To say that either Shirou or Naofumi were prepared for the weird biology of Demi-Humans was an understatement. In fact, they were stuck in a dilemma with how to treat them right now.
Keel and Raphtalia had grown from literal five-year-olds to eleven-year-olds in the span of a single hunt. It was no exaggeration to say that if they continued at their current farming pace, then the two would become adults in the span of a few months.
The bodies of Demi-Humans evidently functioned differently than anything Shirou or Naofumi had ever seen, but the issue was that Keel and Raphtalia's mental fallacies also showed signs of maturity.
Did this mean that they're physical appearance reflected their actual mental age?
Nonono. They were children just a second ago. There was just no way.
Shirou felt that there was something really wrong with the present picture, but Naofumi was quicker to adapt by attributing Raphtalia and Keel's growth to game growth mechanics. It was kind of like when you feed materials and levels up a pet or monster character allowing them to evolve into an adult state in an instant.
Applying this concept to real life however was quite jarring.
Shirou and Naofumi shared a look while observing the way Raphtalia and Keel's clothes were practically bursting at the seems, the light leathers straining to hold back Raphtalia's growing bosom. In comparison, Keel was starting to get too tall, her naval exposed, and making it look like she was wearing a tank-top.
"Back to town?" Naofumi suggested.
"Back to town," Shirou nodded decisively. "We can get Erhard to make some adjustments to the armour that they're wearing. In the meantime, I think it's time we visited the church to check up on the Hour Glass you mentioned in the Shield's help menu. It should be about time for the wave judging by what Aultcray mentioned before."
Naofumi nodded his consent. "Keel! Raphtalia! Let's go!"
"Coming!" The two kids chorused.
By the sound of their voices, they should be out playing on open fields or parks rather than out here hunting monsters. The red spear in Keel's hands still seemed oversized in her grip, and the sword Raphtalia was using was wielded clumsily.
The two were getting better, but as this was just their first time out farming, they both obviously had their reservations. Raphtalia was too nervous to kill anything, and Keel was too eager to please and kept giving her position away before she could strike at any monster. Frustration after failure after failure only led to more failure.
Both Keel and Raphtalia's ears were drooped as they made their way to Shirou and Naofumi, their tails between their legs.
"Sorry," Keel stared at her feet and apologized to Shirou. She'd let several monsters get away from her that he purposely weakened so that she could get experience.
"Sorry," Raphtalia bowed to Naofumi. Her eyes were misted, her lips quivering in apprehension as she knew that she'd performed worse than Keel.
"Don't sweat it," Naofumi waved the two kids off. It wasn't as if he or Shirou expected them not to make any mistakes. "We're heading back to town to get your armour adjusted. Shirou, if you would?"
A notched arrow was the only answer while Naofumi strapped himself, Raphtalia, and Keel onto a large tower shield made from his legendary weapon.
Shirou fired an arrow, and the party sailed out of the high-level danger zone from the force of Shirou's shot tethered to the tower shield.
After getting their equipment back in proper working order, the Shield Hero's party found itself in the premise of an old-styled building of worship.
Near the center of Melromarc's capital lay a Church dedicated to the Three Heroes. It wasn't anything much as churches go, but its interior was dark and dim-lit, almost dreary. High buttresses and gothic arches made up a majority of the layout, tempered glass bereft of colour allowing only thin rays of light to penetrate into the heart of the prayer room.
Shirou shuddered.
This church was almost too reminiscent to the one in his memories along with a certain fake priest.
"I don't like it here," Keel gripped onto Shirou's sleeve, her eyes darting left and right before focusing on the head-priest in charge of the church standing by an altar.
"To be honest, this place gives me one of those secret boss room feels," Naofumi hummed in thought. It didn't help that the priests and nuns of the Three Heroes Church were all glaring from the very moment that the party stepped foot into the central hall where an hourglass stood tall.
Supposedly, one such hourglass existed in each of the four central Kingdoms in order to warn of the coming of each Wave of Calamity. This was the offhand knowledge Shirou had gleamed from reconnaissance, and secret letters from Aultcray who'd begun to break out of his shell of idleness and ineptitude.
