Since the sun had already set, I decided to stay at the inn for the night and focus on treating
I transferred the Holy Water I'd bought into a separate container, soaked bandages in it, and rewrapped them around the blackened bruise on Raphtalia.
It sizzled, and black smoke rose from where the bandages were applied.
"Nn… ugh…"
"Are you okay?"
"Y-Yes. It's hard to describe—it feels like an itch, and like the stiffness is being released."
"Is that so…"
I wanted her to heal as quickly as possible. I was the one who had hurt her.
As I touched her, I thought I felt the black bruise gradually fading.
"Raphtalia heals much faster when Master Naofumi wraps the bandages."
"If only that were enough…"
I wanted her to make a full recovery even sooner.
"Hey, Raphtalia's being lovey-dovey with Master and that's not fair!"
Even though Raphtalia was in the middle of treatment,
"We are not being lovey-dovey!"
"That's right. I'm just treating Raphtalia's injuries."
Raphtalia and me being lovey-dovey… Is that an archaic expression? Whatever. I didn't know where she'd picked that up, but Raphtalia and I weren't in that kind of relationship.
"Raphtalia's black on the inside, huh?"
"Please don't make it sound like I'm being two-faced."
They sure got along. Those two.
"Well, the Wave will be coming soon. Until then, let's take it easy."
"Okaaay!"
"That's right. Things have been hectic lately, so a little break isn't bad, is it?"
"Yeah."
"What time are you making dinner, Master?"
"Let's see… Maybe tomorrow?"
"Got it!"
And so, while treating Raphtalia's wounds, I slept at the inn for the night.
The next day.
The equipment I'd commissioned from the old man probably still wasn't finished.
That meant there wasn't much to do. Dropping by the Potion Shop or Magic Shop might not be a bad idea.
Maybe I could check out the
"So, what are we doing today?"
"Mmm…"
"Food!"
"Alright, alright. I know."
Thinking about what I could do before the Wave, mixing Recovery Medicine would be the sensible option… but the preparations were already in place.
As for leveling up, Raphtalia and the others had hit their growth cap, so it would just be me. That would be a waste of the party bonus, but resting for a while was probably the right call.
Raphtalia's wounds hadn't fully healed yet either.
"Should we go buy more Holy Water?"
"Huh? We still have some left."
"It'll take a while before she's fully healed, right?"
The bruise was lighter than yesterday, but it was still far from completely gone. We were down to a worrying amount. At this rate, it would fade considerably by the Wave, but the effectiveness would diminish if we didn't replace the Holy Water daily.
"I'm terribly sorry for the trouble."
"I'm the one who inflicted this wound. Don't worry about it."
"Okay."
"Well then, today let's stop by the Potion Shop and grab a meal."
"Mm!"
Raphtalia and Filo nodded, and the three of us left our luggage at the inn and headed out.
When we arrived at the Potion Shop, the owner greeted us as usual.
"It's been a while."
I returned the greeting in kind.
"Yeah, I used the Intermediate Recipe you gave me."
"Is that so…"
I looked at the medicines on display. As expected, they still outclassed anything I could make.
"Oh, by the way—someone I know, an old acquaintance who's an Accessory Merchant, came by asking about you."
"Huh?"
I was surprised by the unexpected connection.
"How did you get in good with that cheapskate? He wouldn't stop singing your praises."
"Wait, you know him?"
"From way back. But that's not the point—answer me. That guy, just from the faint scent of herbs in your Healing Potions, figured out that the trick came from a recipe I gave you!"
That time, just by smelling my Healing Potion, the Accessory Merchant had identified the specific technique from the Intermediate Recipe I got from this shop!
That Accessory Merchant—who exactly was he? He played dumb the whole time… I couldn't read him at all.
"Hmm… You know I've been Peddling, right?"
The owner nodded. Since he had an acquaintance in Ryuto Village, he'd have heard about me starting to peddle goods.
"Well, this Accessory Merchant rode along on my wagon as an assassin in a Peddling turf dispute. When some Bandits he was after showed up, I sent them packing."
"That alone wouldn't be enough to win him over."
He really knew his stuff. Or was that Accessory Merchant some kind of celebrity?
"Yeah, I don't know exactly what won him over… Probably the fact that I stripped the Bandits of everything they had, then raided their hideout and confiscated all their wealth."
The owner silently pressed his fingers to his brow and nodded.
