Does the early bird get the worm

The forest was filled with combat. As soon as it hit daytime, Naofumi immediately rushed into the forest to level up his new bird.

When she hatched she was Level 2, and was very energetic for a newborn. Of course at this level she was very vulnerable to any attack, but being the shield hero he was careful on how he deployed her into battle. "Alright Sakura, kill this one."

"Piyo!" Sakura jumps on top of the balloon and perches on its head. Much to the annoyance of Naofumi, he yelled at her to peck the thing, and in about two minutes, the balloon actually pops.

"Holy shit. If she was able to significantly speed up the process of killing a balloon at level two, Just imagine what she'll be like when she is fully grown, maybe I have a chance to- HEY! don't eat that you'll choke!" Naofumi says while picking up Sakura, she was trying to eat the balloon she just killed

"Pio Pilo."

"You can't just try to eat everything you see, especially since balloon rubber isn't edible."

"Piopio, piiilo."

"That was our first fight and you just hatched, may I also remind you that you killed this thing in like, five seconds, so it's impossible for you to be out of energy.

"Piiilo!" Sakura chirped furiously."

"Don't chirp at me in that tone, I'm not the one who's starving!" Naofumi yelled as he grabs another balloon on his back. "We'll finish fighting the monsters in this area then we'll stop for breakfast, does that sound good"

"Pio." Sakura chipped happily.

"Great, now I have to worry about food for two. What has my life delved into." Naofumi rips off another balloon after his back and holds it down to attack. "Why am I arguing with a bird? How am I arguing with a bird? I'm probably just going insane."

Naofumi and Sakura gathered and popped many balloons before dawn hit. Naofumi wanted to continue, but Sakura kept pecking Naofumi on the neck as she whined for food. After some back and forth, Naofumi agreed to stop and go eat as well.

/~/

Walking back into the castle town, Naofumi heads to the respective merchant stands and sells his wares for the day. Once he got his coins, he wasted no time and immediately went back into the inn. Inside the public kitchen, he finds someone else's leftover meat wrapped in ice and uses that for Sakura's meal. He even grabbed a few vegetables he also found and made it into a meal so he can eat himself.

Passing Sakura a bowl of small meats, she tore into the meal finishing in under a minute and begged for more forcing Naofumi to give her some of his meal to satisfy her hunger, but It didn't do much since every time she finished she would be hungrier somehow.

"It hasn't even been a day yet and I'm exhausted. Naofumi looked over to Sakura who's fast asleep in the bowl she just ate from. Carrying her in the bowl she's lying in. Naofumi enters the room and blocks all the doors, soon collapsing on the bed. "Now I know why people complain about parenting, it hasn't even been twelve hours yet." Naofumi asked as he slowly dozed off.

/~/

Waking back up in the evening, Naofumi left the inn and searched the market for some proper bird food. He wasn't 100% sure if a Filolial is an omnivore or can even eat human food, but that would be something he'll find out later if Sakura ends up getting sick from last night's meal.

Getting the food, Naofumi heads back to the inn to feed Sakura and then falls back to sleep before continuing his routine in the morning.

Aside from taking a few breaks to feed Sakura and gathering more herbs, Naofumi spent the rest of the next day killing every balloon he came across, getting him to level 6, and Sakura to 4. He even came across and killed another monster called a mush, but it took longer for Sakura to kill it due to their low levels, so he decided to leave them be and focused on the balloons in the area.

Hours of terrorizing the local balloon population, Naofumi decides to call it a day, and head to the pub for a quick meal. He felt exhausted and didn't want to cook for himself, so this treat was a blessing for him at the time. But as he deals with the usual scowls and annoying waiters, he thinks of everything he did to get to this point, and how he barely made any progress since his betrayal.

"Sakura is still too young to make any real progress in killing. And even though I'm moving slightly faster than usual, the difference is still too little to call it "progress". Perhaps I should attempt to find some extra help to be ready before the wave hits, but assuming I don't even know when or that is happening, is gonna make things a lot more difficult. DAMN IT!"

