“Royal Father, cheers!” Caroline said she was having a drink with her father.

“How goes it with the Spear Hero?” The King of Sussex asked.

Caroline laughed. “That little boy is so easy to control. He’s obsessed with justice and is so innocent and naïve. Even though it didn’t go as planned, I’m glad it worked out this way.”

The King’s face turned grim. “It’s all that damn fake Shield Hero’s fault! So many of the heroes have already left and taken many of the other Unchosen with them.”

Caroline smiled. “Royal Father, there is no need to get so angry. Although it did not go perfectly well, a couple of heroes remained, and we had many Unchosen with us. All we have to do is give them enough incentive to stay after the invasion and will have a sizable force expand our kingdom; no, our Empire.”

“Yes. It will go well.” The King said again as they cheered and began to drink.

“I see the two of you have been getting along just fine.” A cold feminine voice suddenly rang out.

The two of them immediately did a spit take.

“Mother, how are you already *zap* ahhhhh!” Caroline screamed, followed shortly after by her father, as her mother entered the room.

The Queen of Sussex was a mature and beautiful woman with yellow hair. However, her beauty was slightly marred by the anger plastered on her face illuminated by the lightning sparkled around her body. 

After the First Wave, she immediately set out incognito to meet with the other human kingdoms to discuss summoning the heroes. However, when looking for a place to stay in a town, she ran across the Red Dragon Trading Company. Curious, she probed further and asked for news from Sussex. She was dumbfounded when she found out that her idiotic husband and fool the daughter had conspired to summon the maximum amount of people. In a burst of rage and fear over the political turmoil, she immediately took advantage of the new teleportation service and traveled back to Sussex.

“You idiots have been fooling around in my absence, I see.” She said coldly. “You even had the gall to summon the heroes.”

“My wife, you know that each wave begins to extend away from that wherever the first wave came from. There’s a good chance it will be in our territory again, so we need military power. After the other countries will under-”

“Understand what!” the Queen said in a fit of anger. “Don’t pretend to have noble reasons, you muscle brain fool. I know full well what you’re doing. The first three waves won’t be a problem for our armies, much less adventurers, much less heroes! Our job is to train and prepare them for the 5th wave and beyond. Your stupid reasoning won’t work on anyone else.”

“Mother, I’m sure we can find a reasonable-”

“Reasonable? Reasonable like you framing the Shield Hero? Guards, seize them both, and follow me.”

The guards immediately captured the King and the Princess before they followed the Queen to the dungeons.

There was a flash of light in the dungeons as Marty, the android, and one of Martel’s soul bodies switched places once he had confirmed that the Queen was coming to him.

The door creaked open before the Queen walked in. “Guards, get those chains off of him.”

The guards obeyed, and Martel stood up now freed from his bonds.

“Shield Hero, I would like to formally apologize for how my fool of a husband and daughter treated you.” The Queen said as she bowed, which prompted the guards to kneel immediately.

Martel looked at the Queen, but his expression did not change. He didn’t have a good thought about the Queen as Shiba did not have many interactions with her, but he had no bad thoughts about her either, and her current show of humility showed her in a positive light.

“Apology accepted.”

The Queen had a graceful smile as she rose. “Thank you for your forgiveness.” She turned to look at the guards. “Throw them both in there.”

“Mother,” “Your Majesty,”

“Now!” She shouted before guards finally threw them into the cell. The Queen looked back to Martel. I’ll be sure to give you enough compensation for this mishap.”

Martel shook his head. “I won’t be necessary. I’ve already been in contact with the Adventurers Guild, and they will be helping me out.”

The Queen's smile waned for a moment before she continued. “I understand. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to let me know.”

“I will,” Martel said as he turned and walked out. “However, I think you’ll know what to do when the time comes.”

After she watched him leave, the Queen frowned, clicked her tongue, and sent another bolt of lightning towards the two in the cell. “Going against a hero after summoning everyone? Do you two have a death wish?” She mumbled before she followed him out.

...

Martel had ignored the tail sent by the Queen as he made his way back up to the Guild Grand Master. 

“What are you doing here, lad?”

“I want to grind my Martial Arts Expertise,” Martel replied.

The Guild Grand Master,  Favila, cocked an eye. “I’m retired, go find my good-for-nothing son-in-law.”

“I’m already giving him enough work. Besides, having someone significantly stronger than me who can hold back their strength is preferable.”

Favila sighed. “Fine, come at me.” He said as he stood up and took a light stance.

“By the way, don’t be afraid to kill me,” Martel said before he suddenly shot towards him.

They exchanged a flurry of blows, and the Guild Grand Master began to frown. It wasn’t because Martel was too weak, but he was gaining strength too quickly. Favila felt as if every strike was a slight improvement. This continued for nearly 10 minutes before Martel finally started using martial art techniques.

Favila was internally shocked at the sudden display of martial prowess, but his eyes lit up when he realized he could also use these techniques with some practice. Just as he was distracted with this thought, Martel suddenly struck out with a blow that could be lethal, further enforced by his killing intent.

Out of instinct, Favila attacked Martel with full force. With a bang, Martel was sent flying as his chest was caved in.

“Oh, shit. Lad, are you okay?” Favila asked before he became dumbfounded from what he saw.

Martel’s body seemed completely normal, but it began to break apart like glass. Parts of it were peeling away and floating up in the air turning into mana before dissipating.

Martel coughed. “I said it’s fine if he killed me. Don’t worry, this isn’t my real body, thanks to my wife’s Talent. That’s why I said you don’t need to be afraid to kill me.”

