Conflict

"Who is she, Lamb?"

"Just watch, dear Wolf."

A child entered the stage, and all her surroundings are her audience.

"I cannot condone the disputes of the Heroes to be here."

Malty paled, seeing her.

"What are you doing here!?"

"It's been a while hasn't it, sister.

The girl who Naofumi was referencing minutes ago, a blue haired girl named Mel. She is actually the first in line of the throne instead of Malty, who was older...because Malty is crazy.

Mel reached into her pocket, pulling out another certificate resembling the one Malty pulled out.

"Isn't that-?"

Everyone became speechless at the sight of the paper, and their heads bowed. Naofumi looked even more confused, looking back and forth at Mel and the certificate.

"Spear Hero, please try to understand. I would appreciate it if you can settle your disputes and disagreements for another day."

"But...but-!"

"Please look around you! You would fight in a town square filled with civilians? Are those really the actions of a Hero?"

"...ugh..."

Motoyasu sighed, lowering his spear. He finally understood the situation he placed himself in.

Just then, Raphtalia came running to Naofumi's side.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine...but still, what's up with Mel? She's that...thing's... sister?"

Mel interrupted their short reunion there.

"Holy Saint-no, that's not who you are, is it? Allow me to introduce myself-"

She curtsied.

"My name is Melty. Thank you for bringing me back to Castle Town. It was a very enjoyable trip we had together."

Still, Shield Hero, what happened to cause such a situation?"

"I don't know. Motoyasu once again challenged me to a duel, and he wants to steal my party members away...again.

"Again!?"

Raphtalia's eyes twitched in disbelief, staring at Motoyasu in annoyance and anger.

However, he ignored her, and instead looked over to Filo.

"Is your name Filo miss?

"Um...yes!"

"Isn't he horrible..."

Motoyasy kept trying to convince Filo that Naofumi was horrible, and it wasn't working. After a minute did Melty finally intervened.

She sighed, interrupting the conversation.

"Filo, I have a request of you. Please stop the Spear Hero."

"Okay! I will protect Master!"

Filo stood in front of Motoyasu, spreading her arms.

"Filo, please move. I can't take care of him with you right there."

She didn't budge at all, opening her arms wide.

Naofumi spoked up from behind her.

"Filo, he called you a fat bird."

"Naofumi! You damn bastard! How could you say that to a little girl!?"

"But I didn't. You did, like a couple minutes ago. You also said you wanted to kill her."

Filo nodded her head.

"Yeah, and the last time I met you, you laughed at me! I hate you, Spear Guy!"

"Laugh? When did I ever laugh or call you a fat bird?"

And then Filo transformed, puffing up a cloud of smoke, and within the smoke appeared... said fat bird.

"...uh..."

Motoyasu instinctively covered his crotch, and FIlo watched his face turned to confusion and horror.

She then readied her leg, and delivered a quick kick to Motoyasu right in the crotch. The armor that was protecting his crotch turned to dust, and he flied up into the air...landing on a pile of haystacks conveniently placed there.

"Filo wins!"

Filo threw one of her wings into the air and struck a victory pose to the crowd. Raphtalia was pale, whispering to herself.

The crowd, after a moment of silence, abruptly erupted in applause. I also started to applaud, Wolf outright laughed next to me. As expected, coming here to 'Castletown' was worth the effort. I hope with this, the Spear Hero will actually be more like a hero, but I know he won't.

Melty commanded the soidier,s saying, "Please take the Spear Hero to the medical ward."

They saluted, they all helped picking him up and carried him off.

She then turned to her sister.

"Alright sister, it seems you have behavwed really poorly here. May I ask what the problem is, so I can report to mother on this?"

Malty paled.

"I-I am simply doing what I must to support the Heroes, as they have requested."

"They? It certainly didn't look that way. It looked more onesided to me."

"You cannot judge the circumstances by just this single event Melty."

"Can I not? Your barbarian-like behavior stands out even in the reports."

"You dare argue with me? Your superior? Your older sister!?"

