Well there's no point in speculating, for now that has nothing to do with me, even if I wanted to help, I hardly have any power to do so... The only thing that truly matters for now is getting stronger, and surviving…
With that thought Ryou got up from bed, it would be another day of Monster Hunting after all…
A funny, and embarrassing detail that Ryou had completely forgotten, embarrassing because of how long it had taken him to realize it, had been the following - back on his original world, Ryou used contact lens. It took him three whole days before realizing they weren't in his eyes, and apparently he didn't need them anymore.
After getting hit, and subsequently summoned to this world, if he were to go with his theory, then the legendary weapon had healed apparently also extended towards his bad sight, and more. In hindsight a bow hero with bad eyesight would have made a very pitiful, and hilarious thing indeed. He had also been able to easily get up in the morning, and spend the entire day without an headache - no doubt he no longer had a need for caffeine, the healing effect also extended towards his smoking addiction. All in all the legendary weapon had the ability to pull out even more extreme 'miracles' then he thought possible.
Getting ready, Ryou still had to take care of some other business before he could restart his grind.
Going out into the streets, it had been obvious what the topic of nearly every conversation in the air was. Naofumi had gone from notorious, to pretty much the most hated person in town in the span of two days. There were also rumors how he had threatened some merchants into buying items from him. Hearing that one had made Ryou's lips twitch a little, an ingenious use of balloons, one that only Naofumi could put in practice, since for the average Joe, balloons could be quite dangerous even to another hero - he knew that much now.
The one thing he wanted to do before going out, was getting a hold of some protective hand gear, he had discarded the idea of using gauntlets because inhibited his ability to shoot arrows, and it was far too cumbersome to shoot in rapid succession. Some gloves were in order, leather ones, if he had a pair he might have avoided the accident from the day before.
Making his way into Erhard's store, Ryou wasted no time in making his presence known.
"Hey Old man! Your favorite customer has arrived!" Ryou shouted since the man was nowhere in sight. It only took a couple of moments before Erhard's voice shouted from the back.
"Whoever told you that you were my favorite customer?" Finally appearing from the door, cleaning his hands with a dirty rug, most likely from whatever work Ryou had interrupted.
With a pointed look towards the blacksmith Ryou couldn't help to respond, "Are you saying I'm not? And here I thought we had something special…"
"The only thing special about a brat like you is your money, and that thing on your wrist!" The blacksmith returned without missing a beat.
Ouch... even if its not particularly incorrect…
Eyes taking on a more challenging glare, slightly turning his body Ryou pointed towards the door with his thumb. "Then maybe I should take my money somewhere else, if that's how I'm going to be treated…"
Raising his hands in surrender, Erhard was quick in trying to defuse the situation.
"Okay! Okay! So maybe I do favor you more then most of my other customers, so much so, that I might be willing to give you a slight discount! How is that?"
Turning back, and coming towards the Blacksmith, grin present in his face, Ryou crossed his arms over the counter, "Now we're talking, I knew we had something special."
Looking relived, yet releasing an huffing sound Erhard also bended on the counter. "Yeah... Yeah... So what do you need brat?"
"Well... It turns out, I need something to protect my hands after all…"
Erhard scratched his beard, "I showed you the gauntlets that made part of that set, and you refused them... Had a change of heart?"
Laying his face on his arms Ryou replied, "Not really, they were awkward to use... I was thinking something among the lines of leather gloves..."
Erhard hummed in contemplation, "Well I have all kinds of those, just let me get them, and you can pick the ones you like the most..." Erhard made a move towards the cabinet at the corner, when the sound of the door opening reached both of their ears.
Turning his head, Ryou could only think about how bad his luck had to be, when he took in the new costumer.
Are you kidding me?! The one person I wanted to avoid..! I knew this was bound to happen but seriously?!
For his part the new guest had actually realized who was also in the store, eyes narrowing, and frown deepening.
"Ryou…" Naofumi snarled between clenched teeth. That shook Ryou out of his reverie before, he too narrowed his eyes, before taking a breath to calm himself, and nodded towards the Shield Hero.
"Naofumi…" He greeted, his tone bland. The Shield hero dismissed it with a scuff, before making his way into the counter, passing Ryou, and placing six silver coins on the table.
"Old man, I need a weapon she can use. Keep it under six silver." He pretty much ordered, and that was when Ryou noticed the small figure next to Naofumi.
