Chapter 005: Calm Before the Storm

Author: WolfSpatial

Co-Author: Lucifer

[Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt must be paid.]

•••••​

It was fairly late when we got back to the castle. The other heroes had returned shortly before us and Malty waited near the castle gate.

Malty took a deep breath as we approached, her arms dangling at her sides, "I think we should start over… I'm Myne, a low-ranking adventurer who wants to be in your party."

She probably thought that because I hadn't outed her earlier, I wasn't going to do so now. And she was mostly right. I wouldn't tell Naofumi who she was. That didn't mean I'd let her continue to drag him down, "Sure, can you move? It's late and we're tired."

"Oh, okay." Her expression seemed genuinely disappointed, and her sheet told me that she was saddened, "Will you consider my offer, Sir Mage Hero?"

"No," There was no smile or playful tone to my voice, and Malty seemed to understand what that meant. She stepped to the side without another word, and when I checked her sheet again I was surprised to find that she wasn't upset or even mad in the slightest. She was still disappointed.

Naofumi glanced at her as he passed her by, not sparing a second look. He followed me in through the gates of the castle and came up next to me on the right, under the watchful eyes of the guards that lined the walls of the corridor, "Are you considering actually taking her into your party? She doesn't seem very trustworthy."

"If only for comedic relief," I gave a light chuckle and called my staff to my hand, letting it tap against the ground as I walked, "But no, I don't plan on having a party."

Naofumi let my words sink in, a comfortable silence forming between us. He seemed to be thinking – for the first time since he got here – about what Malty could be plotting.

Even as we passed Grand Chamberlain Leofric instructing two maids, Naofumi still hadn't broken from his thoughts. I let him simmer a bit more before we came to the wooden door of his room, which I found to be less luxurious than mine, "They really don't like you, huh?"

"Huh?" Naofumi finally broke from his thoughts and looked at me in confusion, "What're you talking about?"

"Well, my door is bigger than yours," My explanation made him nod for me to continue, "And I'm betting if I open this door, your room will be smaller."

Naofumi frowned and I could see the gears spinning in his mind, "What did your room look like? Mine reminds me of my college dorm."

"It's kind of like I'm royalty or a noble," I rubbed my chin with my free left hand, as my right still held my staff, "Too much space for just me, you know?"

He opened the door to his room, revealing a small area with just enough space for a twin-sized bed with an old wooden frame and brown blankets. It also had a small trunk at the end of the bed that looked like it had been taken from the bottom of the ocean, and a small end table that seemed like it was supposed to hold some clothes in place of an actual closet or wardrobe.

The entire room was a little larger than the closet of my room, which made me a bit upset for Naofumi. The guy didn't deserve the treatment he got, and I certainly wouldn't let this stand. I'd bring it up with the Grand Chamberlain. Tomorrow.

Naofumi gave me a sideways glance, his green eyes blinking as if to give me a silent message. There were a few options for what this message was.

First, he wanted me to stop bragging about how my room was better than his. I didn't really feel I was bragging, so much as making an observation. That cut this prospective message from my list fairly quickly, as Naofumi didn't seem the type to be upset over someone simply pointing something out. So, that wasn't it.

Second, he wanted to see what my room looked like. I didn't have a problem with this and it would give him a good grasp of how differently he was treated in comparison to the other heroes. This possible message wasn't struck from the list since Naofumi could be genuinely curious. So, it stayed till the end.

Third, he just wanted to look at me. I mean, I was attractive and I had a twink already throwing himself at me. Maybe he thought he had a chance. This option was off the list simply because I didn't like it. There was no way Naofumi was thinking of taking my precious butt virginity. So, this was a no-go too.

That left option two. There were other options, of course, but none were as likely as these three. Thus, I nixed them and moved on.

A small sigh escaped my lips, "Are you sure you can handle seeing my room? It might be too much for your feeble self."

"It's just a room," Neofumi rolled his eyes, though I could see the tug of a smile at the left corner of his mouth, "I'm sure I can handle it."