"I could ask you the same, sister, on who is truly superior."

"...tch."

She glared at the group, turning away to follow the other party members of Motoyasu. She ran off quickly, probably knowing she won't win if she countinued arguing.

As she disappeared, Filo ran over to Naofumi, and he started to rub her head, smiling.

"Now now, that's the second good kick you've given to Motoyasu now. Great work. This moment is one of the best ones in my life-hehehe."

"Yeah, I kick him everytime I see him!"

"Yes you do! That's right!"

"Ehehehehehe-"

While Naofumi was laughing, Raphtalia seemed to have enough, angrily saying-

"Why are you praising her for this!?"

"I swear these Heroes..."

Melty put a hand on her forehead, shaking her head back and forth, sighing. She's right. We Heroes are eccentric indeed...in our own way of course. Motoyasu is just the one of worst eccentrics to be a Hero.

"I wish you all stop causing problems, at least here on the main street of the capital..."

Naofumi turned to look at her.

"...I suppose I should thank you, but not here. Let's find a quieter place to chat."

He looked around for a spot, as the crowd was watching them closely. We as well were watching them closely, but its about time we leave. We have a hunt waiting for us.

With nothing else to do at the capital, we began to leave. Wolf phasing into the ground and I started running silently across the rooftops.

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[Filo] POV

As we were leaving, I felt something weird, looking up at where that feeling was. Nothing was there. I tried to think what was that feeling, and seconds later Master interrupted my thinking.

"Filo, let's go!"

"Okay!"

I hopped after him, following Mel happily. What was that feeling again? I guess it was nothing.

I wonder if I'm going to eat soon.

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[Lamb] POV

We were in a prarie, littered with monster corpses.

"Even monsters in the spirit world are much more difficult to hunt than these weaklings," Wolf snarled.

I nodded in agreement, kneeling down to absorb our recent prey. It was a wyvern, much weaker than the undead dragon. It only took an arrow, and it tried to run away. Wolf finished it off.

===============================

Bow of the Hunter (Legendary Armament)

Attack: 326(+34)=> 360

Special Skill:

-Portal Bow

-Piercing Horn Arrow

Special Passive:

-Cursed Arrows

===============================

===============================

Kindred (Lamb and Wolf)

HP: 590/590

MP: 590/590

-𝐎𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Hero of the Bow Level 51 / The Eternal Hunters ???

STR: 198(9)(+2) =>209

VIT: 59(+1) => 60

DEX: 377(18)(+2) =>377

INT: 59(+1) => 60

LUC: 64(+1) => 65

===============================

I nodded in agreement. We have hunted many monsters, and moving around for the past 4 days. A day and a half left till the Calamity.

1:18:56

We have gathered some marks, yes, but only I only leveled once. Perhaps we are too overleveled in this area now.

===============================

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸 of the Kindred (78)(9) => (87)

===============================

After this Wave of Calamity, we'll stick around a bit longer, and leave this country to go to places with far greater prey to hunt.

Now then...

While I was enjoying the beautiful green prarie, excluding the corpses of course, we saw a carriage coming from the west, entering a town not too far from here.

I tilted my head, trying to see into the distance.

The carriage was being pulled by a big filolial...ah yes, that is Filo. So that means that Naofumi and Raphtalia is here as well.

Judging by their distance with Castletown, the capital of Melromarc, and here...they will reach it in a day, around early morning.

Then we shall rest for the entirety of the day, in preparation for...

The Third Wave of Calamity.

...

The day before the Calamaity

We have just arrived at Castletown when the sun has just risen. To be honest, sleeping has barely crossed my mind during my time here, but just sleeping yesterday...I shall endeavor to start sleeping soon.

Wolf agrees with me. A nice long rest after a good hunt is always acceptable.

Going through the front gates was too easy, when the guards were yawning early in the morning. Since there was barely any threats besides the Waves in this country, I guess no conflict breeds laziness. And laziness drops fear.

