Guns and Shield (The Rising of the Shield Hero Fanfiction)

17- Gotta Love Giant Bird Girls

"We're back!" I exclaimed.

"Oh! I see that you guys have a new little companion here." He pointed out with a smile.

"I'm hungry!" Filo repeated, staring at the sandwich on the counter.

"Little girl, do you want a bite?" Erhard offered.

Filo nodded graciously with drool hanging out of her mouth.

"Umm, I'm not sure if you should offer her food."

"Why not? What would this little fellow do to this big sandwich?" The man laughed.

"If you want. We haven't had breakfast yet." Naofumi shrugged.

As the blacksmith handed Filo his sandwich, Filo transformed into her Filolial form and gobbled it up.

"Could use a bit of work..." She expressed.

Erhard had a HARD expression on his face, and I laughed at him.

"Anyway, we're here for clothing that doesn't break after she transforms? We'd go broke at this rate."

"Go to the lady at the clothing store. She'll help you with that."

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"Oh, you're talking about the clothes made out of mana thread! I see." The seamstress pondered.

I nodded slowly, as I had no idea what it was.

Mana thread? What?

"Mana thread is basically thread used to make clothes out of the person's mana so it would be perfect for them. Even if they transform and detransform, the clothes will stay on them."

I nodded, and I looked at the little blonde haired girl with her eyes open wide in confusion.

"How are we supposed to obtain this mana thread?"

The shopowner further explained that they had to go to the woman in the magic shop, and that she would give them the mana crystal.

So we left, with the words of the young eccentric lady saying that she'd definitely make the perfect outfit for our little Filo.

We turned up at the magic shop, and ended up leaving empty handed because there wasn't anymore of those mana crystals we needed to make the thread.

"I guess Filo's gotta be naked for another few days." I spoke absent-mindedly.

Everyone looked at me with a weird confusion, and I shrugged.

"I'm not wrong, right? You guys know that."

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"Filo has a wind affinity! I will blow away all of the enemies!" Filo sang.

"Well, she sure is in a great mood today, isn't she?" Raphtalia said.

Naofumi smiled fatherly when Filo talked about kicking Motoyasu's butt, and I giggled with him.

"It's going to be a while till we get Filo her clothes, so we might as well travel around and make some money. The pass from the village will help too."

"I mean, we could even go get it for her as well. Who knows how long it's going to take in order for the lady back at the shop to get those crystals if something there is wrong, right?"

Naofumi shrugged. "I guess we could."

Nodding, I focused on the road again.

We listened to Filo's singing for a bit longer until she stopped the carriage.

"There's someone ahead, master!"

I looked out to see a man struggling to walk up the mountain.

When he saw us, he looked back and asked us for a ride.

"Please help me get to the village. My mother is sick and I need to give her this medicine."

Knowing Naofumi, this wasn't going to be very cheap. He always seemed to get a few bucks out of everything he does.

"That's going to be 1 silver. If you can't pay, I will take the goods as well. Filo, how long will it take to get to the village?"

And so, the 3 of them went off to the next village while Raphtalia and I waited for their return.

"Raphtalia, what is it like being with Naofumi every since you were small?"

The demi-human looked at me in confusion.

"Oh, I was walking around before and I saw you 2 training. It's really not much."

Her eyebrows raised, and I laughed embarrassed. I was stalking them.

"Well, he really did save my life. He cured me of my disease, comforted me when I needed someone most, and fed me. If it weren't for him, I'd still be dying at the slave trader's shop. I don't even know if I would've lasted this long if it weren't for him."

I nodded and was suddenly curious about what she had gone through to get to the tent of the creepy tiny man.

"What was your life before you met us?" Raphtalia asked.

I froze in my spot and sighed.

"I appeared in this world, not knowing what had brought me here at all. I woke up and I was just here. With my pair of guns and a new set of clothes. You wouldn't believe me, but I don't think I belong here. It was as if I was summoned. Like the 4 heroes."

Raphtalia nodded slowly, trying to take in what I had just told her.

"Then I met the nicest siblings that I could've ever met, Adryel and Aaro. Adryel was so happy about everything, overprotective, and traits a big brother would've had. Aaro was his twin, and he was the same. Except, he wasn't all that eccentric when compared to his brother. They did so much for me, and we had so much fun together. Until the wave, before the one we fought in. A 3 headed dog showed up in the middle of the town I was in, and people were being torn to shreds. Blood was in puddles everywhere, and I couldn't stop shaking."

I shivered and looked down at my palms.

"I tried to save someone by firing my guns, but I was too scared to think about the consequences. I didn't know how to react once I realized the dog was coming for me, the fire in its eyes burning through my soul like a wildfire. I couldn't control my fears. I thought I was going to die for sure. Until Adryel shielded me from the blow and died because of his violent bleeding."

I took out my dagger, the one that Adryel had given me as his last gift and clutched it.

I pressed it onto my cheeks, thinking about the time when his lips grazed against mine, and his arms around the blanket roll that I wrapped myself in as a child.

"His smiles when I brought back bread from Auntie Marie's bakery, and how he pat my back when I choked on water. 

Aaro's comforting embrace he gave me when I told him about how sorry I was, and how guilty I had felt that week.

I knew he was crumbling on the inside, but he stayed strong to keep my hopes up for the future." I sobbed.

Raphtalia covered her mouth but hugged me gently. 

I cried until I couldn't anymore that day, and curled myself up into a ball in the back of the carriage. 

I felt it moving again, and a hand caressed my sticky cheek.

"She cried again today while we weren't here?" A husky and monotone voice laced with tiredness sighed out.

There was no response, and I clutched my eyes together even tighter than before.

The carriage shook and wobbled as it went down the rocky path.

Something covered my cold body, and I relaxed, feeling the warm cloth give me the warmness that it had.