When was the last time he had to care about money? Money had always been something trivial for him, a means to an end, but Shirou had to admit that it had its uses even in another world the first of which meant not sleeping on a road. He was used to a life of travel, and had no problems sleeping outdoors himself, but he was no longer alone.

He was part of a 'party,' as Naofumi would call it, and he had to keep the interests of his party in mind. Naofumi was old enough to look out for himself, yet a single observation of the man revealed his utter lack of survival experience. Naofumi could handle one or two nights in the woods with a thick blanket, but it definitely showed on his face as fatigue. Worse, Raphtalia, the little girl Naofumi had bought out of slavery with the lion's share of funds was looking guiltier each day.

Naofumi for all his kindness, failed to see that each attempt at consoling Raphtalia at his expense was only making the child feel terrible. Naofumi would pat Raphtalia on the head and coax her to take the medicine he'd purchased with the last of his money in order to cure the fever she'd been hiding. Raphtalia knew Naofumi could have used the funds to purchase an actual bedroll or comfort items, but he didn't. He'd bought her clothing, necessities, and a ball to play with Keel instead.

Keel attempted her own form of bravado to ease Raphtalia's concerns, but Keel herself became a problem without even realizing it.

Sometimes good intentions lead to bad results.

Keel just wanted to help and make things easier for everyone including Raphtalia. She excelled in everything she did such as washing laundry in the river and foraging for edible plants while Shirou hunted. Shirou would only have to explain to her once regarding how to do something, and Keel would accomplish it with a gusto. In comparison, Naofumi was constantly fixing Raphtalia's mistakes and doing extra laundry when Raphtalia wet the bed in her sleep.

So…no. Keel wasn't helping at all. Competition begets envy, and Shirou had caught Raphtalia looking more than once at Keel with pursed lips. Her self-confidence was likely at rock bottom, and Naofumi hadn't even noticed.

Naofumi saved Raphtalia from slavery, and the man was sincerely taking it upon himself to look after her. Shirou found no fault in Naofumi's actions, as he himself was doing the same for Keel. Children shouldn't have to endure a life of hardship. It was the role of the parent or guardian to nurture the children without exposing them too early to the adult world.

Shirou didn't say anything, but his impression of Naofumi was far higher than any of the Heroes summoned. If he could make things easier for Naofumi, he already would have. For all his skills, he wasn't orientated towards creating items such as beds, fabrics, and other such commodities. He couldn't help Naofumi other than finding more leaves to create a small bed with.

Camping without supplies was always horrid for the average person. Shirou just hoped Naofumi could endure a few more sleepless nights as he got things in order to garner funds.

Food wasn't a problem since Shirou constantly hunted and cooked food from wild game and gathered vegetation, so at least they weren't hungry.

Thinking back to his party, Shirou reaffirmed his current goal. He was presently in the central plaza of the Melromarc Kingdom making his way back from a smithy he'd seen the previous day while Naofumi took the kids shopping.

He soon stared at the fruits of his labour that he'd been working on in order to earn a decent amount of silver for traveling. He'd Traced a few weapons of each category and made an agreement with Erhard the blacksmith to advertise weapons of the 'Iron Forge' in his shop. Th proceedings would be split ninety-ten. Ninety to him, and ten to Erhard due to the sheer quality of the weapons drawing Erhard's respect. Of course, the contract had its own conditions as well that he'd set prior to haggling out a new business venture.

Ever since he'd seen the scene of Naofumi's shield taking on the characteristics of the Chain Shield, the suspicion that the other Heroes could do the same grew stronger from within him.

In respect to not getting hood-winked by the other Heroes to get free weapons, he made it clear to Erhard that the weapons can only be viewed from a display case. No tests, no performance trials. It was controversial since no man would purchase a weapon that he hadn't personally wielded, but soon enough, all would know the quality of a weapon created by the Iron Forge.

Grinning to himself now that all the groundwork had been set up, he felt as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

Now then, time to get back to Naofumi and perhaps do some monster hunting. Monster drops could be sold at the market which could be even more profitable than his new business venture.

At this point in time, perhaps he should have considered the ramifications of putting Noble Phantasms out in display, and the fact that a passing appraiser would soon mistakenly classify the weapons as Hero weapons that chose their wielders. Not everyone had access to the magic required to activate them.

Itsuki, Ren, and Motoyasu would all be drawn in by the rumours much like the rest of Melromarc.


