I am not the shield hero

The first part of the plan was easy enough to enact. They went to the opposite end of town and took out the two mercenaries posted at the entrance. Sadeena rode on Dio while Keel was on JoJo, both chasing down the hidden members of the ambush group. It was a bit anticlimactic seeing them get run down like that. Dante didn't know what level these guys were, but it couldn't have been over 20. Or, maybe they were, and the stat gains were better than he originally thought. Whatever the case, everyone had gained a level from those 10 mercenaries.

When they returned to the town center, everyone there was ready. Rokkar and the ones who had combat experience took up positions for the ambush. There were only 11 warriors among them. Dante's party hid nearby, keeping a view of the roadway to the mansion. Some of the civilians started making a ruckus to draw out the guards. After a few minutes, men and women on horses came down. There were 10 in total, galloping rather close together.

With a formation like that, Dante altered the plan. Originally, they were going to wait for them to come right to the center and then surround them, cutting off their escape. But, if they wanted to pack so close together like that…

"Air Strike Shield IV!" Dante loosed his skill parallel to the ground. He had it a couple feet in the air, obstructing the path of the horses. The first four riders tumbled to the ground with their mounts, with another one not changing course in time and trampling one of his comrades. The others were able to continue to the center.

Arrows flew through the air at the downed mercenaries. These ones were better protected, having more metal in the armor, plus a few had helmets. However, even with that, they still took noticeable damage. Dante saw one in particular get an arrow through the eye, courtesy of the tanner.

When the arrows stopped, JoJo ran towards them with Rifana and Keel. The rest went after the ones that were surrounded in the center of town.

The axe Rokkar used was no halberd, but he was still able to hook a mercenary from his horse and throw him to the ground. He and two others hacked at the dropped mercenary, killing him in short order. When Rokkar turned around to find more enemies, a mercenary was almost upon him with her longsword drawn.

"Shield Prison IV!" The metal cage appeared between Rokkar and the mounted mercenary. She was flung from her horse as it collided with the prison. Rokkar gave a nod as he brought his axe down on this one as well.

Sadeena launched from Dio, harpoon in hand. "Zweite Thunderbolt" She finished her chant, striking a mercenary with her spell before finishing him with her harpoon.

As they rode by, Raphtalia slashed at another mounted mercenary as they tried to turn their steed around. He was knocked from the horse and held a hand to his side, trying to slow the bleeding. One of the townsfolk took a spear and thrust it into the mercenary's chest.

With their numbers being cut down so quickly, the remaining mercenaries tried to escape, but were unable. Any that were still on horses had their mounts killed from under them with arrows. Those on foot were run down by either Dio or JoJo.

The battle was already over. In the party, no injuries. For the townsfolk, a few injuries, no deaths. As for the ten mercenaries, nine were dead and one was injured with his wrists and ankles bound. Dante looked down at him.

"Listen," he began, taking a knee next to the bound man, "I've killed and tortured a number of people since coming here. A lot more than I thought I would. What do you say we skip the torture for you and you just tell me what I want to know, yeah?"

The man stared back at him, grimacing. He slowly nodded his head.

"Smart man." Dante stood. "So, about your friends…"

The bound mercenary spilled everything Dante wanted to know. Number of remaining mercenaries, their approximate levels, weapons and armor, spells, general tactics. He even gave a bit of extra information. The man in charge actually only gained that position about three weeks ago. He and a few buddies had a disagreement with the original boss and his lieutenants. It seemed to settle down, but then the new boss killed the old one the next day. It was a surprise to everyone else, seeing as the old boss had a class upgrade and the new one didn't, though he was close to the level. But they saw the old boss was moving much slower than normal, so they figured he and his lieutenants were poisoned. After that, the band split in half. These were the ones who followed the usurper.

"That's interesting and all, but not too relevant." Dante said. It kind of was, seeing as that gave him some insight into the leader. He was a coward, and would use any trick he could to survive. "You have anything else to barter for your life with?"

The man shook at that remark. "K-Knights! There are two Melromarc knights in the mansion!"

"Knights, you say?" Dante gave Keel a quick glance. "Do these knights have names?"

"Karta! One was named Karta! I don't know the other!"

"Karta, eh?" He recognized that name. It was on the list that other knight gave him. "That's a nice bit of information there." Dante looked over at the rest of his party. "Any other questions?"

"I think we have enough." Sadeena confirmed.

"Then…am I free to go?" The mercenary asked.

Dante smiled at him. "Sure." The mercenary's face lit up. "To be more precise, you successfully bargained for my share of your life. Good luck getting the rest from these people." Dante took a step back, letting the man get a full view of the townsfolk he helped terrorize.

"W-Wait!" He yelled. "You said you'd let me live if I told you what you wanted!"

"I said no such thing. I may have vaguely implied it, but that's on you for misinterpreting." Dante gave him a laugh. He turned to the rest of the townsfolk. "We'll finish off the mercenaries in the mansion. You can take the equipment off these guys, but leave the bodies."

There were some small discussions between the people, mostly on who was getting what. The tanner stepped forward, her bow in hand. She stood in front of the bound mercenary.

"Need…something…?" Dante's voice trailed off as the tanner shot an arrow into one of the mercenary's kneecaps. Then into the other. He screamed as the tanner placed a foot on his arm and shot another arrow into his elbow.

"…Right, then." Dante turned and signaled for his party to follow along.

He must have been the one to murder her son. Glad she's getting her revenge.

