Chapter 44.

Naofumi stretched after he got off Fenral, one of the many things that people don't imagine properly about doing something as epic as riding a flying dragon was that it was pretty hard to sit there on the back of a flying creature for hours on end. Conversation was pretty much impossible since the wind took away any words and it was annoying because you had to keep shifting your position slightly so that you didn't fall off. Plus, there was another guy on the same bloody dragon and though Fenral was pretty big it was still more uncomfortable than a car or a bike.

Still, he couldn't deny that the dragon had worked very hard, he gave the dragon a scratch and said, "we'll get you something to eat soon."

The dragon growled in response, before lying down right at the entrance to the mansion, Naofumi sighed as Ethan looked a little annoyed at the beast.

"Fenral," said Ethan, his tone sharp, "get up and go to the stables. You know exactly where that is."

The dragon who had already closed his eyes just opened one when Ethan had started to speak before reluctantly getting up and starting to move. Naofumi felt a little bad for him but he couldn't say that Ethan was wrong here.

"Please don't worry about him," said an amused voice, "Alya here shall take care for him,"

Naofumi turned his attention towards Van Reichnott and a young woman standing at his side, Alya presumably, and nodded at the man, Ethan was a lot more formal, "Lord Reichnott, thank you for having us here again." he said.

Naofumi felt a little awkward about his casual, wordless greeting after that but the nobleman only smiled before waving a hand, making Alya go towards Fenral and leading him towards the stables while they all walked into the mansion.

"The representatives from Siltvelt have already arrived," he said, "They are quite...eager to meet you."

Naofumi got the feeling that he hadn't been about to say 'eager'. Probably something along the lines of desperate.

"What about the others?" asked Naofumi, "I thought we had to meet up with reps from Shieldfreeden and Zeltoble as well."

The man frowned, "I am not certain," he admitted, "the representatives from Zeltoble, in particular, should have been here already but travel can be difficult in these times. A small delay is possible."

Naofumi frowned at the noble's tone, "It doesn't sound like you think that it is normal difficulties with travel."

"I do not," he said with a sheepish smile, "there are a great many parties who would like to meet you first. It would not be unimaginable for delays to be fabricated and placed before the other representatives." he sighed, "I can just hope that they are not permanently delayed."

Naofumi was really starting to think that he was in a political drama isekai rather than a fantasy one. Sure it had monsters and a horrible apocalypse and magic but that didn't stop humans from fucking each other up. Even worse, it looked like Siltvelt was willing to go pretty far to maintain an advantage. Naofumi knew full well how much of an advantage the first person had when trying to sell something. Sure, in this case, they were selling just how epic their country was, but it was still a sell nonetheless and he could see why they'd remove their competition.

Wait, would they try to remove the only competition that had gotten the edge of them? Melromarc had summoned him after all, would they try to get rid of Ethan and then try to earn his loyalty?

Naofumi shook off his concerns. Van Reinchott wasn't sure of what had occurred it wasn't wise to jump to conclusions. He turned towards Ethan.

"What do you think?" he asked, "Is it possible?"

He took a moment to think as they went towards their rooms, "Possible? Yes, but I'm not sure how easy it would be for them to pull it off."

Naofumi blinked when he realized that Ethan had never wondered about if they would do it but whether or not it was practically possible for them to delay the other representatives. Naofumi sighed as he realized that these people from Siltvelt were likely to be more trouble than he had assumed.

He closed the door, took a small break and tried to get his thoughts in order. Naofumi knew that going into negotiations without a clear head was pretty much suicide and he would need to be at his best to deal with the Siltvelt representatives and refuse them without making enemies.

Naofumi tried to keep his expression cool. He was pretty good at keeping a poker face but it was one thing to stay calm when he was lying to a professor and another thing entirely when negotiating with the representative of a whole nation.

He took some reassurance from Ethan's silent presence at this side. It was odd but despite the fact that he had only known the man for two weeks Naofumi fully trusted him. Perhaps it was naive but he knew that while Ethan had initially viewed protecting him as something that was his duty to do currently the man actually cared about him.

They both walked into the dining room and he got his first glimpse at the two representatives from Siltvelt.

