Chapter 52: Chapter 51 – The Ultimatum

Author Note: Sorry for missing a chapter yesterday, I was up all night with food poisoning so I couldn't finish it. This chapter will be the last one for this week as tomorrow is my birthday, and I will likely be incapacitated on Friday...I am going to an Irish Pub with friends so yeah.
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—Cole POV—

Handing the freed slaves over to my fathers-in-law, the men promised to get them rehomed and food to fill their stomachs. Getting a glimpse of one of the many villages across the Special Zone, the former slaves were taken aback by the stark contrast between the life they knew and the life they had in front of them. Seeing an abundance of life, many races living together, and the amount of food for sale…it was a lot for them to take in.

 

“Is this Heaven?”, a few of the families asked.

 

Laughing at that, Sir Boltan told them it wasn’t.

 

“Nah if this was Heaven there’d be more mead and spirits to drink!”, he proclaimed with a smile, “Come along then, I will have my boys whip you up several houses by the end of the day! Let me know if you have any special requests for your homes!”

 

Motioning for them to follow, the Dwarf led the families away to find good plots of land for their new homes. Thanking me several times before chasing after him, I hoped that they would enjoy some peace after the hell they’d been through. Closing the portal after that, I turned around and found Naofumi giving me a questioning gaze.

 

“Any way you might be able to send me back to my world?”, he asked.

 

Shaking my head, I apologized as I told him there was no way to send him back. Finding the exact world he came from would be like finding a needle in an ever-expanding haystack. Since he had nothing but the clothing on his back to link him to his world, he was stuck here for life now.

 

“It was worth a shot.”, he sighed looking at his new comrades, “So what are your names?”

 

“Ra…Raph…Raphtalia.”, the young girl struggled to say aloud over her coughing, “Th…thank you…for purchasing…us.”

 

“Senko…my name is Senko, and I appreciate you purchasing me Shield Hero-sama.”, the Kitsune said bowing her head, “It is an honor to serve the Shield Hero.”

 

“Please just call me Naofumi.”, he replied caught off guard by her words, “I am not anything special, I am just an average guy.”

 

Getting to know them a bit, Naofumi asked Senko why she had assassin skills and how she ended up a slave. Glancing over at me, she asked if that was the reason I singled her out from among the other criminals. Admitting that I had seen her stats and titles, the Kitsune let out a defeated sigh as her secrets were out in the open.

 

“I became an Assassin to avenge my parents and provide for my younger sister. Our village was torn apart by Melromarc Noblemen trying to make quick money by selling demihuman villagers into slavery.”, Senko told us knowing that she couldn’t hide it from us, “Our mother hid us beneath the floorboards while our father stalled for time…they…they butchered him inside the doorway to our home just as mother put the floorboards back in place. Running away from the guards as they ran into the house, the noblemen’s guards caught her, and…and had their way with her as we cowered beneath them. When they eventually hauled everyone away, we fled to Siltvelt where I joined the military in order to put food on our table.”

 

“You came here to assassinate a nobleman, right?”, I asked not seeing a visible reaction, “...or were you sent here to prevent the Hero Summoning?”

 

“I was sent here to try, and stop the summoning ritual should Melromarc break the agreement. Unfortunately, a criminal framed me for a crime I didn’t commit and I was sold off as a slave before I could reach the capital.”, she replied with an annoyed looked as she recalled the entire situation.

 

Thanking us again for buying her, she said she was more than happy to be of assistance to the Shield Hero. Though she wasn’t saying it aloud, I could tell she was hoping he’d bring the people that tore her family apart to justice. Deciding against telling Naofumi about it, I let it go as she should be smart enough to know what will happen to him if she lashes out. Until the Queen returned, Naofumi had to keep a low profile to prevent himself from getting into trouble.

 

Now that Naofumi had someone competent with him, I felt comfortable sending him out into the city with them.

 

“Alright then, you will need to get them equipped for combat and take a few combat quests to get them comfortable with fighting alongside you. Have Senko take point and recon threats for Raphtalia and yourself, then strategize from there.”, I told him, “In the event you feel the odds are stacked against you, fall back and move on. Unlike the way the idiots think, you don’t get to respawn or restart this life.”

 

“Got it, that means you not coming along with us?”, he asked out of curiosity.

 

“We will meet you later this afternoon, I have a few things I need to take care of before heading out for the day.”, I assured him, “Let’s say I need to take out an insurance policy for a few problems on the horizon.”

 

Nodding his head, the three of them headed out to get the demihuman women what they needed for combat. Turning back to my wives, I said I wanted to do some recon of my own before rejoining their group. Asking what I was looking for, I checked to make sure no one could overhear us before telling them.

