“Piensa claims that weapons, magic, and power left by the heroes from the past still sleep here, but we’ve only ever found one thing,” Mamoru said. “We were also told not to really talk about it.”
“There might be something else, somewhere else here, that we haven’t found, but it’s just the one thing at the moment,” Holn said.
“The carriage vassal weapon,” I stated. It was an assumption based on what the past Heavenly Emperor had told me. Mamoru nodded, not hiding anything.
“If you know that much, no need to beat around the bush. Come on,” Mamoru said. He led us through the ruins, between the abandoned houses and through the bare remains of the castle—little more than walls marked out on the ground. We eventually arrived at what looked like nothing more than a pile of rubble. In one corner, though, the floor had a familiar-looking relief. It was like the one we had seen in the Ancient Labyrinth Library in Kizuna’s world. Mamoru pointed his shield at the relief, and the crystal in the center extended a beam of light. It seemed to be resonating with the gemstone in the shield. Then the floor rumbled open and stairs leading downward appeared.
“That’s quite the setup,” Melty breathed, impressed. It reminded me of the underwater temple at the Cal Mira islands.
We continued down the stairs that had appeared. They went pretty deep down into the earth. Raphtalia made some magical light that allowed us all to see.
“Why did this country end up like this?” Melty asked. “In our time it’s been completely forgotten, so perhaps you can shed some light on it for us.” She was very curious about the lost history of this world.
“They say it was wiped out in a single night by Suzaku. The creature appeared without any warning and attacked,” Mamoru said. I recalled that the Spirit Tortoise and other beasts in our time had appeared once and been sealed away. That meant they had caused damage at some point in the past. This country was one of those that had suffered. “The stories say the rulers here had become pretty corrupt. It’s even used as a cautionary folktale—purifying fire, that kind of stuff.”
“No matter the gold of the golden age, all things eventually fall . . .” Melty said. Siltvelt had done pretty well, considering what we knew from the future. The name of the nation had changed, but their descendants were still doing well back in our time. Mamoru had made a lasting difference.
“I think . . . we’re almost there,” Holn said. Then the end of the stairs came into view. Beyond that was what we were here for. It was a weapon buried in the same kind of stone plinth that we’d seen around the rest of the seven star weapons. The vassal weapon itself was shaped like a simple-looking chariot.
“This is the legendary carriage vassal weapon,” Mamoru said. His party, the lizard men and weasel demi-humans, all bowed their heads.
“I thought as much,” Melty murmured, taking in the carriage.
“You know who the holder of this vassal weapon is in the future, don’t you, Naofumi?” Mamoru asked.
“Yes. She’s stubborn about pretty much everything, so she didn’t tell us herself. So I wasn’t completely sure,” I replied.
“I see,” Mamoru said.
“It’s someone who’s also here in this time,” I continued. Mamoru and Holn both looked at me, clearly having finally worked it out themselves from that comment.
“It’s little old Fitoria, isn’t it?” Holn said. I nodded. “If you know that much, future Shield Hero, there’s something else we ought to tell you.”
“What?” I asked with some trepidation.
“There’s another reason why the filolials love to pull carriages,” Holn said. She had previously explained that they were monsters who had been created to help promote the flow of goods around Siltran. “Mamoru, can I go ahead?”
“Yes, why not? Naofumi and his friends can handle it. There’s no reason to keep it a secret,” Mamoru said. Holn turned back to me and continued.
“I’ve also told you that the carriage vassal weapon is a stubborn one, haven’t I?” Holn said.
“I do recall that,” I replied.
“Do you know which of the holy weapons—the shield or the bow—the carriage is affiliated with?” Holn asked. I hadn’t given it much thought. The reason for our insufficient power-up methods since arriving in this time was the differences between holy weapons and vassal weapons. The power-up methods that Ren’s sword could perform came from the sword, spear, projectile, staff, and gauntlets. Meanwhile, the power-up methods that Mamoru and my own shield could perform came from the shield, bow, claws, hammer, and whip. The remaining two were the axe and the carriage. The carriage was in front of us now. That meant the one affiliated with the sword or spear was the axe, which probably wasn’t even on this world at the moment.
“The shield holy weapon has the claws and hammer as its vassals. This is simply a little old fact, one that the pacifier should know too,” Holn said. I recalled that the demi-human nation of Siltvelt had been responsible for the claws, and the other demi-human nation of Shieldfreeden had held the hammer. They might have moved around depending on the time period, but this overall trend had to remain the same.
“Which means, by process of elimination, the bow’s vassal weapons are the whip and carriage,” I stated.
“That’s right. The holy and vassal weapons have formed up their own separate factions and cliques,” Holn said. The Shield Hero is with the claw and hammer heroes. Mamoru stood in the front, while Filolia raised the claws and Natalia her hammer. “I think the shield holy weapon selected these two as its vassals due to the synergy between them,” Holn explained. That made sense to me. Mamoru might have been Filolia’s superior, but he had to bow his head to Natalia. I wondered if the hammer was the vassal weapon that had poor compatibility with me. A shield was effective against cutting attacks from swords or claws but weak against opponents who used impact weapons—like a hammer. The damage might not be limited to the hand holding the shield either; I could see it being imparted inside the armor too.
“And what about the two types the bow holy weapon selected as vassals?” Holn asked. She sounded like a schoolteacher. The answer was the carriage—or, in this case, more like a battle chariot—and the whip. A whip was used for striking. I mainly had a negative image of it being used to hit animals like when a lion tamer used a whip to control the king of the beasts. The best thing about the whip was personal enhancement, which allowed the owner to not only enhance themselves but also those around them.
As for the carriage . . . it looked like a Roman chariot. It was a vehicle that allowed for fast transportation around the battlefield. I considered what it might mean to add the Bow Hero to that equation—the Whip Hero controlling the animal pulling the carriage while the Bow Hero fired arrows from the back. That would provide excellent mobility and overcome the issue of the Bow Hero having powerful attacks but preferring to stay out of close combat.
“That’s a pretty good combination,” I said.
“Indeed, it is,” Holn agreed. The carriage was all about defense and movement. If needed, it could even be used to protect those riding it. “Which brings me to my point. This stubborn carriage vassal weapon placed an order with the whip vassal weapon.”
“An order for what?” I asked.
“A monster that was born to pull a carriage. And I presume you know what I created as my response to that order?” Holn said. The answer was the filolials—monsters created from Mamoru’s girlfriend. The filolials had stood out, even in the time period I was originally summoned to. There were no other monsters that took such pleasure from the simple act of pulling a carriage. There were other monsters that could do it, like dragons or caterpillands, but I hadn’t encountered any other monsters with that desire so embedded in their basic makeup.
The role of the whip vassal weapon was to control monsters and the carriage was pulled by something. That had led to the desire for a monster that could handle a carriage and love it.