Chapter Six: Selecting the Hammer Hero
It was a few days later. Mamoru had received word from the Water Dragon and was leading us to meet up with Natalia. It was all connected to her search for the hammer vassal weapon.
It turned out that the holder of the hammer vassal weapon had been killed by the ones who assume the name of god, and the Hammer Spirit had fled to escape being used for evil. After we killed one of the ones who assume the name of god, the signal from the hammer had increased in strength again, allowing her to locate it. Now Mamoru needed to go check it out, and with as powerful a party as possible. Raphtalia, Ruft, the Raph-chans, and I were tagging along to see how they handled things. We were going to stay completely in the background. We couldn’t have one of us being selected as the vassal weapon holder in this time period—the ramifications for the future were insane. It wasn’t worth the risk to even experiment with such an idea.
We’d left Ren forging with Filolia. Eclair had informed me that he was complaining a lot, but actually doing some good work. However, he had also started to act a little strangely—a little more like the old Ren. When called out on it, he returned to normal, but he had started saying odd things and striking odd poses. Being around Eclair and Wyndia wasn’t a problem for him, but maybe all that teenage angst was getting out of control with Filolia around.
Holn and R’yne weren’t with us either. Holn was busy with her research and R’yne was still training S’yne.
“There you are,” Natalia said in greeting. We were in the forest of the nation where we had first met Natalia, that nation where that nine-tailed fox monster had been controlling the king. Natalia had killed the fox, but even after the king returned to his senses, he had ordered his men to kill Natalia, leading in turn to the Water Dragon obliterating the ruler.
“You found it faster than expected,” I commented.
“Yes. There were already some rumors about it, and a steady stream of people have been coming to try and claim it. But it’s in a spot that only those of a certain strength can reach,” Natalia explained.
“It wants the future bearer to display their strength,” I pondered. “Not suited to performing the ritual for summoning from another world.”
“And what if someone from a world already experiencing the waves is called? That’s a possibility,” Natalia said. That was a good point. If such a thing happened, I could easily imagine the issues that would ensue. Shildina and Filolia were good examples of this. I wondered what I would do myself if these “death games” taking place in other worlds were matched to the world I was born in—like if we were matched with Japan. When I first came here, the answer would have been clear—screw this world over and protect my real home. Luckily for me, there were no waves in Japan.
Shildina had a harsh outlook on the world and so might have done better living in a completely different one. And yet, she had still wanted to go home. That might suggest some changes in her mental makeup—and that her meeting us had been good for her. She seemed closer with Ruft than before. If Sadeena was Raphtalia’s “big sister,” then Shildina was Ruft’s.
Any changes in her personality certainly weren’t because she wanted to drink with me.
“Let me show you,” Natalia said, leading us to the location of the hammer vassal weapon. We proceeded together through the foggy woodlands. Visibility was poor around us. There was a certain romanticism to the idea of a legendary weapon slumbering in a forest. I also loved the conceit that you needed to be a certain strength to even get there. When the weapon was located in a safer place, like with the gauntlets, there was a constant stream of people trying to get picked, plenty of whom didn’t handle rejection well.
We finally came out into a wider space, and I saw a spot ahead with sunlight falling onto it. That was where the hammer vassal weapon was placed. It looked a lot like the gauntlet seven star weapon had, embedded into something like the Rosetta stone but for hammers.
“Okay. We don’t have the bow holy weapon holder here, but can I ask the Shield Hero?” Natalia turned to face Mamoru. “Do you want to perform the summoning ritual and call a holder for the weapon or try and see if anyone in your group is suited to using it?” We still needed to meet our original goal of increasing our fighting strength before the ones who assume the name of god made their next move. If Siltran successfully got the hammer vassal weapon holder on their side, the situation between the nations would shift in their favor and Piensa would be unable to talk back so openly. That would be the time to open negotiations with the Bow Hero and prepare to fight the ones who assume the name of god. That was the plan. Things were already going better for Siltran, but this would settle it.
“I’d like to try with the people I know first. If that doesn’t work out, we’ll have to summon someone. I’d rather not drag someone from an unrelated world into this, if possible,” Mamoru said.
“Understood,” Natalia replied. “That does sound like the best approach.” Each of Mamoru’s companions then proceeded to attempt to take the hammer vassal weapon. Cian and others from among the kids Mamoru looked after were there too. Cian failed to take the hammer, falling back onto her butt as she pulled. She made a pained expression for a moment, then wiped her face and returned to Mamoru as though nothing had happened.
“No good, huh?” Mamoru said to her.