Walking down the main street, with Wolf phasing out once again, I stumbled upon the weapon shop that Naofumi always visits...how do I know? It's because I scouted it out way back when we were summoned. Naofumi always go to that place to buy and upgrade.

As we were about to pass the shop, I saw through the barely open doorway...Naofumi was holding up his armor, looking at it in disbelief. Filo and Raphtalia were staring wide-eye in admiration for it.

Naofumi is the complete opposite, looking at it with suspicion. I can understand why. It was looked almost the same exact armor as the one he wore when he was fighting the dragon, and it looked like something a scary bandit would wear. Evidently Naofumi also thought that way.

Getting closer I heard his conversation with the blacksmith. An older middle aged looking man, he had a muscular appearence, with a scarred bald head and beard. He appeared to be confused as Naofumi asked him a question.

"-are you trying to make me look like a boss of a bandit group?"

"What? What are yout talking about, kid?"

"...what do you even call this armor?"

"Hmm. Well it's all custom, so I don't know. How about we call it Barbarian Armor +1?"

"I don't think the +1 would capture what you have added or made in this armor."

The armor did look a little different. Seemed like dragon skin has replaced the fabric holding the armor together, which was a glossy blackish looking color. On the chest, there was a plate of metal. A little different, but still looked extremely similar to his previous armor.

As he kept talking with the blacksmith, I had a sudden thought.

I never tried to copy any bow. I mean I know I can't transform the bow from its original blue branch-like appearance, but I think something would happen if I tried.

So I made up my mind walking into the blacksmith shop.

-------------------------------------------------------------

[Naofumi] POV

I looked at the armor with surprise. It has a lot of upgrades, and even new additions from its previous ones. Guess that's why dragon materials are really special. If it has this many functions, then I would probably never take it off...

"What is it kid?"

"Well, I thought-"

My sentence was interrupted by the door opening behind me, the bell ringing.

"Oh, welco-!"

The old guy, the blacksmith as I called him, looked to the door, and was about to issue a greeting, before his eyes widened in surprised.

I turned my head to see why, only to see a familiar figure.

Kindred.

But it's only Lamb. I guess Wolf is somewhere nearby..but still, I think I know why the old guy was surprised.

Lamb looked so ethereal and otherworldly, she sticks out like a sore thumb. With her bright pink short Japanese looking Kimono, a bright blue sash, purple hair that looks like a bush, and a white mask, she really stands out. Of there are her horns and hooves, but her attire really pops out.

Her blue branch like bow in hand, she looks around the shop, before focusing her gaze on us.

"Uh, *cough*, "welcome to my shop."

The old man shook his head, saying his greeting again.

She nodded back, before looking back at us.

"Hello, Naofumi, we meet again, and you two as well," she spoke softly.

I nodded to her in greeting, saying-

"Yes, hello."

Filo and Raphtalia also greeted her each respectively.

"Hi!"

"Hello miss Bow Hero."

As they each said their greeting, the old man was surprised once more, he leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"She's the Bow Hero?"

"Yes? Why do you ask?"

"It's just...I never seen her before. I've heard the rumors, but..."

"Ah..."

That makes sense. She almost never appears in anything populated, only rarely. The only time people know her as the Bow Hero was when she was in the castle...twice. Other than that, she never made herself known.

We kept talking as Kindred looked around the shop, looking at a bow with concentration.

"Wasn't there supposee to be a huge floating wolf at her side or something?"

"You heard of that to? Yes there is, but it must be somewhere nearby. It can phase through walls."

"...what?"

He looking around with suspicion, as if a gigantic wolf-like monster will appear through the walls in order to kill him. Which won't be true...maybe.

Well, we're already done here, so we'll leave. But before that...

Looking at Filo and Raphtalia, who were trying to engage in a conversation with Lamb, I raised my voice, interrupting them.

"We still have some before the wave comes. You two, do you guys want any accessories?

""Accessories?"

"Yeah, to work with your equipment. I can make some easily enough."

It's about time to get them some kind of gifts for their contributions to me. This was a good time to do so.

"Raphtalia, you're at the age where you want to wear something like an earring right? So, what do you guys want?"

