I am not the shield hero

JoJo pulled the carriage down the dirt road at a decent pace. At their current rate, they'd make it back to the capital by the evening of the third day, assuming Dio switched with JoJo from time to time. Any faster and the kids would get more motion sick than they already were.

Dante made sure to keep his cloak's hood over his face as they traveled. His beard was coming in slower than he thought, so that didn't help. He did have some concern with JoJo being recognized, but Fiadia had reassured him. Apparently, Idol had a few rivals near his territory who could be a bit belligerent. They would dispute land ownership and, occasionally, burn down parts of the forest. Those lands would be where Idol's knights searched for the arsonist and murderer, if they were searching at all.

All the same, he kept both filolials in their average filolial forms when they pulled the carriage and their human forms while sitting in the carriage. That was more to avoid more attention in the short term. He'd worry about shadows gaining intel about their transforming later.

Of course, Dante and Sadeena discussed the shadows a bit before leaving. Until Dante gained the ability to teleport, they would assume the Q'ten Lo shadows were always around. She would only focus on the queen's and church's shadows, claiming they were unlikely to be using the exact hiding abilities the Q'ten Lo shadows were using.

When they broke for meals, Sadeena would hunt a few usapils for later while Keel skinned a few they had and Dante cooked them. Even without an arm, Dante was still able to apply his cooking bonuses. He just needed to have a non-insignificant roll in the cooking process.

"This is really good!" Raphtalia had said.

"It's the best!" Rifana agreed.

"Master makes super tasty food!" JoJo chimed in.

"It feels weird to be praised for, essentially, holding meat over a fire." Dante lamented.

He also took the time to try some of the non-tobacco Fiadia had gotten him. Sadeena mentioned his fondness of the plant to her and she bought some from the local farmers as a gift. It had a rather smooth flavor to it, and he felt like a wizened old man with the pipe he smoked it through. He'd have to thank her the next time he was there.

During one of their breaks, Dante had Sadeena help him test out a few things with his shield skills. He wanted to see why his skills seemed to break so easily, despite all the bonuses he had. After about ten minutes of testing, he had his answer. It turned out his armor and Faust Guard didn't affect his skills. They only affected his personal stats. Further, Sadeena was able to heavily damage his Air Strike Shield IV with a single strike from Idol's whip while in her demi-human form. She was strong, but Idol still had a class upgrade and surely levels beyond that. Conversely, her harpoon took three or four strikes in her therianthrope form to do the same damage.

That whip was a serious weapon. Hopefully, one of the kids might be willing to use it. If not, well, he could always save it for a rainy day. Both of the girls seemed terrified of it.

One thing Dante was happy about, as well as Keel, was that Rifana knew how to read very well. While they traveled, she showed Dante the alphabet of Melromarc's language and had him read along in the book Sadeena had gotten, something they didn't really have time for before. It was a little disorienting learning this way, as all the words she spoke were English to him and not Melromarc's language. Still, he did learn enough Spanish and Russian to hold a conversation, and more than enough Italian to anger his mother with his profanity, so he was confident he could learn this. Rifana, of course, seemed to love every moment she spent teaching him.

And, of course, Dante continued unlocking shields and having it make potions. He'd given both Rifana and Raphtalia a nutritional supplement and a bit of medicine to be safe. He unlocked a shield for intermediate recipes and started making healing salves next. They were quite a bit stronger than the potions, but they had to be applied directly to the wound, making them far more impractical in combat. Still, for the ingredients they used and time to make, let alone the price he would likely get, they were well worth it. He had Sadeena apply some to Rifana and Raphtalia, healing them the rest of the way and hopefully preventing more scarring.

By the end of the third day, they had made it just outside the capital. Since returning to Reichnott's, he'd unlocked the Monster User Shield III, Blue Torrent Shield (for the recipes), as well as all three Slave User Shields. The final Monster User Shield was unlocked during his sleep at the manor, the Blue Torrent Shield quickly on their first day on the road, and the Slave User Shields during the rest of the travels. He'd already spent a few hours on the first Slave User Shield, and it turned out unlocking earlier ones sped up the time on later ones in the series.