 

“The Queen has agents that follow her around, but I am certain she left a few behind to watch her family closely. She had to know that Malty is a corrupt person and that her husband would blindly trust her.”, I whispered, “I want to find one of them, and relay a message to her because of what is to come. Not only are they a problem, but there is also another group that wants him dead in a hurry.”

 

“How did he piss off so many people already?”, Leona inquired, “Also, what is going to happen?”

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“This country has a religious cult called the Church of Three Heroes, and as the name implies they only worship three of the four Heroes…the Shield Hero is the one they don’t worship.”, I stated, “They want him to kill because they feel he is a heretic and a fake. Unfortunately, that will grow to include the other three heroes as well once they realize they are incompetent people. They will use innocent people to try and kill them in the name of God.”

 

Having seen this happen before, Purlin wasn’t happy about it.

 

“Religious Fanatics…”, she hissed in anger, “They are the worst type of person because nothing you say will reason with them.”

 

During my time as Demon King, we encountered many religious orders which sent many innocent people to their deaths trying to stop our advance. Blinded by the promises of everlasting rewards in the afterlife, believers would literally sacrifice themselves to receive the blessings of their god. On many occasions, our forces were caught off guard by civilians who would latch themselves onto the troops and overload magic crystals causing them to explode. It made things much more difficult for us as the organizations would claim we were slaughtering innocent people when in fact they were the ones sending them out to die.

 

‘I don’t blame people for looking for hope in dark times, but some things are just too much.’, I thought, ‘The looks on their faces when they realized it was all a lie…I can’t imagine the guilt they must have had. They through their lives away for nothing, and ended up harming the people they loved far more than they did us.’

 

“So where do we start looking for them?”, Alpha asked me with excitement, “Is there a secret base under the city, or are we going to pretend to be spies like in those movies you told us about?!”

 

Chuckling at how cute she looked, I told her we weren’t going to be doing that today.

 

“There are bound to be one or two following Malty, we just need to track them from a distance till an agent shows up.”, I chuckled looking at Silva and Repune, “Think you can handle that?”

 

Puffing their chests out with pride, the two of them assured me that they could take care of it. Letting them lead the way, I used magic to make us unnoticeable as we walked through the crowds. People could sense where we were, but they wouldn’t be able to clearly identify us should they try to recall our appearance. It made moving through crowds easier as being invisible would have caused far too many problems if someone were to bump into us.

 

Finding the trio of idiots wandering around the city, they had a huge group of people following them around. Watching them flirt with maidens, I did my best not to hurl at how stupid they looked…especially the Spear Hero. As I searched through the cloud for someone who appeared to be out of place, I spotted one woman who was monitoring the group from afar. Dressed as a worker, no one seemed to notice that she was even there.

 

“Purlin, think you can snatch that woman for me?”, I stated pointing her out, “Make sure she doesn’t let out a peep.”

 

“Hehe, I got it!”, she giggled jumping off the building into a side alley below.

 

Watching her stroll out into the road, in her house cat form, she slinked through the crowd completely unnoticed. Working her way towards the woman, the agent didn’t even register her presence till she was right there. Bending down to scratch her head, Purlin seized her the moment she was out of view from the people on the road. Teleporting her to our roof, the agent stumbled to the ground as she lost her balance.

 

“Piece of cake!”, Purlin said as she returned to her human form.

 

Scratching her ears as a reward, I gave the agent a few moments to gather herself. Once she registered what was going on, she went to reach for her dagger.

 

“Don’t even try it!”, Leona growled ready to pounce on her, “You’ll be dead before you unsheath your weapon!”

 

“Now now, we aren’t here to start a fight with the Queen’s Guard.”, I chuckled bashing Leona on the head, “Apologies, she is pretty quick to violence when she should be more diplomatic.”

 

“So you know who I am then…shouldn’t you be with the Shield Hero?”, she inquired, “Our reports said you took him under your wing, though we have no information on who you are.”

 

Shrugging my shoulders, I told her I had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. Passing along the information I remembered about the Church of Three Heroes, I asked her to pass the Queen a message for me.

 

“Please handle the situation before I have to step in…I am not as kind of a ruler as she is towards traitors.”, I remarked, “If I have to step in, I will take the Shield Hero to Shieldfreeden or Siltvelt for his own safety. Malty and the King have already tried several times to defame him already…I won’t tolerate further troublemaking from them.”

 

“You realize you are basically threatening the country, right?”, she remarked.

 

“A threat is an understatement…it’s an ultimatum.”, I said with a stern look, “This is the only warning she gets, she should keep her idiot husband and whore daughter on a tighter leash. If she had, she wouldn’t be scrambling to salvage her negotiations with Melty.”

 

Agreeing to pass along my message, I teleported her back to her spot in the crowd. Since I had no interest in watching three idiots trying to bed as many women as they could, we left the area and headed out to meet with Naofumi and company.

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