Guess who's got a cold, but still took time to bring another chapter to you all? Yep! That's me! Today's chapter is filled with feels, wholesomeness, and some tense stuff too. It was a bit hard pulling the energy to write, but after reading all the currently available chapters from the Reprise of the spear hero I managed to muster it up.

Shoutout to Allen, the writer of The diligence of the shield hero for answering my questions and giving me some information that changed the course of some things much ahead. I think you all know him, so, to the fellow readers, always be sure to leave a review on his story! Without him, this story would've been worse in some aspects.

Now, roll the chapter!

Kieran was annoyed, but he should've expected this by now. Trying to use his Shadow walking ability was denied by his shield. He half expected to gain a new shield that would allow him to perform it, like it happened to his enchanting shield. But that was probably a one time thing.

He looked at the door for a moment, far less effective. The window was checked too, but there was no place for him to walk. And with all these limitations, he was sure he wouldn't be able to fly. That only left him with the bad choice. He sighed, put on his most convincing ashamed expression and walked towards the door, being careful to not make any loud sounds, he was a bit surprised at how sneaky he still was. But sadly, the knights were still stationed outside the door.

"Sir Hero? What are you doing? Shouldn't you be asleep?" Ake asked, waking up the older knight that was sleeping against the wall.

"Ehehehe… Sorry. I kinda need to use the bathroom now… And it can't wait until the morning." He lied, rubbing the back of his head. The knight gave him an understanding smile.

"That's understandable. I'll escort you to the bathroom, please follow me." Ake said before he turned around, making his way to the bathroom in question, closely followed by the blacksmith, who made sure to pay attention to everything, trying to get as much information on that walk as he could.

"Tsc… Stupid shield devil." The older knight mumbled, annoyed that his napping was disturbed by that scum. He prayed that the gods would strike him down soon. Yeah, he took that personally.

Kieran followed the younger knight closely, taking a look at him. He seemed quite nice, but was clearly inexperienced. He decided to strike up a conversation with him.

"Thanks for this, I didn't want to make your job more difficult. I'm Kieran, what's your name?"

"Oh! It's Ake, Sir Kieran. Don't worry! It's my job, and it's an honor to help one of the heroes of the legend." He replied, smiling sincerely at him.

"I see, I can see your dedication. Very commendable, I hope to work with you in the future." He praised him, earning an even larger smile from him.

"Thank you! When the next wave strikes. I hope to fight alongside you, I became a knight because I wanted to protect people." He said with determination in his eyes.

Kieran smiled at him. He was so innocent… But he had good qualities. He was completely sincere, the way his expression changed told him all he needed to know. The boy had potential to become a useful ally. And seeing how so many people seemed to despise him, he would need all the allies he could get.

"Well, I could certainly use the support. You remind me of young warriors from my world, their bravery and empathy made them wield their swords to strike down unlawful and evil foes." When they arrived at the door, Kieran walked halfway inside. "Don't let those dumb people put you down. You're going to be an amazing knight."

Ake felt like he was about to cry. The legendary shield hero was comparing him to warriors of his own world? No one had put him so highly before. He saluted him until the door closed, then he stood guard outside.

"I'm going to continue working hard… I'll get strong enough so I can be worthy of that praise! I'll make everyone in the village proud!" Ake thought to himself, straightening his body with confidence.

Kieran sighed, he couldn't see anything useful on the way there. He wanted to explore more of the castle. But if the king had placed knights outside their door, he thought that he wasn't going to be able to snoop around. He finished his business and went out, finding the knight waiting for him.

They began to walk again, but on the way there, Kieran noticed something a bit deeper in the corridor. He quickly ran there and saw an oil painting of what seemed to be the royal family. He recognized Autocray, looking younger. Alongside a very beautiful woman, that made him whistle at how gorgeous she was.

"Damn… That's totally a Monarch I'd Like to Form an alliance with." He joked internally, giggling a bit before he went back to check on what else the painting had. He found two girls. One seemed to be 3 years old maximum, with blue hair. While the older one had Red hair. The Blue one smiled brightly at the picture. The red one had a very arrogant smile, her body language screamed entitled.

"Sir Kieran! Please don't run like that!" Ake asked, quickly catching up to him ,then noticing what he was looking at. "Oh, the royal family portrait, right? Here you can see our Queen and her beloved family."

"Can you tell me about the Queen? I didn't see her at the reception." Kieran asked, very curious. Especially because Ake mentioned the queen first instead of the king.

"Queen Mirellia had to leave a while ago to attend to something outside of the capital… They didn't tell us low ranked knights what it was. But I saw her going out with surpriments, so I guess it was a long trip. Especially because it was weeks ago." Ake explained. "She's the main ruler of our nation, her consort, King Autocray is taking care of things while she's away."

"Oh, so it's a matriarchal monarchy? Fascinating. In the kingdom I lived in it was basically the same thing." He replied then motioned to the daughters. "Where are the princesses?"

"Princess Melty is with her mother, Princess Malty stayed in the castle. But I haven't seen her today." He said, with his hand on his chin. "She's probably in her room, or out in the town. I'm not sure…"

"Well, thanks for the information. I look forward to meeting the queen. Keep serving the people as you've been doing, young Ake. If you do well in the wave, I'll be sure to give you something for your dedication and bravery."

"Right! Thank you so much!" He replied happily, then held his mouth when he spoke too loudly.

Kieran laughed a bit, and gave him a few pats on the back. Then began to walk back to the room.

"What took you so long?" The other knight asked, looking at the two in annoyance, but tried to focus on Ake to not draw too much suspicion.

