+The First Steps+
The sun was still in the process of rising as the door to the throne room was opened. The five of us strode in, with Yoyo marching next to me.
Across from us, standing in front of the pair of thrones, were the "best of the best" that the king had brought to become our companions.
Not going to happen with me, but whatever. I suppose it's the thought that counted.
"We have gathered brave warriors who will fight the Waves with you Legendary Heroes."
Brave they may be, but I don't really see the "best of the best" here.
"Pardon my interruption, lord king." I raised a palm to catch the attention of everyone else. "I must refuse your generosity, for the only partner I require stands next to me."
Hushed gasps followed my declaration and the other three heroes gave me stupefied glares.
"Preposterous!"
I turned my gaze to the one who'd shouted it.
"You are all skeptical, I do not blame you for it." I ran a hand through my hair. "But the truth is, Yoyo here has the second most combat experience out of everyone in this room."
"Second most?" Yoyo raised an eyebrow at me.
"Well, you still have me to compete with, don't you?" I smirked back.
"You ass," He chuckled as he gave me a playful punch on the shoulder. He turned back to the king and adventurers. "Right then, how about this, Your Lordship, grant me the opportunity to prove myself against the best of this group so that I may dispel all doubt of my capabilities. Should I win, then you shall accept my brother's request of having none but I in his party."
The king considered for a moment. "Very well, but should you lose, then I expect your brother to accept the assistance of these adventurers without further protest."
"Understood. Have at'em, Yoyo."
He stepped forward. As did a sword-wielding knight in plate, a robed spearwoman, and an axeman.
He pulled his yoyo out, to the disbelieving murmurs of the other heroes, and with his free hand, gestured for his opponents to come at him.
They didn't hesitate.
"Hey," Naofumi spoke up, "Aren't you throwing your brother to the wolves here?"
"Just watch." I didn't so much as turn to meet his eyes. "He'll wipe the carpet with them at speed."
It was more than obvious that the three of them, despite being the supposedly highest levels here, had never cooperated before in their lives. The three of them rushed forward recklessly, each likely with their own plan for taking my brother down.
Plans that they'll never get to enact.
Yoyo swung his weapon outward, catching the knight on the chestplate. Then he yanked it backwards, which jerked the knight towards him. With the momentum carrying the man, Yoyo allowed his weapon to stop adhering to the metal, then brought it around and down onto the knight's helmet, producing a bell-like sound.
The man fell onto his rear, clutching his head in pain.
"Dead," my brother declared.
He was fortunate my brother didn't activate the impact amplifier.
Yanking the yoyo back into his hands, Yoyo then turned his attention to the spearwoman, who'd gotten closer in the time it took for him to take down the knight. She made an attempt at a lunge, but Yoyo sidestepped, caught the spear with his free hand, then smacked her in the face with a yoyo throw. She fell back-first to the ground, to which Yoyo turned the spear around and positioned it over her chest point first, miming a stab.
"Dead," he repeated, tossing the spear aside.
Finally, the axeman, who'd closed much of the distance between them in the time it took for the other two to go down, was readying a devastating overhead strike. Yoyo unflinchingly threw his yoyo, catching the man in the leg, adhering to it. Then, he jerked it back, reeling the man in like a fish. A quick mimed jab to the throat "finished" the job.
"And that's three for three." He then turned to the king. "Have I proven myself, your grace? Or shall I continue this one-sided beatdown?"
"No, that is quite enough," declared the king, "Truly, the summons have been answered by worthy individuals. As agreed, I shall not force any of the adventurers present upon you. It is, however, imperative that you at least find a third person to accompany your group."
"Why?" I stepped forwards a little. "My brother has proven himself more than capable of handling threats I myself can't see to myself. What is of such importance that neither I nor Yoyo could handle?""
"Simply put, knowledge." The king met my glare without heat. "The two of you may know how to fight, but you must also be knowledgeable about the lands, local policies, current events, and other such topics that are common knowledge to the general masses. You are representative of the good of the world, and cluelessness will not do your reputation any favours. Fear not, I shall supply you with extra funds to meet that end."
I could just as well talk to the locals rather than recruit someone to be a politics guide, but I wasn't going to deny extra funding, so I backed down.
"Would anyone else like to challenge these adventurers?"
"Uh, no."Naofumi laughed nervously. "Kinda hard to fight with nothing but a shield."
The spear and bow heroes seemed to consider it before shaking their heads. "Nah. I'd rather accept help than try to make a party from scratch. It'd be a pain in the ass. Plus, if they can't keep up, there's nothing stopping us from switching members out." Motoyasu shrugged.
