Chapter 7 Preparation

-Three Years Later-

Malty sat at the front of a crowd with Eclair and Rishia a big smiled on her face, today was the day she, Eclair and Rishia graduated from Faubrey's academy, she didn't know if the Malty of the story graduated if anything she'd bet that she either dropped out or was expelled, the headmaster was giving the end of year speech and soon he would be turning over to her to give a speech for the graduating students.

Originally prince Takt was going to be the one who gave the speech, but he handed it over to her as a peace gesture, she was genuinely surprised when it happened, because he came to her himself and apologised to her.

-Flashback-

Malty was sat at her desk in her room looking over some notes she took for an upcoming test when she heard a knock at the door, Malty quickly got up to answer it thinking it was probably Eclair or Rishia, but to her surprise it was Takt.

Malty was going to slam the door, but Takt grabbed the door before she could and forced himself in ''what do you want?'' Malty spat.

''Calm down I'm not hear to argue'' said Takt calmly ''I came to apologise''

This caused Malty to do a double take ''say that again?'' she asked with a raised brow.

''I have come to apologise to you and your friend'' repeated Takt.

''What brought this on?'' Malty questioned ''because honestly I doubt you would apologise to anyone unless you could get something out of it, so what brought this on?''

''How much do you know about my kingdom?'' Takt asked with an easy smile.

''After being here for a few years I know quite a lot, one thing that confuses me is that your kingdom doesn't discriminate against Demi-humans unlike how mine does unfortunately does, in fact your kingdom has quite a strong ally ship with Sheildfreeden, so for their crowned prince to have such a different opinion was rather puzzling to me'' stated Malty.

''That's because their not my beliefs, honestly I only said that because I wanted to bang that woman, what was her name again Lusty, eh doesn't matter, but honestly that really backfired on me I'll admit'' said Takt with a shake of his head ''I ended up having much less sex here than I wanted, being fully honest I actually rather like the Demi-Humans''

''Hmm, so was she worth that scene in the cafeteria?'' Malty scoffed.

''Not really, I'll admit she was a good fuck, but not that good and honestly looking over you even more now I can tell you would have been a much tastier treat than she was'' smirked Takt.

''Well your not going to have that treat'' Malty glared.

''Oh, that's too bad'' Takt shrugged before leaning in close to her ''but there is something else about you that I just can't put my finger on it''

''Alright that's enough, you've said your peace now leave'' ordered Malty.

''As you wish'' shrugged Takt taking his leave ''by the way I should tell you I'm crowned prince by birth, I challenged the crowned prince to single combat for his title and killed him easily, just something for you to mull over''

-Flashback over-

Malty gave a small shiver at the memory, something about that man still unnerved her, but she shook it off as she stood up and went to give her speech, she had worked on it for three days and it seemed to resonate with the student body as well as her fellow graduates as a few were seen wiping away their tears, after the graduation ceremony there was to be a grand feast for the graduates attending but Malty already had plans with Eclair and Rishia to go home to the castle and have a celebration there, so as soon as the ceremony was over the three climbed into one of the carriages that was set up to take the graduates home after the party and rode off to Melromarc.

As the three travelled back to Melromarc they reminisced about their time at the academy, they had a lot of fun at the academy and they would defiantly miss it to some extent, but one thing that was undeniable was that the academy had helped them become stronger, physically and mentally, she and Eclair's swordsmanship had grown exponentially along with her magic.

Rishia was a bit difficult because Malty couldn't remember what she was best at, she knew that Rishia really excelled in some kind of martial art that was taught to the characters later in the story, so they would in turn wait for later, the biggest problem was Malty couldn't remember what Rishia was really talented at, so for a while they experimented until they found out Rishia was really talented at magic and healing and set about helping her to excel at that.

Malty had also spent her time looking for leads to find out where her cousins were and eventually she managed to find them, they were both slaves in the country of mercenaries, Zeltoble, but she'd have to sit on this information for now, she was too low level to go to Zeltoble and she had no authority to deploy the military and even if she did doing so could start a war, there was another way to help them, but it would take time and a lot of money.

Eventually they made it back to Melromarc castle just as the sun started to set, Malty let Eclair and Rishia get out of the carriage first because she knew what was going to happen once she got out and like she predicted she was tackled to the ground by a blue blur crying out ''Big Sister!''