"Sorry, I guess something I ate before I came here wasn't too good. It was my fault, sorry." He lied, not wanting to put Ake in trouble.

"Tsc… Alright. Go to sleep then." He replied dryly, then closed his eyes again.

Ake was surprised that he lied for him, but he wasn't going to correct the hero and make him look even worse, as such, he went back to his post to guard the cardinal heroes.

This had been better than he expected. He found some useful information that he could use to help his survival in this world. There was a queen, and she held more power than the king. He hoped that she was more reasonable than the king. He should've asked for more information… But it was getting too late.

He walked towards the bed, touching the pillow, he remembered what the heroes had mentioned about absorbing stuff… His eyes narrowed as a dumb idea came to his head. He began to consider, but curiosity took the best of him.

-Pillow shield-

+1 Agi +1 HP

Skill: Efficient resting (If you sleep for at least 8 hours, gain an stamina boost after waking up.)

Kieran was surprised, it worked. He changed the shield seeing the same fluffy pillow that he had absorbed, but now it had a green gemstone on the side. Yawning, he picked it up and placed it against the side of his head. And closed his eyes. He needed to do so many things the next morning… Just thinking about that, made him pass out heavily.

The next morning, all heroes were woken up by a maid, bringing them their breakfast, none of them looked too good. But Kieran looked even worse than them, they all grumbled and sat down on their beds. Even the prideful Itsuki looked wasted.

All four heroes walked to the table to serve themselves. Dark bags under their eyes.

"C-coffee… No… Coffee? Goddammit." Motoyasu complained, getting some juice for himself.

"Urgh… And here I thought at least that existed in this world." Kieran grunted, picking up a piece of bread and usim some jam on it.

"We took too long yesterday…" Ren complained, eating slowly with the others.

"Next time… We leave our discussion for the morning, alright?" Itsuki pleaded. All the heroes agreed unanimously.

"Hey, Kieran. What is a pillow in your arm?" Ren casually asked, too sleepy to put on his facade.

"Absorbed my pillow… Got a new shield." He replied simply, emptying an entire glass of juice quickly before filling another. "Sugar…"

"Huh? Why would a pillow shield be useful?" Itsuki asked while looking at him, a bit annoyed.

"It gave me a new skill… If I sleep for 8 hours, I get a boost to my stamina." He replied simply, feeling a bit more awake after consuming some sugar.

"Really? Huh…" Motoyasu dragged himself to his bed, and did the same, absorbing his own pillow. His spear then changed to become something that looked like a plush toy. "Huh… Neat."

The other two heroes actually found that discovery interesting, so they did the same. Soon all four heroes were sitting on their table wielding fluffy, bulky versions of their weapons.

"Mine and Kieran's seem to be the most comfortable ones to use." Ren commented, placing his Pillow sword under him, using it as a cushion.

"Not so fast Ren…" Itsuki smiled a bit, and did something the others didn't expect. He stuck his head through the opening between the bow and the "string", it looked ridiculous, like one of those neck pillows people use on planes.

"Come on. I basically got a huge pool noodle…" Motoyasu complained, waking his Pillow spear around. It hit Kieran, but it bounced off his head without anything. "Can't hurt a fly even with my big attack stat…"

"Just hug it when you sleep. Or try curling it and putting it on the back of your head." The blacksmith suggested, they all laughed a bit. And finished eating, stepping out of the room to meet another knight that was waiting for them.

"Ah, sir heroes! You four… Didn't seem to have slept so well. What happened?" He asked, worried that the heroes didn't like their room.

"Sorry, we began talking and discussing some things… It was really late when we retired. And there's no coffee here to boost our energy further…" Kieran explained.

"Coffee you say? Hmmm… Sorry, but we don't have any. But if any of you need some energy, I'll ask for the castle doctors to bring some energy pills for you all. The king wants to talk to all of you soon. But wait for me here. I won't take long." He then ran off to another part of the castle.

"Well… Now we wait? Huh. At least we get some free items." Motoyasu said before going back to sitting down.

"What made you decide to absorb your pillow, Kieran?" Itsuki asked, which seemed super counter-intuitive. But so far, he was actually teaching them a couple interesting things. He was considering that he was maybe a tutorial NPC too?

"Curiosity simply put. I was really tired, remembering what you guys said yesterday. I was about to sleep, fluffing my pillow when I decided to try it out." He replied, sitting down with his toolbox resting on his lap.

"About that… Have you seen that I'm the one right?" Ren asked, referencing their talk about the power up methods.

"Oh, right. I remember everything you guys say… Let me check my help menu…" He said in response, then began navigating the menus. Neither of them seemed to be lying. They were too young and dumb to be amazing liars… As such. He wasn't surprised when after some time fiddling with his menu, he got all of their strengthening methods. "Alright, I have good news, and weird news."

"Speak up please, this nonsense is killing me." Itsuki interjected, his sleepiness seemed to have vanished.

"I know which one of you is right… And the response is all of you." He said simply, seeing that his shield had some mastery in them. He reset his small shield mastery, and got a little bit of energy from that. He saw the Ore slots from Itsuki's method, and the option to smell his pillow shield with Ore… Strange, but he let it pass.

"Wait… What do you mean with all of us?" Motoyasu asked, his eyes widening in complete disbelief.

"You don't have to lie to us because you don't want to hurt our feelings… You know?" Itsuki said, very annoyed. A vein was visible on his forehead.

"I don't believe you. None of those methods those two mentioned were ever in my game." Ren said, crossing his arms. His cool and edgy persona coming back at full force.