"That does sound like something you'd do. Alright, if you went that far, I can see why he'd be impressed."
"After that, he drilled me hard on crafting techniques."
"Yeah, he actually praised you—said you were a fast learner, and with that business sense, he wished he could make you his successor."
"Spare me."
The only reason I was peddling was to afford better equipment. Money wasn't my real goal.
"So, what brings you here today?"
"Oh, I was wondering if you had any Advanced Recipes for sale."
The owner's hands, which had been mixing ingredients, stopped.
"…That was fast. I thought you still lacked the technique to make everything from the current recipes."
"Yeah, there are still medicines from the recipes you taught me that I can't make yet."
Strong Acid Water, Mana Water, and Soul-Healing Medicine—none of those were within my reach yet.
I could probably identify the necessary materials through the distribution channels the Accessory Merchant had taught me, but I had no urgent need for them yet.
"But… there was a time when my medicines weren't enough to save someone. Fortunately, a Healing Hero made a higher-grade potion, and it all worked out. I felt how lacking my abilities were."
The owner nodded, apparently understanding.
"I see… But it's still too early for Advanced Recipes."
"Is it really that difficult…"
"Most of them require medicines made from Intermediate Recipes as ingredients. On top of that, some require materials that come from entirely separate recipe lines."
Multiple base materials needed as prerequisites… That was indeed a tall order.
"I could sell you the next Recipe Book, but it won't be cheap."
"How much?"
"500 Silver Coins. I can't lower the price."
I could tell he was already cutting me a significant break.
Medicines and such—there were probably institutions, companies, and guilds that trained people in the art. He was teaching me and selling me recipes while fending off pressure from those organizations.
"Understood."
I handed over 500 Silver Coins without haggling.
"Hmm… Then here's the next one."
He handed me a book titled "Poison Herb and Poison Recipe."
I still read the writing of this world slowly, but I could manage it to some degree now.
"A recipe for poisons?"
"You can't become truly proficient in medicine without understanding poison. Think of it as the dark side of Intermediate Recipes."
"Mmm…"
I skimmed through it. It covered everything from simple poisons to anesthetics and narcotics.
It certainly looked difficult. But if mastering this was necessary before I could tackle Advanced Recipes, there was no harm in learning it.
"Thank you. By the way—do I just need to memorize Heal Pills and Basic Medicine from the Beginner Recipes?"
The Potion Shop owner, who had been putting on a composed front, nearly tripped over his own feet.
"…You were attempting Intermediate Recipes without even knowing the basics?"
"I watched you make them and picked it up."
"A street urchin reading scripture he hasn't been taught…?"
That was a Japanese proverb. Presumably, the Shield was translating it into the equivalent expression in this world.
The owner let out a heavy sigh, then began writing rapidly on sheepskin parchment.
"The basics for Beginner Recipes are in there. Memorize them."
"Yeah."
I looked back and saw Filo sniffing at the medicine shelves and recoiling at the smell, while Raphtalia stared intently at the herbs, trying to commit them to memory.
"Shield Hero!"
As we left the Potion Shop, an unfamiliar voice called out to me, and I turned around.
A boy of about fourteen or fifteen, dressed in a soldier's uniform, was sprinting toward us, gasping for breath.
I immediately broke into a run. Raphtalia and Filo followed close behind. I had far too many reasons to be wary.
"Please wait! I'm not trying to capture you or anything!"
"Then what do you want?!"
"I just want to talk to you!"
…Suspicious… but I'd stop for now.
If he was lying, I could always set Filo on him.
"Hah… hah… I finally found you…"
The boy, out of breath, steadied his breathing in front of me and looked up.
"What do you want with me?"
"Well, um, during the next Wave… I was wondering if I could fight alongside you."
"Huh?"
What was he talking about? I let out a bewildered noise as I stared at him.
"During the last Wave, us—lower-ranking soldiers—were deeply inspired by the way you fought, Shield Hero."
The boy's story went something like this.
During the previous Wave, when Raphtalia and I had been defending Ryuto Village, numerous low-ranking soldiers had been moved by our stand. Due to the prevailing attitude among the knights, they hadn't been able to openly praise me. But after the Wave ended, a grassroots movement had quietly spread among them.
"When any of us spotted you while patrolling the town, we'd all agreed to approach you and share our feelings."
"Oh…"
"Our duty is to fight the Wave, yes, but our top priority is to minimize harm to the citizens."
Noble words. I wished the other Heroes could hear something like that.
