Today was the first day he had been in and out of the Castle Town. From a world on the brink of destruction, his expectations had since been betrayed by the conduct of those around him. The patrolmen guarding the entrance had all but ignored his party, giving him favorable gazes only for scowls to return to their faces at the sight of the duo behind his group.

'If the world was coming to an end, why in the name of whatever is holy in this world, would you disrespect and frown upon one of your protectors?' Takehide couldn't help but scold these soldiers in the back of his mind. Though they were doing no harm, and thus, he had no place in teaching them a lesson.

From the corner of his eye, he looked to get a glimpse of the Shield Hero.

There was a smile across Naofumi's face, like a boy who was living the dream. Myne was pressing her breasts into his side, she was clinging to his arm to garner his favor. Oh how flustered the Shielder appeared to be made the Spear Bearer almost forget the things he had read from her behavior. Wanting to dismiss the thoughts that evil lingered in any corner it deemed necessary was fruitless.

Closing his eyes, he let out a sigh before facing forward again. Everyone else's voices were just unintellectual noises. He was sure his party was talking amongst themselves, but his mind was far too distracted to even notice them.

Orson and Eclair were directly behind him, whilst Rino and Elena were at either one of his sides. He was sure he felt the sugary sweet gaze of the girl who attached herself to him from a complimentary glance, even more, sure he felt the noble girl's lemon eyes on him as well.

'Was there a world without Jealousy?' Surely, Takehide didn't know, for there was always someone who envied another. Wanting something someone else has was part of human nature.

Off to the side of the stone laden street was a stall protruding from the front of what appeared to be a standard residence building. Though Takehide couldn't read the sign, he could see the crude drawing of a monster upon its wooden surface.

"T...T-Takehide-sama," Rino stuttered almost alluringly in excitement as she pointed towards the shop, "That's where you sell monster byproducts. I'm sure everyone's pelts will fetch a high price…. You could also see if there is anything you can buy."

"Oh…?" A chuckle escaped his lips, Takehide gave the smallest girl in the group a fond gaze. "Rather knowledgeable aren't you?" Although normally one could assume he was teasing, he didn't hesitate to playfully reach over and move a lock of her hair aside.

"Monsters do tend to give attributes to one's Legendary Weapon," Elena stated the obvious as her eyes were closed. With her palm pressing against the hilt of her weapon, she looked to Rino, she was completely absorbed in the Hero. "By the way," she began, "Are you able to cook, Takehide-sama?"

"Yes," Takehide breathed out and as if his attention had been stolen, his head turned to face Elena. "Though it may take me a little while to get used to this world's variety of tastes."

"Really now?" Now it seemed Elena was becoming elated over the idea of the Hero cooking for her. Or was it that she didn't want to eat horrible food on her travels?

The fact that he hadn't even cooked his own meals yet in this world wasn't too far in the back of his mind. Originally he had planned on cooking in the forest but changed his mind. 'With the amount of meat in my inventory, I am sure I could make quite a few dishes. I wonder… Would they be my guinea pigs?'

Letting out a quiet sigh, Takehide briefly looked to the stone ground beneath his feet before resting his gaze once more on the shop they were approaching.

"Ah… It's the Spear Hero, welcome to my shop." A short and plump fella said with a corny smile across his lips held his arms out as if he were about to start a circus show. Like most of the population who encountered him, the shop owner's gaze was entirely on his armament.

Takehide's gaze picked the man apart as he wore a short top hat and hard dark red hair, if not brown. Based on his view on the merchant's attire, this man seemed rather shrewd when it came to business. Even then, hardly was his appearance of anything noble or that of note.

"Let's see what you got here, huh?" He seemed overly enthusiastic as he saw him ready to unload the merchandise onto his counter.

'So you're really into buying this stuff?' Takehide's eyes trickled on behind the salesman. There were a number of monster parts here, though mostly from the balloons. Perhaps they are worthless?

Takehide chuckled quietly as he was placing the pelts on top of one another, folding them carefully as he did so. He found there were at least sixteen good quality pelts, while there were at least three low-quality ones. That wasn't bad for a first run. He turned that into three piles and kept the lower ones in their own stack.

Carefully maneuvering the pelts, the merchant's fingers greedily caressed the blanket-like skins. They were softer and higher quality than normal. "Twenty silvers each."

"Twenty-five," Takehide didn't hesitate to raise the price by a few pieces of silver thinking, 'if he goes for this I'll be able to make up for today's cost with an additional four hundred pieces.'

"Alright, alright!" Laughed the man behind the counter, taking out an empty pouch and placed coins into it matching the price of the sixteen good pelts. His eyes then went to the last three pelts which were of lower quality. "Hmm…" He scratched his chin, "Three silvers each?"

