I am not the shield hero

Dante sat on his filolial as he gazed at Sadeena. Needless to say, it was quite unexpected.

What is she doing here? She shouldn't be here for another few weeks. I know that! That's how it happened, I know it! She meets Naofumi around the time he would have bought Raphtalia. That's what happened in the web novel. The Spear Hero web novel. That's in Motoyasu's point of view. Who was in a time loop. And is crazy.

Dante realized a very important flaw is his plans.

Okay, I need to start accounting for this sort of thing. Overreliance on a crazy person's retelling of events could lead to some seriously bad outcomes. Though this does bring up the question of which version of the story this world is most like. Light novel or web novel, or manga, or anime? Wait a second. Wasn't Sadeena just a slave in Zeltoble in the Shield web novel, not even a gladiator? I could have been waiting for help that would never come!

"Is there something on my face?" Sadeena asked, tilting her head to the side.

Right. Sadeena. She's here now, and I need to talk to her.

…I am totally unprepared for this conversation.

"Sorry about that." Dante said as he turned his filolial around. "I just wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Hmm." Sadeena looked Dante over. "I wasn't expecting to see you at all."

"Oh, right." Dante slid off the side of the filolial and held its reins. "I'm Dante MacRory, the Shield Hero." He shifted his shield from the dark violet, tanned leather of the Slaver User Shield to his metallic Small Shield, then back again.

"The Shield Hero…" Sadeena walked closer to Dante, a smile still on her face. "Well, I'm Sadeena, but you already know that."

"Ah, yes, I knew a couple things. Know a couple things." Dante couldn't get his thoughts in order. It didn't help his confusion that an incredibly beautiful woman was walking towards him.

Dammit, hormones, now's not the time!

"Oh my. I'd like to know a couple things too." She stood a few feet in front of him, arms behind her back. Her cloak was pulled back, revealing her wrapped chest. Dante had a hard time not looking, which earned him a small laugh from the woman.

He cleared his throat before he began. "Right. I have a few things I wanted to talk with you about. When we are alone."

Sadeena glanced to her side. "Are you afraid your filolial will tell someone?"

"Gweh!" The bird made a noise.

"No, not her…him?" He never asked Beloukas which it was. "I just wanted to make sure there was no one else around. That it was just us."

Sadeena must have picked up on what he meant. The smile on her faced dropped ever so slightly. "We're alone." She confirmed.

Dante let out a breath. "Good. I been worrying about that for a while. Let's have a seat, this will take a bit." He gestured over to the grasslands next to the road and Sadeena followed.

Honestly, he wasn't sure if and when he lost any shadows. If it was at Erhard's, or during his ride, or if they were ever there. Or, maybe Sadeena couldn't detect these shadows. There were more than a few things he needed to know.

"Okay, uh…" Dante didn't ask for the filolial's name either. It just came up as 'Filolial A' in his status. "Filolial, sit. We'll be here for a while." The bird complied, nestling into the grass beneath it.

"So," Sadeena started, taking a seat as well, "how do you know about me?"

"About that," Dante sat next to the filolial, reins still in his hand, "could you tell me why you were out here?"

Sadeena hummed. "You want to know more about me when I know so little about you~?"

"It actually has to do with why I came out here. Please?"

Sadeena tapped her chin with a finger. "Well, I just came back to my village to find it in ruins. The lord was apparently killed when a Wave of Catastrophe happened there. I saw many heavy footprints and arrows on the ground and assumed it was attacked and raided. So, I was going to the capital to see if I could find any of my friends as slaves there."

There was no real edge in her voice, but Dante could tell there was a great anger there.

"I see. Well, like I said, I'm the Shield Hero, and I came to this world with a bit of knowledge about it." Dante wasn't sure how much he should reveal. He'd have to play it by ear. "One of the things I knew was you'd be around Lurolona village, though I thought it would be about three weeks from now."

"Even though I lived there?"

"Yeah." Dante nodded. "If I recall correctly, you were out at sea for some rare fish that Lord Seaetto asked you to find. It was going to be for some celebration for Princess Malty. Am I close?"

"Hmm." Sadeena continued to look Dante over. "Lord Seaetto did ask me to catch a rare fish, but he only said the king wanted one. He had to come back to his lands until I was able to find one."

Yeah, that sounds familiar. Probably an excuse to get him out of the capital so Aultcray could run things.