A white wolf prowled over a distant plain, it's black nose twitching as it caught the scent of blood, causing its eyes to redden with the thrill of the hunt. It's silk-like fur hardened while frilling up, creating a tough hide able to effectively neutralize most physical attacks. Jagged teeth over an elongated snout dripped with a type of viscous black poison that corroded the ground where it landed.

[Poison Dire Wolf Leader. lvl ?]

Naofumi gulped when he saw the words over the wolf's head, tentatively raising up his shield, but feeling far too vulnerable at the fact that he was so under-leveled that he couldn't see the monster's level. The stress of the past few days was getting to him not only because of the suddenness of his summons, but due to the weight of responsibility and inexperience.

Bags had formed under his eyes from the sleepless nights he'd spent in the woods. His body was unaccustomed to hard surfaces and constantly sought out a soft bed to sleep on, but to no avail. His muscles were tense while dull aches throbbed over his upper and lower back. He honestly didn't know how many more sleepless nights he could take, but he had to watch out for Raphtalia just as Shirou watched out for Keel.

Naofumi sucked in a breath, and let all the tension leave him as a twisted arrow pierced through the Dire wolf's neck and killed it instantly.

"That's the last of them," Shirou said panting after leaping over from a tall cliff face. His party member was a beast in human skin.

The dire wolf's body collapsed in a heap, dropping a few materials that appeared slightly hovering over the ground. The constant ding of level-up notifications was something Naofumi had long since gotten accustomed to in the past few hunts Shirou had led to any monster areas Melromarc Knights warned were too dangerous.

Ah, the wonders of power leveling or boosting as others may call it.

He stared at Shirou with an expression that couldn't be described. By now, the both of them were probably so far ahead of the heroes in levels that it was actually kind of pitiful. The thing about smaller parties was that there was less experience and loot shared.

"Here," Shirou tossed the wolf drops to him. "For your shield," Shirou specified before throwing the rest of the materials into a bag. "We can sell the rest. Soon we'll have enough to rent a hotel, though I have a half-a-mind to believe they're purposely overcharging us."

Naofumi knew what Shirou meant, but the gratitude welling up from within him had its own form of debilitation. As conflicted as he was about Melromarc's fraudulent sale's practices, frankly, he felt more conflicted with all the help Shirou was giving him without a word of future compensation. It felt like he was taking advantage of him, and Shirou never failed to try and make things easier for him. All this led to a single thought. Shirou was a great guy that Naofumi swore he'd both protect and repay for all the kindness.

"Thanks," Naofumi said dully in his daze.

[Level Up]

The final notification came within his periphery vision before he moved the Poison Dire Wolf's materials over his shield and activated an ability of his legendary weapon. The material touched the jewel of his shield, and abruptly disintegrated as a new notification appeared in front him.

[Poison Dire Wolf Shield Series unlocked.]

An entire skill tree appeared in his view before he dismissed it to review later. He wasn't an idiot to multitask in a monster area where a random bunny could probably one-shot him.

Anyway, the ability of his shield which he just used is called Absorption. By bringing certain parts of a defeated monster to his shield, his shield could take those materials and allow the shield to take the characteristics of the items. The new shields are stored within his primary shield under specific skill trees he'd only need to call upon.

"Sorry for dragging you down," he said to Shirou after the Dire Wolf materials faded completely. "I'll make it up to you later when I reach a similar level."

Like the last seven times, Shirou waved him off with a sheepish grin. "Don't worry about it. I leveled up too. Besides, I may be good at fighting, but you're the one who has more knowledge about this 'game' thing."

Here, Naofumi found himself finding a stable purchase to stand on. For as strong as Shirou was, he seemed far too out of touch with modern past times.

"I recommend investing points into mana regeneration or anything to do with magic reserves," Naofumi listed his advice for Shirou's benefit. At least this way, he didn't feel like he was the only one benefitting from the party. "You use a lot of this 'magecraft' which I assume means spells for SP, so wouldn't that mean that you could fire an endless number of swords?"

Naofumi watched as a flicker of surprise appeared over Shirou's face, giving Naofumi the confidence to elaborate a but further. "I'm not sure how your passive magic regeneration works, but in theory, if you put enough points into it, then if it offsets the consumption rate of your swords, wouldn't that mean that shooting them would have no cost?"

"…"

Shirou made an interesting sort of face, one that seemed to war with the impossibility of the idea, but at the same time seeing the possibility due to the game-like features.