'Damn… That is a steep drop, but I suppose it's better than nothing.' Takehide's gaze dropped to the remaining pelts before shrugging, nudging them towards the shop owner. Music of coins soon followed being dropped into the pouch.

The remaining porcupine quills were the next to be displayed, along with over a hundred orange balloon remains. His look of enthusiasm had since turned to bewilderment as he stared at all the monster parts.

"Ten copper per quill, one copper per two orange balloons," the man stated and with Takehide nodding without question, the man added to the pouch of coins.

Taking his coin pouch out of his inventory, Takehide took a few silver coins out and held it near the jewel of his weapon. Without much warning, the spear devoured the coin. He did this one after another until suddenly he got a notification.

[ Silver Spear Unlocked! ]

[ Silver Spear ]

[ Bonus Abilities: +6% Damage to Demonic Creatures ]

"Hmm… I like the metal series…" Takehide mumbled to himself as he began adding copper coins after that. He watched as one coin after another was needlessly destroyed, and kept doing so until another screen appeared.

[ Copper Spear Unlocked! ]

[ Copper Spear ]

[ Bonus Abilities: Metal Efficiency I ]

"Metal Efficiency?" Narrowing his eyes, Takehide glanced up towards the shopkeeper who was staring at him as he had been sacrificing money to his weapon. 'I wonder what Gold does.'

"Is there anything else you'd like to sell, Sir Spear Hero?" The merchant went on to ask.

"Perhaps…" Takehide drew the knife from his sleeve armor and placed it down on the counter in front of the man.

The man blinked up at the hero before looking down at the item that now decorated his counter. It looked to be made of bone and had a faint magical glow to it. At the same time, he curiously looked to the green hilt of the object. It didn't look to be made of metal, but something organic. Reaching over, he lightly touched the dirtied tool and blinked at the feeling of the handle. It was relatively sturdy. "That is an interesting knife you have here…" He went to appraise it and pursed his lips lightly, "I'll buy it for thirty-five silvers."

'It is a fragile tool, and most definitely can be made at any time. I suppose…' Takehide nodded to the offer that was given and once more watched as coins were added to his holdings.

Once he was done selling the rest of the monster-related items that didn't have much use, he left the stall and put the pouch of coins in his inventory.

T...Takehide-sama, we sure gained a lot of silver from just one go!" Rino celebrated with a fist partly lifted in the air.

"We did," Takehide responded as he glanced over his shoulder to see Naofumi and Myne approach the counter with their balloons and other items. From the way she remained so close to the Shield Hero, he felt that she was a witch that put the Hero under her spell. It was a strange revelation, to say the least. Though seeing the items that were being put out, they didn't have much as him.

A rugged sigh escaped his lips before facing forward, he didn't bother to stop as he pulled the map out of his inventory. The map they had been given by Erhard as a gift of sorts.

Tracing over the region which was outlined, he found it extremely familiar to the game. Though he knew of more than what the map displayed. Dungeon locations, dungeons, hidden treasures, and quests that he read guides for as he had planned to play the game.

"There's a dungeon area near this 'Lerno Village' that could be of use," Takehide tapped the mountainous illustration on the map beside the village near the border fort.

"We might need transportation to get there," Elena informed, "I'll take at least two months to get there on foot. Though it could take a couple of weeks by wagon..."

"Why couldn't it be like Velvet Online with the waypoint transport crystals…" Takehide spoke aloud of an alternate game that had nothing to do with this world.

"...What?" Blinking, the girls cast relatively confused gazes in his direction.

'It's nothing," Takehide dismissively waved his hand at the subject. 'I don't necessarily care for traveling, and things can happen on the way there… Perhaps we'll find more than my memory serves.' He knew he didn't know everything about his game, but the more he saw the world on the map, the more familiar it became. That was when he narrowed his eyes on the mountains to the east of Castle Town. 'If I remember correctly, there is also something near that village too… Right?'

His gaze centered on Riyute Village, one of the closer villages on the map, then to the others that were noted. There were plenty of things missing from the map, including the dungeons, mines, and other things.

Since the Castle Town itself also was slightly different from the game screenshots, he could also assume this world was a bit different too. Perhaps the things he was looking for didn't exist, and going certain places could very well be a fruitless adventure.

"Takehide-sama, perhaps we can check with the Guild?" Elena suggested seeing that intense narrowing of his brows as he was in thought. "They could even have some jobs for us."

"The Guild? Adventurer's Guild…? That sounds like a good idea, I suppose the plan to leave earlier tomorrow morning won't fit. Huh. Thanks, Elena-dono."

"I think we should get to the tavern," Eclair put out her own two cents, "The earlier we retire, the earlier we can leave. Don't you say?" To her, this was simple logic, but it wasn't everything.

