Branches snapped, dust rose, and the squeals of frightened and fleeing orcs echoed through the dwindling forest. In their haste and fear, they did not register the increasing smell of the ocean. Nor did they notice the trees that began to appear dying on the sides opposite their rushed travel. Now, the only thing going through their simple minds was to run as fast as they could. In their haste, they never heard the sound of hooves coming from the side in front of them. It wasn’t until they broke through the trees and saw the shore of the ocean that they froze in terror.

Hestia, atop Cynthia, had appeared and was charging them. The orcs had fled through trees too dense for Cynthia to go through, so she and Hestia had diverted to a sidepath that they could traverse. Even traveling through the difficult terrain, Cynthia still traveled faster than the orcs.

Seeing members of the party that had caused them to flee in the first place, the orcs turned around back to the forest, seemingly aware of the advantage the trees provided them. However, they took one step before they froze and immediately decided to dash down the beach. They had fled due to the noise they suddenly heard coming from the forest from whence they had come from the pursuing party. However, they didn’t get very far.

With surprising accuracy, a dagger suddenly shot out from the forest and struck the trailing orc in the leg. With a squeal, the orc keeled over in shock. It tried to remove the dagger but suddenly found its vision blurred and limbs numb.

Like the dagger she had thrown, Arachne shot out from amidst the tops of the trees, aptly landing upon her fallen foe and deftly forever silencing him. She looked up just in time to see Hestia and Cynthia charge past her. The centaur and rider charged straight between the two fleeing orcs with swords in hand, each felling one as they passed by, heads in blood shooting into the air.

“All clear.” Asuka chirped as she came down from her aerial reconnaissance as the four-party members converged.

“Did we miss all the fun?” Kogane shouted from the forest, revealing her and Martel, whose shoulders she was on.

“Don’t complain. Because I was on the lookout and reserve, I didn’t get to have any fun either.” Asuka replied with her with a notable objection to her absence from the fighting.

“Wait, wait! Slow down, Terra!” A slightly panicked Laelynn shouted in the distance as she attempted to control the swift-moving Terra.

The cart, bouncing dangerously, carried the rest of the shorter party members. They were holding on for dear life while Pasiphae lumbered behind. However, Terra ignored them as she made a beeline for the party of four. More aptly, she made a beeline for Martel.

Seeing this, Martel’s narrowed his eyes in obvious displeasure and gave a slight snort. Tara flinched at the sound and immediately slowed down as they had come close, her posture as if she was a child who had done something wrong.

“Terra, you’re supposed to listen to them,” Martel reprimanded.

Terra nodded quickly in an obvious attempt to appease him.

Martel couldn’t help but make a wry smile as he shifted his attention elsewhere.

If the slave trader could see Terra now, he would be astounded by her behavior. It was extremely difficult to tame a Dracolisk, especially her, yet Martel had somehow managed to do so splendidly. However, even if he asked for Martel’s secret, Martel would have no response. Terra had seemed to completely submit to him and try to please him from the beginning. At first, it might have been out of fear, but now it seemed to be more out of respect.

Martel began to take on his surroundings as a loud sound came from the distance. Everyone turned their attention and saw a sight that brought them to awe. Water shot into the air like fine rain. Thanks to the sun’s brilliance, a beautiful rainbow had appeared, creating a bridge in the sky, which mirrored the one on the ground. Martel was slightly amazed by the natural formation that he found before him.

The ocean edge was beach up to a certain point until it became rock, which rose high above it. This rock extended out towards the ocean in a natural bridge so far that it passed the shallows. The bridge extended until it meant a tall and large hill from which the water had been ejected.

What surprised Martel was the proportion of the bridge, which seemed slightly unnatural. Curious, Martel accessed the detailed information the SRIN had obtained from the area. Given the massive amount of information and how busy he was with his party and business, Martel had not yet accessed most of the information the SRIN provided. Instead, he gave the information to Marty, who would only inform him about very specific things. What he found made him ecstatic.

