Once upon a time there was young enthusiastic mage who always believed in the best of everyone and was enthralled with those stories of old, where legendary heroes existed, symbols of peace that protected even the darkest of corners. She'd always hoped she'd meet one one day, that for maybe just once, she could repay those heroes for their unending kindness. For a while, it seemed like life had other plans. That is, until a fateful meeting changed her life forever.

...but not necessarily in the way one would hope.

A few years later, Rino had grown up a little bit more and took up an apprenticeship under the court mage of the King. She thought, if there was anyway she'd get to meet one of her heroes, this was it. So, when she heard the kingdom was summoning not one, but all FOUR of the legendary heroes at once, one might be able to imagine the sheer exhilaration she felt.

But what had truly made her day was when she was told she had been selected as a member for one of the heroes' parties. She'd been told that, if she made an application at the Guild quickly, she'd be allowed to join a hero of her choice. And so, that is where she was now, waiting in line like the other applicants to get an official adventuring form.

However, what she WASN'T expecting was when some blonde-haired spear user came up to her suddenly and started flirting with her.

And by flirting, she meant:

"Hey, you over there! You free? Want to go on a date?"

Never in her life had someone so blatantly showed romantic interest in her. In her mind, this may have been her one shot at romance, and she was sure as heck not gonna screw it up.

Okay, okay, be cool Rino. Be. Cool. You gotta play it off like a joke, you can't show em you're an easy catch. She thought, remembering some of the lines her mother had once told her.

"I don't know...Do I? I wonder…"

Gah, I really hope I didn't take it too far…

That was when Rino's eyes caught hold of the spear slung on the blonde-hair's back.

It looks just like the legendary spear I read about…

"Do you know how to use that?" she asked.

With a smirk on his face, the blondie flung the spear from over his back dramatically, watching as Rino's eyes twinkled when the spear transformed into a new design.

"Woooah...you really ARE the Spear Hero! Cool!" Her mind was spinning a mile a minute, thousands of requests, questions, and excited glee filled her head.

I can't believe it! A hero was flirting with me! This is the greatest day of my life!

Distracted by her thoughts, she barely had time to respond when a red-haired girl threw her out of the way.

"Mr. Motoyasu, the Guild has a request!"

Rino looked up from her readjusted position on the floor at the person that shoved her over.

"Sorry lady, but Mr. Motoyasu has an important job, so you'd better just be on your way."

"Bu...But-"

Rino tried to refute the fact that Motoyasu was the one who wanted to talk with her, but the words wouldn't come out. She cursed herself for being so submissive. She overheard Motoyasu calling her Myne, and telling her to calm down.

"What? You want to be in Mr. Motoyasu's party too?" This time it was a new voice, one belonging to pink haired girl,about the same height as Myne, who looked to be in about her twenties. She wore a bandaged chest piece which kept her midriff exposed, gold metal braces on her forearms, and a long purple skirt with sandals.

Before she could respond to the previous question, yet another voice spoke up to her.

"Mr. Motoyasu's journey is a difficult one. Do you really think you can keep up?"

This time, the voice belonged to a tall, elegant woman with blonde hair, who wore a black tunic that extended into a dress.

All her life Rino had wanted a chance like this, a chance to meet her heroes. She wasn't about to let that blow away in the wind. Even if she wasn't all that strong, she'd do her best to become someone that the Spear Hero could rely on. She'd pull her own weight, even if the going got tough.

"You want to come with us?" Motoyasu asked.

"Yes!" Rino replied, eyes gleaming with determination.

"Cool, let's go then! By the way, what's your name?"

"R...Rino."

"All right, Rino, let's go."

Motoyasu grabbed Rino's hand, and sent her the party invite. It took all of Rino's composure to not combust into a blushing mess on the spot.

...Neither of them saw the way Myne glared at her.

After that, they accepted a group quest to safeguard a caravan as it brought food supplies to a local village suffering from famine. Rino was elated at the idea of going on a mission with one of the heroes. She practically ran to grab her supplies, and to don her green wizard hat and her robes adorned with a big red bow.

As she made her way back to the group, she realized the quest was only happening tomorrow. Her mood deflated somewhat, until she was told they'd be going out and monster hunting for experience. She perked up a little at the idea of that.

"Yaaay!" shouted the women of the group, as they headed out to farm.

