Castle Town has changed from what Maple remembered when she was last in town. The numerous priests who had guarded every street corner and preached their sermons were missing. However some things stayed the same like the town guards were still present, watching over the masses of men.

Many of the people were able to recognize her, though there seemed to be a polarizing opinion on how they reacted when they saw her. Some looked at her just how the priests ordained it: their eyes giving the occasional but ghastly glances towards the duo and abomination as they walked by. While Maple had sadly grown to be used to this particular look, Rishia felt more like prey than in the woods when going against the numerous murderous monsters.

However there was also the other side, people who noted the charming girl walking through the streets with her friend and a cute creature. These people were a mix of those who did not know Maple was the Shield Hero, and people that met her when she was working with the best smith in the city.

"Erhard, I'm back!" Maple announced as she walked through the door, "I got someone I want to introduce you to!"

"Maple, welcome back! Give me a moment to get out there." The man yelled from the back of the shop.

The two girls waited till a man covered in scars came out from the back. His face grew a thin smile as he looked towards two of them. "Alright now, this the person? The name's Erhard, yours?"

"R-Rishia Ivyred!" She almost yelled while giving a quick bow, "I-it is a pleasure to meet you sir!"

"Ivyred? I… don't believe someone of nobility should be bowing to me." The smith admitted while scratching the back of his head, "So Maple… where did you pick this one up?"

"She's a friend from that city I was sent to rescue!" Maple announced with a smile.

"Y-yes…" Rishia confirmed while nodding her head, "My father is currently a Lord within Sea Rock County. I am honored to be given the chance to join the Shield Hero. Sh-he has done so much for our city that I cannot even begin to repay!"

The smith pondered over what she had said so far. Far too many people over the years sang praises around Erhard and they rang hollow. This little girl however spoke from the heart and fully believed in what she was saying. It gave a sense of relief for Erhard who has been worried about Maple since she left for her trial. The hero needed more trustworthy people around her. More people than just him.

"It is a pleasure to meet you then Rishia, make sure you take good care of Maple for me will ya?"

The girl's eyes widened to those words, "No no! It's the Shield Hero who has been taking care of me!"

The Smith simply shook his head at her words with a chuckle and turned his attention towards Maple., "Congrats then for the successful mission then. Have you then visited the King to get your next job?"

"Uh, I already kinda met him earlier." Maple admitted while scratching the back of her head, "I actually stopped by to prepare for the next Wave. It's about to hit so we need to be ready for it!"

"It's already that time?" Erhard could hardly believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. It felt like it was just yesterday the previous wave hit, "We need to get some armor for your Champion then, how much longer do we have left?"

"Two days!" Maple announced with a stern seriousness that looked cute to the blacksmith.

"Rishia, was it not?" The smith asked while walking next to her, "I will need to get your sizes and such, what are you planning to work towards?"

"S-Sorcerer sir!" Rishia stammered out with a small panic in her voice.

"Then we should not use too much metal then since those will mess up your spells." Erhard assessed with a nod, "Come to the back, I need to take some measurements."

As the two left, Maple was left in the store front with Syrup. She went over to her usual spot near the side window. She would usually wait here while rhard to make her armor.

Being by herself was not unusual before the Second Trial, however, she had gotten used to Risha company. The silence in the front of the store was getting to her. Being by herself was never really a good thing these days. At least Syrup was willing to let her pet one of its three heads.

After several minutes had passed, a bell on the other side of the room chimed. A familiar, stereotypical japanese highschooler, with a small keychain dangling from his wrist came through the door.

"Oh, Ren." Maple said with a somewhat shaky smile, "Welcome."

"Maple…" His eyes narrowed a little before he shook his head, "So I see you returned from the task. Were you able to kill a few bosses?"

"N-not really. Mainly, uh, Bandits." She answered with a small sweat coming down her brow, "What about you! Why are you here?"

"Because you two blackmailed me into coming back." Ren answered with a small bit of disdain, "Anyways, where is the old man?"