Itsuki nodded his agreement.
How utterly callous, treating people as bargaining chips. Not, of course, that I'm one to talk.
"Now then, adventurers, select the hero you will follow!"
I watched as all the adventurers formed lines behind either Itsuki or Motoyasu.
"I'm sensing some sort of bias here." I frowned to my brother, who'd returned to my side.
"Your intuition knows no bounds." His tone was a 10/10 deadpan.
Naofumi quietly counted all the adventurers gathered behind the two, then turned back to the man on the throne. "What the heck, king?!"
"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting this." And yet you don't seem terribly surprised by it either, hm?
"No volunteers? He must have no charisma at all…" Sleaze Bag muttered.
I don't have an ounce of that either but none of you are trying to denounce me for it.
Another man next to the king leaned and whispered into the man's ear.
"So, there have been rumours." The king declared.
I raised an eyebrow at that.
"Did something happen?" Motoyasu inquired.
"Well," the king responded, "rumours that the Shield Hero is ignorant of this world have spread around town."
"The fuck?" Yoyo's eyes narrowed as he hissed. "We just got here yesterday and there's already rumours?"
"I know," I whispered back, "there's no way such rumours could already be-"
It hit me then, like a bolt of lightning.
It didn't seem like it spread naturally at all–it couldn't have spread naturally at this pace–because it didn't.
Someone got the message out to the town itself about our conversation, or at the very least, the adventurers that we would be recruiting, that Naofumi wasn't well-versed in the world's mechanics, which was something he only admitted last night, while we were gathered in the bedroom.
In short, someone, perhaps multiple someones, were spying on us.
"Damn it all," I snarled quietly, "I really have gotten too lax."
"Legend has it that the heroes come with a firm understanding of our lands, and they seem to think the Shield Hero doesn't meet that criteria," the king continued dispassionately.
"Maybe someone was eavesdropping on our conversation last night." Motoyasu unsubtly leaned towards Naofumi and stage whispered.
"Seriously?" Naofumi was quieter than Motoyasu, but not by much.
"There's no 'maybe' about it." Yoyo frowned.
Naofumi grit his teeth for a few moments, then turned to Motoyasu. "Hey, don't you think this is kind of unfair?!"
"I'm actually surprised my party is all girls, too" Motoyasu replied, not at all apologetic.
I wasn't that surprised that he had girls in his party, now that the information of us having been spied on came to light. They knew, or could at least infer, that his character didn't exactly go far beyond one thing and one thing only.
"It would be best to split them four to each of us, but if it was forced, it could very well destroy morale." Itsuki at least seemed a little apologetic.
Naofumi turned to me pleadingly.
"Sorry," I sighed, "but seeing as I forwent party members to keep Yoyo by my side, it'd be kind of hypocritical of me to just let him party with you now, wouldn't it?"
"So, what." Naofumi's voice rose. "Are you all telling me to go solo?!"
"If the king would be so generous as to grant you some extra funds, perhaps you could hire someone to accompany you." Yoyo's pose was pensive as he addressed Naofumi. "Otherwise, I've no ideas. It's fairly clear that none of them want to-"
"Sir Hero!"
Yoyo stopped, seemingly choking on air as he–and I–turned to where the voice came from.
"Would you allow me to join the Shield Hero?"
The one who spoke was a lady with red–and I mean straight up crimson–hair tied back, in leather armour that was worn over her own clothing. Her green eyes stared innocently into Naofumi's own.
She was fairly pretty, certainly, and the sword at her waist likely wasn't merely for show, so she was also combat worthy. It was a suitable party member to cover Naofumi's weaknesses…
Which was what made it suspicious to me.
Let's see, Naofumi gets no party members, even after I opted out of taking even one with me. Rumours have been spread of him being inept despite us barely even having been here a day. And then, out of nowhere, just as he's despairing, a suitable party member volunteers to join him just like that?
She may have looked innocent, but I tagged her as "Suspicious".
"What say we show him the ropes a little, Yoyo? You know the mechanics of this world, and all, right?"
He nodded at my whisper even as he raised an eyebrow. "What brought this on, One? You aren't normally so sociable."
He had a point there. Most of the people I'd met in my wandering years was someone I'd attack or someone attacking me.
Not exactly a good recipe for making friends.