They traveled to a local spot, a place where monsters were said to appear frequently. Rino took a stance, and prepared to use her magics. That is, until Motoyasu shouted:

"You girls back down."

Huh?

"Okay! Good luck!" Everyone but Rino replied.

"Huh?"

Rino had been extremely confused at this development. Shouldn't we all be participating? She thought, We're a team aren't we?

"You cute girls aren't suited to these bloody battles. So just hang back and cheer me on!" Motoyasu explained.

That, broke her heart.

"Oh… I…"

She could barely respond. She didn't get it. Why are they so happy to just let him do all the work? She questioned to herself, What's….the point of me being here?

"Wow! You're so cool, Motoyasu!" The others shouted.

Meanwhile, Rino just stood there, confused and downtrodden. She watched as Motoyasu slew beast after magical beast that came his way, all the while watching his other companions cheer him on from afar, or even so much as to complain for food or water.

She didn't get it.
She just didn't understand.

She didn't get it.

When all was said and done, the party packed up, and readied themselves to leave. All the other girls had gotten to mid to late level thirties. But Rino was still stuck at level 20. She didn't get any experience from that mission. Stuck in her confusing thoughts, she barely heard the others speak.

"Once it's dark, let's all meet back at the inn!" Motoyasu exclaimed.

"Okay! We'll be at the spa until then!" Myne fired back.

"Cool. Have fun!"

"Till then."

Rino tried her best to speak up. She didn't really feel like going to a spa. Rather, she wanted to talk to Motoyasu about what happened. She wanted to explain to him how she wanted to help out too, to feel like she was really a part of things. But as always, it seemed words were not on her side.

"Um…" Was all she could get out.

Before she could really do much, Motoyasu was already walking away, and the others had pulled her along with them.

She continued to walk with them for a while until they abruptly came to a full stop. She wondered what was going on, as she saw the three other women ahead of her turn around almost menacingly.

Myne was the first one to speak. "Listen sweetie, I'm afraid we're gonna have to ask you to leave."

For a second, Rino couldn't believe her ears. They're kicking me out? But...what did I do? She wondered panicking. This was all so sudden.

"B-but why?" She questioned.

"Listen here you," The pink-haired one was the one speaking this time, "We got a good thing going here. If Motoyasu only needs us to stay back and cheer, then that's what we'll do. We don't need someone who can't follow orders."

Rino wasn't going to lay down and listen to this.

"But we're a party! It's our job to support him! What kinda useless sack just sits there and lets someone else do all the hard work? What good are we doing just standing there?"

She was getting a bit heated at this point. Something quite unusual for her.

Myne spoke up again. "You don't have to worry your pretty little head over 'what good' we're doing. You heard what Motoyasu said. If he doesn't need us to support him in combat, then we'll just sit back and cheer him on. Besides, shouldn't the 'do-gooding' be left up to the heroes? I mean, that's what they're here for isn't it?"

"What? No! Even heroes need to rely on someone now and again!" Rino tried to refute.

"Oh, I see. So you want to save a hero? You want to have them in your debt? My my, I had you pinned wrong, it seems," Myne fired back.

"Wha...that's not-" The way Myne twisted and reconveyed her words was starting to actually get her angry, no small feat against Rino.

"Oh my, so the little mage wants to own a debt from a hero." This time, the voice belonged the blond haired one.

"And here I thought you were trying to be a hero! It seems you're just as petty as a street urchin," said the pink-haired one.

"You don't even care about do you? You just want to use him to get fame." Myne poked, twisting Rino's words even further.

In front of her, Rino no longer saw people. What she saw instead were more akin to laughing shadows, the type of creature one would think of when they thought of a torturous crowd, of intrusive thoughts and self-loathing. They were all sneering at her misfortune, making her out to be the wrong one. Before she could process what she was doing, Rino threw a punch into Myne's jaw.

…

...She barely had time to process the club before everything faded to black.

...

...
Blurred vision, impaired hearing, Rino was barely able to make out the sentences around her as she was pulled along.

"Yet another one…."

"Heh….Don't know what's good for em…"

" We can use this…"

"...frame her…"

"...assaulted you…"

"...sell her to…"

Rino almost lost consciousness again, the only thing keeping her awake was the sheer terror of the pieces of dialogue she heard. Even in her blurred state of mind, she could piece together that something horrid was coming soon. I have to escape, I have to do SOMETHING, otherwise-! She didn't get to finish that thought however. Her eyes functioning like normal, she took a look around the shop they had just entered. And what she saw filled her with overwhelming dread.

