Chapter 3: Business

I awoke the next morning to the sound of Raphtalia opening the door and entering the room. She was already dressed in her day clothes, seemingly ready to take on the day. She had a bag in her hands. She didn't seem to notice that I had woken up as she tried to sneak her way through the room toward our bags. I sat up and watched her go through the ingredients pouch in my pack. She glances over at me and as soon as she sees me sitting there watching her, she freezes, like a child who got caught sneaking a late-night snack. "Sorry Naofumi-sama, I woke you, didn't I?" she asks.

"No, no, it's okay... how long have you been up Raphtalia? And why didn't you wake me up too?" She didn't seem tired in the least, so she's probably been awake for a while. I myself was still working my way up to waking up fully. As I rubbed the tiredness from my eyes, I noticed that my surroundings looked a lot more colorful and brighter than I remember. Were my bags always that vibrant shade of brown and green?

"I've been awake for a couple of hours now. And I wanted you to get a lot of rest, you seemed quite exhausted last night." she answered. When I remembered exactly what happened the night before, I felt my face start blushing and getting warm. I had made a fool of myself in front of her. I lay back down and covered my face with my hands. I opened up to her so much. I wonder what the chances of her just forgetting that even happened are. "Want some breakfast? I made some sandwiches from the leftovers from the banquet that the servants let me have." I heard her say as I was groaning about my idiocy.

Huh? She made some food while I was asleep? Thinking about food, I felt my stomach rumble slightly. I didn't eat much food at the actual banquet even though there was such a feast right in front of me, I simply didn't feel interested at the prospect of being near all those people who wished I wasn't there as much as I did, not to mention that it all tasted the same. Regardless, I was rather hungry, even for having just woken up a minute ago. "Sure Raphtalia, thanks."

She smiled at my appreciation and pulled out a pair of sandwiches from the bag she still had. So that's what was in it, which means she was probably going through my ingredients for an extra something to put in them. As I was thinking this, she placed the sandwiches on a nearby plate and indeed pulled out a bit of edible herbs I used to season meats and put them in the food. The seasoning never gave any flavor to me, but Raphtalia always seemed to enjoy the taste so I kept doing it for her.

I got up and moved to sit on the bed. There weren't any chairs in this remarkably empty room. All there was in the room was a small table that we had placed our gear on, and a nightstand by the bed and a single window on the opposite side of the room from the bed. Raphtalia came and sat right next to me on the bed, reminiscent of the night before. She handed me a sandwich and I thanked her as I took it. I looked at it, feeling a little disheartened that it would just taste like the same nothingness that everything else always tasted like.

I took a bite and immediately stopped as shock overcame me. Slowly, I started to chew again. Savoring every moment of it, I felt my eyes start to brim with tears from this simple, unexpected pleasure. Raphtalia was looking at me worriedly. "Is it really that bad?" she asked. She said it jokingly but there was a twinge of regret in her voice. She must have thought I was tearing up because it was awful, she couldn't be more wrong.

I swallow and shake my head at her. "It's not that at all... I can taste it, Raphtalia. I can taste it! And it tastes perfect!" Her ears perk up and she looks at me with relief, but there was clear confusion in her face at what I meant. "I haven't been able taste any food at all since... that day. But now I can, and it's amazing!" I explained.

She took in what I said, and a small lightbulb must have clicked on in her head as she suddenly got very excited and smiling with the widest smile ever. "That's great, Naofumi-sama! Let's eat tons of delicious foods together from now on!" She was so cheerful and happy I couldn't help but smile with her. We talked a bit more about foods to try as we finished our meal.

"Thank you, Raphtalia. That was really nice." I tell her as I get up from the bed. She enthusiastically nodded her agreement as I walked to the only window in the room. It was a pretty awful view, but that wasn't why I looked outside. The sun had risen quite high in the sky, if I had to guess, I'd say it was about an hour or two before noon. Which meant we likely would receive our reward soon.