Pushing those thoughts aside, I answered. "If he's truly as inexperienced as he appeared last night, he's going to need some guidance. The basics at the very least. He's one of the legendary heroes even if he isn't really being treated like one, and I highly doubt either Itsuki or Motoyasu would care enough to show him the ropes."
Yoyo nodded. "What about combat? You can't accompany him with the whole 'working separately' thing."
"That's something he'll have to figure out on his own, regrettably. I can give him tips at most, but I'm not familiar with shield-based combat."
"Is there anyone else who wouldn't mind joining Sir Naofumi?" The king asked as Yoyo and I conversed.
The silence was a resounding "no".
"I suppose other measures must be taken." He sighed from his throne. "Sir Naofumi, you will be responsible for the formation of your own party."
The poor guy finally came out of his daze as Suspicious smiled at him gently, and replied, "All–um, okay."
The king nodded and continued, "Every month, we will provide the heroes with the funds they require. "This time, Sir Naofumi and Sir Edwin's payments will be higher than the others."
Four people stepped forward as the king spoke. "Here are your initial war chests, please accept them. Sirs Naofumi and Edwin will get 800 silvers, while the rest shall receive 600. Use them to procure the necessary items to embark on your journey."
In unison, the other heroes and I cried, "Yes, sir!"
+Support of the Sword Hero+
We were at the gates in short order.
"See you around, Naofumi! You take good care of her, you hear?" Motoyasu shouted back down to us.
"It's unfortunate that we can't help you, but good luck with recruitment!" Itsuki smiled at him."
"Right, got it." Naofumi replied as the two left to catch up to their companions, who were already heading out the gate. He then turned to me. "What about you guys? Shouldn't you get a head start?"
"Nah, it's fine." Yoyo put an arm around his shoulder. "As suggested by my brother here, we–or rather, I'm–going to show you and One the ropes."
I'd be insulted at the implication, but I already know that I'm not great with video games in general.
"Wha-? Wait a minute." Naofumi turned to me. "Aren't you the Sword Hero though?"
"My brother is far more familiar with video games than I, and therefore, far better acquainted with systems like this. I'm simply deferring to my betters." I shrugged carelessly.
"But, aren't we prohibited from working with each other?"
Yoyo grinned. "That's only of importance if we're fighting together, at least before the Wave hits. Not working together's practically suicide at that time if what the king said was accurate. Consider this...a group outing to the mall, so to speak."
"Um...alright, I guess."
"Sir Heroes." Suspicious stepped forward. "My name's Myne Suphia. It's an honour to fight alongside the Shield Hero, and to be in the presence of the Sword Hero and his brother."
Well, at least she acknowledged my brother's presence, unlike so many others.
Updating tag to "Myne".
"I'm Naofumi Iwatani, Nice to meet you."
"Arthur Ferris, I go by 'Yoyo'." My brother gave a peace sign as he grinned at her.
I gave a small smile for appearances' sake. "Edwin Ferris, but you can call me 'One'."
With that, we got going in earnest, taking the first steps of what would be a great adventure.
+Support of the Sword Hero+
"I've caught a glimpse from the balcony last night, but taking a closer look really drives it home that it's another world," Naofumi muttered as we walked.
And wasn't that the truth? This place looked like something out of the more rural cities of Cier, where technology was nigh-nonexistent. The fact that no one used Rice to power their magic was also a key difference.
All in all though, the market square we were travelling through reminded me of Highgate Landing, a trade hub I'd sought shelter in when-
-re dead. All of them. Slaughtered. Blood everywhere dripping from my bla-
-I'd fled that dreadful prison camp.
"What shall we do now, Sir Heroes?" Myne inquired.
"I was thinking we could hit up a smithy first-" Naofumi started.
"As far as ideas go, that's not a terrible one," Yoyo interrupted, "but there's somewhere else we have to go to first."
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow at that.
"We need to get to the cathedral. I'll explain why once we're there." He turned to Myne and smiled. "I'm not terribly familiar with the town's layout though, so could you please lead us there?"
"O-Of course!" She seemed disarmed for merely a moment before smiling innocently once again. "Follow me!"
We arrived at an odd-looking building in short order. Three spires reaching into the sky made it look more like the head of a polearm than a cathedral, but we were then led inside by holy figures, who guided us deeper into the cathedral.
We then arrived at an hourglass. It was the biggest and most ornate thing I'd ever seen. I was also fairly certain that it'd break if I blew on it too hard.
"So, these hourglasses, right? The 'Ancient Dragon Hourglass' the king mentioned?" Naofumi and I nodded. "Well, I'm going to need you guys to step closer to it."
