're asking me?"

"I'm asking you to help free some slaves." Dante responded.

"You're asking me to help you steal from a lord of Melromarc, and a powerful one at that."

"But you're very high level, right?" Unless, of course, that also was different from what he thought.

"I am, but that's not the point." Erhard shook his head. "Look, helping you out is one thing, but to do this? I can't be involved."

"That's…yeah." Dante stopped to actually think about what he was asking. Sure, selling to the Shield Demon might not look incredibly good, but Erhard was running a business, and refusing to sell to a hero would be its own sort of bad. But this was stealing from a lord, possibly fighting one if things went bad.

"You're right. I'm sorry. This is…far too much to ask of you." Dante relented. He'd only been getting favors from him so far and hadn't given anything back in return, minus some business.

"I'm really sorry." Erhard continued. "I can sell you some weapons and armor, but that's all I can do."

"You've done plenty." Dante waved him off. "Actually, there is one other thing you can do."

"What's that?" The blacksmith asked.

"You have a shield in the back made from…a meteorite, I believe? Can I see it for a moment?" Dante almost forgot about that too. If he could copy and wield that, things would turn in their favor should a fight break out.

"Uh, yeah, I have something like that. More of your hero book knowledge?" He called back as he went into the back of his shop.

"More or less." Dante said.

The blacksmith brought back a somehow rough and glossy looking shield. If he didn't know better, Dante would have said it was some kind of iron shield.

Erhard handed it to him, and his weapon copy activated.

Siderite Shield (LV locked)

(abilities locked) equip bonus: skill "Shooting Star Shield"

Damn. I hoped I'd be high enough level, but it was a longshot.

"Thanks." He said, handing the shield back to Erhard.

"Sure." Erhard placed the shield on the ground behind the counter. "What'd you want to see it for anyway?"

"That's…I'll tell you when we get back." Dante said. If we get back, that is.

"I'll be looking forward to it." Erhard said somberly. He knew what they were about to do was probably incredibly dangerous.

"Oh, one last thing." Dante rummaged through his coin purse and pulled out a pile of silver and slid it over to the blacksmith.

"What's this for?" He asked, confused.

"It's for you." Dante said, stowing the rest of his coins again.

"I see that, but what's it for?" He asked again.

"For everything you've done for us until now." Dante said as he turned from the counter. Sadeena followed after him.

"Kid, you make it sound like you're—"

"We'll see you in a few days." Dante waved behind him as he left, ignoring what the blacksmith was about to say. He already knew it, he just didn't want to hear it out loud.

With that done, they mounted the filolials, Dante on Dio, Sadeena and Keel on JoJo. They passed the city gate, ignoring the look the guards gave them as they passed, and started making their way west.

They had a job to do.

~The Wrong Hero~

Several hours had passed on their ride. Dante spent the majority of the time cycling through his shields, comparing all theirs stats to one another, both locked and unlocked. He found he had the option to improve any shield he had the level to use. It was only a question of which one.

Most of the shields he revealed at Erhard's were good, some even a contender for the one to boost for the possible fight. However, despite other recently available shields having a few stats higher, and one even having all stats higher, Dante ended up choosing the Reinforced Iron Shield. He had two major reasons for this.

First was the Sword's rarity increasing ability. One of the first things he did was reset the mastery levels—the energy gathered from wielding the shields, again due to the Sword—and looked at the costs for all the shields. He didn't gain much, considering he only kept shields equipped long enough to unlock them. However, the Reinforced Iron Shield was the second strongest shield he could upgrade.

The second was the Spear's smelting ability. The only ore he had plenty of was iron, which the Reinforced Iron Shield used. He did get a silver from the porcupine and two copper from the giant frogs, but that wasn't enough to upgrade any good shields. It seemed multiple ore was required for smelting.

With what he had available, the Reinforced Iron Shield was his best option. With a 95% success rate, he confirmed his choice for upgrading rarity.

