Jin 2
The Lurolona village was situated in the Seaetto region, which was the best place for any demi-humans in the kingdom. From what the old man told him, the demis were discriminated against heavily. Jin wasn't surprised. Discrimination and superstition were both fundamental parts of human society. Anything that was different in any way was usually singled out and unjustly punished for it's difference. This place was no different. What surprised Jin was the offhand mention of legal slavery. While that didn't necessarily make his blood boil, Jin didn't find it exactly satisfying. On Earth, slavery was abolished for a very good reason after all.
On the upside, this village was one that offered refuge to the demi-humans and it was protected by a royal decree. Go figure, the royals are apparently against the conflict.
Now that he finally arrived at the village itself, he could see Rick's words were true. As they passed through the village and up to a castle not far from the village. As they were nearing the main gate, Jin resorted to ask the question that plagued him.
"Oi, Ol'Rick, why are we going in a castle? There's no way I'm in trouble already."
"Ha! Of course not, I just have to make my report. I'll show you around afterwards." The old man said. They reached the gate, and the guards let Rick through after they exchanged a few words. The old man was well known, apparently. Jin was alright with waiting outside, but the farmer motioned for him to come.
They took the scenic route, Rick taking care to point out all the facilities and give out some pointers. "There's the stables, over there the barracks, that there is the lord's daughter in the training yard again-" Jin nearly choked at that, but he managed to mask it as a cough. "-and here we are, the great hall where lord Seaetto holds meetings and takes care of other official matters."
The old man sure knew a lot about the local lord, his castle and it's workings. It seemed a little suspicious, but for now he'd let it be. It wouldn't hurt to ask though. "Looks like you know a lot about the place. Didn't you mean to say you were a castellan back on the road?"
"Oh, you're a smart little bugger, aren't you" Ricky chuckled.
"I'm taller and stronger than you, shrimp." Jin retorted.
"Shrimp? Who are you calling a shrimp? You kiss your mother with that mouth? She'll spank you like the little kid you a-"
"OH NOW IT'S ON! YOU LITTLE-"
"-excuse me"
"..."
"AAAAAHHH!" Jin dashed away and hid behind the farmer.
"…excuse…me?" A cute, pink haired woman in a light armor looked at the two confusedly.
"…"
"…"
"…sorry, people just don't walk up and talk to me."
"Hah!"
"You shut it old man!" the she-knight yelled suddenly. Both men shivered. "You! Why are you dressed like a farmer again?! And you! Why were you yelling at my father?!"
After a long, mentally exhausting explanation the group of three made their way to the lord Seaetto's office. The now revealed Rickard Seaetto sat in his finely crafted chair, while his daughter and Jin sat opposite to him on chairs for guests. They sat there in a long, drawn out silence. None of them wanted be the one to ask, or in Rickard's case explain first.
"So, your lordliness" Jin smirks smugly after several minutes "mind explaining what was your reason to go running all around the place, dressed like a farmer when you apparently are this bigshot noble?
"It is all part of a plan, obviously."
"Oh, he has a plan now does he?"
"Don't you fucking patronize me!"
"Heh"
"As I was about to say, the Queen is currently away from the country and she left me in charge-"
"That's even worse!"
"-and as there are factions that would rather have my head than see my domain prosper. You remember how I told you about the demi-human situation? Not many lords agree with the royal decree. As a matter of fact, most of them are heavily against demi-humans. With that and a few failed assasination attempts on my person in mind, I had decided it would be prudent to not stay in one place for long. The farmer thing was just a cover. What lord pays mind to every commoner on their lands?" The lord chuckles.
Jin had to admit the idea had merit, but he could think of many better ways to handle the situation.
"…and I found it funny to be just under their noses the whole time."
"Ah, you're that kind of person then." Jin grins and turns to the knight "I'm so, so sorry. I promise to listen if you ever need to talk about it"
The martial artist then shot a mock-disgusted look at the lord. Rickard instead of retorting just smiled and asked his daughter to show the newcomer around the village.
"W-what?"
"Is there anything in the castle that interests you?" Éclair asked Jin with surprising bluntness.
"I mean not really. I'd rather know where I can spend a night and how to earn money here."