"Oh, he's in the back getting Rishia's measurements!" Maple chirped with a smile, "He will probably be out in a few minutes."

"A few minutes, yeah I can wait that long." The Hero of the Sword claimed while shaking his head.

There was a momentary silence between the two, just taking in the room as it was. Not wanting to have the room go back to the silence from before Maple spoke up, "So, uh, did you get anything cool lately?"

"I guess, if the old man would come out quickly I could share with him some dragon hide." Ren taunted while shaking his head.

"You killed a dragon!" Maple felt her eyes widen at the idea, "How difficult was it!?"

"Not very, which sucks since it might mean the scales will be useless." He claimed while shaking his head, "If it's useless, I hope that Dragon rots for being poor material." The thought seemed to put him in a more sour mood.

"Did you atleast get a good meal out of him?" Maple asked.

"No, why would I eat a monster?" Ren replied with a rather confused look.

"But it was a dragon! It must be delicious!"

"Look, if it's actually edible the locals will have plenty of it." The Hero answered with a sigh, "I only took as much as I could carry, the rest of the corpse is still there."

"I wonder if there will be any left?" Maple said to herself while licking her lips, "I hope it has not withered away yet!"

"Well the corpse is at Mirso Village, if you want to go check it out." He said. It seemed that Maple's thought of gluttony had calmed him down.

It was then that the door to the back opened, with a newly fashioned Rishia and a smiling Erhard. The small girl looked frizzled while quickly going to Maple's side. Maple realized that Risha decided to stand next to her instead of behind her like she would normally.

"So you're back, how did the dragon hunting go?" Erhard asked as he placed himself at the counter.

"I have defeated it. Here is its hide." Ren placed what he was carrying on the counter, "Think you can make anything good out of it?"

"That should be easy enough, but give me a moment." Erhard said while getting out a small pouch, "Here Maple, go get some magical books and potions with your friend."

"Thank you!" Maple answered while quickly grabbing Rishia by the hand, "Come on, we need to get prepared for the wave!"

"Y-yes!" The green haired girl called out while quickly following her out of the door.

"Sorry, Mr. King, but I won't do it." Motoyasu of the Spear answered as he gave a smile, "I've already got a big enough crew for the waves."

"I implore you to reconsider, Hero of the Spear." The King called out from the head of the table, "If my theory is correct we might be able to send some men along with you to fight the waves."

"Father, we will be fine." Malty S Melromarc claimed while flicking her fork in the air, "The Spear is very powerful, so powerful in fact that I can see him defeating the waves all by himself."

The king sighed as he looked the fellow over once more.

Motoyasu was a Cardinal Hero, someone said in legends to have no limit to the amount of power he could hold. However, Heroes have to continuously level up to become strong, just like everyone else in the world. The simple fact was that the Spear Hero was possibly not near that point.

That was at least the gut feeling the King had. Malty was right in that the Hero would likely be unstoppable in the previous wave. From the little he knew of legend, it was rather well known that the Waves would progressively get stronger and stronger. By his eye as a Warrior, Motoyasu was not ready for combat on a large scale.

"Hmm, then at the very least, why not join me after the Wave to clear some of the bandits on the Siltvelt Border." Melromarc suggested while slicing up a steak, "You need some experience fighting with other men, and I think it would be a good thing for you to do."

"Father." Malty said with a slacking look towards the king, "You can stop now. Motoyasu is perfectly capable by himself, you don't need to help us at every move. Motoyasu can protect me, easily."

"Yeah, and I don't think taking care of a few bandits would be good use of my time since we have bigger fish to fry." The Spear answered as he pointed the fork in the King's direction.

There was a small lul at the table after that, the king simply taking a bite of his meal since there was nothing better to do. Though who could blame him for trying to get close to the man who might become his son in law? At this point he has worked longer with the dreadful Shield Hero than even his own Daughter.

"Very well then." The King answered as he whipped his lips with a small cloth, "Malty, have you heard anything from your Mother recently?"

"Why would I have heard anything from her? She's all the way in Faubley right now." The girl answered back with a nice amount of sass.