"I know quite a few starter locations that can help us level quickly," Takehide pointed out as he looked her over, walking backward as he did. "The question is, will the other Heroes go there as well?"

Eclair knew that the Heroes came with the knowledge of the world, but how he said it made her curious. "Starter locations…" She tasted those two words on her lips.

"We were all pretty much reset when we chose to join his party," Elena sighed even though she had only been adventuring for a few weeks prior to joining. "If the other heroes go to the same place, we won't be able to level as much."

"And I need to keep refining my Spear, and collecting other objects." His eyes traced over to the Dragon Tooth form that his spear had taken on. "So we might end up looking into mining materials and gaining more skills as well as hunting monsters."

"There should be a number of jobs on the Request Board the Guild has, and there are some really awesome rewards," Rino recalled with a melodic giggle.

"Rewards do sound good," he looked to Rino for a few seconds as he thought about what he could possibly get his hands on. Then his gaze centered on Eclair, "We have to get something that will keep you from being recognized." Takehide's gaze flickered back to Rino, "How long does that illusion last?"

"Mmm… It has about thirty more minutes left I think."

"Let's head over to the Magic Shop then," Takehide shrugged as he glanced in the direction of the mint-green colored house that belonged to the Witch. With the map still in his hand, he continued towards the house and once he made it to the front door Orson opened it.

"Thank you, Orson-san." His eyes flickered up to the larger man who simply nodded in response. Takehide didn't really smile, but he simply returned the gesture before stepping inside.

"Oh! You're back so soon, Spear Hero?" The Witch observed rather enthused, as she had been reading a book whilst sitting on a stool. There were no other patrons within the place, but she seemed occupied.

"I wish it were for better reasons, but we're here for something specific," Takehide was blunt about the fact. As they moved to the center of the room, Rino was peering over the other items that were on display. "Would you have anything in stock that allows illusionary disguises to remain intact for extended periods of time?"

"Illusions you say?" The Witch tapped her chin, smiling as she mentally went through her catalog.

Eclair, herself, just stared at the various trinkets that had obvious magical power. They were expensive and the more powerful they were. The idea of him spending everything he had just earned made her feel quite inadequate as a knight of the realm. Though she had her entire life practically stripped from her the moment she was accused of treason and that of a Heretic that had been brainwashed by the Shield Demon.

"And maybe a beginner spellbook for transmutation, the intermediate, whilst I still haven't tried deciphering it…" Takehide sweatdropped as he sighed, "Might be harder to use."

"Ah, anything for a Cardinal Hero!" The Witch gave an overtly chipper response, but it was heavily sarcastic as well. Whilst she was all for helping, she was still a businesswoman after all. "Now then… I suppose you're looking for a permanency enchanted accessory then," she walked over to the nearby set of drawers and began opening them one by one.

From a distance he could see jewelry inside, various types of medallions, and plenty of different types of magical equipment. Though they come in a variety, there didn't seem to be a lot of them.

"So… How does permanency work exactly?" Takehide trailed over to the Witch as he had his hands pocketed in the sides of his pants, his thumbs folded over the rims.

"Permanency enchantments preserve spells well past their natural duration," Lectured the Witch in response to his question as she closed yet another drawer. "They're relatively rare…" Her eyes danced over to the hero's party, particularly to that of Eclair. "Though I'll give you a discount should this item truly be of great importance to your safety."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Takehide chuckled nervously as she was looking directly at the person they needed the item for. His guess was that she could see through Rino's illusion-based disguise magic. If that was the case, did the Pope of the Three Hero Church see through it as well? His mind felt like it was going to melt all of a sudden, at the same time as keeping his exterior quite calm and reserved.

"Your eyes are giving you away," claimed the Witch with a lighthearted cackle.

Takehide grinned as he let his eyes lose focus, "Is that so?"

Both Rino and Elena moved to look at his face upon hearing the shopkeeper's words, her eyes racing over every detail. "MMMmmm… I don't see it." Speaking almost in sync the two girls just glanced at one another, blinking in surprise.

Eclair just chuckled, watching the two of them.

"What are you laughing at?" Elena turned her head to look towards Eclair.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all," The Knight simply looked over towards Orson who was watching over the trio with eyes of great diligence. "Say, what are you going to do when you find your kids? To the people who took them, that is."

Orson's sights flickered to the Knight who asked such a question, "Kill them, so they have no escape from being charged with what they've done. That is swift Justice for their crimes."

Eclair nodded to herself as she thought about this as well. She wanted to clear her name and the only way to do that was to track down the slavers involved and put them in chains. If this man killed them, there could be several complications with that. One thing was for sure, however, they needed the Queen to return to their Kingdom.

Rino on the other hand just looked at the two nobles with a subtle smile, not involving herself.