Beasts and demi-humans alike, lined up in cages, some feral, some lethargic, some dead , all kept behind dismal iron bars, with no hope for salvation. It was like a nightmare given form, something that should only exist in the darkest depths of the most foul of minds, not a place, not a BUSINESS.

It was only then Rino came back to the position she found herself in. She was strapped to a chair, unable to move her arms or legs, forced to watch the agony of so many creatures. She looked to her left, only to see her party members talking with a suspicious looking man behind the counter. It was to her utmost horror when she saw the man hand them a bag of coins….and they started to walk away.

She tried to scream, to beg them to come back and take her with them, only to find her mouth was gagged and her begging muffled. But her struggling did catch Myne's attention. She turned back to Rino, and for a split second, Rino thought they'd come back for her, that this was all som elaborate trick or prank. Until she saw Myne's face.

Rino was granted the permission of seeing Myne's innocent and sweet mask fully fade away, to see the true monster the mask hid. She saw the look in her eyes, and she realized there was no salvation coming from them. She peered into the depths of Myne's depravity, and she learned something. There was no "new low" for this woman to step down to. There was no remorse, no guilt in her eyes. There was only an unfeeling monster, a creature that would do anything at all to get what they wanted. To put it simply:

Myne was the furthest thing from "human" any creature could, or ever would be.

Rino jumped when she was suddenly grabbed by the shopkeep, who produced a paint brush and palette, and pulled down the neck of her robes. She feared for her life as she saw the emblem that he started painting upon her chest. She'd only seen it once before, but it was something she would never forget.

In some of her books, the stories detailed that of slaves, and of an emblem that forced them into obedience, no matter how strong the will, no matter how powerful the mind. A secret method only known by few to instill absolute obedience in any living being. No will that could not be broken. No mind that could not be shattered.

As the emblem was completed, Rino watched purple sparks fly out of it, as she was hit with a pain unlike any other. A pain that shook the very being of her person, not physical, but one that impacted the very soul itself, as if it were corralling it into its own prison, never to be free again.

Myne only watched with an elated smile on her face.

Eventually, the pain subsided. And she could finally breathe again. But just as soon as one pain ended, another started. This time, it was the mental trauma that was induced when she noticed herself being dragged away from the group, the pain of seeing them leave her behind, as she got dragged into the shadows.

The kind of pain one might feel to be torn from their loving parents, the kind that appears when the road ahead has lost all its luster, and all that's left is a sickening black abyss of despair.

She was almost violently thrown into an empty metal cage, and as she scrambled to her feet, to iron get closed behind her, leaving her trapped, and utterly alone…

For the first time since she was a little kid filled with dreams, Rino broke down. Tears paraded down her face as she thought of her situation, of the hopelessness she now found herself in. She curled up onto the floor, and cried herself to sleep.

…

Rino woke up to the sounds of pained animal screams, and of two people talking business. She strained herself to listen to the conversation at hand, but her attempts proved fruitless as the sounds of despair around her and the distance between her and them prevented any listening in to be had. She'd just have to sit and wait.

She heard approaching footsteps, and almost like that of a cornered rabbit, she tried to back up as fas into the cage as it would allow her, as if she were trying to squeeze through the bars themselves for her salvations. As they approached, she heard bits of the conversation between what sounded like two men, on presumably the shopkeeper, and one the customer.

"Ah right this way sir, I JUST got a fresh human the other day!" Presumably the shopkeeper said.

The other one just chuckled to himself. "Good. I've been needing a new one to break in."

Rino was absolutely terrified as she watched the tarp covering her cage lift open, to see the two men peering into her cage.

"Ho ho, she's a real cutie" Said the customer.

"Indeed she is. A very fine specimen if I say so myself." the Slavekeeper replied.

"Alright, I'll take her, old man. How much she selling for?"

"Well, seeing as she's in prime condition, I'd say a payment of 25-30 gold is in order"

...No.

"Hah! You drive a hard bargain, but I'll bite. 30 gold pieces. She'd better be as good as you say."

NO.

"I can guarantee she will be."

No, no, NO!

This couldn't be happening. She refused to believe this could be happening. This can't be okay, this can't be LEGAL. Someone's going to save me right? This is the part where the hero bravely intervenes! Where the life of an innocent is saved by a heroic figure?

