Chapter 297: The Land of Houou

Now then, it’s about time to finish choosing the members to take to battle.

Tomorrow, we’re going to set out for the land where Houou is sealed.

The Heroes and their companions. Raphtalia and Firo are a given. Also Fohl, Atlas, Sadina, Kiel and the volunteers from the village.

Imya, and the others that specialize in manufacturing, will stay home.

It’s not like I’m forcing anyone to come along. I gave them all ample warning.

“Just so you know, the Wave is no game. I don’t have the confidence to protect all of you. If you don’t have the resolve to fight for your life, then don’t come along!” (Naofumi)

I pray that my words actually reached these kids.

Right… I want to get over this with the lowest amount of casualties possible.

The slaves all nod at me, but do they truly understand…?

Ah, right, right.

We did think of sending one hero there beforehand, so he could portal back, take us all there, and let us record it in our portals. But that sounded like too big of a pain, so the proposal was rejected.

If all four of us used our teleporting skills, how many would we be able to take along…?

Including the allied forces, just how many soldiers are there in Melromakr alone?

I mean, perhaps the slaves at my place would be fine alone, but if we have the manpower, then it’s best to use it.

And so, it turned out that my place’s Filo Rials would assist in transporting everyone, Slaves and Soldiers.

“Then we will be accompanying you.” (Queen)

The Queen is coming along as the strategist for the army.

It seems she left the castle to Melty. Melty’s guard was left to Female Knight.

We can’t use all of the country’s forces, and She’ll do fine as a guard.

And Melty and Female Knight seem to have compatible personalities, so I don’t think there will be any problems.

The person herself was frustrated that she would not be participating, though.

She is quite skilled, but there’s no helping it.

She shook hands with Raphtalia, saying she would leave it to her.

For argument’s sake, Trash is also in the Queen’s carriage.

… He’s staring silently from the inside. He seems to have aged even more than before.

His beloved daughter died horribly, so I guess that would cause a man to age.

And his beloved sister’s look-alike, Atlas, is serving under his hated enemy. He must be quite miserable.

He was scowling at me with vigor, but when Atlas sat next to me, his expression suddenly turned soft.

Anyways, that’s how our journey went.

“Ehehe~ It’s fine~” (Firo)

Firo is showing off to the Filo Rials pulling the allied forces’ carriages. She’s being annoying.

The Filo Rials themselves seem to look a bit jealous, as if… No that is not my concern.

By competing their Filo Rial-drawn carriages, and their dragon-drawn carriages, the Allied Forces are also proceeding at a reasonable pace.

I guess that’s one way to use them.

“KYUA!”

Child Gaelion is pulling a carriage with the same happy expression as Firo. He’s competing well with our bird, and… his passengers are making some nice memories, involving much nausea and vomit.

“Rafu~”

I also took the Raphs with me.

Mii-kun wanted to join in the fray too, so Rat came along with her equipment under one arm.

By the way, the former Caterpilland Raphs are also helping draw the carriages.

The gazes from the army are painful.

As expected of the Hero of the Shield! To create a new type of monster to help us is amazing!

… I hear whispers all around. Everyone’s bringing up my dark history. This was the result of something that was definitely not me.

Even if you praise me for it, it doesn’t make me happy at all.

And, a few days of travel passed… We arrived at the land of the seal.

“So this is where Houou is sealed…”

The land we arrived in was… well, it gave off the feeling of a small, remote country.

There are quite a few people who wear china-ish clothing in Melromark, and it seems they come from here.

But the roofs are really low. It’s quite different from the western style Melromark.

I get a different feeling than that of the town on the Spirit Turtle.

It’s like it’s from a different era…? I’m not too familiar with oriental fantasy settings, so I can’t really say.

Anyways, let’s just say it’s Chinese-ish.

“That would be the equivalent of our country’s castle, Iwatani-sama.” (Queen)

The Queen walks in front of us, as she shows us around the city.

She doesn’t seem too knowledgeable on it, so I don’t really think she has too, but…

“For some reason, I don’t see many people.” (Naofumi)

Right, despite the city’s size, and wide roads, I barely see anyone walking around.

It’s almost a ghost town.

If someone told me this was the country’s capital, I would tilt my head in confusion.

“From three months prior, this land was informed that Houou would awaken. After a large uproar, most of the populace evacuated.” (Queen)

“Well yeah…” (Naofumi)

Thinking about the casualties on the Spirit Turtle’s land, the people would try to get out of here as quickly as possible.

The destruction of the Spirit Turtle became quite famous, and this is the result.

“…”

Ren is silently looking down.

Is he still conscious about that incident? Just don’t do it here too.

Motoyasu is restlessly looking around the city.

Is he really repenting?