"Ah, here it is." The Witch announced as she reached into an open drawer and pulled out a silvery string with a ring hanging on the end of it. "A Ring of Permanency, made from an enchanted magic alloy. Whilst not as rare as a spell orb, this piece will sell for at least two hundred fifty silvers at a heavy discount."

"Heavy?" Takehide dryly swallowed, his gaze on the item as it slowly drifted side to side on the silvery string that held it. The object looked almost mystical, making it hard to fight the urge to let his mouth go agape.

The amount she asked for was definitely going to make a dent in his wallet, though he was sure he could mend it quite easily. There were plenty of reasonable jobs with the Guild that had the potential to fill his fund for his campaign.

Even then, Takehide didn't hesitate to place the exact amount of coins that Witch asked for upon the counter. The moment she joined them, she held the item out for him to take and he let her rest it in her hand. As his Spear Hero interface highlighted the item, he was able to confirm that the object was indeed magically enchanted and made of magical alloy. "You have done me a great service today, Witch," Takehide felt awkward addressing her like this. Though back in his world, he learned from fiction that Witch's names often held power over them, much like when it came to demons. The question was in the back of his mind, however, as if that was true here too.

"As have you, Spear Hero-sama," Said the Witch who smiled fondly, "You saved my coffers."

Shaking his head, Takehide missed the wink she gave him as he glanced away just in time. Without a second thought, the hero approached Eclair and draped the item around her neck. In that instant a warm cocoon of energy warped over her disguise and vanished.

"So as long as she wears that item, the illusion will remain around her. However, after the normal duration of the spell, the moment the item is mistaken off the illusion ends." The Witch dismissed this with a wave of her hand, "Now then… A beginner's book?"

Takehide nodded as she went searching in the drawer she had taken the intermediate book out of just earlier during his first visit. A faint smile formed over his lips as she took out a blue and silver hardcover book and placed it on the counter.

"This is the book you're looking for," She claimed as she gestured her hand over the cover of the item. "Transmutation Spells… I'll give it to you for one hundred silver, how does that sound?"

Nodding to this, Takehide sighed and reluctantly parted with the one hundred silver as he went to place them on the counter.

Then in the instant that he put the silvers down, the Witch tossed the book over to him to catch a sly look on her face. "It is a pleasure doing business with you."

Catching the item, nearly fumbling it, the Hero simply stared at her.

"What? It's not every day that a Hero frequents a Magic Shop twice in one day, and makes purchases each time." She was clearly grinning her face off right there as she spoke to him. Though strangely enough, it wasn't making Takehide uneasy or angry.

"Ah…" Takehide glanced over his shoulder towards the item that he had given to Eclair, wondering if it was really a heavy discount. She hadn't even named the previous price. Then his gaze went towards the secondary book that she had given him, noting she had likely only taken about twenty silver coins off of its price. This Witch was definitely wanting to make him a constant regular so it seemed, figuring it was probably good for business.

"You… Wouldn't by any chance have some parchment laying around, would you?" His head cocked to the side as he figured he could just go to the general store to get some if not.

"Parchment?" The Witch inquired, peering towards her stationary not too far away.

"I'm having my party members tutor me in the written language, and helping me learn magic," a pleasant expression overtook his face as if he was looking forward to studying.

"Planning on staying after all this is over, are we?" Blinked the Witch, taking in his expression.

Silently he put the book into his inventory, a longing expression assaulting the pleasantness that once held dearly to his lips. "There is nothing to go back to," Takehide placed his now free hand on his neck, the exact spot that had been pierced by his own Tanto. "Since I've already died in my previous world, it'd be weird if I came back, wouldn't it?"

Everyone in the room had gone completely quiet. The hero that had been summoned, the hero that stood before them, had been resurrected from the dead in order to fight for them.

"Huh- How did you die?" Elena bluntly stammered over her words, her words breaking the silence. Like most of those staring at him in partial disbelief, her eyes were bugging out.

Takehide gave them a good long stare in return, only to close his eyes as he spoke, "Murdered by Freedom Fighters." He wasn't lying, but he wasn't about to say that he had been lead to murder by his ex-lover. "I had phantom pains from it earlier..."

"T...Takehide-sama…" Rino nearly dropped her staff as she stared at him.

"I'm fine," Takehide reached over and placed a hand on the top of her head, "As long as I have friends by my side, ones I can be loyal to... I'll be alright."

Orson and Eclair didn't really know what to think. A Hero who had died once already? Could that mean all of the heroes of the past and the ones of the present had also died prior to their summonings?