"I'll keep your word in mind," Shirou eventually settled on saying. "For now, we should head back to camp. Keel and Raphtalia get anxious if we leave them alone for too long."

This was an understatement, and both Shirou and Naofumi knew it. The kids were traumatized from an event that supposedly killed their entire town before being forced into slavery. They were deprived of the warmth of their parents or guardians, and forced to endure circumstances where they may have had to watch friends die from abuse. There was no way that they wouldn't be mentally scarred in some way. The both of them were almost ten-years old and neither was comfortable sleeping on their own, preferring to sleep next to each other or sneaking to lie by either Shirou or Naofumi's side.

The two of them had probably not taken a single step away from where they'd been left to behave in camp.

"We could have taken them with us..." Naofumi trailed off.

"And that is highly irresponsible. Even you suggested killing monsters from a distance because they were too dangerous. At least you have a shield if they get close to you, but Raphtalia and Keel have nothing in the case of an emergency. We'll take them when they're older or less traumatized."

"Fair point." Naofumi composed himself and stood up straight. "Speaking of which, what do you think of attending a banquet in the palace?"

"A banquet?" Shirou asked to clarify before he shook his head. "I may have some reservations with the palace, but the only thing that matters is whether or not you wish to go? I've realized that I haven't been letting you do much leading despite you referring to yourself as 'party leader.'"

Naofumi hummed in thought, thinking about the benefits Myne had spoken of. She seemed like a nice girl that meant well, and compared to the reception he and Shirou received so far, he felt like she was worth getting to know. "I'd like to attend. If anything, if Motoyasu and the others are there, we can talk together and maybe come up with a plan for the wave of calamity? They may not seem like the most approachable people, but they're allies all the same."

It was a viable option, and one that Shirou conceded the point to Naofumi who brightened at Shirou's acceptance. "Let's head back. We can't just leave Keel and Raphtalia alone for too long," Naofumi said eagerly.

"Well, I set up a magic barrier (Bounded Field in magus terms) around the area, but you're right. It's probably best to return."

Shirou and Naofumi packed up their things and quickly made their way back to camp. Shirou served as the main unit of transport by tying a rope to an arrow attached to an enlarged version of Naofumi's shield which the two sat on. Every time the shield would dip in trajectory, Shirou would fire another arrow attached to a separate rope hung loosely on the shield.

"I think I'm going to die," Naofumi was holding on for dear life. "How did you even think of this?!"

"Would you rather walk through that?" Shirou gestured for Naofumi to look down, and when he did, he saw hordes of various over-levelled monsters that had the potential to kill them both.

Point taken. Naofumi promptly shut up and let Shirou take them back to camp where the shield crashed against the ground and slid to a halt.

It was time to prepare for a banquet.


Keel moved to take a spot on Shirou lap, the both of them seated at a table facing Naofumi and Raphtalia seated across from them. Like a little puppy, Keel once again tried to hide herself from view beneath Shirou's arms while staring cautiously at the people around. Raphtalia was no better and fearfully staring out from where she'd wrapped herself in Naofumi's cloak. Awkward would be the most apt term to describe the present situation.

"C-Can we leave yet?" Keel asked mutedly, her eyes darting back and forth.

"I-I want to leave too," Raphtalia whispered imploringly.

The reason for the two children's behaviour couldn't have been any clearer due to the unfriendly faces around. Shirou and Naofumi were one thing, the invited nobles giving them indifferent expressions, but towards Keel and Raphtalia, there was thinly veiled animosity. A waiter had even refused to serve the two children and called them 'rats' and 'vermin' to their faces much to both Shirou and Naofumi's ire.

"You know, I felt it the first time, but I don't think we're very welcome," Naofumi whispered discreetly, making sure to keep Raphtalia close to him rather then let her wander off to the self-serve food with Keel. Not that their vice-like grips would be lightening up anytime soon.

He raised a brow. Not welcome? This was an understatement. It wasn't only them, but the looks that they were continuing to pin on Keel and Raphtalia had him feeling weary.

Shirou observed the stares of the people around them, and heightened his sense of hearing to make the thinly veiled whispers audible.

'Half-breed filth.'

'Look. It's the Shield Hero's party.'

'Remember the plan. Follow your orders.'

The voices drowned on until a picture was soon created in his mind.

So, that was what was going on. The people of Melromarc believed in a religion that disdained the Hero of the Shield. Something called the Church of the Three Heroes who actively stood opposed to Demi-Humans and their Hero of the Shield. This wasn't an issue he could just deal. It was ingrained prejudice.