"Well I wanted to see if she has." The King answered with a smile, "She contacted me and will be coming back here in a month's time. Most nations have finally realized how foolish it is trying to force our hand."

"Really? Please tell me when she comes back!" Motoyasu called out as he gave a light chuckle, "It would be fun meeting the mother of Malty."

"Motoyasu." The girl gave him a glare as if it would kill, to which the guy simply gave a nervous chuckle.

That there was kinda a mood killer. Nothing more was said after that, and soon the two people were asked to be excused from the table as the King himself looked on with a slight hint of dismay.

"Both of them will be back in a Month. I will get to see Melty in a Month…" Aultcary knew no matter how much he wished for it, his wife would never give him any real chance to be with their daughter. Always by her side, he swore it would turn his daughter into more of a handmaiden than any proper ruler!

His Wife did insist that she become the next Queen after all.

After a moment's gumbling Aultcray Melromarc made his way out of the dining hall and towards his throne. Looking towards his sides, he noted how many things seemed to change these last few weeks ever since the heroes were summoned. While before he would be pestered by numerous advisors and men trying to get something passed, nowadays he walks around the Castle alone without even a guard. Part of him of course was thankful for being relieved of this pressure, but another part of him wondered if it was a good thing.

Soon he arrived in his throne room, and as it had been these last few days only the various soldiers were present. Each and every one of them loyal to him thanks to his time as a general during the wars. He soon took his seat, reaching over and picking up a sword that had been resting on the side of his throne.

The Sword of his family, the weapon he once lost in the swamps to the north. As he could no longer use it, he was thinking about handing it to Malty as she is a Champion of a Hero. It is a good blade, the only reason it was lost being that the King was stupid in his youth.

Stupid enough to try and fight off a Monster as his fellow soldiers were running away.

There he sat and waited, seeing if any were to come in and see their king. His eyes looked from one area to another, "Where is my Advisor, Captain Alexandros?"

"I do not know sir, he might be congregating with the Pope as we near time for the Waves."

"Damned it." The King said as he strengthened his grip upon the sword, "Are you aware of anyone to come see me today?"

"No sir, that is… not our responsibility. I am sorry for this oversight!" The Captain said as he quickly gave his King a bow.

"Do you think you can take up that responsibility?" The King fired back.

"I-are you sure I would be allowed sir!?" The Captain sounded almost ecstatic to Aultcray as he was asked.

"Of course, Alexandros. I need someone who is actually here, not some fool who does whatever he wants whenever I need him."

"Well sir, I uh, I take this promotion with gratitude!" He announced before making his way up the staircase, "What is it that you wish to talk about?"

"Anything, Alexandros. You are my advisor, and I trust that you put things in front of me to judge for the day." Aultcray told the fellow as he finally made it up the steps, "What is it you wish to talk about first?"

"I understand." The Captain got himself back into form as he stood before the King, "Sir, your men at arms wishes to be used by the Heroes in the coming Wave!"

The King looked at the fellow, then gave a sigh, "I desire that too, but I have already asked the Spear Hero personally. The Sword has been shedding every Champion has come close him and the bow has not been in the Capital ever since their first day out."

"Then, well then sir…" The Captain scratched the back of his head as he thought to himself if it was wise for his next suggestion.

"Spill it, Alexandros." The King said with his eyes narrowing on the newly minted advisor.

The man took in a breath, "Sir, then as your advisor I suggest you talk to the Shield about it then!"

The King's eyes seemed to flare up for a moment, before they quickly cooled down as he sharply glared at the Captain, "What makes you say that, Captain?"

"It is simply the next logical person to ask. I am sure the men will be fine with this choice, and you can force her by calling the Wave as her third trial!"

The King pondered to himself, judging the weight of those words with the greatest pinch of salt. However he gave a nod as he waved his hand, "Very well, go forth and retrieve the Shield Hero."

"Understood sir!"

And within a moment's notice the room was empty once more. The King looked around for a moment, wondering why he seemed to be relying on the Shield more and more.