"Are you sure about that?" Motoyasu moved closer, that seemed completely wrong. But he couldn't help but try to rationalize what he had spoken. He was so trustful… I mean, he was an NPC after all.

"I'm saying it. Ren, I just converted some mastery into energy. I have the option to enchant, use Ore, equip monster souls… Look, I have years of experience dealing with customer service. I can tell which person is going to be a recurring client, which one is going to try to sneak off something from the display case, i can tell a noble that will put on a huge order for new equipment for his personal guard, and the one who will try to lowball my prices because they are arrogant and a penny-pincher." He said seriously, looking at them all with seriousness in his eyes.

The other three looked conflicted, they went silent deep into their thoughts. But before they could do anything the same knight from before came back, handling them the medicine, each of them got two pills.

"I managed to get some extra so all of you can get some energy, and also absorb the other one. I hope it helps!" He said while he waited for them to take the medicine.

They all felt better after swallowing the pill. After feeding the other one to his shield. Kieran got a couple shields, like the Calorie shield, Energy shield, Potential energy shield and Small medicine shield. All of which had different effects but gave him some SP, boosted the effect of the medicine he applied…

"Woah. I just got 4 shields from that. All overall useful, the medicine actually worked better than coffee. Thanks!" Kieran praised the knight, and after hearing him saying that, the other heroes followed suit.

"It's a pleasure, oh great heroes! Sorry I couldn't bring healing medicine. We have a shortage of it at the moment. The waves left some of our soldiers really hurt. So they need it badly." He apologized, looking sadly at the floor.

"Hey, it's alright. We're legendary heroes! We won't get hurt that easily. Keep the medicine." Motoyasu said to the knight, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"On the next wave, we'll guarantee that won't happen again." Ren said in his serious tone, a small smile on his lips.

"I'll rain justice from above! No one can get hurt if I can kill all the monsters before they attack you." Itsuki followed just closely, not wanting to give the spotlight completely to the others. He was the main protagonist of this adventure after all.

"I think I'll try to see if I can get more medicine… I got a shield that is decent for applying medicine." Kieran spoke, not as heroic sounding as the others. But still solid.

The knight looked at them with hope. Saluting them, feeling a lot better.

"Thank you heroes. Please follow me. The king will see you now." He told them before he turned around. Followed closer by the other four. That would be the beginning of an overall boost in morale for the knights.

Once the four heroes arrived at the throne room, they saw a bunch of interesting looking adventurers. With a nice amount of variety alongside them. A couple mages, a fighter girl, some swordsmen and even a couple buff guys. But the one who most caught Kieran's attention was the redhead.

When their eyes met, she smiled at him. But her left eye twitched involuntarily. Yeah, she was totally faking it. Not only that, but he recognized her face.

"The spoiled princess…" He said in his head, his body growing more tense. The nobles from last night weren't there for this. Alright.

"Heroes! What a great pleasure seeing you all again, I heard you ended up sleeping late. What was the cause of that?" Autocray asked them casually, smiling warmly while keeping his eyes on the three heroes more to the left.

"We ended up discussing some things… And we shared some information." Itsuki said simply, but the second part was said with a sour expression.

"Yeah! Our new shield buddy here is awesome! He can enchant our weapons and make us stronger!" Motoyasu said with a beaming smile, hugging the fellow ponytail bro by the shoulder, making Kieran laugh a bit. Happy that he got to be close to another hero. Having at least one of them on his side was going to be good in the long run.

"Huh… Is that so?" Autocray asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. He received a "customer service person" smile in return. "Well… As long as the heroes grow stronger. I'm happy with that." He completed his phrase, then motioned for the adventurers stationed there. "We have called for the bravest adventurers the guild could offer, they make the choice for their hero now!"

"Wait. We don't get to choose?" Itsuki asked, surprised.

"Please the ladies, please the ladies." Motoyasu thought, spilling casually at some of the girls, earning a few giggles from them. Including Malty.

"I guess I can't help it…" Ren relented, closing his eyes.

"My enchantments are not only limited to heroes. I can enchant any weapon." Kieran spoke, trying to get the attention of some of the people there. "But I won't limit it to only my group. If any of you want your weapon enchanted, I'll try to set up a workshop somewhere in the future."

A few of the adventurers looked intrigued. Except for the mages and the Kung fu girl. The shield hero hoped that would work to make them choose him.

Autocray frowned. The shield devil wanted to set up shop in HIS town? That was bad news… He needed to keep him controlled. Low leveled enough so he could be contained if he decided to do something. He needed to protect his family.

The tragedy wasn't going to happen again.

The stern glare given by the king frightened the adventurers. One of the swordswoman that actually was willing to join him, quickly gave up. He wasn't about to try and draw the wrath of the Wise king.

Kieran didn't even have to look back to feel the intimidating aura emanating from behind him. The spooked looks a couple of the adventurers got was enough, none of the other heroes seemed to have noticed either. He knew what was going to happen, he gave them a sympathetic smile.

"Now adventurers… Choose the heroes that you'll be partying with!" Autocray spoke, raising his hands.

Kieran kept his eyes open, he got a sorry look from the swordswoman from earlier. After it was all done, Ren had 5 party members, Motoyasu had four (Including the princess) and Itsuki got 3.

"Hmmmm… It seems like the rumors about the Shield hero not knowing anything about this world were spread… How unfortunate." Autocray said, feigning sympathy.

"But how could a rumor go out of the castle so fast?" Kieran asked, faking innocence. And doing it poorly on purpose. The king's expression changed into a scowl.

Ren looked at the situation and felt bad for him. He actually wished he could adventure alone. People always dragged him down after all. They were more of a detriment to him.