Brown hair, with a small pair of fluffy looking ears popping out of her head, she was really a scrawny thing to look at, but her eyes were the worst, Ryou noted - in them existed no happiness, there was nothing at all in there.
Raphtalia… God's she looks like a zombie, for a child to have eyes like that... This world really is fucked up… She was nothing but a child, but she looked like she no longer had a will to live, no one that young should look so defeated.
"Kid... You…" Erhard trailed off, before releasing a sigh, and moving to the corner. After picking a small dagger the blacksmith threw in some other gear, and handled it to the small girl before gently pushing her towards the dressing room.
The blacksmith turned to look at the shield hero, who had leaned against a corner with his arms, crossed and eyes closed, intent on ignoring everyone. With another sigh the man went back to his resting position on the corner.
Ryou had finally taken his eyes off the dressing room, they had followed the small demi-human since he had seen her. With a cough in his fist he broke the silence.
"Well... Since the little one his getting ready, now would be a good time for you to show me what you got...". Erhard just looked confuse, most likely forgetting about his request, after what had unfolded.
"Ohh yeah! Right! Let me get that for you..." Erhard, snapped his fingers, before moving towards the cabinet once again, and after picking a few pairs he laid them out on the counter.
Ryou proceeded to try out the gloves, although he noted that they mostly felt the same.
"So... What brought this sudden need for gloves?" Apparently the Blacksmith needed to break the awkward silence, that had fallen once more.
Ryou who was in the middle of trying out another pair of gloves, took on a pinched expression,"Lets just say I had a run with a fellow that decided my hand would make a nice chewing toy, and leave it at that." A snort came from the corner, and Ryou's face twitched in a bad way.
Fine... Have it your way, Naofumi…
"And you know old man, unlike the ones that have the title of Tate no Yuusha... Who can just stand there tanking hit after hit, us normal folk actually have to buy defensive gear." Ryou finished hands raised in the air in a 'what can you do' fashion.
"Tchh, your talking pretty high, and mighty, for someone who actually has a weapon. Don't talk like having a shield is a good thing, You don't know what this is like..."
Ryou actually straightened himself, and was about to send a not so amicable reply towards the other hero, when the curtain from the dresser room opened.
"Master... I'm done.." The small demi-human murmured looking down at the ground.
Naofumi took a couple of steps uncrossing his arms before stopping at the center of the room.
"Took you long enough." he snapped followed by an apology from the small girl.
"Whatever... Raphtalia draw your sword!" he ordered before pushing his cloak away revealing a balloon very much lodged on his sides. Raphtalia, stepped back with a shriek at the sight, before falling backwards.
"I want you to stab it!" Naofumi ordered again, grabbing the Orange monstrosity between his hands, and holding it in front of himself.
"N-no!" Raphtalia, refused in panic, before bending, and whimpering in pain as purple lightning arched around her.
It had been one thing to see it in a screen, it was a completely different one to watch in real life, Ryou clenched his teeth at the sight.
This is just wrong...
"You're just hurting yourself... Do it!" He ordered once more, and the lightning stopped has the little girl followed through, clenching the dagger between her hands,she darted forward with a shout. The dagger got caught between the balloon's teeth.
"That's not gonna work! Put some back into it!" Naofumi shouted, pushing the balloon back, and Raphtalia who had been pulling her dagger almost fell again. Righting herself she darted forward once more and this time her dagger hit true, the balloon popping from existence.
The experience window appeared in Naofumi field of view, and has he started conversing with Erhard, Ryou turned his attention towards the small girl who was now once again on the ground.
"You okay little one?" Ryou asked gently extending his hand towards her. Raphtalia for her part only looked surprised at being addressed before nodding, and hesitantly grabbing his hand. With a small heave she was back on her feet, and not a moment too soon since Naofumi decided to address her.
"From here on out, I expect you to kill monsters for me, and in exchange I'll protect you!" He declared, and Raphtalia's expression changed from afraid to confused during Naofumi's declaration.
"Kid, you're not going to die a painless death…" Erhard remarked after observing the whole thing.
Naofumi actually looked pleased at hearing that, "I'll take that has a compliment."
"I'm pretty sure it wasn't one." Ryou said in aggravation, sure the entire thing had happen in the story, and was needed, yet there were other ways to motivate the small girl into fighting.
