"So you'll be traveling while peddling?"
"That's the plan. I need to cover travel expenses, and it doubles as funding for weapon crafting."
"Right."
"After all, feeding this bird isn't cheap."
She had the strength of a horse, but her appetite matched. The cost of keeping a Filolial fed was nothing to scoff at.
She ate monsters, sure, but I couldn't forage enough to fully sustain her.
Since I never knew where I'd need to spend money, earning as much as I could now only made sense.
I could sell goods in whatever villages or towns we stopped at.
That was the plan as our journey began... or so I thought.
"Finally caught up!"
It happened that evening.
The little brat who'd picked a fight with me back at the Castle Town had caught up.
After I'd settled into an inn and started peddling, she came riding in on horseback.
"You really are persistent, you little brat..."
"I'm not done talking yet!"
"Yeah, yeah. Your father, right? So what?"
"'So what?' he says!"
The brat's face flushed red in an instant. What an emotional kid.
Frankly, the hysterics were getting old.
"Father says that shield of yours is making him furious."
"Oh, really? Good for him."
"That's NOT good!"
Shut up, brat.
I'd already chosen a place to stay and paid for the room. I wanted to ignore her, but she wouldn't quit.
How far did she plan to follow me? Would it kill her to give it a rest?
"What's going on?"
Filo had apparently gotten bored playing nearby and come back. By the way, as long as you stayed within a reasonable distance, party members still earned experience when monsters were defeated. Occasionally experience points would float across my vision, so I'd had Filo play elsewhere while I was peddling.
Sometimes she'd bring back materials as "souvenirs."
"Oh..."
The brat spotted Filo and froze.
"She was pulling the carriage, so she's a Filolial?"
"Yep. Good guess."
"She's nothing like the Filolials I know. I've never seen one like her before."
Well, not many people had seen a Filolial Queen. In the entire kingdom, I was probably the only one.
"Master, did something happen?"
"She can talk?!"
"She's been talking from the start."
"I thought she just made squawking sounds!"
"Nope. Filo can speak words."
"Woooow, that's so cool!"
"Hehe~ She said I'm cool!"
The brat approached Filo and reached out to touch her.
Filo didn't seem to mind, allowing it.
Maybe their apparent mental ages were close, given their looks.
...This could be useful.
"Tell you what — you can go play with Filo."
"Really?!"
"Sure. Play until you're satisfied, and then go home."
"Okay!"
The brat broke into a smile and started petting Filo.
"Master? What about Filo?"
"Go play with her. Just don't let anyone get hurt."
"Okay!"
Filo scooped the brat up with her wings and set her on her back.
The brat's expression brightened instantly.
"Waaah! So high, so high!"
"Then let's play!"
"Okay!"
Filo trotted off happily with the brat on her back.
The knights standing behind looked baffled as they chased after them.
"Finally, some peace and quiet."
"Naofumi-sama, you've got a pretty evil look on your face."
"Can't imagine why. That little brat will forget about picking a fight now."
"The brat... Naofumi-sama, do you hate children?"
"Not really. If I did, I would've ditched you and Filo long ago."
"Well, that's true."
It was only because she kept pestering me that I found her annoying.
You deal with whatever trouble falls on your doorstep.
"She'll probably stop following us once we cross into the neighboring country."
She seemed to like animals. Playing with Filo should shake her off.
"...Yeah, probably."
That day, Filo didn't come back until quite late.
Apparently she'd had a blast and came home excitedly rambling about her new best friend. I couldn't care less about that story.
For the record, the brat's name turned out to be Mel-chan.
The next morning.
After a light breakfast, we quickly left the inn and hit the road.
"Stoooooop!"
I pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose.
I'd known this was coming, but I didn't expect to be caught this fast.
I'd left early specifically to get out of the village before she could track me down.
"Oh, it's Mel-chan."
Filo stopped, so I climbed down from the carriage to greet the brat.
"Wait, I just realized — Filo-chan was playing with you, but you still haven't apologized to the Shield Hero!"
"Sorry about that. Is this good enough?"
"Not me — apologize to Father!"
You're so annoying.
I really didn't want to deal with this.
"If you don't apologize, none of us will forgive you!"
As she said that, one of the knights behind her drew his sword.
Were they actually going to fight?
Against the Hero?
Wait — the one in the very back was holding up a crystal ball, aimed at me and the brat.
What was that about?
Then I realized something.
They... weren't looking at me.
A chill crept down my spine.
It was that same sickening feeling I'd had when the bitch deceived me — that gut instinct I'd cultivated over the past few months, the sense that someone was about to frame or betray someone else.
I immediately rushed toward the knight.
That premonition became reality before it had even fully formed.
The knight swung his sword at the brat.
"SCREEEEEEEEEAM?!"