"Being brought here gives me all the more reason to keep fighting," Takehide assured them as he turned to face the rest of his party. As a Hero, he had no reason to prove himself. The words that left his mouth filled the companions of the Spear Hero with determination, for he was not a coward nor was he outwardly selfish. "Though I do have to admit, this place is a pleasant surprise despite its legal slavery…"

Orson could see that the boy didn't endorse slavery, though he already knew it. He didn't want to be called Master, he liked his name. In addition, the Samurai never once referred to him as anything other than his name, or the silly nickname he came up with on the spot.

"What is death like?" The Witch suddenly asked.

"Cold," Takehide spoke solemnly in response to her question as he turned his head to give her an empty gaze, "And eerily calm in the dark."

As if mentally taking note, the Witch returned to her stool to collect her book. "Come back anytime," She said cheerfully, nodding to him and his adventurer companions, pointing to a stack of parchment. "Take as much as you need."

"Heh," a soft titter left his lips, "Thank you again…"

After taking about five pieces from the stack, the group left the store as he placed the items into his inventory. His eyes flickered to Eclair just in time to see her tucking the ring into her attire, hiding it from plain view. That was probably for the best.

'I can't really tell how much they're accepting this…' His thoughts were heavy on his party, "You're all okay with staying with me after learning that, right?"

"Why would we leave one of the Cardinal Heroes? Being brought back to life to fight for our world… You were still chosen to be the holder of the Spear, were you not? It must've been for a reason." Elena Haven proclaimed as she crossed her arms, looking at the hero, feeling good about herself and the words she had shared.

Letting out a suppressed laugh through his nose, he nodded in agreement. "It's light did feel… Warm, Comforting..." His eyes closed partially before resuming his gaze upon the map, having taken it back out from his inventory. "Let's stop at the Guild to get a more detailed map."

"R-R-Right this wa-way!" Rino erupted in an anxious squeal as she took two paces ahead of him, excitedly at that, whilst pinching his armored sleeve to tug him along.

Takehide was slightly startled by her sudden move, but all the same, smiled seeing such a small and cute girl drag him forward. 'So this is how much my flirting has affected her?'

"Wait for the rest of us!" Elena blurted out as the party hurried after them.

Coming to a strong stone building on the vibrant side of town, the party burst through the large double doors of the place.

"This is the place," Elena gave the Spear Hero a pat on the shoulder, walking past him and towards the job board. Meanwhile Rino dragged him along toward the front counter receptionist.

"Hello there," a man with a large handlebar mustache neatly kept hair greeted the two with a gleeful tone. "How may I help you…" His eyes trailed over the red jewel on his weapon, "Spear Hero?"

"The one and only," Takehide gave the man a whimsy thumbs up with the hand freshly released from Rino's grasp, he then placed the map on the countertop. "I was wondering if I could get a more detailed map here… One with Dungeons, mines, and the lot marked on it."

"Hm… I can see what I can do." The receptionist opened the drawer in front of him and shuffled through some parchments. Then finally he took out a piece of paper and placed it upon the map already laid out. It was a far more detailed map, and a bit bigger, than the one Erhart had given them. "Two silvers and it's yours."

Nodding to the man's demands, he placed equitable payment upon the man's outreached palm. "There you go," Takehide half-chuckled.

"As it were, the map is now yours." The Receptionist allowed him to take the items and raised a brow as he put them into his inventory. "I heard the Heroes had spatial storage, quite an interesting thing to see in person I'd think..."

"Is that so…?" Takehide wore a small, but somewhat smug, expression now as he heard this. "I am curious, do you have a compass available?"

"The general store should have some of those available for purchase." He chuckled, "We're not a store. We're a guild… I just happen to have maps here for Adventurers."

"Hey!" Someone shouted, "Are you the Spear Hero?"

Turning his head, his eyes narrowed on the person the unfamiliar voice came from.

[ Human Male Lv. 26 ]

"Hm, depends on who is asking," Takehide chuckled in a friendly tease.

"The name is Adami, it's a pleasure to meet such a Hero!" He held his arms out to motion towards Takehide without any reserve whatsoever, ignoring the rest of his party.

[ Adami Lv. 26 ]

"All the same, Adami-kun," Takehide looked over the Adventurer who was of higher rank than himself. Being called out like this did make him feel a bit uneasy as if this person was trying to insert themself into his party.

Based on the crossbow on the man's back and a canine companion at this side, it appeared he did mostly scouting. Whilst he may be useful, this person had a strange glimmer in their eye, similar to that of the red head's.

"I can't believe the Cardinal Heroes are actually here!" The male appeared entirely too excited over this as he danced in place. "Tell me, how cool is the Bow Hero?"

Takehide shrugged at the question, "Itsuki-san is a good fella. Cool, I suppose."

"Well, I have to go," Adami chuckled as he waved a hand to say goodbye, "I've been requested to put down some bandits that have been harassing some merchants lately in the north."