"Shield Lord," said the elder male Demi-human, he was some sort of canine, though Naofumi couldn't pin down what type exactly, "It is an honour to be in your presence."

The man and the girl next to him bowed deeply and Naofumi felt a little embarrassed about it. He had never had anyone treat him with such respect. Sure Ethan, Edgar and Van Reichnott had been polite and respectful but they hadn't been as...oddly reverential as these two. Ethan's words about Siltvelt worshipping the Shield Hero rang through his mind. He hadn't realized just how matter-of-fact that statement had been.

"I am Rizwan Aleick Taznim," he said, "and my lovely companion is Mirza Alama Syzar. Thank you for agreeing to meet us."

Naofumi nodded and said, "I'm Naofumi Iwatani and this is Ethan. Let's take a seat,"

The man bowed again and the girl followed before waiting for him to take a seat. Once he did so, Van Reichnott and the others followed. It struck him that he was sitting at the head of the table on one side while Van Reichnott was on the other. He shook off the implicit reminder of his authority as a Hero and turned towards the Demi-humans.

Both of them were quite good looking and very well-groomed. Honestly, it wasn't anything special but Naofumi had gotten used to the demi-humans in Van Reichnott's territory being fairly normal people, farmers and hunters and such, who didn't have much money to spend on keeping themselves dressed up. Rizwan was a well dressed middle-aged man with fairly formal clothing while Mirza was a very beautiful young woman who looked to be in her teens, both of them had muscles and calluses that indicated some form of hard work and indicated that they were probably not nobility. Mirza had a bright red hair that matches the cat-like ears and a tail that reminded him of a tiger with its stripes, though the colour was off.

All in all, they didn't give Naofumi the impression that they were diplomats or anything like that, hell they just seemed like adventurers who had gotten dressed up.

"So," he asked, once he realized that they were waiting for him to start the meeting, "why did you want this meeting?"

It was an obvious question and he knew the answer but their response would be telling. Plus, it seemed that his position as a hero would let him dominate the conversation, that was an advantage Naofumi was happy to use.

Interestingly the two of them looked honestly taken aback and hesitated for a moment before answering.

"Lord Shield," said Rizwan, "We seek to escort you to Siltvelt. Our people have been quite worried about your safety, especially after the Sword Hero and Bow Hero were lost."

When Rizwan had started his sentence he had wanted to laugh at the simple tactic that the man had used. Classic negotiation tactic in such extreme scenarios, no one wanted to risk their lives and people would do a lot to preserve it, naturally the man used it as a means to convince Naofumi to come to Siltvelt. Then, the second fraction of Rizwan's sentence hit him.

"What are you talking about?" he said with a frown, "I knew that Adrian had left the capital but what do you mean by lost? And what's this about Itsuki?"

The man's expression changed and became much angrier, "I see that you have been kept in the dark," he said, his tone cold, "The Sword Hero left the capital due to being falsely accused of rape, the King of Melromarc has seen fit to place a bounty on his head and has called for his capture and execution,"

"What?!" exclaimed Ethan, speaking for the first time, "That's...that's not possible-"

"Even we did not believe it to be possible," cut in Mirza, "but our sources have confirmed it, Princess Malty Melromarc, a woman who has made multiple such false accusations before bought up such an accusation before her father. The King immediately declared the Sword Hero to be a criminal," she tilted her head here, "perhaps you had not heard of it because the Church of Three Heroes is attempting to suppress this information."

Naofumi felt like his head was swimming, he had known that the King was biased but he had assumed that it would be nothing more than the petty bullshit that he had pulled on the first day, this was way worse but he had to consider all the possibilities.

"Did Adrian actually do anything to this princess?" he asked.

Mirza looked grim, "The First Princess of Melromarc has gotten other men executed through such false accusations before, her parents have covered up such crimes, in this case, the Sword Hero was wise to leave before the King had him killed."

Ethan broke in here, "They wouldn't dare to do that," he said, "executing one of the three heroes would have the Church up in arms-" he cut himself off.