Success! Rarity increased.

Next, he'd smelt the shield. The first bonus had a 90% success rate.

Success! Shield refined.

He looked at the cost and odds to smelt again. The ore requirement was twice as much as the +1, and the rate dropped to 80%.

Failure! Shield smelting reset.

Damn it! Seriously?!

He tried again, spending the ore required. This time, he was able to get it to +2. When he looked at the cost, he simply shook his head.

It seems the ore cost increases linearly with the smelting level, but the success rate dropped down to 65%. If this fails, I won't have enough ore to get it back up to +2. This will have to do.

Then again, he did have the Projectile's ability to help with the chance. He looked to that power, and…

Yeah, not even close to enough money.

If he hadn't given the silver to Erhard, he might have considered it, but the chance wouldn't have increased that much.

All that was left was using monster souls for stat boosts and abilities in the shield, and equip some ore into the slots. There weren't any relevant special powers the souls could give the shield, but he did use an usapil soul to slightly increase his agility. He dumped the rest of his ore into the equip slots. For this shield, each iron gave a slight bonus to his defense, the silver a small magic boost, and the copper a slight agility boost.

He had his weapon ready.

Reinforced Iron Shield +2 (9/20) UC

(abilities locked) equip bonus: defense bonus (medium), skill "Cleave Bash"

status enhancement agility up (tiny)

These bonuses are…decent. I was hoping for more. Much more. Based on my stat growth per level, my defense with this shield is looking to be around…level 33.

He took a look at everyone's levels, and recalling Sadeena's.

Dante: LV 22

Sadeena: LV 31

Keel: LV 18

Dio: LV 19

JoJo: LV 18

A 50% bonus was nothing to scoff at, but with what they were walking into, Dante wanted more. He still had the Axe power up, since he hadn't fiddled with it since he arrived. The cooldown was off, but that only freed up the points he had at level 1. He put half into his defense, a quarter into agility, and another quarter into magic. Moving around the pieces in the weird puzzle, he got bonuses he was satisfied with.

Okay, now I'm around level 38 for defense. This is close to Naofumi's level, but he still had dozens of shields unlocked, with quite a number of them increasing defense, if I'm not mistaken. He also had much better armor, plus the stats of whatever shield he used, and was much more used to fighting with this world's rules. But I still have more I can use.

With the Gauntlet's power, he spent points to upgrade Air Strike Shield. There didn't seem to be a hard limit on how much he could power up a skill, aside from the maximum level of X, but it seemed increasing a skill beyond the 10's number of his level increased the cost dramatically. He was able to increase it to IV, but if he wanted to increase Shield Prison to that point when he unlocked it, he would need to gain another level.

With the Staff, he put every point into Faust Guard. Again, another level was needed to increase it to V.

For the Claw, the moment the Rope Shield was available, he had been using Air Strike Shield as often as his SP regeneration would allow. Currently, the proficiency was at 40%. That was good, he guessed, as it did reduce the cooldown and SP cost a little, but he hadn't noticed any other effects yet. Hopefully, it also made it stronger. He was doing the same for Faust Guard, so far with a proficiency of 5%. He was glad the Claw worked for magic as well.

There was no point using the Hammer's power, as most of his shields didn't have an equip effect. The same could be said for the Carriage, as the bonuses it provided were more for different monsters, plus a small increase in bronze coin drops.

This is…acceptable. I'm not going to look for a fight with the man, but I think we stand a half-decent chance if it comes to it.

The only other way to quickly gain power was through one of the curse series. Dante wasn't dumb enough to willingly do that, though. Wrath was the most likely one he could unlock, but he would be just as likely to kill his allies as his enemies with that, not to mention everyone in the area.

Sadeena was strong, but only a few of her levels came with Dante's hero bonuses, and none with the Slave User Series. Her years of experience would definitely play a big roll.