Most of the rock’s interior was a naturally smelted adamantine, which provided the structural integrity needed for such a bridge. It had been smelted by the previously active volcano from which the water had just appeared. The volcano may have once been active but had sealed itself in adamantine due to its natural activity. The ejection of water was created due to the magma-superheated adamantine boiling the seawater, ejected like a geyser.

What made Martel ecstatic was the amount of adamantine present. Because it was crudely smelted by lava, it still contained enough impurities for it to be reforged. Still, Martel had even more plans for the natural structure than that. It was just large enough for his needs, and the location was perfect.

“Oh, Whale Peak.” Kogane noted with eyes that were notably in less awe than the other girls.

“I heard about it, but it was more beautiful than I ever imagined.” Hestia murmured.

While the girls watched the natural splendor before them, Martel took a second look at the girls. It had been four days since they had fought with the mercenaries. The repeated difficult experiences that they had gone through had toughened their minds and resolved. More than ever, they realized the importance of gaining strength, especially in light of what was coming. However, this also came at the cost of fatigue, both physical and mental. The last four days consisted of continuous combat. They had quickly traversed through the territory to clean out the invaders and began to show through their unkempt appearance.

It was at this moment that the sound of a notification interrupted Martel’s thoughts. He glanced at the new information before a smile appeared on his lips. “Alright, everyone, I’m pretty sure we’ve cleared out most of the territory. The few stragglers will not be able to do much, so we are going to take a break.”

There was a notable mood change to happiness and relaxation from the party, at least for a moment, before Martel continued.

“You have the rest of the day and tomorrow off, and then will start a week of training.”

“What kind of training?” Pasiphae asked with enthusiasm that was juxtaposed to the other girls.

“Specialized. Mostly more focused versions of what I’ve told you already.” He said as he made a motion with his hand and a large portal suddenly appeared. “Go on through.” He said with a smile.

The girls, slightly curious, all entered the portal.

Martel followed closely behind but momentarily paused as he glanced across the bay. From here, the Port of Sin could barely be seen. However, it was completely dwarfed by the massive mountains that sprung up around it, creating the valley that extended behind were the City of Sin and the path to Land of Dragons was. Martel’s vision focused back onto the Port of Sin as a hazy expression crossed his face. Even with his current strength and status, there were some things that he was unable to do, at least not without sufficient preparation. “One step at a time.” He murmured before he followed them to the portal.

“This is amazing.” Cynthia said in awe of the site she found before her. They were amidst the edge of a mountain range, looking down across a forest so dense they could not identify where they were. Despite the rural surroundings, they found themselves adjacent to a very large mansion with a design that had similarities to what they were accustomed to but was still different. This was because the mansion was a hybrid between the medieval style that the world was currently in and a modern design from Earth.

This mansion was commissioned by Martel as a private training and vacation location for his party members, and eventually, his wives. He had thought about going to bring his wives over to this world quickly but had decided against it. This was because a few of the girls had expressed their desire to stay on Earth for longer. This was due to the time difference they were experiencing. Even though none of them liked the idea of getting older faster than him, it did give them more time to train and catch up to his level of strength. This would allow them a stronger foundation and quicker growth in this world. Additionally, Martel wasn’t exactly thrilled, introducing everyone at this point as the party dynamic was still shaky.

“The maids will help you out with whatever you need. If there is something you require, we have direct access to the Red Dragon Trading Company, or you can teleport to a few locations.” Martel said with a smile as Anna arrived on cue. The party was quickly ushered inside before Martel continued. “There is something for me to take care of, so I’ll leave you all to relax.” Martel said with a smile before he began to walk towards the teleportation circle.

As he walked away, Hestia glanced in his direction with eyes that seemed both knowing and curious. She pushed the thoughts away and continued to take in the splendor before her.

With a flash of purple, Martel disappeared.

