Again, I apologize for how infrequently this fic gets updated. I'm handling multiple other things – writing an unrelated separate fic (my next x-rated fic for my AO3 account), translating novels I find on Pixiv, binge-reading Hero Academia fics on AO3, and playing two different games. As a result, I'll usually only get a paragraph or two written per day, if that; on really "bad" days I might only get one sentence done. Sorry to say, progress is going to be slow like this for a while…

SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS

PLEASE READ & REVIEW

PLEASE CAMPAIGN FOR THE TROPE PAGE'S DELETION

-CHAPTER START-

Realm RSH-12

The next day, the four Cardinal Heroes were called to the castle to receive monetary rewards for their services against the latest Wave of Catastrophe. When King Aultcray gave Naofumi only 1/8th that of what he gave the other three, however, Ren and Itsuki spoke up about how this was unfair, how Naofumi and his teammates had valiantly defended Lute Village from the Wave's monsters. Then, in full view of the astonished nobles and fuming king, Ren had given Naofumi a solid third of his earnings, and then Itsuki followed suit with a fourth of his.

Afterwards, as Team Jedi was preparing to leave the capital, Naofumi felt guided by the Force, leading him to the slave-market tent where he'd met Raphtalia. Catching up with the ringmaster-like slave trader, he took part in the man's "monster egg lottery", the Force guiding him to pick out one egg in particular. In addition, a couple of shops they visited were run by relatives of people Team Jedi had saved at Lute Village during the wave, leading to the team being gifted a couple of tomes on medicinal plants and magical theory, as well as a magical affinity examination; Naofumi, even without the Shield Spirit's influence, had an affinity for healing and support magic, while Raphtalia was attuned to both Light- and Darkness-type magic and was recommended to try learning Illusion spells.

The team made their way back to Lute Village, staying the night at the inn. The next morning, in the room where Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Chantez were staying, the two girls were awakened by Naofumi's hushed calls. They quietly hurried over to his side, just in time to see the egg shaking as cracks formed in its shell. Then, a few moments later, the egg shattered in all directions, revealing an adorable pudgy bird, slightly bigger than a pigeon, with big expressive blue eyes and light-pink feathers. The newborn filolial chirped happily and fluttered up to perch on top of Naofumi's head, letting out pleased coos as she got comfortable.

Chantez couldn't help but giggle. "I think she thinks you're her daddy."

-Break-

Over the next two days, food and lots of level-grinding saw "Filo" (Naofumi wasn't too creative with names) age and grow at a mind-boggling pace, rapidly maturing into a bird with an ostrich-like build with size to match. They also discovered that in her new form, Filo was A) more than capable of carrying Naofumi on her back, and B) an extremely fast runner, even with a full-grown passenger.

On the third day, Naofumi and Raphtalia were tending to and spending time with Filo in the inn's stable when they suddenly sensed a great deal of discord from the town square – lots of people really confused and upset about something all at once, all in one place, very noticeable to a Force-sensitive.

Bringing Filo and meeting up with the other four, they headed for the town square, where they found nearly every adult villager… along with a squad of Melromarc knights, and standing atop the small wooden stage in the center of the town square were Motoyasu and Princess Malty, the latter unfurling a scroll with a royal decree.

"By royal order," she proclaimed, "Motoyasu-sama is now acting lord of this territory! In order to assist in reconstruction in the wake of the recent Wave, a tax shall be implemented – 50 Silver to enter or leave the village!"

Immediately, the villagers began complaining and protesting at this outrageous decree.

"That's absurd!"

"We won't be able to eat!"

"That's more than I make in half a year!"

"You people have no idea how things work around these parts, do you?" Naofumi spoke up, getting everyone's attention.

"Shield Hero?!" Malty scowled. "What are you doing here?!"

"Resting, training, and raising my new filolial. Motoyasu! Do you know how much it costs to stay at the inn here?"

"Huh?" the blond Spear Hero was caught off-guard. "U-Um…"

Naofumi held up two fingers. "Two silvers for an overnight stay, with meals included. You're asking to charge people 25 times the cost of an overnight stay at the inn just to enter or leave the village. This isn't the capital; people here cannot possibly afford that! Nobody would be able to do any business, and traders & merchants won't be able to bring food in. Eventually, this whole village would run out of food, starve and die!"

The villagers all chimed in to affirm what their Shield Hero was saying, calling the interlopers out on their ludicrously unreasonable demands. In response, the frowning Malty raised her arm high, and the capital soldiers all drew their weapons on the terrified and helpless villagers. The Jedi all drew their lightsabers, but before they could ignite the weapons and before Malty could lower her arm, a handful of cloaked figures suddenly appeared in front of the evil princess – men and women with hooded cloaks, wearing masks that covered their eyes and noses.

