" ": You talking

' ': You thinking

* *: Narrator/Voice-off

"Well... I was surprised enough when I saw how fast Raphtalia grew up. But this is definitely something else..."

"Here !"

"Oh, you're very agile. Also, you're pretty smart."

Naofumi: Mm... I haven't seen him with that kind of smile before...

"Oh, hey guys. You've finally woken up."

Raphtalia: Good morning... It was you who woke up too early.

"Oh, right, I was just taking care of Filo."

Naofumi: Filo ?

"It's her name, being nameless would be inconvenient !"

Raphtalia: "Filo", as in "filolial"... How comes you're more creative for naming your spells than for naming your companions ?

"Hey, my spells were already named, I only adapted them !"

*GROOOOWLLL*

"Seriously, Filo. Again ?!"

Naofumi: She's been eating some strange grass for a while, and now this... reminds me of someone.

Raphtalia: My growth rate is normal !

Naofumi: I wonder if she can get any bigger ?

"That would be troublesome, we'd have to find a new category, specially for her."

"Hey, what's going on ?"

Naofumi: Hey, why are you gathering here ? I thought reconstruction was done long ago ?

Villager: Ah, heroes... Actually...

Motoyasu: You see, the king made me in charge of the reconstruction. I am your new lord, Kitamura Motoyasu ! Nice to meet you !

"M-MOTOYASU ?!!"

Motoyasu: Y/n ? Naofumi ? How come you're here... ?

"We've chosen this place as our base. Well, more importantly, why and how did you receive the title of lord ?!"

Myne: My, haven't you heard yet ? He was acknowledged for his service during the wave by the king himself, understand ? In any case, we want you two heroes to leave town at once, if you please ?

Naofumi: 'That woman... What kind of credit does that jackass, who didn't do anything when the village was assaulted by monsters during the wave deserve ?'

Lord: Please wait a moment ! The lord of this land is none other than me, sir ! I wasn't told anything about thi-

Myne: Didn't I just announced it to you ? That you're fired. Are you going to disobey the king's orders ?

Lord: No way...

Myne: First, we'll impose a new tax throughout the village. We'll collect 50 silver coins upon entering it, and 50 silver coins upon leaving it.

Villagers: A gold coin in total ?! You've got to be kidding ! We can't survive that way !!

Motoyasu: You see, that's for the sake of reconstruction. Is it such a big deal ?

"... Do you know how much it is to sleep a night at an inn in the village ? it's a single silver coin, including meals. An adult villager can live on twenty copper coins a day. Are you really intending on bleeding the villagers dry for the sake of 'reconstruction' ?"

Motoyasu: ... Myne ?!

Myne: Tch... A painful reform is necessary. We can't hope to reconstruct the village without it !

"That would be a really good reason. So what you're saying, is that you won't leave this village until all traces of damage inflicted by the wave are gone, right ?"

Myne: That's the case, but even by mobilizing more workers, it'll take several weeks to...

"Alright, someone shows me where the last bits of damage are !! the faster I fix it, the faster those people will leave !"

Myne: D-Don't think we'll allow this-

???: Enough of this, princess.

???: Myne. We assume you know about us. We have brought you a letter at a certain master's order.

'A certain master ? That woman was acting high and mighty a few seconds ago, but now she's brought into line...'

Myne: Th... This is inadmissible ! I can't back down like this ! STAFF HERO !! Over the right to decide the fate of this village, I challenge you !!

"What ? Why me, specifically ?"

Myne: The duel will be a race, between our dragon and the staff hero's bird !!

"Hold on, I never agreed to do this ! Although the idea of finally putting Motoyasu back into his place does sound appealing..."

Villagers: Staff hero ! Please help the villagers !! If you win, we promise to reward you in various ways !

Motoyasu: I won't ! There won't be anything for me if I lose... Between a dragon and a bird ?! Plus, that bird has mixed colors, it's not even white... It's totally cheap !! Hahahaha ! Ha... !

Myne: M-MOTOYASU !!!

Raphtalia: Y-Y/n ! Filo just did...

She stopped, when she saw the two mischievous and blissful looks on our faces.

"ALRIGHT !! I ACCEPT THIS CHALLENGE !!!"

Raphtalia: Haa... What a troublemaker you are...

Naofumi: What ? Weren't you in delight just now ?

Raphtalia: You're right, I was, but...

"I absolutely don't regret choosing this bird in the slightest !! Let's go, Filo, we'll make him regret not being born as a girl !!"

Naofumi: Filo... We're counting on you for that one.

Filo: ... Krah.

Lord: Whoever makes three rounds around the village's perimeters first, wins. Then... BEGIN !!

The second he gave the signal, Filo was able to take a serious advance from her opponent, Effectively gaining the upper hand.

