—Cole POV, Next Day—
Waking up at my usual time, I was getting dressed when Eri started knocking on our door. Thinking that she woke early because she was hungry, I put my pants on and opened the door.
"Is something wrong?", I asked her as I was putting my shirt on.
"I found two chickies in my bed.", she told me.
"You found two chickens in your bed?", I repeated making sure I heard her right, "Where did you get them from?"
Shrugging her shoulders, she told me they were just there when she woke up. Taking a second to think about where they might have come from, I remembered that I had bought two Filolial eggs when I first went to the Shield Hero World. Realizing that the eggs had probably hatched, I asked Eri to show me where they were now. Taking me by the hand, she led me to her room where the two birds had roosted on her bed. One of the Filolials was blue with black spots and the other was white with silver spots.
Looking back at us when we stepped into her room, the two began demanding food from us as they started squawking. Telling them to be silent, they surprisingly shut up without any protesting. Pulling some food out of my storage, I placed it on the ground so they could eat. Knowing that I wasn't going to be able to babysit them all day for the next few weeks, I decided to ask Eri for help.
"Do you want to help me take care of them?", I inquired knowing that she had been wanting a pet for a while now, "They will get really big in a few weeks, and you will be able to ride one if you want to."
"I can ride a chickie!?", she said with an amazed expression, "How big do they get?"
Knowing that she was confusing them with normal chickens, I showed her how big they would get with a Projection Spell. Readily agreeing to help take care of them, in exchange for getting to ride one, she asked me what she needed to do.
"I will need you to play with them, feed them, and give them water. You shouldn't have to worry about them using the bathroom, they will let you know when they have to go outside.", I told her, "If you have any problems, just let one of your mothers know so they can help you."
"Okay!", she assured me as she ran over to them, "I am going to call the blue one Happy and the white one will be Snowflake!"
"That works for me.", I chuckled, 'Wasn't there a blue cat named Happy somewhere?'
Trying to remember where I knew the name from, I gave up after a few minutes of thinking about it. Coming out of our room Vivian told me that Sapphire and Ventrice were ready to go now.
"Oh, all three of you are coming?", I said having forgotten who was going today.
"Sith was going to come, but she wants to wait till tomorrow instead.", Vivian told me.
Nodding my head, I gave Eri a kiss on the forehead before teleporting the four of us to Castle Town.
—Shield Hero World—
Grabbing something to eat when we arrived, we hung around the large water fountain in the Market District while we ate. Watching families, servants, and slaves run in and out of the market, it reminded me a lot of Alestar and Nautilus. In both my Hero and King lives, our capital cities had places like this that we liked to frequent to get away from it all.
"It's hard to believe that this is a different world from the one we knew.", Ventrice stated with a sigh.
"Agreed, it brings back a lot of fond memories.", Sapphire said.
"You mean like the night he proposed to us?", Vivian recalled with a smile, "He got down on one knee, and asked us to be his wives in front of everyone. It was the happiest day of our lives, next to when the children were born of course."
Recalling that evening, I remembered spending weeks painstakingly planning everything out prior to the proposal. I booked a private room at a fancy restaurant for us, got us tickets to a play they wanted to see, and ensured that we had a place open by the fountain for my proposal. In the end, the restaurant ended up having to close early and the play was canceled because two of the lead actors got sick. Even though my plans fell through, I still managed to successfully propose to them at the fountain as I wanted to.
"As much as I would love to take a trip down memory lane, we should probably meet up with Naofumi and company.", I reminded them, "I have a feeling the Stooges are going to flee from me."
"Let's get going then.", Sapphire agreed finishing her sandwich.
Doing a quick search with magic, I discovered that Naofumi was at the Castle right now. Heading that way immediately, the guards let us enter the castle without any issues which was a nice change of pace. Entering the massive structure, I immediately detected three distinct presences that were radiating a small amount of blood lust. Based on how they were trying to conceal it, the three entities were assassins likely sent by the Church to silence Malty.
'Since the King has shown some improvement, I guess I can deal with this for him. Clearly the Shadows haven't realized that the castle has been infiltrated yet, I will have to talk to the Queen about it.', I thought keeping an eye on where the bloodlust was.