"This isn't any of your business Ryou so don't butt in." Naofumi seethed before turning back, and going towards the door.
If Ryou's patience had been low before, the dismissal just now had made it reach dangerous levels, and he had to close his eyes while taking a deep breath to calm himself before, he did something he would regret. It only took a couple of moments before he addressed Naofumi who was at the door now.
"Naofumi…" Ryou called out making the shield hero stop in his tracks, "...look your right... It isn't any of my business, and a shield isn't even a weapon so you need someone to fight for you... I do get that. Just…" Ryou paused before taking another breath, and continuing, "...just take into consideration that she's still a child, and since she's a slave, chances are that she had it even worse than you." Ryou pleaded to the shield hero, who looked perplexed before his face changed into a snarl.
"You don't get anything at all! You haven't the slightest idea of what, I have to go through daily, so don't talk like you do!" Naofumi snarled, his body shaking in barely suppressed rage.
Taking another breath, Ryou looked directly into Naofumi's eyes that almost burned with anger. "Once again your right, but let me tell you something. Right now everyone hates you, but you know what? They aren't going to win in the long run, because for better, or for worse you are the Shield Hero, and they need you, maybe not now, but eventually they will have no choice but to rely on you to save their asses… However, if you start lashing out everywhere, you will bring down not only yourself, but also everyone that might have sticked with you… Think about that…" Ryou finished, and something from what he said appeared to have reached the Shield Hero since his expression turned sullen, his anger deflating like a balloon, before he turned around, and walked out.
"Lets go Raphtalia…" Ryou heard Naofumi mutter, and with that they were both gone.
Erhard let out an huffing sound, before commenting, "That kid... I don't know if he just got corrupted, or if its the entire country that's in the wrong…"
Ryou looked down, his eyes found the floor, yet his mind was somewhere far away, "You know went you look at this world from the surface, it looks amazing with Heroes, Dragons, and Magic... My old world had nothing like it, so for most people this looks just like a dream come true...However if you stop, and peak beneath the rocks, you will see that this world is as rotten as my old one, if not more so…" Ryou commented, with what he now knew was the truth.
"The world you came from didn't have magic, and yet you are saying its just bad has this one? I find that hard to believe, if your people didn't have the power to enforce their will on others, how did it ended as bad as this one?" Erhard asked in slight disbelief, however Ryou found a small humorless laugh escaping him.
"You think magic is the problem? No, just no, Erhard... Humans are the problem... We don't need magic, or special powers to be absolute bastards towards each other. This is true, in this world, my old world, or any other world were humans exist..." Ryou finished. At the end of the day, the entire of history as he knew it relating to his old world, was full of blood, and discrimination. It took thousands of years for some order to establish itself, and even then…
"Yeah... I get where you are coming from, I suppose.." Erhard conceded, before regaining some of his habitual exuberance, "But that aside, that was quite the speech you gave to the Shield Bro! Someone been practicing his hero charisma in front of the mirror." The blacksmith teased lightly.
That brought out another laugh from Ryou, but this one actually had meaning, and he shook his head in denial, "Not even close. I honestly don't know where that came from.. I guess, I just felt the need to say something…" trailing off Ryou looked towards the celling before continuing
"Naofumi isn't a bad guy... He just got dealt a bad hand, however if you only focus on the bad, eventually you will come to understand that while you were to busy hating fate, you might have lost all the other good things that you had, and when that happens, you will look back, and only find regret…" Ryou's voice sounded very far away in Erhard's hears.
"Kid, you're way too young to be sounding like an old man, talking about regrets, and what not…" And that put a small smile on Ryou's lips
"I suppose you are right, I'm still here after all, better make the most of it." Now was the blacksmith turn to laugh while he patted Ryou on the shoulder with a little too much enthusiasm.
"Now that's the spirit! So you can start living your utmost by paying for those gloves! After all, for me, money equals happiness, and I for one, love to be swimming in happiness!" Ryou released an actual laugh of mirth.
Honestly this guy is really too much… Thanks Erhard…
The forest beyond the hills was home to a lot of creatures, strange was the fact that every single one of them was extremely aggressive towards humans.
Even things like the Usapils, were herbivores from what Ryou had seen, yet had no problem sinking there teeth in anything human, on sight.