The stares only grew more pointed as the banquet continued, and there were still no signs of the other Heroes or their parties. Suspicion began to brew within him born from his own experiences. He scrutinized the guests in the hall, and took note of how they were congregating towards the exits of the banquet hall. Of course, they could just be moving to assigned positions to secure the area, but there were far too many. There was a second floor in the room, something of a viewing gala with carved safety rails all manned by Melromarc Archers.

He hummed in thought, staring into the eyes of King Aultcray Melromarc dispassionately seated upon his throne at the center of the room. If there was one thing Shirou was keen to notice, it was the smoldering hate that flickered in Aultcray's eyes when he noticed Keel and Raphtalia in a human dominated room. Their Demi-Human features stood out in stark contrast to the rest.

When a sneer broke out across Aultcray's face, Shirou sighed while staring at the staff the King used as a walking cane.

-The Hero of the Staff whose courage, valour, and ingenuity on the battlefield had become a shadow of his former self.

Without wasting another second, Shirou nudged Naofumi with his elbow. "We should leave," he advised, watching Naofumi's features scrunch up in confusion. A moment later after explaining his findings, Naofumi opened then closed his mouth in disbelief.

"Is that really why they all don't like us?" Naofumi inquired, keeping Raphtalia and Keel close, his shield ready to be deployed. "It just seems so petty. I mean we're all Heroes summoned to help the world, so why the need for discrimination?"

He didn't have the answer for that, or at least not one that he liked. Humanity could be so much better if they stopped trying to breed conflict and hierarchy, but even in the moonlit world, hierarchy exists. He wouldn't preach to there being a definite answer, yet he'd rather remain optimistic.

"Perspective," is what he answered Naofumi's question with, causing the man to blink.

The name Siltvelt had come up continuously in the murmurs of the crowd. It wasn't difficult to glean a bit more information from there.

"If we were summoned in a place called Siltvelt, you would be the one treated as a Hero, and the other three with prejudice," he explained. "Religions run deep in this new world and it's all based on individual perspective."

He tightened his grip on Keel and stood up while gently putting her down, Naofumi mirroring the motion. "We must leave," he said again. The fact that everyone stopped moving, if only for an instant, to stare at them was telling. Naofumi didn't notice the smaller details, but Shirou did.

This whole thing was a trap.

"Don't. Panic." Shirou mouthed to Naofumi which in retrospect was likely the wrong choice. Naofumi wasn't used to a life of combat and walking alongside death. His eyes bugged out, and the unease in his expression was immediately apparent to the trained eye.

Fuck.

Shirou urged Naofumi to just walk out with him, and pretend nothing was happening, but nothing ever goes right.

"Ah wait, dear friends. Surely you wouldn't leave so early," Aultcray called out, masking the flash of agitation in his tone while sitting up on his throne.

"Everyone's not in place yet. Stall them."

He could hear the whispered orders through his enhanced hearing, and decided not to play into anything.

"We're leaving," he cut Naofumi off before his friend could speak. Holding Keel's hand in his, he gestured for Naofumi to the do the same with Raphtalia before immediately marching for the exit.

"S-Stop them. W-We just need a bit more time."

"Now see here!" Aultcray called out to deaf ears.

Naofumi looked flustered, but the trust he had with him outweighed the King's by far, and then a new player arrived.

"At the very least, please allow us to escort you back," Myne spoke up on behalf of her father, running towards them with a pained expression. Admittedly, even Shirou couldn't tell if she was acting or not. She looked genuinely distraught.

"I-I apologize if something was done to offend you both. I'd been too busy getting ready to attend the banquet with you or else I would be the first to call out anyone who would cause you both discomfort!" Myne pursed her lips, her gloved hands covered up to her elbows left wrinkled from hasty she must have put them on. She'd rushed out to meet them. "It wasn't supposed to turn out this way."

Shirou could tell that Myne wasn't lying with her last sentence. It was the truth that things weren't supposed to turn out this way. He looked towards Myne, then to Aultcray, then back to Myne. Perhaps, she may not truly be involved, but was just being used? No. It's still too dangerous to just assume especially with how ingrained to the Three Heroes Church Melromarc was.

Naofumi though was convinced she had nothing to do with the situation and nodded before anything else.

Shirou blinked in alarm, but upon noticing how taken aback Aultcray appeared, he hadn't taken this situation into account either. Were they really not working with each other?