And yet, as she was dragged out of her cage, she couldn't help but feel the hopelessness of her strip of road running out.

"NO!" Rino shouted, as she struggled to escape their grasp. Sh nearly struggled out when the grasp on her arm tightened like steel.

"Ah… I.. No!" She couldn't free herself no matter how hard she tried.

"You ain't gettin away that easy missy" replied the customer, no, the MONSTER that was buying her, like an object rather than a human.

"AH! OW! Someone! Help me!" She cried out to anyone that might listen. It was a last ditch effort, but it was all she could hope for.

And for a second, it seemed like it worked.

Rino saw Motoyasu through a window just outside. He looked like he had just heard her calls for help. Surely he'll come to my rescue right? He was so sweet before.

It was to her was to her absolute anguish to see him continue to walk away, like he didn't care. Like he heard nothing.

He...he left me.

He…. ignored me.

They don't care.

None of them care.

None of them care.

She tried to shout out once more, to call for his name, but she was silenced immediately.

All she saw for the rest of that day, was the fading sunlight as she was dragged from the window.

...

...

She didn't know how long it had been. She didn't know how many masters she'd gone through. How many times she'd been-...How many times she'd been treated like an object, like she didn't matter. She wasn't "alive" to them. She was a tool. Nothing more, nor less. They didn't see her as human. They treated her like one would treat an unintelligent animal.

Sometimes she still was struck with the remembrance of those awful times. Their filthy hands, the pet names, the insults, their horrid gaze. It was too much for her to bear.

In the corner, one could see the food starting to pile up. It was plain to most anyone she wasn't eating anymore. She didn't care to.

At least if I starve, this pain will finally end.

The slave keeper tried to force her to eat, but even under the effects of the slave curse, she was too adamant on death to care. She was numb to the pain it instilled. She'd felt it hundreds of times now.

She heard footsteps. A new master most likely. It didn't take long for her to conclude she was one of the few humans that were slaves here. And slavers didn't like Demi-humans for much more than torture play-things.

However, what she did pick up was that, rather than the two sets of foot falls she was used to hearing, those of the shopkeeper and his customer, this one sounded like at least four to five. And for a moment, she felt a fear like she hadn't felt in a long while. She feared this was not one, but a group of those monstrous evil fiends who treated slaves like their personal toys. She was afraid she'd be sold to a party, that she'd meet her end in one of the worst ways imaginable.

But as the curtain lifted, she saw the glint of a legendary weapon. And for a moment, her eyes might have lit up.

Until she noticed the shield.

The person that had come to purchase her was none other than the Shield Hero, Naofumi. Behind him, a small, angel looking child, a tanuki demi-human, and a person that wore some kind of festival mascot costume. She could visibly see the slave crests on the first two.

She still faintly remembered that day in the palace, when Myne had declared the Shield Hero had violated her, and demanded he be thrown out.

On that day, Rino could only look at him in disgust. But, even then, she saw the look in his eyes. For all her naivety, Rino still knew how to read people. And Naofumi's eyes told a different story than what Myne said. Back then, she didn't want to believe it. Now? It was the only thing keeping her going.

She'd rather die than to be violated by one of the heroes she used to idolize.

"This is my cheapest slave on sale right now. After being swapped from master to master, she vehemently chooses to not eat anymore. You sure you want this one? She'll probably die in a week or two from malnutrition."

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice said: That's the plan.

"How cheap is she?" Naofumi asked.

"In all honesty, were I not running a business, I'd give her to you for free. Let's call it a single silver and she's yours." The shopkeeper replied.

"Deal."

Once again her cage was opened, and once again, she walked over to her chair, as the slave keeper prepared to draw up a new slave crest. The pain from it barely bothered her anymore.

When the ordeal was done, Naofumi forcibly dragged Rino out by the arm.

"Come on." he said, almost gravelly.

There are no heroes in this world, are there?

As Rino expected the curtains to finally fall on the truly tragic existence that has been her life this past… however long she'd been captive, she was shocked by the bag of coin that was tossed to her.

"Get out of here." Naofumi said, not bothering to turn back and look at her.

For a moment, Rino just stood there. She didn't quite understand what to do. She wasn't sure if this was some sort of trap, or a trick, or a delusion of her hopeless fantasies. And it was likely the last outcome she would have expected.