"But how do you have this knowledge?" Sadeena asked.

"It's a bit of hero knowledge." He explained. It was pretty amazing how Sadeena could keep her face practically the same while it also clearly expressed "I don't believe you". Dante rubbed his eyes, more to give him a moment than anything. "Look, I'm not really sure how to explain this without completely crushing your worldview."

"Take your time~." Sadeena leaned back, resting her hands in the grass behind her.

If Dante had his way, he would take three weeks of time to figure this out. How does one tell someone their existence is from a storybook? Well…by basically saying just that.

If someone told him he was a character in a book, he'd probably think they're crazy. But this was a world with monsters and magic and tears in reality that threatened to destroy everything. Surely the bar for craziness was raised a bit.

"Alright. All of the heroes came to this world with knowledge about it. The other three got theirs from games they played. Think of it like an interactive story where they make and control a character to interact with and explore the world. From what I understand, most of it is the same as this world, but more than a few differences."

"Okay." Sadeena had her elbows on her knees, her head resting on her folded hands.

"I, on the other hand, know about this world through a series of books. I know about some past events the characters talked about, and some things to look out for."

Sadeena nodded along. "So, you know the future?"

"Partially." Dante gave the filolial—Greenie, as he temporarily named it—a scratch around its neck. It almost seemed to purr in response. "I've already done a few things differently, and I don't remember all the details. Some things also weren't how I remembered, like you being here now."

"I see. I have another question for you." Sadeena let her hands fall into her lap. "Do you know who I'm looking for?"

Dante paused. "Yeah." He reached for his pack to pull out the note Beloukas wrote for him. Sadeena took it from his offered hand and quickly read it. A real, earnest smile spread on her face.

"Do you have her?" Her voice was so full of hope, Dante felt badly for shaking his head.

"Not yet. I put in an order with a slave trader. If all goes well, she should be here in a few days." He held up a hand before Sadeena could speak up. "I know you want to see her as soon as possible, but I believe it's best to wait."

Setting the note to the side, Sadeena returned her hands to her lap. "To wait." She repeated. "All I need to do is wait and you'll bring me Raphtalia?"

"More or less, yes."

"And what did you want in return?"

"I'd like you both to travel with me." If he had more time and was better with negotiations, he'd probably come up with a better pitch. As it was, he had to make do. "I have a number of ways to increase the fighting power of my allies. Using them, I could make it so no one could take Raphtalia away again."

"Like what?" She leaned forward.

"The first is merely gaining levels while in a party with me. As I understand it, people in a hero's party gain experience faster and more stats per level." He remembered reading that at one point, but wasn't sure where. Sadeena could confirm it later on.

"Oh my, that is quite good!" She said enthusiastically. "I do need to gain quite a few levels~."

"Huh?" That wasn't something Dante was expecting to hear. A thought creeped into his mind. "Just for my reference, what level are you?"

"My, asking a lady her level~?" Sadeena held a hand to her cheek. "Well, I suppose it's alright if it's you. I'm level twenty-seven."

"Twenty…" Well, that somewhat ruined his plans. Perhaps he was a bit optimistic. "Okay, no problem. That does, however, mean one of my methods may need to wait. I can lower your level to…well, I'm not entirely sure. It will increase your potential, that much I know."

In truth, he didn't really remember the Whip's method ever being used. It probably was with Motoyasu, but he couldn't recall how.

"The third is for when you class up and requires a certain type of filolial king or queen, so that's a ways off as well. The last two require a bit of trust, so I'll work at gaining that from you."

"Hmm. But telling me what they are would help me trust you more, no?"

"It's more literal than you think." This could go really well or…well, he supposed not that bad. He tapped the Slave User Shield. "This shield here, plus others from its series, grants bonuses to slaves under my command, increasing their growth. There's a series for monsters I'll be getting in a day or so. The last method is literally being trusted and trusting in return. Not something that's easily done, unfortunately."

"Oh, that is more difficult." Sadeena stood and held out a hand to Dante. "But I think we're on the right path."

Dante pulled himself up with her help. "I'm glad to hear it." He gave her hand a shake.

"Well then, what should we do next?" She pulled her harpoon from her back and gave it a twirl. "Maybe gain a few levels while we wait?"

"Sounds like a good start. I'll be able to unlock more shields as we go. Up you go, Greenie."

