An Unborn Hero

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Achievement unlocked: [War Veteran].

War Veteran (Uncommon)
You have played a significant role in a conflict between sapients, with at least ten-thousand opponents arrayed against you. Given the horrors of war, it seems strange that people insist on doing it so often, but at least this achievement will help inure you against such horrors. Provides a 25% resistance to fear and panic effects and aids coordination when working in large groups.

Mystery peered at the message as it popped up, still stuck indoors while she tried to get a handle on her new three-sixty degree vision. "I guess that means we won, and the fact their leader was sapient was sufficient for the achievement. I suppose it's too much to hope that the giant they beat up was the demon lord, though. I probably would have got a different achievement, if it was. So, does that mean we can expect regular visits from that sort of army? We need to get out of here!"

Kellela and Hayedalf agreed wholeheartedly. They were prepared to take some risks for the good of mankind, but even if Zyfyl'p's attack had been repelled without casualties, it hadn't merely crossed a line but had left the entire field of play.

Besides, the farm was in ruins and the structures uninhabitable.

As such, while Mystery was resting, the group returned to Karn's Vigil. Parties of adventurers stayed behind, dissecting monsters for valuable components. A whole battalion of soldiers was dispatched to retrieve the wyrm corpse, and a smaller group for the demon. Even so, far more than their original twenty guards remained to protect them on the roads, even if the guards were trying to keep their distance for reasons of hygiene. Even Platus and Melody were staying well away from their daughter.

[Magical Girl Transformation] had worn off, but it hadn't taken the muck with it. It just meant that some of the remains were now under their clothing. Grace was squelching as she walked, her face a mask of disgust, while Hayedalf looked uncomfortable, pinching his nose with his clean hand. Rose was the only one of the group looking relatively unbothered.

"I can't believe not a single adventurer I asked had cleaning magic," complained Grace, her formerly white hair now a muddy, matted mess.

"Are you sure cleaning magic even exists?" asked Rose, poking around in her ear and plucking out a chunk of demon. "I've certainly never heard of it."

"There are spells for cleaning, but they aren't popular," explained Kellela, the local expert on all things magical. "In town, a bathhouse is orders of magnitude cheaper than hiring a mage, and considerably more pleasant besides. A small adventuring party wouldn't usually have the leeway to bring a utility mage with them, both in terms of cash and the fact they'd need to defend them, while someone with a combat mage occupation would find it easier to use earth and water manipulation to make a temporary bath than to learn any real cleaning spells. The army has a bunch of utility mages and brings them on long marches and deployments to aid in logistics. Today's deployment didn't count as 'long', though, so logistics weren't something they needed to worry about."

"You aren't a combat mage. Why don't you learn cleaning magic?"

Kellela, the only clean one of the group, felt a pang of guilt at the fact she hadn't even considered that option.

"I've never had need of it before, but I'll look the relevant spells up as soon as we get back to the capital."

"No, you won't. You'll be visiting the palace as soon as we get back to the capital," pointed out Hayedalf.

A moment of contemplative silence washed over the group.

"After that attack, it must have been cancelled?" suggested Rose, her voice tinted by just a touch of hope.

"Not likely," sighed Grace. "Announcing the [Hero] unveiling at such short notice was already a risky move, politically speaking. Envoys would have had other plans. They'd have to weigh up cancelling them against missing the unveiling. People being cancelled on would feel malcontent. Worse, some of the closer kingdoms may be sending princes or high-ranking nobility to attend, trying to make as big an impression on the new [Hero] as possible. If the unveiling was cancelled, the foreign dignitaries and visitors would all feel messed around with. Flinel would lose significant political standing."

"But... but monster army!" complained Rose.

"Justification isn't important in this situation," explained Grace. "It's all about the optics. And necessity, too; I suspect this whole thing is a way for us to officially meet that English-speaking elf."

"What? How are those two things related?"

"Politics."

"I don't get politics."

Grace shrugged, well aware that she didn't understand adventuring.

"We all have our areas of expertise," pointed out Hayedalf. "I think we made a good team today."

There was another moment of contemplative silence.

"Yes. Yes, we did," agreed Rose, beaming. "Grace, I'm sorry for calling the ability Mystery gave you useless. You were amazing!"

