02x02 - Footprints of the Spirit Tortoise

[bunniefuu]

Naofumi-sama!

Master!

Naofumi-san!

Sorry...

I'm just fine.

Don't lie to me.

You can tell, huh?

You are the Shield Hero, I presume?

Yeah. Why?

I thought so.

Please, k*ll me.

What?

She disappeared?

I don't see her anywhere, yeah.

Footprints of the Spirit Tortoise

Tell me what we're looking at.

After the Spirit Tortoise destroyed the capital,

it headed toward this border town before shutting down.

If the legends are correct, it will remain in that state for two or three days.

It destroyed this nation's capital,

took the lives of the royal family and many of its people, and now it's taking a nap?

Accursed creature!

Legends say that the Spirit Tortoise mostly att*cks densely populated areas.

Its next target would be Lowhirot,

and this was merely a stop along its way.

The Spirit Tortoise can't afford to ignore a force as large as the one we've amassed.

So, how are we going to destroy something that size?

The Shield Hero?

If the Queen's right, we've got two or three days at most.

We have to come up with a plan and get ready before it wakes up.

There's not much time.

Get ready? That won't take long at all!

We have brave knights and soldiers from every kingdom in the land!

If we charge at it with banners raised high, it won't stand a chance!

Indeed.

We don't need the help of the Four Heroes!

You will fail!

We threw thousands, tens of thousands of our most loyal troops at that walking fortress,

and they couldn't stop it!

Defeating the Spirit Tortoise by conventional means is impossible!

We need the help of the Four Heroes.

Naofumi-sama...

I know.

But don't get any dumb ideas about dying gloriously in battle.

I want to minimize casualties.

Otherwise it'll interfere with our real job, which is to fight the Waves.

Naofumi-sama, you didn't need to say that.

Then let us come up with a plan for the allied armies to defeat the Spirit Tortoise.

Oh, if it isn't my student Rishia!

There you are.

Eclair-oneechan!

Instructor!

What are you doing here?

I heard that the Saint is going to fight one of the legendary monsters.

So I came to help him as soon as we could.

Likewise.

This is a thr*at to my nation that rivals the Waves.

I'm sorry for not doing my duty for Iwatani-dono,

but I stopped training the soldiers and hurried here.

I see.

So, where is he?

Um... in that building?

Something about coming up with a plan to defeat the Spirit Tortoise?

It's not fair that Raphtalia-oneechan is the only one that gets to go with him!

I'm hungry!

So the Queen's with him, then?

We saw her before...

Isn't that...

I'd like to hear what the Shield Hero thinks, but...

What of the Seven Star Heroes?

They've left their countries and are on their way, but some are far off.

They may not make it in time.

Seven Star Heroes?

Seven heroes who use vassal weapons, different than the Four Cardinal Heroes.

Some of them were, like you, summoned from another world.

And some of them were chosen from this world.

Vassal weapons...

So there are other heroes besides us?

Are they strong?

To be perfectly honest,

they are likely weaker than you and the other heroes are now.

So better than nothing, I guess.

So? Where are these Seven Star Heroes?

Well...

Excuse me.

You're...

It's been many years since we've met, Queen of Melromarc.

Naofumi-sama, that's...

Yeah.

My lady! I'm so glad you're safe...

"My lady"?

She is the concubine of the now-deceased King of the Spirit Tortoise Kingdom,

and the nation's regent!

I didn't give you my name when we met the other day, did I,

Shield Hero?

Allow me to introduce myself properly.

I am Ost Hourai.

Ost Hourai?

Yes.

The king's concubine, and regent.

But that's just what the world thinks I am.

In fact, I am a familiar of the Spirit Tortoise.

What?

You've met other familiars of the Spirit Tortoise, I believe.

Don't tell me...

You're the same as those bats and yetis? You?

Yes. I take the form of a human. That's all.

What are you saying, my lady?

Sorry.

Everything you knew was a lie.

My job as a human-type familiar was to get close to the center of power

and use subterfuge to gather a minimum number of souls.

Wait.

What the hell are you talking about?