"Let's pack up and get ready. I don't want to stick around this place any longer than we have to, so we'll be leaving as soon as we get our reward." I inform Raphtalia who gets up and helps me sort out our bags and we put on our armor. All the while talking happily with each other, Raphtalia mostly holding control over the conversation. After seeing her so excited and happy, it put me in a good mood, something that hasn't happened at all since... yeah.

The mood didn't last long as shortly after we were done and were just waiting, we heard a knock on the door. "Sir Shield Hero, the King has summoned all four Heroes to appear before him in the throne room." The mere thought of being in a room with four out of five of my most hated people in this world made me forget instantly of the good morning I had shared with Raphtalia. Let's just get this shit over with.

We silently follow the servant that was sent to fetch us until we reached the throne room where she had bowed and left. I sighed heavily as I mentally prepared myself to try not to assault anyone in the room and opened the large double doors and entered with Raphtalia one step behind me.

"It's about time you got here, we've been waiting on you for forever." Motoyasu jeered at me. Ren simply gave a short nod at me. He was always playing the cool and calculating character. Itsuki barely even acknowledged my existence, merely staring at me coldly. He was excessive with his worship of justice, yet there was no justice when he and the others scorned and harassed me.

Unlike Ren, who only pretended, Itsuki was naturally cold and uncaring to anything I said when I tried and defend myself. Unlike Motoyasu, who was always loud and extreme with his hatred of me, Itsuki acted like I wasn't even worth noticing, he treated me as he would an ant being stepped on. But the worst part of it, he seemed completely unemotional. I've always been very perceptive of when people didn't like me, I could usually tell the exact degree of hatred posed at me. But with Itsuki, it was like looking at a blank sheet of paper. He was unpredictable, which made him worse than the other Heroes.

Ah, Shield has finally arrived, has he?" said the King as he sat lazily on his throne. It was clear to me that the accusation placed on me was controlled by him. He had told that red-headed bitch to simply accuse me of a crime, and she did with great joy. He didn't hide his disgust at my presence even on the first day of being summoned. But I just don't know why he hated me so much.

I walked up so I was standing in a line next to the other Heroes, with Raphtalia a little bit behind and to my side. "Let's start." the King said as he straightened his posture. "Spear Hero, Bow Hero, and Sword Hero. I speak for the whole country as I thank you for working hard to protect us and go on quests to save the people from danger, as well as defeating the monstrous wave. As for Shield, please work harder to be of use." The nerve of this asshole! If it wasn't for me, an entire village would have been wiped off the map and yet you say I'm not doing enough?!

Just as I was about to blow up at him, Raphtalia spoke up next to me. "Your highness?"

"What is it, demi-human?" the trash king replied with a leer.

"What do you mean by quests? We've heard nothing of such things." She asked the question I had not even thought of through my annoyance.

The King wore a very disgusted face, he seemed to hate speaking to Raphtalia for some reason, perhaps even more than me. He spoke with complete disdain. "The adventuring guilds of this world issue quests to adventurers to complete. Upon completion, they receive payment and rank. With higher rank, adventurers are trusted with more difficult quests. All the Heroes other than Shield have been completing quests and are rising quicker than any other adventurer seen in this nation."

Upon hearing such high words, the other Heroes glance at each other while smiling. "Of course, Shield may go apply to the guild if he wishes and take beginner quests." the King finished.

"Not that you could do anything useful in the first place!" Motoyasu called out to me. Man, is he still sore about his embarrassment last night? I noticed the King grin slightly at Motoyasu's insult. Is it just me or does it feel like these two have become very buddy-buddy with each other? I wonder if Motoyasu is in on the whole conspiracy to frame me. No, sadly he seems to just be an idiot who is genuinely convinced I'm a criminal because a pretty girl said so. Damn, it's hard to not just punch him in the face, not that it'd do any damage.

"Now onto the matter of rewards." the King stated, bringing everyone's attention back to him. "The Spear Hero, Motoyasu, is to be rewarded four thousand, four hundred silver for showing bravery and strength against the wave." Motoyasu smiled stupidly as he was handed three sacks, two of which were very large. "The Bow Hero, Itsuki, and the Sword Hero, Ren. Both will be rewarded four thousand silver for their hard work at destroying the wave."

