The Wrong Hero

Chapter 5 - Resolve of the Shield Hero

Warning: Brief depiction of torture.

"Good morning, sunshine." Dante said to the knight.

"Wha..." The knight took in his surroundings. He tried to, but he found himself completely restrained. His arms, his legs, even his head was completely immobile. He was pinned to a long log they'd found, and was propped against another log, with his legs elevated and his face toward the sky.

"You...How dare you attack a knight of Melromarc!" The knight bellowed.

"You said that already." Dante replied, rummaging through his backpack.

In truth, the knight had woken up during the night. Since Keel was still shaken, Sadeena took first watch. After a few hours, the knight started yelling at them to release him. Dante had already awoken, stirred from yet another nightmare, and figured then was a good time to figure out his question from yesterday. He held the knight's throat until he passed out, which did take longer than he thought, but not incredibly so. He had Sadeena repeat her spell, just to make sure the knight stayed out. Dante kept watch after then, until the sun rose and they had breakfast.

"What are you planning, Shield?!"

"Well, first, I'm glad you recognized me. So many knights seem to be bad at their job." They weren't the only ones. Sadeena had yet to spot a single shadow, or anyone else spying on them. Guards not looking at cloaked travelers is one thing, but what are the church shadows doing? Hopefully, they aren't as numerous as I feared.

Dante stood above the knight, hands behind his back. "Second, I have some questions for you."

"I'll tell you nothing, devil!" The knight spat.

"You say that..." Dante gestured to Sadeena and Keel to come over. "But, really, you will. I want you to look at these two first."

The knight's eyes shifted between the two. "A dog brat and your girlfriend. So what?"

Sadeena held her harpoon and gripped it tightly.

Wow. No joke about that? She is pissed.

"Look at the boy. Do you recognize him?" Dante prodded, but the knight remained silent. "He was a resident of Lurolona"

"Hah! One of those beast—" His exposed head was swiftly met with the butt of Sadeena's harpoon. Keel shook slightly, but he kept standing.

"Yes. Now, I want you to think hard about what you say next." Dante knelt next to the man, putting his face right in front of the knight's. "Who else raided the village, and where did you sell the children?"

Dante got his answer in the form of spit on his face. He simply stood up and wiped it off.

"Rude, but I'm so glad you feel that way. Otherwise," A cruel grin spread on his face as he looked down at the knight, "I wouldn't be able to test out a few things."

"Go to hell, devil!"

"No need to worry about that." He turned to Keel. "Go wait with the filolials while we deal with this."

"No, I want to be here." Keel said, standing firm.

"This isn't something a child should see."

"I said—" Keel stopped when Sadeena placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait for us over there." She said simply. The dog boy stood still for a moment before nodding.

Once he disappeared through the foliage, Dante reached behind him. "Do you see what this is?" He asked, holding a knife in his hands. "I've used this to skin dozens of usapils in my short time here."