I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero or any of the characters.

Duel

Fenris dropped the severed head he had brought back with him on the table in front of the potion maker, the woman shouting in surprise and disgust.

"I didn't want the entire head!" she shrieks.

"Well, now you can test out its fangs in some potions too," Fenris said. "Besides, it's easier to bring you the brain this way."

She sighed heavily. "I'm not paying you extra."

"What else is new?" Fenris snorted. "Just cough up the cash so I can go get drunk."

The woman shook her head. "Why I ever do business with you I'll never understand."

"Because I'm the most useful person you know, who's also willing to work for spare change," Fenris said, waving over his shoulder, ignoring her less-than-polite gesture at his back. As he stepped outside, Naomi wrapped her arms around him, Fenris rolling his eyes. "I was in the store for like one minute."

"But I missed you!" Naomi said.

"I'm pretty sure you'd miss me if you blinked," Fenris said, prying her arms off of himself and walking away.

"Oh, I do!" Naomi said. "We need to do it more often so I stop missing you. You can even walk around with your fingers in me if you want!"

"Why on Earth would I want that?" Fenris asked.

"Because it'd be fun!" Naomi beamed up at him as they walked.

"Yeah, for you," Fenris said. "What would I get out of it?"

"You love fingering me!" Naomi accused.

"No, you love me fingering you," Fenris corrected.

"Guilty," Naomi shrugged. "So Eileen, are you ever going to take your turn?"

"I have absolutely no interest in doing anything with Fenris," Eileen said, crossing her arms. "I despise him."

"And yet, you willingly travel with me," Fenris countered. "It's alright, Eileen. I'll let you have some fun someday."

Eileen barely resisted attacking him. Instead, they all stepped around a corner and stopped, watching as people streamed into the castle. Without a word of discussion, they joined the throng of people, entering the castle and following the crowd through the hallways and doorways until they reached a courtyard with a sand floor, like an arena.

"The duel between the Spear Hero and the Shield Hero will now begin!" someone announced.

"What!?" Fenris gaped. "What the fuck is going on?"

"You didn't hear?" someone asked as the announce was explaining the rules of a duel, meaning one side had to be defeated or surrender. "The Shield Hero has a Demi-Human as a slave."

"So?" Fenris asked. "Slavery's legal. Besides, I met them, and that Demi-Human isn't with him because of some curse. She's there because she wants to be. He risked his own life for her."

"Wait, are we talking about the same Shield Hero?" the guy asked. "The same one that tried to rape Princess Malty as soon as he was named Shield Hero?"

"Tried to..." Fenris trailed off, staring at the person. "What does Malty look like?"

"Uh...beautiful, red hair, travels as one of the Spear Hero's companions, against her father's wishes," the man said.

"I thought so," Fenris nodded. "Yeah, she's completely full of shit."

The man stared at Fenris, but Fenris ignored him, walking past him to the railing, Naomi and Eileen leaning on the railing on either side of him.

"So, the Shield Hero's actually going to be punished now?" Eileen asked.

"Yeah," Fenris nodded. "For crimes he definitely never committed. As I said, we've met him. He's a good person, even though he likes to hide it. Oh, and he's going to absolutely slaughter Motoyasu in this fight."

Both Heroes stepped into the arena just as a pair of arms wrapped around Fenris from behind, Fenris smiling as he recognized the forearm sleeves.

"Hello Sophia," Fenris smiled. "Come to watch the Shield Hero beat the ever-living shit out of your boss?"

"The Shield Hero is a criminal," Sophia said.

"The Shield Hero was wrongly accused," Fenris corrected. "He's not that kind of person. During the last wave, he protected a small village free of charge, and did so by drawing the attention of all of the monsters, allowing the villagers to escape."

"How do you know?" Sophia asked.

"Because I was there," Fenris said. "The Shield Hero saved my life. And Nearly gave his own defending the village."