With a small smirk, I began walking again. His footsteps echoed next to mine, syncing up quite well to create a rhythm that seemed to bleed through the walls of the castle. To me, the sound was well-timed and seemed to reverberate through a person like a chorus of beating drums.

Naofumi gawked at the large brown door with a golden knocker in the center of it. The door was neither as big nor as ornate as the Throne Room door, but it was more of both than the Shield Hero's door. If originally there was a seed of doubt about the Kingdom of Melromarc planted within Naofumi, now it was a small sapling on its way to becoming a great oak.

He gave a wry chuckle, trying to lessen the disparity between our accommodations, "It's certainly… large."

"Tis what the maiden sayeth," My whisper was almost inaudible, though the chuff and snort that Naofumi gave signaled that he heard me. With a small gesture forward, I looked to him, "Go ahead and open it."

I wish I could have seen the initial look on his face when he opened the door. Unfortunately, I was behind him. Though, I imagined him having wide eyes and his mouth being agape. His green eyes contracted and staring at the luxury of my room.

Alas, I could not see his first reaction. I got a much duller reaction of him turning toward me and saying, "They really fucking hate me, huh?"

The emphasis on his cursing told me that he wasn't used to cursing. He was probably one of those upright college students that didn't have any worries cause mom and dad paid for their schooling. I couldn't bitch about it, or even find displeasure in it, as my own parents spoiled me too.

I had gotten a weekly allowance of about two-hundred-fifty Eagle Dollars since my tenth birthday. Of course, they taught me how to spend money properly and not squander it by beating the hell out of my plushies right in front of me. They had even destroyed a Hetsanu Muki figurine one time, which had cost me around three hundred Eagles at the time.

They had destroyed a Magical Mirai Figurine that depicted Muki with a tall microphone stand that held a speaker at the top. She was leaning against it, her right arm splayed behind her as her left hand clutched the microphone stand. Her right leg was brought up with her knee bent at a ninety-degree angle, and it looked kind of like she was using the stand as support.

She wore a white dress with a light blue bow just below her chin and to the right. There were three sets of frills at the bottom of the dress, layered on top of each other, with a blue frill between two white ones. On the front of her dress, near the bottom, was a patch of red that stretched from the bottom of the first white frill up to her midsection and stopped at her waist.

On the sides of the red patch were lines of white, bordered by yellow flaps folded back against a blue section of fabric that stretched around the dress to the other side. Above the red patch, a red bow sat on Muki's waist with a yellow ribbon above her navel and a red ribbon just below the blue one that sat on her chest.

She wore black arm warmers that stretched to just past her elbow to her mid-bicep, with gold and silver bracelets that were attached to streamers. The streamers were red on the front and yellowish-gold on the back, seeming to sway in the wind as she sang.

She wore thigh-high socks that were folded down once to reveal the white inner fabric. The outer fabric was black with a red line running up the side vertically, a blue line running up the front vertically, and a blue line that wrapped around the upper calves horizontally. Attached to both of her knees was a red ribbon.

Her shoes were white with black platforms that had two blue lines running along them sideways, and a red line where the white and black met. The toes of the shoes were red, and there was a small cut out on the tongue of the shoes where her socks could be seen.

Her long turquoise hair was put into twin tails – her signature look – and fell behind her in long waves of fluff. To tie her hair into that style, she had two small white ribbons attached to her bangs, and two black squares attached to her headphones which held the hair in place with a red cord.

The headphones had two lines that spanned the curved side in a circle, and two blue squares on the outer side.

It was my favorite figurine, and luckily I had super glue. But, it was never the same. So I bought another version of Muki. It depicted her in a silver wedding dress.

The Hetsanu Muki Wedding Dress Figurine had a silver dress with a slit on the left side, it was a beautiful and intricate piece of art. The dress itself was a beautiful shade of silver and was made from a high-quality material that was both somewhat durable and aesthetically pleasing. The slit on the left side added a touch of elegance and sophistication to the design.

The dress also had intricate designs and embellishments, such as lace trim and delicate beading, adding to its beauty. She had a serene and gentle expression, and her long hair was styled in her signature twin tails, though they now had bands about a fifth of the way down. She carried a bouquet of silver flowers – the designers liked silver – which added to the feeling that she was about to be married – unfortunately, not to me.