Naofumi and I looked at each other, shrugged, and took a few steps. Immediately, the gemstones in our weapon shot out a ray which connected with the hourglass.
A timer emerged in my HUD, counting down in days, hours, minutes, and seconds, steadily counting downwards.
What's more, I noted that it was practically the exact amount of time remaining until the next wave.
"What...what is this?" Naofumi's jaw hung open as he turned to my brother.
"It worked, then," Yoyo muttered before responding, "I just had you both sync to the Dragon Hourglass. This way, you can see how much time remains until the next Waves hit, and you'll be teleported to the general vicinity of the Wave when it does strike."
"Damn, that's pretty useful." I raised a brow approvingly. "So, are we done here?"
"Unless you have any business with the clergy, I do believe so." Yoyo grinned cheekily at me.
I nodded at that and turned to Naofumi. "So what were you saying about a smithy?"
+Support of the Sword Hero+
The wooden doors opened with nary a creak.
"If it's metalwork you're looking for, I wholeheartedly recommend this place." beamed Myne.
My eyes roamed across the shop. Weapons and armour of all kinds were scattered throughout, all neatly hung on racks for display. And at the end of the shop stood a bald, well-muscled man with scars much like my own on his face.
Going to tag him as "Baldy" for now.
"Welcome to you all." He grinned amicably. "This your first time in a smithy? You sure know how to pick them."
"Well, the truth is we're actually here at her recommendation." Naofumi rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"Speaking of," his eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Myne, "Have we met before? You seem quite familiar…"
"I've come shopping here before," Myne replied as she latched onto Naofumi's shoulder, "your shop is quite famous, you know."
"You flatter me," He chuckled. "Who're your friends with the funny garb here, anyway?"
"Can't you tell, boss?" Yoyo asked, eyebrow raised.
"Oh, so you're some of the heroes, then?" He then took a closer look at Naofumi's arm. "A shield, I see. So you're the dud, then?"
Naofumi's smile was strained. I glared at the shop owner. "I would appreciate if you didn't imply that my fellow hero is lesser in any way to me."
"O-Of course not." Baldy backtracked with haste. "I'll admit it was a joke that was made in poor taste."
Naofumi bowed respectfully regardless. "I'm Naofumi Iwatani, the Shield Hero. Pleased to meet you!"
"Naofumi, huh?" Baldy turned back to him and smiled. "Sorry about that slight just now. Truth is, so long as you'll be a regular, I wouldn't give two hoots if you wielded a shield or what. It's nice to meet ya kid."
Business before prejudice, huh? I can respect that.
"Anyway, boss," Myne spoke up, "Can you provide Sir Hero with the equipment he requires? Our budget is around, let's see...250 silvers."
He nodded pensively and turned to us. "What of you two, then?"
"Same budget. No need for weaponry." My words were short and to the point.
He nodded again, then went to the back, coming back out with four swords, laying them on the counter.
"From left to right is iron, magic iron, magic steel, and silver iron in ascending order of cost. I guarantee that no matter the price or material, they're swords of quality."
Naofumi's hand grasped the hilt of the third sword. "Wow, with one of these, even I coul-"
*ZAP*
The sword reacted by giving him a short zap, forcing him to drop it.
"The hell?" My eyebrows were raised as I watched him try to pick it up again, with both hands this time. A far more violent shock forced him to throw it from his hands over his head.
"Hey, watch it!" Yoyo hopped backwards as Naofumi shook his hands to get rid of the lingering effects of the shock. "There's people here!"
"Sorry!" Naofumi looked back at his hands. "But seriously, what's going on?!"
"I...don't get it either" Baldy was at a loss. Probably wasn't his doing then.
"It looked like it flew from your hands." No shit, Myne.
"What was…" Naofumi turned to the sword and paused. I tried picking the sword up myself, but dropped it as well when I got a harsh shock to my hands.
Felt like a toned down version of a taser shock.
A window then popped up.
{CAUTION}
Legendary Weapon Rule Violation: Holding Non-Assigned Weapon
"Rule violation?" Naofumi muttered incredulously.
I was in a similar state of disbelief as I "clicked" into the help screen.
{HELP}
A hero may not hold, with intent to fight, any weapon other than their legendary weapon.
What kind of limiter was this?
"It...it seems like I can't use any weapons other than this shield." Naofumi muttered.
"Same case for me and this sword here." I frowned.