Gather souls? What do you mean?

The task of my lord and creator, the Spirit Tortoise,

is to block the Waves of Calamity from appearing,

using souls as a resource.

Block the Waves from appearing?

Yes.

Human-type familiars such as myself were tasked with deceiving the powerful,

forcing countries to fight so we could gather souls.

And if that failed,

monster familiars would be used to gather the souls gradually from all over the world.

And if that failed, as a last resort,

the seal on the Spirit Tortoise itself would be broken,

and it would stalk the world itself, gathering countless souls at once.

But this time, someone broke the seal without any warning,

and the Spirit Tortoise is committing destruction not of its own volition.

Even if it can stop the Waves, there'll be no world left when it's through.

And I will not be able to fulfill my duty.

Shield Hero, please destroy my creator, the Spirit Tortoise.

You said someone broke the seal.

Can anybody break it?

Only I know the method, or should know.

The duty of a human-type familiar was to tell the Four Heroes how to break the seal,

should they ever discover our plans and defeat us.

What? Why would you tell us that?

When protecting the world from the Waves is no longer possible,

it is the task of the Four Cardinal Heroes to revive the Spirit Tortoise

and gather souls to stop them from appearing.

"The world demands sacrifices from all life."

Is that what you meant, Fitoria?

If that's true, then...

What a terrible trial fate has set out for us and the heroes.

Um... I'm sorry.

Ost Hourai, it's more unbelievable to me that you're not human.

I'm sorry.

It was my duty.

I wanted to look the part, so I played the role of an, uh... evil consort?

Right now, the Spirit Tortoise is out there even though its real self doesn't want to be.

Right?

Yes.

I believe the one who broke the seal is controlling it.

You're just a familiar. As such, what can you do?

You didn't just come here to ask us to defeat it, did you?

Of course, I'll provide what advice I can to help you find the one behind this and stop it.

The Spirit Tortoise's role is to gather souls, so it heads to densely populated areas.

So this would be its next target.

That was in the legends, so... um...

Anything else?

Um...

The head! Yes, the head!

If you cut off its head, you can stop it!

Yeah, most monsters die if you cut off their heads.

This is ridiculous!

This w*r council is a sacred place! Are you mocking it?

If you are, then I'll take off your head first!

If we're lucky, that will get rid of the Spirit Tortoise, too!

That... That's impossible.

If you don't defeat the Spirit Tortoise itself,

no matter how many times you k*ll me, I'll just come back.

Calm down.

We know how to defeat it.

Now we just need a plan to do it.

What's more important now is...

That's right.

Who takes command?

What?

Of course, we're providing the bulk of the corps, so we'll take command.

What?

You'll need siege weapons to take the Tortoise's head.

And my nation has the most!

But Melromarc is providing the majority of the funding.

And they sent the Shield Hero, too.

That's not the issue right now.

That's right!

It doesn't matter who takes command!

But I want our battalion to take the vanguard of the charge!

What can one battalion do in a charge?

That's right! You stay in the rear!

But we need to avenge our dead!

By dying for nothing?

If that brings victory, then we'll die gladly!

Enough!

I could not give less of a sh*t.

You can talk about crap when you're fighting other humans.

You may be the Shield Hero, but that doesn't give you the right.

If you've got a plan that will take down the Spirit Tortoise with minimal casualties,

I'll take anybody's orders, or if you need me to, I'll give the orders myself.

But if you're going to sit here thinking about who gets the credit instead, I'm out.

Wha—

But I'll defeat the Spirit Tortoise. Me and my comrades,

to protect my territory.

You guys can sit here and talk.

It ended without an agreement?

What the hell is Iwatani-dono doing?

We fight alone, then?

That sounds like the Saint.

It's not a good thing!

How can we defeat something that size all by ourselves?

I'm sorry...

If only I'd tried to be more mysterious.

Um, may I ask you to introduce yourselves?

Oh, of course!

I never did give my name, did I?

I'm Raphtalia.

And this...

My name's Filo!

R-Rishia Ivyred.

