The Wrong Hero

Chapter 6 - Preparations for Assault

"What?" Sadeena stared at Dante. "What do you mean? What happened?"

There was no easy way to explain this.

"Idol Rabier, the man who has Raphtalia and Rifana. I thought he only tortured his slaves, but it seems he kills them too."

"What did you..." Keel looked up at him, shocked.

"He what?!" Sadeena grabbed Dante by the collar of his chainmail. "He's been torturing Raphtalia? And you knew this?!"

"Sadeena..." Dante looked around him. Some people were starting to take notice of them.

She pulled him by the arm into a nearby alley, Keel and the filolials quickly following after. Once there, she pushed him against a wall.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Her hands were gripping tightly to his armor.

"Gweh!" The filolials squawked and moved closer, but Dante waved them back.

"If I had told you, would you have waited?" He asked.

"You had no right to keep this from me!" She yelled in his face.

"Yeah, I did." Dante said back to her. "If I had told you, you would have run off to get them right away and gotten yourself killed. Remember when I asked you what your level was? I knew there was no way you could have taken on Idol, let alone break into his mansion and get past all his knights. If you were as high a level as I thought you'd be, I would have done things differently."

Sadeena pushed him harder into the wall. "Are you saying it's my fault?!"

"No!" This wasn't going anywhere. "Look, the point is, you were too weak, and I definitely was. But now you have allies to help you, and one of them is a hero. We can do something about this now."

She continued to glare at Dante. "I could have hired mercenaries. There are demi-human adventurers here."

"Yeah, some. But with what money? I know you have some...reserves hidden away," he didn't want to mention her secret base out loud, "but who's to say those adventurers would have been strong enough? Or, hell, even loyal enough to take on a lord of Melromarc?"

"You..." Tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

Dante gently placed a hand on her arm. "Look, you want to hate me? You don't want to trust me? That's fine, that's fair. But right now, those girls need our help. Let's all calm down and come up with a plan. We can figure out what happens between us after."

Sadeena held him in place for a moment before releasing him, turning to wipe the tears from her face. JoJo and Dio nuzzled up against Dante as Keel tried to console Sadeena.

The orca woman took a deep breath before facing him again. "So, what ideas do you have?"

"Hardly any." Dante responded, dragging his hand through his hair. "Okay...we can try sneaking in and smuggling them out, but if Idol notices, he could activate their seals and kill them. We'll need something to remove the curse marks."

"That slave trader should have something." Sadeena said, looking in the direction of the circus tent. "Some demi-humans that buy their friend's freedom get the seals removed on the spot."

"Okay, good, that's a start." Dante nodded along. "However, if we're caught, we'll have to fight our way out. If I had to guess, your clothes are made from magic thread, yes?" Sadeena gave him a nod. "Then we should talk to Erhard and get me some better armor."

"What about me?" Keel asked, stepping forward.

"Absolutely not!" Dante squashed that idea immediately.