Author's Note: I found 'Rising of the Shield Hero' by reading the manga but watched the anime when it was made so most of my knowledge of the world comes from the anime. I've had this idea in mind for a while but I finally found the will to type it to screen. I have no idea's on where I would continue this so I'm listing it as a one-shot.

Special thanks to "Xgenje" from "Tendrael's Domain" Discord server for proofreading this. :D

Karma in Retrograde

by Shieldbro & proofread by Xgenje.

[ONESHOT]

Outside the sun is shining bright providing warmth & illumination inside her quarters as Princess Malty finished the last contents of her meal delivered by the servants of the castle. A content stomach allowed her to focus her mind on more important matters such as finalizing the preparations with the Church of the Three Heroes.

As today is no ordinary day, today is the day where the priests will begin the ceremony that will summon forth the heroes who will wield the four holy weapons needed to end the waves.

The Church offered their support in backing her as the next Queen over her foolish younger sister who holds their mother's favor. Everything comes with a price & the deal with the Church was no exception even if it came as a suprise to Princess Malty as they saw the situation for what it was, something her father was blind to.

With the waves having returned to the land once again, the peasants fearing for their safety were starting to question the Church's gospel asking oh so innocent questions like 'Aren't 4 Heroes better than 3?' & 'Sure, the Shield Hero cannot attack but it's a Holy Weapon shouldn't that be more than enough to divert monsters away from our villages?'.

All the while completely unaware of how dangerous their thoughts were.

In order to prevent more of their members from leaving due to traitorous whispers the Church needed a enemy to unite the people against. Who better than the Shield Hero? The very figure the peasents were starting to speak in favor of. All in all the deal with the Church was a win-win in the eyes of Princess Malty; they needed a enemy to unite against & she received the support needed for the crown.

Looking back at past Heroes of the Shield having fought for the benefit of Demi-Humans. It should come at no suprise to assume the next Shield Hero will continue the trend of frolicking with such filth. Quite frankly if one chooses to willingly consort with disgusting beings like Demi-Humans then they shouldn't be suprised when civilized society brands them a heretic. After all only filth is destined to be with filth.

The Church will have their enemy to rally against while Princess Malty will be looked upon with sympathy by the masses. Which if all goes well; should make Mother's intention to pass the crown to her younger sister difficult.

And all Malty has to do to get the ball rolling is to frame the Shield Hero as a savage brute who is unable to keep himself off the Princess. Confident in the outcome Malty brought her mind back to comparing which location would be the most ideal for the soon-to-be tragedy to happen.

Satisfied Malty pivoted herself towards to the window overlooking the courtyard where the newly summoned heros will soon pass through on their way to meet the her father the King.

Yes, all was well in Melromarc.

It only took a few moments before Malty noticed something was wrong the sun was getting brighter. Leaning herself against the window she stood up to adjust the curtains panic set in as it suddenly became too bright to see. And then the window she was using to prop herself up with gave way. Desperate Malty blindly reached out in the hopes of avoiding a messy end on the grounds of the courtyard.

When as quick as it all happened everything stopped, opening her eyes she couldn't see a damn thing. While Malty was gaining her bearings she missed the convsersation that happened in the room.

Malty was still in the process of blinking her eyes waiting for them to finish adjusting to the contrast of the room. When she felt a hand on her shoulder causing Malty to furiously spin around to give whoever attacked her a piece of her mind.

"How dare you touch me! Do you know who I -"

However her anger soon became confusion when the tall blond haired male with orange eyes that were enjoying her figure hastily retreated his arm & spoke the words that stumped her.

"Uh, miss? The priests want us to follow them, names Motoyasu" ending his words with a nervous chuckle.

Turning her head Malty took in the other occupants inside the room assessing their states or more specifically what they were holding in their hands. Two boy's one with fair hair & one with dark hair looking at her, in their hands they were holding a bow & sword respectively. Along with a few priests standing near the door exiting the room glancing at her & muttering to eachother. Turning her eyes back to Motoyasu she saw he was holding a spear in his hand.

Malty's blood went cold as dread rapidly pooled in her stomach as she slowy gazed down at her arm which was currently being weighed down by something attached to it.

A Shield.

"Oh, no."

END.