Dio and JoJo…might be strong enough to assist. Half of Filo's level, and with no accessories, they were at a big disadvantage. Keel was right out for a variety of reasons, the biggest one being he was still a child. With no maturation bonus, and no special lineage, he looked to be about twelve years old.

As far as shield equip bonuses, Dante was working on the Pipe Shield, with the next giving the biggest defense bonus he had time for. At their current rate, they would make it there by tomorrow evening.

By this time, however, the filolials were starting to slow. They knew the urgency, and had pushed themselves for nearly three hours straight, but they desperately needed a break.

"Sadeena!" Dante called to the woman ahead of him. "Let's stop by the next stream we see!"

"No! We need to keep going!" She returned, not looking back.

He understood her desire, but that wasn't going to happen.

"The filolials need rest! They're slowing down!"

"They'll be fine!"

Okay, this is ridiculous.

In a few minutes, Dante spotted a small river. He spurred Dio to catch up with JoJo.

"JoJo, stop at the river." He said to the bird.

"No! JoJo, keep going!" Sadeena replied.

JoJo, however, obeyed Dante's order and went to the river. He dunked his head into the water and drank greedily. Dio followed suit immediately.

"Damn it!" Sadeena yelled as she jumped off JoJo. "Dante, what are you doing?!"

"I could ask you the same thing." He stood next to Dio, meeting Sadeena's gaze.

"We need to get to Raphtalia!" She was right in his face, hers twisted in rage.

"I know, but we won't get there any faster if Dio and JoJo collapse from exhaustion." Dante calmly replied. He knew Sadeena understood this, but she wasn't thinking straight, even hours after learning about Raphtalia and Rifana.

"If you won't help, then I'll keep going without you! Come on, Keel." She walked past Dante.

"Keel, stay. I'll order it if I must." Dante told the dog boy before he could move.

Sadeena spun on her heel and drew her harpoon. "Don't make me kill you, Dante."

"You'll kill me?" Dante raised his hands and faced her. "The only one here able to help you? Keel is a child and the filolials follow me. What are you going to do by yourself when you get there?"

"I'll save Raphtalia! I'll do whatever it takes!" She pointed the harpoon at his throat.

"You'll die. Alone. With Keel, if you bring him along."

"Then I'll die alone!" She turned again and continued west.

"Damn it, Sadeena! Think about it for one minute!" Dante yelled, losing his patience. "Once Dio and JoJo have rested, we'll start again. We'll pass you on the way anyway, so you might as well wait. Better yet, go hunting for a bit."

"Why?" She stopped and looked over her shoulder. "To gain you more levels? Is that all I am to you? Someone to make you stronger?"

"For fuck's sake, Sadeena, I'm helping you here!" He knew she cared deeply for Raphtalia, willing to die for her, but this was just stupid. "Every level we gain makes it more likely for us to survive whatever is waiting for us, and, therefore, saving the kids."

She turned to fully face him. "And what if Raphtalia is already dead when we get there? What will your waiting have done then?

"If they're dead, you can kill me!" Dante yelled.

It took a moment for him to realize what he said. The orca woman was similarly shocked, as she couldn't seem to form any words. Dante decided to double down.

"If we're too late, by a minute or by a week, you can do what you want with me and I won't try to stop you."

Dante didn't want to die, not when he still had hope for his wish. But…he also didn't want to see Sadeena get herself killed. And, if he couldn't even save those kids from such a fate, maybe he didn't deserve to have his wish granted.

"…Fine." Sadeena walked off, heading towards the nearby woods.

Dante let out a breath and turned to the filolials. They'd just raised their heads from the river. Were they drinking this whole time?

Behind JoJo, Dante spotted Keel's shaking form. He approached the boy, noting his eyes were still on Sadeena's retreating form.

"You okay, kid?" He asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I've…never seen Sadeena that mad before…" He responded, easing his tremors.