They walked up the road to the mansion. It looked to be a similar size to Reichnott's, perhaps a bit bigger. The gate had been broken down, likely from the wave. The damage they could see on the outside was bad, but not terrible. There must not have been enough people around for monsters to gather too heavily. A few windows were broken, a wall smashed in, and various claw marks, but that was the extent of the damage. It was a little strange, but what was stranger was not seeing any lookouts.

Dante cast his spell on everyone, including himself. If they were laying a trap, he wanted to be prepared.

Dante went up to the door and leaned against it. It wasn't even properly closed. He slowly pushed it open more and peered inside. Books, trays, broken plates, numerous objects were simply scattered on the foyer floor. He waved everyone forward, moving silently. Dio and JoJo were in their child forms for this part.

It didn't take long to find the mercenaries. Sadeena pointed them in the right direction. Nine of the ten were gathered in what looked to be the dining room. He guessed that, since the long table that was in the room was on its side and chopped to pieces. The mercenaries themselves were scattered around the room, lying on the floor. The closest one to the door was snoring loudly, his face slightly red.

Dante drew his hand across his face.

They're drunk. These dumb bastards are drunk and sleeping it off. It's not even noon. What, the ones that went out just weren't piss drunk at the time? Come to think of it, I thought I smelled alcohol on the one I interrogated.

Dante looked to everyone behind him and placed a finger over his lips. He then held up his hand, as if he was holding a knife, and drew it across his throat. The armed ones nodded. Raphtalia seemed to grimace a bit, but she went forward all the same. Dio and JoJo stood with Dante, ready to jump to action if any of them woke up. Of course, none of them did. There was a moment of panic as their throats were slit, but nothing outside of a gurgle was heard.

When they were finished, they went back to the foyer. Dante checked over everyone. Sadeena seemed fine. Raphtalia and Rifana were a bit shaken, but they waved him off. Keel, however, kept his eyes to the ground as he rubbed his arm.

"Hey." Dante whispered, placing his hand on Keel's arm. "You okay?"

Keel clenched his eyes shut before quickly nodding. Dante moved his hand up to Keel's head and kept it on top for a moment.

"You saw what they were doing here. You heard them at the town entrance. You did nothing wrong."

"I know…"

Dante lowered his arm and brought the boy in for a one-armed hug. Keel flinched at the action, but didn't try to move away.

"Sorry. Killing helpless people is different from a life or death fight. I shouldn't have had you do that, any of you. I wasn't thinking."

"No." Keel shook his head and stepped back. He had a hard look in his eye as he faced Dante. "You said you'd have to do things like this. I want to be able to. Besides, they would have made us slaves if they could. That guy at the entrance called Sadeena…"

Dante smirked at him. "Well, she's trying her best to sleep with one person, at any rate." That earned him a light smack from the woman in question. "With that settled, all that's left is the leader and a pair of knights. Sadeena?"

She led them down the halls of the mansion. It was seeming like they'd get to cross off two names from the list today.

They've already got looting, kidnapping, enslaving, and murder on their rap sheets. Why not add extortion to the list, and whatever else they helped these mercenaries do?

They came to a large kitchen, which looked ransacked like the rest of the rooms they passed. An open door seemed to lead downstairs, and—

"Hah, I still can't believe this!" They heard a man's voice bark out. "You knights know how to treat your friends, huh!"

"Of course." A woman's voice followed after. "Anything to disgrace this land once cursed with those beasts."

"You should bring Davon Mallory here with you next time! I'm sure he'd love what we've done with the place!"

"Unfortunately, Sir Mallory is quite busy with his duties."

The voices were getting closer, coming from a nearby staircase from the second floor. There was room to hide underneath, so Sadeena, JoJo, and Keel hid there. Dante and Raphtalia ducked into the kitchen, while Rifana and Dio passed the doorway they just came through.

Once hidden, Dante peered around the doorframe. He saw two people coming down the stairs. The woman was dressed like the other Melromarc knights he'd seen. The man, however, was in much more casual clothes than he thought a mercenary boss would be wearing. He had on pants and a tunic, with no armor, and only a dagger at his hip.

They were headed right for the kitchen.

"Well, if he doesn't come soon, he won't be able to have any enjoyment himself." The boss said.

The woman chuckled darkly. "Trust me, knowing what you're doing is enjoyment enough."

"Hah!" The mercenary boss passed through the doorway. "I love how such a twisted man became—"

"Air Strike Shield IV!" Dante's barrier covered the doorway, cutting off the boss from the knight. "Take them alive!"

"What the hell?!" The knight drew her sword and swung it at the barrier, merely receiving a clang for her effort. In the next moment, her body was slammed against the shield, held in place by a large group of feathers.

"What is—" The boss had little he could do. With only a dagger, Raphtalia was able to quickly overwhelm him. She stuck him to the wall with her new sword through his shoulder. When he went to retaliate, she trapped his hand with her dagger.

With the fight already over, they went about tying up the mercenary and knight. Once again, Dante was incredibly disappointed.

"I'd like to say we won because we're so competent, but it's more that they are exceedingly less so." He lamented.

"It's fine~." Sadeena said, finishing tying up the knight.

"Hardly." Dante shook his head. "If we don't find more competent people to try and kill me, my instincts will dull."

"Let me out of these ropes, and I'll arrange that." The mercenary boss said, gritting his teeth.

"I said competent." Dante retorted. "Not some coward who splits his group in half because he wants to call the shots."

"Hmph. Looks like someone has a big mouth." The boss turned his head.

"Don't worry, he's probably dead by now. Speaking of which…" Dante looked around. He found a basin on the floor near the stove. There were a couple unbroken mugs scattered around. As for cloth, the mercenary's shirt would do.

"Oh, Dante~." Sadeena leaned in next to him. "Let me handle the questioning."