"How does that even work?" Baldy took a magnifying glass and examined the shield, all the while, the magnifying glass was glowing.
Naofumi and Myne seemed shocked, but Yoyo and I had seen stranger things before.
"At first glance," he continued, "it looks just like any other Small Shield...doesn't this come off?" He was now tugging at the shield, which remained firmly attached to Naofumi's arm.
"I can move it around my body," Naofumi replied, "but removing it isn't possible for me."
"That's bizarre." He tapped the gem on the shield. "I can tell that this thing holds great power, but my appraisal magic isn't telling me much beyond that."
The light in the gem seemed to fade.
"Well, thanks for showing me something interesting." Baldy chuckled as he stood up. "Want to buy some armour instead?"
+Support of the Sword Hero+
"Eighty-percent off."
Today was a fairly straightforward day.
"Are you stupid? Twenty percent extra!"
After we bought our armour, we went out and hunted mobs, where Yoyo showed me a trick regarding my weapon.
"Why's it going up?! Eighty-nine percent off!"
The trick involved me feeding parts of the mobs' corpses into my weapon to unlock and gradually master new forms for the sword. Seeing as it was low level mobs thus far, they weren't anything special, but hopefully, with time, that'd change.
"Anyone trying to haggle without seeing the goods deserve to pay double!"
Naofumi, on the other hand, struggled quite a bit to kill any of even the lowest level mobs. The tininess of his attack stat was only countered by his absurd defense stats, both physical and magical.
"Keep talking! Ninety percent off!"
The guy had multiple of the little fucking balloons biting down on him and literally no drop in HP. I've taken some bites from the assholes myself, and they hurt. It was like a man biting down as hard as he could onto your harm. Yoyo could attest to that as well, he still had some marks from where they'd landed.
"Twenty-nine percent extra!"
At any rate, we'd finished hunting, regrouped, and proceeded back into the castle city and the smithy we were at in the morning. Naofumi to buy some equipment for Myne, and us to ask about where to sell our drops.
The moment Naofumi walked in, he started haggling with the man, starting off at a ridiculous discount. Baldy had responded in kind by raising the price so that Naofumi had to pay extra.
"Stop raising the price already, One hundred percent off!"
I've seen frugal people before, but Naofumi was something else.
"Kid, that's just free!"
"Free's fine by me!"
My brother finally gave in and released his laughter. I allowed myself an amused smirk at the scene before me.
That turned into an inquisitive glance at the loud clanging of something metal meeting the counter.
...A lot of somethings actually, seems like Myne was done picking.
"Hey, Boss." Naofumi looked back to Baldy. "What's the total on that at sixty percent off?"
"Four-eighty silvers with a discount. No lower." The scarred smith did not budge.
"That'll leave us with...two hundred…" Naofumi turned to Myne. "Myne, could you downgrade a little? I'm not sure how much accommodations and other expenses cost yet."
"It'll be fine, Sir Hero. The stronger I am, the more loot I'll get from monsters. That should be enough to keep us going." She walked up to his side and pinned his arm to her breasts while she felt him up with her free arm.
Judging by the way he'd flushed, it was fairly clear he'd never gotten anywhere near this intimate with a person of the opposite sex yet.
Hm...despite her appearances and somewhat innocent act, it was fairly clear to me that she was manipulative in character. I highly doubt Naofumi has perceived that though.
"A-Alright, I guess...Ok. We'll be taking those, boss."
"Thanks a ton! Seems the Shield Hero's got an eye for good deals!" Baldy was extraordinarily enthusiastic about the deal being taken.
"Speaking of deals," my brother spoke up, having finally recovered from his fit, "do you know where we can sell these?" He pulled out a balloon skin from his bag.
"There are shops for monster materials out there. They'll buy most things off of ya."
"My thanks to you." My brother smiled.
The four of us left the smithy once more.
+Support of the Sword Hero+
"To the first steps of our adventure, may it be bright and fruitful to us all. Cheers, everyone!"
The rest of us followed Yoyo's example and raised our flagons of ale with a call of "Cheers!"
Naofumi didn't take a sip from his, merely setting it back down while smiling happily. Maybe he's not used to drinking? Or hadn't drunk alcohol at all?
Whatever, not my problem.
"Man, the food is great!" Naofumi was devouring his food with gusto. "It was pretty good at the castle too, but the pubs are truly where to go to experience otherworld cuisine!"
"Otherworld, huh?" Yoyo smiled back at him from his left. "I suppose the term is appropriate enough."