"Yeah…" Dante couldn't recall any time Sadeena acted like that in the books. She always had an easy going attitude about her. The only time she really showed any strong emotions was when Raphtalia had worn that priestess outfit.

Well, there was one other time. In Motoyasu's loops, when she learned that Raphtalia was most likely dead, she basically lost the will to live and was letting her body die.

But this? This pure rage? Maybe it was because she knew Raphtalia was being tortured, or because it was too close in time to learning she lost the rest of her family.

"Look, Keel, I'm sorry you had to see all of that." Dante said, trying to at least comfort the boy. "Just let her blow off some steam on some monsters."

"Yeah…" Keel looked up at Dante. "Did you mean what you said to her?"

"I did." He replied, giving Keel a quick pat. "I'm staking my life on this."

In more ways than one.

After about twenty minutes, Sadeena returned with a number of dead monsters. Dante absorbed them into his shield and they continued again. They stopped several more times during the day, each break shorter, but with shorter travel times as well.

Once dusk arrived, they set up camp for the night. Dante prepped the food while Sadeena went out to grind some more experience. The filolials had eaten some stored usapil meat from Dante's shield on their breaks, with the others digging in to their rations, so a good meal was in order. It turned out that meat stored in the shield would decay and rot, but at a slower rate. He would need to keep tabs on that.

By the time Sadeena returned, Dante and the others had gained another level. The Pipe Shield was unlocked, so he upgraded Shield Prison to IV, as well as Faust Guard to V.

Sadeena and Keel had talked while they ate, her trying to apologize for scaring him like she did. Keel seemed to understand and forgave her.

Once night finally fell, Keel and the filolials went to sleep. They ended up in a small pile centered on Keel's bedroll, but only after Dante promised the filolials he would join them later. They were really getting attached to him.

Now, it was just Sadeena and Dante left awake. The flames from their fire were starting to dwindle, so Dante put some more wood on.

It didn't really help the awkward air around them.

"Dante." Sadeena said, gaining his attention. "I…wanted to apologize for my…outburst."

"It's fine, I get it." He said, stoking the fire.

"No, it isn't." Sadeena sat next to him on the log. "You're helping me…us, and I've been ungrateful."

"It's not like I haven't gotten anything from our arrangement." Dante folded his hands on his lap.

"Yes, but still…" She didn't meet his eyes.

It really did look like all she needed was to take her frustrations out on some unsuspecting monsters. A decent short term fix, but not something for the long term. She needed to save Raphtalia.

More than that, right now, she needed a friend. Someone who knew what she was going through.

"My whole world was taken from me two weeks before I was summoned." Dante said as he stared into the fire. Sadeena finally looked over at him. "When it was…I yelled, I cried, I broke whatever was around me. At first. Then, my thoughts turned to revenge."

He pushed the branches in the fire around. "I knew who was responsible, so I took my revenge. It didn't take long, and it wasn't hard, but it wasn't enough. I then turned my attention to the people in their group, who all had their own sins. After that, I went after anyone I could that had any connection to them at all."

The flames danced as they consumed more of the kindling. "Of all the people I killed in my spree, maybe half of them deserved it. Some of them deserved imprisonment, and the others…"

He turned to Sadeena and looked her in the eyes. "But I didn't care. Not then, and not at my death before being summoned. My only regret was losing what I loved, and the choices that directly led to it, nothing more."

Dante placed his hand on Sadeena's, making sure to hold her gaze. "I know what it's like to lose yourself in grief and rage. To lose everything you hold dear. But, please, if nothing else, don't become like me." He gave a slight shrug. "If we are too late, there are things to do before you kill me. We have a list of people responsible. We can take care of them, and only them. We can raise Keel's level and prepare him to face the world. Whatever you want."

Sadeena looked into his eyes. There were no lies to be found there, that much Dante was certain of. She turned her head to the side and let out a small laugh. "My, this turned into a real serious conversation, didn't it~?"