The hourglasses were called Dragon Hour Glass.
On each hourglass was a countdown timer, and the one in Melromarc was no different.
[00:15:20]
There was only roughly fifteen minutes until the start of the coming wave, and when that timer reached zero, all Legendary Heroes and their parties would teleport to the site of the wave.
"Seriously?" Naofumi swallowed, his mouth suddenly going dry. "I thought we still had another day. Talk about lucky, right?"
If the party hadn't decided to go back and check the hourglass, then they would have been caught by surprise at the sudden teleport for sure.
In contrast to Naofumi's optimism, Shirou couldn't quite agree with the statement.
I'm never this lucky.
Shirou was seriously debating whether or not a meteor was going to drop from the sky and try to kill him in the middle of this wave. That, or something equally disastrous.
A shudder travelled down his back, but at least he wouldn't have to dwell on the issue considering others came to preoccupy him.
"Its you guys," Motoyasu's expression was stiff, the party members behind him comprised entirely of women hissing as they each took in a sudden breath.
The match from earlier was still on everyone's minds, and Motoyasu involuntarily tensed from the memory before he rubbed his eyes. "Were those two always that big? No, never mind. I think my memory is just fuzzy from a concussion."
No. No it wasn't just a concussion. These two really grew. Naofumi inwardly thought to himself, but it wasn't as if Motoyasu could hear it.
"I've been meaning to ask, but what are you?" Motoyasu directly addressed Shirou, raising his hands up in a disarming gesture as he was simply curious and not being confrontational. "There has to be a reason you were summoned with us, right?"
"He's a cheat," Naofumi quipped half-heartedly almost by habit, but his words were actually taken quite seriously.
"Would you care to elaborate on that?" Ren stepped forward to ask. He and Itsuki along with their parties were just trailing behind Motoyasu's.
Naofumi scratched the back of his head, gaze shifting from Shirou to the other heroes then back, unsure if he should say anything or not. However, he was sort of beaten to the punch.
With child-like naivety, Raphtalia puffed up her cheeks while Keel crossed her arms and hmphed.
"He can shoot swords! Like fwoosh!" Raphtalia animated with her hands while Keel nodded vehemently. "Big swords! Small swords that go booom!"
Keel nodded again, features proud, her tail wagging swiftly left and right.
You know what, Shirou decided that there was no need for intervention here.
Judging by the expressions Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki were making, they didn't seem to be taking the children too seriously. Their other party members were somewhat apprehensive with Demi-Humans considering Melromarc's stance on them, but at least none of them appeared hateful.
"Keel, Raphtalia, come back here," Naofumi coaxed the two behind him; the two children only leaving after satisfying themselves with the thought that their words were 'believed.'
[00:04:20]
Shirou was keeping careful note of the time. Presently, there was less than five minutes left.
"We should prepare ourselves," he advised everyone in good faith. After his show of capability, the other day, the others were inclined to listen to him.
"Hey, wait! But you didn't answer the question? What sort of person are you?" Motoyasu asked again, a frown marring his features.
"A Hero," Shirou replied curtly.
"But you're not one of the legendary heroes though…" a diminutive girl from Itsuki's party felt that there was something off, but her voice was too quiet for either Shirou or Naofumi to have paid attention to it.
Instead, Naofumi was distracted at Myne smiling at him, all but asking him to talk her up. Naofumi's EQ wasn't stupid.
"Hello Ms. Myne." Naofumi grew somewhat flustered, trying to strike a rapport. "How are-"
"No, you don't. This isn't the time to socialize," Shirou attempted to pull Naofumi back, but he didn't have to because Raphtalia got mad and started pinching Naofumi's side while Keel started shoving him.
It was like watching a widowed father's kids stubbornly refusing to allow their father to see any other woman.
Pulled away, Naofumi once more failed to see the glower slitter across Myne's features. When Myne then turned to Motoyasu, she was practically all smiles, and this was what Naofumi noticed, causing him to feel as if he'd lost out on an opportunity.
Myne had given him so many chances, yet he found himself failing each one. It was a pity, wasn't it? How could someone so earnest possibly be bad news or cause Shirou to get an ill feeling?