…

The sound of echoed footsteps ring down the corridor as Queen of Sussex hastily made her way towards one of the waiting rooms where an important guest was waiting. She began to relax the look of frustration upon her face that had appeared when her staff had not properly informed her. She brought herself to a gentle smile when she posited from the door. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she opened the doors, walked in, and her eyes immediately fixed on the person waiting, who was casually drinking tea.

“Hero Martel, I apologize for making you wait.” She said with a look of apology. “I will reprimanded my staff for not immediately informing me you were here.”

The click of the cup to plate and plate to the table filled the awkward silence. Eventually, Martel stood up and motioned for her to take the seat across from him with a gentle look.

The Queen visibly relaxed at his gesture as she nodded, and they both sat down. As she did so, she suddenly realized his behavior, which was a cultural sign of mutual respect. This was strange as it was something that all the other summoned persons lacked. She couldn’t help but think how quickly he had begun to adapt to this world and a small amount of fear arose within her. However, she suppressed it, and her face did not betray her.

“I do not mind, your Majesty. I understand these are very trying times, especially for you. Tell me, how goes the effort to take back Hastings?”

The Queen did her best to keep a poker face, but her eyes betrayed her internal struggling as she reached for her tea. Finally, she sighed. “My husband seems to have many people who owe him favors, and he called on quite a few of them. If not for fear of being charged with treason, I fear they would directly refuse, especially because they know I need them now more than ever. I believe that we will be ready to move in three days.”

“Your Majesty, that is no longer necessary.”

“What do you mean?” The Queen asked, suddenly getting a bad hunch

Martel sighed. “Do you remember when I asked for your favor and support? I’m calling on that now, and I hope we will be willing to work together for what is to come.” He said as he stood up. His eyes seemed distant and focused on something else.

Before the Queen could probably respond, she was surprised to see a familiar purple circle appeared beneath Martel’s feet.

Before Martel left, he spoke again. “United we stand, divided we fall. This is true both of the various kingdoms, as well as those who control power within. Best you clear out dissidents now rather than when it is too late.”

Having experienced it herself, the Queen was not too surprised when he disappeared. However, what appeared next in her vision completely shocked her. For the first time in her life, she saw the System appear in front of her outside the church. She blinked twice, unbelieving before she began to read the notification. As she did so, her eyes creased, and she frowned until her cheeks visibly deformed from the strain. After a short time, she collapsed into her hands and sighed deeply. She sat up and collected herself before she reached for the bell on the table and rang it. After a short pause, a nearby maid entered the room. “Your Majesty?”

“In one hour, I will make a decree. Inform everyone relevant and call together the town criers.”

“Understood.” The maid replied before she quickly left to do as she was instructed.

The Queen sat back in her chair with a helpless expression. “Fool. You know, for a time, I did love you. Why did things turn out like this?”

…

With a purple flash, a casually dressed and cloaked Hestia appeared within the Red Dragon Trading Company branch in Sussex. There, she was greeted by the resident Nana but refused an escort before making her way to the Adventurers Guild. Her cloaked attire, which was made to keep her from standing out, worked effectively as such attire was not uncommon.

The time was currently early afternoon, and the Adventurers Guild was not too busy as many adventures were busy completing their quests. Hestia was quickly able to reach the front desk, where a familiar receptionist greeted her.

“Hello, how can I help you today.” Sakura, the Usagi Demihuman, greeted her happily.

Hestia reached for her Adventurers Card while simultaneously bringing her finger to her lips.

Sakura noticed this movement but was confused for a moment until she nearly exclaimed upon seeing the card. On top of the name, the card also provided a party name. In this case, it was ‘Shield Hero’s Main Party,’ a name reserved for only those belonging to one of the Shield Hero parties.

Sakura nearly exclaimed but kept her wits about her before she nodded. She quickly went to the backroom before going back with a paperwork file, and she compared it to the information on the card. “All right, Ms. Hestia. You’ve been allowed many permissions within your party. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Yes, I’ve come to collect reward money?”