Sophia was silent, resting her chin on his shoulder as they watched the fight. True to Fenris's prediction, Naofumi was absolutely demolishing Motoyasu. Not because he was stronger. In fact he was many, many level lower than Motoyasu. However, He was more creative, and had more abilities, due to the number of shields he had collected. He also had four Balloons, low class monsters, to use as weapons, allowing him to cause Motoyasu intense amounts of pain, even if not a lot of damage. Naofumi sent a transparent shield-shaped barrier called an Airstrike Shield, slamming into Motoyasu's gut before encasing him in a sphere of shields all chained together, also trapping several Balloons inside. From the outside, they could hear Motoyasu screaming in pain.

"Wow," Sophia said. "He's really good. He might actually win."

"There's an old folktale about a spear wielder and a shield user fighting," Fenris said. "Neither had ever lost a fight in their lives. Everyone thought the spear would beat the shield, but in truth, the spear lost. The spear wielder, drunk on quick fights against easy targets, wasn't used to protracted fights. So when his spear couldn't pierce his foe's shield, the shield user had the upper hand and won the fight."

"I think that's probably what we'll see here," Sophia said. "Unless something changes, Motoyasu just won't be able to handle Naofumi's creativity, resourcefulness, or durability."

"That's right," Fenris nodded. "And then Raphtalia will be able to go back to her beloved Naofumi."

"Raphtalia?" Sofia asked. "The slave?"

"She's with him as her own choice," Fenris said. "And they've been looking after each other since they met. He no more abuses or controls her, than she would ever allow hi to be hurt. After all, she loves him."

Sofia stared at Fenris in surprise and he chuckled, feeling her gaze on him.

"I could see it in her eyes when we met," Fenris said. "He's everything to her."

Sofia nodded, slipping around to stand in front of him, leaning on the railing as he wrapped his hands around her, Sofia pressing back into him, grinning up at him for a moment before returning her focus to the fight. As she did, Naofumi released Motoyasu, demanding he admit defeat, only for Motoyasu to refuse.

"Alright then," Naofumi grinned, pulling his balloons back. "Guess I'll take aim at that pretty face and your precious manhood. Might as well since I'm a cowardly cheater!"

Motoyasu shouted in fear, shrinking back from Naofumi. "No!"

Then, a blast of wind magic exploded into Naofumi from behind, hurling him away. Fenris's head snapped around, staring at Myne as the last of the glowing pink light faded from her hand.

"That cheating bitch," Fenris growled.

Sofia's grip on the railing tightened. Motoyasu killed off the rest of Naofumi's balloons and charged, striking at Naofumi rapidly, Naofumi unable to keep up now that he was caught off guard. Then, Motoyasu used a lightning type attack and finished the fight. After a moment, Naofumi stood, accusing Motoyasu of cheating, calling on the crowd. No one said a word.

"Myne cheated to help the Spear Hero!" Fenris finally shouted. "Motoyasu should forfeit the victory for the duel being unfair!"

Instantly people began to shout at him to shut up, and calling him foul names. However, when someone threw something, Fenris was pretty sure it was a rock, Sophia raised a hand, using a fire spell to blast it out of the air.

"My name is Sophia!" she called out. "I'm a member of the Spear Hero's party. And just now, another member of our party, Myne, cheated in order to allow the Spear Hero to win the duel!"

People began to insult her as well. Finally, the King called for silence before declaring that the Spear Hero had won fairly, which meant that Raphtalia was to be freed from her contract with Naofumi. Myne ran over, hugging Motoyasu, briefly making him forget to glare at Sophia. However, when she left to taunt Naofumi, including laughing psychotically, Motoyasu remembered his anger.

"I think you just earned your freedom," Fenris said.

"I refuse to stay on his team if this is how it's going to be," Sophia said. "It'd be one thing if he'd admit that she cheated. But to allow it, and not admit that it was unfair, is too far. Looks like you and I'll have plenty of time for you to try and fail to make me desperate for your magic dick after all."

"I'll get you there eventually," Fenris smirked.

Sophia shook her head, smiling, only for it to fade as dark smoke began to drift out of his shield's crystal. Fenris fell silent, watching Naofumi carefully, even as the spectators began to call for Naofumi's execution, and a new shield hero to be summoned. Fenris grit his teeth. Clearly they were as stupid as they were arrogant. A new Shield Hero would be treated exactly the same. After all. They hated Naofumi specifically because he was the Shield Hero. And not by choice.