Grace, who'd perked up at the word 'sorry', sank back down with the rest of the sentence. Calling her ability useless had been perfectly reasonable, in the circumstances. What she really wanted an apology for was something completely different!

"If father finds out..." she muttered under her breath.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing. But Hayedalf, can you enchant us something to display a false status to appraisal skills?"

"That is... technically illegal," he answered carefully.

"That wasn't a no."

"Well, yes, I can produce something. But even if you're the [First Princess], the law is the law. Why do you want a false status rather than a simple blocker?"

Grace sighed, well aware he was correct, but that didn't change the fact that there would be a lot of people trying to gather useful information at the unveiling, whether via appraisal skills or other unscrupulous means. "Because if I use an appraisal blocker, everyone will know I'm hiding something," she answered. "But I suppose I have no choice."

"Uh..." said Rose, suddenly nervous. "Will there be people appraising us tomorrow? Isn't that... rude?"

"Of course it is. But it's best to assume that inside every suit is a [Spy] and every gown is a [Seductress]."

Rose blinked. "Did I mention I don't get politics? Why are we inviting hostiles into the palace?"

"They aren't hostile, as such, but just because another nation is friendly today doesn't mean they will be tomorrow. Everyone spies on everyone else to get whatever advantage they can, whether economic or military. We're no different."

"Uh... Can I get one of the appraisal blockers too, please?"

"I think, in your case, it'll make very little difference," answered Grace with just a touch of smugness. "Ask Hayedalf about the Recorder of Merit sometime, and what it would have done when you earned that achievement."

"Wait, what? How do you know... I mean... uh..." stammered Rose, becoming progressively more flustered and causing Grace a tingle of sadistic joy.

"Just look forward to explaining to my father how you got it," continued Grace, unable to resist. "He's sure to ask."

Rose blanched and stumbled, making incomprehensible babbling noises. Her initial panic at being expected to attend the very highest class of social event had been washed away by the attack on the farm, and Grace had helped further by offering up a suitable ballgown. She'd managed to push out of her mind the fact that the [King] would be there.

And apparently the [King] would somehow know about that achievement.

Grace grinned to herself at Rose's distress as Karn's Vigil came into view.

"Finally, a bath!" exclaimed Hayedalf, his pace increasing.

"Grace..." started Kellela, as the only male of the group speeded ahead. "And Rose, too. Perhaps this is out of line to say, but... even if it wasn't completely by choice, you're both part of this party. We all need to work together, probably for many years. We've already established we have different areas of expertise, but it's more than that. On one side, royalty who has never left the capital, and on the other, a commoner, working as a low-ranked adventurer in the kingdom's outskirts. It's obvious that even your common sense will differ, so please try to understand each other, and cut out the bullying."

Grace flushed a little, but didn't say anything as she picked up the pace, following after Hayedalf, while Rose was still too distressed to react.

And, a few paces behind them, unseen by anyone thanks to Mystery's absence, Fylith smiled to herself. She backed away as they approached the town, aware that even if none of the group could perceive her, the town had enough protection that she couldn't just walk in through the main gate. That didn't matter; she had her own ways in.

It was annoying being able to get so close to her target without being able to touch them, but just like the novice assassin that had once invaded the farmstead, her stealth had limitations. The intent to perform offensive actions would break it, ensuring she'd never get close to her target unseen. Annoying, but not aggravating; even if she could attack, she'd be too scared to. Fylith wasn't the sort of demon to value her mission over her life, and her limitations matched her personality. Killing Kellela meant nothing to her if she couldn't get away afterwards. Even if no-one could passively detect her, she had no guarantee no-one had active skills that could break her stealth, and they'd be certain to use them if Kellela dropped dead. And even if no-one did, all it would take was a lucky sword swing, or the white one running back and using her magic, and the life she treasured would be over.

Not that Grace could use her purification wave without Mystery transforming her, but luckily, Fylith didn't know that.

Instead, she skulked off, lifting a rusty grate from a sewer outlet and working her way through the tunnels. After following the filthy magical girl squad for so long, she wasn't even bothered by the smell.

Mystery popped out of Kellela, finding herself hovering above a steaming pool occupied by a dozen naked women of varying ages.

"Uh... Not what I expected, given where we were when I went back indoors, but okay. I can roll with this," she thought, as she spotted Rose among the crowd. She was submerged up to her mouth, her head back, her nose hovering just above the waterline while her empty eyes stared at nothing.