"You sure?" Dante looked her in the eye. "You don't have to."

Sadeena nodded. "I am. This one let his little band attack my family." She pointed at the mercenary with her harpoon before pointing it at the knight. "And this one betrayed that family."

Dante looked over the knight—Karta—as she glared up at Sadeena. "Well, I suppose so. Knights are supposed to protect the people."

"It's more than that." Sadeena stepped forward, her harpoon inches from Karta's throat. "She was a knight in Lord Seaetto's service."

"Really~?" Dante held his hand to his chin. A smile grew on his face. "Girly, you're about to experience hell."

It was amazing, really. How could someone who hated demi-humans be in service to the lord who was friendly with them? Maybe it was one family serving another, and this generation changed its views.

"I'm not afraid of some beast!" She bellowed.

"We'll see about that. I'm looking forward to seeing you and your friend—oh!" Dante just realized what he was forgetting. "Sadeena, let's do this right. We need that other knight here for this."

The mercenary laughed, and the knight joined in.

"Did I tell a joke?" Dante asked the giggling pair.

"Heh, no, not at all." He said, smirking.

"Well, where is he? Or she?" Dante asked.

"Where? I wonder…" The mercenary looked around the kitchen, as if the knight was hiding around.

Keel, however, didn't seem to be in the mood for games. He swiftly brought his axe down, severing the mercenary's foot from the rest of his body. The man let out a blood curdling scream.

"Where is the knight!?" Keel yelled at the screaming man.

"AH! C-Cellar! In the cellar! Ahhhh!" The guy at least had enough sense to stop screwing around.

"Good work, Keel." Dante said, dropping some healing salve from his shield. "Go ahead and patch him up. I'm sure the people outside will want a word with him. Sadeena and I will grab the last knight. The rest of you watch these two."

"Can we look around the big house?" Dio asked, JoJo standing behind her.

"Well...sure." Dante said, sending them off. There was only one knight left, Dante and Sadeena could handle them.

They walked over to the staircase at the other side of the kitchen, the man's yelling quieting down as they descended the stairs. Once they reached the bottom, they saw a row of sideways barrels lining the wall, likely filled with some form of ale. On the other wall was a rack of wine bottles.

"Oh my~." Sadeena marveled at the abundance of alcohol.

"Now I know why the mercenaries were so drunk." Dante gazed at the barrels. "And I know what we'll probably be doing tonight."

"Oh my~. Planning on getting children drunk? That's not the sort of thing a hero should do~."

Dante shook his head as he took point. "I don't think a big sis should let a child pursue someone nearly three times her age, though physically similar at this point. That's a bit worse, yeah?"

Sadeena hooked Dante's arm in hers as they walked. "Demi-humans grow up as they level. Not just physically, but mentally. You know this."

"Yeah, but it's still a little weird to see it. She was 10 just yesterday, you know. Shouldn't we be looking for the knight?" Dante tried to get them back on track.

"I suppose humans do find it a little off-putting, more so for people not from this world. As for the knight…" She pointed with her free hand. Around the corner, there was a wider area with less in it. She pointed to a few stacked crates, indicating the knight was behind them.

Dante nodded and freed himself. If the knight was preparing to ambush them, Dante would be the one to take the hit. His spell was still active, his level was higher than when they fought Idol, and he had more shields unlocked. Granted, only a couple of those shields increased his stats, but he was more than confident he could take a single knight, especially if they were on the list. Davon Mallory was the only knight with a high level, the rest were low 30s.

He rounded the corner, shield up and ready.

The dim lighting briefly showed him a human form.

In an instant, a swirl of pink filled his vision.

Hands grasped a jagged piece of metal and thrust it towards his chest. With lightning speed, the metal came into contact with his chest…and instantly broke.

"No!" The person, a woman, yelled. She brought up what remained of her weapon and brought it down on Dante. He blocked it with his shield, more out of reflex than conscious choice. He was too focused on what he was seeing. "Die, die, DIE!"

"You…" Dante looked the woman over. Her hands were bound together with a thick rope, a small length sticking out where she was likely tied to something. Her face was bruised, bloody, and looked crazed. Aside from a shirt that was shredded and barely covered her at all, she wore no clothing. And she had long, strawberry-blond hair that went down to her hips.

"Die, you bastard!" She screamed, slamming her shiv into Dante's shield, completely shattering her weapon.

"E-Eclair! Stop!" Dante regained his senses. "I'm not with those mercenaries!"

"Rahhh!" Eclair continued her assault, smashing her fists into Dante. He'd already lowered his shield, letting her hit his face to no effect.

"Eclair Seaetto, please! You're safe now!" He tried to grab her arm, only for her to knock it away and keep swinging.

"Bastarrrrd!" She screamed as her hands continued to slam against Dante. Blood started to gather on her hands, but it wasn't Dante's.

"Sadeena!" Dante called behind him. "Stop her before she seriously hurts herself!"

Sadeena quickly came around the corner and grabbed Eclair from behind. The bound woman tried to kick Dante as Sadeena pulled her back, only for her to suddenly go limp.

"Please…" Her voice sounded so broken, losing all of its vigor from a moment ago. "No more…I can't…"

Dante held up his hand again. "It's okay, you're safe now."

Eclair flinched at his movement. He slowly took a step back and lowered his arm.

"We aren't here to hurt you. We're friends." Dante took a hard look at the woman. In addition to her face, there were bruises all over her body. Cuts, gashes, a few burns, this woman had seen hell. Dante's eyes trailed down her body. When they reached about midway down, he turned his head away.

Goddammit. What's wrong with this fucking country?