"So they do," I had noticed a while ago, of course, but it was good that Naofumi finally got that he was being cast aside.

Taking a step into my room, I released my staff and sent it towards my bed. It floated silently by the end table, and I could see Naofumi eyeing it as he asked, "How do you do that? Whenever I try to take off my shield, it just reappears on my arm. I spent a good portion of last night trying to think of ways to get rid of it. All I found was that I could move it to other parts of my body, but I couldn't actually keep it off of me."

"Maybe because it's a shield, or maybe you're not thinking about it the right way." I gave a thoughtful nod, calling my staff back to me and gripping its shaft. "My staff feels like it's a part of me. An extension of my power that cascades and shifts and moves, but is always present. I know that my staff is just that, mine. Nobody else could wield it. Part of that might come from the fact that I made it, but I can't say for sure."

Naofumi did a double take between me and the staff – I kind of wanted to give it a cool name, 'Staff of Destruction' maybe? I'd work on it later – not quite comprehending what I said, "You made your weapon? I didn't make mine, and the others look like they don't really know how to use theirs either."

"Yes," I closed my eyes briefly and gave another nod, "It was my greatest creation before my untimely… Anyways, the chances that the rest of you created your weapons are slim. Come on in, let's talk about our plans and what our lives were like before this."

Naofumi looked curious about what I was going to say but didn't push me to complete the sentence. He came into my room, sitting on the armchair as I closed the door behind us. The chair from my desk found its way over to me — I grabbed it and moved it — letting me lean against the back of the chair as Naofumi leaned forward, "I have some questions if you don't mind."

"My secrets are secret," I waved my right hand in a nonchalant manner, "My stories are to be told."

"What?" He shook his head in exasperation, "I'll just assume that's you agreeing. First, how do you know what you know? You seem to know everything; our names, our stories, our personalities. What don't you know?"

"My secrets are secret, Naofumi Iwatani." I put a finger over my lips in a 'hush' gesture, "But, I can tell you that I don't know everything. I only know what I know."

"That," Naofumi pointed to me with a difficult expression, "I don't remember saying my full name…"

"You did when we met," Crossing my left leg over my right, I set my hands on my left knee, "Don't you recall?"

"I do…" Naofumi nodded after thinking for a second, "And then you called out Ren's full name. I know he didn't tell you, because even he was confused. How do you do it?"

My mouth curved into a large grin, "Do you remember that story you read before showing up here?"

"See." Naofumi stood abruptly, pointing directly at my face, "I never told anyone what I was doing before I came here. How do you know? Can you see the past?"

I could see certain things about a person's past. I wasn't able to view their entire life up to the point we were at like a picture book.

If it was a significant event that changed their life or something they did that changed someone else's life, I got a little bit of information about it.

For Malty, I saw that she had attempted to have her brother poisoned and a few other things. It didn't tell me what kind of poison, who she asked to do it, whether her brother survived, what her brother's name was, or whether she was reprimanded for it.

"Naofumi," I closed my eyes, softening my grin to a content smile, "I'm the Fateweaver. I've said this before. You think something as simple as the past can evade my sight?"

Defeated, Naofumi slumped back into the armchair. He held his head in the palm of his left hand, a long sigh escaping from his tired lungs, "And the future? Do you see that too?"

"My friend," Opening my eyes, I looked to see Naofumi gazing at me from behind the fingers that held his head, "Time poses no issues. Past, Present, or Future. They are all within my palm. If you want a beautiful wife, then tomorrow you'll bump into someone who will lead you there. If you want a loving family, then find one I guess. That's not my thing. You want to talk to Danica about that."

It was a name I just made up. But, he didn't know that. He would probably take a while to figure that out. Naofumi's eyes closed once more, probably taking some time to think through my answer.

There was nothing stopping him from telling me to 'fuck off' yet he didn't. The gears in his mind worked overtime to bring about the answers he wanted, and the questions he needed to ask in order to get them.

Pulling his head from his hand, Naofumi gave me a straight look. Our eyes met his two green orbs and my singular blue one. And then he asked the most important question, "What do you have against Myne?"