"So, um… Shield Hero, please let us fight alongside you during the Wave."
"If you just want to fight in the Wave, couldn't you do that with someone other than me?"
There had to be an ulterior motive here.
Likely, soldiers and knights who performed well during the Wave would gain guaranteed advancement. If that was the case, serving as a companion to a Hero and excelling in the Wave would automatically elevate their standing.
Still, surely even those Heroes understood the correct way to fight the Wave by now. I'd nagged them about it enough.
In Status Magic, under the Party menu, there was a Formation entry. It was probably meant for the Wave.
Setting up squads using that system and fighting the Wave—that was what I believed to be the correct strategy.
If anything, it was similar to offensive-defensive battles between guilds or teams in an online game. The enemy wasn't human, but the general concept felt right to me.
Without that approach, fighting hordes of monsters alone would be suicidally reckless.
Defeating boss-level monsters was the role of high-level ace players—in this case, the Heroes. But the rank-and-file could and should be handled by the people of this world.
The previous Wave had been exactly that case.
A Wave had occurred near Ryuto Village, close enough to the
This country was vast. If a Wave appeared in a remote area, it would be a catastrophe.
In that scenario, a small number of fighters would need to minimize damage on their own.
Well, putting aside the standard tactics for Wave combat, I wanted to hear the boy's answer about why he'd come to me with this proposal. The most likely explanation was that competition among the other Heroes was fierce, so he'd come begging to me, who had the lowest competition rate.
"No, we want to protect the people alongside the Shield Hero."
Anyone could say anything on the surface.
"Is this about career advancement?"
"No."
The boy shook his head so fast it was nearly instantaneous. Then he beckoned to a boy standing behind me who looked like he wore mage's garb.
When I said "mage's garb," I didn't mean the purple kind you'd see at a Magic Shop—it was more of a cheap-looking yellow.
The two of them stood side by side and bowed to me.
"I… I'm originally from Ryuto Village. The Shield Hero saved my family, so… I want to be of at least some help to repay that debt."
"Oh, I see."
He wanted to repay a debt of gratitude for saving his family.
"I'm sure there are people like what the other Heroes described. But I genuinely want to be of use to you, Shield Hero."
"Is that so. There really are all kinds of people out there… Hm?"
"Um, Hero…"
The boy in mage's garb raised his head, flipped open the lining of his robe, and pointed a quill pen at me.
"…Could I have your autograph?"
There might be a catch. Maybe I should write something in Japanese—like "Motoyasu" or something.
Hm?
Looking more carefully, this kid was a Demi-human.
In this country, where human supremacism prevailed, a Demi-human becoming a soldier—that spoke to something deeper.
Compared to the mages who had been alongside the knights during the last Wave, his cheap-looking outfit wasn't just a matter of age or rank.
I obliged the silent request of the boy in mage's garb and scrawled a vaguely impressive-looking autograph on the inside of his robe lining. From what I could tell, there were no strange magical effects, so the autograph couldn't be used to bind me to anything.
Well, I wasn't using him as a medium for anything. If anyone tried to hold it against me later, I'd just ignore it.
The boy in mage's garb blushed slightly and gave me a delighted smile.
I felt a strange twinge of embarrassment.
"This guy's been a fan of the Shield Hero for ages. He grew up hearing legends of a Hero from a different country and always admired the Shield Hero."
"Oh…"
So a tiny fraction of the people actually trusted me and wanted to help.
Which meant—though the boy hadn't said it—the other one might be from a village I'd saved during my Peddling travels, sharing the same sentiment.
Well, let's give it a try.
From the Formation section of Status Magic, I issued a Squad Leader designation to the boy in front of me.
My party consisted of myself as the leader, followed by Raphtalia and Filo.
Below them, I granted Squad Leader authority.
This was a hierarchical party system where my authority took precedence. Meaning, I could even choose not to transfer experience points to the Squad Leader.
"This is…"
"Don't you understand?"
"I do."
"If you're not the representative, hand it to him, then gather anyone who wants to join. But don't get the wrong idea. If you try to just use me, or attempt anything underhanded, I will unconditionally strip you of your position and disband the squad."
"Yes! Thank you very much!"
The two of them saluted in unison and departed.
I had my reservations, but I was slowly starting to earn the trust of people in this country.
It was a moment where I could feel that shift.
Of course, as I'd said, I wouldn't show mercy if anything went wrong.