Saitama walked down the streets of the capital as Raphtalia tailed close behind. He sighed as he watched the seconds tick down to the next wave. Staring at the clock that his shield presented to him as the next minute rolled by. The moment the seconds hit 59 again he let his arms flop to his sides.

"Forty-five days until the next wave?" Saitama sighed. "What're we gonna do until then?"

"There's a lot we could do, but I think we should focus on leveling up and getting more money." Raphtalia walked beside Saitama as she spoke. "We also need to increase our supply stock. We're running low on... " Raphtalia paused and opened a torso-sized sack, "on everything, actually." She finished.

It was true, Saitama hadn't prepared much ahead of time other than grabbing whatever interesting-looking shrubs he found in the forest. Even then, those were running low due to him messing around with them, or even using them as kindle when he gets too lazy to find dead brush nearby. Despite the kindling happening within forests and grasslands, areas that usually teem with dry, burnable bio-material to use.

Although they do have one kind of item that was abundant to them. Pounds of medicine that Saitama had made in his boredom. They would still go bad, however, so they had to get rid of it soon no matter what. The only reason he knew they would go bad was because of a small timer that loomed above the medicine. '

Nifty.' He thought to himself. His eyes wandered onto a pharmacy-at least that's what he thinks they're referred to as here-on his right. "Think they would buy it?" He pointed to the shop and looked at Raphtalia.

"Maybe." She muttered. Saitama hadn't waited for her to elaborate, instead, taking the two fist-sized pouch out of the bag and walking into the store.

"Welcome." The old lanky man idly said from behind the counter.

Saitama walked towards him with his arm raised to place the pouch onto the counter. "Would you buy this medicine from me?"

The old many looked Saitama up and down before examining some of the medicine. "It's not of very high quality." The old man glanced at a few empty shelves. "You're lucky that the last wave disrupted my supply chain." He said as he pulled the pouch behind the counter, producing a handful of copper coins.

The old man inhaled on some kind of smoke pipe, eyeing Saitama again as he did. His eyes locked onto Saitama's shield. He burst into a fit of violent coughs, putting out his smoke pipe as he did.

"You're the shield hero, aren't you?" He went to dig something out from behind his counter. After a second he pulled out a book, slightly worn, and with a title on the front. Saitama stared at the cover as the old man spoke, his words going through one ear and straight out the other. The old man exhaled all the smoke that lingered in his system as Saitama realized a problem.

He couldn't read.

Not to say he was completely illiterate. More specifically, he couldn't read the text commonly used in this world. To be fair, he wasn't a very avid reader back home, mainly just looking at the pictures and skimming over the majority of the paragraphs in his books, but he could read enough to get by in life, but here was an entirely different case. In this world, he couldn't read a lick of anything.

The old man's words began to register as Saitama's concern over his realization died down. "Consider it thanks for saving a relative of mine in Lute." The old man shrugged. "Though you look a lot different than how they described you. You don't exactly fit into the 'shining hero' description." He said, not taking his eyes off of Saitama's shiny dome for a second.

"Oi, old man, what's that supposed to mean." It was less a question and more a warning.

He seemed not to even hear Saitama's response as he continued. "By the way, that old woman in the magic shop wanted to thank you as well. Tell who you are, the coot's eyes may be too rotten to work right." He chuckled as he leaned against the counter. "Over to the left, can't miss it." He gestured towards the shop's location.

Saitama left without thanking him, wanting to get away from him before another comment about his circumstances happened. Raphtalia chose to wave for the both of them before departing alongside Saitama.

The walk was short, very short. They could quite nearly jump towards the direction of the shop and be there. It was, indeed, very hard to miss because the entrance was 14 feet away from the pharmacy, and was the only other shop on the street.

When they entered, they were immediately greeted by a woman leaning close to her elderly years. She was quick to greet them, specifically, she was quick to recognize Saitama as the Shield Hero. Perhaps the old man was just jealous of his business rival's youth.