Acknowledging his words, Takehide watched as the Adventurer ran off with his dog following closely behind. "Weird fella that one is," he spoke quietly to himself.

"Don't pay any attention to him," Rino said with a look of disdain on her face, "He has a history of stealing loot and glory from his party members." It sounded like she had some experience dealing with the man.

"Ah," Takehide sighed, "Sounds like an inconvenient member to have around."

"Indeed…" Elena joined in on the conversation with a piece of parchment in her hand. "I've found a job that we can do tomorrow. It'll be a little rough," her thumbs pressed down into the thick parchment, "It's a small Monster Subjugation quest."

"Sounds like a good plan," his eyes wandered aside to find that there were people eyeing them. Some of them had even averted their gaze, looks of excitement and curiosity on their faces. 'I don't necessarily have enough coin to support recruiting more members just yet. Maybe I shouldn't pool our funding together? Hm.' His eyes shifted to Elena, dipped his head for a brief second before turning and walking towards the door. "Let's get to the tavern. The last thing we need is for them to run out of rooms and we all get stuck sleeping in a single bed!" Takehide cheered, causing his group to scramble together and follow him out of the Guild.

The receptionist just shook his head at this, a smirk across his lips as he watched the hero vanish out the door.

"So…" Takehide held his spear horizontally behind his back, "Considering the Era this World seems to be in…" His eyes drifted over Elena and Rino, before stopping upon Orson. "Are there brothels in Town?" The question wasn't well-received, immediately getting glares.

"Yes…" Orson was the first to answer his question, "Though it's in the seedier parts of town."

Everyone's eyes went from Takehide to Orson, their stares making it clear they weren't expecting the man to say where it was. If anything they were judging him for knowing where it was.

Unlike the others though, Takehide just raised a brow at him.

Orson sighed, "I brought my girls to this town before, and when one of them disappeared, that was the first place I looked… The brothel there is some bad news, Takehide-sama."

"Most of the time women in the Brothels are either the desperate, want to do what they're doing or consist of those who are forced into the trade." Takehide had seen plenty of movies where people were forced into slavery due to familial debt. In feudal Japan it wasn't all too rare to find that a man who owed his debt had his wife or daughters taken as collateral. Then there were the drug cartels and clandestine trafficking rings that propped up all over the globe that were known to make hefty profits on and from tourists.

"Takehide-sama… Why did you ask…?" Rino asked as she was frowning, not particularly pleased with him asking such a question in the first place.

Eclair was disgusted. Elena was either feigning carelessness or she literally wasn't fazed by a male asking the question. Brothels were a place to get their tip wet, so in her mind boys will be boys.

"I have no intention of using a Brothel, but knowing one exists gives me a bit of perspective of things that could very well happen if someone in my party disappears." his eyes wandered over Orson, having heard about his daughter. 'If they were to disappear without a trace, at least I know where to look if I suspect them taken…'

Eclair loosened up a bit, her mind coming around to what he was just thinking. If someone were to disappear, if someone were to be taken it would be the ideal place to find missing women.

Elena was tickled impressed as she took in a slow inhale, her brows creased. It was as if she had been pleasantly surprised. A smile then formed over her delicate lips despite having feigned calmness towards his question earlier. "It's good to know you aren't the type. It appears we won't have to worry about you contracting any kind of disease." A simper emitted quietly from her teasingly coy expression.

Rino's frown had completely vanished, her eyes were replaced with stars.

"Although I've just met all of you not too long ago– today…" He cleared his throat, "my friends and subordinates are precious to me." Takehide had stormed brothels in China, as well as Japan, whilst shadowing other officers. The thought of bastards getting away with monstrosities such as sex slavery made him sick, simultaneously with the idea of any of his new colleagues suffering such a fate.

His words had only solidified Elena's thoughts on how to get closer to him. His friends, his subordinates, he saw them as precious and she was one of them. Lucy had made a dire mistake of trying to turn one of his friends away, but she already knew that from the beginning.

Their chat continued as they walked through the seedier areas of the town in order to get to the Tavern the others were staying at. Cheap rooms, cheap food, good amenities. Those were the things that brought the Heroes to that one place.

As they emerged from the alleyway, they began their advance towards the place they were to call home for a night or two. Though just as they were about to reach the door, a voice called out.

"Hey Takehide-san!" It was Itsuki, waving with a smile across his face, happy to see another Hero. "I see you earned yourself some Armor!"

Takehide traced over Itsuki, the Bow Hero, finding that he was wearing light armor with an archer's chest plate. It was rather fitting for the Hero's combat style, he could say that easily. His eyes however dropped upon the bow he was wielding, it looked staggeringly different than before. "I see you have as well," he smiled to one of his Heroic allies.