He was confident he would be able to handle any enemies they were to encounter with his beefed up Reinforced Iron Shield and boosted skills and spell. More self-stat boosting shields could come later.

When they entered the capital in the evening light, Sadeena was driving the carriage with Dio pulling it. They had a few stops to make before they rested for the night and began anew.

Dante opened the door to the first shop. The old woman looked over at him and his party, including the human-shaped filolials.

"Welcome to…oh dearie…" The old magic shop lady held a hand to her mouth as she looked at Dante.

"Good evening." Dante said cheerfully. "Is now a bad time?"

"No, now's fine, but…" The old lady walked over to Dante to get a closer look at his arm, or lack thereof.

"It looks worse than it is." He said. He didn't bother keeping it covered with the cloak. He'd hide it around town, but he had nothing to hide from the witch.

The old woman gave him a sympathetic look. "Dearie, you're missing—"

"My arm, yes, I have been told." He said with a chuckle. It didn't really bother him hearing that, they just had a few places to be before turning in for the night.

"Well, it's good to see you again." She gave him a soft smile before looking around him. "And I see you have a few more people with you this time."

"Yeah. They were…in a bit of a situation." He really couldn't say more than that. "Anyway, I have something for you." He gestured to Sadeena, who opened up her pack. Dante reached in and pulled out a crystal ball.

"My goodness!" The old lady looked over the sphere. "Where in the world did you get this?"

"Just something from our travels." And from the chest Dante looted. "Since you sold yours to me, I felt it only right to sell one back to you. For a smaller price, of course."

"Well, I do appreciate it, dearie." The witch headed over to her counter, pulling out a small lockbox. "How much did you want to sell it for?"

"How's 250 silver?" He said.

"Oh, no, that's far too low. I'll give you 350 for it." The witch haggled.

"You're doing that backwards. 300, the price you would sell it for." Dante said. He really didn't think he'd have trouble selling this for a lower price, but here he was.

"350, dearie. I simply couldn't go lower." The witch held her hands to her hips.

"…Is it the arm? It's the arm, isn't it?" Dante shook his head. "Okay, look, two of the kids need magic thread for transforming clothes, and all of them need affinity readings. Do that, and 300 silver. Sound good?" While he wasn't averse to making money, the witch basically saved their lives by selling the crystal ball to them in the first place. He had to repay her somehow, while still earning enough to equip his party.

The witch hummed to herself, rocking back and forth in thought. "Alright, I'll accept that." She finally agreed.

They exchanged goods and Dante had the kids line up for their magic reading. Raphtalia had what he expected: light and shadow. Both Dio and JoJo only had wind. Keel had water and beast, while Rifana had fire and light. Dante almost thought it odd, but he vaguely remembered Rifana casting some sort of illusion spell in the Reprise web novel.

Perhaps it was a fire spell? A fire-illusion spell? Well, no matter. It was the story of a crazy person, after all. More concerning is none of us have healing as an affinity. Rifana and I will have to make do with that fire-healing spell, whenever we learn that.

"Now, then." The witch brought them over to a spindle. "You can use this to spin the thread. The crystal is a bit worn, but I think it should have enough for two children. Which ones will be using it?"

"These two." Dante said, gesturing to Dio and JoJo.

"Hmm. I don't think I've ever seen demi-humans quite like them." She said, looking over their wings.

"They're filolials." Dante said.

"Really?" The witch looked up at him.

"Yep!" Dio said, transforming on the spot. It was a bit crowded in the area.

"Ah, Dio!" JoJo called out, staring up at his transformed sister. "Why'd you do that?"

"What~?" Dio clearly didn't see the problem.

"Dio, I told you not to transform while wearing that tunic." Dante said, seeing the shredded remains on the ground.

"Oops." Dio transformed again, appearing mostly human. "Sorry, Master."

"And now you're…never mind. Here's a spare." Dante dropped another shirt on her head. "Keep that one on until we get your clothes made."

"Such delightful kids." The old woman said, leading Dio to the spindle first.