''Its good to see you two Melty'' Malty groaned as she reached down to pat her little sister on the head, this was something Melty did whenever Malty came back, Malty had just gotten use to it at this point.

Their mother was not far behind her and let out a sigh at the sight ''Melty how many times do I have to tell you not to tackle your sister'' she said.

''It's ok mother'' groaned Malty as Eclair and Rishia helped her to her feet while Melty was still hugging her ''she's just exited''

''I know, but that's not an excuse to tackle you'' Mirellia said to Malty before turning to Melty ''how many times do I have to tell you not to tackle your sister young lady, you could have really hurt her''

''I didn't mean to mother, I was just really excited to see big sister and ran to see her, I tried to stop in time but I didn't, I'm sorry'' said Melty apologetically.

Mirellia gave a sigh and said ''I suppose I can overlook it this time since your sister just got home from graduation, which I am extremely proud of, I'm extreamly proud of all you girls, you've represented Melromarc well''

''Thank you for having us your majesty'' said Eclair and Rishia with a bow.

''Now then, celebrate your graduation'' Mirellia said with a smile.

The four of them celebrated in the one of the dining rooms, it wasn't anything too fancy just a small celebration between the four of them, Malty asked about her father but Mirellia told her that her father was occupied with something else, they had some dinner and then some sweet confections for desert, Malty, Eclair and Rishia told them about times in the academy, the times when they were classes, studying and just hanging out, then Melty bouncily told them about what had happened at home, the girls smiled at Melty's enthusiasm it was so cute, Malty managed to calm her down by promising to make her some origami.

Eventually Melty exhausted herself and had to be taken to bed, Malty volunteered to do so, she had missed Melty just as much as Melty missed her so this was a bit of a treat for her, so she carried the small princess back to her room, dressed her in her pyjamas and tucked her into bed, when she got back her mother and friends were sat around the table talking, Malty took a seat in between Eclair and Rishia facing her mother, the queen congratulated the three of them and then told Eclair and Rishia that they could spend the night if they wanted to, which they happily obliged.

The next mourning Malty was stood in front of a mirror fixing her hair, she had invited her two friends for breakfast in her room, now that they were done with school there was something she had to address, raising her level, the waves were getting closer and closer, they only had three years left, so it was imperative that they used the time they had now to prepare for the waves.

After she finished fixing her hair Malty took a moment to look at herself in the mirror, she was starting to see what Takt meant when he called her a 'tasty treat', she was gorgeous thanks to her years of training outside with a sword she was well built and had a tanned complexion, that coupled with her red hair gave her a rather exotic look, she had muscular arms and legs, along with a set of abs, she actually looked to be a bit taller than the Malty from the story and her boobs and butt seemed to be a bit bigger than the one from the story.

Malty was drawn out of her thoughts by a knock at the door ''come in'' she called, the door opened to reveal Eclair and Rishia ''hey girls ready for breakfast, theres something I want to talk to you about''

The three sat around the table in Malty's room, there was a large spread of food on the table ranging from eggs to fruit, the three girls sat around the table and made up their plates before they began to talk ''as you know in three years the waves will finally be here'' said Malty with Eclair and Rishia nodding.

''So you want to raise your level?'' Eclair asked.

''Yes I do, you know I want to protect our country from the Waves'' stated Malty ''I know you two do as well or I know at least Eclair does, since she wants to be a knight and Rishia if you don't want to fight the Waves you don't have to''

''No I want to help you fight the Waves!'' Rishia exclaimed abruptly getting up ''you two both saved me and my family, as much as it hurt to hear the other nobles say it we were essentially poor nobles, we didn't have much and we lived humbly with our people, but we feared other more powerful noble houses who most likely would have ravaged our land and forced my family to sell me off to them to make an alliance between our houses, my friendship with you two not only saved me from a life of loneliness and pain but it also saved my family so of course I'll help you fight the Waves, but not just because of that I do want to help fight the Waves and I'll do what I can despite my low stats'' with all that Rishia sat down looking somewhat disheartened.