Naofumi slams his hand on the table, making some plates shake as he does before he grabs his food from the counter.

"Two days was all it took for the entire country to get on my ass for bullshit. Especially that bitch, she was definitely planning this from the start, which is probably the reason why she tried to spend all my money beforehand. God damn it, why do I have to be such an idiot? It was so obvious!" Naofumi turns his head as Sakura is pecking his neck.

"Did she sense my anger, or is she just hungry"

"No, Sakura, you can't have my food."

"Pio Pio." Sakura chirped as she shook her head, bouncing around to divert Naofumi's attention.

"What?" Naofumi turns his head to a couple of people behind him.

"Oh great, who are these people? I swear if it's more idiots from Siltvelt I'll find the place and burn it to the ground."

Naofumi turns his chair around to face the men.

"Alright, let's do this quickly. No, I don't have spare change. No, I'm not trying to buy anything. And no, the bird is not for sale."

"What? No no no, shield hero. We're just here to ask you to let us join you."

"Oh that, alright then follow me. I'll take you to the headquarters then." Naofumi heads out the door and into an alley with his new "companions" to conduct a better "deal". He didn't want to attempt a fight in the bar since the guard will most likely join in on the opposing side if they do attempt to attack him.

"Alright, I already know you guys are low lives so before we start, does anyone have some spare change?"

"What no, we're robbing you. Why the hell would we!-"

"Cool it Hobs, we don't want to draw in some unnecessary attention." One of the bandits intervened. As he walked forward, he twirled his knife and pointed it at Naofumi.

"Alright let's make this easy for both of us. You hand over your money, and we'll leave you be. Drop in that filolial of yours too, I've been craving chicken for a whil-." The bandit was swiftly interrupted by a balloon shoved into his face.

The other bandit tries to attack, but he is immediately blown back as soon as he hits the shield. When he got up to attack again, he quickly fell to despair as he found his dagger snapped in half on the ground.

Having been beaten by the shield so quickly and without much effort, he decided to leave before anything else happened, quickly grabbing his friend with the balloon still biting down on his arm.

"I don't know what their plan was about, but attacking a person who specialized in defense wasn't the best idea. These balloons really came in handy for situations like this,"

"Pio pio pio!"

"Why are you going on abo-, Woah!?" Turning to Sakura on his shoulder, Naofumi narrowly dodges an axe about to chop his head off.

While his arms were stretched out, Sakura jumps on and pokes him in the eye, making the bandit cry out in pain and trip on some trash left on the street.

"Hold this for me." Naofumi drops a balloon on the man's face that proceeds to bite him.

The bandit struggles on the ground for a bit, before running off into the street to regroup with his friends.

"Woah! Thanks for the save. Totally forgot there was a third. Perhaps I can tolerate you for a bit."

"Piyooo!" Insulted, Sakura tries to peck Naofumi. But the hit does no damage.

"Alright, I was joking, sorry. Now let's go back for my meal I-"

"Well, That was a good show, sir hero. I applaud your Ingenuity, it really shows your skill."

Naofumi turned around, recognizing the voice of the person who was just talking. Slowly watching as a man comes out of the cover of the night, applauding as he walks closer to Naofumi.

"A quick deduction of the situation, the shield hero truly is talented."

"Great, It's you," Naofumi said scornfully.

"You don't seem too happy to see me."

"If you were hated by an entire country I believe you'll feel the same."

"Aww yes I've heard about the tragedy myself. The story of how the shield hero forced himself onto his dear and beloved party member."

"I SAID I DIDN'T DO IT!" Naofumi yelled as he slammed his fist against the wall. The wall turned green indicating no damage was done.

"Even if you are the culprit of this heinous crime, I wouldn't really care. I just saw that you are in dire need of help. Being the calculated man of business I am, I've decided to deliver, for the right price of course."

