Hey guys, and here is the second chapter of the Rising of a True Hero. So, the one thing I had a problem with in the original series is that it only takes one incident for him to snap, and within a few days, his entire personality shifts. I wanted to make him more realized, so that's what I will do. Now, this might get dark, so beware, and Naofumi is going to actually face consequences for being the shield devil and being a "rapist".

I walked outside the castle, and all I saw were dirty looks. Some of the women there looked with disgust at me.

I wanted to explain, but then the memories of what happened in the castle haunted me, and I just walked away.

'How can I trust them? How can they trust me?'

I asked for help, for party members, but none was given.

'Well, of course they aren't going to help you. You've raped an adventurer. Who wants to help out a rapist like you?' The doubting part of me said.

"Shut up!" I told myself in the middle of the marketplace.

Everyone seemed to be more unsettled, and everyone cleared themselves of me.

I tried to tell them that wasn't towards anyone, but no one listened.

Eventually, I walked into an alleyway, mostly aimlessly, when someone spoke.

"Hey, I heard you raped an adventurer, right?"

A man approached me, asking that question. He walked in the same direction I was, and became uncomfortably close to me.

"I didn't."

I responded immediately.

"Sure you didn't." The man laughed, which was hoarse. He was probably old.

"You're lucky that you can experience a woman's body like that. While they're squirming, you beat them and force them to-"

I pinned the guy's neck against the wall, letting my guard down, and focusing my anger only at that man. I looked at him, and it was clear that he was drunk. He was in his 50s, and had a disgusting look on his face.

"Don't you dare think I enjoyed being accused! I didn't do it!"

I ignored everything excluding that man. Tunnel vision enveloped me. In seconds, someone else hit my head.

I looked up, and saw several other men, one holding a broken wine bottle, but they were all drunk, based on how they smelt.

"You get to enjoy a woman screaming like that, while us, we're stuck with men to rape."

'What?! No!'

I tried running away, but my legs and arms gave out, and I couldn't move. Was it fear? Was it because of my guard being down? I didn't know.

The man who was previously being choked by me now pinned my neck to the wall, and took off my clothes, my pants first, before taking off his pants.

I could just look, in fear, stunned. He looked disgusting, and I was appalled. I felt like throwing up.

"Look at me, guys. I'm raping one of the four Cardinal heroes." He slurred some of his words.

He moved to my ear, whispering,

"If you want to escape this alive, beg for it. Beg for your life."

I gritted my teeth, and simply said,

"No, I won't."

I broke his wrist, and punched him squarely in the face, but that didn't stop the other guys from pinning me down. I had let my guard down again right before they pinned me down. They both removed their pants, and it was disgusting seeing them aroused from me.

"A fiesty guy! Let's make him see that he won't ever be that fiesty again!"

They kicked my entire body, making me fall to the ground. I blocked my head from them kicking my head and knocking me out, but I couldn't stop them from removing my clothes, which they took full advantage of. They kicked me over and over again, and I ended up bleeding from my entire body, and took their own clothes off, all while pinning me to the floor of the alleyway.

"Ow! Someone help me!"

I called out. However, no one came. No one bat an eye. Everyone hated me, so why would they?

Somehow, I eventually overwhelmed them, them being drunk after all, and I ran away, nearly naked. However, they got something out of me being there, and I felt like throwing up again.

Putting on my clothes, I felt nothing but rage and pain, in every part of my body. It was hard for me to stand, let alone for me to look strong.

I saw a guard, overseeing the marketplace. He was drinking a bottle of liquor on the job, but some help was better than none.

"Hey, guard!" I looked at him with slight tears in my eyes, lowering my guard. "A couple of old guys just tried to rape me! Can you catch them?!" I shivered while remembering what had just happened to me.

The guard looked up towards me, with his fat body. "Aren't you one of the four Cardinal heroes? The shield Devil?"

I nodded, despite what he called me.

"Wow." The guard started chuckling. Then, he burst into heavy laughter.

I was getting more pissed off by the second. "Hey!" My puberty voice came back. "What's so damn funny?" Tears fell from my eyes, and yet, the guard didn't care.

He wheezed out, "The shield Devil, a rapist, has just been raped, and he's so weak that he can't even fight against drunk, old men when trying to rape him! Now that's hysterical!"

He continued laughing, as I walked away from the guard, getting absolutely nowhere.

'They didn't say anything about raping a man, did they? They think you got what you deserved. No one's going to care about you.'

I bit my tongue, trying to contain my raging sadness. I looked around me. Everyone looked scared as I walked through the market, but I didn't care.

'Everyone here… is scum...'

"Hey, kid with a shield."

