Chapter 115: Aegis

"One day, you will know that being a leader would save most people. Well, since you have a good heart, I could only suspect you to become a gentleman in the future. So for now, travel far and wide and prove yourself, Arthur," Fisher said, as he stood from his seat. "Make yourself at home, Arthur. Your girl friends are inside some rooms my friend suggested. And Meliodas is on the other side of this room. Go check him out and see if he has a change of heart. In the meantime, I will personally prepare a banquet for everyone, including the four of you. It's a celebration of saving my children. My family would be a part of the preparation team I assigned earlier. Although we're currently in the middle of a famine, there's still some monster meat left to spare for our meal. My wife also prepared some vegetables to colour the plates."

"I am saying this again, Arthur. I deeply apologise for my absence from this upcoming fight against the demon. Nobody in this world wished to die in vain. And that includes your team and you. But the thought of leaving my family was not something I could do easily….," Arthur continued, with his eyes glued to the ground.

"Like I've said earlier, Sir Fisher. It's fine. We can handle that demon all by ourselves. Giving us some hospitality inside this village is more than enough to help us on our journey. Please lift your head, Sir Fisher. You've done nothing wrong," I answered, and requested Fisher to raise his head.

Fisher followed my request and stared into my eyes. Like a kid who had remembered something, Fisher told me to wait inside this room. He also mentioned that he wanted to give me something that could help me on this journey.

After a few moments, Fisher came back inside the room and brought something in his hands. It was a shield carved with various runes that amplified its defences. It also allowed knights to wield both the sword and the shield at the same time, with no drawbacks.

Some weapons had side effects that would hinder the player from using some abilities. But that did not apply to this shield Fisher gave to me.

"Since you're a knight, I want you to have this. It's a shield that my ancestors passed throughout the ages. Since I have gotten old, I couldn't use a sword and a shield at the same time. My muscles and bones had already deteriorated from their peak form," Fisher explained, while chuckling at his own joke.

"Thank you, Fisher! I will use this well throughout my battles!"

I could not imagine myself using a shield on my left hand and an Excalibur on the other. I had some ideas when I was still the strongest player in this game. But I never applied it, since those shields hindered me from using my abilities.

I activated my system and gave a brief scan of this defence item. Within a few seconds, a window appeared, telling me the descriptions I needed to know.

[Congratulations! You have obtained Aegis! Aegis is a shield built by the famous artisan and dwarf. It is a shield capable of passively increasing the wearer's stats and defences. This shield could also be unequipped and used as a passive skill.]

[When equipped: You could use skills from Aegis and control them.]

{Skill obtained: Shield crash}

[Shield crash: This allows you to throw your shield and deal damage to your enemies. There's also a high chance you could stun your enemies for a few seconds. If you lost control of your shield (for example: an enemy blocked your attack), Aegis could return to your hands upon calling for its assistance.]

[When unequipped: The passive abilities of Aegis would activate as soon as the player unequips the shield.]

[Passive ability unlocked: Automatic shield]

[Automatic Shield: This allows the shield to instinctively protect the player from any incoming damage. Since your level is low, your shield can only protect the player. The shield's speed greatly relies on the player's speed.]

Those two skills I received from Aegis would really help us fight against a strong opponent. If I level up, Aegis would also level up and become stronger. I never had a shield before I got nerfed. So I couldn't contain my excitement when Aegis touched my hand.

"Thank you, Fisher! I will use this to save others!" I exclaimed, and flashed him a smile.

"I know you will. That's the reason why I gave it to you in the first place, Arthur," Fisher replied, and returned my beam.

After our exchange, Fisher made some time for me to talk with Meliodas. He mentioned he might wake up around this time, considering the hours already passed.

I nodded at Fisher's suggestion and went towards the other room. According to Fisher, Merleen and Fenrir stayed in a different room. The two of them shared a bed and slept like a baby. They already went ahead of me and hit the sack. But I guessed they were too tired of dealing with all these events at once. I did not want to call out their attention, since those two ladies were already resting in their room.

I needed to stay awake for now, since there was still some stuff left for me to do.

As soon as I stepped foot inside Meliodas' space, the bard was already wide awake. He met my eyes and watched me enter his room filled with nothing but a mat and rag in the centre. If I had to guess this place correctly, the villagers used this studio as their shrine to the animistic god. But they also prayed for the chalice that could grant them eternal food and save them from this famine.

Despite being held prisoner by Fisher, that soldier left the bard with his musical instrument at his side. Fisher did not even reinforce some soldiers to guard this room, knowing that I would be the one to talk things out.

"Did they treat you right?" I asked, and took a chair for me to sit.

I sat in front of Meliodas and met his eyes. My ears were only pointing towards him as he spewed his sentences.

"Why didn't you kill me? Why are you here in front of me? Are you trying to reconcile about what happened before, Arthur? I tried to kill everyone, including the one you love. And yet, you spared my life. You could've aimed for my throat, but you hit me with the pommel of your sword…." Meliodas ranted, as he glared into my eyes. "What's the catch, Arthur? Are you going to make me do something out of my will? You are a soldier, too. So I expect that to happen. I am a bad person, Arthur. And I won't change my mind about killing Fisher if I have the chance. That fucker is also a strong knight that knows something about the knights of the round table!"

"Like you've said, Meliodas. If I wanted to, I could've killed you like I would kill a bore. But I didn't. And I couldn't do that to you even if I tried. I consider you as my friend, Meliodas. You helped us save those children from becoming demons," I answered, and walked towards him. "I want you to see this, Meliodas. Maybe you could change your mind."

Meliodas had thousand question marks imprinted on top of his head as he heard me. But he did not doubt my words as he stood up from his seat and followed my lead. That bard still had his eyes peeled for any trickery I prepared for him.

However, as it turned out, the surprise I wanted to show him was not something that could hurt him.

"Daddy, can I place the flour here?"

"Father, I told you I will handle the bread and its filling!"

"Dear, can you help me cook this boar? The meat refuses to cooperate with me."

"Coming! I can't split myself in half, everyone!"

Those voices came from Fisher's family preparing the banquet he promised to prepare. It was a picture of a merry family working together to create a meal for the four of us. Meliodas stared at the scene for a few seconds before averting his eyes from Fisher.

He always mentioned that powerful knights had the ego of a sailor. Meliodas also had this delusion of picturing knights as some cancer plaguing society.

Although I had not met a knight that described that scene, Meliodas could have some point about it. Someone out there could be exercising their titles to do what they wanted against the village's will. I was just lucky enough to meet such kind people, including Meliodas, Fisher, and this village. I could exclude Caerleon's kingdom, but I also met Green and some mercenaries he recruited in his team. Those people were also kind to me when I stayed in the village.