"She's a bitch, for lack of a better term." I uncrossed my legs. Sitting like that hurt my balls, I was well endowed, unfortunately, and keeping my legs crossed hurt much more than the image it provided would help me, "I could tell you more, but now is not the time. Certain things must happen, and I feel you will learn enough about her very soon."

His eyes widened, "What do you mean by that? What's going to happen?"

"Naofumi," Standing from my chair, I towered over the Shield Hero. He looked up at me with a reserved gaze, his question lingering in the air as I let it soak the atmosphere, "I cannot say."

"Is that because you can't or because you don't know?" He, too, stood. It was his turn to be taller, though he was only a few inches taller than me, so it wasn't as extreme as when he was seated.

"My secrets are secret." I repeated the phrase. I wasn't sure where I had gotten it from, but it rang true in this case. I couldn't tell Naofumi what he wanted to know, because I couldn't be absolutely certain.

My small interference with Malty's plans clearly threw a wrench in whatever she was doing. However, she was crafty and persistent. I seriously doubted that she would stop until Naofumi was gone. It wasn't like I had no contingencies, though.

Malty would have to come to him to try anything, so with Naofumi by my side I ensured that she wouldn't be able to do any lasting harm.

If he left my sight or the range of my magic, however, he was well and truly fucked. I wouldn't be able to save him. For all my boasting and talk about being powerful and dangerous, I was still Level 1. I couldn't face her on her own, let alone the hundreds or thousands of guards that lived and worked in the city.

Should Leofric decide to take her side, I would be dead in an instant. Speaking of the old man, he had also warned me against facing Malty and Aultcray. He told me not to participate in their little games, and I had wanted to follow his advice. I still do want to follow his advice.

Malty makes that difficult though when she so openly displays discontent for others, and her obvious attempts to weaken Naofumi and his station as the Shield Hero.

That thought made another cross my mind. Maybe it wasn't actually Naofumi that she had a problem with. Could it be that they didn't like the Shield Hero in general?

I shook myself from my thoughts quickly, finishing what I was saying to Naofumi, "Your future is one of the multitudes I have to bear."

"So, I can't ask about the future." He walked past me, pacing back and forth in the center of my room. He walked from the foot of the bed to the closet door and back again.

After a short while of pacing, he looked at me and clicked his tongue, "Can you tell me if the future is bad or not?"

With a small chuckle, I shook my head, "In the end, everything is always okay, Naofumi. If it's not, it's not the end yet."

"Why are you so cryptic?" He groaned at my answer, folding his arms in front of his chest. I could tell that the shield was uncomfortable for him, yet he didn't seem to want to complain about it anymore, "Can I assume that means it will be bad soon, but get better later on? Or will it be good for a while and then get worse before it gets good again?"

"Who can say?" My shoulders jumped in a shrug as I gave a smirk, "Perhaps it's one of those, or both, or neither. I may be the Fateweaver, Naofumi, but Fate is still a twenty-dollar hooker. Anyone with a big enough gun or enough luck can bend that shit until it's unrecognizable."

"This is making me tired," Naofumi rubbed his temples, probably feeling the start of a headache.

"You're welcome to sleep here tonight," With a gesture to the armchair he had been sitting in, I offered him a place to stay. If I kept Naofumi within the confines of my immediate area, there was less of a chance of anyone playing tricks on him.

"Yeah, I'll take that offer." Naofumi curled up on the chair, his legs dangling over the armrest. He moved his shield — which I found to be interesting as it stuck to him like glue — to his chest, using it to conserve a bit of heat. Not that it would initially do as such.

I took the quilt from the foot of my bed and tossed it at him, the large blanket covering the entirety of his body and the chair. I received a muffled sound of gratitude before he clutched the blanket and pulled his head out from under it.

Grabbing the head of my comforter, I climbed into my bed and removed my eyepatch, setting it next to me. There was a faint light coming through a slit between two of the thick curtains that played at my feet, reminding me of the tents I used to go camping in.

With a drowsy half-smile, I closed my eyes and drifted off to a pleasant sleep.