Dante gave a soft laugh of his own. "I definitely prefer seeing you like this. Just don't feel like you need to force it." He stood from his seat on the log and walked over to the filolials. "I'm sure I'll wake up in a few hours. I'll take over then."

"You're a good man, Dante." Sadeena said as she stood. "You're helping us, after all."

"No, not good. Not for a long time now."

"Nonsense~." Sadeena gave another laugh. "You know what I used to be, and you think I'm good for who I am now."

Dante shook his head. "You were forced to do what you did. Me? I always had a choice." Dante laid down against Dio, her wing instinctively covering him.

~The Wrong Hero~

After another unrestful sleep, Dante took watch as Sadeena slept. In the morning, they quickly ate and started again.

Hours seemed to pass more slowly as they approached their destination. There wasn't much to say on their travels, so they mostly passed it in silence. Dante had his shield continue to produce healing potions, plus some medicine and nutritional pills for when they rescued the girls. There was no telling what state they would be in.

By late afternoon, they arrived. A few plots of farmland greeted them with a small mansion sitting in the background. Demi-humans worked the fields, some chatting with one another as they worked.

They continued down the road until they reached the mansion. A pair of human guards stood at the door, but no particularly heavy defenses.

One of the guards approached as they dismounted their filolials, now in their filolial queen and king forms.

"What business do you have here, sir?" The guard asked. He carried himself with authority, but not overly so.

"I need to speak with Lord Reichnott." Dante said to the guard. "It's about some demi-human slaves that are in need of help."

The guard exchanged looks with his companion. The second guard opened the door to the mansion and went in. "Wait here." The first guard said, returning to his post.

In a few short minutes, the doors to the mansion opened again. A kindly looking man with dark blue hair and small spectacles came out, followed closely by another. His follower was a rabbit demi-human woman. Dante quickly noted that her left ear was missing, along with her right forearm. She wore a simple piece of breastplate and had a shortsword strapped to her right hip. She was slightly taller than Reichnott, but both shorter than Dante.

"Greetings." Reichnott said with a small smile. "I understand you're looking for help?"

"We are." Dante said, casting a glance at Sadeena. "We know of a few demi-human slaves who are being tortured and are likely to be killed."

"Ah." Reichnott's smile instantly faded. "Perhaps we should discuss this inside."

They followed the man and his bodyguard inside, though she made sure to keep herself between them. Dante tried to keep the filolials outside, but they were fairly insistent in going with him. Reichnott waved it off and they were allowed in.

Once in the dining area, Reichnott took a seat at the head of the table. He gestured for the others to sit as well. Dio and JoJo stood behind Dante, and the rabbit woman behind Reichnott.

"So," Reichnott began, "I believe I know what you're referring to."

"That's not as comforting to hear as you may think." Dante said. At least they all seemed to be on the same page. "I was under the impression such things were made illegal here. For you to know about it…"

Reichnott nodded solemnly. "Lord Idol Rabier. He was known for his cruelty to demi-humans after the war. About ten years ago, the queen passed a law prohibiting the torture of demi-human slaves. Of course, not everyone agreed with this, given the nature of the war."

This type of hatred runs deep. Who knows how many loved ones were lost in that war.

"Has the queen not cracked down on this since then?" Dante asked. Of course, he knew the queen wasn't all powerful, but even she should've been able to do something with her shadow network.

"She has." Reichnott confirmed. "Unfortunately, like I said, not everyone agrees with her edict. That includes some officials who investigate claims of torture."

Bureaucracy at its finest. Some things never change, no matter the world.

"Well, that doesn't really matter right now." Dante moved past that point. "What we need is a way into Idol's mansion to rescue a few slaves he has."

"I see." Reichnott nodded with a frown. "However, I cannot be involved in this sort of thing. My own position in this country has taken a hit recently, so aiding you in this is impossible."

"There's nothing you can do?" Sadeena asked.