"Halt, Princess" the lead woman said. "I trust you know who we are. This is for you…"

The masked woman pulled out a message scroll and handed it to Malty, who opened and read it. As she read, her hands began to shake. Finally, with a growl she tossed the scroll aside.

"Soldiers, stand down!" she ordered. "Shield Hero! If you're so keen on advocating for this village, then you and Motoyasu-sama shall race to decide its future! Three laps aboard your mounts around the village perimeter!"

Amidst the stunned murmurs from the villagers and soldiers, Motoyasu sauntered over to Naofumi's group, a smug smirk on his chiseled face.

"You really think you can beat me?" he taunted. "I've got a land-dragon for a mount! There's no way some giant pink ostrich-thing will a stand a cha-"

What Motoyasu didn't know was that Filo, despite being a giant bird, was fully sapient (albeit "only" with the intelligence level of a human child), and she very much took offense to this guy insulting her and her human. And so, the moment he got too close, she lashed out with a rising kick right to the family jewels, so strong that it literally sent Motoyasu airborne, arcing through the air to crash into a cart full of hay near a very stunned Malty and a couple of soldiers.

-Break-

After Motoyasu was treated with some healing magic, the two Heroes took position at the starting lines on their mounts. Motoyasu's land dragon, looking like a muscled, featherless dromaeosaur, was focused and virtually expressionless, while Filo looked fiercely determined, shooting side-eye glares at the dragon and its rider.

As the signal was given, both mounts shot forward like rockets, kicking up dust as they tore down the track. It was neck and neck for a few moments, but then Filo started pulling ahead. Near one of the first turns of the racecourse, however, Naofumi watched in shock as a hole suddenly appeared in the ground! With the Force guiding him and steadying her, he managed to guide Filo to swerve around it without falling, but the brief slowing down let Motoyasu pull ahead. The determined Filolial managed to catch up quickly, though Motoyasu was still in the lead when the first of the race's three laps was completed.

Naofumi and Filo pulled ahead again before long, but suddenly started losing speed. The gem on Naofumi's shield flashed green as after a few seconds it auto-dispelled the Slow spell that somebody had cast on him & Filo, but Motoyasu had pulled ahead again. Filo rallied, pulling ahead by the time they finished the second lap. Approaching the turn with the hole again, Naofumi cast an Erst Shield over the gap, allowing Filo to use the translucent green shield-shaped spell as a springboard, getting them ahead of Motoyasu again.

As the finish line neared, Motoyasu and his mount suddenly sped up, looking like they might win. But then, Filo filled with angry determination and pulled off a burst of speed that got her & Naofumi across the finish line a fraction of a second before Motoyasu. The villagers burst into cheering as their savior came through for them once again.

"This can't be right!" Malty shouted. "The Shield Hero must have cheated!"

As Naofumi dismounted, Filo squawked happily… and then she glowed bright pink for a few seconds as she changed form. When the light faded, Filo was even bigger than before, towering over her human and with a much wider, fluffier appearance.

"…Well. That's new." Naofumi managed to get out.

'S-She's so fluffy!' Raphtalia and Chantez both thought.

"See?! He hid that his bird actually looks like that! T-That's cheating, right?!"

The squad of cloaked shinobi suddenly appeared in Malty's path again.

"No, Princess" the lead said. "That is a natural maturation for the very rare sub-race of Filolial that Sir Shield Hero's faithful mount belongs to; the EXP she gained from victory was enough to advance her to this new form. And as for your accusations of cheating… Well, that's the pot calling the kettle black. We detected multiple usages of magic throughout the race, none of them fitting the types of magic Sir Shield Hero or his party are capable of performing, and all of which are on record as being known by members of your escorting soldiers." The kunoichi allowed herself a small smirk. "And yet despite your cheating attempts to obstruct him, Sir Shield Hero was still victorious. Now, I suggest that you take the Spear Hero and your soldiers and leave, as promised. …Unless, you would perhaps wish to take this matter up with the Queen?"

Malty paled a little, and then snarled in frustration, signaling the soldiers to depart. Motoyasu followed, grumbling and turning back to glare at Naofumi, only to flinch as Filo threateningly raised a taloned foot up, sending the blond oaf scurrying after the others.

"Sir Shield Hero…" the mayor of Lute Village came forward. "I… I don't know if we can ever repay you! If… If there's anything you want, please let us know!"

