The Rising of the Scythe Hero

Leaving the castle, each of us was silent in our own way. Naofumi was deep in thought, occasionally glancing at me. Sometimes, he looked at Raphtalia too, and in those moments, his face would relax, taking on some peaceful, almost serene expression. But the second his eyes landed on me again—that expression turned sour. Fascinating little metamorphosis.

"Was that really necessary?" he suddenly asked me.

"Hm? What exactly?"

"What you pulled off back there. Don't get me wrong, I loved the way you wrecked that idiot with the spear, but still… I doubt we'll be welcome in the palace now."

It wasn't hard to see the storm of mixed emotions Naofumi was wrestling with. On one hand, his enemies got publicly humiliated. On the other hand… I stirred up a conflict we could've easily avoided.

Truth is, the King hadn't really given me any reason to act against him yet. You could even say… I started this whole thing for no reason at all.

But as it turned out… the King and the Church had already made their move. I just hadn't known about it… until today.

"You see, Naofumi… I had several reasons for doing what I did." Hands clasped behind my back, I switched my walking pace into full-on "wise old sage" mode. "First of all, it was painfully obvious the King favors the Spear, Sword, and Bow Heroes. Especially the Spear Hero. That kind of attitude towards people they themselves summoned to save their world… says a lot about his wisdom as a ruler." I paused for a moment, giving Naofumi time to digest the info, then continued. "Second… based on that, I decided to poke around and get a feel for the King's overall stance. There's a thing in this world, Naofumi… called the Church of the Three Heroes. Catch my drift?"

"Three Heroes?"

"Yep. And guess what? The Shield and the Scythe… aren't on that list. Later, I found a few more reasons to act the way I did. But in the end, the final trigger was that rigged duel. That's why I decided to strike first. With my words alone, I've already planted doubt among the King's little entourage—the nobles will start thinking. The duel with Motoyasu showed there's no absolute advantage on Aultcray's side. Just Motoyasu alone isn't enough to tip the scales, and Ren and Itsuki… they clearly aren't eager to play along with the King's games. Plus, I showed that I'm stronger than Motoyasu himself. Though… the ease with which I beat him worked out even better than I planned. Odds are, the other Heroes aren't much stronger than the Spear."

Naofumi remained silent. He simply stared at me with wide eyes, as if I were not a person... but some kind of deity. A snake deity, I would guess... That small spark of fear in his eyes? The way people look at... slippery things.

"That's… impressive. And… kinda logical."

"Maybe."

In truth, all of this was secondary. Sure, making sneaky plans and weaving schemes could be useful—even fun. But… I honestly didn't care much. Almost everything I did… I did for myself. For my own entertainment and amusement. I barely thought about consequences.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Shield and the Scythe Heroes. What brings you to me today?"

Eventually, we arrived at our destination—the slave trader's tent. Raphtalia flat-out refused to stay by Naofumi's side without the slave mark. She even declared, "I want to be your slave, Naofumi-sama!" Damn… if someone ever said that to me… I wouldn't be responsible for what happened next.

As for the fact that this guy already knew about me and what I looked like—not surprising. If I remembered right, it was the Queen who sent Naofumi to him in the first place. So it made sense that she told him something about me too.

"Well, well… quite the transformation," the man muttered in awe, eyeing Raphtalia. "By my estimate… I could offer you twenty gold coins for her, assuming she's not a virgin."

"What makes you think we brought her here to sell?! And I am a virgin!" Raphtalia exclaimed, cheeks burning bright red.

"Incredible! Then how about thirty-five? Of course, after I check whether she—"

"Naofumi-sama!"

Meanwhile, Naofumi himself… was off somewhere deep in the void. Mentally AFK, as they say.

"Thirty-five gold…" he mumbled under his breath.

"Naofumi-sama! That's not funny!"

"Relax, Raphtalia." I placed a hand on the girl's head. "Nobody's selling you. Right?" I nudged the Shield Hero with my elbow.

"Urgh!" Naturally, my little jab went right through his defenses. "Ahem. Of course not. Why would I sell my beloved daughter?"

"Daughter?"

"Forget it. Slipped out by accident."

The brief exchange between Naofumi and Raphtalia made me sigh and look at the girl with a sympathetic gaze.

"You've got your work cut out for you." I gently patted her head. "But remember what I told you at the banquet. I believe in you—you'll be fine."

"Nott-sama…" Raphtalia looked at me with those big, trusting eyes…

"Maybe I'll give you a few more tips later. So don't lose heart."

"Nott-sama!" …her gaze shifted from trust to full-on admiration. Yeah… figures.

"What are you two even talking about?" Meanwhile, Naofumi was completely lost. "Whatever. We're here to restore the slave mark. Let's just get it over with."

I don't know if the placement was strictly standard, or if it was the slave trader's little joke, but they chose Raphtalia's chest as the spot for the new mark.

The girl, taking off her armor, pulled down her shirt, exposing a decent portion of what, I had to admit, was a very attractive chest.

"H-how do I look, Naofumi-sama?" Brave, I'll give her that. But still…

"Hm? What are you talking about?"

"Ugh…" Raphtalia sighed in defeat, throwing a side glance at me… and then blushed even harder.

Don't know if it was because of the thumbs-up and wink I gave her… or the whole situation. But whatever.

After that, Naofumi fed his shield the ink used for applying the slave mark, unlocking the Slave Trader's Shield in the process, which he promptly shared with me.