"If any of you prefer to side with the shield hero, go on ahead. I don't want anyone weak slowing me down." Ren said, closing his eyes. Despite what he said, no one moved.

"I plan to deliver justice to this country, and rid it of the unlawful. That is my sacred mission! If any of you only desire glory and rewards, step away from me. I will not stand for that." Itsuki spoke after him, but none of the people moved from his party.

"Can any of you ladies help out my little bro there?" Motoyasu asked some of the girls. But they stood still, having some more respect for him.

Kieran was once again expecting everyone to turn it down. But when the princess raised her hand, his heart sank.

"Oh fuck…"

"I'll join the shield hero!" Malty said with her best false smile. Kieran had to give some props to her this time, her eyes didn't twitch now. She was quite the good liar. He needed to keep an eye out for that.

"See Kieran? I told you! And you got quite the beautiful lad…" Motoyasu spoke, flirting a bit with the redhead in disguise.

"I refuse." The response shocked everyone. Especially Malty.

"W-what? S-sir Shield hero? I d-don't believe I heard it right." She asked again, her face contorting in disbelief. The other heroes looked at him in shock, but didn't say anything.

"Look Princess. I appreciate what you're trying to do here, I really do." That was a total lie. "But I'll say that we won't work together too well. I like doing a lot of manual labor, smithing, building, fixing… And I plan on doing quite a bit of it while I'm training. I'm not gonna put royalty on that sort of thing."

Malty's mask fell when she heard his rejection, she tried to recompose herself. But she was caught off-guard. Her plan wasn't gonna work like this.

"I… I d-don't mind getting dirty." She lied, really badly this time.

"Oh really? Your majesty, you didn't tell me your daughter was the hands on type of woman." Kieran joked, smiling, the king was also flabbergasted that he knew that. His fear began to grow. "I can tell you're lying. I know your type. Don't want to get your hands dirty."

"E-excuse-me?" Malty said, red in the face.

"B-bro! How can you say things like that? Don't you know how to treat a lady? Better yet, a princess! A man's job is to get dirty for the women!" Motoyasu protested.

"I don't agree, I've met plenty of gals that like doing manual labor. Farmers, Artisans, Knights, Mercenaries, Nurses… I mean." He gestured towards the knights, a couple of the female ones perked up in surprise. "Women aren't meant to be protected. You help them grow stronger so they can help you defend others and themselves. I know that because that's exactly what I did with my daughter."

"D-daughter?! Bro… Aren't you like… Younger than Itsuki? How do you have a daughter already?" Motoyasu asked, gripping his spear tightly.

"Adopted. But she's as much my daughter, as Malty is from the king's. I took that ragged, orphan girl who was malnourished and full of bruises and cuts… And guess what I did?" He was crying now, tears flowing down his face.

Kieran was being completely sincere now. It had finally dawned on him that he wasn't going to see his girl for a long while… Maybe never. He picked up the letter from his pocket and showed it to everyone.

"This… This is the last thing I got from her. I didn't even have the time to read this. Because of all the bullshit that is happening all at once…" He placed the letter back, then began to rub his eyes. Most of the people there were actually touched by the display of emotions.

Kieran turned to Autocray now, his face reddening from the crying.

"If I tasked someone with protecting my daughter, and they failed. I would never forgive them. She's strong enough to protect herself now. I gave her top notch equipment, I taught her magic, I taught her how to fight, how to manage her money, and I even made a prosthetic for her lost arm. Yeah! The bastards that beated her up, they went a step further and cut off a little girl's arm! A LITTLE GIRL'S ARM!"

He was full bawling now, remembering the absolute heartbreak condition he found her in. The king's wrath drained from him. For that moment, he forgot that the man in front of him was the shield hero. The symbol those of whom he most hated worshiped, was there, in front of him. Crying and screaming, pouring his heart out, looking so vulnerable… So… Weak.

"Wanna know what I did to those bastards?" Kieran asked, calming down a bit.

"What did you do?" Autocray asked, gripping his throne tightly.

"I KILLED THEM! I KILLED THEM ALL!" He screamed on top of his lungs, remembering the carnage in small flashes of distorted memories. The shield's gemstone flashed red for a split second. His fists clenched tightly. Relieving those memories, seeing his dear Alicia in such poor condition, always made him unstable.

Everyone jumped at the sudden raise in tone. Even the Shadows, that observed everything secret, but their reactions were far more contained.

"IT TOOK MONTHS FOR HER TO BE HEALTHY AGAIN! I… I…" He did his best to continue, needing a pause to sob some more. Touched, Motoyasu walked up to him, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay man… That's… Tough…" He remembered the girl he helped. And how she stabbed him in the back… So he was worried. But that was a guy. And a NPC on top of that. It was alright to comfort him a bit.

"I'm sorry… I'm just… I miss her… She was traveling for months and… I was hoping she would come to visit. I know she's going to be okay. But… I'm scared… I'm scared something like the waves could happen in my world… And I won't be there to protect her." He ended up hugging the blonde, soaking his shirt with his tears.

Motoyasu flinched at that, but didn't pull him out.

Ren and Itsuki were silent. Not knowing what to say while hearing that story. They had seen NPC's with sad backstories before. But this… Made them flinch a bit. The way he spoke.

Sounded so real.

Malty wasn't touched. In fact, she was fuming. Seeing her future man and pawn hugging the SHIELD DEVIL?! She couldn't stand for that, but if she said anything, people would turn against her. So she crossed her arms and pouted. Faking crying was impossible for her now with the amount of hatred she felt.

Rino was crying. Mald rolled his eyes. Some of the knights who were parents joined the crying chorus. And the other's reactions were mixed, but overall going for sympathy.