He slowly lowered his body to the floor, letting a few items drop from his shield.

"I have a few thing that can help you." He said softly. "If you're okay with it, I'll apply them myself. I have a shield that boosts the effects of medicine I administer." He kept his eyes on Eclair, seeing no reaction to his words. "I'm the Shield Hero, Dante MacRory." Even with his introduction, she said nothing.

Dante raised himself up and took another step back. "What do you think?" He asked Sadeena.

She eased Eclair down, the woman sinking to the ground. "I'll give those to her." She said. "If we need more, I'll come get you."

"Right…" Dante dropped a tunic and pair of pants for her, turned around, and went back upstairs.

How long was she here? Since the mercenaries arrived? Longer? Why wasn't she locked up at the castle?

Once he reached the top of the stairs, he heard laughing. The other knight had a shrill, dark laugh as she looked Dante's way.

"Guess you found the honorable knight! Was she all that you thought she'd—"

Dante slammed into the knight. His hand wrapped around her throat as the woman started gasping for air.

"Someone gag this piece of shit before I choke the life out if her!"

~The Wrong Hero~

It wasn't too long before Sadeena came back upstairs, maybe fifteen minutes. Eclair was still in the cellar. Sadeena was able to give her some medicine, but it was clear there was more wrong with her. Aside from the obvious trauma these people inflicted, she was most likely drugged.

It didn't take long to get the information out of the boss. Dante retrieved a mostly empty bottle of what they'd been using on Eclair from the boss's person. He looked it over with his appraisal skill. It seemed to dull some senses and heighten others. Dante had a feeling which ones they were.

He had Sadeena lead him back down into the cellar. Sadeena approached Eclair first, easing her. She sat in the corner and was wearing the clothes Dante left her, though they were a bit off, like Raphtalia's and Rifana's. Her face was a bit better now than it was before, but it still looked worn out. Once Sadeena made sure she was calm, Dante switched to his Sunflower Shield.

"Detox." It didn't seem like that activated the skill, but saying it did bring up a help box. It indicated that the detox ability automatically removed poison from his body while steadily using SP. He could actively use it on someone else while in contact with them, though at an increased rate of consumption.

He slowly held up his hand to Eclair, who was seated against Sadeena. "For my ability to work, I need to hold onto you. Is that okay?"

Eclair looked up at him, her eyes barely focused. Sadeena softly placed her hands on the woman's shoulders. She eased back further into Sadeena and gave a light nod.

"Alright." Dante knelt down and gently placed his hand on Eclair's arm. She flinched at his touch, but remained sitting. Dante could see his SP lowering in his status. He thought about it for a moment, then tried adding some points from the Gauntlets to the ability. It didn't seem to work. Either this wasn't a skill he could upgrade, being unique to the shield, or he needed to unlock it first.

He continued letting his shield do its work, the petals dropping from the shield as Eclair began to look a little better. When the last petal fell off, a popup appeared to Dante.

Detox Complete

The whole process took about five minutes. Dante wasn't sure if that was long or not for this shield. However, it did take up about half of his remaining SP.

"Alright, I'm done." He said, rousing Eclair. She blinked her eyes open, as if she'd just woken up. "How do you feel?"

Eclair looked at her hand. Her fingers twitched. "Like I've woken up from a nightmare, only to realize I'm still in one."

"I see…" Dante looked at her hand as well, trying to understand her meaning.

"Ah, forgive me!" She hastily bowed her head. "My mind is much clearer than it was. You have my deepest thanks. What is your name, sir?"

"You really were out of it, huh? Dante MacRory, the Shield Hero."

"Shield…" Eclair looked back up at him in panic. "H-How long was I here?"

"We're not sure." Dante shook his head. "Do you remember what happened before you were imprisoned?"

Eclair placed a hand to her head. "I remember…the wave occurred. I wasn't present for it, but I hurried back to my father's lands as quickly as I could. It was the next day that I arrived and saw knights from the capital and those in my father's service hunting down demi-humans to sell as slaves. I tried to stop them, but there were too many."

Dante sat down fully as Eclair continued. "I was taken prisoner and brought before the king. I was tried and convicted of treason, and was sent to have my level reset. However, instead of being brought back to the castle dungeons afterwards, I was handed off to one of the castle knights."

Dante cursed under his breath. "Let me guess. Davon Mallory?"

Eclair perked up at that. "You know him?"

"No, just his name, and some other things he's done. Please, continue."

"Very well." Eclair ran a thumb over her wrist. "I had known him to be an honorable man. When I learned he was part of the slaving group, I couldn't believe it. With my level reset, there was nothing I could do. When those mercenaries showed up at my father's territory, he let them take over and sold me to them. I've been down here ever since…"

Lord Seaetto would be horrified to learn what his knights were a part of. Dante shook his head, dismayed at the corruption these knights seemed to relish in.

"To answer your question," Dante said, "one of the new residents here said the mercenaries showed up a week ago."

"One week." Eclair's gaze fell to the floor. "It felt so much longer. Like months, perhaps."

"The drug they had you on seems pretty intense." Dante recalled the information he received, and all the information that was hidden. If he had to guess, his appraisal wasn't high enough to get that information, and that didn't strike him as a good thing for anyone who was forced to take it.

"Ah, yes. The drug." Eclair moved off of Sadeena. She got to her knees and lowered her head to the ground. "I cannot apologize enough for attacking you before. I may not have been in my right mind, but that's no excuse for—"

"Are you shitting me?!" Dante yelled, causing Eclair to snap up. "Eclair, you were imprisoned for more than a week, drugged, tortured, and raped! Good god, you get a fucking pass!"