"Air Store Shield!"
The brat let out a bloodcurdling scream. I instinctively deployed the Air Store Shield to block.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
I stepped in front of the trembling brat and glared at the enemy.
"You, shield demon! How dare you use the princess as a hostage!"
"Huh?"
Princess?
They were the ones trying to hurt her, and now they were saying this?
The brat seemed to grasp what was happening too — her face had gone white.
"The shield is evil! That's how it's always been!"
With that, the enemies charged at us.
I pulled the brat close and shielded her.
A sharp metallic clang rang out.
"Guh..."
The enemies began chanting magic, raining fire down from above.
No choice. I draped my mantle over the brat and weathered the spell.
"You demon... Shield Devil!"
"Filo! Raphtalia!"
"Right away!"
"Okaaay!"
Following my orders, Raphtalia and Filo rushed toward the enemies.
Sensing the counterattack, the enemies mounted their horses and bolted.
"Fools."
Filo's legs were faster than any horse. In an instant, she knocked one of the enemies off his mount.
"Guaaaah!"
"Oh, against the demon—"
I tried to press the attack, but while taking down one or two, I let several of them escape.
"What the hell was that about?"
Weren't they supposed to be the brat's bodyguards?
And a princess, no less?
All I could do was interrogate them.
I approached the bound enemies.
"Now then — why were you trying to kill this girl right in front of me? Give me a reason."
"We do not speak with demons."
"Oh, really..."
"Demons," huh. It had been a while since I'd gotten such blunt insults.
As soon as I'd been known as the Shield Hero, a few people had thrown that word at me.
"You know... do you understand your situation?"
I gave Filo an order.
"Food?"
The enemy's face went slightly green.
"Even if we die, it will only be a sacrifice for the holy war... God will guide us."
...A religious type.
These fanatics wouldn't respond to threats even with their lives on the line.
"Brat, any idea who they are?"
The brat shook her head, still trembling with fear.
"Hmm. So what religion do you follow, then? Probably some crazy cult anyway."
"The Church of the Three Heroes, demon! How dare you mock our God!"
Just as I thought. These types couldn't handle anyone disrespecting their faith.
Now that I'd gotten them riled up, the rest would be easy — just talk them into spilling everything.
"It's the national religion."
Raphtalia murmured softly.
"You know about it?"
"Actually, most of this country follows the Three Heroes faith. My parents followed a different religion, so I wasn't part of it."
"...Then search their belongings for religious items."
"Oh, sure."
Raphtalia found a rosary-like accessory among the captured enemies' things.
"Put that on the ground."
"Haaah..."
It had a strange symbol — three weapons layered on top of each other.
A sword, a spear, and a bow?
What an unpleasant combination.
"Now then. If you don't talk, I'm going to step on this."
"D-don't you dare!"
The enemy's face purpled with rage.
They broke fast.
Was this piece of metal really that important?
From what I could tell, it was an ordinary accessory — no special enchantments, just a fashion piece.
My world had people who started wars over religion too, so maybe this was something similar.
"Here we go..."
I repeatedly raised and lowered my foot right above the strange symbol without actually touching it.
"You shield demon! Our God will never forgive you!"
"As if I care! Now tell me why you tried to kill her. Or what — is this the extent of your faith? Huh?"
"Guh..."
"You'd let a demon trample your precious God's symbol right in front of you? What a merciful God you serve."
It was the opposite of a fumie.
If they truly believed I was a demon, they couldn't tolerate the sacrilege of a demon defiling their holy symbol.
"Tell me the truth, and I won't step on it."
"We will not fall for a demon's tricks!"
"Suit yourself."
I drove the symbol into the ground with all my might.
"You bastard——!"
Hmm... what to do now.
At the very least, I'd figure out who these people were.
"Hey, brat — who the hell are these people?"
"Uhhh..."
The brat still hadn't recovered from the terror of nearly being killed. Her face was green, unable to form words.
"Mel-chan. Master and Filo are here, so you're okay now, right?"
"...Filo-chan."
Having regained some composure, the brat looked at me and spoke.
"So... these people were Father's knights."
"Now that you mention it — who exactly is your father?"
"Father?"
"Yeah. Some noble, right?"
"No."
Not a noble? Then who?
She looked well-bred. The daughter of some famous merchant?
An Accessory Merchant's daughter, perhaps? But that wouldn't explain why they'd hold such malice toward me.
...If someone told me she was jealous because she was daddy's favorite, I could force that explanation to work. But her behavior didn't suggest anything like that.
The most reasonable guess was still that she was a noble's daughter.
"My father is this country's king."
"...Huh?"
"Aultcray Melromarc XXXII. My name is Melty Melromarc... the second princess of this kingdom."
And just like that, I realized I'd been dragged into one hell of a conspiracy.