Elrasla Grilaroc, heir to Hengen Muso.

Eclair Seyaette, present lord of the territories of Seyaette.

Naofumi-sama is ruler of a demi-human area in Seyaette.

Eclair-san volunteered to train the demi-humans in how to use a sword.

She's been training Rishia-san and myself, too.

Oh my. That's wonderful.

My father d*ed in the first Wave,

and I wanted to atone for his failure to protect their village.

Of course, I don't think it'll forgive anything.

No... You've done your best.

I'm much better with my sword now!

I'm really grateful!

Me, too!

It makes me happy to hear you say that.

Oh, sorry.

I need to give my name, too.

Regent of Spirit Tortoise Kingdom, Ost Hourai.

I've heard of you.

Oh, that's a lie.

A lie?

It's a long story, actually.

You're not cold?

It gets chilly at night in this area.

Yeah, I'm fine.

It's a pretty town, isn't it?

Yeah.

If it weren't for what happened, the lights in the houses would make it even prettier.

Yeah.

Will this town be destroyed, too?

By a disaster besides one of the Waves.

At this rate, yes.

Is there any way to protect it?

Well...

I'm really happy that our village is so important to you.

But I don't want you thinking it's all that matters.

You'll probably disagree,

but I don't think those generals are bad people.

At the bottom of their hearts, they just want to protect their homes.

You feel the same, right?

You said you'd be willing to take command if there was a good plan, right?

Let's think of one!

With Filo and Rishia-san and the Queen.

Let's show them a plan they won't be able to complain about in the least!

And then everyone will listen to you!

Because you're the Shield Hero!

Sheesh...

If the Spirit Tortoise goes to where there are lots of souls,

we don't need to stay in town and wait.

Use numbers to lure it out,

and then find some way to pin it down.

You don't need to defeat it.

We'll take care of the rest.

My nation of Haikazuya will provide a dragon rider battalion to serve as a decoy.

Cavalry, heavy troops, archers...

We are the strongest nation in the land.

As for pinning it down...

Lowhirot has stationed every siege w*apon it has in the area.

No matter how big it is, we can knock out at least one leg.

Good.

But that's less than I'd like.

Is that still in use?

A fortress from the last great w*r.

It's been abandoned for decades.

Can we bring it down?

With ritual magic or something?

Mideus can provide mages that will do it, but it will only work once.

Though we'll do it as many times as you want,

if you don't care how many mages die.

We have enough bombs to blow up a mountain.

We never got the chance to use them.

We'll use them, then.

We'll keep the multi-caster magic for if we need it.

We'll get to it immediately, then.

Now, when it's done, how do we cut off its head?

It would be hard to do it with this.

Should I eat it?

No.

We'll head back and come up with a plan ourselves.

With my and my student's Hengen Muso and Raphtalia's swordsmanship,

we may find a way.

Um, Naofumi-san...

What do I do?

Go with Ost to the town library and learn what you can about the Spirit Tortoise.

That's an important job, too. Probably.

Let's do our best!

Right...

Oh, right. I stopped at the capital before coming here.

Elhart-dono gave me something for you.

I'll go get it.

ord

It's beautiful.

Claw

umi

How do I look?

Kweh! Kweh!

Just like the real thing!

I do not say, "Kweh!"

Kweh! Kweh!

So you're journeying with the Shield Hero for the sake of the Bow Hero, huh?

Yes.

But when you say it like that, it makes me sound like an awful person.

I was the one who brought you with me.

Don't be so hard on yourself.

Okay...

You're in love with the Bow Hero, aren't you?

I think I can give you advice, then!

I don't have much confidence I can help with the Spirit Tortoise, but this, I can help with!

What, exactly?

The key is to get intimate as fast as possible!

Do it and then think later!

I seduced a ton of royals that way!

"D-D-D-D-Do it"? I can't...

It's not like that!

You know what she meant, huh, Rishia?

Well, you're old enough, I think.

Even if you don't look it.

Naofumi-san!

It's nice to be young.

Naofumi-sama, what does she mean?

The Spirit Tortoise...

Shaking Land