“I understand. You are not on record for accepting any quests with us. Did you accept the quest from another branch, or are you collecting rewards for slaying monsters?”

“Slaying monsters.”

“All right, may I see your Adventurers Card?”

Hestia obliged, and Sakura took the card, which seemed to dull in her hands, representing that she was not the owner.

Sakura flipped the card to look at the section marked Rewards and Punishments as it would show the monsters slain by the entire party. She only reached the end of the first line before her bodily froze. “What!” She couldn’t help but exclaim, garnering the attention of everyone present. “Sorry.” She said with a quick bow to the room. “Ms. Hestia, please come to the back room. I will get the Vice Guild Master as…” She said as she got closer to whisper. “… It is policy not to display the amount of gold earned.”

Hestia nodded in understanding and allowed herself to be led to a waiting room.

After a very short wait, Pamela, the vice Guild master, entered the room. She gave Hestia a quick look over. “Hestia, it is good to see you.”

Oh, likewise.” Hestia replied, returning pleasantries.

“May I see your card?”

“Of course.” She said as she handed her the card.

Pamela sat down and went over the card, willing the Rewards and Punishments to scroll to see it in its entirety. After a while, she looked at Hestia with a complicated expression.

“Tell me. How involved was Martel?”

“Sir was with us the entire time.” Hestia replied, unsure by the question.

“Yes, but how involved in the combat was he?”

Hestia hesitated for a moment but remembered that Martel said that the husband-and-wife team was trustworthy. “He mostly played to support positions only occasionally subtly taking out fleeing enemies or protecting us if we made mistakes. I believe Sir intended this recent excursion to be training for us.”

“Looking at this… Absurd kill count… Did you clean up Hastings?”

“We did, though not all of it. I heard Sir muttering that we are taking out over 75% of the infestation.”

Pamela grabbed her eyebrows. “It seems as though you guys are the reason why the adventuring groups we sent out to the Duchy reported ever-dwindling monsters. Your efficiency is terrifying. Well, this is good news, at least. Sakura should be here momentarily with your well-earned gold. However, I do not believe Martel to be short on gold, given how business is booming for him.”

“Are there any complaints?” Hestia asked upon noting Pamela’s reaction.

“No, goodness no. It is a relief to have someone as capable as him appearing in taking control of the situation quickly. However, people are petty and greedy. He seems to like laying low, for now, so shouldn’t be a problem. Moreover, if he’s not careful, then…”

*Knock knock* Pamela was interrupted by a pattern knock at the door, associated with important information.

“Come in.” She answered.

The door opened, and a young man hastily walked into the room, holding a sealed letter. “By Vice Guild Master, I’m to give this to you in the Guild Master’s absence.”

“Thank you. You may leave.” Thomas said after she had retrieved the letter.

“Of Royal decree?” Hestia asked. Even though she was not a noble of this kingdom, it was important to memorize seals.

Pamela nodded with a frown before she quickly opened the letter and began to read it. As she did so, she could not hide the look of surprise on her face. After reading the letter and seeing Hestia’s curious look, she handed the letter over.

Hestia quickly read over its contents with a momentary look of surprise, but that soon dwindled.

“Did you already know?” Pamela asked, seeing Hestia’s reaction.

“I suspected. He did ask some very interesting questions to me.

“Well, he is quite lucky. The Queen is a good person, and I’m sure his existence, especially given the current order of affairs, helped her Majesty accept the recent turn of events. Reinstating Kogane as Duchess was also probably a contributing factor, though I wonder where he is planning on building the capital given that information.”

Hestia looked over the information with a confused expression. “Actually, I think I know where he’s planning to do that. There is something else that I’m interested in, actually.”

“… The reigning monarch of the new kingdom?” Pamela asked, having not recognized the name given.

“Yes. I do not believe I have met or heard of this Queen Regent Freyja.”

...

The sky was illuminated orange as the smell of the sea drifted across the street onto land. Martel glanced at the rainbow created by the water ejected from Whale Island and the setting sun. He cracked his neck as he said his sight towards his goal on the adjacent shore, the Port of Sin. Given the auction that was to occur there, information on the city would be key.