-------------------------------------------------------------

[Lamb] POV

As they were talking about accessories, which I have not tried yet, or any armor for that fact. Should I try to make or get one for myself? Maybe I can get one for Wolf?

While toying around with that thought, I looked at the bow in my hands.

It was just a normal standard iron bow. I tried to copy it, to no avail. Maybe I need to copy a special one, since I get skills based off of rare materials like dragon cores.

How frustrating, limiting us like this, but it makes sense. We'll get overpowered if we have the upgrades like the other Heroes.

It seemed like they just finished their conversation about accessories, because they started to leave the shop, and I followed suit, with the old guy sending us off.

"See you all later! And good luck in the waves!"

Naofumi just raised his hand without turning back, waving it. I nodded back to him, and followed Naofumi out the door with Raphtalia and Filo, who were saying goodbye.

As soon as we got out, we heard a voice.

"Hey, there you are!"

All four of us turned, we saw a black haired man running towards us with his party.

It was Ren, the Sword Hero.

Did that mean we were all in the same town at the same time? What a coincidence. It would be even more if Motoyasu came...

I looked around, seeing no sign of his blonde hair or his group of girls.

Good.

Meanwhile, Naofumi and Ren was arguing.

"Did you steal my reward?"

"The reward for dealing with the dragon, right?"

"Yes!"

"I assume you were talking about the eastern territory epidemic?"

"At least we're on the same page. You stole my reward."

Only because I was there. Didn't you know? You killed a dragon, right? But you forgot about its corpse, which started to rot, spreading a disease over the whole area.

"What?!"

Ren suddenly fell speechless, stunned. I guess he really does care, seeing as he bowed his head in silence.

Hmm, it seems like Ren is smarter than I thought. Good, three good Heroes are better than two. Motoyasu is the black sheep.

Naofumi continued, watching Ren fall into confusion.

"A lot of people ended up dying. They even had to make a new graveyard out behind their main haill. If we were not passing by it, they'd all most likely me dead now."

"Tha-that can't be true..."

He stumbled away, shakily walking towards the east. I intervened before he actually started to get going.

"Ren, stop."

"Ki-Kindred?"

He looked at me in surprise and shock. Seems like he was focusing on Naofumi this whole time, not noticing me.

"The dragon corpse has already been taken care of. Naofumi and the local doctor already treated the people who were sick. So you don't have to go, and the wave is about to begin soon. You don't have time to get there."

As Ren got paler and paler, Naofumi joined in on the conversation, jumping onto the bandwagon.

"The dragon corpse also reainmated, and became a zombe dragon. It was really strong, surprisingly. Raphtalia even ended cursed after that fight. Although we were able to get her healed, it was still difficult and took a long time."

"Oh...so that's what happened. I'm deeply sorry."

Ren turned from us, looking at Raphtalia, and bowed his hea to her sincerely.

I looked at Naofumi to see his reaction, and he looked stunned. He probably didn't think Ren was a good guy at all, probably some cruel selfish bastard who doesn't accept his mistakes.

"Anyways, why did you leave the dragon corpse their to rot?" Naofumi asked him.

"One of my party members suggested leaving the corpse behind so that other adventurers take some for materials. It sounded like a good idea before..."

Naofumi gestured with his hand for him to keep talking.

"We decided to leave the corpse up to the villagers and to any other adventurers, but..."

"Well, next time you better fix your own problems. Corpses do rot after all. And rotting corpses breed diseases. At the very least, you need to do something about its flesh and organs."

"Yeah..."

Ren nodded at that, leaving quietly, his party behind him.

As our eyes followed the leaving group, I turned back to them.

"It's about time for me to leave as well. The wave will start tomorrow, and so we must get ready."

"Yes, that's right, we have to prepare to."

I nodded to them, before leaping to the rooftops to their surprise. I guess they never see me jump that high before.

Anyways, like I said, we must make preparations for the Third Wave of Calamity.

Meaning we rest and meditate

...and sleep.