Kieran calmed down, pulling back from the hug.

"Thanks Motoyasu… Sorry for dragging you into my little… Breakdown." He said, using his apron to dry his tears.

"It's okay bro… Look. If you ever feel down on her again, come find me if you can, alright?" He gave him a couple rubs on the back, before going back to the girls, Malty expression changed into one of forced sadness. But there were no tears. "Your majesty, if i may ask… Could you give him some extra money? Maybe he can get some mercenaries or set up his shop to attract other adventurers."

"I… I was planning on doing that." Autocray said, not mustering his feelings from before. Ina moment of weakness, he made a gesture for his advisors. "Each of the heroes will receive 6000 silver coins. While the shield hero will receive… 10000 coins."

"Thank you, your majesty. I'll do my best to serve the country right." Kieran said, actually thankful for the amount. He could tell that by being handed another smaller bag he got more money than what was intended at first.

"Right…" Autocray cleaned his throat, at the sound of that, every person in the room recovered their composure. "Go on heroes! Get stronger, and save our world!"

Everyone cheered and turned back to walk away. But autocray had to say one last thing before the shield hero was out.

"I hope your daughter stays safe, Shield hero." He spoke, closing his eyes. His heart felt tight in his chest.

"I hope your daughters stay safe too, farewell." Kieran replied, before making his way out of the door.

"Y-your majesty. Are you sure that handling the Shield demon so much coin was wise?!" One of his advisors asked, seeing the king get up from his throne.

"I couldn't help but get moved by his story… My daughters are everything to me. I'm glad he didn't accept Malty into his party. The spear hero can keep her safe if he ever tries something… Besides, if he really can enchant any weapon, we can use him to strengthen our soldiers." He spoke, walking to the royal quarters, opening the door. "I wish to be alone now. Leave me be."

He then closed the door, he looked at the rug, a lot of feelings going through his head. He sat down at the small table and grabbed some paper.

"I think… I think I'm going to write Melty a letter…" Autocray said to himself, deciding it was best to pour his feelings into something his dear younger daughter could read.

He really wished she was here with him. Mirellia was risking herself in that reunion in Faubley. He just hoped nothing happened to them. He began to worry more. Had he made a bad decision?

Kieran sat down on a stone bench outside the castle's walls. His face was still reddened. But he stopped crying, he watched the envelope for a few seconds, before finally getting the courage to open it.

Dear father.

I hope you are doing well. I know that if you have the forge, you'll always be busy enough to stay happy and healthy. But I also know how much you worry about me. Don't worry, i' fine! Tessa and the others help me, and we watch each other's backs. My equipment is still in pristine condition, i had to change one of the straps in my breastplate, but i managed to change it without any problem!

So please, continue doing the work you love. I'll be the hero our world needs, so you'll stop worrying about adventures showing up to your doorstep to drag you into their messes. I know that you never turn down these requests, because you care about us. All of us.

You just want to protect me, and the innocent people. I'm always happy about that.

I plan to visit you soon. I'll bring strawberries so you can bake that famous cake of yours for us.

With love, your super badass daughter…

Alicia.

PS: You filled my bag of holding with way too much medicine again. Stop doing it, please.

The blacksmith was crying again seeing those words. He carefully hugged the paper, making sure to not crumple the paper. Then, he stored it in his shield alongside his money. He gave himself a moment to recover, the passerby looked at him a bit worried. But none dared to come speak to him.

He got up, drying the tears from his face. If he wanted to meet her again, then he had a job to do. First things first, he began to look for a weapon's shop. He needed to try and find a shield with attack power to use. Maybe a Bladed shield, or a shield with sharp edges? He remembered he had made a buckler with a saw around it once, and it was pretty effective for throwing.

It took him a bit to find a blacksmith, thanks to the help of a worker who was fixing a house, and knew Elhart. He brought his tools, and a couple other supplies such as nails from him. But clarified that he mostly dealt weapons and armor. Kieran was interested to know this person. He followed the directions until he reached the shop. He found himself unable to read the sign at the entrance.

"The legendary shield translates spoken voices automatically for the wielder. Written language is exempted."

"Right… That means I'll have to learn how to read again?" He grunted, shaking his head. Then he walked inside, hearing the sound of the mail working the iron. The atmosphere made him smile, the smell of hot metal and coal entering his nostrils. Elhart caught him doing exactly that, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes? Can I help you?" He asked the newcomer. Looking him up and down while he took off his dirty gloves.

"Hello, Elhart right? Nice to meet you. I'm Kieran, the shield hero." Kieran said, taking off his own glove to shake the other's hand. Those news made his eyes widen.

"Woah! The shield hero is such a young brat?" He joked playfully, shaking the hand with confidence. "Nice to meet you, what can I get for you?"

"Well, you see… I have a really high defense. But my attack stat is 1. Can you believe it?" Kieran spoke, annoyed, looking at what he had for display there, his work was really good.

"Wait, one? Like the first number after zero?" The blacksmith asked, even super older guys had more attack stat than him.

To prove it, Kieran gave him a slap with everything he had, Elhart was about to scream at him, when he heard the lound, clanging sound.

"See? It's really dumb, i also can't wield any other kind of weapon that isn't the shield. But i wanted to see if i maybe tried to make a shield with a sharp edge or something could let me do enough damage to make off some exp?" Kieran said, looking at his selection. "Woah, some of these here are also really good."

The older man smiled, the boy had a good eye for the stuff. He paid more attention to the clothes and decided to ask.