"Is she... okay?" wondered Mystery. "I suppose she's just been through a life-or-death battle. It's hard to remember how much danger they're in when I'm just a spectator."

Mystery floated up, determined to explore the premises, only for Kellela's eyes to snap open. "Mystery," she called. "No. Stay."

Mystery didn't know 'stay' but she at least got the 'no'. "Right. Building full of naked people. They probably have magic to detect people spying."

In fact, they didn't; the town's public bathhouse was far too low-class to have installed magical warding. Kellela was just trying to be a good mother, and no good mother would let her little girl wander around ogling the naked men next door.

One of those naked men was Hayedalf, who was happily relaxing in the men's bath after scrubbing the skin of his right arm raw. Meanwhile, the final member of their party had refused to enter the public bath at all, and was doing the best she could with a bucket in a broom closet.

"Seriously," Grace mumbled to herself as she struggled to work a stubborn lump of mud out of her hair. "Is this how all commoners behave? Bathing naked with complete strangers? Why would they do that?"

She wasn't so out of touch with reality to believe that everyone had personal maids, but it wasn't that hard to fill up a bath. She'd successfully bathed herself in Hayedalf's house without needing any help at all. What she was missing was that not everyone had enchanted taps to dispense hot water, or a house large enough to fit a full-sized tub. The poorer section of society needed to heat their water over a fire and wipe themselves down with a cloth. And adventurers often didn't have permanent homes in any case, relying only on the facilities of an inn or the guildhall. If they wanted to submerge themselves in hot water, this sort of bathhouse was their only option.

"To think it was my skills I was worried about when father ordered me here. He can't have known I'd be forced to wear indecent clothing, but did he know I'd have to live like a savage? I wonder if I can swap with anyone?"

Meanwhile, Rose's thoughts were flowing along similar lines.

"I thought fighting alongside a [Hero] would be all about protecting people, fighting epic battles, and taking down monsters and demons. I didn't realise it involved politics. Now we have to prance around in the capital when we should be out adventuring, and we have someone stuck in our party because our [King] wants to influence the [Hero] rather than because she wanted to be here. Yes, her anti-demon blast is cool, but she can only do that because Mystery gave her the ability. Mystery could easily have given it to someone else. How's Grace supposed to survive as an adventurer when she can't even cope with showing her knees in public?"

At that point, Rose's thoughts were cut off by the door slamming open. Every occupant of the female bath spun around and beheld the kingdom's eldest princess, completely nude, her face so thunderous that looking at it risked electrocution.

"Rose! This isn't funny! Give my clothes back right this instant!"

Spoiler

μ̵̼͉̐υ̴̡̽̿σ̷̭͓̃̀τ̸͉̤̾̆ή̶͎̱͌ρ̸̤͕̏̿ι̷̬̾͜ό̸͈ (Human)
Age: -8 months
Occupation: Hero (L)
Skills:
- Soul's Eye (U) (31/90)
>> Sense Vitality (U)
>> Sense Soul (R)
>> Sense Mana (U)
>> Sense Light (C)
>> Sense Sound (C)
>> Pierce Illusions (U)
>> Sense Miasma (R)
>> Multi-focal (R)
- Astral Projection (U) (20/60)
>> Sure Navigation (U)
>> Uncontainable (U)
>> Tether of Will (L)
- Robust (C) (18/40)
>> Hardened Soul (R)
>> Secured Mana (U)
>> Pain Tolerance (C)
- Stealth (C) (3/20)
>> Camouflage Vitality (R)
- Magical Girl Transformation (R) (18/30)
>> Age Correction (R)
>> Gender Bending (R)
- Light (C) (9/20)
>> Heterochrome (U)
- Increased Attributes (C) (7/20)
>> Mana Storage (U)
Achievements:
- Early Bloomer II (R)
- First Skill (C)
- Journeyman (U)
- Survivor of Zarklaxxos, the Arcane Infernal (R)
- I Broke The System, And All I Got Was This Lousy Achievement (E)
- Astral Explorer I (R)
- First Spell (C)
- I Broke The System Again, And Now The Administrators Hate Me (E)
- Spell Forger (R)
- Demon Slayer II (E)
- Monster Slayer V (E)
- Curiosity (U)
- War Veteran (U)

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