Walking down the long cobblestone hallway towards the Throne Room, the Guards quickly opened it for us as we approached. Calling out to Naofumi as we strolled in he turned back with a pleased smile on his face. Seeing a large bag of gold coins in his hand, it appeared he was here getting his reward for assisting with the Wave.
"Congrats man!", I chuckled giving him a high five, "You certainly earn it."
"Thanks, I certainly felt like I did for a while.", he laughed remembering the beating he took from the Troll.
"Where are the Three Amigos?", I questioned looking at the King for an answer.
Seeing the frustration on his face, clearly, I wasn't the first person to ask him today. Giving him a moment to collect himself enough to speak, he gave me the news.
"The Three Heroes and their parties departed last night under the cover of darkness. My daughter convinced the guards that I had authorized their departure, and no one bothered to tell me till just a short time ago.", he sighed, "I have already dispatched men to bring them back, but she managed to convince the Heroes that you are brainwashing me. They are going to find my wife at the Conference to bring her back home…it will not end well if they interrupt the negotiations."
"Don't worry about it, I will bring them back now.", I assured him, "Just watch."
Having already met the parties in person, forcibly teleporting them back to the castle was easy. Snapping my fingers, the three groups appeared in midair between the King and myself. Falling to the stone floor in a heap, they let out groans of pain as the ones on the bottom were being crushed by everyone.
"How was your trip, did you miss us?", I said with an amused smile.
"Why do you continue to torment me!?", Malty demanded as she heard my voice, "I have suffered enough at your hands!"
"Bitch please, your suffering is because you can't act like a sane person.", I mocked her, "If you weren't a snobby, stuck-up, son of a bitch…I wouldn't have to keep embarrassing you."
Watching her face twitch with anger, I enjoyed watching her reaction as she knew she couldn't argue with me. She didn't want a repeat of what happened last time so she kept her mouth shut. Pulling the Three Heroes out of the body pile, I sensed the assassins start moving towards the Throne Room with a group of servants. Glancing around the room to see who might have tipped them off, I noticed that one of the guards had a small magic signature in the bottom of his boot.
'Haha, the Church isn't messing around.', I thought with a smile before reaching out to Naofumi telepathically, "Keep your guard up, the Church of the Three Heroes is going to make a move in a bit."
Giving me a confused look, he nodded his head as he started looking around the room. Motioning to the Throne Room door, he leaned over to speak with Senko and Raphtalia. Leaving them to prepare for combat, I returned my attention to the Three Heroes.
"Is there anything I need to know before I watch the footage?", I inquired giving them a chance to be forward with me.
"Maybe we could convince you to look the other way?", one of Itsuki's party members asked pushing her chest forwards.
Stopping when she felt Vivian stare her down, everyone finally noticed I had brought more of my wives with me. Looking at them one at a time, Motoyusa asked if they were Dragonewts and a Lamia. Shaking my head no, I informed him that they were Dragons and an Echidna which piqued his interest. Asking if he could have a closer look, the three of them adamantly refused his request saying he could see them just fine from where he was standing.
Getting us back on topic before he got himself killed by one of them, I received a small crystal ball that held a copy of the footage that was taken the other day. Watching the play by play footage, it was very clear that none of those three idiots deserved to have the title of Hero. Handing it back to the servant when I was finished, I took a deep breath before sucker punching Ren square in the face. Sinking a full foot into the wall, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and started shaking violently.
"Not your problem my ass!", I seethed, "Your whole damn job is to protect the innocent people of this world who can't fight for themselves. Don't think you are above them because you have the fucking title, you bleed just like they do. If you ever pull that stunt again I will send you Jesus myself, and replace you with more competent Heroes. If you think I am bluffing, fuck around and find out."
Knowing full well I could easily erase them from existence, the three of them didn't say a word. Taking their silence as an acknowledgment that they realized their fuck up, I moved on from there as there were many more issues that needed to be resolved.
"Moving on from there, that was a piss poor showing for your first actual battle. What the hell were you thinking just running off without any plans? Were you hoping that just because you were the good guys that you'd win?", I mocked them, "When you are facing overwhelming odds, the only way you will win is with a solid plan. Isolating yourself from your allies because you want experience points…that was a stupid ass decision. What if the Wyrm appeared behind you, where would you have gone? Think damn it!"