Éclair had to stop for a moment at the reply. He didn't have where to sleep, and was here for work? So he wasn't another of her father's attempts at finding her a suitable partner? That was something she didn't expect at all.
"Éclair?"
If it was so, then why would a healthy man such as him move to the only mostly demihuman settlement? To work?
"…Hello? Earth calls Éclair!" a hand waved in front of her eyes. Her head snapped after the hand's owner. Éclair, for the first time, noticed his physical condition. A warrior then. "…yes?"
"Where do I find work in here? Please tell me before you fall asleep again."
The knight blushed at this. "I didn't sleep", she huffs. How disrespectful the man was. Why did her father bring him personally was beyond her. He lacked manners, had no weapons, no armor, and received no training. All his 'skill' likely came from his level, much like the most adventurers and guards. Proper training was hard to get after all. And to top it off, he'd be low leveled too...
"You can sleep at the inn over there. You'll have to ask father about the job though." Éclair says in the end.
It was obvious to Jin the noble's daughter was distracted. She seemed to get lost in her thoughts, and overthinking could be dangerous. He tried to snap her out of it a fair number of times. Sometimes he succeeded, more often he did not. After she finally told him about the inn, Jin realized he wouldn't find out much more about the place. Well, he could always do it later. However it would be rude to just tell the girl off, or to run away and leave her to her own devices. Then, Jin recalled old lord and his words earlier that day.
"And that's the lord's daughter at the training yard again…"
Jin couldn't help but smile. He was much of a musclehead, focused so much on his hobby of punching stuff that he didn't really do much else. This girl seemed to be similar in a sense. Only her passion was swordsmanship.
"Say, Éclair" he begun slowly, drawing out her name.
"W-what is it?"
"I remember your father mentioning your training with a sword. Care to show me a little?"
And that's how they ended up at the yard, both strapped in boiled leather, wooden sword in hand. As they started sparring, the difference was obvious. Éclair was not only on a way higher level, but she was also skilled in the way of sword. The sparring didn't resemble a fight as much as it felt like a chase with Éclair attacking and Jin desperately evading, blocking and taking hits.
That lasted for ten minutes. As they took off their padding, Éclair proclaimed "Just as I thought"
Jin was confused, and didn't hesitate to express it. After a moment of Éclair drinking water from a waterskin, she elaborated.
"It is clear you lack training with swords. Just like all other adventurers you rely on your level. That is a mistake that can easily cost you your life."
Tension spread in the air. What Éclair so bluntly stated could be easily taken as an insult, and the young man didn't talk like a commoner at all. But instead of receiving an earful of an insulted noble brat Éclair heard a loud, amused laugh.
"Oh, I needed that one so much… Say again, what level are you at Éclair?"
"I am currently at level thirty-six."
"I'm sure you are."
"…Are you patronizing me?"
"No. Well, yes. But how can you be level 36?"
"What is this? Are you mocking me?"
"What? No! It's just that I'm at level six!"
Éclair then proceeded to grab Jin's hand and literally drag him to her father. From him she received confirmation on Jin's level, at which she just froze there, standing straight while looking blankly at the wall.
"…you broke her. You broke your own daughter."
"I… I see. Would you help me carry her to the guest room? It's where the closest bed is."
And so the two men took hold of two of Éclair's limbs and carried her to the closest bed available, which was half the castle away. The servants certainly had a rare experience on that day.
At the end of the day, Jin accepted Seaetto's offer to stay at the castle. The lord seemed to take liking to him for some reason, and Jin sure wasn't going to just ignore the benefits it brought. The only thing Jin had to do in return was to protect the village from rabid monsters, like the occasional pack of wild wolves, some of those hellish balloons or even a goblin or two. The little green fucks were the worst. It didn't really matter that he could squash them in one hit when they swarmed him.
It was truly a great deal. Jin received two meals a day, could hunt something for himself when he felt hungry, he had a nice, comfy bed and a quiet room. He also bullied Éclair into training him in swordsmanship. He would apologize later, of course, but she actually enjoyed showing her skills to someone her age. There was the issue of Éclair not taking him seriously, because he 'had no skill with a sword anyway'. So, the very first day of their agreement during the first spar Jin dropped his sword mid-swing and proceeded to perform a textbook takedown on his new instructor. Éclair was curious about this strange, new combat style. They ended up teaching each other their own area of expertise, and while it was for the best, neither one of them would surpass the other in what they taught.