Unfortunately for Martel, his SRIN was completely busy creating bases or searching for Rio. His ship was also participating in the latter. This meant that he would have to reach the city under his power unless he was willing to wait for several hours. Given his manna usage during the day, having used Dimension Door several times that day, he desired to keep a means of teleportation for unforeseen events. Martel decided to use a resource he had readily available, Ki.

Knowing that there was no one around him, Martel violently released his Ki completely for the first time in a while. It was quite relaxing, as if he had tightened his muscles for an extremely long time and then let them relax. After doing a couple of stretches, Ki flowed towards his feet and formed into a plate below them separately.

With a Gale Step, Martel shot off the beach and out into the open water. It was a little tricky and disorienting at first. However, he quickly learned how to adjust his Ki to counterbalance the movement of the water. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of ki, he had to move at a quick pace using the extended surface area to utilize surface tension efficiently. Standing still, or moving at a slow pace, was not an option.

Martel continued at this pace for a short time before noticing something odd in the corner of his vision.

In the distance amid the cresting waves were several fins breaching the surface of the water in one area. Upon closer inspection, they seemed to be circling something. He was both curious and had some time to kill so he could use the cover of darkness for infiltration. Once he reached several hundred feet away, he finally saw what these fins were circling something that appeared to be similar to blue seaweed. However, as Martel got closer, he realized it wasn’t seaweed but hair. A split second later, his suspicion was confirmed as he saw the side of the face of someone who appeared to be unconscious in the water. He realized it would be extremely improbable for someone floating atop the sea to be dead, as the only possibility otherwise would be a bloated corpse. However, what little skin he could see had none of those signs, so he quickly dashed towards it.

At Martel’s approach, the several fins surrounding the body disappeared quickly. However, Martel did not let down his guard for one moment for the simple reason that those fins were very large. With a flash of red, an anthropomorphic Dragon claw made of Ki extended from Martel’s arm and scooping up the body bobbing amidst the sea. It was at that moment that his body tightened up, and he shot forward like a coiled spring. Thanks to his thermal sight, he saw something approaching him directly below that was big and fast. However, whatever he saw seemed unfazed by his movement as a very large shark with an abnormally large mouth launched out of the water like a flying fish.

In the brief moment that Martel registered the approaching beast before its mouth opened to block its body, he saw that the scales seemed different from normal sharks. In one swift motion, Martel tossed the body, which she had not yet looked at, into the air and followed after that. He sent a Ki enforced rotating kick straight upon the shark’s nose, sending it back down into the churning waters below. However, another shark was waiting directly below that leaped out of the water.

Thankfully, with the additional height from the kick, Martel was able to react in time. He used the Ki Dragon claw to redirect himself and the shark slightly. With Kuro gripped backward in his free hand, he pierced through the eye of the shark and sent it down straight below. He was slightly dismayed by the amount of strength required to break through the shark’s defenses as the kick had proved little more than a slight wound. However, he did not have much extra time to consider this.

A pair of Red Ki Draconic Wings sprouted behind Martel. He simultaneously flew forward and caught the figure that he had tossed up. The moment he grabbed the body, he had opposing feelings of softness and sharpness in both hands. Momentarily surprised by the pain caused by scales strikingly similar to that of the sharks, it took several seconds to realize the softness was from something he was very familiar with. However, before he could fully register that, he noted that his blood slightly began to boil. He turned to glance into the hazy and beautiful azure eyes of the woman he had saved.

In a dreary whisper, she weakly asked, “My Prince?” Before she passed out.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”

...

The orange sky from the dwindling sun barely illuminated her surroundings as she felt the sand move through her clenching fingers. Through her wincing eyes, she saw a man staring at a distant city with his arm outstretched. Within his palm was a large metallic ball that appeared to be breaking up and disappearing.