Naofumi pondered, trying to think. Then, Filo tapped him on the head and gestured over to a large covered wagon parked against a warehouse…

-Break-

The wagon proved large enough to fit all six of them, and Filo did not seem troubled by pulling it along with them all aboard; in fact, she seemed delighted. It was a bit of a bumpy ride, though – dirt roads plus this world not inventing shock absorbers yet… After riding for a while, they stopped and set up camp for the night, with Filo resting her huge, fluffy bulk against Naofumi as they all dozed off…

The next morning, Naofumi woke slowly, sitting up and looking around. The first thing he saw was Raphtalia standing a couple meters in front of him, a look of shock and confusion on her face. Concerned, he looked around for anything amiss… and then, looking down, saw the little girl whose head was in his lap, long flowing blonde hair, and bare-butt naked. As he leapt back in shock, the little girl groaned softly as she awoke, baby-blue eyes opening wide, and as she sat up a pair of pink-tinged white wings spread from her back. Looking up at him, she smiled big and bright.

"Good morning, Master!" she chirped.

"… …Filo?!"

-Break-

A quick analysis, and a check-in with the Slave Merchant and the Blacksmith, deduced that Filo was an extremely rare leader-subtype of Filolial, which granted her enhanced intelligence (compared to normal Filolials at least; Filo was "only" as smart as the average little girl her human-form's apparent age) and transformative abilities. What's more, she had basically imprinted on Naofumi and Raphtalia as her 'parents' (leading to Raphtalia going bright red at the idea/insinuation of her and Naofumi having a child).

Unfortunately, Filo's "clothes" (an old cloak) couldn't survive her transforming into her big bird form, so the Blacksmith sent the team to Melromarc's premier tailor. The tailor, in turn, told them that she would need to make Filo a dress out of "magic thread", which the town's friendly old witch explained was thread interwoven with Filo's mana, using a specific gemstone as a catalyst. And the needed gemstones had become hard to come by lately, for some reason. While they were there, the kindly mage used her crystal ball to determine Filo's elemental conversion affinity – Wind.

For now, the team spent some time on the road, and Naofumi quickly discovered that acting as a courier and transport service got him good money and good will from the people. Thank goodness for the traders' license the people of Lute had also gifted him, exempting him & his party from tolls… One day, they were escorting a wealthy trader when they found their path blocked by an assortment of thuggish-looking men, wielding numerous weapons.

Galen took a peek out the front of the wagon. "…Ready to scare the hell outta some two-cred bandits, General?"

Master Kota smirked. "Always."

The wagon came to a halt, Naofumi hopping out to face the small horde of bandits, looking nonchalant and unconcerned.

"That's far enough" one of the bandits said with a cocky grin. "Word has it that you're transporting a certain tradesman."

"Whose word?" Naofumi asked.

"Not important. Now then, give the guy to us and we'll let you leave with your lives."

"By which you mean you'll take everything we have other than our lives."

"Hey boss," one of the bandits spoke up, "that demihuman chick looks pretty hot. Maybe we can have some 'fun' tonight."

Raphtalia snarled under her breath, standing and pulling her lightsaber hilt from her belt. Master Kota, Knight Marek, Ahsoka, and Chantez came out of the wagon, all of them getting ready to fight. A few of the bandits looked a bit warier, seeing how many more people Naofumi's party consisted of.

"H-Hah!" the apparent head bandit tried to stay tough. "We still have you outnumbered! And, we've got a secret weapon: one of the members of our merry little band has been class-upped!"

A man in a (cheap) kimono showed himself from amidst the bandits, hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword. Ahsoka crossed her arms, unimpressed.

"These thugs aren't even worth using our lightsabers" she remarked.

"I agree" Galen Marek replied, and then lashed out with a Force Push that bowled the entire gang of bandits over. Before the thugs could even react, Filo released a Fast Tornado spell that picked them all up, threw them around in the air a bit, and then dropped them again. Naofumi then switched to his Rope Shield and conjured a long, extra-durable rope that wound around the entire bandit band, restraining them tightly against each other.

"W-What the hell just happened?" one of the bandits muttered, still dizzy.

Soon, a bit of questioning revealed that Team Jedi's tradesman tagalong had been sold out by one of his own business partners, hoping to get a hold of the tradesman's assets after the bandits killed him.

"So, what do we do with these guys?" Naofumi wondered.

"Normally, we'd drop captured bandits off at the nearest garrison," the tradesman replied, "but…"

Naofumi sighed. "The big bad Shield Demon attacked us poor innocent travelers… or something like that?"

The bandit leader grinned. "That's right. As soon as they find out you're the one we tried to rob, they'll not only let us go, they'll probably make you give us everything you have!"

"…No other option, then. We'll have to kill you all."

That made the grins drop off the bandits' faces pretty quick.

"N-Now hold on a second…" one of them stammered.

"I'm betting you guys have killed plenty of people who didn't give you what you wanted or tried to defend themselves. This will be justice. Filo, are you hungry?"

"I'm hungry!" the huge Filolial replied, looming over the bandits. "Meat!"

That got most of the bandits screaming and pleading for their lives. The lead bandit promised they'd give Naofumi's team anything he wanted if he spared them…

Not too much later, Team Jedi was parked at the bandits' camp, watching as the group of defeated, miserable bandits loaded their own possessions and spoils into the team's wagon.