"My, my! So you are the Shield Hero!" Her greeting was made with a kind smile. "It seems our staff owes you a great debt...!"The woman was kind and energetic, energetic enough to make the whole interaction feel like a blur.

"Come, sit, sit!" She said as she rushed Raphtalia to a seat, the woman sitting across with a glowing orb in between them. "Ah, it seems you, miss, have an affinity for light and dark magic." She said as he performed a few gestures above the orb. Raphtalia was mesmerized by the brilliant colors that the orb emitted. She looked towards Saitama. "Now sit there and allow me to tell your magical affinity." She pointed at a third chair.

Saitama sat down and idly looked around the store. There wasn't anything mundane within the store other than books. Potted plants hung from small chains, shelves lined the walls with books and jars of a multitude of different substances. Cages, both empty and filled, hung from the ceiling or sat on a desk. Saitama was knocked out of his observations when he heard a small cracking sound and a gasp.

"Oh deary me!" The old woman yelped as she went to clear the table they sat at. Saitama noticed the sudden lack of a bright orb, instead, its presence was replaced by tons of small shining shards where the orb once sat. "It must have been getting old! I'm so sorry sir Shield Hero, it seems I cannot tell you your magical affinity." She bowed her head, her hands folded in apology. In all honesty, Saitama really didn't care if he knew magic or not, he doesn't need any extra power anyway.

The woman went to a shelf and picked out several different tomes, each one having some amount of dust covering them. "I can give you these, however." She said, placing the books down on a nearby table. "These are novice grimoires, packed with spells that the young miss can use." Raphtalia grabbed one of the books, glancing inside with a smile.

Before Saitama could thank the woman, she trotted over to another shelf, this one filled with jars and boxes of varying flora and fauna. It looked like a collection of any exotic animal or plant she could find. She pulled out a crate. Its top was open and inside it were layers of soft material, and laying in the middle was an egg, nearly the size of Saitama's own head.

She placed the crate on a table and carefully removed the egg. Now that it was out of the box, Saitama noticed that it was in a rather strange glass container. It looked like an egg placed within a transparent egg. She presented it to Saitama, careful not to drop it.

"While I cannot give you any tomes, I can give you this." She placed it gently in Saitama's arms.

"Uhm... thanks, I guess," Saitama muttered that last part as he looked for a spot to place the egg.

The woman smiled warmly, "It's the least I could do for sir Hero! Now, have a nice day, sir and miss!" She waved them goodbye before stepping into a door at the back of the room.

Saitama stared at the door for a few seconds after the woman disappeared. He slowly walked out the front door. "Let's get going." He said to Raphtalia who was reading one of the tomes.

"Of course, Master Saitama." Saitama tried to hold his tongue about her calling him master. He had learned long ago that Raphtalia was as adamant on calling him master as Genos was.

On the outskirts of the capital, they walked side by side, both examining the books they had received. Raphtalia glazing over a magical grimoire and Saitama eyeing the first character on the first page of the medicinal book he had received.

"Hey, Raphtalia. Can you read?" He asked, just barely glancing at Raphtalia, still focused on the single character.

"As long as it's not too difficult, yes..." Raphtalia replied, her answer not being particularly good. "I take it that since Master Saitama has just been summoned here, that you do not know how to read either?" Saitama broke his focus, nodding at Raphtalia and putting the book back into his bag.

Instead of being in dismay because of their unfortunate circumstances, Raphtalia beamed. "Then I will learn it together with you!" She proclaimed her smile wide. Saitama may have stopped thinking about it, but Raphtalia hasn't. Now, she realized, is proof that people are thankful for their actions. People are looking at them better because they've saved Lute village.

Saitama shrugged and they kept moving forward. During a small week of travel, they came across evidence of monster attacks, kind folk in a multitude of places, even papers that can help them read better, although, Raphtalia seems to be the only one that is becoming truly literate.