I saw the shopkeeper, who looked pissed. He pulled me into an alleyway, just minutes after I had nearly been raped.

"I heard what you did to that girl. I'd outta punch you in the face!"

He tried sounding intimidating, but I didn't fear anything at that point.

I stared at him, with my sadness pouring out.

"Well, get it over with." My eyes became watery once again.

"I'm tired of all these scummy people. At least I know you're one of them. One less person to trust."

I grit my teeth, and closed my eyes to hide my tears, waiting for the punch, but it never came.

He released his grip on me, but I didn't lose sight of him when he released me.

"Where's the punch? I thought you wanted to hit me."

My fists were about to loosen, but I refused to let my guard down again.

'Not again.'

"I've changed my mind."

"Good. Otherwise, I'd have to break your bones."

His gaze softened, but mine didn't.

I tried walking away, but the shop-keeper said,

"Wait a second."

He went into the alleyway to retrieve a cape.

"You'll never make it in this place dressed like that. Wear this."

I looked at it. It was green, like my eyes.

It had to have a catch. No one's that pure.

"How much?"

"Doesn't matter."

I skeptically looked at him.

"But let's call it a clearance sale and pay five coppers."

I put the cloak on, and said, "Okay. I'll pay you back someday."

I didn't thank him for the cloak, as important as it was.

'I can't become close to anyone here. They have to all be scum.'

Despite my lack of trust in him, I set out to earn the money to pay him back.

I killed many monsters, some innocent, some not. My rage blocked any sympathy I had for them previously.

I punched all of them to oblivion, collecting their monster parts. When more appeared, I just destroyed them, like I destroyed the rest of the monster scum.

I laid my monster materials in front of the merchant, after working all night and day collecting, and said,

"Buy these."

He looked at my face, which made him look suspicious. I could already tell he was scum.

"Oh? Orange balloons? 20 in all. How does 1 copper sound?"

My anger was present in my voice as my eyes narrowed, and my trust began to shrink again.

"Didn't you offer that guy one copper for two orange balloons?"

He went off, making some excuse about his business, but I didn't listen.

"Will these things fetch a better price, then?"

I showed under my cape, which revealed the same orange monster that the material came from. I trapped him in my cape, and I strangled him within it.

"I'm not trying to rip you off. All I want is a fair market price."

I was angry, but I wore a shit eating grin regardless.

'If these guys think I'm a monster, let me contribute to that so they get out of my way. No one else will fuck me over.'

"F-Fine! I get it! So get these things off of me!"

I retracted the monster back behind my cape, but I still held him by his collar.

"We have a deal. Instead of trying to fleece me, if you buy from me normally, I'm willing to give you a small discount."

The fear in his eyes burned the air.

"C-Consider it done!"

I couldn't trust anyone, and it showed in my treatment of the merchant.

He gave me about 15 copper pieces, to which I took.

"Also, feel free to tell people about me. Tell them that any trader that messes with me will end up with bite marks all over."

If I couldn't convince them that I wasn't the enemy, I was just going to make them an enemy.

"No need to ask me. I was going to do that."

'At least you're honest about your misgivings.'

"To a long business relationship."

'And to me not getting screwed over.'

The merchant said, "Who are you?"

As I walked away, I said, "I'm the person who will save this world."

It was so cheesy it made me want to kill someone.

All I could think about was getting revenge on Myne and Motoyasu. They were the ones to blame.

After dropping the bronze pieces off at the shopkeeper's shop, I tried sleeping outside in the night.

I couldn't sleep, after what happened today.

'I've lost all my money, my clothes, and my reputation.'

'This was your fault.' Part of me told myself.

'You couldn't control how other people feel.' The lesser part of me told myself.

I couldn't sleep, so I continued walking through the forest, gaining new skills and getting more materials.

When the medicine store opened, I gave him the materials he needed, which gave me money to eat.

The problem was, everything I ate had no flavor, and every food left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth.

'Just like everyone else.'

A group of people asked to join my party, but when I gave them conditions, they refused, and tried haggling me for money.

Of course, with my guard up, none of them could get money, and no one could take advantage of me.

I needed an attacker, someone with strength.

"You don't have help. But I have just what you need."

A man's voice quietly spoke, but I didn't face the person carrying that voice.

"If you are offering me party members, I don't need them."

'Most party members here have either no spine, or can't do a single thing for themselves.'

"Party members? Please. What I'm offering is a service far more reliable."

He walked over to me, and I turned around to face a man, one who looked similar to the men who raped me.

Rage built up in me, but I calmly said,

"What would that be?"

"Interested, yes?" He went within two feet of me, which made me uncomfortable.

"Get away from me."