Martel had just transported a new batch of SRIN that he would personally control to scout the Port of Sin. At this moment, he turned to look at the woman as he realized she appeared to have roused. He had placed the beachside sandpit he had quickly dug for her and filled up with water. His knowledge of merfolk was shallow as they tended to keep to themselves. They held the inland sea entrance from the aquarian demonic invaders that had come to dwell within the depths beyond. Their race had become isolationist due to little intersection with the land dwellers, and some spite as their war never ended.

Suspecting that the girl was in no condition to talk, he went back to directly monitoring the SRIN. This made him notice the young mermaid too late, who used her tail to launch out of the hole with a surprising explosion of strength and grasped him.

“My Prince!” She exclaimed before she almost passed out again.

“Will you take it easy?” Martel asked, annoyed out of worry as her condition was not well. From what he could tell, she was left weak from serious overexertion and had a bruise on her head. He gently set her down on the beach.

“My Prince, did you save me from those goons?”

“Firstly, my name is Martel. Secondly, what goons?”

“What? Are you not a Prince?”

Martel nearly bit his tongue as, technically, he was.

“Hee hee, you are a Prince. My Prince.” She said with a dreamy expression.

“Ahem, so about the goons?”

“Ach, yes, those big nasty sharks. They followed me forever.”

“Well, I guess I did.”

“Thank you, my Prince, now take your reward.” She said with open arms before she probably fell backward, exhausted.

Martel cannot help but facepalm. “All jokes aside, what’s your name?”

“Ariel.”

Martel looked like he had just swallowed extremely salty fish. “That’s an interesting name.”

“Do you like it? It’s the main character from my mom’s favorite story and mine.”

“Really? Tell me, how did that story end for that character?” Martel asked, curious as to which version she was referring to.

“She turned to seafoam at the end, her love unfulfilled. Such a sad story. I hope one day I can have such a love story about myself.”

“You want to be the main character in a tragic love story?” Martel asked, slightly bewildered.

“Yes, it’s so romantic.” She replied a little lost in thought.

“So, you’d like something of a story where a Prince saves you, you entrust yourself to him, and he takes advantage of you?”

“Why-why yes.” Ariel said with a stammer as she glanced at the pot of ink and paper he suddenly procured. Her eyes started to swim, her face suddenly turned red, and she promptly passed out.

Looking at her, Martel couldn’t help but sigh. “Why do I keep running into weird ones?” He couldn’t help but wonder. He looked at the paper and ink in his hands. “Does this make me a bad person?… Probably.”

“It’s so strange that the house would have a body of water not meant for washing, but exercise.” Hestia said as she walked to the pool facility. “Also, these swimsuits are a little too revealing.” She said as she glanced in Laelynn’s direction.

“Last one is a rotten egg!” Kappa shouted before she enthusiastically dunked into the water.

“That looks like fun.” Laelynn said as she rushed forward, promptly slipping and beginning to fall back.

“Don’t run.” Cali emotionlessly said as she caught Laelynn with her hair.

“Oh, thank you, Cali. Cali?” She asked as Cali had lifted her with her hair. She turned to see, for the first time in her knowledge, Cali with a slight smirk. “Cali, what are you doiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnngggg!” She shouted as Cali promptly tossed her to the water. “Cali, that was rude.” She said with a pout when she righted herself in the water.

“Funny.” Cali replied.

“No it isn’t. Humph... When is Master coming?”

“I am sure that milord will come when he is able.” Cynthia replied. “He is giving us some time off but is not resting himself. We need to remember that n all when training starts tomorrow.”

“What do you think he is doing?” Perenelle asked.

It was at this moment that a purple circle suddenly appeared over the pool. From it, someone fell into the pool with a splash. There they found Ariel, flushed red, slightly twisting, and repeatedly muttering “My Prince, My Prince.” In the shock at Ariel’s sudden appearance, no one noticed the strange expression on Hestia’s slightly redding face.

Nor did anyone hear Cali mumble, “Mermaid, get.”