“You’re crazy.”

“I have the capital,” Martel said with a chuckle and a cough. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Bah, find someone who isn’t retired.” The Guild Grand Master replied though relief was visible in his eyes.

Martel chuckled before he disappeared.

 

Back in the newly set up camp, Martel’s head tilted. Thanks to Cali’s Talent, he was fully aware of what happened in real-time, but he used the opportunity to do some tests about the Talent. The first thing he had already confirmed was that the Talent could not generate life, which meant he would no longer need to use destruction magic as a contraceptive if he used a soul body. The second thing he confirmed was that anything made with the soul body, like silk, would disappear once the body was destroyed or dispelled. The final thing he confirmed was that any changes to the soul body, like using Devour to gain an ability, would eventually transfer over to the main body at a slow pace. He had allowed the soul body to absorb some of the goblin corpses to gain an ability from them, but he felt as if the energy he had absorbed had dissipated quite a bit which meant he would have to absorb more, which was completely fine given that goblins were quite plentiful throughout the world.

...

“Thank you for coming here, Guild Grand Master.” The Queen of Sussex said after he had sat down in the small room just for the two of them.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, your Majesty.”

“I was hoping you would enlighten me on the status of the heroes as my current intelligence is not up to the quality I want.”

Favila  sighed. “You messed up this time.”

“I know, and I'm trying to rectify it.”

Favila  paused for a moment. “As you know, the Ax, Mace, Chakram, Fan, and Spear Heros are currently in the capital going through training with their respective parties. The Gauntlet and Sword Heroes have both traveled from the capital, going west and north, respectively. The Dagger, Bow, Wand, and Chain Heroes are traveling together to other kingdoms through the use of the Red Dragon Trading Company’s new teleportation services, although they don’t appear to be doing anything other than meeting with various leaders. The Shield Hero you already know about… mostly.”

The Queen nodded. “Are there any other considerations I should have about them?”

“Most of them seem all right. The Ax Hero does cause some concern as he seems to be indulging himself quite a bit.”

“Yes, should I be worried about the Sword Hero? I understand that he has committed some terrible crimes back in his world.”

“Yes, he seems to be the one most likely to abuse his position. However, if you’re considering threats, the real threat is the one that placed the magic that revealed his crimes.”

“And who is that?”

The Guild Grand Master made a wry smile. “Well, the one your husband and daughter so wonderfully offended, of course.”

The Queen frowned. “Are you certain?”

“Not completely, but that type of magic seems quite in line with Shield Goddess.”

The Queen rubbed her temples. “What should I do? Do you think he’ll hold a grudge?”

Favila shook his head. “While he is the one I believe to be the most dangerous, he is also one of the least likely to do anything.”

“Are you sure?

“Not completely, but he doesn’t seem like the type to care about small things.”

“Do you know him personally?” The Queen asked as her informant had not said that Martel had made his way to Guild Grand Master.

“I had a few talks with him, including when he was imprisoned.”

“Did you sneak into my dungeon?”

“Nope, he came to me.”

“What?!” The Queen asked in surprise as Martel had been regularly checked.

“The one you imprisoned wasn’t his true body. He’s already made a party and headed up north to the Duchy of Hastings. I don’t think your foolish family members hindered him in the slightest, so he doesn’t seem to care or lower himself with them.”

“Is that his Talent?”

“I don’t know. The King checked their Talents and claimed that he did not have one, but I don’t believe it as even the Unchosen have Talents. As it turns out, I believe that Talent is his wife’s.”

“Wife? Was he summoned with his wife?”

The Guild Grand Master made us wry smile. “At least one, and if I’m not mistaken, two others. One of which we have no record of being among the summoned.”

“What?” The Queen asked, surprised.

“The Talent is either completely his wife’s or he can use the Talents of his wives. I believe the latter to be more likely. Although they tried to hide it, both the Bow and the Dagger Heroes showed slightly emotional responses compared to how they normally act when Martel was persecuted. Moreover, they refer to each other as “sister” on occasion. It’s possible that he already could use his wives’ abilities, which would make him inclined to have multiple wives.”

If Martel heard this explanation, he’d be dumbfounded. Although it wasn’t completely correct, the result was eerily similar to the truth.

“If that’s the truth, I can use that.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Do you think he’ll have a problem with Demihumans?”

“Given his current party, no.”

“Good. Although he will have to do a bit of work, if he manages to beat the champion of the Coliseum of Chichester, I believe he will find her Talent quite useful.”

“That talent would balance out quite well with him, wouldn’t it.”

“Very good., I’ll send him a letter using the Red Dragon Trading Company. It’s convenient.”

“Oh yeah, he’s the mastermind behind that too.”

“What!”

 

Martel made a smile as he helped prepare for a quick meal before bed. However, his expression suddenly hardened as he quickly grabbed Cali and snuck her away.

“Something wrong?” Cali asked cutely.

Martel quickly stuffed Kuroka and another sword into her arms. “Cali, I have to go. I’ll be back in a little bit so take care of the party for me. I love you.” He said before he gave her a quick peck on the lips.

“I got it, you can leave it to me,” Cali said as she was quite excited by Martel taking the initiative. She was so excited that she didn’t notice that the extra sword he had given her had a shield attached to it, nor did she discover his abnormal behavior.

Just as Martel suddenly disappeared through the Dimension Door, a single thought went through his mind. [It seems I have a death wish.]