"Gweh?" The filolial didn't seem to take to its nickname.

~The Wrong Hero~

From there, they headed in the direction of the capital. Of course, they opted for the more straightforward route, where monsters would be waiting to supply them with XP. With Sadeena in his party, gaining levels wouldn't be an issue for some time. They quickly fell into a rhythm, with Sadeena slaying any monster unlucky enough to get in their path and Dante trying to keep up with her. He tried to offer blocking attacks for her, but with the large level gap, he would just end up slowing them down.

Dante would feed what he could to his shield and unlock various forms. He also kept an eye on any drops they had, though most of the weak mobs didn't have much. The usapils and balloons never dropped any items, and about one in every ten mushes gave an iron ore. He got a few other drops from the other monsters, including a bit of rope, and fed most of it to his shield for unlocks. Most of the monster corpses went into his shield, but he had to spare a few usapils for Greenie. As pretty as the bird was, seeing it tear into the flesh of the round rabbit creature was something else.

Once he had reached level 2, Dante opted for the Leaf Shield to be what he unlocked first. The timer on the Slave User Shield said it would take just under a day to unlock, but the Leaf Shield would be ready in just over four hours. It was a neat feature he'd nearly forgotten about. If he remembered right, the more weapon forms he unlocked, the faster it would be to unlock others. Besides, it didn't hurt to start collecting herbs now. He would need them.

By the time he did unlock the Leaf Shield, he had a couple dozen shields revealed from all the monster corpses and item drops Sadeena got him. She worked quite fast. About half of them were what he remembered Naofumi getting early on, though he couldn't remember what bonuses they provided in the books. Appraisal, cooking, plant appraisal, a few tiny and small bonuses to defense, he even revealed an Iron Ore Shield from using the ore from the drop items, so he could gain a metalworking skill as well. Not to mention all the defense increasing shields he copied from Erhard, most of them small, but three provided a medium bonus. And, of course, there was the Iron Shield.

Iron Shield

(abilities locked) equip bonus: skill "shield bash"

It was pretty self-explanatory. He could bash someone or something with his shield. It would deal little damage, but it would stun them for a couple seconds. It would definitely be one of the first combat shields he unlocked, after Rope Shield and Pipe Shield, whenever he revealed that one.

One shield that did catch his attention, mostly because he picked the flower on a whim and it only had an equip effect.

Sunflower Shield

(abilities locked) equip effect: detox

It sounded like it would remove a poison effect from either himself or whoever he used it on. Which could turn out to be a really good thing, considering his party member loved to drink. It seemed a bit strange to unlock a shield with no equip bonus, but since it had a shorter unlock time than the Leaf Shield, he would put it at the top of his 'non-urgent' list.

Speaking of lists, his next shield to unlock would be the Blue Mush Shield for its compounding recipes. While equipped, he did have the recipes in his mind, but he couldn't have the shield automatically create anything without unlocking it. If this were a game, that seemed like a reasonable limitation.

It was a similar situation when he gained enough levels to use the Rope Shield. With the Gauntlet's power up method, he could spend points to increase the power of his skills. However, when he tried to power up Air Strike Shield, a popup informed him of the unlocking requirement.

As dusk started to approach, they decided to end their hunting for the day. Sadeena had gained one level, while Dante gained seven. Sadeena took a rest as Dante lit a fire and cooked up some small fish she caught in a nearby river. He took the time to disassemble the usapil for the meat and bone shields it would unlock.

"You're pretty amazing, you know that?" Dante said as he finished skinning the rabbit.

"Oh Dante, flattery will get you everywhere~!" She teased.

"Yeah, yeah." After several hours of working with Sadeena—or, more accurately, chasing after her—he'd gotten used to her antics. They'd talked here and there, mostly about what plans Dante had for the future. A part of all those plans was to not appear too powerful, or the church might decide to take action against him. That was easier said than done, considering he had Sadeena, plus however many kids from Lurolona that Beloukas could find. Ideally, they would need to meet with that one lord who was friendly with demi-humans and arrange housing there.

After a few minutes, the fish were finished. He brought a few over to Sadeena and sat with her. She took a bite out of a fish before pausing.

"How is it?" He asked. With her default facial expression being that easygoing smile, it wasn't exactly easy to figure out her thoughts. Instead of replying, she took another small bite. "At least tell me it isn't terrible."