"I'm sorry to say, I cannot help you." The noble stood from his seat. "Now, I believe I shall take a walk around my estate. Please, rest for a moment with my companion."

He calmly walked through the door to the dining area, closing it behind him. All eyes turned to the rabbit woman in the room.

"What do you plan on doing with that bastard?" She asked as she sat down. She clenched her fist on the table as she glared at them.

Dante and Sadeena exchanged a look before he spoke. "Ideally, kill him. Realistically, avoid him and rescue our friends."

The rabbit woman hummed. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"We were hoping for some help in that regard." Dante gestured to his group. "We don't have many with us, so fighting our way through isn't really an option. If we had a way to draw guards away from the mansion, it would be a good start."

That was partly what allowed Naofumi's group to get in. The guards were distracted by a riot, and Filo was able to jump across rooftops. JoJo and Dio were becoming stronger, but they weren't there yet.

"I have something for that." The rabbit woman nodded. "The forests in the bastard's lands. They're one of his main exports. Set fire to those, and he'll send his guards running."

That was a very good start. It hit a little close to what Malty did in the books, but so be it.

"Of course, that would mean traffic in the town would be higher as well." She continued.

That was also true. Ignoring the moving soldiers, a lot of people would be woken up from the commotion. A lot of eyes.

"I don't suppose you know of a way to sneak in, do you?" Dante asked, hopeful.

A wicked grin spread on the rabbit woman's face. "As a matter of fact…"

As it turned out, there was a secret escape route from the mansion. It was built atop a plateau, and sometime after the war, Idol used slaves to dig out a narrow passage through the ground and into the forest below. The rabbit woman drew a rough map of where the exit should be. It was on the western side of the plateau, so they would need to set fire to the eastern forests.

"This is incredible." Dante said, marveling at the map. "How do you know about this?"

The rabbit woman grimaced. "I was a slave of his at the time. Not one of the workers, but one for his…personal pleasures." She rubbed the stump on her right arm. "After it was completed, he killed all the slaves who worked on it. The ones who didn't die from exhaustion and starvation, anyway."

"I see." Dante gave her a look. "I'm sorry that happened to you. I don't suppose you'd be interested in getting a little revenge, would you?"

She shook her head. "No. My level was reset when I became a slave, and my fighting days are long past me. Besides, I don't want to do anything to put Lord Reichnott in harm's way. He's been good to me these past ten years."

Dante took a closer look at her. He hadn't noticed before, but there were a few grey streaks in her hair. Her face also had a few wrinkles on it. If he had to guess, she may have once been a soldier for Siltvelt. Reichnott even may have been the one to free her.

"This much, I can do. I'll also provide some torches for your mission." She lowered her head. "It's the least I can do for the Shield Hero."

Well, it wasn't like Dante was trying to hide it. A sparkling gem in the center of his shield was a good indicator.

"This is plenty." Dante stood. "Thank you for your help. We'll leave once night falls." Dante extended his left hand to the rabbit woman.

Her eyes seemed to glow for a moment before she stood as well and grasped his hand. They shook, a small smile plain to see on her face. When he tried to pull back his hand, her grip on his stayed. Dante merely smiled and drew her into a hug. A small gasp escaped her as she wrapped her arms around him, stump and all.

Yep. Definitely from Siltvelt.

Dante stepped back from the rabbit woman. "I'll need to speak to Lord Reichnott again before we leave, if it's not too much trouble."

"Of course, Lord Shie—I mean, Sir Shield Hero." The rabbit woman quickly corrected herself and left the room to get the supplies and inform Reichnott.

"Oh my~" Sadeena laughed in her seat. "I didn't know you were interested in older women~."

"Hush, you." Dante waved her off. He wouldn't lie, there was a certain attraction to women who could throw a good punch. There would be time for such things later. "Alright, let's get a plan together."

"Right." Sadeena agreed. Dante took his seat again. "If you and I are going in, perhaps Keel should set the fires."