Jin made a point to exercise every morning and evening. When asked about it, he pointed towards his supposedly monstrous stats and stated "That's how I got like this". Soon enough, he was joined by a few guards and Éclair.
Their stats slowly rose over time. Jin's growth was faster thanks to him killing monsters ten levels stronger than he should be able to take on and survive at his level. At the end of the second week, Jin reached level twelve, and his stats nearly reached (and in case of dexterity surpassed) one hundred. The level system somehow pushed the limitations of growth a normal human from his world would have further, and his stats skyrocketed because of that. He had reached another ceiling to stat improvement by exercise, sadly. This still put him, statwise, at level 30. Maybe even little more.
His relations within the Seaetto household didn't stay far behind, with Jin spending half the day with Éclair, the two of them became friends through the pain of training. Éclair would still claim she hated Jin and his guts. One just had to decide if they trusted their ears or their eyes in this case.
"What's the occasion lord Rickard?" Jin asked, for once in a serious manner. The lord had suddenly summoned him in his office with no explanation. It was easy to understand why Jin would be on edge.
"I need to tell you this. But first, sit down, please." The lord then called for a servant. The woman appeared seconds later, bringing a tray of hot tea with her. Rickard Seaetto thanked her. He waved his hand to dismiss her, and spoke only after the woman left.
"This is a matter of utmost importance. The first wave of destruction is going to hit soon."
"Wave of destruction?" Jin asked. The name did sound way too gamelike for his liking. And he was right.
"The Waves of Destruction are a magical phenomenon that appeared a number of times during the history. It is an event where the sky opens and hundreds upon hundreds of monsters fall from it. They destroy everything in their path if not stopped. We have received valuable information that the Waves will start again soon. But while we know when, we do not know where. Because of that I had to spread the kingdom's forces, mainly my own since other lords either deny cooperation or have too little men to lend any to the common cause. That is why you haven't seen, and won't see anyone above Éclair's level here. They are all stationed across the kingdom in hope of lowering the casualties once it starts. The royal guard is in the same position as my own, too. One of the reasons I brought you with me was to protect my own land. It is selfish of me to use you in such a way, but this is my home. I will not apologize as my daughter urged me to. Instead, I will ask you as your friend, not as lord Seaetto, to help me protect what I love. What do you say?"
Jin was silent at this. He didn't really know how to respond to that, and his brain was still processing all the information. In the end he just nodded.
A heartfelt "Thank you" was what the lord said before he hugged the young man.
"Thank you. You will always have a place here. Anything I can help you with, I will."
The lord hid his face as they parted ways. His home was safe.
Rickard was crying tears of joy.
...
Two more days went by and they all embraced the routine. Then, out of blue the sky went red as if somebody bled all over it. Whirls appeared in the sky, and small dots of black fell down from it.
Jin, along with Éclair, Rickard and all the guards made haste to the village itself in order to protect the civilians.
The commoners panicked, but with the help of Seaetto's guards they managed to get moving soon. They were not fast enough to avoid casualties though…
And here you go, the second chapter is out. Many of you have already realized what place did Jin arrive to. Well, you might be right. I'll take any criticism of my work you might have, so bring it on!
As far as the requests from you guys go, I have decided to include some Viking inspired stuff in this story of mine. One of the isekai-ed OCs will be in a Viking-like setting. However I don't feel like messing up the cannon just yet, so the Vikings won't start raiding until later.
I have a request of my own, too. I'd ask you to offer ideas for an OC or an event you want me to include. So if you have absolutely anything you want to see in Rising of the Shield Hero, please let me know.
And now the last thing. The ships. It's all about the ships and about who the best girl is. Is it Raphtalia? Is it Myne? – No, she's not for me, but that's beside the point. What matters is YOU, the audience. So tell me: Who is the Best Girl? Who do you ship with whom? Who do you hate?
Let us all know in the comments below!
See ya'all!
Khai