"Your spear has gotten impressive as well… I got a lot of bows from other shops. So, how many levels did you get? I got a lot." Itsuki's golden hues seemed to sparkle as he asked looking up at the Spear Hero.

'He definitely wants to compare sticks,' Takehide thought to himself as he stared down at the shortest of the Heroes. "We've gained ten levels," he gave a sturdy thumbs up with a smile across his lips watching as the Archer's team was showing up behind him. "I've been wanting to talk to you… And Ren privately."

Itsuki brought his hand up planting his chin in between his thumb and index finger. "Seems you got me by one level," he briefly turned the attention to himself before shrugging his shoulders. "So what is it you want to talk to us about?"

Leaning forward he tucked some of the Archer's hair back. Some of the members of both parties raised a brow. Without a second thought, the Samurai whispered in the young teen's ear. "There's a cult," Takehide let his smile melt away as if it had never been there, "They've vilified the Shield Hero in their holy-texts, showed him as some sort of Devil. I think they might target Naofumi-san." He kept his voice down, but not too high so people couldn't hear unless they were within a couple of feet of him.

"Vilified the Shield Hero…?" Itsuki asked skeptically as he looked up at the taller hero, "Don't they need all four Heroes to defeat the waves? Not that it matters, Naofumi's class is too weak to even fight."

"You've never seen Long-Shield fights have you?"

"... Long shield fights? I'm talking about the Shielder-Class, not–"

"Seriously? You're going to talk about Videogames, in a world where this hurts?" Takehide quite literally pinched the boy's cheek hard and pulled.

"YOW!" Itsuki cried as he felt the older male pull on his face, "Stop it!" Even though he was a male, Takehide started seeing that Itsuki had comparatively delicate almost feminine peculiarities.

"Hmph. I bet you didn't even get hurt the entire time you fought those blasted balloon things!" Takehide knew what they were called, but released the Archer's face rather disappointed.

"For your information, I did! It just didn't hurt that much," Itsuki retorted as he rubbed his cheek lightly as it was now red with a pinch mark in the center.

"Hah, Good to know," Takehide was tempted to place his hand on the top of the Hero's head but ruled against it. "This world may have game-like mechanics like virtual reality, but it isn't a game."

Itsuki nodded as the rest of their two parties looked on.

"I wish to work with you and the other Heroes against any plot to separate us…" Takehide went back to whispering, "We are strongest together."

"A shielder would hold us back though," Itsuki seemed fixated on the idea that the Shield was useless, that it there was a high chance of it impeding their mission.

"If we were to work together, then we'll be even stronger. We can't use shields, but he can." Takehide pointed out the one thing that all of the other offensive Heroes didn't have, a strong defense. If they all had a Sword and Shield, Spear and Shield, or even Bow and Shield… There would be no need for a Shield Hero. Naofumi's weapon was pure logic to have amongst these Heroes.

"You're not wrong…" Itsuki frowned at the fact that Takehide was right, he didn't like the feeling of being embarrassed like this. "However, I still feel that Naofumi–" Before he could finish his sentence, the Spear Hero flicked his forehead with his fingernail.

Right as the Bow Hero went to raise his weapon, Eclair budged between them, "That's enough!" She shouted at them, "Heroes mustn't fight amongst themselves. It hasn't even been more than two days since you've arrived."

"Who are you…?" Itsuki narrowed his gaze on the woman, noticing she wasn't from the twelve adventurers that were gathered this morning. In addition to that, one of the girls was missing from Takehide's group. "Where is the girl with the braid?"

"Lucy? She left the party voluntarily after having a falling out with myself and my other core members," Takehide responded before turning his head to see Ren on his own walking towards the Tavern. Turning his gaze back towards Itsuki, he gestured towards the door. "Let's all have a seat inside and talk this over, yes?"

"I'll pick the table," Itsuki breathed in subtle annoyance, pushing his way into the facility with his party following behind.

"Ren-san," Takehide raised a hand in a wave towards the Swordsman.

"Ah, Takehide-san. You appeared to be in your element a few seconds ago." Ren monotonously pointed out as he had witnessed the Spear Hero pulling on the Bow Hero's face.

"Hah… We're having a Heroes Meeting, I'd like you to attend." Pushing the door open himself as it closed, Takehide stepped inside after Ren nodded as he accepted the invitation.

Stepping inside the Takehide's Party and Ren were immediately greeted by the sound of a lute-playing and the warmly lit interior. Food easily reached the mouths of those who sought it, and the noses of who cannot afford it. Surfing the many heads amongst the crowd, Ren and Takehide quickly found Itsuki seated in the corner of the establishment with a clear sight of the door. For some reason he felt as if Itsuki had purposely chosen the position out of the necessity of much-needed surveillance.

Itsuki's people had taken up some of the seats directly next to the corner, in the center of the room. This left a few tables open on either side of the table for Takehide's team to sit.