It was during these contemplation's, that Ryou came across a clearing, similar to the rest he had come across. A wide space, surrounded by tree's, and bushes, however there was something different about this particular one... The moment he stepped in it, all of the hairs on his arm stood up, and a feeling of dread coursed through his body for no discern reason. Taking a look around, trying to find what was it, that was freaking his instincts out, Ryou noticed something shining in the bushes, reflecting some of the sun light that peered through.
Narrowing his eyes, Ryou slowly made his way towards the shinning object, looking from side to side, yet not seeing anything out of the ordinary besides the feeling of dread. His feet steeping in the dry grass with a crunching sound that echoed across the clearing, finally he saw it, the blade of what was most likely a sword peaking out of the bush, part of the blade shined, the other part was dirty with a dark brown layer encroached in it.
Is that blood..?
Crouching near the bush, Ryou looked a it for a couple of seconds before carefully grabbing the blade on the clean side, and pulling it out. It was definitely a sword, but what came with it made him fall on his rear with a startled gasp!
"Gahhh!" His gasp echoed in the trees. Eyes widen, in both surprise, and disgust he took in the sight before him. Attached to the handle of the blade still partly griping it, was a hand, or what was left of it, since it was mangled almost beyond recognition.
If before only the hairs on his arm had been standing up, now every single one on his body was pointing upwards, and he could hear his heart beating in his ears.
Shit! I saw enough movies like Jurassic park to know were this is going..!
No sooner had he come to his conclusion, a sound of twigs crunching reach him. With wide eyes he took a look in the direction of the sound, and all color drained from his face.
"Grrrrrrrr..." The thing growled, grey, and brown fur covered its body, standing on all four of its legs, lips pulled back in a snarl showing a rows of very sharp teeth, blueish slitted eyes locked on his being. Ryou's eyes narrowed in focus, an his dominant hand formed a semi-close fist, getting ready to call upon his weapon,
The thing that now could vaguely be identified has a wolf, move slowly in his direction, and another crunching sound came from the right.
Ryou refused to take his eyes of the monstrous wolf in front of him, for fear of springing it into action, but his mind did registered the sound.
There's more then one…
Relaxing his hand, he put it flat on the ground, hesitating for a fraction of a second, before pooling all of his strength into his legs. He bolt backwards towards where he came, running has fast as he could, not even daring to look behind, where he heard something crash, more then likely in the spot he had been previously, followed by a snarl.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! That is not a wolf! That thing is the size of a freaking Mastiff!
Ryou keep running, far faster then he had been able to in his past life, jumping, and dodging all manner of obstacles from trees to boulders. Vaulting over a big root, that extended itself above the ground, blood pumping everywhere in his body, he heard the sound of paws hitting the ground behind him along with multiple snarls, yelps, and barks.
How many are there!? He still didn't dare to look back, afraid to take his eyes off the path. The forest was almost a blur. After weaving around a tree, he saw an obstacle in front of him, but not even that was enough to make him slow down.
Shit! I'll never make it to the other side, but to hell with it… In front of Ryou was a opening where a river flowed rapidly from the mountain, and made his way to Castle Town.
Ryou had no idea how deep the thing was, but it probably wouldn't matter with how fast the water was flowing, either way the river had to be a better alternative then the monstrous wolves behind him.
He broke through the trees, and in a blink he ran towards a boulder on the riverbank half sunk in the water. Stepping on it without losing any speed he leaped, and to his very short astonishment he hit the ground on the other side a moment later, before rolling into himself. He was up in a fraction of a second, not even registering the few scratches on the side of his face.
One by one, they came out of the woods, five in total, far too big to be considered normal wolves, they stood snarling from a distance, stalking the riverbank. Ryou released his bow, and took aim before lowering it slightly, his eyes widening, and his face palling even more, a small shiver running through his body.
My god… From the trees emerged a sixth creature, grey, and brown also covered his fur, but this one had patches missing, however there was a crucial difference between this one, and the rest. it was bigger, much bigger then the rest of the wolves.
It's the size of an horse… Ryou couldn't help but to make the comparison.
It came to a stop slightly behind the others, but instead of snarling, it just stood there, has if observing its prey.
Is it the pack leader..?
Ryou gritted his teeth, and raised his bow once more, big or not, the river made the perfect obstacle, they apparently couldn't fight from a distance, but he could. Taking aim, beyond the river at the middle one, he opened fire, releasing an arrow
...Tshack...