Throughout their travels, Saitama had an odd sense of relief. Everywhere he went back home he was either ignored, sneered at, or squinted at. Either a nobody, the guy that destroyed someone's home, or a midday strobe light. Here he was met with kind gestures and modest greetings, but the squinting was still there. He felt relieved that, for what feels like the first time, his deeds have been noticed and he's being seen favorably for them.

He's so used to just not having his accomplishments noticed, or being yelled at because of them that not having it happen for once feels like a breath of fresh air.

"Master!" Saitama rose his head from the toddler alphabet cards he fell asleep reading. "Master!" He turned to look at Raphtalia, an alarmed, yet not disturbed look on her face. "Look at the egg! It's..." Saitama turned his head again, this time looking at the egg they had been carefully carrying with them. "It's hatching!"

The egg was cracked along its middle, a series of chips stretching across the egg. Its container was open, Raphtalia wanting to make sure it didn't bake alive while they slept. More cracks formed on the egg, bits of the shell starting to crumble off, and in a split second, the shell exploded.

"Chiiiiiirp!" They heard the newly born chick cry before it swiftly jumped onto Saitama's lap.

Saitama stared down at the bird, trying to think of what to do as it made a nest out of the papers on his lap. "Sure is lively." He idly remarked. 'And to think I was gonna cook it.' Saitama thought as he remembered the first night they had it and Raphtalia had to explain why he shouldn't crack it open over a fire.

It wasn't a very compelling argument, but he found a monster with much more meat to take the egg's place.

"Reminds me of chickens," Saitama noted idly as he looked down at the chubby, white-feathered bird. "What kind is it though?" Saitama asked, not caring if he got an answer or not.

Raphtalia inspected the bird. A small glint in her eyes shined as she came up with an answer. "I think it's a Filolial." Upon seeing Saitama's extra blank stare she elaborated, "They're those big birds we've seen pulling carts around." Saitama nodded in response and returned his eyes to the bird.

'We need to learn to read, gather more supplies, maybe make more medicine, and now keep this bird alive.' Saitama listed in his head. Noting that the few seeds he had picked up wouldn't last long if the way the bird gorged on them was any indicator. They would need to go back out into the forest to forage whatever they could get their hands on and get more XP.

Saitama stood up, gently placing the bird down on the desk he sat at, "Well, let's get going."

________________________________________________________________________________

"So this is the place?" Ren asked no one in particular. He scrutinized the inn where the incident had happened. He looked around himself to make sure none of his party members were following him, he didn't want them getting in the way of his investigation as he had learned their particular disgust and distaste when it comes down to Saitama.

Fortunately, he decided to do this at night meaning his party members were asleep and anyone who could care was inside and drunk. This was cemented the moment he stepped in and saw a trio of soldiers with their arms hooked around each other and mugs of ale in their hands stupidly try to sing some song he couldn't understand.

Ignoring the sight that had most patrons staring he walked towards the counter where who he assumed was the innkeeper too stared at the trio. Ren got his attention by knocking on the counter once, the innkeeper snapping to look at him in response.

"I'd like a room." He said, placing down a small number of coppers in between them. He watched as the innkeeper reached behind for a board with keys hanging on it. "Preferably one closer to the door," Ren said.

He remembered the description of the night. Two rooms, Saitama's was closest to the exit and the one next to it was Myne's. Unlocking the door, he had expected to see the room in disarray. He was proved wrong, however, when he peered inside to see a standard room. A little dusty, but overall it's capable of housing someone.

Locking the door behind him and making sure the window was closed, Ren made sure that the room was in total darkness. Once it was he started his investigation.

"Solar Blade!" He shouted, his sword shifting in his hand to form a different sword. "Light up." The moment he uttered that, his sword began to glow a deep violet, strong enough to illuminate nearly the entire room.

It was a long shot to try to prove Saitama's innocence like this, but he doesn't have many leads. Slowly looking about the room, his blade held high, he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary.

At this moment, Ren Amaki was searching the room for any signs of bodily fluid. The blade he has equipped allows him to shine UltraViolet light at a radial distance of a meter. If there was anything, it'd light up.

