—Cole POV, Shield Hero World—
Walking through the Southern Gate with Leona, Purlin, Silva, Repune, and Alpha in tow, the six of us made our way toward Naofumi's inn. Progress was slow because of the morning rush of people heading out of the city for work. Pushing our way through the crowds, the inn eventually came into view though it wasn't the best view.
"Damn that bitch…", I grumbled seeing several carriages from the castle outside the inn, "Come on, we will probably be beating some heads in this morning."
"Oh! Are they with that woman you told us about yesterday?", Silva inquired with an eager smile, "They are Human Supremacists, right? Let's go kick some ass, and show them whose boss!"
"Damn straight, all of us have a bone to pick with assholes like them!", Leona purred with excitement as she showed her teeth, "I have been wanting to sharpen my claws, it's been a while so I will need to shake the rust off."
"None of you will do anything unless one of them makes a move first. While we are able to come and go as we please, Naofumi is stuck here indefinitely. Let's not make his time here any worse than it already is.", I told them as we entered the inn, "He is a nice guy, and doesn't deserve to suffer for our misgivings about them."
Seeing the mortified innkeeper cowering behind her front desk, I could hear Malty talking to Naofumi in the room to our left. Walking into the dining room, Naofumi was trying to eat his breakfast in peace while Malty was obnoxiously trying to persuade him to join the group for training today. From the looks of it, she hadn't given up on trying to ruin his good name as she was trying to make him appear to have problems with the royal family.
"Good Morning Naofumi!", I said with a friendly smile as I approached, "I came over to get you for training today, and to go look for team members. You ready to go?"
"As I said Princess Malty, I already have plans with Cole today. Please forgive my rudeness, but I have important things to discuss with him.", Naofumi stated quickly finishing his meal, "Excuse me."
Leaving his seat, Naofumi turned and walked towards me. Seeing a very irritated look on his face, Malty must have been here for a while now trying to get a rise out of him. If I hadn't arrived when I did, he may have ended up in jail today.
"Shield Hero please wait, I am only trying to help you.", Malty whimpered as she played the victim, "Do you not like me?"
Seeing this obvious trap, I stopped Naofumi from answering out of anger.
"Your Grace, Naofumi is looking for very experienced fighters or people he can grow alongside with. We appreciate your kindness, but we are concerned that Naofumi might not be able to protect you if you are in danger.", I countered playing on the weakness of his weapon, "He needs people that are his level that can learn as they go like him or veteran fighters that can stand on their own in live combat."
"Are you insinuating I can't fight?!", Malty seethed, "I was trained by the very best teachers, and have received many accolades for my work! How dare you say I am an incompetent fighter!"
"I am saying you lack the life and death experience that veteran fighters have. You grew up in a comfortable palace away from danger, he needs people that are willing to fight to the death for him.", I refuted, "If he asked that of you, would you throw your life away for him?"
Opening her mouth, she froze up as she saw either answer was a bad one. In the event, she said yes and she died in combat…no one could fault Naofumi since she publicly proclaimed she'd die for him. If she said no, that gave him an out to deny her request as he really needed people to fight for him. Since the public knew he can't use any other weapon…there wasn't much he could do at his current level to protect his team. Giving me an angry scowl, she didn't let it go this time.
"I am only trying to be of use to him, why do you keep denying me that!?", she shouted.
"He said no, so fuck off!", Leona hissed.
"Learn your place you damn an-", Malty started to say before everyone in the room felt an overwhelming sense of terror crash over them.
Looking at me, the three Heroes tried to lift their weapons to defend her but found their bodies wouldn't move. Getting right in her face, I told her not to ever call my wives animals in my presence.
"Leave the Shield Hero and my party alone, if you don't cut it out I will take him to Siltvelt or Shieldfreedenwhere he will be treated with respect.", I told her, "Also…don't think I am unaware that Melromarc broke an international agreement about the Hero Summoning. You realize your father and you could have sparked a war because of your reckless actions, right?"
Using my Psychic Paper again, I made it appear that the Queen had sent me back in a hurry to secure the Shield Hero. Seeing her mother's seal on that paper, her expression paled even further.
"You should know…because of your actions, you are now engaged to the King of Faubley. Congratulations on your engagement, number 10,000…", I chuckled as I walked away, "I hope you enjoy being his Queen."
Feeling her terror behind me, she knew exactly what I meant. She'd be the King's 10,000th wife…as all those prior to her had died under mysterious circumstances. With the threat of a fate worse than death looming over her, I knew she'd be too preoccupied with getting out of it to bother Naofumi and me. Putting several blocks between us and the inn, Naofumi looked at me with a grin.
"I didn't think anyone could make her shut up.", he laughed, "You shut up that entire room just with your gaze!"
"Cole has dealt with many corrupt nobles and merchants.", Silva said with a smile, "...though there is usually a more gruesome end for them. The last one I can recall ended up without a head soon after meeting us."
"She will be too busy trying to get out of her engagement to bother us now.", I stated with a smirk, "Anyways Naofumi…I want you to meet five of my wives."