Both Ren and Itsuki glare at Motoyasu as they take two sacks of coins each, clearly displeased that Motoyasu was getting preferential treatment. "As for Shield," the King rolled his eyes as he mentioned me. Why was he just calling me Shield? Was I really not worth even adding 'Hero' to my title? Or has he decided that was my name? You know what. If he's just going to call me by a nickname, I'll do the same for him. I think I'll call him Trash. Heh. It's got a nice ring to it.

"He will receive five hundred silver for participating in the wave, though he did not do much." Trash finished. What? Huh? I just stood there, momentarily stunned, as someone approached me to give me a small sack. Just five hundred? How in the HELL does that make any sense?! Damn him!

"Are you goddamn kidding me?!" I shout as I step forward, pushing the assistant aside who fell on his ass. I glared at Trash. "Five hundred silver for making sure a village didn't get turned into ruins! Unbelievable! If it weren't for me, there would be no village there!" I was shouting at the top of my lungs. In my anger I noticed that Trash was looking a tiny bit scared, that only made me want to berate him more.

"N-Nonsense, Soldiers were dispatched to protect the village and citizens from the monsters. Heroes are supposed to end the wave." he tried to reflect my words, but I wasn't having any of it.

"Oh please, those soldiers that were supposed to protect? Yeah, they did more damage than the actual monsters! Though I know you don't care, they even had the audacity to set fire to a part of the village, simply because I was there. If you don't believe me, go and ask the villagers yourself, they'll tell you the exact same thing! And you guys!" I turn my wrath to the other Heroes.

"You guys saw the village in danger and ignored it completely! Aren't heroes supposed to protect the innocent?! You guys just rushed to where you could collect the most fame! What heroes do that?!" Motoyasu for once was at a loss for words. And for the first time, Itsuki showed some emotion, anger. He was giving me the dirtiest look he could manage, his face growing red from the burning of anger. I knew, because I could tell I looked exactly the same.

"That- That's not true!" Ren said, trying to defend himself. "If we didn't end the wave, more and more monsters would have kept coming and the village would have become overrun, even if all four of us were there." His cool persona was cracking with every word, but he had a point. He didn't seem angry at me right now like the rest of the heroes were, just kind of startled and surprised. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but for now I'll leave him be.

"Y-Yeah!" Motoyasu finally snapped out of his silence. "Besides, it sounds like it went fine for you there, so it was for the best right? It's not like you would've been more help if you had stuck with us." he offered. Even when he wasn't trying to insult, he still insulted.

I looked toward Itsuki, expecting him to say something but he seemed to have regained his composure as he looked as emotionless as usual, though when I looked at him directly in the eyes, I saw a twitch of rage within him. It was probably for the best, he would just go on about justice this, justice that. I wonder how he'd rationalize his justice for leaving innocents to die.

Turning back to Trash. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that your soldiers, instead of sticking around in the village to protect it, they all left to go hang out with the other Heroes and leaving village protection to Raphtalia and I. Again. Do you realize yet that if I were not here, you would have one less village? Hell, I wonder how the villagers would feel if they found out that the only person willing to defend their home was shortchanged so much." I felt dirty for using the villagers as part of way to get more money, but we wouldn't be able to do anything to improve with that little money.

Trash swallowed, trying to collect himself. "Your reward will not change, Shield." Excuse me? After all this, he still won't help me? I couldn't believe this. He wants me to fail this badly? I won't let him keep doing this to me! I will make him suffer, just like he's made me suffer! My vision darkened and all I could think about was all the things I could do to him. I not only wanted to make that absolute trash suffer, I wanted to kill him. My hateful intent must have been perfectly clear because Trash winced and cowered as I started taking steps towards him. I only took two steps before someone grabbed my shoulder. I whipped my head around, ready to punish whoever had tried to stop me.