"They are." Dante agreed. "Would it be okay for them to stay here a bit while we go to a few more places?"

"That should be fine." The witch said.

"What?" Dio and JoJo said together. "But, Master!"

"None of that, now." Dante put a stop to that quickly. "I'll be fine. I have Sadeena with me, remember?" He gestured to the woman in question, who threw up a peace sign. "It won't be that long. Just spin the thread and wait here when you're finished. We'll come back to get you, okay?"

JoJo and Dio had worried expressions on their faces. Dio hadn't even started spinning her thread yet.

Dante sighed. "We'll eat something tasty at the inn before bed."

"Okay!" The agreed. If they were normal children, Dante would feel a bit bad bribing them with food. As it stood, that would probably be the best motivator for a while.

The witch laughed at the display. "I'll see you when you return."

"Got it." Dante held out his hand to the old lady, which she grasped. "I can't thank you enough for selling the crystal ball to us in the first place. It really saved us, uh…" Dante hadn't asked her name. He was becoming like Naofumi.

The witch laughed at his hesitation. "Agatha." She said. "And, you're welcome." She leaned in a little closer to Dante. "The girl's scar, your wound, and the extra children in your care, I have a pretty good guess at what happened."

Dante froze at her words. The witch, Agatha, simply shook her head.

"It's none of my business, and I say the less slavery, the better. Just be careful." She said.

"We will." Dante affirmed. Saying goodbye to Dio and JoJo for now, they left the shop.

Next, they decided to pop into the smithy and let Erhard know they're still alive. Once the door opened, they saw the blacksmith bringing a piece of armor onto the floor.

"Kid!" The man yelled, nearly dropping the armor. He quickly set it on the rack and strode over to the group. "You're alive!"

"Last I checked." Dante grinned at him. "And I lost some weight."

"Geez, kid…" Erhard held a hand to his head as he looked at Dante's left side. "…You've ruined my chainmail."

Dante gave him a hearty laugh. "That's my chainmail now. You wanted it in one piece, you shouldn't have sold it to the guy who specializes in getting hit!"

Erhard shared a laugh with him. Dante was happy the man adapted to the situation so quickly. It was nice not having people giving him a pitying look. Although, perhaps he should enjoy it while it lasted. He's likely to receive some mockery from the good people of Melromarc for missing an arm.

"So," Erhard went on, "you're back here, alive, and with a few new faces." He noted the two extra kids hiding behind Sadeena's legs. "Aside from the flesh wound and damage to my armor, it looks like things turned out well."

"Exceedingly so." Dante confirmed. "Speaking of, I'd like some equipment for my new companions."

"Might want some equipment for your old companion too." Erhard quipped. "The clothes on the boy are looking a bit tight."

Dante turned to Keel. He was right. Dante hadn't noticed, but Keel had grown some more. If he had to guess, he'd say Keel was around 14 years old now. Well, he did end up getting a few levels from the whole Idol thing. He must have still been close enough to gain XP. Once they got to grinding tomorrow, Dante could test out how de-leveling without a reset worked on growing demi-humans.

"Something light, I think. He'll grow some more before too long, simple clothing should be fine. I'll be doing the defending, anyway." Dante said. He was also curious how much the maturation bonus would affect him. Keel might end up looking 16 by the end of it all.

"I'll get him and the girls fixed up." Erhard nodded. "You want something else yourself?"

"Nah, the chainmail's still good." Dante said. "Besides, my shield does most of the work. I can upgrade later."

"Right, that shield." Erhard looked at Dante's arm. "You mentioned a reason for wanting to see that siderite shield before. What was it?"

Ah. Dante had forgotten about that. Well, he might as well tell the man.

"Okay, so, don't get angry, but…"

He got angry. It was short-lived, however, as Erhard didn't want to frighten the girls. Also, Dante promised to have Erhard as his go-to blacksmith, which would be arms and armor for at least four people, if not five. Since nothing was actually lost from the store, Erhard did see reason, though he was still a bit annoyed by it.