It hit near the shoulder, and the wolf flinched back with a whimper, red painting the green grass of the river bank.
...Tshack...
The second arrow hit it in the now exposed side, another whimper, Ryou took aim this time for the head, and released what would for sure be the killing shot.
...Tshack…
What?! Ryou looked in disbelief at what he had just seen, he had fired the arrow intent on finishing the wolf he had aimed at, but moments before that arrow connected, another wolf at put himself in the way, and took the hit for his wounded companion.
He didn't had the time to think about it anymore, because a piercing sound, rung across the open area, the biggest wolf had released an howl, and Ryou winced almost covering his ears at the sound. The effect had been instantaneous, the other wolves scrambled back into the forest, the wounded one limping behind until only the Leader remained alone, observing Ryou, then after a few moments, it too disappeared into the forest.
Ryou just stood there trying to pull himself together, looking at his hand he took note that it was shaking. He had been incredibly lucky to be alive, good thing he had decided against fighting back, with those numbers he would have been torn to shreds.
Snapping himself out of trying to understand the last few moments, Ryou turned around making his way back into the forest, in the general direction of Castle Town, determined to put as much distance as he could from this place.
He covered about three meters, when he heard a loud splashing sound, and water rained down on him, turning around in a flash, Ryou surveyed the river noting something being pulled by the strong current. A flash of movement had him turn his eyes towards the forest beyond the river. Out of it came one of the wolves, quickly crossing the distance, and jumping across the river. The monster hit his of the riverbank side with its front paws, trying desperately to climb out of the water. The moment one of his hind paws made contact with the earth, an arrow hit it in the neck, and the wolf fell into the water.
Ryou had reacted on instinct, before he noticed on the other side all three of the remaining smaller ones breaking through the tree line. Ryou sealed his bow as he turned, and once again dashed away as fast as he possibly could, his ears picking up another splash,
"You can't be serious!" Ryou finally screamed, in a mix of astonishment, and fear while running at top speed. The god damned things just didn't know when to actually give up. He ignored the experience window that popped up on the corner of his vision, that he would later realize had been enough for a level up.
After a few moments the snarls returned, but he could finally see the hills, a few moments later he was out of the forest, his eyes taking in the glorious vision of Castle Town in the distance, yet a sound that sounded like voices reached him, and he quickly turned his head in that direction.
This just keeps getting better! Ryou screamed in his head sarcastically, before making a split decision, slightly changing direction, and running. He reached his target grabbing it by the waist, yet ignoring the startled noise the figure made, and moved it on to his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, before dashing once again.
"What?! Ryou?! What the hell are you doing?! Ryou!" Naofumi shouted indignantly.
"Naofumi! Run!" Ryou screamed, and something on his voice must have showed how serious the situation was to the Shield hero, because he took a look behind himself, before breaking into a mad dash, teeth clench, and face pale white.
"Ahhhhhh!" Came a terrified scream from the bundle in his shoulder that had started squirming. No doubt Raphtalia had finally noticed what exactly was behind them.
"Raphtalia, stop squirming or you'll fall off!" Ryou shouted trying to keep his grip on her.
They crossed the hills in record time, Castle Town now quite in view, almost shining.
"Ryou stop! They aren't behind us anymore!" Naofumi shouted, and Ryou looked back confirming it, but not slowing down in the slightest.
Fooling me twice, these things are not..! Ryou thought before responding. "They did this before! Don't stop!"
And he kept going until he reached the crossing bridge leading to the gate, the few farmers, and soldiers looking in curiosity yet he paid them no mind. After stooping Ryou set the Demi-human girl down, and hunched over, hands on his knees gasping for breath. It took a while to get his breathing under control but when he did, he took a look at Raphtalia. The little girl had her eyes wide opened looking into nothing, lip quivering, and shaking like a leaf.
Poor thing she's spooked out of her mind...Ohh… Ryou thought in pity before coming to the realization, wolves were similar to dogs, and she still had her trauma.
"Hey its okay, they aren't chasing us any...Gah!" Ryou started gently before something forced him around, hands grabbing the collar of his armor, he saw Naofumi right in his face, eyes narrowed in rage, and lips peeled back in a snarl.
"What the fuck was that Ryou!? Is everything else not enough for you people, now you are trying to get me killed?!"