"Realized it have you?" said Rizwan calmly, "Your King has a plan, he is the Wise King, after all, he has summoned all Four Hereos and then committed such absurd actions, but you know full well that he is not a fool. This is all a plot of secure greater power from the Church and the nobles who have been eroding the power of the Royal Family for decades as of now the only active Hero, among the three worshipped in this country, is the Spear Hero, who is firmly in control of the Princess. Only the Sword Hero's escape disrupted his plan. As it stands the Sword Hero is without any support, the Bow Hero is likely to be dead and the Spear Hero is firmly under his control." the man turned to Naofumi, "Lord Shield, this is why we beg you to come with us, come to your country where we shall do all that is in our power to ensure your rise."

Naofumi wasn't sure what to think. Had that old man really killed Itsuki? It seemed absurd like he had gone to sleep one day and had woken up to a world where everyone had been replaced by talking toasters or something and no one gave a damn about it other than him.

Ethan recovered quickly, however, "If the Bow Hero is dead and if the Sword Hero was truly accused of rape then what you're saying is true," he turned to Van Reichnott, "my Lord have you heard anything about this…"

He nodded hesitantly, "I have heard about the Bow Heroes disappearance from my sources," he paused here, for barely a fraction of a second but then continued, "and the Sword Hero has indeed been accused of rape. Though I haven't heard about any of the details and I must point out that Mr Rizwan has only assumptions about the events, not facts,"

The Representative from Siltvelt took the criticism with grace, "You are deliberately blinding yourselves, I commend your dedication to ensuring that what I have said is the truth but as you yourself have acknowledged the Sword Hero was accused of Rape, as a close ally of the Queen I do believe that you are quite familiar with the nature of the First Princess, do you truly think that she is incapable of falsely accusing a man at her father command?"

Naofumi saw the eternal half-smile on the nobleman's face vanish as he reluctantly said after a sigh, "I concede your point but there is no proof that the Bow Hero was removed by the King."

The demi-human snorted, "Do you expect us to believe that is merely coincidence?" he said, then shook his head, "no matter, let us say that it is merely coincidence that both the Sword and Bow Heroes were supposed to be dealt with on practically the same day, let us assume that one of the most cunning men in history has decided to accuse the Sword Hero of a crime, that he did not commit, for no reason at all and thus ensured that the Church will move against him." he smiled here, an unpleasant, unhappy one, "None of this changes the fact that Lord Iwatani is at great risk in Melromarc."

The man stood up and went on his knees, even his companion seemed shocked at his actions, "My Lord, I beg you, please leave this nation. If you are sceptical of our claims then verify the facts with the safety of distance, but do not risk your life here."

Naofumi hesitated, before he said, "Get up. I don't need anyone to beg me to do something, I need facts," Naofumi shook his head wondering when the hell things had gotten so complicated.

"Naofumi," said Ethan, his tone tired, "I think that he has a point...we have to consider this. Not Siltvelt but we should get in touch with some of my sources and then make a decision. If any of this is true then…"

The two demi-humans seemed surprised at Ethan's statement. Naofumi himself was a little stunned, he knew that Ethan was supposed to keep him in Melromarc, Edgar had basically asked just for that in exchange for the man's support. Ethan was defying his leader's instructions.

"Siltvelt is absolutely devoted to Lord Iwatani's safety." said Rizwan firmly, "there is no other nation-"

"I need to think about this," he said, getting up, cutting off the man, everyone else stood up as well, "Give me a few hours,"

Naofumi ignored their calls and walked out the door, slamming it and ignoring the sound, he needed some time to reassess his assumptions. This world was a hell of a lot more dangerous than it seemed.

He shook his head remembering Itsuki and Adrian, those two had been very different, but both of them had been decent people and Naofumi remembered what the Records of the Holy Heroes had mentioned about Sword and Bow Heroes. The Sword who was powerful and active and the Bow who valued justice.

It was very easy to imagine these traits pissing off a mastermind who wanted to control them. He hoped that Rizwan was wrong...but after seeing Ethan's reaction once the King was mentioned he didn't really believe it. Maybe the representative was biased but it was unlikely that he'd lie outright when it would be really obvious later on.

Naofumi reached the monster stables and reached Fenral who greeted him with a screech. He relaxed a little as he gave the dragon some scratches, "What should I do?" he whispered.

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