As for Naofumi, one might wonder why he did such an act. After all, the Shield Hero didn't do things out of the kindness of his heart, right? If you asked some, they might say it was out of pure spite to Malty, his vengeance against her, and his refusal to let her win. Others might say it was because Rino's situation mimicked his own, a naive and trusting person getting backstabbed in the worst ways possible. But if you asked his companions, they'd likely say because of the look in Rino's eyes. The same look he once saw in a certain raccoon eared friend of his. The kind of eyes you get when you're at the end of your mental road, when you've resigned yourself to despair and to death, and have given up on dreams or hopes.

Naofumi had recognized Rino. if there was one thing he had going for him, it was an excellent memory, if clouded by his own judgement from time to time. He remembered seeing her excited on the day "that bitch" came into his life and ruined his. And when he saw the way Raphtalia looked at her, just as forlorn as she looked on that first fateful day, he knew he couldn't let her sit here to rot.

"Did you hear me? I said get out. Now. " His voice commanded a menacing tone, but for once, Rino saw through that. She obeyed immediately, and she ran off, to wherever the wind might take her.

If she had looked back, she might have seen how the demi-human girl grasped him in a hug like no other.

And for a while after that, Rino's life improved. That is of course to say it didn't take a while to rebuild herself, but the Shield Hero had given her a new chance at life, and it was one she was sure not to waste. With the coin she was given, she got herselves new clothes, new weapons, and managed to live off tavern food for long enough to get back into adventuring. But this time, she didn't blatantly trust strangers. She didn't trust anyone. Rather, she didn't even have a group to call her own. In fact, for a while, she just discreetly followed Naofumi around, curious to discover the person he truly was. She still didn't understand why he had saved her.

For a time, she'd just observed how he interacted with his companions. How well he treated that Raccoon woman, and how they almost looked like a family, both of them lecturing the small angel for being mischievous. She saw how the demi-human yearned for his affection, and if she squinted hard enough, his hesistance, his almost fear to return it. And then she truly realized how wrong not just her, but the entire world had been about him.

Maybe there really is a hero after all.

On one rare moment, Rino was granted the delight to see Naofumi's "angel" companion, transform into a giant bird, and saw it spun around and kick Myne through the wood wall of a nearby shop. She had to restrain her hardest to give out her location by throwing out a cheer, and resolved to just doing a fist pump to herself. What made it even better was that once Naofumi and his company had fled the scene, he didn't reprimand the bird for what she did, but rather REWARDED them. And then Myne got billed for the damages. Rino almost chuckled at the scene. Things continued like that for a while. Rino just carefully watching from the shadows.

Once in a while, there had been a close shave fireball or ice strike that had protected Naofumi from an attacking creature. He chalked it up to his companion Rishia, and sometimes thanked her for it. He never really listened when she told him it wasn't her.

The truth was, that somewhere hiding in the bushes or trees, A small green mage had been hidden, silently protecting her hero from afar.

…

…
Rino joined the party.
============================================================================================================

*Green Mage Loli follows at a distance so that she cannot be associated

Hey there friends. To anyone that made it this far into the fic, I wanna thank you personally. I realized while making this it wouldn't get very popular, starring a character that only really appears once in the LN, and is in like 5 frames of the anime. This started off as a bit of a vent fic if I'm being honest. To put it very simply, I don't like sad endings. Especially when they happen to the people that don't deserve it. Yes, sometimes life kicks you down, sometimes everything goes horrid and sometimes you just want to give up on it all. But, call me naive, but I still vehemently believe in karma. If you're a good person, if you treat others well, and with the respect they deserve, eventually the world is going to treat you the way you deserve to be treated. It might not happen instantaneously, it might not even happen for a long, long time, but one day, you'll be happy that you were a good person, and that the people around you that do care can see that.

Alternatively, bad karma always goes around, and bad people will eventually get the justice inflicted upon them that they deserve, be it instant, or be it 10 years later. So don't give up hope just yet, good buds. I'm sure you'll make it through whatever ails you. You just gotta have some time and patience. Love y'all, and I'll see you next time. Oh and, I know there wasn't MUCH Raphumi in this fic compared to my other, but if you wanna talk to me, or to be in a discord group dedicated to Raphumi, here's the link below. And who knows, maybe I'll write a more Raphumi laden sequel if the demand is high enough.

/gHX46ds