Keel ended up getting a slightly larger version of the outfit he was already wearing, being shorts and a shirt with an exposed midriff. Erhard actually had the red and brown outfit Dante remembered Raphtalia wearing from the show, so he got that for her. For Rifana, Erhard had a somewhat similar dress. It was a deep blue with long white sleeves. Like with Raphtalia's, they cut a hole in the back to let her tail pass through.

"How's it feel?" Erhard asked the girls.

"G-Good, Mister Erhard." Raphtalia said, moving behind Sadeena again.

"Thanks, Mister Erhard!" Rifana beamed, sounding a bit braver now.

They didn't bother getting any weapons for Raphtalia or Rifana. Dante had daggers from the knights they killed, and Keel could use a shortsword they got as an actual item drop from one of the knights.

Dante just had Erhard look over the chainmail and make sure it wasn't going to fall apart on him. It didn't seem likely, since he had been sparring with Sadeena a bit as they traveled from Reichnott's. Dante needed to be sure he could still handle defense. His reflexes were…good, but he lost his balance a number of times. He had all three kids spar with him a bit, too. The girls were a bit nervous at first, but after seeing Keel hit Dante with no wound to speak of, they tried as well. It wasn't much, but it was a good first step.

After Erhard's, they went with Sadeena's suggestion and met with Beloukas. The slave trader seemed all too happy to see him again.

"Ah, Sir Shield Hero." The short man greeted as they entered. "I was beginning to think our business arrangement was concluded."

"Glad to see you so concerned with my wellbeing." Dante returned, a smirk on his face. "You know why I'm here?"

"Of course." Beloukas nodded. "Unfortunately, I have no news about the villagers."

"Seriously?" That was a bit hard to believe. He had four more days and nothing to show for it?

"I'm afraid so, Sir Shield Hero. I'll be expanding my search to more of the neighboring towns tomorrow. If you have any more information, I might be able to find them faster, yes sir."

That was something they didn't have. The only thing that knight gave them was the names of the slavers who likely handled the transaction. Dante would need to find them and make them talk.

"We'll work on that later." Dante changed the topic. "For now, I need you to apply a slave seal to three of my party members."

"How exciting!" Beloukas rubbed his hands together. "Will that be a high-grade seal then?"

"No, a basic seal." Dante said.

"Hmm, very well." Beloukas went to fetch the ink.

Dante nodded to Sadeena, and she knelt down to Rifana and Raphtalia.

"Okay, it'll be just like I said." Sadeena clasped the girls' hands in hers. "We'll all have a seal with Dante acting as our master. But, he won't treat any of us as slaves. This is only so no one will think to take any of you, and to make us all stronger. It'll hurt for a moment, but then it'll be over. Okay?"

"Okay!" Rifana nodded immediately.

"O-Okay." Raphtalia was a bit more hesitant, but she trusted Sadeena.

"One more thing." Dante added, gaining the girls' attention. "I'll need to keep a condition active for the seals to work. Right now, the one I have for Keel is no lying. I can do the same for all of you, but if you'd rather it be something else, that's fine."

"Yeah!" Keel interjected. "The seal never went off since he bought me. I never had to worry that it would."

As if taunting fate, the seal went off, shocking Keel. Dante sighed and brought up his status magic, changing the conditions of the seal. "Seriously, Keel, are you trying to scare them?" Keel held his chest, the effects wearing off. Sadeena patted Raphtalia on the head to keep her calm. Rifana still seemed fine.

I'm not really surprised. Even with Sadeena, I was just some guy. Of course he'd be nervous around me. Bravado aside, I'm glad he trusts me more now.

"I changed it to attacking me in my sleep. A little specific, but the seal accepted it. I'll do the same for you three." Dante explained.

"Oh my~." Sadeena slid close to Dante. She whispered in his ear. "So you don't want me attacking you in your sleep~?"

"I…" Dante's face burned. "I'm not answering that."

"Oh my~."

She's enjoying this too much.