Eclair stared at him. "I…yes, of course. Thank you." She lowered her head again, only slightly this time.

"You're welcome." Dante rubbed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. Seriously, this woman. I know she takes her duty seriously, but still!

"If I may ask, Sir MacRory," Eclair glanced up, "what has happened since my imprisonment? How did you come to be here? And…what hardships have you faced?" She said that last bit as she gazed at his missing arm. "You have the face of a man who's seen horrors unimaginable."

"Heh, I'll buy some makeup for my eyes." Dante gave a soft laugh before he looked over at Sadeena. Without even needing to wink, she gave him a nod, letting him now they were alone. "Even the others?" He mouthed to her. She shook her head. Figures they're still here.

Eclair looked between them, not understanding the message.

"Those are all somewhat connected." He said, regaining her attention. "Some things, I'm not entirely comfortable telling a knight of Melromarc, especially one so honor bound as yourself."

"Please, Sir MacRory." Eclair placed her hand over her chest. "For what you've done for me, I owe you a huge debt. One I doubt I'd be able to repay. Whatever you may have done until now, I will overlook it."

That was probably as close to a vow of silence as he was going to get. Really, if she was going to let him explain his actions, there wasn't too much to worry about. And, in a more morbid sense, he had little to fear. She was level 1 and a criminal to the person currently in charge.

I think this world is making me more of an asshole than I realized.

"What do you think?" He asked Sadeena. She was greatly involved in this, so her opinion was paramount.

"I think we can trust her." She said.

"Alright." It wasn't as if they had much to lose. Besides, after all she went through, she deserved a few answers. "As a summoned hero, I came to this world with certain knowledge. Part of that knowledge was what happened recently around Melromarc."

"Is that how you knew to find me?" She asked him. "Your hero knowledge?"

Dante made a face and shook his head. "No. My knowledge has been...lacking. People have been different, both in description and in location. I thought you would be imprisoned in the castle. I didn't know you would be here, being...well, you know."

"I see..."

"I'm sorry if you're disappointed with that."

"Ah, no, I'm not." Eclair waved her hand. "Please, continue."

Dante gave Sadeena a look. She returned it with a nod. "One thing I knew would happen was being framed for rape." Eclair's eyes widened at that. "I was thinking of ways to work around that when I found Sadeena. We agreed to help each other, her helping me gain levels and me finding her fellow villagers. So far, we've helped each other quite well."

"Who was is that framed you?" Eclair asked.

"I'm not sure if you'll believe me, but it was Princess Malty, working under the adventurer name Myne Sophia."

Eclair's mouth hung open. "Princess Malty..."

"Yeah, I figured you'd have a hard time believing that." Malty was less open about her true personality here. Likely, only the people directly affected by her would know. "That does bring up a question, though. Her sister, Melty, is first in line for the throne, correct? Do you know the reason?"

Eclair shook herself from her thoughts. "That's right. However, there was never much reason given for that. It was something that was spread around the knights as a rumor, until it was confirmed about one year ago."

Interesting. The queen seems to know her personality, but can't point to anything in particular. At least, nothing she can prove. If that's the case, Malty should have an easier time gaining power and allies. I'll need to keep a watch out for that.

"But still...to think Princess Malty would do such a thing." Eclair shook her head.

"I understand if you don't believe me. Verify it for yourself, but do so with caution. She is quite crafty, and she likely has the church's backing."

"The church? Ah, of course...those knights were all devotees."

"Yeah, they're an ongoing problem." Dante said. "We're keeping watch for any church shadows, but we haven't had too much issue with them yet. One may have heard us planning to come to Lurolona and spread a rumor in town about it so the mercenaries would come, but I'm not sure."

It was entirely possible it was all a coincidence. However, the knight that was there yesterday wasn't Karta. He might have come to spread the rumor, but he could have simply told the mercenaries about Dante's party. Rokkar said that knight and lieutenant shared a laugh, and given Eclair's condition, it wasn't hard to imagine what it was about. Dante would just have to wait until the townsfolk figured out where the rumor started.

"It seems you've had a hard time too." Eclair gestured to his arm again. "But what happened with your arm?"

"Ah, that." Dante grimaced. "You may be less inclined to overlook that, but I'm going to hold you to it. The man who was holding two of the villagers, Raphtalia and Rifana, was a lord of Melromarc, Idol Rabier. He tortured his slaves and forced them to eat each other, possibly eating them himself as well. We killed him in his own manor, but at a cost."

A look of horror spread across the lady knight's face. "How could...To do that..."

"I've been finding that the people here are far worse than my knowledge led me to believe. However, we've been slowly fixing that." Dante gave her a grin. "We have a list of all the knights and slavers who attacked Lurolona. We killed one and have another upstairs. If you'd like, maybe you could get some revenge, or justice, from her and the mercenary boss?"

Dante tilted his shield to the side and let a shortsword fall from his item drops, scabbard and all. Eclair looked at the blade for a moment, then lowered her head.

"I can't." She said quietly.

"I know you are a knight of Melromarc and wish to do things right, but—"

"No." She shook her head. She held her hand up to Dante, limply. "I can no longer hold a blade. Davon Mallory...he cut the tendons in my hands. I could only hold the shiv I used against you because my hands were bound like they were."

"Oh..." Dante reached out for her hand, only for her to quickly pull it back. She held it close to her chest.

"I-I'm..."

"No, I'm sorry." Dante held up his hand. "You're holding yourself together so well...Sorry."

It wasn't that he forgot what she went through. How could he? Despite that, she seemed so put together, it was almost as if it hadn't happened. But it did. Even Eclair wouldn't be able to bounce back immediately from that.