Isekai adventures always promised that one heroine who always puts her faith and devotion in the protagonist, and Naofumi felt as if he was losing his.
Raphtalia? He didn't even consider her, and that fact obviously wasn't lost on the young tanuki who started making raging tanuki noises while pinching him harder.
[10]
Meanwhile, Shirou's gaze narrowed on the timer.
So, it begins.
[9…8…7]
He had no idea what these waves would bring, but one thing he did know was that he would fight.
[…3]
It didn't matter if this world wasn't his own, or if his actions went unrecognized.
[2]
It was never wrong to save others.
[1]
He shut his eyes and felt an acute pull as golden light encompassed the entirety of his view. When next he observed his surroundings, it was to see a vast countryside that he and Naofumi had once seen before while out farming near a village.
Riyute Village, to be specific.
It was right there not too far off, opposite to a forested region in the west.
Above him, and beyond the horizon overlooking the rolling hills, the sky cracked open, forming a dimensional fracture. Countless amounts of insectoid creatures and undead began to pour out, signalling the start of this Wave of Calamity.
In this time where the Heroes should have banded together and helped the people screaming in terror in Riyute village, Shirou found himself glowering heavily.
"Where the hell are you guys going!" Veins bulged over Naofumi's temples while staring incredulously at Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki leading their parties away from Riyute village and into the nearby forest.
Perhaps in acknowledgment for their strength, Itsuki ended up yelling a curt answer. "Boss," was all he said.
At any other time, Itsuki, Ren, or Motoyasu would have never lightly given out such free information to keep an edge over the others, but this case was special. Itsuki was trying to curry favour as he knew Shirou was the one who put up the bow for sale in Erhard's shop.
"Wait, you guys can't be serious?! The village is…" Naofumi trailed off since Ren, Motoyasu, Itsuki, and their parties' figures vanished within the underbrush of the forest. "Dammit."
Shirou placed a hand over Naofumi's shoulder, and shook his head. "Let them go."
Naofumi grimaced. "Let them go? They're clearly just trying to steal the boss's experience points for themselves. If we don't go after them, then there'll be nothing left for us."
In this world where levels were the best guarantee of survivability, exp was the same as a safety net. It was true that he and Shirou could already farm in high level areas, but the amount of experience a boss drops was incomparable to any mob.
Yet so what? Shirou recalled what he'd learned of this new world's fables.
"Does it matter?" A sharpness gleamed in Shirou's gaze, stunning all who would see it. "Naofumi, what is the weapon in your hand? A blade or a shield?"
-[The figure of his back stands tall at the forefront of the calamity]
Naofumi shut his mouth, but all the same, a fire would burn from within, igniting into that spoken of in song and the stars of this world.
"You are the Hero of the Shield."
-[Protector and champion of the faith of Siltvelt, kingdom of the Demi-humans]
"The title should mean something; a saviour of the people striving to save everyone even if it costs you your life. A Hero just and fair as the lore of its making."
Keel and Raphtalia's eyes were shining.
-[His light, his glory, his pride, a stalwart and unbending wall against an unrelenting tide]
"These words and myths may not mean much to us, but they clearly do for Raphtalia and Keel who grew up like other Demi-humans listening to the story of the legendary heroes."
-[Yours is a shield that guards the fate of this world]
"There's nothing wrong with one who protects rather than harms." Shirou looked right into Naofumi's eyes. "More often than not, people are at their strongest when they have something to protect…and lives are worth protecting more than experience points."
-[Take up your arms]
The ends do not justify the means.
Shirou would never allow himself to lose sight of why he wished to grow stronger through this new world's leveling system.
-[Carry your banners and raise them high]
"Alright. We'll give up on the boss," Naofumi sucked in a breath and resolved himself. "Keel, Raphtalia, stand back and stick close. This is probably the first time you'll see Shirou and I get serious."
The emerald jewel atop Naofumi's shield shone with the luster of moonlight illuminating the wave ahead.
-[The Hero of the Shield comes]
…On blades of steel and wrought-iron.
-"Trace. On."
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