"Take the tables on either side of ours," Takehide ordered as he began walking towards the seat Itsuki had chosen. It didn't take long for the two of them to sit down at either side of the Bow Hero.

Rino and Elena sat down at one table to the left, while Eclair and Orson to the table to the right. Though they weren't going to remain stiff as each of them began talking to one another.

"What is this meeting about, exactly?" Ren got straight to the point, his eyes on the Spear Hero who sat to the left of Itsuki. This man had inadvertently brought the three of them together, he wanted to know why, as he wasn't all too keen on working with others without it being necessary.

"Takehide-san things there is a cult of some kind in the Castle Town that sees the Shield Hero as the Devil." Itsuki leaned back in his seat as he said this, his arms crossed over his chest.

"They're called the Church of Three Heroes," Takehide kept his voice down, keeping his tone matched with the others so it the possibility of them being overheard was almost humanly impossible. "I've come to understand they are also the state religion, also the King is a proxy..."

"Proxy?" The two looked at one another then back to the man, "What do you mean? Like a puppet?" Itsuki was a bit confused as to what he meant by this.

"This country is a Matriarchy, it's ruled by the Queen. Based on what I've been told, he broke the treaty by summoning us all at once. The other countries were supposed to each summon one of us." Takehide had thankfully learned quite a bit from his talks with Elena, since she knew quite a bit due to being nobility. "We might get pulled into a War."

"A war? While there are waves causing mass destruction? That could cause a lot of problems… An event like that hasn't happened in the game." Itsuki's brows tucked together, "There would be no justice in a war like that. Thousands would needlessly die because of the foolishness of the King and his Church."

"If the King summoned us without permission, he pretty much committed Treason," Ren kept a steady tone, as he was putting things together with a frown, clearly unimpressed.

"And we won't be able to do much about it until we're much stronger," Takehide nodded as he affirmed Ren's suspicions. It was a very high chance that the King had indeed committed High Treason by colluding with the Church to summon the Heroes.

"You're not wrong, most of the Royal Knights are well over level twenty," Itsuki had gathered intelligence on the soldiers who answered to the king. Though he wasn't expecting such information to really be warranted.

"What are we going to do about Naofumi?" Ren and Itsuki had quickly noticed the King's treatment of the Shield Hero in the beginning. Though originally they had thought very little of it if anything they were just happy it wasn't them. They had only assumed it was because the Shield was weak, but that wasn't the case.

"We help him as indirectly as possible," Takehide's eyes flickered over the other patrons who were eating their meals. He was looking for people who were sitting alone, but he saw very few.

Itsuki raised a brow at the Spear's eye movements before looking over as well. Not sure what he was looking for, the Bow Hero looked to Takehide. "Who have you talked to, how is it you know so much?"

"I've been receiving a string of warnings from people who act similarly to Ninjas… They come and go as they please, vanish or blend in…" Takehide sighed, "But I have a feeling the one that was talking to me was working for the Queen." His eyes jumped back to the boys.

"Hm… If the King is working with the Church… There is a chance the Queen's life could be in danger," Itsuki didn't like this one bit, it was clear by the almost-scowling expression he wore that nearly matched Ren's as he pondered. "I think we should go about things as normal. If we help Naofumi, we'll get targets on our back."

Ren shook his head lightly, "Though we'll probably respawn afterward."

Takehide's threw daggers at Ren's statement, one that logically didn't make any sense, from across the table. "What do you mean respawn?"

"We already talked about this when we first arrived, we're in a game," Itsuki evoked how they were talking about how this world was part of their VR games, or just like it; the day before.

"From where I come from, Virtual Reality games do not have pain and we can log out at any time," Takehide wanted so badly to explode on them. 'What is wrong with these guys?'

"Whatever…" Ren went to stand from his seat.

"Just remember," Takehide heeded, "Naofumi is essential to the mission. If the–"

"We know," Itsuki moved to leave the table as well, his people standing up at the same time as he did. "We won't take sides unless it is required, we can't have the Church targeting us too."

Takehide nodded as this is all he had the ability to ask of them since they were stubbornly thinking this was some sort of game. He watched as they didn't go to their rooms, but to the barkeep instead and sat down at the bar counter. A frown rested upon his lips ambiently up until his gaze turned to Elena who was now standing at the edge of the table.

"Takehide-sama, what are we going to do now?" She asked, seeing as the meeting hadn't exactly gone as planned, but the message had been delivered.

"Get three rooms," he placed the necessitated expenses on the tabletop, "I'll be bunking with Rino. She'll be tutoring me in magic…" Takehide's eyes flickered over to her with a vibrant gaze, he hadn't given up; shown by a soft smile to reinforce his voiceless claim.