"In that case, we'll take revenge for you." Dante said as he rose from the ground. "I hope you have no issue with that, though we'll kill them however you see fit, provided it isn't out of the way."

"...Yes, that's for the best. I doubt they would face any punishment for some time." Eclair said. Sadeena helped her to her feet, making sure to hold her steady. "Thank you, Miss Sadeena."

"Of course~." Sadeena said with a smile.

"Huh." Dante looked between the two of them. "Did you two know each other?"

"I've sparred with Miss Sadeena in the past." Eclair said. "She's quite the warrior."

"That she is." Dante agreed.

They made their way back upstairs, Eclair taking the stairs slowly. Without the drug in her system, she seemed more tired than before. Perhaps a more accurate way to describe it was she realized how tired she was. Dante would need to study the drug more once he had a higher appraisal. There was no telling what sort of lasting effects it might have on the lady knight.

"Well, here they are." Dante pointed out their two bound and gagged prisoners.

Eclair slowly walked over to the pair, Sadeena helping her the whole way.

"Dame Eclair?" Raphtalia looked over at the knight.

"You know her too?" Dante asked her.

"She would visit the village occasionally and speak with my father."

"Miss Raphtalia." Eclair lowered her head to the girl. "I'm sorry for what happened. To all of you. Knights ought not behave in such a manner." She fixed her gaze to the bound knight. "A knight should know better."

Karta struggled against her restraints, her voice muffled.

"So, how do you want to do this?" Dante asked, standing over the pair.

"What would you recommend?" Eclair asked in turn.

"Me? Well..." Dante brought his hand to his chin. "If we had the luxury, I'd say impalement would work well. Put them up on stakes in front of your home and let them slowly be impaled by them. Done right, they could be up there for a few days."

Silence reigned.

"What?" Dante looked around. "I said if we had the luxury. It would send a pretty good message to the other knights who attacked the village. But, as much as I'd love to emulate Vlad the Impaler, announcing to the king that Eclair is alive, free, and killing knights isn't a good idea. Although, once the knights involved in this little operation here realize the mercenaries are dead, he'll probably be told so anyway."

Sadeena stood next to him. "I thought you wanted to change what kind of man you were~." She whispered.

"This country is telling me quite clearly that I should hold off on that." He whispered back. "Besides, don't you think this punishment would be fitting?"

Sadeena hummed and stepped away. "So, how should we do this?" She asked everyone, though she looked at Eclair when she did.

"Let's not drag it out." Eclair said. "A quick beheading should do fine."

Everyone nodded along. Except…

"Where's JoJo and Dio?" Dante asked.

"They're still looking around the mansion." Rifana said. "They came back a moment ago, but they said they didn't find anything to make your eyes sparkle again, so they went back to looking."

"Heh, those kids are funny." Thinking about it, Dante realized his senses were a bit off when it came to gaining wealth here. Were he back in his world, he could have sold the bodies of all those mercenaries for their organs. As it was, most of the wealth seemed to be with the alcohol in the cellar, with perhaps a few other items in the manor. The town likely had a lot to sell, but there was likely too much to carry around.

Dante looked to Eclair. "Well, you should probably find something to wear, seeing as this is your home." Dante took a quick look at everyone. "Let's see...Sadeena, I guess keep helping Eclair. Rifana, go find the kids and bring them back. Raphtalia and Keel, continue watching these two. I'm going to grab up the remaining mercenaries. Once we're all gathered, we'll take these two to the center of town and execute them there. Give the people they've been terrorizing some closure."

"Okay!"

They all went about their tasks. Dante returned to the dining room, looking over the dead bodies of the mercenaries. He changed to his Savage Shield and got to work. He went to the first mercenary and activated his shield. It grabbed ahold of him and began dragging him in. After just under a minute, the man completely disappeared into Dante's shield. With a small adjustment, the armor and items on the man appeared in Dante's item drops, instead of being spat back out.

He continued on to the next one, then the one after that. Since he had the chance, he wanted to see if there was any pattern to the stats the Savage Shield gained. From what he could see, every corpse the shield consumed gave one point to HP. The rest depended on the type of person it consumed. If the person was agile, he'd gain agility. If they were strong, he'd gain strength. If they were a mage, Magic. Most bodies also gave a point to defense. That was another thing: only defense was tied to the shield. Everything else went to his own stats. It was a slow buildup, much like the Bow's method, but the cost seemed to always be the same. Sooner or later, it'd be more efficient to use the Savage Shield to gain stats, provided people kept trying to kill him.

Dante was confident that would continue for some time.

Once he finished with the last mercenary, he stood from his spot and went to leave. Standing in the doorway, however, was Rifana.

"Oh." Dante stopped. He wasn't prepared for anyone but Sadeena to see that. They were coming along well, but this was a bit much.

Rifana gripped her tunic. "I...found Dio and JoJo."

Dante nodded. "Good, good."

They stood there, both averting their eyes.

"Listen, Rifana—"

"Are you ready?" She quickly asked.

"...Yes."

"Okay." Rifana scrunched up her shirt a bit more before releasing it. She looked at Dante. "Then let's get back to the others." She had a smile on her face as she held out her hand.

Dante walked over to her. She took his hand in hers and led him out.

"Are you okay?" He asked. "You saw..."

"I am, and I did." She responded. "You were making your shield stronger, right?"

"And myself." He corrected. "Are you...unbothered by that?"

Rifana shook her head. "It was a little scary to see, but I know you wouldn't do something like that without a good reason."

Dante stopped her, shaking his head. "How do you know that?"

"I just do." She beamed up at him.