"Yeah." Dante nodded and looked to Keel. "How about it?"

"I…Yeah, I can do it." Keel quickly agreed.

"Good. We'll travel north together and split once we're close. You'll take one of the filolials to cover more ground and escape any pursuit. We'll take the other and have it wait outside the exit."

"Gweh!" Both Dio and JoJo squawked, clearly unhappy.

"Look, I'd like to take one of you with me, but you heard…" He'd forgotten to ask for a name again. He really needed to get better at that. "…her. The passage is narrow, and both of you changed forms recently. Besides, you'd be too easy to spot and are too identifiable if we're witnessed there."

At his comment, both filolials erupted in a puff of smoke. When it cleared, they both looked as they did the previous day.

"…Okay, I'm glad you both can do that, but you may still not fit." Dante placed a hand to his chin. "Unless, of course, either of you can shift into a smaller form. Perhaps similar to when you were chicks?"

JoJo and Dio looked at each other, then at Dante in deep concentration. They looked like they burst at any moment.

Dio let out another plume of smoke and emerged as a chick. JoJo continued to try, only to give up when nothing happened.

"Gweh…"

"Well, that's that then." Dante said as he gave JoJo a quick stroke. "JoJo will go with Keel, Dio with Sadeena and I. Rest up. Come sundown, we'll move out."

~The Wrong Hero~

Night was quickly approaching. Dante had expected it to take longer, but he supposed his potential death sped up the clock a little.

Of course, before night fell, Dante had another meeting with Fiadia, the rabbit woman, after talking with Reichnott. She was writing two letters for him, one in Melromarc's language, and the other in Siltvelt's.

"This is all fascinating." The rabbit woman observed, looking over the contents of the letters. "How did you come across this information?"

"It's a hero thing." Dante said simply. He wanted there to be a record of some of the things to come, or potentially come. The plot of the church, the Spirit Tortoise, Kyo, Takt, the true meaning of the waves (as far as he knew). If he died tonight, he wanted the next set of heroes to be prepared for what was to come. Hopefully, the king and church wouldn't try to summon all the heroes again. But, of course, that would be wishful thinking at best. The letters may never even reach the heroes, if the church had their way.

"Well, I don't know much about that, but I'm happy to help." She said as she sealed the letters, after he signed them.

He considered asking Reichnott to write it, but he was still a lord of Melromarc. Telling him about all that directly might be a bad idea. Still, he didn't want to leave him out to dry, and Fiadia would keep him safe.

Dante stored the letters in his pack. "There's one more thing I need from you before we leave."

"Of course, Sir Shield Hero. What is it?"

"Another letter. This one, make sure the words aren't too difficult."

Dante said what he wanted written in the letter. As he dictated the words, Fiadia's smile slowly disappeared.

"Sir Shield Hero…" She gave him a sad look.

"I know. It's just in case." He said as he took the third letter.

"Well, I'll pray for your success." She said with a slight bow.

"Thanks." Dante could use all the help he could get. "Before I leave, is there anything I can do for you? I'd rather not leave anything unfinished if I can help it."

Fiadia perked up at that. "Actually, Sir Shield Hero, if it's not too much trouble…" She held out her hand.

Dante smiled and grasped it, giving it a firm shake.

He gave her a knowing look. "You sure you don't want another hug?"

Fiadia retreated her hand. "Ah, ahem, that would be incredibly improper to ask of you, Sir Shield Hero."

"If you say so." He said with a wave, leaving the room. He made his way out of the mansion, pulling from his pack. Once outside, he lit his last cigarette.

He took a drag from it and looked up to the moon near the horizon. Yeah, still weird to look at.

"Hey." He looked over at Sadeena as she walked over.

"Hey." He returned.

"Are you ready?" She asked, noting the setting sun.

"No." Dante pulled in another breath of smoke before he put out the cigarette on the ground. He puffed out the smoke as he started towards where the others were waiting.

"Let's go."