'Wow... She sure is fast !'

Naofumi: GO, Y/N !!

Villagers: Amazing ! As expected of the hero's filolial !! Isn't it so dominant ?!

Motoyasu: Shit ! What's with that bird ?!

What I wasn't able to notice, was that Myne was whispering to a guard, and the two were snickering afterwards.

"Good ! We're doing well..."

We pulled to a corner, where a guard was put to guard the perimeter. I wasn't paying attention to it, and focused on the race, until Filo suddenly tripped over something, and fell to the ground.

"GAH !! What was that ? How did it happen ?!"

"A hole ?! It wasn't here moments ago ?!"

Guard: *Cough*

'That guy, he's doing nothing about that foul play... Don't tell me he's the one behind it. After all, there's no villager around here...'

Motoyasu: Hehe ! What a chance !

'Chance ? You jerk, what are you calling a chance ? Wasn't that obviously suspicious ?!'

"We were interrupted by magic, and I'll bet my soul that that bitch is behind it. This kingdom... Truly is full of scoundrels."

"Filo... it's time to get serious now..."

Another corner, another guard. But I was on guard this time.

(A/n: Hahaha... Haha... Ha... Kill me...)

Guard:

'Filo's speed is decreasing ?!'

"Heh... They made a biiiig mistake, trying to use magic against me. Filo, just like how we trained... They tried to reduce your speed, so we'll do the opposite. [SILVER CHARIOT] !"

Filo immediately bolted forward, closing the gap with Motoyasu's dragon in a matter of seconds, making them swallow pounds of dust.

"Do I feel sorry about that ? After all, I'm using magic, which could count as cheating... Hm, nah. Filo, you think you'll be able to keep up without my help ?"

Filo: KRAH !

"Alright then, I'll undo the spell. SMELL YA LATER, MOTOYASU !!"

Raphtalia: They've made a round. But what's this sound ?

While Motoyasu and his lizard were running on the ground, Filo was literally DESTROYING the path with each step, leaving the other two far behind.

Villagers: What a splendid drive !

Myne: Hey, what's happening ?! They haven't lost any speed !!

Guard: ... Yes. I am sorry, ma'am.

Motoyasu: Oh ?! We're suddenly faster ! So you can do it !!

Myne: Give them a final blow ! Make sure to finish them off at the next corner !!

Guard: Yes, Ma'am...

'The next corner, huh ? Roger that.'

Myne: With this, it's over ! Staff hero !!

A gaping hole opened itself right under our tracks. However, neither me nor Filo were fazed in the slightest by that sudden turn of events.

"Sigh... Filo, we agree to say that you absolutely don't need to stop or even slow down, right ?"

Filo: Krah !!

"That's what I though. "

From the center of the hole, a pillar of sand rose, and Filo used it to jump way over the hole, landing farther on the path.

Myne: How could it jump over the hole ?!

"Great job, Filo ! Now, it's time to snatch the victory !!"

Motoyasu: What's he doing ? Huh ?

Motoyasu: WHOAA !!!

Myne: No, no kidding ! NOOOOOOOO !! MOTOYASU !!!

"Believe it or not, but this race was reaaaaly satisfying."

Naofumi: I guess. let's just hope no one catch on what you did with your magic.

"Come on, they tried cheating first, after all. All I did was making things go back to normal a little."

Raphtalia: What, you cheated ?! Really ?! But it's..

"Hey, as a wise man once said, 'It's not cheating as long as you don't get caught'."

???: So, as agreed, this village's lord will be the same one as before.

Myne: Get it right ! This is strange !

Motoyasu: This is not the end !! Y/n, I challenge you to a duel !!

Naofumi: Seriously, what a sore loser you are...

???: Sorry for the inconvenience. They shall accompany us.

"Wait. Motoyasu, you said something about a duel, right ?"

Motoyasu: Y... Yes !! A 1-on-1 battle ! If I win, you'll have to leave this place !!

Raphtalia: Yes, like hell he'll accept your challenge-

""

I had stars in my eyes, completely overjoyed by the though of that duel.

Villagers: Are you sure about that ? You already won, you don't need to do that...

"It'll be fine. Just sit back and watch my wiping the floor with him."

Lord: Well... This fight will oppose the spear hero, and the Staff hero. The first one to be knocked unconscious, or to concede to a loss himself, will be declared defeated ! You may now begin !!

Motoyasu: It'll only take a few seconds to end this !!

"A few seconds ? I find you really presumptuous here, Motoyasu. You clearly don't know what really IS a second. Here, let me show you; [THE WORLD] !!!"

Everything froze around me, including, of course, that dumb hero running straight for me.

"One second have passed..."

I walked to him, and simply put him over my shoulders.