"We're dressed kinda similar. Those gloves are made to hold the heat… Are you perhaps a blacksmith too?" He asked casually, then came out of the counter, and picked up a Siderite shield. "This one is the most expensive one I've got. I can see about doing a comission for you, if you want a bladed shield."

Kieran picked up the shield, and his shield ended up copying it. He tried to change to it, but the level requirement wasn't enough. So he couldn't use any weapon he wanted, huh?

He could keep his mouth shut, but that would be unfair. He liked the guy, and he wasn't about to screw a fellow blacksmith.

"Well. I would love to commission something from you. I'm a blacksmith myself. Yes, sadly my workshop was left in my world. I've only got a couple handful tools here. I have to show you something… Just, please don't freak out. Do you have any other more basic shield?"

Elhart raised an eyebrow, but complied. Putting the shield back where it was and coming back with a Leather shield.

Kieran picked it up, and copied it. Then changed it right in front of the older blacksmith, who jumped back in surprise.

"W-what? Your shield! It just changed shape!" He said, noticing the form it took. "You came here to steal my weapons?!"

"Of course not! I would never steal it! But I needed a practical example so I could explain more easily for you. I have an ability that lets me copy shields that I'm holding. The original stays like it is, nothing changes." He explained, handing back the shield to Elhart, who examined it.

"I get your point… But I put on a lot of effort into making those! You'll need to pay!" He said, placing the shield back and going back to the counter.

"Well, the full price would be too much. You can still sell the shields you make to other people, so you don't lose anything. Maybe we can work out a deal?" He asked, walking up to him.

"Hmmm… Alright, I see your point. But any shield you commission, you'll have to pay the full price, because I don't know if it will sell. Especially if it's something too weird." He said with a sigh, then began to think. "Maybe you could help me a bit? And I'll let you copy any shield in the store as payment. Is that alright for you?"

Kieran beamed at that.

"Oh please! I'm so fucking stressed… I really need to take out my frustrations on a slab of metal. Please sir Elhart!" Kieran asked, bowing respectfully at him, Elhart smiled at his eagerness.

"Alright. I like your style, kid. But first I need to know how good you are. Where are your tools by the way? I see nothing…"

"Oh right, I actually placed my tools inside my shield…" He pulled out the heavy toolbox from the inventory, and Elhart jumped a bit from that. After opening, he saw some of the tools there. He picked a pair of pliers and saw the glitched stats, but he could tell that it was really well made.

"Those are some pretty cool tools, kid.. But I don't think you'll be able to use them. Whatever happens, their stats are all wonky…" He said, placing the pliers back on their spot.

"Is that so? Well… Maybe things from other words become like that?" He wondered. Looking at his toolbox.

"Eh… You know what? I can share some of my tools with you." He said casually, smiling at him. "I've got a big order from the castle for some knight armor. Ready to start, kid?"

Kieran looked at his tools, then smiled at him. "Fine by me! Just wait a moment…" If his tools couldn't be used. Then he could at least absorb them into his shield and try to unlock some new stuff, but he took off his enchanting hammer. At least he could use it to enchant weapons.

From the toolbox full of stuff, he got a big amount of shields unlocked. Mostly had effects of raising the quality of stuff he made with smithing, carpentry, accessory making and building. He was surprised at that, but a couple shields brought his attention.

-Toolbox shield-

+1 HP +1 DEX

Unique Skill: Toolbox (Any tools absorbed by the shield will be stored here, and can be accessed and used while this shield is selected. Changing shields will make for all the tools to teleport back to their places inside the Toolbox.)

Skill: Master craftsman (Moderately boosts quality of items made with Blacksmithing, Carpentry, Accessory making, Building, Construction and other kinds of manual labor that require tools.)

-Iron nail shield-

+1 ATK +1 DEF

Ability: Carpentry II (Wood objects made by this user have a moderate boost in quality)

Unique skill: Iron Spikes (Enemies that touch the sharp spikes in front of the shield will be hurt.)

"Woah… My toolbox just unlocked a bunch of new shields for me." He looked at the hammer, and then absorbed it too. If what he had read about thetoolbox shield was right, maybe that would let him use the tools?

-Forge hammer shield-

+1 DEX +1 DEF

Skill: Blacksmithing I (Increases the quality of metal objects made by the user by a small amount.)

He changed to the Toolbox shield. It was basically his old toolbox, but now it didn't weight nearly as much, and when he opened he found nothing, but when wondering about his hammer, it came floating right out in a green shine.

Elhart looked at the shield a bit jealous.

"That's quite the cheating, huh? Your tools are normal now… HOLY SHIT!" He couldn't help but exclaim at the information. The enchanted hammer was amazing! Really high stats, he nearly fainted. "Here I thought I was getting a student… But he's my equal!"

He wasn't going to admit a little brat was better than him. Not even in his mind.

Kieran changed to his Forge hammer shield. It had patterns that were the same he had on his hammer. Black with green details. He was going to master it to get the Blacksmithing bonus outside of using the shield. He found that out after consulting his help guide.

"Alright, I'll use this one here. Show me what I need to do!" He said happily, cracking his knuckles and excited to work with Elhart.

"That's the spirit. Alright, come here to the back. First I need to show you what we'll be doing." He turned around and showed his "pupil" the back of the store. Both blacksmiths were really excited to work with each other.

The hours passed with barely any of the two noticing. They both spoke about many things, Elhart was curious about how the shield hero's life was. Kieran told him about some of his adventures. That he was a vagabond, going from job to job until he saved a blacksmith called wattson, who took him under his wing and taught him all he knew.