''Thank you Rishia'' said Malty putting her hand atop Rishia's ''I'm glad that your my friend and don't worry, I'm sure your just a late bloomer and once you hit a specific level your stats will go through the roof''

''So am I and even if it doesn't I'm sure you'll still be able to help us, you helped me in school and I'm sure you'll be able to do so now'' said Eclair before taking a bite of fruit ''so whats the plan after breakfast''

''Well, first we'll need some equipment'' stated Malty ''and I think I know where we can get it''

After breakfast the group of girl went into town, Eclair and Rishia following Malty as she lead them to Erhard's weapon shop, before they went to school she had scouted around the town to find out where it was so when the time came they could go right there to get the equipment, they got to the shop pretty quickly and both the interior and exterior looked exactly like it did in the anime.

Erhard was stood at the counter and when he heard the bell ring he turned towards the door and smiled and said ''welcome what can I do for you three?''

''We came to get some weapons and armour'' stated Malty.

''Ah of course'' said Erhard ''do you have any requests in specific?''

''No we'll just brows if you don't mind'' said Malty.

''Yeah go ahead, if you have any questions just come ask'' said Erhard.

The girls nodded and started to look around, Malty and Eclair already had swords so they were trying to find a weapon for Rishia to wield and some armour for the three of them, eventually they found a sword that seemed to weigh enough for her to wield, after that they went to the counter.

''Just this'' Erhard asked.

''Yes and we were thinking of requesting some armour as well if we can'' said Malty.

''Of course, I'll need you to give me measurements and I will need a deposit fee, but I'd be happy to'' said Erhard before realising he forgot something ''oh and you'd have to give me details on what you want for armour''

''A full set of knights armour if its not too much trouble'' stated Eclair.

''I'd just like a breast plate, some shoulder armour and some armoured boots please'' said Rishia.

''A breast plate, shoulder armour, and arm and leg amour please'' said Malty ''oh and I'd like it with a bronze colorisation if possible''

Erhard looked taken aback by that request ''o-ok I- I can do that, but can I ask why?'' he asked.

''Lets just say its my pallet'' stated Malty.

Rishia tugged on Eclairs sleeve to get her attention and whispered to her ''Pallet?''

''Oh right, I suppose you wouldn't know, did you notice last night that Princess Melty wears blue and white?'' Eclair asked whispering, to which Rishia nodded ''well Malty said that she likes to wear red and brown to make them both an equal and opposite to each other and I guess she considers bronze to be a shiny brown''

''Alright, but why red and brown why not red and black?'' Rishia asked.

''I asked that myself and she just told me that black and red is overused and 'edgy' whatever that means'' explained Eclair with a shrug.

After that they started to leave the store but then Malty saw it, the bitches armour on a mahican and said ''one more thing I don't want it to look anything like that, I'd like it to look good, but I prioritise function over form''

''You got it miss, come back in about… lets say a week and I should have it finished'' said Erhard.

''Thank you sir'' said Malty as they left the store.

''Ok, now what?'' Rishia asked.

''Now we go and farm for exp'' stated Malty with a smile.

I'm sorry this took a while again stuff in RL happened, sorry this was more set up and no showing them as adventurers, I hope you didn't mind the mirror scene with Malty, it was just something I wanted to do sorry if you didn't like it, I hope I fixed some problems with Takt, some of you told me I did well and some of you told me I didn't so I tired to appease both with that flashback, keeping to the personality I gave him but trying to make him more accurate to the original story, oh as for the prince thing which he apparently isn't my mistake but I couldn't really change that, lets just say the explanation I went with is just what happened in this version of the shield hero story lets just say its a ripple from Malty's reincarnation.

I hope nobody minds me making up a metal for the story and I also hope you don't mind its amazing name (yeah its name isn't very good), it was mostly to keep up Malty's supposed colour scheme, go to the shield hero wiki on Malty's page and scroll down to trivia and it'll say one of the differences between Malty and Melty is colour scheme and Malty's colour scheme is supposedly red and brown, I like that I'm glad the author didn't just go for red and black and I quite like red and brown being used together problem is if that was the intention then it doesn't work because for most of the series she's dressed in white armour, so yeah the bronze colouring was meant to fix that problem, sorry for making you read my little rant about colour schemes, I was going to do a chapter about them preparing for the first wave, but I decided that next chapter there going to face the first wave, I'm sorry I just want to be done with this part of the story.

Oh and unnecessary promoting, I recently released a new fic Pokemon Villainess version check it out if you want to.