My rage was present in my voice.

"I love that hatred in your eyes. You're truly the man the rumors said you were." He spoke gleefully.

I was, at first, confused. But then realization set in, and my previous actions to spark fear in people's hearts to make them listen was coming back to bite me.

I shook my head. 'For me, I have to be feared. There is no other way for me.'

"You know who I am?"

The man came even closer to me.

"Of course I do, shield hero. If my offer interests you, please follow me."

The weird thing was, he didn't call me Shield Devil, like a few other people did.

'Who is this guy? What is he selling? Robots? Slaves?'

Without letting my guard down, I followed him into a place that looked similar to a clown house, or a freak show.

As we entered, I asked,

"So, what are you offering me?"

The man chuckled.

"Can't you tell? It's slaves! I'm a slave trading businessman."

I kept a strong face, but my thoughts were a different story.

'You're trading with a slave dealer. Why are you doing this?' The lesser part of me said.

So, I asked the man,

"What makes you think I want a slave?"

"You seemed to be untrusting of others. So, the fact that slaves can't betray their master is what makes me think you want a slave."

My shock presented itself on my face.

He went on to explain the curse that prevented a slave from betraying it's master.

"So, what do you say?" The old slave master said.

"Show me what you have." I felt like throwing up, but I kept it inside my stomach. I felt like my lips were in a thin line, but I tried to keep my emotions in check.

'I need to get one. It's the only way I can get stronger.'

"I knew it. You have the chance to become a wonderful patron of mine."

He led me down a series of cages, and eventually, my gaze settled on a weak looking raccoon girl. She was coughing, chained, and dirty.

She seemed fearful of me, but her eyes showed her pain. Her loss. Her suffering at people close to her, and people not close.

In my mind, I already chose her. She looked the worst off, so she couldn't have been valuable to the slave owner, and that would mean it would be much cheaper. However, I knew I had to wait until the man told me his most expensive slave, because he wanted to see how much I was willing to spend.

I told him, "I need a slave that's cheap and obedient."

"In other words, a demi-human?" He walked away, towards the demi-human section, if that's what I could call it. Owning a slave disgusted me, but so did the people running this country.

"These can't fight or do manual labor."

I genuinely said, "If I need them, I'll train them."

He chuckled. "That's funny, considering you don't trust others."

'Well, a slave won't question my judgement.'

Swallowing my anger, I said, "Slaves aren't people."

I continued to swallow my words as I said them. "Training it is no different than upgrading a shield."

The man laughed, and agreed, which made me feel sick again, but I kept quiet.

'It's easier to be feared than loved.'

He told me what the raccoon girl was. Broken. Battered. Scarred.

In other words, a kindred spirit, one who I could help from experiencing the same things I did.

"I'll take this one." I said to the man, confirming what I told myself.

The girl looked at me in fear, which I was tired of, but also slightly glad of.

'Fear will be needed for both of us to survive.'

Using paint made from my blood, he painted a circle over a tattoo she had on her skin, which made her scream in pain.

I was concerned.

"Hey…"

Then, my emotions cleared, and I thought rationally.

'I can't let someone know that I'm concerned over a slave, of all people.'

Sensing my dread, he said, "Don't worry. It'll be over soon."

He told me what he had told me beforehand.

"She can't defy you."

I paid him the 31 silver, and looked down on my new slave.

"Tell me your name. What's your name?" I said, harshly.

'I can't let my guard down, not even to a slave.'

She meekly said, "Raphtalia."

"Raphtalia, huh?"

I grabbed her arm, and made her stand up.

"Let's go."

She felt light to drag, so I knew that she was underfed, and sick.

'Sorry.' My conscience caught me for the first time that day. 'But… you will have to become a fighter, otherwise, you and I won't live.'

She was weak, and she held no spine, as she let me drag her around.

'But don't worry. If you do your job, I'll reward you. If you don't… I'll be forced to punish you.' I swallowed my spit again, guilt filling me as the weight of my action fell upon me.

'I'm… a slave owner…'

I tightened my grip on her regardless as I dragged the raccoon girl through the night, and to get her ready for the world she'd face because of me, and because of everyone else.

'These people…'

I looked into the sky, which I imagined to be blood red with all the waves. I saw my body, spilling blood, but everyone still kicking my dead body for what it is worth. Their satisfaction.

'Really are cruel.'

And that's the second chapter. With the pandemic, one that some people call Voldemort, others call human malware, I have much more time to edit and publish chapters. Though, I had literally published the first chapter of the story in the same day I had started it. I didn't do as well as I should have. So, I'm going to do a lot better with the story going forward, and make it much more polished by taking more time to make the chapter, and edit the chapter.