"Well… the idea of having a cute catgirl slave is pretty tempting, but… right now, I don't see a good way to pull that off." I glanced over the "merchandise" on display. Nothing caught my eye.

"If the esteemed Hero is interested in my goods, I'd suggest stopping by in two weeks, oh yes. Some of my associates promised to surprise me with a new batch… Ku-ku-ku."

"I'll keep that in mind." I smiled politely at the trader.

"Uh…" He instinctively recoiled, losing his smile entirely. "Has anyone ever told you, esteemed Hero, that your smile is… rather unsettling?"

"Hm… think so, yeah…"

"Catgirls? So you're one of those, Nott…" Naofumi gave me a thoughtful look.

"Well… not strictly catgirls. Girls with fox ears, wolf ears… they're great too. And, of course…" My eyes landed on Raphtalia. "Tanuki girls are adorable."

"U-um…" Raphtalia's eyes darted around, her hands nervously fidgeting at her waist. Absolute cuteness.

"Hm… what's this?" Naofumi looked like he was about to say something else, but then his eyes landed on the shelf full of eggs.

"Our cover, esteemed Hero. Officially, we're a Monster Shop."

"What kind of monsters come from these eggs?" While Naofumi pondered, I asked the trader with curiosity.

"Hu-hu. This, Hero-sama, is a bit of a lottery. You might hatch a dragon, or a filolial, or maybe a Pikyuu-Pikyuu, a Bunnybat, or others…"

"I'll take one." I declared without hesitation.

"You're not even asking the price?"

"They can't be that expensive for a lottery. Doesn't matter."

I wanted it. I wanted whatever came out of that egg.

Pretty much from my first day in this world… I knew exactly what I wanted most. And I'd been holding myself back, waiting for the right moment to share this with the Shield Hero.

I needed a filolial.

"Ku-ku. I like customers like you. Which egg will you choose?"

I was about to just grab the first one, but then…

Life Absorption activated

"What?" slipped out unconsciously.

"Something wrong, esteemed Hero?"

"Nah. Just thinking out loud."

The moment I reached toward the egg… I felt something. Something… weird.

Life Absorption, as the name suggests, lets me absorb life. But this time… I wasn't absorbing anything. I was sensing the life inside the eggs.

And thinking about it… what are eggs, really?

An embryo. Barely formed life. Not fully developed, but alive nonetheless. A state caught between living and not-living. Guess that's why the skill triggered?

With it, I could sense the intensity of life energy inside the eggs. Reaching deeper, I even found a particularly bright pulse—way stronger than the others. Pretty sure… that was the dragon.

Tempting… but I didn't want him. I could've bought two eggs, sure, but… I remembered the natural feud between filolials and dragons. So my choice was obvious.

"This one."

Picking the egg with life energy slightly weaker than the dragon's, I handed it to the trader.

"Hm… you've got a sharp eye, Hero-sama. You clearly knew what you wanted. Well then, follow me. We'll place a seal on the egg."

"Wait."

"Yes, esteemed Hero?" The trader turned back, confused.

"I want you to use a higher-grade seal."

"Ooooh!" His eyes lit up. "So you even know about that… May I assume… you're pretty confident in what'll hatch?"

"Not entirely. I still have my doubts."

"Your modesty impresses me, oh yes. Very well. But… I must warn you, that service isn't cheap…"

"How much?"

"Hm… since I see potential in you and a hint of future cooperation… I'll give you a discount. Two hundred silvers for the seal." Seeing my thoughtful look, he quickly added, "Normally, that service starts at eight hundred coins."

"Fine. I'm in."

Leaving Naofumi to ponder the egg display, I followed the trader. Taking advantage of the opportunity, I also absorbed the ink used for the ritual. Apparently, the ink for monsters and for slaves was different, because my Monster Master's Scythe immediately unlocked two variations, boosting both monster stats and growth. Probably thanks to the higher-quality ink.

"Same for this one. Just a basic seal." Naofumi showed up behind me, egg in hand.

"Ku-ku. Wise choice, Hero-sama."

After the purchase, the eggs were placed in a disposable portable incubator, which the buyer could take home. The trader promised the egg would hatch in a day, and saw us off with a smile.

"So… you really know what's in your egg?" Naofumi asked as we left the tent.

"Sort of. I've got a unique skill that lets me sense life. And this egg… it felt especially strong."

"Gotcha. Hey… could you…"

I silently reached out, touching Naofumi's egg. Its life energy… roughly twenty percent weaker than mine. I told him as much, earning a visible smirk from the Shield Hero.

"What's the plan now?" I asked him.

"I guess… we'll hit the shops, stock up for the road. Then head for the Rute Village area. Best place to grind levels right now."

"I see…" I thought for a moment. "Mind if I tag along?"

"Huh? But… won't the monsters there… be, you know… too weak for you?"

"Doesn't matter. Most monsters around Melromarc are too weak for me anyway."

"Eh… fair enough. I don't mind."

"I… don't mind either." Raphtalia chimed in after I glanced her way.

"Wonderful."

Traveling with the Shield Hero for a while… could be useful. Though I wasn't sure how to feel about the upcoming race… if it even happened. And that jeweler I'd heard about intrigued me too…

So for now, a new adventure with the Shield Hero awaited.

And honestly… I couldn't wait.