Introducing Naofumi to the five women, he asked me where the five from yesterday were. Telling him that they were back home tending to things there, he nodded his head with a concerned look.
"So that means you are one of those harem-loving guys then…doesn't it feel weird to you?", Naofumi asked, "I mean…having to share your affections with more than one woman."
"I am, and I enjoy every moment of it.", I chuckled understanding why some would say this may be a bit much, "Now then, let's take you to the Slaver's to get you a few party members."
Heading over to the slaver I bought the Filolial Eggs from, he was happy to see me return again. Spotting Naofumi with me, he immediately recognized him as the Shield Hero due to the rumor going around the city. Telling the slaver why we were here today, he suggested finding Naofumi a few competent human warriors. Shaking my head, I told him we were looking at nonhumans specifically today.
"Ah yes, nonhumans are very fond of the Shield Hero after all.", he remembered, "Very well, let me show you what I have in stock."
As we started to walk away, Alpha and Silva tugged on my arm. Glancing back at them, I asked what was up.
"Do you mind if we break off here and look around?", Alpha asked with a pleading gaze.
"That's fine, just remember…don't try to free people by force.", I warned them, "They will die if you do."
Heading off to look around, I chased after Naofumi and the trader. Showing us several people the slaver thought might interest us, I kept an eye out for Raphtalia since she was a key person in keeping the Shield Hero on the straight and narrow. Spotting her after a few minutes of walking around, I pointed her out to Naofumi who instantly gave me a weird look.
"You are going to have to trust me Naofumi, I can tell she will be an invaluable ally and companion for you.", I told him, "She's got a lot of potential, I promise you that."
Giving me the benefit of the doubt, he agreed to select her even though he thought it was weird. Eagerly walking over to the cage, the slaver had one of his men pull her out for us. Dragging her out of her cage, she looked at Naofumi and me with a terrified expression. Having the servant take her to the front, the slaver asked if we wanted to look at anyone else.
"Hmm…do you have any Criminal Slaves here?", I asked the slave trader.
"I do, I can show you them.", he said leading us to that section.
As we followed after him, Naofumi asked why we were going to look at criminals. Reminding him that a Human Supremacist country would jail any nonhuman they wanted, I said that most were probably scapegoats for human criminals. Understanding where I was coming from, he asked me to make sure that they didn't have any serious crimes attached to them.
"I don't want their troubles coming after me.", he stated.
"Understandable, I will do my best.", I assured him.
Taking us back to where they were, I started using my magic to look at their stats. Going down the walkways, I was a bit disappointed to see that most of these people were just ordinary folk. As I was about to give up, I discovered a hidden gem among the slaves.
"That Kitsune there, we will take her.", I told the slaver, "She will round out the team perfectly for now."
"As you wish!", the slaver said walking over with another servant to get her.
Once they were safely out of earshot, I leaned over and told Naofumi that she was an Assassin. Telling me that he didn't want a killer, I informed him that the woman hadn't killed anyone yet as she didn't have the title Murder attached to her.
"She was probably forcibly trained by a nobleman as a tool, or is from another nation who wanted a nobleman dead in Melromarc", I whispered, "Stealth, Trap Disarmament, and her Dagger Skills will come in handy for you. She can pull recon and take out threats while you distract them."
"I see your point…well since she didn't kill anyone I guess I can live with that.", he agreed.
Taking her up to the front with us, she completely ignored everyone else but me. Sensing her unease, she clearly understood that I wasn't someone to be messed with. Having her stand with Raphtalia, I added a Filolial Egg to his purchase as he would need one to haul a wagon around for him.
Handing the merchant the money to buy them, he quickly counted the money before getting the tools to bind the two women to Naofumi. As I stood back and watched the process, Alpha came running over to me and told me to follow her. Pulling me along to where the other four were, they were looking at a few cages that were filled with various family units. Seeing Alpha drag me over, the parents quickly hid their children from view.
"We should take these four groups with us.", Leona said motioning to four cages, "The Special Zone has more than enough room for them, and we can-"
Putting my index finger to her mouth, I gave her a smile. Before I could say anything, one of them in the cage leaped at me full of anger.
"Stay away from my family!", he howled in pain and fury, "I won't let…make toys…out of…them!"
"Dear please stop!", his wife protested.
"Daddy please stop it!!", his children pleaded.
Bashing him over the head, he hit the ground with a thud before rolling around in pain. Telling him I had no interest in making his family toys, I said I had my wives to keep me satisfied on that front. Looking up at me, I wrapped my arms around the five women in question.
"We are going to take you away from here, and relocate you somewhere where slavers won't bother you anymore.", I told him, "If you won't trust me, at least trust my wives that I am not going to harm you."
Backing up what I was saying, Purlin told him to just play along till we got out of the tent. Staring at us hesitantly for a few moments, he begrudgingly accepted her words and decided to see what happened. Waving one of the assistants down, we got the families together and headed to the counter to pay.