"How grand!" Myne took Naofumi's hand, causing the man to blush while Raphtalia was almost pushed aside if not for Keel offering support. "Here, this way. We can all take my carriage."

Myne pushed ahead of both him and Naofumi, somehow much more eager than them to leave the palace. Everything else was a blur from there, and for his part, Shirou paid more attention to Aultcray and his knights to see if they'd try anything.

His attention didn't shift back to Myne until she'd urged them all into the carriage and got the horse moving into a steady trot.

"Naofumi," Shirou warned in a subtle tone, before being thrown off by Myne's next words.

"I couldn't just leave you two alone," She admitted, leaning forward with a nervous pout in her features. "Listen, alright. My father, the King was plotting something, and I just wanted to help you both. No one likes the Shield Hero in Melromarc and they like Demi-Humans even less."

Keel and Raphtalia shrunk in on themselves when Myne's attention fell on them despite the worry she placed in her eyes. While Naofumi was captivated by Myne's beauty, Shirou took the liberty of pulling Keel and Raphtalia to his side in order to ease their worries.

"You'd risk your life to help us?" Naofumi looked touched, and for his part, Shirou eased off some of the tension he was feeling.

"Of course," Myne grinned from ear to ear before engaging Naofumi in conversation.

None noticed the unnatural way Shirou had fallen silent until Raphtalia worked up the courage to tug on Naofumi's clothes and point out Shirou's condition to him.

Shirou's eyes were narrowed, lips thinned, and arms at the ready.

"Shirou?" Naofumi called.

Shirou raised a hand to call for silence and carefully peaked out of the carriage. Various shadows were lurking outside, careful to keep pace with the vehicle. No one even seemed to hear their movements. Glints of silver reflected in the moonlight.

Assassins. Trained. Professional.

As soon as the thought came to mind, the wheels of the carriage splintered and caused the vehicle to break down, scattering everyone inside. Reflexively, he shielded Keel from the crash while Naofumi covered for Myne and Raphtalia.

Shirou crashed his back into the ground, rocks and pebbles digging roughly against his skin as Keel squeaked in alarm. He pushed himself off the ground, and stood to protect Keel. His eyes sharpened in preparation for a continued attack, only to fumble as he watched the assassins run right past him like he was a piece of garbage on the road.

Was he… being overlooked?

This-This was a first.

"Mr. Naofumi! Over here!"

He glanced up to see Myne waving for Naofumi to follow her into a shadowed alleyway where she pushed a lever hidden as a long candle-holder to reveal a secret passage. Naofumi looked to him first- "Go!"- he gave the affirmative.

Whether or not he trusted Myne didn't matter as it was probably safer for Naofumi and the children to go with Myne rather than deal with trained killers. As for him, he rushed forward to catch the attention of the assassins while calling out to Keel.

"Keel," he yelled evenly. "I need you to follow Raphtalia and Naofumi."

"I don't like that lady," Keel hesitated.

Shirou grit his teeth. He also felt wariness towards Myne, but Naofumi had already followed after her with Raphtalia. There was no other choice, and he trusted Naofumi to act in their respective roles. Naofumi was the Shield that would protect everyone, and he was the Sword that would cut apart their obstacles.

"Keel, take care of them," he glanced right into Keel's eyes to convey his trust. "You know how kind Naofumi can be. Make sure he doesn't get taken advantage of."

Keel didn't argue, and for a moment he could see it was because she was afraid of him abandoning her if she disobeyed. What sort of cruel things had she experienced to cause her to react in such a way? Raphtalia was the same with Naofumi. Thoughts darkening, he shook his head in order to focus.

"B-But what about you?!" She called out nervously even while running after Naofumi and Raphtalia.

"Me?" He chuckled darkly while back handing an assassin that had underestimated him. "I'm dealing with these guys and then making an appointment with the King."

In his hands manifested the image of a certain staff.

One way or another, he was going to beat some sense into that king.

Hero to Hero.


Thanks for reading!

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Summary of book:

Death. Grief. Ruin. Nothing was left unchanged after an unexplained tragedy led to the loss of millions across the world in key locations. Cities were reduced to wastelands of steel and concrete, and many were forced into migration. When events leading to the prior tragedy occur once more, Kevin Black was going to have to learn that sometimes mysteries were better left unsolved. Trapped with his friends in the world of a ruined city filled with monsters, the journey out would be far more perilous than the journey in.