My mind froze as I saw Raphtalia grasping my shoulder. Her eyes widened in fear at the murderous look on my face. She swallowed slightly and composed herself to put on her trademark warm smile. In the few moments of looking at her, my vision cleared, and my hatred melted away. If I wasn't careful, I could've hurt Raphtalia because of my anger, the fact that I almost just did destroyed any remaining anger in me. I couldn't do anything but stare at her, with her smile that reminded me that she had my back. She gave me a reassuring tightening of her grasp.

"Isn't that fine, Naofumi-sama? There's nothing left for us here in this room, so let's just go." she said, looking directly at me. I sighed and turned to face Trash, a glare returning to my face. Raphtalia was right, there was nothing left in here for us if he wasn't going to budge on giving us more money. But I wasn't going to let him have the final laugh.

"Don't bother me anymore. Next time you want help, well, you have your precious three heroes. Just leave me and Raphtalia alone. We'll help in the wave, but only by helping the innocent people that you clearly care nothing for." I lean over and snatch the sack of silver from the assistant who was still on his ass. He cowered away as my hand got close to him. I silently walk out of the throne room with Raphtalia right beside me. I didn't so much as look back as we walked out of the castle and into the town below.

I would have loved to leave the town behind me entirely, but I had business to take care of. I need to go to the apothecary because I have some medicine to sell and I want to ask if he'll show me some advanced recipes. After that, I want to go see Erhard and try to get Raphtalia a better sword. I think the apothecary is closer, so I'll go there first.

"Welcome! Oh, Shield Hero! I'm glad to see you are well!" the older man who ran this shop greeted me. I always sold my medicines to this guy because he gave me good prices and didn't seem to particularly care if I was the Shield Hero or not. In fact, I don't think he even knew who I was for the first several times I saw him. But this greeting was odd, he was always pretty uncaring about anything other than when I brought in rare herbs. But now he looked very happy to see me.

"Uh, Hey there. Want to do some business?" I ask while holding up my medicine and herb bags and walking toward him. He nodded, still smiling at me. It was kinda creepy if I'm honest. I knew he was a good enough fellow, so I wasn't really worried, but still.

"So, Shield Hero, I hear you protected Riyute during the wave. You have my gratitude. I have family in that village, and they told me that they were alive because of you. So, thank you." Ah, so that was it. He was happy to see me because I saved some of his family. Well that means he might be more willing to help me with what I need. Karma is pretty nice when it's in your favor!

"Well, I got some stuff to sell but I also have a favor to ask." I tell him. He nods and waited for me to continue. "I've become pretty proficient at making these basic medicines, but I was wondering if you could teach me some more advanced recipes. Oh, and now that I think about it, I need to buy new tools as well. Think you can help me out?" He rubs his chin for a few moments, thinking.

"Give me a moment." he says as he walks into a back room. I hear some rustling past the open doorway and after a minute he walks back out and lays out a book and several new looking compounding tools onto the counter. "Alright, how's this sound? I'll give you these brand-new tools for your herbs, I'll pay you for your medicine, and I'll give you this book for free as thanks for saving my family. This book contains several advanced recipes utilizing rarer materials and even a few recipes that don't use herbs."

I pick up the book and flip open to find the thing I really wish wasn't the case. This was becoming a bigger problem the longer I stayed in this world. "So, you see, the problem is that I can't read this worlds language." I say as I shut the book and place it back down. He looks surprised to learn that a Hero couldn't read. I mean, I could, just not this. "Can't you just teach them to me?" I ask, hoping for the best.

He thinks for a moment before answering. "Sorry hero, it's not that simple and I don't have the time to tutor you." He thinks a moment again. "There's not much I can tell you. I'd say either go off the pictures of plants in the book or find a tutor that will teach you the language," he says, ending with a shrug.

Going off pictures of plants alone won't help me when it comes to turning them into medicine. And who is going to want to teach me the language? Erhard maybe? Would he go out of his way for me like that? Something poked me in the shoulder, dragging me out of my thoughts. I turn to see that it was Raphtalia.