"It's better than I thought it would be." She finally said. "You used some plants to add flavor to it, yes?"

"What I could find." Dante confirmed. "Nothing here is really familiar, so I used a shield with plant appraisal to figure something out. Just wait until I get cooking bonuses from my shields."

"Oh my, a hero and a cook~!" She took a larger bite, finishing off the first fish.

"Oh, I'm not. Not really, anyway. You spend enough time with someone who cooks for a living, you learn a few things." That, and you eat enough bad food in front of them and they might just force you to eat something better.

"Dante, stop eating that jerky! I'm making enchiladas, have some!" Eddy would get so mad over the silliest things.

"You haven't talked much about yourself." Sadeena turned her attention to her next fish.

"Yeah…" He took a bite out of his own fish.

"And you don't want to talk about yourself." Sadeena concluded as she watched him eat.

Dante shrugged. "I will if you want me to."

"That's alright." She leaned back against the log she had claimed earlier. They sat in silence for a moment before Sadeena spoke again. "Those books you read about our world? How much of the past did you read about?"

"Mostly things that were relevant to whatever was happening at the moment, and usually just enough to understand the current situation. Melromarc and Siltvelt's war, Cal Mira Island activating, just to name a few."

Sadeena nodded, finishing her second fish and starting on her third. She hesitated before taking a bite. "Do you know about me?"

Dante grunted in response. He supposed this would come up sometime. "Enough to know it really isn't fair for me to not talk about my past."

"I see." She let the fish rest against her lap. "And you aren't frightened of me?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little." Dante admitted. "It's a bit hard not to be worried around someone who could probably kill you in a single thrust."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know." Dante looked her in the eyes. "I'm not worried about your past at all. You did what you had to do. And now? Here you are, working to get back your friends and family. That's all that matters."

Sadeena gave him a soft smile. "Wise words for someone so young. Or maybe just naive."

Dante nodded before he looked towards the setting sun. "We should get back to castle town. I need to start my next plan." He stood and patted himself down. "By the way, I'm twenty-eight."

"Oh my, you look so good for your age~."

~The Wrong Hero~

They returned to the capital before the sun set and the gates were closed. They separated before they entered, Dante coming in the same way he left, Slave User Shield on his arm, with Sadeena going some minutes after. His first stop was the slave trader's tent to drop off Greenie and the silver, and to collect his eggs. He confirmed with Beloukas that he was indeed making inquiries about the villagers. The flying dragon he was to send out would be returning this night, so he'd send his man to Idol's in the morning.

With that done, Dante left to meet Sadeena at Erhard's. He made sure to keep his face covered, as well as the eggs, just in case there were any prying eyes. When he arrived, he saw Sadeena chatting with the blacksmith. Erhard saw him as he entered and gave him a wave.

"Ah, Shield Kid." He greeted, waving him over. "Your friend's been waiting for you."

"Hey, Erhard." Dante set the eggs on the counter and shifted his shield back to the Small Shield before pulling off his cloak. "Sorry to use your place of business as our meeting place."

"No problem, kid." Erhard leaned forward on his counter. "Say, about that issue from before…"

Dante looked over at Sadeena and gave her a wink. She nodded back to him.

Good. No one hiding around.

"Looks like I was mistaken." He said, returning to the blacksmith.

"Well, that's good." Erhard said. He turned his attention to the eggs. "Going to be raising some monsters, I see."

"Yeah, two filolials." Dante pulled off his backpack and began rummaging through it.

"They're pretty handy." Erhard nodded. "Just make sure you get them a wagon or something to pull, otherwise they'll get restless."

"Will do." Dante pulled out a pouch and slid fifteen silver coins into it. He also pulled out the gold coin from Erhard and slipped it behind his shield.

"What are you doin' down there?" The blacksmith asked, looking over his counter.

"Just preparing for tonight." He said, standing up. "Unfortunately, I'm going to be walking into a trap tonight."

"You are?" Erhard looked between him and Sadeena. "Is this about earlier?"

"In a sense. I'm going to be framed for a crime in the morning. And have all my possessions stolen."

Erhard scratched his head. "And you're just going to walk right into it? What crime?"

"Don't worry, I've got a plan. You'll hear what happened come morning, I'm sure." He was pretty sure word would be spread around as he was being taken to the castle. "Of course, not everything will be taken." He hands the backpack and cloak to Sadeena.