"You'll take advantage of me at my lowest point just to gain a profit."

"Of course, I'm glad that you were able to catch onto my intention so quickly. It would help make our business go a lot smoother."

"You really are a piece of Shit. Show me the inventory."

"Wonderful, now if you would follow me, I would lead us back to my glorious tent."

"That's cool and all, but assuming this is my second time shopping with you, can I at least get a name and a proof of purchase this time? Can't have anymore bullshit like the trail."

"Proof of purchase is a simple thing to do. As for the name… not a lot of people ask me that sir hero, but you can call me Beloukas."

/~/

Naofumi follows Beloukas across town into an alleyway leading to a giant circus tent. Naofumi remembers the first time he was here and looks over to Sakura who is sleeping on his head. 3

"Welcome back to our monster area."

"Speaking of monsters, what the hell is up with mine?"

"Not to be rude sir hero, but didn't your filolial just hatch?"

"She did, and she's been hungry seven times throughout the day. I'll happily assume you didn't modify her to have this happen."

"I would never. I am a man of my word."

"We'll see about that."

Naofumi walked down the circus tent with Belokaus following shortly after.

"Also I forgot to say, but I'm not looking to buy a monster either."

"Oh, you aren't buying directly? Then perhaps you want to try your hand at the lottery again for a chance at an even stronger monster?"

"Not that either. Monster training takes too long to be effective."

Reaching the desired area. Naofumi pulls back the curtain and walks into the slave section of the tent.

"I desire your cheapest option. Preferably around the ten silver range."

"Oh, this is a new development. If that is truly what you desire, follow me over here." Beloukas says as he leads Naofumi over too few cages, he removes the cloth revealing the slaves.

After looking at them Naofumi put the cloth back and looked at Belokaus.

"Anything else?"

"Are you not satisfied, hero?"

"Well looking at them, one is missing an arm, another looks severely damaged in the mental department, and the other one is dead. Why would I be satisfied!"

"I'll have my henchmen deal with that later, but I can attempt to make a compromise. I have a new shipment coming in by next week, if you return then I can probably find something you'll like." Belokaus takes out a quill and starts to write on a paper. "Do you have any preferences?"

"Cheap, but effective."

"As in cheap, do you mean-"

"Just get me something that's not broken or dead!"

"Will do, I promise to not disappoint. Now about your Filolial."

"She is not and will never be for sale."

"I don't desire your Filolial sir hero, but maybe her eating issue happens to be with her nature."

"Nature?"

"Yes. A Filolial's nature is to pull and carry heavy things. They tend to become restless and sometimes anxious whenever they don't have one.

"But she just hatched, why does she want to do that now?"

"Perhaps she's an early bloomer. Either way, that's probably the issue."

"And I can assume that information wasn't cheap."

"For you, it's free of charge as a testament to our further business together."

"Bold of you to assume I'll be returning but sure. Just keep up your end of the deal and I'll keep up my mine. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to get some sleep."

"I wish a good night's rest to you sir hero," Belkaus says as Naofumi walks outside the tent.

"I guess the plan is happening far sooner than we expected."

"It doesn't really matter when it happens, but it's great that you were able to find him. It seems like you're one of the only people he trusts, I daresay." A mysterious voice says as it appears in the room.

"With how others treat him it only makes sense. His order may prove a little difficult. His price range is a rather low one."

"Whatever you give him is up to you. Just do you the job and the queen shall reward you later, I daresay."

"Then I'll get the shipment ready right away. The lord of the Raiber territory is selling a few, so I'll get some from there."

"Good, I'll be back in a week to check up on the progress on the mission, I daresay. They say as they jump into the air and disappear.

"I always wonder where they go when they do that but now is not the time for questions. Henchmen grab the quill and parchment, it's time to send a letter. And please remove that corpse, we don't want any smells around here."