"Naofumi-sama, I don't know very much of the Melromarc language, but I do know simple phrases and words, as well as the alphabet. So, I'm sure if we work at it together, we can learn it, together." she said. Hmm, that would make it easier to learn in some ways. If we are learning it together through Raphtalia's rudimentary knowledge, that means we can learn it while travelling. Which would save a lot of time.

"Okay Raphtalia, sure. That seems like a pretty good option. That way we could learn while still being able to be out grinding levels." I agree to her offer. She looks rather happy that I agreed, oddly so. I turn back to the apothecary. "It's a deal." I give him the medicinal herbs I had as well as several healing medicines. In return I got all new tools, a book I couldn't read, and some extra money. He gave me a bit more silver than usual for medicine I sold him but as I was about to say something about it, he simply winked at me. Another thanks for saving his family I suppose. I nod to Raphtalia and we walk out of the store.

"Oh, hold on Shield Hero!" the apothecary called out just as I had opened the door. "There is a magic shop straight north from here, you can't miss it. The old woman that runs it asked me to tell you to go see her If I ran into you." he said. I thank him and walk out of the store for real this time.

"Straight north huh?" I mutter to myself. Erhard's shop is west from here. He didn't give me the distance to the magic shop, but I guess I'll go there first. Luckily it wasn't that far away. We walked north for about 15 minutes before we found ourselves in front of the shop. "Well, he wasn't kidding when he said we couldn't miss it." I say to Raphtalia, getting a small giggle out of her. The shop certainly stood out though. The shop itself was made of a dark purple wood, compared to the generally pale brown wood of almost every other building in this town. I couldn't tell if the wood was painted purple, or if that was the actual color of the wood.

There were also a lot of charms and windchimes on the outside of the store, especially on the door. Opening the door caused a lot of ringing as the windchimes clanged into each other. There was definitely no sneaking into this place. Entering the shop, there was nobody in sight. Didn't the apothecary say this shop was run by an old lady? Glancing around, there was a ton of different things. There were books, cloaks, weapons, and a large assortment of generally mundane items that I could only guess were all enchanted.

"Welcome to my shop!" a voice comes out from the back of the store from behind a curtain. Suddenly it flies open and in the doorway behind it stood a short and somewhat round old lady dressed in stereotypical witch clothing, pointy hat included. "How may I help you youngsters?" she asks as she walks up to the counter, it being a little shorter than other stores to accommodate her stature.

"Uh, I'm the Shield Hero and I was told you wanted to see me." I'm not sure what I expected but none of it was what I was seeing in this weird shop. The old lady glanced down at my shield and then back up to my face and became visibly excited. She wore an expression very similar to the one that the apothecary wore when I first entered his shop.

"Oh, you're the Shield Hero? Fantastic, fantastic! I take it that the lovely lady behind is your comrade?" I nod. "Wonderful, wonderful! I'm so glad you came by. It seems Cyrus kept his word after all!" she laughs to herself. Who's Cyrus? Is that the name of the apothecary? Maybe I should start actually asking people their names. The only shopkeeper I know the name of is Erhard because Raphtalia hated that I always referred to him as 'the weapon shop owner' so she made me ask his name.

"I am very thankful for you helping defend Riyute!" the old lady continued. Ah, this again. I suppose I saved some of her family as well? "You saved my son from monsters! I truly am grateful that at least one of the Heroes did their job." Yep, guessed it. Wait, she's of the opinion that the other Heroes didn't do their job? All of a sudden, I like this old lady a lot more. "Let me show you my gratitude by giving you some things. Do either of you know magic?" Raphtalia and I both shake our heads. The witch smiles again and goes into the back for a moment and returns carrying a crystal ball.

"Well to start learning magic, you need to learn your affinities. We can do that now if you wish. Simply place your hand on the crystal ball." Raphtalia and I look at each other, silently arguing over who was going to be the guinea pig. I lost. I walk up to the counter and place my hand onto the crystal ball and wait. Nothing's happening. Wait, it feels like the crystal ball is almost... pulling something out of my hand. Suddenly the clear ball became clouded with dark and light green clouds.