"Two seconds... Three... Four..."

I finally put him down and adjusted his position, so he would crash into a tree as soon as I stopped my spell.

"Five... Six... seven..."

Finally, I returned to my initial spot, trying my best not to burst in laughter just imagining what will happen next."

"Eight... Nine... Ten seconds. Time shall flow again..."

Motoyasu: YAAA- BLARF !!!

Myne: What ?! How did he do that ?! He didn't even moved from his spot !!

"What's wrong, Motoyasu, I thought you wanted to end this quick, come on, I'm waiting."

Motoyasu: You... You're just like Naofumi, you can't fight by yourself, so you use weird tricks, don't think I'll go down so easily !!

"Oh ? If that's what you think... Fine, I'll take that bait of yours. After all, it wouldn't be fun to do it like that."

Motoyasu: Gh... Stop fooling around and fight, dammit !!

"As you wish... !!!"

Raphtalia: Dual-spell ? What is that ?

Naofumi: he told me, that's the new skill he unlocked after they cheated in our duel. With it, he can cast two spells at once and pile up the effects. Problem is that it cost more mana than casting the two spells separately...

Motoyasu: You're wide open !! Victory is mine !!!

He though he hit me, but what he struck revealed to be nothing but an afterimage, the real me already behind him.

"Nothing personal, man... Nah, forget that, it's very personal. "

After unleashing that flurry of punches, he crashed into another tree, right next to the one he first crashed into.

"Come on, what's wrong ? Don't tell me you're already finished ?"

'That say, I'll really need to thank that Blacksmith guy for the improvements on my gear. I'm not even remotely tired yet.'

I was brought out of my thoughts when a spear of light crashed next to my feet.

Motoyasu: I... I get it now. Your spells, they're short-ranged, right ? You can't attack me without getting closer, which mean, as long as I use long-ranged attacks, I can still get you !

He started to relentlessly attack with those same "light spears", forcing me to jump around to avoid being shot, using the ground, rocks and trees to gain momentum. It lasted for a few moments, until one of his attacks managed to hit me in the shoulder, making me trip and fall.

Motoyasu: Finally... I must admit, you gave me quite some difficulties, but in the end, you're just like Naofumi, a weak hero, who can't fight ! This fight is over, so admit your loss.

Villager: Did... Did the staff hero just lose ?! He seemed so confident about this fight, what will happen to the village now ?

"Heh... 'The outcome of a battle, is decided before said battle even began.' That's from Sun Tzu, a Chinese strategist..."

Motoyasu: What are you blabbering about this time ? The fight is over, I won !!

"Yes... You're indeed right, the fight is over. But you would be wrong to assume, THAT IT WAS MY LOSS !!"

From all around us, countless green threads emerged from the dust and wrapped themselves around Motoyasu.

Motoyasu: What ?!! Those are...

"Yes, It's Hierophant Green. You should be familiar with it now, right ?"

Motoyasu: But, how ?!! You were at my mercy after my attack hit you, how could you possibly...

"Silly Motoyasu, you really expected a spell to do much damage to the Staff hero ? I knew very well that my spells sooner were short-ranged, that's why I used them to throw you away from me, so you'd have no choice but to use your own magic ! I purposely let your attacks hit the ground to create a dust cloud, so you wouldn't see that I was jumping around, not to evade your shots, but to prepare my next attack. Then I let you hit me, and stopped moving, so you'll get careless and approach me, as I was leading you in my trap !!"

The dust cleared even more, revealing the rest of the net, completely surrounding us in every direction .

"Now that you're here, you can't attack or defend yourself anymore ! Now, take that ! [HIEROPHANT GREEN] Ultimate attack !! 20 METERS EMERALD SPLASH !!!"

The net of green threads started to produce an intense light, soon exploding and launching green shining rock at Motoyasu from all angles, as he couldn't move or deflect the shots, and took the attack full force, knocking him out cold.

"Beside, the second reason why I used that strategy was so your little companion wouldn't feel the need to intervene. I like to keep my duels 1-on-1, thank you."

()

"I guess this end this, huh ? What a shame, I didn't even get to test my new spells. Oh well, next time I guess."

Lord: We're most grateful, sir !! really, you saved this village thrice, hero !!

"Oh you know, I'm not the only one you should thank. Without Filo, none of this would have been possible..."

Naofumi: Um, Y/n ? I'm pretty sure you want to look at that...

"No but seriously, if someone here deserve your praise, it's Filo...."

Naofumi; Y/n ? Y/n, look over here...

"I still can't believe she grew up so much in just a couple of days, that's incredible..."

Naofumi: Y/N !! LOOK !!!

"Yes, yes, I'm looking, why are you freaking out... Like... That..."