Kieran would then travel the world to learn new techniques and hone his craft. He then went back to his master's hometown, only to find out he had passed away. Leaving his house and everything he owned, to his pupil. Kieran then settled in his old home and was living there until the day of the summoning.

Elhart tried to ask more about his upbringing, but Kieran's expression soured. He didn't want to elaborate. The only thing he said was…

"I had to climb out of hell to get to where I could find what I truly want to do with my life…"

Respecting his privacy, he let it go, and told him about his times as an adventurer. About the various monsters he had slain, only to then meet his master, an amazing blacksmith who taught the bald man all he knew now, alongside another student, a Moleman demi-human called Tollynemya.

It was then that Kieran learned about the existence of demi-humans. All based either on existing animals he knew, like Lions, tigers, turtles… To even mythological beasts like the Aotastsu. Kieran was a bit surprised, especially because he didn't see anyone around the city, even his village that was mainly filled with humans, had some residents that weren't human.

Both blacksmiths kept talking while working for hours, only stopping their conversations when a client came out of the door, and the older one had to attend to them and make the sales. The sun had fallen when they were both done. Wiping the sweat off their foreheads and smiling proudly at all the armor they had made.

"Kid, I'll tell you. You did an amazing job with those." Elhart said, praising him while they cleaned themselves. He let the fire in the forge die down, soon only embers remained.

"Thanks sir. You're pretty amazing too. It was a lot of fun working alongside you. We should totally work together more." Kieran agreed, and shook his hand once again.

"How about I treat you to some dinner? Thanks to you, I'll be able to deliver my order earlier than I had to. You're free to copy all the shields on display, you earned it."

"Well, thanks!I would love to… We ended up skipping lunch in our excitement." He laughed a bit, feeling his stomach grumbling. Both men laughed, then the door opening alerted them.

"Oh, welcome to my shop, kid, what can I do for you?" Elhart greeted the newest customer, it was Ren. he sword hero. He was wearing some cheaper, starter looking armor. Manly looked like it was made of leather.

"I want to see your… Oh, Kieran. Why are you here?" Ren asked calmly, finally noticing the sweaty shield hero. "Did you manage to grind today?"

"Oh, I actually forgot to do that. I was having so much fun with Mister Elhart here that time flew by." The shield hero said in response, going to the displays and copying the shields there. "We were making some armor for the knights. He's letting me copy his shields as payment."

"Huh? Why did you do that? He doesn't lose anything by letting you copy them…" He said, while holding one of the swords, copying it.

"Hey Kid! Don't do those things without permission!" The bald man said, walking up to Ren, which was surprised.

"Huh? Why are you angry? I'm a hero, I'm here to save the world. I'm here to help you." The sword hero argued back.

"Ren, I know how it is. But you need to at least sit down with the shopkeepers and explain what you're doing. They might think the weapons might lose stats or something… If you explain what the copy system is, I think most will understand and agree." Kieran explained more calmly, and that phrase made Elhart think for a bit.

"Hmmm… Okay, maybe I overreacted. It's like the shield kid said, you gotta ask for permission if you wanna do something like that." The man spoke, placing his hands on his waist.

"Besides, he's amazing! Look at this sword here." He said while handling it, and giving it for Ren to have a look at. He copied and changed to it, giving it a ook.

"Woah, his stuff is better than the guy I brought my armor from…" He said, a bit surprised. But deep inside he was smiling widely from happiness and admiration. "Elhart, was it? I'll be sure to come here again in the future when I need to change my armor. Until then… Can I copy your swords? I'll… Put them to good use."

Ren looked to the side, the man's large figure was a bit intimidating, but he relaxed when his expression softened up.

"If you're going to be buying from me, I see no problem at all! Alright, here's the deal. You can buy armor from me and then I'll let you copy the other swords, or you can pay 5 silver for each copy. And I'll give you a discount when you buy your armor." Elhart was a bit surprised at how the shield hero managed to correct the sword hero.

Ren began to think that was a bit too expensive… His armor would be fine for now. And he had copied a couple nice swords… But the craftsmanship impressed him enough. He pulled out 50 silver from his inventory.

"I'll take 10 of your swords to copy, then. Before the next wave hits, I'll be sure to come here to order some custom made armor." Ren said while moving through the shop, choosing the swords he wanted to pick. He wasn't happy to fork off some of his money… But the talk he received shaked him a bit.

Picking up the bad dialog to upset the NPC's was hard…

"Feel free to tell the other heroes the same thing. Either fork over 5 silver per copy, or buy some armor and earn the copies for free. If it's to help other people… And I don't lose anything… I'm willing to compromise and help you. Come back whenever you guys need something, me and the shield kid here will do the job." He spoke with a playful smile.

"I'll keep it in mind… Oh yeah, me and the others are going to be eating at an inn tonight. Do you want to come along?" He asked, before remembering his coupons, giving one of them to him. "Also, could you enchant this sword I just copied?"

"Oh yeah, sure thing! What element do you want?" Kieran asked, changing his shield to the toolbox shield. He worked so much with the Forge hammer shield, that he got the bonuses already. He took out his hammer.

"Well, I went to check my affinities and found out they are Water and Support… Quite lame if i have to say. So, let's try water?" He said, a bit uncertain.

"Water? Alright, those aren't lame at all! Water spells can let you create blades of pressurized water to cut people with, or can make you swim faster…" Elhart watched the process with surprise, his eyes narrowing when he saw the hero hit the other's sword, making it glow a faint blue. Ren had finally seen that the method was indeed real.

"Kid… What did you just do?" Elhart said, sounding very serious.

"Oh? I just enchanted Ren's weapon with an element you 's something i can do." The younger blacksmith explained plainly, putting away his hammer, then placed his toolbox on his back.