We ate in amicable silence, and once the portions were done and the dishes were collected, Naofumi pulled out a map and set it onto the table.
"So, the meadow we were fighting in was over here, right?" He was clearly addressing Myne right now.
"Correct, and tomorrow we'll be heading to Lafan village, located beyond this map…"
I tuned them out as I turned to Yoyo. "Where do you think we should head tomorrow?"
"Well...I'm not sure, really. I don't know the lay of the land that well, so I have no real recommendations to make."
"Hm...we'll have to ask a local for information then, huh?"
"Or we could do as the king suggested." Yoyo shrugged.
He raised a good point, loathe as I was to follow the old man's words. If we had a companion who knew the land better than we did, they could be a guide to us as we travelled, teaching us skills and whatnot.
Ultimately though, I didn't trust that any companions that the king handed out would swear loyalty to us first and foremost. They probably had vows that were more important than the ones they swear to us, which makes them duty-bound to report our every action to a higher-ranked being that we may or may not know about.
In short, a spy.
"We could do that," I admitted grudgingly, "but we're not going to take the king's adventurers."
"I figured you weren't going to budge on that." Yoyo sighed, placing a palm to his face. "You always were the stubborn one of the two of us."
"Aren't you going to drink your wine?"
We paused at turned our heads. Sure enough, there was now a bottle of wine in addition to the ale, alongside filled glasses for Myne and Naofumi.
"...Nah, I'm not into booze."
"Really? This is pretty good, you know." She took a sip from the wine glass, let out a quiet sigh and shaking her head a little bit, looked back to Naofumi and whispered. "I'd love to have a drink with you."
Naofumi flushed once more, but I could tell that not drinking was something he wasn't going to budge on, willingly or not. "S-Sorry, I really don't like alcohol."
"Really? What a shame." She sighed again, with a tinge of disappointment colouring it now. "That's a hero for you, I suppose."
"Please elaborate."
She blinked owlishly at me for a moment, as if having forgotten I was there. Then she smiled as though that never happened. "Of course. You see, this country is a matriarchy. No man would ever dare turning down a drink offered by a lady."
Wait, What?
If this country's a matriarchy, then where was the queen? Why was the king presiding over our summoning, supposedly a matter of great importance, if the queen's the supreme authority of the country?
Unless she couldn't make it that day? Falling ill? Other duties taking up her time?
Whatever the case, something was keeping her from her throne, and there was not a doubt in my mind that it was something of importance.
"That so?" Naofumi wasn't as paranoid as I was, and therefore didn't come to the same conclusions. "I'm not terribly great at picking up on things like this."
"It's no issue, Sir Hero."
"I'm glad we got to discuss our plans moving forward." Naofumi rubbed at the back of his head bashfully. "I'd like to turn in early tonight, if that's ok with you."
"Of course. I'll head up after drinking some more."
He turned to look at me. "I suppose this is where we part ways then?"
I nodded. "Even though we're going to get rest as well, we'll be going our separate ways the next day."
"Consider your tutorial session over." Yoyo grinned. "We hope you enjoy the game."
He chuckled, then held out a hand for me to shake.
Smiling broadly, I took it in my own.
A/N:
Amazing, isn't it, how one can say so much while saying nothing at all?
Or in other words, how I'm two chapters down and still not done the first episode?
Anyway, here's the second chapter, where the brothers take pity on the newbie of the group and show him the ropes. One suggested it for mainly pragmatic reasons, as he mentioned himself. As well, seeing as Naofumi now has a player familiar with the system accompanying his "party," there's no way he'd miss out on the Hourglass syncing at the beginning this time.
My personal opinion on the rule they introduced at the beginning of the anime, the whole "you can't work together" thing, is as One said in the last chapter: it's illogical. Why are you summoning the heroes as a group if they're all going to be split up anyway?
Of course, his opinion will probably change when he finds out that the four heroes weren't supposed to be summoned together.
But back to the rule, the whole "can't work together thing" was mainly for combat, I think. The Cal Mira arc only reinforced my view on that, especially seeing as they mainly split due to the exp distribution. Thus, I came up with the loophole that "so long as the heroes aren't in combat, it's more acceptable for them to be around one another."
Besides, it's not like they don't band together during the Waves anyway.
That's about all I have to say in this A/N. If you enjoy the content, please consider reviewing so that I may know where to improve my writing.
I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero, One, or Yoyo, nor Cier or any of the concepts from Cier that I brought up in this story, and least of all, Cier itself.
See you all around.