Ren pursed his lips. At least, he thinks so. He doesn't exactly know if, at some point, stains like the ones he's looking for just completely go away. Finishing that thought and seeing nothing light up, he deactivated the ability and made his way to the next room. Myne's room.

Ren looked at the door's lock, then looked to see if anyone was watching. He looked at the lock and then to the key he had in his hand. 'Might as well try it.' He thought as he jabbed the key into the keyhole. He was pleasantly surprised to hear it click in response to him turning the key. It seems that this inn's keys work with every door. He paused, 'That's not a comforting realization.', before walking inside and repeating the same process.

He exited the inn empty-handed. While he found no evidence of the nefarious act occurring, his lack of knowledge and the time that had passed since the incident made it difficult to rule out any possibilities. He glared forward, at nothing in particular, and made his way to sit down on a nearby bench.

Still in the cover of the dark night, he sat there and thought about the incident and the evidence. They supposedly found Myne's undergarments in Saitama's room. It's not like he can get his hands on that for the investigation. Mulling it over, his mind eventually landed on Saitama. His eyes widened, 'Didn't he supposedly buy armor? Chainmail I think it was.' He thought a bit harder. That chainmail felt oddly familiar. Then it hit. 'Wasn't Motoyasu wearing chainmail?'

He remembered the playboy adorned in the deep gray of, what he hadn't noticed at the time, chainmail. Ren had gone to the blacksmith alongside Motoyasu. He remembered watching Motoyasu blow nearly all his money on his compatriots before leaving. He couldn't have bought chainmail. 'It's just a guess, but... that could mean that Motoyasu was wearing Saitama's chainmail. Didn't Myne say that she gave that to him?' He thought. It fell in together well, but his idea could be knocked out by her simply buying one for him. Ren stood up and looked towards his next lead, the only person that he thinks can make or break this theory.

'I guess it's time to visit that bald old man.' Indeed it was. It was time to question the blacksmith.

________________________________________________________________________________

A dull buzzing echoed through his head as he glared down at the barely breathing mush on the floor. It was bloody with whatever green liquid flowed through its veins, it was torn and burnt, flesh parted and flesh singed into dust. It was staring at the ceiling with its one remaining eye.

At the same time, Genos wasn't fairing much better. His arm was lying across the control room, the right side of his was torn off, revealing the hard metal alloys beneath. Genos hobbled closer to the still living pile of flesh that was once pirate captain Kiermot, his foot being cut off by the alien.

He raised his palm towards Kiermot as the captain breathed loudly and deeply. "How bold we were to even think we could take on Dark Matter." He gasped, obviously being in immense pain by simply talking. "And here we are, fallen to the hands of a single biped." Kiermot fixed his eye onto Genos.

"You fought well, even if you're not of Dark Matter's crew. It was an honor to fight you."

Genos discharged a single shot, incinerating the remains of captain Kiermot, and the last member of the pirate crew Sun Spire.

The moment Genos clarified that Kiermot was dead, he let out a breath. The fight was hard-fought, and while he was the winner, it didn't mean he came out without a scratch. Genos hobbled over to his discarded parts, collecting them both before looking for a place to launch out of the ship towards his pod.

He eventually settled on blasting a hole through the glass of the control room and flying back to his pod. He took his time and slowly made his way towards the pod, arriving and activating the repair module.

He closed the pod and allowed the many metal arms to take and reattach his broken parts, alongside repairing any other damage. While it had been a long time since he felt pain-in which he still hasn't-he could still feel the weight of his body grow as he slowly got tired.

He had to recharge soon. Peering through a window, Genos' eyes were immediately assaulted by sunlight. It appeared he was in an ideal place for the solar panels to gather energy. Genos laid back and allowed wires to be inserted into his body as he felt jolts of energy flow through him. Just as the process was about to put him to rest, as is required for a full charge, Genos saw a dim figure making its way towards the debris field that was once a fleet.

Then his mind went blank.