Sighing, Dante continued. "I appreciate the trust you put in me, but you don't know that. You believe it, but I'm afraid it's your crush on me talking."

Rifana shook her head again. "You saved me and Raphtalia. You lost your arm because of it. You're a good person."

"I'm a terrible person who's trying to do a little better. There is a difference."

"Does that matter to the girl whose life you saved?" She brought his hand up and held it to her face. "You could be the worst person in the world and I'd still follow you. You're the Shield Hero, after all." She kissed his hand and looked him in the eye. "But do you really think I'd want to marry you if I thought you were a bad person?"

Dante stared at her, before barking out a laugh. "No, I suppose you wouldn't. You're much too smart for that." He leaned down towards her, making her eyes widen. He brought his face close to hers, barely avoiding touching her. Their lips were mere inches away from each other. Rifana closed her eyes and leaned up. But…

"Sadeena's been teaching you how to talk to me, hasn't she?" Dante said, standing up straight again.

Rifana's eyes shot open, a blush on her face. "M-Maybe a little..."

"I need to have a talk with that woman." He pulled his hand free and gave Rifana a quick pat on her head.

They made their way back to the others. Sadeena and Eclair had returned by this point. Eclair had on a well-made shirt and coat fitting for a noble, with white pants and a pair of boots as well. Sadeena had secured the shortsword to Eclair's side, a deterrent if nothing else.

Once spotted, Dio and JoJo bounded over to Dante. Dio found a full bottle of the drug used on Eclair, so Dante absorbed the whole thing.

Toxic Shield

(abilities locked) equip bonus: poison resistance (medium)

equip effect: haze

That ability looked interesting. Dante would have to take a look at it later. JoJo, on the other hand, brought an expensive looking piece of jewelry. Dante gave it a look with his appraisal.

Silver Ruby Brooch

quality: very good

special effects: magic up (medium), magic resistance up (medium)

"Wow, now's that's impressive." Dante said, holding the brooch in his hand. "This gives magic power and resistance. Good work you two." Dante said to his kids. "However..." He looked over at Eclair.

The lady knight shook her head. "Please, feel free to take anything here that you may be able to use. First it was my fellow knights, and then it was the mercenaries who plundered my father's home. I'd much rather Sir MacRory make use of what's left than some other looter."

"We'll do just that then." Dante handed the brooch to Sadeena.

"Oh my~. What a lovely gift!" Sadeena gushed at him.

"Yeah, I'm a real romantic, giving you someone else's jewelry." Dante rolled his eyes.

"But are you sure you want to give this to me? There's another girl who would love to receive a gift from you~." She said, giving Dante a wink.

Dante raised an eyebrow. "Oh, we'll be having a chat about that later. Anyway, you have the most magical potential. My spell increases magic resistance in addition to defense, just not as much, and we've yet to deal with any enemies that can use magic."

"Wasn't one of the mercenaries in town a mage?" Raphtalia asked. True enough, there was a magic user among the mounted mercenaries. Incidentally, he was the one trampled by his comrade.

"So were two of the drunk mercenaries." Dante countered. "None of them were particularly threatening. But, once Rifana learns some magic, she can use the brooch."

"You'd give your gift to me to someone else~?" Sadeena gave a very fake pout.

"I'm not addressing that." Dante deadpanned. "Anyway, we have a few executions to perform, don't we?" He looked down at the two prisoners. The mercenary was much more subdued now, likely from losing his foot, and a lot of blood, if the mess on the floor was any indication. The knight, on the other hand, was still trying to yell through her gag. Dante grabbed the mercenary by his remaining foot. "Let's go take care of this."

~The Wrong Hero~

They brought their prisoners to the center of town. There, they tied the two over a pair of barrels with their heads hanging over the edges. Rokkar recognized the knight as one of three who were with the mercenaries. Another fit Davon Mallory's description. It seemed either Karta or the third knight would come by once every few days to collect some money the mercenaries either extorted from travelers or looted from their corpses.

After a few minutes of denouncing and rock throwing from the townsfolk, it was time to execute the pair. Sadeena was going to take care of them, but Keel insisted he do it.

"I can handle it." He'd said.

Dante needed to check with Sadeena about the boy's emotional state. Going from being shaken about killing sleeping people to offering to execute helpless ones probably wasn't good.

Dante removed their gags to allow them their final words. The mercenary boss broke down immediately, begging for his life. The knight held strong, denouncing the people there as savages. That is, until the mercenary's head came off and rolled in front of her view. Her tune quickly changed to begging after that, but her fate was the same.

Once that was done, Dante checked with Rokkar about the rumor being spread. Since it only started a day ago with about a hundred people in town, they were able to figure out the first person to hear the news. Or, rather, the first person there to spread it. It was someone from Rokkar's group, but when asked about it…

"I don't remember where I heard it." He'd said.

Dante, Sadeena, JoJo, and Dio had listened to him. All he remembered was it was something he knew to be true, but he couldn't remember why he knew it. He simply started telling people he heard that bit of news. None of what he said seemed to be a lie.

It was troubling. Perhaps a shadow infiltrated the town, only to tell this man in his sleep this news and somehow get him to spread it, but that seemed unlikely. It could have been a form of mind control, albeit weak, but Dante felt that sort of thing could have been used more widespread against him. Though, it might have been costly or time consuming to do so. Still more questions he wasn't getting answers to.

That did, however, help push up his timetable. If people were going to keep messing with them like this, they needed to leave Melromarc sooner rather than later. That meant his level sacrificing plan was going to be reduced further, since they would need time to travel around the kingdom. There were a few locations he needed to visit before leaving, and doing it before the wave rather than after seemed more and more like the way to go.