Beloukas soon returned with the ink. Sadeena went first to show Raphtalia and Rifana there was no need to worry. Rifana went next, slightly nervous. Raphtalia took the longest, staying next to Sadeena as she encouraged the young girl. While holding Sadeena's hand, she let the slave trader paint the seal on her chest. There was a small amount of pain, but she withstood it well. Dante gave both girls a pat on the head to try and reassure them, and one to Sadeena when she prompted him, much to his embarrassment.

With that, Dante could now see everyone's levels and stats easily.

Dante: LV 25

Sadeena: LV 32

Keel: LV 21

Rifana: LV 3

Raphtalia: LV 3

Dio: LV 22

JoJo: LV 21

Dante had noticed an XP penalty for having a party of seven. He seemed to gain about 5% less than what he normally got from usapils previously. Not too bad, and the maturation bonuses from the shields more than made up for it for his companions. He imagined it would have been a bigger penalty without the trust bonus from his shield.

Dante paid the slave trader a silver for each seal and they set out to the magic shop.

When they arrived back, Dio and JoJo had finished spinning the thread. Agatha also had something waiting for them.

"These are beginner books for the affinities your party has, Shield Hero." Agatha showed them the books sitting on the table. "I have light, shadow, fire, support, wind, and water. No beast, unfortunately, though I'm unsure if there's a spell tome for that."

Dante turned to Sadeena, who nodded. He was a little surprised. He figured beast magic was a more natural magic, like what filolials did. Once Keel learned to transform from Sadeena, they could worry about finding him a tome for that.

"We'll take everything but wind. JoJo and Dio should be able to learn that on their own. How much for it all?" Dante had a feeling it wouldn't be cheap. While it was a bit early, it wouldn't hurt to have the books on hand for when everyone was ready.

"50 silver per tome, but I'll give a discount for all of them, so 200 in total." Agatha said. He was right, not cheap at all. Although, considering what weapons and armor cost, it was actually pretty good.

"That works for me." Dante said, handing over the coin. If he'd thought about it before, he would have just included the books in his price for the crystal ball.

"Excellent." Agatha clapped her hands together. She gave him the spools with the thread and Dante placed them and the tomes in his pack. He thanked her again and they all left for the last stop for the evening.

The witch had given them directions to a tailor she knew could work magic thread. Dante had a feeling who it was and he wasn't disappointed.

"Ah! Look at these cute angels!" The tailor woman said. She had sandy blond hair and a pair of glasses. Really, she was pretty much exactly what Dante was expecting.

"Good evening." Dante said. "I heard you can make transforming clothes."

"That I can!" The woman said, a bright smile on her face. "Who needs the clothes? I can get started immediately if you have thread."

"We do, and it's for those two angels." At Dante's words, the woman's eyes began to sparkle.

"Oh, what a day!" She seemed to bounce as she took out a measuring tape. "Let me get your measurements."

The filolial kids glanced at Dante. He gave them a smile and said it was fine. Honestly, if he didn't know what he was walking into, he'd be a bit put off as well.

After finishing, the tailor woman turned back to Dante. "What type of design were you thinking of?"

"I'll leave that to them." Dante pointed to the filolial kids.

"Really?" Dio bounced, excited.

"It'll be your clothes. Just don't make it too crazy." He said.

"Okay!" JoJo joined in. He seemed pretty excited too.

They told the tailor what kind of outfits they wanted. More accurately, they whispered to her. It seemed they wanted it to be a surprise, given how they kept glancing over at the rest of the party.

They went back and forth with the tailor for a few minutes before settling on something.

"Alright, that should be everything." The tailor said, taking the spools from Dante. "How soon do you want them by?"

"Tomorrow morning, if possible." He said.

"Hmm. I'll have to work through the night, but for these angels, I think I can do it!" She was a strange one, but Dante wasn't going to complain. "But, for this much work in such a short time, it'll cost a little more. How does 50 silver apiece sound?"

"Reasonable." If this was all an act for more coin, something Dante highly doubted, then it was a good one. Either way, he didn't have many options, but he did like how it worked out pretty close to the money he just made that day. One look to Sadeena told him the price was fair.