"Kid, how do you know what's going to happen?"

"Just a bit of hero knowledge." He repeated what he said to Sadeena. It was technically true both times, Sadeena was just more cautious about it. "Besides, I'm the Shield Hero in Melromarc. I think we all know what that means." The other two would draw different conclusions from that, but Dante knew they'd be similar.

Erhard merely sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know what's going on, but I hope you'll be careful."

"I will be." Dante fully faced Sadeena. "I'll be going to the inn closest to the castle. You're free to rent a room there and observe, if you wish. Just don't interfere."

"I think I might have a look at what'll happen." Sadeena gave a nod.

"Good." Really, this would help show he was telling her the truth about these things, in case she needed proof. He thought for a moment before he spoke next. "Also, about the villagers…"

"Yes?" She tilted her head to the side.

"The man I'm working with is Beloukas. His tent is nestled in the alleys down a few streets. Raphtalia should be at the estate of Idol Rabier."

Sadeena's eyes widened for a moment before resetting. "Why are you telling me this?"

"To show you that I trust you. I still have a gold coin, just in case, but you have everything else. Of course, if Erhard would be willing to hold the eggs for me…"

The man in question held up his hands. "Fine, fine. I'll keep them in the back. But I want to know what's going on tomorrow, understand?"

"Perfectly." Dante turned to leave. "If I've screwed things up and end up imprisoned, I would really appreciate a rescue."

Without another word, Dante left for the inn. He passed a couple on the way, but managed to find the right one near the castle.

Once inside, he immediately found Motoyasu and most of his party. He made his way over to greet them.

Time to see if this works out.

"Motoyasu." He said, sounding a bit worn out.

"Hey, Dante." Motoyasu greeted with a smile. He soon lost that after seeing Dante's expression. "How was your look around?"

"Not so great. Is Myne around?" He asked, trying not to make eye contact.

"Yeah, she's over there at the bar. You alright?" Motoyasu gestured to him. "You don't look so well."

"I don't really want to talk about it. Later." Dante turned and moved to where Motoyasu had said. He was quickly able to find Malty in the crowd with her red hair.

"Oh, Sir Shield Hero." She saw him as he approached. She, too, took notice of his demeanor. "What's troubling you?"

"Are you still interested in joining my party?" He asked, not meeting her eyes.

"Well, I did enjoy my time with Sir Motoyasu, but I did offer to join you. What's happened?" She motioned for him to take a seat next to her. A glass of wine sat in front of her.

"If you're joining me, then I should tell you." He slowly raised his eyes to hers. In a hushed tone, he spoke. "I was robbed."

"Y-You were?" She held a hand to her mouth. Dante had to admit, seeing that confused look about her lost income would have put a smile on his face. "What happened?"

Dante took a deep breath before he continued. "While I was looking around in the fields, some bandits came upon me. They stole my pack and most of my silver, but I was able to hide some when I ran away."

"That's terrible!" Malty yelled. Dante looked around before held a finger to his lips. Malty calmed herself before going on. "Did you tell the guards?"

"No." He replied. "What kind of hero gets robbed on his first day out? I couldn't bare telling anyone. I didn't want to tell you, but if you're going to adventure with me, you need to know how badly I screwed up."

Perhaps he laid it on a little heavy, but he wanted to make it convincing. If she believed he lost his silver, she wouldn't try looking for it when she robbed him that night. The most that would happen would be her taking his very cheap armor and the coins not spent on the room.

"I see." She kept her face neutral after that, probably trying not to rip her hair out. "Well, I'll still adventure with you, Sir Shield Hero."

Dante slumped onto the counter. "You don't know how relieved I am to hear that." He said with a huge smile on his face. "Thank you, Myne."

"Of course, Sir Shield Hero. It'll be an honor to work with you." She gave him a reassuring smile as she placed her hand on his arm.

There was a small urge to pull away from her, but he needed this to seem natural.

"Anyway, it's been a rough day. I think I'm going to sleep this experience off. I'll see you in the morning, Myne." He stood from his seat. "Also, you mind not telling anyone about me…you know?"

Myne gave him a nod. "Not at all. Have a good night, Sir Shield Hero."

With that out of the way, Dante made his way to the innkeeper and rented a room for the night. He got to his room and started taking off his armor, relieved at the situation.