To that end, they decided to spend the evening hunting some monsters around town. Dante sent Eclair an invite to gain her back some levels. Even with the group penalty, she noted an increase in XP.

Once they were finished, they spent the night relaxing in the manor. Sadeena, Eclair, and Dante were discussing their plans over drinks in a den-like room while the others slept in one of the bedrooms.

"You should come with us." Dante told Eclair after finishing his mug. "It'd be lot safer than staying here."

"I agree with you, Sir MacRory, but I must inform the queen of what's been happening." Eclair said, taking a sip of her wine, holding the glass with both hands.

"Let the shadows handle that. It's their job, after all." Dante got up and poured himself another mug from the barrel they brought up. "Then again, we haven't seen any of them, have we?"

"Nope~." Sadeena responded, finishing off her eighth mug.

"Strange." Dante sat back down. "Eclair, do you know anything about them?"

"I'm afraid not. At least, no more than you. I know they're spies and assassins with similar training in a number of nations, but I don't know how much they're used."

Interesting. I thought the shadows were only in Melromarc. Or, maybe Faubrey too? I think Takt had a shadow at one point.

"In that case, perhaps we could send a message to the queen?" Dante offered. "Lord Reichnott might be able to send someone, unless you know anyone trustworthy."

Eclair shook her head, a frown present. "After Davon Mallory, I don't trust my judgement on who is honorable or not."

"Then stick with us. We could use someone like you in our group."

"How?" Eclair asked, showing her wrist to him. "I can't use a sword anymore. I can't help you fight."

"No, you can't fight personally." Dante told her. "Just because I can't deal damage doesn't mean I'm useless in a fight. Similarly, your skills can be used to train our teammates. Having two instructors is better than one, especially when one of those instructors earns us the most XP."

"Praise me more, little Dante~!" Sadeena leaned on him from his left, sloshing her ale around, yet still managing to keep it all in her mug.

"Your skill and tenacity is nothing to scoff at." Dante ignored the orca woman's antics. "With us, you'll have your old level back in no time. And, if you're willing, you can take a slave seal as well. Slaves belonging to me get increased XP and stat gains. I can also use a technique to lower your level to increase your stats. Something to consider."

"That…is something needing much time to think over." Eclair slowly nodded. "Regardless of any additional improvement, I think I will travel with you for some time. As I'm unable to fight, I wouldn't be able to prevent my capture again, should any knights or shadows loyal to the church wish to apprehend me."

"Well, then, welcome aboard." Dante said, holding out his hand. Eclair drew back from the gesture. "Ah, sorry, I'll be sure to—" Eclair thrust her hand forward, grabbing Dante's before he could pull back. She stared at their joined hands, eyes wavering.

"This…is something I need to be okay with." She said, sweat starting to gather on her forehead.

"No need to rush this." Dante said, trying to take back his hand.

"No." Eclair held firm. "I must recover from my time here." She looked up and held his gaze. "If you are a hero, Sir MacRory, then you must help me do so."

Dante let out a breath. "This is very outside my area of expertise, but I can't really refuse. Okay, I'll help however you want me to." He agreed.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Eclair released his hand and stood. "I think I shall retire for the night. I look forward to working with you, Sir MacRory, Miss Sadeena." She gave a quick bow and left the room.

"Strange, isn't she?" Dante asked.

Sadeena took the opportunity to lay in his lap. "We all are, aren't we~?"

"Yeah. I seem to be able to attract that sort of people, huh?" He looked at Sadeena, who was staring at his face. "You're drunk."

"Hmmm~? You think this is enough to work on me~?" She leaned over the armrest of the chair.

"Yeah, probably not. Well, enjoy this while you can. We probably won't be able to come back here for more."

"Aw. Can't you store some in your shield?" She asked, tapping it.

"Not unless a barrel was strapped to someone when they died, no." Dante glanced at his shield. "Damn, I really should have tested that out, huh?"

"But you absorbed a bunch of things before. Maybe you can get a shield that stores alcohol~."

"I…suppose that's possible." Dante leaned over Sadeena and picked up the glass Eclair left. He handed it to Sadeena and she poured the contents into his shield.

Wine Shield

(abilities locked) equip bonus: poison resistance (small)

"Well, that's nice, but not what I was looking for." Dante said.

"Here, try this." Sadeena leaned forward and poured her drink into the shield's gem.

Brewing Shield

(abilities locked) equip bonus: simple brewing recipes

equip effect: brew

Dante stared at the information in his status.

"What is it?" Sadeena asked.

He shifted to the shield he just received. It looked to be half of a barrel cut long ways, the flat side against his arm with the round part away from him. Like the barrel they brought up from the cellar, near his hand was a tap that looked like it would dispense ale.

Sadeena looked at the new shield with a smile. She wrapped her arms around Dante's neck and leaned into him. "Have I told you how much I love you recently~?"

"I'm going to be making a lot of alcohol, aren't I?"

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delay. Had some traveling to do.

Some people excel due to their strength. Others, their tactical mind. Dante seems to be running on fragmented knowledge, luck, and the idiocy of others.

So yeah, the strawberry knight has joined the party. Originally, she was going to be in the castle prison for later, but the whims that push this story forward are strange indeed. If you thought the Sunflower Shield was made for this, I will continue to let you think so.

I had Dante gaining the Brewing Shield differently in my head. I was going to have Ronota (unamed at that point) be a somewhat deserted town that was overrun by bandit gangs. He was going to pour some alcohol in his shield on a whim while eating in a tavern and unlock the shields. Funny how stories change when you get to writing the future parts you planned.

Please leave a review and let me know what you think.