"As expected of the Shield Hero. Your magic affinities are healing and support. And now for the lovely young miss." she said, gesturing for Raphtalia to step forward and take her turn. She does so with confidence now that I had confirmed nothing nasty happens. Healing and support magic huh? I guess that's not surprising, I'm pretty much a tank class after all. But I am a little disappointed I won't be able to have any offensive magics. "Oh?" I heard the old lady exclaim.

While I was thinking, Raphtalia already had her hand placed upon the ball. Inside the ball there were very thick clouds of white and black, both growing purer with each second. After a few moments the colors were so pure that you couldn't tell they were ever clouds. Half of the crystal ball was the purest white, even glowing a little. The other side had pitch black, so black it almost seemed to suck in any light other than the glow from the white half. It was quite the sight.

"It's quite normal for raccoon-type demi-humans to have an affinity for light and dark magic, but your affinities are the strongest I've seen in a long time, maybe even ever. Sweetie, you sure are special." the old lady finished with a smile. Raphtalia looked back at me looking a little worried about the situation. The witch had said that that Raphtalia's affinities were normal for raccoon demi-humans, but to me she looks more like a tanuki perhaps, especially with her ears. Maybe that's why her magic is so powerful? Maybe I'm just imagining things, it's been a while since I've seen what either looks like after all.

"Well with your affinities sorted out, I have another gift for you." the witch said as she walked to a bookshelf and started running her finger across the binding of them. Eventually she had pulled out four books and came back and placed them on the counter in front of us. "These are tomes that will teach you beginner spells for each of your affinities. Oh, and since you're from another world, you might need..." she trailed of and went into the back room, returning quickly with a fifth book. "This." she says as it plops onto the counter as well. "This one is just a normal book, but it explains how magic works and how to use it. "

I open it up and somehow was still disappointed that I still can't read this country's language. "Isn't there an easier way of learning magic than reading all this?" I say in a way to not suggest that I can't read. I'm sure tomes cost a lot of money and she's being kind enough to give them to us for free. I don't want her thoughtfulness to go to waste. I'll have to learn to read this language.

"Well you can use crystal balls like the one we just used, but that's my last one since the castle ordered all the crystal balls any magic shop can spare. They said they were going to be given to the Heroes." of course, they gave the other Heroes easy ways to learn magic but excluded me. And now I must learn magic by reading, but before I can even do that I need to learn how to read! Ugh! I hate that damned king! "I can tell by your expression that you weren't even told about this. I can't say I'm surprised." she said.

"What do you mean by that? Why isn't it surprising?" I ask. What, is she a diviner or something?

"Do you know what the official religion of the country of Melromarc is, child?"

"No."

"It's called the Church of the Three Heroes. I'm sure you can figure out who the three heroes are. In this religion, they view the Shield Hero as the devil incarnate. That's why you are being ostracized here, sadly." the witch said. Naturally, there's and entire religion designed to ruin my life. That's why everyone believed the accusation even though there was no evidence. If I was already considered the devil, would rape be that hard to accept? I sigh to myself as I realize just how screwed I am.

"I see... thanks for the information." I say dejectedly. Raphtalia gave me a sympathetic look. "Well, whatever. Thanks a lot for the books, I'm sure they'll be very useful to us." I say, placing the books into my pack, then waving goodbye as Raphtalia and I exit the shop. The windchimes ringing loudly as the door closed behind us.

I silently walk towards an empty alleyway with Raphtalia looking confused since we were going in the opposite direction of Erhard's shop. After walking a good way into the alley and making sure nobody else was around, I take a deep sigh. "Damnit!" I yell as I slam my fist into a wall. "It was rigged from the start! I never had a chance!" I slam my other fist against the wall. "Why damnit?! Why?! Why did I have to be the Shield Hero?!" Slam. "I thought this would be a second chance! I thought I could live a better life here!" Slam. I felt my face getting increasingly wet as I had started to sob. "I thought I escaped! But I merely traded one hell for another! Damnit!" Slam.