"I'VE NEVER HEARD OF THAT! IS THAT SOMETHING ONLY HEROES CAN DO?!" He asked, screaming into the whitehead's face.

Ren had flinched when he heard the word "swim", then flinched even more when the bald man screamed. He began to make his way towards the door.

"I'll tell you more about it later, alright? Ren! Can you wait just a moment outside?" He asked, the black teen shook his head, and asked him not to take long. He then turned back to Elhart. "Look, I'll be real with you. I have a bad feeling, and I need a favor."

Elhart was surprised at his seriousness. He reacted accordingly.

"What do you need?" He knew that was serious, he was looking at him with the same serious face when he didn't want to mention his past.

"I need a place to stay, with someone I can trust. Inn's are really easy to invade, and I feel like I'm being watched…" He looked around, sounding a bit paranoid.

"Why do you think that? You're a cardinal hero! And you just got here! Did you do something to anger someone?"

"No, but the king was acting weird… The princess tried to get into my party. And was offended when I turned her down, nobles look at me with disgust… I have no idea why that is. But please. Let me stay here, I'll even pay some rent or something… I don't know what kind of thing they might do to me." Kieran spoke, lowering his eyes, his fists clenching. He felt so powerless… Just as he felt back then.

Elhart sighed, looking at the young looking hero with sympathy. He ruffled his hair and then spoke.

"Alright… I have a guest room that I don't use. It's a bit dusty, but at least it has a bed. I'll try to make it livable before you come back. I have a suspicion on why he's acting like that, but don't leave your friend waiting." He said, smiling down at him. "We can talk when you come back."

"Alright… Thanks." He gave the man a smile, then ran outside, to find an impatient Ren. "Sorry to leave you waiting, we had to discuss some more things. I'll pay for a dessert to compensate you."

"That's not necessary… But I'll take the offer." Ren replied, walking in the direction of the Inn. "Yes! Free dessert! Normally eating dessert is not cool, but I can excuse it and say that he offered and I didn't want to be disrespectful!"

Kieran smiled. Seeing right through his facade. But overall, he felt happy, he managed to make a fellow hammer friend, swayed a hero into not being a jerk, and turned said hero into his friend's client. Overall, not a bad day!

But still. He worried about what the royal family could come up with… Sadly. The royal family itself wasn't the worst thing he was going to deal with…

In a dark place. A rosy haired woman was dangling from chains. Wearing nothing but rags. Her body was weak, she didn't dare move. If she did, they would just come back to torture her more. The salt in her wounds kept the blood from pouring out… But the pain was horrible. She heard some sounds, her cell lock had opened, she raised her eyes to meet with a smiling figure.

"Ah… Miss Seaetto. I hope you're enjoying your new… Accomodations." The man with very fine robes, and a Pope hat spoke. A smile adorning his face, it looked like a caring smile… But Eclair knew about that man's true face.

"Well… I have to say it's what I would expect from you… Balmus." She said with seriousness.

The pope giggled, not shifting from his pose. But the light shined on his glasses, giving him a more intimidating look.

"It's interesting seeing you holding on so well… It's a shame seeing you possessed like that by the devil. But worry not, our priests will exorcize that out of you." He spoke softly, raising his head, appearing as if he was a caring father telling his sick kid that the doctor would heal them from their cold.

"You can try all the things you want. I will not break. My father will be avenged. And you will be brought to justice when the queen arrives." The knight said in response, raising her head higher. She saw a heavily clothed figure enter the room.

The secret task force of the church of the three heroes… It wasn't a myth.

The Inquisition.

"Oh, but you'll see God's light in due time. You won't leave this place until you see the errors of helping those filthy animals! But be grateful, we'll actually let you wield your blade someday! In the name of the church. Boreas here is our main re-educator. He will make sure to put you back on the rightful path.

The man called Boreas turned towards her. He took the cloth on top of the trolley, and the sight horrified Eclair.

Boreas wasn't an educator. He was a torturer.

"Greetings Eclair. We have many lessons to go over tonight… I'll wield God's tools to make sure that you see the error of your actions. Our great leader even ordered a new sword that you'll be able to wield when you pass by our lessons!" His tone of voice was sickening, and crazed, he cackled maniacally. In the trolley were many torturing devices, medical tools and some bottles filled with different liquids.

He opened a box and showed Eclair what was inside. She recoiled. A long silver blade… Attached on what she could see as metallic armor. That wasn't a normal sword.

That was a Sword-arm. The fingers in her dominant hand clenched, terror setting in her heart. But she began to control her breathing, not daring to lose her composure. She had to remember her knight training. The queen would return from the diplomatic mission soon… She was going to notice. Someone was going to notice her disappearance.

"We'll start by removing the thing responsable of taking so many innocent lives of members from our glorious church." He walked to his trolley, setting the sword-arm down, and picking up a scalpel. "Don't worry… You'll forget the pain once you begin to pray. Now… Let's begin, shall we?~"

Balmus stood outside the door, his never changing face watching the whole ordeal.

God's work was hard… But he wouldn't give up on it, as it was his life's calling.

And he loved his work.

Oh yeah… Left you on edge with that, didn't i? Eclair isn't going to have a good time. But we all know our favorite knight is strong. Don't expect this to be the end of her.

I've now introduced the new big threat the heroes will have to face. If the church's shadows were bad, then i'll say that the characters that will appear will be much worse… Also more of a challenge.

This might be a bit controversial. But I have plans for the future for Eclair. I won't describe any torture scenes, because it's not really my thing. I could do it. But i'll pass.

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, see you on the next one!