"I hate this stupid shield!" Naofumi shouted as the spectators reached their loudest. "Come and take it off! Dammit! Dammit all!" He slammed his fists into the ground, the smoke blowing outward from the strike, but also stopping leaking from the shield.

Fenris watched, gripping the railing tightly, as Raphtalia was led down into the arena, bound and gagged, and struggled to break free, to run to Naofumi and comfort him. They forced her to turn, pulling her armor off and pulling the top of her shirt down long enough to remove the slave contract. Naofumi was begging them to let her go, not to take her away from him, but his voice was barely more than a whisper, and he was too weak to get up from shock. Then, once she was done, she was released. Fenris turned, pushing through the crowd, the three girls with him following. They followed the sound of Raphtalia shouting at Motoyasu, calling him a liar and a cheat, among other less polite names. Finally, they reached a door into the arena where Motoyasu was standing with the king, Myne, and Raphtalia as she berated him.

"You obviously know nothing about Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia was shouting. "He activated the curse when I was too scared to fight! He did it to protect both of us!"

Motoyasu slammed the end of his spear on the ground. "And that's the problem!"

"Motoyasu!" Fenris snapped, getting his attention just in time for his fist to collide with Motoyasu's jaw, knocking him flat on his ass. "How dare you stick your nose in where it doesn't belong, without even finding out if what you think is going on is even remotely accurate!? How dare you force Raphtalia's contract to be severed when she told you multiple times that she wants to be with Naofumi!? And how dare you preach to Naofumi about how horrible and dishonorable he is, then challenge him to a single combat duel, only to FUCKING CHEAT YOURSELF! ? !"

"How dare you!?" Myne spat.

"You shut the fuck up you lying, manipulative, whore!" Fenris seethed. "I'll get to you and your false accusations of rape in a minute, cunt!"

Everyone stared at him, mouth agape.

"Motoyasu, if you had even a single brain cell that you devoted to actually thinking, rather than just doing whatever the fuck this cunt tells you to do, you would know that Naofumi would never do anything like what she accused him of! He's a thousand times better a person than you could ever be!"

"That is enough!" the king snapped. "If you utter one more word, I'll have you arrested! You're lucky I'm not having you executed for such slander!"

"What he says is true," Sophia said. "Naofumi fought as fairly as he could without the ability to actually deal damage himself. But Motoyasu allowed Myne to cheat for him, even if it was of her own accord, and refused to admit to it."

"Why are you siding with him?" Motoyasu demanded. "You're my companion!"

"Yes I am," Sophia said. "I am under no obligation to serve you, and have no reason to help Naofumi. But I refuse to follow you if you're going to be dishonorable like this. I quit."

Motoyasu blinked before shaking his head. "Fine, go then. But it doesn't change the facts. Naofumi had no right to take a slave and force her to fight for him."

"Master Naofumi can't use any weapons!" Raphtalia argued. "The shield defends! Someone has to fight for him!"

"But that doesn't have to be you!" Motoyasu said. "Don't you know he'll put you in danger every time?"

"Master Naofumi defends me!" Raphtalia snapped. "He always allows me to rest when I'm tired!"

"No way!" Motoyasu said. "He just isn't that kind of guy!"

"How the fuck would you know!?" Fenris snapped. "How much time did you spend around him before wrongly accusing him of raping Myne and kicking him out?"

"He was ready and willing to help a sick diseased slave who was on the verge of death!" Raphtalia snapped. "Master Naofumi fed me every day! Healthy nourishing food! Anything I wanted! Not only that, he gave me valuable medicines and treatments, and they cured my illness! Are you capable of such kindness!?"

Motoyasu recoiled as though struck.