He gave the coins to the tailor, but she continued to look at Dante after receiving the money.

"Something wrong?" He asked the woman.

"Well…" The tailor looked between Dante and Keel. "Would you two like matching outfits?"

"I…what?" That was a bit of an odd question for Dante.

"You two look cute next to each other!" The tailor explained. "If you want, I can whip something up that'll draw out your best qualities! For colors, I'm thinking—"

"W-Why do you want to dress us up?!" Keel shouted. He had backed up a bit from the tailor's rant.

"Can't you see it?" She asked. "A young man with a dark expression paired with a pretty boy. Ah, what a wonderful image!"

"…We'll see you in the morning." Dante said, ushering everyone from the crazy tailor's shop.

The hell was that about? She wasn't that crazy, was she? She didn't really do anything outside of making that one outfit, right?

Dante gathered his thoughts on the strange woman they just encountered.

Actually, I think there was something in the web novel. Let me think…ah! That's right, she went to his village, or the nearby town. There was a time she was watching Naofumi…sleep with Fohl. Huh…And is my expression really dark?

Well, crazy or not, Dante wasn't too worried about her. Just a little caught off guard. And he was trying not to rely too much on his book knowledge. It did cost him an arm, after all. He'd use them more as guidelines. This just seemed like a low-risk thing.

Crap. I forgot to get her name, too.

With all their errands done, Sadeena led them to the demi-human inn she knew about. It wasn't in the best shape, but it was far from run down. They sat at a large table in the corner and ordered their food, as well as alcohol for Sadeena and Dante.

"I'll have an ale, too." Keel said to the waitress.

"Aren't you a bit young?" Dante asked.

"I'm a man now! Besides, I'm not much younger than you." Keel argued.

"I'd say you're wrong on both accounts, but…" Dante glanced at Sadeena. She merely gave a shrug. Whatever the actual culture here was for drinking, he figured Keel could at least try, especially after all they've done. Besides, his own body was about 17 now. "Sure, go for it."

The waitress left to put in their order, leaving them time to talk.

Dante took the initiative. "Okay. Starting tomorrow, we'll really get to leveling. Rifana and Raphtalia, you two will stick by me. Once we get you a few more levels and grown a bit, we can work on practical combat. Sadeena, if I recall correctly, the sea has high XP monsters. How far into the water would you find them?"

"Hmm. I think there are a few spots within a mile of the shores of Lurolona." She said.

"And can you handle them by yourself?"

"With your spell, I should do alright."

"Good. If not, you could take JoJo or Dio. I'm pretty sure filolials are good swimmers." They had an outline of a plan. Depending on how much XP those monsters provided, they'd figure out what to do next. If they gave a much greater amount than the land monsters, Dante would focus most of his attention on learning more support spells for Sadeena. Otherwise, they'd return to land fighting and get more combat training for everyone.

The waitress returned with their assortment of food and ale. Amusingly, Keel took one sip and instantly regretted it. Sadeena and Dante shared a laugh before sliding the drink to the orca woman. The food was good, still better than Dante's. He hadn't the chance to unlock any more cooking bonuses, and he'd been using monster souls to increase his other stats and skills. Still, there was time enough later.

Dante, however, noticed something during their meal. "Raphtalia, are you alright?"

"Ah! Y-Yes, I'm fine!" She blurted out.

"You sure?" Dante looked down at her plate. "You haven't eaten that much. Did you want something else?" They'd ordered a kid's plate for both her and Rifana. It had a nice assortment of food, which was good, considering they mostly ate usapil meat the past three days.

"No, this is good. Thank you, Mister Shield Hero." She said quickly.

"Is there something on your mind?" He tried. "Feel free to tell me anything that's bothering you."

"It's nothing." She said in a quiet voice.

Dante turned to Sadeena. She finished her mug and nodded towards Raphtalia.

Dante sighed, thinking about what he talked about with Sadeena before.

"I don't really know how I can help those girls get through this."

"Just talk to them. Be there for them. You're the Shield Hero, after all."