Raphtalia took a step toward me and reached her hand out to try and comfort me but I swatted it away. "Why is this happening?! Why me?! Am I just cursed to never be happy?!" Slam. "How am I supposed to live with the odds stacked so high against me?!" My vision darkened, at this point I was getting uncomfortably comfortable with it happening. But this time there was no anger to be found. There was nothing. I couldn't even feel my own body anymore. I figured if it wasn't anger this time, it'd be sorrow, but that wasn't it either.

All there was, was a single feeling. One that I was already more than familiar with. It was the reason I was here in the first place. But it never did something like this before. But I knew what it felt like; I knew what it was. Hopelessness. Slam. "Damnit! What am I supposed to do now?!" I am hopeless. Is there any redemption for me? Slam. I have no chance at winning this dreadful game. It's impossible. Slam. A message appeared at the corner of my vision, but I couldn't understand it, it contained words, but I couldn't find the meaning of them. Whatever, there was only one meaning I understand right now. I know what I must do now. A new feeling made an appearance, well, it wasn't new. It just reemerged. Anger. Hatred. I had to prove the world wrong. I would have to use my hopelessness as fuel to my hate. I wouldn't let myself fail again. These odds mean nothing if I burn them down. I will burn down anyone or anything that gets in my way. All that I hate will burn. What do I hate? Ah, yes, that's right.

"I hate that trash king! I hate that traitorous bitch! I hate the other Heroes!" Slam. "I hate this shield! I hate this world! I hate the waves!" Slam. "I hate myself! I hate everything!" Slam. "I hate everyone!" Yes, everything will burn. If this world wants to scorn me, I'll annihilate it. I will burn the waves to dust. I won't allow anything or anyone else destroy this world other than me! Slam. Another message appeared in my vision, but I could read this one. "Curse Series Conditions Met: Shield of Rage." A new shield? This message seems similar to the first one, but I can't remember what it said.

"Do you hate me too? Naofumi-sama! Please!" The blackness faded in an instant. I had my fist against a wall that was now chipped. Blood was dripping down the wall. My fists were covered in blood as well. And they hurt, they hurt so much. My flesh was completely torn apart and I think a few of my fingers were broken as well. But the most jarring thing was that Raphtalia was hugging me so tightly I felt like I was about to pop. She was sobbing so intensely that her tears were flowing down her face like a river. Had I caused this? What have I done?

"Naofumi-sama! Please! Don't hate everyone! Don't hate the world! Don't hate me! Please! Please don't abandon me! I don't want you to go! I know the world can be cruel, but we can fight it together! Naofumi-sama!" She was sobbing uncontrollably, her body shaking so much. She was begging me not to go, not to abandon her, not to hate her. I had said that I hated everyone and everything, yet I forgot about the one person who didn't hate me. I forgot about the one person who trusted me. I forgot about the one person I trusted, the one person I cared about. I couldn't hate her, and I sure as hell wouldn't leave her behind.

I embrace her in a hug and hold her tightly. "I'm so sorry Raphtalia. I don't know what came over me." my knuckles ached and complained as I held her close. The pain didn't bother me, in fact it helped me stay grounded, it helped me realize what I had done. "I don't hate you, Raphtalia, I never could. I'm sorry." I thought about the Shield of Rage, I thought about how I wanted to destroy the world. Raphtalia was the only person who truly cared about me, if it wasn't obvious before, it is now. If she doesn't want me to hate the world, if she doesn't want me to hate everyone... I'll try not to. For her. I'll give this world another chance.

I held her while she kept sobbing for a little while longer as I pondered all that happened in the darkness. A new emotion took front stage. It overpowered my hatred, but then it started to work with my anger, fueling it to become a roaring fire. Would I have really tried to destroy the world? I'm glad I have Raphtalia to keep me in check... but I can't even imagine what could happen were I to lose her. I held her close until she had cried all she could, but even then, she wouldn't let the embrace end. By the time she had finally composed herself and wiped her face clear of tears, I had realized what the first message I saw said.

"Curse Series Conditions Met: Shield of Despair."