Itsuki is following Rishia with an apathetic expression as usual.

“… I’ll do my best.” (Itsuki)

He muttered to himself.

I really don’t understand what’s going on with his curse. Is it cured, or not?

I’m pretty sure it should be dispelled by now, but his emotions are still faint.

“And? Are we going to have a talk with this country’s head, or something?” (Naofumi)

“That’s right. We’ll be talking with a representative, though.” (Queen)

“Hmmm…” (Naofumi)

In the room the Queen led us to, was a single young boy, sitting on a throne.

Is this the representative?

“Thank you for coming all this way, Four Heroes, and the Queen of Melromark. I am the one acting as this country’s king.”

“My, my. The king I knew of was quite a different man. What happened?” (Queen)

“The previous king saw it fit to go on a long journey with his men, and all of the country’s priceless treasures.”

I let out a deep sigh.

Again… Why are all of this world’s royalty so rotten?

Heading for the hills out of fear of being drawn into the Houou Battle…

“Understood, then are you the representative I heard of?” (Queen)

“That seems to be the case. At the moment, my country’s soldiers are away, trying to capture the previous king.”

“Hey, Queen.” (Naofumi)

“What could it be?” (Queen)

“Why are all of this world’s royalty…” (Naofumi)

“He was supposed to be a skillful leader carrying the blood of Faubley Royalty, but for such a thing to happen in an emergency situation… I can’t really say anything about it.” (Queen)

No… isn’t he rotten because he has Faublian blood?

Is what I think, the kid in front of me is acting quite mature for his age.

He may be a person like Melty.

I guess he’ll do better than the people that ran.

“We humbly welcome the Heroes, and the allied army. As you proposed earlier, we have compiled all information in our possession pertaining to Houou, so if you would please look through that later, I would be grateful.”

As the boy waved his hand, a scholar-like person stepped out of the shadows. It looks like he will be guiding us.

“Then the armies will be on standby in the city.” (Queen)

“Yes…”

For some reason, the boy’s expression is dark.

Ah right, the land around the city seemed to be a barren wasteland.

From what I’ve seen, the few remaining residents are quite thin.

I heard that a few parts of this world were in famine.

Since I had my Bioplant, I didn’t really worry about it, but… We need to secure a source of food for ourselves.

“Shadow.” (Naofumi)

“What is it?” (Shadow)

… This isn’t the Shadow I know.

Anyways, I called a Shadow out, took some Bioplant Seeds from my pocket, and scattered them on his hand.

“We’ll be staying here for a while. Go plant that somewhere to make a source of food. While you’re at it, you can go fill this country’s storehouse as well.” (Naofumi)

“Understood.” (Shadow)

On my words, the Queen silently lowers her head.

At the same time, the boy bows as well.

“I’m thankful for the Hero’s benevolence.”

“If we try to send a starving army into battle, we’re the ones that will be troubled in the end.” (Naofumi)

Hmm… It’s not my problem, but it seems that food problems are prevalent in this area.

I’m worried about how long the supplies we brought with us will last.

The other heroes have also unlocked the necessary weapons to modify Bioplants.

The problem is… if they keep at modifying, a strange weapon like that shield may pop up, so I cautioned them to do it in moderation.

I’m starting to wonder whether the Legendary Weapons have some sort of Karma system in them.

Ren and the others have done quite a bit. So… if they do anything strange, there’s a possibility their weapons will send them berserk.

Even so, mass producing the Bioplant is essential for our profit.

If someone goes out of control here, it will be no joke.

“Will you kindly direct us to the information you compiled?” (Queen)

“Yes, this way.”

We ended our short audience with the king, and followed the scholar to the place the information was stocked.

But before that.

“Raphtalia, Fohl, and Atlas. Go watch over the Allied armies.” (Naofumi)

“I believe we’ve already made announcements to them.” (Raphtalia)

“More forces will be coming soon, right? Go handle those additions. If something happens, report to me immediately.” (Naofumi)

“Ah, yes. Understood.” (Raphtalia)

Even if we look over the material together, I don’t think the current Raphtalia is going to have too much of a role.

I sent Firo to find a place to put the carriage, and to investigate the area.

So she already isn’t here.

Perhaps I should get her to sing to raise morale. She’s really popular, apparently

I believe there was that anime about that. Is it really effective?

(TL: I’m really not sure about this one, but perhaps it’s Macross Frontier. There are plenty of Animes that fit the bill here)

I think as I proceed forward.

“Naofumi-sama.” (Atlas)

“What?” (Naofumi)

“If anything happens to you, call for me.” (Atlas)

“Yeah, got it.” (Naofumi)

It’s not like anything will happen yet.

I think. I give a vague response to Atlas and went to go read up on our next foe.