Okay. There's no way Malty would want to spend a single day adventuring with me if she can't get anything meaningful. She'll most definitely stage the rape tonight. I'll just have to wait and see how she changes things.

He made sure all his equipment was on the table before he slid into bed.

~The Wrong Hero~

"We will now hear the charges against the Shield Hero!" A minister called from next to the king.

The morning happened about how Dante expected it. His equipment and silver was missing and, soon after leaving his room, castle knights showed up and arrested him. Since it was just outside the castle, they didn't bother with a carriage, though they did push him a bunch. When he was brought before the throne, the other heroes and their parties were already there, with Malty hiding behind Motoyasu.

"What charges!?" Dante called out. He had his part to play here. Honestly, it wasn't too difficult to seem upset. He actually was. Turned out that knowing you were about to be falsely convicted didn't make you feel any better about it.

"Myne, my dear, you would please repeat your testimony?" The king said evenly while glaring down at Dante.

"I-I went to the Shield Hero's room to talk about our plans for today when he suddenly grabbed me and threw me onto the bed." She said as tears fell from her face. "He said 'I'm glad you decided to join me for some fun' and then he tore my clothes off and…"

"That's a lie!" Dante yelled, earning the butt of a spear to the back of his head.

"You're the only liar here!" Motoyasu yelled back. "How could you do that to Myne? And right after she agreed to go with you!"

"Indeed!" The king slammed his fist onto his throne. "To rape someone in my kingdom, the only punishment is death!"

"But I didn't do it! What proof do you have?" Dante demanded.

"Excuse me." A knight said as he approached.

Ah, this must be the flimsy evidence. I didn't know if they would try the underwear, but-

Dante's thoughts were quickly thrown out when he saw what the knight was holding. In his hands was a light colored bedsheet…with a bloodstain near the center of it.

Malty immediately hid behind Motoyasu when it was presented.

"We found this when we searched the Shield Hero's room." The knight said, looking aside.

"This is undeniable proof!" The king yelled, pointing at Dante. "What say you now, Shield?"

Dante didn't say anything. He couldn't. His mind swam with questions.

What the hell is this? Did I cause this to happen? How did it go from nothing or torn underwear to a bloody sheet? He looked over to Malty. She continued to hide behind Motoyasu. Did she actually bleed for this? No, it's probably from a monster or knight. Hell, they may have killed someone for this.

"Nothing to say?" The king said. "As I thought."

"T-This is a setup! I didn't do anything!" Dante found his voice.

"I knew there was something wrong with you." Itsuki said, looking down his nose at Dante.

"He probably thought he was better than everyone around him." Ren concluded with his arms crossed.

"I can't believe I trusted you for even a moment!" Motoyasu finished, grinding his spear into the ground.

"But I didn't do it!" Dante yelled futilely.

"Enough!" Aultcray's voice boomed throughout the room. "Your guilt is clear for all to see!"

Dante dropped his head. "Fine. Since no one will believe me anyway, why bother talking?" He glared back up to the king. "So, you going to kill me now?"

"As much as I want to, you are here to fight the waves. I wish we could summon a new Shield Hero, but my researchers tell me that new heroes can only be summoned once all four have died."

The other heroes voiced their concerns, but the king continued. "However, you won't go unpunished. Your crimes are already known to my people. You'll never live a good life here. That will be your punishment. You will return in a month to fight the waves. Now, leave my castle!"

"Fine!" Dante called out, giving the heroes one last look. When he did, he saw something even more unexpected. Malty wasn't taunting him. She barely looked at him, keeping behind Motoyasu all the while.

A shove from a knight got Dante moving. He left the castle without another word. His thoughts from before returned to him.

This Malty…She's much more cautious than I thought she'd be. More cunning. This makes it look like I stole her first time. She didn't even need to say I was drunk, since they all think I'm a violent thug anyway from my spar with Motoyasu. And as I just saw, she's not about to risk her plan for the throne just to make sure I knew she framed me. A short-sighted, belligerent Malty is something I can handle. But this…

Dante reached the gatehouse to the city, continuing down the road.

I don't know if I'm prepared for what she might plan.

Author's Notes:

Should have kept the receipt on that gift horse.

Looks like this version of Malty is a bit smarter than her book counterpart. Wonder how that'll affect Dante's plans for the future.

Next chapter will contain a reference that may make some of you groan. Be prepared :D

Let me know what you think.