Looking back at Ren, Motoyusa admitted that in hindsight it was a rash move to run off on their own. Promising to be more careful about doing something like that in the future with a playful laugh, I smacked him into the stone floor making it crack under his face.
"This isn't funny! Your party members could have gotten themselves killed because of your actions, would you have laughed if they died? As the leaders of your parties, their lives are in their hands and you have to trust they will have your back no matter what the situation may be. The fact you are taking this lightly really shows that you are nothing but idiots!", I shouted at him.
"Alright!", Motoyusa shouted in frustration as e picked himself up, "We get it, we fucked up!"
"No, I don't think you do!", I refuted, "You are so drunk on your ego that you are just letting any woman that catches your eye into the group. Itsuka is trying to make everyone happy, but instead, he is making everyone miserable by not setting firm rules for his party. Ren over there is so caught up in his loner vibes that he completely abandons his party the moment the fighting begins. All of you need to take two seconds and evaluate your party structure, and make changes that reflect your particular fighting styles. If you can do that, you need to make at least make a balanced party that will keep them safe while you are fighting."
Pulling Ren out of the wall, I handed him over to Itsuka's Healer and gave him a moment to recover. Forcing them to actually pay attention to their party builds, I needed them to see that they were completely unbalanced and were only hanging on because they hadn't fought truly powerful foes yet. Seeing the light bulbs start to go off in their heads, it looked like they were finally thinking about things.
Glancing over to the door as a group of servants came in, likely with rewards for the other Heroes, I singled out the assassins. Blending in well with the others, I could clearly see that they were wearing armor and carrying daggers beneath their uniforms.
"What do you suggest?", Ren asked finally conceding that changes were needed.
Having them write it down, I suggested each party have three Tanks, a Mage, a Healer, an Assassin/Thief, an Enchanter, and a Ranger. All of these positions could be filled by many different classes, but overall this would provide them with the power they needed to succeed. Wanting them to find their party members themselves, I looked at Motoyusa with a stern gaze.
"You need to kick Malty out of your party, she has been trying to chase party members off of your team.", I informed him, "If you keep her on, she will continue to cause problems."
"Seriously!?", Motoyusa questioned them.
Nodding their heads, since it was out in the open now, they informed him that she had been offering them money to leave the group. After bribes didn't work, she turned to threatening their families if they didn't leave the party. Looking at her, Motoyusa finally gather the balls to kick her out.
"Please tell me you will not kill her now.", Motoyusa said with a worried look, "I am sure she can be redeemed."
"She would have stabbed the three of you in the back in a few months when the opportunity presented itself.", I chuckled watching the three servants approach Malty from behind, "Just like the servants behind her are about to do."
Stopping where they stood, the servants looked at me with confusion. Trying to play it off like they were ordinary servants, I gave them a coy smile.
"Drop the act, I sensed you the moment I stepped into the castle today. I can also tell you are wearing chainmail armor under those uniforms with two daggers attached to your thighs. You really shouldn't over-tighten the sheaths, it makes you walk funny.", I educated them.
Realizing the jig was up, the three threw what they were carrying away and ripped the daggers out from under their uniforms. Rushing forward, two guards that were stationed in the Throne Room drew their swords ready to aid their colleagues. Grabbing Malty with my Lightning Grapple, I pulled her away from them right as they went to turn her into a pin cushion.
"Shield Bash!", Naofumi shouted slamming into the two men.
Knocked to the floor, Senko and Raphtalia were on them in seconds. Restraining as more guards came in to protect the King, I focused on the assassins.
"As much as I would enjoy her dying, she needs to answer for her crimes against her country and her family.", I said pushing Malty to Sapphire.
Running at me, I moved faster than they could register and appeared behind them. Falling to the floor, I removed their limbs cleanly so they could be interrogated by the Kingdom and me. Unable to complete their task now, the assassins bite down hard on their lower jaw and cracked a vial of poison open.
"We won't be stopped…we will be back…", one of them murmured.
Casting Detox on them, I removed all of the poison from their bodies before they could die.
"Haha…I didn't say you could leave this party just yet.", I said as lightning started arcing off my body, "You have properly introduced yourselves, come…stay and talk."