"Not that you care, but during the last wave, while you all were off fighting the wave's boss and getting the fame, Naofumi was defending a village that the Royal Knights left to be destroyed," Fenris said. "He risked his life to defend them, and almost died. As repayment, when the Royal Knights finally did arrive, they tried to burn the entire village down with Naofumi and Raphtalia still inside, nearly killing them both. Then when Naofumi asked them for their help protecting the village, most of them left, leaving only a handful of knights to help Naofumi. And those only stayed because they recognized that Naofumi was protecting the village they were ordered to leave to die."

"How do you know that?" Myne spat. "A filthy Mercenary like you? You're probably just as bad as the Shield."

"I know because I was there too," Fenris said. "I was risking my life to defend that village alongside Naofumi. And like Naofumi, I nearly died doing it."

"I don't believe you," Motoyasu said.

"Then believe me," Naomi said. "I'm from that village. I was there during the wave when these two fought to protect us. And after, I left with Fenris so that I could repay him for saving our lives."

"If you were even half the man Naofumi is, you would listen to your loyal companion instead of that two-faced princess!" Raphtalia snapped.

"How dare you!?" Myne spat. "You take that back you damn Demi-Human!" Then, she froze, eyes wide with shock as Fenris's sword pressed its tip against her throat, a feral snarl rolling out of his throat.

"Don't you ever utter those words in front of me!" Fenris snarled, a pair of snow white ears standing up from under his hair. "It's racist scum like you that took my home and my family from me! You have no right to claim we're lesser than you when you're the one who is completely incapable of telling the truth even if your own life depends on it!"

"Execute him!" the king seethed.

"Touch me and I kill her!" Fenris snapped, no one moving. "I know it wouldn't be a very huge loss, and the only ones who would truly be heart broken are the king and Motoyasu, but still, she is one of the two princesses of Melromarc. Now, I'm going to lower my sword. No one is going to touch me, or my companions. Anyone who does will die, just before Princess Malty dies. Am I understood?"

The knights nodded and Fenris turned to the king.

"Your majesty?" Fenris snarled.

"Yes," the king snarled. "I understand."

"I don't think you do," Fenris said. "You're the one who's most likely to get your daughter killed by trying to have me arrested anyway. So take into consideration that I can swing my sword faster than they can draw theirs. You're swearing on your daughter's life right now, quite literally, that you'll allow us to leave."

The king growled angrily before forcing himself to calm down and nodding. "You have my word. You and your companions shall not be harmed, or arrested, or in any way impeded from leaving. But you will be banished."

"I don't think so," Fenris said. "I go where I want. But, since I have your word." He lowered his sword.

Instantly, Raphtalia's sword passed Fenris, blocking Motoyasu's spear, only for an arrow to flash between them, Motoyasu leaping backward as the Bow and Sword Heroes walked into the arena.

"That's enough," the Bow Hero said. "Everyone put your weapons away. This isn't the time or the place."

After a tense moment, everyone complied, Fenris last.

"Myne, sorry, but I have to ask about your illegal and magical interference in the duel," the Bow Hero said.

"What are you talking about?" Myne asked.

"And now the dumb cunt has amnesia," Fenris growled.

"Illegal interference?" Motoyasu asked.

"And now Motoyasu has amnesia," Naomi said. "Typical."

"He doesn't surprise me," Fenris said. "He's so stupid he probably doesn't know what illegal interference means."

"Hey Motoyasu," the Sword Hero said. "Hate to break this to you, but you lost that duel. Obviously someone shot a powerful magic spell at Naofumi. It was kind of hard to tell, but it was clearly a type of wind magic."

"Hard to tell?" Fenris scoffed. "It was a fucking tornado!"

"You shut your mouth!" Myne snapped. "You have no place in this discussion."

"I'll stop talking when I want to, cunt," Fenris snarled.

"I think you imagined it," Myne said. "The audience didn't see a thing."

"The King has told everyone to keep quiet," the Bow Hero said. "The nobles agree there was foul play."

"Wow," the Sword Hero said. "I can't believe royalty would interfere with a sacred duel."

Raphtalia turned, walking past them all to Naofumi. "Master Naofumi?"

"Why'd you come back?" Naofumi asked bitterly. "You're free now."

"But I-"

"I don't need a traitor, get lost!" Naofumi snapped.