"I can't thank you enough for what you and your comrades have done for me, Sir Shield Hero" the trader said. "If there's any way I can repay you…"

"We don't really have a big need for cash right now" Naofumi remarked.

"Then how about access to my information network? And, I've learned quite a few things in my travels, so maybe there's something I can help teach you…"

-Break-

It turned out that in addition to information about people & events across the kingdom, the tradesman was able to teach Naofumi about how to craft magic gemstones into enchanted accessories. As Naofumi learned about that while also doing his rounds as a traveling medicine man and transport, the tradesman also gave him permission to access one of the mines his company controlled, informing Team Jedi that the gemstones needed to make magic thread could be found there.

When they arrived at the mine, however, they were informed that the cavern containing the gemstones they needed had been occupied by a monster that had survived from a previous Wave, claiming the cave as its den. The entire team entered the cave on high alert, reaching out with their senses. A little ways in, they found an empty treasure chest, along with a metal placard explaining what was supposed to be in it: the seed of a plant originally altered magically in an attempt to solve a famine, only to go horribly out of control and cause great destruction.

"…I hope some poor dumbass didn't take the seed to try and solve another famine," Ahsoka remarked, "or sell it to some villain somewhere."

Naofumi sighed. "Knowing my luck… Let's keep going."

As they headed down the nearby hallway, deeper into the mine, they started hearing murmured threats and bitter remarks in each other's voices… until Master Kota broke the genjutsu afflicting them and revealed a swarm of Demon Bats and Demon Rats, which Filo promptly exterminated with a single mighty Wind spell. Out of habit, Naofumi harvested a few parts from the shredded demon-vermin, and was surprised that the new shield he got was among those that the bound and pouting Shield Spirit would still allow him to access. …Granted, the new shield was weak, with the only notable function being able to work as a megaphone…

Soon, the gang came upon the main chamber of the mine, the walls and ceiling brimming with beautiful pale-blue crystals… and, curled up near the far wall was something that looked like a huge, shaggy lion with a snake for a tail. The nué's snake-tail caught sight of the intruders, and the main head woke up and got to its feet, snarling at them. The beast charged, weaving back & forth to dodge the wave of Light-type Sagitta Magica Ahsoka threw at it. Chantez formed a couple of Shadow Clones that spread out, trying to divide the monster's attention, and then knocked the monster back with a Force Push.

As everyone spread out to observe and engage from multiple angles, the nué leapt at Naofumi, who brought his shield to bear. Slamming its paws down against the shield, the nué snarled as it tried and failed to overpower Naofumi. …And then, its body began to crackle and spark. Filo leapt in with a flying kick to the nué's jaw and then leapt back while dragging Naofumi away by the cape, less than a second before the monster released a powerful current of electricity around its own body. Raphtalia cloaked herself with illusion magic and circled wide. However, the nué somehow reacted to her presence and slammed her away with a strike of its snake-tail.

"It saw her?" Naofumi said, stunned.

"No, it heard her" Galen realized. "This thing's sense of hearing is stronger than ours."

"In that case…" He called up his shield's newest form. "Filo! Shout into this as loud as you can! Everyone else, cover your ears!"

As everyone covered their ears, Naofumi held out his shield arm (while pressing that shoulder against his right ear and using his left hand to cover the left), and Filo screeched into the megaphone. The nué howled and staggered, blood leaking from its ears, and the moment the sound cut off Raphtalia surged forward, lightsaber igniting. As the nué reared back, she drove the yellow blade through its chest, burning through its flesh as the momentum of her charge shoved it back. Filo leapt in and landed a skull-shattering kick that finished the beast off, and it collapsed and went still.

-Break-

After harvesting materials from the dead nué, Naofumi & company mined a few of the magic crystals they needed. They brought these back to the kind old mage, who helped Filo use them to make plenty of magic thread imbued with her mana. They took that thread to the seamstress, who used it to create an adorable white & blue dress for Filo to wear in her human form that would transform with her whenever she assumed her filolial form.

"Well, now that that's over with," Ahsoka remarked as they left the tailor, Filo happily skipping around in her new pretty dress, "what's next?"

Before her teammates could reply, they all noticed a group of people up ahead. Naofumi went on guard as he saw Ren Amaki, the Cardinal Sword Hero, along with his party. Oddly, the other youth wasn't in an aggressive posture; in fact, he seemed subdued in a way – unsure of himself.

"Naofumi, and… Master Kota, was it?" he spoke. "I've been doing some thinking, about things you guys have said, things you've accomplished compared to what we've managed, and I… I think we should talk."

-CHAPTER END-

Next Time: The Sword and the Shield, allied! Now if only the Bow and Spear would get their heads outta their asses…