If that was all he needed to do, then he would. "Well, it's not nothing, if it's spoiling your appetite." He eased back into his chair. "If something's bothering you, or if I did something, please—"

"You didn't do anything wrong!" Raphtalia shouted, earning a few looks from the other customers before they returned to their own meals. Raphtalia slid down in her chair, clearly embarrassed.

"Okay." Dante motioned with his hand. "Then, what is it?"

"I…" Tears formed in her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Dante looked at Sadeena, but she shook her head. She didn't know what was wrong either. "Sorry for what?"

Raphtalia sniffled before continuing. "If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't have lost your arm." She wiped the tears from her face. "You told the magic lady you were missing your arm after you saved us. It's all our fault."

Dante reached over to her. She flinched and kept her head down, but Dante simply placed his hand on her head. He rubbed it a bit, letting his fingers run through her hair and soothe her.

"Do you think I blame either of you for that?" He asked. "Did I ever tell you that?"

Raphtalia looked up and shook her head. "But, your arm…"

Dante chuckled. "You and everyone else are more concerned about my arm than I am. I was freaked out for about a minute before I got over it." He was in shock at the time, but she didn't need to hear that. "In exchange for my arm, I got to save you two. It was a good trade."

Raphtalia sniffed again, trying to hold back new tears.

"Okay, how about this?" Dante tried again. "I hadn't slept properly for about three weeks before saving you two. After that night, I've slept peacefully. Helping you did that for me. How does that sound?" Dante ruffled her hair a bit, scratching around her ears. "I get to have sweet dreams now."

The raccoon girl giggled, batting away Dante's hand. "That tickles!"

"There, that's better." Dante gave her a smile. "I don't want to hear any more guilty talk from you about that. It was in no way your fault. Okay?"

She held her ears as she nodded. "Okay, Mister Shield Hero."

"And you can just call me 'Dante'. We're party members, after all."

"Okay, D—Mister Dante." She said.

One battle at a time, I suppose.

"And Rifana?" Dante turned to the weasel girl, who was enjoying her meal. "You don't feel guilty, do you? I want to make sure."

She let her fork droop to the side. "Yeah." She perked right back up. "But, if I marry you, then I can make it up to you!"

"That's…" Dante had no words. Child logic could be pretty strange at times. "That's absolutely something that can be discussed later."

They finished up their meal and decided on sleeping arrangements. It was going to be girls in one room, boys in another, but Dio insisted otherwise.

"I want to sleep with Master." She said.

"I…suppose that's fine." Dante said. "But what about the girls? They won't be able to sleep with you if you're with me."

During the two nights they were on the road, they all basically slept in a pile, Dante and Sadeena taking turns at watch. Dante had found the filolials' feathers to be far too comfortable, and the kids certainly enjoyed them too.

"Then we should all sleep in the same room." Dio said, as if it was obvious.

"I don't think there's enough space in a single room." Dante pointed out.

"What~?" Dio's confusion was pretty adorable. Dante was sure she'd say something like "let's just sleep outside then."

"That's okay!" Raphtalia said. "Rifana and I can sleep with Sadeena tonight."

"Alright. Looks like they saved you, Dio." He said to the filolial.

"Yay!" Dio hugged the girls.

"Aw, you don't want to sleep with me~?" Sadeena said with a clearly fake pout. "Little Dante, it feels like you're pushing me away~."

Dante shook his head with a slight blush. "If I didn't have these hormones, you would be so much easier to deal with."

"But then it'd be less fun!"

After giving her a quick peck on the cheek, Dante paid for their rooms for the night. They would be right next to each other on the next floor.

Just as they were about to head upstairs, a man grabbed their attention.

"Excuse me." He said. Dante turned around to face him. "Are you the Shield Hero?"

Dante was on guard, but then he saw the man's features. He had a dark cloak on, as did his two female associates. He also had a pair of cat ears on the top of his head. No, tiger ears.

Well…I suppose I'd forgotten about them.

Author's notes:

I suppose my 'arc' idea wasn't far off, since this chapter feels like it's the start of one. Mostly prepping, letting people know he's not dead, and getting ready for the grind.