"I heard what they're saying," Raphtalia said. "They say you did terrible things and forced yourself on a member of your party and lied about it. But I know you. I know you would never, ever, do such a thing-"

"I didn't do it!" Naofumi shouted.

"Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia said, walking over to him the rest of the way.

"Just stay away!" Naofumi snapped.

"Please, you have to listen to me," Raphtalia said, kneeling beside him, reaching out to embrace him, only for him to swat her hands away.

"Don't touch me!" Naofumi snapped. "Thanks to your savior Spear Hero, Motoyasu, you're free now! Go! I never want to see you again! Or are you hanging around just to get one last look at the loser's face?"

Raphtalia shook her head.

"Please, just leave me alone," Naofumi pleaded, sounding on the verge of tears.

"I believe you Master Naofumi, I really do," Raphtalia said. "Tell me, what can I do to make you believe me?"

"Believe you?" Naofumi spat. "After you betrayed me?"

"I will always be on your side, even if you never believe me!" Raphtalia said.

"Lies!" Naofumi snapped. "You're just saying that to trick me again!"

"No I-"

"Shut up!" Naofumi shouted, sitting up, red lines now visible around the edges of his face. "What else are you people going to accuse me of!? From the moment I was brought here everyone despised me! I tried but it was over before it started! No body believes me! This damn shield is a curse!" He tried to pull it off, but it wouldn't budge. "I hate it!"

Raphtalia reached out, resting a hand on the shield. "I'm grateful. This shield has saved my life time and again. Don't you remember during the wave? Even though you knew you can't fight, you still used your shield and your strength to defend us all."

"To be honest, I didn't do...any of that for the villagers," Naofumi said.

"But you must see that it doesn't matter, and you still saved all those lives," Raphtalia said.

"Hey, I'm not that nice a guy!" Naofumi said. "You see you were just a tool to use for my own advantage!"

"I know," Raphtalia said. "But it doesn't matter because you still rescued me."

"Stop it!" Naofumi said. "It was...all about how I could save myself!"

Raphtalia hugged him, Naofumi falling still, seeming to be in a state of shock. "Master Naofumi, I bet I know you better than anyone else in this whole wide world. I know how kind you are. So even if the entire whole speaks ill of you, I'll tell them they're wrong. I'll defend you and remind them of all you've done. You're the one who saved my life, gave me a sword, and showed me that I have a purpose in life." She pulled back, smiling at him as he stared at her in awe. "I'll always be your sword, and I'll always be standing beside you. No matter what."

Naofumi's eyes began to water as he stared at her in silence. Finally, he began to cry, still trying to fight it.

"This is a world where it's hard to find people to trust," Raphtalia said. "But I know I can trust you, because you saved my life, Master Naofumi. I really do trust you. You're a great Shield Hero."

Fenris smiled. "Now kiss."

Sophia, Naomi, and Eileen all jabbed their elbows into him, even though he had barely been loud enough for them to hear.

"Hush!" Sophia whispered. "If you ruin the moment for them, I won't join your group."

Fenris smiled, raising his hands.

"But I don't get it," Motoyasu said as Myne and the king walked away. "Raphtalia should be happy she's free. Or, maybe she's only doing this because she's been brainwashed."

"You're a fucking idiot," Fenris said, turning away from Raphtalia and Naofumi, Raphtalia currently cradling Naofumi's head to her chest comfortingly. "Take a good long look, Motoyasu. That's what loyalty looks like. Raphtalia wasn't with Naofumi because she was brainwashed, or because she was his slave. She loves him. He's her entire world. So no matter what you do, or what kind of bullshit stunts you try to pull, you'll never convince her to leave him. Because she's the one who chose to be with him in the first place."

"Fenris is right," the Bow Hero said. "It's not like a Master and Slave relationship. It's different."

"Let's go," Fenris said. "They need to be alone right now."

The others all nodded, Fenris dragging Motoyasu by the back of his collar. Then, once they had left the arena, Fenris and his now three companions left the castle grounds, deciding to get a room for the night before finding work in the morning.

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